Stirling Raycroft || District 4 >{Finished}<

Stirling is very intelligent, but she doesn't show it very much. Her parents always used to tell her that she needed to apply herself more in school, and she has a problem with spacing out and daydreaming when she's in class or when someone's talking to her, which causes people to get frustrated. She doesn't like to think of herself as a know-it-all, but she does like to argue. When people say she's done something wrong, she always defends herself. This makes it hard for her to admit she's wrong. It can get her into trouble sometimes, and makes her difficult to be around for some people.

She's pretty outgoing, and generally not afraid to speak her mind. She sometimes has a problem with speaking too fast, wording things wrong when she says them, and saying things she doesn't mean, a lot of times when she gets angry or upset, and often ends up hurting peoples' feelings. She has good intentions, though, and tries her hardest to be courteous just like her parents taught her to be.

Growing up by the sea with all the worms and the dirt and the fish turned Stir into a tomboy. She has never really been into buying shoes or shopping for dresses because she instead prefers wearing a t-shirt and shorts on a daily basis, and she likes to walk around in her bare feet. When she's out in public, she wears tennis shoes. Her tomboyishness causes differences between Stirling and her girlier friends, though, and most of her friends think fish and worms and dirt are gross. They think it's strange when she doesn't want to go shopping.

Stirling is a loyal friend. She is good at keeping secrets, and doesn't generally judge people too much. She doesn't always attract a lot of friends, but those that she does have are for life. Stir is very trusting towards them. She's pretty much an open book, and she tells her friends everything. They probably tell her all their secrets, too, but she can't tell. She can't read minds, after all.

Stir isn't boy-crazy like a few of her friends, though she wouldn't mind getting to know a few of the guys in her neighborhood. She isn't sure whether or not she'd know how to act around her boyfriend if she had one. She hasn't had much experience in that kind of thing. Believe it or not, Stir hasn't had her first kiss yet, and isn't exactly looking forward to it.

Something that a lot of people don't like about Stir is that she's very curious, and it causes her to be nosy. She enjoys listening in on other peoples' conversations and occasionally jumps into them even if she wasn't included in the conversation at all. It can get pretty annoying.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, she has a daydreaming problem. When someone is talking to her, there are many times when she doesn't pay attention. This frustates people, and she has lost a few friends because they were too annoyed by it.

She also is nearly incapable of following directions when they're written on paper, even though she's a good reader. People can't explain things to her with words, whether they are written or spoken. She has to be shown things in order to fully understand them.

Though Stirling's athletic build obviously shows she's no weakling, she prefers not to fight. She's not a physically aggressive person. She will defend herself with her fists only if someone else throws the first punch. Stir prefers to defend herself by biting back with words, and will throw some insults back if she feels it's necessary and if they are directed towards herself or one of her loved ones. Sometimes she gets offended too easily, though. When she is insulted, many times it will make her over-think what her tormenter said, and she'll get self-conscious as she oftentimes does.

The District Four resident loves the water. Ever since she was just beginning to walk she has been drawn to the sea. She loves swimming, fishing, and boating. Pretty much anything pertaining to the water, Stirling Raycroft is game for. Dolphins and whales are her favorite animals, she is absolutely fascinated by them.

By far, her favorite hobby is painting. Besides the stuff she does in the water, it's one of her only talents. She paints landscapes, pretty much just the water and its inhabitants. She's not sure if she's all that good at it or not, but she doesn't really care either way. It her way of expressing herself, and anyone who doesn't like it doesn't have to look at it.

Stirling's story begins in a small District 4 community by the sea. She was born an only child to her mother and father, who both worked as fishermen. Her parents brought home a good amount of money, so she has never had to go hungry. And being the only child that she was, they were able to buy her nice clothes and toys throughout her childhood.

When she was a baby, her mom took off time from work to take care of her. But by the time Stir was a toddler, her parents just brought her to work with them. She loved to sit with them in the sand on their breaks, her toes in the water, giggling hysterically when the cool waves splashed her feet.

When she started school, she met three girls that became her best friends. They are still inseparable, and they do things together all the time. She trusts her friends with everything, and they trust her with everything in return.

By the time Stirling was seven, her father had taught her to paint. It was something he had learned to do when he was younger, and he loved passing the tradition on to his daughter, who was definitely eager to learn. They would go down to the beach every afternoon and work on painting the landscape. This was her favorite time of the day, and it was probably the number one thing that caused she and her father to become so close. After a while, she became rather good at it, and by the time she was about 12, her parents let her some down to the beach by herself.

On the very day she turned 13, her mother announced that she was pregnant. Stirling thought of this as a way for them to not have to buy her a birthday present. She didn't exactly want a new baby in the family; she enjoyed being an only child. But when the baby was born about 8 months later, Stir changed her mind.

The baby boy was named Ferris Oliver Raycroft, but she nicknamed him Ollie. She was constantly paying attention to him and taking care of him. His is now about two years old, and she feels very protective of him. She spoils him rotten, and even takes him down to the beach with her sometimes in the evenings while she paints. He sits there like she used to with her parents, with his toes in the water while she paints the landscape.

Now that she's older, she helps her parents with the fishing on their boat. Her arms have become muscular from throwing out nets and pulling in their catches, and she's become pretty good at using a spear to fish. Her parents taught her how to gut and clean a fish with a knife. Stir can make her own fishing rod and hook from scratch.