#character: theodor königsmann

[canallynwrite]

Whats the inspiration behind 'from sea to shining sea'?

haha, well this is a story.

basically, the short version is that i *really* don’t like the throne of glass series (not gonna go into detail about that, bc i know a lot of ppl like it. all you need to know is that i hate it) and decided “hey, i’m gonna write a fix-it fic for it!” of course, that never actually happened, because i have trouble carrying through with what i say i’m gonna do. but, i thought about it *a lot*, and soon it sort of morphed into it’s own thing? i just really can’t work in *someone else’s* world, y’know?

i was trying to come up with a new conflict for this unnamed story, and the first thing that came into my head was like ‘world war two and the united states’ westward expansion, now with 300% more american-brand religious extremism!’

you can still see some of the influences of throne of glass in the characters roles (theodor as the villain’s son, kazmira off in the west commanding a squadron of dragonriders) and in one character’s name, but i’ve tried my best to change all characters into something unique to *this* story. 

‘SOPHIE SCHOLL – THE FINAL DAYS’ was also a really big inspiration for writing the opening sequence. it’s basically a movie about the final few days of sophie scholl, one of the members of the white rose resistance group from nazi germany, and there’s a scene in there were she’s been interrogated about her role in the white rose that i really like and have used as inspiration for lauryn’s interrogation.

[canallynwrite]

24 OC asks

[ i’ll be answering for each of my main characters in TS&TO & FSTSS ]

24. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT TEARS? ARE THEY COWARDLY AND WEAK? DO YOU CRY? WOULD YOU CONSIDER THAT SHAMEFUL?

peitho:   she’s probably the type of person who thinks crying is weak and shameful and until someone she cares about (*cough* iris *cough*) cries and then she just doesn’t know what to do. anger and violence are her primary ways of expressing all of her emotions (even sadness) so she doesn’t exactly have the healthiest relationship with crying.

iris:   she’d only cry in private. it’s not that she’s personally ashamed of it (bc she’s not), but that quite a lot of people do consider someone of her status crying, and she knows she has a reputation to uphold. a reputation that she’d rather stab a man for than let go of.

lauryn:   she’s not a very weepy person but she has absolutely no qualms about crying when around family/friends. she knows that sometimes you just have to cry. it doesn’t make you weak.

theodor:   theoretically, he knows that crying is not something to be ashamed of and that tears do not mean weakness, but he still has yet to realize in practice that it is, in fact, okay to cry. as of currently, he probably would only cry to one person, and then he’d probably feel terrible about himself afterwards.

sinovia:   she’s indifferent to it. it’s not something she thinks about a lot, though she’s done her fair share of crying, as (much like peitho) she channels her negative emotions towards the cold, vicious type of anger. she tolerates crying kids much better than crying adults.

kazmira:   like, sinovia, she doesn’t think about it a lot. currently she views it… not as weak, but like,,, unhelpful? y’know? in her view, crying don’t help much. they’re in the middle of a war for literal survival right now, so there’s a lot of other stuff that has to be done.

iyawa:   she has a similar view on tears to lauryn. if she needed to curl up with her gf and cry she’d do that, but she doesn’t think of it much. why cry when you’ve got magic to figure out?

[canallynwrite]

Who be the main characters of your book?

here they are:

LAURYN GERAULT:

     lauryn is the starting protagonist of the story. she’s the co-owner of her family’s manufacturing business and she is very good at math. she has a very strong moral code, is religious, and though the ruling government (who are terrible people, btw) follow the same religion as her, she is absolutely opposed to them and what they are doing. in the story, she’s sort of my way of providing an example of the way that the ruling government of the immerian empire (her country) should actually interact with their religion. it’s not a high bar to clear, but i want to have her in this position to offset all the extremism that comes from antagonists who follow the same religion as her and press that no one group of people (religious, ethnic, lgbt+) are all the same. as of the current draft, she’s rather hotheaded, thinks with her heart first and foremost, and is very determined to do what she believes is right, even if it means flouting the law. her main role in the plot is as someone on the ground in immerland (so readers can see the direct effect of the current regime on the people) and has a role in the resistance. specifically, lauryn funds a large chuck of resistance efforts in immerland and passes information. her large and influential business also serves as a front for helping get people discriminated against in immerland out of the country.

THEODOR KÖNIGSMANN:

    theodor is the son of the current ruler of immerland, präsident königsmann. theodor is also involved in the resistance, and really sorta scared to death of his dad. he struggles with anxiety and tends to second-guess himself a lot. plot-wise, he’s there to give the reader more of a sense of the antagonist’s goals and motivations, though he does have a much more prominent emotional arc than the other characters do. rather than going the “antagonist is outright abusive and threatening to their relatives/children” route, i wanted to go a way that showed that the antagonist does care for theodor (or who he thinks theodor is), but is still an absolutely terrible person. their dynamic is kinda complicated, as theodor broke from his father, ideologically, during his early teens and (seeing what happens to people who do openly disagree with his father) quickly learned not to talk about it. he presents a very “ideal son” type of image to his father, and to his father that means straight, religious, supports the war, strong, very shrewd, and theodor is none of those things, so he’s just been keeping this façade up, and he’s kind of cracking under the pressure bc his father just. won’t. leave. him. alone. and he has a very low opinion of himself (partly bc he thinks he’s terrible and the worst for not seeing that his father was a terrible person long before he actually did despite the obvious power imbalances in a father/son relationship that could lead to him not seeing the truth about his father and the fact that what’s more important is that he’s working against is father now) and he’s sure he’s gonna crack and get himself executed someday. so yeah. that’s basically his mental state. on his better days, though, he’s generally a hopeful, upbeat person, and is very much a ‘i need to get everyone’s opinions before i make a decision to make sure it works for everyone’ type of person. he has very good intentions, and definitely doesn’t want anyone to get hurt. 

SINOVIA ZHDANOVA:

     ah, my favourite character! (probably) she’s much more morally grey than either lauryn or theodor but does have her good points! as for her role in the plot, she’s the character who does all of the morally grey, not-so-nice shit that the other main characters wouldn’t do. however, she also has an emotional arc and provides input on the plot and worldbuilding from the perspective of someone who has been harmed (mentally, physically, and emotionally) immensely by the war and the immerian’s quest to indoctrinate/force everyone who believes in a different religion than them into their religion. her backstory is a bit of a spoiler, but i will say that it involves being separated from her family, put in one of immerland’s “re-education” camps, and being deeply traumatized/scarred while escaping. she responds to that about as well as any twelve year-old would. how those experiences affect her and her outlook on things is something i’m really excited to explore, and i hope to do such topics justice. additionally, i’m very enthusiastic about the magical power she has. it’s a bit different than most of the other characters’ magic, as she can dissolve into smoke. it gives her a bit of an advantage in sneaking into places, and is definitely fun to incorporate into fight scenes. i feel like that power really suits her character, too. she’s generally a very focused, quiet person and honestly doesn’t need that much human interaction to do well. she holds grudges and is definitely not the most moral person, but she cares quite a bit for her family and absolutely refuses to hurt children. as an assassin, her area of expertise is poisons.     she’s one of my oldest characters and honestly, i’m glad to have finally found a world that she fits in. i’ve created so many different iterations of her over the years, placed them in so many different worlds, and i’m just thrilled that she’s finally on the path towards getting to her real ending!     (also, i want to add that she’s mute. it doesn’t factor much into her character arc, as it’s something she’s lived with for her entire life, but it is there.)

KAZMIRA ANTOL:

     wooo, my dragon rider! she’s not as complicated as some of the other characters, but she is a very fun one. she’s from the west of bostrana and came over when the area she lived in was first taken over by immerland. after the official bostkiy government was killed and the immerians managed to push their forces even deeper into bostrana, a “placeholder” government took over in the form of a council, placing their headquarters in the east and mostly being concerned with fighting back against the immerian forces and evacuating as many people as possible out of their path (though there are a few people who are trying to keep the safer towns working properly). kazmira is the commander of what remains of bostrana’s air force, and the direct head of the squadron of dragonriders that she formed to aid bostrana in the war (and evacuation) effort. up front she’s a very organized hardass, who tends to be very strict and unquestioning in her beliefs. she is quite smart (and tactical), and, plot-wise, serves as a view point into what’s going on in the western front of the war. bostrana is, like, the last country (that is currently under siege by immerland) holding out. they’re kind of the last hope, y’know? in any case, she’s very stressed out most of the time (you’d be too if you had to fight on a dragon against state-of-the-art war planes and somehow win) and is already concerned about what they’ll do if they actually in the war. (she’s particularly big on dragon protection laws)EDIT: oh, she has a specific magic power, too! it’s not as useful to her job or focused-on as sinovia’s is, but kazmira has superhuman speed in everything she does. (so, running, speaking, writing, even thinking) i should really post something on the magic system soon)

IYAWA ADEDEJI:

     admittedly, i don’t have much planned out for her yet. i’m sort of waiting to actually write a chapter for her to really get a sense of her character. i’ve already written for the other characters, so i feel like i’ll know her better after i write for her. i do like what i have for her so far, though. plot-wise, she’s one of the most mobile (aside from sinovia) and sort of shows off what life is like in the south of the continent under immerian rule. she’s also a driving force in taking out important immerian strongholds in her country. character-wise, she’s a rather brilliant person, and definitely extremely brave. out of the main cast, she knows the most about how magic works and how to use it, which i am super excited to dive into. it’s always nice to have that character who’s as interested in the magic system as you are and is able to explore some of it and it’s ramification in the world, y’know?

there you go! if anything’s confusing just send me another ask about it!

[canallynwrite]

Which of your characters would you F, Marry, or kill? Just pick three! Or do all of them! (Happy Wip day btw love 💜) -kitten

gonna do kiss, marry, kill instead just bc i have no interest in fucking anyone. hope that’s okay!

LAURYN GERAULT | kiss     i’d marry her but i have no idea if we actually have anything in common so i’ll just kiss her.

THEODOR KÖNIGSMANN | kiss     we’re both gay and i don’t wanna kill him so… just on the cheek!

SINOVIA ZHDANOVA | kiss     also kiss on the cheek bc she’s aro ace and i don’t wanna kill her either

KAZMIRA ANTOL | kiss     i think i’d find her too intimidating to marry.

IYAWA ADEDEJI | marry     a gorgeous, smart, curious woman who’s specifically interested in the ins and outs of how magic works in her world??? SIGN ME UP

PRÄSIDENT KÖNIGSMANN | kill      i will kill him and avenge sinovia’s family! 

( ty! it’s been so much fun so far!

[canallynwrite]

Which character is the best liar?

they’re all pretty good, imo, but i’d have to say theodor, and simply because he’s spent a good portion of his adult (and teenage) life playing the role of a religious, completely heterosexual son who believes 100% in what his father is doing and is completely trustworthy. it’s kind of his everyday life, bc, y’know he really doesn’t wanna get his head chopped off by his dad!

but aside from that, iyawa is an amazing liar as well! she lives in an area under the control of the immerian empire, so she kind of has  to be a good liar to be able to carry out her activities against the immerians without getting caught.