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Player Information
Player name: Kate
Contact: everlark on plurk, kjmajor92[at]gmail[dot]com, pixiesticks
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Characters in The Box Already: None!

Character Information
Character Name: Peeta Mellark
Canon: The Hunger Games
Canon Point: Catching Fire, Chapter 27
History: wiki link
Personality:

Peeta is charming beyond belief. With his boyish looks and his ability to spin words, he can sway a crowd whatever way he wants. For example, he's very charming on stage in the 74th Hunger Games, making jokes with Caesar about smelling like roses. He also charms the nation with his crush on Katniss. In the Quarter Quell, he charms the crowd with his devastating story of never being able to marry Katniss, of the secret marriage and the baby, even asking the crowd if they can keep a secret. He has a self-deprecating humor that really comes off as charming, too. His charismatic way is a very important part of Peeta.

He's a really loving person. Of course, he loves Katniss, but he also loves Haymitch and his family. He would lasso the moon for Katniss if she wished him to. In the 74th Hunger Games, he tries to keep her alive the whole time out of love, lying, killing, and joining the Careers to do this. In the Quarter Quell, he begs Haymitch to pick Katniss as the one to help in these Games. Even though he knows she doesn't love him back (or maybe just isn't sure of her feelings), he cuddles her at night to keep the nightmares away. He also has a locket made that has pictures of Katniss' family, trying to convince her to be the one that goes home. Most of what Peeta does is out of love for Katniss in the first two books. He volunteers in place of Haymitch and is hurt when his family isn't voting for him. Love is what motivates a lot of what he does.

He's also manipulative and a great liar. He lies when Katniss recognizes the Avox, to protect Katniss. He says she's a dead ringer for Delly Cartwright, when Delly looks completely different. He lies (most likely) about all the boys back home having a crush on Katniss, making her seem desirable. In the Quarter Quell, he lies about them getting married and that Katniss is pregnant, hoping to get the Games to stop. He lies and manipulates a lot of people to get his way.

Peeta's also a very sassy little thing. He often makes sassy remarks. For example, in the first book, when he explains that he frosts the cakes, Katniss says, “If only you could frost someone to death,” and Peeta responds with “Don’t be so superior. You can never tell what you’ll find in the arena. Say it’s actually a gigantic cake—”. He also says, “What was that you were saying just before the food arrived? Something about me...no competition...best thing that ever happened to you..." He also has a lot of spunk, like when he smashes Haymitch's glass on the train and says that it's not funny that Haymitch isn't helping them. He also made a painting of Rue on the ground instead of showing the Gamemakers his abilities to survive during the evaluation.

Diving deeper into Peeta's personality, there's also his unwillingness to go down without a fight. His rebellious side. He tells Katniss “I don’t want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I’m not... Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to…to show the Capitol they don’t own me. That I’m more than just a piece in their Games.” This part reveals a lot about Peeta. First, it shows that he wants to stay himself, that he doesn't want them to change him. Second, that he doesn't want to just do what they say. He wants to rebel against them, even in a small way, to show them that they don't own him. Another example of this is when he gives Rue's and Thresh's families some of their earnings in recognition of what they both did for them. That's a big slap in the face to the Capitol. Also, there's his evaluation in the Quarter Quell. Instead of showing them his skills like he's supposed to, he paints Rue on the floor, surrounded by wildflowers, which is a big, big slap in the face to the Capitol. To add to the 'I don't want them to change me' point, at the victory tour party in the Capitol, they try to get Peeta and Katniss to drink something that makes them vomit, so they can go on eating all night. Peeta is disgusted and refuses it.

There's also his fiery temper. He gets angry when Katniss says “Who cares?” in response to his 'I don't want to be a piece in their Games” speech, and uses a condescending 'endearment' that he knows bothers Katniss. In Catching Fire, he uses that fire to make Katniss and Haymitch work out and get stronger in case they're in the Games. Also, he strikes out at a vase when he learns Katniss has been keeping things from him, that Snow visited her and threatened her loved ones when Peeta was risking things. He was also quite angry about being lied to/manipulated by Katniss and Haymitch in the first arena, and storms off down the train. These examples all show that Peeta can take a lot, but he doesn't take lies or people not taking him seriously well, and he has a short temper. Though he presents as a charming young man, he really does have this angry side that takes over sometimes.


His core motivations are to keep Katniss alive, to keep himself alive, and to stay himself. He is willing to kill and lie to protect Katniss. He lies on many occasions to protect her, such as about the Avox, in the arena with the Careers, to the cameras, and in his interviews. He’s willing to lie for a bit to protect himself, as shown by his short alliance with the Careers in the first book. On the roof, he mentions that he doesn’t want them to change him, make him into something he’s not. He shows who he really is by refusing to kill Katniss in the 74th Games, telling her to kill him. He also shows he’s not a piece in their games by painting Rue on the floor in his private session with the Gamemakers.

He's in love with Katniss, and would do anything for her. His love for Katniss is what motivates him to do a lot of the events in canon. He treats her with respect. You’d think it was an artificial love, after all that time not really knowing her, but he seems to genuinely care for her for who she is. They do snap and snarl at each other under pressure, but usually Peeta is a rock for Katniss, and vice versa. They lean on each other when they need to. In the first book, there’s a lot of distrust between them, but after they join forces in the arena, their trust in each other grows. By the second book, they are dedicated to keeping each other alive. There are a lot of confused feelings between the two. It’s hard to tell what are real feelings and what are faked feelings for the cameras.

Haymitch and Peeta have a quieter, less fiery relationship than Katniss and Haymitch. Peeta stands up to Haymitch, and Haymitch seems to respect him for that. There’s also resentment in the relationship, since Haymitch never sent Peeta any sponsors until Katniss joined up with him. It’s how he wanted it. He wanted him to choose Katniss. But he also feels a little hurt that he wasn’t chosen. It reinforced the impression that his family gave him, that no one wants him or would miss him. There’s a lot of trust that Peeta put into Haymitch that he shatters when he goes behind their backs and plots things with the rebels.

His family is not around for most of canon, but they add to the story now and then. Katniss notes that with his two brothers, one is too old to volunteer in his place, and the other must just not want to, something that I could see Peeta being a little hurt by. His mother is cruel, screaming at Katniss when she goes through the trash and hitting Peeta when he burns the bread. His father seems gentler and kinder. Katniss deals with him more when she trades squirrels. Peeta seems to be hurt by his mother's comment that Katniss might actually win. Katniss, not her own son. This leads him to think that no one wants him in the second book.

Items on your character at canon point:
- “a fitted blue jumpsuit, made of very sheer material, that zippers up the front”
- “a six-inch-wide padded belt covered in shiny purple plastic”
- “a pair of nylon shoes with rubber soles”
- Capitol-made knife
Abilities, Strengths and Weaknesses:

Abilities and Strengths

• Baking: Peeta grew up a baker’s son, so he knows how to bake things, and knows a great deal about bread. He's also great at frosting cakes
• Painting/Camouflage: He was talented with chalk drawings as a kid, and found out through the Hunger Games and through his frosting that he's talented at camouflage, and later, painting in a realistic style.
• Knife: He's said to be handy with a knife. He also has some knowledge in knife throwing.
• Fires: Katniss said he can coax a fire out of damp wood.
• Strength: He can lift and throw hundred-pound bags of flour and he’s very good at wrestling. He excels in hand-to-hand combat.
• Knot tying/trap making: He’s decent with knot tying and knows a trap that will leave a human dangling by a leg from a tree.
• Survival skills: He has some knowledge in making shelter, spear throwing, and edible plant life.
• Public Speaking: He’s very good at public speaking, is charming and charismatic, and is very good at lying.

Weaknesses

• Fiery temper: Peeta's got a pretty fiery temper which involves things being smashed, yelling, and vigorous training. While it can sometimes help them better, it can often get in the way and cause rifts between people, like when he snapped at Katniss on the roof in the first book.
• book-smart, not street-smart re: survival: While Peeta knows a lot of survival tips, he ends up in harm's way a lot, is very loud and scares away prey while hunting (or attracts predators while running away), and is sometimes just uneducated about things like wounds, types of food you can eat, and basic facts that Katniss knows from hunting. Peeta grew up in a bakery, and so some of these things are harder for him.
• Self-sacrificing: Peeta's is pretty self-sacrificing, taking a beating for Katniss with the bread when they were kids and offering to die in place of her at the end of the first Games, as well as deciding he was the one that was going to die in the second. He also volunteered for the Games in place of Haymitch, in part to keep Katniss alive and in part to keep Haymitch alive. He would do about anything for close friends and loved ones, to the point of self-destruction.
• Clueless: He's often clueless on what people are thinking. He doesn't understand Haymitch's clues that if they kiss, he'll send them food. He also can't tell that Katniss is just pretending (for the most part) that she's in love with him during the first Games.

Samples
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Prose Log Sample:

Peeta hesitated at the doors, then stepped inside the training area. The doors closed behind him. He looked up to see the Gamemakers, sitting there and lounging, munching on snacks and talking and laughing. It ticked Peeta off. They were there to assess him, not to have a great time. His life depended on this. And, just like the last Games, they weren't paying attention. He could feel anger bubbling up inside him, and he stomped over to the camouflage station. The Gamemakers continued to pay him little attention. He grabbed the colors he wanted (beautiful colors, beautiful paints that were more expensive than he could have afforded before he won), and sat on the floor.

He started with Rue, her face shape and then her body shape. He filled in the rest, the curve of her baby face, her wild black locks. As she quickly became recognizable, the Gamemakers got quieter and quieter until it was dead silent. Peeta was grinding his teeth as he surrounded the small girl's death portrait with small wildflowers, just like Katniss had done in real life. A glass dropped, and he knew he had achieved the desired effect. He stood, fighting the temptation to cry, and stared the Gamemakers down.

They had not just done something wrong, they were doing something despicable. He would not stand for this. And he would fight back. The head Gamemaker announced that he was dismissed, a strange look on his face. He heard the faint call of 'Katniss Everdeen', and slowly made his way past Katniss, his face pitying. Katniss would have to see his painting, and it would upset her. Little did he know she would hang Seneca Crane.