Atticus Rockwell

Atticus Rockwell is a tribute made by Xax. Please don't use Atticus without his permission."One eye open and one eye closed. 'Cause I'll hang myself if you give me rope."

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Name: Atticus Rockwell

Age: 17

District: 2

Gender: Male

Appearance: Gregg Sulkin

Height: 5’10

Personality:

There are a few phrases to which Atticus's life philosophy could be reduced to. One of them most notably being "the end justifies the means" and another "slow and steady gets the job done". He knows that all things worth achieving take time, effort, and strategy, and he is conscious about the fact that they don't happen from one day to the other. Atticus is very self-aware in the sense that he doesn't delude himself neither negatively, nor positively. He is fully aware of his capabilities, strengths, weaknesses and limitations. He doesn't think he's better than he really is, but he also easily acknowledges to himself his areas of improvement as he finds that's the only way to work on them and become better at them as soon as possible. He is indomitably strong-willed and efficient. He is very sure of his decisions and his actions because he'd thought about them for a long time and has come to the conclusion that they entail the best course of action after analysing all the possible outcomes.

Some would describe him as ruthless, and it may seem like that to an outsider, but in reality, there is much more to it. He is a logical thinker that upon evaluating what has to be done, will be done regardless of the consequences it might bring to others, and will be done either directly by him or indirectly, whether that may involve having him manipulate other people into doing it or simply causing it as an "accidental" happenstance. Socially speaking, he's usually extroverted and charming, which makes it easy for others to take a liking to him and stay on his good graces. He appreciates intelligence and creativity in others, and though he wouldn't probably admit it out loud, he enjoys having his quick wit matched and even challenged. Making plans and having them unfold satisfactorily produces in him a pleasure that is otherwise difficult to achieve in him.

It could really be said that Atticus's usually two steps ahead of his competition. He is conniving and strives to maintain control over situations and other people. Not one to easily trust others or actively seek for others' true trust, he's a bit of a cynic who believes that ultimately convenience will trump others' loyalty, so he merely makes sure to make it convenient for others to follow him or trust him (if only for the time being). He's had to learn about others' situations and is willing to exploit almost anyone for his own benefit. Emotionally, however, Atticus has a hard time matching what he feels with how he acts upon it. It is usually challenging for him to reconcile his cold way of thinking with his natural human emotions, and in turn tends to either ignore them, or repress them.

Backstory:

'DISCLAIMER: This backstory includes sexual and abusive themes, graphic violence and trauma and mentions suicide. If any of these are triggers for you please refrain from reading it. Reader discretion advised.'

The Rockwell family was one that—at least within District 2—was as influential as they came. Though they hardly cared for politics, it was no secret that every diplomat and high-ranking official that visited District 2’s bustling capital stayed at the Rockwell Mansion—a family heirloom from generations past turned into the unofficial accommodation choice for guests who held power and sway over society across Panem. It had been this way for over a century, and it certainly didn’t seem liked it would change soon enough.

What wasn’t of common knowledge, however, was that beneath said mansion stood District 2’s largest and wildest pleasure house. Though such an establishment was strictly speaking against the law, its influential clients where both powerful and wise enough to keep the place running and not to spread the word lightly and be discrete about their liaisons. After all, such a place catered to many a man and woman’s darkest desires and fantasies in such a way that was impossible to find elsewhere. The truth was that instead of the hotel façade that they led most of the world to believe was their main source of substantial income, it was instead the pleasure house beneath it that was their main business and sustenance.

Atticus was born the second child to the Rockwells, four years after their firstborn Kaiser, who was groomed from the start to become the successor of the family business. The two lead what could be described as rather happy and uneventful childhoods within the context of District 2’s thriving economy and good standing with the Capitol. They received the best education there was and where both charismatic enough to make friends and have a healthy social life.

It wasn’t until Kaiser was twelve, though, that he was informed by his parents about the real business where they made their money. He was finally old enough to know and not be indiscrete about it. Atticus was perhaps smarter than Kaiser, or at least more observant, because not longer after his brother was let in on the secret, he was quick to connect the dots and figure things out.

While he was too young to fully understand the implications of such a situation or make up his own moral stance on it, he understood enough to keep quiet and learn from afar. After two years of finding out as much as he could from the shadows, he was much too intrigued by the secrecy of it all to wait two more years until his parents officially told him about it, so instead he approached them and told them he wanted in. His parents, surprised, though perhaps not as concerned as two normal parents would be at such a prospect, decided he would learn about the business alongside Kaiser effective immediately.

They were both too young to witness what they did as they entered adolescence with a distorted and artificial notion of the pleasures of the body, but both boys took it in in two very drastically different ways. Though both were more power-hungry and competitive than what was healthy for their age, Kaiser became salacious, lustful and grew to gain pleasure from others’ submission and pain. Atticus, on the other hand, became much too insensitive to everything that was related to the body’s desires. His rationality forbade him from seeing such acts as mere transactions, as leverage, and he knew that he who seemed to gain pleasure in the shadows once because he couldn’t find it elsewhere was only bound to go looking for it twice. That meant addiction, and addiction was synonymous to weakness. If he wanted leverage, then he knew better than to be on the vulnerable side of it.

By the time Atticus was fourteen and most of his peers had started having their awakening to attraction, he only got better at understanding the inside workings of a pleasure house and what was required to maintain one, but there was nothing to speak of regarding the matters of his desire. Perhaps he was still too young, he thought. Kaiser, however, had been partaking in the pleasures of the business for about two years, though. He had a selection of a few girls who he gave his attention to the most, but he wasn’t one to discriminate and deny himself the opportunity of any girl with the promise of a good night. Atticus remained untarnished.

Suddenly the business started dwindling. Usual lifelong customers suddenly either stopped coming or took longer periods in between visits. The rate of new clients came to an unprecedented plateau, and though the Rockwell family still had more than enough wealth to spare, they were first and foremost business people, and a business that didn’t grow was one that was bound to fail, so they looked into it. Surely such behaviour couldn’t be a coincidence, but rather a pattern.

After rigorous and meticulous investigation, they discovered that a certain pleasure house on an up-and-coming neighbourhood was on the rise after the change in management that followed its senile patriarch’s death. His middle-aged daughter had come forward with fresh eyes and bold ideas that, judging by the rapid rate at which their business seemed to be growing, were nothing short of successful.

This was worrying for the Rockwells for many a reason. They were forced to obtain more girls, from more exotic places for the sake of benchmark and market competition. Thankfully, the people that were privy to such a business still held Rockwell Manor in a higher regard to Hewell Houses. Unfortunately, though said measures regained them some of their old clients, it was still not enough to return the business to how it was, and the Rockwell were faced with a decision that would prove to be more beneficial in the long run.

The Hewells had two children as well, an older Corvinus and the younger Mathilda, and the Rockwells decided that Kaiser was to marry Mathilda as soon as she came of age, though she was of Atticus’s age. That way, the two families would have to come to and understanding and the Hewells would either have to forfeit their pleasure house or at least become an extension of Rockwell Manor. Either way, the Rockwells ended up winning. And so, Kaiser approached the young girl who, although he didn’t have true feelings for, was at least flattered by the attention. The Hewells weren’t blind to the Rockwells ulterior motives, but they were a family that by no means was considered part of the high society and they decided that sharing success and prestige was better than owning wealth but being ignored, so they encouraged the union of the two younglings.

Dinners between both families became common, and even if the Rockwells were initially appalled by their new-money ways and behaviour, they genuinely grew to appreciate their presence and company. Both Corvinus and Kaiser shared their carnal ways and seemingly insatiable sexual appetite. But Corvinus actually cared about consent and didn’t find humiliating others gratifying for a change. Somehow, this intrigued Atticus, who was only two years his junior. The four youths became quite close, but eventually Kaiser slightly drifted apart to pursue his pleasurable endeavours.

Mathilda slowly started falling in love for Atticus, but he was too oblivious to notice, let alone return her affections. Instead, he started taking an interest for Corvinus. Somehow, in his mind, he represented the possibility of pleasure as something that wasn’t neither corrupted nor transactional, which was everything he’d seen in his experience, from Kaiser to the clients at Rockwell Manor. Atticus didn’t feel a sexual attraction to the other male, to be sure—though to be fair, he hadn’t felt such a thing for anyone—but he did find himself enjoying the prospect of developing a closer platonic relationship with him.

Eventually, though, at the Career Academy, Mathilda’s obvious intentions were brought to his attention, and though he initially denied them, he soon found out about their veracity. He enjoyed her company quite a lot and he figured that perhaps it was enough to develop a closer bond with her, so the two started dating in secret lest their parents find out that they were going against their initial wishes of having her as Kaiser’s sentimental partner.

The girl fell head over heels for Atticus in every sense of the word, but the same couldn’t be said for him. Though he did develop stronger romantic feelings for her, he just didn’t feel an animal instinct to claim her body as he knew he probably should. And so, they never consummated their relationship. She mentioned it a few times, only to be denied of it with reasons that made sense to Atticus, but sounded empty to her. Mathilda, however, never pressured him lest he reject her and even considered whether it perhaps was her that was in the wrong. Was she so wrong to want to be intimate with her partner?

By this point, Atticus was already 16 years old, and Kaiser started exerting pressure on him to enjoy the pleasurable perks of the family business, but they were of no real interest for him, so he ignored them. With time, they became more insistent, though, and eventually he agreed to try once a suggestion from his older brother. He never really meant to follow through, just get his sibling off his back, but the latter took it as carte blanche to take matters into his own hands to try and coddle his little brother. This was partly because Kaiser didn’t know about Atticus’s relationship with Mathilda.

And so, it was that for Atticus’s 17th birthday celebration, Kaiser organised alongside the ladies of the pleasure house a lavish saturnalia for the grand finale of the night. The first part of the festivities turned to be quite enjoyable for Atticus, he had a hearty dinner and rich wine with friends, including Mathilda and Corvinus, both of whom had now become the most important people in his life. Unbeknownst to him, however, Kaiser had laced his drink with an aid to make his will more malleable and increase his libido momentarily.

The party died down as the night became older and at the end, once almost everyone was gone and Mathilda momentarily disappeared to go fetch her gift for the birthday boy, Kaiser took Atticus to the pleasure house beneath the mansion. It wasn’t his first time in the dark, windowless establishment, but Kaiser opened a door and took him inside a room in which he’d never been before. There was dried blood crusting in a few spots at the edges of the room, and there were racks upon racks of crop whips, bonds, restrictive wear, shackles and knives galore. What surprised him the most was that at the corner was an unconscious woman hanging from the low ceiling with her clothes tattered and a bruised eye.

He felt a pang in his chest and he knew he should feel some sort of way about the disturbing sight, but his brain was riddled with alcohol and unknown drugs that inhibited his emotions and contempt. Clearly his brother had been exploring darker shades of his inclinations. Luckily, he noted in the part of his brain that was still somewhat active, the woman still seemed to be breathing judging by the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Suddenly, he felt soft lips against the back of his ear and nape, and in his fuzzy state he believed it was Mathilda. He leaned into the intimacy until he felt a second pair of lips against his own, and those most definitely weren’t Mathilda’s.

He pulled back but suddenly there were three of the pleasure girls surrounding him and stimulating him, but he was much too under the influence to be able to keep up his fight for long and even then he was still outnumbered. Kaiser had left the room. The three women were joined by a young man and then another, and he didn’t even register this fact until he saw the face of one of them belonged to Corvinus. The latter could most likely tell that Atticus was about to complain because he placed his index finger over the birthday boy’s lips to silence his unspoken words.

Atticus was then put to the ground and pinned by the other young man as the three women and Corvinus continued with their labour. Considering the only person he actually had a connection with was Corvinus, he, in his affected logic figured he didn’t feel too terrible about such a thing happening with him, but the rest of the participants were bothering him. The substances got to his brain and most likely caused a side effect because now even if he wanted to move or even speak up, he was unable to do so, and so he was left to the mercy of the quintet, their orders and lustful desires.

It was a bad experience in and of itself to have himself be stripped and touched without him really wanting to, even if it did feel like he wanted to at the moment, because he knew that wasn’t like him. What was worse though, was when Mathilda came into the room and found her beloved being corrupted by that amount of people. Perhaps she could have tolerated seeing her boyfriend cheating on her with just another girl, but seeing as it was with not only three girls, but also two guys, and, what was more, her own brother, drove her over the edge.

Having absolutely no context whatsoever of the situation, she watched the beaten unconscious woman in the corner, and her lover doing with four strangers and her kin an adulteration of the very act she’d been craving to share with her partner for over a year. Having had her fair share of alcohol throughout the evening, her mind immediately went to the darkest corners and came to the worst conclusions. With her hands shaking violently and tears of betrayal, hurt, and rage stinging her face, she thrashed the racks on the wall of the room and pulled the sharpest, wickedest knife that her eyes noticed at first sight and attacked the pleasure employees, even as they begged for mercy and plead for their lives by claiming they’d been instructed to do so.

She wasn’t hearing a thing. She was just looking at Atticus’s half-closed eyes and empty expression and listening to the lack of apologies coming from his mouth. Lovesick, unstable, and betrayed at the double, she slit her own brother’s throat after she was done with the others and knelt in front of Atticus and the other fresh corpses with nothing but ire on her visage. Though she truly loved him, she didn’t know how else to express her pain so with a trembling hand she stabbed the immobile youth once. Just when she’d been about to paint a second gash across his chest, Atticus watched a second knife’s blade protrude from her lover’s throat and then retract again as she fell forward onto Atticus’s body.

Even though he couldn’t move, his eyes were still open and he was very much conscious. In front of him stood a shocked Kaiser with genuine concern on his eyes and a bloody knife on his his right hand. Surely the screaming had attracted his attention enough to go and check what had happened. He’d never expected for this to happen but fortunately he’d saved his brother’s life. The whole shock of murdering his bride-to-be for watching her murder five people and attempt to kill his little brother was enough to make him stumble sideways, eyes rolling back and rendering him unconscious, making his knife clatter against the concrete floor and having the dull thud of his body that followed it echo inside the small secret chamber. A second later he heard one of the rack’s contents fall into his brother’s body, seeing as he’d fallen against it, and though he was loath to so much as think about Kaiser at the moment, he secretly hoped it had been the whips to fall onto him. It was out of his peripheral vision, after all. He didn’t think so though.

Unfortunately the only people that knew about Kaiser’s birthday surprise were either dead or unconscious and inside that very same room so no one came to the rescue for the next hour. Nor for the one that followed. Atticus was both in physical and emotional pain. His stab wound stung and he was emotionally scarred after witnessing such horrible events, but he was still unable to move an inch and his body was covered in the limbs of corpses of five strangers, and his two best friends, one which was also his girlfriend. Or used to be, anyways. Even if he couldn’t make the facial gesticulations to cry, he could still feel his eyes moistening and then his cheeks getting wet. By the third hour, he was so frustrated he tried counting the amount of pearls on Mathilda’s necklace, but he couldn’t see it whole, but there were at least 29. He couldn’t sleep, even if he constantly felt he was about to pass out from blood loss. Hopefully Mathilda’s ribcage had fallen against his knife wound so at least there was some pressure against it. The small space felt hot and humid due to its size, and at what he thought was the tenth hour but was really the seventh, the smell started. He felt so miserable, naked, powerless and vulnerable that he swore to himself that if he made it out alive, he’d never be put into a similar position again.

By the ninth hour Atticus had to make peace with the fact that Kaiser had also died. Otherwise he’d surely have awakened by then. His nostrils burned from the stench and his teary eyes were no longer so just from the emotional implication of it all. It was only until then that he blissfully got a few minutes of sleep. But only a few. By the twelfth hour he was both hungry and thirsty, and he wondered why his parents hadn’t found him yet. Did they know about this secret room of Kaiser’s? Were they even looking for him? Did they even care? After fifteen hours he’d both soiled and urinated himself unconsciously and he wondered whether he’d ever be able to move or speak again seeing as for the moment he could only blink, cry, and whimper quietly. It was torture, and he wanted to get the stiffening and bloating extremities from the surrounding bodies to stop touching him every single second but there was not a single thing he could do. More than twice he willed himself to wake up from whatever nightmare he was having to no avail, and two hours later he started hallucinating sounds and nightmarish visions. Eventually, he reached the point where he completely dissociated himself from his body and just felt empty. No pain, no feelings, no thoughts, just a timeless state in between being and not being at all.

It wasn’t until twenty-one hours and forty-seven minutes after the altercation that he heard the door opening behind him and he heard the horrified gasps from his parents and the subsequent screams and sobs that emanated from his mother at the sight in front of her. After that, everything seemed to go against how it had been going so far; way too quickly. Months later, he’d only be able to remember having his mother’s ear pressed against his chest looking for a heartbeat and crying in gratitude upon finding it, being lifted in his father’s arms from the pile of bodies and watching his mother crying from the corner of his eyes in front of her other son’s lifeless body with several knife wounds across his body and a particularly large one that had surely fallen from the rack above him right into one of his eyes. Other than that, his memory skipped all the way onto being on his own bed, somehow cleaned and hydrated but still unable to move and his mother’s voice against his ear telling him everything would be okay, but he knew he only remembered it because he thought how the hell could I ever be okay after this? It took constant care from his parents, a renowned physician and a full week after that to fully recover physically from the drug’s side effects. It begun with a finger twitching at his will and then managing a scowl at his father’s touch on his shoulder on the second day, and ended with him being able to walk and fully raise his arms again at the end of the week.

As was to be expected, everything changed after that. Atticus explained to his parents the events that had unfolded at the best of his knowledge but they all knew that the Hewells wouldn’t accept such an explanation so of course the other young man whose identity was unknown had to take the blame. He’d attacked everyone in the room and Atticus had been the one to finish him off in self defence, but not unscathed.

The Hewells believed it perhaps because they wanted to, but broke all relations with the Rockwells and each family went their own ways with their respective losses. Atticus fell into a deep depression and found no real cause to continue living so he gave his all to training at the career academy. He struggled every single night with nightmares about what had happened and every other night with suicidal thoughts just to make it all go away. On one hand, he didn’t want his parents to go through more pain than they already had, but on the other, what about the pain he was feeling himself? Who was gonna take it away from him if not himself? Then there was the matter of his conflicting feelings and unfinished business with Corvinus, Mathilde and Kaiser. He wanted to hate Kaiser, but he’d genuinely had a good intention, and at the end of the day he’d sacrificed himself for Atticus, let alone the fact that he’d been his brother. And then Corvinus, why had he joined the others in the tryst? Had he had feelings for Atticus or was it merely a display of one of his usual pursuits for pleasure? Had he been drugged as well? And Mathilda? Could he really blame her for what had happened? Wasn’t she just as much of a victim of the situation as he’d been?

It was all these jumbled thoughts that lead him to take the decision of his life. He’d train as much and as best as he could for the following Hunger Games to volunteer in them, and he’d fight for his life one more time. If he won, then he’d know he’d have a life worth living, and if he didn’t, at least the pain and the memories would finally go away. But he wasn’t a coward, and he knew that if he’d cheated death once, he was going to cheat it yet another time.

Primary Weapon: Gladius

Alternate Weapon: Bow and Arrows

Strengths:


 * Awareness: As mentioned before, Atticus is quite aware of his and others' capabilities, strengths, weaknesses and limitations. He isn't the type to be overly confident or insecure about himself, so he knows just how far he can go and will plan accordingly. Hailing from a career district, it's no surprise that his physical abilities are superb and his weapons of choice are his signature for a reason, but he's not arrogant neither to others nor to himself.


 * Strong Will: Perhaps a strength that may seem diluted among the rest of the tributes at first glance considering all of them must have the will to live, but Atticus's determination transcends that of just of survival. He's persistent in all his endeavours and will always take care of the details in order to see his desired end result through. He's patient, meticulous and temperate enough to not let his feelings get the best of him whenever difficulties arise in the complex plans he orchestrates. Obstacles are but challenges of creativity and ingenuity to him.


 * Leadership and Charisma: A natural born leader, Atticus knows damn well how to work a room and how to align his interests to those of other people and be friendly enough to gain their favor but firm enough to have their respect. He's observant and strategic, and can usually tell how people's skills may complement each other or even how to exploit them to his favor.

Weaknesses:


 * Height: It has been brought to his attention, that while by no means he is considered as short considering the Panem average, he is on the shorter side of the tributes from career districts, and while this physically hasn't impeded him yet (and in fact he's learned to both fight with both close and long-range weapons due to this), it has, however, proved for other tributes to not perceive him as physically intimidating or for careers to not see an imposing and towering individual at first glance.


 * Insensitive: Atticus usually has a hard time understanding that others may be more emotionally-driven and less pragmatic than he is, which results in him often getting frustrated with others for their lack of "commitment" (in his eyes, anyway) to getting the job done if it somehow is contradictory with their own moral code, which is usually quite different from his own.


 * Distrust in Others and Emotional Repression: His cynical, and, to an extent, nihilistic outlook on life have lead to him rarely ever trusting others for more than convenience. This also has to do with his emotional repression which can lead to make meaningful connections with others challenging.

Fears:


 * Haphephobia: Touching or being touched directly by others (explained in the backstory).
 * Limited Necrophobia: While not as strong as his other fear, Atticus's got the irrational fear of putrefaction and everything relating to it, including rot and scents of decay (explained in the backstory). He isn't afraid of killing others or fresh corpses, though.

Trivia:


 * Atticus is loosely inspired on the character Dirtyhands.
 * Atticus is an ENTJ in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.