#not tagging individual characters cause this was more mindless than anything

[taytei]

more doodle pages cause i was experiencing intense art block for like half a year

[summisdesiderantes]

About Marissa

OOC About page for Marissa Eirkegaard, an extremely old ghoul and vampire hunter in the setting of Vampire: The Masquerade.

The short of it:

Marissa is a ghoul Mage who views vampirism as a disease, and vampires as its victims. She has contempt for the whole, but sympathy for the individual.

She's is a former Shadow Inquisitor, disillusioned by the Inquisition's failure and the corruption of the Catholic Church. She no longer believes in extermination or domination as an effective strategy of disease control.

She currently works as the right hand of the Anarch Baron of San Fernando, believing the Anarch movement capable of giving her the freedom and resources to build something that could truly change Cainite society. A writeup on San Fernando is currently in-progress.

She's here, largely, to spread Anarch propaganda, influence existing Anarchs towards legitimate political action and ideological unity, and potentially find like-minded individuals to recruit to San Fernando's cause.

FOREWARNING: RELIGION.

You've found the blog of a Catholic Sister, or at least someone with enough True Faith to call themselves a devout believer without lying.

...No, I am not Catholic, or even Christian in real life. I am an atheist. I was raised Catholic, but that's honestly irrelevant to my roleplay here. Marissa's experiences and views are not my own. I've studied religion (as in, the history, practice, and philosophy of religion) in college (nearly completed the coursework as a secondary major, but didn't quite have the time), but in honesty, I studied Buddhism more than I studied anything Christian. I may get stuff wrong. Please correct me.

There will probably be religion here. There might be lengthy discussions of religion, which might touch on subjects that could make people uncomfortable. Analytical and historical discussions of religious subjects might occur, which can be uncomfortable for both believers and nonbelievers. Marissa isn't the sort of person to dismiss evidence on the basis of conflict with pre-existing notions. Religion can and has co-existed with both physical science and anthropology for a very long time. I will not be entertaining bad faith discussions about this topic.

It'll be tagged "inquisitor's faith" whenever discussed at length, or with particularly evocative imagery. Commonplace mentions of religion will not be tagged. I'm not tagging every time my Catholic Sister character tells someone she's a Roman Catholic. If that bothers you, please do not follow this blog.

Also, in case there's any doubt, there's not going to be any real-life bigotry on this blog. No homophobia, transphobia, anti-Semitism, racism, nothing. Marissa isn't even a mindless bigot against vampires, the thing she hunts. Some discussion of fantastical bigotry might exist, like discussions of the nature of vampires, but that is where the line is drawn. Any bigotry presented by the Roman Catholic Church or any sizable majority of its practitioners will not be repeated by Marissa.

From an outside perspective...

Marissa is a motherly, soft-spoken, anxious woman. She's a devout Catholic, though she's not big on being forceful with her beliefs. She's kind and generous with her time, and lives a life of modesty and service as a Sister, having taken vows of piety, poverty, chastity, and charity.

She's a very open-minded woman, having thought quite deeply about her belief. If you, with the right approach and demeanor, interrogate her while she's in the right mood, she might reference the works of Aquinas, Maritain, and Rahner. Press her more, and you may hear of the philosophies of those outside of the Catholic sphere, like Otto or Kierkegaard. Synthesize everything she's said, and compare it to the Church she serves, and you might wonder if she's truly a Catholic at all. Nonetheless, she holds firm in her beliefs. She's open-minded, but there's likely scarcely an idea you could present to her that she hasn't reflected on before. She's been in this business for a while, after all.

She likes jazz music, though she'll dabble in other styles. She's not much of a musician herself, and she doesn't know much theory. Rather, she likes what speaks to her, and what speaks to her is something that she's become very attuned to, but doesn't feel the need to put to words.

She's decently well-read, but most of what she's consumed is philosophy. She's always looking for a good book recommendation. There's plenty of work, but also plenty of waiting as a Sister, and while patience is a virtue, it's good to spend your time well.

Beneath that...

Marissa Eirkegaard is an Inquisitor.

As in, from the Inquisition. Not the Second Inquisition; she detests the modern United States and its government. She's an Inquisitor from the Catholic Inquisition. She is one of the oldest, if not the oldest-living Catholics in the United States. She has many grievances with the Church. She has many grievances with other practitioners of her own faith.

She was a witch-hunter in Europe before she came to America, where she hunted and killed a Tzimisce Koldun Methuselah in Salem that mortally wounded her. To continue the hunt, she drank its blood and became a ghoul. She's survived through the modern era this way, sustaining her need for vitae with the blood of the vampires she kills.

In today's world, she's integrated herself into Kindred society. Most who see her believe her to be a ghoul of the Anarch Baron of San Fernando, Vincent von Arkham.

While this is rather far from the truth, she cooperates with von Arkham, who offers her shelter and covers for her actions so long as she abides by his rules. She keeps San Fernando clean of impurity by hunting down rulebreakers and dangerous renegades, while pruning the Camarilla when they spread their branches too far, and exterminating any traces of Sabbat she comes across.

In this way, many Kindred likely see her presence as an overall good—so long as she keeps away from them.

Marissa, however, isn't blind to modern patterns. Gehenna is approaching, be it slowly or quickly. The world is woefully unprepared for the return of the Antediluvians. To this end, she seeks to revive the Inquisition. Great things start small, and she's already begun to teach a regiment of independent ghouls, Caitiff, and Hunters. One such student is Vincent's own adoptive daughter, Frigg von Arkham.

As her Black Band of hunters grows larger and more capable, their sphere of influence will naturally grow. Just what they'll accomplish, however, is still rather unknown.

—

...Wait, how did a human kill a Methuselah?

Beyond being a ghoul, Marissa is Awakened—that is, she's a Mage. I'm taking the concept, but not necessarily all of the lore from M:TA.

For those of you who are only somewhat familiar with the World of Darkness lore...none of the books are written with the others in mind. There is no singular canon, and while we know these things exist in the same setting (e.g. House Tremere used to be a mage order), the actual sourcebooks between them can be at times wildly incompatible in frustrating ways. This is fundamentally a V:TM blog, I'm using the V:TM canon.

A very quick overview of the concept of Awakened for those unfamiliar:

Every human being has the potential to become Awakened, to realize the means by which they can change the fundamental nature of reality. Very few humans will ever become Awakened, and even those who do become Awakened very seldom learn to do much with it.

Awakened can bend reality to their will, as far as their Arete will allow—but with one very big limitation. Paradox is the reaction to a Mage's abilities, the inertia of a conceptual reality backed by an entire world full of Sleepers who believe it to work a certain way, and whose conception of the world directly influences its state of being. In effect, Mages have to argue their magic, and compromise on its implementation in a way that generates the least Paradox. They need to decide not just what happens but how and why it happens, and really make a calculated decision on the fly about how to accomplish that without reality deciding to go catastrophic in retaliation. It's a conceptually neat system where you can in theory accomplish anything, but you'll also need to reckon with the consequences, which can get extremely severe.

Magic is very different than Blood Sorcery. Vampires have no ability to practice Magic, much to the chagrin of the founders of House Tremere. Blood Sorcery does not fundamentally change the laws of reality, which is both a limitation and a boon. It may restrict what Blood Sorcery is capable of, but Blood Sorcery of any power won't generate Paradox. The same cannot be said of Mages, who need to be very careful with their magic.

Marissa was from an order of mages within the Inquisition, mages who were specialized in hunting down that which lurks in the dark. They were somewhat similar conceptually to the Knights Templar, but with a much more scientific approach to magic that focuses on Forces, Entropy, and Life more than the other Spheres. As far as she's aware, the Order of Thorns died with the Inquisition.

As a Mage, she has studied physics, chemistry, and biology extensively in order to ensure the lowest amount of Paradox is generated during her fights. With the amount of experience she has, implementing her knowledge has become second-nature.

—

A bit about meta.

First—the Masquerade. Marissa is upholding the Masquerade at the behest of von Arkham. She doesn't particularly care about the eternal maintenance of the Masquerade, and in fact desires to one day break it, but she does believe that overt Masquerade breaches can be dangerous if they're not properly managed. Both humans and vampires need to be ready the day that those walls come down, and at present, they aren't.

The Masquerade is a subject that everyone here is going to have different feelings about and approaches to. My personal canon, which I'm upholding for Marissa, is that unless communicated otherwise, open discussion of vampires and the supernatural on the internet is done using untraceable coded language that we're simply "translating" automatically. That's a way for me to uphold my suspension of disbelief in general situations that someone would just actively call themselves a Ventrue on the internet. This is how Marissa will be communicating. If this doesn't work for you, let me know, and we can work something out. Roleplay is malleable, and we make up the rules.

Second—power and narrative. Marissa is a "powerful character," being a centuries-old Inquisitor mage who can take on Methuselah. In the vast majority of interactions, this won't matter in the slightest, and if it ever does matter, it's because we've both decided to use that power as a narrative tool in whatever roleplay we're doing. I am not interested in internet discussions about whose blorbo is stronger, unless that's a specific question that needs to be answered because of the story we want to tell. I have not explicitly outlined Marissa's magic for this reason.

She's not the kind of person to openly brag about her power, and even without the necessity of a Mask or the Masquerade she'd still want to conceal the extent of her ability for (justifiably) paranoid reasons. She's not taking to the internet to hunt. In fact, if there is a reason why she's here, it's probably because her close bond/unofficial girlfriend (a Malkavian named Aerinthal who, incidentally, accidentally embraced Honey's adoptive sister Nerisella) told her that talking to people online might be good for her anxiety. That's not a mask—Marissa is actually a nervous wreck. She just has means of suppressing her emotions when circumstances require it.

Beyond this, I trust that we're all adults who know how to responsibly play make-believe on the internet. If you've got a problem with how our RPs are going, let me know. This is a fundamentally collaborative affair, and communication is a two-way street. On that same note, if I see a problem, I'll try to rectify it myself. If I do message you about something, it's because I want your input. There's no real-life stakes here, so don't worry if things don't work the first time. We can figure it out.

—

PFP/Sidebar art, as well as the arts of Vincent and Frigg, were done by Bunny, @jujulebee!

Inquisitor Marissa by me.

[aces-to-apples]

Your Reputation Precedes You

A response to “On Fandom Racism (and That Conlang People Are Talking About)” because lmao that cowardly bitch just hates getting feedback from people that she can’t then harass into oblivion

i.e. God I Wish I Could Use The Tag Fandom Wank Without The Titty Police Nerfing My Post

-

To be frank, I'm not here because I think you or any of your little cronies are going to change your minds. If the 'name' wasn't a giveaway, your group of ~likeminded individuals~ have quite the reputation for espousing ableist, antisemitic, and, yes, racist views under wafer-thin the veneer of "calling out racism." I think we both know that what you're actually doing is using the relative anonymity of the internet and progressive language to abuse, harass, and bully fans that you personally disagree with. You and your group are toxic, hateful, and utterly pathetic, using many peoples' genuine desire to avoid accidentally causing harm and twisting it into this horrid parade of submissiveness to You, The One And Only Arbiter Of Truth And Justice In Fandom. Never mind that you have derided autistic people as lacking compassion and empathy, that you've used racist colonizer dogwhistles to describe a fictional culture based heavily on real live Maori culture, that you've mocked the idea of characters having PTSD, or that vital mental health services are anything more than "talking about your feelings with friends uwu." Let's just ignore that you have ridiculed the idea of adults in positions of power exerting that power over children in harmful and abusive ways, that creating transformative fan-content that doesn't adhere to the spirit of canon or wishes of the original author garners derision and hatefulness from you, and that you've used classic abuser tactics in order to gaslight people in your orbit into behaving more submissively towards you in order to avoid more verbal abuse.

Let's toss all of that crucial context aside in favor of only what you've written here.

What you've written here is nearly 3,000 entire words based on, at best—though, admittedly, based on your previous behavior, I am actually not willing to extend to you an iota of good faith—fallacious reasoning. You posit that a constructed language, to be used by a fictional religious group located in an entirely different galaxy than our own, is othering, racist in general, and anti-Asian specifically. This appears based in several suppositions, the first being that a language unknown by the reader will, by nature, cause the reader to feel alienated from the characters and therefore less sympathetic, empathetic, and caring towards the characters. That idea is patently ridiculous and, I believe, says far more about your ability to connect to a character speaking an unfamiliar language than any kind of overarching truth about media and the human condition. New things are interesting; new things are fun; the human brain is wired from birth to be fascinated with new things, to want to take them apart, find out how they work, and enjoy both the process and the results.

The second supposition this fallacy is based upon appears to be that to move away from the blatant Orientalism of Star Wars is inherently anti-Asian. While I find it... frankly, a little bit sad that you cling so viciously to the Orientalist, appropriative roots of Star Wars as some form of genuine representation, that's really none of my business. If you feel that a Muslim-coded character bombing a temple and becoming a terrorist and a Sith, a white woman wearing Mongolian wedding garb, a species of decadent slug-like gangsters smoking out of hookahs and keeping attractive young women chained at their feet (as it were), a species of greedy money-grubbers with exaggerated features and offensively stereotypical "Asian" accents, and an indigenous people wearing modesty garb based on the Bedu people and treated by most characters as well as the narrative as mindless animals deserving of murder and genocide are appropriate representation of the many, varied, and beautiful cultures around the world upon which they were "based," then that is very much your business. Until you pull shit like this. Until you accuse other fans, who wish to move away from such offensive coding and stereotypes, of erasing Asian culture from Star Wars. Then it becomes everyone's business, especially when you are targeting a loving and enthusiastic group of fans who are pouring their hearts and souls into creating an inventive and non-appropriative alternative to canon.

Which leads into the third supposition, that a patently racist, misogynistic white man in the 1970s, and then again in the 1990s, intended his universe to be an accurate and respectful portrayal of the various cultures he stole from. I understand that for your group of toxic bullies, the term "Death of the Author" holds no real meaning, but the simple fact of the matter is that George Lucas based his white-centered space adventure on Samurai movies while removing the cultural context that gave them any meaning, because he liked the idea of swords and noble warriors in space. He based the Force and the Jedi Order on belief systems such as Taoism and Buddhism, but only on the surface, without putting any real effort into into portraying them earnestly or accurately. He consistently disrespected both characters of color and characters coded to be a certain race, ethnicity, culture, or religion, and likewise disrespected and stole from the cultures upon which he based them. He was, and continues to be, a racist white man who wrote a racist story. His universe has Orientalism baked into its every facet, and the idea that fans who wish to move away from this and interrogate and transform the text into something better than what it is are racist is not only laughable, but incredibly disingenuous and insidious.

As I said, I am not writing this to change your mind, because I truly believe that you already know that "cOnLaNgS aRe RaCiSt" is a ridiculous statement. The way you've comported yourself in fandom spaces thus far has shown to me that you are nothing more than a bully who knows that the anti-racist movement in fandom can be co-opted for your benefit. If you tout your Asian heritage and use the right language, make the "right" accusations and take advantage of white guilt and white ignorance, you can have dozens of people falling at your feet, begging for forgiveness, for absolution. And I think that gives you a thrill. So, no, none of this will change your mind because none of this is genuinely about racism—it's about power, it's about control, it's about fandom being the only space where you have some.

So I'm writing this for the creators of this wonderful conlang, which has been crafted by multiple people including people of color, who don't deserve this nonsensical vitriol, and for the fans reading this manipulative hate-fest, wondering if they really are Evil Racists because they don't participate in fandom the way you think they should.

Here it is: fandom has a lot of racism, antisemitism, misogyny, queerphobia, ableism, etc. baked into it. Unfortunately, such is the nature of living and growing up in societies and cultures that have the same. The important thing is to independently educate yourself on those issues and think critically about them—not "think critically" as in "to criticize" them, but to analyze, evaluate, pick apart, examine, and reconstruct them again in order to come to a well thought-out conclusion. Read this well-articulated attack on a group of fans who have always welcomed feedback and participation, are open about their backgrounds, their strengths and weaknesses, and wonder who is actually being genuine.

Is it the open and enthusiastic group who ask for the participation of others in this labor of love? Or is it the ringleader of a group of well-known bullies who have manipulated, gaslit, and then subsequently love-bomb people who did not simply roll over at the slightest hint of dominance? The ones who spent hours upon hours tearing apart, mocking, deriding, and falsely accusing authors of fanworks and metatextual works of various bigotries and -isms, knowing that those evaluations were spurious and meant only to cause harm, not genuine examinations of the works themselves or even presumed authorial intent. The ones who made their own, quote-unquote, community so negative and toxic that even after the departure of a large portion of them, including this author in particular, that community still has a reputation for being hateful, toxic, and full of mean-spirited harassers who will never look critically about their own behavior but only ever point fingers at others. The ones who are so very determined to cause misery wherever they go that as soon as their usual victims are no longer immediately available, they will turn on each other at the slightest hint of weakness.

This entire piece of (fan)work is misinformed at the most generous, disingenuous at the most objective, and downright spiteful when we get right into it. The creators of Dai Bendu, along with various other works, series, and fan events that these people personally dislike, have been targeted because it is so much easier to harass, bully, and use progressive language as a weapon against them, than it is to put any effort into making fandom spaces more informed, more positive, more respectful.

As someone rather eloquently put it, community is not a fucking spectator sport. You want a better community, you gotta work at it. And conversely, what you put into your community is what you'll get out of it. This author and their friends have put a lot of hate into their communities, and now they're toxic cesspools that people stay well away from, for fear of contracting some terrible form of harassment poisoning.

Congrats, Ri, you've gotten just what you wanted: adoring crowds listening to you spout your absolutely heinous personal views purely to live out some kind of power fantasy, and the rest of us staying well away, because fuck knows nothing kind, helpful, or in good faith has ever come from Virdant or her echo-chamber of petty, spiteful assholes.

No love, bad night.

P.S. Everyone actually in the Dai Bendu server knows your ass got kicked because you didn’t say shit for a full thirty days and ignored the announcement that inactive members would be culled. You ain’t cute pretending like it’s because you were ~*~Silenced~*~ after ~*~Valiantly~*~ attempting to call out racism. We see you.

[citialiin]

FIVE SONGS

list five songs associated with your muse and its meaning to them as a character, or to you as the writer. this can be applied in-character or out-of-character. it can go as deep as looking at the song’s real-world origins or meaning along with the themes it carries to the muses’ story, values, or experiences, or as simple as if your muse would listen to this kind of music, or even if you just listen to these pieces for inspiration.

TAGGED BY: @dansiere​​, who did such a good detailed job they even included an “honorable mentions list” ? i am embarrassed to type mine out now TAGGING: @blossomingbeelzebug​​ @zhrets​​ @dirtyfilthysunshine​​ @prcphesise​​ @hyakiru​ @foxcharmed​

01. kaun komsott - ros sereysothea

this song actually lyrically has absolutely nothing to do with ziggy !!!!  kaun komsott /  កូនកំសត់ actually just means “poor/pitiful child” it’s just a khmer dub of a song from a taiwanese movie lol but i feel like this is the kind of music he would listen to that made him fall in love with, like ... humanity, as dumb as that sounds. it’s time period appropriate (late 60s/early to mid 70s), the song is really good and it’s SO emotional.  i could see him sitting in the apartment of his bandmates after being “found” and they teach him how to use the record player and he sits there going through each and every record they have and listening to this and its like the fucking scene in ratatootie where the goddamn rat can visualize tastes as colors but he would be so enamored with the song he would see it in colors or something i dunno.  something has definitely fucking happened to my brain because ever since nat and alex and i rewatched ratatootie we keep referencing it for our characters. anyways i ended up using an instrumental of kaun komsott in the final film i made as the song that plays during the end.  so this song just also means a lot to me because it’s part of how i made this character and the film/story i animated to go along with him, i am sure you are all absolutely sick of hearing me talk about it <3  

02. who can i be now - daveed booweyywywy now you found me, now can I be real?  can I be real? if it’s all a vast creation / putting on a face that’s new someone has to see / a role for him and me someone might as well be you

one of z’s most obvious character motifs is figuring out self identity through adopting different guises.  he markets himself as being so overly confident and almost arrogantly certain of himself -- rock god space idol whatever -- as his own way of learning who he thinks he might be underneath it all.  i think at first it started off a little innocuous, a ‘ fake it till u make it ’ thing at the least and maybe more obviously a ‘ im not a human so i have to pretend to be someone else ’ deal, but over time it became almost all consuming and just obliterated all his previously held sense of self in favor of some weirdly demented version of who he wanted to be.  683 starts off with the same core personality traits as ziggy: maybe he’s a little vain, a little selfish, but he’s very interested in creativity/self-expression and he wants to be thought of as a unique individual and appreciated for his differences.  but the difference is that 683 isnt an arrogant asshole who has no regard for other people in the slightest.  so yeah ... who can u be now ... is it worth it to adopt a different guise or should he go through the effort of figuring out what parts of his personality were corroded by human influence and what parts are genuinely him?  my big endgame thoughts for his story would be that he eventually just decides to retire from the public eye and fucks off entirely.  this would be over the course of a long long long time -- maybe he has a good 20 yr run in the industry -- but there are some things about him he has to deal with (mental health issues, drug addiction, also the fact that you’re a freaky alien creature who doesnt age like a human so you’re physically like 46 and you still look like you’re 25?) so he inevitably decides he doesnt need the horrible pressure of fame and he ought to just live his life for himself.  i think this would be a nice final song for him to sing/perform -- then he goes into the dressing room and cuts his hair and just vanishes. bye.

03. sunny afternoon - the kinks Help me, help me, help me sail away Well give me two good reasons why I oughta stay 'Cause I love to live so pleasantly Live this life of luxury Lazing on a sunny afternoon

1. i think this would sound A LITTLE like the kind of music he would write/play albeit i feel like his would be more exciting and have more samplings of like laser noises or pewpewpew or weird spaceship sounds BUT.  its also pretty time period appropriate.  even in “modern” verses ziggy is inexplicably obsessed with the 1970s, he likes bell bottoms and thinks groovy patterns are neat and he owns too many lava lamps.  anywayz. 2. just the general idea of feeling unfulfilled with luxury -- even if ziggy enjoys his fame and wealth and the absolutely insane amount of pussy/dick he gets at some level he is still cognizantly aware of how weirdly empty he feels.  he ditched atomina and came here because he felt unfulfilled and bored and unwanted.  now he feels wanted (clearly, everyone loves him) and he feels entertained (earth is So Good at fun distractions) but his fulfillment still isnt quite there.  he’s getting there -- but in exchange of being able to live this life of fame, he’s had to kind of change everything about himself and live this almost caricature version of himself, and he knows he cant keep it up forever.  the luxury will run out one day and he’ll be a washup and no one cares about celebrities once they stop being hip.  it is literally only a matter of time before ziggy has to find out who he is because no one can be a “rockstar” forever.

04. i hate jimmy page - mindless self indulgence SUCKAS CAN REACH OUT TOUCH ME EAT ME BITE DA FUTURE & FUCK DA PAST  I'm lower than most animals and fear what might be weird and all those voices in my head have every right to be there i ain't a girl just cause i rock the boat i ain't a boy just cause i rock your world

i mean he does hate jimmy page but that’s beside the point. its just a good song about being a crazy rockstar and has the same Craziness that i feel like accompanies his character ... just go listen to it you will understand. there is nothing to explain here.  even the lyric “ill show u how official midgets jack me off” like just accept it. it’s whatever  but yeah i aint a girl i aint a boy ... i guess his gender (or lack thereof) never really comes up in rp but its still an important part of his character.  if any of u guys ever call him a man in prose again ill kick ur ass.  gender is like an accessory to him and he just takes whatever aspects of masculinity/femininity he prefers and discards everything else.  to him he’s just as much a “man” or a “woman” as he is a “human” which is to say he isnt, at all, and he just pretends to be because he feels obligated to.  also ziggy’s brain kind of sounds like this...just Noises.  his brain sounds like a microwave that’s been going off for 26 years.  i think his brain is a single uncooked pinto bean rolled in glitter that’s been left in a box with a cobweb

05. ghostride - crumb daydreaming I stay in the backseat / the slow beat rocks me back to sleep keeps me on automatic  press my face up close against the glass i see the people when they pass they move so automatic you wake up when I go down / the radio reminds me I'm alive we've been hearing it all night

i care more about 683 on atomina than i do about ziggy on earth sometimes (BUT I CARE THEM BOTH. DO U?) so ... 683 feeling aimless and drifting but trying to find purpose through passion, a person, some sort of concrete meaning -- going through the motions of life makes him feel empty he spends almost every day going through the same toil while feeling guilty or like a burden and also feeling like he’s ultimately nothing more than a replaceable cog in a machine. his species had a near extinction = bottleneck which made them so genetically similar they’re almost clones of each other.  no one ever seems to do anything wrong except him, he finds no joy or fulfillment in anything at all.  all he ever wanted (which isnt a selfish desire at all) was to feel purpose, or feel wanted, or appreciated. inevitably he leaves because of his own imagination -- he yearns for something More, and he doesn’t know What, so he figured he ought to at least Try instead of waste his life away. also atomina is supposed to sound like “automatic.”  do NOT make fun of my bad scifi.  i am trying to mimic the way 1970s scifi is endearingly cheesy.  come here.  i just want to touch you with this knife.  gently tho it wont go inside of you. bro you are bleeding. bro we are bleeding and i keep putting the knife in your soft parts.

[thelittlemelancholyrose-blog]

About the Muse (super edited)

(It’s long but it’s just so you guys know as much as you guys can about her. Sidenote anything edited has a *.)

Name: *Aspen Rose

Age: Late 20s - Early 30s ish

Gender: Female(She/Her)

Profession: *Smuggler

Shipping: Open to anyone over 18 (Mun and Muse wise. Read the rules for more depth.) OC or canon.

Semblance: Aura Absorption, though it has limitations:

-Can not take away aura with more than 50% of her own aura is present.

+Can drain aura from victim as long as at least 1% is present in the victim.

-Can only take Aura from someone by skin to skin contact, no other way.

+She can control this if she is has more than 10% aura. So skin to skin contact is not harmful when she’s peaceful.

-If she has less than 10% she will voluntarily take aura from anyone who touches her as a defence mechanism.(This is subject to change if your character/the mun has issues with this or wants to add to it. I’m not that picky about this part.)

-No powers are absorbed through the Aura, but a faint connection can be formed with the victim and herself. This means they can sense each other for a few hours afterwards(Emotions or just a general awareness). This could either be good or bad. (This is subject to change if your character/the mun has issues with this or wants to add to it. I’m not that picky about this part.)

+/- If the victim has no aura left she can not kill them or take their ‘life’ away. It only extends to aura. She could harm them afterward but her semblance alone cannot kill anyone.

+She can take aura from any living thing with a semblance but the amount gained from different things varies. For example a tree or small animal will only give her around 3-5% of aura.  (This is subject to change if your character/the mun has issues with this or wants to add to it. I’m not that picky about this part.)

+She can pass either stolen aura or her own on to others, as long as they are less than 100 %, but it will, even if stolen, cost her some of her own aura in return. If only to act as a catalyst.

-If her aura is at zero she cannot take aura or pass it on at all. Her aura is gone, therefore so is her semblance. *However she does regenerate just a bit faster than most.*

Weapon: Vitam et Mortem, a staff that can fire dust, be extended into a double edged staff which can then be broken into two swords. (This is really just reference I can’t draw haha)

Personality*****

Aspen tries to be optimistic and outwardly does act cheery and hopeful however has a hard time truly believing that things will be okay. But she is willing to help and tries to keep a positive mindset even if it is only for the benefit of the people around her.

Despite caring for her crew Aspen is not a hero like Ruby or an ‘anti-hero’ like Qrow. She really there to help the greater good or strangers. She focuses on the few she cares for and does not believe in Ozpin’s cause or fear for Salem’s plan. She does her own thing and doesn’t belong to a team or a cause other than helping those she cares about.

Aspen is someone who tries very hard to be positive but is constantly fighting her own doubt and trying to get over her own demons from the past. Because of this she isn’t a very trusting character when it comes to her own emotions and is prone to avoid certain topics that will agitate her. This sometimes causes her to shut down and avoid others for a bit. She is the embodiment of the ‘this is fine’ meme, basically.

Her humor is based more off sarcasm and teasing. But will laugh at the occasional pun. Self deprecating jokes are also the norm.

Her view on life can be described as ‘I know we are all going to die and I can’t wait for death but I will try to make the most of my life till then.’

Backstory**:

(Note: This is the default backstory if you want to change it for rp purposes let me know. But for asks this is what I’m following unless stated otherwise)

Being the younger sister of Summer Rose she certainly had a good mentor to look up to. Her sister was pretty much her rock growing up and a constant source of safety. For a while Aspen was aiming to follow in her sister’s footsteps of being a huntress. But after times get tough and the world starts becoming chaotic her views began to change. Especially when she learned about the ‘Silver Eyed Warriors’ story. The idea of her sister eventually having to choose the good of others over her own didn’t sit well with Aspen and she soon began to reject the idea of becoming a hero. When Summer went to a Combat School the rift between them grew. While Summer went there Aspen abandoned the idea of being a huntsmen and focused on finding a more suitable  career instead, training with other fighters, retired huntsmen or hitmen-resulting in a different fighting style and view of the world. Eventually she would fall into more shadier professions and become a smuggler. Neither approved of each other’s lifestyle and eventually they reached a breaking point. After that the two had split up and never talked to each other until much later.

The last time Aspen ever saw Summer was a few weeks after Ruby was born. Despite their fighting Summer had sent her a letter and told her about Ruby. The meeting was brief and a bit awkward but Summer had asked Aspen that, if anything ever happened to her, for her to be there for Ruby and her teammates. Not taking it that seriously, she gave Summer her word without much thought. However when she died a few years later Aspen ended up breaking down now that her only support was gone. She ended up avoiding them and her promise out of grief. But, now that things were getting serious, she decides to step in. Even if they fought she loves her sister a lot and acknowledges that the fight had caused them to waste time apart. So she won’t break her word and now she is shadowing her niece and friends while they make their way to Mistral.

The rest picks up around Season 4.

Character Relations:

(BIG NOTE: This is based off MY default AU/Headcanons. Depending on who’s asking I CAN adjust (like characters that are off-canon characters, OCs, AUs, etc.) if asked. Especially if I’m responding first or rping(especially during rping). But for Asks, especially anon, I will stick to my default unless specified.)

-Summer: Has a deep love and respect for Summer in present time. In the past though she is very bitter and condescending of her, though she will thaw out a bit if given reason and time to settle. During childhood she loved Summer and would often tag along or cling to her.

-Taiyang: Actually likes him. Sees him as someone who is responsible and caring since he is taking care of his children despite being left alone by both his wives. Also likes how he isn’t really on anyone’s side and is just focusing on his family. She won’t be mean to him and will be more civil. Though she doesn’t believe he really loved Summer. It’s just something she doesn’t think is true. But she admires how he is managing his emotions and wishes she could do the same.

-Raven: Is torn. On one hand, she knows Raven left out of a sense of duty. But on the other her bandit team is annoying and she sees them as a bunch of mindless criminals who are mostly just flexing power. So she is cautious around Raven but will certainly be quick to anger.

-Qrow: Aspen doesn’t like him. She doesn’t blame him for Summer. But she hates how he is so loyal to Ozpin. She thinks he’s a fool for following a cause that got her sister killed. Therefore she isn’t really nice to him but she can be civil enough to talk for a bit. However she does relate with his struggle.

-Ruby: This kid is going down the same path as Summer and she hates it. She hates it with all her heart. If she could she would try and convince Ruby how not worth it is to become a hero. BUT she promised Summer she’d watch over her and, therefore, she won’t argue unless given a reason to. She does find it a bit funny how much she and Summer are alike.

-Yang: Doesn’t have much of an opinion but she thinks she’s a strong individual. When she lost her arm she was impressed that she managed to pull herself out of the depression she was in. She’s curious to see how she turns out.

-Ruby’s friends(like everyone): Again, all trying to be a hero. But they’re kids and she is only there to watch them so she doesn’t care much.

-Ozpin: Hates him. Hates how he rallies people for his cause and she thinks he doesn’t do much. Most of this hate, though, comes from Summer’s death and her own regret for not being able to spend more time with Summer or for never saying sorry. She could mellow out around him but it would take a lot of effort. Otherwise she’ll be salty and cold.

-Oscar: Feels bad he is roped into this and will actually be nice to him. Wouldn’t mind helping him either. Though she’ll still hate Ozpin. Probably even more.

-Salem & Squad: Hates them but only because of the trouble they’re causing. Also, if she wasn’t being such a villain, Summer might still be alive and she wouldn’t have to watch Ruby because Ruby would have a mom.

-Ironwood: Feh, he could be worse. Atlas people never sit well with her. Besides she is usually smuggling things in and out of Mantle so she doesn’t like the army.

-Jacque: Asshole, coward and a gold digger. She liked the old CEO better. This guy is nothing but a loser and she can’t be bothered. Knows because she’s been hired by him before.

-If I forgot someone it’s either because  a) I forgot. b) There hasn’t been an interaction between them/wouldn’t be and c)don’t really know.

General Relation Notes (For OCs or characters that haven’t had enough to develop a solid personality yet (like Ren’s parents.):

That should be all for now? I’ll add on depending on how she grows but this should be it for a general idea of how she is. Again, I apologize for this being long but I want to be thorough since this is an OC. Any questions or if I forgot anything, let me know!

Check out these pages as well!

Rules

About the Mun