Kevin Kane (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
neverfoundtheanswer) wrote2036-01-26 08:24 pm
neverfoundtheanswer) wrote2036-01-26 08:24 pm
info / history
FULL NAME
Kevin Mitchell Kane
AGE // BIRTHDAY
circa college years, 18-22ish // October 26th
OCCUPATION
college student/office worker
NICKNAMES
Vinnie
PRONOUNS
he/him
SEXUALITY
bi, leaning slightly towards men
TRIGGER WARNINGS
nonconsensual possession; abusive parents; self-destructive behavior
IN A NUTSHELL
Asshole with a heart of gold who eventually gets possessed and suddenly has to face up both to that trauma, and the trauma of his demanding, abusive family that he's been ignoring for years.
Dress is generally presentable-but-casual, but he's good at aiming for an impression when he feels the need. Several scars, particularly on his back, but they tend to be old and faded.
PERSONALITY
pre-possession
+ intelligent, playful, articulate, fearless, flexible
- arrogant, self-destructive, dramatic, disingenuous, apathetic, impatient
post-possession
+ intelligent, adaptive, introspective, capable, open-minded
- apathetic, tired, bitter, distracted, unmotivated
+ intelligent, playful, articulate, fearless, flexible
- arrogant, self-destructive, dramatic, disingenuous, apathetic, impatient
post-possession
+ intelligent, adaptive, introspective, capable, open-minded
- apathetic, tired, bitter, distracted, unmotivated
Kevin can be kind of a jerk. He's good at finding people's weak spots and targeting them, and sometimes he'll use that on people who haven't actually done anything to him. He's competitive, smug, overconfident, and knows exactly how smart he is. But he's also friendly more often than not, and a lot of his worst moments are a product of him trying to ignore his own issues. He can be immensely kind and accepting, and once he's close to someone, he's extremely loyal.
He's always been under immense pressure from his family, especially his father, and by the time he hits college Kevin's a pro at pretending none of it bothers him, both to other people and to himself. Truth be told, the pressure cooker of knowing one step out of line meant being forcibly shoved back into it has fucked him up in ways he doesn't even register. His life is a tightrope walk of rebelling just enough to let off steam and feel like he can survive, while never letting himself get sloppy enough to get caught. To that end, he indulges in a lot of self-destructive vices -- drinking, smoking, partying -- and there aren't a lot that he's not willing to try if he's promised a good time.
When things are chill, with people he can let down his guard around, he's playful and silly and kind of a goof. The more ridiculous side of himself is one he doesn't show to most people, but when he does it's the version of himself he likes the best, even if he wouldn't admit that. He gets easily excited over things and shows it with his whole body, stops caring about looking perfect, and just overall enjoys himself a lot more. He cherishes the people who make him feel comfortable enough to relax that much, and there's not much he wouldn't do for them if push came to shove.
After his experience with possession, all of Kevin's extremes get tempered down for a long time. He's no longer quite so joyful when with his chosen people, but he's also no longer quite so abrasive and smug towards people outside that circle, either. He still indulges in vices, but tends to do it alone instead of partying. He's off-balance and trying to figure out who he is and wants to be, both after his ordeal and away from his family, and it leaves him quieter, raw where he used to have layers upon layers of masks and shells to keep himself safe.
BACKGROUND
Kevin is the only child of parents who knew exactly what they wanted from their son, and set about shaping him into it early on. Luckily for him, he's always been smart, and from an early age he figured out what was expected of him and put on the act of it. It's not always been perfect, and his father never hesitated to take it out on him when it wasn't, with words or fists or belts, but he's done well enough to make it through.
But the happy parts of Kevin's childhood were never putting on those masks or dealing with family. Close friends of the family had a son his age, Jamie, and Kevin's best times have always been when the two of them managed to hide away from the expectations together. In a lot of ways, that friendship kept Kevin from being a lot worse of a person than he is, and he's always been a little bit in love with Jamie in a way he's never admitted to anyone.
High school introduced Kevin to parties, sex, alcohol, and a million other ways to forget about the gradually increasing stresses of life with his family, and he threw himself into it without looking back. College brought with it being alone for the first time, as Jamie left to attend school halfway across the country, and while Kevin was happy to see him get away from his family's expectations, which were pretty similar to his own, it was also a massive adjustment, and he dug himself even deeper into distractions to deal with it. He's always been careful to stay in control enough that his grades stay high and he can do what he needs to do, but more and more of his free time slipped into a haze of distractions without Jamie to demand some of it.
Being given a job in his father's company didn't help, either. Although he stayed in the same city, college was still supposed to give him some distance now that he wasn't under his parent's roof, but working with his father made that impossible. Under the continued stress, Kevin started to slip in little ways, and while he thought he had it under control enough that no one noticed, it didn't work out that way.
With the cracks showing and his performance no longer quite good enough, Kevin's parents gave up on him in a big way, and sent a whole part of the world he was unaware of slamming into his life out of nowhere. He was offered as a vessel for possession to bring an eldritch creature to the world, and lost a year trapped inside himself while the creature took over. Luckily, turns out there was a lot of this culty, supernatural bullshit going on around him and under his radar, and a friend recognized something was going on. Kevin has chosen not to ask about a lot of the details of the year he missed, but he knows he was saved not long before the people who used him would have finished setting their plan in motion, and he knows that he can't go back to ignorance now that he's been introduced to this part of the world. Readjusting is a learning process that's going to take time, and energy that he's still trying to find again, and at this point, he's just trying to get through the days, and will worry about what happens on a longer scale later.
But the happy parts of Kevin's childhood were never putting on those masks or dealing with family. Close friends of the family had a son his age, Jamie, and Kevin's best times have always been when the two of them managed to hide away from the expectations together. In a lot of ways, that friendship kept Kevin from being a lot worse of a person than he is, and he's always been a little bit in love with Jamie in a way he's never admitted to anyone.
High school introduced Kevin to parties, sex, alcohol, and a million other ways to forget about the gradually increasing stresses of life with his family, and he threw himself into it without looking back. College brought with it being alone for the first time, as Jamie left to attend school halfway across the country, and while Kevin was happy to see him get away from his family's expectations, which were pretty similar to his own, it was also a massive adjustment, and he dug himself even deeper into distractions to deal with it. He's always been careful to stay in control enough that his grades stay high and he can do what he needs to do, but more and more of his free time slipped into a haze of distractions without Jamie to demand some of it.
Being given a job in his father's company didn't help, either. Although he stayed in the same city, college was still supposed to give him some distance now that he wasn't under his parent's roof, but working with his father made that impossible. Under the continued stress, Kevin started to slip in little ways, and while he thought he had it under control enough that no one noticed, it didn't work out that way.
With the cracks showing and his performance no longer quite good enough, Kevin's parents gave up on him in a big way, and sent a whole part of the world he was unaware of slamming into his life out of nowhere. He was offered as a vessel for possession to bring an eldritch creature to the world, and lost a year trapped inside himself while the creature took over. Luckily, turns out there was a lot of this culty, supernatural bullshit going on around him and under his radar, and a friend recognized something was going on. Kevin has chosen not to ask about a lot of the details of the year he missed, but he knows he was saved not long before the people who used him would have finished setting their plan in motion, and he knows that he can't go back to ignorance now that he's been introduced to this part of the world. Readjusting is a learning process that's going to take time, and energy that he's still trying to find again, and at this point, he's just trying to get through the days, and will worry about what happens on a longer scale later.
ABILITIES
SKILLS
Lying. Charming people, when he bothers. Singing and dancing. Math. Test-taking.
THAT ELDRITCH THING
Post-possession, the connection can't be fully closed, leaving Kevin with a kind of gap in his mind that he occasionally trips over. The eldritch creature that once possessed him is still a presence that he can feel and occasionally, on really bad days, hear. He can't do anything special himself, but he has days where he's dazed, drifty, and feels like he's crawling out of his skin over the existence of that presence.
MISC
◾ Generally speaking, Kevin will probably usually be tossed around pre-possession, because it's easier to build connections and he's more open to people. That said, I really love playing him in his sad, drifty, post-possession state, so I'm always up for that if someone's interested.