IC contact post
Feb. 1st, 2017 04:26 pm
"Hi, you've reached Stephen Reagan -- almost. This is his phone. Leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can. Okay?"
"Hi, you've reached Stephen Reagan -- almost. This is his phone. Leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can. Okay?"
Activity check, 5/19/2016
May. 19th, 2016 06:09 pmThread with Sigma: +25 new CR, +10 reply to post
Open Capitol post: +15, +5 for 20 comments
--Thread with Anna: +20 finished thread, +25 new CR?
--Thread with Black Tom Cassidy: +25 new CR
--Thread with Felicity Yoshida: +25 new CR?
--Thread with Punchy: +25 new CR?
Thread with Beck: +25 new CR, +10 reply to post, +10 20-comment string
Open Capitol post: +15, +5 for 20 comments
--Thread with Anna: +20 finished thread, +25 new CR?
--Thread with Black Tom Cassidy: +25 new CR
--Thread with Felicity Yoshida: +25 new CR?
--Thread with Punchy: +25 new CR?
Thread with Beck: +25 new CR, +10 reply to post, +10 20-comment string
stephen reagan 2.0
Feb. 29th, 2016 04:19 pmOUT of CHARACTER
Name: Krystal
Other characters: Not anymore!
IN CHARACTER
Name: Stephanus Reagan
Alias: Eh, everyone calls him Stephen.
Fandom: OC
Canon point/AU: Right the fuck now
Journal:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
capitolprivilege
PB: Shawn Reaves
Age: 28 by now, oh god he's oooooold
History: his old app is here.
Stephen 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 -- with Cyrus's help.
Anyway, Stephen was an escort for five years, in the 70th-74th Hunger Games. He was assigned to District 6, the transportation district, and after working closely with its Mentors, Stephen began to see past the Capitol-created personas and into the real people underneath. When the Neverending Quell began, Stephen was pressured into taking a hiatus by Cyrus, but after two years of utter boredom and irrelevance, Stephen couldn't stay away. He took his old position in Six back, and grew close to several Tributes, close enough that he found himself unable to justify their treatment at the Capitol's hands. When the Capitol destroyed District 3, Stephen's political loyalty was finally broken, and he put himself at risk several times to help out the offworld Tributes, investigating Capitol records and passing along information.
Unfortunately, he was caught and given a wrist cuff that marked him as a traitor. This began a spectacular downward spiral for Stephen that was in reality more of a double helix: on the outside, it looked like the traitor accusations and the pressure of keeping his head down had made him crack, and he was acting out in a spectacular tabloid trainwreck of binge drinking, strip clubs, and poor fashion choices (particularly unforgivable). The reality of the situation was that Stephen was desperately trying to convince the Capitol, and especially its leadership, that he was too dumb and too shallow to be seriously rebellious and not worth taking seriously. It worked well enough to make Cyrus interfere directly, telling Stephen to cut that shit out, and Stephen saw an opportunity. Stephen allowed Cyrus to remake him in his own image, and Stephen made a spectacular comeback. His clothes were flawless, his demeanor was dignified, and his parties were off the hook, but in a classy, socially-acceptable way.
The problem is, this worked maybe a little too well. A tribute named Altair, thinking he could get useful information from a high-profile Capitolite like Stephen, attacked and nearly killed him. Afraid for his life, Stephen called the Peacekeepers, and Altair was arrested and horrible things were done to him. Shaken, Stephen realized that to keep his new persona intact, there was only one thing he could do. He had to break ties with the Tributes and the Games. Otherwise, why would he forgive an attack on his life?
Stephen used his name to net a government position -- his name, but not Cyrus's help. He's the assistant to the undersecretary of Septima Clark, Minister of the Future, which is the office of Panem's government that oversees scientific R&D. Over the last several months, Stephen's taken on more and more responsibilities in the undersecretary's office. He works behind the scenes, but the undersecretary has come to rely on him a lot; he handles minor projects, documents pass through his hands, and he can voice opinions if he wants to. Stephen's built up a reputation for confidence and maturity and unquestioning Capitol loyalty -- and a particular hatred for Offworlders. Only Linden Lockhearst knows the truth, knows the extent to which this is a goddamn lie. Stephen's reputation inside the office is great, but that's about where it stops. Most people who don't directly work with him are ambivalent about him. He's not a celebrity anymore, and he seems to be growing up, but he hasn't done anything to distinguish himself yet.
Presentation: Stephanus Reagan is very easy to get along with -- if you're a Capitolite. He is pleasant, easy to talk to, and tries hard not to cause anyone -- from the Capitol -- offense. He'll bend over backwards to keep the person he's talking with comfortable, and he's very good at polite charm. He comes off as friendly but mature, reading rooms easily and salvaging awful situations with a minimum of hurt feelings -- for Capitolites. His Escort job gave him a great deal of patience and honed his people skills; he's able to handle people who are notoriously difficult to work with.
Some Capitolites responded to the war by partying harder, and maybe Stephen would have been one of them three years ago, but not now. No matter how hard he'd partied before, he never put his Escort job at risk or let his Tributes down (with the notable exception of his public breakdown), and now he puts even more of himself into his political work. He gives off the impression of having his shit very together. He comes off like a younger, friendlier, less frightening Cyrus. His clothing is understated and classy with a minimum of glitter.
Stephen still likes to tell people what they want to hear, but he's better at breaking bad news and better at confrontation. He's got a stronger will than most people give him credit for at first glance, and he works hard. He has one hell of a reputation for being anti-Offworlder; though he never shoves it in anyone's face or offers the opinion unasked-for, everyone knows Stephen's nursing a grudge. The Districts, of course, need to be pacified for their own good, but everyone knows you can't trust an Offworlder.
Motivations: HE'S A MOTHERFUCKIN TRAITOR. STEPHEN REAGAN IS A TRAITOR TO THE CAPITOL, AND HE IS BREAKING.
Ironically, it's Cyrus's fault, really; if Cyrus hadn't sheltered Stephen so much, if he'd allowed Stephen to confront the harsh realities of how the Capitol works, to develop the doublethink and coping mechanisms and little justifications, maybe Stephen wouldn't have been so outraged by what he observed during the Quarter Quell. But Cyrus was determined to keep Stephen a pure and precious and innocent cinnamon roll, and when Stephen became aware of the lengths the Capitol was willing to go to in order to remain in control, he recognized the evil for what it was.
Stephen's a genuinely good person at heart. He wants to help the people around him, and he wants to create a world where no one is suffering unjustly at someone else's hands. He believes in this very firmly, and to achieve it, he's willing to become a spy, to lie to everyone around him, and to keep quiet about what he actually believes until it's time to make a move. He's not quite come around to freedom and democracy yet; he sees things more like some people need to take care of other people rather than being fully egalitarian. However, it comes from a place of good intentions, and his mind isn't impossible to change.
It helps that Stephen is 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 -- and has been doing it more often lately. He hates keeping up the pro-Capitol persona and hates it even more that he has no real anchors to who he really is underneath it. Stephen's torn between two loyalties, and while he wants to help the Tributes and make the world better, he's also got friends and family in the Capitol, and he doesn't want to see them hurt, either. Hurting Stephen's family is a berserk button; even he doesn't know what he would be capable of if his brother were killed. As hurt and angry with Cyrus as Stephen is, Stephen still loves him. Stephen genuinely believes he's doing what's best for Panem and hopes Cyrus will survive the revolution and see it that way one day.
Stephen's also incredibly lonely. He's got no one to talk with honestly, and though he's proven remarkably resilient, under the surface, he's miserable. It's not just the lying or the isolation from the people he trusts. Stephen's upbringing, the spoiling and the discipline and the pressure to behave well, left a part of Stephen really, really wanting to act out, to behave badly, to push the boundaries until someone tells him "no." This contributes to the frustration he feels but can't act on, thanks to the GIANT CRISIS IN PANEM. Short version: Stephen's a SJW who has infiltrated GamerGate and keeping up the act has left him isolated, unsure of himself, frustrated, and torn.
SETTING
Shuffle Information: The Game's system of war works based on a shuffle. This means that your offworld character may be changed over several times over the course of the war, from the Capitol's side to the Rebellion's. Remember that all new offworlders will start on the Capitol's side. Your character should have a reason to work for both.
For the sake of being thorough, we further ask that Panem AUs also provide this information in case of any future decisions on the player's part. Panem AUs will start on whatever side they are apped to.
Rebellion Role: A propaganda icon for sure. He could also be a soldier. Stephen's scared as hell about the war that's coming, but he's spent enough time training Tributes that he knows you don't just go into the Arena unprepared. He's in way better shape than he was six months ago; he's stronger, has better endurance, and knows his way around the more common types of guns. He's not going to be punching out trained soldiers anytime soon, but he's learned a little fistfighting.
Rebellion Motivations: To help the Tributes and sincere belief in making Panem a better place.
Capitol Role: Politician, propaganda icon maybe.
Capitol Motivations: To spy on the capitol to eventually pass information to the rebellion! ....also, if Cyrus were directly threatened.
Preferred side: Rebellion, but working out of the Capitol in secret.
SAMPLES
First Person Thread:
For Panem OCs and AUs:
[Stephen looks older than he did the last time some of the Tributes saw him. The makeup is minimal, natural; the cut of his suit is interesting but not outlandish. What Stephen wears enhances his features instead of distracting from them. The emphasis is on the person, not the clothes. It also carefully conceals any tiredness on his face. He's the picture of comfortable adulthood -- still young, still full of vigor, but experienced. He looks quite handsome. His tone is gentle and reasonable.]
Ladies, gentlemen, people of Panem. I'm here to address you not as a government official, not as an Escort -- not even as a Capitol citizen. I'm here to talk to you as a resident of Panem, as a living, breathing human born into this country at this point in history. We have that in common, you and I: we live here and now, and the problems of the here and now are problems we share.
I understand why you did it. You felt like you were treated unjustly. You felt like you couldn't trust us. You suffered, and you felt like your suffering was too great to bear, so you tried to end it. You were afraid -- afraid for yourself and for the ones you love.
Well, so am I. I'm afraid, too. I'm afraid of this war, but not for the reasons you think. I'm afraid that when it's all over, when the offworlders are gone and the dust settles, there will be so little left that those of us who remain will not survive. I'm afraid that we, the people of the Capitol and of the Districts, will be left paying the cost of this war while the offworlders who instigated it finally get what they want -- the only thing they want -- to abandon us here and escape to their own worlds. Do you really think they'll want to stay in what's left of Panem? Do you really think that, if they had a choice, they would even be here?
This war doesn't have to end the way the offworlders want. Panem is ours -- yours and mine. Let's end this a better way.
Prose:
Stephen uncurls, inch by shaking inch, lowering his arm from his face and pushing himself up -- first onto his side, then onto his knees, and finally, unsteadily, to his feet. His eyes are wide, darting around him frantically, horrified by the dead and the dying but unable to close his eyes to it. If he does that, he feels certain, he'll die. His ears are ringing, his head is pounding, but I can't stay here, I can't stay here. Stephen knows what kind of bomb it is. He'd been warned about them weeks ago. He has to run. He has to get out of here while he still can.
...but not everyone around him is dead. Some of them are breathing, groaning, trying to turn over. Most of them are strangers, but one -- one of them he knows. From the angle of her leg, it's broken, and tears are running down the sides of her filthy face, making streaks in the grime. Stephen looks around again -- he can't help them all, he knows. He doesn't have time. Even helping her out might slow him down enough that he'll be caught in the bomb's second detonation.
For a moment, Stephen hesitates, and hates himself for it. Better for one person to get out alive than for both to be dead, right? Then, the moment is over, and Stephen can't do it. He can't just leave her there. The need to help get her out lends him strength, and he drops to his knees by her side and slings one of her arms over his shoulder. "Come on, up you get. I know it hurts, but we've got to move fast. Come on, lean on me. We're going to get out of here." He talks as much for himself as he does for her. Once he's got solid hold of her, Stephen turns toward his team and stumbles forward. "We've just got to outrun the bomb. That'll be easy, right? Because the bomb's not going anywhere. It doesn't have any legs. We've got three. See? We're faster. It's going to be okay. We're going to make it."
Additional information:
Hunger Games AU and OC: They could drag Stephen's AU self in to send a message to all of the Reagans that even they aren't above Capitol control. Then, Stephen is from the Capitol, and he has incredibly conflicted feelings about home. It's where he grew up, and he grew up seeing it as the beating heart of Panem; the repository of its history, art, and culture, the home of everything in Panem that is beautiful and worth preserving. He knows, now, that the wellbeing of living people is more important than preserving the Capitol, and he knows now that the Capitol is rotten to its very heart. Stephen is sad and angry at the Capitol, but he also hasn't forgotten everything he loved about it. The Capitol, to Stephen, is like a really, really hot ex who is also an axe murderer and who he's waiting to poison and then cry about it later. It's complicated.
Name: Krystal
Other characters: Not anymore!
IN CHARACTER
Name: Stephanus Reagan
Alias: Eh, everyone calls him Stephen.
Fandom: OC
Canon point/AU: Right the fuck now
Journal:
capitolprivilegePB: Shawn Reaves
Age: 28 by now, oh god he's oooooold
History: his old app is here.
Stephen 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 -- with Cyrus's help.
Anyway, Stephen was an escort for five years, in the 70th-74th Hunger Games. He was assigned to District 6, the transportation district, and after working closely with its Mentors, Stephen began to see past the Capitol-created personas and into the real people underneath. When the Neverending Quell began, Stephen was pressured into taking a hiatus by Cyrus, but after two years of utter boredom and irrelevance, Stephen couldn't stay away. He took his old position in Six back, and grew close to several Tributes, close enough that he found himself unable to justify their treatment at the Capitol's hands. When the Capitol destroyed District 3, Stephen's political loyalty was finally broken, and he put himself at risk several times to help out the offworld Tributes, investigating Capitol records and passing along information.
Unfortunately, he was caught and given a wrist cuff that marked him as a traitor. This began a spectacular downward spiral for Stephen that was in reality more of a double helix: on the outside, it looked like the traitor accusations and the pressure of keeping his head down had made him crack, and he was acting out in a spectacular tabloid trainwreck of binge drinking, strip clubs, and poor fashion choices (particularly unforgivable). The reality of the situation was that Stephen was desperately trying to convince the Capitol, and especially its leadership, that he was too dumb and too shallow to be seriously rebellious and not worth taking seriously. It worked well enough to make Cyrus interfere directly, telling Stephen to cut that shit out, and Stephen saw an opportunity. Stephen allowed Cyrus to remake him in his own image, and Stephen made a spectacular comeback. His clothes were flawless, his demeanor was dignified, and his parties were off the hook, but in a classy, socially-acceptable way.
The problem is, this worked maybe a little too well. A tribute named Altair, thinking he could get useful information from a high-profile Capitolite like Stephen, attacked and nearly killed him. Afraid for his life, Stephen called the Peacekeepers, and Altair was arrested and horrible things were done to him. Shaken, Stephen realized that to keep his new persona intact, there was only one thing he could do. He had to break ties with the Tributes and the Games. Otherwise, why would he forgive an attack on his life?
Stephen used his name to net a government position -- his name, but not Cyrus's help. He's the assistant to the undersecretary of Septima Clark, Minister of the Future, which is the office of Panem's government that oversees scientific R&D. Over the last several months, Stephen's taken on more and more responsibilities in the undersecretary's office. He works behind the scenes, but the undersecretary has come to rely on him a lot; he handles minor projects, documents pass through his hands, and he can voice opinions if he wants to. Stephen's built up a reputation for confidence and maturity and unquestioning Capitol loyalty -- and a particular hatred for Offworlders. Only Linden Lockhearst knows the truth, knows the extent to which this is a goddamn lie. Stephen's reputation inside the office is great, but that's about where it stops. Most people who don't directly work with him are ambivalent about him. He's not a celebrity anymore, and he seems to be growing up, but he hasn't done anything to distinguish himself yet.
Presentation: Stephanus Reagan is very easy to get along with -- if you're a Capitolite. He is pleasant, easy to talk to, and tries hard not to cause anyone -- from the Capitol -- offense. He'll bend over backwards to keep the person he's talking with comfortable, and he's very good at polite charm. He comes off as friendly but mature, reading rooms easily and salvaging awful situations with a minimum of hurt feelings -- for Capitolites. His Escort job gave him a great deal of patience and honed his people skills; he's able to handle people who are notoriously difficult to work with.
Some Capitolites responded to the war by partying harder, and maybe Stephen would have been one of them three years ago, but not now. No matter how hard he'd partied before, he never put his Escort job at risk or let his Tributes down (with the notable exception of his public breakdown), and now he puts even more of himself into his political work. He gives off the impression of having his shit very together. He comes off like a younger, friendlier, less frightening Cyrus. His clothing is understated and classy with a minimum of glitter.
Stephen still likes to tell people what they want to hear, but he's better at breaking bad news and better at confrontation. He's got a stronger will than most people give him credit for at first glance, and he works hard. He has one hell of a reputation for being anti-Offworlder; though he never shoves it in anyone's face or offers the opinion unasked-for, everyone knows Stephen's nursing a grudge. The Districts, of course, need to be pacified for their own good, but everyone knows you can't trust an Offworlder.
Motivations: HE'S A MOTHERFUCKIN TRAITOR. STEPHEN REAGAN IS A TRAITOR TO THE CAPITOL, AND HE IS BREAKING.
Ironically, it's Cyrus's fault, really; if Cyrus hadn't sheltered Stephen so much, if he'd allowed Stephen to confront the harsh realities of how the Capitol works, to develop the doublethink and coping mechanisms and little justifications, maybe Stephen wouldn't have been so outraged by what he observed during the Quarter Quell. But Cyrus was determined to keep Stephen a pure and precious and innocent cinnamon roll, and when Stephen became aware of the lengths the Capitol was willing to go to in order to remain in control, he recognized the evil for what it was.
Stephen's a genuinely good person at heart. He wants to help the people around him, and he wants to create a world where no one is suffering unjustly at someone else's hands. He believes in this very firmly, and to achieve it, he's willing to become a spy, to lie to everyone around him, and to keep quiet about what he actually believes until it's time to make a move. He's not quite come around to freedom and democracy yet; he sees things more like some people need to take care of other people rather than being fully egalitarian. However, it comes from a place of good intentions, and his mind isn't impossible to change.
It helps that Stephen is 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 -- and has been doing it more often lately. He hates keeping up the pro-Capitol persona and hates it even more that he has no real anchors to who he really is underneath it. Stephen's torn between two loyalties, and while he wants to help the Tributes and make the world better, he's also got friends and family in the Capitol, and he doesn't want to see them hurt, either. Hurting Stephen's family is a berserk button; even he doesn't know what he would be capable of if his brother were killed. As hurt and angry with Cyrus as Stephen is, Stephen still loves him. Stephen genuinely believes he's doing what's best for Panem and hopes Cyrus will survive the revolution and see it that way one day.
Stephen's also incredibly lonely. He's got no one to talk with honestly, and though he's proven remarkably resilient, under the surface, he's miserable. It's not just the lying or the isolation from the people he trusts. Stephen's upbringing, the spoiling and the discipline and the pressure to behave well, left a part of Stephen really, really wanting to act out, to behave badly, to push the boundaries until someone tells him "no." This contributes to the frustration he feels but can't act on, thanks to the GIANT CRISIS IN PANEM. Short version: Stephen's a SJW who has infiltrated GamerGate and keeping up the act has left him isolated, unsure of himself, frustrated, and torn.
SETTING
Shuffle Information: The Game's system of war works based on a shuffle. This means that your offworld character may be changed over several times over the course of the war, from the Capitol's side to the Rebellion's. Remember that all new offworlders will start on the Capitol's side. Your character should have a reason to work for both.
For the sake of being thorough, we further ask that Panem AUs also provide this information in case of any future decisions on the player's part. Panem AUs will start on whatever side they are apped to.
Rebellion Role: A propaganda icon for sure. He could also be a soldier. Stephen's scared as hell about the war that's coming, but he's spent enough time training Tributes that he knows you don't just go into the Arena unprepared. He's in way better shape than he was six months ago; he's stronger, has better endurance, and knows his way around the more common types of guns. He's not going to be punching out trained soldiers anytime soon, but he's learned a little fistfighting.
Rebellion Motivations: To help the Tributes and sincere belief in making Panem a better place.
Capitol Role: Politician, propaganda icon maybe.
Capitol Motivations: To spy on the capitol to eventually pass information to the rebellion! ....also, if Cyrus were directly threatened.
Preferred side: Rebellion, but working out of the Capitol in secret.
SAMPLES
First Person Thread:
For Panem OCs and AUs:
[Stephen looks older than he did the last time some of the Tributes saw him. The makeup is minimal, natural; the cut of his suit is interesting but not outlandish. What Stephen wears enhances his features instead of distracting from them. The emphasis is on the person, not the clothes. It also carefully conceals any tiredness on his face. He's the picture of comfortable adulthood -- still young, still full of vigor, but experienced. He looks quite handsome. His tone is gentle and reasonable.]
Ladies, gentlemen, people of Panem. I'm here to address you not as a government official, not as an Escort -- not even as a Capitol citizen. I'm here to talk to you as a resident of Panem, as a living, breathing human born into this country at this point in history. We have that in common, you and I: we live here and now, and the problems of the here and now are problems we share.
I understand why you did it. You felt like you were treated unjustly. You felt like you couldn't trust us. You suffered, and you felt like your suffering was too great to bear, so you tried to end it. You were afraid -- afraid for yourself and for the ones you love.
Well, so am I. I'm afraid, too. I'm afraid of this war, but not for the reasons you think. I'm afraid that when it's all over, when the offworlders are gone and the dust settles, there will be so little left that those of us who remain will not survive. I'm afraid that we, the people of the Capitol and of the Districts, will be left paying the cost of this war while the offworlders who instigated it finally get what they want -- the only thing they want -- to abandon us here and escape to their own worlds. Do you really think they'll want to stay in what's left of Panem? Do you really think that, if they had a choice, they would even be here?
This war doesn't have to end the way the offworlders want. Panem is ours -- yours and mine. Let's end this a better way.
Prose:
Stephen uncurls, inch by shaking inch, lowering his arm from his face and pushing himself up -- first onto his side, then onto his knees, and finally, unsteadily, to his feet. His eyes are wide, darting around him frantically, horrified by the dead and the dying but unable to close his eyes to it. If he does that, he feels certain, he'll die. His ears are ringing, his head is pounding, but I can't stay here, I can't stay here. Stephen knows what kind of bomb it is. He'd been warned about them weeks ago. He has to run. He has to get out of here while he still can.
...but not everyone around him is dead. Some of them are breathing, groaning, trying to turn over. Most of them are strangers, but one -- one of them he knows. From the angle of her leg, it's broken, and tears are running down the sides of her filthy face, making streaks in the grime. Stephen looks around again -- he can't help them all, he knows. He doesn't have time. Even helping her out might slow him down enough that he'll be caught in the bomb's second detonation.
For a moment, Stephen hesitates, and hates himself for it. Better for one person to get out alive than for both to be dead, right? Then, the moment is over, and Stephen can't do it. He can't just leave her there. The need to help get her out lends him strength, and he drops to his knees by her side and slings one of her arms over his shoulder. "Come on, up you get. I know it hurts, but we've got to move fast. Come on, lean on me. We're going to get out of here." He talks as much for himself as he does for her. Once he's got solid hold of her, Stephen turns toward his team and stumbles forward. "We've just got to outrun the bomb. That'll be easy, right? Because the bomb's not going anywhere. It doesn't have any legs. We've got three. See? We're faster. It's going to be okay. We're going to make it."
Additional information:
Hunger Games AU and OC: They could drag Stephen's AU self in to send a message to all of the Reagans that even they aren't above Capitol control. Then, Stephen is from the Capitol, and he has incredibly conflicted feelings about home. It's where he grew up, and he grew up seeing it as the beating heart of Panem; the repository of its history, art, and culture, the home of everything in Panem that is beautiful and worth preserving. He knows, now, that the wellbeing of living people is more important than preserving the Capitol, and he knows now that the Capitol is rotten to its very heart. Stephen is sad and angry at the Capitol, but he also hasn't forgotten everything he loved about it. The Capitol, to Stephen, is like a really, really hot ex who is also an axe murderer and who he's waiting to poison and then cry about it later. It's complicated.
Start 8/9/14
Capitol intro posts:
Capitol thread with Skye | +25 new CR, +5 reply to post, +5 10-comments
Network thread with Cyrus | +5 10-comments, +5 finished thread
Capitol thread with Astrid | +5 10 comments, +5 finished thread
Network thread with Seppia |
Thread with Belle | +5 10-comments
Thread with Kristoff" |
Thread with Jennifer |
General pre-Arena Capitol threads
Capitol thread with Bro | +5 finished thread
Capitol thread with Eva | +5 10 comments, +5 finished thread
Crowning backtags
Thread with Jolie |
Thread with Gannicus | +5 finished thread
Thread with Molly |
Thread with Steve |
Safehouse backtags
Thread with Riddler | +5 10-comments
Thread with Initiate | +5 finished thread
Thread with Tony | +5 10 comments, +5 finished thread
Arrest plot:
Thread with Gannicus |
Thread with Jolie and Bro | CHECK THIS
Thread with Astrid | +5 10 tags, +5 finished thread
Thread with Jolie and Clem | CHECK THIS +5 10-comment string
Lonestar post:
Network thread with Lonestar | +5 finished thread
Network thread with Initiate | +5 finished thread
Network thread with Cyrus | +15 new post, +5 10 comments, +5 finished thread
Jailbreak statement | +15 new post, +5 10-comment thread Azula, +5 10 comment thread +5 finished thread Molotov
Breaking up Kevin and Molotov | +10 reply to thread, +5 finished log
Beating up Eridan | +10 reply to toplevel
Lonestar post |
Thread with Karkat | +25 new CR, +5 reply to post, +5 10-comments
Log with Linden | +5 reply to post
Log with Cyrus| +15 new post
Thread with Zoolander| +5 reply to post
Total: 255
Capitol intro posts:
Capitol thread with Skye | +25 new CR, +5 reply to post, +5 10-comments
Network thread with Cyrus | +5 10-comments, +5 finished thread
Capitol thread with Astrid | +5 10 comments, +5 finished thread
Network thread with Seppia |
Thread with Belle | +5 10-comments
Thread with Kristoff" |
Thread with Jennifer |
General pre-Arena Capitol threads
Capitol thread with Bro | +5 finished thread
Capitol thread with Eva | +5 10 comments, +5 finished thread
Crowning backtags
Thread with Jolie |
Thread with Gannicus | +5 finished thread
Thread with Molly |
Thread with Steve |
Safehouse backtags
Thread with Riddler | +5 10-comments
Thread with Initiate | +5 finished thread
Thread with Tony | +5 10 comments, +5 finished thread
Arrest plot:
Thread with Gannicus |
Thread with Jolie and Bro | CHECK THIS
Thread with Astrid | +5 10 tags, +5 finished thread
Thread with Jolie and Clem | CHECK THIS +5 10-comment string
Lonestar post:
Network thread with Lonestar | +5 finished thread
Network thread with Initiate | +5 finished thread
Network thread with Cyrus | +15 new post, +5 10 comments, +5 finished thread
Jailbreak statement | +15 new post, +5 10-comment thread Azula, +5 10 comment thread +5 finished thread Molotov
Breaking up Kevin and Molotov | +10 reply to thread, +5 finished log
Beating up Eridan | +10 reply to toplevel
Lonestar post |
Thread with Karkat | +25 new CR, +5 reply to post, +5 10-comments
Log with Linden | +5 reply to post
Log with Cyrus| +15 new post
Thread with Zoolander| +5 reply to post
Total: 255
