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31_days2012-07-21 08:41 pm
seta-suzume.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2012-07-21 08:41 pm
[July 21] [The Hunger Games] No One Said When to Stop Either
Title: No One Said When to Stop Either
Day/Theme: July 21, 2012 "No one told you when to run / You missed the starting gun"
Series: The Hunger Games
Character/Pairing: Mags, OCs
Rating: PG
The victors are a varied bunch, but they're all distinctly different from the coaches. The coaches (well, to the best of my knowledge), aren't killers. And the coaches are on their way out, really, as the pool of past victors increases.
When all the victors are near each other, without any escorts or game makers or politicians or television people around (which wasn't to say that they weren't somehow watching), they unwind a bit. The performance aspect of the role is cast off. Jack continues his rather lackadaisical plan of dragging me around the Capitol. The whole thing seems formless to me. He's making it up as he goes, I realize, but then flickers of his teenage self on live television come back to me and I remember that "spontaneous" is Jack's way of surviving. He's the type who makes things up as he goes.
"Are you going to introduce me to any of the other victors?" I ask, because so far I haven't officially met any of them. "Or is there some kind of problem with being friends with them?"
The thought gives me pause. "…Is there going to be a problem if you and I are friends?"
"Hey, if you want to be friends, you shouldn't worry about if it'll be a problem or not," Jack shrugs.
Yeah, it's too late. We're friends. I'm going to do my best not to worry about it. "Then I guess what I mean is- are you friends with any of the other victors?"
"Victor solidarity," Jack singsongs. He has more than ten years on me, so why do I have to be the mature one? "Mags, why don't you make that your new project?"
"My tributes are always going to have to be my project."
"Your side project," he presses on. "Because you are far better suited to kindly take care of people and make them like each other than I am."
I'm not sure I agree with him- at least not yet. Jack seems perfectly likable and easygoing to me. He's exaggerating, or he's just too lazy, or there's something I don't know yet. "If you say so."
There is a girl with pink and brown hair tied up in pigtails. She's from District 10. It occurs to me that before my games, I had never met anyone from any of the other districts. It's not like I'm unique, that's the way it is throughout Panem. That's the way the Capitol wants it. Less common ground, less chance of the districts joining hands and rising up in resistance.
"Hi Emmy," Jack greets her, "Have you met Mags yet?"
"You have great hair," Emmy Pollack says to me. Her victory came just the year before mine. She stares for a long time without blinking, her pink-lipsticked lips slightly parted. She reminds me a bit of a fish in these ways and I try not to dwell on it.
"Thank you," I reach out, offering to shake her hand, "Your hair is pretty amazing. It's nice to meet you."
Emmy doesn't take my hand. I don't think she even notices it. "Pink is still my favorite color," she admits, even though I wasn't trying to allude to it when I mentioned her hair, "Even if it's the color of some guts. …Do you dream in color? I only dream in shades of pink and red."
"I…I try not to think about my dreams too much."
Jack gives me this sideways look. "Now do you see what I'm working with?" he's indicating.
I can't imagine that all the other previous victors are off like this. I remember Emmy's staring from her post-victory interviews (it's that kind of stuff that scared Papa when he tried to imagine how I would return, I imagine), but not all of the other victors appeared off onscreen, which should be some indication of how well they can handle things. I mean, Jack is pretty together. I'm sane, aren't I?
…there are so many things I missed without ever realizing I was missing them. I decide that if I can, I will introduce myself to all the other victors today, no matter what looks Jack Umber is forced to give me.
Day/Theme: July 21, 2012 "No one told you when to run / You missed the starting gun"
Series: The Hunger Games
Character/Pairing: Mags, OCs
Rating: PG
The victors are a varied bunch, but they're all distinctly different from the coaches. The coaches (well, to the best of my knowledge), aren't killers. And the coaches are on their way out, really, as the pool of past victors increases.
When all the victors are near each other, without any escorts or game makers or politicians or television people around (which wasn't to say that they weren't somehow watching), they unwind a bit. The performance aspect of the role is cast off. Jack continues his rather lackadaisical plan of dragging me around the Capitol. The whole thing seems formless to me. He's making it up as he goes, I realize, but then flickers of his teenage self on live television come back to me and I remember that "spontaneous" is Jack's way of surviving. He's the type who makes things up as he goes.
"Are you going to introduce me to any of the other victors?" I ask, because so far I haven't officially met any of them. "Or is there some kind of problem with being friends with them?"
The thought gives me pause. "…Is there going to be a problem if you and I are friends?"
"Hey, if you want to be friends, you shouldn't worry about if it'll be a problem or not," Jack shrugs.
Yeah, it's too late. We're friends. I'm going to do my best not to worry about it. "Then I guess what I mean is- are you friends with any of the other victors?"
"Victor solidarity," Jack singsongs. He has more than ten years on me, so why do I have to be the mature one? "Mags, why don't you make that your new project?"
"My tributes are always going to have to be my project."
"Your side project," he presses on. "Because you are far better suited to kindly take care of people and make them like each other than I am."
I'm not sure I agree with him- at least not yet. Jack seems perfectly likable and easygoing to me. He's exaggerating, or he's just too lazy, or there's something I don't know yet. "If you say so."
There is a girl with pink and brown hair tied up in pigtails. She's from District 10. It occurs to me that before my games, I had never met anyone from any of the other districts. It's not like I'm unique, that's the way it is throughout Panem. That's the way the Capitol wants it. Less common ground, less chance of the districts joining hands and rising up in resistance.
"Hi Emmy," Jack greets her, "Have you met Mags yet?"
"You have great hair," Emmy Pollack says to me. Her victory came just the year before mine. She stares for a long time without blinking, her pink-lipsticked lips slightly parted. She reminds me a bit of a fish in these ways and I try not to dwell on it.
"Thank you," I reach out, offering to shake her hand, "Your hair is pretty amazing. It's nice to meet you."
Emmy doesn't take my hand. I don't think she even notices it. "Pink is still my favorite color," she admits, even though I wasn't trying to allude to it when I mentioned her hair, "Even if it's the color of some guts. …Do you dream in color? I only dream in shades of pink and red."
"I…I try not to think about my dreams too much."
Jack gives me this sideways look. "Now do you see what I'm working with?" he's indicating.
I can't imagine that all the other previous victors are off like this. I remember Emmy's staring from her post-victory interviews (it's that kind of stuff that scared Papa when he tried to imagine how I would return, I imagine), but not all of the other victors appeared off onscreen, which should be some indication of how well they can handle things. I mean, Jack is pretty together. I'm sane, aren't I?
…there are so many things I missed without ever realizing I was missing them. I decide that if I can, I will introduce myself to all the other victors today, no matter what looks Jack Umber is forced to give me.