Profile
Picture-Perfect Prodigies
Pull up the curtains everyone, this one's going to be a show!
"I'll take you to the mines. Of course, you will have to duck down a little bit, but I remember every tunnel and pathway. I know where all the gemstones are."
| Antonio Blanco Picture-Perfect Prodigies | ||
 | ||
| Name | Antonio Blanco | |
| Nickname(s) | Tony | |
| Age | 25 (March 24th) | |
| Height | 5'10" / 177cm | |
| Weight | 125lbs / 57kg | |
| Ethnicity | White American | |
| Sexuality | Gay | |
| Relationships | Teddy Carter (Boyfriend) | |
| Theme Song | Emile Mosseri, Minari Soundtrack - Paul's Antiphony | |
Antonio Blanco
Antonio Blanco, or simply Antonio or Tony, is a contestant at the reality show Picture-Perfect Prodigies, as well as a miner hailing from the small village Blackburn, Vilias county. Remarked by his mild and polite manner, Antonio is considered to be one of the show's more feeble contestants, easily faltered by his audience's opinion. Despite his circumstances, he's grateful for the friends he's making, if nothing else.
About
Tony is laid bare like an open book, perhaps almost to the point of vulnerability. There is nothing to read about him, and he'll tell you his story quite excitedly if you asked—he would say that he hailed from a little mining village, and that he loves mining. Reluctantly he'd tell you about his hobby on gemology, but he's careful to say it, considering that the practice is currently outlawed in his seized village.
His appearance much reflects his circumstances. The village's famine, and his natural build, has rendered him rather gaunt and thin-lipped, and years under the tunnels have made him pale, but he carries the village's hearty spirit. In fact, if you ever asked him what he treasured the most, it would be his little mining hometown, fondly describing it despite the miseries it has seen of late.
Despite his current disposition—a missing arm and a crushed leg, a punishment from the Capitol—he's quite optimistic, believing that there is always good in any circumstance. This, again, falls into his fault of being too naive... but in such darkness, he'd like to think that even the smallest slither of light is better than nothing.
Personality
A litter's runt would probably be a good description of him. Tony looks worrisome and anxious, often beside himself with nervousness. This, in turn, makes him prone to mishaps or miscommunications, and this would greatly embarrass him. He’s aware he’s not remarkably intelligent but he tries to mean well, even if his heart tells him he shouldn’t. He tends to worry about others before himself, but is one to be quite optimistic (unless it’s regarding himself, in which his thoughts can spiral very quickly). Despite his disposition, he seems to lack bitterness for everything that has happened in his life. Quite curious. Usually refrains from swearing. Very, very gullible.
When not stumbling over his words, he's truly a child at heart. He likes to speak his mind (though on the tactful side), and likes to keep things relatively simple (most likely because he's simply unable to lie, by personality). If he hadn't been born into the sooty coal village, he'd likely have turned into an adventurer.
Appearance
A pale-skinned man, with same colour hair to match, poorly cut into a mullet with his sideburns grown out and braided. Lanky, thin-lipped, and often hunches to make himself look rather small, as if he’s afraid of taking up space—or perhaps it was out of habit from working in the narrow mines. Has weak, watery blue eyes, and looks rather gaunt. Has a prominent Adam’s apple. Often dons a dark work shirt, pants, and dark boots. After a mining incident, his left arm has been amputated elbow-down, and his right leg is twisted inwards from the knee-down and is largely scarred. Has a passive prosthetic, where the “hand” can be swapped out for specific activities, but it has been confiscated and replaced with an ill-fitting one, which Tony can only use to push doors and hold things like utensils or a toothbrush passively.
Picture-Perfect Prodigies
Pre-Show
Tony comes from a generation of miners in Blackburn Village, Villas County—his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather, had all gone down to scale at rocky surfaces for coal. In fact the whole village is a mining community, sustaining by trading with other adjacent villages for other necessities like food. The rise of electric and clean energy has depleted most of their customers—mostly cities—but the county of tightly-knitted villages have kept each other alive, for as long as the oldest generations can remember. In recent years, gemstones have also been mined, keeping the village afloat by selling them to other vendors.
Tony is born to parents who are dearly fond of him, though was never able to bring him up personally due to various circumstances. As he was conceived out of wedlock and his mother did not reside in Blackburn, he only met her on trade days—precisely once a month. His father took care of him for the most part, though he was often dropped off to the Blackburn village head and godfather—Mr. Evans—as he worked in the mines. Following Blackburn's third mining disaster, Tony loses his father at the age of fifteen, then losing his mother to influenza the following year. From then on, he has lived with Mr. Evans and his son Randy, the latter becoming his father figure and brother respectively before he inherited his father's home, though he does not actively live in it until he turned twenty.
Due to the depletion of the necessity for coal in recent years, the village has resorted to rationing food—barely enough to survive, but defeating enough to cause low rationale. Despite the terrible outlook, the community takes care of each other—which was arguably the driving motivation for the village’s existence. The ongoing famine and poverty struck up an annual county gathering, held sometime in the winter, where the villages contribute massive amounts of food and service in abundance to help out one another—think of it like a mishmash of Christmas and Thanksgiving all at once. This annual gathering, in fact, is the only holiday many county-dwellers celebrate. Any and all services within the villages are free for all during this time, and it serves to keep morale up, despite tougher times.
Tony had lived long enough to remember a time before authority from the city descended upon the county, at unproven abundance of oil in the area. Fearing uprising due to the tightly-knitted community, the county is forced under absolute control. Having had a lover whom he only met every time the villages traded—a carpenter from an adjacent village by the name Teddy Carter—his morale runs scarce when authority descended upon traders, redirecting their produce to the city instead, in order to “starve out” the communities. Many villagers of the coal mine resorted in selling and bribing with gems for necessities. Teddy’s village was the first to protest and, as punishment, the authority had smothered the village in flames.
Tony had briefly housed Teddy and his mother before they were discovered, and Tony never saw them again after Teddy stood his ground. As a collective punishment for being complicit, authorities had rigged the mine—which only injured Tony as, ironically, he had offered to go down into the mines himself, to see if it had been set up to blow to ensure the village workers’ safety. Against all odds, Tony survives, only losing his arm and the function of one leg when the mines collapsed on top of him. As gratitude for his sacrifice, the village had collectively paid for his treatment in the city.
While he has since been put out of work due to losing functionality in half of his limbs and only works by voluntary means, Tony unknowingly becomes a symbol of uprising and is hailed as the village’s hero, despite not holding any leadership position or organising any campaigns. The canary bird eventually replaced many of the village’s imagery and slogans to protect his identity, to represent Tony’s sacrifice in protecting dozens of workers in his village. While he doesn’t partake in any of the protests and shyly refuses to become a public figure, he thinks it’s cool that he inspired people with new vigour and motivation to take their village back.
It’s precisely this symbolism why the authorities want him dead, even if Tony hardly presents any harm, and his sole crime was taking in refugees.
Relationships
Fletcher Ashe
Tony is admittedly fascinated by Fletcher, because they are a television figure, despite Tony’s lack of knowledge about television. Tony tends to gravitate towards mild-mannered people like himself, and it’s therefore no surprise Tony quite enjoys the other’s presence. In fact Tony’s quite beside himself in meeting Fletcher, because Fletcher happens to tell him things he’s most curious about. Hopefully it’s because Fletcher’s nice, and not because Tony’s prone to being gullible…
Hanjun Park
Tony’s sure he won’t ever level with Hanjun’s footing. While Tony genuinely enjoys his company, he finds Hanjun a little intimidating at times, especially with his offhand remarks. Despite this sense of uneasiness, Tony finds himself sympathising with Hanjun—for what reasons, Tony does not now. He believes Hanjun expresses himself in unconventional ways, and to Tony, that’s quite alright.
Ephagon Viscera
Ephagon’s somewhat a bizarre spectacle for Tony—moreso with wonderment than fear. He thinks Ephagon’s quite interesting, in ways that he can’t exactly articulate. It’s probably because Ephagon reminds him of the times when he met people who dressed just as peculiarly, passing by to purchase gems by their little village, and Tony had enjoyed these conversations because the cultural shock experienced by both sides was often hilarious. He’s a bit sorry that he accidentally hit Ephagon, and hopes that this won’t come back to haunt him.
The show, Vene-Vene, Maurice
Tony still can’t quite grasp how being inside a television works, but he knows that it’s not fun and games. He thinks the mascots are endearing, but has a small reluctance to liking them because they’re complicit in the show. He tries to respect the audience—maybe a bit too much—but finds that he can’t perform what they tell him to do.
Trivia
- Is dyslexic and dysgraphic. He doesn’t read, but rather memorises how words appear and strings them into a coherent message. This means he’s significantly better at reading computer typesets, but struggles to read most handwriting.
- His father is also called Antonio. To differentiate between the two, his son is often distinguished as Tony. The name stuck around, even long after his father’s death.
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