cashmere

NAME: Amanda
CONTACT: phasers @ plurk
OTHER CHARACTERS IN THE PINES: N/A



NAME: Cashmere
CANON: The Hunger Games
CANON-POINT: Shortly after the interview show during Catching Fire.



HISTORY: THG Wiki article handily combining both book and film!

Fleshing out what the Wiki doesn’t mention:
Cashmere is from District One, which is Panem’s wealthiest district. Unlike the poorer districts, One trains their children to have the best chance at winning the Games, eagerly volunteering for the arena instead of being reaped like other districts. This academy training gives their tributes a huge advantage. Katniss describes career tributes as “overly vicious, arrogant, better fed, but only because they’re the Capitol’s lapdogs [who are] universally, solidly hated by all but those from their own districts.” As is to be expected from her district, she trained as a child/teen and volunteered for the Games at 18.

WHAT ARE YOUR CHARACTER'S STRENGTHS?:
Cashmere is street smart. She knows she's beautiful and intelligent. She's manipulative and will use her full range of skills to get what she wants. In the Capitol that meant saccharine charm and flirtation and outside of the Capitol it means trying to make an ally/friend out of almost everyone so that they'll be on her side when she needs them.

The other aspect of her street smarts is that she’s good at playing by the rules. District One flourishes because they obey the Capitol and benefit from special attention they get in return. Compared to some of the other victors who’ve lost themselves to morphling or liquor, she appears to be good health and happy to be part of the Games. Where she's from, questioning authority gets you or someone you loved killed. She might not be happy with what's going on but it's rare that she'll rock the boat, knowing it will cause trouble for not only herself but for everyone else. 

WHAT ARE YOUR CHARACTER'S WEAKNESSES?:
The downside to her particular brand of (manipulative) charm is that she lacks the true charisma that others (like Capitol darling Finnick Odair) have. The “real” Cashmere isn’t the same person that she presents to those outside her inner circle, and sometimes her attempts at being likable come off as inauthentic or desperate. 

She can be a real jerk. Cashmere likes things to go her way, and when people aren’t playing along with that or she perceives them as a threat she gets ornery. We see this in her interactions with Katniss: she’s polite but not particularly friendly when they first meet and later insults her and storms off when she sees Katniss's wedding dress. Cashmere has spent a lot of time as a Capitol favorite and is infuriated when she senses that Katniss might have become more popular than she is.

Perhaps most significant is the mental and emotional damage that’s been done from her time in the Games and the years after. She’s distrustful and suspicious of new people and situations. Cashmere’s done her best to bury everything deep inside her but that doesn’t prevent her anger from boiling over or stop her from having nightmares. When she’s angry or afraid she’s likely to lash out at anyone who comes to close, including people she considers to be friends.

WHAT EVENTS OR CIRCUMSTANCES IN YOUR CHARACTER'S PAST HAVE IMPACTED THEM THE MOST?:
Gloss winning The Hunger Games set forth a chain of events that shaped the rest of her life. She went into the arena the following year, murdering her way to becoming the only sibling victor duo. After winning she was forced into prostitution by President Snow, and that consumed much of the next 11 years of her life. Snow made an example out of Haymitch, killing his entire family. Cashmere was and remains determined to not make that kind of mistake.

WHAT MOTIVATES YOUR CHARACTER?:
Protecting her brother is her number one motivation, followed by protecting herself as a distance second. She’s focused on surviving more than thriving and will do whatever feels necessary to accomplish that. Separated from him, she'll be focused on figuring out what's going on and finding a way back to him.

WHAT IMPRESSION DO OTHERS TEND TO HAVE OF YOUR CHARACTER?:
Cashmere ranges from polite but cool to late 20s woman throwing a tantrum over someone else’s outfit with a heavy dose of crying on command so they’ll like me - so in a single word: intense. Even in her quiet, one-on-one moments she retains that intensity, though it can be more positively focused into enthusiasm. Whether or not someone finds her intensity to be likable is a different matter.

IN WHAT WAYS DOES THAT IMPRESSION DIFFER FROM WHO YOUR CHARACTER REALLY IS?:
It’s pretty accurate, but anyone who sees only her intensity misses that she has reasons and purpose behind that energy: she's trying to protect the people she loves. Beyond that she’s a good friend and ally who’s more likable when she’s not trying to hard to curry anyone’s favor.

HOW DOES YOUR CHARACTER HANDLE CRISIS OR ADVERSITY?:
Cashmere has faced a lot of adversity and has learned to smile like she’s really looking forward to it and face it head on. When she’s reaped for the Quarter Quell she smiles brightly for the camera, as though it’s an honor to go into the arena with her brother instead of a double death sentence. While other victor-tributes don’t even bother to train she puts in a full effort and receives high scores from the judges. Even facing imminent death she's not willing to half-ass anything.

She’ll apply the same strength and determination to any challenges that come her way in Wayward Pines.

WHICH 5 THINGS WILL YOUR CHARACTER REMEMBER UPON ARRIVAL, AND WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THEM?:

-- She has a brother: Gloss is the most important person in her life. She considers him to be her other half.
-- Trying (unsuccessfully) to scrub blood off her hands in a pond of murky water.
-- Being crowned victor of the 64th Hunger Games. She’ll remember being physically crowned by the president, the crowd cheering, how proud she was of herself.
-- A team of 4 wildly dresses people with weird accents dressing her in a sparkling gown and topping it with a diamond necklace.
-- Telling Katniss her outfit is ridiculous and feeling really, really Mad about it.

Why these memories: The Hunger Games has defined her entire life. Cashmere’s been a victor first and everything else second for a long time, and before she won she dedicated most of her life to prepping for the Games. Without her memories of the Games and everything that followed, she’s just herself, and that’s something she hasn’t had the chance to be in a very long time. Additionally, she’ll be left wonder while she’s all BEC about Katniss Everdeen.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU FEEL WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER?:

Idk her last name is perhaps Ritchson but obviously she’s like Beyonce and only needs a first name.





SKILLS, ABILITIES, & PHYSICAL WEAKNESSES:
Thanks to her preparations for The Hunger Games she is a trained killer (Haymitch refers to her as "lethal"). Outside of the arena that means she's athletic: stronger and faster than most other people. She's a runner, a strong swimmer, and can hold her own in hand-in-hand combat with someone larger than her. She’s skilled at throwing knives, and can also do some cool knife tricks (e.g. spinning a knife on it’s tip on her palm). It's also worth noting that she's killed before and has the mental capacity to do so again without a lot of anguish. 

As for weaknesses she’s killed by an axe to the chest immediately after watching her brother be killed so I suppose we can say that when she is emotionally compromised she doesn’t exactly bring her A-game. She's also more inclined for speed vs strength, so it's best to leave the really heavy lifting to someone else. 

INVENTORY:
--  her interview outfit: a short, bedazzled dress and a pair of really over the top sparkly platform heels. That'll be useful!
-- an emerald pendant necklace that was a gift from Gloss (and is also her arena token!)
-- A small throwing knife


PROSE-HEAVY: one
DIALOGUE-HEAVY: one