Johann Koska

The cringe faildad of Ymir and Hilda! He/Him pronouns <3 //makes him a simp for Venom and Huey bc FUCK YOU, my taste in men is perfect and I will die for my pathetic cringefail husband

Johann is, as most of my characters tend to be, an emotional and mental wreck hidden behind a playful façade. His warm smile and teasing personality have tricked many a person into seeing him as a carefree individual, untroubled by the world-but nothing could be further from the truth. Already scarred from a life of pain and dehumanization, Johann only spiraled further when-in the span of only a few years-his longtime friend and lover died, and the children they had together were abducted. Broken by grief and guilt, he dedicated himself to finding his kids, no matter how long it took or how much he suffered. This turned him excessively vengeful, which manifested as violence-Johann is a terror in combat, often inflicting pain for no real reason other than to vent hatred. His singleminded, unflinching nature makes him care little for his own wounds as well. Outside of these situations, Johann's personal relationships are also rather dysfunctional, to put it mildly. He rarely, if ever, connects with others-both for a deep fear of losing them, and a bitter distrust towards other humans. His heart is guarded zealously, but even so, the man craves the lost love and vulnerability he shared with his deceased partner, Ilya. Because of this, over the years, Johann has gone through a string of temporary relationships with various men in an attempt to fill the void left behind. He was with Venom Snake for a short time, and befriended Quiet in the process-which was yet another friendship lost all too soon. Bury the trauma please. The longest relationship Johann had in this stage of his life was with Huey Emmerich, which all things considered, says a LOT about their mutual mental stability. But in the end, nothing ever meant as much to him as his children. He lived and died with them on his mind always-his last thoughts and emotions being that of regret, remorse that he would never see them again. Johann always thought of himself as irredeemable, beyond repair, and destined for hell, but even if it might not be deserved, he still wished to give his kids a better life than the ones they'd no doubt been dealt.

Semi-precise timeline (content warnings for murder, suicide, war/military mentions, death of a partner and child abduction):

•Born in 1945; when Johann is five years old, his father ends up killing his mother and then himself. He's given to the care of his paternal grandparents, who see him only as a traumatic reminder of their son, something that deeply hurts him despite his young self not understanding the full truth.

•He meets Ilya when they're both only children, and the two quickly become inseparable thanks to a shared connection of shitty home lives. They stay connected from then on, only ever losing contact for short periods of time before reuniting. Johann is eventually kicked out of his home before the age of 18, as his teenage appearance becomes a mirror image of his father during the man's own youth.

•As teenagers living in poverty, and one being the child of abused immigrants to boot, Ilya and Johann are easily convinced by shady figures into signing over their lives and autonomy in exchange for guaranteed food and shelter. The two are trained into becoming a sniper and spotter pair, taking lives for causes they barely grasp. Blood stains their hands by the time they are finally able to get out, and this is an eternal mark upon their relationship even as it becomes romantic in nature.

•They end up having kids later on, fraternal twins they name Avery and Ashe-later known as Ymir and Hilda.

•Not even a year after the twins are born, Ilya is killed in what Johann suspects is revenge for them having broken off from the fucked up nature of war that they were once complicit in. Left alone, he is broken by the loss of his most trusted companion and beloved partner, but tries to keep it together for the kids... only for them to be abducted at the terrifying young age of three.

•Johann spends years attempting to find them, but whoever did it covered their tracks damn well, and his efforts are fruitless. He falls further and further into a storm of bleak, unending despair and grief.

•At some point during the events of MGSV, before Quiet leaves for good and vanishes, he offers to assist the Diamond Dogs in exchange for information on organizations that might want to abduct his kids. Johann ends up in a short relationship with Venom Snake, and with Quiet being his other partner, Johann befriends her as well. Unfortunately, thanks to the what happens during the game, both connections are short lived.

•He has a few brief relationships with other men in the years following, but none last as long as the one he shares with Huey Emmerich. They'd heard of each other when Diamond Dogs was still around, but never actually met. Now that they have a chance to know each other, however, the two grow close in a short amount of time. It helps that both are rather adverse to sharing their respective pasts. Johann never does learn the truth of what happened with Strangelove, and he wasn't there for the exile trial at Mother Base, either.

•At some point, he finally learns of the existence of the compound that took his children all those years ago, and its precise location as well. His kids are so close, and so he is determined to put his old skills to work again to reunite with them. Johann is aware that he's well out of practice, however, and no longer has the vital abilities Ilya brought to their duo. Fearing the worst, he gives Huey the most important of his personal possessions for safekeeping, and asks him to care for his cats should he not come back.

•Sadly, the worst comes to pass. While infiltrating the compound, Johann is caught and killed before he can reach his children..This occurs in 1994; Ymir and Hilda are 14 years old at the time, and have no idea their father was looking for them in the first place.

•Due to the presence of Sky and their powers, his spirit is able to occasionally visit his cherished children and see them when they're in the same place. It is his one comfort in the afterlife for a long time.

•More ghost stuff happens later....oooh spooky