gladys mclain d1 | fin

Gladys' hair is blonde, forming long waves down the sides of her head, which she carefully styles. Shaped eyebrows arch over icy blue eyes the shape of bitter almonds, with a prominent high-bridged nose and soft, curved lips. Her face is rounded, with slight dimples at the corners of her mouth. She almost never goes out without wearing makeup to smooth out her skin, which is pale enough to burn easily, and add color to her face and lips.

Gladys is tall, with a good amount of muscle deposited on her five foot eight frame from her training as a Career. Much of her height comes from her legs, which stretch down to wide, sturdy feet. When she's not training, she can often be seen wearing high heels to accentuate her height, the part of her appearance she takes the most pride in.

She takes great pains to look and dress her best, even when she's tired from training. Being deadly and being fashionable were never mutually exclusive, after all, and impressions were important. Her voice, once high-pitched and monotone when she was younger, has just begun to mellow out into a smoother tone, which she tries to sound seductive with.

Hello again. So, how should I begin? We make such wonderful killing machines in District One. You'd be surprised how many ways there are to end a life. Or maybe you won't be. I'm telling you, you should avoid going near the Training Center. Well, if you enjoy staying alive. I wouldn't mind changing that for you if you want, just so you know.

Uhhh, no thanks. Err, anyways, Gladys is the very image of a remorseless Career from One, and quite proud of that. Her ruthlessness is only rivaled by her pettiness; she enjoys passive-aggressively insulting others and relies on emotional manipulation to get what she wants, in addition to physical threats of violence. She won't hesitate to lie to others, and is particularly untrustworthy when talking about her own feelings. She likes to make people think she's simpler than she really is - it makes them easier to manipulate, after all.

She also tends to hold grudges, not easily forgiving anyone who has gotten on her bad side before - in fact, it gives her pleasure to watch or enact revenge on those she dislikes. To her, other people are playthings, and she likes nothing more than to observe and toy with them. 

And you say I'm the mean one. That's why nobody likes you. You're just a bitter, unlikeable loser. I bet you don't even know what I actually like. I'll give you a hint: it's music. I like to sing, but nobody ever remembers to mention that. 

Are you having fun? I know I am. I can't wait to tell you all about my life. That last statement was a lie, just in case you were unable to catch the sarcasm.
I had a father, you know. Then he died. He was done in by his own incompetence. It's a shame that humans are so fragile. A little bit of poison and he was gone within weeks. His one-time mistress Caroline was the one who raised me since then. I started training before that, of course, so I've been continuing to train for the Games -
Oh, you think I killed him? Well, then you're stupider than I thought you were. It was the gel he was experimenting with that killed him. He was too curious for his own good. Just like you, prying into my life and making me describe my personality. I know you think you're not like that, but you are. You're no different than the ones you claim are monsters. You don't even care, do you? Go ahead, I know what you're thinking. Well guess what? What you think doesn't matter.

Sheesh, cut it out. Anyways. Gladys' father, Cavendish McLain, was the head of a prominent makeup company that supplied nail polish, eyeshadow, and other goods to the capitol. Her mother, a housewife, died early, but Cavendish remarried quickly, taking one of the secretaries at his company, Caroline, as his wife. In truth, he had been secretly cheating with her for some time, but no one else managed to discover his affair.

Cavendish was a reckless man, often careless about the materials his company used and prone to taking shortcuts and experimenting wildly over valuing safety. This proved to be his demise when he accidentally contaminated his lunch with a toxic chemical from the manufacturing processes, causing his health to greatly deteriorate until he died. As he was dying, he promoted Caroline to head, and from then on she took over the operation of the company. Caroline, nearly the opposite of Cavendish in personality, continued to run the company well, which makes their family fairly rich, even in District 1.

Growing up, Gladys' training, looks, and demeanor made her fairly popular among her classmates. Though she had many followers, however, she considered none of them to be true friends - they were far too useful. She keeps people under her thumb with a combination of guilt, appealing to self-interest, and threats. Words can be as powerful as weapons, after all.

It was Cavendish McLain who encouraged his daughter to train as a Career from a young age. Despite disdaining most of her father's decisions, training is one thing Gladys enjoys doing, as it makes her feel powerful and in control. She fantasizes often about volunteering and winning the Games, joining the ranks of the many Victors from District One.