9, 12 and 26 for the oc ask game!
9. Who is your most tormented OC?
I had a few different answers for this question, but ultimately decided on Erie Whistler. This is going to be quite long.
Before being reaped, Erie and his older sister Frances were Home kids. When she aged out and married her husband, Frances took Erie with her. They lived in cramped quarters, but were all Home kids used to having to make it work. Francesâ husband then died in some kind of railway accident when Daisy (their daughter) was about 18 months old. Frances and Erie were able to keep their heads above water, but only by starving themselves and working themselves to the bone. Frances fell ill the January before Erie was reaped. Erie worked as much as he could, but he couldnât provide for the three of them all on his own. Frances died in February. Before the district could arrive to escort Erie and Daisy to the Home, Erie packed what little material possessions they had into his brother-in-lawâs truck and drove off.
In hindsight, he chastised himself for taking off so abruptly, but in the moment, 16-year-old Erie was scared of going back to the Home, scared of how Daisy was going to fare in the Home, and most of all, scared of being separated from Daisy (3 going on 4 and much more likely to be adopted) who was now the only family he had left.
Erie and Daisy were living with a group of teens from similar backgrounds when Erie was reaped. They took care of her while he was gone, fully expecting him to not come back. After all, he was a hungry, malnourished kid from Six. He probably shouldnât have won, all things considered, but he did so out of sheer desperation (and a bit of quick thinking/resourcefulness on his part)âby hiding amongst the corpses, then surprise attacking the runner up. Runner up guy actually got the upper hand and stole his knife (they were all given knives at the beginning of the Games), and out of desperation (and quick thinking) choked the guy to death with his belt. This is why a wider variety of weapons are introduced in the 10th Games.
The group were shocked when Erie returned, but let him back into the group without hesitance. Quickly, though, they realized the Erie who came back was not the same Erie they once knew. Not completely. He was angry, paranoid, and prone to nightmares and even physical confrontations. The group tried to exercise patience at first, as he tried to share what happened to him, but they became increasingly more scared of him as time passed. One night, they took off without him. He woke up and finds the entire group, Daisy included, gone without a trace.
He was furious the group took off without him, took Daisy with them, and took his brother-in-lawâs truck on top of that. Once he fixed up the broken truck they left behind, he went looking for them. Daisy ended up finding him, wandering about after the teens left her with another younger kid in the group while they went scavenging. Erie was waiting for them when they returned, and proceeded to give them an earful. He then took back the keys to his brother-in-lawâs truck, packed his stuff, took Daisy, and drove off.
Erie and Daisy were still living in the truck when the reaping for the 10th Games came around. Nothing much came of it. They continued about their lives, living on the road and staying in little camps with other groups from time to time, trading whilst on the road, but never joining another group or stayed in one place very long. Theyâre part of the reason the Victorsâ Villages are built. As the Capitol tries to make the Games more palatable, giving a home to Erie is seen as âcharitableâ even if it is mostly performative. Itâs also a nice place for visiting Capitolites to be hosted, of course.
Daisy gets reaped for the 18th Games, at age 12. She dies, obviously. As you might imagine, Erie losing his only reminding family really fucks him up. He was fending off a morphling habit before, but he develops one after her death. He was already starting to feel âvictor fatigueâ (losing hope and becoming resentful after his tributes die year after year) before Daisy was reaped, but her death makes him snap. Suddenly, he no longer helps his tributes at all, not because he doesnât think they can win, but because he doesnât want them to. He believes becoming a victor is worse than meeting a mortal fate in the Games. He can never bring himself to actively sabotage his tributes, but he doesnât help them in the Games at all. The thought of having to subject another person to this terrifies him. The thought of having to help a child through this, when heâs still very much struggling with it himself is unbearable.
My second choice, Ulysses Morrison (D2, HG18) actually overlaps with Erie quite extensively. He won the Games Daisy died in. He didnât kill her, and only saw her at the very beginning of the Games, but Erieâs deterioration and inability to look him in the eye really fucks Ulysses up. Ulysses takes up painting to cope with his experiences in the arena and trauma thereafter, and Daisy and Erie appear in his art a lot. He always makes a note to depict Erie with his extensive facial scarring, as it was something the Capitol tried not to show at all costs. To add insult to injury, Ulysses has a photographic memory. His depictions of Erie, Daisy, other victors, and tributes are lifelike.
12. Your most unusual / unique OC?
I donât know that any of my OCs are particularly unusual. I like to create characters who are apart of one underrepresented group or another, but the characters themselves arenât exceptionally unique. Sorry if thatâs a bit of a cop-out answer.
26. Who is the oldest OC you still create for? Who is the newest?
Current Wesley (D5, HG61) is my oldest THG OC. I wouldnât say Iâm actively making content of him, but I think about him quite often. The main inspiration for him was essentially wanting to write a victor who was disabled before they entered the arena and how the Capitol treats such tributes. In Currentâs case, he contracted polio at a young age and walks using orthotics.
Currentâs actually one of my only victors with a detailed fic idea for. His backstoryâs pretty fleshed out, I know what his arena would be, I know who his allies are, I have a pretty good idea of how his Games would play out, and I know what arc I want him to have in and out of the arena. Iâm not quite sure why Iâve written so little about him, honestly.
The newest OC changes by the day, honestly.
