Post by Leslie on Apr 30, 2013 9:04:37 GMT -5
General Summery
Today was the day of the announcements for the 74th annual Hunger Games. All the 12 to 18-year old's from around the districts were getting ready to attend the choosing, hoping for the best to not be chosen, or to be chosen, depending who you were. There were, like with every year of the annual Hunger Games, people who dodged the event the best they could, avoiding attending at all. That didn't technically go well for them if they were eventually caught not having their children attend or the children got caught not attending.
The atmosphere of the event was about the same as the previous 71 years, which as you could probably guess, that wasn't exactly a great atmosphere in all of the districts. People were terrified of being chosen for the event, because they were scared of death, or just didn't want to kill others. Add on the fact the game show tended to try and make you all prettied up and fancy to go and kill each other, which didn't exactly make you feel good that these people would stoop so low to make you like an object to them for their own personal entertainment. There were of course the few exceptions of people looking hopeful to be chosen, instead of being terrified of being chosen. The people that had no problems with the whole concept of the show at all. People that weren't afraid of death, weren't afraid to kill others, and so on. The attitude towards the yearly event all depended on the people and the district.
District 12
Olivia was one of the last people to show up, not because she was trying to avoid it, but because she was having one of those slow mornings. Even though getting dressed into something nice wasn't exactly difficult for her, since she almost always wore her nice black dress unless she was doing dirty work, she just woke up exhausted and took a long time to get moving the way she would of liked. But, she was on time, and that was good enough for her. Especially since arriving late meant that she didn't have to stand there worrying for a longer period of time. Not that she didn't just worry all morning, but actually being there at the event tended to make her worry even more.
"Hi, and welcome to all you happy, excited, cheerful people!" Some overly fake-looking and glamorous woman said. She paused for a moment for effect as if to prove her point, but nobody seemed exactly very impressed by what she had said. Some even shot her a glare, including Olivia. But the woman didn't notice, and just continued with her speech.
"Looking forward to the Hunger Games of this year? I know I sure am! Isn't it such a glorious time of year?" She asked the crowd, and the crowd was about as dull-looking in response to that as they were when they were called happy, excited, and cheerful. They weren't impressed at all. At least, most people weren't impressed. Olivia had to roll her eyes in response, but the silence was quickly broken by the woman again.
"Now it is time for me to show you a very special film, brought to you all the way from The Capitol" The woman said in a voice that probably made you want to strangle her. "I hope you enjoy it!" She said happily, and then fell silent once again as the video started to play.
Some cheesy, generic inspirational soundtrack music began to play, as the narrator of the video started to speak. "War. Terrible war. Widows, orphans, a motherless child. This was the uprising that rocked our land. Thirteen districts rebelled against the country that fed them, loved them, protected them. Brother turned on brother until nothing remained"
"And then came the peace, hard fought, sorely one. A people rose up from the ashes, and a new era was born. But freedom has a cost, and the traitors were defeated. We swore as a nation we would never know this treason again"
"And so it was decreed that each year the various districts of Panem would offer up, in tribute, one young man and woman to fight to the death in a pageant of honor, courage, and sacrifice. The line victor, bathed in riches, would serve as a reminder of our generosity and our forgiveness. This is how we remember our past. This is how we safeguard our future" The narrator finished as the imagery and inspirational music came to a dramatic ending, concluding the film.
"Such a beautiful film" The woman said with glossy eyes, acting all emotional about it. Olivia had always hated the film, thinking it was extremely stupid and silly, especially talking about this was their reminder of their "generosity and forgiveness". That was the part that always made her want to throw something at the screen, every year that she had been here to be chosen.
"Now, the time has come for us to select one courageous young man and woman for the honor of representing district 12 in the 74th annual Hunger Games. As usual, ladies first" The woman continued, going over to the massive lottery bowl to pick out a name at random to be chosen, then walking back to the microphone and opening up the little note to read the name.
"Olivia Mantegna!" The woman shouted, and for a moment, Olivia froze and felt her heart skip a beat. Her useless excuse for a mother hadn't even shown up, so she didn't even feel the need to try and say goodbye to her, except before she left to the choosing in case she was chosen. She wasn't sure if it was because her mother was too afraid to possibly see her daughter be sent off or what, but she honestly thought it was really annoying that she couldn't even be there for her. But at the same time, she couldn't help but feel guilty that her mother would now be stuck alone, with no help from her daughter. Figuring it was best to just get it over with instead of drawing it out, she headed up onto the stage, pushing back her fears the best she could.
"Congratulations, Olivia dear, for being one of the lucky people to be chosen" The woman said to Olivia, putting her arm around her and taking her up near the microphone, even though she didn't really have anything she needed Olivia to say. Everyone knew her name now, and all she would probably say was mostly unimportant stuff. Olivia of course wasn't too keen on the idea of her being lucky in any means of the word, but she kept that to herself.
"Now it is time for the boys" She said with a big grin, heading over to the bowl of names for the boys, hovering over it for a moment before grabbing a name out at random and walking back over to the microphone to announce the male who would be chosen. She slowly opened the piece of paper and read the name out loud into the microphone.
"Varro Slaster!" The woman exclaimed, looking through the crowd to see who walked forward of the people in the crowd. Olivia didn't think she had heard that name before, but she couldn't be certain she hadn't heard his name in passing before. It wasn't a very familiar name to her, anyway, so it wasn't any of the boys she knew somewhat. All she knew was that he was someone else who was being thrown into this shitty game show with her, to represent District 12.
District 11
A woman who looked to be in her late 70's to early 80's wobbled out onto the stage with her cane supporting her up. She came up to the microphone and gave a kind old lady smile to the entire crowd, then grabbed the microphone and got ready to address the people.
"Hello dears. How are you all doing today?" She asked, looking like she was having difficulty standing properly. She was still using her cane, but was focused elsewhere and it was making her wobbly. "I hope you are all having a sweet time, and that many delicious cookies come your way" She said with a bright smile to the crowd. "The best part about being accepted into the Hunger Games is the endless cookies and sweets they offer to you, all for free!" She exclaimed, then proceeded to cough and go silent, starting up the typical video that was played.
"So there you have it, dearies!" The old lady said with her big, bright, friendly old lady smile. "Now it is time to choose who will be accepted into the 74th annual Hunger Games!" She said, and she slowly wobbled over to the girls glass bowl, pulling out a name and then wobbling slowly back to the microphone. Some people thought this was a really weird introduction compared to previous years, while others thought it was completely and totally awesome. Others just thought the old lady was slow and annoying.
"Jenna Jane!" The old lady exclaimed, and a sad-looking 14-year old girl with long hair looked around and came up onto the stage with not a whole lot of hesitation, but it was hard to tell what her true response to it all was, due to her not showing much opinion either way on the matter. She did look sadder at leaving her parents behind, but that was about it, and otherwise she seemed to only really be half there and spacing out while the old lady continued onto the boys announcement.
"Slater Gold!" The old lady exclaimed to the man, waving him up onto the stage cheerily. "Come young one, come!" She said happily, and once he was up there, she looked back to the crowd and said "Give a round of applause to our contestants!", which some people did so but most didn't really do much. Heading away from the microphone and looking at the two contestants, she smiled and said "Would you two like a cookie?", to which Jenna gave a nod and was handed a cookie by the old lady.
District 9
Joel arrived to the reaping fairly early in the day, being one of the first to arrive. He wanted to get there before the crowds, and he just wanted to get there altogether. Since he wasn't completely against actually attending the Hunger Games, he didn't try to push it off for as longer as possible. So here he was, early and waiting for the event to begin. Which because he was early, he would have to wait for a little while.
A little while later, the next announcer came out. He looked to be a man of about 40 years of age, and he seemed to almost walk out as if he was important and everybody should start cheering because of who he was. Some people did, actually, but most either didn't know who he was, didn't care who he was, or just stayed quiet.
"Hello great people of District 9. Today is a very important day, as I am sure you all know by now. Today is the announcements for the 74th annual Hunger Games. The yearly event where you fight to the death in a show of honor, and make your District proud. Well, that's the plan anyway. Of course there can only be one man or woman who is victorious in these games" He said, passing for a moment.
"As you all should know by now, I'm Victor Getz, a previous champion of the Hunger Games. I will tell you that it is very much scary the first time you get out in that battlefield, where everyone is out to kill you. There is no question about it. But over time you start and get used to it, and the killing begins to make you feel good, because you know that you are getting closer and closer to victory, and honoring your District. In the process, you become a legend, and get riches beyond your belief. So once you start thinking about all of that, you just want to fight, and win. It even becomes enjoyable" Victor said, pretty much describing his own experience in the games, thinking it somehow automatically fit for everyone. "Anyway, on to the video" He said, and he started to play the inspirational video.
A bit later, the video ended, and he spoke up again. "Now it is time to choose a tribute from both male and female, to see who gets the honor of representing District 9 this year" He said, and headed over to the woman's glass bowl, grabbing a name out and coming back to the microphone while opening it up.
"And the chosen one is......Alicia Hemsworth!" He exclaimed, and a 17-year old girl started to walk up towards the stage. She looked like she was scared, but looked like she was containing it well and trying to hide how truly scared she was. Once up on the stage, she just came up next to Victor Getz and said nothing, and he went on to announce the next guy.
"And the chosen one is.....Joel Alaskey!" He exclaimed. In response, Joel was surprised by his feelings. Inside, he was celebrating. Outside, he wasn't celebrating, but he felt more happy then he thought he would for being accepted into this. Yes, he was a little nervous too, but he didn't feel that scared at all. He came up onto the stage somewhat energetically, and stood next to the 17-year old girl, smiling at her slightly. She just gave him a look that pretty much said "Fuck off", apparently understanding what his smile was supposed to mean, and he decided to not try anything else to "impress" the girl. Well, at least for now.
"A round of applause for our contestants!" He exclaimed, and in response to that, Joel took Alicia's hand and put his and her hand into the air. She just went along with it. Some of the people in the crowd began to cheer, until Alicia and Joel disappeared out of eyesight.
District 6
"Hello fine ladies and fine gentlemen, and welcome to the lottery for the 74th annual Hunger Games!" A male speaker said, coming out smiling and wearing a nice fancy suit. "You all look lovely today, I gotta say" He said to them, smiling and putting his hands out to his sides. "I don't think I've ever seen such a good looking batch of possible contestants" He said, to get some strange looks back at him from the crowd from various people, including Sean. Sean thought it was a little weird that he pretty much just said a bunch of 12 to 18-year old's were good-looking when he was like, a 30 to 40 year old dude. But he decided to not think about that much, and decided that he was just a weird guy.
"First of all, we have to play you all the very inspiring, emotional, and beautiful film I am sure you have all come to love by now, those of you who have been here multiple times before" He said, and he then started up the video. The whole audience fell even more silent, but not a lot of people seemed to think it was that inspiring, emotional, and beautiful, though there were definitely the ones that did.
The film concluded shortly later, and he spoke up once again into the microphone. "Now it is time to choose a man and a woman for the Hunger Games" He said, wandering over towards the woman's glass bowl of names, sticking his hand in to fetch one at random, then wandering back over to the microphone to announce who the "lucky" lady would be.
"Hanora Swan!" He exclaimed, clapping to himself even if nobody else wanted to clap. Some others did, but not a ton. Most just seemed to feel bad for the poor girl, unless she wanted to go of course. "What an honor it is for Miss Swan to be the chosen female out of so many people!" He said happily, waving her up, assuming she had made herself obvious who she was at this point. "Come, come!" He said overly cheerily, and once she was up on the stage, he went over to the males giant glass bowl, and grabbed a name out of that one and went back to the microphone to announce the "lucky" male.
"Sean Angelopoulos!" He exclaimed, again clapping to himself in excitement of someone being chosen, some others in the audience following suit. "What an honor it is for Mr. Angelopoulos to be the chosen male out of so many people!" He said happily, waving him up once he stepped forward and made himself a little more obvious. He kept glancing back to his sister and his parents, but mostly his sister, feeling terrible for leaving them behind. Especially his sister. But they were all far enough away from him he couldn't give them a goodbye hug or something, and he just hesitantly went up onto the stage, hoping he at least got the ability to say goodbye to his family before they would take him away to the games. He stood near Hanora, looking towards her with a frown.
"Congratulate our two contestants of this years games!" He exclaimed happily, looking at both Sean and Hanora in a way that was telling them to put their hands in the air in celebration. Sean did with a bit of hesitation, just for the sake of not acting like a complete ass towards the annoying announcer guy. Not that he entirely cared if he was, but still. Some of the people in the crowd cheered, while others just didn't make much of a response at all. Then, the contestants would leave the stage and disappear away from the eyes of all the people of the district.
District 4
All morning, Evanna's parents and older sister had to keep reassuring her that the likelihood of her being chosen so soon was extremely unlikely, especially since people volunteered a lot in this district. The whole time while she was being all cleaned up and made to look nicer by her mother, for the choosing, she seemed to be having an anxiety attack, and was crying off and on as well. Her older sister hated seeing her little sister in such a state, and of course so did her mother and father. They could tell that, despite them doing their best to reassure her, she was scared to death. Understandably so. She had never been known to handle stressful situations very well, and this was a very good example of how she reacted to stressful situations.
Now she was in the crowd of people, waiting for the choosing to start, and hoping that someone, anyone would volunteer that actually wanted to go so she had less likely of a chance to go. She didn't really understand how anyone would choose to attend such a horrible game intentionally, as if they truly wanted to go out and kill people, but she knew there were crazy people like that. While standing in the crowd, she felt herself breathing heavily as it got closer and closer to the announcement. She felt like she had a loss of breath and like she was having a harder time breathing. She was getting worried that just having an announcement that she was chosen, if she was chosen would just make her pass out from nerves alone. She tried to tell herself to just calm down and be more relaxed, but it really wasn't working.
A man of about 60 came out onto the stage, looking a bit down and grim. Not your typical happy, overly cheerful announcer. Instantly some of the other more important people that were nearby were a little confused by the old mans grim demeanor. This was an event about encouragement, not acting all down and depressed about it. Why they had chosen this guy they weren't sure. He seemed perfectly capable of giving a cheerful, impressive speech when they chose him. But not now. They would just have to wait and see if it was a show he was putting on to act as if he was sympathizing with the people of District 4 or not.
"Let's just skip the introductions and get to the film" The gravely-voiced main said, waving his hand through the air and looking like he was on the verge of tears or something. The important people watching looked at each other like "What the hell is wrong with this guy?", but still went with the idea he was playing at something. They had a random thought that maybe a family member of his died right before the show, but they thought he would of mentioned something, or they would know something about that from somewhere. They just shrugged it off and let the film play.
"Now there you have it, your bullshit propaganda film that is completely full of shit" The old man said grimly after the film had finished. Apparently he was going to be like the most successful troll in the history of the Capitol. Multiple people in the audience laughed in response, but Evanna couldn't get herself to laugh, because despite the fact this guy was apparently not very loyal to the Capitol, she was way too nervous to be able to get out a proper laugh.
While the main leaders were pondering having the old man arrested, he went over to the big glass bowl and pulled out one of the cards from the females place, then walked over to the boys one and did the same, instead of, well, doing them separately. He then walked up and announced the first name he read.
"Evanna Lovegood" He announced grimly, and Evanna froze on the spot, her chest beating heavily. She felt like she was going to faint, and her head was spinning. As much as her family tried to tell her it would be okay, that the likelihood of her being chosen was slim, she still managed to be one of the 2 that were chosen. She felt like her luck was terrible. Her first time here and she gets chosen. She felt like running away and curling up into a ball, crying herself to sleep. Her parents and sister were equally horrified that she was actually chosen. Her sister was the one that knew the best that Evanna had major problems when it came to stressful situations, and this was definitely going to be really hard and stressful on her. Having anxiety and doing the hunger games didn't mix well.
Her older sister had been near her, and shortly after the announcement was made, Evanna found herself being hugged by her older sister, her arms embracing her sister tightly. At this point Evanna couldn't help but to start crying into her sisters chest. This wasn't helping the old mans feelings right now, and he wiped a tear away. She clung to her sister as if she didn't want to let go, as if she didn't want to be taken away from her older sister she loved so much.
"Tell mom and dad I love them" Evanna said through sobs. She knew the likelihood of her making it through the Hunger Games alive was extremely slim, but she would still try, even though the very idea of taking someones life away horrified her. But it looked like she would have to now, if she liked it or not. Or she could try and just avoid everyone, but she didn't really expect that to work out well. She tried to push those thoughts back as she pulled away from her sister, tears streaming down her face, as she turned away from her and started to head up towards the stage. Her older sister was standing there sobbing herself, but she wasn't someone who was brave enough to volunteer herself in the place of her sister. Feeling like her body had gone numb, she wandered off back to the parents and looked back to the stage with a sad expression towards her younger sister up on the stage.
The old man seemed to be choked up about the whole scene, and when Evanna came up, he actually gave her a hug, to the distaste of the higher up douche bags who just want a good show. She hugged him back, then just looked off into the crowd with a grim expression. She tried to spot her sister and parents, but couldn't find them amongst the crowd. Instead, she focused more on the fact she felt like fainting, out of breath, and like her head was spinning.
"The man for this cruel, cruel game show will be Jacob Hobkins" The old man said while wiping tears away. While some people in the audience still seemed to be more cheery about the whole thing, with who was being chosen and thinking it was honorable, the mood seemed to generally be rather grim for District 4. Especially after the emotional response when Evanna Lovegood was chosen. But this year, nobody from the district seemed to actually volunteer, which was considered strange and unusual. And nobody was sure if it was a good strange and unusual.
A 16-year old boy came up onto the stage, seeming more perky and less grim about it then the rest of the people up on stage, but still not seeming overly cheery about it. He gave the 12-year old girl next to him on the stage a sympathetic look, then looked to the old man who said "May your thoughts and prayers be with these two" into the microphone, and then gesturing the 2 to follow him through the doors.
District 2
A man came out to be the announcer for the event. He looked out over the crowd, looking more like a President about to address his people then a presenter for a game show. He looked from one side of the crowd of the people to the other, looking like he was about ready to speak.
"In this great nation, we have experienced hardships daily, all around the 12 colonies. Even the Capitol itself experiences its own fair share of hardships on an every day basis. We are a great people, all banned together to make this nation the greatest nation mankind has ever seen. But the process is slow, grueling, and nothing will be perfect. The greatest nations of the world are never the most perfect nations" The man said in a very formal speech.
"Today we begin the annual Hunger Games, a symbolism of this great nation" He continued, looking back and forth from one side of the crowd to the other once again. Without saying another word, he started up the inspirational video for the crowd to watch.
After the video ended, he spoke up once again. "Now it is time to choose two courageous young people to attend the annual Hunger Games, to represent their fine nation" He said, wandering after to the males glass bowl full of names first, instead of going to the woman's. He walked back to the microphone like everyone else did, and spoke up.
"And the honor goes to.....Kendrick Jabberwocky!" He exclaimed to the applause of a fairly good chunk of people in the audience, including Kendrick Jabberwocky himself. He felt honored, and as he walked up and onto the stage, he turned to the crowd and bowed, basking in his spotlight. He thanked the crowd repeatedly, and with a big grin on his face that looked more like a grin you wanted to punch someone in the face for doing, he went and walked towards the microphone. The presenter went towards the females place this time, figuring the crowd spoke for itself in response to who was chosen. He picked a name out and came back.
"And the honor goes to......Maya Wasowski!" He exclaimed to the applause of a fairly good chunk of people in the audience, up until they realized the girl was a 13-year old girl who looked to be about as scared of the whole idea of being accepted into this event as Evanna was. Or, at least, scared enough. She paused in the crowd for a long time, and slowly started to walk forwards to the stage, seeming truly terrified about this whole thing. The presenter seemed to be patient, while Kendrick looked like he wanted the stupid girl to hurry it up already and just face the reality of being chosen. But she was still just going slowly towards the stage in fear.
Today was the day of the announcements for the 74th annual Hunger Games. All the 12 to 18-year old's from around the districts were getting ready to attend the choosing, hoping for the best to not be chosen, or to be chosen, depending who you were. There were, like with every year of the annual Hunger Games, people who dodged the event the best they could, avoiding attending at all. That didn't technically go well for them if they were eventually caught not having their children attend or the children got caught not attending.
The atmosphere of the event was about the same as the previous 71 years, which as you could probably guess, that wasn't exactly a great atmosphere in all of the districts. People were terrified of being chosen for the event, because they were scared of death, or just didn't want to kill others. Add on the fact the game show tended to try and make you all prettied up and fancy to go and kill each other, which didn't exactly make you feel good that these people would stoop so low to make you like an object to them for their own personal entertainment. There were of course the few exceptions of people looking hopeful to be chosen, instead of being terrified of being chosen. The people that had no problems with the whole concept of the show at all. People that weren't afraid of death, weren't afraid to kill others, and so on. The attitude towards the yearly event all depended on the people and the district.
District 12
Olivia was one of the last people to show up, not because she was trying to avoid it, but because she was having one of those slow mornings. Even though getting dressed into something nice wasn't exactly difficult for her, since she almost always wore her nice black dress unless she was doing dirty work, she just woke up exhausted and took a long time to get moving the way she would of liked. But, she was on time, and that was good enough for her. Especially since arriving late meant that she didn't have to stand there worrying for a longer period of time. Not that she didn't just worry all morning, but actually being there at the event tended to make her worry even more.
"Hi, and welcome to all you happy, excited, cheerful people!" Some overly fake-looking and glamorous woman said. She paused for a moment for effect as if to prove her point, but nobody seemed exactly very impressed by what she had said. Some even shot her a glare, including Olivia. But the woman didn't notice, and just continued with her speech.
"Looking forward to the Hunger Games of this year? I know I sure am! Isn't it such a glorious time of year?" She asked the crowd, and the crowd was about as dull-looking in response to that as they were when they were called happy, excited, and cheerful. They weren't impressed at all. At least, most people weren't impressed. Olivia had to roll her eyes in response, but the silence was quickly broken by the woman again.
"Now it is time for me to show you a very special film, brought to you all the way from The Capitol" The woman said in a voice that probably made you want to strangle her. "I hope you enjoy it!" She said happily, and then fell silent once again as the video started to play.
Some cheesy, generic inspirational soundtrack music began to play, as the narrator of the video started to speak. "War. Terrible war. Widows, orphans, a motherless child. This was the uprising that rocked our land. Thirteen districts rebelled against the country that fed them, loved them, protected them. Brother turned on brother until nothing remained"
"And then came the peace, hard fought, sorely one. A people rose up from the ashes, and a new era was born. But freedom has a cost, and the traitors were defeated. We swore as a nation we would never know this treason again"
"And so it was decreed that each year the various districts of Panem would offer up, in tribute, one young man and woman to fight to the death in a pageant of honor, courage, and sacrifice. The line victor, bathed in riches, would serve as a reminder of our generosity and our forgiveness. This is how we remember our past. This is how we safeguard our future" The narrator finished as the imagery and inspirational music came to a dramatic ending, concluding the film.
"Such a beautiful film" The woman said with glossy eyes, acting all emotional about it. Olivia had always hated the film, thinking it was extremely stupid and silly, especially talking about this was their reminder of their "generosity and forgiveness". That was the part that always made her want to throw something at the screen, every year that she had been here to be chosen.
"Now, the time has come for us to select one courageous young man and woman for the honor of representing district 12 in the 74th annual Hunger Games. As usual, ladies first" The woman continued, going over to the massive lottery bowl to pick out a name at random to be chosen, then walking back to the microphone and opening up the little note to read the name.
"Olivia Mantegna!" The woman shouted, and for a moment, Olivia froze and felt her heart skip a beat. Her useless excuse for a mother hadn't even shown up, so she didn't even feel the need to try and say goodbye to her, except before she left to the choosing in case she was chosen. She wasn't sure if it was because her mother was too afraid to possibly see her daughter be sent off or what, but she honestly thought it was really annoying that she couldn't even be there for her. But at the same time, she couldn't help but feel guilty that her mother would now be stuck alone, with no help from her daughter. Figuring it was best to just get it over with instead of drawing it out, she headed up onto the stage, pushing back her fears the best she could.
"Congratulations, Olivia dear, for being one of the lucky people to be chosen" The woman said to Olivia, putting her arm around her and taking her up near the microphone, even though she didn't really have anything she needed Olivia to say. Everyone knew her name now, and all she would probably say was mostly unimportant stuff. Olivia of course wasn't too keen on the idea of her being lucky in any means of the word, but she kept that to herself.
"Now it is time for the boys" She said with a big grin, heading over to the bowl of names for the boys, hovering over it for a moment before grabbing a name out at random and walking back over to the microphone to announce the male who would be chosen. She slowly opened the piece of paper and read the name out loud into the microphone.
"Varro Slaster!" The woman exclaimed, looking through the crowd to see who walked forward of the people in the crowd. Olivia didn't think she had heard that name before, but she couldn't be certain she hadn't heard his name in passing before. It wasn't a very familiar name to her, anyway, so it wasn't any of the boys she knew somewhat. All she knew was that he was someone else who was being thrown into this shitty game show with her, to represent District 12.
District 11
A woman who looked to be in her late 70's to early 80's wobbled out onto the stage with her cane supporting her up. She came up to the microphone and gave a kind old lady smile to the entire crowd, then grabbed the microphone and got ready to address the people.
"Hello dears. How are you all doing today?" She asked, looking like she was having difficulty standing properly. She was still using her cane, but was focused elsewhere and it was making her wobbly. "I hope you are all having a sweet time, and that many delicious cookies come your way" She said with a bright smile to the crowd. "The best part about being accepted into the Hunger Games is the endless cookies and sweets they offer to you, all for free!" She exclaimed, then proceeded to cough and go silent, starting up the typical video that was played.
"So there you have it, dearies!" The old lady said with her big, bright, friendly old lady smile. "Now it is time to choose who will be accepted into the 74th annual Hunger Games!" She said, and she slowly wobbled over to the girls glass bowl, pulling out a name and then wobbling slowly back to the microphone. Some people thought this was a really weird introduction compared to previous years, while others thought it was completely and totally awesome. Others just thought the old lady was slow and annoying.
"Jenna Jane!" The old lady exclaimed, and a sad-looking 14-year old girl with long hair looked around and came up onto the stage with not a whole lot of hesitation, but it was hard to tell what her true response to it all was, due to her not showing much opinion either way on the matter. She did look sadder at leaving her parents behind, but that was about it, and otherwise she seemed to only really be half there and spacing out while the old lady continued onto the boys announcement.
"Slater Gold!" The old lady exclaimed to the man, waving him up onto the stage cheerily. "Come young one, come!" She said happily, and once he was up there, she looked back to the crowd and said "Give a round of applause to our contestants!", which some people did so but most didn't really do much. Heading away from the microphone and looking at the two contestants, she smiled and said "Would you two like a cookie?", to which Jenna gave a nod and was handed a cookie by the old lady.
District 9
Joel arrived to the reaping fairly early in the day, being one of the first to arrive. He wanted to get there before the crowds, and he just wanted to get there altogether. Since he wasn't completely against actually attending the Hunger Games, he didn't try to push it off for as longer as possible. So here he was, early and waiting for the event to begin. Which because he was early, he would have to wait for a little while.
A little while later, the next announcer came out. He looked to be a man of about 40 years of age, and he seemed to almost walk out as if he was important and everybody should start cheering because of who he was. Some people did, actually, but most either didn't know who he was, didn't care who he was, or just stayed quiet.
"Hello great people of District 9. Today is a very important day, as I am sure you all know by now. Today is the announcements for the 74th annual Hunger Games. The yearly event where you fight to the death in a show of honor, and make your District proud. Well, that's the plan anyway. Of course there can only be one man or woman who is victorious in these games" He said, passing for a moment.
"As you all should know by now, I'm Victor Getz, a previous champion of the Hunger Games. I will tell you that it is very much scary the first time you get out in that battlefield, where everyone is out to kill you. There is no question about it. But over time you start and get used to it, and the killing begins to make you feel good, because you know that you are getting closer and closer to victory, and honoring your District. In the process, you become a legend, and get riches beyond your belief. So once you start thinking about all of that, you just want to fight, and win. It even becomes enjoyable" Victor said, pretty much describing his own experience in the games, thinking it somehow automatically fit for everyone. "Anyway, on to the video" He said, and he started to play the inspirational video.
A bit later, the video ended, and he spoke up again. "Now it is time to choose a tribute from both male and female, to see who gets the honor of representing District 9 this year" He said, and headed over to the woman's glass bowl, grabbing a name out and coming back to the microphone while opening it up.
"And the chosen one is......Alicia Hemsworth!" He exclaimed, and a 17-year old girl started to walk up towards the stage. She looked like she was scared, but looked like she was containing it well and trying to hide how truly scared she was. Once up on the stage, she just came up next to Victor Getz and said nothing, and he went on to announce the next guy.
"And the chosen one is.....Joel Alaskey!" He exclaimed. In response, Joel was surprised by his feelings. Inside, he was celebrating. Outside, he wasn't celebrating, but he felt more happy then he thought he would for being accepted into this. Yes, he was a little nervous too, but he didn't feel that scared at all. He came up onto the stage somewhat energetically, and stood next to the 17-year old girl, smiling at her slightly. She just gave him a look that pretty much said "Fuck off", apparently understanding what his smile was supposed to mean, and he decided to not try anything else to "impress" the girl. Well, at least for now.
"A round of applause for our contestants!" He exclaimed, and in response to that, Joel took Alicia's hand and put his and her hand into the air. She just went along with it. Some of the people in the crowd began to cheer, until Alicia and Joel disappeared out of eyesight.
District 6
"Hello fine ladies and fine gentlemen, and welcome to the lottery for the 74th annual Hunger Games!" A male speaker said, coming out smiling and wearing a nice fancy suit. "You all look lovely today, I gotta say" He said to them, smiling and putting his hands out to his sides. "I don't think I've ever seen such a good looking batch of possible contestants" He said, to get some strange looks back at him from the crowd from various people, including Sean. Sean thought it was a little weird that he pretty much just said a bunch of 12 to 18-year old's were good-looking when he was like, a 30 to 40 year old dude. But he decided to not think about that much, and decided that he was just a weird guy.
"First of all, we have to play you all the very inspiring, emotional, and beautiful film I am sure you have all come to love by now, those of you who have been here multiple times before" He said, and he then started up the video. The whole audience fell even more silent, but not a lot of people seemed to think it was that inspiring, emotional, and beautiful, though there were definitely the ones that did.
The film concluded shortly later, and he spoke up once again into the microphone. "Now it is time to choose a man and a woman for the Hunger Games" He said, wandering over towards the woman's glass bowl of names, sticking his hand in to fetch one at random, then wandering back over to the microphone to announce who the "lucky" lady would be.
"Hanora Swan!" He exclaimed, clapping to himself even if nobody else wanted to clap. Some others did, but not a ton. Most just seemed to feel bad for the poor girl, unless she wanted to go of course. "What an honor it is for Miss Swan to be the chosen female out of so many people!" He said happily, waving her up, assuming she had made herself obvious who she was at this point. "Come, come!" He said overly cheerily, and once she was up on the stage, he went over to the males giant glass bowl, and grabbed a name out of that one and went back to the microphone to announce the "lucky" male.
"Sean Angelopoulos!" He exclaimed, again clapping to himself in excitement of someone being chosen, some others in the audience following suit. "What an honor it is for Mr. Angelopoulos to be the chosen male out of so many people!" He said happily, waving him up once he stepped forward and made himself a little more obvious. He kept glancing back to his sister and his parents, but mostly his sister, feeling terrible for leaving them behind. Especially his sister. But they were all far enough away from him he couldn't give them a goodbye hug or something, and he just hesitantly went up onto the stage, hoping he at least got the ability to say goodbye to his family before they would take him away to the games. He stood near Hanora, looking towards her with a frown.
"Congratulate our two contestants of this years games!" He exclaimed happily, looking at both Sean and Hanora in a way that was telling them to put their hands in the air in celebration. Sean did with a bit of hesitation, just for the sake of not acting like a complete ass towards the annoying announcer guy. Not that he entirely cared if he was, but still. Some of the people in the crowd cheered, while others just didn't make much of a response at all. Then, the contestants would leave the stage and disappear away from the eyes of all the people of the district.
District 4
All morning, Evanna's parents and older sister had to keep reassuring her that the likelihood of her being chosen so soon was extremely unlikely, especially since people volunteered a lot in this district. The whole time while she was being all cleaned up and made to look nicer by her mother, for the choosing, she seemed to be having an anxiety attack, and was crying off and on as well. Her older sister hated seeing her little sister in such a state, and of course so did her mother and father. They could tell that, despite them doing their best to reassure her, she was scared to death. Understandably so. She had never been known to handle stressful situations very well, and this was a very good example of how she reacted to stressful situations.
Now she was in the crowd of people, waiting for the choosing to start, and hoping that someone, anyone would volunteer that actually wanted to go so she had less likely of a chance to go. She didn't really understand how anyone would choose to attend such a horrible game intentionally, as if they truly wanted to go out and kill people, but she knew there were crazy people like that. While standing in the crowd, she felt herself breathing heavily as it got closer and closer to the announcement. She felt like she had a loss of breath and like she was having a harder time breathing. She was getting worried that just having an announcement that she was chosen, if she was chosen would just make her pass out from nerves alone. She tried to tell herself to just calm down and be more relaxed, but it really wasn't working.
A man of about 60 came out onto the stage, looking a bit down and grim. Not your typical happy, overly cheerful announcer. Instantly some of the other more important people that were nearby were a little confused by the old mans grim demeanor. This was an event about encouragement, not acting all down and depressed about it. Why they had chosen this guy they weren't sure. He seemed perfectly capable of giving a cheerful, impressive speech when they chose him. But not now. They would just have to wait and see if it was a show he was putting on to act as if he was sympathizing with the people of District 4 or not.
"Let's just skip the introductions and get to the film" The gravely-voiced main said, waving his hand through the air and looking like he was on the verge of tears or something. The important people watching looked at each other like "What the hell is wrong with this guy?", but still went with the idea he was playing at something. They had a random thought that maybe a family member of his died right before the show, but they thought he would of mentioned something, or they would know something about that from somewhere. They just shrugged it off and let the film play.
"Now there you have it, your bullshit propaganda film that is completely full of shit" The old man said grimly after the film had finished. Apparently he was going to be like the most successful troll in the history of the Capitol. Multiple people in the audience laughed in response, but Evanna couldn't get herself to laugh, because despite the fact this guy was apparently not very loyal to the Capitol, she was way too nervous to be able to get out a proper laugh.
While the main leaders were pondering having the old man arrested, he went over to the big glass bowl and pulled out one of the cards from the females place, then walked over to the boys one and did the same, instead of, well, doing them separately. He then walked up and announced the first name he read.
"Evanna Lovegood" He announced grimly, and Evanna froze on the spot, her chest beating heavily. She felt like she was going to faint, and her head was spinning. As much as her family tried to tell her it would be okay, that the likelihood of her being chosen was slim, she still managed to be one of the 2 that were chosen. She felt like her luck was terrible. Her first time here and she gets chosen. She felt like running away and curling up into a ball, crying herself to sleep. Her parents and sister were equally horrified that she was actually chosen. Her sister was the one that knew the best that Evanna had major problems when it came to stressful situations, and this was definitely going to be really hard and stressful on her. Having anxiety and doing the hunger games didn't mix well.
Her older sister had been near her, and shortly after the announcement was made, Evanna found herself being hugged by her older sister, her arms embracing her sister tightly. At this point Evanna couldn't help but to start crying into her sisters chest. This wasn't helping the old mans feelings right now, and he wiped a tear away. She clung to her sister as if she didn't want to let go, as if she didn't want to be taken away from her older sister she loved so much.
"Tell mom and dad I love them" Evanna said through sobs. She knew the likelihood of her making it through the Hunger Games alive was extremely slim, but she would still try, even though the very idea of taking someones life away horrified her. But it looked like she would have to now, if she liked it or not. Or she could try and just avoid everyone, but she didn't really expect that to work out well. She tried to push those thoughts back as she pulled away from her sister, tears streaming down her face, as she turned away from her and started to head up towards the stage. Her older sister was standing there sobbing herself, but she wasn't someone who was brave enough to volunteer herself in the place of her sister. Feeling like her body had gone numb, she wandered off back to the parents and looked back to the stage with a sad expression towards her younger sister up on the stage.
The old man seemed to be choked up about the whole scene, and when Evanna came up, he actually gave her a hug, to the distaste of the higher up douche bags who just want a good show. She hugged him back, then just looked off into the crowd with a grim expression. She tried to spot her sister and parents, but couldn't find them amongst the crowd. Instead, she focused more on the fact she felt like fainting, out of breath, and like her head was spinning.
"The man for this cruel, cruel game show will be Jacob Hobkins" The old man said while wiping tears away. While some people in the audience still seemed to be more cheery about the whole thing, with who was being chosen and thinking it was honorable, the mood seemed to generally be rather grim for District 4. Especially after the emotional response when Evanna Lovegood was chosen. But this year, nobody from the district seemed to actually volunteer, which was considered strange and unusual. And nobody was sure if it was a good strange and unusual.
A 16-year old boy came up onto the stage, seeming more perky and less grim about it then the rest of the people up on stage, but still not seeming overly cheery about it. He gave the 12-year old girl next to him on the stage a sympathetic look, then looked to the old man who said "May your thoughts and prayers be with these two" into the microphone, and then gesturing the 2 to follow him through the doors.
District 2
A man came out to be the announcer for the event. He looked out over the crowd, looking more like a President about to address his people then a presenter for a game show. He looked from one side of the crowd of the people to the other, looking like he was about ready to speak.
"In this great nation, we have experienced hardships daily, all around the 12 colonies. Even the Capitol itself experiences its own fair share of hardships on an every day basis. We are a great people, all banned together to make this nation the greatest nation mankind has ever seen. But the process is slow, grueling, and nothing will be perfect. The greatest nations of the world are never the most perfect nations" The man said in a very formal speech.
"Today we begin the annual Hunger Games, a symbolism of this great nation" He continued, looking back and forth from one side of the crowd to the other once again. Without saying another word, he started up the inspirational video for the crowd to watch.
After the video ended, he spoke up once again. "Now it is time to choose two courageous young people to attend the annual Hunger Games, to represent their fine nation" He said, wandering after to the males glass bowl full of names first, instead of going to the woman's. He walked back to the microphone like everyone else did, and spoke up.
"And the honor goes to.....Kendrick Jabberwocky!" He exclaimed to the applause of a fairly good chunk of people in the audience, including Kendrick Jabberwocky himself. He felt honored, and as he walked up and onto the stage, he turned to the crowd and bowed, basking in his spotlight. He thanked the crowd repeatedly, and with a big grin on his face that looked more like a grin you wanted to punch someone in the face for doing, he went and walked towards the microphone. The presenter went towards the females place this time, figuring the crowd spoke for itself in response to who was chosen. He picked a name out and came back.
"And the honor goes to......Maya Wasowski!" He exclaimed to the applause of a fairly good chunk of people in the audience, up until they realized the girl was a 13-year old girl who looked to be about as scared of the whole idea of being accepted into this event as Evanna was. Or, at least, scared enough. She paused in the crowd for a long time, and slowly started to walk forwards to the stage, seeming truly terrified about this whole thing. The presenter seemed to be patient, while Kendrick looked like he wanted the stupid girl to hurry it up already and just face the reality of being chosen. But she was still just going slowly towards the stage in fear.
