Rue

[Action around the village]

[With the laws of the land already explained by Katniss and the stores in the village pointed out, Rue sets out to do a bit of exploring and gathering up items. Feeling a bad over borrowing some of Prim's clothes, Rue first heads to the clothing store.

The amount of clothes and the different styles are staggering to a girl used to wearing worn, drab hand-me-downs. She takes her time going through the store, feeling all the different textures, admiring the colors. That everything is free is astounding as well; as Rue puts her selected outfits into a bag, she'll look around warily before carefully leaving the store.

Her next stop is the grocery store and the experience is also as remarkable. The rows and rows of food, it's almost too much to take. A single shelf could last a family in District 11 the whole year. Rue takes her time, reverently going through each aisle. Most of the packaged foods in bright colorful boxes and containers are things she's never seen, though the pictures and some of the names are descriptive enough.

After stocking up on food, Rue takes a final trip to the weapon shop. There she'll take her times looking over small knives and any slings that might be around.]

[Action for House 34]

[Once Rue returns to the house, she dutifully puts all the food away in the kitchen. A few things - some candy, a box of cookies, fresh apples - will be placed on the counter with a note near by ("Thank you. -Rue). From there, Rue begins to explore the wonders of the house.

She's never been in a house so nice. The soft carpet, the drapes on the windows (the windows open and close too!), running water, electricity, Rue takes her time marveling over everything. She'll open every door to peek in side. If it looks like a bedroom, she'll quickly close the door. Everything else is fair game for the curious girl.]

[Voice - early evening]

[The journal is a strange, strange thing. A book that can be written into to communicate with others, it's remarkable. Rue spends some time flipping through the pages and trying to familiarize herself with everything before making her first recording.]

Um, hello? I hope this is recording. To anyone that can hear me, my name is Rue! I just arrived. I'm from Panem, District 11. Katniss says I was here before, though I don't remember any of it, so I'm sorry if we've met before and I don't remember you!

[A brief pause as she tries to figure out what to say.]

Um... what's your favorite thing? It doesn't have to be something here, it can be anything you really like. I like music a lot, singing especially. Does anyone else like music?

CHARACTER NAME: Rue
CHARACTER SERIES: The Hunger Games

[OOC]
Backtagging: Of course!
Threadhopping: Go ahead!
Fourthwalling: Characters who may know The Hunger Games as a book/movie are welcome to recognize her, but I would rather not anyone tell her she's a fictional character.
Offensive subjects (elaborate): can't think of any off the top of my head!

[IC]
Hugging this character: Sure! She'll be a bit wary around strangers, but she's a hugger.
Kissing this character: Chaste kisses on the forehead and cheek are okay. Lips maybe depending on the circumstances. Let's plot in advance.
Flirting with this character: She's 12, and she would be confused.
Fighting with this character: Maybe! Let's plot in advance.
Injuring this character: Maybe! Let's plot in advance. Also injuring Rue would likely bring the wrath of Katniss down on the character.
Killing this character: Depends on the situation, so let's plot in advance.
Using telepathy/mind reading abilities on this character: Generally yes, though if you have a permissions post for the ability, let me know so I can fill it out!

Warnings: Spoilers for the Hunger Games given the character and her canon point. Let me know if you want to remain unspoiled on things.

This is a reference for terms, locations, and facts within the world of The Hunger Games. Spoilers will be marked accordingly.

Some information collected from The Hunger Games Wikia as they do a better job summing things up than I can.

T = Tribute
V = Victor

( [Locations] )

( [Terminology] )

PLAYER

Name: Cata
Journal Username: smultronstallet
E-mail: quiptorium(AT)gmail(DOT)com
AIM/PLURK: N/A
Current Characters at Luceti: N/A

CHARACTER

Name: Rue
Canon: The Hunger Games
Gender: Female
Age: 12
Wing Color: Light yellow

Canon Point: After her death in the arena of the 74th Hunger Games.
Canon Point Explanation: Being her death, this is the end point of Rue’s canon, but taking her from a post-death point also allows her to explore being a child and dealing with the trauma that comes as a result of being a Tribute.
History: Rue at the Hunger Games Wikia.

Personality: "I'm very hard to catch. And if they can't catch me, they can't kill me. So don't count me out."

Like many of the children of Panem, and especially District 11, starvation, oppression, and cruelty are all familiar things to Rue. As District 11's specializes in agriculture, Rue would have worked sunrise to sunset in the fields, climbing trees in the orchard to pick the fruit at the very top, then retiring at night to a cramped shack with the rest of her family. She would have grown used to the sight of Peacekeepers (guards) keeping a close watch on the orchards and fields, ready to dole out punishment to anyone who dared keep food for themselves or step out of line (it's stated stealing food is punishable by public whipping; one kid is killed for simply taking a pair of night-vision goggles to play with). However, despite this oppressive environment, Rue is a very kind and loving individual. As the oldest of six children, Rue did everything she could to provide for her five younger siblings, willing to give up her food rations so they could eat more, foraging in the meadows for food (an act that would have resulted in heavy punishment if she were caught). Katniss mentions Rue is “fiercely protective” of them and while no further evidence or explanation is given, it can be deduced Rue is someone who would stand up and protect those closest to her in whatever way she could.

Even though she's selected as the girl Tribute from Distrct 11 for the 74th Hunger Games, she remains a happy (or at least as happy as a Tribute can be), kind individual. She remains very calm and attentive when we see her, never showing any signs of stress or anger. Around Katniss, she's downright at ease, trusting the other girl completely and working together with her. However, this kindness does not come without strength. Despite her small size and young age, Rue is a survivor. Using her strong climbing abilities and ability to move quietly, she keeps to the trees where the other Tributes can't get her and spies on others to gathering information and make decisions (her spying on Katniss and noticing the mockingjay pin is how she decides Katniss is trustworthy). She uses her extensive knowledge of plants to forage for food and gather medicinal herbs. She never engages anyone directly (her size and lack of physical strength compared to others puts her at a disadvantage, though she's shown to be very accurate with a slingshot), but she shows she has the wits and smarts to survive, likely doing far better than anyone ever expected a little 12-year-old girl to do. While she knew she wasn't likely to win, she was certainly going to do her best to go on as long as she could.

Character spoilers and speculation and analysis ahead: With Rue's point being taken from after a particular traumatic death (being captured in a net, then stabbed with a spear) on top of already being forced into a traumatic experience, this is something that will linger with Rue. In Katniss, we see her going through PTSD and frequent nightmares, and I believe this is something Rue would also experience. There's also the realization she will never see her family again. These are very heavy things for a twelve-year-old to contend with, and while I believe she has the strength to keep it together, it won’t be easy. Being the oldest of six children, Rue would have been the one to set an example for the others as they would be looking up to her. Given the environment she grew up in, she probably learned to keep her fear to herself and stay together for the sake of her younger siblings (a public whipping would be a very scary thing for anyone, much less a child, to witness and it's implied these happened often). However, Rue still has her limits and she's still a child. As odd as Luceti and the world is, the safer environment and the characters around will give her a chance to work through her trauma and properly heal as well as have a chance at being a child again.

Strengths

Rue is a very strong climber, able to climb to the tops of trees and leap from tree to tree, with speed and stealth. She's able to sneak around undetected and spy on the other Tributes without any issue. She also has excellent accuracy with a slingshot, able to easily hit all of her targets during a training session, though this never comes into play during the game. Though there’s no confirmation, it’s believed her ability to climb quickly and quietly and accuracy with a slingshot is what earned her a seven out of twelve from the Gamemakers.

Coming from a district that focuses on agriculture, Rue has very extensive knowledge of plants. She knows which ones are edible, which ones to avoid, even which ones can be used for medicinal purposes, shown when she soothes Katniss' tracker jacker stings with some plants gathered from the forest. She also managed to forage for her own food during the games and would forage for food back home, an important skill in an area where food is limited. Even knowing and being accustomed to a constant state of hunger is a strength of sorts as she's able to push on even in the face of starvation.

Mentally, Rue seems to be well-adjusted from what we see of her in the book. There's no denying the world she lives in is a horrible place and she's become accustomed to that. Starvation is a norm, seeing people whipped in public is a norm, a yearly event where children as young as 12 go off to die for the entertainment of others is a norm. Rue lives in a horrible world and is able to go on and do her job in the fields and take care of her family by risking her life to forage in the meadows. Numb and accustomed to everything? Certainly, but it also takes strength to push on. This was a twelve-year-old girl who was selected to compete in an event she knew she would die in and faced it with calm dignity.

Weaknesses

Rue is a twelve-year-old human girl. She's small and thin, and would have been easily crushed by any of the other tributes, especially as her only weapon was a sharp rock that served as a knife. She's a fragile speedster, able to stay ahead and survive as long as no one can catch up to her. Beyond her high accuracy with a slingshot, we don't see any signs of her knowing other forms of combat or having any kind of training. It’s also very likely Rue doesn’t know how to swim as there would be no opportunity or a reason for her to learn.

Intellectually, Rue is a bright girl, but I believe her reading and writing level may be average or subpar for her age. In District 11, schools were canceled during harvest season so everyone could work out in the fields. Comparatively, she would have had less schooling in her life, and I highly doubt the education offered was at its best. There's no need to educate someone when their whole life will be spent harvesting crops from sunrise to sunset. This is not to say Rue is unintelligent, but she's simply far less book smart due to a lack of proper education in her life.

Mentally and emotionally, while we see Rue keep it together during the games, there's no denying she went through a very traumatic experience and that's something that will last with her for awhile. Nightmares, flashbacks, panicking if she encounters similar experiences, I imagine there are things that would trigger her. She might be a bit tougher than most, but she's still a child. There’s also the strain of having to deal with her own death and the realization she exists in one world while she’s dead in another. A fairly heavy topic for a twelve-year-old.