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31_days2012-07-31 07:56 pm
seta-suzume.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2012-07-31 07:56 pm
[July 31] [The Hunger Games] As a Victor, as a Mentor
Title: As a Victor, as a Mentor
Day/Theme: July 31, 2012 "One must seize the reality of one's fate, and that's that."
Series: The Hunger Games
Character/Pairing: Mags, OCs
Rating: PG
Unrelated to today's story: Thank you very much to everyone who wrote along with me this month! There are still a lot of posts I haven't sat down to read, but I plan on getting to soon. :D
"District 4's first- and so far, only- victor, Mags Gaudet!" District 4 escort Apple Smitt says my name like a cheer.
And that's my cue. I stand up and wave. People who know me wave back. There's polite clapping.
"And perhaps soon enough there will be a new victor joining her!"
Apple, I think, can convince herself to believe in anything. I'm already reasonably sure that we will not be repeat winners. No district has had back to back wins yet and I see no reason why 4 would be the first. Unlike Apple, I can't be optimistic so easily. Maybe I have to tell myself right off the bat that we can't win this year to soften the inevitable blow. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not going to do whatever I can to support our tributes. It isn't going to stop me from getting all torn up inside.
The obligatory film, the obligatory speeches. I think I have earned the right to ignore them, if nothing else. I tune out the words and allow my eyes to scan the crowd. Papa looks solemn and stiff, but I know the hint of relief of his posture- he has one child and she will not die in the arena (all he had to do was watch her kill).
It's like every other Reaping Day. They may blur together, but to a greater or lesser degree, I remember them all. Pretty much everyone is either openly or privately scared. Even old people without any families are on edge. I can't blame them.
I'm not sure if things are better or worse now that people generally go along with the Games and all their rigamarole. I was six years old when District 1's Jack Umber became the most famous district citizen in all of Panem. Riots broke out on every stop of his Victory Tour, including the Capitol-loving district he came from. I've heard that he received a lot of death threats. I don't think it was fair how much people in the districts hated him. Someone had to win. And it had to be someone who killed. The gamemakers beleaguered the last few pacifist tributes without mercy, even if the Capitol's commentators would never say so. "You play the game our way, or you die." They sent their message.
I don't know if people in the Capitol truly felt differently about Jack than the people in the districts, but the Capitol's television programs certainly loved him. …and still do, I would guess. I don't think it's only being the first that makes him the most visible victor. Jeff Zimmer always interviews him at the end of each games, asking his opinion about the new victor. "That's a tough girl," is what he said about me. I think that's what's likable about him as a television personality. He's very straightforward.
…The fact that I am spending so much time mulling over Jack Umber is a sign that I am just as frightened as all the other people present (well, the ones who can't be reaped). They make the ceremony drag on on purpose, I think. There's something terrifying to be found in waiting.
Jack Umber said I was "a tough girl," but I wonder how he meant it. I'm not very tough, but you don't have to be the toughest to win. Just tough enough.
"Shaya Current!" Apple pulls from the girls.
Shaya's mother begins screaming hysterically. I know Shaya, marginally (how strange and horrifying it would be if I were put in the position of having to mentor someone I knew well). She was a year ahead of me in school. I remember her as a good swimmer, a volunteer lifeguard who watched over younger children as they played.
I try to picture Shaya as the victor of the 13th Hunger Games. In the movie in my mind, I am hugging her onstage in front of a Capitol audience. I am crying, but Shaya is able to hold herself together. "What a trooper," Jack Umber is grinning at Jeff Zimmer, "And such fine form in the water."
My delusional daydream shatters as Apple directs Shaya to speak into the microphone.
Day/Theme: July 31, 2012 "One must seize the reality of one's fate, and that's that."
Series: The Hunger Games
Character/Pairing: Mags, OCs
Rating: PG
Unrelated to today's story: Thank you very much to everyone who wrote along with me this month! There are still a lot of posts I haven't sat down to read, but I plan on getting to soon. :D
"District 4's first- and so far, only- victor, Mags Gaudet!" District 4 escort Apple Smitt says my name like a cheer.
And that's my cue. I stand up and wave. People who know me wave back. There's polite clapping.
"And perhaps soon enough there will be a new victor joining her!"
Apple, I think, can convince herself to believe in anything. I'm already reasonably sure that we will not be repeat winners. No district has had back to back wins yet and I see no reason why 4 would be the first. Unlike Apple, I can't be optimistic so easily. Maybe I have to tell myself right off the bat that we can't win this year to soften the inevitable blow. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not going to do whatever I can to support our tributes. It isn't going to stop me from getting all torn up inside.
The obligatory film, the obligatory speeches. I think I have earned the right to ignore them, if nothing else. I tune out the words and allow my eyes to scan the crowd. Papa looks solemn and stiff, but I know the hint of relief of his posture- he has one child and she will not die in the arena (all he had to do was watch her kill).
It's like every other Reaping Day. They may blur together, but to a greater or lesser degree, I remember them all. Pretty much everyone is either openly or privately scared. Even old people without any families are on edge. I can't blame them.
I'm not sure if things are better or worse now that people generally go along with the Games and all their rigamarole. I was six years old when District 1's Jack Umber became the most famous district citizen in all of Panem. Riots broke out on every stop of his Victory Tour, including the Capitol-loving district he came from. I've heard that he received a lot of death threats. I don't think it was fair how much people in the districts hated him. Someone had to win. And it had to be someone who killed. The gamemakers beleaguered the last few pacifist tributes without mercy, even if the Capitol's commentators would never say so. "You play the game our way, or you die." They sent their message.
I don't know if people in the Capitol truly felt differently about Jack than the people in the districts, but the Capitol's television programs certainly loved him. …and still do, I would guess. I don't think it's only being the first that makes him the most visible victor. Jeff Zimmer always interviews him at the end of each games, asking his opinion about the new victor. "That's a tough girl," is what he said about me. I think that's what's likable about him as a television personality. He's very straightforward.
…The fact that I am spending so much time mulling over Jack Umber is a sign that I am just as frightened as all the other people present (well, the ones who can't be reaped). They make the ceremony drag on on purpose, I think. There's something terrifying to be found in waiting.
Jack Umber said I was "a tough girl," but I wonder how he meant it. I'm not very tough, but you don't have to be the toughest to win. Just tough enough.
"Shaya Current!" Apple pulls from the girls.
Shaya's mother begins screaming hysterically. I know Shaya, marginally (how strange and horrifying it would be if I were put in the position of having to mentor someone I knew well). She was a year ahead of me in school. I remember her as a good swimmer, a volunteer lifeguard who watched over younger children as they played.
I try to picture Shaya as the victor of the 13th Hunger Games. In the movie in my mind, I am hugging her onstage in front of a Capitol audience. I am crying, but Shaya is able to hold herself together. "What a trooper," Jack Umber is grinning at Jeff Zimmer, "And such fine form in the water."
My delusional daydream shatters as Apple directs Shaya to speak into the microphone.