Entry tags:
PERMISSIONS
Continuing my brave tradition of really fucking casual posts, if it grows back eventually: go for it. You can stab him, punch him, whatever, just do it.
If it doesn't grow back eventually: ask before doing the thing.
And as long as it's not something obviously private (e.g. he's talking to someone via his carrier while taking a piss and someone walks into the bathroom) just...threadjack away.
...
It was just pointed out that Kain could control other characters with these aforementioned shades.
...
Dun dun DUN. (Why do people enable me?)
I'll try to ask before it comes up in general because not everybody's gonna check, but if you're utterly opposed to the shades doing a thing with your dude at all? Let me know here. Comments are screened.
If it doesn't grow back eventually: ask before doing the thing.
And as long as it's not something obviously private (e.g. he's talking to someone via his carrier while taking a piss and someone walks into the bathroom) just...threadjack away.
...
Deal With It: A pair of pretty darn rad shutter shades that glow white in the dark when inactive. When mana is infused in them, they may glow a variety of colors depending upon the amount of mana involved; magical music will start playing that forces targets to sing and dance to a random tune. The user's mana drains continuously while the song is playing; it may be cut off prematurely, or be chained into another song. Mana cost, song duration and number of targets (up to 5) may increase with training.
It was just pointed out that Kain could control other characters with these aforementioned shades.
...
Dun dun DUN. (Why do people enable me?)
I'll try to ask before it comes up in general because not everybody's gonna check, but if you're utterly opposed to the shades doing a thing with your dude at all? Let me know here. Comments are screened.
Entry tags:
APPLICATION
♛ IC
Name: Kain Highwind
Canon: Final Fantasy IV
Canon Point: Post first game, pre TAY sequel
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Appearance: Him sans helmet. Technically from Dissidia, but same difference. If I went direct from FF4 I’d have to go to the sequel to get a shot of him without that fucker on his head.
...god, that looks so weird.
History/Background: Kain specifically. FFIV’s story in general.
Personality:
At first glance - look, I’m being lazy - Kain is solitary. He’s quiet. He’s impassive and kind of stoic and keeps to himself with a few exceptions. He’s also that at second glance. This isn’t to say that he doesn’t have feelings. He does have feelings. Very intense feelings at times, actually. He just isn’t predispositioned towards sharing them. So, for the most part, he’s the silent, chill guy with a sardonic sense of humor which snakes out every now and again. The knight brooding against the back wall who makes a dryly amused comment every so often, but tends more often than not to keep things in order and keep the agenda moving forward...if there is one, and if not he'll just watch and wait and snark every now and again.
But then something triggers those feelings and gets him moving into action and he’s suddenly one of those intense and determined types (he’s very stubborn) who’s like trying to singlehandedly hold back a Noir brigade at the likely cost of his own life while other people go for help or something dramatic and extreme, and you’re just like, “Whoa, dude. Chill. You do- we can- dude, chill. Just...stop, chill.” When properly inspired he’s stubborn, determined, pragmatic, and can be downright ruthless if he thinks it’s necessary. He’ll have the greater good in mind but would be first in line to stain his hands and would kick everyone else away from staining theirs in turn. It’s just traits that don’t necessarily come out blatantly because he’s restrained in nature. They exist, but are subdued.
He has a shit ton of pride. He's got pride in himself and pride in his skills and pride when it comes to his accomplishments. It's to the extent that his EX Burst in Dissidia (which is a different game, granted, but the point stands) is called Dragoon’s Pride. Unfortunately, the results of his efforts didn’t exactly match up with what he was hoping.
Which isn’t to say that Kain’s life was a total failure, and that’s perhaps the part which makes it difficult: if he was a total fuck up it might’ve been easier for him to accept certain things. But no. He’s a skilled Dragoon. He saved the Dragoons, his father’s old company, from disbanding and due to his efforts ended up being appointed as their Lord Commander. He’s very competent. He’s so competent and respected that even in the sequel game, after he fucked off from Baron for seventeen years with no one hearing from him, there’s NPCs there who’re wistfully going, “If only Kain was here…” And then when he does return they’re like, “Holy shit, Kain’s back.” Opposed to going, “Remember that one Dragoon...uh...think his name was Coin?”
But he’s got a friend named Cecil. Cecil’s life could basically be summed up as Kain’s life, but better. Cecil got adopted by the king, same as Kain: Cecil was the favorite. Cecil and Kain both ended up being appointed as heads of two different companies: Cecil’s was the more powerful one and Kain’s was dwindling in influence and power.
And they had a childhood friend named Rosa, who they both loved. Rosa loved Cecil, not Kain. (And I’ll get back to Rosa in a second.) And on one hand, Cecil and Kain are super tight. They’re friends. Kain was horribly lonely before Cecil rolled into his life and I’m pretty sure that if Kain was in a position in which the only way to save Cecil’s life would be to take a blow for him...and was in his right mind at the time...he would. But on the other hand, there was a part of Kain which really wanted to punt Cecil’s ass into a moat at the very least because Cecil’s life was Kain’s life, but better. However, since he’s naturally quiet and stoic and Kain’s kind of emotionally constipated, this wasn’t exactly...expressed; Cecil knew they were rivals (a fierce competitiveness with a fierce friendship: they’d beat each other up in training and eat pie later and laugh about it) but probably didn’t realize the extent to which Kain was viciously going ffffffffff beneath his tight lineface and quiet exterior. Which fed into these intense feelings of frustration and jealousy which Kain tried to deny, which would bite him in the ass multiple times later.
But things biting him in the ass can wait. Let’s talk about Rosa as she is one of the two most important people in the world to Kain. He really loves her, has for a long time, probably will until he dies, and I could probably go on for a while about his relationship to her but if I did you would be drowning under it. Short version: she kept him grounded, kept him and Cecil from coming to blows before they were proper friends, and is stubborn enough to push him (and everyone else) around when need be. Probably if it wasn’t for her he’d end up even more intense and maybe have died a heroic and dramatic death pre-game, but this veers into speculation. But if he could save either Cecil or Rosa by nobly taking a blow for them and could only save one of them, he’d save Rosa, no hesitation. (And probably Cecil would say good job and they’d do the knightly version of a high five before they both died.)
Anyway. Cecil and Rosa: very important. They formed a power trio with Rosa as the ego, Cecil as the superego, and Kain as the id. And as the two of them were very important to him and were clearly into each other, in lieu of asking Rosa out, maybe getting shot down, talking about their relationship, and clearing the air? Kain chose to repress it and say nothing about it because he wanted to see them happy. And he did this so well that it took him literally getting mind controlled at the age of 21 before either of them realized he might kind of have a crush on her.
This ends up biting Kain in the ass when he ends up getting mind controlled. Worse, it’s one of those ‘more than mind control’ deals in which he’s not only mind controlled, it gets him to act on his repressed urges and his brain to mouth filter is totally gone. So within the span of him getting brainwashed to the Tower of Zot he basically ruthlessly nukes any veneer of having 100% platonic feelings towards Rosa and tries to kill Cecil multiple times, and says things to Rosa like, “I am more than Cecil will ever be. You'll see that soon enough.” And then twirls a mustache as he heads off to tie an orphan to a train track or whatever.
He feels like shit when he returns to his right mind, because he genuinely cares for the both of them. And this is important to know because for the rest of the game (at least when he’s not brainwashed for a second time kind of, it’s complicated) he develops this...self-flagellating atoner streak. It’s bad enough that he ends up canonically saving the world, but still feels unworthy enough that in lieu of going back to Baron and hanging with his friends he trains atop of an isolated mountain. He also canonically stays there for the next seventeen years, and it takes the literal pending end of the world as well as his dark side splitting apart from him (Persona Shadow deal...not that important, but it gives you an idea) for him to leave that mountain.
Most of this happens after the canon point I’m picking, but what I’m saying is that saving a country at the cost of his own happiness? Hell yes, sign him up.
Skills/Abilities:
His big thing is being able to jump: in canon, despite the fact that he’s wearing plate mail, he’s able to spring up high into the sky and strike an enemy. Obviously, that’s gone, or nerfed to the extent that he can jump wearing plate mail in the game and while he wouldn’t actually go that high (a few inches? not even a foot?) he wouldn’t want to die from the exertion of it.
Besides that, standard knightly proficiency with a sword and a spear, with a preference towards the latter. He can equip them, wave it about, and not kill himself by accident. I’d say he’s skilled enough that he can kick ass in general, but if, say, someone like a Lancer from Fate/ were to battle him and they were both reduced to normal human levels Kain would still get his ass beaten in as he’s used to acrobatics he’s no longer capable of.
And apparently in FFIV’s backstory the reason why the Red Wings were so much more prominent than the Dragoons is because the former rode airships and the latter used to ride dragons before they became castle defense: it’s like the horse versus tank thing, except the fantasy air version. So he also knows enough about basic wyvern care that if someone’s lizard mount started vomiting he might know enough to help.
Finally, he’s absolutely fucking terrible with magic and it takes the literal intervention of an omnipresent alien spirit imbuing him with light before he can sort of manage basic white magic. He’s going to struggle here is what I’m saying.
Magic Weapon: A pair of pretty darn rad shutter shades that glow white in the dark when inactive. When mana is infused in them, they may glow a variety of colors depending upon the amount of mana involved; magical music will start playing that forces targets to sing and dance to a random tune. The user's mana drains continuously while the song is playing; it may be cut off prematurely, or be chained into another song. Mana cost, song duration and number of targets (up to 5) may increase with training.
Carrier: Bococho: A creature that looks suspiciously like a certain bird mascot. Except it’s like two feet tall so it’s the uncanny valley dwarf robo version. It's too fat to fly, so it just hops everywhere. It will happily become a kleptomaniac for anything with its owner's face on it.
Name: Kain Highwind
Canon: Final Fantasy IV
Canon Point: Post first game, pre TAY sequel
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Appearance: Him sans helmet. Technically from Dissidia, but same difference. If I went direct from FF4 I’d have to go to the sequel to get a shot of him without that fucker on his head.
...god, that looks so weird.
History/Background: Kain specifically. FFIV’s story in general.
Personality:
At first glance - look, I’m being lazy - Kain is solitary. He’s quiet. He’s impassive and kind of stoic and keeps to himself with a few exceptions. He’s also that at second glance. This isn’t to say that he doesn’t have feelings. He does have feelings. Very intense feelings at times, actually. He just isn’t predispositioned towards sharing them. So, for the most part, he’s the silent, chill guy with a sardonic sense of humor which snakes out every now and again. The knight brooding against the back wall who makes a dryly amused comment every so often, but tends more often than not to keep things in order and keep the agenda moving forward...if there is one, and if not he'll just watch and wait and snark every now and again.
But then something triggers those feelings and gets him moving into action and he’s suddenly one of those intense and determined types (he’s very stubborn) who’s like trying to singlehandedly hold back a Noir brigade at the likely cost of his own life while other people go for help or something dramatic and extreme, and you’re just like, “Whoa, dude. Chill. You do- we can- dude, chill. Just...stop, chill.” When properly inspired he’s stubborn, determined, pragmatic, and can be downright ruthless if he thinks it’s necessary. He’ll have the greater good in mind but would be first in line to stain his hands and would kick everyone else away from staining theirs in turn. It’s just traits that don’t necessarily come out blatantly because he’s restrained in nature. They exist, but are subdued.
He has a shit ton of pride. He's got pride in himself and pride in his skills and pride when it comes to his accomplishments. It's to the extent that his EX Burst in Dissidia (which is a different game, granted, but the point stands) is called Dragoon’s Pride. Unfortunately, the results of his efforts didn’t exactly match up with what he was hoping.
Which isn’t to say that Kain’s life was a total failure, and that’s perhaps the part which makes it difficult: if he was a total fuck up it might’ve been easier for him to accept certain things. But no. He’s a skilled Dragoon. He saved the Dragoons, his father’s old company, from disbanding and due to his efforts ended up being appointed as their Lord Commander. He’s very competent. He’s so competent and respected that even in the sequel game, after he fucked off from Baron for seventeen years with no one hearing from him, there’s NPCs there who’re wistfully going, “If only Kain was here…” And then when he does return they’re like, “Holy shit, Kain’s back.” Opposed to going, “Remember that one Dragoon...uh...think his name was Coin?”
But he’s got a friend named Cecil. Cecil’s life could basically be summed up as Kain’s life, but better. Cecil got adopted by the king, same as Kain: Cecil was the favorite. Cecil and Kain both ended up being appointed as heads of two different companies: Cecil’s was the more powerful one and Kain’s was dwindling in influence and power.
And they had a childhood friend named Rosa, who they both loved. Rosa loved Cecil, not Kain. (And I’ll get back to Rosa in a second.) And on one hand, Cecil and Kain are super tight. They’re friends. Kain was horribly lonely before Cecil rolled into his life and I’m pretty sure that if Kain was in a position in which the only way to save Cecil’s life would be to take a blow for him...and was in his right mind at the time...he would. But on the other hand, there was a part of Kain which really wanted to punt Cecil’s ass into a moat at the very least because Cecil’s life was Kain’s life, but better. However, since he’s naturally quiet and stoic and Kain’s kind of emotionally constipated, this wasn’t exactly...expressed; Cecil knew they were rivals (a fierce competitiveness with a fierce friendship: they’d beat each other up in training and eat pie later and laugh about it) but probably didn’t realize the extent to which Kain was viciously going ffffffffff beneath his tight lineface and quiet exterior. Which fed into these intense feelings of frustration and jealousy which Kain tried to deny, which would bite him in the ass multiple times later.
But things biting him in the ass can wait. Let’s talk about Rosa as she is one of the two most important people in the world to Kain. He really loves her, has for a long time, probably will until he dies, and I could probably go on for a while about his relationship to her but if I did you would be drowning under it. Short version: she kept him grounded, kept him and Cecil from coming to blows before they were proper friends, and is stubborn enough to push him (and everyone else) around when need be. Probably if it wasn’t for her he’d end up even more intense and maybe have died a heroic and dramatic death pre-game, but this veers into speculation. But if he could save either Cecil or Rosa by nobly taking a blow for them and could only save one of them, he’d save Rosa, no hesitation. (And probably Cecil would say good job and they’d do the knightly version of a high five before they both died.)
Anyway. Cecil and Rosa: very important. They formed a power trio with Rosa as the ego, Cecil as the superego, and Kain as the id. And as the two of them were very important to him and were clearly into each other, in lieu of asking Rosa out, maybe getting shot down, talking about their relationship, and clearing the air? Kain chose to repress it and say nothing about it because he wanted to see them happy. And he did this so well that it took him literally getting mind controlled at the age of 21 before either of them realized he might kind of have a crush on her.
This ends up biting Kain in the ass when he ends up getting mind controlled. Worse, it’s one of those ‘more than mind control’ deals in which he’s not only mind controlled, it gets him to act on his repressed urges and his brain to mouth filter is totally gone. So within the span of him getting brainwashed to the Tower of Zot he basically ruthlessly nukes any veneer of having 100% platonic feelings towards Rosa and tries to kill Cecil multiple times, and says things to Rosa like, “I am more than Cecil will ever be. You'll see that soon enough.” And then twirls a mustache as he heads off to tie an orphan to a train track or whatever.
He feels like shit when he returns to his right mind, because he genuinely cares for the both of them. And this is important to know because for the rest of the game (at least when he’s not brainwashed for a second time kind of, it’s complicated) he develops this...self-flagellating atoner streak. It’s bad enough that he ends up canonically saving the world, but still feels unworthy enough that in lieu of going back to Baron and hanging with his friends he trains atop of an isolated mountain. He also canonically stays there for the next seventeen years, and it takes the literal pending end of the world as well as his dark side splitting apart from him (Persona Shadow deal...not that important, but it gives you an idea) for him to leave that mountain.
Most of this happens after the canon point I’m picking, but what I’m saying is that saving a country at the cost of his own happiness? Hell yes, sign him up.
Skills/Abilities:
His big thing is being able to jump: in canon, despite the fact that he’s wearing plate mail, he’s able to spring up high into the sky and strike an enemy. Obviously, that’s gone, or nerfed to the extent that he can jump wearing plate mail in the game and while he wouldn’t actually go that high (a few inches? not even a foot?) he wouldn’t want to die from the exertion of it.
Besides that, standard knightly proficiency with a sword and a spear, with a preference towards the latter. He can equip them, wave it about, and not kill himself by accident. I’d say he’s skilled enough that he can kick ass in general, but if, say, someone like a Lancer from Fate/ were to battle him and they were both reduced to normal human levels Kain would still get his ass beaten in as he’s used to acrobatics he’s no longer capable of.
And apparently in FFIV’s backstory the reason why the Red Wings were so much more prominent than the Dragoons is because the former rode airships and the latter used to ride dragons before they became castle defense: it’s like the horse versus tank thing, except the fantasy air version. So he also knows enough about basic wyvern care that if someone’s lizard mount started vomiting he might know enough to help.
Finally, he’s absolutely fucking terrible with magic and it takes the literal intervention of an omnipresent alien spirit imbuing him with light before he can sort of manage basic white magic. He’s going to struggle here is what I’m saying.
Magic Weapon: A pair of pretty darn rad shutter shades that glow white in the dark when inactive. When mana is infused in them, they may glow a variety of colors depending upon the amount of mana involved; magical music will start playing that forces targets to sing and dance to a random tune. The user's mana drains continuously while the song is playing; it may be cut off prematurely, or be chained into another song. Mana cost, song duration and number of targets (up to 5) may increase with training.
Carrier: Bococho: A creature that looks suspiciously like a certain bird mascot. Except it’s like two feet tall so it’s the uncanny valley dwarf robo version. It's too fat to fly, so it just hops everywhere. It will happily become a kleptomaniac for anything with its owner's face on it.
