| ~ • ~ | Character Basics | ~ • ~ |
.:Name:. Theodore Augustus Sharpe
.:Nick Name:. Theo, Teddy to his little sisters
.:Rank:. Lower Class
.:Age:. Nineteen (born in 1794)
| ~ • ~ | Appearance | ~ • ~ |
.:Physical Appearance:. From the back, Theo may easily be mistaken for any other young clerk on the streets of London: Dark, soft curls that refuse to stay in place. He keeps them short and often covered by a hat. Just one in a thousand.
From the front, however, the first thing that people will notice about Theo are his eyes. A deep brown; dark pools of water that soak up everything they see. They suggest intelligence, often racing back and forth to scan his surroundings, and every so often a spark of mischief that reminds people that Theo is still just a boy of nineteen.
And where there’s mischief, a smile or a smirk will often follow. He’s quick to offer those to anyone who might walk by. More than once this has led to extra sales at the workshop and when there’s little work to do his boss likes Theo to man the till and schmooze well-to-do customers.
Work at the printer’s can be gruelling at times. Heavy boxes of deliveries day-in-day-out for the last three years has meant that the gangly sixteen year-old that used to run across the meadows in Brixton has since filled out; skinny limbs lined with lean muscles and a set of broad shoulders on his otherwise slender frame.
Despite the long days and the dirt that is ever-present on the streets, Theo values his appearance and makes an effort to look presentable. A lesson he learnt from his father who always took utmost care with his attire. As the man of the house now, Theo sees it as an obligation to upkeep this and represent his family well, even though they might have fallen on hard times.
One vice which he might never rid himself off, however, are the ink stains all over his fingers. Some of those, he swears, have been there for months while new ones seem to appear every day. Will they ever come off?
.:Height:. 5’9
.:Portrayed by:. Calam Lynch
| ~ • ~ | Personality | ~ • ~ |
.:Personality:.
At his best Theo is quick-witted and (excuse the pun) sharp. He thrives in arguments and is never one to shy away from a fast-paced discussion about politics. Some might perceive this as very forward - and they would be right.
Theo has firm opinions (partly shaped by his upbringing, but more so through his extensive reading) and loves to challenge the ones of others. If he can’t win them over with a clever comeback, he will simply bury them in evidence and sources of his readings that prove his point a hundredfold.
While Theo considers himself open-minded, people would actually struggle to change his opinion on many matters, society being one of them. They could talk at him all day and Theo would simply nod, then proceed to disprove their points. Give him some essays to take away, however, and he might listen. Theo prefers to live by ‘I believe it when I see it.’ Otherwise, he often remains sceptical and set in his ways, much like the people whose opinion he intends to change.
That’s not to say that Theo isn’t willing to learn. As the son of a tutor, learning was an integral part of his childhood and to this day one of his favourite things: To discover something new, to make sense of something that before was unfamiliar to him. Along with writing, it is one of his greatest passions. He feels incredibly lucky not only of the things he has so far learned but that he grew up in a household that taught him how to learn. He shares this skill with his sisters now, as often as he can, and anyone who might listen, really.
While generally friendly, Theo doesn’t have many friends per se. He only warms slowly to people around him. In recent years he had to live through loss and disappointments, so establishing trust is something he finds difficult and he is quick to push someone away if they even show any potential signs of betraying it.
But when he cares for a person, he cares deeply: His twin sisters and his mother are the ones who see this side of Theo most often. The hardworking, warm young man who never complains. Who, hours after nightfall, travels back to Brixton to bring home the week’s wages; who always enters the candlelit kitchen with a bright smile for Lily and Alice; who never complains even when his back aches, only to rise again five hours later and travel back into the city.
.:Skills:. Public speaking; a good memory; deceptively strong; writing; confident
.:Weaknesses:.Stoic; prejudicial; fear of commitment; worries about his family and their future
| ~ • ~ | History | ~ • ~ |
.:Birthplace:. Brixton, London
.:Family:.
- Father: Augustus Sharpe (tutor, deceased at 38)
- Mother: Marian Sharpe, née Grant (37)
- Sister: Lily Sharpe (14)
- Sister: Alice Sharpe (14)
.:Occupation:. Printer’s apprentice
.:History:. As the son of a tutor, university-educated and employed by Britain’s nobility, Theo didn’t grow up in a wealthy home but the Sharpe family were far from poor. He was born and raised in a simple but quaint home in the rural Brixton where they still live to this day. Still gathering around the very same table that Theo learned to read and write on. When his father was home (though it was irregular and sometimes sporadic), he taught Theo some Latin and bits of French. And by the time Theo had just crossed the threshold into his teens he felt he’d learnt everything there was to know about this little corner of their world. He wanted to see France and Rome, put to use the languages he only got to read about (though his father insisted that hardly anyone would be able to converse with him in Latin).
He wanted to visit London more, the couple of trips a year were hardly enough! Once when he was eleven, struck with the need for adventure, he even snuck onto a neighbour’s carriage and made it all the way to Charing Cross before they noticed him. London was teeming with excitement! He yearned to converse with new people and to hole himself up between the dusty shelves of his favourite bookstore on Cheapside.
Only a few years later, that wish would come true, though not like he had hoped. Theo had just turned sixteen when he opened the door of their home to a messenger boy, delivering a letter. The wax seal indicated that the note must have been sent from a stately home. Careful not to break it, he gently undid the seal. But when he read the handwritten note, penned by a doctor, he wanted nothing more than to rip the thing into shreds before anyone else could read it; before it had a chance to become reality. His father: dead. Something as stupidly simple as a hunting accident. The horse had baulked, thrown him off. An ‘unfortunate’ fall, as the doctor put it, and Theo was horrified when a quiet chuckle came over him. Never had he considered his father anything but unbreakable. To hear that he was mortal and that he was…gone, it was incomprehensible.
Until the casket arrived a week later, the whole family clung onto the belief that this had all just been a big misunderstanding. But the day came when they had to accept the truth, and a fresh wave of grief threatened to drown Theo. For his father, yes, but also for his mother and sisters. Seeing them scared, listening to their sobs in the middle of the night.
Less than a week had passed when Theo couldn’t stand his own inaction any longer. Yes, his father had promised him he'd get him into a university. They had talked of schools in Edinburgh and St. Andrew’s, even Cambridge once (though that had likely been a pipe dream). But his father was no more; his carefully nurtured contacts complete strangers to Theo. And his family relied on someone to see them through the coming years, his sisters were only 11.
Theo knew what he had to do - he made the long way into town the next day, asking around for work. Prideful and perhaps a little naive, he first started asking around the bookshops, then the newspapers, still hoping he might put his education to good use. It was there that one of the editors pointed him in the direction of the printers workshop in Chancery Lane.
Theo certainly had had grander ambitions for himself than a printer’s apprentice. His day begins early and finishes late. The journey home is long and cumbersome - so much so that he often sleeps in the back of the shop instead. And the pay is barely enough to see them through each week. But it’s honest work. And he is free to think; to read from countless voices of London who come to the shop to make themselves heard. And although Theo hates to admit it, he is too selfish to give up this one privilege.
| ~ • ~ | Member Info | ~ • ~ |
.:Name or Online Alias: Julia
.:Your Pronouns: she/her
.:Are you 18+: yes
.:How Did You Find Us: Through ads on another board
