Jennifer Blackwood

Jennifer Blackwood is the former escort for District 2 and District 9, and currently serves the Capitol as the "Tribute Comfort and Care Administrator".

History
Jennifer Drusilla Saxena was born into the lap of luxury in the Capitol. Her father, Junius Saxena, was a politician and ally of President Snow ’s. Her mother, Daria Malhotra, was also descended from an established Capitol family of public servants. Her first name was a nod to her mother's favorite stories, the ancient Arthurian legends. She grew up well educated and well mannered, above reproach and untouched by the scandalous life with happy childhood memories and a healthy fascination with the Games. One of her hobbies as a child was sending sponsor gifts to tributes every year. This inflated her ego a bit as she placed far too much importance on her own role in the process. She felt strongly that her contributions to individual tributes had significantly aided them in their victories. As a teen she befriended Stephanus Reagan, and as an adult she would fondly recall him as her first love... or her first lover at least.

Jennifer’s mother died when she was thirteen and she assumed a role as her father’s “first lady”, joining him for political events and parties and the like. She began to develop a small but dedicated following in the gossip rags as a fashionable, if untouchable daughter of uber-wealth and privilege. All the while she continued to sponsor tributes. She became convinced that it was her destiny to play a part in the Games, and so at age eighteen, she became the escort for District 9. She cut her teeth as their escort and took her role seriously, working closely with mentor Eva Salazar to secure sponsors for their Tributes. After a few years, one of her Tributes was crowned victor and she found herself promoted to escorting District 2.

For a brief moment, she was over the moon with happiness. However, it all came to an abrupt end two years after she was promoted to District 2’s escort when her father had a falling out with President Snow and shortly after died. Although his death was declared natural, Jennifer always suspected foul play was involved, perhaps a political execution. She had always been devoted to her father and found herself encompassed by grief. As such, she quietly took a leave of absence for a year until she could recover.

After the extended mourning period, she emerged from her shell to begin escorting again. In order to better promote he tributes, became a fixture of chat shows and became generally well recognized as a popular spokesperson for the games. All the while she remained a staple of gossip magazines due to her high profile and reputation for networking with sponsors. It was at a viewing party that she met Arturas Blackwood, a rising political star about fifteen years her senior. The two were instantly drawn to one another and were married after a whirlwind courtship which was extensively covered in the most fashionable magazines.

Jennifer resigned from her post as escort and settled into life as a politician’s wife. She was content in this role until the destruction of District 3, which led to Jennifer returning to a life of service to the Capitol with the job title “Tribute Comfort and Care Administrator”. Essentially she serves the role of overseeing life in the Tribute Center in a non-police capacity. She is liaison between Peacekeepers, government officials, and escort teams, enforcing stricter regulations through the power of persuasion and bureaucracy rather than brute force.

Presentation
Jennifer is elegant and ladylike, with a bright smile and a sense of style which is completely on point without being too provocative. She is classy, sophisticated, and she knows how to charm and command a crowd. Truth be told, in another world, she might be a politician herself, or maybe even a queen instead of a kept and pampered socialite. She faces the world with a dignified smile and grand and pretty phrases which tend to dazzle those around her into awed silence. She knows the right thing to say and she says it, easily managing people and conversations and directing traffic, as it were. She’s cordial and can command a room without being overt or in-your-face.

Image is incredibly important to her. She always wants to look her best and present herself in the best light. She can be slightly paranoid in that she is certain she is being spied upon 24/7 (let’s be real, she very well may be) so she is incredibly careful about what she says and who she speaks to. It would be devastating for her to forfeit her carefully crafted public persona.

She isn’t a party girl, she’s playing the game to win. As such, Jennifer has an air of deliberation about her. She seems thoughtful, purposeful in her words and actions, as if she’s taken care to choose the precise thing to say. She is a careful person in both appearance and manners, as she believes her every move has a consequence.

That said, she comes across as loyal and devoted to her friends, and she considers the Tributes she works with her friends. It does take a toll on her when they are sent off to die, but she considers/ed it a duty to give them a proper, meaningful death and to supply them with whatever it is that they need in order to stay alive. She has soft spots for Districts Nine and Two especially, having worked with the Tributes and Mentors there previous years.

Motivations
Jennifer's motivations are not as clear cut as they might initially seem. Jennifer began sponsoring tributes when she was a child, about the same age as the tributes themselves. Having been raised in the Capitol culture, she accepted the custom of the Games without question. Initially, she never doubted the beauty of the system, even as she became immersed in it through her work as an escort for District Nine. It wasn’t until she was promoted to District Two that her eyes truly opened. The poverty gap between the two districts stunned her and she finally recognized just how bad the people of Nine had it. This stirred the sympathies within her, but she never truly acted upon them. Instead, she became a star escort, working tirelessly to charm sponsors and win gifts for her Tributes.

This feeds into her ego and her desire to be the heroine of the people. She is trying to do right by the tributes, even as she plays into the system which is oppressing and murdering them for entertainment purposes. She recognizes that there is a problem with the way things are, but she doesn’t quite recognize that her methods of helping people only served to cement the system into place.

She tends to view herself as more important than she really is, in many cases, emphasizing her own contributions to projects when she in truth had little to do with the outcome. It isn’t meant maliciously, she is simply self-centered enough to attempt it. As it stands now, she isn’t yet ready to make a bold move or speak out against the Capitol. She’s had a grand life and she loves her existence. However she at least is beginning to understand that it is problematic and may in the future be persuaded to consider other points of view.

Her relationship with Arturas is central to her existence at this point in her life. While there is indeed affection between the spouses, their marriage is hardly based on romantic love alone. Arturas is quite openly using his beautiful and popular wife to further his political goals. After all, she is the daughter of a late legend and associate of President Snow and is a well known public figure in her own right. She is an asset to his political aspirations. But it’s shortsighted to say that Jennifer is entirely above reproach in terms of their relationship. Her husband is a security blanket for her, a means of securing her status within Capitol society. Her place in the world is tied to his success, even if her efforts to reform life in the Tribute center fail. This is a direct reflection of her relationship with her father. She sees herself both as an instrument to boost her husband's agenda, and as an independent figure, bolstered by Arturas' political connections.

Storyline
Jennifer was unhappy to be called back to serve the Capitol, but with little room to protest, she settled back into a life of public service. Following the murder of Penny Hsiang, she was threatened by several Tributes and sought the protection and guidance of Peacekeeper Buddy Glass.

Later, she hosted the mass reaping for the third Mini Arena. After that point she began to reevaluate her methods, deciding it might be wiser to work closely with Tributes to gain them positions of higher influence. She secured a position with the Peacekeepers for Terezi Pyrope as her first project.

Around this time, she began a friendship with her replacement as District 2's escort, Calendius Rey. Knowing him as a flighty, careless young man from her youth, Jennifer didn't think much of his prospects as an escort, but Cal slowly impressed upon her his devotion to the task.

Family

 * Arturas Blackwood (husband, NPC)
 * Junius Saxena (father, deceased)
 * Daria Saxena (mother, deeceased)
 * Sadie Doyle (cousin through marriage)

Ex-lovers

 * Stephanus Reagan

Associates & Friends

 * Eva Salazar
 * Calendius Rey