Bloodied teeth and ripped skin thieved ascent and stolen titles you're cracking at the seams what have you seen where have you been
note: character inspiration blog
Somewhere in the slums where the homeless are used to seeing
battered bodies and the police have given up on the
increasing amount of crime. Everything is suspicious. No one
cares.
We linger over a dead body before we meet Iseul (24). He
waits.
A voice hisses scornfully from the shadows:
MAN
Used to think you were admirable.
Iseul strips his leather gloves off his hands and tucks them
into his back pocket. It’s cold. It’s always cold around
here.
The man scoffs.
MAN
When’d you get so messy?
A lone moth flutters across the ghastly face of a young boy,
whose eyes bulge out of his skull. The moth crawls towards
the boy’s broken neck that patiently spurts blood, as though
it has all the time in the world drain itself.
ISEUL
You’ve had years to understand me,
Sunggyu.
The man, Sunggyu (26), steps into the dim moonlight. His
eyes dig viciously into the back of Iseul’s head. He breaks
into a furious, shit-eating grin.
SUNGGYU
You know better than to fuck around.
ISEUL
Ah.
Iseul spares Sunggyu a glance.
ISEUL (CONT’D)
I didn’t know you cared so much
about someone pissing on your turf.
Sunggyu steps into Iseul’s space. Darkness swallows them.
Their figures are illuminated by moonlight.
ISEUL (CONT’D)
I must be special.
A switchblade SNAPS. Iseul grabs Sunggyu’s arm, twists it to
avoid the blade, and smashes his elbow into Sunggyu’s face.
Sunggyu’s switchblade clatters on the floor.
Iseul closes in on Sunggyu, who staggers before grabbing
Iseul by the collar to knee him in the stomach. Iseul grabs
Sunggyu’s wrist. Yanks it back. Turns him.
A bone CRACKS. Sunggyu grunts, swallowing his scream. Both
men struggle. Iseul trembles with anger. Sunggyu quivers in
fury. In the clear light, we watch as Iseul patiently snaps
another finger.
Sunggyu hisses. He digs his free hand into Iseul’s neck to
strangle him.
Red nail marks. A few disjointed fingers. A string of saliva
trailing down Sunggyu’s chin.
Iseul releases Sunggyu, who remains on his knees, clutching
his injured fingers.
SUNGGYU
Eat shit.
ISEUL
You’ll probably need help dragging
your boy back home.
SUNGGYU
Eat shit.
ISEUL
Right.
SUNGGYU
Eat shit and die you fuckin’ shit
you fucking–fucking–fucking shit.
ISEUL
Don’t be so boring.
Iseul yanks his belt off. The sound of the leather weighs on
the moment. Sunggyu jerks, drives a fresh blade into Iseul’s
thigh. Iseul staggers and gasps. Sunggyu digs the blade in,
struggling as Iseul pushes his face away. They both heave on
the floor, sweating. Iseul coughs and winces in pain.
The blade sticks out his leg, blood gushing. Iseul crawls to
Sunggyu, who erupts into a rage of pained laughter. Blood
stains his teeth.
SUNGGYU
C’mon.
Sunggyu welcomes Iseul with his hand, drags his fingers into
Iseul’s hair and tightens his hold.
SUNGGYU
Piss properly, you fucker.
Iseul seethes, smashing a fist into Sunggyu’s broken hand.
Another scream tears out of Sunggyu’s throat. Iseul snakes
his leather belt swiftly around Sunggyu’s neck once - and
again - tight. Sunggyu hisses, pulling his hand away to free
himself from the belt.
Iseul pushes until Sunggyu’s on the floor, and he can hold
him down.
sometimes i realize my character is a complete garbage disposal
At first, he seems like he knows what he’s doing. That is what he wants people to think--and sometimes he can get so wrapped up in his monologues that he starts to believe his own philosophy. Or does he? He makes stuff up on the spot whether he is devoted to those convictions or not. I don’t know, he’s on some other plane and he tricks me while I am writing sometimes (I start to think he’s smart) when in reality, he’s a fucking nerd who cannot function in society and can barely speak for himself. He’s not actually articulate, but he learned what words prompt people to do, and what actions would bring about which response.
On one hand you have the trope. The leader, the infamous, the smart, the deadly and merciless gang leader. And then you have the truth. The anxious manipulator, constructed as an unwanted child and venomously caught in his mental cycle, who struggles to function day by day without falling back on a coping mechanism. That’s why I think I can’t stop writing about him. He’s neither extreme, but a conglomerate of both experiences.
He’s weak and that’s okay, but he does not think so. He is strong in other ways--not right ways, but it’s why he continues to live and refuses to die. His endgame is not really an end, but the beginning of something bigger because he will eventually choose who he is and escape the biggest constraints on his character: himself. Probably be absolutely horrific when that happens, but yanno. It’s growth in a different way and I like exploring the antagonist side.
I’m really lucky the people I write with comprehend who he is and the whole concept that he stands for. I didn’t make him to be the worst of the worst, i just make him seem that way when I write because that’s the point! You know the cliches, pompous, well-spoken maniacal genius. He’s not. He’s just expected to play that part, and he molds himself to fit people’s expectations when it suits him. I’m just beyond happy when people understand that.
Notes: yeah dont look at me okay. naruto never leaves you
it’s really vague on purpose!! because if we ever do write an au like this i don’t want to decide things for you guys without asking. i wrote them differently only because an au changes the character slightly. But their core personalities are basically the same
ANYWAY
Happy birthday ash!! this is late, but i always am. love you nerd
@illota, & @lithified and @szyo cause your muses are in here too
Selin and Sungjoon were fighting again.
They blame a teacher for bad students, but Sunggyu’s ability as a ninja has never been doubted even if his methods are what they like to call ‘unorthodox’. Crazy is thrown around so often as a reason to stay away from him, and no one wants to be under the jurisdiction of someone no longer revered for his anbu experience. There is a thin line between fear and recognition that he stands too close to. They all still call him a hero.
But he is choosy about who he teaches. Likes to blame it on being ‘lazy’, which is simple to do after he accepts only half his mission requests when he feels like it. But they are never below an A or B. The hokage always calls his bullshit, anyway.
Before testing his new students as graduates, it is out of habit to learn the most about them. Their files can only reveal so much--grades, classroom exam results, teacher comments. According to that alone, Hyorin was a perfect student, Sungjoon had the most potential but never used it, and Selin wanted the most but remained the worst.
This is what he has learned:
His sister has never been afraid of him. Her ability is natural. She is the most intelligent, but seems to find entertainment in upsetting the natural balance in the group. She is not afraid of her own brother (the only one she finds interesting enough to listen to), and it is hardly a mystery as to why she ended up under Sunggyu’s tutelage.
Hyorin is not the problem (for him).
Selin is too much for everyone else--the wild card.
No parents. No siblings. No anyone aside from mostly bad influences, and Sunggyu does not have to wonder long why their school record has suffered as a result. What they lacked in technique they made up for in refusal to bow beneath someone else’s opinion. Their skill is obvious, and encouraged by the wrong person, dangerous.
Selin is still not the one that worries him.
Sungjoon is too much like teacher. Sunggyu had recognized Sungjoon’s potential. An ability that could morph into a power no one could handle. It was not loyalty that drove Sungjoon to pursue the occupation of a ninja. It also was not responsibility. It was personal, and a much darker vendetta they carried in silence.
Sungjoon’s potential could become concrete and an overhwhelming problem.
Only Sunggyu could handle the outcome--at least, the academy all hoped before considering what he thought when they decided to place him with Sunggyu.
He was always too neutral in these decisions. Choosing sides meant accepting responsibility for it, after all. There is no heavier responsibility than the lives of three children and he would never take on more than that.
There is no question to whether his squad can handle themselves--his own little sister he has always known to be particularly skilled in her own way--what bothers him is the history behind each one that will influence their choices. Adult decision in a child’s hands is the unique responsibility of a ninja.
And that attention coupled with the fact Selin and Sungjoon either appreciated or hated each other at any given moment is what results in Sunggyu eavesdropping now.
“He’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Sunggyu’s expression darkens for a moment when he recognizes the lackadaisical tone of his little sister. He had chosen a spot above the stone bridge connecting the school to the infirmary on the roof, crouched on the balls of his feet. A sudoku puzzle book is cracked open in front of him.
“Yeah--an’ how d’ya know that, sweetheart?”
Judging by the accent, he would assume Selin--
“He’s my brother.”
Sunggyu visibly stiffens.
“Yeah right--an’ I’m the next hokage.”
Muscles relax, and his one visible eye closes. He only hopes Hyorin drops the topic.
“Is he coming? If he’s not, I’m outta’ here.” Sniff. Sounds of clothes dragging against stone. “Got things to do.”
Sungjoon.
“Like what? If ya’ leave, I bet he fails you.”
Retreating footsteps pause. A head of black hair pokes out when Sungjoon chooses to lean against the railing, exposing wayward strands of bedhead to Sunggyu’s limited sight from above.
“And I bet he doesn’t even show up.”
There is a lack of commitment to the phrase. A lazy drawl that betrays Sungjoon doesn’t really care that much to be disproved by Selin, or anyone else.
“So what? Ya’ don’t want to get on his bad side. I heard he’s killed a’thousand guys--or somethin’,” Selin adds after a short pause. Sunggyu almost rolls his eyes. “I saw ya’ roll your eyes, Hyorin.”
“I hoped you would.”
“It doesn’t matter who he’s killed if he doesn’t teach.” Sungjoon’s head disappears and he listens to their footfalls. “Hey--let go of me, man.”
“Yer’ absence affects us all, asshole. It wasn’t a suggestion.”
Sunggyu finally fills in the last row, idly scratching below his concealed eye.
“Don’t touch me--I’m warning you, Selin.”
“Or what--ya’ gonna put me in the hospital like the last guy? Yer such a special snowflake.”
It is within a split second he appears between his younger, shorter students. One hand catches Sungjoon’s thrown fist and the other twists Selin’s arm behind their back. Hyorin’s eyes had widened from her sitting position on a bench a yard or so away. She lifts one hand and wiggles her fingers at Sunggyu in greeting as if his sudden appearance is as surprising as a slight shift in temperature.
“Five minutes in, and you two are already fighting.”
“Let go of me, ya’ asshole--” Selin struggles against the hold as Sungjoon just waits for Sunggyu to release his fist.
Hyorin sighs. “Your timing is horrible, Sunggyu. It was getting interesting.”
Sunggyu watches Selin stiffen. Their mouth cracks open in surprise without sound, dark eyes resting on the features of Sunggyu’s face they could see partly obscured by the headband over his left eye.
“Yer the--”
He shifts from his position from between them to ahead of the three students, watching Sungjoon and Selin stumble in opposite directions from the lack of restraint.
“I suppose now’s a good a time as any…” He pauses to tuck his puzzle beneath the flap of his jounin vest and stands straight. “I am Kim Sunggyu. Your new instructor.”
His gaze flicks between the three. Hyorin picks at her nails. Sungjoon is leaning against the railing again, observing the ‘intruder’ in silence, while Selin seems prepared to interrupt Sunggyu again.
“I alone decide whether you pass or fail.”
It would be three years before that fragile balance tipped, and no one could have stopped the onslaught of its natural consequences.
Not even someone who has lived through an identical violent outcome.
