Chrysanthemum "Chrissy" Peduncle District 12

Name: Chrysanthemum "Chrissy" Peduncle
Age: 17
Gender: Female
District/Area: District 12
Appearance:

Chrysanthemum is a girl with a slight frame. At only five-foot-two and eighty nine pounds she is easily overlooked and missed. Her hair is thick and so curly it is almost impossible to get a brush or comb through it while her hair is wet; when dry there is no chance what so ever. Her skin is a soft ocher-honey colored mix with eyes the color of old oak bark.

Chrysanthemum's hands are covered in scars from burns she has incurred from years of trying to cook and being too young to know what she was really doing. With only one working burner on the stove-and a finicky one at that, trying to cook has left her hands a different shade of color than the rest of her body. She has a birth mark on the back of her right thigh that is white and stands out very much against her skin. It takes up almost all of the skin of the back of her right thigh and is only visible when she wears shorts. She also has a birth mark on the nape of her neck that is shaped like a strawberry and is a slight pink color.

Her nose is button like and the bridge is very narrow with a slight bump in the middle where it fractured when she was four years old and fell down 4 steps landing on her face. Her upper lashes and lower lashes are very thick making her eyes look outlined in black marker. Her lips are not overly full but not thin with the lower lip being a bit more full than the upper and her lips are often chapped and bleeding.

Personality:

Chrysanthemum is a very likable person but suffers from almost debilitating shyness. When in a group of people she keeps her head down and doesn't make eye contact unless she has too. She is a very bright student but says nothing in her classes. Due to the loss of her elder brother when she was ten to illness she tries not to get close to people. The few relationships that she does have mean everything to her but when it comes to vocalizing that she can't find the words to do it.

Although it is something that no one knows, Chrysanthemum has a horrible anger management issue. When angered she will lash out or be very passive aggressive until she gets over whatever is bothering her. And after the anger passes she wallows in guilt until she feels she has made up for her anger. In an attempt to handle her anger she has taken to writing, prose and poetry. Chrysanthemum is also very secretive about her emotions and when she does finally share how she is feeling with someone every feeling pours out of her mouth in a flurried manner. But the one thing she is amazingly skilled at is figuring out a solution to almost any problem, no matter what it is.

Chrysanthemum clings desperately to her friends, especially her best friend Briar. Both in a literal and figurative way. Whenever she has the chance she is always clinging to some part of him;his hand, his jacket sleeve, or she'll just try to stand as close to him as possible. She has very few secrets with him and when he is away she falls into a deep depression. Briar is the only male she's gotten close to since the death of her brother and since she has no knowledge of her father. She loves to imagine what it would be like if her father were around and what it would be like if her brother were still alive.

She hates the Hunger Games and the Capitol but has never voiced these opinions out fear. She thinks that the Games are a sadistic power display that the Capitol puts on just to show how much cruelty they can exact on any District at any time. She also believes that being constantly punished for something that one District did is completely irrational. She also fears the ruins, believing the spirits of the deceased District dwellers still resided there and suffered knowing that they caused the horrible atrocity that befalls the innocent children of Panem.

History:

Chrysanthemum was born in the middle of winter and was a very healthy baby despite her mother having health issues while she was pregnant. Her elder brother was five when she was born and was a fantastic older brother. When Chrysanthemum was four her brother gave her the nick name "Chrissy" saying that "Chrysanthemum" was too big a name for such a small girl. She loved her older brother her followed him around like a second shadow. But when he was ten and she five her brother fell ill with a fever and within the span of a week he had weakened more and more and lost everything that Chrysanthemum had come to recognize as her brother and best friend.

Watching her brother fade away and pass scarred Chrysanthemum down to her very foundation. She lost her carefree nature and adopted a dark outlook on life. Before she was ten she believed there was no justice in the world and that it was the Capitol's fault that her brother had gotten sick and died. After all, if they didn't have to live in the Seam where there was never enough to eat and the only work was life threatening then her brother would have never gotten sick. And even if he did they would have been able to get him medicine to save him.

Her mother changed after her brother's death as well. She became extremely over protective of Chrysanthemum to the point of smothering her. She knew that if she didn't have to go to school she would never leave the house. But there were other things that changed in her mother. She never smiled and she had lost her lust for life. She had been a very happy woman, a light in the impossible darkness of poverty and suffering. She cleaned but only when there was so much dust and grime on the widows and floor that you couldn't see the color of the floor and the window looked to be another part of the wall and not glass.
And cooking was something she could not bring herself to do. And Chrysanthemum could not understand why. But at the age of five she was standing on a stool burning her hands on hot pots and on the lit burner when she would fall forward.

Chrysanthemum met Briar soon after her brother passed away. She instantly took a shining to him because he was someone who could keep her safe. If there was a storm and they ended up trapped at her house in the dark as the winds howled and threatened to tear down the house, he would make her feel safe with a hug that would not relent until the storm did. He was the only person who knew about her nick name and he used it sparingly. Usually when she was lost in anger or starting to panic, to ground her and bring her back to reality. The relationship they had was as solid as any relationship could be without them being soul mates. It is true that she does love him but the thought of a relationship is horribly frightening.

The Hunger Games are an ever constant, looming monster waiting to ruin families and take friends. To openly love Briar and then lose him to the Games would be just as destructive as the loss of her brother. Only worse because she would be forced to watch it if she was not a part of it.

At the age of seventeen she has started suffering from an unknown disease. It is not life threatening but debilitating. Her knees swell and cause her so much pain that she cannot stand or walk for days at a time. The swelling spreads up into her lower back causing the muscles to knot and spasm. Fighting through it is like waging a personal war. She has to stand, she has to walk. She has to see Briar and she has to cook. She has to survive. And pray that her name is never called in the Reaping.

Codeword: odair
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