#task one

Jane’s Mayfair townhouse:

1st: bedroom.

2nd and 3rd: the blue rooms, parlor and study.

4th and 5th: Interior and exterior

6th and 7th: Library and stairwell.

8th: Garden.

TASK 1 - ABOUT ME. 

Marcus Turner (Jesse Williams) was born into a family who made a name for themselves as one of the biggest oil conglomerates in the world. With parents who rarely had time to actually parent him, Marcus spent his summers growing up in the small town of Mystic with his uncle, until he finally morphed into the rich, party, boy that everyone expected him to become. Recently, when his wife framed him for cheating so that she could take over his parent’s company instead of him, Marcus retreated to Mystic to take over his uncle’s gym after he disappeared.. 

Poppy was wearing a yellow patterned dress, except the yellow was so old and faded now that it seemed a dingy green. She hummed and scrounged around her tiny room for something to make the dress pop. It went without saying that she didn’t especially like the Reaping, but she did so enjoy the chance to dress up. There was precious little reason for anyone in the Districts to.

Her older sister, Tansee, pounded on the door with a heavy fist, telling her to hurry up. Had she dawdled so long already? Poppy barely had time to find her lucky namesake flower—carefully dried and preserved—and pin it, lopsided, on the front of her dress. The flower looked out of place in industrialized Five. She only vaguely remembered where it might have come from. Back when Daddy had the ability to attend such functions.

As the two of them hastening through uneven streets, Tansee cut an intimidating figure. A true Career. Poppy had never had much to worry about Reaping. There were always plenty of those that were eager for glory victory promised, not realizing how many else had to lose.

What passing bells for these who die as cattle? A grim line for a grim day.

Still, the abundance of volunteers meant that she had been kept from a bovine fate of her own. And so far, she’d been able to beg her sister out of volunteering.

The Quarter Quell was different.

But even then, the chance of her or her sister being Reaped were so low. Surely, the odds must be… what? Poppy had never been very good at math.

______________________________________________________________

Her face was splotchy from crying. Tears had dried on her cheeks long ago, and their salty residue was beginning to itch. Poppy whimpered miserably, now that no one was around to hear it. After they’d read her name, her legs simply refused to move. She had been hauled, bodily, up onto the stage by Peacekeepers. There, while the other names were called, she began to cry. Fat, wet tears that were impossible to hide.

Weak, she thought. The voice sounded like Tansee. You’ve always been.

The next few days were similarly a blur. She was asked a lot of questions, which she answered honestly. She tried to be light and bubbly for the cameras. On the very slim chance she was elected, no one would sponsor someone who was morose and cried at the Reaping.

The Justice Building they were kept in was square, utilitarian, even in the Capitol. Poppy traced a finger along the frame of her bed. Hard lines, straight edges. She would find her justice here. And then she could go home.

She wished she could remember who else had been Reaped. They were all being held separately. Whenever Poppy tried to watch their interviews, her eyes would slide over the screen and she would start picking at her skin until the Peacekeepers told her to stop. Merrit Greenside was here, she knew. One of Tansee’s closest friends and training partners. Answering questions seemed no problem for him. He was as delightful as ever.

Poppy’s only moment of substance was the final day: when she chose to read a poem. Not one from her well-worn, dog-eared book of them back home. One that she had written herself. A poem about hope.

And then it was over. Poppy was whisked back to District Five, where, above the Reaping square, power lines hung so thick in the sky that the announcer barely had enough light to read her slips. Poppy stood stiffly and fidgeted under the eye of the nation, trying for her part to catch the eye of her mother and wishing more than anything that she could give her a hug.

Poppy still wanted to see more of the world, but to be in the Capitol was to die. Why was it that those were her only two options?

A hard elbow jabbed into Poppy’s side, rudely startling her from her reverie. It was Alyss, a sinewy Career and one of her fellow ten selected from Five. “Get the hell up there,” she hissed. Her eyes promised danger if Poppy didn’t comply.

She was very scary, and Poppy was quick to oblige. It was only then that the announcer’s voice finally, finally pierced her ears.

‘Poppy Fitch.’

She had been elected.

Poppy’s throat went dry and her legs began wobbling like a newborn calf’s. She would walk this time to her fate. Even her demise. Stepping out into the aisle, Poppy promptly rolled her ankle and fell to her hands and knees.

You don’t get a second chance to be weak. Your life is at stake, some part of her realized, and Poppy surprised herself how quickly and composedly she stood again.

Why did they choose me? I’m not strong. I’ve never won anything. Was it my poem?

Faces were turning to stare at her as she walked down the aisle without further incident. Her friends, neighbors, people she had known all her life and strangers, but all lit up with the strangest thing: interest. In her.

BASIC INFORMATION

FULL NAME : Eleonora Maria von Schleswig-Holstein

MEANING : 

Eleonora : Form of Eleanor - means God is my light

Maria : means Rebellion

Schleswig - Holstein ; northermost of 16 states 

MONIKERS / NICKNAMES : Ella (by closer relatives and friends), Nell (by her twin sister)

TITLE : 

Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Princess of Germany

GENDER & PRONOUNS : Female - She/her

Lisa Ramirez - It was just coincidence, but somehow Stan found himself partly working for the Mayor’s office through everyone’s favourite Community officer. He’d come in intending to check if there were any general community matters to help with (he figured it would put on a good image for a newcomer coming in a time of havoc), and there Lisa was, catching him half arguing with the disinterested receptionist. Now he helps her write public and press statements that need to be made, which considering the new interest in Devil’s knot, is surprisingly a worthwhile job. Plus he gets paid (Lisa insisted), which for a perpetual pauper like himself, is quite the boon. He tries his best to get to know Ramirez, she is in some ways a direct line to the mayor, but she’s a tough nut to crack on the face of it. Still, he likes listening to her stories and, she’s a good excuse to loiter around the Mayor’s office from time to time.

Bobby Davies - Stan isn’t entirely sure what drew him to Bobby. Perhaps it was because they were some of the only men at the local book club, or maybe it was a look in the man’s eyes that resonated with Stan. Ultimately, they’re both men failing to live up to the dreams they had to conjure to themselves, though for different reasons. Bobby has the ability while Stan can’t even begin to get on the ladder to so handly fall down it as Davies did. Either way, it’s been good to have someone in his life to just sit and talk to about books. Their bond is slow forming, but the teacher finds himself at least at ease and able to drop some barriers around the man. Though, at the same time, his more sinister side notes Bobby’s vulnerabilities and know they may work as a future advantage, especially when it comes to understanding Devil’s Knot. Stan has taken to forming a small pen pal scheme with Bobby, often sending him letters of poems and writing snips when the muse hits him, just happy to have someone read what he does.

Kevin Shah - Stan sees himself in Kevin. Or at least, he tells himself as such. That hunger for more, the inability to be satisfied with what life has given you. It was due to the hardworking pupil that the teacher petitioned and organised the school paper and he often finds himself doing his best to encourage the young man’s endeavours in and out of the classroom.  As the editor of the paper that Stan supervises they often end up spending time together, and when he can, the English lit teacher will give advice on stories to pursue. That said, he often finds himself struggling to really understand if the teen is being honest with him or playing the part of the dutiful student. Either way, for Stan, Kevin is one of the few people in Devil’s Knot that he truly wishes the best for.

♥  Task One ♥ Tropes  ♥

aloof dark haired girl

broken bird

guilt complex

jerk with a heart of gold

deadpan snarker

heroes love dogs

action survivor