Leonhard Sumner

Leonhard Sumner is a tribute made by Xax. Please don't use Marino without his permission.

"He never wants to strip down to his feelings; he never wants to kiss and close his eyes, he never wants to cry."

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Name: Leonhard ‘Leon’ Sumner

Age: 18

District: 1

Gender: Male (he/him)

Appearance: Karl Stuke

Height: 6’2

Sexuality: Bisexual, Demiromantic

Personality: Boys do not cry. At least that’s what all of his father’s lectures came down to. Most likely due to him being conservative and the upbringing he instilled in Leon, the young adult is basically someone who on the surface appears to be the stereotype of what a man should be in the conservative culture: emotionally reserved, insensitive, proud, opinionated, dominant and stoic. He’s so emotionally guarded that even his facial expression seldom changes from his ever-resting poker face.

Personality: Boys do not cry. At least that’s what all of his father’s lectures came down to. Most likely due to him being conservative and the upbringing he instilled in Leon, the young adult is basically someone who on the surface appears to be the stereotype of what a man should be in the conservative culture: emotionally reserved, insensitive, proud, opinionated, dominant and stoic. He’s so emotionally guarded that even his facial expression seldom changes from his ever-resting poker face.

It has only been until recently that Leon started development a critical judgement of his own to really start thinking for himself about who he really is, in contrast to who he’s been told he should be. As of lately, he’s been trying to become more empathetic of others and to value feelings and convictions over logic and practicality, but it still proves to be difficult for him. In this way, he is easily annoyed by people that tend to overthink absolutely everything and are easily swayed by smoke and mirrors.

He’s firm, determined and obstinate in his other ways, and dislikes being challenged as he’d of the belief that not many others are able to pull things off as splendidly as he can. He appreciates humour, and in fact, actively seeks for it in his partners and companions, but he is rarely found to be the one dishing quips or witty remarks. While he isn’t notably silent, it’s his traits and overall aloof attitude that often endow him with a mysterious and brooding aura that others are either attracted to or driven away by it.

Fatal Flaw: Perhaps Leon’s most dangerous characteristic would be his unwavering pride. While it has so far proved to be useful in most instances to build his character and confidence, it also makes it near impossible for him to apologise to others, admit to being in fault, confess to needing help, or even come off as vulnerable to the people closest to him.

Backstory/History: 

Break-ins weren’t a common happening in District 1. Most people thought that it was because the law was actually enforced in the District, as opposed to the other outlying ones, but in reality, it was just that the crimes committed in the luxury region were more of the corporate kind as opposed to petty violence.

Still, they occurred from time to time, and the Sumner household was unfortunate enough to have to go through one. Athos Sumner had made a name for himself after managing to become the vice-president at an important luxury commercialisation company at a relatively young age. He’d married the woman of his dreams, a warm beauty of large hazel eyes and vibrant scarlet hair that draped all the way down to the small of her back.

Her kindness and generosity was unmatched in a place where the norm seemed to be greedy and possessive. While these traits had been what had caught young Athos’s attention at first, he sadly didn’t share them. If anything, he was of the thought that only those who worked hard should receive the rewards for it.

The two youths, however, were happy with each other for the most part. They bickered on end when their vast differences were revealed, but their love was genuine and they always seemed to overcome their difficulties. It even seemed that little by little, Athos was starting to leave his old ways behind, and that Astrid was more appreciative of her husband’s hard work and consecutive success, but alas, in one of those dark, silent nights, two burglars forced an entry to their home.

The baby Leonhard was only months old by then, and he had been sleeping soundly in his crib when he’d heard noises and woken up to a bawling fit. This, in turn, had awakened his parents, who also found something to be amiss. Astrid had gone and locked the nursery room to ensure Leon’s safety before following her husband to catch the vandals redhanded. Athos’s approach had been a violent one, and he’d threatened to contact the Peacekeepers if the two delinquents didn’t leave their home immediately, but they were armed and soon got the upper hand of the situation.

Astrid was quick to speak up and tell the burglars to take whatever they wanted as long as they left them alone, to which Athos complained, but there really wasn’t much he could do. While one of the two kept his weapons raised to the young couple, the other raided the place. He warned them against doing anything suspicious.

The real problem came when the raider reached for Leon’s bedroom, and Astrid, heeding her maternal instincts, stretched a hand out and shouted out, begging him not to open that one door. The guardian, however, interpreted that as a hostile move, and inflicted a wound on the woman’s chest.

Athos, horrified, jumped to catch his wife in his arms and cried as he saw the life drain from her orbs. He felt useless. Powerless. Miserable. He hadn’t been a proper husband. Hadn’t managed to keep her alive. Hadn’t protected her. Of course there hadn’t been anything he realistically could have done, but one’s thoughts have a way of poisoning the most rational of thinkers.

The vandals exchanged glances and upset remarks, but Athos heard none of it. Not when they screamed, not when they ran past him, and not when they left. He only cradled the lifeless cadaver of the being who’d been his everything but now was nothing.

He promised himself he’d raise his son to be the man that he couldn’t be for Astrid. A strong man that protected his family. It didn’t help that he already had very old-fashioned outlooks on gender roles, and if anything, these had only been reinforced. As soon as Leonhard was through with his infancy, he was chastised every time he showed any signs of vulnerability.

Crying was a weakness.

Fear, a challenge.

Pain, a nuisance.

And so on and so forth. If it weren’t for Leon’s growing audacity, strength of character, and presence, it would have seemed as if Athos was raising a robot. As a child eager to please his only parent, Leonhard never questioned his motives, and instead treasured every word that came from his father’s mouth as an absolute truth.

Upon hitting puberty, Leon discovered he didn’t have it easy making friends, but that didn’t matter. Being liked by others wasn’t part of his purpose. The less interested others were in him, the harder it would be for anyone to find his weaknesses.

As a man of tradition and a loyalist at heart, Athos personally trained Leon how to fight. Without Hunger Games, the career academies had predictably become obsolete, but he’d be damned if his own son didn’t know how to wield at least three different weapons with excellence. It was sometimes hard making a routine out of it, given Athos’s job, but without any friends to speak of, they always seemed to find some time here and there.

Not many were jealous of him until Athos became the actual president of the company, when their lives seemingly took a turn for the better.

They were unsurprisingly very wealthy, but with that higher position came more responsibilities, and the promotion seemed to drive a wedge in between the two males. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Leonhard started reading whatever he could get his hands on, but he found philosophy to be particularly interesting. It taught him how to think for himself and to make way for his own opinions and beliefs.

It was strange and difficult at first. Anything that strayed the slightest bit from what he’d been taught was borderline sacrilege. But with time his own values stopped making sense to him. Why should he stop himself from nurturing relationships with other people when in time they could prove useful? Why should he be pragmatic for everything when sometimes being creative could yield better results?

Unfortunately this led to a constant state of discord in between Athos and Leonhard. The first noticed how the latter stopped being as docile and obedient as he used to, and it started grinding his gears. But that soon came to an end as well.

Hearing about the sudden fall of District 2 to the Loyalists was a great cause of celebration for Athos. Finally Panem was coming back to its senses. But Leon wasn’t sure about his stance on the whole topic.

He supposed that the Loyalist cause was a compelling one, but the again, was that him thinking? Or was it him repeating what he’d been hearing over and over again for his whole life? He did find the whole concept of the Hunger Games to be idiotic, after all. Offering children of his age to be massacred and celebrating it? But then again, the Rebels who’d been attempting to rule Panem for the past few decades hadn’t seemed to be doing a great job at it. The country was in constant chaos, and soon, district after district started falling into Loyalist control.

District 1 was reclaimed, and suddenly many people turned out to be secret supporters of the Loyalists. None of this helped him make up his mind. He was tempted to think of himself as neutral, but what would he be then but an indecisive, passive spectator watching his country being torn to pieces?

He didn’t have much time to make up his mind. Only a few days later after District 6 had been reclaimed by the cause, he woke up somewhere he’d never been in.

Break-ins weren’t a common happening in District 1. Still, they occurred from time to time, and the Sumner household was unfortunate enough to have to go through two. The first one had ended with Astrid being taken away from Athos. For the second one ended with Leonhard being taken away.

Athos found fate to be too cruel with him, for at least with his late wife, he’d been left with a body to mourn.

Loyalist or Rebel: Loyalist (though his allegiance for the cause is quickly wavering).

Habits/Mannerisms: As a result from having his father relinquish any bad habits he used to have, he’s rarely found doing anything with his hands. However, he sometimes bounces his leg and to cope with high anxiety he may eat or chew excessively onto food, just to have something to do with his mouth as it helps him think. If there’s nothing handy to eat then he’ll bite extremely small particles from his tongue.

Dominant Hand: Ambidextrous

Primary Weapon: Halberd

Alternate Weapon: Battle-axe

Strengths:
 * Undecipherable: Given his active lack of display of emotion and weaknesses, it becomes near impossible for others to really see through Leon and find the chinks in his armour or predict his future moves.
 * Pragmatic: While not a strong a straight as it used to be, it still rings true to Leon that most things should be taken care of as easily and effectively as possibly; giving more importance to logic and practicality, which has led him to success in multiple occasions.
 * Strong Character: Leonhard’s presence is an imposing one, and he’s got an innate sense of leadership and commanding of other people, as well as knowing how to prove himself through his fighting skills or physical strength when needed to ensure his status.

Weaknesses:


 * Pride: As mentioned before, this characteristic of his deprives him from really making substantial emotional connections with others or even be detrimental to him in other ways.
 * Philosophically Indecisive: This basically means that he is currently going through the very straining process of creating his own beliefs, and in a lot of instances he isn’t sure about his stance on different topics, namely which cause to support, or if being stoic is really what’s best for him.
 * Guarded: While he does know how to socialise and stay on people’s good graces, he may have a hard time really making significant process in relationships with people due to his emotionally closed-off nature.

Fears:


 * Acrophobia: Perhaps an ironic fear for someone who’s allegedly fearless, Leonhard’s afraid of heights. While it is something he can usually control if it’s not too high, it becomes almost unbearable if it is from several stories high.
 * Never Finding Himself: Definitely a recently-acquired disturbance, Leon’s genuinely in a constant state of worry of not figuring out who he really is and believes in as opposed to who he’s made to be and believe in. Occasionally, and only after critical happenings, this can lead to a full-on identity crisis.

Other information:


 * Leon has never been in a romantic relationship yet, but he secretly yearns for one.
 * The general idea is for Leonhard to progress and develop psychologically throughout the course of the Games, and maybe even adopt the Rebel cause or even start resenting his own father.

Trivia:
 * The names Astrid and Athos are inspired by Astrid and Athos Dane by the Shades of Magic trilogy by V.E Schwab.
 * Leonhard was in part inspired by the song "Cry" by Carly Rae Jepsen.