⚙️Ron⚙️

PERSONALITY CORE

" Funny, how I couldn't see. This is not at all about you, it's about me."

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Ron is a gentle giant that just wants the world to be a better, simpler place. Tired of the injustices and unfairness both within his own world of Cogs and the greater world of Toons, he longs for a ~society~ where everyone is free to do what they want, speak up without feeling afraid, and enjoy what they want without shame or fear. An altruist and idealist to the end, he gives his all for those that need him, leaving very little time and energy to reflect on his own wants and needs. Which, ironically, is what he left his job to focus on to begin with.

This personal stress and constant act of putting his own needs on the backburner seems to have started festering in him. He's tired, resentful, and now feels as though he left one draining job for another. It's not that he doesn't care or that he doesn't WANT to help anymore, just that it's hard to be a figurehead, leader, therapist, moral support, hero, shoulder to cry on, repairman, etc etc etc for everyone all the time when all he ever wanted to do was play piano.

RUNNING ON FUMES...

Being a 2-wing enneagram type, Ron will disintegrate into an 8-wing under stress. It's one of the reasons that, despite his kindness, he's often drawn with a scowl or frown, as he is often stressed or encountering people that stress him out. He has seemingly infinite reserves of patience, but when those reserves are finally depleted, he will not hesitate to use all 8ft and almost 400lbs of himself to put someone in their place.

He treats Cogs with endless patience and compassion, but the same cannot be said for Toons. More often than not, Toons will see his more angry side, as he feels the need to put on a "tough" or imposing presence to remind them that he may be just a Mingler, but he demands respect not just for himself, but for his friends and his cause.

PERSONAL FILE

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• Ron's musical inspirations include: Fastball, Paul Williams, Steve Winwood, Tears For Fears, Jim Steinman, and the Streets of Fire soundtrack.
• His date of manufacture falls on 02/03, known to some as "The Day the Music Died."
• His aesthetic is inspried by Teddy Boys of the 1950s and 60's as well as pastel pink suits of the 80's.

BACKLOG

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Background

Ron was a Mingler model employed by his world's resident big boss, Fat Cat. Made to mingle at parties, he found this lot in life to be disingenuous and wanted more. Inspired by the words of his musical idol, Robert Baron, Ron left his job behind to pursue a career in music, spending all of his saved up Cogbucks on upgrades and enhancements to start a new life as a pianist. No longer a member of "functional" society, Ron was talented but nontheless an outcast, and quickly began to understand just how unfair the world could be if you fell out of line, fell on hard times, or just never had any opportunities to begin with. Using his talents to rally other cogs, he was eventually joined in his musical pursuits by his brother-in-serial-number, Don. Together, the two went from playing sets in seedy bars to rallying for better working conditions for Cogs everywhere. Seen as troublemakers by those that wanted to maintain the status quo, they were quickly labeled as criminals, and were forced to operate under the table.

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PART ONE: THE FOWL PLOT

Doing their damndest to make a change, Ron and his brother hit a wall when they are faced with opposition on all sides--Toons could care less about Cogs at all, and Cogs themselves just want them to shut up, sit down, and get back to work. It isn't until a strange little Goose with a lisp and a PhD in just about everything takes interest in their cause that things start to change for the better. They get results! They strike fear into the hearts of Toons everywhere! They start having strange lapses in memory and see themselves on the news doing very mean things to toons that they don't really remember doing! What's going on?! Revealing himself to be an Interdimensional Visitor from a world where Cogs are hellbent on turning the world into a corporate wasteland, Doctor Gus the Most Villainous of Geese begins a campaign of mind control and sabotage, using the "gifts" and "repairs" he provided for his former allies and turning them into dangerous weapons. Thankfully, one other dimensional visitor is able to stop Gus and send him back from where he came from, but not everyone escapes unscathed. Ron and Don are labled as public enemies # 1 and 2, and are arrested for their crimes!

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INTERMISSION: INTERDIMENSIONAL TRAVEL

Taking pity on him and his situation, he is given an opportunity to flee thanks to his newfound friend and pan-dimensional travel expert, Pan Dulce. To avoid capture, Ron finds himself sent through a crudely made dimensional gateway and to strange alternate worlds with rules very different than his own. Meeting all sorts of new faces and finding many new causes to fight for (whether he really wants to or not), Ron finds allies across space-time, such as a little computer friend named AEIOU, before eventually finding his way back home.

While away, his brother and Pan Dulce are forced to hold the fort against another threat to their world, an overeager cog by the name of Hugh that accidentally unleashes a malicious program that seeks to digitize everyone and everything it touches.

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PART TWO: RETURN OF THE SCAMBOTS

Home again and all caught up on wacky events, Ron hopes that he and his friends can finally catch a break. Unfortunately, this isn't the case, as a new threat soon rears its ugly head. A former ally for their cause, known as The Loophole Lawyer, "rediscovered" the schematics for a long-lost cog type that was discontinued for being dangrous and prone to crime, the Scambots. Furthermore, The Loophole Lawyer revives another "ancient" concept--The Cog Bosses, which had been decommissioned for as long as anyone can remember.

Toons and Cogs alike have to once again work together to get rid of the criminals invading their town as well as the renegade Cog Bosses that retained their programming from the "Old Days", firing up the factories as they had done ages ago and mass-producing simple, mindless Cogs to take over everything in sight. Ron's values are put to the test as he must balance his "every Cog has good in them somewhere" mindset with the very real dangers these new Cogs pose.

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INTERMISSION: SISTER CITY SILLINESS

Though eventually vanquished, the antics of the Scambots create a permanent, open rift between their world (nicknamed "RetroToon City") and Toontown. As such, strange visitors become more frequent and RetroToon City begins to deal with more goofier, wackier individuals than they can handle. Thankfully, though, it seemed that none of the "evil" cogs from that world could make it through the rift, and aside from a few wayward pies, the two worlds could coexist well enough that RetroToon City was added to the Shtickerbook map. How official! As an added bonus, now that Toons have gotten a taste of working with Cogs to keep their world in tact, relations have greatly improved, and Ron is redeemed in the public eye.

He is offered a position as the de facto head of Cog-Toon relations, but respectfully turns it down and gives the position to Don. Ron relocates to a small apartment on the borders of Cog Nation and resumes his true passion--making music.

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PART THREE: A RECIPE FOR DISASTER

Nothing lasts forever, and unfortunately, one final threat to Toonkind appears due to the instability of the rift. A defective Cog known only as The Bookkeeper slips through the cracks between the two worlds, and brings with her an ancient and dangerous chemical weapon--a vile concoction of turpentine, acetone, and benzine, which could melt any toon in seconds and strip the paint off of any cog it touches.

Revealed to be the creation of a shapeshifting blob of a toon named Von Rotten with crazy eyes and a familiar lisp, the two are hellbent on using RetroToon City as a testing ground for their weapon. Seeking to preserve the new peaceful life Ron made for himself, he seeks help from both his allies from home and those he met from his travels in space-time, hoping to defeat this threat and finally get some well-earned rest.

COWORKERS

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