#neverfell ask

First of all, thank you! I'm honored, really. :D

I never really thought about posting the script anywhere; I didn't think anyone would be particularly interested in seeing it. ^^; But, since you asked, I threw together a quick Google Doc for it. I hope that works for you~

Oh, not quite-- it's a RWBY AU that I made up some years back. ^^; The central conceit is that 'Beacon never fell', diverging from the inciting tragedy of the canon story and taking some different paths with the characters.

... ...Ngl, I completely forgot about that...

First I wanna say that your idea is great. ^^ In fact, it's kinda close to what I wrote-- Summer and the Grimm Princess do have a bit of a connection, and hopefully when I start finally and definitely explaining all my NeverFell lore you're gonna see why.

However, I must admit...on the subject of 'Summer's secret mission': as a concept, I have never really taken it seriously or even believed that it had any meaning. Y'know, beyond a way to give a vague reason why Summer disappeared and paint Ozpin as nebulously shady. And at this point, after RT's many spectacular writing failures, I believe that if/when we find out what it was, it'll be something ridiculous and illogical that they came up with at the last minute and jammed into the story without any further thought. :T Y'know, like Summer's original design, before they "apologized" by giving her a real one in V9. T_T

All that is to say, it never even occurred to me to create a NeverFell equivalent. ^^; Not even when I wrote up a whole coming-of-age story summary for Summer Rose (am I just stupid??? Because that would have made a great conclusion! DX). Now that I actually AM thinking about it, though, I think I would write it as a more 'open secret'. Oz knows where she went, Tai knows where she went, Qrow knows where she went, Raven definitely knows where she went. Even Yang has a rough idea...but no one is talking about it, not because it's some big "mystery", but because it's too painful a subject, and they just don't want to.

They don't want to relive the memory of losing a loved one to the darkness, of following her into hell and having to come back without her, of having to shatter Ruby's illusions of this perfect hero who could do anything. Or in Oz's case: of giving up a little too much info to an overly-eager silver-eyed-warrior and having to wait ~13 years before the next one becomes available. ^^

You giving more development to you Neverfell AU is ✨✨ especially on Ozpin, I remember you once said that Oz was like this before, but when you introduced Oscar and he becomes a student at Beacon that Oz kinda had a realization/epigyny after spending time with him and bonding with him (Ozdad hehe~) and is actually working to be better and less morally grey

Please expand on that I love the concept of Oz actually being morally grey and then Oscar being the one to open his eyes because they bond 👀

Mm, now I know why I held off on answering this one for so long...I really didn't have anything to add to that concept at the time, and to this day I still don't. ^^;

People seem to like asking me about Ozpin, and I guess I have presented some fun ideas about him, but just FYI I don't really spend that much time thinking about his character. He's pretty easy for me to write; just giving him a more fun personality automatically fills in a lot of the holes in his background, and provides opportunities for growth that aren't present in the canon. TL;DR, it's not hard to make him interesting, so I really haven't done much.

HOWEVER, since I'm here, I might as well try to come up with something...I can spitball a few ideas:

I think it'd be cool if both Ozpin and his daughters (the other members of Oscar's team, if you remember) could develop together, in a sense. Like, from the beginning they're kind of indifferent towards him, and going to his school and seeing his shady behavior firsthand probably lowers their opinion of him even more. ⚆u⚆; They might feel like giving up on their mission entirely; deciding their dysfunctional family is just beyond repair...but then, when Oz starts to turn himself around thanks to Oscar's influence, they in turn regain their hope. Maybe even enough to tell him who they really are.

^That would probably be the best possible ending to Oz's character arc, to be honest. ^^; To finally be reunited with his children after so long, and to hear that they originally came to find him just for convenience's sake (wonder where they get that from...), not even intending to interact with him unless they had to, but eventually saw enough good in him to decide they want to be part of each other's lives again. I think that would be very heartwarming, and it would encourage him to keep going~

Pedaling back a bit: I think one reason why Oscar could have an effect on Oz that other students (like Ruby for instance) did not is because he can't really gain anything from him. Oscar isn't particularly smart or talented; he hasn't been blessed with special powers or parentage; probably barely passed the entrance exam and doesn't even know how a Semblance works, let alone how to unlock one for himself. All he really has is that 'simple soul'. Of course, innocence also has its uses (like in the story I wrote for Gretchen), but at this point in the narrative, Ozpin doesn't have time for experiments anymore. ^^; Salem's already coming for him; anyone or thing that can't protect him isn't worth worrying about. So, instead of being tempted to make Oscar into a pawn, all he can really do is allow their relationship to grow organically.

Oh yes, that was the whole idea~

Naturally, Oscar would be the baby of the "family" within this dynamic (kind of like a stepbrother~), as a freshman huntsman and a normal human who's younger than the rest by literal millennia. ^^

I think this would have the biggest impact on Fleur (Spring) who's very anxious and unsure about being any kind of mentor figure, since she's used to being the actual youngest. I think she'd be the type to freak out (and possibly run...) if Oscar asked her for advice. ^^;

Fengo (Summer), being the middle child, would just be super happy to have a new friend to talk to and teach about anything and everything. ^^ I think he and Oscar would spend the most time together.

Fletra (Fall), as the oldest and true leader of the team, would probably be mostly unaffected; looking after a shy farm boy would be a cakewalk compared to looking after her actual siblings. ^^;