Recent Entries

« « « DUTY-BOUND » » »

« « « OOC INFORMATION

Name: Ashen
Age: 18+
Contact:

feathersandwax Discord:EmberedAshenOne or PM this journal.
Timezone: UK GMT
Other Character(s): Adrian Tepes

honourthymother , Aki Hayakawa

worstpossibleway and Gojo Satoru

hollow_purple

DOUBLE AC LINK

« « « IC INFORMATION

Name: Tseng
Door: (Dominant) Doorpass

Canon: Final Fantast VII
Canon Point: Right after Sephiroth stabs him at the Temple of the Ancients in Rebirth

Age: 30
Appearance: Handsome tall boi~

History: wiki link here!
CR AU (Optional): N/A

Personality: Tseng is a surprisingly deep, complex character, easily one of the most nuanced in the entire FFVII canon. In my opinion, he has one of the best-developed arcs, far more than his status as a ‘minor antagonist' would entitle him to.

Positive Trait: CARING

“There’s nothing more precious than a human life!”

It might be hard to think about Tseng as anything other than the cold, ruthless, loyal Turk that he is so well known for being, but honestly? He has a huge heart and for the few he is loyal to, beyond the duty of work, he shows that, in his own way, he cares deeply.

On his first mission for ShinRa, Tseng was assigned to capture Aerith, the last Cetra, (who was still a child at the time) he is, however, convinced that Aerith should be able to live her own life and have her own free will so decides to spy on her instead, keeping her safe as he does so. He spends years watching her grow up, interacting with her in not only a professional manner but also in a personal one as well.

Their relationship grows to the point where Tseng and Aerith do seem to regard one another as friends to an extent and Aerith cries for Tseng when she thinks he's mortally wounded. The other Turks interpret Tseng's interest in Aerith as being romantic considering she's the only one, from the start, that he disobeyed direct orders for, yet Tseng just doesn't appear very interested in romance since it would probably interfere too much with his job as well as possibly being one-sided on his part.

Keeping an eye on the Ancient, Tseng finds it almost impossible not to care for Aerith, he is warmed and charmed by her general nature and outlook on life. It's not until she starts hanging around with Avalanche, that he tries to follow his original orders of capturing and bringing her to ShinRa but even then, it's out of concern for her safety. Tseng was also very good friends with Zack when he was younger and as a friend, Zack asked him sincerely to take care of Aerith whenever he wasn't around. From the looks of it, Tseng dutifully did this to the best of his ability.

Tseng is sentimental about his relationship with Zack and Aerith and finds it difficult to let his caring instincts win out over his duty when faced with a dilemma that involves either of the two - Whereas in any other circumstance, Tseng wouldn't think twice about following orders and getting the job done, like when he executes his old hero and boss Verdot and his daughter, Elfe. Tseng pulls the trigger without skipping a heartbeat, however, when he learns Zack is about to be captured and assassinated, he wastes no time in changing his Turk's objectives around to try and intervene and save his old best friend's life.

It should be noted also, that regardless of how cold and strict Tseng might seem with his subordinates, he cares deeply about his fellow Turks and is willing to take on extra hurt and stress if it means they don't have to. Take the incident with dropping the Sector 7 plate. None of them want to do it and yet one of them has to. After ordering Reno to push the button that starts the detonation, they're questioning what they've done, and why mass murder was the solution, making themselves feel terrible as guilt starts to set in. Tseng offers a handful of obscene excuses, which Reno and Rude don't fully believe, so what he does eventually end up saying makes his subordinates turn their hate and anger towards him as they lash out in disgust. I think he does this to save them from feeling bad about what they were made to do. He cares about their well-being enough to make himself the bad guy in this situation. Sure, Reno pressed the button but under Tseng's harsh command.

Also, a few days after this event, Tseng orders Reno (who ended up being the one to drop the plate) to take some rest and relaxation, using the excuse that he’s a hard worker and deserving of some paid leave, rather than making him take the time to debrief and dwell on what he had done, he makes it so that Reno is removed from the situation and isn’t made to do any other stressful missions for a little while.

His fellow Turks are his family, he wants what is best for them above all else, even if it sometimes means making life more stressful for himself, he’d rather take on a heavier load as the leader, making horrible decisions and having the humiliating chastising conversations with their superiors so his subordinates don’t have to.

Negative Trait: DUTY-BOUND

"They were a sacrifice, to balance the scales."

Tseng is seen as a cold, amoral executive who follows orders blindly. The other Turks are portrayed as at least having some humanity but Tseng seems to be nothing more than a generic villain. This is due to how duty-bound he is to ShinRa and Rufus. This man sticks with his employers and sticks to his work like a devout zealot does their religion, it's the way he was raised, molded, and taught by his original hero and first boss, Verdot, who imprinted an important yet damaging lesson on Tseng: the mission takes priority over any other considerations.

Because of this, Tseng has never shirked away from the nasty things he expects his subordinates to do, and he would have pushed that button and dropped the plate a hundred times over if it had spared Reno and Rude the hurt. He has nothing else. There is no family mentioned for Tseng, no living relatives or a place of birth and though it's speculated through his appearance and accent, Tseng is even willing to help start a war with Wutai, the place we assume he is from, because it's what ShinRa tell him to do. The company is his family, the company is his life.

Tseng has made a name for himself being the pragmatic leader of the Turks, an elite covert task force working for ShinRa, as well as the right-hand man of Rufus, so that's where his loyalties lie. It's not all bad working and living for this corrupt company, Tseng is extremely proud to be an employee of ShinRa and excels at having a knack for managing his eccentric, subordinates, and being able to wrangle them into a professional coherent team.

Tseng shows just how loyal and duty-bound he is to this heinous company when he even forsakes his old best friend, Zack. When given the order to capture and transport Zack to the Nibelheim Mansion to be experimented on by Hojo, he does so without seeming to even blink an eye. He doesn't like the order, but he executes it anyway because of his loyalty to ShinRa. We know this was hard for him to do, considering he knows firsthand what horrendous experiments go on down there, and yet loyalty to his work outweighs loyalty to his friendship... Even if it hurts him and eats him up inside.

By the point in canon, I am taking him from, everyone who isn't connected to the ShinRa Electric Power Company, either hates them enough to rebel against them or is too weak and affected by their Power Plants and the war to fight back. This is a terrible stigma to be associated with and Tseng knows that. Yet he believes in Rufus, believes that there is still some good they might be able to do for the people. He has to believe this, otherwise, why is he working for the bad guys? Why doesn't he just jump ship and help good guys? It's not as simple as that for Tseng, he's put too much blood, sweat, and tears into ShinRa to give up on them now, even if it does put him in some terrible morally gray dilemmas, such as polluting the environment and oppressing its inhabitants. What it all boils down to, is that Tseng is far too proud and feels that he owes everything to Rufus Shinra, the company, and his Turks to leave them now.

Negative Trait: RUTHLESS

"It must have been a real thrill for you ... Did you enjoy it?"

From the way he fights to the way he chastises his subordinates, even the way he glares at people, Tseng is nothing if not ruthless. From the way he assesses the situation, identifies the problem, and then fairly straightforwardly manipulates his people to reach the result he wants, Tseng's ruthlessness is extremely well thought out and calculated.

Not only is Tseng ruthless but he's also manipulative and calculating with it. He has to be. To do the job he does, he wouldn't survive if he wasn't. Tseng is an aloof and detached leader, he is stern, takes a no-nonsense approach to his work, and does not abide by his subordinates being temperamental in their duties.

There is a scene when Elenor and Tseng are on a reconnaissance mission where they are sat in a bar eavesdropping on their targets when Elenor takes a moment to be tender and opens up to Tseng about why she stayed with the Turks. It takes a lot of courage to tell your boss what you feel about them, and so she stumbles, falling silent as she struggles to find the right words. Yet Tseng ruthlessly (and possibly obliviously to her feelings) tells her that she needs to keep talking, he doesn't care what she talks about so long as she keeps talking, as they might look strange and out of place if they just sit there in silence. It's a little heartbreaking for Elenor and yet Tseng seems unaffected by his coldness towards her.

As I mentioned before in the Duty-bound section, I'd like to revisit how brutal Tseng was when he executed Verdot and Elfe. Tseng doesn't hesitate to do what needs to be done when it's needed, and because of this, he comes across as one, if not the most ruthless member of the Turks. The way he points that gun at their heads, one after the other, and just pulls the trigger, despite Verdot being his hero, being his old boss, the man he looked up to, despite the fact he has a full cure materia on him that could have healed them both instantly after and yet doesn't use it?

Yeah, Tseng is cold. He makes a decision in the name of self-preservation for not just himself but his fellow Turks too, as if he refused to kill Verdot and Elfe, himself, Reno and Rude would have been killed for disobeying orders, it's a dog-eat-dog world, and Tseng will always be the hungrier dog.

Negative Trait: OBEDIENT (To a fault)

"Sir, Yes sir!"

For all of Tseng's strengths in leadership, he is nothing without direction and order. Sure, he can make decisions for himself, he's not a complete moron but when it comes to the ShinRa company, even he doesn't assume to knows what's best.

Tseng's behavior as second in command under Rufus and Leader of the Turks is near flawless, he can carry out orders without question or hesitation, he's smart, sufficient, and superior to most others, able to get his team to follow the mission and trust that they'll work just as hard as he wants them to once an order is given. However, when no direction is given, Tseng's ability to know exactly what to do falls apart. We see this when Heidegger is briefly placed as head of the Turks during an Avalance attack on Junon. Heidegger wants the Turk to fail so that he can send in the army, so his best way of doing this is by putting them in status as Tseng is crippled without any orders or directions. He wants to fight, to take action but the lack of confirmation that this is what Rufus wants has him frozen almost helpless.

Tseng has put so much trust, loyalty, and dedication into his role under Rufus' charge, that he literally will not act unless he's told to. Echoing what I wrote about him when I said he was Duty-bound, Tseng is loyal and obedient to a fault. There is another example of this earlier on in Crisis Core when he is tasked with saving the soldier who was kidnapped and tortured on a stolen ShinRa ship. Upon finding the wounded soldier, Tseng begins his extraction plan, yet when he is informed by the person he is rescuing, that there are ShinRa weapons onboard and that letting the ship get away with this technology will be detrimental to the organization, Tseng ignores this vital information as his orders were to find and rescue the solider, that was his priority. Whether or not Tseng assumed another operative was going to deal with the stolen technology or not, he dared not step out of line, he followed his instructions at a cost and was thus reprimanded accordingly.

Powers and Abilities:

CHI MANIPULATION: Tseng can manipulate his supply of chi making him stronger, faster, and have more stamina than a regular human.

MASTER MARTIAL ARTIST: Tseng is a master martial artist who specializes in a discipline that balances both offensive and defensive moves. He can fight hand-to-hand combat with ease as well as using both firearms and bladed weapons.

BODYGUARD: Tseng is an extremely capable bodyguard. He is the leader of the ShinRa Black Ops Section known as The Turks. As well as his fighting skills and weapon mastery, Tseng also excels in stealth, helicopter piloting, and tactical maneuvering.

MATERIA USAGES: Tseng has no magical powers but does use materia as an external source of magic.

STRATEGY: This guy can strategize! He is often tasked with juggling the well-being of Rufus Shinra as well as the safety of his own team all while making sure the goals and ambitions of the ShinRa company executives are met.

Inventory:
1) Special ShinRa Handgun (able to hurt superhuman enemies)
2) Dagger
3) Black Materia (The keystone)

Samples:

TDM TL & Threads

ɴᴀᴠɪɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

ᴘᴇʀᴍɪꜱꜱɪᴏɴꜱ & ɪɴꜰᴏ

ʙᴜꜱɪɴᴇꜱꜱ ᴘᴏꜱᴛ | ᴛᴜʀᴋ-ɪꜱʜ

ɪɴʙᴏx - ᴏᴘᴇɴ ʀᴘ | ᴏᴠᴇʀꜰʟᴏᴡ

ᴋɪɴᴋꜱ

ɢᴀᴍᴇ ᴍɪꜱᴄ

ᴀᴘᴘʟɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ