The Fourth Annual Writer Games: Canon

District Nine Male - Kardel Barwick

Name: Kardel Barwick

Age: Fourteen

District: Nine

Sex: Male

Physical Appearance: Kardel looks happier than you would expect him to. Just because he is smiling, do not assume he is excited to be around you. The glint in his eye and the slight upturn of his lips is probably a coincidence. A tan on his skin is a result of field work as opposed to any kind of attention to his appearance, contrasting with his hair which has been bleached by the same exposure. People could consider his eyes as attractive, a unique swirl of green and blue as genetics mixed together, but it is nothing like that. It is generic and nothing out of the ordinary, the same colour as every child in his class and every worker in the field. His sharp jawline is a result of being underfed rather than dieting, bones jutting out from an underfed body usually hidden under oversized clothes that he is supposed to be growing in to.

Personality: Do not try to talk to Kardel. He will probably not talk back. You do not need to be offended by this: either he does not understand that he is supposed to respond, or he just does not want to make conversation. His knowledge of social cues probably falls beneath what you expect of him, and you might like to equate that to the idea that his intelligence level also falls. This is not true. Kardel is smart. Kardel likes to plan, and will meticulously think over any decision he has to make. He will see you talking. He will notice that your mouth is moving, that sound is coming out and that those sounds equate to language, words that he can string together in his head to form sentences and paragraphs which lead to understand. He will follow instructions - despite his small size, he is a hard worker and is useful in grain fields - but he will not follow blindly. He can understand history and comprehend time - he has watched Games in the past and can parrot-chant the fifty victors like they have been taught in class - but he will not consider it unless it directly impacts him. He is aware that this is new, that his grandparents sometimes discuss a different time, but Kardel does not see the value in reminiscing. The life he lives is rigid and mechanical, a voice in his head telling him options and weighing the good and the bad of each situation as if it is a mathematical probability. If he does not answer you, he does not see the value in talking to you.

Background: Kardel is not special. There is no one in District Nine who is, because special would mean different and different is not something which can be utilised. If anything, Kardel's unique qualities only make it so that he stands in more. He follows people around him, never standing out or defying set orders. He is known for his slight delay in following instructions, the few seconds it takes for his mind to consider what you have asked and also consider whether it would place him in danger. His parents have considered this and laugh it off with neighbours nervously, hiding his lack of speech and social interaction with brief comments about how he's behind his brother or mentions that perhaps a lack of intelligence will simply lead to a better grain harvest - he can only consider that he can, not why he can. His parents, however, are aware that these a thinly veiled excuses. They explain Kardel is perhaps not as smart as he should be, when they know directly that he is beyond a level that people would expect. His younger brother - Ren, an eight year old boy who lacks his brother's ways of thinking - looks up to him but is unable to crack through the shell that Kardel has built. His mother and father, Senwe and and Kimmel respectively, watched as Kardel went from an overly curious toddler to a child who simply found words to be a waste of time when there was so much he could think about. When his grandparents voice weak-willed protests to the outcome of a day, or speak of a magical world where things were bad but it was nothing like this, Kardel would listen and take everything they said as gospel. Kardel would simply acknowledge it, consider it, and deem it no more than a fairy story.

Reaped or Volunteered? Reaped

Weapon Of Choice: Kardel has grown up among grain fields, harvesting what is grown there. He can wield a sickle, and there is a part of his mind reminding him that the blade is sharp. He is not convinced that it is something that could be considered a weapon, but he believes it could be used as one.

Token: Ren gave Kardel a bracelet that he explained was woven together from grain stalks. Kardel understands that he has no place for sentimentality, but he also acknowledges that Ren would be upset if he did not take it, and that it is expected of a person to take a token with them to the death. Kardel is choosing to ignore that a bracelet woven from plant matter will probably fall apart on the train.