#vitus

IRIS APATOW as PROSERPINA TRINKET & EDVIN RYDING as VITUS

After reading Sunrise On The Reaping this spring I felt the need to take note of all of the capitol body mods we see throughout the series. The ones in SOTR really caught my attention because they seemed so jarring and out of left field compared to my, albeit many many years old, memory of the original trilogy and TBOSAS. For this review I'll pretty exclusively be discussing bodily modifications (piercings, surgery, tattoos etc.) rather than things like wigs, makeup, or dyed hair.

Going chronologically in universe:

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The only thing we see in this book even remotely resembling the later capitol fashions is Pluribus Bell wearing a long white powdered wig. No cosmetic body modifications of any kind are mentioned.

Sunrise On The Reaping

[About Drusilla] "It's hard to tell because she has a line of what look like fancy thumbtacks encircling her face, pulling her skin back and pinning it in place." (p. 20)

[About Vitus] "a guy with metal apples studding his cheeks" (p. 64)

"Magno Stift's sun-leathered skin has been tattooed with a snakeskin pattern" (p. 71)

"I hawk and spit directly at a man's face, which is bloated and twinkling with tiny embedded mirrors" (p. 80)

"To a lady with surgically implanted cat ears 'and is that purse for your flea powder?'" (p. 186)

"As if on cue, the snake hisses in a woman's jewel-studded face and Lou Lou growls" (p. 186)

"I point out a man in the second row who wears a glass cube of live bees on his head" (p.188)

"Effie's hands go to her face. 'I guess it's time for me to start trying myself'. 'Oh I think you've got a few years' 'All my friends have begun maintenance. It's just, I hate needles" (p. 198)

The Hunger Games

"Venia, a woman with aqua hair and gold tattoos above her eyebrows" (p.61)

"Octavia, a plump woman whose entire body has been dyed a shade of pale green" (p.62)

"Most of the stylists they interview on television are so dyed, stenciled, and surgically altered it's grotesque" (p. 63)

"I had expected someone flamboyant, someone older trying desperately to look young... Most of the stylists are familiar, constants in the ever-changing pool of tributes. Some have been around my whole life" (p. 64)

"What do they do all day, these people in the capitol, besides decorating their bodies and waiting around for a new shipment of tributes to roll in and die for their entertainment" (p. 65)

"Caesar Flickerman, the man who has hosted the interviews for more than forty years, bounces onto the stage. It's a little scary because his appearance has been virtually unchanged during all that time. Same face under a coating of pure white makeup" (p. 124)

"They do surgery in the capitol, to make people appear younger and thinner... here it is different. Wrinkles aren't desirable, a round belly isn't a sign of success" (p. 124-125)

"I immediately notice the padding over my breasts, adding curves hunger has stolen from my body... 'The gamemakers wanted to alter you surgically'" (p. 354)

Catching Fire

"one look at his tailored suit and surgically perfect features and I know he's from the capitol" (p. 16)

"President Snow smiles and I notice his lips for the first time... his are overly full, the skin stretched to tight. I have to wonder if his mouth has been altered to make him appealing. If so it was a waste of time and money" (p. 19)

[About Venia] " the gold tattoos that used to be confined above her brows have curled around under her eyes" (p.35)

[About Octavia] "her skin isn't exactly pea green now. It's more of a light evergreen. The shift in shade is no doubt an attempt to stay abreast of the capricious fashion trends of the capitol" (p.35)

"'It's a shame Cinna said no alterations on you' 'Yes, we could really make you something special' says Octavia. 'When she's older', says Venia almost grimly. 'Then he'll have to let us'" (p. 48)

"Do what? Blow my lips up like President Snow's? Tattoo my breasts? Dye my skin magenta and implant gems in it? Cut decorative patterns in my face? Give me curved talons? Or cats whiskers? I saw all these things and more on the people in the capitol" (p. 49)

[About Snow] "He embraces me, enfolding me in the smell of blood and roses, and plants a puffy kiss on my cheek" (p. 74)

"It's probably a good thing, because there are six gowns and each one requires its own headpiece, shoes, jewelry, hair, makeup, setting and lighting. Creamy lace and pink roses and ringlets. Ivory satin and gold tattoos and greenery" (p. 166)

"Then I'm at a party where everyone wears masks and someone... stalks me, but when he catches me and pulls off his mask, it's President Snow, and his puffy lips are drippy in bloody saliva" (p. 221)

[About Enobaria] "after she was a victor, she had her teeth cosmetically altered so each one ends in a sharp point like a fang and is inlaid with gold" (p. 224-225)

Mockingjay

"But once I saw Fulvia Cardew crumple up a sheet of paper with just a couple of words written on it and you would've thought she'd murdered someone from the looks she got. Her face turned tomato red, making the silver flowers inlaid on her plump cheeks even more noticeable. The very portrait of excess" (p. 18)

"'You're green. Are you sick?' 'It's a fashion thing, Posy. Like wearing lipstick' I say. 'It's meant to be pretty' whispers Octavia" (p. 63)

"a woman director named Cressida who has a shaved head tattooed with green vines" (p. 85)

"Messalla, a slim young man with several sets of earrings. On careful observation, I see his tongue has been pierced, too, and he wears a stud with a silver ball the size of a marble" (p. 85)

[About Snow] “I think he might have recently had more work done, because his lips are puffier than usual” (p. 293)

[About Tigris] "She's an extreme example of surgical enhancement gone wrong, for surely not even in the capitol could they find this attractive. The skin has been pulled back tightly and tattooed with black and gold stripes. The nose has been flattened until it barely exists. I've seen cat whiskers on people in the capitol before, but none so long. The result is a grotesque, semi-feline mask." (p. 318)

[About Tigris] "somewhere her tiger tail flicks with displeasure" (p. 320)

All in all a super interesting re-read of the series. Turns out there was a lot more in the original trilogy than I remembered. The fact that we see them on rebellious capitols as well is also interesting, rather than containing mods to characters who are quote unquote "bad guys". Also the fact that Snow is like, obsessed with lip fillers in book canon will never not be funny to me.