The Red Queen

by Dravyn LeCrux

Ruby's life was going great. But after jealousy rears it's ugly head, she finds herself alone. Betrayed by the other students in her grade, abandoned by her friends, and left to die at their very hands, Ruby must struggle to live and find her vengeance. With darkness growing in her heart, Ruby finds the power to take the shadows she previously fought, and make them her thorns.

21. In Memory

As I type this, I do so with a heavy heart. Due to a timezone difference, and work getting in the way, I have only recently learned that Monty Oum, a man it would be no understatement to call the epitome of awesomeness, has passed.

I have followed Monty since the time I was introduced to Dead Fantasy and Haloid, and his work simply took my breath away. Unlike most who would bind themselves to convention when they created battle scenes, Monty truly threw that convention out of the window and went where nobody else really could. The Laws of Physics had no effect on him, nor did any limit imposed on the amount of awesome a work could hold. He was simply doing what he loved, and he did it so well that he caught millions of peoples attention doing so.

Aside from his awesome work, from his early YouTube videos up until his employment at RoosterTeeth working on Red vs. Blue (and to some fans opinions improving it with a bump up in the action), and RWBY, the show that brought a smile to my face hen all else failed to, Monty was known to be a dedicated worker, often to the point of neglecting his own health and sleep, and a great man. After all, look at all of the friends he'd left behind at RoosterTeeth studios, as well as the family who, while it may hurt to have lost him, were blessed to have known him for those 33 years he lived. As a person who's experienced the loss of loved ones, I can sympathize, and I can also say it cannot be easy for them. To Monty's family, I can only give my deepest sympathy, and my most sincere heartfelt condolences.

As it were, now that Monty himself is gone, we face a dilemma. The man who brought upon us RWBY, the very universe of Remnant that we read about here, that so many fans have taken to and improved or changed in their own ways, is gone, and now the story may not be what it could have been. I will not say anything bad about the other members of RT, but instead I look to you, and to I. I look to the fandom now, as it falls upon all of us, fans and producers alike, to keep Monty's works alive. I know other authors on this site will continue to put out these fanfictions as their own way to pay tribute to that great man. I too won't be quitting either.

I know this is a great loss for us all, but we cannot give up. The creativity Monty wished to spread, we shall spread for him in his stead. It is with this that I wish to announce that I will be continuing the Red Queen in a sequel. I won't end, not when Monty would have kept going to bring smiles to our faces and joy to our hearts by working to put out the works that he did. The Red Queen will end on schedule, between chapter's 24-26. After that, an entirely new chapter of the Red Queen's story will begin. It isn't much, but this is what I feel I can do to honor that great man who brought us this universe in the first place.

To end, I would like us all to remember what Monty had given us; a smile in a bleak time, a laugh when we needed it, or just an awesome video to stave off the boredom and loneliness for a while longer. Remember these feelings, but don't weep on them. Remember them with the same feelings you did at the time, and keep that in your hearts and minds. He was a legend. He is a legend. And we shall be the Remnants of that legend.

Monty Oum 22 June, 1981 - 01 February, 2015. Rest in Peace you glorious man.

I will not say goodbye though. You are not gone, you're just simply not here right now. But we shall wait.