Opal's Aesthetic
OPAL VAN RUSCH
DISTRICT 1
F | she/her | 15 | Volunteered
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Opal is a strange young girl. A scary, sadistic, strange girl who has always taken pleasure in others’ pain. Not only has she trained her entire life to win the Hunger Games, but she is very independent and does not like, hates even, being told what to do. This has led to her injuring and even killing many Peacekeepers in her district. Being from District One, she has been trained for the Hunger Games at a special Academy and has learned how to use many different weapons, to injure people using her bare hands, and, through her journey of assassinating Peacekeepers (because many of her victims would fight back) she has learned how to handle pain very effectively. She is lethal. But, luckily for her, she is the daughter of Mayor Van Rusch, the Mayor of District One, therefore, she has never been punished for her actions. She has now decided to volunteer for the 52nd Annual Hunger Games, where she will be allowed to kill anyone whenever she wants without punishment. She is trained, prepared, and vicious.
THE REAPING
As Opal stood along with the rest of the fifteen-year-old girls of District One, she couldn’t hide her excitement and smiled bigger than she ever had before. The other girls at the Academy didn’t like her. Each year, the best students from the Academy were assigned to volunteer, and because she was better than every other girl in combat, weaponry, and survival skills, Opal was chosen. All the other girls looked at her with judgemental looks, so Opal returned some eerie stares which scared the girls into looking away.
The strange woman from the Capitol, the one who came to District One every year to read out the names at the reaping, walked out onto the stage. Opal anxiously awaited the revealing of the female tribute, and when the name was finally called, she did not hesitate to scream “I volunteer” so loudly that everyone in close proximity had to cover their ears.
Opal walked with quick steps towards the stage with all eyes on her. She walked past a group of girls whom she trained with at the Academy. They looked at her with angry, judgmental looks. Opal immediately stuck out her tongue and held up her middle fingers, which produced some gasps from the rest of the crowd.
While on the stage, Opal stood with her chest puffed out and a somewhat sadistic smile smeared over her lips.
“What is your name, love?” the strange-looking woman from the Capitol asked as Opal looked out over the crowd.
Opal tilted her face forward. “My name is Opal Van Rusch,” she answered as she stared into the cameras through her eyebrows.
Opal's Reaping Outfit
THE TRIBUTE PARADE
As Opal stood with Emma behind their carriage, she knew three things for certain: she wanted the Games to start, she didn’t care about the parade, and she looked incredible. Opal had caught a glimpse of all the other tributes and loved the fact that she now looked like a queen of them all. She may not have cared for fashion, but she knew when to use it to her advantage, and the better she looked during the parade, the more confident she looked, the more feared she would be.
She and Emma had both been well prepared by their stylists and prep teams. Opal had, strangely enough, started to like Emma from their brief exchanges of words, maybe she’d make a friend? Opal didn’t care for friends, she’d have plenty of time for those once she managed to win the Games, and it wasn’t like she and Emma would be friends after the Games. But she had decided to enjoy her last days before the Games started. Opal and Emma were ushered onto their carriage and were the first to be drawn out into the light. The light of sparkling, excited, bubbly Capitol residents who threw flowers and cheered for the tributes they liked, and jeered for the ones they didn’t. Opal was pleased to say that she was one tribute who was definitely liked by the Capitol. She waved, as did Emma, and in return the crowd cheered and whistled. Maybe the parade would be pretty enjoyable...
Opal's Parade Outfit
TRAINING
Opal Van Rusch received a training score of 9.
Training days
During Opal’s few days of training, she simply rehashed everything she’d learned at the Academy back in District One. She had always been incredible with a spear - it was by far her best weapon and her accuracy was deadly, no one could compete with her if she had a spear in her hand. She decided to spend her first day looking around to see which other tributes would be possible threats in the arena. She knew knowledge was important and so she tried to capture as much information as she could. She also tried many different stations just to freshen her mind about the use of different weapons, in case she would have to settle for something other than a spear or knives. The rest of the time in training, she did the same things. Practiced with multiple weapons, spied on her fellow tributes, and worked a little in the survival stations. She knew perfectly well how to make a fire and studied in the plants section. There were many ways to die in the arena, but Opal did not want to go down by accidentally eating poisonous berries.
Private session
Opal walked into the training centre and immediately made eye contact with the gamemakers. She shot them an eerie smile and then walked to stand in front of them. She was good with weapons, through her lovely journey of killing Peacekeepers she had learned how to kill people with her bare hands, and she was incredibly strong. She could have showed the gamemakers what any normal career showed them and do it better, but anyone saying that Opal was like any normal girl from District One was out of their minds. Opal was strange, and she knew how to stand out.
“I need a tub of water, big enough for me to fit in,” she said in a loud, clear voice.
“A tub of water?” one of the gamemakers said in a joking manner.
“Filled with ice cold water.”
A tub was soon brought in. Opal stuck her hand into the water but immediately spoke up.
“It’s not cold enough.”
The gamemakers kept lowering the temperature of the water until it was barely over 0 degrees Celsius. Opal looked around the training centre and grabbed a shield, a very heavy shield. She held it in her arms and jumped into the tub of ice cold water. The shield pulled her to the bottom and she sat in the freezing water, holding her breath and closing her eyes.
Eventually, after more than five minutes, Opal let go of the shield and floated back to the surface. Opal could tell that the gamemakers were shocked by her demonstration, and so she winked at them, before leaving the training centre without saying another word.
THE INTERVIEW
Hello, you look dazzling tonight! Tell us about your outfit.
Thank you, Caesar. There’s not much to say about my outfit, I don’t know much about fashion or clothes, whatever. But, I do like this dress, the red colour. I love red. And green-blueish, like my earrings. It’s all beautiful.
How do you like being in the Capitol so far? What has been your favorite part?
I really like it, being in the Capitol. And my favorite part has to be the scenery, it’s just beautiful everywhere, all the buildings are cool and so different from back home. The people here look… a little weird, but still, everything is so different, which is cool.
Any thoughts about the other tributes? Have you made any friends, or enemies?
I like my district partner, Emma, I guess. I don’t really see the point in making friends since they’re all going to have to die in order for me to win. I don’t have any enemies, because… that’s stupid. If you make enemies before the games have even started, I’d say you’re doomed.
Do you think you have what it takes to become a victor? Who or what are you fighting for?
Obviously, yes. I’m prepared, vicious. I’m fighting for myself. I don’t just want to be an object from my district and fight to make my district proud, no, I want to make myself proud. I want to win, I want to have fun, I want to become a victor.
Do you have any expectations for the arena? Perhaps a preferred terrain?
Not really. I want to go into the Games with no expectations, I don’t want to be disappointed or get too excited. I don’t really have a preferred terrain; the Academy trained me very well for every terrain, for everything.
What do you miss most from your home district? Any shoutouts for anyone back home?
I miss the Peacekeepers, *she smiles eerily to the cameras*. I don’t have a lot of friends at home, I’ll have time for those once I win but, I guess, I’d have to give a shoutout to my dad. He started training me for the Games from a very young age, which has helped a lot. So, thank you dad, or Clos Van Rusch.
Any last thoughts before we let you go?
Well, to the other tributes, a little piece of advice… watch out.
Opal's Interview Outfit