Topaz Lovell- D1- Done
Jan 2, 2013 18:25:25 GMT -5
Post by Kaci Rose on Jan 2, 2013 18:25:25 GMT -5
Name: Topaz Glitz Lovell
Age: 19
Gender: Female
District/Area: District 1
It was a slow day at work. No one had come in for hours so I was stuck just sitting behind the counter and thinking. Like usual, once I start thinking I start rubbing the little puncture that’s just under my thumb that I got when I was little and my hand slipped on one of dad’s tools in his jeweler’s shop. A laugh bubbled up; I remembered the morning I got that scar. It was a Saturday.
When I was little I used to ask my mother why. “Mamma,” I’d say, “Mamma, why aren’t I pretty like the others are?”
She’d look at me funny, tilt her head ever so slightly to the left, just like I do, and say “Baby, I don’t know what you mean.”
I used to think she was lying because I was her only girl then; I thought that she had to tell me I was pretty because I’m her daughter. One time I was so tired of it that I grabbed her hand and drug her to the mirror. I pointed at it while she stood behind me, “Look there. I’m not thin like the other girls are. They say I’m fat and one of them mooed at me. And my hair isn’t straight, and my eyes aren’t green, and I’ve got freckles.” I was twelve then. Everyone was slimed down and starting to muscle up. Always preparing for the games. I was flexible; I was quick with my hands and each movement. I could hit a target better than any of my school mates. But I wasn’t fast, I wasn’t strong. In my mind, I was just some chubby kid with curly hair and spots on her face.
But mom never saw me that way, and she changed how I thought. She knelt down next to me, “That’s not what I see. I see a girl who’s going to grow into her baby fat. I see a girl was golden rings and powder spots.” That’s what my aunties called freckles too, powder spots. It was a prettier way of looking at it, “I see clearer eyes than any of those kids have, a girl that could spot anything, right down to little twitches and mood shifts. And the girl with the most accuracy in her shot. The girl I see isn’t pretty. She’s beautiful.” Mom got up and went back into the kitchen, leaving me standing there in front of the mirror in the hall.
I must have stood there for ten minutes before my Jasper, my brother who’s older by just two years, spoke up. He was leaning against the wall at the end that leads to the living room. He said, “I don’t know why you want green eyes. You have gemstone eyes. Just like the topaz mamma named you after. Though… maybe it’s all those eyelashes. But I think you’re pretty.” He just shrugged and walked off. After that, I didn’t really mind anything the kids said. Why should I? Mom ended up being right, I did grow into my baby fat. And right on up to curvy. Now if only I could get taller than 5’2”
I smiled and looked at the little scar. Well, can’t fix either of those things. But maybe… I looked at the clock again. It was closing time at last. If I hurried I could make it to the tattoo parlor before they closed. I looked at the scar on my right hand, and then over to my left. Maybe I’ll get a matching star outline there too, for symmetry’s sake.
[/blockquote]Personality:
I couldn’t sleep tonight. Once the games got started, I usually couldn’t. The reaping was yesterday. Thankfully it was the last my brother would ever be in. Jade wasn’t old enough yet, but it would be hell once she did. My little sister would never survive there. I’d made it through that day with none of my friends getting reaped or volunteering (thank goodness.) I only had three really close friends; I’d be devastated if even one had to go. I’d never sleep for worrying.
From the time the reaping started to the time the last tribute was declared victor it was hard to keep the carefree mask on. All but my closest friends and family thought I was a joyous young woman, with free smiles and easy laughs. Don’t get me wrong, I can be. I can be the bubbliest and the happiest. But I’m also pretty snarky and sarcastic. But I’m more realistic than most of the people here in District 1.
Everyone else my age thinks the games are great. It’s an honor to fight and bring your district wealth and ease. Truth is, we already have it. More than any other district gets. The games are just a source of control for the Capitol, a way of giving us hope that it will be one of our children that comes home alive.
Nonetheless, it happens. There’s nothing I can do to change that. So every year it goes on, and every year I watch it. It used to be hard; it’s still a little difficult if it’s someone I know. But you learn to not feel. For the duration of the games, you learn to take all your emotions, pack them up in a nice neat little box and hide them in the darkest corner of your mind. If you do that, you might even find yourself enjoying some parts of the game, taking joy in your tributes successes. Unless the opponent is a child. Then you want to cry anyways, feelings hid away or not.
The saddest part is that I can see it happening to Jade already. She’s only ten and she already acts like the games are some wondrous event. A great joy. Ask me, I think we should ship her off to the Capitol. If only. Then she’d be safe. As is, she’ll probably end up married to someone wealthy, well, wealthier than we are now. She’s already pretty. She’ll probably be gorgeous when she gets older. Glad she took after dad’s side of the family.
[/blockquote]History:
My family is slightly wealthy on both sides. My mother, Cinnamon Lovell, comes from a successful family of perfumers (Spritz Perfumery) and my father, Sterling Lovell comes from an equally successful family of jewelers. I have two siblings, an older brother and a younger sister. Jasper is two years older than me. Jade is seven years younger than me. My brother takes after our father in looks, tall, dark haired, grey eyes and muscular. Jade is the perfect mix of both our parents, appearance wise anyways, with blonde hair, grey eyes, perfect skin and athletic build for her age. I’m a lot closer to Jasper, mostly because our ages are close so we ended up spending a lot of time together. While we aren’t so wealthy that we don’t have to work, we do have a lot of free time for some of the parties.
My whole family is very tight knit, unlike a lot of other wealthier families who just train their kids to be sent to the slaughter. I don’t have any cousins because my paternal uncle died in the games before I was born and my maternal aunts all stayed unmarried, though they’re still fairly young (being 23, 27, and 35) But because they haven’t any children, they taught me to be a perfumer, so that someone can take over. Right now I work selling perfume for them. They want to train Jade as well but I doubts Jade will ever work. Jade is going to grow up to be very beautiful, and she’s already a bit shallow, not the brightest gem in the jewel shop either, so she’ll more than likely end up married off to someone wealthy who wants a pretty trophy wife.
I got picked on a bit when I was younger for being larger. With the career kids, I was made fun of for being weaker or slower. At first this made me very self conscious and shy; I didn’t have a lot of friends at all. However, my brother told me that I shouldn’t listen to other people. It took a while for me to believe him. It really took me until I met my best friends who gave me a lot of confidence. By fifteen I had become very confident and secure in myself and who I am. As for training, which I had to do some of, just in case I was reaped, I stuck to what I was good at. I used my flexibility and agility to my advantage. I became very good at disappearing. Weapons wise, I focused on range with throwing knives and bows. Eventually, people started accepting me. Especially once they figured at that I wouldn’t let them treat me like the weak link.
For the future, I would enjoy staying with the perfumery. I like that it is a fairly clean environment filled with good smells. The flexibility and experimentation involved in creating new scents is also very attractive. I think I would like to get married. Maybe even have kids, though I would be scared of losing them to the games. But I wouldn’t have to worry about that until they’re older, since older careers always volunteer.
[/blockquote]Codeword: <img src="http://i41.tinypic.com/16h2ibt.png">
Comments/Other:
Age: 19
Gender: Female
District/Area: District 1
Appearance:
It was a slow day at work. No one had come in for hours so I was stuck just sitting behind the counter and thinking. Like usual, once I start thinking I start rubbing the little puncture that’s just under my thumb that I got when I was little and my hand slipped on one of dad’s tools in his jeweler’s shop. A laugh bubbled up; I remembered the morning I got that scar. It was a Saturday.
When I was little I used to ask my mother why. “Mamma,” I’d say, “Mamma, why aren’t I pretty like the others are?”
She’d look at me funny, tilt her head ever so slightly to the left, just like I do, and say “Baby, I don’t know what you mean.”
I used to think she was lying because I was her only girl then; I thought that she had to tell me I was pretty because I’m her daughter. One time I was so tired of it that I grabbed her hand and drug her to the mirror. I pointed at it while she stood behind me, “Look there. I’m not thin like the other girls are. They say I’m fat and one of them mooed at me. And my hair isn’t straight, and my eyes aren’t green, and I’ve got freckles.” I was twelve then. Everyone was slimed down and starting to muscle up. Always preparing for the games. I was flexible; I was quick with my hands and each movement. I could hit a target better than any of my school mates. But I wasn’t fast, I wasn’t strong. In my mind, I was just some chubby kid with curly hair and spots on her face.
But mom never saw me that way, and she changed how I thought. She knelt down next to me, “That’s not what I see. I see a girl who’s going to grow into her baby fat. I see a girl was golden rings and powder spots.” That’s what my aunties called freckles too, powder spots. It was a prettier way of looking at it, “I see clearer eyes than any of those kids have, a girl that could spot anything, right down to little twitches and mood shifts. And the girl with the most accuracy in her shot. The girl I see isn’t pretty. She’s beautiful.” Mom got up and went back into the kitchen, leaving me standing there in front of the mirror in the hall.
I must have stood there for ten minutes before my Jasper, my brother who’s older by just two years, spoke up. He was leaning against the wall at the end that leads to the living room. He said, “I don’t know why you want green eyes. You have gemstone eyes. Just like the topaz mamma named you after. Though… maybe it’s all those eyelashes. But I think you’re pretty.” He just shrugged and walked off. After that, I didn’t really mind anything the kids said. Why should I? Mom ended up being right, I did grow into my baby fat. And right on up to curvy. Now if only I could get taller than 5’2”
I smiled and looked at the little scar. Well, can’t fix either of those things. But maybe… I looked at the clock again. It was closing time at last. If I hurried I could make it to the tattoo parlor before they closed. I looked at the scar on my right hand, and then over to my left. Maybe I’ll get a matching star outline there too, for symmetry’s sake.
[/center]
I couldn’t sleep tonight. Once the games got started, I usually couldn’t. The reaping was yesterday. Thankfully it was the last my brother would ever be in. Jade wasn’t old enough yet, but it would be hell once she did. My little sister would never survive there. I’d made it through that day with none of my friends getting reaped or volunteering (thank goodness.) I only had three really close friends; I’d be devastated if even one had to go. I’d never sleep for worrying.
From the time the reaping started to the time the last tribute was declared victor it was hard to keep the carefree mask on. All but my closest friends and family thought I was a joyous young woman, with free smiles and easy laughs. Don’t get me wrong, I can be. I can be the bubbliest and the happiest. But I’m also pretty snarky and sarcastic. But I’m more realistic than most of the people here in District 1.
Everyone else my age thinks the games are great. It’s an honor to fight and bring your district wealth and ease. Truth is, we already have it. More than any other district gets. The games are just a source of control for the Capitol, a way of giving us hope that it will be one of our children that comes home alive.
Nonetheless, it happens. There’s nothing I can do to change that. So every year it goes on, and every year I watch it. It used to be hard; it’s still a little difficult if it’s someone I know. But you learn to not feel. For the duration of the games, you learn to take all your emotions, pack them up in a nice neat little box and hide them in the darkest corner of your mind. If you do that, you might even find yourself enjoying some parts of the game, taking joy in your tributes successes. Unless the opponent is a child. Then you want to cry anyways, feelings hid away or not.
The saddest part is that I can see it happening to Jade already. She’s only ten and she already acts like the games are some wondrous event. A great joy. Ask me, I think we should ship her off to the Capitol. If only. Then she’d be safe. As is, she’ll probably end up married to someone wealthy, well, wealthier than we are now. She’s already pretty. She’ll probably be gorgeous when she gets older. Glad she took after dad’s side of the family.
[/center]
My family is slightly wealthy on both sides. My mother, Cinnamon Lovell, comes from a successful family of perfumers (Spritz Perfumery) and my father, Sterling Lovell comes from an equally successful family of jewelers. I have two siblings, an older brother and a younger sister. Jasper is two years older than me. Jade is seven years younger than me. My brother takes after our father in looks, tall, dark haired, grey eyes and muscular. Jade is the perfect mix of both our parents, appearance wise anyways, with blonde hair, grey eyes, perfect skin and athletic build for her age. I’m a lot closer to Jasper, mostly because our ages are close so we ended up spending a lot of time together. While we aren’t so wealthy that we don’t have to work, we do have a lot of free time for some of the parties.
My whole family is very tight knit, unlike a lot of other wealthier families who just train their kids to be sent to the slaughter. I don’t have any cousins because my paternal uncle died in the games before I was born and my maternal aunts all stayed unmarried, though they’re still fairly young (being 23, 27, and 35) But because they haven’t any children, they taught me to be a perfumer, so that someone can take over. Right now I work selling perfume for them. They want to train Jade as well but I doubts Jade will ever work. Jade is going to grow up to be very beautiful, and she’s already a bit shallow, not the brightest gem in the jewel shop either, so she’ll more than likely end up married off to someone wealthy who wants a pretty trophy wife.
I got picked on a bit when I was younger for being larger. With the career kids, I was made fun of for being weaker or slower. At first this made me very self conscious and shy; I didn’t have a lot of friends at all. However, my brother told me that I shouldn’t listen to other people. It took a while for me to believe him. It really took me until I met my best friends who gave me a lot of confidence. By fifteen I had become very confident and secure in myself and who I am. As for training, which I had to do some of, just in case I was reaped, I stuck to what I was good at. I used my flexibility and agility to my advantage. I became very good at disappearing. Weapons wise, I focused on range with throwing knives and bows. Eventually, people started accepting me. Especially once they figured at that I wouldn’t let them treat me like the weak link.
For the future, I would enjoy staying with the perfumery. I like that it is a fairly clean environment filled with good smells. The flexibility and experimentation involved in creating new scents is also very attractive. I think I would like to get married. Maybe even have kids, though I would be scared of losing them to the games. But I wouldn’t have to worry about that until they’re older, since older careers always volunteer.
[/blockquote]Codeword: <img src="http://i41.tinypic.com/16h2ibt.png">
Comments/Other:
