Phineas 'Phin' Tucket- Done

Phin has entered that clumsy, stretched out stage of teenage growth spurts. At the current time he stands at about 5’8, with an overall stretched out appearance due to his clothes being too short most of the time. A slim bone structure covered in wiry muscles does not help his physical appearance very much. He usually stumbles over his own feet a few times a day, causing him to have scratch marks on his palms and torn holes at his knees due to the rapid growth spurts. He seems to be steadier on his feet once he has some room to move.

Phin inherited his mother’s dark blue eyes framed in thick eyelashes. His sisters constantly tease him for having ‘girly’ eyes, but the girls seem to appreciate his eyes. His father passed down mud colored hair with a slight curl to it which Phin wears short to his head so that his hat fits better. A knife-like nose and slightly large ears complete his facial landmarks. His skin is a soft tan in color, prone to growing darker when he has been exposed to the sunlight. Freckles are scattered across his face, becoming more prominent when he is in the sun more often. He is clean shaved, refusing to let the scrawny facial hairs of puberty make him look silly.

Phineas is of two minds when it comes to his clothes. First right now it is hard for clothes to fit him for any length of time as he is constantly outgrowing them. Pants and shirts either need to be rolled up or they leave a few inches bare at the ends. Boots and jackets can be worn longer before he outgrows but even they can be too big or too small. Having this problem, he tends to not care about the colors of his clothes, though personally he prefers brown. Secondly, girls are not impressed by clothes that do not fit and Phin likes girls.

Phineas is like any other 13 year old boy in the world. He has his good traits and his bad ones. Upon first meeting Phin most people find him a pleasant, smart and friendly enough young man. He is not exactly center of attention outgoing but neither is a wall paper wall flower. He knows the basic manners and when to use them, though on occasion he does forget. In school he tends to be at the top of class, and he has been known to read ahead and ask questions from time. His age mates think he is a good friend for the most part, finding him humorous and able to keep a secret. He is not one to lie and he does believe in upholding his responsibilities.

Phin is not a trouble maker but he has been known to find himself in trouble from time to time. His quick wit matches a depth for sarcasm to make any mother pull her hair out. These two traits combined with the current talent of not thinking before speaking lands Phin in trouble the most often. He has a stubborn streak a mile wide and three miles deep, when something gets into his head it stays there until he proves himself right or wrong, refusing to take anyone else’s word at face value. And his ability to not think before he acts is almost legendary, as evidenced by the many stories of his exploits. Phin can be quick to try something, believing himself to be invincible, especially when he is around his friends.

Phin is still formulating an opinion on the Capital and the Hunger Games. As a young child he did not understand the gravity of the Games, nor the sadness which overcame the district every year. People simple went and did not return. As he matured, he came to understand the games better as well as the feelings and opinions of those around him. Like most teenage boys who are of reaping age he has trepidation and fear about actually being reaped. But a part of him is curious about what the Games would actually be like, what winning would be like.

Phin is the only son and middle child of Daniel and Ann Tuckett. He has two older sisters and two younger ones. Daniel Tuckett, and his family, have always been fur traders with the permission of the peacekeepers. Since weapons are not allowed, when they leave the safety of their home, the Tucketts have a peacekeeper escort to keep them safe. Daniel and Phin use snares and traps to catch the small and furry creatures which abound in a woodland setting. The meat is given to the peacekeepers as payment for their escort, while the hides are tanned and cured before being sent to the Capital. Ann and her two oldest daughters tan the hides, as well as make them into the collars, cuffs and basic shapes which are then used in the Capital to create stylish clothing. Ann’s hides are in high demand as she knows how to dye and color fur so that it does not fade. The youngest daughters are learning the skill of tanning but for the most part spend their days making patchwork quilts.

Phin has had a fairly quiet life. Neither one of his older sisters has ever been reaped, nor have any of his cousins. Because of his father’s skills at trapping his family is surviving, but they are not one of the wealthier families in the district. Tanning is not a pleasant job, and neither is walking a trap line in two feet of snow. Phin began learning how to make snares just after his eighth birthday. Up to that point he worked with his mother and sisters in tanning hides, going to school and basically being a young kid.

When he was eight his father decided he was old enough to begin trapping and he started to run the lines with his father and their peacekeeper escort. Despite the escort Phin found the woods exhilarating, though the work was borderline sad. He found it difficult to kill a rabbit simply for its fur. It took him awhile to understand that trapping rabbits was what kept his family fed and as long as he killed humanely he was doing the right thing. Besides his father showed him a rabbit warren with over one hundred rabbits living in it so Phin did not feel so bad about killing a stray rabbit here and there. Phin has always advocated for him and his father to go further away from their settlement, to try and trap larger animals such as a bobcat as their fur would be worth more. Daniel prefers to stay close by, baiting his traps with greens and being content with rabbits, minks and skunks.

At thirteen Phin is slowly being allowed to go out on the traplines by himself, with just his peacekeeper escort. He is thinking of going further without his father’s permission, and is trying to decide how to get the peacekeeper to go along with it. In the wake of the next Games he might be able to get away with it. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a little bit more walking around money?