#rwby beyond

[bluearc009]

Would you like a spin off series about Somewhat and Juniper

YES

NO

Voting ended onMar 25

[vigilantsycamore]

Some Rubys for your reaction image needs

And versions of the first two with the text included:

[vigilantsycamore]

Possibilities for who Somewhat saw at the end of their Beyond short (assuming my other headcanons about that short are wrong)

Any members of Team RWBY + Jaune. This is the most likely option

The Blacksmith (although something about Somewhat's reaction doesn't fit this option for me)

Neo. It's very possible that at some point between RWBYJ leaving the Ever After and the start of Somewhat's short, Neo did find herself and broke out of her cocoon. Maybe went through the Door and into the Blacksmith's workshop but then decided to stay in the Ever After, after all

[vigilantsycamore]

... Okay. Professor Theodore is now another one of my fictional character crushes in this show

[vigilantsycamore]

"Ren and Nora have their own thing they're working through and... I'm not the same boy they knew. I'm the... Rusted Knight... Nora loves reminding people of that, by the way. They usually just look at her like it's some kind of inside joke they're not a part of."

Renorarc is a fun ship for me to ship because it's like

We start with Team JNPR, very close-knit, budding romances already within the team, and certainly the potential for polyamory, but they're not moving towards that just yet

And then Pyrrha dies. And now JN R are grieving. And in their grief, they fall together. And maybe, even at Argus, when they have their heart-to-heart, they don't yet speak the feelings growing between them, but their bonds are getting closer, more open...

And then, Atlas. And now everyone's always on missions, and while Ren and Nora are often taking missions together, Jaune is usually solo, so that bond gets weakened.

Nora takes a risk with Ren and at first it seems like it's paying off, but things quickly start to go sour. Then Ren's inner turmoil boils over and Jaune gets burned, while the self-doubt Nora's managed to avoid for so long - except for that one time at the Vytal Festival - finally catches up to her.

Ren figures some things out and makes amends but Nora needs to take time to figure herself out too, and when Jaune notices that the three of them are having moment, he remembers Pyrrha and runs. He can't go through that again. He can't.

And now Ren and Nora are in Vacuo. They're grieving. Nora's holding herself together and doing everything she can to help everyone she can. Ren's burying everything deep down, trying his best to stay positive, and he can't stop thinking about Jaune and how strong and resilient Jaune is.

And then Jaune comes back. And Team JN R has reunited - except not really. Ren and Nora are still working on themselves, and Jaune's carrying two decades of pain and loneliness and regret with him. The puzzle pieces aren't fitting together like they used to, even with the Pyrrha-shaped hole in the middle.

The polycule is in fucking shambles and I love them for it. I want this to keep going and see how Complicated this potential throuple gets

[vigilantsycamore]

Jaune says he told Lewis and Alyx about some of his adventures. He also says that they were from "before the War" and that while they had a hard time believing it they did know Jaune was from their future

So how much did Jaune mention when they were comparing notes on Remnant? How much knowledge of the next at minimum 103 years of historical events did Lewis bring back home with him? And what happened to that knowledge since then?

Obviously it wouldn't include anything past the Fall of Atlas, and I wouldn't be surprised if Jaune left some things out about that one. I wouldn't be surprised if, once it was clear they were from different time periods, Jaune tried not to give too much away - but realistically, some things would have slipped out.

So. Highly speculative theory: In addition to The Girl Who Fell Through The World, Lewis also wrote down everything Jaune told him about the future. That now-fully-outdated tome of future knowledge was kept secure somewhere, with whoever had access to it likely taking advantage of the advance warnings while making sure few others knew it even existed, until a Huntress learned about it, found it, read it, and made a desparate plan to prevent the darker events it either mentioned or alluded to from coming to pass. Maybe she even saw her daughters' names written there

If any of that paragraph is true, that book would likely be somewhere in Vacuo

[vigilantsycamore]

Jaune recalling the good times with Lewis and Alyx before things went sour was a very sweet moment

Also, I feel like that flashback is more evidence that the version of Alyx that Jaune describes at the Crossroads isn't accurate to what Alyx was actually like and is more a result of Jaune's bias and trauma affecting how he remembered her

On a different note, though

Alyx and Lewis were from before the War? As in the Great War? That suggests one of two things: either...

While time (mostly) runs forward both in the Ever After and on Remnant, the pace at which it runs does not match up or does not have a consistent conversion rate. The Blacksmith saying that the portal to Remnant will take RWBYJ to when they're needed the most does support this. Or...

Jaune is currently at minimum 103 years old. Going by his appearance in the flashbacks with Lewis and Alyx, probably more like 120-something, if not older still. Something, possibly the poison Alyx gave him but possibly just something about the Ever After, messed with his physical aging which explains why Old Man Jaune didn't look much older

[vigilantsycamore]

Oscar was acting a lot like Ozpin during his talk with Jaune in Beyond, which does probably mean that the merger is still progressing despite both Ozpin and Oscar fighting it. This is consistent with the Volume 9 Bonus Animatic

A different possible explanation could be that Ozpin was the one Jaune was actually talking to for at least part of that conversation but. I don't like that idea, not if Jaune doesn't know he's talking to Ozpin

Or, third option, Jaune is talking to Oscar but since Ozpin is in Oscar's head he's basically got a backseat to the whole conversation anyway and is whispering lines to Oscar