Bronwyn Cline

Bronwyn Cline is a tribute from District Ten who volunteered to compete in the Hunger Games. Kind yet self-sufficient, Bronwyn is not as concerned with the glory of winning the Games as she is with getting out of District Ten. She was created by SpideyShield.

Backstory
Warning: Bronwyn's experience with homophobia is one of the major aspects of her backstory. Please refrain from reading this if that will make you uncomfortable.

Religious roots have always run deep in District Ten, but they especially suffocated every aspect of life in the neighborhood where the Clines lived.

Bronwyn Antebella Cline, born to two farmers, was the youngest of three children and by far the most beautiful. She grew up spoiled, even though her family lived in abject poverty. But even though she always got more toys than her older siblings and more candy on her birthday, she remembered to live her life with compassion and fairness, and she stayed kind throughout her childhood years.

There was one schoolhouse in her neighborhood where most of the children learned; as such, Bronwyn grew up around the same group of kids for her whole life. She was a good student, but as a result, she spent most of her time studying and less time with the other kids. She drifted apart from them but became the subject of lots of teasing and juvenile insults. She ignored them as much as she could. She knew that when she grew up and became one of the great minds of the Capitol or District Three, she could use their bullying as one of the obstacles in her success story.

Bronwyn was fourteen when April Amberhair moved to her neighborhood. She was from District Nine and was the prettiest girl that Bronwyn had ever seen. The wind whispered her name when it blew through the seas of grain near the schoolhouse, and the sun never failed to illuminate her honey-brown eyes. She was the hour just before sunset when everything outside was covered in gold.

At first, Bronwyn thought it was envy. When April sat in the front row of her classroom, Bronwyn couldn't keep her eyes off of her. The way her hair was so carefully braided, the freckles that dappled her rosy cheeks, the way she twirled her pen when she was figuring something out. She was just so perfect. And Bronwyn didn't think she was ugly, but she wished she could look like April.

But then the glances lasted a little too long and Bronwyn couldn't stand to watch April walk home after school by herself. It was after math class on a Thursday. They had learned about fractions or ratios or something of the sort, and even though Bronwyn completely understood the material, she went up to April anyway. Because she wanted to start a conversation with the new girl and befriend her. Nothing more. Obviously.

"Hey, did you understand the thing about multiplication?" Bronwyn asked as April was packing up her backpack.

April pursed her lips and thought for a moment, not making eye contact with Bronwyn yet. God, it was as if April wanted Bronwyn to fixate on her perfect side profile.

"Honestly, not really," April giggled. Her laugh was bells dancing in the wind.

Bronwyn hadn't been expecting an answer like that, but fortunately, she could improvise. "Oh, good," she sighed. "I'm glad I'm not the only one."

"I don't think we've met yet," April replied, giving her a soft smile. "I'm kind of new. I'm April."

And Bronwyn wanted to say I know because how could someone see you and not want to know everything about you but she didn't.

"Bronwyn," she said instead. "Nice to meet you."

April grinned. "It's nice to meet you, too!" She stood up and slung her backpack over her shoulder. "You live around here?"

Bronwyn stifled a snort. "Well, this village is practically an island surrounded by farmland, so yeah. I'm just a few minutes' walk away."

"Oh, cool! Me too. Wanna see if we can figure out the math stuff on the way?"

And that was the first of many walks home - the first of waves good-bye and suppressed smiles and teenage laughter echoing through the streets.

The two of them were best friends for four years before it all went to shit.

April talked about boys a lot. It made sense. She was smart and kind and the prettiest creature to ever walk the earth. Boys passing through town to pick up farming supplies never failed to flirt with her, but April only had her eye on one boy. His name was Cobalt Bronson, a boy with tanned skin who was sculpted like a God.

By the time they were both eighteen, April and Bronwyn had moved to the back of the classroom so they could giggle and pass notes during class. But Cobalt sat in front of them, and sometimes he would look over his shoulder just to glance at April. And Bronwyn hated him. She didn't know why she hated him so much until she suddenly did.

It was because April was everything beautiful about the world, and Bronwyn was in love with her.

But... she couldn't be. Not in District Ten. Because in District Ten, people hated people who didn't do what they wanted them to. They hated people who were different.

And so, terrified that somehow April would find out about her feelings for her, Bronwyn pushed her away. Maybe her feelings would dissipate over time.

But they didn't. And Bronwyn was alone again.

Cobalt and April went on their first date on a cloudy Friday night that was so dark that not even the stars dared to come out. He bought her flowers, and then they went to one of the night markets in town to look at jewelry and trinkets.

Bronwyn didn't normally work her family's booth at the night market, but her parents and siblings were all busy that night, so she was the only one left to sell bread and meat to the rest of the town. It had been an average night until she saw April walk by.

The two made eye contact, and the smile from April's face faded into a frown. She whispered something to Cobalt then gestured towards an alley that was across the street from the night market tent. Bronwyn nodded ever so slightly, swallowed, and put out a sign saying that her family's booth was temporarily closed.

April was waiting for her in the alley, her arms crossed as she leaned against the wall of a building. Her chin was slightly pointed towards the sky, searching for any constellations that were peeking out from the clouds. There weren't any.

"Bronwyn," April mumbled, catching sight of her former best friend.

Bronwyn didn't reply. She was too focused on keeping her cheeks from turning bright red.

"I'm worried about you." April approached Bronwyn and placed a hand on her shoulder. Bronwyn wanted to rip her arm away from April, but she didn't.

Instead, she locked eyes with her and placed both of her hands on April's face. She couldn't believe what she was about to do.

She pulled April's face to hers and kissed her, just as she had wanted to do for the past two years.

When Bronwyn pulled away, April's face was pale. She was focused on a point behind Bronwyn.

Bronwyn turned her head to see Cobalt standing at the end of the alley.

He had seen everything.

Giving her friend one last regretful look, Bronwyn whispered an apology to April and ran away. She didn't return to her family's booth that night.

By Monday, almost everyone in the schoolhouse had learned of her and April's encounter in the alleyway. Technically, Cobalt had only told one other person, but then they had told another person, and another, and another. Bronwyn walked into the schoolhouse by herself, pulling the sleeves of her oversized brown sweater over her hands to try to make herself as invisible as she could.

"Bronwyn the girl-kisser" was the first thing she heard that morning, followed by a chorus of snickers and giggles. She kept her eyes fixed on the ground until she got to her seat in the very back corner of the room. She could still hear conversations happening elsewhere in the classroom.

"Yeah, I totally get what you're saying," a girl was saying. "Like, take that type of stuff to the Capitol. I don't want to see that here."

And a boy was replying, "I dunno, it's kind of hot."

Bronwyn looked up to see who was speaking, but as soon as she did, April Amberhair entered the room, followed by a posse of boys who looked mesmerized by her body. She wore tight pants and a shirt that hardly covered her chest at all. Bronwyn looked away immediately, shifting her gaze to one of her schoolbooks on her desk.

But April had noticed. She smirked and walked over to the desk next to Bronwyn's, sitting on top of it and twirling her hair around her finger. Bronwyn looked up, glaring at April. She knew what she was about to do.

"Hey, Bronwyn," she said in a sarcastically seductive voice. "I noticed you staring." She pointed to her breasts. "Wanna feel 'em?"

"Go fuck yourself," Bronwyn replied, and giggles erupted throughout the classroom. A circle was forming around the two of them.

April stood up and strolled over to Bronwyn's desk, leaning against it so she was towering above Bronwyn. "I thought you would want to do that for me."

Bronwyn shifted her jaw, stood up, and slapped April in the face.

For the next thirty seconds, the two girls clawed at each other, shoving and pulling hair until some of their classmates pulled them apart.

Two weeks passed. Bronwyn was harassed wherever she went. Boys in her class swore that they could turn her back to "normal" after just one night. Girls whispered about her whenever she passed by. Bronwyn cried herself to sleep every night. She had ruined everything.

And then the Reaping happened. She knew she was going to volunteer even before the female's name was called. Either she would win and get to live somewhere where she wouldn't be judged for being who she was, or she would die and never have to live in the hell that was District Ten ever again.

So when April's name happened to be called, Bronwyn volunteered immediately. Not because she loved April. But because she didn't. Not anymore.

Personality
coming soon

Other Information
Alliance: She's desperate to ally with anyone other than the Careers, but she wouldn't want to be a part of an alliance with more than five people. The Anti-Careers might be a good fit for her depending on who else is in the alliance.

Tribute Token: Bronwyn refuses to bring anything into the arena; she doesn't want anything to remind her of her past.

Romance: Bronwyn is homosexual and, as a hopeless romantic, constantly falls for any pretty girls who are nice to her. She can never tell if a girl is actually interested in her or if they are just being nice to her or even trying to trick her so they can mock her later, so there's a good chance she'll fight her feelings and keep her guard up unless someone is really obviously into her, too. (pls give her a gf i beg of you)

Motto: Dum spiro spero (Latin, "While I breathe, I hope")

Strategies
coming soon

Trivia

 * The name "Bronwyn" means pure of heart. The last name "Cline" means small. I chose her name without knowing the meaning behind it, but I think it suits her personality well.
 * I didn't have a backstory for her until I heard the song "girls" by girl in red. Originally, she was just going to have lived an ordinary life.