breabraddock

[breabraddock]

@riiseandfall​

It had been a long time since Brea had felt so powerless. Everything felt so wrong, so out of her control. What she needed now was some fresh air, or better yet a hard drink. Unfortunately, a glance at her hand-crafted wristwatch suggested that the bar would be occupied by the mid-morning crowd, whom Brea had made an active effort to avoid being associated with.

Instead, she settles on coffee. She hated the Capitol for many reasons, but even she had to admit their caffeine was far superior to anything found in District 10. She makes her order at the hotel’s café and while waiting for drink, she can’t help but be distracted by the sound of rapid typing against a keyboard, drawing a bemused smile to her lips. 

“So, Io, are you actually doing anything on that thing or do you just hit random keys?” Brea asks as she catches the eye of the typist, “I mean don’t get me wrong, it looks fun-- I just have to know what has you tapping around with such a vengeance.”

[breabraddock]

closed to cassia ashfall ( @exitio )

There’s a lump in her throat that sits heavy as Brea processes all that has just happened. Her son, her darling Landon, the sweet boy that had saved her from the brink despair with his doe eyes and determination was to be sent into the games. The games that had torn her family and life to unrecognizable shreds. It was all too easy to go tunnel visioned until a wisp of perfectly curled blonde hair catches her eye. 

As much as her heart ached to lock herself in her room and hideaway from the world she knew she had to stay strong, not just for Landon, but for each and every person she cared for. She doesn’t remember all too much of Cassia’s games, just the girl that came out, a girl she knew she had to look out for in the minefield that was the capitol. So when she sees the girl walking through the hallway, she can’t help but pull her aside.

“Cass,” she says softly, “I heard about your sister...they got my son, too. It makes me sick.” There’s a million things to ask, a million things left unsaid, but all Brea can do is offer an open hand. “Regardless of everything, you know I’m here for you, right?” she reassures, “You can always talk to me.”

[breabraddock]

aishwarya rai . cis woman . she/her ➶ did you see them ?! they’re finally back as a mentor , and you know they’re one of my favourites ! it’s brea braddock , the forty-eight year old winner of the fifty-ninth hunger games! i’m just so excited to see them returning to the capitol all the way from district ten! they won their games using a cleaver so their tributes will no doubt be desperate for their wisdom. the capitol just loved them for being so kind, even if they have been known to be volatile at times. they do have a tribute in this years games ( son ) . ( character is part of the uprising ) ~~ penned by rach. 22. she/her.

BASICS

full name: brea braddock

age: forty-eight

gender / pronouns: cis woman , she / her

sexual orientation: heterosexual 

occupation: mentor

district: ten

victory: 59th hunger games (won at age 15)

BACKGROUND (cw: violence, beatings, death, guns, blood, suicide)

Brea was born to a middle class family in district ten. Her mother was a schoolteacher while her father was a butcher and beloved figure of the community. As the family’s only child, Brea was taught her father’s trade from a very young age, as she was poised to one day take over her father’s shop. 

As a young child, Brea’s father taught her the importance kindness, as they would spend the end of each day bringing extra meat scraps to the district’s orphanages and homeless population. While Brea adored and admired her father to no end, she would always be the spitting image of her lion-hearted mother in both image and soul. Against her father’s more pacifist ways, with her fiery heart and quick tongue Brea was never one to back down from (or really, start) a fight. 

With age, however, came maturity and as a young teenager Brea had successfully perfected the art of swallowing her fire, taking on the guise of a well-cultivated businesswoman. Perfectly pleasant, Brea learned to bat her lashes and greet customers with a smile as a sharp as her knives.

THE GAMES

At 15, Brea is reaped much to the shock of her parents who ensured she never had to take out tessare. Her parents had always expressed silent displeasure for the games but her reaping set off a ferocity in mother that she had never seen before. In the goodbye room, her mother refuses to leave her side, clinging on to her with a grasp so tight that the peacekeepers are forced to intervene. Her mother fights back and in the midst of a messy struggle, one peacekeeper’s gun goes off, with a bullet lodging itself into her mother’s chest.

Shocked and frightened, Brea is rushed on the train screaming and crying until her district partner successfully manages to calms her down. Brea hugs him tightly unable to let him go until her escort gently guides her away and washes away her tears before returning her to the rest of her team. At 17 years old, Buck is tall, strong, and clever-- everything a victor should be-- but he’s also naïve. Against the advice of their shared mentor, he partners with the boy from four and girl from seven, leaving Brea to face the arena alone. 

Anger blurs most of Brea’s time in Capitol as she rails against just about every rule and regulation the Capitol puts in place. It’s only when they threaten the life of her father does she finally begin to play nice. She forces herself to close her eyes and swallow her fire, pretending she’s in her father’s shop trying her best to make a sale-- only this time she’s selling herself. Against all odds, Brea enters the arena as mild favorite of the capitol, as the gambling folk see her as a risky but exciting investment. 

Brea’s games last a short but brutal 3 days. Trapped on a single large boat with only weapons and water, the proximity of the tributes ensure the 59th games are a bloody bash to be remembered. After narrowly escaping the bloodbath which ended with her first kill (the twelve year old girl from three), Brea manages to hide out the next day with Forrester,  the boy from seven, avoiding the massive career showdown that resulted in the death of all the careers including Buck and his allies. The finale sees Brea against Forrester and girls from six and four.

While Forrester takes down the girl from four and Brea manages to take down the girl from six with a perfectly angled knife slice, they are ultimately left them to face each other. At first neither are willing to make the first move, hesitant to break their tentative allyship. But when Forrester finally lunges for her, something in Brea breaks and she lets her rage explode as she brutalizes his body with her knife. With blood splattered across her face, Brea is crowned the victor of the 59th Hunger games. 

THE AFTERMATH

Brea returns home to impressive fanfare. The first victor in countless years, Brea is celebrated and adored by her district. Her father, however, is unable to look at her. All he can see is his deceased wife and brutal killer. Twelve days after her return, there’s an accident at the butcher’s shop the results in her father’s death. They say he bled out after a knife slice gone horribly wrong, but Brea knows in her heart that father was far too skilled a craftsman to allow such a thing to happen.

After so much pain and grief within such an unbearably short period of time, Brea becomes a recluse. She keeps quiet and to herself, rarely leaving her home in Victor’s Village. She spends years doing nothing more than holing up in her home during the year and doing her best to mentor tributes during the games. 

She makes peace with withering away, until one day, while picking up some food in the market, is she approached by a young boy, desperate for her cut of meat. She eventually learns that the boy has lost both his parents and instead of merely giving away him her food, she takes him home with her, in addition to his younger brother. Two years later, Brea’s house is home to a total of four adoptive children-- Landon (16), Hyde (13), Lennox (9), and Frida (8). 

The Braddock household is loud, chaotic, as Brea's home becomes something of a foster home for children in need, clothing and feeding whomever she can until they find a more permanent place to stay. She even erects a schoolhouse in honor of her parents, located in the poorer part of the district, where she among other kind members of the community teach trades to the children of the district. Her school and home serve as good covers for discussion of possible rebellion activity. 

All finally seems to be well until the 94th games roll around and Landon is reaped, much to Brea’s horror. Despite being given the opportunity to volunteer, Brea knows she can’t because she needs to make sure she can take care of her other children. 

[breabraddock]

Aishwarya Rai at the 75th Cannes Film Festival

[breabraddock]