OUT of CHARACTERName: Krystal
Other characters: Carlos | Welcome to Night Vale
IN CHARACTERName: Stephanus Reagan
Fandom: Original
Canon point/AU: AU, after he's been an Escort for five years or so.
Journal:
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capitolprivilegePB: Play-by. The actor or character you are using in icons.
History: Stephanus, or Stephen (he's only Stephanus Reagan when he's in trouble) was born into the beautiful, powerful and influential Reagan family in the heart of the Capitol. His parents were always busy with work and quite distant: his father was in politics, his mother an event coordinator for very high-profile clients. From a young age, Stephen was expected to be seen and not heard, mind his manners, and not embarrass Mother and Father. He saw them at breakfast maybe three or four days a week, and dinner was served by a nanny, who rarely let him stay up until his parents came home. Honestly, almost all of Stephen's familial love came from his older brother, Cyrus. Cyrus, just as lost and alone as Stephen was, was aching for someone to love and be loved by, and Stephen clung to his older brother as friend and guide and guardian. As they grew up, they both learned etiquette and history, music and art, but Cyrus learned politics and governance while Stephen turned towards the Games. As they got older they grew apart -- Cyrus became deeply involved in Panem's government while Stephen took an interest in the drama and excitement of the Hunger Games, going to school to be an Escort. They grew apart a little during this period: Cyrus gained knowledge of the world and the greased wheels on which it ran, and became determined to hide the dark side of the Capitol from Stephen. He's taken great pains to shelter his younger brother, and it led to Stephen growing happy-go-lucky and hedonistic, mildly scandalous but never
truly irresponsible. He'd never shame the family name by doing anything
too outrageous.
Unknown to Stephen, his family is full of scandal already. His father made a political mistake and was poisoned by an enemy; his mother poisoned that person right back. Cyrus is as clean as a Capitol politician can be, but he does take bribes because he believes that that is how you keep a political system running smoothly, and because refusing bribes makes you enemies.
Anyway, Stephen has been an Escort for several years now. He was assigned to District 6, the transportation district, and after working closely with its Mentors, Stephen has begun to see past the Capitol-created personas and into the real people underneath. He has a long way to go, but the Capitol conditioning has begun, just begun, to crack.
Presentation: Stephanus Reagan is very easy to get along with. He is pleasant, easy to talk to, and tries hard not to cause anyone offense. He'll bend over backwards to keep the person he's talking with comfortable, and he's very good at polite charm. Now, this is the Capitol, so "sophisticated" to one person is "over the top" to another, and Stephen definitely falls on the "over-the-top" side, but for a Capitolite, he's pretty classy. He's good-natured, good-humored, optimistic, and capable of salvaging a lot of really awful situations. He is quite good at his Escort job, able to balance demanding schedules and get Tributes/Mentors, who are often difficult to work with, up and out to social functions. He also has a knack for PR.
Stephen is definitely pleasure-loving, and will go out of his way to try new things, especially if they're in vogue or he can do them in the company of a beautiful lady or a striking man. He is young, attractive, witty, keeps himself in shape, and his family is filthy rich, but no one has managed to tie him down for long -- on-again, off-again is the way it usually goes. Politically, Stephen is no activist: the status quo is very pleasant for him, and he doesn't have to understand how it works as long as it stays how it is and everyone is happy. Because of course everyone is happy -- he is of the opinion that the Districts are better off this way, because this way is peaceful. And if there is unrest in the Districts, why, it's because they envy the Capitol like the limbs envy the stomach: they see all the food going to the stomach but don't understand that it is the stomach which provides for them. His brother, Cyrus, who is familiar with the darker side of the Capitol and its politics, has done everything he can to shelter Stephen from this reality.
Therefore, he can come off as extremely shallow. The fact that he's used to thinking of the Tributes as personas, as
characters essentially, contributes to this. He ships them, follows them like a celebrity soap opera, and sighs for a romance like Katniss and Peeta's, or Wyatt and Maximus's. He also likes to tell people what they want to hear, and is bad at breaking bad news or confronting a friend. He has a double standard when it comes to gossip: he will gossip about the Tributes all day and night, but if something comes out that is actually hurtful, he doesn't like it and won't repeat it. He just sort of wants everything to go with the flow, and for everyone to be happy, and for people to only get hurt in municipally-approved, controlled ways.
Motivations: Stephen may seem carefree, absorbed in his job, and absorbed in his pleasant life, but this veneer is cracking. His relationships with his district's Mentors over the years, along with leading two children to their deaths every year, has stirred doubts in his spoiled little soul. He has begun to see Mentors as more than just the personas they present to the Capitol -- the few he has come to know more personally have shown themselves to be more complex than that. In addition, Stephen never liked seeing the children he escorted die gruesome deaths, and each year it became harder and harder to tell himself that it was for the glory of their Districts and that really, dying for the Capitol is an honor. He's still capable of telling himself that, of course -- Stephen is
very desensitized to violence -- but he is doubting.
Stephen is a genuinely good person underneath it all. The Mentors he has been working with, whose personas he has seen through -- he'll try to help them as much as he can. If they don't like big gatherings, he minimizes their public appearances and covers for them. If they need to make an early exit from a party, he'll make sure they get out without a fuss. When Stephen puts his mind to it (though he often doesn't), he's good at understanding people, at finding out what makes them tick. This is something he usually uses to help people, but he
is capable of hurting them.
Speaking of hurting people, if you fuck with his family, or with someone else he cares deeply about? Stephanus Reagan will
cut you. Push him far enough or kill someone he loves, and Stephen will fly into a rage and will not stop shooting your body until the clip is empty and the gun's just going
click-click-click. He'll regret it once he's calmed down, of course -- Stephen isn't a killer at heart and could never murder in cold blood. This has not happened to him before -- Stephen hasn't suffered much at all, aside from parental coldness. If he did find himself in a hard place, though, Stephen would prove surprisingly resilient and adaptable, and prove skilled at making friends even in terrible conditions.
And lastly, jumping back to family for a second. Stephen's upbringing, the spoiling and the discipline and the pressure to behave well, left a singular effect on him. Though he is too mature and clearheaded to do it, there is a part of Stephen that really,
really wants to act out, to behave badly, to push the boundaries until someone tells him "no." He has spent so long regulating his own behavior for the sake of his family that he's not really sure where the limit is, and it's left him unconsciously wanting structure. Despite the coldness of his parents, though, family is the most important thing in Stephen Reagan's world. He would do anything for them,
especially his brother, and believes that Cyrus Reagan can do no wrong. Stephen has no idea that President Snow is a poisoner, or that the biddable Tributes are coerced, or that the machinery that runs Panem is oiled with blood.
Setting: He's been born and raised in the Capitol, watching the Games. Stephen is quite comfortable in the setting. Personally, I'm looking forward to the inevitable conflict of interests between his growing sympathy for other people and his blind love for his brother/belief in the establishment.
SAMPLESFirst Person Thread:
I think you're absolutely right, Agrippina. Now, I won't deny that it's come with its share of challenges -- acting as an Escort for two children is easy enough, but keeping a dozen grown-up off-worlders washed, dressed, and on time? Whew! It's a job and a half, I don't know how I'd manage it without the tireless efforts of our Peacekeepers, Avoxes, and the rest of our excellent security network. And, of course, the fact that we have managed to keep the Games running smoothly on a quarterly schedule speaks volumes for the skill and diligence of our Gamemakers, who never fail to keep us on the edge of our seats with twist after twist. They're miracle-workers, they really are, and sometimes I think we don't appreciate all the work that goes on behind the scenes to make a successful Hunger Games.
But even with all that work, I think it's worth it. I think that what we've lost in pathos, we gain back in -- well -- so many other ways. The drama that comes with twenty-three bright young people meeting their tragic ends is gone, yes, but we have a whole
new stage for drama now. In the Neverending Quell, Tributes can, and do,
avenge their own deaths. Does it
get more dramatic than that? The Tributes have time to forge stronger friendships, deeper rivalries, and the story that they tell with their struggle is so much deeper, much more nuanced, than it has ever been before. Second, the Districts are all on more or less equal footing. Until the lovely Katniss and her darling Peeta achieved their legendary victory, some districts, like Twelve, boasted hardly any Victors. This way, all of the districts have an equal shot at the crown! It also means that the tributes have time to train for the Games, which makes for much more exciting fights. I -- I don't know about you, but children -- especially children from districts like Twelve, they weren't the best fighters, and when they were killed, it was...well, it sure wasn't as exciting as it is now.
Anyway! We also have variety, here in the 75th Hunger Games. Who knew we could inadvertently discover life on other planets? Who knew warrior races, like the trolls, even
existed out there? Who knew that man-eating creatures that lurked in the dark could have such impeccable manners? Personally, I like seeing the ones from other worlds in the Arena.
For all these reasons and more, I am completely in support of the Nevereding Quell.
Prose:
Stephen stared around the room with frantic eyes, roving from the cold gray walls, to the Gamemakers' booth, to the table full of weapons, and back to the Gamemakers.
This can't be happening. It can't be -- I'm not a Tribute, I'm not even from the Districts. "Excuse me," he said, laughing a little at the ridiculousness of it all, "there must be some mistake. I'm not a tribute. I'm an escort. You -- you know who I am, of course you do."
"Stephanus Reagan?" one of the Gamemakers read from the balcony in a bored voice. "Please demonstrate your chosen skill."
"I don't understand," continued Stephen, his smile becoming just a little fixed, a little less genuine. "You can't seriously intend to make me participate in the Games. I'd barely last two days in the Arena. I can't --"
Slowly, it dawned on him that he was doing absolutely nothing to advance his cause, and that there was no sympathy at all in the eyes of the men and women who had assembled to watch him. Helplessly, he turned to look at the table of weapons again, as if something easy-to-use and suddenly familiar would miraculously jump out at him.
"Oh, very well," said Stephen with a theatrical sigh. "I'll play your little game, for now, but I assure you, I intend to get to the bottom of this."
He walked over to the table and sifted through the weapons, pulling a face.
No, no, no, not that, not that one either -- how on earth do you USE that? No, no -- well, I suppose this will do. Stephen picked up a saber, small, light, made to pierce. Though it had been several years since he'd taken a fencing class, it was his best shot. Maybe he still had it in him.
What is your character scored: N/A
Additional information:Past victor: N/A!
Past victor AU: N/A!
Hunger Games AU and OC: What is your reasoning for the capitol to include your canon doppelganger if they app in? What district is your character from? How do they feel about home?
Pretty sure this won't happen, but if they put an AU of Stephen into the games, it would probably be to send a threatening message to Cyrus, who is, in the grand scheme of things, much more important than Stephen. A note on Cyrus: Stephen doesn't know this, but Cyrus is a ruthless motherfucker. Cyrus sees the people of the Districts as little more than cattle, meant to be herded and controlled and cared for and culled and
definitely not meant to be treated as human. The people of the Capitol are the only ones Cyrus sees as true human beings, and while Cyrus is not needlessly cruel, he is definitely Pragmatic Evil. Cyrus's soft point is his family: he would do anything for his younger brother, up to and including sacrificing his own life. Therefore, Cyrus has a vested interest in preserving the status quo: Stephen is blissfully oblivious, Cyrus makes sure everything runs smoothly for the people who matter, and everything is stable and no one (who matters) is hurt.
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