#★ General || OOC ★ Malaprops: of or concerning Mal / in an inopportune way

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Because I chicken out and never actually send my GL characters to anyone unless I know they're familiar with the source material, would you like this post if you're chill with interacting with them in their RWBY-verses?

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As you may have noticed, I haven’t been around too terribly much recently. Missa’s been living with me for the last six months, but we’re getting down to her last few weeks here, and coupled with the cold and depression, I’ll likely be on a little bit of a hiatus for a time. 

I might pop in and out and reply to one or two things or send some things to people, but I probably won’t be here much until the beginning of the year. I might be over on @storiedhistories​, but I’ll probably be popping in and out there, too. 

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Fun fact: I just counted and almost half of the characters I play are technically dead in their canon! Which is why I have a "they survived" verse for a lot of them because I think it's super interesting to be able to explore what their lives could have been like if they'd lived.

Like....take Roman, for example. Would he still just be like "Yeah, I'm with Salem because that's what it takes to survive"? Or would he and Neo have cut and run? Would he have done a heel-face turn? The possibilities are endless.

And PYRRHA. As far as Pyrrha goes, we were, quite frankly, ROBBED. What could her life have been if she hadn't died? I have both a "she's partially the Fall Maiden" and a "she didn't get any of the power, but she lived" verse, and I'm working on a "She actually got the FULL power and is wracked with guilt because of it" verse because holy shit, the INTERESTING possibilities.

There's no point to this; I just shouldn't have favourites BECAUSE THEY DIE.

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HIATUS NOTICE -- June 23-July 8(ish)

Similar to Missa's notice, I'll probably be pretty scarce during this time. We're gonna spend some time with friends before we go visit my parents and siblings (for the first time with them calling me Mal and not my legal name, among some other new things, so this'll be interesting), though I might be around in the evenings a little bit before we fly out. Gonna try to get some stuff into the queue, but if that doesn't happen, I'm sorry for keeping everyone waiting instead!

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In reference to V9, discussions of s.uicidal ideation under the cut:

Man, after watching v9 through another time so that I could potentially actually pick up more instead of just being emotional the whole time, the whole.....equating returning to the tree as a form of death, even if Afterans don't experience the concept in the same way, and then having Ruby decide that she "doesn't want to be Ruby anymore" immediately before drinking a tea given to her by an enemy who knowingly wants to kill her, and not treating it as a s.uicide attempt......still really rubs me the wrong way.

I understand what they were going for, that it's a metamorphosis, a transformation, and choosing yourself, deciding that you're enough can be very powerful, but the way they went about it.....

Ruby should absolutely have been allowed to feel her feelings and to deal with being depressed, especially if it means going "oh hey, there was some toxic positivity here, and that needs to change," but it just feels like "She went through the tree (aka death) and now she's all better! She didn't have to do any of the hard work, and she came back better than ever!" and that's such a dangerous narrative. And it frustrates me that this isn't even the first time they've done it....RECENTLY, too.

I don't know; v9's version of it still feels less offensive than GL's (which actually had the s.uicide prevention hotline at the end of the episode), but it's still.....it makes me really uncomfortable. Which is unfortunate, because there were pieces of v9 that I enjoyed, though there were some definite problems (the implication that there's going to be a time jump in the future, which I hate is just one of them), and I thought it was interesting and had some good moments.

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Let's play "Spot the Mythology Nerd!"

So, Mal, just how many reference to Dionysus did you build into Aster?

His allusion is Dionysus. While Dionysus is frequently more known for being 'the god of wine,' he's also the god of madness. I didn't want to go with Asclepius, because he's usually more body, Psyche more represents the soul, and Hygeia is the goddess of good health (which does include mental, but). I chose Dionysus because he's the god of mental illness, and is frequently associated with psychology. But also, who better to help someone than a person who has seen those demons? Who doesn't necessarily want to "fix" people, just wants to help them be their best selves?

Aster is a leopard faunus. Leopards are one of the animals sacred to Dionysus, and he was frequently depicted riding one, wearing furs, etc.

His weapon is named Thyrsus, and it is a collapsible staff. Dionysus carried a "fennel-stemmed sceptre," and it was used as both blessing and weapon. While Aster's is primarily a weapon, it does have a vine and ivy motif carved into it, and he sometimes uses it as a walking stick when terrain is particularly rough or he needs some extra support.

While I haven't named it yet, his semblance essentially makes people into maenads temporarily. I need to describe it better, but borrowing from wiki: "Often the maenads were portrayed as inspired by Dionysus into a state of ecstatic frenzy through a combination of dancing and intoxication." His semblance does work a little differently, but that's a good way of describing some of the base elements.

His mother's name is Ariadne, who was Dionysus' wife.

His surname is "Winton," which was "derived from a place name meaning "enclosure belonging to Wine" in Old English."

While they're not quite leopard spots, his freckles kind of approximate them, because he is covered in them.

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Also, please enjoy the absolutely cursed knowledge that, if you choose to interact with Nicholas Schnee, you might get icons from the K.FC dating sim. Because I made this comparison and I can't unsee it.

Actual Nicholas Schnee (from Ice Queendom, but still)

C.olenel S.anders:

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Waitaminute.

IF picking the fruit from the tree results in a stable time loop, that means that Jaune has always been the Rusted Knight.

But that also means that time does pass differently; the Ever After and Remnant aren't on the same sort of time-length. Because neither Alyx nor Lewis have a 'colour' name, which means they could be from before the Great War, especially since our main characters all knew the story, and it was their favourite story, for some.

So I wonder if Oz somehow knew that Jaune was the Rusted Knight (this part doesn't make as much sense as everything else, but hey).

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In all seriousness, though, if you have a problem with trans muses or trans people, you should take the trash out yourself, because we will not be friends, and I will not hesitate to call out transphobia, especially with the way the world is right now. Take out the trash and leave people alone. You will find no allies here, and quite frankly, you are not welcome.

Signed, a trans ENBY who is done being polite

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Also, now I'm thinking about those, like.....firefighter charity calendars, for the Atlas military. Because there are a bunch of stupidly attractive people. We've got James, Clover, the rest of the Ace Ops, who would each have their own month and one as a group, Winter if you could get her to participate, and just......yup, this is what my mind does.

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I have successfully completed a stage of DMing where I made my entire party cry during the session. I think it has happened before, but I think tonight had the most tears.

One of my players has been trying to find out information about her father, and tonight she had a dream (potentially sent to her by her dead mother) about a moment from very early childhood, which showed her just how much her parents actually did care, even if ✨ circumstances ✨ happened and her dad wasn't there for a lot of her childhood.

This is a thread I've been building in for a while, and each and every time she finds out a little bit more about her dad, I just get such an emotional reaction, and I fucking love it. I have the best players.

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It's funny; if that anon was trying to discourage me from playing villains, they backfired spectacularly. Because now I'm gonna be playing Adam and Ironwood (since those were the callouts) even harder. So expect some opens and/or headcanons and/or random starters if you've ever expressed any interest in either of those characters.

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Because I have absolutely no impulse control and because Missa enables me, I'll be adding Klein, Salem, and Robyn to my test muses. Their pages will be works-in-progress for a little bit, the way that Leon, Nora, and Ren's are, but they will still be available for request for memes and things.

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Meet gen:LOCK

So I know not a ton of people know gen:LOCK, but I absolutely adore this show. We don't talk about Season 2; it doesn't exist. To help facilitate potential interaction with my GL kids, I thought I'd do a quick writeup of them. Note that they do all have RWBY verses because they honestly would fit in that whole world pretty well, but this is just a general sort of rundown.

A quick synopsis of the show itself (pulled from Wikipedia):

"It is set in a dystopian future Earth where an international coalition known as The Polity fights a hostile, autocratic invading force known as The Union. The show follows the gen:LOCK program and its members, who participate in the development and testing of an experimental technology which allows for individuals with unique mental make ups to have their minds uploaded to giant suits of mecha armor called "Holons"."

My crew consists of three of the gen:LOCK team members, the mind behind it, and one of the Vanguard (Polity) soldiers who has been fighting the Union for a while and is helping to train the GL team.

Let's start with the mind behind the technology, Dr. Rufus Weller.

From the gen:LOCK wiki (with some omissions): "Doctor Rufus Weller is a character in gen:LOCK who brought with him "both humor and seriousness". A scientist in the Experimental Science Unit, Weller was the eccentric yet brilliant creator and overseer of the gen:LOCK program, designed to give the Polity an edge in the war against the Union."

He's a scientific genius who created the technology that sets the story in motions, he's calm under pressure, and he can be ruthless when he needs to be.

In his RWBY-verse, he's a top Atlas scientist, working with the likes of Pietro Polendina to develop the most advanced tech in the world. He's currently working on a project that could revolutionize life as we know it, and he hopes it will make a difference in the standard of living in Remnant overall.

Next up, we have Kazu Iida:

From the gen:LOCK wiki: "A rough, unwieldy military operative from Japan, he arrived at the Anvil as part of the Experimental Science Unit's gen:LOCK program alongside Julian Chase and several others, having passed the "Weller Test"."

Previously part of the Japanese military, Kazu's unit was very supportive of having him transferred out to the ESU. He'd been demoted for insubordination, and he can be rough around the edges, but he cares a lot about the people he chooses.

In his RWBY-verse, Kazu grew up in Mistral, no stranger to the city’s vices and virtues.  He attended Haven Academy for a time before being kicked out. Eventually, he was recruited to go to Atlas to test the new Holon program as he was one of the people compatible with the technology.

Our next recruit is actually one of the first: Yasamin Madrani

Pulling from the GL wiki once again: "She's a talented and confident recruit from Iran who finds her calling in the Experimental Science Unit's gen:LOCK program. On the other hand, she has been reluctant to reveal her past involvement with the Union to her fellow comrades. [At one point,] Yaz [was] being held and questioned by military police at the Mesa Detainment Center. Meanwhile, Rufus Weller asks Raquel Marin to accept a transfer request that would put her into his custody. This makes her the second gen:LOCK recruit, after Julian Chase. Like Chase, Yaz has military experience, but unlike him and all of the other gen:LOCK pilots, she is a former member of the Union."

Yaz has a dry sense of humour, which she often displays, even while doing her duty without any issues. Because of her past with the Union, she is very sensitive to any suggestion that she might still be working for them in any way, especially given that the Union killed her parents. She is very dedicated to the gen:LOCK program, especially Dr. Weller.

In her RWBY-verse: Born in Vacuo, Yasamin Madrani joined up with a group of bandits when she was young.  Eventually, she decided that she had had enough and left, ending up in a city where testing for Dr. Weller’s program was occurring.  Without fully realizing what it was, she was selected for the program and taken to Atlas, where she learned to be a pilot and part of the Holon program.

For the last, but certainly not the least of my GL recruits, Val/entina Romanyszyn (listed like this because they are genderfluid and use both "Val" and "Valentina," depending on presentation):

From the wiki again: "They are a retired Russian special forces operator who thought that they were finished fighting. Valentina was involved in special operations in the Eastern European theater before being recruited into the Experimental Science Unit's gen:LOCK program."

Val/entina can be pretty cynical, as expressed when she states that she likes battles she's sure to win. They also believe that the Union will follow its enemies, no matter how far they run. Which is one of the reasons she didn't want to fight on the front line any longer; she only agreed to join the gen:LOCK program because she thought it was a purely scientific endeavour. However, once things really get going, she's deeply loyal to the people she cares about, especially the way they care about the rest of the GL team.

In their RWBY-verse, Val/entina Romanyszyn grew up in Atlas, where they were able to use the region’s advanced tech to enable their transitions as needed.  They also chose to attend Atlas Academy, where they quickly proved their prowess as a sniper.  Now they’re working occasionally in tandem with the Ace Ops, doing what they can to protect the city and Remnant.

Our last case study for the day is Leon August, voiced by Gray Haddock (who also voiced Roman Torchwick initially):

Once more with feeling, from the wiki, "Lieutenant Leon August is a character in Rooster Teeth's gen:LOCK. He's a Strider pilot and Vanguard squad leader" and also gen:LOCK compatible, though he's too old for the technology to be safe for him.

Leon is able to stay calm and retain his sense of humour in both combat and downtime situations, though he's full capable of relaxing and joking with his friends. However, when he's in the field, he tends to be no-nonsense and very focused on getting the job done, while also making sure to watch out for his allies.

While his RWBY-verse is under construction, it's highly likely that he'll be stationed in Atlas as part of the military, potentially having attended Atlas Academy previously.

So there we have it! A quick and dirty rundown of the non-RWBY characters on this blog. Hopefully this helps!

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Finally back home after a very long day, but congratulations, Remnant; I'm gonna start working on a therapist OC because LORD KNOWS, everyone needs one.

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OKAY, so since it has now happened at least three times TODAY, that I know of, it appears that my tunglr has occasionally been rebageling things that I did not intend to reblog. I've disabled my "quick reblogs" that I had enabled with xkit rewritten for now, to see if that makes a difference.

If I've reblogged something from you that looks like it probably shouldn't have been rebloged, I am so sorry! It was definitely not my intention, but just lemme know, and I'll gladly delete it.