#kiya sonders

[queriesinstereo]

character list: the second star

so i realized that i’ve been posting excerpts and the like from my current wip, the second star, but i never actually posted a character list for the story. which means that nobody has any idea who these people are. which is probably very confusing for you and i’m very sorry about that. 

so here, in a vaguely particular order, are the crew of the star, described... really terribly, frankly, but like... in a funny way.

Kiya Sonders: the captain. focused, assertive, and intimidating intense, she has an ugly burn scar on her neck and part of her chin. she’s badass and looks to any outsider like she has her shit together at all times. she does not have her shit together; she is a barely functioning human being who prefers running from her problems to actually thinking about them. the idea that her crew cares about her and is ridiculously loyal to her is frankly terrifying and she would like to stop thinking about it now. she’s an unnecessarily capable soldier, a remarkable captain, and utterly oblivious. i love her. 

Yori Adim: the quartermaster. their identifying traits are their long blond hair, their flirtatious personality, and the fact that they have 3+ knives on them at any given time. never argue with them, because they will win. even if you think you are 100% in the right and have a thousand peer-reviewed science journals to back you up, they will win. it is actually terrifying. they smile a lot. they are not usually friendly smiles, but most people don’t realize this. they’re also a very good assassin, but that’s probably the least relevant part of their character. 

Troy Sanchez: the first mate. do not, under any circumstances, let her fly the ship. in fact, do not let her anywhere near the controls. she is only allowed on the bridge when someone else is very obviously flying the ship. these rules are in place for a reason. in addition, do not make her mad. do not double-cross her. do not, under any circumstances, get on her bad side. she is also a very good assassin, and this is a very relevant part of her character. she is not very good with people, unless she is undercover, which is when she miraculously becomes good at acting. nobody has any idea how she does this. she is also loyal to the bone, until you betray her. then she will kill you. 

Cameron Soto: the engineer. he’s the pilot, kinda, too. he was for a while and he still does it a bit but he’d really rather not thank you very much. the star is... his child. basically. he’s also young. (like... 16 when the story starts) which means that everyone else treats him kinda weird? not patronizing. but different. he takes advantage of this most of the time. he’s also the mom friend, which is a role that only belongs to him because everyone around him is emotionally stunted and very dismissive of their own health and they need to stOP. 

Alex Jones: the pilot. Jones might not be his last name - he just chose it because he needed one for... reasons. perfectly legal reasons. he promises. also, what do you mean you don’t know where your wallet is anymore? light-fingered, quick-witted, and delights in being an ass. and arguing. actually not as suspicious as all this paints him out to be, but he is a bit of a kleptomaniac. sometimes this works out for the better. sometimes... relatively less so.

(on a side note: alex is also trans. this fact isn’t important to the story at all, but i don’t want to ignore it about his character -  i’m planning on making it explicit tangentially via a couple conversations, but i haven’t really found the place to do it yet. if anyone has any advice on writing this respectfully i’d love to hear it! also if you just want to yell at me for overthinking it which would be a valid criticism.) 

Tammy: she’s a doctor, dammnit, not a pirate! but all jokes aside, she is the most unflappable person on the ship. not necessarily involved with the illegal side of things, but she’s damn good at patching them up afterwards. may or may not be disowned royalty. she and her adopted/foster/surrogate brother are close-lipped on the matter. but Alex has Theories. has gold hair in long dreadlocks, but tends to dye it. 

Sharps: gunner. has almost freakishly good aim, and silver hair (he and Tammy are from a planet where this is pretty common). he’s their more... traditional security. the kind that you want watching your back and scouting the corners. he never misses. (well, there was that one time, but they don’t talk about it. ever. he means you, Alex.)

(okay, so I am considering writing Sharps with Asperger's. I have done some preliminary research [not as much as I probably should have, sorry about that] and it seemed to fit well enough with the way I was already planning on writing him. he prefers to avoid eye contact, has difficulty reading people, is very good at math and angles/physics but has difficulty with other subjects. however, i do not have Asperger’s. I am not familiar with the struggles/experiences of people who do have Asperger’s. I want to write this well and respectfully, but again this is not something i have experience with. much like with Alex this will never be very relevant to the story, but i would still love advice from people who know more than i do and can help me do this well)

almost everyone is queer, because this is my world and also they just are. i don’t make the rules. (what do you mean this is contradictory?). Kiya’s gay, Yori’s pan & aro, Troy’s straight, Cameron.. i actually don’t know and don’t really have any specific ideas. i think he doesn’t really care either. Alex is trans and bi, Tammy’s pan & ace, and Sharps is bi. Most of these are actually pretty fluid - the only ones i’m planning on making 'word of god’ in the book will be Kiya, Yori, and Tammy. the rest will be vaguely relevant but not explicit, if that makes sense. 

um... yeah! i think that’s it! if you have any questions or advice for me, hit me up! i’d love to talk about my characters. 

[travelingwanderers]

Here are a few things you should know before you begin:

The Second Star is a Starstream model starship capable of sustaining a maximum of ten crewmembers and carrying up to 150 metric tons of cargo. It is also a pirate ship.

Kiya Sonders is the captain of the Second Star. This is a position she would like to forget she holds.

The crewmembers of the Second Star are all running from something. Most of them do not know this.

Kiya Sonders is buried so deeply in secrets she sometimes forgets the truth.

There is a war that spans an entire galaxy, and it has yet to end.

     (6. Kiya will be damned before she lets anyone else die for her.)

[queriesinstereo]

Character Creation Tag

Thanks @lemon-i-scream! This should be a lot of fun. So I’m going to be doing Kiya, the captain of the Second Star in my WIP of the same name. 

1) What was the first element of your character that you remember considering?

Um... probably just the general idea of her? That she had once been a soldier and then had gotten pulled into this new life out of no real choice for herself. 

2) Did you design them with any other characters from their universe in mind?

Hm... I’m not quite sure? I may have changed parts of her personality in order to have her mesh better with my other characters, but I can’t really think of anything in particular. 

3) How did you choose their name?

I literally just looked up her name meaning just now because I can’t remember, and am not finding any results for particular meanings, so I probably just thought it sounded nice.  

4) In developing their backstory, what elements of their world played the most influential part?

The constant war. A very important part of her story is that (spoiler - kinda) Kiya was drafted into it and didn’t really have a choice in the matter, and that theme just kinda pervaded everything else. 

5) Is there any significance behind their hair color?

She has brown hair, and no. Part of it was that I wanted her to be plainer, but mostly it was just because. 

6) Eye color?

Brown, and again no particular significance beyond going well with her hair. 

7) Height?

Man, I have no idea, and I can’t even remember if I’ve written about it at all. I think she’s moderately tall, so maybe around 5′8 to 5′10? Enough that she’s vaguely imposing, but not really noticeable. 

8) What do you relate to within their character/story?

Hm. Weirdly enough (considering that I tend to majorly relate to my characters) the only thing I can really think of here is that she has no idea why people like her? Like, she freaks out when she thinks about it, because it makes no sense to her.

9) Are they based off you in any way?

Not much, really. Which, again, is weird. Maybe just the fact that she’s internally screaming most of the time. 

10) Did you know what your character’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation?

Yes. She’s gay, and I definitely knew that in regards to her backstory. I wasn’t actually expecting it to come up beyond that, but then she decided she was going to get involved with another character and I just rolled with it. 

11) What have you found is the most difficult art form in creating your character?

Hmm... no idea. Maybe drawing, since I’m terrible at it. 

12) How far past canon events that take place in their world have you extended their backstory?

About ten years? Maybe? There’s an instigating point about three years before canon events, but it’s ongoing before that. 

13) If you had to narrow it down to 2 things you MUST keep in mind while working with this OC, what would they be?

She has no idea what she’s doing, and she cares way too much for her own comfort.

14) What is something about your OC that makes you laugh?

How oblivious she is to the fact loyalty goes two ways. Like, I love her, but she has no idea. (On second thought, that might actually be kinda sad. oops.)

15) What is something about your OC that makes you cry?

That is spoiler territory, and I’m not going there. Suffice it to say that it’s worth crying about. 

16) Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story?

Not that I can think of? I’m still in first draft territory, so I’ve just edited anything like that out. And the one thing I can think of that I did wasn’t necessarily related to her, so...

17) What is the most recent thing that you’ve discovered about your OC?

She constantly walks a fine line between done with everyone’s shit and wanting to laugh hysterically at the world.

18) Favorite OC fact?

Um... She is 100% secretly a nerd, though what exactly she’s a fan of I haven’t figured out yet. 

I can’t think of anyone to tag here, unfortunately, but if you want to do it go ahead (and tag me if you want - I’d love to check out your own ocs).

[queriesinstereo]

The Second Star

My current WIP, which is over 60,000 words and not even halfway through the first draft yet. It is simultaneously the thing I’m proudest of and the bane of my existence. I won Nanowrimo 2018 with it, so at the very least it keeps me writing. 

The Second Star is a science fiction novel set several thousand years from now, in a world that (though very inconsistently world-built at the moment, I’m sad to say) encompasses an entire galaxy of inhabited planets. Star travel is the norm, and society is governed by an intergalactic council, whose law is carried out by peacekeepers. It is also a world at war. 

Summary: 

Here are a few things that you should know, before you begin.

1. The Second Star is a Starstream model starship, capable of sustaining a maximum of ten crew members and carrying up to 150 metric tons of cargo. It is also a pirate ship.

2. Kiya Sonders is the captain of The Star. This is a position she often forgets she holds.  

3. The Star is running from something. What it is running from remains, as far as we know, a complete mystery.

4. Kiya Sonders is buried so deeply in secrets she might as well be drowning in them.

5. There is a war that spans an entire galaxy, and it has yet to end.

(6. Kiya will be damned if she lets anyone else die for her secrets.)