DON'T BE ALARMED. PROJECT RWBY IS NOT ENDING. I HAVE NO PLANS ON ENDING THIS YET. PLEASE READ THIS IN IT's ENTIRETY TO UNDERSTAND THIS UPDATE.

Hello.

I'm sorry for posting an update that's not a full chapter, but the following had to be said because of what I felt was right. I plan on being extra diligent towards the story from now on. Maybe not in terms of updates, but in terms of what I want to do. Again, I'm sorry about the lack of story. But this all had to be stated.

Now, this is something that I've sort of been building up to. I've mostly been free flowing with the plot up to Act 4, but I know exactly what's going to happen at the end of the day. Project RWBY is diverging from canon even more than it already has. I'm going to explain why now, in it's own update, instead of leaving it for an author note nearly as long as a chapter in and of itself. That and I won't remember by the time that comes.

RWBY isn't the same anymore.

I noticed it at the beginning of Volume 3. The show seemed a little less vibrant, more dull. In short, RWBY had lost some of it's luster. But I continued watching, knowing that there was still awesome to be had. I had no idea then that Monty Oum had passed away. He had died in February. I didn't find out until September.

I had felt this odd feeling. I hadn't watched any of Monty's work that wasn't RWBY because I had never heard of them. I was also not a real big fan of Rooster Teeth at the time, only really watching some of their older content and new episodes of RWBY when they came to YouTube. But now I can feel that feeling I had being defined and vindicated. It was dread- dread that I was watching something unique die.

And die it did.

RWBY became Rooster Teeth's the second Monty died. How do I know this? Recently, I read an open letter from one of the man's most loyal partners, Shane Newville. He worked with Monty on Red vs. Blue Season 10, and he was a part of the team that did the first two volumes of RWBY. He even worked on the Black and Yellow trailers. He saw what happened behind the scenes between Monty and a production staff that didn't care about artistic integrity.

Ultimately, all of Monty's work would be for naught, as when he died, Rooster Teeth never even consulted Shane, Monty's widow Sheena, nor any of the other friends Monty had confided in. They ignored the plans Monty had set out for future volumes. They ditched the tools Monty used, tools he used not because they were powerful and efficent, but because he liked challenge, liked to make something awesome out of nothing. He was animation MacGuyver.

But Volume 3 moved away from his vision. Volumes 4 and 5 only cemented the fact that RWBY as I had seen it begin was dead. I had seen the first episode the week it came out, and I had regularly binged Volumes 1 and 2 waiting for 3. And when season 4 was announced, I bought into the hype.

I hate that I fell for the hype. I stopped watching entirely during Volume 4. Even when Volume 5 episodes showed up, I'd watch a few minutes and then stop, say 'I'll come back later' and never finish them. RWBY no longer held the same pull to me that it had.

I've known since the beginning that Project RWBY and RWBY were never meant to follow the same paths. I was planning things far too differently. I actually (in my imaginative mind- the benefits of being on the spectrum) had some sort of future in my head where I'd get to be able to do an adaptation of Project RWBY with Rooster Teeth itself.

I know the reality now. Rooster Teeth is a shell of it's former self, only interested in making money. That future will never come to pass, and even if, by some astronomical chance, they offered, when this story has finished, they offered to make an adaptation, I will and always will refuse. I've also noted some things Shane said Monty wanted done differently that how they were done after his death. I plan to include them as best I can, to truly honor the man who inspired me to finally make my own story.

Then Act 5 will flip the script entirely.

This was always created out of respect for Monty and the awesome world he created. This story will continue to be so. But I have, now and forever, lost all respect for the company that pretends it's carrying on his legacy, but never was to begin with.

Monty deserved better.

In honor of Monty Oum and the world he created.

The Pyro Jawsome