Faren Gomery

Faren Gomery is a tribute made by PoisonedPoetry. Please do not use him without permission.

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Name: Faren Gomery

District: 5

Gender: Male

Age: 17

Personality: Cynical and protective, Faren may come across as unreasonably paranoid at first glance. However, he is more akin to a realist and he still prefers to give people a chance to explain themselves. Once you get to know him, you’ll find that he’s sweet and caring by default. He’s also a very understanding and patient individual, able to listen to others’ problems for long periods of time. However, this can also sap away some of his energy due to his introverted nature. If you end up getting close to him as a friend he is more affectionate, giving out more compliments and often showing that he cares through hugs and back pats. And if you end up really close to him, his selflessness knows no bounds.

However, Faren’s arguably biggest defining feature is his lack of confidence: Often he plants his own self-doubts in mind, not helped by his heavy sense of guilt. A nervous individual, Faren often finds himself easily manipulated as a result of wanting to please everyone. Typically this would mean that he bottles-up any negative emotions to avoid worrying others, especially when that emotion is fury. When too much emotion is built up inside him, it will leak out for a few moments before exploding like an atomic bomb, after which Faren will withdraw into guilt again. The other personality flaw Faren has to face is desperation: He’s on a ticking time bomb to save not only himself, but the love of his life. As a result he is willing to consider carrying out tasks that he would otherwise hate himself for doing.

Height: 5’9

Weight: 105lbs (Underweight)

Appearance: Faren is very average at first glance: His shaggy espresso hair covers his ears and forehead, framing his softer features. However, his unremarkable first impression is made up for in the form of his striking grey eyes, perfectly framed inside his thick-rimmed glasses. Generally Faren’s face is frozen into an expression of deep concern, though he can crack a small smile at times. His decidedly unimpressive build is like a rod: Slender and rigid. And although he is better off than many of the inhabitants of his district, he still appears fairly underweight.

Dominant hand: Left-handed

Weapon(s): Traps, dagger

Strengths: Faren’s main strength is his engineering and building skills: He is very skilled when it comes to creating complex contraptions. In addition to this, he has a good memory: He’s able to hold onto even the most minute details for a long-time. To round it off, Faren also has cat-like reflexes: If you were to throw an object at him, he'll already be on the ground the moment the object leaves your hand.

Weaknesses: Physical strength is not Faren’s forte: His life around the district never gave him any opportunities to build up his core strength. As well as this, he has low pain tolerance. Despite getting scratched up by scraps and parts, his skin is sensitive to cuts and bruising. Faren’s eyesight is also very poor, especially when it comes to long-distance items. Without his glasses, anything further than a metre looks blurry to him.

Fear(s): Losing Joule, rumours, making the wrong choice, terminal illness, germs

Reaction to Fears:

Losing Joule: His reaction depends on whether or not Joule actually passes. If she’s still alive, Faren will attempt to put his energy into winning the games as quickly as possible, which will make him more prone to stress and fear. Should Joule pass away before Faren could save her, he will feel extreme bouts of guilt for not being quick enough. His mourning could last for a long-time and he might even fall under depression and denial.

This fear stems from Faren’s relationship with Joule, as well as her illness.

Rumours: If Faren hears about any rumours that would negatively impact someone’s reputation, his heart rate will pick up and he will feel nauseous. As a result, if he can pluck up the courage he will scold the person for spreading it. Otherwise he’ll remove himself from the situation.

This fear stems from Faren hearing nasty rumours about Joule.

Making the wrong choice:

This fear stems from Faren picking Joule over Rotor, losing his friendship of over 10 years. Whilst he doesn’t regret it in hindsight, he felt guilty at the time.

Terminal illness: The concept of developing a terminal illness is terrifying to him. If faced with the prospect, Faren will be a sobbing mess and hyperventilate. However, he would then attempt to put all his energy into creating the best final months for the person afflicted.

This fear stems from Joule growing weaker due to her illness. Whilst her affliction isn’t necessarily fatal, her family’s lack of income made it appear more hopeless than it had any right to. Therefore, if it was that horrifying for Faren to follow, a terminal illness would be worse.

Germs: More of a minor fear than anything. Faren is often reluctant to touch doorknobs and other hand hotspots. If anyone coughs or sneezes near him, he cringes and covers his nose and mouth with his hand for several seconds. He is also prone to washing his hands between tasks, even if he has to move onto the next job straight away.

This fear stems from Faren’s frequent sneezing and itchy eyes: Although it’s caused by hayfever and dust, he assumes that he keeps catching a cold after every few days, therefore making him want to eliminate all risks of germs.

Allergies: Pollen, dust

Training Strategy: For training, Faren will focus on survival-based stations and the trap-making station. If a non-ally approaches him, he’ll be nice to them to make them less willing to kill him in the arena.

Private Training Strategy: He’ll aim for a low-average score by demonstrating what he learnt at the trap-making station.

Bloodbath Strategy: Depends on whose podiums he is close to. If there is a career very close to him, he will run a few metres away from the cornucopia until the career is closer to the centre, after which he will run back in and grab some backpacks from the outskirts.

If there are no careers, he will run straight for the backpacks on the outskirts before searching for his allies.

Games Strategy: Throughout the games, Faren will reluctantly try to set up as many lethal traps as possible. His aim is to end the games as quickly as possible so that he can return to Joule sooner.

Alliance: Preferably a small alliance of 3-4 people, himself included.

Token: Joule’s favourite possession: A small wooden music box her great-grandfather had made. Though Faren didn’t want to lose such a possession in the games, Joule insisted that he brought it with him for good luck.

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Showmance: No

Other quirks:


 * Often changes his opinion based on what other people say

Family/Associates: Piper Gomery (Father), Sempra Gomery (Mother), Joule Blythe (Girlfriend), Rotor Byne (Former Friend)

Backstory
TBA

Backstory Summary

 * Born to a working class family as an only child. Piper was a foreman at a solar panel farm, whilst Sempra was a cook at the same company.
 * Grew up with Rotor Byne as his best friend, ever since the pair were 2. However, Faren didn’t make any other close friends as Rotor often guilt-tripped him out of making plans with them.
 * The duo would later go on different engineering internships, lessening Rotor’s influence on Faren’s friendships. However Rotor would insist on Faren hanging out with him outside of their work schedules.
 * At age 15, Faren made a new friend called Joule. She had only just started her internship at his workplace since it was closer to her home. However Rotor tried to separate the two by constantly hanging out with Faren to the point where he was too socially exhausted to hang out with Joule. To compensate, Faren brought Joule with him to hang out as a trio. Despite this, there was one-sided tension between Rotor and Joule.
 * One day, Joule admitted to Faren that she was suffering from a severe illness. To throw salt in the wound, her family couldn’t afford treatment that would save her life. Faren decided to make her last years/months something worthwhile, so he’d often bring her on one-on-one ‘dates’ to make her life more cheerful. After several dates, the pair eventually ended up dating.


 * Rotor ended up swapping internships, ending up at the same workplace as Faren and Joule.
 * Joule later had to spend less days at that placement due to her feeling worse. Not long afterwards Faren heard rumours relating to Joule’s illness. Most of them suggested that her incurable disease was sexually transmitted and that she was purposefully trying to spread it to other people. Worried, he asked where the interns had heard the rumours from. Everything pointed back to Rotor.
 * Faren’s shock quickly became anger, icily confronting Rotor until his voice rose to shouting. The two argued until Faren declared that he couldn’t trust Rotor anymore and ended their friendship on the spot.
 * After ditching Rotor, Faren broke down and felt guilt-ridden for what he had said. He confided in both his parents, who had differing views: Piper thought it wasn’t worth throwing away a 14 year friendship for a girl that was “doomed to die”, but Sempra thought he did the right thing in standing up for someone who couldn’t defend herself. In the end, he decided to tell Joule about everything.
 * After Joule heard about what Rotor had done, she was horrified. The pair of them wept their sorrows together. The two talked out their feelings, after which Faren had an epiphany that his friendship with Rotor was one-sided. She agreed and warned him that if Rotor had been like that for years, that it would be difficult for him to unlearn his patterns.
 * Back at the internship, Rotor was never fired in spite of his rumours. In fact, Joule had to be sacked as her attendance was seen to be no longer acceptable. As a result, Faren always avoided Rotor and refused his apologies, saying that they should be saved for Joule. In spite of this, Faren kept doubting whether or not he was doing the right thing as Rotor looked pitiful every time he looked at him.
 * Closer to the reapings, Joule became even more vulnerable. She and her family were unsure of what to do. As she expressed her fears to Faren, he came up with the idea to volunteer for the games. Though Joule was adamantly against the idea, she also admitted she didn’t want to die. Ultimately, she said she would respect Faren’s choice and keep it secret from their families.


 * Now that it’s the morning of the reaping, Joule is even weaker than ever before. Her remaining lifespan could be anywhere from a week to a month. However, if she can get treatment in time she can make a slow and gradual recovery.
 * Faren visits Joule one last time as the pair talk about their relationship and Faren’s plan. At one point she is convinced that she’ll die that day, but Faren reassures her that she’s stronger than that. She also questions if this will be their last goodbye. Though Faren tries to reassure her, he finds himself doubting his plan (although he doesn’t say so out loud).
 * Before he leaves, Joule gives him her prized music box. He’s unwilling to take it until she pleads with him. Reluctantly Faren takes it. The pair share one last kiss before he leaves for the reapings.
 * Faren is still contemplating his decision throughout his journey. At first he considers bailing out until a boy’s name is called. He snaps out of his trance and volunteers, knowing it’s the only legal way to afford enough funds for Joule’s treatment

Inspiration
"Love You to Death" by Kamelot.

Trivia

 * Faren’s first name is taken from Fahrenheit, whilst his surname comes from Montgomery Burns, the nuclear plant owner from the Simpsons.
 * Joule’s first name comes from the unit of the same name, whilst Blyth comes from James Blyth, who invented the first wind turbine to generate electricity.
 * Rotor’s surname is the last syllable of turbine, but with a y.
 * Sempra’s name comes from Sempra Energy, an energy infrastructure company.