Character(s) heaven and hell were words to me | saturnine's characters

[saturnine]

You think the grief will make you smaller inside, like your heart will collapse in on itself, but it doesn't. I feel spaces opening up inside of me, like a building with rooms I've never explored.

- Westworld, 1.4​

 

[saturnine]

DANIEL RYU | THE MEDIC
status: available​

GENERAL PROFILE.
name (english): daniel ryu
name (korean): ryu nam-joon | 류남준
age: 35
birthplace: jeju, south korea
occupation: trauma surgeon (in his residency)
nickname: doc
sexuality: BI BI BI


THE PHYSICAL.
hair: jet black & curly, almost chin-length. constantly unruly and ungovernable, usually pulled up into a tiny bun. unless it's pulled back it's a disaster, guaranteed.
identifying features: facial scars from shrapnel from his time in the military; sometimes it's hidden by a beard, a gnarly series of scars on his chest
current facial hair: light stubble because he has to maintain some semblance of professionalism
height: 5'9
build: sturdy but lean, slightly bottom heavy with thicker thighs
eye color: black
personal style: usually for comfort as the main consideration. lots of dark colors, straight-cut jeans, boots or sneakers. his clothes are simple but good quality; he buys clothes infrequently and wants them to last. sometimes he'll buy a piece of clothing just because it made him laugh, so there's some weird t-shirts in his closet too

(he cleans up really nicely, though. he's killer in a tux or a dress??)

THE MENTAL.
likes: spicy food, old science fiction novels (frank herbert, philip k dick, octavia e. butler), bad tv dramas, new technology, learning new things, green tea, internet memes, rock climbing, running
dislikes: ignorance (especially if they're proud of it), authority figures who don't know what they're talking about, mess/chaos, boredom, snobby people, feeling dependent on others, isolation and loneliness
favorite dish(es): budaejigae, dried squid as a snack, anything anju related (aka korean bar snacks you're supposed to eat with soju)

traits - the good:
he's pretty damn smart, both in the book-learning sense and also because of the experiences he's had this far
information sponge; he's always mentally noting down details about people
a goofy ass sense of humor; he's funny if you're into internet humor and sarcasm
good at surface-level warmth and maintaining a good bedside manner
reliable; if he says he'll do something, he will
slow to anger; slower to violence
remains calm in dangerous or intense situations & helps others remain calm as well

traits - the bad:
survivor's guilt + the tendency to burn out in his work because he simply ignores the warning signs
abandonment & identity issues from being adopted and simultaneously cut off from family life and culture (did my parents not want me, or did they die in the war & i'll never know for sure?)
emotionally unavailable: how are you supposed to do relationships when no one taught that shit to you? mostly torn between neediness and running away from his problems depending on the mood. please don't ask him to talk about his feelings but he'll literally listen to someone else talk about THEIR baggage forever. just grateful that it's not him having to do that
will not forget a grudge, not ever. he might forgive, but he doesn't let it go
often places enormous pressure on himself to succeed; and is consequently paralyzed by the thought of failure. he's fairly good at compartmentalizing, but he really hates feeling helpless/useless

brief character history:
born during the devastation of the korean war, daniel spent most of his childhood in a state-run facility in california
which incidentally was run by the church. eventually he was put into the foster care system for a few years
has no recollection of his birth family, culture or history & has spent his life scrambling to catch up
enlisted in the army at 17 because he felt like it was the only way he'd ever get to leave the system
became a combat medic and served in several theaters for around 7 years. honorably discharged after being wounded in combat; an IED blew up between the vehicle he was in and the one in front. he was thrown mostly clear by the force of the blast but it killed 3 of his squad. despite him trying to give them medical treatment with a concussion, a bleeding ear and a torn-up mouth, they ended up dying because help didn't come in time.
after he got out he started searching for links to his past. he got in touch with an organization that helps adoptees trace their families and found that he had a sister living two states away
together they tried to find their parents but couldn't get any information about them
didn't really know what to do with himself after so he went to university & then med school (thanks, free college).

random trivia:
he's a decent cook because he's been looking after himself for a long time. though most of his meals tend to be drowned in garlic and spice. as is tradition (he is korean, after all)
in fact, the strongest connection he has with his culture is with food; he has a few regular restaurants that he goes to where the ajummas try to teach him a few words
his mcat score was 512
he's very particular about his things - mostly stemming from his upbringing where he never had his own space. his apartment is minimalist and very clean.

 

[saturnine]

LEONID NIKOLAEVICH BELOV | THE MUTANT
status: available​

GENERAL PROFILE.

nicknames: Lyonya (there's no one still alive that calls him that)
age: literally no idea, probably early to mid-thirties
birthplace: Gdańsk, Inter-war Poland
sexuality: closeted, in denial, hating every second of it
languages: Russian (native), English (accented, getting better every day), a few remembered words of Polish
mutant ability: teleportation

• Theoretically, Leo should be able to teleport himself to any location he can picture. The stronger the memory, the easier time he will have of it
• The further the distance, the more chances for him to fuck it up somehow, which can end up being dangerous because he might land himself in the middle of the ocean instead
• He will rarely, if ever, jump from continent to continent because the risk is too great.
• He uses short-burst jumps in combat all the time, allowing him to manipulate the fight or put distance between him and an enemy
• He should be able to theoretically teleport someone else with him as long as he's touching them, but he's far less practiced with this skill due to being a loner
• Teleporting makes him feel like his limbs are asleep every time - the same kind of "buzzy" feeling
• He cannot use his ability if he is knocked unconscious or otherwise incapacitated. The KGB developed a special drug cocktail for use on him whenever he wasn't on mission

THE PHYSICAL.

hair: sandy blonde/light brown, usually cropped close & short because it's easiest and it's what he's used to
eye color: bluish-green
height: 5'10

FAMILY.
mother: Maria Kowalczyk (deceased)
father: Nikolei Belov (deceased)
an aunt, long forgotten
a few cousins, also long forgotten


PERSONALITY.

likes: traditional polish food. he literally doesn't even remember ever eating it so it's not nostalgia - it's idealism. black tea, classic literature, music, cigarettes, beer
dislikes: authoritarians/controlling people, governments of all kinds, being called a 'Russkie' or a 'pinko' or a 'red' or a 'commie' - basically any insulting term McCarthy's America could conjure up, confined spaces
dominant traits:
bad habits:

HISTORY.

• His father was a brilliant scientist who was working in Poland prior to the war.
• After the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and subsequent invasions, he was forced to work for the USSR developing weapons
• In order to keep him compliant, his wife and their 7 year old son were kept under surveillance and "housed" (read: imprisoned) in a compound near where his father worked
• When Leo was 10, he started waking up in places that were not his own bed. Since he lived in what basically amounted to a prison, this naturally caught the attention of the guards - and later, the higher ups
• Theories about a so-called 'mutant gene" had been raised by researchers and subsequently dismissed as outlandish nonsense - until he was forced to give a demonstration in front of the entire high command
• Citing 'wartime hardships', they took him away for further study and training. Weapons, ballistics, hand-to-hand combat, tactics
• The war ended, but they kept him in custody. He was too valuable to let go.
• They controlled him through a variety of methods: psychological torture & conditioning, threats against his family, physical reprisal, propaganda & brainwashing, memory wipes
• He was made to do horrible things to a large number of death-row inmates from the beginning, in an effort to curb his empathy
• As a weapon, he was set to work almost as soon as his handlers thought he was ready. Targeted assassinations, bombings & terrorist attacks, information gathering
• His mother died of breast cancer without ever seeing freedom again, having been imprisoned for nearly 13 years. Shortly afterward, his father was found hanging in his cell.
• His father had left him a note, smuggled into him by one of the custodial staff shortly after his death. It was scrawled on a crumpled piece of paper in Nikolei's blood. The note was two words: be free.
• Almost immediately, he understood that his father had killed himself to rid the KGB of any leverage they might have on his son
• It still took him nearly a year to plan out his escape.