THE WILD & WONDERFUL APPALACHIA WELCOMES... ryō sasaki as written by mel ( they / she / he ).
✱ affiliated with EAST ATLANTIC ARMY ✱ working as COMMAND SERGEANT ✱ has taken up residence in AFTERGLOW COMPOUND ✱ born on APRIL 6 ( 40 ) ✱ identifying as CIS MAN ( HE / HIM ) ✱ known to be ORGANIZED, WELL-MANNERED, INTELLIGENT, DEVOUT ✱ also know to be OBSTINATE, OVERCRITICAL, SECRETIVE ✱ portrayed by ANDREW KOJI
DIGGING DEEPER.
TRIGGER WARNING: pregnancy, child loss, kidnapping
from the moment ryō were born, it was written in the stars — he were bound to be a soldier. the east atlantic army is all he has ever known, not just raised to possess the normal traits of a well-rounded young man, but to find the traits within him to be a gifted fighter, loyal completely to the east atlantic army. his mother and father certainly weren’t introducing him to the outside world. while some of the children were offered leniency, he was not.
the time finally comes when the student becomes the teacher, a fully grown private. while several of the members of his class signed up simply for the promise of a roof over their head, the position he was given was not just a privilege, but a way of life. thus, he grows quickly critical of the people around him.. and his devout loyalty doesn’t go unnoticed. he ascends quickly, believing that he have everything he will ever need. that is, until he meets her. not that he ever found it within himself to tell her — not before it was too late.
ryō is naturally drawn to falina roux, almost in a way that feels cosmic. he believed at first it was because they shared a similar process of thought, having both grown up in the army (as he quickly came to understand) — but there was something else. and he thought he could swallow it down until the day he died. but, even the best of east atlantic possess a certain level of humanity, no matter how hard they try to swallow it down. while being a follower of east atlantic’s command, falina teaches him one thing: he has exceptions to his training of restraint.
he tells himself their relationship is purely physical…. but, this is a man who was taught not to think with his heart, not even for a second. and thus, while it screams, it’s never truly heard. it wasn’t that he never showed he cared, he did what he knew how.
when falina fell pregnant with their first child, it was then his heart began to breach through the blackness he believed where his heart should be. and yet, he still believed it was better for the both of them to stay quiet. not complicate things, even when they already had been. their child is initially told to both of them to be stillborn, having not taken a breath. and that, that’s what breaks him. he makes sure to hide his grief through a stone gaze, while he cries in private — for the very first time. when their second child meets the same fate, all he knows is numbness.
he too learned that their children were not just alive, but in the very same system that had raised them. perhaps it was a self-destructive decision ( of course it was, plain and simple. And yet, his stubbornness raged on ), but he wanted her to believe that he knew. it was a fucked up way of pushing her away, believing that pulling himself from his position was a fate worse than death. he is already in too deep, he cannot defect with her. or was his fear just holding him back? however, it was all part of a broader plan. if he were there, he could at least be their protector. plan their escape. no one could know. not even their children’s own mother. one slip… and the pieces of their broken family would no longer exist. they’d all be dead.
