SQUALL LEONHART's Journal

YOU
NAME: Leon.
AGE: Nineteen.
E-MAIL: villanize [at] gmail [dot] com
AIM: amnesic sith
OOC JOURNAL:

leonhart
PREVIOUS RP EXPERIENCE: Here.

CHARACTER
NAME: Squall Leonhart.
FANDOM: Final Fantasy VIII.
AGE: Seventeen.
ALIGNMENT (GOOD, EVIL, NEUTRAL): Good.
BRIEF BACKGROUND SUMMARY:

Squall Leonhart didn't have what the other kids had. He didn't have a mother to comfort him and hold him at night when he was afraid. He didn't have a father to tell him to be strong and brave, or teach him how to play catch. No, Squall was raised in an orphanage since about the time of his birth, and he doesn't fully understand what a "real family" is... in truth, he doesn't really care. He's mildly content with being an orphan, something that most people might find to be a lonely existence.

When he was old enough, he, along with a few other children from his same orphanage, was sent from the orphanage to Balamb Garden. As a student at Balamb, Squall learned magic, military strategics, and how to fight. He became a gunblade specialist at a relatively young age and was recognized for it by most of the staff. He was the ideal student: hard-working, attentive, and never deviating from the rules. Still, he was well-liked among his peers, even though he dismissed any attempts at friendship with impatience and apathy.

Although reluctant, Squall possessed many of the qualities that made him well suited to a position of leadership. He passed his SeeD exams with relative ease, his instructor — Quistis Trepe — commenting on how she knew he could do it. The night of the SeeD ball, Squall danced with a mysterious young woman that would later be revealed as Rinoa Heartilly. Rinoa was the leader of an anti-government organization hellbent on freeing Timber from Galbadian rule. Squall was the squad leader of the three SeeDs sent to help her carry out her mission — the team consisted of himself and two classmates: Selphie Tilmitt and Zell Dincht. Although they disagreed and argued many times at first, they slowly reached a level of understandment that grew into love.

Despite his anti-hero attitude, Squall was chosen to be the one to carry out the assassination of Sorceress Edea by Galbadia Garden. After a great deal of strife thereafter, Sorceress Edea was revealed to have been their matron from the orphanage. But Squall wouldn't back down from his duties, and recognized her as a major threat to the world. After Edea was released from their true villain, a sorceress named Ultimecia who had sent her consciousness to the past, her sorceress powers unwittingly passed onto Rinoa, who fell into a comatose state.

Driven by blind love and determination to save Rinoa, Squall took her to Esthar in an attempt to heal her. Unbeknownst to even him, Rinoa had been possessed by Ultimecia already and released the ruthless Sorceress Adel — former leader of Esthar — then left drifting in space. Squall risked his life to save her, once again proving his love for her. When they made it back home, Rinoa was to be sealed away in the Sorceress's Memorial, but Squall wouldn't have it. He rescued her once more, and the group continued their battle against Sorceress Ultimecia and her knight, Seifer Almasy.

The first stages of the final battle proved to be a difficult one for them all, but they prevailed... or so they thought. Sorceress Ultimecia's ultimate goal was Time Compression, in which she would travel through time and steal other sorceress's powers to create her own world to rule over. She was defeated, and everything restored to normal, but Squall was lost in time. Alone in a desolate and unnamed place, Squall had abandoned hope of seeing his friends. His memories distorted, he was unable to recall the place in which he promised to meet Rinoa. This time, though, it was Rinoa's turn to save him.

And uh. They lived happily ever after.

Better history is here, although it's incomplete.

PB: Yuu Shirota.
JOURNAL USERNAME:

roughdivide

EXAMPLE OF FIRST-PERSON ENTRY: Taken from here.

This is Squall Leonhart, Commander of SeeD and currently acting on my superiors' behalf.

To the new residents of our world, I've been asked to give you guys some kind of explanation about all of this. I was told I should tell you what these creatures are that are suddenly appearing in our world. The only thing I can offer is that they're sorceresses of lesser power than the ones we had encountered before. They're strong, but they aren't impossible to defeat. Try not to lose your heads fighting them.

The time compression seems to be going a little... I don't know, to be honest. I don't suggest going near the gates, but nobody can stop you -- so if you get killed, none of us are taking responsibility for your indiscretion. It's not really my business if you want to ignore caution.

As for everything else I was asked to cover... I decided I'm not going to do it. There's something I have to do, something more important to me than anything else here. ~~I made a promise.~~

Zell, Selphie, Irvine, Quistis -- keep an eye on things here.

Everyone else... I'm temporarily resigning as SeeD Commander until further notice. Any and all of your concerns should be kept to yourself or taken to someone else. I can't be bothered to try and be a good leader for you.

( private. I'm keeping my promise. )

EXAMPLE OF THIRD-PERSON ENTRY: Taken from exurofatum @ gj (Deleted - Closed.)

Silence was ringing in Squall's ears, his eyes fixated upon the limp, seemingly lifeless form laying before him. They had been here before, in nearly the exact same situation. The overwhelming feeling of darkness swirling about Rinoa's form was enough to nauseate anyone who came too close. But for Squall, it was a familiar feeling, no matter how unwelcome it was. While his eyes were locked onto her face, his bare hand rest gently against her arm, now and again moving so that his thumb stroked against her flesh. She was cold, lifeless except for the steady, barely noticeable breaths she took. She had been so afraid of what was happening, so prone to being hurt again... and he had failed to protect her from that hurt. Guilt wracked his body, an excrutiating pain making itself known in his chest in place of his heart. But he would make it right again; he would save her just as he had promised he would always do. He already failed in protecting her... he already paid a heavy price for his irresponsibilities. By trying to save everyone else, he had all but forgotten how important Rinoa was...

His stomach knotted at the image of her face, twisted with pain and fear, her eyes wide in terror... she was so helpless. Why had he been so stupid? His head inclined lower, eyelids closing as his brows furrowed. Mentally had he beaten himself up over everything that had happened. All of this, he knew, was somehow his fault. He had... he had done something wrong when they came home. He had messed up the time compression -- all of it was his fault. Some hero he was. Some knight he had been. He was such a joke...

Shame was the only reason he had turned his head toward the computer screen, eyes opening to stare at the page it currently had open. He had made an entry on the journal network, having left only two messages. One was for Selphie... he had been too cold with her the last they spoke. She had only been worried about Rinoa and he had thrown it in her face as if she didn't matter. The other was for the headmaster and mayor, as well as the ambassador that he had come to respect as an authority figure. He was sure that they wouldn't press him for answers, especially Diana, but even if they did ask, he would never tell his intentions to them. Perhaps he was acting on impulse... perhaps he was just being stupid. Either way, he didn't really care. He was going to make up for his failure one way or the other, and if it meant seeing the truth for himself... he would do anything.

He stood then, taking a moment so that he could lay his favourite jacket over Rinoa's prone form. It was his own silent promise that he'd return for her, his eyes pausing on the necklace that's rings had found themselves by her neck, buried slightly in her dark hair. He reached forward, taking the two rings between his fingers and raising them just enough so that he could see them clearly. Griever contrasted with her mother's ring, but it was nevertheless a significant piece of himself that he had willingly given her. He turned them around in his hand for a moment before replacing them on her chest, where they belonged. Squall leaned forward, bending over the bed and holding himself up with one arm by either side of her head, his face mere inches from hers as he allowed the tip of his nose to barely touch her skin. His lips parted slightly, just enough so that he could whisper a silent promise to her, one that he intended on upholding to his death, before he leaned further to gently kiss her cold cheek.

Twenty minutes was all it had taken before the teen found himself sitting in the pilot seat of the Ragnarok. With numbness did his hands go over the controls that he had only know from observing Quistis and Selphie; his fingers pressed buttons and shifted levers that he didn't even really know the full functions of. All he could really do was imitate what the others had and hope for the best. At first it was awkward, jerky movements that he produced from the ship, but upon getting used to the aircraft, it was easier to fly. It hadn't taken long to reach his destination, the Ragnarok landing just two hundred feet away from a familiar-looking gate. Squall, at this point in time standing outside and before the great structure, looked around at his surroundings, silently noting that he was near the Nectar Penninsula. Why it was in this particular location didn't mean much to Squall, the thought discarded as he neared the gate. The clinking of his gunblade's hilt hitting against one of his belts had provided a small distraction from his anticipation. Even still, he could not shake the fact that he was feel light-headed. His arms stretched out at the doors, hands pressing against them and exerting enough force to crack it open just a little... everything was moving in slow motion, every movement was emphasised only by the loud beating of his heart. He needed to stay calm; even if it were here... she couldn't use it to her advantage... not in Rinoa's body... right?

He stopped momentarily, the first sign of hesitation since he had arrived. What was he expecting to find? Why did he need to see it so badly? Because, his mind argued, he didn't believe she could return... he had to know... had Ultimecia had somehow found a loop hole in the time compression and used it to her advantage? Had she evaded death by utilizing the time compression just as they had used it to kill her? He would only know if he pushed those doors open a little further and saw the truth for himself. All the other gates seemed to have been accounted for.. this one appeared as if it had been forgotten, untouched in any way. With a final pause of hesitation, he moved his body forward to help force the door open, walking through the gate as he did so... and it was there.

A majestically malevolent castle, with a giant chain as the walkway leading to it, seemed to hover alone amongst the foreboding clouds of darkness that swirled about it. The oblique canvas of the sky only made it seem even more ominous, though Squall could only stare at it with a sense mixed with familiarity and utter dread and defeat. She was truly back; if this place existed, then so did Ultimecia. The horrible sorceress that possessed the body of the one person he trusted and loved more than anything. He felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach, his body suddenly feeling heavy as a wave of anxiety overtook him. Before he could react, he found himself on his knees, head lowering so that his eyes were locked onto the ground. Why now? Where had he gone wrong? Every thought felt like it was beating against his sanity, testing his every nerve and making his emotions go wild in conflict. Was this really his fault? It had to be... it just had to be... he had failed in defeating Ultimecia, he had failed in being a hero to everyone, and worse... he had failed to be Rinoa's knight.

The sounds of rolling thunder did nothing to phase him, his body frozen there on the ground, all but limp as he tried to sort through his thoughts. He tried to focus on what to do next... he obviously needed to inform the Kramers and Diana Prince about this... but his mind always traced back to how much he had done wrong. All he could see was Rinoa's face, twisted in pain and horror, and then her limp body, lying on the bed, cold and the filth of Ultimecia's aura radiating from her... and his own pathetic stature as he sat at her side for days, not moving until Kadowaki forced him to. They would get through this, she had told them, but her words had fallen on near-deaf ears. He had only half-heartedly accepted her words, but at the same time...

Squall's gaze raised so that it met with the castle once more. He wanted so badly to destroy it... to rip everything apart and make it all go away... but if Ultimecia was alive, then her castle was guarded from such meager attacks, too. No amount of strength that he possessed would give him the ability to decimate this place and ruin all of her plans. It seemed that, from this viewpoint, she had already won... and that meant that Rinoa--

"No!" His voice startled even himself, but the words had come with what seemed to be renewed strength. He rose to his feet, using his Revolver as support as he did. "I won't let her disappear... I won't let her take you over for long. Rinoa... I'll... I'll save you. I promise.." His words, he knew, would be unheard by her... but even as he knew this, he also felt as if she would know what he had said, without hearing his words herself. His eyes narrowed at the castle's direction, a silent promise he made to Ultimecia, one that was clear in the cold glint in his eyes: he would kill her again, even if it was the last thing he did. And this time, he swore, he would make sure she stayed dead.