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31_days2012-07-10 02:16 pm
seta-suzume.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2012-07-10 02:16 pm
[July 10] [The Hunger Games] Coach
Title: Coach
Day/Theme: July 10, 2012 "You begin to gather your things."
Series: The Hunger Games
Character/Pairing: Mags, OCs
Rating: PG
Someday in the future, there will be victors from every district. Some boy or girl who hails from each region is bound to be strong enough, clever enough, lucky enough to win sooner or later. The odds would back me up there.
But there haven't been winners from every district. Not yet. These are only the 12th Hunger Games.
When we have available victors from every district, they're going to be called upon to help coach the new tributes, the head game maker said on air. They'll be called "mentors." It will be official. District 4 has not had a winner yet. Perhaps it will be Beanpole. …Who's to say it couldn't even be me? -Not that I believe that will happen. I won't be holding my breath.
It's just that stranger things have been known to occur. Each time the game is played, I think it gets a bit trickier. I don't remember much of the actual events of the first Hunger Games as I actually saw them- I was only five years old at the time- but the echo of memory I have left of them is focused entirely on the brutality. There wasn't all that much strategy involved. Most of the killing was straightforward. It took a few years of watching as the rules were refined and the idea of the games as not just a punishment for the Districts, but entertainment for the Capitol sunk in for more complex tactics to emerge.
The victor of the first Hunger Games won for mainly two reasons: he was strong enough to kill and he was willing to do it. You still see it on TV sometimes when they play highlights from the last eleven games- Jack Umber, of District One, bruised and bloody, grinning into the camera, three dark spaces visible in his smile. He lost four teeth in his struggles with some of the bigger, wilder boys and girls- the ones you could tell were survivors. It was the impossible odds that killed them. Even equally desperate, only one could win.
The Capitol replaced Jack Umber's missing teeth. If he had wanted, I heard it said, the new teeth could have been made of gold or silver or inlaid with gems. If he had been Capitol, he probably would have. Some people there decorate their teeth that way in the name of some strange Capitol idea of fashion. Previously I knew this only from watching television. Now I know because of our coach.
"This is the man currently assigned to mentor the tributes from District 4," Apple explains cheerfully, "Aulus Strong."
"The name is kind of inspiring," Beanpole admits, which is his way of letting off steam. Humor can be a defense mechanism of sorts.
"You may not want to get too attached to that idea," Aulus gives us a neat little frown. His eyelids, I notice, are painted purple. I wonder if all men in the Capitol wear such bright makeup. I only know a few men in District 4 who do so and none of them precede in such a brilliant manner- they're accenting something, not making themselves into peacocks. As a matter of fact, I don't know any women from District 4 who aim for this kind of look either. But his makeup doesn't make an difference. Whether he's any help or not, Aulus Strong is the man we've got. At least his arms and his chest, pressing against his tight lilac shirt, show some muscle definition. Our coach may not know much about killing, but at least he regularly gets off his couch.
"This is Jean Paul Mirande and Margaret Gaudet," Apple introduces us.
"He's Beanpole and I'm Mags," I add with a shrug.
The nicknames appear to cheer Aulus up again. "Who gave you those names?" he asks and I allow myself to believe that his interest is genius.
"Just people," Beanpole relaxes a bit, trying to be as casual as I am, "Around."
"My dad," I offer.
"I want a nickname," Aulus says.
"We'll think about it," I compromise.
"Maybe if you can help one of us win," Beanpole adds.
"District 4, you're going to run me ragged!"
Day/Theme: July 10, 2012 "You begin to gather your things."
Series: The Hunger Games
Character/Pairing: Mags, OCs
Rating: PG
Someday in the future, there will be victors from every district. Some boy or girl who hails from each region is bound to be strong enough, clever enough, lucky enough to win sooner or later. The odds would back me up there.
But there haven't been winners from every district. Not yet. These are only the 12th Hunger Games.
When we have available victors from every district, they're going to be called upon to help coach the new tributes, the head game maker said on air. They'll be called "mentors." It will be official. District 4 has not had a winner yet. Perhaps it will be Beanpole. …Who's to say it couldn't even be me? -Not that I believe that will happen. I won't be holding my breath.
It's just that stranger things have been known to occur. Each time the game is played, I think it gets a bit trickier. I don't remember much of the actual events of the first Hunger Games as I actually saw them- I was only five years old at the time- but the echo of memory I have left of them is focused entirely on the brutality. There wasn't all that much strategy involved. Most of the killing was straightforward. It took a few years of watching as the rules were refined and the idea of the games as not just a punishment for the Districts, but entertainment for the Capitol sunk in for more complex tactics to emerge.
The victor of the first Hunger Games won for mainly two reasons: he was strong enough to kill and he was willing to do it. You still see it on TV sometimes when they play highlights from the last eleven games- Jack Umber, of District One, bruised and bloody, grinning into the camera, three dark spaces visible in his smile. He lost four teeth in his struggles with some of the bigger, wilder boys and girls- the ones you could tell were survivors. It was the impossible odds that killed them. Even equally desperate, only one could win.
The Capitol replaced Jack Umber's missing teeth. If he had wanted, I heard it said, the new teeth could have been made of gold or silver or inlaid with gems. If he had been Capitol, he probably would have. Some people there decorate their teeth that way in the name of some strange Capitol idea of fashion. Previously I knew this only from watching television. Now I know because of our coach.
"This is the man currently assigned to mentor the tributes from District 4," Apple explains cheerfully, "Aulus Strong."
"The name is kind of inspiring," Beanpole admits, which is his way of letting off steam. Humor can be a defense mechanism of sorts.
"You may not want to get too attached to that idea," Aulus gives us a neat little frown. His eyelids, I notice, are painted purple. I wonder if all men in the Capitol wear such bright makeup. I only know a few men in District 4 who do so and none of them precede in such a brilliant manner- they're accenting something, not making themselves into peacocks. As a matter of fact, I don't know any women from District 4 who aim for this kind of look either. But his makeup doesn't make an difference. Whether he's any help or not, Aulus Strong is the man we've got. At least his arms and his chest, pressing against his tight lilac shirt, show some muscle definition. Our coach may not know much about killing, but at least he regularly gets off his couch.
"This is Jean Paul Mirande and Margaret Gaudet," Apple introduces us.
"He's Beanpole and I'm Mags," I add with a shrug.
The nicknames appear to cheer Aulus up again. "Who gave you those names?" he asks and I allow myself to believe that his interest is genius.
"Just people," Beanpole relaxes a bit, trying to be as casual as I am, "Around."
"My dad," I offer.
"I want a nickname," Aulus says.
"We'll think about it," I compromise.
"Maybe if you can help one of us win," Beanpole adds.
"District 4, you're going to run me ragged!"