RUSTY GRUBER
Primary Reference
Profile
Name: Rusty
Full Name: Russel Lubin Gruber
Nicknames: Rusty (common), Russ, Russmeister (for himself), Slick
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 120 lbs (give or take)
Birthday: October 6, 1997
Preferred Clothing: Long-sleeve or mid-sleeve shirts; often sweaters, sweatshirts, flannel, or any kind of loose apparel. Often wears one shirt on another if he feels one is too exposing. Prefers cargo pants, loose jeans or trousers of any kind, and skinny jeans only if he's feeling confident. Likes stripes. Favors a gray jacket with a hood, and a brown leather jacket several sizes too large for him. Likes bulky, dark shoes.
Reasons for This: Rusty is small, underweight and terribly embarrassed by his size. He wears concealing, often too large clothing to hide how skinny he is. Practically speaking, his size and lack of insulation make him prone to cold--- thus wearing long sleeves all the time helps him stay warm.
Interests: Personal fitness, self-improvement, video games (mostly FPS and Nintendo), dogs, talking to people, friends, food, girls, thrash metal and any kind of music with distorted vocals or dark themes.
MBTI Type: ESFJ-T
Personality Summary: Rusty is a guy who cares about people more than anything--- and not always in a good way.
External Persona: Rusty is a genuinely friendly dude whose heart for outcasts is as big as his determination to keep picking himself up and starting over. He is happy to chat anyone up and is known for running his mouth--- he is always talking someone's ear off. A sociable people-pleaser, he always wants to do good by people and encourage them, desiring to serve in any way he can. Likes to smile and joke around with friends. He has an intense dislike for being violated or lied to and has been known to show a bit of a meaner side when confronting these things--- he can be downright nasty, in fact. Otherwise, a very chill and friendly guy.
Internal Persona: Rusty has dealt with anxiety and depression since junior high, in no small part due to his negative self-image and familial insecurity. He puts on a happy face to hide someone who is inwardly a shaky, unhappy mess. He has so many masks he can't keep track. Because of this, he is drawn to confident individuals he sees as maskless--- those who are secure and do not hide who they are. Has an overexaggerated sense of responsibility to himself and to others which stresses him out even further, particularly when he can't meet his own absurd expectations. When this happens, he withdraws into himself even further and cranks up the happy face even more.
Home Life: Growing up was hard for Rusty. His father was a heavy drinker--- hands-off and never around. His mother was often so depressed because of her husband's behavior that she neglected to raise her own children well, leaving Rusty to take care of himself and raise his sister Rachel on his own more often than not. Later in his childhood, at the age of 9, his parents divorced and his mom got a lot more involved--- even kicking her smoking habit to save for her son's education--- but the damage was done. Rusty forgave her and was grateful for her change of heart, but never got too close to her. He never forgave his father, and this is a sore spot for him to this day. Protective of his sister.
School Life: He had a decent school life up until his preteens, where students began to bully him for his small size. The stress of this paired with his developing depression led him down a path of disorder and self-loathing, even after the bullying stopped. He made himself known as a defender and friend of bullied kids in high school and was really popular with them, but he continued to deteriorate on the inside, developing both an eating disorder and anxiety during these years. The mental illness and expectations he placed on himself tortured him until his senior year, where he joined a youth group at the prompting of his new friend Brian. He decided he'd try to stop destroying himself but often fell back into his old habits, much to his further self-hatred. He spent high school unhealthy and deeply miserable.
College Goal: Rusty became serious about new starts and self-improvement at the age of 18. He reinvented himself for a new group of people and tried to leave the old habits for good--- and for a while, he succeeded. It didn't even last the whole first year--- but that's another story that can't be summarized in one paragraph. See "Dealings with the Dark Side" below.
Emotional State: Deeply sad and seemingly intent on making himself miserable, intensified by his drive to appear happy and in control. He is frantic, insecure, and falling apart--- and most recently, prone to angry outbursts, especially when the exterior mask is compromised by someone who asks too many touchy questions. Two-faced.
Dealings with the Dark Side: Due to some unfortunate circumstances and his own unstable state of mind, an entity known as the Dark Heart takes Rusty on as his host. The Dark Heart is a bloodthirsty parasitic sort who drains his host's energy and, in the case of this particular entity, takes over the host's body for periods of time in order to assuage his bloodlust--- or the bloodlust of his Master, who desires a particular sort of blood--- whereas the Dark Heart has no preference for the blood he sheds.
Rusty, though he is unaware of the degrading presence of the Dark Heart or of the heinous acts committed through his hands (until later, that is), has a stronger mind than the entity thought, but since he is bound to Rusty by contract until he can find the blood his Master wants, he can't leave. Because of this, the entity grows to despise his host.
Two-Face: Due to the combination of his own "two-faced" nature, the Refractor's (the Master) influence and the Dark Heart's possession of his mind, Rusty put on a literal mask reflective of this. The mask, despite bearing the name "Two-Face", actually consists of three parts representing Rusty's three "faces". The silver portion represents his "happy", the blue his "sad", and the red his "angry". The red half comes to represent Dark Heart's presence. While wearing the mask, he is in a neutral, zombie-like state until one of the sides manifests itself--- usually Sad Man or the Dark Heart, who takes advantage of the zombie state to fully control Rusty's body, regularly dominating and eventually usurping Sad Man altogether.
Rusty did not make the mask; its exact origin is unknown. Because he only wears the mask in a zombie-like state, he went for some time without even knowing it existed. It's possible the mask existed before Rusty's time, but the mask is such an eerie representation of his state of mind that one wonders if it was created for him--- and if so, by whom?
Full Name: Russel Lubin Gruber
Nicknames: Rusty (common), Russ, Russmeister (for himself), Slick
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 120 lbs (give or take)
Birthday: October 6, 1997
Preferred Clothing: Long-sleeve or mid-sleeve shirts; often sweaters, sweatshirts, flannel, or any kind of loose apparel. Often wears one shirt on another if he feels one is too exposing. Prefers cargo pants, loose jeans or trousers of any kind, and skinny jeans only if he's feeling confident. Likes stripes. Favors a gray jacket with a hood, and a brown leather jacket several sizes too large for him. Likes bulky, dark shoes.
Reasons for This: Rusty is small, underweight and terribly embarrassed by his size. He wears concealing, often too large clothing to hide how skinny he is. Practically speaking, his size and lack of insulation make him prone to cold--- thus wearing long sleeves all the time helps him stay warm.
Interests: Personal fitness, self-improvement, video games (mostly FPS and Nintendo), dogs, talking to people, friends, food, girls, thrash metal and any kind of music with distorted vocals or dark themes.
MBTI Type: ESFJ-T
Personality Summary: Rusty is a guy who cares about people more than anything--- and not always in a good way.
External Persona: Rusty is a genuinely friendly dude whose heart for outcasts is as big as his determination to keep picking himself up and starting over. He is happy to chat anyone up and is known for running his mouth--- he is always talking someone's ear off. A sociable people-pleaser, he always wants to do good by people and encourage them, desiring to serve in any way he can. Likes to smile and joke around with friends. He has an intense dislike for being violated or lied to and has been known to show a bit of a meaner side when confronting these things--- he can be downright nasty, in fact. Otherwise, a very chill and friendly guy.
Internal Persona: Rusty has dealt with anxiety and depression since junior high, in no small part due to his negative self-image and familial insecurity. He puts on a happy face to hide someone who is inwardly a shaky, unhappy mess. He has so many masks he can't keep track. Because of this, he is drawn to confident individuals he sees as maskless--- those who are secure and do not hide who they are. Has an overexaggerated sense of responsibility to himself and to others which stresses him out even further, particularly when he can't meet his own absurd expectations. When this happens, he withdraws into himself even further and cranks up the happy face even more.
Home Life: Growing up was hard for Rusty. His father was a heavy drinker--- hands-off and never around. His mother was often so depressed because of her husband's behavior that she neglected to raise her own children well, leaving Rusty to take care of himself and raise his sister Rachel on his own more often than not. Later in his childhood, at the age of 9, his parents divorced and his mom got a lot more involved--- even kicking her smoking habit to save for her son's education--- but the damage was done. Rusty forgave her and was grateful for her change of heart, but never got too close to her. He never forgave his father, and this is a sore spot for him to this day. Protective of his sister.
School Life: He had a decent school life up until his preteens, where students began to bully him for his small size. The stress of this paired with his developing depression led him down a path of disorder and self-loathing, even after the bullying stopped. He made himself known as a defender and friend of bullied kids in high school and was really popular with them, but he continued to deteriorate on the inside, developing both an eating disorder and anxiety during these years. The mental illness and expectations he placed on himself tortured him until his senior year, where he joined a youth group at the prompting of his new friend Brian. He decided he'd try to stop destroying himself but often fell back into his old habits, much to his further self-hatred. He spent high school unhealthy and deeply miserable.
College Goal: Rusty became serious about new starts and self-improvement at the age of 18. He reinvented himself for a new group of people and tried to leave the old habits for good--- and for a while, he succeeded. It didn't even last the whole first year--- but that's another story that can't be summarized in one paragraph. See "Dealings with the Dark Side" below.
Emotional State: Deeply sad and seemingly intent on making himself miserable, intensified by his drive to appear happy and in control. He is frantic, insecure, and falling apart--- and most recently, prone to angry outbursts, especially when the exterior mask is compromised by someone who asks too many touchy questions. Two-faced.
Dealings with the Dark Side: Due to some unfortunate circumstances and his own unstable state of mind, an entity known as the Dark Heart takes Rusty on as his host. The Dark Heart is a bloodthirsty parasitic sort who drains his host's energy and, in the case of this particular entity, takes over the host's body for periods of time in order to assuage his bloodlust--- or the bloodlust of his Master, who desires a particular sort of blood--- whereas the Dark Heart has no preference for the blood he sheds.
Rusty, though he is unaware of the degrading presence of the Dark Heart or of the heinous acts committed through his hands (until later, that is), has a stronger mind than the entity thought, but since he is bound to Rusty by contract until he can find the blood his Master wants, he can't leave. Because of this, the entity grows to despise his host.
Two-Face: Due to the combination of his own "two-faced" nature, the Refractor's (the Master) influence and the Dark Heart's possession of his mind, Rusty put on a literal mask reflective of this. The mask, despite bearing the name "Two-Face", actually consists of three parts representing Rusty's three "faces". The silver portion represents his "happy", the blue his "sad", and the red his "angry". The red half comes to represent Dark Heart's presence. While wearing the mask, he is in a neutral, zombie-like state until one of the sides manifests itself--- usually Sad Man or the Dark Heart, who takes advantage of the zombie state to fully control Rusty's body, regularly dominating and eventually usurping Sad Man altogether.
Rusty did not make the mask; its exact origin is unknown. Because he only wears the mask in a zombie-like state, he went for some time without even knowing it existed. It's possible the mask existed before Rusty's time, but the mask is such an eerie representation of his state of mind that one wonders if it was created for him--- and if so, by whom?
Art
Story Arc
IMPORTANT: If there haven't already been enough spoilers in all the former information, the following section contains major story points for the null_jordan series. Rusty is a major character and has the lion's share of development and, shall we say... deterioration. Some material will be out of context but a majority of the story is still present. To experience what this character was like in action, however, spoilers must be seen.
Also... please READ THE COMMENT SECTIONS. Often, more development and depthier explanation and sometimes spot-on, sometimes inaccurate speculation from players. Notice Rusty's use of emoticons and how his typing style gradually becomes sloppier over time--- these were both by design. Sometimes there are even hidden codes in the entries or descriptions that were never explicitly found by the players. See if you can find them.
Also... please READ THE COMMENT SECTIONS. Often, more development and depthier explanation and sometimes spot-on, sometimes inaccurate speculation from players. Notice Rusty's use of emoticons and how his typing style gradually becomes sloppier over time--- these were both by design. Sometimes there are even hidden codes in the entries or descriptions that were never explicitly found by the players. See if you can find them.
First Semester
Pasta (24)
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Second Semester
Rusty is Found (67)
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Striped Stranger (68)
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Within the Circle (82)
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Rusty Returns (84)
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Red Eyes (Short Story)
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Goodbye Stitch (85)
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The End (86)