#but its going to require her to lose her belief in Salem and start to question her

[bridgyrose]

One of the reasons that Cinder is my favorite villain in RWBY is that her own moral beliefs are skewed horrendously. This isnt saying that she has no morals or that she's completely evil, but more on the idea that Im not sure she actually understands what is good and evil or what truly is right and wrong.

Like, its been clear since volume 3 that she believes what she's doing is right because the huntsman academies are a failing system to her, and since then, its become more and more clear that she's done everything she can to survive a broken system, and the one person that could've helped her understand what should be right or wrong, essentially told her to wait out in the broken system she was in and continue taking the abuse and torment and wait 7 years to go to a huntsman academy. Then, that same person essentially condemned her for slipping up and making a serious mistake.

So at this point, everything she's done is purely off "what's going to help me survive and get/keep the power needed to be free?" So while most people see her actions as wrong or even evil, her moral compass and ideas of right or wrong are so far skewed, everything she's doing she sees as right because she doesn't know any different. She was condemned as evil and wrong and never looked back, giving into her anger and then was more than likely found by someone who absolutely enabled her actions and anger.

Which, ironically, has given Cinder less freedom than she thinks she has. Especially now that she has a collar in the shape of an arm.

#cinder fall #rwby #i really dont think evil can be used to describe her #there comes to be a point where a broken system leads to broken people #and it really is up to others to see what is broken #fix it #and help those that are affected by it #which is why I still think there’s going to be a chance at redemption #I still dont think she'll become one of the heroes #but I do think that if the choice comes to her #that she'd at least try to change or make an effort to be better #but its going to require her to lose her belief in Salem and start to question her #which should be coming soon

[itsclydebitches]

No one should of trusted RWBY+ with fucking anything, let alone saving the world (LIKE REN SAID THEY SHOULDN’T BE MAKING DECISIONS ON) and now look. Two cities destroy, millions dead or homeless, and Salem half-way to completing her goal that might get everyone killed. Yeah, Ozpin totally should apologize for not trusting these idiots.

At the very least the story might have pulled some plot strings to "prove" that Ozpin should have trusted them from the start. Like with Oscar succeeding with Hazel. We know that success required him to go OOC and that in a story with more consistent characterization/realistic reactions from its cast, Oscar would have definitely failed... but that doesn't erase the fact that he didn't. No matter how badly executed, the story essentially argues, "Oscar was right to trust Hazel because look, Hazel helped him" and we might have gotten something similar with the group: "Ozpin was wrong to mistrust them because look, when they learned the truth everything got better."

But, uh... things got so much worse.

The group drove Ozpin away rather than proving that they were actually different from everyone else who learned about Salem. Then they nearly lost the Relic at the farm. They tested the fragile trust between the kingdoms by stealing from Atlas and in doing so got a Leviathan to attack a city. Then they lied to Ironwood - the exact thing Ozpin supposedly shouldn't have done to them. They actively divided their allies - you know, the thing Salem wants. Not splitting the group to complete two separate tasks, Ruby - by turning on the Ace Ops and Ironwood. Ruby told everyone about Salem, which realistically should have caused massive grimm attacks across the entire world. They lost the Relic because they never bothered to put it in the vault. They also ended up losing the last question because of that. They lost the Staff because they stupidly took it out of the vault. Their Maiden was killed, again. An entire populace is displaced and currently getting picked off by grimm. They knowingly, willingly, and deliberately destroyed an entire kingdom when they didn't have to.

Oh, and then five out of ten “died.” If there was any part of Ozpin that held back out of worry for their safety, that’s been proven correct too. They weren’t strong enough, or smart enough to survive this war. Within just a few months they were (we’re meant to believe) killed. 

Putting aside, for the moment, that a story needs conflict and failure on the part of its protagonists, everything that has happened since Volume 6, to my mind, proves Ozpin right. Not just in terms of "Wow, when I tell people about Salem they hurt and betray me" but also "Wow, somehow I don't think this group of teenagers with one year of training is ready to be the linchpin of this war." Because that's what they wanted by demanding every secret: to be at the very center of the fight, to be making the tough calls, to play at being the world's hero. The problem is, their idea of a hero is still someone who fixes everything with an epic punch to the face. When that fails... they crumble. Cue Ruby sitting around in the mansion half the volume. Should Ozpin have trusted his inner circle? It's debatable. Lionheart ran to Salem the second he learned of her immortality, Qrow sunk deeper into his alcoholism and gave up the fight, but Ironwood took it in a stride and kept pushing forward. Theodore we don't know yet. So it's pretty up in the air whether that would have assisted Ozpin, or just made things worse that much faster, but then that's not really the question here. Should he have told the group? Should he have deliberately made these teens generals in this war? The plot says, "Absolutely not." Because when they made themselves the generals through force - stealing the question, lying to Ironwood, defeating the Ace Ops, hijacking Amity - things have consistently gotten worse. Nothing we've seen on screen the last three volumes says, "See? Look how much better things are once Ozpin was forced to trust love and put his faith in this team."

And what slays me is that the show so desperately tries to backtrack on this with the fight between Ren and Yang:

Ren: Are you kidding?! We don’t know the first thing about being Huntsmen. We clearly weren’t ready.

Yang: Were we not ready when we saved Haven? When we took down a Leviathan? We got the Lamp to Atlas.

Ren: And then we lost it! And after that, when we had to make real decisions, we got every single one wrong.

Yang: I’m not going to pretend like we did everything perfectly, but if we’d done nothing, things would be even worse than they are now.

Ren: How could they possibly be worse? We are stuck out here while Salem has the Lamp and Oscar. We’ve got no plan, no army.

Yang: We’ve got the Maiden!

Yang is forced to omit so much information to make the team look good here and Ren is only allowed to point out one (1) thing she omits: "And then we lost it!" Yang fails to mention that they didn't save Haven, Blake's army did. So yeah, one member of the team, but it's not like they got in there and kicked epic ass. Weiss nearly died. The Relic was only saved because Raven decided she didn't want it anymore. The group barely held their own and then won due to good timing and the bad guys taking each other out/changing their minds. They were going to defeat two Maidens? Lucky them one Maiden took the other out and then decided to hand them the Relic.

Took down a leviathan? Funny how she fails to mention that they drew the leviathan there in the first place and that Cordovin's drill is what did it in. Even Ruby's eyes is a single person ability that only works on grimm, not at all useful for the human-based problems Ren is talking about. They got the Lamp to Atlas? Yeah, and then you lost it. Getting it to Atlas is literally meaningless when the villains still managed to steal it, that victory a direct result of the group's stupid decisions. It's like going, "I successfully got water out of the boat" and failing to mention that the boat still sank. Oh, and also you could have plugged the hole at any point and just... didn't. The boat sinking is absolutely on your hands. When pressed just the tinniest bit, all Yang can come up with is that they've still got the Maiden, someone who will be attacked, hacked, and murdered by the end of the volume. Everything else? "but if we’d done nothing, things would be even worse than they are now."

That's a very big claim from someone ignoring all her failures. And of course, soon after this Ren dares to use Jaune's lack of training as an example of how unprepared they are (valid), he gets mad, the duo later tells him to open up more (he literally just did), and then the story drops his anger for a semblance upgrade instead. RWBY banks on us just believing Yang, carried along by everyone - all the way through to Nora - going on about how Very Very Wrong Ren Is - because if you actually consider these themes of trust and ask whether Ozpin was wrong to hold back... there's not a lot to challenge that decision. The go-to argument would be, "The heroes made things better once they knew the truth, ergo, they should have known the truth from the start" but the group has continually made things worse. It's not even a temporary problem anymore. No matter that they'll inevitably win, Atlas is gone. They've done irreversible harm to the world and yeah, they're trying to do good, they're trying, but this isn't the story of some teenagers forced into a conflict and doing what they can with the hand they've been dealt. This is the story of some teenagers who forced their way in, so when things go wrong... that's on them, no matter their intentions. They are now responsible, just as much as Ozpin was responsible. Except the story refuses to admit that, continually positioning Ruby as an innocent child in need of reassurance, not the licensed huntress who stole control from Ozpin, lied her way into a new inner circle, attacked former allies to avoid the consequences of her own actions, and presented herself as the world's savior... only to then cry because she never had a plan to begin with. We've got a fantastic story here about how Ruby wasn't ready, none of her friends were, and their naïve belief that they were the heroes of this tale - running after the White Fang, then Cinder, then Salem herself - has done incredible harm within a delicate, multi-generation war. We might have started telling that story if the group had actually sat with Ren's accusations and admitted their mistakes. Instead, we're left with this ridiculous claim that no matter how bad things get, it's always better than the alternative of the group not being involved at all. Because they're the heroes, remember. Their goodness they provide is, supposedly, inherent. The only problem is we no longer have a plot that supports this claim.

#rwby #rwde #mymetas

[slxrpindust]

Labor on That Midnight Wire

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel

Rating: M

Archive Warnings: No Warnings Apply

Relationships: Molly/Alastor, Angel Dust/Husk, Charlie/Vaggie— mentioned, Arackniss/Salem, Lucifer/Lilith — mentioned

Characters: Angel Dust, Molly, Arackniss, Alastor, Husk, Salem, Henroin, Lucifer, Minor Character(s)

Additional Tags: Non-Consensual Drug Use, Alternate Universe — Royalty, Alternate Universe — Nobility, Mentioned Character Death, Hurt No Comfort, Angst, No Happy Ending, Non-Graphic Violence, Fade-to-Black Sex, Conflict No Resolution, Incomplete, Viva la Revolución

It’s a classic European royalty AU, with King Lucian, Queen Lilith and Princess Charlotte. Varona (Vaggie) is Charlie’s Lady in Waiting but they have been secretly courting each other for quite some time now. (Unfortunately this is just the B plot and I don’t have much planned for it.)

Our focus will primarily be the House of Cadaverini: Marquis Henry Cadaverini and his late wife Marchioness Clementine, and their three lovely children, the Lord Nicholas, the Lady Maria, and the Young Lord Angelo.

Nick is the perfect heir. Upstanding young man, handsome, does what he’s told, handles quite a few of the House’s duties, helps maintain good relations with neighboring lords... the usual. In fact, many suspect that he will be betrothed to the Princess come year’s end.

Lady Maria is the talk of the land for her beauty and grace, but mostly her sharp wit. Normally ladies are expected to be prim and proper, and while she is, she has also never hesitated to cut a man down with her words... Many a rumor about what lucky lord will be able to “tame” that lady into a proper wife... Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be happening any time soon, since Henry is soft on her, his only daughter who reminds him of his wife so much; he’s given her the liberty of rejecting any suitor that comes before her and she does so gleefully.

And lastly.. of course, the Young Lord, Angelo. He is much more reckless than both of his siblings, and tales of his escapades travel far. He’s a heartbreaker, said to be able to woo anyone woman in the land. Although it would seem his tastes lie with the gents.. and is also exceptional at challenges of the equestrian variety. While beloved by many, much of the older Nobility find him disgraceful, due to his blatant disrespect and unwillingness to perform the duties expected of him. As you can tell the House is quite the popular topic for gossip.

Now one day, Lord Angelo and Lady Maria are out for one of their rides, (another thing she shouldn't be doing but WELL..) and they come across a hovel of a building.. Never noticed it because they never come out this far..... and it's so creepy it's like an above ground graveyard or a mausoleum or something..... there are coffins EVERYWHERE.... some open... some, more disturbingly, closed. This is where they meet the estranged Alistair who has.. no last name? Despite Angelo’s distrust, Maria seems to be immediately intrigued by this strange man... the first able to keep up with her Wit, following along with every twist and turn and giving as good as he got.

[ Interaction Interlude:

“So... Alistair...... What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a Carpenter! :)”

“..... who only makes coffins?” :doubt:

“................... Correct! :)” ]

Eventually, Angelo has had enough and is like “Alright let’s go!” And Maria seems frustrated by this but she agrees anyway.. they leave but even as they do both Alistair and Maria know... She’ll be back.

And she is! She starts to visit Alistair more and more often, all alone as well, which is extremely unacceptable for a woman of her status. And before they know it they’ve begun their own private little courting dance that neither will admit to. And thats. Main Plot Part A.

MEANWHILE IN MAIN PLOT PART B.... While Maria is off on her secret dates, which Angelo knows about and is begrudgingly been covering her for... Angelo actually has to go out since he’s supposed to be out with Maria. And he finds his time occupied at this kind of shitty smithy which is clearly for low income peasantry and thus. Absolutely NOWHERE he should be spending his time... Which is why he likes it so much. :))) And it’s there that he meets the gruff and burdensome blacksmith who offers no name. It’s fine though. Angelo doesn’t need a name to flirt. And this blacksmithy is cute under all that dirt and grime He Knows It. Unfortunately the Smith doesn’t seem to like the Young Lord at all, which is also fine. Angelo’s certain he can crack him eventually. No one can resist Lord Cadaverini. They go back and forth for months.. Angelo learns that people call the smith Husk... he likes the name. Eventually the man seems less genuinely irritated and more begrudgingly annoyed. Angelo can tell. The smith enjoys his company he just won’t admit it. Especially to himself. Finally one day, Angelo is actually getting on Husks nerves but he can’t even tell. The Lord is a bit oblivious to when people are legitimately mad at him, since he’s so used to mindlessing pushing people’s buttons. What pushes it over the line though, is Angelo asking why Husk is always smithing weapons especially since there's no way there could be that much demand for such a simple low class smithy... yet he’s always working. Husk snaps, although Angelo doesn’t know why, and he sends the lord away.

So! While his siblings have been gallivanting about, making poor examples of the Cadaverini House, Nicholas has been the one thing trying to hold their damn reputation together. Honestly the only reason that the Cadaverini haven't fallen in standing with the other Noble Houses is because the elders have faith in Nicholas to uphold the legacy and their beliefs in what nobility should be. He’s their last bastion of hope. They’d already given up on Angelo, and with each year unwed, they lose faith in Maria as well. In fact, prospects for House Cadaverini Look brighter than ever, since rumors say that Nicholas and the Princess will be wed.

Nick pays no mind to the rumors. Which is a real shame because he is woefully unprepared when Henry comes to inform him that yes, he has talked to King Lucien and he and Charlotte will be wed in December.

You see... Nicholas has not been the perfect son that everyone believes he has. He has a lot of duties for the kingdom; one of which is “maintaining foreign relations” a position that requires him to report directly to the king, making him Quite the Reputable and Important figure…

On paper, Hel is supposed to be fostering positive relations with its neighboring country, Locasta. However, under the surface King Lucien is planning a Coup, and intends to have his brother, Apollyna assassinated. In order to achieve this, Nicholas has been appointed as his Locastan Envoy, and is expected to spend long trips in the other country integrating himself into their Nobility, establishing a close relationship, and eventually learning trade military secrets. So Nick has spent his time trying to get into Count Caius Costello’s good graces. Although of lower rank, he is in charge of one of Locasta’s fiercest regiments. The plan was to use his status as a Lord and future Marques of Cadaverini House to garner a seat at Costello’s table. Then he would endear himself to the Count’s Sister, Salem, and use her as a pathway to receive information... Unfortunately... Things didn’t work out quite as planned.

Salem is smart as a whip, and just as quick and vicious. She pulls Nick off to the side of the stables one day, and before he can defend himself, she has him pinned to the wall with a knife to his throat. It’s almost shameful how easily she reads him, he’s like an open book before her. It’s impressive, but Nicholas still has a mission. So he lies through his teeth and waves his position around as though it were a white flag, and even though she doesn’t seem to believe him at ALL, she lets him go. He has a point after all... Killing someone of his status WOULD be a declaration of war, which is exactly what King Lucian would want. Her hands were tied.... for now. But the moment Nick slipped up, and he would slip up, she’d be there, sword at the ready. And he knew it. And he liked it.

He wouldn’t call it courting.. .that’s too formal. Too normal. Too acceptable. He spends the time in Locasta... pursuing Salem. And he spends his time in Hel missing her company. It’s a miracle his siblings haven’t noticed his lovesick longing, but he supposed that for once they were too busy doing whatever to be prying into his life. And for that he was thankful.

Back in Hel, Angelo has been... Sulking. To put it plainly. Maria’s been off with her new beau.... Nicholas has been off being Stupid Perfect Son Nicholas. And he’s been fucking alone because Husk hates him now and never wants to see him again and he doesn’t even know why. And this house is big and empty and it just makes him lonely upset and mad and lonely. And it’s on one of those lonely days in an empty house that the monotony was broken. Broken by a concerned servant, who requires the assistance of the Lord of the House and since Angelo is the only one there well... that task falls to him. Apparently there is a weaponsmith at the front gate and he is quite adamant that the Lord come see his wares. So Angelo makes his way to the front of the grounds and who does he see but. Husk. The young lord is immediately on guard; the last time they met they didn’t part on good terms after all. He debates just sending the man away but Husk asks that he please hear him out and well.... he quite likes the frump so... he invites him in.

[They make up. They fuck.] Funnily enough, it isn't until they're in bed that Angelo learns the man’s name... Hadrian Cabot... it was a good name. (And thank god his mother was already dead because had she heard of this she might have died again.) But Angelo demands one more thing from him. If he’s going to stay in his life then Hadrian will have to be honest about what set him off that day in the smithy. He doesn’t seem like he wants to share but after looking at Angelo’s face again it seems to break him down a little. He explains his... checkered past.... and the fact that until Angelo he’d always hated Nobles... and in fact he still hates 99% of them. Which makes Angelo laugh, knowing he's the 1%. And he doesn’t fault the smith for that; as a lord he could attest, Nobility, including himself tbh, were all AWFUL people. But then Hadrian tells him something that he can’t just brush off.. He tells him of a plot, an uprising in Hel. People are banding together, they know that King Lucian is power hungry and tyrannical and fear that a war they don’t want is on the horizon. It’s made the people restless and some have decided to lash out before he gets the chance to strike. That’s why he was always crafting weapons. He owed the guy who has become the unofficial leader of the revolution.. they’d worked together in the past and the reason Hadrian lashed out was because he hadn’t wanted to get Angelo involved. Angelo could understand why. He knew what revolution entailed. Heads would roll. Heads like his. He could understand why Hadrian didn’t want to get close to him. Not if he would be partially responsible for his death in the future. But even still something about the story unsettled him. This guy that Hadrian was indebted to... What was his name? Who is leading this revolution?.... Angelo wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer. But he had to ask.

LET’S CHECK ON MOLLY HUH??? —

Alright! It seems that for Maria, her lovelife has been sailing far easier than either of her brothers. Alistair is fantastic. He actually engages her, he’s interested in the things she has to say, appreciates her mind instead of her breasts. It’s such a relief after wasting so much time with those bastards in the court. They get along quite well. It’s refreshing. She’d been making trips out to visit him once or twice a week at this point, just glad to have someone outside of her brothers that she could consider an actual friend. ((It’s not like she could just make informal housecalls to see the princess when ever she wanted, even if they were friends)) Someone who she could just be herself around, even if he was just odd. She could tell him her passions about the medical field, and he would in turn talk about his hunting escapades. She learned that although he made a number of coffins for work he also found an unexpected pleasure in the art. It soothed something in him, brought him to peace with death both future present and past. Maria didn’t quite understand it, but she respected it well enough. It was a day like any other, they’d been having tea and Alistair was in the process of explaining ‘taxidermy’ when Angelo burst in. He looked ragged and distressed and he wasn’t breathing right... It set Maria on edge.

His eyes looked so wild, darting back and forth every few seconds to look at Alistair, as if taking his eyes off him for a second would be catastrophic but also desperate to ensure that his sister was unharmed and in one piece. It took a few seconds to realize that between his reedy breathing and panicked gasps he was trying to speak, but it was all rushing together so quickly that it was incomprehensible. Maria immediately went to his side, assuming the worst. Thankfully it seemed that having her in arms reach helped to calm him, if only a little. During all the stress and concern, she hadn’t even noticed the man who followed Angel in, slightly out of breath. But thankfully Alistair did. He immediately took control of the situation, as if he were born to lead. It was a bit unexpected, but not unwanted, although again Maria and Angelo seemed to be out of sync with that thought. He instructed everyone to have a seat, and began to prepare tea for everyone as he tried to explain to Angelo that no one would be able to understand him until he calmed down and that the tea would help. The young lord didn’t seem to agree with him but eventually was cajoled into drinking by his sister and his... beau. He wished he hadn’t.

Within minutes he felt calm. Too calm. His tongue felt like lead in his mouth, every blink came slow and heavy, and suddenly the teacup had the weight of an anchor sitting in his hands. He wasn’t tired, it just felt that he was underwater. Every movement came, but it came sluggish like the drip of molasses off a wooden spoon. He wanted to glare, to yell and accuse Alistair for his misdeeds, but the very thought of lifting his head seemed like a monumental task, so very far beyond him. Thankfully, his sister was no fool, and immediately noticed something was wrong. Everyone was just too relaxed for the situation at hand. She turned to confront Alistair but he just responded with the same smile he always did, asking that she refrained from being swept away in her own emotions and that she hear his explanation. She didn’t know if she wanted to, but the sight of her brother, nearly comatose and in the arms of a stranger, left her with little choice now didn’t it? And she didn’t hesitate to point that out.

Thankfully, Alistair didn’t waste time on contrivances, and was quick to explain himself. He explained that while yes, it was coincidence that they happened upon his humble abode that fateful day, it was always part of the plan to “make contact” with the Cadaverini heirs. And yes, he meant Kidnapping. But thankfully he realized that day, there was no need to resort to such methods because Maria was an intelligent woman and surely would see his logic. He had no intention of hurting either her or her brother, he simply needed them as a means to an end, and it just so happened that if she would willingly agree to his cause that would only make things much easier. At that point, he details his entire plan to her; a move some might consider foolish, but when questioned he assured that he held no doubt in his mind that Maria would not betray him. It burned her inside to know that he was right. He explains the role that she and her siblings are to partake in this game of his and that is when she has had enough. She needs to know. Is that all this was to him? A game? Alistair is excited, he can tell by her calm demeanor that he’s already won her over, had he not he may have been in actual danger, and the thought has made him giddy. He’s prancing about the house, making changes to their plans to accommodate their new accomplices when he registers the question. “A game? Why of course not, Dear Maria! I’ve always considered you a good friend.”

She didn’t know if that answer made her feel better.. or worse.

#my writing #royalty au #hazbin hotel #molly hazbin hotel #mollastor #hazbin angel dust #angel dust x husk #informal writing #arackniss x salem #charlie x vaggie #mentioned: charlie x arackniss #ahahah i dont remember how to tag fic on tumblr

[littlemisssquiggles]

In your Pinehead Headcanons #54, you mentioned that you think that Oscar will inherit Ozma's magic in time. But Ozpin stated in Volume 5 that his magic was fading, so we can assume that his magic reserves are limited. Do you think this will play a role once Oscar inherits Ozma's magic and if so, how?

Hiya Mizuike! Here’s the thing, it’s not so much just that Oscar will inheritOzma’s magic but pretty much become the very personification of it as someonewho is proven to be more powerful than Ozma or any of the past Wizards; if thatmakes any sense.

When I first shared the concept of Oscar inheriting Ozma’s magic and awakening his magical potential, I did it under the pretenceof another Pinehead headcanon of mine where Oscargains the ability to take back magic from the Maidens. The idea I had was that Cinder, upon learning that the Maidenmagic originated from Ozma, will target Oscar in an attempt to drain any bit ofpower that Ozpin claimed to be left dwindling inside him.

Back in V5, we saw Cinder take thismegalomaniac approach when she dared to steal the Spring Maiden powers. So itwouldn’t surprise me if she suddenly got the urge to pull the same stunt withOscar—pilfering the rest of Ozma’s power for herself. But in doing so, shewould simultaneously spark something in Oscar—an ability that could workeither as a semblance or just something unique to Oscar as he is an incarnate of Ozma.It is the ability to revoke magic from the Maidens and return it to itsoriginal source—Ozma’s soul.

If Ozma was able to gift his magic away during the creation of the First Maidens, then surely he (or any of his descendants) must possess the capability of taking said magic back should it fall into the wrong hands, right?

Basically, in a nutshell, what I’m hoping for is for Oscar to revoke the Fall Maiden magic from Cinder Fall, thus empowering him with her share of Ozma’s magic which in turn would make Oscar just as powerful as the Maidens. Maybe even a little stronger.

In a previous Pinehead headcanon on this subject, this is how I worked it out: When Ozma, as Isaac the Hermit, first created the Maidens, let’s say he sacrificed 90% of his magic to the girls while reserving 10% of it to use for himself.

That same 90% magical strength was then divided evenly amongst the four Maidens. Therefore, each Maiden is 22.5% magically powerful. I use this example because it would justify, in a sense, the battles between Cinder vs Raven and Ozpin respectively and why each fight concluded the way they did.

My hunch is that, despite being magically competent, Ozpin or any of the Wizards, for that matter, are only half as powerful as a Maiden. They’re practically immensely weaker now given how much magic the Wizardshave used since the Maidens’ birth.

Even with his experience and superior fighting skills, it is my belief that it was inevitable that Oz would’ve been defeated by Cinder since her magic was far superior than his. The last shot we had of their fight was Cinder unleashing her Fall Maiden magic on Ozpin at full blast while he himself used his to shield against hers. In the end, I think Cinder only won that fight because Ozpin was magically weaker than her. That’s my theory.

As for the Raven and Cinder battle—that dual was pretty much evenly matched since Cinder and Raven were of the same power level, magically. What made the difference was wit and a little outside help. In the end, it was Raven’s tactical prowess coupled together with outside assistance from Vernal that gave her an edge in finally downing Cinder in a battle that probably could have gone on forever since, like I said, both Maidens were evenly match.

No Maiden is more powerful than the other since they all share the same level of magic—hypothetically speaking, of course.

Returning to my point on Oscar—currently Oscar is only working with 10% orless of Ozma’s original magic; similar to what Ozpin has been using prior to him. And it would make sense that the magic is dwindling since, technically Ozma did used some of that magic again before Oscar’s time.

To be fair, who knows what else Ozpin or any of the past Wizards utilized Ozma’s magic to do in the centuries prior. One of my guesses is that Ozma, during his lifetime as the Phadrig—the Warrior King of Vale, must’ve used some of his magic to create the Vaults to hide the Relics. It would make sense if magic was involved in the construction of these mystical vaults since thus far, using theVault of the Spring Maiden as example, these Vaults have been very magical innature. Not to mention the room that was used to house the power of the Relic.

Ozpin—well Ozma’s magic is dwindling or currently weaker since a) he sacrificed the majority of it to create the First Maidens and b) later possibly utilized what little magic he left to forge the Vaults, tailoring them to suit each particular Maiden and Relic.

In addition to that, he also gifted animalistic shapeshifting abilities to the Branwen Twins. So let’s use math again for this. Okay, so after his life as the Hermit, Ozma had been working with only 10% of his magic, correct? (Iknow some RWBY theorists believe that the Hermit came after the King of Valebut this squiggle meister believes in the opposite hunch. My guess is that theHermit came before the King and that’s how I’m going to work it out).

Let’s say, as the King of Vale, from that 10% magical strength, Ozmaused 4% of said power in the construction of each Vault of the Maidens to housethe Relics. He may have even used differing amounts of magic for certain vaultsfor certain Relics since I’d imagine the creating a Vault to house the Relic ofDestruction, might not be so simple.

But for the sake of this example, let’s keep it even steven. So after creating the Vaults, Ozma was left with 6% magical strength.

So when Ozpin came into the picture, he was only working with 6% of the previous 10% he had since the King of Vale used some of it to create the Vaults, allegedly.So Ozpin was only 6% magically strong during his reign. However, eventually Ozpin gifted some of Ozma’s magic yet again to turn the Branwen Twins of Team STQR into his heralds—his travelling eyes in the sky.

And once again, for the sake of this example, let’s say Oz gave up 2% of his magic to turn both twins into birds. He did mention in V5 that turning the Branwens into birds only required a little bit of magic and it would make sense. I’d imagine turning two impressionable teenagers into shapeshifters was child’s play compared to what Ozma has done with his magic both in current Remnant and First Remnant.

But if Ozma, as Ozpin, yet again gave up some of his magic, what does that leave him with now? Only 4% magical strength.

At the start, Ozma was 100% as powerfulas any person from First Remnant. But after creating Maidens and vaults andshapeshifters, all that’s left of his original power is a measly 4% of howpowerful he originally was.

Let’s not forget that technically, Ozma was more powerful than Salem, mind you. Ozma defeated Salem during his second life as Diggs. He succeeded in killing her but if it weren’t for the Brother Gods’ dumbass idea of gifting immortality to the very being who double-crossed them and then dared to destroy them both—if it weren’t for that Salem would be a thing of the past.

So between our two titular remnants of First Remnant, Ozma was magically superior at full strength. This would additionally make sense from a fairy tale standpoint since in the Wizard of Oz, as the true ruler of Oz, Princess Ozma was the most powerful magi in Oz—more powerful than the Wizard of Oz and the Wicked Witch.

But ultimately, despite being sopowerful, Ozma gave away his magic and opted to work with only a small fractionof his power. A power that will soon be inherited by Oscar. But it’s such a small amount.

This is why I like the idea of Oscar taking back Ozma’s power from theMaidens; starting with Cinder.

My theory was that at some point, Oscarwill come to the realization that if he was to ever stand a fighting chance magicallyagainst Salem and her forces, he needed to be at fullpower. So after revoking the Fall Maiden magic,Oscar planned to take back the magic from the remaining Maidens so that bythen, he’ll be closer in power to how he used to be—at least how Ozma used tobe.

This then ties into my theory that Oscar is Ozma—his trueincarnation as the manifestation of Ozma’s originalbody (that he never got back) reborn in Modern Remnant. My idea is that theMerge isn’t meant to kill Oscar. It’s meant to make him whole againas he remembers who he truly is. If Ozpin is the current culmination of Ozma’ssoul plus all the past Wizards then, hypothetically, by my assumption, that would make Ozpinthe current version of Ozma’s soul.

And if Oscaris revealed to be Ozma’s original form reborn then both body andsoul will finally be reunited in the Merge.Thus making Oscar—well Ozma, whole again. Truly reviving him this time. I really love my ‘Oscar is Ozma’ theory since it makes the most sense to me out of all the Merge theoriesI’ve heard and shared. It’s also leagues better than him just being another oneof Ozma’s lives. Most fans tend to buy into this being Oscar’s ultimate fatebut this honestly can’t be true. Especially considering that series itselftries to tell you that this isn’t the case.

Oscar is meant to be special. Hisexperience as a current Wizard of Light is going to be different from his predecessors.He isn’t going to be another one of Ozma’s lives. He is the life.The last life, hopefully. I love this theory since, here we have Oscar beingconcerned about losing himself to the Merge when the reality is, it’s meant tochange him for the better.

Here we have Oscar worrying about hislife being taken over by another when the reality is, he’s going to be made complete.Oscar—Ozma will become the most complete he’s felt in centuries and fromthere, he can make the choice to live as whoever he wants. He could choose tobe called Ozma or continue living asOscar.

And I like the idea of Oscar choosingto live as Oscar. Ozma may be who he is but he was also his past. Whohe used to be. After living amongst the other Wizards, Ozma is no longerhimself. He’s been touched and inspired by so many people throughout his manylifetimes including the men who’s shared their lives with him.

It’s all part of a destiny that Oscarfigured he didn’t have a choice in avoiding at first. But now he does. And he chooses to be Oscar whilefighting to uphold the vow he made to the God of Light to save humanity and carryon the legacy of the valiant men who sacrificed their lives to uphold it. That’smy theory.

I want Oscarto be revealed as the fully revived version of Ozma so that from henceforth, he could live his life as himself, notworrying about taking another innocent soul ever again. I’m still waiting formy Lost Fable parallel where Oscarmeets with one of the Brother Gods in the Realm Between Realms like how Ozmadid.

I figured since Ozma met the God ofLight, it’d be interesting if, shouldOscar wind up in the Realm, he’d meet up with the God of Darkness instead.

I have this gut feeling that sinceLight was the one who gave Ozma his reincarnation powers, his brother Dark hadno idea of his brother’s actions or something to that liking. There’s also thatside of me that believes that even Ozma’s revival and reincarnation cycle wascreated as another experiment by the Brothers.

And just as how Ozma made a deal withthe God of Light to keep reincarnating to help humanity, imagine if…Oscar makes a deal with the God of Darkness to…I dunno…end thecycle in exchange that he will stop Salemonce and for all?

Do you know what would be interesting?If Oscar makes a deal with God of Darkness to turn him into basically a human martyr—likesince the God of Darkness’ power is destruction then it’d be interesting itOscar acts to be granted the power to kill Salem. Darkness tells Oscar that hecan grant him such a power but y’know—equivalent exchange and all that. To begiven the power to kill to take an immortal life, another immortal life must besacrificed.

So imagineif…Oscar gives up his immortal soul to be granted the power to stop Salem once and for all. Basicallyimagine if…Oscar turning himself into some kind of Failsafe. Like he becomes the key to stopping Salem for good but since it’s at the expense of taking his own life for humanity,his friends are vehemently against him doing that.

Can I see Oscar willingly turning himself into amartyr to save humanity? Yes. Can I see his friends—the people who careabout him strongly opposing this option and opting to only use this Failsafe as last resortshould they not find another alternative to stopping Salem again since they’re all hellbent on NOT losingOscar? Yes. Thus Oscar becomes the last Wizard—thelast life; taking on the burden of protecting humanity on himself andhimself alone so no other soul would be made to go through what he, Ozma andall the other Wizards went through. I know all of this sounds very stretchy and reach-y. Nevertheless, as always, these are only theories. 

And believe it or not, ALL of this tiesback into my Oscar and magic theory. At least the Ozma part. If Oscar learnsthat he is Ozma then he would probably wish to undo some of the actions he had madein his previous lives. Starting with the Maidens. Perhaps Oscar would come to think that creating the Maidens was a mistake?

One thing that disappointed me aboutthe Maidens is that, their only purpose in RWBY’s narrative thus far is servingto open the door to acquire the Relics. They’re not even needed to keep theVault open or something more important like…imagineif…eachRelic was magically bound to a Maiden andthus could only be handled by them or something like that.

It bums me out that the Maidens onlyserve to show up to open the Vaults and then be expendable—to be killed for their power mostly. It would’ve been nice tosee a story where our heroes had to gather the Four Maidens, not just for thesake of the Relics but in the fight against Salem overall. Perhaps the combinedpower could’ve been rumoured to have the potential to overpower Salem or go toeto toe with her or something like that.

It could’ve been cool to see our heroesbefriend the Maidens. Have them join theheroes and actually be characters worth gettingto know. But for now, it seems like a Maiden’s fate is to mostly open a doorand then die for the sake of her power being lost. This is why I’m liking theidea of one of two things:

One, like I said, Oscar takes the FallMaiden powers back from Cinder. He doesn’t kill her for it because, in keepingwith his Wizard of Oz counterpart—Princess Ozma was a pacifist who didn’t believein killing her foes. I can see a bit of that was rubbed off on Ozma since hechose to wield one of the least lethal weapons in the series. It’d beinteresting if Salem was technically the only person Ozma ever killed periodand following that, he vowed never to kill anyone again or something. Anyways, what if…Oscarmanages to take back the Fall Maiden magic sparing Cinder’s life (for theCinder fans who believe in her redemption or further story).

Now stronger than he was before with aquarter of his magical strength restored, Oscar decides that he needs to takethe Maiden magic back. Perhaps he feels responsible for the Maidens who have died since theMaiden magic was a power he had enforced onto the originals. He had meant it tobe something they can use for good but whatif…like his reincarnation curse, Oscarcomes to see that perhaps he has only burdened the Maiden candidates with his power and made them targets forSalem.

So because of this, Oscar vows to findthe remaining Maidens and take the power back. Without killing them, of course.By my headcanons, Oscar, asa Wizard and the original Ozma, is the only person capable of taking the Maidenmagic back without killing thecandidate.

The other idea I have is Oscar deciding to gather the Maidens, buildinga small team consisting of himself leading the remaining three living Maidens asRemnant’s first and only all magi team, technically.. Perhaps…Oscarwill seek to ask the Maidens to join him and the other heroes in the fight to stop Salem for theirmagic could provide everyone an advantage in the fight. After all, in the past,Ozma kept the identities and existence of the Maidens a secret from the world. What if…Oscarwould strive the change that. Perhaps, in his mind, he’d think it’d be better if the Maidens are seenfor what they are. Heroes who use the gifts he had blessed them with to help others simplybecause they’re able to.

So in the event of a Second Great War to come or Remnant is challenged by Salem and her foces, I thinkit’d be cool if Oscar were to seek out the Maidens to help him stop it and fendoff Salem. That could be another idea to play off of.

So…yeah…that’s my answer. This wassupposed to be a short answer but…oh well. Hope I actually managed to answeryou there Mizu.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

#squiggles answers: rwby #oscar pine #professor ozpin #oscar and ozpin #rwby theories #pinehead headcanons #squiggles pinehead headcanons #mizuike #squiggles answers