Destiny's Daydreams

The link, if anyone wants it:

Like Beetee has tried to disrupt the capital multiple times, and this is Snows chance to actually be rid of him. His value to panem is no longer enough to save him, and his “lessons” were not enough. Then they drag Wiress in along too. She’s helped him before, and no doubt he has a soft spot for her, feeling responsible for her torture and what she’s become.

Or Finnick even. Becoming too popular after his games, too powerful in information that could be used against Snow. Annie picked because she’s Finnicks actual love, or with the possibility that they tried to destroy the arena again during her games.

If Snow wanted to do away with so many other victors, he would have done so himself. The only reason Finnick is as popular as he is is because Snow let him be. If Snow didn't make him come back to the Capitol all the time, the Capitol would still hunger over him, but he would be untouchable. But even though Finnick is massively valuable to the rebels and an integral part of their plans, he's also valuable to Snow. In Snow's eyes, Finnick is a toy he can give to the Capitol to keep them happy and satisfied, while simultaneously being a role model to the districts of how they should be (to the districts, Finnick is a Capitol suck-up and the model Career victor).

Beetee, though proven to be a danger to the Capitol, is responsible for half the country's technology. He's valuable to Snow as well, else Snow would have just killed him himself. Beetee's one of the older victors by Catching Fire, and not in the public eye in the same way Finnick, Cashmere, or Enobaria are. If Snow wanted to kill him off, he could do that with little to no public outrage.

Outside of the arena the victors were a lot more valuable to Snow, and he did have them under his control. Threatening their families was effective. Katniss' circumstances were unique and new, which is why Snow needed her gone so badly.

Snows a very paranoid man. He thinks everyone is always out to get him. If he sees all the most rebellious victors (that we know of) being pulled into the games together, it’s going to set off some alarms.

The victors are a problem for Snow because he can’t just kill them. They are a part of the hope he sells to the districts for winning the games. Extra rations, fame and fortune, and a long “happy” life. Even if the districts didn’t particularly like those victors, there’s going to be problems if he just starts killing them off.

Instead he tries to control them. Makes them work for him, sells them to people, kills their loved ones, sends their kids into the games. But that doesn’t stop a victor. He knows first hand how much fight a victor can have, especially after their games. That’s why he sees these games as an opportunity to be rid of the most troublesome victors quickly and effectively.

And that’s where he goes wrong. Katniss has rattled him because she has become a face for this cause to rally behind. So he tries to use this games as a quick way to be done with them all, but either underestimates the years of work they’ve put in or is simply too paranoid to care.

A lot of this is based on the movie, since obviously in the book we don't see the workings behind the scenes because it's all Katniss's POV, but there's a deleted scene in Catching Fire of Plutarch replacing the Quarter Quell envelope after he and Snow discuss that all the Victors need to be eradicated. Clearly Plutarch is close enough to Snow for Snow to feel comfortable saying these kinds of things in front of him. Plutarch also suggested to Snow to make everything about Katniss's wedding, to try to make it seem like she was a Capitol puppet like Finnick— something Snow then did. Plutarch was Head Gamemaker, so clearly had a heavy hand in designing the arena. And we see with Coin that Plutarch tends to situate himself as an advisor to those in power.

Maybe I already do.

A tame example? Two questions into a phone interview, the guy on the other end of the line asked: “How old are you?” I said “Excuse me?” - giving him a chance to rethink that. He didn’t. “How old are you?” “Sir, you are not allowed to ask me that question.” “Well, I want to know. I’m asking.” “And you’re legally not allowed to ask me that. I’m not required to tell you my age.” At that point, I guess he managed to remember an old HR bulletin or something (I hope to god he wasn’t actually HR himself), and he said, “Well, I need to know if you’re over the age of 18.” (Which is what he should have asked in the first place… or not, since that was in the application that he could have read.) “Yes. I’m over the age of 18.”  And we moved on. Two questions later, he tried another illegal question. I called him on it again and ended the interview, citing that a workplace with such a clear disregard for the law, especially upon first contact with a potential employee, was not going to be a good fit. (They offered me the job anyway, lol. I didn’t send a thank-you or a response.)

At a different interview, the majority of questions were “fishing” questions - just looking for that info they’re not actually allowed to ask. (This person was also either not really HR or an HR person who was exceptionally bad at their job.)

And Billy writing Flip the Switch for the Dunne brothers, specifically the line, "When she's dancing over that broken glass/ while you're searching for her shoes/ Is that her version of an invitation/ that you wish you could refuse." Because it really brings to mind when Billy finds Daisy partying at the pool and she gets out and steps on broken glass and doesn't even notice. In the book, Billy hightails it out of there because, to paraphrase, "I didn't think, this girl is a mess. My first thought was, she knows how to have fun." I don't remember if he said that line in the show but I love it and it always stuck with me, and I think that was probably his thoughts in the show too. So to me, him leaving reads as him "refusing" the invitation, because at that point if he'd decided to give in and party with her, she probably would've let him. Also it calls to mind when she invites him in to her place to work on music and he refuses because he saw drugs.