Quinn

i've already complained about jesse plemons about a dozen times. he really does not look young at all. i know age accuracy isn't super considered in adaptations but they should've taken more care to cast an actor closer to the book age.

also i agree w people online complaining about caesar's hair color. i don't get why they couldn't keep to book accuracy there, considering they had no issue doing it for the hunger games, catching fire AND both mockingjay movies. to suddenly diverse from canon on a stance like that doesn't make sense. they couldn't have put kieran culkin in a wig?

and the accent that joseph zada had on the stage was weirdly nasally and like bostonian??? i don't know how to describe it. he reminds me of a certain character and i can't place my finger on it. was he trying to do an appalachian accent??? i'm really trying hard to understand here.

-- okay i actually figured it out and he sounds like johnny depp playing jack sparrow. which EXTRA doesn't make sense but we'll move on.

and i'm really curious on what the point of showing effie off was in the trailer, besides the fact that people want to see her. you can tell its ONE scene they decided to chop up and sprinkle in the trailer (with the exception of the tributes being sent into the arena).

with all this said, i'm not saying the entire trailer sucked. there were a lot of aspects i liked. the colors were definitely popping, i liked that it seems to be set in the 70's/80's. i think the grandeur of the interviews was perfect, i liked the scenes with maysilee and lenore dove. and i'm ready to see what happens with mags, wiress and beetee.

i am going to compare it to TBOSAS, though because it's the other most recent hunger games book. if you look at the trailers for that movie, it encapsulates what the book is about. and the scenes make sense together.

i had to pause several times in the sotr to rewind because i felt like i missed something, but i didn't.

Every so often, the mentors in District One will get a bug up their ass about the amount of victors there are. It usually happens when districts outside of the Careers will get a winning streak on tributes. They believe that if they let it go on too long, then you’ll never be able to get the upper hand back. As if you don’t have two overflowing neighborhoods in Victor’s Village.

When they do this, a changing of the guard happens. Whoever is mentoring at the moment is switched out with a more recent victor, in hopes a fresh mind can change the tide. The last time this happened was six years ago, when you replaced Cashmere four years after her win.

Despite the fact that One had gotten three victors in less than five years, they decided there needed to be a change of pace. They wanted to be able to dominate the arena year after year, their goal was to strike fear in the hearts of the competition. 

And who better to put in charge of that position than you?

When you were first told you’d be taking over Cashmere’s position, you were excited to teach the tributes a new way of playing the Games. What they were taught back home would get them to the final five, of course. But if they took it to the level you did when you won, it could guarantee them the crown every time.

Cashmere must’ve known what you were planning, because it didn’t take long for her to pull you aside. She warned you to keep your opinions about the Games to yourself. If you wanted to make friends with the other mentors in the Capitol and have successful alliances, then you’d lock your lips and smile if you had anything controversial to say. She told you none of the other victors would agree with what you would have to say.

And if your ideals ended up translating into your mentoring style, it wouldn’t be long before Snow requested for you to be replaced. You needed to be on your best behavior at all times. 

As much as you wanted to stick it to her, you promised Cashmere you’d tone it down. 

These past couple of years have been testing your patience, though. It takes a lot of self control to smile at people when they’re stepping on your toes. Especially your own tributes.

There were hundreds of better candidates to send into the arena this year, but the older victors wanted to try a new strategy. Instead of staying with the tried and true method of the best performing students, they picked them based on age and looks. And it shows.

Glimmer is almost completely incompetent. You’ve never met a girl from your district so oblivious to the consequences of her actions. She thought bringing a poisonous ring into the Capitol as her token would go unnoticed. She would’ve been arrested, if it weren’t for you. You spent an hour pleading her case, saying she had no clue it would turn into a spike once twisted. It got confiscated. She’s lucky you didn’t strangle her to death, the least she could’ve done was warn you.

Then there’s Marvel, who you had more hope for. He scored a nine, which is a point higher than Glimmer. He did fairly well during the interviews, with the help of Caesar. But then the night before the Games, he told you he was going to let Cato–the boy from Two–be the leader of the Career pack.

Honestly, what were the mentors expecting from you? A miracle?

It doesn’t take a genius to know when a tribute won’t make it very far. If you asked around, most would tell you they can be written off as soon as the Reaping and are redeemable only when their scores stand out. In your opinion, you need to wait for the first day of the arena.

If they set themselves up for survival, there’s a good chance they’re going to outlast the rest. Like the girl from District Twelve, for example. She pulled a flashy move by volunteering for her younger sister, but tributes volunteer every year. It’s more important she was fast enough to grab a backpack and flee the Cornucopia before she got caught.

You’d trade your two tributes just to have her. She knows how to follow a trail of water, and set up snares to keep her fed. It’s really too bad she’s got a drunk as her mentor. 

Your eyes drag over to Haymitch Abernathy. He’s sitting at a table all by himself on the far side of the Betting Room. There’s a plate of food in front of him, which he hasn’t touched once in the hours you’ve been down here. His glass, on the other hand, he’s filled with red wine three times.

He struck gold this year, it’s the best pair of tributes he’s had in a long while. And they’re going to go to waste because he can’t stay sober. If Katniss Everdeen were your tribute, you would’ve worked her to the bone. Not that you would’ve had to, since her stylist came out swinging with the parade costume.

Once you saw her score, you were convinced nothing would bring her down. Then came her tribute partner at the interviews, like a gust of wind, blowing out the glowing flame. Why Haymitch would let him confess his feelings like that is lost on you. Katniss will never be able to shine again on her own, because now she has a ball and chain connected to her ankle at all times.

You yawn loudly, placing your chin on your open palm. “This has got to pick up soon.”

There’s not many tributes from the Career pack left in the arena. Bravura, the boy from Four, died on the first day during the bloodbath. Four days later, they managed to chase Katniss up a tree. Their plan was to wait her out, but she has an ally from Eleven that pointed out a tracker jacker nest.

After Katniss cut the branch it was hanging on, it hit the ground and exploded. In a matter of seconds, they were swarmed. Tippet, the girl from Four, and Glimmer were dead before they could leave the camp they set up. Everyone else managed to escape, including Katniss. 

When you saw her take the quiver of arrows and bow off of Glimmer’s body, you were a little speechless. Glimmer was mediocre at it, and she’d been training with weapons for her whole life. What would Katniss be able to do with it?

Four more days later, leads you to yesterday, when Katniss and her ally from Eleven went to scope out the pile of supplies the Careers had managed to set up with the help from the boy from Three. They repurposed the explosives that are used for the podiums the tributes come out of on the first day.

With it being a minefield, you had to know a certain sequence of steps in order to get to the center. And instead of taking the time to learn those steps and benefiting off of it, Katniss used that bow and arrow to shoot a bag of apples. All it took was one hitting the wrong spot and the entire pile of supplies were gone.

The boy from Three got his neck snapped by Cato since he let it get blown up. Marvel and Clove, Cato’s tribute partner, managed to talk Cato down from starting a hunt right away. They wanted to wait for the Fallen to see if a third death would be confirmed.

When only the two from the day showed up in the sky, it was decided they’d begin searching right away. This forced Katniss to spend the night in the bush she ducked down in. 

They haven’t found Katniss or that girl from Eleven yet, but you’re sure they’re going to come across one of them.

“Eager to go home?” Finnick asks you, tilting his head slightly. “You know they’d never send you early.”

“I’m well aware.” You murmur back.

There’s an unspoken rule in the Capitol when it comes to Career mentors, and it’s that you never get to go home early. Both of your boyfriend's tributes have been gone for days now, and yet a train won’t bring him home until a victor is announced. It’s all about the press you bring to the event.

“What are your plans for tonight?” Finnick asks.

Your eyes flicker to the big screen, checking in on what Katniss is doing. She was up in a tree for the longest time, waiting for her ally to come to one of the few meeting spots they’d agreed upon. Now, she’s almost at the third location.

“Assuming my tribute doesn’t die, I would love to go out to dinner.”

Finnick has a small smile on his face, “You know I’ll take you anywhere.”

You drop your hand from your chin, leaning in close. He closes the gap, pressing a warm kiss to your lips. You scrunch your nose at him when you back away. “I wish you could take me home.”

As Finnick opens his mouth to speak, a four note whistle draws your attention. It’s the same tune the girl from Eleven taught Katniss, it’s supposed to be their signal. Katniss recognizes it immediately, following the trail of birds singing it with a smile on her face.

The moment she whistles it back, a scream pierces the air. The Betting Room goes cold and quiet, uncomfortable from a child’s cry. Katniss takes off running, heading right for her ally.

“Katniss! Katniss!”

“Rue!” Katniss calls back. “Rue! I’m coming!”

She breaks into the clearing, chest heaving from the sudden exertion. Rue is on the ground, entangled in a heavy rope net. She barely reaches her hand through one of the holes before the camera shifts, revealing Marvel.

Before he stops to think about how this will go for him, he shoves the spear through Rue’s body. In an instant, an arrow is lodged in the side of his neck, eyes bulging from his head. He drops to his knees, fingers crawling across his skin before he yanks the arrow out.

A heavy sigh leaves your lips as you sit back in the chair. Marvel begins to drown in his own blood, it won’t be long before there’s a cannon. Katniss waves her bow around, looking for any other members of the pack. It takes Rue telling her three times that there’s no one else before she hears her. 

Katniss falls to her knees, sawing at the rope with her knife to free Rue. She takes a moment to stare at the wound on her ally, and works out pretty quickly that this is not one she’ll be able to heal. She sucks in a shaky breath.

Rue reaches for her hand. “You blew up the food?”

“Every last bit.”

“You have to win.”

“I’m going to. Going to win for both of us now.”

A cannon blasts, signaling the death of Marvel.

“Maybe we’ll rain check on the dinner.” Finnick says.

“It’s what I get for being hopeful.” You force a smile, looking back at the screen.

The worst part about your tributes dying are the interviews that come after. It doesn’t matter who you are or what district you come from, you’re required to make a statement on the teenagers you’ve brought with you. Usually, it’s pretty easy to say a few good things about each of them. 

This year, it’ll be a little more difficult. 

Rue asks Katniss to sing, and since it’s her final request, Katniss agrees. It’s a short song, about halfway through Rue shuts her eyes. By the end of the song, her cannon has sounded. And when you look over at the Odds Board, her face has been greyed out. 

Katniss doesn’t clear the area right away. She flips Marvel onto his face to take his backpack and retrieves the arrow from his neck. She does the same with Rue, being careful when she adjusts her cut the pack off.

She gets to her feet, wandering away from the clearing just far enough to find a patch of wildflowers. She picks them, one by one, until she’s got an armful. Then she heads back to Rue, and begins to decorate her body with the delicate petals.

“She’s going to get her district in trouble.” You cross your arms over your chest. “If she keeps this up, the Gamemakers will kill her before she makes it to the final count.”

“Not with Peeta still being alive.” Finnick murmurs. “As long as he’s still kicking, they’re going to play up that star-crossed lovers act. They’d be stupid to not take a bite at it, especially since everyone in the Capitol is talking about it.”

“I guess that’s true.” You murmur, “But Katniss hasn’t seen Peeta since that night at the tree.”

Nor has she seemed to care about what happens to him in the arena. All it took was her finding out he had joined the Career pack, and her opinion about him changed. You could tell based on the way she looked down at him at the tree, and the fact she hadn’t bothered to warn him about what was coming.

The whole dynamic between them seems to flip flop. They were marketed together as a pair of friends, and then he goes to confess his feelings for her on the final night in the Capitol. Turn around the next day and he’s—what? Changed his mind about how he feels about her. 

Either way, what Katniss is doing right now with the flowers is unheard of. You’re surprised the Gamemakers have shown it for as long as they have, considering the ideas this could spark in some of the outlying districts. It spells out trouble. 

Katniss presses three fingers to her lips and then holds them up in the air for a moment. When she’s done, she walks away without turning back. As soon as she’s far away enough, a hovercraft appears above the clearing to collect the two bodies.

You let out a sigh, “Well, I’ve got to go.”

“What time does the first interview start?” Finnick asks.

You look at the time, it’ll be nightfall soon. “Two hours, but I’ve got to get ready for the cameras. And wake Gloss up.” You push to get to your feet, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning?”

“Of course.” Finnick agrees, lifting his chin in your direction.

You smile, leaning down to press one more kiss against his lips.

—

If you thought Haymitch was an idiot before, he’s really done it now. He’ll be lucky if Snow doesn’t kill him the second they land back in District Twelve after the shit his tributes pulled in the arena.

It all starts with Katniss pulling that move with Rue. By decorating her body, she sent some message to Eleven by accident. In less than an hour, she was gifted one of the specialty breads. By the end of the night, a full riot had broken out in District Eleven in protest of losing a tribute so young. 

You found out what was going on through Caesar during your interviews with Gloss about your tributes. At first, he’d mentioned it in passing before moving on to a bigger question. You weren’t sure what he was trying to say, so when you circled back, he clarified.

Katniss Everdeen had stirred up quite the trouble in the Capitol and districts alike. 

In that moment, you were incredibly grateful the victors from home didn’t have the foresight to select better tributes, because you couldn’t imagine the nightmare that could be set on you. The Gamemakers are not beyond setting up your tributes to cross paths with troublemakers. They’d done it these Games alone, with the wall of fire that drew the Career pack and Katniss across each other, which lead to the tree.

Well, instead of engineering some mutts to take down the Twelve tributes, they decided to take a different approach. Finnick was right when he said the Gamemakers would want to see where the star-crossed lovers would take them. They just did it in the worst way possible.

Claudius Templesmith announced a rule change, orders from Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane, himself. There could be two victors of the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games if they come from the same district.

That’s all it took for Katniss to care about what happened to Peeta again. A day later, she found him camouflaged into a rock by the river bank with a nasty wound on his thigh that Cato had given him days prior. Katniss took care of it and found them shelter for the night.

The next evening, another announcement was made about a feast at the Cornucopia—an event that’s used as a final push for one more bloodbath. With the remaining six tributes all needing something to keep them alive, it’s hard not to be drawn in to get it. Especially since Peeta needed medicine, or else he was going to die from an infection.

On the day of the feast, only one tribute died. The girl from District Five hid in the Cornucopia and ran out to grab her backpack as soon as it was available. Katniss tried to grab hers next, but got pinned by Clove, who would be killed by Thresh—the boy from Eleven—minutes later. He left Katniss alive, but only because she took care of Rue.

The next four days wouldn’t be anything fantastic. Thresh got killed during a storm, and the girl from Five died trying to eat poisonous berries that she watched Peeta pick. With three tributes left, Katniss and Peeta went to go find Cato to end the Games, and were stopped when mutts appeared. 

After a fight at the Cornucopia, Cato was thrown to the wolves, and left there overnight, leading you to this morning. Katniss finally decided it was time to put him out of his misery, after letting the Capitol eat up his final images. 

They wouldn’t collect Cato’s body, though. They waited for Katniss and Peeta to remove themselves from the top of the Cornucopia before another, final, announcement was made. The previous rule change about allowing two victors had been revoked. Only one victor would be allowed to go home.

And in classic troublemaking fashion, Katniss suggested she and Peeta eat the same berries that killed the other girl. Which forced the Gamemakers to allow both of them to go home together.

You’ve been pissed about it all afternoon. 

“Both of them should’ve died.” You tell Finnick, hoisting your bag onto your bed. 

You really need to stop buying clothes in the Capitol, but you can’t help saying yes to people when they ask. None of them would ever be able to afford these pieces, and you’ve got more money than you know what to do with. The least you can do is buy them a dress that’s been out of fashion for half a year.

“The Capitol needs a victor.” Finnick takes a seat at the corner of the bed.

“No, they don’t.” You shake your head. “Maybe in the beginning. The districts need a victor, it’s the only hope they have.”

“What’s the harm in having two?” 

“What’s the harm in having five?” You counter, turning to look at him. “Twelve? Seventeen? How about all twenty-four of them refuse to fight and threaten to kill themselves with berries?”

“This won’t make a difference in the grand scheme of things, (Y/n).” He says. “It’ll all be back to normal next year.”

“It’s all going to spiral out of control. And next year is a Quarter Quell, there is nothing normal about that.”

Finnick hums, “What do you think it’ll be?”

“A punishment.” You carefully fold the last dress to fit in the bag.

“Come on, (Y/n).” He’s losing his patience.

You take a breath, pausing for a moment to think. “It could be anything. I’m really hoping it’ll be the last victor I have to get before I’m done.”

Finnick stares at you, it feels like an eternity before his face twists, “Right.”

At the tone of his voice, you realize the mistake you made. “It’s not like that. We both know it’s going to happen sooner or later.”

“It doesn’t have to.” Finnick gets to his feet. “Not if things change.”

It’s your turn to stare at him. “How?”

He’s making his way to the door, “Those tributes from Twelve are on to something.”

Your lips part, he can’t be serious, can he? Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark have a better chance at getting themselves killed from their own stupidity than changing the Games forever. You’ve seen it before—they’ll stick their foot directly into their mouth and cause more problems than what they’re worth.

Panem will talk about them up until their Victory Tour, but once the announcement is made about the Quarter Quell, they’ll be old news. If the Seventy-fifth is anything like the Fiftieth, their outrage will be directed elsewhere. After that, it’ll be a matter of time before Snow kills both of the Twelve tributes under the table.

“I don’t think so.” You tell Finnick. “Are you leaving? I’ll be gone before the afternoon rolls around.”

“I think that’s for the best.” Finnick snaps, leaving you standing there, alone.

--