The Fifth Annual Writer Games: The Fall

District Twelve Male: Ares Gannister [-Giraffe-]

Name: Ares Gannister

Age: 14

District: Twelve

Sex: Male

Physical Appearance: Similar to many citizens of Twelve, Ares follows the trend of having dark hair, grey eyes, and olive skin. He looks like a clone of most boys his age within The Seam, besides maybe his weight is closer to average than some of the other malnutrition ones, and he doesn't stand out a crowd easily. Puberty hasn't done him any justice and he wants to grow a beard but no one has the heart to tell him it'll never happen. He's much too boyish, too short, and his father told him it's because the doesn't drink enough milk (they never have any) but that's an outright lie. Truthfully, he inherited his mother's size, an unforgiving trait in his effort to fight everyone— including doors that stub his toes when he's not paying attention, but it's made him good at hiding when everything goes wrong and it's the flight part of "fight or flight."

Personality: "Breaker, Breaker! Come in! Do you copy?" According to his older brother, he was named after the ancient God of War, his name serving as a symbol of rebellion for their family before the uprisings began. Likewise to his name, he'll go to war with anyone like a man, and he'll protect anyone who needs protecting like a man. If you're gonna hit him, hit him hard because he'll get back up again like a man. See a reoccurring theme? Nonsense. Ares is not at all a boy pretending to be a tough guy, he's a real man who just so happens to be allergic to hormones and attraction. Good-looking people make him sweaty and give him a scratchy throat, making it difficult to talk so they better stay away, he's horribly allergic. Ares is smart, Ares is tough, and he's not at all insecure—you said that, not him. Because he's not. He's not insecure—what's insecurity? He doesn't know her.    

Background: "Breaker 1-9! Do you read me?" Ares picked up the radio lingo from his mother who was involved in the coal mining industry like many of Twelve, however, she wasn't a coal miner. Rather, she was surface personnel who worked in the mine operation center for communications. An intelligent woman, she and a small group of individuals spearheaded the uprising in Twelve by providing underground communications between rebels, and even worked in close liasion with District Thirteen. Unfortunately, when the rebellion collapsed and District Thirteen came to ruin, they were one of the first to be destroyed come The Dark Days.

Raised primarily by his father and older brother, Ares grew up idolizing his mother and everything she did in the rebellion, despite it being a massive failure. He didn't know her well and he only remembers her vaguely but he knows that District Twelve had always been worse for the wear before the uprising started—even worse now that the Capitol gained back control. A lot of people starve and suffer in The Seam, some families have actually starved to death but Ares has been a bit more fortunate. As the youngest of his family, he hasn't had to work (though he does sometimes do small fix-up jobs) and though they don't have much, they have enough. His father and brother both work the coal mines, and that's been enough to sustain their family for what it is, or at least it used to. A recent coal mining accident took their father out of the coal mining business which has more or less increased the stress levels when it comes to providing food, but the Gannister men are tough and they're getting through it.

Family Tree: Elbert Gannister — 44, Lisanthus Gannister (Deceased) — 32, and Coen Gannister — 18.

Reaped or Volunteered: Reaped.

Weapon of Choice: He'd hurt himself with anything that isn't a slingshot or blowgun.

Token: A small pocket radio that was once upon a time used to communicate with his brother with when they were younger. The reception is weak and he can't really use it to communicate anymore but sometimes he'll get lucky and hear a Capitol broadcast when he tunes into the right channel.