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Herr Jäger Blog Entry |
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October 4, 2024, 12:03:08 AM 10/4/24: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's characters from my anthro WWII storyline are Oma (Granny) Jäger, Frau Jäger, and Herr Jäger (first names never given). They're the paternal grandmother and parents of Ludolf Jäger; they aren't from the character list, but they're starting to develop an important role in Jäger's backstory as I'm writing up his full bio, so I figured I'd draw them. (Jäger also has six older sisters but I don't know that I'll draw them yet.) Young Ludolf is especially close to his Oma, who teaches him the old ways (rather to his mother's dismay). There'll be more about them later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se. Regarding their design, they're late Victorian/Edwardian; Oma falls more under the former while Frau Jäger's big hair gives her away as Edwardian. They're all leucistic, not albino (white fur with blue eyes, not red). TUMBLR EDIT: All righty! Having finished Dobermann's official profile (you can find it HERE), I decided on Major Jäger's next. Jäger's backstory first started to really reveal itself in his son Lars's entry. These art entries are based on what's been revealed so far in the in-progress bio, which is still in his childhood and subject to change. I suggest keeping an eye on HIS PAGE for future updates, though it takes me quite a while to finish them! These entries will be individualized to avoid repetition, though I have less info for Herr Jäger so far. Check out Oma Jäger's and Frau Jäger's entries. To be quite honest, I haven't much to say about Herr Jäger, as he's absent throughout much of his family's part of the backstory. All I know for sure is he was raised in the old heathen ways by his mother, he gave this up and converted to Christianity (at least nominally, he's not big on practice) upon his marriage to Frau Jäger (maiden name not given), he and his wife are very invested in having a large family (they have seven surviving children), and he's some sort of successful businessman who's often away from home. Whereas Frau Jäger is quite frail, both physically and psychologically (she spends a good deal of time in bed or lying down), Herr Jäger is rather big and imposing; Ludolf takes more after his mother and grandmother than him. Much of his past and background (including what exactly he does for a living, how serious he is about his beliefs (he seemed to give them up rather easily for his marriage), and how he spent most of his young adult life) is so far unknown to me. I know he adores his family, though he often leaves Frau Jäger to look after them all herself (fortunately she has Oma and an assortment of servants and nannies to help, but still), and so he's probably a bit more distant from his kids. He means well in everything, and is a good provider and loving son/husband/father, he's just often absent. Herr Jäger is also rather more indulgent and permissive than the other Jäger adults. Whatever anyone decides, even if the others argue, he generally sides with the first party. Case in point is when his son Ludolf decides to join the SS and go to fight on the front; Oma and Frau Jäger, along with Ludolf's sisters, protest, yet Herr Jäger insists--despite his own dismay--that Ludolf is old enough to decide for himself, and they need to let him go. One time when he does show resistance is when he returns home following Ludolf's birth, expecting twins, yet finds only one son and his mother burning candles and muttering prayers while Frau Jäger cradles the remaining baby. Of course he wonders WTF is going on, and once he learns of the strange bargain between the two women, he's steamed. He's apparently the only one of the three who feels a child's life isn't something you haggle over...I suspect by then he's more agnostic than anything, but maybe his wife's church teachings have gotten through to him more than they have to Frau Jäger in that moment. (Frau Jäger is a pious Catholic, yet is desperate enough to keep her sons alive to turn to Oma's pagan beliefs just a teeny bit...she can always pray for forgiveness later on.) It's a little too late for him to object, though it's one of the VERY few times he rebukes his mother--albeit in private--and warns her that she better abide by her end of the arrangement, and not try to needle Ludolf into following her path--he has to do it on his own, as promised. It says a lot about Herr Jäger's resolve, and the unusualness of this confrontation, that Oma bites her tongue and promises to stick to her part of the vow. And ultimately she does. She's not used to her son standing up to her, same as Ludolf stands up to his mother and Oma much later. I guess in the Jäger family, it's usually the women who hold most of the power, partly because the men let them. Herr Jäger puts his foot down one more time as the war is burgeoning in Germany; he secures passports, signs the Jäger estate over to his son, and tells the family to pack up, they're leaving. Unlike anyone else except maybe Oma, he sees something especially dark in the Nazis' ideology, and suspects that even though his entire family are good decent Aryans, still, the regime might find some other arbitrary reason to come after them at some future point. It's quite a prescient worry he has...perhaps Herr Jäger is skilled at seeing some things others can't. He mourns the loss of his son and his son's family, yet doesn't seem terribly surprised, as he'd also noticed his gradual downward slide into fanaticism. Anyway...that's about all I know of Herr Jäger for now. He still has a lot of potential for future plot development, especially considering that he outlives his own son and grandchildren. Please see also Oma Jäger's and Frau Jäger's entries for more. [Herr Jäger [Friday, October 4, 2024, 12:03:08 AM]] |