torchxlight

[torchxlight]

The matter with him? Oh, the little bug didn’t know the half of it, but Roman also wasn’t the type to really go around blabbing about his backstory. A closed book on that tale, so to speak. And yet.. he actually softened a bit now, especially being out of sight, and earshot of anyone else who’d been around. He softened, but he was still tense and more than a little ticked off, as was evident by the grip on his cane.

“No, you listen here, Hops, I’ve got a reputation to uphold.” He shook his head. “See, I’m the boss of this little criminal operation we’ve got going on, and the boss can’t be going soft just like that.” A brief shift of something hidden beneath his hat, and he gave a momentary glance toward the Faunus men and women still working on hauling the crates of Dust. Were any of them paying attention? Did they notice he was supposedly acting strangely? No.. No, none of them had noticed. A sigh, and he frowned.

“I’m giving you a chance to get out before things turn ugly in there, and-” He paused, realizing what had been said. “You- Did I hear you right? You don’t know about the Grimm?” How was that even possible? Everyone knew what the Grimm were, especially with the danger they posed, and all the damage they’d already caused.. They were the reason people took up the profession of being Huntsmen and Huntresses, protectors of the weak, the frontline defense against those monsters. Granted, Roman hadn’t exactly expected to ever encounter a talking bug, but.. Even a bug should know about the Grimm.. right? As if on cue, there was a rustle in the bushes, and something growling, low and dangerous.

“Watch yourself, Hops.. A sound like that’s never a good sign.” Dammit.. Grimm were drawn to negative emotions, and- his stress and frustration- He’d drawn this one to them! It all happened in an instant, a split second before he could react, as the snarling werewolf-like Grimm called a Beowulf came leaping out of the bushes, straight for Roman, and- BAM! BAM! Two shots rang out, both from his cane, only one hitting their target and not even on their mark as the Beowulf tackled him to the ground. Its fangs snapped and bit the air, inches from his face as he barely managed to hold it back.

His hat had been knocked away now, a pair of long donkey ears held folded and pinned down against his head, tattered and stained with blood, old and new, no doubt from the sharp metal pins holding his ears in place against his skull. He struggled against the Grimm, gritting his teeth and fumbling to reach his cane, but it was out of his reach. Barely, maybe, but out of his reach all the same. He did what he could, and kicked hard once he’d gotten his legs under the beast, certainly not enough to throw it off, but he kept kicking as hard as he could.

torchxlight​:

Jiminy, huh. Yeah, file that away for.. unlikely later use. Roman gave nicknames because he could, and because it kept him detached from others. It wasn’t a condescending or patronizing thing, or.. at least not usually, but that wasn’t the point. His mood had been lightening, but this sent that back a couple steps already.

Gritting his teeth, he had half a mind to just squash this bug right now, and again there was just a bit of movement under his hat. If he was going to get corrected on names, then he’d give as good as he got.

“Don’t know where you get off calling me ‘son’.” He huffed. “The name’s Roman Torchwick, Hops. You use mine, and I’ll think about using yours.” A thought crossed his mind, before he abruptly swept the cricket into his open palm, just as a rather large Faunus soldier trudged past with only a brief glance at Roman and a pause as if about to question him, but-

“And what are you looking at? Get a move on, you damn animal, or you’ll have worse to deal with than me!” The Faunus gave a grunt, teeth bared a moment, small rounded ears within his white hair flicking back in annoyance, but he moved on all the same. Roman took that as his chance to leave, stepping outside now and pushing his way out into the forest aways before dumping Jiminy rather unceremoniously onto a fallen log.

“Go on. Get lost.” He snarled. “I’m giving you your chance to leave before you end up dead. And that’s not a threat, you know. It’s a warning.” There it was.. The hidden soft side of the man. He acted tough, and put up a front as a crime boss, but the real problem was Cinder. She had the real power in their dynamic, as much as he might make witty remarks or puff out his chest. Yes, by all rights, he was indeed a criminal underlord, but Cinder was his boss. She’d made that clear and didn’t give him a choice. Another brief movement under his hat, a pause, and..

“Well? Get going. If you’re so savvy about the way the world works, you’ll have no problems dodging any Grimm that might be lurking out here. So go on. Get.”

“And how, pray tell, was I supposed to know that considering you never gave me the courtesy of an introduction!” He plants his hands on his hips with a huff. It wasn’t as though he meant anything by it. Just a force of habit. Easier than remembering the name of every stranger he stumbles across, anyway. 

He’s about to tell him as much, too, when he’s rudely interrupted by being swept right off his feet. Quite literally, too - it knocks him square on his back, sending his hat askew over his eyes. He fumbles for his umbrella before he even bothers fixing himself up again, whacking the fella’s fingers hard with it.

“HEY! What’s the-”

Jiminy’s at least smart enough to fall silent when the other figure passes them by - dealing with one human’s bad enough, two is just asking to get stepped on - all but quivering with pent up rage by the time he’s carried outside and dropped back onto his feet.

“-What’s the matter with you!” And there he goes, picking right up where he left off, hands tossed into the air haphazardly. “‘Not a threat’, my eye! It sure as heck sounded like one to me - and who do you think you are, grabbin folks without warning? You - I - listen here, son,” it’s purposefully vitriolic this time around, “I don’t know what no ‘Grimm’ is but I don’t appreciate bein’ tossed out like a - like a, uh… well, it’s downright rude!”

[torchxlight]

This is Willie the One-Eyed Money Cat. Reblog Willie for some good luck in the new year!

[torchxlight]

;; Like this post for a starter! I wanna get some more threads going on here!

[torchxlight]

Jiminy, huh. Yeah, file that away for.. unlikely later use. Roman gave nicknames because he could, and because it kept him detached from others. It wasn’t a condescending or patronizing thing, or.. at least not usually, but that wasn’t the point. His mood had been lightening, but this sent that back a couple steps already.

Gritting his teeth, he had half a mind to just squash this bug right now, and again there was just a bit of movement under his hat. If he was going to get corrected on names, then he’d give as good as he got.

“Don’t know where you get off calling me ‘son’.” He huffed. “The name’s Roman Torchwick, Hops. You use mine, and I’ll think about using yours.” A thought crossed his mind, before he abruptly swept the cricket into his open palm, just as a rather large Faunus soldier trudged past with only a brief glance at Roman and a pause as if about to question him, but-

“And what are you looking at? Get a move on, you damn animal, or you’ll have worse to deal with than me!” The Faunus gave a grunt, teeth bared a moment, small rounded ears within his white hair flicking back in annoyance, but he moved on all the same. Roman took that as his chance to leave, stepping outside now and pushing his way out into the forest aways before dumping Jiminy rather unceremoniously onto a fallen log.

“Go on. Get lost.” He snarled. “I’m giving you your chance to leave before you end up dead. And that’s not a threat, you know. It’s a warning.” There it was.. The hidden soft side of the man. He acted tough, and put up a front as a crime boss, but the real problem was Cinder. She had the real power in their dynamic, as much as he might make witty remarks or puff out his chest. Yes, by all rights, he was indeed a criminal underlord, but Cinder was his boss. She’d made that clear and didn’t give him a choice. Another brief movement under his hat, a pause, and..

“Well? Get going. If you’re so savvy about the way the world works, you’ll have no problems dodging any Grimm that might be lurking out here. So go on. Get.”

torchxlight​:

So this little crawler thought he was a tough guy, huh? An insect is still a bug, pal. But this was actually lightening Roman’s mood, so that was something at least. A smirk played across his lips now, as he drummed his fingers along the desk where the cricket currently had decided was his soapbox for the moment.

“Oh? You do, do you?” He chuckled. “Look around you, Hops. You’re in my world now, not your world. Around here, things run quite a bit differently than I’m sure you’re used to.” He had half a mind to just flick the little cricket off his desk and carry on like nothing had happened, but.. Why not see how this plays out? Could be fun, after all.

“First of all, it’s Jiminy,” and he doesn’t take all too kindly to nicknames. Especially of the patronizing variety, and this certainly feels as though it falls under that umbrella. “And secondly, your world sure happens to look a whole lot like the plain ol’ regular world, from what I’ve seen… and for the record, I’ve seen plenty! I think you oughta dial it back a notch or two, son.”

[torchxlight]

So this little crawler thought he was a tough guy, huh? An insect is still a bug, pal. But this was actually lightening Roman’s mood, so that was something at least. A smirk played across his lips now, as he drummed his fingers along the desk where the cricket currently had decided was his soapbox for the moment.

“Oh? You do, do you?” He chuckled. “Look around you, Hops. You’re in my world now, not your world. Around here, things run quite a bit differently than I’m sure you’re used to.” He had half a mind to just flick the little cricket off his desk and carry on like nothing had happened, but.. Why not see how this plays out? Could be fun, after all.

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“Tch, a bug is a bug, buddy, doesn’t matter what you call yourself.” The barest twitch from under his hat, shifting it just ever so slightly.. Roman leaned just a little closer over the cricket and gave a smirk.

“Now how ‘bout you get lost, little insect. I have work to do, and if you’re not careful, you’ll get yourself squashed.” Probably under a crate of stolen Dust or something of that nature. Normally, the criminal would be a bit more ready to tease and make light of things with crude humor and sarcasm, but.. Cinder was on his ass about things today, and he wasn’t in the mood for it.

“I’m not a bug, either!” He’s an insect, thank you very much. Bug just sounds so negative. Makes him think of bug spray. Which he supposes isn’t off the table given this fella’s attitude. 

“And I don’t take kindly to threats, bub!” And that certainly sounded like one to him. Even if it wasn’t… well, Jiminy’s not very good at listening to warnings when he thinks he knows better than the one giving them. Jiminy’s not stupid, but he is prideful. “I’ve got just as much a right to be here as anybody else!”

[torchxlight]

“Tch, a bug is a bug, buddy, doesn’t matter what you call yourself.” The barest twitch from under his hat, shifting it just ever so slightly.. Roman leaned just a little closer over the cricket and gave a smirk.

“Now how ‘bout you get lost, little insect. I have work to do, and if you’re not careful, you’ll get yourself squashed.” Probably under a crate of stolen Dust or something of that nature. Normally, the criminal would be a bit more ready to tease and make light of things with crude humor and sarcasm, but.. Cinder was on his ass about things today, and he wasn’t in the mood for it.

@torchxlight​ said  ;   “Of all the strangest things I’ve seen, this takes the damn cake. A talking roach. Go figure.”

“Roach!?”

Now he’s gone and done it. Jiminy draws himself up abruptly, thoroughly indignant and bristling. 

“I’m no roach! I’m a cricket! Obviously.”

[torchxlight]

;; tag dump.

[torchxlight]

About Roman as a Faunus

Roman works very hard to keep his identity as a Faunus secret, especially since.. well, he is a donkey Faunus and he really doesn’t need the ridicule of being called things like ‘jackass’ because of it, among other embarrassing and/or rude nicknames. He also just doesn’t want to be mocked in general for being a donkey, instead of something more interesting, or perhaps attractive, like a fox or a wolf. He finds that even a cat or a monkey Faunus is more worthy of approval than he is.

So, to hide his long ears, he is actually rather abusive to himself, though he looks at it as being something he has to do to be accepted in society. He views it as his only option, and so even though it is extremely painful for him and even though it’s already resulted in a lot of scars and tears and other damage to his ears, he pins them.

But what is pinning? To be blunt, Roman folds his ears into shape so they’ll fit neatly under his hat and then takes sharp, needle-like pins and pierces them through his ears to hold them in shape, and then takes more pins, and pushes them through his ears and into his scalp to hold them in place. It’s a very damaging process, and as a result his ears have become very tattered and scarred, because he’s been pinning his ears since he was a child.

But why has he been pinning so long? It all traces back to his mother. She is a human, who fell in love with his father, who happened to be a donkey Faunus as well, though he hid it from her before he ended up getting arrested for several crimes that he had also hidden from her, and he has since never been seen again. She grew angry and resentful, but still remained unaware that her love was a Faunus, until their son was born, possessing the long ears of a donkey, thanks to his father’s Faunus genetics.

His father had a tail, and Roman got the ears. His mother was furious. Not only had she been lied to by the man she thought she loved, regarding his criminal status, but he had also lied to her about what he was, and she was hit with a deep hatred for all Faunus after that, and that includes her son. When she learned what her love was, and that her child had been born the same, she actually tried to reject Roman right then and there at the hospital. ‘That isn’t my child.’ She tried to claim. ‘Take that wretched thing away from me.’ One of the nurses, a Faunus herself in secret and who didn’t want to see another Faunus child abandoned by a human parent that denied that the child was theirs, stood her ground and convinced the woman to at least hold the newborn baby boy and maybe she would change her mind. It took some time, several days of convincing, in fact, before his mother finally relented and agreed to take him home and raise him.

But she kept him isolated and hidden from the world for much of his formative years. When she finally let him out into the world, she forcibly pinned his ears and made him wear either a hood or a hat to cover them. She forced him to lie about what he was, and forced him to be ashamed of what he was, especially about his ears. Again and again, she pinned his ears, even when he struggled and tried to fight back. If he fought against her, she would grab his ears and pull, and once even tore his ear with the pins so he bled. So he learned to sit still, and stay quiet through the pain.

As he got older, he started pinning his ears himself, because he desperately sought his mother’s approval. Approval he still has never received, and the absence of which has caused a lot of buried trauma and other issues. It has become ultimately ingrained in his personal routines in the morning to pin his ears, despite the damage it does. And now, he’s also doing it to hide what he is from Cinder especially. This also means that ultimately, even among his close personal confidants, he hasn’t at all revealed his true nature as a Faunus. To anyone.

[torchxlight]

;; Time to maybe get some things started here, so.. LIKE THIS POST FOR A STARTER!