Entry tags:
Application
OUT of CHARACTER
Name: Lisa
Other characters: Venus Dee Milo, Black Tom Cassidy, Punchy, Marco
IN CHARACTER
Name: Jason Compson IV
Alias: None
Fandom: The Sound and the Fury (novel)
Canon point/AU: Panem AU
Journal:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
whatisay
PB: Jon Kortajarena
Age: 35
History:
Historically, the Compsons were an institution in the Capitol. Quentin Compson I was a general of the Capitol when the Districts rose up seventy-odd years ago and was hailed for his tactical genius and bravery. With a name that was practically legend, the Compsons thrived, becoming one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Panem for a brief period. However, by the time Jason Compson IV was born, alcoholism, misfortune and disease had begun ravaging the Compson name.
The third of four children in this wealthy family, Jason should have had every advantage at his disposal growing up, and yet circumstances prevented him from flourishing. His mother, Caroline Bascomb Compson, favored him, and yet this extra attention didn't nurture him so much as isolate him from his siblings, whom he came to view with disdain rather than fraternal affection. By being treated as the exceptional child, any natural bond he would have had with Quentin, Candace and Benjamin was entirely eroded. This void became filled with resentment after both Quentin and Candace (Caddy) received access to the family fortune and opportunities that Jason never got, due to the following events.
His older siblings Caddy and Quentin were best friends growing up, but Caddy became sexually active at a young age and always had a rebellious spirit. As a teenager, she became pregnant via one of the family's Avoxes. Already suffering from depression and paranoia, and panicked that the Capitol would punish him in Caddy's stead, Quentin responded to this betrayal by having a nervous breakdown and drowning himself.
To try and cover for the scandal, the Compsons married Caddy off to a wealthy bachelor, Herbert, who promised to provide for her and give Jason a job with the Gamemakers. When Herbert found out the truth he kicked Caddy out, annulled the marriage and rescinded the offer to Jason. Caddy was forced to abandon her daughter and go to live in the Districts under blackmail from her family should she return. Jason, at the time only eighteen, became the baby's legal guardian after his father died of alcohol-related complications. As the family's patriarch, he also became caretaker to his brother Benjamin, who is severely mentally handicapped. He's held that position for the last eighteen years and he's been stewing in resentment for the entirety of it.
Jason took a job as the Escort to District Ten and was satisfactory, if not great, at it. After a few years managed to save enough money to support his family, feed the Avoxes and keep the family home, largely because he was pocketing the money he was extorting from Caddy for the care of his niece, Miss Quentin. He took a few years off work to 'care' for his ailing mother and 'raise' Miss Quentin, which mostly meant yelling at the Avoxes and hitting his niece with a belt. To make ends continue to meet and maintain the appearance of a successful Capitol family, Jason did some shady dealing with corporate financing, although recently some unfortunate deals have left him nearly bankrupt.
Miss Quentin, upon reaching the age of seventeen, snooped through Jason's things and found his savings and broke into his account. She ran away from home with the money and while Jason was financially ruined, he couldn't report the extent of the theft without admitting to extorting and blackmailing his older sister. Instead, he went back to work, and applied to become an Escort again. This time, he's been placed with District Seven.
Presentation:
Jason's often described as cold-hearted, ruthless and brutal by the ones around him. He holds no warm feelings for a single other person, living or dead. He curses at his Avoxes, hits his niece and brother and snaps at his bedridden mother. When he's not outright aggressive, he's passive-aggressive; his only gestures at kindness are obvious pretexts for malice later, such as offering someone something only so he can dash their hopes by retracting it later. He's a singularly unpleasant person, cruel and callous and short-tempered, but he accomplishes the tasks he needs to and as such has kept his family from complete ruin.
In polite company, he's respectable enough, if detached and unsympathetic. He's decent but not stellar at socializing, and his mode of speaking often shuts down conversations as it lies on truisms, grudging acceptance, rhetorical questions and indifference. When he complains, it isn't in a way that invites people to treat him like a martyr because it's clear he's already got himself firmly in that position whether they want him there or not. He lies as a matter of habit, although often in a noncommittal way that leaves his actions or whereabouts doubtful rather than accounted for - this is because he isn't terribly good at keeping track of his lies, and as such likes to leave himself with wiggle room.
Tributes occupy a space between his family and complete strangers for him, and as such he's sullen but not outright violent with them. He's not, however, an easy Escort to work with; while he gets the job done, he has very little patience for unruly Tributes and is quick to report infractions to the Peacekeepers or withdraw Sponsorship opportunities for the ones that don't cooperate. He's an escort who believes in the stick more than the carrot; this wasn't so much of a problem when he worked with District Ten, as Tributes back then were much more docile and desperate for any help they could get in the Arena. This time, it's going to be more difficult, although cooperative Tributes will find him perfectly decent at getting them aid in the Games and presenting them to the public.
Ultimately, Jason's really preoccupied only with money and with feeling as if he's "getting his" in the world. Money brings him more than just financial security, but actual comfort, because it stands for him feeling as if the world's debt to him is being paid back. He schemes and participates in small bets, including on the Games.
Jason insists that he's able to stand on his own two feet and resents any implication that his own hard work isn't enough to keep his life together. He uses the fact that he's supporting his hypochondriac mother and disabled brother as a cudgel to end criticisms of his character, because as far as he's concerned he has a right to be bitter and unpleasant.
Jason suffers from migraines and usually walks with his hands in his pockets. He doesn't drink and doesn't get involved in romantic relationships, though he does have the occasional sexual one.
Motivations:
Jason is seething. He sees himself as someone who was wronged many times over by the mishaps of his family, someone who never got the chances his siblings got, someone who is forced to pick up the pieces after his brother and sister basically destroyed the last goodwill the family had. He doesn't care so much about the family name as making sure he isn't dragged down with them, but until his mother dies he can't abandon her without causing greater drama. As such, he feels trapped in his current position. His upbringing and family name have left him with a larger idea of what position he should have in life than he can ever reasonably attain.
He believes that he just wants to live in peace without his family's fuckups getting in his way, but the truth is that Jason just wants the respect he feels he's due. As he's never going to get it, he turns that anger and frustration outwards. His cruelty and callousness towards others is just the toxicity of his personality leaking outside himself.
He sees both Tributes and District Citizens as below him in a borderline racist ideology. He's a good citizen of the Capitol, and to him that's worth something, even though he sees the Capitol for the dying empire it is. He's clever enough to know when an institution is starting to sag, having seen it in microcosm in his own family.
Setting: Jason, the one "sane" Compson, can see that the Capitol is in decline, and he has no pride in his heritage here. He doesn't, however, know what he should do about it, and is instead in a sort of survival mode trying to maintain his family's finances and keep himself from being made into a complete fool. He predicts chaos in the future and wants nothing to do with it, but doesn't see anything he can do to prepare for it. He's going to continue with his Capitol lifestyle until things really get disruptive, and then will choose the side that looks most liable to not get him killed.
SAMPLES
First Person Thread: An example of a first person post, at least 200 words minimum. Feel free to use introspection and scene setting if your character is not chatty. Please use one of the two following prompts:
For Tributes:
For Capitols OCs and AUs: Somehow you ended up privy to a private post just gushing about how much they just LOVE the new games, how they think they are the best thing since sliced bread. Then the poster (Your friend? Some random person from a party who decided they wanted to send you their private thoughts? A rival trying to pin you into an uncomfortable spot?) namesdrops you for your opinion on the new format, versus the quaint, old-fashion style of the game.
Everyone on the broadcast is just waiting for your input.
[Jason isn't the type for speeches. He doesn't like listening to them, and giving them is just a step lower on the ladder to Hell. He scowls at his device for a moment, then sighs heavily and leans back, shoving it in his pockets as he collects his thoughts. He stares at the ceiling and strokes his throat as he puts together something to say that won't make him look foolish or incompetent, won't invite people to cast aspersions on his family or station.
He sighs, brushes his hair back and straightens his collar. When the device opens up to his face, he looks fairly neutral. Forcing happiness has never been a strong suit of his - his teeth show too much when he fakes a smile - and so he's cultivated a sort of sensible weariness when he talks on the network. Now's no different.]
From a viewer's standpoint, I don't really see much of a difference. It's bigger now, and certainly busier, and certainly the mutts and the Arenas are more impressive. Just sitting back to watch it, you'd think we really were sending them into outer space.
But as an Escort I can only say that they should start paying us better for the amount of nonsense we deal with. Now that these Tributes get revived each time it's all the harder to get them in line. They scream bloody murder if I so much as try to get them to sit up straight during an interview. You'd think a few bloodbaths would get them to sort out their priorities, but no. If anything, it makes them more prissy, more high-maintenance.
I think I'd be a lot more fond of it if I weren't working in the thick of it. That's what I think.
Prose:
Of course. His family's already got a bastard child, a suicide and an idiot. Why wouldn't they have a Tribute? Why not have their last son thrown into the fray like some belly-dragging off-worlder or District brat? It's not like his family's name or blood has ever gotten him anything, ever gotten him a damn thing in this world; why would it spare him from being treated like one of those bottomfeeders out in the fields?
Jason can feel his anger pounding in his head, constricting his brain with frustration. It's a miracle his eyes don't pop out, he feels, a miracle his teeth don't splinter under the way he's gritting his teeth. He doesn't let the guards bringing him here touch him. He walks a step ahead of them, cooperating but all but radiating with hatred.
Usually, Jason can hide his short temper with a kind of blithe sullenness, a disarming way with words that shuts a conversation down before it has a chance to escalate. He doesn't resort to that here. His tone is biting, his mouth some kind of snarl. His voice feels hot inside his throat, as if he's breathing fire and burning his own lips to a crisp.
He opens his arms to the Gamemakers staring down at him with mild disinterest.
"I'm sure you think this is funny, don't you? Well, keep thinking it. I'm sure it'll keep you warm at night. I'm sure it'll make you happy."
And he rolls his sleeves up and approaches the dummy. When he throws the first punch, he feels skin on his knuckles split and he doesn't care. It only makes him angrier. Caddy, Quentin, Miss Quentin, Benjy, his mother, every damn person sitting in that booth and in this godforsaken city - he would break all their teeth on his hands here. Each blow makes up for what it lacks in finesse with sheer ferocity. The dummy splinters and crumples because it has no alternative.
When he turns back around, his hands are dripping red and sweat has undone the styling on his hair.
"Just give me a score and be done with it."
What is your character scored: Jason's an escort, but I'd give him about a 5. He's pretty solidly-built and has no real compunctions about resorting to violence.
Token: Should Jason ever need a token, he'd have a single gold coin.
Additional information:
Hunger Games AU and OC: The Compsons have, in the last few years, become a bit of a laughingstock in the Capitol (and believe me, Jason resents that). Throwing his doppelgänger into the Arena would be sort of like having Paris Hilton show up on Saturday Night Live - a bit of a dated reference and low-hanging fruit, but still an easy crowd pleaser.
Name: Lisa
Other characters: Venus Dee Milo, Black Tom Cassidy, Punchy, Marco
IN CHARACTER
Name: Jason Compson IV
Alias: None
Fandom: The Sound and the Fury (novel)
Canon point/AU: Panem AU
Journal:
whatisayPB: Jon Kortajarena
Age: 35
History:
Historically, the Compsons were an institution in the Capitol. Quentin Compson I was a general of the Capitol when the Districts rose up seventy-odd years ago and was hailed for his tactical genius and bravery. With a name that was practically legend, the Compsons thrived, becoming one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Panem for a brief period. However, by the time Jason Compson IV was born, alcoholism, misfortune and disease had begun ravaging the Compson name.
The third of four children in this wealthy family, Jason should have had every advantage at his disposal growing up, and yet circumstances prevented him from flourishing. His mother, Caroline Bascomb Compson, favored him, and yet this extra attention didn't nurture him so much as isolate him from his siblings, whom he came to view with disdain rather than fraternal affection. By being treated as the exceptional child, any natural bond he would have had with Quentin, Candace and Benjamin was entirely eroded. This void became filled with resentment after both Quentin and Candace (Caddy) received access to the family fortune and opportunities that Jason never got, due to the following events.
His older siblings Caddy and Quentin were best friends growing up, but Caddy became sexually active at a young age and always had a rebellious spirit. As a teenager, she became pregnant via one of the family's Avoxes. Already suffering from depression and paranoia, and panicked that the Capitol would punish him in Caddy's stead, Quentin responded to this betrayal by having a nervous breakdown and drowning himself.
To try and cover for the scandal, the Compsons married Caddy off to a wealthy bachelor, Herbert, who promised to provide for her and give Jason a job with the Gamemakers. When Herbert found out the truth he kicked Caddy out, annulled the marriage and rescinded the offer to Jason. Caddy was forced to abandon her daughter and go to live in the Districts under blackmail from her family should she return. Jason, at the time only eighteen, became the baby's legal guardian after his father died of alcohol-related complications. As the family's patriarch, he also became caretaker to his brother Benjamin, who is severely mentally handicapped. He's held that position for the last eighteen years and he's been stewing in resentment for the entirety of it.
Jason took a job as the Escort to District Ten and was satisfactory, if not great, at it. After a few years managed to save enough money to support his family, feed the Avoxes and keep the family home, largely because he was pocketing the money he was extorting from Caddy for the care of his niece, Miss Quentin. He took a few years off work to 'care' for his ailing mother and 'raise' Miss Quentin, which mostly meant yelling at the Avoxes and hitting his niece with a belt. To make ends continue to meet and maintain the appearance of a successful Capitol family, Jason did some shady dealing with corporate financing, although recently some unfortunate deals have left him nearly bankrupt.
Miss Quentin, upon reaching the age of seventeen, snooped through Jason's things and found his savings and broke into his account. She ran away from home with the money and while Jason was financially ruined, he couldn't report the extent of the theft without admitting to extorting and blackmailing his older sister. Instead, he went back to work, and applied to become an Escort again. This time, he's been placed with District Seven.
Presentation:
Jason's often described as cold-hearted, ruthless and brutal by the ones around him. He holds no warm feelings for a single other person, living or dead. He curses at his Avoxes, hits his niece and brother and snaps at his bedridden mother. When he's not outright aggressive, he's passive-aggressive; his only gestures at kindness are obvious pretexts for malice later, such as offering someone something only so he can dash their hopes by retracting it later. He's a singularly unpleasant person, cruel and callous and short-tempered, but he accomplishes the tasks he needs to and as such has kept his family from complete ruin.
In polite company, he's respectable enough, if detached and unsympathetic. He's decent but not stellar at socializing, and his mode of speaking often shuts down conversations as it lies on truisms, grudging acceptance, rhetorical questions and indifference. When he complains, it isn't in a way that invites people to treat him like a martyr because it's clear he's already got himself firmly in that position whether they want him there or not. He lies as a matter of habit, although often in a noncommittal way that leaves his actions or whereabouts doubtful rather than accounted for - this is because he isn't terribly good at keeping track of his lies, and as such likes to leave himself with wiggle room.
Tributes occupy a space between his family and complete strangers for him, and as such he's sullen but not outright violent with them. He's not, however, an easy Escort to work with; while he gets the job done, he has very little patience for unruly Tributes and is quick to report infractions to the Peacekeepers or withdraw Sponsorship opportunities for the ones that don't cooperate. He's an escort who believes in the stick more than the carrot; this wasn't so much of a problem when he worked with District Ten, as Tributes back then were much more docile and desperate for any help they could get in the Arena. This time, it's going to be more difficult, although cooperative Tributes will find him perfectly decent at getting them aid in the Games and presenting them to the public.
Ultimately, Jason's really preoccupied only with money and with feeling as if he's "getting his" in the world. Money brings him more than just financial security, but actual comfort, because it stands for him feeling as if the world's debt to him is being paid back. He schemes and participates in small bets, including on the Games.
Jason insists that he's able to stand on his own two feet and resents any implication that his own hard work isn't enough to keep his life together. He uses the fact that he's supporting his hypochondriac mother and disabled brother as a cudgel to end criticisms of his character, because as far as he's concerned he has a right to be bitter and unpleasant.
Jason suffers from migraines and usually walks with his hands in his pockets. He doesn't drink and doesn't get involved in romantic relationships, though he does have the occasional sexual one.
Motivations:
Jason is seething. He sees himself as someone who was wronged many times over by the mishaps of his family, someone who never got the chances his siblings got, someone who is forced to pick up the pieces after his brother and sister basically destroyed the last goodwill the family had. He doesn't care so much about the family name as making sure he isn't dragged down with them, but until his mother dies he can't abandon her without causing greater drama. As such, he feels trapped in his current position. His upbringing and family name have left him with a larger idea of what position he should have in life than he can ever reasonably attain.
He believes that he just wants to live in peace without his family's fuckups getting in his way, but the truth is that Jason just wants the respect he feels he's due. As he's never going to get it, he turns that anger and frustration outwards. His cruelty and callousness towards others is just the toxicity of his personality leaking outside himself.
He sees both Tributes and District Citizens as below him in a borderline racist ideology. He's a good citizen of the Capitol, and to him that's worth something, even though he sees the Capitol for the dying empire it is. He's clever enough to know when an institution is starting to sag, having seen it in microcosm in his own family.
Setting: Jason, the one "sane" Compson, can see that the Capitol is in decline, and he has no pride in his heritage here. He doesn't, however, know what he should do about it, and is instead in a sort of survival mode trying to maintain his family's finances and keep himself from being made into a complete fool. He predicts chaos in the future and wants nothing to do with it, but doesn't see anything he can do to prepare for it. He's going to continue with his Capitol lifestyle until things really get disruptive, and then will choose the side that looks most liable to not get him killed.
SAMPLES
First Person Thread: An example of a first person post, at least 200 words minimum. Feel free to use introspection and scene setting if your character is not chatty. Please use one of the two following prompts:
For Tributes:
For Capitols OCs and AUs: Somehow you ended up privy to a private post just gushing about how much they just LOVE the new games, how they think they are the best thing since sliced bread. Then the poster (Your friend? Some random person from a party who decided they wanted to send you their private thoughts? A rival trying to pin you into an uncomfortable spot?) namesdrops you for your opinion on the new format, versus the quaint, old-fashion style of the game.
Everyone on the broadcast is just waiting for your input.
[Jason isn't the type for speeches. He doesn't like listening to them, and giving them is just a step lower on the ladder to Hell. He scowls at his device for a moment, then sighs heavily and leans back, shoving it in his pockets as he collects his thoughts. He stares at the ceiling and strokes his throat as he puts together something to say that won't make him look foolish or incompetent, won't invite people to cast aspersions on his family or station.
He sighs, brushes his hair back and straightens his collar. When the device opens up to his face, he looks fairly neutral. Forcing happiness has never been a strong suit of his - his teeth show too much when he fakes a smile - and so he's cultivated a sort of sensible weariness when he talks on the network. Now's no different.]
From a viewer's standpoint, I don't really see much of a difference. It's bigger now, and certainly busier, and certainly the mutts and the Arenas are more impressive. Just sitting back to watch it, you'd think we really were sending them into outer space.
But as an Escort I can only say that they should start paying us better for the amount of nonsense we deal with. Now that these Tributes get revived each time it's all the harder to get them in line. They scream bloody murder if I so much as try to get them to sit up straight during an interview. You'd think a few bloodbaths would get them to sort out their priorities, but no. If anything, it makes them more prissy, more high-maintenance.
I think I'd be a lot more fond of it if I weren't working in the thick of it. That's what I think.
Prose:
Of course. His family's already got a bastard child, a suicide and an idiot. Why wouldn't they have a Tribute? Why not have their last son thrown into the fray like some belly-dragging off-worlder or District brat? It's not like his family's name or blood has ever gotten him anything, ever gotten him a damn thing in this world; why would it spare him from being treated like one of those bottomfeeders out in the fields?
Jason can feel his anger pounding in his head, constricting his brain with frustration. It's a miracle his eyes don't pop out, he feels, a miracle his teeth don't splinter under the way he's gritting his teeth. He doesn't let the guards bringing him here touch him. He walks a step ahead of them, cooperating but all but radiating with hatred.
Usually, Jason can hide his short temper with a kind of blithe sullenness, a disarming way with words that shuts a conversation down before it has a chance to escalate. He doesn't resort to that here. His tone is biting, his mouth some kind of snarl. His voice feels hot inside his throat, as if he's breathing fire and burning his own lips to a crisp.
He opens his arms to the Gamemakers staring down at him with mild disinterest.
"I'm sure you think this is funny, don't you? Well, keep thinking it. I'm sure it'll keep you warm at night. I'm sure it'll make you happy."
And he rolls his sleeves up and approaches the dummy. When he throws the first punch, he feels skin on his knuckles split and he doesn't care. It only makes him angrier. Caddy, Quentin, Miss Quentin, Benjy, his mother, every damn person sitting in that booth and in this godforsaken city - he would break all their teeth on his hands here. Each blow makes up for what it lacks in finesse with sheer ferocity. The dummy splinters and crumples because it has no alternative.
When he turns back around, his hands are dripping red and sweat has undone the styling on his hair.
"Just give me a score and be done with it."
What is your character scored: Jason's an escort, but I'd give him about a 5. He's pretty solidly-built and has no real compunctions about resorting to violence.
Token: Should Jason ever need a token, he'd have a single gold coin.
Additional information:
Hunger Games AU and OC: The Compsons have, in the last few years, become a bit of a laughingstock in the Capitol (and believe me, Jason resents that). Throwing his doppelgänger into the Arena would be sort of like having Paris Hilton show up on Saturday Night Live - a bit of a dated reference and low-hanging fruit, but still an easy crowd pleaser.