John Tripe [D4]FIN

Hmm... what do I look like? Have I checked a mirror recently? Crap... I forgot to do something... I have always been somewhat on the large size, height wise. My weight for my height fits me well. I am 6'1, weighing 155 lbs. I have a good build that I got from hauling fish all day for work. I don't know how much I can lift in pounds, but on good days, I can lift up to 10 bags that are full of fish at once multiple times for hours. Even though I can life that much, my muscles are more slim, like a swimmer, which I am. Then again, a lot of people from District 4 are.

My hair, for the most part, isn't that neat. I rarely comb it, only for the reaping or if I have to go somewhere fancy. Other than that, I let it go wild and unkempt. My eyes are either blue-green, green, or grey. They change every so often, just cause. I don't really know why, but they do. I just think it has something to do with the lighting. My smile can light up a room in the right lighting, though. They aren't that white, but I somehow can make them that shiny. That's what other people say. I find it fun to do on boats since I sometimes blind the other drivers. Or they go blind because I might have just forgotten to turn off high beams. Probably more of the second one, though. I don't think my smile is that bright.

I never really thought about this, really. Or have I? I don't know. Might as well start now. Well, I'm pretty athletic, since I basically live in the water or bay area. I always am either hauling nets full of fish, carrying large buckets  or bags of fish, or swimming around in the water on my days off. My muscles are more leany than anything. I do more of the swimming than anything since my boss needs me to work at the shop more than the boat. My partner generally takes over for me since I somehow nearly mess everything up. Maybe it's because of my clumsiness. I don't know. He doesn't seem to trust me. However, I still do a lot even though I'm not really wanted. I'm generally the one who cleans everything up. I do much better than he does, since I have a slight OCD problem.

I, most of the time, am an intelligent kid. I just seem to make myself look stupid. I make terrible decisions most of the time, and I don't honestly know what's going on at the moment. I don't really pay attention, mainly because I stay up late doing random things, making me tired in the morning. It's basically a continuous, unbreakable cycle for me. Stay up late, wake up early, be tired, take a nap when I get home, wake up a couple hours later, stay up late, etc. It doesn't really stop. I also hate most people I meet. I don't really find people appeasing. I don't even find myself appeasing sometimes. It's all a matter of opinion, I guess.

A great deal of the time, if I happen to be around people I hate, I generally am able to keep calm and not punch them in the face. I don't hate them that much. Except for a slight few who I would punch in the face if I got the chance. I just won't do it in public. Overall, I care very much about whatever I do, except if it's stupid, like training for the games. A couple of people I know do it, but I don't like the idea of it. It feels wrong to have better training than other districts. It gives us an unfair advantage. The Capitol really needs to stop it.

Whoa. I haven't really thought about my past. Then again, I chose not to think about it... I honestly don't like to think about the events that happened to me. Ever since I was a child, or whenever I first remember seeing the Hunger Games, there was a sudden... hatred? No. More like disgust. I didn't understand why we had to send in 24 children and watch 23 of them die.  I felt bad for them. Like the curious-ish kid I was, I asked my parents. They said something to the lines of "Because the government said so." The didn't say that specifically, but that's what I interpreted a few years down the road. At the time, I accepted the explanation without a question, mainly, probably, because I still thought it was disgusting to me still.Or I was just to little to understand what they were saying. I don't care though. I eventually figured it out. That's what really matters, right? For every year after, when they played the games on the t.v., I always purposefully made up an excuse to miss as much as it as possible.  I don't think my parents minded me skipping it. They didn't try to get me back to watch it, if they did figure it out. 

When I was about 11 or so, my parents wanted me to start training, or at least think about it. After a month of thinking (give or take a week), I decided to try it. I know I said I didn't think that being a career was fair, but I didn't want to let down my parents. Plus, I honestly wanted to have a chance to win the games, if I ever happen to get reaped. I felt uncomfortable at first, since I didn't really socialized during school. I thought I had friends, but they weren't real, good friends. After a while, I felt more accepted. I got used to everyone. Now, I still didn't have any good friends, not that I really wanted any. I was so used to being that kid who always sat out. I didn't really want to change it.

After a few years, I became really in shape. I felt really proud for getting this far. Then I remembered. I forgot how unfair this is, how the lower districts weren't able to do this. I felt terrible for doing this. I felt terrible for breaking my own promise to myself. How could I have let myself do that I thought. After a while, I just slowly stopped going to the training center. No one really seemed to notice, anyways, since I didn't get close to anyone. Towards the end of my career training, I chose to get a job. My first job I got was at a local store that sold fishing supplies. It wasn't amazing, but it paid a decent amount, so I was happy. Everything was doing well, until my parents asked my how my training went one day at dinner. I nearly completely forgot that I stopped going. Since I felt like I should tell them the truth, I told them how I stopped going due to my beliefs on the games. They said they weren't upset, but I could see it in there faces. They were filled with utter disappointment. I felt bad, but I knew I broke my morals. I have to follow my morals.

I tried to make it up by working harder at my job, and giving 50% or so of my profit to them. They accepted it, but they still didn't seem to care about me. They seemed to care more that they were getting more money than how hard I was working. They almost seemed like... like they gave up on me. When I was 16 1/2, I just ran away. Well, more like just lived in the attic of the shop because my boss let me. I think that jerked my parents awake. They came for me, and begged for me to come back. When they were begging, I could see the honesty in their eyes.

I willingly came back home, to a happier house. They seemed a little happier than normal. For the first week or so, I thought it was because i came back. But after that, I realized it was something else. I asked them why they were so happy. The news they told me shocked me. I was going to have a new brother. My mom was with child. After I go over the shock, I felt extremely joyful. I was going to have a brother! A few months later, we had a fully functional, beautiful baby boy. They let me choose for them, so I chose the most special name I could give him: Shiloh. That, and I always wanted a brother named Shiloh. 

Up to now, the present, there hasn't been any major changes since my brother that I can remember, so I'll just have to wait and see what other adventures lay in front of me.