Cotton Forsythe/8

Cotton has his father's same rough look, aged beyond his years with lines around his mouth and eyes. His complexion is slightly washed out, but it doesn't have the sallow quality of Cambric's skin and is always clean, in opposition to his younger brother Weaver. It's obvious at first glance that Cotton takes good care of himself, at least as much as can be expected given his circumstances. His father always insists that Weaver eat first, and then Cotton before Cam finally takes his own food, which means that the boys are better fed than their father is. For that reason, Cotton has the luxury of even the slightest bit of vanity, keeping his hair clean and brushed (something you'd never get Cam to do on a regular basis) and even taking care of his skin. Sometimes he thinks that if he lived in the Capitol, he'd try out some of their elaborate tattoos. But alas, that's nothing more than a fantasy.

Relative to others in his district, Cotton has quite a bit of muscle. He figures that he's going to need it if he's going to go to work in the mills, running the looms that produce the textiles that eventually result in creating the clothing that others in his district and throughout Panem wear. He's strong compared to many, even his father, and it's a point of pride for Cotton that he has his strength. He hopes taht his muscle tone doesn't deplete once he gets older and has a family of his own.

Cotton's hair is a dark blonde with lighter highlights throughout it. He has blue eyes that seem to bore right through you, and when Cotton locks his gaze on somebody, it's a dangerous and rather frightening look. There is a certain intensity about his gaze that makes most people want to avoid him, and if the eyes are the window into the soul, then Cotton's eyes say a lot about him.

Cotton is atypical, particularly for his family. He is a Capitol loyalist in a family of rebels, and he hates them. At eighteen, he wants nothing more than to see his father and brother come to their senses and support the Capitol, which he views as their source of all good things. He takes his father's unapproachableness to new levels, and is even quieter than Cambric, refusing to talk to anyone unless they can do something for him. He doesn't have a lot of friends, though he wants them, and can't quite make sense of the reasons why he is so clearly unpopular.

Cotton is torn between two dreams. The first is to become a peace keeper, and the second is to be selected for the Hunger Games. Because of his father's insistence that he not take out any tessarae, he's struggled with the second of these two goals. He believes that it is his patriotic duty to go into the games as a tribute, whether he returns a victor or not. He believes that going is a service to his country, and that by doing so he will honor his family and companions (if he had any) at home in District 8. Although Cotton doesn't consider himself to have a death wish, there are nights when he lies awake and wonders whether or not he might just have a desire to die.

There is one thing that seems to keep Cotton sane: his younger brother, Weaver. Although there is a part of him that resents Weaver for having lived when their mother died, Cotton has sworn that he will do anything to protect his younger brother. When he was still just a little boy himself, he promised his father that regardless of anything that happened, he would do everything in his power to help keep Weaver safe from the world around him, and from the Capitol. When things changed (specifically Cotton's attitude toward the governing body of Panem), his love for his brother did not, and it has only grown over the years in spite of Weaver's resistance to him. There is nobody who knows Cotton better than Weaver.

(Some of Cotton's history is included in Cambric's and Weaver's histories.)

The defining moment of Cotton's life occurred when he was five years old. His mother became ill after eating spoiled food during a particularly rough winter in District 8. The family was starving, and although his father did everything that he could to provide food for the family, they were often hungry. The meat was rotten, and his mother (Velvet) became ill. Eight and a half months pregnant, the healer managed to save Cotton's younger brother Weaver, but not their mother. She passed away, leaving Cotton feeling lost and alone in a world that very much frightened him. His father was a wreck, and had never spoken much anyway. Cotton knew that he couldn't go to his father for comfort or for warmth. After all, Cambric was much too busy taking care of Weaver.

Cotton wanted to hate his brother, but there was a part of him that realized that what their father said was true; Part of Velvet lived on in her son, Weaver. There was a part of her there for Cotton to hang on to. And besides, it was difficult not to love the cheerful child who was always upbeat regardless of the circumstances. Within the family, Weaver was well loved, though outside of it, he was often bullied due to his insistence on being up beat in spite of circumstances. Cotton helped to take care of Weaver, but it wasn't until their father began to teach them about the Capitol -- really teach them! -- that he began to become increasingly concerned.

While Cambric believed that the Capitol was responsible for Velvet's death, Cotton couldn't see it. It was the government who monthly provided the rations to the residents of District 8. It was the Capitol who allowed them to have clothing, and shoes, and soap. It was the Capitol who provided the jobs that kept their people employed. The older Cotton got, the more he believed it. The older he got, the harder he tried to convince Weaver of it.

His intention was never to divide his brother's loyalties or to make him choose between his father and his brother, but in the past year or so, Cotton has felt his brother slipping away from him, especially the closer that they get to the reaping. He's aware that Weaver is afraid, and he can only hope that he will get a chance to go into the Hunger Games this year so that he can atone for his father's disloyalty to the Capitol. If he can go into the Games and return a victor, then perhaps he has a shot at changing his father's mind. Next year will be his last chance, and Cotton wants that opportunity before it's too late.

He has no idea how like his father he really is...

Brother of Weaver Forsythe. Son of Cotton Forsythe.