Sumac Elwin - District 7

Name:

Sumac Elwin

Age:

16

Gender:

Female

District/Area:

District 7

Appearance:

Click for Picture

Sumac might be beautiful if she'd do anything with her long, dark brunette hair, besides knot it up at the nape of her neck everyday.  She might be stunning if she smiled with those cupid's-bow lips and dimples.  She could be gorgeous if she stood up straight, instead of slouching.  But of course, Sumac wouldn't do any of those things, not without being heavily bribed or coerced, that is.  At 5'8, she's a wispy sort of girl, and even though she'd give anything to gain weight, she seems permanently stuck on the 'slim and flat-chested' mode.  She's got long legs and small hands and feet, which she resents greatly.  And if anyone from the higher districts or, god forbid, the Capitol were to see her nails, they would probably faint.  An emery board is a strange and foreign concept to Sumac, whose poor nails are stubby and grimy from work, day in and day out.

Her hair is in a permanently frizzy state, and on the rare days it isn't frizzy, it's either ratty with knots, or drenched from the rain.  Hair care is not at the top of Sumac's to-do list.  It's parted to the side, without bangs to get in her eyes, and she usually keeps it knotted back.  She's got a high forehead and thin, straight eyebrows that sit low over her large, hooded brown eyes.  There always seems to be dark circles under her eyes, though that's not uncommon in her district, or any district for that matter.  Her nose is straight and slightly hooked, and her cheekbones are high, giving her long face a somewhat sallow look.  Her skin is the same pale ashen-white as the rest of her family's.  Sumac may look a bit stringy, but she'd got some muscle hiding under her willowy exterior.  Most of her strength is in her core and upper body.  While she isn't the fastest of runners, she can climb a tree like nobody's business.

Sumac has mild rosacea on her face, neck and chest.  It mostly appears in small splotches here and there, most notably on her forehead above her left eyebrow, the apples of both cheeks, and the lower right side of her chin.  It gets less splotchy the farther from her face, but when she has flare ups, her entire neck-chest area appears just as bright as the spots on her face.  She's often teased that the rosacea looks a bit like the marks poison-sumac leaves leave you with.

Personality:

Sumac never seems to start off on the right foot with anyone.  Her introductions always start off with a very curt and sometimes hostile "Just call me Mac, alright?"  Her attitude towards her name reflects her attitude towards pretty much everything else; she's cynical, a bit cranky, and often times comes off as far more hostile than she means to.  She's very quick to jump to the defensive, and as a result, sometimes drives others away inadvertently.  She doesn't mean to be so unapproachable, and in fact, can become quite lonely as a result.  Sumac, contrary to what most others believe, is not anti-social. 

It would be hard to classify Sumac as an extrovert, because, while she does crave social interaction on a pretty regular basis, being around many others can be mentally draining to her.  But she wouldn't truly be an introvert, either, as when left alone too long with her own thoughts, becomes anxious, overly self-critical, and lonesome.  It's a bit of a vicious cycle, really; the longer she is left alone, the jumpier and more anxious she becomes, and the more anxious she becomes, the more defensive she acts around others, and the more defensive she acts, the less anyone wants anything to do with her.  And it isn't that Sumac is unaware of this.  She's a fairly intelligent girl, and she can see when she's being too hostile or unfriendly.  But it's hard for her to quell her own knee-jerk reactions.  Maybe it's that, subconsciously, she wants to push people away, because she feels so overly self-critical.  Maybe she's just too easily irritated by others.  She isn't exactly the most patient of people.  Whatever the case, it's a growing source of anxiety for Sumac, and a problem she's been stressing over how to fix.[/blockquot]

But Sumac isn't completely unbearable.  When she does find someone who can wade through her defensive, jerky attitude, they'll find that on the inside, she's a somewhat insecure yet loyal companion.  Loyalty is something Sumac exalts over any other trait.  Her trust is very hard-earned, but once you do gain it, she will be unflinchingly, unquestionably loyal to you.  She's begrudgingly generous, and secretly sweet.  She's the type to save up to buy a moderately expensive gift for a close friend, and not expect much in return.

History:

Born in the middle of July, Sumac was named for the trees near her parent's home, which happened to be in mid-bloom.  She was a naturally ornery child, and spent many of her toddler years either pouting or crying to try and get her way.  Once in school, Sumac graduated to quiet scheming to achieve her goals (which back then, were pretty simple; hoard crayons, cut in line, ect)  She was teased from a very young age for both her name and her rosacea.  She began to insist that others call her 'Mac' instead of her full name, because she couldn't handle the jokes about how her skin looked like she'd rubbed her face in poison sumac leaves anymore.  The nickname did not catch on until she was much older, to her chagrin.

Sumac aspired to one day take on the job her father performed; stump removal, log splitting, and lumber transportation.  But as she grew, it became increasingly obvious that she simply did not have the build for that type of job.  She was not short, stocky and strong like her father or older brother; she was tall and willowy like her mother.  She constantly cursed her hands throughout her childhood for not being bigger, the type of hands her father had.  In fact, when she was seven, she tried squishing her hand with a letter press at school, to try and 'squish them flat and big like a pancake'.  It only resulted in several broken fingers.

Sumac went to work at age 13, as many of the children of District 7 did.  She didn't lament having to work.  She merely wished she could have done the job her male family members could do.  Because of her size, she was relegated to a far more hazardous job; she scaled tall trees to begin hacking away at the uppermost branches, and then the tops of the trunks, to minimize the danger of their eventual levelling.  She became used to it quickly, though, and became quite adept as well.  She was climbing to terrific heights in the blink of an eye, and it was a good thing she'd never been too scared of heights.  She did have a few scares here and there, but for the most part, her profession has not caused her any harm.

Sumac's family was never that well off.  They weren't really starving, though from time to time, Sumac would catch her mother and father skimping on meals so she and her brother would have more to eat.  They were always clothed, always (mostly) clean, always warm, and stayed in school (although Sumac wished she could have dropped out to work full time)  But Sumac is no stranger to struggling.  She's always been forbidden to take Tessera, even though her brother took it every year he was eligible.  But she longs to, knowing how much easier her family would sleep knowing they wouldn't have to work so hard for every bite they took.

Codeword:

Odair