Percaline Lockram [D8]

Name: Percaline Lockram (some of her closer friends call her Cal or Cali, although she prefers her full name)
Age: 16
Gender: Female
District/Area: District 8
Appearance:

Percaline Lockram is a young woman whose years spent among harvesting cotton in the fields of District 8 and being shut up in textile factories for the last five years of her life have left her with a pale, almost translucent complexion, agile fingers, and a strong back with the ability to keep herself sitting up straight for nearly 12 hours at a time. Although she appears fragile and lithe, her hands and arms are uncharacteristically strong from years spent plucking raw textile materials from the fields, spinning thread and spending hours in front of a weaving loom. She is somewhat taller than average, standing at about 5'8" with long, neverending legs and a short torso. Her thin frame and small bust are offset by a defined waist and curved hips, which she desperately tries to cover up by wearing her brothers' hand-me-down clothing.

Percaline's hair is a mousy brown in color with a wavy, fine texture, which she prefers to keep down and pouring over her shoulders; the factories are uncomfortably cold, particularly in the wintertime, and Percaline has found her long hair helps to keep her warm in the icy cold months of District 8. Her hazel green eyes are rimmed with fine, dark lashes that enhance her delicate features and soft jaw. Her chin is slightly clefted (a feature she inherited from her father) and carefully complements her small, rosy lips. Her mouth is almost always unconsciously curved into a thin, slightly mischievous grin, and her naturally arched eyebrows give the impression that she's nearly always up to no good.

Personality:

At first appearance, Percaline seems withdrawn and introspective, preferring to keep to herself and to listen rather than speak. However, just below the surface, she is constantly calculating and decoding others' nonverbal signals and devising ways to become likeable by nearly every person she comes into contact with. Conniving and deceptive, Percaline has perfected the art of adapting aspects of her personality to work in her favor given any situation she finds herself in. While this talent comes with its perks, Percaline often finds herself wondering who she really is. She spends so much of her time trying to please others that she sometimes gets lost in her performances, which causes her to become cold and impulsively irate.

School is far from Percaline's favorite places, as she finds herself oftentimes becoming distracted and has difficulty focusing on classroom assignments. Her lack of focus is only abated by her time in front of the weaving loom, where she finds her place of solace and time to think and clear her mind. Although she would never admit it to her friends and family, Percaline loves her time working with the weaving loom, where the rhythm of her fingers effortlessly turning brightly colored baskets of yarn and thread into beautiful tapestries and rugs gives her comfort and solitude from her otherwise chaotic life of looking after siblings and struggling to stay afloat in the depreciating economy of district 8. While she works, her fingers often move to the tune of a lullaby her mother sang to her as a young girl, which Percaline hums over and over again while working. Her long, slender legs and thin frame make her an agile runner, and she finds she can sprint faster than majority of the boys from school despite their physical superiority. Years of staring at intricate tapestry patterns have also given her an eye for detail, and she can often find small, nearly undetectable flaws in patterned fabrics and other woven textiles in her factory's products.

Growing up in a household full of men, Percaline is somewhat tuned out from traditionally "female" rituals like wearing dresses or focusing on her appearance--however, she does do her best to keep her family's home clean and in order and does majority of the cooking for her brothers and father, albeit she's not all that good at it. She has little patience for her brothers and father, possibly due to her short attention span and her inability to focus on things for long periods of time. She is not a violent person, and prefers to use her mental prowess and ways with words as a powerful weapon against those who cross her.

Between going to school, caring for her family and working as a tapestry maker, Percaline has little time to herself. However, what little precious time she does have at her disposal, Percaline enjoys laying outside and staring at the sky. In the daytime, she allows her imagination to run free by making out shapes in the clouds. At night, she connects patterns of stars to draw pictures inside her mind. Percaline has always found herself drawn to the sky; she's fascinated by how limitless it appears and the freedom it implies. Freedom she will never experience.

Percaline does not approve of the Capitol and all they have done to supress her people. These feelings are only amplified by the pain she feels from the death of her mother. While the Capitol was not directly responsible for her mother's death, Percaline has convinced herself that if the necessary medical services had been available, her mother would still be alive.

History:

Percaline Lockram was born as the third and only daughter of five children to Mackinaw and Ardass Lockram, who both worked as angora wool harvesters for district 8. Although money was tight and luxuries were impossible to come by, Ardass Lockram worked hard to make her family's home comfortable and a safe haven from the harsh conditions of district 8. Mr. and Mrs. Lockram were intent upon living honestly and refraining from making black market trades or putting their family in danger. However, this forced the Lockram children to sign up for tesserae on a regular basis, which caused Mrs. Lockram to have much anxiety for her children during the reapings. While none of the Lockram children have ever been selected for the Hunger Games, the Lockrams, like so many others, have worried incessantly about the well-beings of their children.

Growing up, Percaline was a bright, spunky, cheerful girl full of wild dreams and an imagination as boundless as the sky. Her mother would often tell her stories of far away lands and unrequited love between princes and princesses, and the two would spend evenings playing make believe and coming up with clever ways to play pranks on the boys in the household. As mothers and daughters went, the two were inseparable.

Tragedy struck for Percaline when her mother, having just given birth to her youngest son, Leno, passed away suddenly due to complications during childbirth. A distraught and ten year old Percaline was then forced to step in and take over the maternal responsibilities for her family, causing her to grow up much faster than she might have needed. Percaline's personality changed from the bright and bubbly girl with the wild imagination to a withdrawn and hardened teenager struck hard by the bitter slap of reality. While she has softened a bit from the girl who retreated in her shell after her mother's death, Percaline continues to keep a level head on her shoulders.

Percaline's relationship with her father is amiable and loving, and she dotes after her father on a day-to-day basis, making sure he's eaten his supper and has taken care of his household responsibilities. Her brothers are mischievous and reckless, and she sometimes finds herself going along with their antics when she decides to let her walls down and have a little fun. She is picked upon by them from time to time, but as the only girl, she has come to expect this. Familial roles are well established by now, and Percaline is comfortable in her role as the maternal figure, kissing the bruises of her younger brothers and giving haircuts to her older ones. While their lives are not characterized by luxury, Percaline has begun to find happiness with her life and in her family.

Codeword: odair
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