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fiddlestick) wrote2022-03-08 09:41 am
KAISOU INFO
| NAME. | Elliot Craig |
| NICKNAMES. | Twink (Eda) |
| AGE. | 22 |
| BIRTHDAY. | February 11 |
| RESIDENCE. | Midtown |
| OCCUPATION. | Music Teacher |
| GENDER. | Male |
| ORIENTATION. | Gay/Polyamorous |
| DATING STATUS. | Single |
| HEIGHT. | 5'4" |
| BUILD. | Twink |
| HAIR. | Red |
| EYES. | Green |
| PLAYER. | Yuff |
| TIME ZONE. | US Central |
Elliot's energy is easily best described as "Nervous Kindergarten Teacher". Elliot is friendly, gentle, and kind to everyone he meets. He likes to put on a smile and approaches social situations with a positive outlook. When he's around people he doesn't know well or are younger than him, he tries extra hard with this demeanor - wanting to give off a sense of confidence and that he's someone that can be counted on. If his anxiety disorder or curse ever comes up in conversation, he's quick to express that he has it under control. You don't have to worry about him, he won't ever be a liability.
None of this part of his personality is a lie, per say. He truly is friendly, gentle, and kind by nature. But there's no denying that these positive traits are often put up as a shield to mask his own anxieties, insecurities, and negative thoughts. In truth, Elliot isn't an optimist like his positive outlook would suggest, and he's a lot more nervous about any given situation than he likes admitting. He constantly second guesses himself, and is extremely quick to berate himself over perceived slights. While he tells other people that there's no shame in getting help, he fails to apply to that lesson to himself and regularly tries to be as self-reliant as possible to sometimes absurd degrees. Years of bullying and failing to live up to his father's expectations have made him extremely self-conscious. While he logically recognizes his father and his old school were in the wrong for their views about him and makes a show of rebelling against that mindset, he hasn't accepted it emotionally yet. Thus he's constantly trying so hard he to make himself look together. He's still fixated on portraying a type of "strength", even when it's to the detriment of himself. He doesn't want people to see him as the weak person he actually thinks he is deep down.
In truth, Elliot is strong even if he doesn't always see it himself. While he lacks physical strength, he has a will of iron. Once he sets his mind to something, there's little that can be done to deter him. Not only that, but he's actually pretty damn intelligent, even if he doesn't always advertise it. He works extremely hard at stuff he cares about, making sure he does the very best job he can. He's endlessly compassionate for others, and this compassion drives him to do things even when he knows he's in over his head. There is no deeper meaning to his compassion, and honestly he isn't looking for it to be reciprocated. Wanting to help people is simply a part of who he is. That said, while Elliot has a gentle disposition, he's grown to have something of a ruthless streak to him when its called for as a survival mechanism. Trying to take advantage of his gentle nature is very ill advised. Very, very ill advised.
At his core, Elliot is a free spirit. He is the one who will steer the course of his life, and he resents anyone who tries to control him. His choices are his own, whether they wind up being good or bad. He will support anyone in pursuing their dreams or passions, but with the caveat that they need to work hard to obtain it. His relationship with the law tends to be rather...flexible. He'll follow the law so long as it suits him, but if the rules get in his way - he won't bat an eye as he breaks them.
Music is extremely important to Elliot. It's his main source of passion and strength, especially as he associates it with positive memories in his own life. Being a musical genius, he is extremely talented at all things music. He believes strongly in the power of music, and wants to find ways to use it to help others. While he recognizes it can't fix everything, by golly is he quick to pull out that violin of his. That said, since music is his #1 passion, it's also where he can be the most intense. When he's serious about his music, he can become downright terrifying to anyone working with him, all while keeping a smile on his face.
When it comes to relationships, Elliot is much like a cat. It takes time for him to warm up to someone and he holds most people at arm's length. But once he does allow someone to get close? He can be somewhat clingy. Though despite his warm demeanor, he only allows hugs if he's the one to initiate it. In his cursed cat form, only a special chosen few are allowed to pet him.
Elliot was born the second child of Olaf and Liana Craig in New York, his sister Fiona being five years his senior. His father is an officer in the US army, a family tradition that has spanned generations. Elliot's father was a warm and affectionate man towards his children, but due to his duties that he always prioritized, he was frequently away while Elliot was growing up. Because of this, he was much closer to his mother. His mother was a music teacher and talented pianist, and introduced him and his sister to music. Elliot had his mother's gift for music, so he took to it like wildfire. While there was the occasional off-hand remark from relatives and family friends criticizing Elliot for his meek size and how unlike his father he was, Liana would shut down those remarks as best she could and told Elliot not to listen.
Overall, he had a happy childhood up until he was 9 years old, when his mother became terminally ill. Elliot's mother fought for months, but would eventually succumb to the illness that wracked her body. After this happened, there was a dramatic shift in the household. His sister Fiona, despite only being a teenager, took it upon herself to manage the household and take care of her little brother while her father was in the field. This made them become close, but it also led Fiona to become clingy and overprotective of her little brother. Once she finished with school, Fiona decided to become a music teacher like her mother.
His father decided to have a more active role in his son's life. But, this didn't go smoothly. At all. Being a soldier and having a rather traditional view of masculinity, Olaf desired his son to grow stronger and become a soldier like him. He forbade Elliot from pursuing music as anything more than a hobby, and instead kept pushing him towards more "acceptably masculine" and military-oriented activities. Elliot hated almost all of it, but he wanted to please his father and live up to the Craig family name, so he'd make attempt after attempt to do what his father wanted. Often, it'd end in failure and slowly made a rift between father and son to grow. This became worse during Elliot's middle school years when his anxiety disorder began to manifest. Elliot had always been a nervous child, but this brought it to a whole new level. Instead of understanding that this was a psychological disorder that needed therapy and medication, Olaf perceived it as yet another sign that Elliot needed to toughen up if he wanted to be a successful man. Fiona would try to mitigate, but being young herself, her attempts would be not nearly as successful as her mother's had been. It was around his middle school years that he realized he was gay, but kept it to himself for the next several years because it felt like yet another way he'd disappoint his dad.
Things came to a head when Elliot reached high school age. Olaf, acknowledging that his attempts to mold his son into a man weren't taking, decided to send Elliot to a military school against his son's wishes (who wanted to enroll in a fine arts school or even just a normal high school). It was a complete disaster. Elliot was routinely bullied and harassed by the other students, berated by many of his teachers, and struggled with the strict structure of the school. The anxiety disorder intensified from the stress, but still wasn't recognized for what it actually was. His attempts to explain to his father the situation fell on deaf ears, as his father mistakenly underestimated the situation and felt that this was an opportunity for Elliot grow and sort things out himself. Eventually, Elliot stopped trying to reach out for help and the rift grew into a canyon.
While his high school years were miserable, Elliot wasn't completely alone. He had no friends at military school, but he befriended a neighborhood kid named Rean Schwarzer who would actually hear Elliot out and encouraged him to pursue music if it was still his dream. And one of the student teachers, Neithardt, took an interest in Elliot after finding out he was the brother of a girl he attended high school with. While a strict army man through and through, he was compassionate enough to tutor Elliot on subjects he struggled with, making sure Elliot would get decent enough grades for college. This led to Fiona and Neithardt to reconnecting and eventually dating.
By the time Elliot graduated, he was thoroughly finished with playing by his dad's rules. Behind his father's back, he applied to colleges with music programs. He was accepted into Kaisou University, which he enrolled in largely due to the sheer amount of miles between it and his father. After working all through summer vacation to afford a used car, he packed up all his things and drove himself to Kaisou. Once he left, the only times he'd returned home was holidays and to attend his sister's wedding a few years down the line.
While in college, Elliot finally excelled. Now that he was studying in a field he was actually good in, he quickly rose to the top of his class. He worked hard, wanting to prove that his desired life path was just as viable as his father's desires for him - who had made it clear he'd push Elliot to enlist in the army should he not succeed. He even got himself a therapist and finally got the treatment he needed for anxiety disorder. Partway through his freshman year, he began dating an art and religions studies major, entering into a relationship that would last through most of his time in college.
Unfortunately, Elliot couldn't fully shake the emotional scars of his past. While friendly enough, he struggled with opening up and making many real connections during college. His unwillingness to accept help thanks to stubborn pride surrounding proving his father wrong led him to live an impoverished lifestyle even by college student standards. While he really did try with his boyfriend, the relationship had issues on both sides and eventually his boyfriend left him to join the priesthood -- something that Elliot is still salty about. Finally, his extreme perfectionist tendencies with his music made it so none of Elliot's music partners lasted long.
While he supplemented his income with odd jobs throughout his college years, when his senior year rolled around it was time to pick something more stable. Lacking the connections to the music world that some of his classmates had, Elliot knew it'd be an uphill battle to jump straight into professional music and it'd be wiser to play it safe. So he decided to become a teacher like his mother, sister, and now brother-in-law. He took a job at Kaisou High School, which had a sudden job opening for a music teacher after several misfortunes had befallen the last one. He was in his first year of teaching when the Libra app appeared on his phone, and his whole world would be turned upside down.
Currently available spells: Tear, Aqua Bleed, Crystal Edge, Ivy Nail.
Note: Only notable gacha items will be listed here.
February 2022. Elliot joined the Libra App and learned of the supernatural. Commenced screaming. Is internally screaming to this day.
March 2022. Was kidnapped by the Fae and became cursed to turn into a cat.
April 2022. Started training with magic in earnest and made a potion to manage his curse, deadset on not repeating March.
May 2022. Elliot's best friend (Rean) and several of his students were killed in a sacrificial soccer game. Elliot witnessed the whole event and is traumatized from it.
June 2022. Moved into a new place with Hunter. Mostly chilled this month. Good for him.
| NAME. | Elliot Craig |
| NICKNAME. | Commander Elliot (Crow) |
| AGE. | 20 |
| OCCUPATION. | Traveling Musician, Music Teacher |
| RESIDENCE. | Heimdallr, Erebonia |
| GENDER. | Male |
| ORIENTATION. | Gay/Polyamorous |
| DATING STATUS. | Who the fuck knows tbh. |
| HEIGHT. | 5'4" |
| BUILD. | Twink |
| HAIR. | Red |
| EYES. | Green |
In a military school class full of strong personalities, Elliot is an oddity. When you first meet him, he comes off as a rather timid and nervous person. Early in the series, he'd get easily scared or startled in new situations. From his tiny stature to his gentle demeanor, there's nothing about him that indicates he'd be good military material, much less part of a class that played a crucial role in stopping a civil war.
Sweet and kind are two words you can use to describe Elliot. He's nice to everyone he meets, and always tries to see the good in people. He's quick to give words of encouragement to his friends, or lend them an ear if they need someone to listen. If someone needs help, he'll agree to help with very little prodding. If there's not a clear answer to how to help a person, he'll fret about what to do to help them out, even when he has his own issues. Even when his own sister's being held hostage? He shows concern for Jusis, whose wracked with guilt from his family's involvement. He tells Rean that they need to rescue her not just for his sake, but for Jusis too.
Elliot doesn't enjoy fighting, so he tends to avoid if he can. When bullied at school for being a commoner, he reacts by not saying much and letting his friends do the talking. Even during battles, while his friends will shout intimidating boasts or threats at their opponents, Elliot is more inclined to politely plead them not to fight (it never works). At first, he resented the idea of attending a military because he had no desire to fight. It's only after making many great friends and having several world broadening experiences does he grow to appreciate his time at Thors.
That's not to say he's by any means a saint. He's quick to moan and groan about unpleasant tasks, muttering under his breath or complaining to friends. On occasion, he'll even say snarky remarks, though they tend to lack bite compared to his more snarky friends, erring more on the side of gentle ribbing. He has a tendency to lie or omit the truth on occasion, though it's usually well meaning. As a teenager, he easily gets embarrassed and annoyed by his father and sister's doting. As an adult, he activately thwart their attempts.
At the start of the series, one of Elliot's biggest flaws is his low self-confidence. He's convinced he's the weakest of his friends and holding the group back. At first, this had some merit, as he was the only one in the class with no previous experience of combat and it shows. He gets easily winded and scared at the idea of encountering monsters. Yet as time goes on, he grows stronger and less fearful. Eventually he grows strong enough to fight on the same level as his friends, but his confidence takes much longer to improve. Even as an adult, he still carries a strong amount of modesty about his own skills and contributions.
Part of his confidence issues are a result of his background. Being the son of the famous "Craig the Red", a man so fierce he rides tanks like personal hover-board, there was an expectation that Elliot would follow his mighty big footsteps. But as he got older, it became clear that he didn't have any of his father's physical abilities. Thus he's seen as something of a disappointment to many. This bothers Elliot enough that he hides his father's identity from his classmates for several months. When the truth comes out thanks to his older sister, he admits it: "Well, I'm not surprised you didn't peg me as Olaf Craig's son. I was kinda hoping you wouldn't find out...". While it's made clear that his father loves him? The idea that he doesn't live up to other people's standards still bothers Elliot a great deal.
But the other part of his confidence issues? Comes from the fact that Elliot is a perfectionist when it comes to stuff he's passionate about. He holds himself to a very high standard, and is always pushing himself to do better. He doesn't just practice his violin, he'll practice his violin all day and then laments that the lack of soundproofing in the dorms prevents him from practicing all night too. When the class decides to put on a music concert for the cultural festival and puts Elliot in charge of the rehearsals, he goes into full drill sergeant mode and refuses to let anyone leave until they have a perfect run-through. He brings the same attitude towards his battle ability. Not because he's passionate about fighting, but because he's passionate about the people around him and wants to help them as much as possible.
While his perfectionist tendencies never go away? Over the course of the series, Elliot gains more confidence from his experiences. He goes from a meek kid who frets about making it through every monster fight to a young man who talks about finding a way to end a civil war so he can pursue his own dreams. This newfound confidence seeps into many aspects of his life. It gives him the strength and conviction to live his life how he wants, instead of how other people think he should live it. In one of his bonding scenes, he even speculates that maybe this was his father's intention all along:
"He wasn't against me going to the music academy because he was against me pursuing a career in music. He didn't want me to lock myself into it. He wanted me to be able to decide for myself just what path I wanted to follow. And more importantly, he wanted me to have the strength do so, even if people around me tried to stand in my way..."
The truth is, Elliot's a lot more like his father than he realizes. Both of them are passionate perfectionists. General Craig's division is the best in the Imperial Army because he holds himself and his men to an incredibly high standard, just as Elliot does for music. Both of them are very open about showing their love and affection for the people in their lives. They both prefer to think long and hard on important decisions, rather than rush them. And as Elliot's confidence grows, they only grow to be more alike as much like his father, there's little that can stop him from pursuing what he wants.
Elliot is a guy whose easy to befriend, but can be hard to get to know. When he talks about himself, it tends to be on "need to know" basis. It takes months for his classmates to find out anything in-depth about his life. Most questions asked receive vague answers or a simple "don't worry about it". When you first go to Elliot's house during a field study, he won't even let the other party members into his bedroom at first. It's only when he's mentally ready to share that part of his life with his classmates does he let them in. He's not actually hiding any terrible secrets, and he doesn't have any real trust issues. He's just both self-conscious and a private person. If he can? He'd rather handle his problems himself instead of burdening other people with them. He does tend to know when he's in over his head, and is capable of asking of help if needed. It can just take a bit of time for him to bring himself to do it.
His main element is water in the gameplay mechanics, and it's an element that suits him well. Despite his nervousness and complaints, he adapts to new situations rather quickly. At the start of the school year he shows anxiety interacting with nobles. Yet by the next month, he's completely adjusted, much to Rean's surprise, as it takes other members of the class longer to adjust to differences within the class. He tends to go with the flow much easier than some of his classmates, yet is a lot stronger willed than people first expect. When the civil war breaks out, he flourishes. He becomes a gungho member of the party; ready to do whatever he can to help stop the war while helping as many people as possible.
Music is an absolute passion for Elliot. To him, music is an inseparable part of his life, an obsession. He's happiest when he's performing music. Rean says you can hear Elliot's pure love of music in every note he plays. In the game's social link system, most of his bonding events revolve around music in some way or another. When he's forced to flee Trista at the start of the civil war, he couldn't bring himself to leave behind his violin so he went as far as risk capture to retrieve it. By the end of Cold Steel 2, he's fully embraced his passion of music. He decides to work towards finding a way to use music to bring peace and heal people. Which sounds naive by our world's standards, but you're talking about a guy who can kill monsters and wake coma patients with fiddle playing. So you know....it's not completely implausible by his world's standards.
He's grown a lot since his early days at Thors. The civil war and losing Crow was a turning point for him. He's a lot less hesitant, willing to pursue what he cares about relentlessly. While he still has anxiety, that'll never go away entirely, he's less willing to let it control his life. He's even shown to have developed a knack for a teaching like his sister - one of his side jobs is being a music teacher for kids.
Trails of Cold Steel is a very long series so we'd be here all day if I summarized everything that happened. If you want an in-depth Elliot-centric recap, you can find it here. Otherwise enjoy this quick summary.
Elliot was born the second child of Olaf and Liana Craig in Heimdallr, his sister Fiona being five years his senior. His father is a well known commander in the Imperial Army, being dubbed Craig the Red and seen as one of the strongest men in the Empire. Elliot's father was a warm and affectionate man towards his children, but due to his duties that he always prioritized, he was frequently away while Elliot was growing up. Because of this, he was much closer to his mother. His mother was a music teacher and talented pianist, and introduced him and his sister to music. Elliot had his mother's gift for music, so he took to it like wildfire.
Overall, he had a happy childhood up until he was 9 years old, when his mother became ill and passed away. After this happened, there was a dramatic shift in the household. His sister Fiona, despite only being a teenager, took it upon herself to manage the household and take care of her little brother while her father was in the field - which while this made them become close, it also led Fiona to become clingy and overprotective of her little brother. Once she finished with school she decided to become a music teacher like her mother.
Elliot wanted to follow in his sister's footsteps and do the same, but his father would have none of it. Being a soldier and having a rather traditional view of masculinity, Olaf desired his son to grow stronger and possibly become a soldier like him. He forbade Elliot from pursuing music as anything more than a hobby, and instead kept pushing him towards more "acceptably masculine" and military-oriented activities. Elliot hated almost all of it, but he wanted to please his father and live up to the Craig family name, so he'd make attempt after attempt to do what his father wanted. Often, it'd end in failure and slowly made the rift between father and son to grow. When it came time to choose secondary school, Elliot and his father clashed again. His father refused to let him go to the Heimdallr Music Academy, insisting he enroll in military school. Elliot eventually gave in, finding a compromise by choosing a military school with a music program - but all while resenting his father.
However, military school went unexpectedly well for Elliot, though not for the reasons Olaf thought it would. Elliot was selected to be part of a test program called Class VII, where kids from different social classes were put into the same class together. Class VII were full of outcasts that accepted Elliot for who he was with open arms. They gave him the unconditional love and support that he badly needed, and encouraged him to pursue music rather than a military career. Thanks to Class VII, Elliot began to grow and flourish, even coming to appreciate coming to the school.
Unfortunately, the happy school days came to an end when a civil war broke out in Erebonia. Elliot and Class VII fled Thors, becoming separate from each other for over a month. When they finally reunited, they worked together to do what they could to both survive and bring the end to the war. Unfortunately victory resulted in a heavy cost, as Elliot lost a good friend near the end of the war.
After the civil war and receiving his blessing from his father to do what he want (because seriously he had just survived a goddamn war), Elliot transferred to the Heimdallr Music Academy. He worked hard and graduated within a year near the top of his class. After graduation, he made his debut as a professional musician and started traveling across Erebonia which was still in a lot of turmoil from the war and other events. When war revisited Erebonia once more, Elliot didn't hesitate to pick up his staff and help out his friends bring back peace to his homeland with the power of music.