The Fifth Annual Writer Games: The Fall

The Faces of the Peoples

This is the face of the Games. Ms. Mariella Fachman has seen and lived the years of the Rebellions, the years of the Dark Days, and she knows that these Games are what can bring people together. She's been under the Capitol's wing for decades, first as a presidential advisor, then as a communications strategist during the original fall and siege of the Capitol, and now for the past ten years, the voice of Panem, and the voice of the Hunger Games. She's the Master of Ceremonies, the interviewer, the reporter of casualties and daily recaps. She knows her way around the Games, and knows how best to protect the interests of the Capitol. She's quite pleased with her work thus far in creating the standards for the Games. Though the interview evening has only been a recent development during the 5th Games, it was her suggestion to President Snow that it be implemented in order to attract viewers to sympathize while adding another layer to the subjugation of the people. She's witty and whip-smart, a Capitol idol. She strikes a bit of fear into those in the Districts—after all, she was the voice who announced their dead and injured when the Capitol bombed and starved their people. Now, though, it's all they can do but watch.

In the past ten years, the Gamemakers, however, have remained out of the spotlight. Though occasionally interviewed, there've been more Gamemakers than Games. The pressure to make the Games successful was exacerbated by public attention and media interviews in the first years of the Games, and it follows that today in the 10th the Gamemaker's names and identities are sealed. President Snow, under guidance by Ms. Fachman, anticipates a hopeful change to being a public face of power once their retention rate grows beyond six months. Until then, there's a scarcity of information available. What is known is available below:

L. Borenz [last name likely an alias]: Head Gamemaker, was one of the strategic advisors tasked with organizing air raids as well as the supply chains between Districts. Borenz knows the most efficient way to not only create an environment in which people find difficult to adapt, but how to manipulate it so that they end up right where they want them to be. It's rumoured Borenz was once captured by insurgents and spent time in a secret facility two decades ago.

H. Jolantac [last name likely an alias]: Certain sources believe heavily that Jolantac was an insurgent-turned-spy who infiltrated commands during the Rebellion and relayed information back to the Capitol. Strongly believed to have spent time in District Eleven, they are believed to have gained intimate knowledge about the muttations the citizens created, primarily Mockingjays. Through their work and counterinsurgency, the Capitol was—albeit unable to control the Mockingjays—able to counter the District's insolence by creating their own works. Jolantac's role in the Games this year, after supposedly finally returning to the Capitol after disappearing for over a decade, is in the creation of the muttations they are so intimately familiar with, along with adapting and creating new ones.

S. Dex [last name likely an alias]: It's rumoured Dex is related to Frieda Firenza, one of the earliest Gamemakers back when Gamemaker information was widely distributed. Firenza was expelled from the team after the completion of the third Games and was found deceased in her home three days later. Her death was ruled a suicide. While Firenza's own name was likely false too (there are no known records of her or other Firenza's, though records have been questionable before the Games and registration and record-keeping has only been revived in earnest through Reaping and Citizen Tallies), there were several tabloid magazines that saw her with a male of similar appearance to her. Whether Dex is related is the subject of speculation, and the naysayers argue that it has been seven years and that they still don't know who was with Firenza and whether they were related at all. Still, the rumour mill speculated. Regardless of lineage—Firenza was seen as a ruthless Gamemaker who was integral to the Games containing only rocks and shrapnel as weapons—S. Dex is believed to be well-connected to the holistic view of the Games. They're said, by Capitol sources, to be the brainchild of new and interesting developments in psychology in the Games and the insiders say they are hopeful about these Games. 

With the status of the Games still tumultuous and the citizens of Panem still adjusting to these Games as a means of repentance and penance, the jobs of the Gamemakers and Master of Ceremonies are crucial to the stability of the regime for the years to come. One must remember many members of the Districts will have been alive when the famines and Rebellion occurred. This is, however, the first year that one can safely say to have the first batch of possible tributes who will have no recollection of the times before these. The twelve year olds being reaped would have been mere toddlers during the transitory stage of the Capitol and Panem. Many more still will have been only children when the transition was completed. It is the hope that through the next decade Panem will continue to prosper, the Capitol will continue to be generous benefactors, and the Games will become a steadying, quelling force against dissidents. A reminder this year of the implementation of mandatory viewings—the Capitol last year recorded only a 13% tune-in rate from televisions averaged over the course of the month. With new developments—including the inability to turn off televisions, and publicly required viewings every week—it is hoped that the citizens will not only be forced to engage with their repentance and boost viewing numbers but that the viewings will also be used as an opportunity to monitor and records numbers of citizens similar to the Reaping process and monitor conversations. Peacekeepers will be deployed to more concerning areas of rebellion and will deal with those not in attendance or spreading false information accordingly and according to the laws of the Capitol.