Cinna

It always got cold in the mountains, as fall turned to winter. This year, winter was coming faster than usual. Frost had begun forming overnight, wreathing the scrubmoss that grew outside the caves. They were hurrying to get the harvest in, before it froze in the fields. The nights were getting longer, and the games were close.

Cinna hadn't left the temple in almost a week. There was plenty to do -- not just the outfits for the sacrifices themselves. They needed clothes for the rites and for the ceremony, of course. And the priests did as well, so that they could deliver the blessings to the village after the games had ended. No one entered the cave where the games took place, but the pavillion just outside would need to be dressed and readied for all the ceremonies. It was a busy time of year.

No one liked the games, but in a way, Cinna welcomed them. At least he had enough sewing to take his mind off of the impending sacrifices, and the memories they dredged up. It was all the same garb he sewed year after year, a tradition he had almost made rote. But it kept his hands busy, and the place he went to when he sewed -- it was more peaceful than anything else he'd yet found.

He was so engrossed in his work, alone in the makeshift temple-tent beside the cave and pavillion, that he didn't realize at first that the sounds he was hearing weren't just those of the animals in the woods beyond. The demon was still deep within the cave, far enough that the wildlife would make their way cautiously through the woods here. But those sounds -- those were hoofbeats? Cinna set his work aside and moved quietly to the tentflap, peeking through for a glance. The wildlife made their way through, with great caution, but no one else came to this place. Not if they could help it.

Player Information:
Name: Jenry
Age: 25
Contact: parodysue [at] gmail [dot] com, arashiko
Game Cast: Previously, Cinna and James Norrington. No one currently.

Character Information:
Name: Cinna
Canon: The Hunger Games trilogy
Canon Point: post death in Catching Fire. Exactly the same as his previous time here, with his memories of his last visit to the turtle in tact.
Age: Somewhere in his mid to late twenties, maybe early thirties. Described as a “young man” in The Hunger Games, portrayed by a 50 year old actor.
Reference: “I always channel my emotions into my work. That way, I don’t hurt anyone but myself.”

Setting: To understand Panem’s present, it’s first necessary to understand Panem’s history. Some time ago (exactly how long is unclear) there was an apocalyptic event. What happened is also unclear, although some things are known: Landforms changed. The sea level rose. Panem was founded on what remained of North America, what we’d consider the west coast.

Panem is a large city (creatively named “The Capitol”) surrounded by 13 outlying districts. Each district produces one type of resource: livestock, coal, lumber, a variety of food, textiles, etc. A wood and a brick builds a road, a sheep, a wheat, and an ore buys a development card. Because of this division, no district is self sufficient, so all rely on the Capitol. Goods are shipped there, and then distributed among the districts. In theory.

In actuality, the Capitol keeps the best of the goods, returning nothing but a meager supply of grain and oil to the districts. While citizens of the districts face disease, starvation, and a lifetime of hard labor followed by an early death, citizens of the Capitol enjoy world class meals and medicine. Unsurprisingly, this leads to a rebellion.

The first rebellion, known now as the Dark Days, ended seventy four and a half years ago with the Treaty of Treason. The treaty, which details the rules of the Hunger Games, was designed to insure the districts never revolted again. Every year, under the treaty, each district will hold a reaping -- a semi-random lottery -- to select one girl and one boy between the ages of 12 and 18 to fight to the death in an arena of the capitol’s choosing. The battle reminds the districts of their losses during the Dark Days. The victor, showered with riches and raised to unprecedented status, reminds them of the Capitol’s benevolence.

The reapings are structured to tip the odds in the favor of those the Capitol favors. Wealthy children, for instance, the children of the Mayors, have their names entered once yearly, every year between their 12 and 18th birthdays. So do poor children, however they may also enter their names an additional time for each member of their family. Doing so increases their ration of grain and oil for the year. Entries are cumulative, so a poor child from a large family could have 40 or more entries by the time they reach their eighteenth year, whereas a wealthy child likely has only 7. Additionally, a child of the proper age can volunteer, taking the place of the reaped tribute. So, in wealthier districts, “career tributes” are trained for the games, and volunteer when they are old and strong enough to have an advantage. Since there is always a tribute ready to volunteer, the danger of the reapings is lessened substantially. It’s also implied that the Capitol can rig the reapings: To target the children of dissidents, for instance, when Maysilee Donner was reaped in the 50th games, or when Katniss states that the children of victors end up in the arena too often for it to be coincidence.

The games are a not-particularly-subtle form of psychological warfare on the districts and the victors. To stop the victors from becoming a rallying point for rebellion, and to keep the districts subdued, the state-controlled television constantly airs reruns of past Hunger Games. Six months after they win, victors are taken on a “Victory tour,” where they relive their games and the districts are forced to fete the person who killed their children. Victors are forced to mentor children in successive years, keeping them at odds with victors from other districts, and further traumatizing them by forcing them to watch children they’ve bonded with be killed. Additionally, attractive victors are used as prostitutes by influential Capitol citizens.

Other provisions are also in place to keep the districts subdued, besides the Games. Each is surrounded by an electrified fence. Beyond that is a no-man’s land which no one dares enter. Citizens from each district have very little contact with citizens from other districts. Telephones are rare. The television is controlled by the state and mainly shows reruns of the Games or propaganda. Capitol-trained Peacekeepers enforce the laws and think nothing of delivering whippings or executions as they see fit. Medical technology is restricted -- in some districts, even the “wealthy” citizens suffer from debilitating medical conditions because the only treatment is in the capitol. And, of course, food and other provisions are restricted, keeping the population weak, especially in the further districts.

This is life in Panem. In the Capitol, they eat rich food and modify their bodies with implantations, tattoos, dyes, and piercings. No one works, and citizens are considered silly and frivolous. In the Districts, however, people have access to only the most basic healthcare. Traitors are sharply punished, and even speaking of rebellion is sure to win a death sentence. Districts 1-12 operate under the thumb of the Capitol, and every year 23 children die at one another’s hands. One terribly damaged individual lives on.

The exception is District 13. During the Dark Days, District 13 had what no other district did: the ability to destroy the Capitol. District 13 developed and stored nuclear weapons. Under the threat of mutual destruction, the Capitol agreed to let District 13 live on in secret. They put out word that 13 is destroyed, to save face. But beneath the surface, a community struggles to survive. They wait for a chance to rally the districts again, and rebel: a chance that will come in the form of a victor who can unite every district, and not just her own.

Personality: There’s a lot about Cinna that is never clarified. He is seemingly a contradiction: Capitol born, a major strategist and organizer for the games, but also with ties to the District 13 rebellion. He requested District 12 as his district, presumably to work with Haymitch and wait for a tribute they can groom to be the leader of the rebellion, but at the same time, his connection to and love for Katniss appear sincere. What drove Cinna to join the rebellion is an enigma, as is Cinna himself.

One of his defining characteristics is his calm, soothing presence. Almost instantly, Cinna puts Katniss at ease, even though she comes into this meeting ready to hate him. Through the first and second novel, Cinna is shown as a pillar of support for Katniss. Both times she goes into the arena, he is the last to be with her. He offers what support he can when he tells her, “I’m not allowed to bet, but if I could, I’d bet on you.” Even after his death, he includes a note with his designs -- “I’m still betting on you.” When Katniss has stage fright and is anxious about appearing on stage, Cinna counsels her, and comforts her by saying she can pretend she’s talking just to him.

Katniss isn’t the first person to like Cinna immediately. He and Peeta have some sort of rapport, since he shows Peeta the roof. In Catching Fire, when he visits Katniss’s home in District 12, she notes that her mother and Prim love him. At meals, Katniss refers to Cinna (and Portia, to a lesser extent) as a “civilizing influence” on Haymitch and Effie, who hate each other. Several times, when tensions are running high (usually because Katniss has attacked someone [Peeta or the Gamemakers]) Cinna often steps in to smooth things out. Again, this is seen when Katniss attacks Peeta after their interviews, and Cinna’s words, not Haymitch’s, are the ones that finally reach her. After Katniss fires an arrow at the Gamemakers and Effie is distraught, Cinna again smooths things over.

Hand in hand with Cinna’s mellow nature is his kindness. A cynical person might say this is because he’s grooming Katniss to become the Mockingjay, but he truly seems sincere. It says a lot that Katniss considers him a friend, since she is (almost pathologically) suspicious and abrasive by nature. Haymitch and Peeta both remark on the fact that Cinna likes her, as well, and Cinna says so himself. He clearly respects the sacrifice Katniss made, volunteering as the Tribute. In the movie, he tells her, “that was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen,” and in the book, when Katniss talks about Prim in her interview, she focuses on Cinna in the crowd and says, “I don’t think I imagine the sadness on his face.” He also makes an effort to stay in touch with Katniss after she wins the Games, and even helps her with her talent: something that has little effect on the rebellion, and is entirely outside the realm of his duties.

Another strong indicator that his feelings for Katniss are real is the way he interacts with her. It’s with Katniss that his sense of humor comes out. Although Cinna is usually mild and understated, when he’s alone with Katniss, he’s often wry and ironic. (Once, she asks him how he comes up with his designs, and he says, “Portia and I spend a lot of hours watching fires.” He not only helps with her talent, but tells her if anyone asks that her goal is to become as good as him, her “fashion hero.”) He even teases her, which is something only Prim and Gale are allowed to do in the novels.

Of course, behind his mild manner and appearance, Cinna is insanely talented. (And, as Katniss notes, possibly just insane.) His creativity is beyond anything anyone in the Capitol has ever seen. Beyond coming up with the idea to retheme “coal” as “fire,” he and Portia actually invent a synthetic fire to light Peeta and Katniss with. Other designs incorporate gems, electric lights, transforming dresses, all sorts of cool gadgetry -- but he also shows enough simple aesthetic appreciation to respect the hairstyle Katniss’s mother braided. He’s a skilled enough designer that along with designing all of Katniss’s clothes, he can fool other people into thinking his designs are actually Katniss’s. He is shown, again and again, to think creatively and expansively when it comes to Katniss’s image.

Beyond just being a skilled designer, Cinna clearly understands the impact his clothes have. From the very beginning, he uses Katniss’s signature braid to make her identifiable and recognizable to the people of the Capitol. He crafts Katniss’s entire “Girl on Fire” persona from the ground up. Every piece of clothing he makes her from then on ties, somehow, into that theme. When he wants her to look girlish and innocent, he designs outfits for her that disguise her inner core. When he wants her to look strong and powerful, his outfits reveal it. He, along with Haymitch, is also the core of her and Peeta’s successful “starcrossed lovers” campaign. He begins dressing them the same, and suggests they hold hands during the parade. It all carries through to Mockingjay, when it is revealed that Cinna designed Katniss’s Mockingjay uniforms. Those uniforms, Katniss notes, are not only beautiful, they’re functional. The armor he built into her Mockingjay outfit allows her to take a bullet and live. Clearly, he doesn’t just make pretty clothes. He understands the impact they have, and how to best twist public opinion to his side. He also understands functionality.

With all that said, however, there are still some questions about Cinna that will never be answered. Why, for instance, he rejects the affectations of the Capitol, and why he allies with District 13. It’s unclear to what extent he truly cares for Katniss, versus to what extent he’s grooming her to become the Mockingjay. (My personal view is that he honestly cares for Katniss, and it’s just dumb luck that his first tribute out of the gate was one he could groom for the rebellion. If he’d had to, he would have worked as the District 12 stylist year after year until they had a victor, caring for every tribute who died.) It’s clear that Cinna is made of stronger stuff than his appearance lets on, and there also seems to be something sad about him. This shows through in The Hunger Games, when he says, “How despicable we must seem to you,” shortly after meeting Katniss. It’s repeated in Catching Fire, when he says to her, “I always channel my emotions into my work, that way I don’t hurt anyone but myself.” Although the line is said jokingly, he utters it just before Katniss’s wedding dress (his design, of course) is revealed to conceal a Mockingjay costume in support of the rebellion. That subtle act of rebellion ultimately leads to his death -- something, perhaps, he expected, given that he already has Katniss’s Mockingjay costume completed and ready for her. In his own, quiet way, Cinna hates the Capitol as much as Katniss does. Why, though, is never made clear.

On returning to the turtle: When Cinna was here before, he was coping with the trauma of being tortured and slowly murdered by Capitol Peacekeepers. He was displaying some symptoms of PTSD and extreme anxiety, and attempting to cope with his instability through work (at Alcuin’s clothing shop and Bruce Banner’s botanical gardens) and through therapy with Dr. Lecter. I will be taking him from the same canon point and retaining his memories of his previous visit here, so all his symptoms will be compounded. From Cinna’s perspective, it will appear that he has lost several months’ time. It will be extremely distressing for him to have no memories of the past few months, nor an explanation for why he (apparently) ceased to exist in Tu Shanshu for that time. Cinna knows (or at least suspects) that he was killed by Snow’s torturers before coming to Tu Shanshu, so obviously returning “home” wasn’t an option for him, nor does he have any memories of being there in the interim time. Additionally, this time around, Cinna won’t have Katniss to lean on, so there will be a major hole in his support network. Because Cinna internalizes strong emotion, his instability won’t be obvious to other characters, but he will be experiencing periods of extreme fear (especially regarding leaving home or other “safe” zones, like Alcuin’s shop), anxiety surrounding the memories of his death and torture, difficulty distinguishing hallucinations and reality, and he may experience panic attacks triggered by canon-appropriate triggers. (Possibly needles, the smell of roses, bird calls, etc.)

Appearance: Cinna’s description is left intentionally vague in the book. Katniss mentions only that he has naturally brown hair and appears unaltered. He wears plain black clothes, and his only concession to Capitol fashions is his gold eye liner, which heightens the hazel of his eyes.

In the movies, he is portrayed by Lenny Kravitz, so I’ll be using Mr. Kravitz as a PB.

Abilities: Cinna makes things pretty. Makeup, cloth -- whatever, or whoever, he has, he can beautify.

Other than that, as I mentioned above, Cinna has a keen mind and he’s very clever. He understands how to use aesthetics to manipulate people. In terms of fighting or magical abilities, though, no. He’s just human.

Inventory: Cinna will arrive with almost nothing, including clothes. Since I am taking him from after his death, he will have been imprisoned and tortured by the Capitol. That means just a few scraps of cloth to keep him decent.

Suite: If at all possible, I’d love for Cinna to have his old suite back. He needs some consistency. Otherwise, a similar suite in the Earth sector, two floors.

I would place Cinna in the Earth sector because obviously, he wants to be near the textiles and boutiques. It also happens to match his color palette, fancy that!

His suit would be exceedingly average. Not exceptionally large, not exceptionally small, not furnished significantly differently than any other suite. In part, I say this because it’s stated in Mockingjay that most Capitol apartments are the same, except for decor. Even though Cinna is wealthy now, six months ago, he was an unknown designer who lived in those boilerplate apartments with all the other proles. (So far as anyone is a prole in the Capitol.) Given his implied hatred of the Capitol lifestyle and excess, I can’t see him demanding the sort of special surroundings a Capitol citizen normally would.

In-Character Samples:

Third Person:
The funniest things were sometimes often the most true. Cinna hadn’t been kidding when he’d told Katniss that he and Portia spent a lot of time studying fire.

Not tonight, though. Tonight, he’d gone to the interviews. He’d been showered with accolades, gifts and invitations, even a few not very subtle bribes. Everyone loved Katniss. She was a crowd favorite, no matter what she thought, the perfect mixture of girlish naivete and womanly strength. He did what he could to help her with that. She doubted her own abilities to play a role, but she could do it to the hilt if she had the right costume to bolster her. That was his job, to bolster her.

Not tonight. No one in the Capitol, of course, understood the significance of the Mockingjay. Of the transforming dress. No one except a few closeted rebels, and the victors on stage. Katniss understood, but the message hadn’t been for her. It was for President Snow.

And it was clumsy. He’d changed the dress after Snow had insisted she wear it, his own small act of rebellion. He’d told himself, as he made the alterations, that it was a message for the Districts. That it was meant to inspire them and strengthen their resolve, to renew their faith in Katniss and the rebellion she didn’t even know she was leading. But now, he wondered if it hadn’t been more of a personal statement. To show Snow that he wouldn’t let the president dictate how he clothed his tribute. That he wouldn’t continue to be silent as child after child was destroyed.

He wished, now, that he hadn’t done it. Not because the sentiment was any less true now than when he’d made the dress. Not because he thought it was wrong. But because he’d made Katniss a target. She was one already, but it was his job to shield her. His job to provide her cover, where he could. Now, he had nothing to do but wait for the Peacekeepers. Because it wasn’t a matter of if they’d come for him, he knew. It was when.

At least he’d completed his work. They, she, didn’t need him anymore. Tomorrow, she’d enter the arena, and he would fade away. Like a dying ember.

Network:

[It’s colder than it was. The light enters his suit at an unfamiliar angle, casting long, ugly shadows across the suite he’d so painstakingly rearranged to be open and airy. He doesn’t like the deep stripes, like bars, across his sitting room, where patternwork is still laid out, untouched, from his last time here. There is an empty stack of terra cotta pots by the sink, the long-dead plants torn from them with shaking hands. But that was before; he made sure his breathing was even and his hands were steady before he sat at the console. Now, all anyone can see is the pots, neatly stacked, and the ugly pools of dark stretching across the floor.]

I don’t know exactly how much time has passed.

[He can’t account for it, the gap in his memory. Oh, he remembers. Late summer sunlight, sitting at the table, gathering the pleats of fabric, pinning them in place. The chill light of the city, filtered through the water, as the turtle dove. And then nothing. He sits in front of the console, dressed far too lightly for the sudden onset of cold weather. But his face shows none of the near panic, the unanswered questions. Just a pleasant, even expression.]

It’s obvious that some has; at least several weeks. Is Finnick Odair still here, or maybe Katniss Everdeen?

[Katniss was gone, but maybe... There’s a sick twist of hope in his gut that he struggles to keep hidden. Katniss would know. If she’s here, she could answer the questions that he desperately needs to know the answers to. But he can’t hang his hopes on that.]

Well, even if they aren’t, I’m going to need to get my feet back under me. I’m opening up commissions for made-to-order clothing. My name is Cinna -- I previously worked in Favrielle no Eglantine’s dress shop, and I have several years of tailoring experience. I’d hope there is someone here still who can vouch for my work.

[But he doesn’t know -- it could well have been years. Where was he, in the time he can’t account for? Who had him? He swallows.]

Thank you.