Application to boxmods

[coolerwithamerman]

Player Information
Player name: Ramen
Contact:
aim- legalgargoyle
plurk - socalramen
email - carolynpoddig@gmail.com (OR) rpcomments@yahoo.com
Are you over 18: si si.
Characters in The Box Already: Lindsey McDonald, Christina Wendall.

Character Information
Character Name: Steven Hadley
Canon: Cabin in the Woods.
Canon Point: Mid-Film. Just after the "betting pool" on the deaths of the kids. Having lost his wager and suddenly ending up stuck on a similar if not different "killing floor", Hadley is going to be
Is your character Dead, Undead or Alive:
History: I really am rooting for her - Yeah! TEQUILA!
Personality:

We're introduced to Hadley in both the movie and book complaining about how his wife is babyproofing their home for a child that they have not yet conceived. He's amused by the whole experience, but sensitive when his friend Sitterson calls him on it. It's a brief argument and one that is quickly resolved. Hadley is stable enough to have a best friend. He's stable enough to be married. If he's stable enough to maintain two incredibly important relationships, then he must be normal. He's cracking jokes and shown to be the funnier guy out of the pair. All and all overly normal and a good partner to Sitterson-his comrade at the board.

Hadley functions well with Sitterson, the two of them are an ideal team with one anticipating the other's moves. While that shows that Steven Hadley cares about his friend, it also shows that he's good in a crisis and used to being in a team environment. He is said to be a "by the numbers guy" and lacking the creativity of his partner (while Sitterson thinks of the creative touches like extra moonlight and raising the temperature, Hadley thinks more in terms of the scenario-in terms of the numbers and how accurate everything in the ritual will be. We later learn that Sitterson is the "creative aspect of the team" (he admits that he was in story-writing the horror scenarios) while Hadley was the by-the-numbers individual who was concerned with accuracy.

That's not to say that Sitterson didn't have his own concerns about accuracy. His friend took a light-hearted approach to the organization but when it came down to it he earned his position as technician one. If anything Hadley needed to loosen up, to be more at ease. According to Sitterson at the slightest thing going wrong he would begin to stress-worrying and relying on his partner to assist him. That demonstrates, he's used to a team environment. He's used to playing by the rules in a group.

That also demonstrates there is a very clear line between on the job and off the job. That's his defense mechanism. There's no relaxing or taking joy in your work when the situation starts. He's focused on working and most likely won't relax until the situation/scenario is over.
His biggest weakness? When one bleeds into the other. What he needed to do was take joy in his work, what he did was allow the stress and fear of doing his job to remain firmly divided from his personal life and relaxation. Consequently, doing his job made him stressed and he does not-did not-have a healthy way of dealing with either job related stress or personal stress. One bled into the other. As Sitterson commented the day of the final scenario (day zero) "His head was not in the right place at all."

The fact is, these men are so normal they're not normal. They're fighting psychosis. Sitterson and Hadley play almost cruel practical jokes when on the job, and a degree of laxity that-given the severity of their profession would not be acceptable. It's safe to say that their situation could not have gone on much longer-even Sitterson himself states Hysteria is the first sign of a loss of control and most likely even after their narrow break they would have been replaced or been forced (or forced themselves) into some kind of further conditioning.

He's married, and likes to crack jokes. He's the more human of the two technicians-admitting that he's rooting for Dana. He seems to be out to crush his humanity however and further divide work from play-evidenced by the way he instantly goes for the drink however. He wants Sitterson's detachment from the situation. The way he treats him, looking to him-acting in more of a supporting role says that while they're partners-Sitterson has seniority. Hadley is the second banana, the beta wolf, and he likes it that way.

The concept of religion and it's place in the world is something that also figures into Cabin in the Woods. Sitterson (Richard Jenkins) is "religious", or seemingly more worshipful then Hadley. During the initial death (the whore) he has a pendant that he kisses and makes a worshipful gesture with. Hadley utters the same prayer but does not make the same (if you'll pardon the reference) almost Catholic movements. That suggests to me that there is a man of science and a man of faith in the control room and Hadley is the man of science. He takes the path of splitting himself from the work (much like a scientist) and instead engrosses himself in being amused by the work and demonstrating an interest in each of the monster's technical aspects.

They are not creatures to be "feared", rather they are creatures to be studied and he has distanced himself from thinking about them in an "afraid" mindset. Chances are there is no one in the facility who knows what monster would perform best in what ratio (having started his career in statistics he comes by that honestly). His obsession with mermen stems both from that and from a childish desire to see one. Having grown up in a sea-fairing environment (it's the only explanation for his love affair with the ocean) he perhaps was a strong swimmer, he perhaps dreamed of the day when he'd meet one.

However as an adult he insists it is because he has never seen a merman perform successfully. No one, in his tenure at the corporation has ever transgressed because of a merman. He wants to see one, yearns to see one. Less as a man of faith (unlike Sitterson who would want to see the gods will) and more as a man of science-and what better creature to study then the rare merman?


Abilities, Strengths and Weaknesses:

Steven Hadley has the strength of a limp noodle, the magical skill of a wet rock soaked in mud, and the mental acuity of - a NASA engineer.

That part's headcanon, but let's be honest while Gary is much more of a story man (in the book he is explained as having started out in the "Story" department, which leads to head canon that he's a washed out hollywood writer) Hadley is all about the numbers. Between that and his cool nature under pressure, Hadley was a NASA engineer.

That's not to say he's not familiar with every single creature that the zoology department has to offer. Not because he wants to be but because he has to be. There's nothing to be said about his work ethic. Basically he does this because it's a matter of survival. He's also familiar with the inner workings of the killing floor which could be a blessing or a curse depending on the scenario. He's a math guy - used to crunching numbers and cataloguing items.

That's all headcanon however.

Personally he's more then moderately competent in his work, and is also familiar with the operations of four different kinds of firearms, as well as basic military procedure.

Samples

Network/Action Spam Sample:

[Hadley's shirt is a little too white, his hair a little too combed, his face a little too absolutely bone-chillingly terrified.]

Okay. Okay. This stopped being funny awhile ago. Someone give me the frequency that we're using. Gary? Russ? This is the greatest joke ever. Ha Ha Ha. You're hilarious.

[He's pale and shaking]

I'm serious. Please guys. Open the damn door and let me back in. Seriously this is funny but this is the kind of thing they'll shoot us over.

[his laugh is high and shaking] We're on kind of a deadline now. Come on guys.

Guys?

[action; Hadley can be found at the bar, staring intently at a map of the town. This is a lot bigger then story's last schema. A lot bigger. After doing that he can be found tapping on the floors and doors like a madman. Come on now people. This has stopped being funny.]

Third Person Sample:

He is being led down.

"We going all the way down?" his voice is light, the room oppressive and stiff, "...I mean we're not..."

Another voice, a man, "No no. Only the director goes down there. Don't know how she can stand it. No-this is uh...after the background check, the deposits to the bank account and all that shit...this is the final step."

"You're making it sound like an initiation."

A hollow laugh.

"...Gary?"

When the room fades in again it is distinctly sharp. There is a symbol on the wall that appears burned into the wood. Adorned around all of them is pipe and coils.

A heartbeat is pounding in the background. There is a woman dressed in all white with a hood obscuring her features. Faint tendrils of red hair curl from the end of her hood.

"Who comes, to offer the initiate?"

Hadley's voice, in voice over. They have got to be kidding me.

There's some dim mumbling and the symbol before the altar burns, seemingly filled with fire.

"And so you have passed through the trials of man you must now pass through those of the gods."

More voice over, This is crazy

"You must know catharsis."

I'm a scientist. I'm an areospace engineer!

Three more figures dressed in white emerged and led a wolf, a sheep with big horns, and a deer to the altars. They step back, respectful, and kneel.

"You must be baptized in the wolf, the ram, and the heart. The gods that we adhere to. They have given their sons to us so that we may know the god's power."

The heart beat grows louder, "...Gary-"

"Shut up and kill the fucking animals Steve." And there's red. They had to hold the wolf down and demonstrate-one swift slash across the creature's throat. It spilled over hands that had never harmed another living creature. My shirt's ruined.

The ram was easier then the wolf. Hadley's hands are more practiced but there's still that red flush straight at the camera.

He's red from almost head to heel by the time he gets to the stag. There's a primal moment when he does not need an acolyte to hold the creature and in one motion the timid scientist pulls back the creature's neck and severs it quick and clean. More then anything I want this to be over.

"...Fuck." He's heaving, "Jesus fucking Christ." The viewer can see Sitterson, looking anxious. Is he telling me not to throw up? I'd sure as shit like to.

The knife clatters to the ground. Sitterson rises and kneels before the woman in white. When he turns to him he gestures, "Dude bow your head."

He hangs a necklace around his neck. The same symbol burned into the wall.

"You are baptized in the old ways." The priestess intoned, "You are blessed by the wolf, the ram, and the hart. You have proven yourself worthy to the ancient ones. They have sacrificed their blood for you. Do not disappoint."

The dream shifts and he is in a room. There are five symbols carved into the stone-ancient drawings red with blood.

The heartbeat reaches a crescendo. Down the stairs there is a simple smiling man. Hadley wants to ask questions, the camera of his dream is shaking badly. He has never been a man of faith.

"We are but animals blessed with an eternal soul. There go you but for the grace of me."

Silence from him. The god stares with the wisdom of the ages.

"Behold I have slain my sons for you. Go forth and do my will. You shall take five of your best and brightest and bring them to my altar as it has been decreed and you and your brothers and sisters in arms will slaughter them. Fail to do as I have commanded and you shall be punished."

Science and Faith are equal in all respects. Even their moments of stupidity. A smart man would have remained quiet.

"Why?"

Maybe Hadley was the fool after all.

And the god turned back and there was a flash-the quickest flash-of movie theaters. Great crowds cheering, sitting back, the lights going up, clapping, cheering...

"...There's never anything good on TV."

And the god laughs and it is the most terrible sound that anyone has ever heard. The history of sound is shattered and must be made anew as the god vanishes and Hadley stares-covered in gore (or is that the dream?) and then...