Cecil Thayer

"When sighted people cover their eyes or find themselves in a dark place, this is something that's very terrifying for us. And so in general, we assume that this is what blindness means. But of course, it isn't. For people who were born blind or who go blind at a very young age, that's not at all what blindness means." -Rosemary Mahoney

Cecil Thayer is a tribute who belongs to FrostyFire. Please refrain from using this tribute without permission. If you do wish to use this tribute, you can leave a message asking. Cecil lives in District Five and his district partner is Talia Mignonette. The two do not need to be submitted into Hunger Games together, or in a special order.

Basic Information
Name: Cecil Thayer

Age: Seventeen

District: Five (Six, Eight)

Gender: Male

Personality: Cecil absolutely hates when other people try to look down upon him for having a disability, so he does everything is his power to prevent people from feeling sympathy for him. While he isn't rude and arrogant, he tries to appear as if he is not vulnerable, even though he is during some instances. All he wants is for people to view him as a regular person, absolutely hating when others try to consider him a liability. He attempts to refuse to judge other people, as he's dealt with criticism about both his parents, yet he can be judgemental towards those who hurt someone close to him. Cecil's the type of person to ignore any gossip or rumors about someone, except if he's dealt with it first-hand, as he prefers to dwell on all the good things in people. As a result of being blind, he's dealt with people bullying and picking on him, so he's always greatful for when a person goes out of their way to make him feel better. While he still strives for people to view him as a fully-functional human, he acknowledges that he has special needs for being blind and accepts them. All he really wants is for a person to accept him for being blind, yet still allows him to do things any other person could do, even if it comes at a risk.

Weapons:

Appearance:

Backstory: Conan Thayer was an infertile man who was raised by an abusive father, so when he married Lillias, he knew that they could never have children. However, Lillias had always dreamed about having children, having loved babies since she was little and wanted to become a mother. After she finished school, she immediately became an elementary school teacher, as she loved being around innocent, little children every day. Four years into their marriage, after countless attempts to have children, Conan revealed that he was infertile, completely destroying the trust between the two. Desperate to become a mother, Lillias seduced one of her ex-boyfriends into having sex with her, resulting in her pregnancy.

While Conan knew that there was no way the child could be his, he forced himself to believe it was, trying to pass it off as a miracle. Furthermore, it was easier to believe the child was his when he had the same brown hair and green eyes as him. Lillias knew that her marriage could be easily destroyed if the information about Cecil's real father was revealed, so she swore to be grateful to her son and to be completely loyal to her husband, no matter how badly she wanted another child. However, when Cecil was close to three years old, Lillias could no longer hold the urge to bear another child, so she used the same ex-boyfriend to become pregnant again.

When Lillias clearly started showing signs of pregnancy, Conan knew that the child could not be his, as he was having issues with orgasms, so the two hadn't had sex for weeks. Lillias tried to lie to Conan, attempting to claim she's been pregnant for a while, but hasn't shown any signs. But Conan wouldn't take it, storming out of the house and disappearing for a week. When he returned, he had a flare gun, and attempted to shoot Lillias's stomach with it, hoping to kill the baby. However, Cecil, being very protective of his mother, jumped in the way, taking the hit right in his face, which he never thought would be the last thing he saw.

Cecil's face was badly burned, his eyes had been damaged beyond repair, and half of his teeth had been cracked. He was in the hospital for nearly a month, with the doctors trying to fix his face to the best of their ability, but it would never be as perfect as they hoped. His scars had faded to be barely noticeable, and his teeth were simply pulled out, so once he grew his adult teeth, nobody would notice. However, the doctors could do nothing to fix his sight, as his eyes had been so badly damaged that his pupils had blended into the greenness of his eyes. Instead, they gave him a walking stick so he wouldn't crash into things and a pair of dark sunglasses so he wouldn't feel insecure about his eyes.

Although Conan would be imprisoned for the rest of his life for shooting his son, he succeeded in his plan, as Lillias ended up having a miscarriage weeks before she was due. Lillias completely broke, realizing that both her son's blindness and daughter's miscarriage was a result of her cheating on her husband. She stopped working as an elementary school teacher, and decided to move across the district to live with her parents and join their tailoring business. It was a hard move for both of them, especially Cecil as he had to completely adjust to a new environment and learn how to maneuver it without sight. Fortunately, if Lillias hadn't moved, she would've killed herself, so Cecil happily went along with the move, fearful of losing his remaining parent.

Since Lillias dealt with financial issues after the move, she wasn't able to provide Cecil with a special needs teacher to help him adjust to his disability. Instead, she settled for having one of their new neighbors, an elderly lady named Ophelia whose husband was blind, teach Cecil the the basics of living with the disability. Although Cecil was initially hostlie towards Ophelia, he eventually warmed up to her, and she became the first non-family member after the incident that he befriended. Lillias noticed the close relationship between the two, and later pursued Ophelia into tutoring Cecil, as she didn't feel comfortable with him attending a public school. Ophelia would continue to tutor Cecil until her death.

''To Be Continued. . . '' Reasons for Winning:
 * However, Cecil was still traumatized by his father's attack, and started experiencing consistant nightmares of the events. Lillias started taking him to therapy, which ended up "healing" his PTSD as he no longer experienced nightmares (yet still fears his father)
 * One day, when Cecil was six, he was going on a walk around the neighborhood (he hated being stuck inside the house all day, so after constant begging, his mother allowed him to take a thirty minute walk around the neighborhood) when a group of teenagers started picking on him. They broke his walking cane in half, and started using it to beat him up. Cecil was on the ground in a fetal position for long, agonizing minutes until an adult came to the scene and shooed the bullies away
 * Afterwards, his mother refused to allow him to go on any walks alone. To go to an even further extent, she signed him up for self-defense classes, in case someone ever picks on him again
 * When he started taking self-defense classes, he was awful at it, and always struggled with the lesson. However, the instructor pulled him aside and told him that, since he is blind, he needs to focus on his other senses to imagine the surroundings. His speech inspired Cecil, and he started being able to learn some of the basics, focusing on his senses of sound and feel
 * Two years into taking lessons, Cecil was able to do some of the more basic moves of self-defense, yet they were effective. When a group of children tried attacking and picking on him again by putting him in a headlock, he was able to twist out of it and put the bully in the headlock instead. While Cecil thought he won, one of the other kids punched Cecil in the face, breaking his nose. Another kid grabbed the walking stick and swung it into the back of Cecil's head, giving him a concussion
 * After the incident, Cecil focuses especially hard at the self-defense classes, and also started learning fighting techniques from the instructor. Whenever Cecil finished his schoolwork and there were still a few hours before dinner time, he would go to the self-defense building and have the instructor teach him some new moves. Due to the intense training he was putting himself through, he was becoming stronger and gradually started to stop using the walking stick. By the time he was fourteen, he no longer needed the stick, as he was able to hear and imagine where people and surroundings are. (This didn't stop him from running into a few signs from time to time, though)
 * When Cecil was able to almost completely imagine the surroundings without using his cane, he begged his mother and grandparents to allow him to attend school, instead of being homeschooled. Reluctantly, they agreed and at the beginning of the next school year, he started at the age of fifteen.
 * Quickly, he made a few friends, although he was disappointed when he found out most of them were only sympathetically hanging out with him. However, one of them, a girl named (think of name), admired him for how he's become so strong in his senses that he doesn't need a walking cane. The two became best friends within a month, and even tried dating for a while, but mutually decided they were better as friends.
 * Nothing significant really happens after this until he was reaped. Add and incorporate that at school, he dealt with some bullies and people making fun of him when he ran into a stationary item (he can't really use his sense of hearing to find out where the walls are), and that when his best friend was made fun of, he did stick up and fight for her. Note: He continued self-defense and fighting technique classes throughout this entire time, and even was able to learn how to use a shuriken during one session (although during training, he'll really start focusing on this weapon)

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Strategy:

Typical Alliance:

Height: Five Feet, Seven Inches

Fears:

Token:

Participated Hunger Games

 * Lightstone123's 401st Hunger Games - 5th out of 32, killed by Surorian Chaos, 0 kills
 * San Junipero's The Genesis Games - In Progress, Alive

Trivia

 * Cecil has participated in two separated 99th Hunger Games, but has not died in either of them yet