ken joshima; poly app
[nick / name]: coffee
[personal LJ name]: brewmegently (unused)
[other characters currently played]: n/a
[e-mail]: froggy.mcgee @ gmail
[AIM / messenger]: brewmegently
[series]: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
[character]: Ken Joshima
[character history / background]: Pre-Series History & In-Series Arcs @ Reborn Wiki
[character abilities]: Channels (Ken's Ability) @ Reborn Wiki
[character personality]: Ken is, basically, a very simplistic person - a confident, extremely loyal bruiser with a tendency to tease and a very black and white view of the world. Energetic and curious, if not the most intelligent, Ken sticks with the people who are important to him and will do virtually anything for them, even if he is a bit evasive about his true feelings in some cases.
Considering his upbringing, Ken understandably sees things in a slightly skewed way - his world is very small, and always has been, confined to himself and the tiny group of people he trusts with his life. There is no middle ground with Ken Joshima - a person either matters or they don't, they're either with him and his friends or against them. He has very few morals, entirely focused on whether or not things are in the best interests of himself, his group, or Mukurou, who is pretty much the center of his world. This is justifiable, considering Mukurou is the one who rescued him from experimentation at the hands of his mafia family that slid firmly into the area of torture. He's perfectly comfortable in his role in Mukurou's Kokuyou group - he doesn't question that what he's doing is right, whether or not it's against the law, because he only really believes in himself, Mukurou, Chikusa, and Chrome (to some extent). Because of this small, twisted world he grew up in, filled with pain and violence, his sense of morality doesn't quite line up with the world around him, being mostly dictated by torturous experimentation and Mukurou, who has twisted morals himself.
Ken's primary virtue is loyalty - he is very much like a dog, loyal to the last, and very obedient. He's been carefully house trained, and is held on a leash, but he's certainly not held there through violence or threats. He would never betray those who are important to him, would go to the point of death and allow himself to be abused for them. This doesn't, in any way, make him weak, though. Ken is very strong-willed and confident in his own abilities, and while this frequently edges into cockiness, he's definitely not unfounded in his confidence. He has no fear of diving into dangerous situations, and he can generally handle himself well to a point, too.
Unfortunately, while he's got decent strategy in a fight, and he knows well how to use his abilities and talents, Ken's not exactly the brightest bulb. He gets bored easily, his excess of energy getting him into trouble frequently, especially when it's paired with his cockiness. His tactical know-how gets him far enough into trouble that when he gets past his limit he's completely overwhelmed. He's a little bit stupid in a lot of ways, particularly with his emotions. While he's more than willing to openly admit how much he adores, respects, and borderline worships Mukurou, he has a hard time admitting that he cares for anyone else. The other members of his small group, Chikusa and Chrome, are also people he cares about a great deal, they are his family, but he still has a hard time ever expressing any kind of affection for them. Chrome, who he has mixed feelings for but ultimately cares for, often ends up abandoned or being spoken ill of because of this difficulty in expressing his actual feelings about anyone other than Mukurou in ways other than occasional exclamations of concern or protection that are blamed on orders from Mukurou. Thankfully, this is a trait shared by all of the Kokuyou group and so they all understand their shared feelings with crystal clarity - unfortunately, this causes a lot of problems when he's dealing with people outside his little group.
All in all, Ken is basically like a dog. Loyal to a fault, energetic and confident (and fond of chewing on everything, including friends - literally), he also lacks foresight and needs to be kept on a leash to keep him from hurting himself and others.
[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: I'll be pulling Ken from after the battle with the Varia for the Sky Ring, but before the Ten Years Later arc.
[journal post]:
[A video post engages, showing, at first, just one very large eye peering into the camera. After a moment, the person leans back, a blonde boy with hair pinned back with barettes, damp, and making a face as if the entire concept of this City is gross. And stupid.]
Boooo-ring, pyon!
I don't know what's going on here, but all of it's pretty stupid and I'm getting bored with it already. Just send me back to Mr. Mukurou and Kakipi now, because I don't know where this place is and I don't like it, pyon.
[He leans his chin in his hand and huffs a breath of air, blowing at his bangs fitfully.]
I totally hate this. Who do I have to attack to get out of here?!
[third person / log sample]:
He'd been cramped up forever, he was sure of it. Stuck in some little room somewhere, waiting, sitting on his hands, playing the DS with the same game cartridge over and over and over again, until he got so bored of it he could puke. But it was better than staring at the wall, or maybe tearing his own hair out by the roots. With Lion Channel claws. He didn't entirely understand why he had to stay there, just that he'd been told to, and that he'd figure out the rest of it later. He was pretty sure it would all click into place at some point, like some crazy epiphany or something. Usually, it ended up doing that, because Mr. Mukurou worked in mysterious ways that didn't entirely make sense to people like Ken. Kakipi probably got it - but then Ken didn't usually make a point of comparing himself to the others. He fit in in his own way, just like Kakipi did and, grudgingly, Chrome.
But that was all over with now. Finally, he was free, and he poked his head out of the door of the building they were holed up in, knees bowed and jittery as he stumbled out into the light, squinting slightly. Oh damn but it was good. He couldn't help but let out an excited whoop, and laugh as he stretched, arms above his head, shaking his feet that felt perpetually half-asleep, and bore his teeth to the sky. After cracking both knuckles, he tossed a glance behind him at his little family, and then took off at a run, hair a mess, his mouth open and tongue out to taste the wind, completely alive, and at his best.
This was what his body was built for, what he'd been engineered into, what they'd made him in those memories all foggy at the edges to maintain what sanity he had. Running was better than trying to remember, or trying to forget. Forget how he was joining in with the very thing he hated the most - the stupid mafia - to help out the person who saved him, and who had gone back to prison to make sure he was safe now, and Kakipi. It was hard to think about, being held in this kind of trap. Ken hated traps, hated to be tied down, to be forced in this way. Not by Mukurou, not by what he said or requested, but by the stupid mafia. The mafia that took everything away from them and then held them captive to this new "boss" with his stupid hair and his stupid mittens. But he would do anything for Mukurou, anything at all, even allow himself to be used this way, to be possessed, to lose himself into oblivion for Mukurou's plans to succeed. It was all that mattered.
But for now, he was trying to outrun those thoughts. He was built to run, to taste and fight and flex his muscles and claw his way to freedom and throw himself into danger with his back to those he trusted. It was beautiful and it was amazing and it was temporary, but so worth the wait.