for the aldnoah au - think it first started off when i was rewatched a few mecha animes i liked when i was younger and i immediately thought of aldnoah afterwards. like the premise of it is so interesting - in an alternate universe, humans have made a home out of mars and now there's two factions, the people who live on earth vs the people who formerly were from earth but now live on mars...

in my head, princess asseylum -> charles, inaho -> seb, but i also wanted to build on that universe and not kind of just stick them into those roles....

crown prince charles as the solitary ruler of his nation, the Exalted - he's about the same age as seb in this (both in their early-mid 20s) but he's had to take on so much responsibility at a young age. the war's been going on for longer than he's been alive but he's been tasked with seeking the end of it, finally establishing peace between mars and earth (although rumors have been circulating that the Vers royal cabinet do not approve of his decision) he's a bit lonely, with the isolation of his empire and having to shoulder the entire responsibility of a planet on his own - but he doesn't really allow that to show.

His gaze keeps finding the Exalted, no matter how hard he tries to look away—completely mesmerized by what he’s seeing. He looks far too young to be a political leader, let alone the sole ruler of one of the powerful empires in the known galaxy. Somehow, that makes Seb frown—just what had really happened in those forty years to make someone so youthful become the symbol of unyielding power, pride? And yet, he carries himself quietly, as if he had seen all the universe had to offer him in his short while in the mortal realm—his presence demanding reverence without even having to say a word. The mark of true nobility.

and then you have seb, a fighter pilot and fia special agent. recruited into the air force and then into the special forces before he turned 19 and he's been making waves ever since. all he knows is piloting frames (mechas) and he prefers keeping it that way. he's cheeky, kind of the opposite of charles in that regard. also being sent on a diplomatic mission to another planet was definitely not anywhere on his bucket list.

His reflection glances back at him on the glazed glass—his mirror twin looking uncomfortably stuffed into his dress uniform and with medals messily pinned to the chest as the Martian desert pans out in front of him—nothing but orange skies and sand for miles and miles. He definitely isn’t used to being on Mars—hell, he’s never even been here before, let alone standing in a lavish guest room on a planet that isn’t blue and green with actual breathable oxygen the moment he steps outside—not even for a brief goodwill visit on behalf of the FIA. A sudden knock at his door tears his gaze away from himself—and he goes to open it, only to find one Lewis Hamilton standing there—tapping his foot impatiently. He’s dressed just like him—in full, fancy military garb, the ones they only bring out of the closet when a superior officer happens to visit or someone’s gone and died in a tragic and heroic fashion. Neither happen to exactly be particularly exciting occasions, he thinks.

they both share a lot of responsibility, both seb and charles - because, PARALLELS. but at the same time i wanted there to be subtle differences in the way their environment affects them - charles shown mostly in isolation, detached, vs. seb with lewis, the camaraderie between the two.