Application for The Greening
APPLICATION
OOC
Name: Wei
Age: 33
Contact: plurk: zeroq1, discord: nobody#7007
Character(s) Played: n/a
IC
Name: Ben Solo aka Kylo Ren
Canon: Star Wars
Canon Point: Just after The Last Jedi
Age: 30
Appearance: Picture
Abilities: Kylo is a Force user and a strong one, which gives him a wide range of telekinetic and telepathic abilities. A reasonably complete but probably non-exhaustive list:
-move objects by will alone, including doing things like stopping a bullet in midair or changing the course of a small spaceship
-pick up on the emotions or surface level thoughts of people he's near
-dig into their mind to pull out whatever deeper thoughts he wants to find
-plant suggestions in other people's minds
-he's shown being able to heal people by giving up some of his own energy, but I don't think he knows he can do that as of when I'm taking him from
-has visions occasionally of the past or future, but that's neither predictable nor necessarily clear
-a really strong psychic bond with Rey specifically that lets them see each other across distances and eventually hand off objects to each other
-I'm probably forgetting something, but basically he is really strong and perceptive but he's not always smart about it so it absolutely doesn't make him invincible, if someone/something can get around his defenses or he's just having a really bad day.
Personality:
The most important thing to know about Kylo Ren is the exact thing he would most hesitate to tell you: he was once Ben Solo, the son of two heroes who had previously fought against the Empire. His young life was filled with a lot of crushing expectations, not enough attention from his busy parents, and too much attention from Snoke, who groomed him toward the Dark Side starting before he was even born. He's spent most of his life feeling alone, unappreciated, and angry.
As a Jedi student, he was talented and studious. He absorbed his uncle's teachings more easily than the other students and was invested enough in the philosophy to have taken hand-written notes (in a galaxy that barely uses paper). His reckless side showed--he didn't like how Luke kept most artefacts and more potentially dangerous teachings under lock and key--and he had moments of letting his underlying anger surface, but he embraced the Jedi value of compassion.
After Luke betrayed him, he felt as if he no longer had a place in the light, and that darkness was the only path available to him. With nowhere else he felt he could turn, he went to Snoke to learn the ways of the Dark Side. He learned that his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, had actually been Darth Vader, one of the leaders of the former Empire and a powerful Dark Side user, and he vowed from then on to follow in his grandfather's footsteps. He cut himself off from his compassion, becoming someone who would have no problem ordering the death of a small village full of innocents. The Ben Solo of the past was no more and Kylo Ren had risen as something completely different.
Of course, things are never so simple. At the canon point I'm taking him from, Kylo is incredibly conflicted. He wants to escape the past he left behind, going so far as killing his father to prove he was fully dark once and for all, but he can't. Every attempt he makes to move on from his past actually speaks to being so obsessed with past hurts that he'll never be able to let go of them. And through it all, his lighter side is far from dead. The conscience he shoved down sits in the back of his mind, reacting to every terrible thing he does with a gnawing guilt that won't go away--but the more he does, the more convinced he is that he can't ever go back. His experiences have taught him that he's never good enough and that he's not deserving of anyone's love or positive attention. He's decided for himself that he's irredeemable.
And yet, he's intensely attached to Rey precisely because she acknowledges him as something more than the monster he's made himself out to be. Given a split-second moment to choose between the lives of Snoke and Rey, he chooses Rey without hesitation. They fight, often with swords, but it's pretty clear that actually hurting her is the last thing on his mind. Well before he eventually does decide to acknowledge the lighter part of himself again, she's able to draw out a softer side of him than most people ever see. When it comes down to it, he loves her, deeply, but his own issues (combined with them being on opposite sides of a war) do a very good job of getting in the way.
He's not necessarily interested in power for its own sake, but he'll use whatever he has, especially if he sees that it will let him make his own decisions about his life's direction. He feels that he's had little control over his life up to this point, and considering he's been subject to Snoke's manipulation and abuse his whole life, that's pretty true. Still, he doesn't tend to play the victim unless he's really pressed to it. He would rather claim agency over his actions as a way of feeling he's in some kind of control of his life.
He very much doesn't like the feeling of not being in control, though given how volatile he can be, he does lose control of himself in some way on a semi-regular basis. Usually it's a violent outburst involving damage to whatever inanimate objects happen to be nearby. It's probably noteworthy that he doesn't tend to attack living targets unless he feels he has a reason. As much as he's convinced himself not to care, he's still highly attuned to the emotions of others and doesn't find their suffering pleasant.
In his interactions with others, he's wary and will try to take command, but he's fundamentally honest. For all that he spends a lot of time lying to himself, he won't lie to others unless he feels it absolutely necessary. What he's saying might be wrong, but it's a good bet that he believes it in the moment he's saying it. He doesn't let most people get to know him, though, prefering to keep up an intimidating facade. He has a sense of humor that comes out now and then, but it's so dry and sardonic as to not be recognised by most others as humor.
Ultimately, Kylo Ren is a big ball of existential crisis with a core of loneliness, guilt, and longing covered over with a veneer of anger and hate. There's a better person under there somewhere, but as of now, he's not willing to consciously acknowledge it.
History: An extensive wiki article
Sample(s):
Current TDM
Bakerstreet with this canon point meeting a future version of himself
Bakerstreet with Rey shortly after this canon point
<href="https://bakerstreet.dreamwidth.org/6390983.html?thread=2807082951#cmt2807082951">Bakerstreet in which he time travels and meets his granddad
OOC
Name: Wei
Age: 33
Contact: plurk: zeroq1, discord: nobody#7007
Character(s) Played: n/a
IC
Name: Ben Solo aka Kylo Ren
Canon: Star Wars
Canon Point: Just after The Last Jedi
Age: 30
Appearance: Picture
Abilities: Kylo is a Force user and a strong one, which gives him a wide range of telekinetic and telepathic abilities. A reasonably complete but probably non-exhaustive list:
-move objects by will alone, including doing things like stopping a bullet in midair or changing the course of a small spaceship
-pick up on the emotions or surface level thoughts of people he's near
-dig into their mind to pull out whatever deeper thoughts he wants to find
-plant suggestions in other people's minds
-he's shown being able to heal people by giving up some of his own energy, but I don't think he knows he can do that as of when I'm taking him from
-has visions occasionally of the past or future, but that's neither predictable nor necessarily clear
-a really strong psychic bond with Rey specifically that lets them see each other across distances and eventually hand off objects to each other
-I'm probably forgetting something, but basically he is really strong and perceptive but he's not always smart about it so it absolutely doesn't make him invincible, if someone/something can get around his defenses or he's just having a really bad day.
Personality:
The most important thing to know about Kylo Ren is the exact thing he would most hesitate to tell you: he was once Ben Solo, the son of two heroes who had previously fought against the Empire. His young life was filled with a lot of crushing expectations, not enough attention from his busy parents, and too much attention from Snoke, who groomed him toward the Dark Side starting before he was even born. He's spent most of his life feeling alone, unappreciated, and angry.
As a Jedi student, he was talented and studious. He absorbed his uncle's teachings more easily than the other students and was invested enough in the philosophy to have taken hand-written notes (in a galaxy that barely uses paper). His reckless side showed--he didn't like how Luke kept most artefacts and more potentially dangerous teachings under lock and key--and he had moments of letting his underlying anger surface, but he embraced the Jedi value of compassion.
After Luke betrayed him, he felt as if he no longer had a place in the light, and that darkness was the only path available to him. With nowhere else he felt he could turn, he went to Snoke to learn the ways of the Dark Side. He learned that his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, had actually been Darth Vader, one of the leaders of the former Empire and a powerful Dark Side user, and he vowed from then on to follow in his grandfather's footsteps. He cut himself off from his compassion, becoming someone who would have no problem ordering the death of a small village full of innocents. The Ben Solo of the past was no more and Kylo Ren had risen as something completely different.
Of course, things are never so simple. At the canon point I'm taking him from, Kylo is incredibly conflicted. He wants to escape the past he left behind, going so far as killing his father to prove he was fully dark once and for all, but he can't. Every attempt he makes to move on from his past actually speaks to being so obsessed with past hurts that he'll never be able to let go of them. And through it all, his lighter side is far from dead. The conscience he shoved down sits in the back of his mind, reacting to every terrible thing he does with a gnawing guilt that won't go away--but the more he does, the more convinced he is that he can't ever go back. His experiences have taught him that he's never good enough and that he's not deserving of anyone's love or positive attention. He's decided for himself that he's irredeemable.
And yet, he's intensely attached to Rey precisely because she acknowledges him as something more than the monster he's made himself out to be. Given a split-second moment to choose between the lives of Snoke and Rey, he chooses Rey without hesitation. They fight, often with swords, but it's pretty clear that actually hurting her is the last thing on his mind. Well before he eventually does decide to acknowledge the lighter part of himself again, she's able to draw out a softer side of him than most people ever see. When it comes down to it, he loves her, deeply, but his own issues (combined with them being on opposite sides of a war) do a very good job of getting in the way.
He's not necessarily interested in power for its own sake, but he'll use whatever he has, especially if he sees that it will let him make his own decisions about his life's direction. He feels that he's had little control over his life up to this point, and considering he's been subject to Snoke's manipulation and abuse his whole life, that's pretty true. Still, he doesn't tend to play the victim unless he's really pressed to it. He would rather claim agency over his actions as a way of feeling he's in some kind of control of his life.
He very much doesn't like the feeling of not being in control, though given how volatile he can be, he does lose control of himself in some way on a semi-regular basis. Usually it's a violent outburst involving damage to whatever inanimate objects happen to be nearby. It's probably noteworthy that he doesn't tend to attack living targets unless he feels he has a reason. As much as he's convinced himself not to care, he's still highly attuned to the emotions of others and doesn't find their suffering pleasant.
In his interactions with others, he's wary and will try to take command, but he's fundamentally honest. For all that he spends a lot of time lying to himself, he won't lie to others unless he feels it absolutely necessary. What he's saying might be wrong, but it's a good bet that he believes it in the moment he's saying it. He doesn't let most people get to know him, though, prefering to keep up an intimidating facade. He has a sense of humor that comes out now and then, but it's so dry and sardonic as to not be recognised by most others as humor.
Ultimately, Kylo Ren is a big ball of existential crisis with a core of loneliness, guilt, and longing covered over with a veneer of anger and hate. There's a better person under there somewhere, but as of now, he's not willing to consciously acknowledge it.
History: An extensive wiki article
Sample(s):
Current TDM
Bakerstreet with this canon point meeting a future version of himself
Bakerstreet with Rey shortly after this canon point
<href="https://bakerstreet.dreamwidth.org/6390983.html?thread=2807082951#cmt2807082951">Bakerstreet in which he time travels and meets his granddad