Lore and individual photos under the read-more (cw for mentions of alcoholism)
August Lowchard, 8th Games, Capitol Ampitheatre
motif: Tree Swallow
District 11's first Victor, August was a quiet but sweet tribute, with an incredibly beautiful singing voice that he was known in his small regional area of the District for. His weapon was a sling, which he used a few times when other tributes got too close. His Games ended up lasting for 4 days (may be changed), very long for the archaic games era, and August often sang quietly to himself. This was unfortunately how Siren Bulwark, D4 and staunch loyalist, found him, taking him by surprise and disarming him. The two grappled, and Siren's knife ended up cutting August's face and neck before he managed to finally overpower her and win. The scarring on his neck and mouth made him unable to sing without discomfort, and his voice, he felt, was no longer beautiful. August faded into obscurity back in District 11, with many assuming he had died, until many years later (which I will elaborate on)
The second Victor for District 11, Seeder went into the Games at 15 years old, finding herself in a forest far different to 11's lively ecosystems. The arena was in an area designated for logging, with one type of tree and almost no other natural plants or animals. The Games dragged on and many tributes starved. Seeder was used to finding her own food, with a difficult home life to say the least, and managed to make it into the late Games, terrified and malnourished. As one of the only tributes left, she was hunted down, and constantly hiding. Eventually her pursuers became exhausted due to starvation and almost all died. The last one, tracking her footsteps, got very close and in a moment of desperation she left her hiding spot behind a tree, and strangled the pursuer to death with the sleeve of her shirt. Seeder really loves hiking and in general is a fairly solitary person, despite being very kind and sympathetic. She needs to be alone sometimes!! She has a very morbid sense of humour, which i headcanon Chaff picks up from her.
i dont like making female characters just.. motherly, its fine to do i just want her to have more depth.. chaff definitely latches onto her post victory and shes as supportive as a very traumatised person can be.. but she has no intention on mothering other adults. shes very kind to her tributes and younger victors though. Seeder has past experiences with alcoholism before her Games, possibly a family friend, family member or parent I haven’t decided, but this is something that causes some tension in Seeder and Chaff’s relationship, as she struggles to be around anyone who is drunk (making the Capitol a difficult place for her as well).
I like Maria howells seeder but I wanted to reflect katniss’s book description of her more, so atptverse seeder is afroindigenous, her hair is naturally 3b texture but she likes the look of a silk press although she changes it up sometimes
Mentored by Seeder, Chaff did very well in his arena, finding plenty of food in the humid climate and managing not to become too dehydrated. He fought with a short spear, and ofc ended up with a lower arm amputation. Chaff always had an interest in boxing but after victory it becomes a form of physical therapy both for him to zone out for a bit and to maintain strength in his left arm after the amputation, unfortunately it’s not enough to keep him from eventually turning to alcohol as an alternative coping mechanism. Chaff gets very attached to Seeder, both bc like.. trauma., but also his personality is just prone to that, he forms very strong attachments to people very quickly. I was thinking about doing some research on personality disorders because i see traits of some in his behaviour, but i wouldn't want to create a character that was a stereotypical portrayal so im not solid on that yet. I also may make him Haymitch's mentor !! although im not sure about that. he is also bisexual ^_^ and truly a very caring person who protects his community and loved ones as best he can, although he cannot protect himself from The Horrors sadly.
i think the capitol would for sure make his interest in boxing into a "he cant stay out of fight thing" as Effie says in canon, but its not really that at all. he is an alcoholic and prone to impulsive behaviour but i dont think hes a violent person deep down. If I ever wrote anything looking at canon characters, I may make Chaff Haymitch’s mentor for the 50th Hunger Games, and possibly give Haymitch a one-sided teenage crush on him. (Bi Haymitch truther). They might get a little gay with it in their 40s too who’s to say.
Rowan Kitt, 57th Games, Concert Stadium
motif: kit fox
Mentored by Seeder, Rowan breaks the trend of the D11 tribute thriving in a more natural arena, as she wins in what is essentially a rock concert stadium, with insane pyrotechnics, and painfully loud speakers that would go off occasionally . sometimes theyd broadcast the whispers of tributes trying to hide... rowan's weapon is a battle axe, inspired by guitars often being called axes .. YAY and maybe he figures out how to disadvantage the other tributes by using the speakers to broadcast sounds that throw them off his trail, or plugging her ears and making a really loud sound to disorient others.. I'm not fully sure. But anyway!! Rowan is my absolute blorbo. he's bigender and bisexual (gay both ways #swag) and has an unsettling autistic stare 💖 She's into music of almost any kind, especially rock, jazz, might think of more specific tastes once she’s existed for longer than like a day oops. And also a collector of colourful things. But!!!!!!!!!!! this is my favourite part. he gets really interested in d11 music history, and hears about the first ever d11 victor, The Stifled Songbird, August Lowchard.... and ends up very obsessed with his story! so long story short she tracks him down (he is miserable and alone) and they bond over music, breaking down August's self imposed isolation and reigniting his love for song. and he maybe becomes part of 11s victor community i dont know... and im not sure whether i want August alive at the time of the 3rd QQ.. maybe Chaff volunteers for him idk.. but yeah and hes everyones grandpa now.
Also Rowan’s hair is very much inspired by a style from @/sheissoular on Instagram
But yeah!! Hope you enjoyed reading about these characters of mine. Any questions, any opinions, anything, I am very much open to feedback !! You can tell my description skills got worse and worse as I wrote I’m sorry sksjdjdk
