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[iheartmahogany]

Character Basics

Character Name: Effie Trinket
Canon Name: The Hunger Games
Canon Type: Lit

Appearance: Her appearance is always changing but let's give it a shot!

Character In-Depth

Tell us about your character's history: Effie Trinket is a citizen of the Capitol in Panem - which means she grew up with good education, a high standard of living, and believing that the yearly Hunger Games - where 24 children fought to the death in live video feed - was all good fun. Growing up away from the 12 Districts whose children were reaped for the benefit of entertainment, Effie found the whole thing incredibly glamorous, and struggled to find her footing in that particular spotlight.
She became the escort for District 12 - not a terribly good district, since they hadn't had a winner in over two decades, but Effie figured she would have to make the most of it and maybe, just maybe, she would be promoted to a better district in years to come. Every year she travelled to District 12 and pulled from a globe the name of one young man and one young woman to compete in the Hunger Games. And, every year, she accompanied them from the very beginning to the very end, until they were sent into the arena to their deaths. That is, until the year Katniss Everdeen volunteered.
Effie was careful in trying to teach Katniss to behave like a lady (though she did already have good table manners - most of the time) and focused her energies on shuffling her and Peeta to every appointment. She was utterly gleeful by the work of Cinna the stylist, who transformed her tributes into an incredibly dangerous pair, helping their odds go up as they became more attractive to sponsors. Keeping Peeta and Katniss alive was not Effie's concern - only keeping them on their schedule, and the media spotlight that followed them. She did not expect either to win, though there was a spark to Katniss that sometimes suggested to Effie that glory was on the way.
And glory did come, when both of Effie's tributes left that arena as victors - the first time a pair had won, star-crossed lovers who had faced death and come out together... it was all very dramatic. The blazing attention instantly turned Effie into a fashion icon, but she knew what her real job still was - and she threw herself into escorting Katniss and Peeta on their victory tour months later, organizing their cue cards, shuffling them from one party to the next. However, Katniss' actions in the arena, while they had kept her alive, were also beginning to be understood as acts of rebellion, and the Victory Tour started to agitate matters.
The civil unrest that was blooming in each district escaped Effie's notice - she was busy, after all. Only when the Quarter Quell was announced did Effie realize something was going terribly wrong. Every 25 years, the annual Hunger Games did something a bit different, to keep things fresh - and for the 75th year, all tributes would be reaped from remaining victors rather than a fresh pack of un-blooded children. Effie herself pulled the single slip of paper that was Katniss' name out of the globe, and announced that she would be going back to the arena.
Helping her tributes go back for a second time, Effie became more and more aware of what was going on, even if she was sidetracked by the fact that Katniss was not going to be married after all in the most beautiful ceremony anyone had ever seen (she was certain). She went through the motions, trying to stay strong for everyone else's benefit, but there were moments where the drama of everything started to get to her. While she was not fully involved in all that went on, by the time Katniss and Peeta were back in the arena, Effie's path had been set, partly by circumstance, partly by choice. She was a part of the rebellion now, whether she wanted it or not.

Tell us about your chosen exit point, why you chose it, and why you want to play the character at All Inclusive: I'm choosing to take Effie right after she says goodbye to Katniss and Peeta for the Quarter Quell. That way, she's seen quite a lot of the disruption in the districts and is just beginning to understand what it means; she has also gotten herself mixed up with the Rebellion. Mainly, though, it's a turning point in her emotional development, where instead of compartmentalizing everything in an orderly fashion, she's forced to look at everything as a grand whole - at the fact that the Games don't only provide entertainment, but also destroy 23 families every single year, and she has merrily gone along with it. Suddenly, with winning Tributes of her own, she has to care, become attached, and face the emotional consequences of it.
Effie is my favourite character, possibly because she is given so little attention from Katniss at times - she takes Effie for granted, and in that way appears to miss the things that Effie is doing behind the scenes, and therefore a lot of her emotional development we have to infer and interpret on our own. The movies do make this jump - Effie arranges for gold jewellery to show solidarity, which ends up on Finnick Odair as proof to Katniss, in the arena, to trust him. The books bury Effie slightly, and I would like to use AI as a way to explore her. She has so many canonmates in game I think it would be a lot of fun and we could get a lot of plot going. In the hotel, Effie may also find herself having to choose between staying there, and going back through her door - facing possible death, regarding the Rebellion. I think that choice would be incredibly interesting to play out.
Also, I think everyone in the game needs a brightly dressed manic obsessive lady in their life, teaching them how to hold their forks. But that's just me.

Tell us about your character's personality: Effie Trinket is obsessed with one thing: manners. Even her need to be punctual and on time stems from her dislike of ever showing up anywhere late and, therefore, rudely allowing someone else to wait. There are some things she will allow in others, like a complete lack of table manners, or not knowing to bring a hostess gift; however, out and out rudeness can cause her to retaliate in a huff. She cannot hold a grudge, however, and is very forgiving in nature - and even when she becomes stern and controlling, it eventually flakes away back into a smile. In a way she comes off as almost virginal - prim, proper, and unwilling to discuss anything unpleasant.
Disturbingly organized, Effie is that person who will bend over backwards to get everything done and the result is a well-oiled machine. Never let it be said that she doesn't work hard, and unlike many of her frivolous Capitol counterparts, she is the furthest thing from lazy. While she may view certain tasks outside of her purview (for example, knocking a dish of peas to the floor, while unfortunate, is not her problem when there are servants around) anything she does deem to be her job she approaches with a rampant passion which, in anyone else, might appear overzealous. When Effie does it, though, she exudes an aura of activity and confidence. Despite this, she's not exactly adaptable - she will try to smooth things over when something does not go according to plan, but she finds it very difficult. In a perfect world, everything would be scripted.
As a citizen of the Capitol and a fan of the Hunger Games, Effie is detached from the gore and despair that plagues the tributes until her very own tributes win - and she becomes incredibly attached to them, something she has never encountered before. The result is when disturbing events befall them Effie, instead of being able to keep her distance, becomes emotionally involved, and her eyes are opened somewhat to the realities of what is going on around her. She finds that she cannot ignore the pressing tension between the Capitol and the Districts after she, herself, becomes exceedingly distraught at the fact that Katniss and Peeta must re-enter the arena. This is partially due to the fact that Effie, as a creature of habit, had settled down to the idea of having Katniss and Peeta around forever, just as she had become used to Haymitch. Another part is confusion at the Capitol, and the fact that she can now see through some of the Capitol's actions for what they are. With this in mind, Effie is still developing emotionally.