Deerington

[snowldier]

IN CHARACTER

Character Name: Winter Schnee
Canon: RWBY
Canon Point: Volume 7 Episode 9

In-Game Tattoo Placement: Around the wrist, right hand.
Current Health/Status: Healthy and uninjured.
Age: 23
Species: Human

Content Warnings:

History:

Winter's fortune as the first born into the wealthy Schnee Dust empire should have meant that her life was made. She lived in a mansion that was in the heart of a city that was in the sky. Her life would have been described by any outsider as the definition of privilege. At first things certainly seemed that way, but she could always sense an undercurrent of tension between her parents and by the time her younger sister was ten and her brother had entered primary school her father stopped pretending he had married into the family for anything but the Schnee name and the company. He had never loved their mother. It was the biggest fight her parents had ever had and the family was never the same.

Winter's mother descended into drinking binges and would lock herself away in her room for days on end. This would be the start of the eldest Schnee child's contempt for alcohol and all who tried to drown their problems in it. The care of her siblings now rested on her shoulders and on the shoulders of the Schnee butler, Klein. Their emotional care at least. Jaques Schnee had plenty of his version of 'care' to spare. Unfortunately, it was the attention one would bestow on pawns or prized possessions. Atlas Academy was the only place where Winter felt like she wasn't being controlled. It was a place where she could strive for excellence for herself. Not the family name. Not for a father she hated and a mother who was indifferent, no, Atlas Academy was something she did for her.

When she came of age she joined the military and became fiercely loyal to General Ironwood. He is Atlas Academy's headmaster and a prominent General in the military hierarchy. She rose through the ranks and became one of Atlas's Special Operatives. It's strongly hinted that Ironwood played a key role in Winter's escape from her family home. Jaques’s controlling and authoritarian parenting had backfired. His eldest daughter had no interest in carrying on the ‘Schnee legacy' and opted instead to carve out her own legacy.

She remained close to her younger sister, Weiss, and often played the role of mentor/mother figure to the girl. She encouraged Weiss’s interest in attending Beacon Academy and would often spar and train with her sister. It was not because Beacon was the best, but because it might free her little sister of their father's influence for a while. Sadly, with keeping an eye on Weiss and her own rising military career she became distant from her younger brother and there is still much resentment there.

Winter was one of the few people that Ironwood seemed to trust fully. He sent her to Mistral to gather intelligence for him and by the time Weiss and her team were reunited with Winter she knew everything about Salem and the Maidens. The General had so much confidence in Winter's loyalty that he chose her to be the successor to the Winter Maiden, Freya. Despite Weiss’s misgivings Winter insisted that she had chosen this path for herself. She was not being pressured into it and was more than willing to accept it and whatever risks came along with it.

When Ironwood declared martial law in Atlas Winter remained loyal and did not question her orders. She believed him to be making the tough choices for everyone. She immediately made her way towards the maiden, determined to keep the powers from falling into enemy hands even if it meant making a tough choice herself. Despite this, she did have a struggle with her own personal feelings and with good reason. Taking the power would mean ending a life - an innocent life. Cinder, who was looking to take advantage of the chaos, had the same idea. This led to a three way fight between them and Penny. In the heat of the battle Winter's aura broke and she would have fallen to her death had Penny not chosen to prioritize saving her. Cinder got to the maiden first as a result. However, by the time Winter and Penny caught up Freya had encased herself in a shield of wind and ice that only Penny was able to get through. When the storm settled Winter was able to get through, but so had Cinder and the special operative kept the power hungry woman at bay while the Winter Maiden passed away in Penny's arms leaving Penny as the successor to the powers.

At this point Winter was badly wounded. She advised team RWBY to cooperate with General Ironwood and to surrender. However, upon seeing their resolve, she accepted that they were on different paths. When it didn't look like Weiss would leave her side, she used her radio to call for medical assistance and back up - conveniently not mentioning that team RWBY was right in front of her or that they were getting onto a ship to flee. ' A head start' she had told her sister.



CRAU History and Impact: N/A
Personality:
Winter was raised by a cold father and an emotionally and physically distant mother. Because of that, despite being a warm and caring person at her core, she struggles with displays of emotions and the only people who have really gotten to see her softer, less martial side are Weiss and Penny.

Keeping a wall around her heart can make her come off as rational, cold and reserved. It can be forgiven if those who don't know her well assume she's unfeeling , but the truth is, Winter simply bottles her emotions because she's afraid of them. However, she's not without empathy. Her anger was quickly smothered at Weiss's recklessness once her younger sibling embraced her and Weiss seemed to realize that the anger was a mask for her older sister's concern and worry. Winter did return the hug, albeit, awkwardly. Her concern for Weiss's wellbeing at Beacon was also very sincere almost to the point of helicopter parenting. However, Winter is not controlling like her father. While being invested in Weiss's future and happiness she seemed to know the balance between helping and stepping back and letting someone decide for themselves. She let Weiss decide whether to call their father when she visited Beacon and she let Weiss choose her own side at the end of volume 7. She also played a big part in Weiss’s training before Beacon and her tough love approach seems to be her way of making sure her sister can survive without her.

Another example of Winter showing that she is not as cold as she leads people to believe are her interactions with Penny. She seems to genuinely care for the feelings of the younger girl, going as far to reassure her when she thought Winter was snubbing her. There were times when she displayed the same mentorly behavior towards Penny as she had with her own sister having more than one conversation with the girl about the complexity of human emotion and why working through your feelings is part of being human. (Now if only she would take her own advice.) She also seems to empathize with Ironwood a great deal. Rather than villainize him, she pointed out that he was carrying the heaviest burdens so other people wouldn’t have to do it.

She has all the hallmarks of someone who had to grow up way too fast, and take life too seriously at a young age. She believes in order and discipline and always puts her missions first. She seemed to excel in her time at the academy probably due to a sense of structure and order that was not present in her home. Along with this newly found structure she learned the importance of loyalty, putting duty first and keeping a cool head. These traits are what helped her navigate and survive a turbulent childhood with a father who cut her off the moment he realized that Winter would not be controlled or played like a chess piece.

Her weakest of those traits are keeping a cool head when put under emotional pressure.
She still harbors a lot of anger and resentment from her childhood and just hearing his voice can be a hot button for her. Outbursts of anger and displays of emotion are something that Winter is deeply shameful of because she has been led to believe that these are displays of weakness and immaturity. She'd rather leave a room or conversation completely than display that level of vulnerability.

Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping:
-Glyphs
Her glyphs are similar to Weiss's, most notably including the ability to exert forces on herself and objects, which Winter uses to increase her speed to superhuman levels and boost jumps. One of her most notable glyph attacks sends out a flock of icy birds that will swarm the enemy while covering her counter attack at the same time.

(The glyphs could misfire or not work as well.)

- Summoning
Winter has the ability to summon a fallen foe to fight for her. She can even ride on the backs of some of the bigger ones. The creatures that Winter's able to summon are the creatures of Grimm .


(-Have them turn on her - that will really be a mind screw. She takes great pride in this ability.
-To elaborate, Grimm do fall into the 'monster' category. And yes, to the nerf. I agree the more OP monsters should be off limits or Winter will be a literal one woman army. )

- Swordsmanship and fighting ability
Winter carries a sword that can split off as two giving her the option to dual wield if she wishes. She also has above average speed being able to suddenly lunge or stop at will. She was able to hold her own in a fight against Qrow Branwen parrying and matching his blows. In addition, she fought almost evenly with Cinder who has maiden powers. Winter was quick enough on her feet to sever Cinder's grimm arm and continue the fight even though her aura had broken. She came out of the fight injured, but alive.
(I'd like this not to be nerfed as it's her most normal ability. But I'm open to suggestions.)

Inventory:
I would like her to be allowed to keep her military uniform and weapon. Also, if it's not over powered, a few dust cartridges.

Writing Samples:

https://soddersays.dreamwidth.org/39868.html?thread=11269308#cmt11269308

OUT OF CHARACTER

Player Name: Kyla
Player Age: 34
Player Contact: mocha_onigiri or nefarioussagittarius@gmail.com

Other Characters In Game: n/a
In-Game Tag If Accepted: Winter: Your Name
Permissions for Character:
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?:
Yes, for the purposes of Deerington, I'm fine with fourth walling.

What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?:
I like the elements in video games and shows like Corpse Party and Higurashi because of how much more obscene it is when the characters and settings seem cute and harmless at first. I like when light things mask a darker intent. Doki Doki Literature Club is my jam.

I also enjoy Asian horror. The Doll Master was really good. As was Cello and The Red Shoes. Psychological horror is best horror and I enjoyed the game Rule of Rose for employing those aspects. Tale of Two Sisters was a good example too.

Autopsy of Jane Doe was also a really creepy and good movie.

For horror that takes itself less seriously: Zombeaver and Cabin in the Woods.

Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?:
No, I'm not easily unnerved.

Additional Information: