s.t.a.r. child || aus, ideas, and concepts for shit

casino!kai au facts/canon n whatnot

this is just a collection of facts/headcanons/whatever for the casino!kai au (or the gambler!kai au.. either works) because yea ❤

first few facts are already set in the aus canon (since i mentioned them in the last chapter abt this au), but feel free to use it as a recap n whatnot

tw for mentions/talk about zane's death, drinking, smoking, mentions of the dream smp, mentions of c!quackity and his canon, s/h mention, and probably more shit i can't think of

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- if it already wasn't apparent enough, yes this au is based off of c!quackity from [reacted] smp. the parallels between him and kai are so glaring so this au was made as a result of it lmao

- everything pretty much is the same as in the show's canon, but with kai starting up the casino after zane's death as a means of coping. he still does his slither pit gig, but once he gets enough money to start things up, he's outta there

- whenever the ninja show up to the casino before the tournament, he's VERY hesitant to rejoin the team. kai still misses zane a lot, yeah, and the chance that he's still alive? it's intriguing... but at the same time, he's worked SO goddamn hard for everything. the casino, the hotel, making new friends— he doesn't want to just leave that shit behind. besides, he finally has a sense of power that he enjoys.. and now they want him to rejoin the team where he was overshadowed by the others more often than not? fat chance.

- he still contains a tiny bit of jealousy towards lloyd (and the team in general), but it dwindles down once he starts up the casino. for once, he finally feels like he's not just second best or anything like that

- like as it was (somewhat) implied in canon, he becomes a fairly heavy drinker after zane's death too. however, he once again leans off of it somewhat once the casino is done with

- that also being said, he also smokes. this habit stays around more longer than the drinking one— and it's fairly more evident too. most of the time you can't tell that he's been smoking because he uses cologne, but when he does, he smells of cigarette smoke

- thanks to not only working in the casino, but also making money from gambling + the casino + hotel themselves, he's filthy stinkin rich. which is another reason why he doesn't want to go back to the ninja (he lowkey thinks he's better than them whoopies)

- never uses his fire powers. he's come close before, when he's gotten angry at people for various reasons, but ultimately doesn't do anything. the literal fire in his eyes is enough to make people stop acting like cunts though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

- gets into a lot of bar fights, or just fights in general ngl. i feel like this is a given, since it's kai and anyone who decides to be a massive prick that day. he usually wins, either because people don't want to get banned from the casino, or the fire in his eyes scare them

- he meets a few of the elemental masters before the tournament even begins. in fact, he actually hires karlof at the beginning to help out with the building and they have a good friendship. neuro, ash, and camille also join the group, either from working at the casino/hotel or just being there for kai

- even though he uses the casino as a means of escapism, i feel like he has *somewhat* better mental health than what he did in canon? is he still devastated by zane's death? yeah, definitely.. and he still has a bit of survivor's guilt, but he has a good support system with the staff
...that is, whenever he actually talks to them about his problems willingly oops

- he has more scars than ever. some are from the slither pit fits, some are from bar fights, and others are from (mostly accidental) self harm

- either stays up all night to get things done, or stays asleep for most of the day when he really feels like shit. it's pretty much a lose-lose regardless

- like quackity, he has a scar over his eye as well. it's not because of a pickaxe going through his mouth, though. apparently it's bad though, since he won't even tell the story about it (like he would've anyway)

- has managed to become REALLY good at gambling/negotiating because of the casino. you remember that scene in s5 where he "negotiated" with ronin? yeah well shit like that doesn't happen in this au (i mean, hell. he's rich for more reasons than one)

- his old ninja gis are in a hidden part of the hotel/casino that nobody knows about. he often goes in there to mourn zane, reflect on his past self, or just cry. probably kept them just in case he would need to go back into action at some point

- like with las nevadas, he eventually builds a space needle type building for him and the staff to live. there's also a wedding hall for weddings (no shit) and whatnot. how is he able to build all this stuff without being noticed? fuck who knows

- often (attempts) to bury himself in work so he doesn't have to think about the ninja team, zane, or zane's death