Tanner Saracen / District 6 / Done

(I really don't know how to appropriately go back and edit that for length without a complete redo, so here is an OOC biography that should give the desired length)

Tanner Saracen is a tall, lanky specimen.   His six foot two inch frame stands taller than most, however only 168 pounds hang from his frame, leaving him very twig-like in appearance.  He does not come across as malnourished, simply skinny.  If you ever manage to see him without a shirt on, he does sport a moderately muscled physique.  His lightly-tanned skin is shaded with a light coating of deep brown hair, but a full mop covers the top half.  It grows wildly, but he usually has it trimmed very properly in a too-short to actually style hairdo.  His face is thin but clear, save for the light speckling of freckles that are scattered across his cheeks.  He is usually clean shaven, though when things are very tough, a five o'clock shade starts to become apparent after about a week.  He chooses to shave because his beard comes in thick in the sideburns, but very thin and slowly around the mouth, giving him a somewhat wolverine-esque appearance.

From an accessory standpoint, you're usually only going to get two Tanners.  You have the work Tanner, which sports usually baby-blue but on Fridays lavender medical scrubs, and small wire-framed spectacles.  You also have the play Tanner, which is going to sport a simple Tee shirt, usually plain and black, with a pair of jeans.  Either way you're going to see the black treadsafe sneakers that he has re-laced with his favorite solid blue laces that have accompanied every pair of shoes he's worn in the past decade.  On rare occasions you may see a pair of nice black dress slacks accompanied by a sateen blue or black button down shirt, and black dress shoes.  These don't adorn his lucky laces.  On rarer occasions you'll see him wear bright green and yellow swim-trunks, and be completely shirtless.  Though he loves swimming, this appearance is quite rare, not only because he doesn't want people to see him without his shirt on, but also because he doesn't often feel that he's earned the privilege of swimming.


In the work place Tanner is often frazzled, and usually very stern faced.  He places too much pressure on himself, and is constantly self-conscious and expecting failure.  He often feels like more of a burden than a help, stumbling through even the most mundane of tasks.  Fact is he could perform the tasks flawlessly if he could learn how to get out of his own way, though he has yet to figure out how to do so.  He is liked by all his peers, it's obvious that he is trying his very best. Some even feel sorry for him, it's obvious how hard he is on himself.  He feels like he lets them down almost constantly, though they rarely ever feel that way.

In personal settings, Tanner is very nervous.  Though he enjoys being social and having fun as much as the next person, he usually stays alone and rarely leaves his house.  He rarely lets himself have any fun because he is usually down on himself about some misfortune he had experienced that day.  In his opinion he is always striving to be better, but he never achieves his goals because in reality he strives for perfection, which is simply unattainable in everyday life.  He feels like because of his family reputation he has to be flawless in everything he does or that he is going to be canned and labeled the same as his parents.

Intangibly, Tanner is very sweet.   He doesn't mind helping anyone with anything, whether it's a family member or someone on the streets he's never met.  He chose the medical field over the science field because of his desire to help.  He hasn't allowed himself time to court or really get to know anyone of the female gender, so he is also very innocent.  His mind is intensely focused on being the best that he can be, and hoping that his best is good enough.  He is very motivated to be better, however he also has self-esteem issues, often feeling like the deck was already stacked against him before he even unwrapped it.

His family name does not carry well within the district six community.  Time and time again both parents are given jobs, and time and time again they fail to keep their jobs long-term.  Tanner gets his perseverance from his parents, who both try very hard at whatever it is they're doing.  Neither has ever been fired for anything specifically they've done wrong, but anytime the Capitol imposes cutbacks, or programs are closed or reassigned, they always found themselves among the workers laid off.  They did a very good job of inspiring Tanner to be better, which is why he always strives for such perfection.  His fear of being like his parents is why he always deems that he has fell short of those goals.

The entire Saracen family has had the deck stacked against him since the day he was born.  He was breach in his mother's womb, and both he and mother nearly died during the birthing procedure.  Had he been born in any district but six, he probably would have been.  After counseling, it was determined that it was in the best medical interest that Mrs. Saracen make no further attempts to conceive, and she received a vasectomy.  Growing up an only child, Tanner didn't gain those social skills that most multi-child family children build.  He had friends during school, but he had a knack for befriending the smartest kids in the class, who didn't really want their children hanging around with "that Saracen boy."  There were really never any traumatic experiences, other than the peril of having to go through the reapings every year.  Most families didn't need their children to take Tessera, and when both parents were working, neither did the Saracens.  Occasionally they needed a little help making it through the tough times, and so Tanner was put more at risk than a lot of the other potential tributes.  Luckily his name was never drawn.

Upon graduating from School, he was not selected to attend university based on his test scores, however he was given the option to intern at a hospital, potentially earning enough real-work credits to be allowed admittance, should a slot open up for any reason.   After finally finding a little stability in the early years, the Saracen family was able to save a little money up for Tanner's educational fund.   They expected that he wouldn't be accepted right away, but for them, him being invited to participate in the intern program was a dream come true.  He would at least have a chance to make something of himself, more than they'd ever had.  The entire Saracen family savings was given to Tanner, and the money was used for a fifteen month lease at one of the most low-end apartment housings in the entire district.  

At current day, we are two days into his second month.  So far, he hasn't been expelled from the internship program, however he has also done little to separate himself from the few other candidates that were not immediately accepted into the college.