#‘ the embodiment of the revolution. ⁀ ➴ THE MOCKINGJAY.

[mckngsong]

@talonair said ❛❛ go look another way. ❜❜

 ‍  ‍ frustration tastes like ash on the back of her tongue, a huff of smoke through her nostrils, flame sparking on the flint ﹠ steel of her eyes. katniss was already in a foul mood when she awoke and it has only worsened throughout the day, with the lingering ache in her lungs ﹠ accompanying stiffness of her muscles, unused to the work she is putting them through, the way her fingers tremble at the end of the day from wielding a rifle over a bow. riddles are something she does not have the patience to piece together.

 ‍  ‍ her gaze cuts to the other victor like a blade, the only time it has risen from the floor since she left dinner in the cafeteria, hoping to get some early shut - eye. she's never known much about medea ( she won her games way before katniss truly understood them ), and her presence here has certainly not opened the door for any trauma bonding. her frown is deeply - woven upon her visage, brows drawn low. “ what? ”

[mckngsong]

 ‍  ‍ yeah, katniss thinks dryly, i'm just like that. i tend to give a lot of people signals without even realizing it. she knows she's frowning now, bordering on something shamefully akin to a pout as she forces her own eyes to level directly with minerva's rather than drifting downward again -- she is awfully distracting all of the sudden, and she feels strangely put off balance by it. she could pull away, wipe her mouth clean of whatever intoxication minerva has planted there and return to her compartment, pretend this had never happened for her own well - being. she should. this is a girl who has shown her nothing but spite ﹠ animosity since they met, and it is nothing she can blame her for; not with what she bears of brutus' fate . . .

 ‍  ‍ still, inexplicably, she doesn't extract herself. there is a soothing warmth that envelopes her, something nerve - ridden and excited all at once causing her heart to flutter with hummingbird's wings, the tips of her fingers buzzing against smooth skin with something she cannot put a name to -- something she has scarcely felt before. she wets her lips and somehow manages to say without tripping over herself, “ i'm not as dense as you think, you know. ” because in most things, katniss is uncannily perceptive ― this is just one thing she had never thought to expect. her gaze narrows, just enough to let the other know how ridiculous that sounds. it's not something she's ever had the urge to do, at least . . . before now. but she is forced to admit, this feels nice. it is something so -- harmless, normal, if she had been anything other than a tribute ﹠ victor ﹠ mockingjay. it's almost as if she could pretend. caution to the wind ( the deed is already done, after all ), katniss presses forward and initiates another kiss herself, this one wholly intentional and steady, fingers trailing to the ridge of minerva's jaw.

NOW  SHE  FEELS  KIND  OF  BAD  FOR  LAUGHING,  her  mischievous  little  grin  turning  into  something  different,  a  softer  and  more  genuine  smile.  plush  lips  connect  to  the  other's  for  a  moment,  and  minnie  ignores  how  she  has  to  go  up  on  her  tip  toes  to  make  it  happen.  still  she  rolls  her  eyes,  ❛  no  signals?  you're  just  like  that?  now  i'm  worried  i  took  it  all  wrong.  ❜

the  singsong  is  sweet,  though  the  little  way  her  eyebrows  knit  together  is  not,  ❛  why  would  i  be  playing  a  game?  ❜  because  she's  always  playing  a  game,  in  some  way  or  another.  and  maybe  minnie  feels  half-queasy  because  this had been  a  game,  for  a  while,  but  now  her  wires  feel  crossed  and  it's  kind  of  a  lot,  ❛  you  can  hate  someone  and  still  kiss  them.  normal  people  do  that.  ❜  no,  minerva,  they  do  not.

[spaceprincessem]

seven sentence sunday

oh hi everyone it's me. haven't really been writing much recently just small self-indulgent things, but slowly working on the buddie mockingjay au again so that is what i have for you today. the goal is to get it done before s8 so fingers crossed. thank you for all the tags this week i really appreciate it! thanks today to @spotsandsocks @devirnis @sibylsleaves @eddiebabygirldiaz for today (also maybe someday ill finish the presumed missing fic but today is not that day)

Now he needs to become their leader, the face, the embodiment of the revolution — the Mockingjay. Sometimes he wonders if they forget that he’s only seventeen years old. “We need the Districts to know that you are alive and well,” Abby adds when Sue finishes her pitch, “to unite them against our common enemy.” Eddie lets it sit for a moment, his fingers twitching to reach for the pearl burning a hole in his pocket. “No.” He finally says. Neither look surprised by his answer, in fact Sue looks downright determined, like she’s finally found a challenge worthy of her game making abilities.  “Eddie,” she says in a voice that’s supposed to be calm and soothing, but it grates at his nerves, “the Districts are only going to rally behind someone that started this revolution.” “Then you should have saved Buck!” Eddie yells, hand slamming down onto the table.

it's probably late to tag but @shortsighted-owl @colonoscopys @monsterrae1 @loserdiaz @hoodie-buck @weewootruck

[everlarksxstars]

#KATNISSEVERDEEN x KING

"What they want is for me to truly take on the role they designed for me. The symbol of the revolution. The Mockingjay. It isn’t enough, what I’ve done in the past, defying the Capitol in the Games, providing a rallying point. I must now become the actual leader, the face, the voice, the embodiment of the revolution." - Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins

[ears-awake-eyes-opened]

Cracked

(Hayffie ❤️. After rereading the first half of Mockingjay, I recognize book-Haymitch in 13 as the saddest, most tragic muffin in this or any universe, and he needs so much more of Effie there than the three District 13 fics I wrote in the summer. So here’s another one for my sweethearts.)

“People of Panem, we fight, we dare, we end this hunger for justice!” Plutarch had been the one to compose the line on the card in Effie’s hands. Less than a year before, she’d held other cards, on which she’d inserted Capitol propaganda into the children’s Victory Tour speeches. That kind of writing was within her skill set. Creating propaganda for a rebellion — correction, a revolution — was not.

That said, Effie was confident in her ability to coach anyone entrusted with presenting content to a public audience. ...Well, almost anyone. Historically, Katniss had been hopelessly uncoachable. Even still, even out of her element, Effie was determined do her best to guide her girl into embodying Cinna’s vision of the Mockingjay.

Effie stood in the studio, rehearsing the line in her mind as she experimented with different body positions and different speeds of the circular fans which were brought in to simulate wind.

“Let’s have her start down on one knee then stand up and wave the flag, symbolically pledging to the people of Panem and rising with them into battle.” Plutarch announced from the sound booth. “By the way, Haymitch has been discharged from the detox unit. He’s scheduled to be here later when we shoot the propo.”

Effie shifted into uncharacteristic silence. She hadn’t seen Haymitch since before she was brusquely ushered onto a hovercraft and taken to 13. That was weeks ago. Against her will now, her heart beat into her throat. For an instant, she brushed her lips with her fingertips, remembering the night before the Quell.

“This is good news,” Plutarch said, “He’ll be able to anticipate how far Katniss can be pushed without breaking.”

“Good news...” Effie echoed the words but they didn’t register because she was still caught up in the ones he��d said just before.

She fiddled with the edge of the cloth covering her hair, with the frame of her sunglasses, with the neckline of her shirt, with the bracelet on her wrist. Her hands refused to stop moving.

Plutarch noticed her restlessness and let it go on without mention. “It’s probably best if one of us brings him up to speed beforehand.”

“I’ll do it.” As soon as she said it, Effie chastised herself for her eagerness. “The prep team is working to build Katniss up now from Beauty Base Zero. With that tragic scar on her arm and the lack of proper resources in this cavern, she will not be camera ready for some time.”

“Fine. He’s been issued Compartment 307, vacated by the Everdeens. According to his schedule, he’s there now ‘acclimating.’”

“Well, that is convenient.” Effie relentlessly folded and unfolded and refolded the cue card in her hand. She steadied her voice. “...I suppose I shall go do that now.”

“I think that would be best,” Plutarch agreed, “Before you’ve folded Katniss’s lines into an origami crane or perhaps... a valentine?”

Effie glared in the direction of the sound booth, irritated with Plutarch for perceiving more than a *decent* person should. His chuckle brought her to her senses. She slipped the cue card into her pocket and made her way to Compartment 307 with deliberate slowness.

She took the stairs partway, sliding her fingers along the cold metal rails as she walked. Their yellow paint was one of the few bright colors in this cement and steel dungeon. She’d developed an appreciation for the handrails for no other reason than because they were something besides dingy gray or lackluster white.

She paused outside his door. Awash with self-doubt, she checked her intentions. Her eagerness to see Haymitch had nothing to do with the propo, of course, and everything to do with curiosity and concern about his mile-deep drop into forced sobriety. She knocked with the feeling of wild bird in her chest.

“He isn’t home!” Haymitch hollered in a hoarse voice, “The purple crap on his arm says he’s ACCLIMATING.”

“Haymitch... it’s me.”

Effie. Her voice was without its usual trill, like a canary in a coal mine singing softly at the edge of stopping. The *air* must be okay enough, because here she was at his door.

He slid it open and took in the sight of her dressed all in gray with a turban on her head and a pair of sunglasses covering her eyes. Not a speck of sunlight would reach this place, except the glimmer that squeezed through the cracks in him just then and lit him up. For the first time in weeks, months, years maybe... he laughed. The laughter was so genuine that it moved through his body like a stranger.

She furrowed her brow and pursed her lips in annoyance. “I think I liked you better before you were sober!” She huffed.

“It’s good to see you too, sweetheart. Do you want to come in? This sure as hell ain’t the penthouse.”

She slid the dark glasses down the bridge of her nose and tucked them into her pocket with the cue card. That was when she really saw him. The fine details of his face tugged the flapping bird from her heart into her gut. She sucked in a breath and held it.

Weeks before, his body had been strong, prepared for battle. The muscles he’d built up during the months in between the Victory Tour and the Quell had wasted away during his stint in detox. She stepped into the room and caressed his yellowed cheek. Then she breathed again. “What have they done to you?”

He closed the door behind her. “If I said torture would you believe me?”

She heard teasing in his voice and a sharp edge of truth. “Yes,” she answered without hesitation. She brushed her fingers over his jaw and down his neck. It was the path tears might take if she ever saw him cry. She smoothed the collar of the shirt that 13 had issued him.

He refused to call it HIS shirt even while it was on his body. For a moment Effie made him forget that the collar choked him and that the walls were closing in. Her touch felt so good that he joked a bit in order to hold onto reality. “I got the standard District 13 makeover for a drunk. I had my own prep team and everything. That explains the unparalleled beauty you see before you.”

Then her arms were around him, and the sensations of her were filling him up. She smelled different. No coffee or cinnamon gum. No vanilla perfume or orange shampoo. ...Just Effie, so slight with no 5-inch heels, no layers of chiffon, almost no makeup, no corset...

He held her loosely with his hands on the small of her back. He said nothing else and asked her no questions. He slowly lifted the tail of her shirt, learning again the feeling of her skin as he slid his palms up to the strap of the bra she wore. It was probably no more hers than their government-issued everything else.

He wanted it off. He wanted to get rid of everything unrecognizable.

As if reading his mind, she pulled off the knitted hat he was wearing, and she ran her fingers up the nape of his neck into his hair. Her nails were short, and he felt the tips of her fingers naked along his scalp, sending warm shivers to each appendage of his body.

“What are you doing to me?” His voice was ragged as if cut by a serrated knife.

“Plutarch suggested I bring you up to speed.”

“Plutarch authorized this, did he?”

“I had to see for myself.”

“See what?”

Effie had closed her eyes as she held him, but she opened them again and pulled back far enough to see the dark circles below his. So much gray. “I needed to see what your *prep team* did to you.” She masked her sympathy, knowing he would detest it. She plucked a kiss at the corner of his chapped lips.

It was the kind of kiss he’d seen her give a thousand times in the Capitol. The kind that meant nothing. Only it didn’t feel like nothing. Her mouth was naked too, warm and wet like a bottle of something that could slip inside him and burn on the way down.

She brushed her fingertips across his forehead, sweeping the hair away from his eyes. Her breath lingered at the corner of his mouth. “I just... I need—“

“Oh, hell—“ He caught her lips and drank her in. The feeling of her spead through him like wildfire. When they’d kissed weeks ago in comfort, it hadn’t been like this. Yet here this was.

“Ohh...” Surprised by the suddenness of arousal, she was drinking him in too. “Oh, my God.”

He perceived *need* as a dangerous thing. If he didn’t need anyone, then he hurt less when he lost them — and he always lost them. He felt it then with Effie, that dangerous thing creeping up on him. He heard it too in the sound that came from the back of her throat. A whimper, almost pleading.

He yanked his hands out from under her shirt and stepped backward, catching his breath. “I shouldn’t be bringing you into this.”

“Why ever not? And what do you mean by THIS?” She knew what this was for her, and she wanted his answer.

“I don’t know. ...I just know you need to leave.”

“But the propo...”

“I’ll wing it.”

She held her ground, searching his face, trying to understand.

He focused on the concrete between their feet. He didn’t dare look at her eyes. In his mind, he saw them filling with tears. He was barely holding himself together, and if he saw her like that, then he’d be gone... and so would their clothes.

“Get out of here, Effie.” He refrained from screaming, refusing to make this degenerate into something resembling a nightmare. “...Just go.”

In all the years of moments that came before this one, he’d never looked so afraid. He was right in front of her, but he’d retreated to a place within himself that she wasn’t sure how to reach.

She pulled the repeatedly folded cue card from her pocket, slapped it against his chest, and let go. He caught it before it fell to the floor. “Consider yourself *brought up to speed!*”

She slid the door open. “And by the way, you did not BRING me into this. Push me away all you want, but I’m IN this. I’ve been in this longer than you probably realize. And that will NOT be changing!”

He looked up, and her eyes were dry, like sapphires set in bone.

“If you want me out of this, honey, you’re going to have to kill me yourself, so consider carefully what you want.” Before sliding the door shut, she added, “I’ll see you in the studio when you’re done... ‘acclimating.’”

He stared in shock at the door slammed in his face. Then laughter erupted again from those cracks in him where she’d slipped inside and lit him up. Maybe the *psych ward* had misjudged his readiness to handle this place without liquor. But there was no way he was going back down now, not with Effie up here making him feel alive again.

[broadwayfan92]

“I must now become the actual leader, the face, the voice, the embodiment of the revolution.” - Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins

[mckngsong]

@70won said gag.  for your muse to place their hand over my muse’s mouth, to try to keep them quiet.

 ‍  ‍ katniss is smothered by corpses in her sleep, muttations, eyeless ﹠ rabid with gnashing teeth, permeating with the sickeningly sweet scent of roses that burn through her sinuses, choke the breath from her before any bite to her throat can though she still feels the piercing of skin ﹠ tendon -- she awakes to being smothered, too, and she reacts with the instincts of an animal. she startles, thrashes, wrestles with the blockage pressed firmly to her mouth and just under her nose -- until her eyes adjust to the low lighting in tigris' basement, her mind finally snatching some semblance of reality as the silhouette above her resolves into a humanoid shape and, after blinking two, three times, registers as johanna. her fighting stills, even her breathing is paused ( because she knows her chest was heaving and she could not ease it down in a timely manner ) as she comes to the realization; she was having a nightmare, johanna probably had the good sense to stifle her impending screams before it woke the others.

 ‍  ‍ ( or maybe she's finally following through on killing her. maybe their shared misery in training wasn't enough. katniss wouldn't blame her. ) with effort, she drops her head back onto the pillow of furry blankets and lays her hands palm - up, grey eyes unblinking. silently swearing calm, so long as johanna releases her. the night terrors squirm underneath her skin but she can swallow the screams, for now.

[roxilalonde]

you’ve made me relapse into thinking ab thg again, and i gotta know your thoughts on johanna and finnick

my opinion on johanna is probably clear at this point (which is that i love her. i love johanna mason she’s incredible and one of the redeeming features of mockingjay is that she’s in it) but finnick is interesting to me! the introduction of his character and how snow has treated him (tw for csa and prostitution for the rest of this post btw) was one of the first signs that catching fire was going to be darker than the hunger games in a number of ways. right off the bat, when you think you’ve seen the worst the capitol has to offer, collins takes their behavior to new depths of absolutely loathsome. if you didn’t hate president snow with a burning passion before finnick’s situation was explained, you did now!

that said finnick is one of the examples of people who i’d pay for whole books about. his flirtatiousness and charm are coping mechanisms, but they’re coping mechanisms that are unfamiliar to katniss, who is still trying to figure out how she’s going to cope at all. the victors generally are all a motley arrangement of bad coping mechanisms, with haymitch’s drinking, johanna’s lashing out, and katniss’....everything, but finnick is unique in that you don’t quite get how badly he’s been hurt at first. he represses everything and packages it very well, managing to come off as debonair and sweet despite the fact that he’s been horrifically, monstrously abused. he takes his situation and weaponizes it against the capitol, i.e.. gleaning secrets from the people snow pimps him out to, which is a maneuver that takes a lot of bravery and delicacy to pull off! it also suggests that he’s smarter than many give him credit for, since it’s impied he successfully remained in the heart in the capitol for years while secretly feeding information to the rebellion. we don’t get an exact timeline of his involvement with haymitch and the rebellion, but it’s implied that the whole “mockingjay” thing isn’t exactly new, and finnick’s at least been preparing for revolt for a while.

that said, i don’t think he should have died! his death isn’t necessary to hammer home how cruel war is and how thankless death can be -- we already know that. the hunger games and catching fire are testaments to that. finnick and annie are set up as the idyllic couple that embody everything that life can be without the capitol, from falling in love in the aftermath of the hunger games to having a wedding in the middle of an antifascist rebellion. to kill finnick and break that couple is a cruel gesture, and it doesn’t seem to possess any greater significance to the narrative than suffering for shock value. finnick doesn’t need to die to get katniss on her own; just don’t send him on the mission to the capitol. the revolution doesn’t need another martyr; they have katniss and peeta for that, and besides, they’re already in the final battle. katniss doesn’t need finnick’s death to motivate her; she has her entire life for that. finnick dying -- and dying such a gruesome, unnecessarily useless death! fending off a pack of sewer mutts?? -- seems to happen more to demonstrate how hard the final battle is than anything meaningful, and for someone as likable and beloved as finnick, it’s a bit gauche.

[districtfourmermaid]

Hunger Games Tarot Deck

Guys. I want to design a Hunger Games tarot deck. I think it’d be a fun project. I’ve spent some time deciding which characters, events, and symbols to cast as each card of the Major Arcana and the court cards for the suits. I’ll put my matches with explanations under a Read More. If you like the Hunger Games, like Tarot, or like both (wowie!), let me know what you think, what your first impressions are, etc. 

0.           The Fool – Prim

o   Like the Fool, Prim represents innocence and embarking on new journeys in uncharted territory. She grows and matures through the books like the Fool does through the story of the Major Arcana. She protects and is emotionally supported by her animal companions as the Fool has his dog in the traditional card. She quickly learns the skills of medicine (the Fool as he represents personal growth) and takes the risk to become a medic on the front lines without fear.

I.               The Magician – Cinna

o   Like the Magician, Cinna represents creative power and the ability to manifest ideas of the spiritual realm in the physical realm. He can do anything, and his art speaks with a higher message. He is optimistic and a man of action who chose to take on a difficult District for his designing because he knew he could transform it.

II.              The High Priestess – Mags

o   Like the High Priestess, Mags represents wisdom, serenity, and a link to the subconscious/spiritual side. She protects and guides Finnick and Annie in District 4 and then Katniss and others in the Quarter Quell as a grandmotherly figure. Due to her speech impediment, she is not always understood in verbal communication, so she communicates in other ways, often in leading by example. She has the energy of a higher plane. The High Priestess also can represent a life change and reminder to not take things for granted, like when Mags sacrifices herself and Finnick loses her. This moment is also a puzzle-like sign to Katniss that the rebels are helping her even though she is not consciously aware of it.

III.            The Empress – Effie

o   Like the Empress, Effie represents beauty, abundance, and femininity. She becomes a motherly figure to Katniss and Peeta over the course of the books. She is nurturing and caring for them. The close bond she and Katniss eventually form and how she is missing through most of Mockingjay only to return at the end, seemingly spending the whole time in the wilderness on the run on her own, is like the new ideas and ways of being represented by the Empress because it is unexpected for her character in the beginning. She is creative and vibrant in her self-expression.

IV.            The Emperor – President Snow

o   Like the Emperor, President Snow represents authority, and rigid structure. He has a family he provides for and protects. He is pragmatic and manipulative, using any means to achieve his ends, and he has successfully held the presidency for a long time. He also has his mundane passions like the rose garden. He is of high status and requires a lot from people in order to be impressed. Reversed especially, the Emperor represents an overly dominating leader.

V.             The Hierophant – President Coin

o   Like the Hierophant, President Coin represents group conformity and tradition. Reversed, the Hierophant highlights the restrictive nature of tradition. Coin’s rule of District 13 is like a religion with strict rules and lacking in individuality or frivolity.

VI.            The Lovers – Finnick and Annie

o   Finnick and Annie are the one uncontested, overtly loving, soul mate-type couple in the books. The Lovers represent good communication, which Finnick and Annie have, as well as trust, strength, and confidence in a relationship. The Lovers also represents choices, choosing whether to stay in a situation or leave it, and that is a choice Finnick and Annie have to make every day when they are put into difficult situations where their love becomes a tool to be used against them.

VII.          The Chariot – Johanna

o   Like the Chariot, Johanna represents conquest and control over one’s life. While Finnick chose to stay with Annie despite the difficulties it brought him, Johanna chose to go. There is no one left that she loves, but she is free and in control of herself. She is determined and disciplined, training for the Capitol invasion in Mockingjay even though she is still recovering from being tortured, even training in the rain despite her hydrophobia. She becomes stronger by overcoming every challenge thrown her way.

VIII.         Strength – Gale

o   Like the card, Gale’s strength is a controlled strength. He is passionate but patient. He has drive but also compassion. He has both physical and mental strength, which empowers him to be a good leader. He works by hunting and mining to provide for his family and Katniss’s when she is in the 74th Games. He helps train Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch before the Quarter Quell, and he helps 800 District 12 citizens survive the bombing. He led people to break down the fence at the weak point and keeps them alive in the wilderness for three days. He is a rebel leader in District 13. Strength as a card represents the balance of an animalistic nature and taming your inner beasts, and Gale has a truly balanced sense of strength.

IX.            The Hermit – Haymitch

o   Like the Hermit reversed, Haymitch begins the books as the representation of withdrawal and isolation. He is lonely. But over the course of the trilogy, he becomes more of a hermit by positive choice. Not withdrawing in order to not be hurt, just because it is more comfortable in the quietness. He is Katniss’s Mentor in and out of the arena, guiding her through life’s challenges by offering words of wisdom and sparking introspection.

X.              The Wheel of Fortune – Reaping Ball

o   Like the Wheel of Fortune, the balls of tickets at the Reapings represent chance, luck, and destiny. It is a weighted chance and unfair due to the economic incentive of tesserae, but so is life. And no matter how many times a name is in the ball, it has at least some chance to be selected. Anything can happen. And every year, the names change, but the balls are the same, and ever-present, representing the circle of life. The Wheel of Fortune also represents a turning point and when reversed can represent bad luck or a lack of control.

XI.            Justice -  President Paylor

o   The only just and fair president Panem has had in a long time, Commander Paylor, like Justice, represents balance and an awareness of the long term affects of decisions. She can see clearly the state of Panem as a country because she is from the Districts. She is not biased by a Capitol or District 13 view, but knows the truth of District life and the needs of the people. She is able to rule with just law.

XII.           The Hanged Man – Peeta

o   Like the Hanged Man, Peeta is the king of self-sacrifice. Almost to a fault as would be represented in the reversed Hanged Man’s martyrdom and delay. Peeta is rather shy in the beginning. He holds himself back into order to support others from the shadows. He’s a person of words, not action. He willingly sacrifices himself, valuing Katniss’s life over his own.

XIII.         Death – Rue with flowers

o   Like the Death card, Rue and her death scene represent transition and the cycle of beginnings and endings. She was so young and full of bright potential, but she died as the Games’ audience knew she would, as the rules of the Games mandated. There is no escaping Death. Her death scene, as Katniss made it in a memorial and as it was televised, sparked a transition in District attitude. It incited people to rise up and avenge her, to fight against the Capitol and take action. It is a turning point, the beginning for the rebellion in the Districts.

XIV.         Temperance – Katniss

o   Like Temperance, Katniss represents moderation and patience. Katniss is adaptive to her environments and circumstances. She gathers information before taking action and can take that action in a mindful way. With friends both in District 12 and the Capitol, she is a bridge between the higher and lower planes. She understands the needs and fears of people and both sides. She is at peace in the quiet forest and likes things simple and functional. Temperance also represents a life change following a re-evaluation of your priorities, which Katniss goes through as the revolution grows, her goals changing from protecting herself and her family to protecting all of Panem.

XV.          The Devil – Caesar

o   Like the Devil, Caesar Flickerman is the embodiment of the Capitol values of materialism and excess. He is overly made up with flashing outfits and hair. His face is altered with cosmetic surgery, which seems even more compulsory in Capitol culture than our own, tying into the Devil representing addiction and bondage. Caesar and the rest of the Capitol are bound by their shallow culture, unwilling to take the risk to escape it even though they could. Like a vampire, Caesar profits off the sensationalization of the Games and the stories of the Tributes being sent to their deaths.

XVI.         The Tower – The Bombing of 12

o   The Tower represents a sudden disaster leading to a major change. It represents physical destruction as well as a realization of truth that throws you from a place of comfort when that comfort was built on something false. District 12 was a home but it was never really safe. Its demise was terrible, but those who survived were freed and able to find a new home in District 13 and in the revolution.

XVII.       The Star – Katniss as the Mockingjay

o   Like the Star, Katniss as the Mockingjay represents hope and inspiration. She is renewal in that she calls for an overturning of the old, stagnant, corrupt government of the Capitol in favor of one run by the people. She gives people the spirit to stand even in the darkest and most miserable of times. She gives herself hope, even, in that she did not believe she had such an effect, but she really does. By persevering through struggle, her image transforms Panem.

XVIII.      The Moon – Lavinia the Avox

o   The Moon is a card of illusion and insecurity. It is fear from the past projected onto the present or future. Katniss blames herself for Lavina’s capture by the Capitol. She and Gale did not help Lavinia and the man she’d been with in the woods outside 12, but the truth is that they could not. Katniss fears Lavinia holds a grudge, and the memory haunts her. “You never forget the face of the person who was your last hope.” Katniss has to get over that guilt and get over her fear of inaction lest it distract her in the Games. Lavinia herself is also a great mystery as we do not know who she was before attempting to flee, why she fled, who the man was, or how they knew about 13 if that is where they were going. Peeta also covers for Katniss’s recognition by saying she looks like Delly Cartwright, a deception.

XIX.         The Sun – The Buck Outside 13

o   Katniss and Gale are the first hunters the woods outside District 13 ever experience. They approach a large buck, but it does not fear them. It does not know to fear them. It has lived its life in peace. With the sun shining on it, it is a symbol of vitality as well as positivity. It is pure. Hunting in the woods with Gale is also the only time Katniss ever feels herself, relaxed, and happy. District 12 is gone, but she is able to have that experience again in District 13, representing how the warmth of the sun can be found wherever she goes, even after hardship and loss.

XX.           Judgement – Commander Boggs

o   Like Judgement, Commander Boggs represents self-reflection and Katniss’s inner calling. He works for Coin, but he can see her deviousness and helps Katniss in her mission to kill Snow even though it is not Coin’s plan. He is mature and a good judge of right and wrong. He allows Katniss and Gale to get away with putting themselves in more dangerous but more effective situations while filming propos, putting up minimal resistance when they disobey Coin. When he tells Katniss of Coin’s true motives behind sending Peeta to kill her, but reassuring her that he will see to it that she lives a long life, he brings her to the full understanding of her role as the Mockingjay while also reminding her of the worth of her life. She can’t keep sacrificing herself for the cause or for others. He is representative of rebirth and an epiphany moment when he names Katniss in charge of the Holo.

XXI.         The World – A Victor’s Wreath

o   The World represents the completion of a journey, accomplishment, and personal growth. It is fulfillment of goals worked hard for. A Victor goes through so many trials and hardships between training and the Games, but once they have their crown, they can relax. The nightmare is behind them, and they can live out the rest of their life in peace, having learned and grown from their experiences. Victors later become Mentors. They travel around Panem in their Victory tour and return regularly to the Capitol. They pass on knowledge to the next rounds of Tributes.

Cups  - Emotions - Water

        Page – The Prep Team

o   Like the Page of Cups, the prep team (Venia, Flavius, and Octavia) are showy, flamboyant, and have a keen sense of style. They are emotionally vibrant, being greatly excited to be dressing Katniss before the Quell announcement and crying over her afterward. Their role in Katniss’s life causes her to think heavily on her emotions and attitudes about people in the Capitol. They are childlike from Katniss’s perspective and eager to please, always wishing to make Katniss look her best.  

        Knight – Finnick

o   Like the Knight of Cups, Finnick is the intersection of Fire and Water. He has a magnetic charisma and bright personality, but he is also extremely protective of those close to him and a romantic. He puts on a show and comes off as a peacock, but underneath it all, he is actually very clever. He is aware of people’s motives and goals and uses words moreso than swords as his weapon.

        Queen – Annie

o   Like the Queen of Cups, Annie is associated with the ocean and tides, often lost in her own head. Like the tides, she has her highs and lows. She gives the impression of being somewhere far away in her mind and not totally present in the moment. Through Finnick, she knows everyone’s secrets. She’s beautiful, loving, dreamy, and mysterious, though easily distracted and, although very likable, can be isolated without Finnick to help her feel at ease around other people she isn’t close with.

        King – Mr. Everdeen

o   Like the King of Cups, Katniss and Prim’s father, Mr. Everdeen, was a man who valued intelligence, the arts, and communication. A teacher, he taught Katniss to hunt, to craft bows and arrows, and to swim. Crafting bows and arrows requires great precision and technique. He was a singer respected by the mockingjays. And he was a lover and good husband, good enough to earn the love of Mrs. Everdeen and for her to leave her upper-class life to be with him. As Katniss works to keep her family alive, her father’s memory is her guide and her rock.

Swords – Thought - Air

Page – Wiress

o   Like the Page of Swords, Wiress has an eye for natural order and can discern fine details of a situation, like noticing the chink in the forcefield in the Training Center. She is dreamy, flighty, and easily distracted, often trailing off in the middle of sentences. But she is a genius and inventor and can focus when needed. Her energy is both awkwardly anxious and calmly assuring.  

        Knight – Thresh

o   Like the Knight of Swords, Thresh has great integrity and a sense of righteousness. He is a strategist and does well for himself in the 74th Games until Cato kills him. His values are important to him, but so are his end goals, so he spares Katniss’s life in honor of Rue but makes it clear that this is a one-time deal. He shows more by his actions than his words. He has a noble energy and is young but rugged. If he has fear, he does not show it.

        Queen –  Enobaria

o   Like the Queen of Swords, Enobaria is an accomplished woman who won’t let you forget it. She sharpened and guilded her teeth to be reminiscent of how she won her Games. To be a Victor, one must be both physically strong and skilled as well as mentally sharp. Unlike the other Victors, Enobaria smiles and looks enthusiastic when the Tributes of the Quell join hands at the interview, showing an underlying disposition for kindness, though at other times, she is mostly serious and focused. Her presence fills a room with authority and dignity. She knows who she is and is proud.

        King – Beetee

o   Like the King of Swords, Beetee is intellectual, inventive, and deeply involved with science, mathematics, and philosophy. He is compassionate and considerate. When he designs new weapons for Katniss and her team, he takes each person’s needs and personality into account, not just what would make a good weapon but what would make a good weapon for them. He is objective and fair with a grandfatherly energy.   

Pentacles – (Mockingjay Pins) – Money – Earth

        Page – Madge

o   Like the Page of Pentacles, Madge is a comfortable presence. She is highly educated, and as the Mayor’s daughter, she has access to additional resources like piano lessons and information about the politics of other Districts. She is open to different sorts of people, befriending Katniss when others were intimidated by her, and understands relationships well. Her comment to Gale about looking nice for the Capitol on Reaping Day was unclear in if it was a joke or sincere, but its intentional ambiguity in her tone shows how she understands that her being Reaped is unlikely but not impossible. She’s aware of the imbalances of their culture.

        Knight – Cato

o   Like the Knight of Pentacles, Cato has a plan for success and is determined to see it through. As leader of the career pack, he takes on a lot of responsibility but is comfortable with it. He’s a natural leader though a little bossy. He is protective of those close to him. He goes about things in the simple, traditional way, the way he was taught in his Career upbringing. He was raised for the Games, so he knows how to win them, with pragmatism and hard work.  

        Queen – Portia

o   Like the Queen of Pentacles, Portia is one to take care of those in her charge and deeply connected to her partner, Cinna. They work on the Parade outfits together, working through the night and bouncing ideas off each other. She is a woman of luxurious style. She is most involved during major festivities as Peeta’s stylist. Outside of that, she is still encouraging and reassuring to him in a motherly fashion.

        King – Plutarch

o   Like the King of Pentacles, Plutarch is a businessman who sees the big picture and works towards his end one step at a time. His sights are set high, and he has the personality to fit in with Presidents Snow, Coin, and Paylor, working his way through the ranks and maintaining a high position even as rule of Panem changes hands.

Wands – Arrows – Fire

        Page – Cressida

o   Like the Page of Wands, Cressida is creative and visionary and really knows what she’s doing. She knows exactly how to shoot a propo, from script to setting to shot angle to editing, for it to deliver the intended message. When she makes something, it is of the highest quality. Compared to other Capitolites, she is down to earth. She is a rebel who left the Capitol even though she was not in immediate danger; she was just inspired by the Mockingjay and saw the corruption and restriction of the Capitol, which did not mesh with her free spirit.

        Knight – Darius

o   Like the Knight of Wands, Darius is bold and wild. For a Peacekeeper especially, he is audacious, telling Katniss he’d trade a kiss for a squirrel, but that was a deal because his kisses are worth two squirrels. He is high spirited, but this can sometimes get him into trouble as he does not always consider what is best for himself, like when he tried to protect Gale from Thread’s whipping and was made an avox for it.

        Queen – Hazelle Hawthorne

o   Like the Queen of Wands, Hazelle Hawthorne keeps a sense of harmony around. She is incredibly resilient and patient, raising her children after her husband’s death all on her own, and keeps a realistically positive attitude. She is a mediator, accepting food from Katniss even knowing Gale is too proud to take the help but does so in a way that keeps the peace. Even through poverty and hardship, she is elegant and poised.

        King – Mayor Undersee

o   Like the King of Wands, Mayor Undersee values the words of his people. He worked to make District 12 a safer, more harmonious place by decreasing public punishments for crimes. He seems to ignore the existence of the Hob and regularly buys strawberries for Katniss because he is aware that many more of his people would starve to death without such bends of the law. In this way, he is progressive and generous.

[mckngsong]

@7reech said ❝ i have lost people before. i have found ways to find them in nature. ❞

 ‍  ‍ treech is considered for a long, silent moment with grey eyes that reflect the empty walls around them; dulled by the bunker ﹠ mood stabilizers alike, though some of her sharpness remains. katniss has no wish to be coddled, for someone to take her by the shoulders and face her away from the darkness in the world with a sickly - sweet voice; too many people have hidden too many things from her, guided her exactly where they want her to be -- like a stringed puppet. but the other victor has a way of making it clear he is talking with her, not to her. that what he's sharing isn't some way to guilt her into exactly what he wants. there has been a strange, albeit easy understanding between them since the moment they met. ( perhaps it is their close age, their unwillingness to play the games they're tossed into. perhaps it is the forests that sing in their blood. )

 ‍  ‍ katniss abandons the training pamphlet she has held for the last half hour despite not making it past the first paragraph and leans forward, elbows on her crossed knees. “ tell me about it, ” she requests, deadpan but ready to hang on to his words. no one has been lost to her since peeta; and it is a festering wound of a subject that often brings her snarl to the surface even if it is only tip - toed around, the smoldering flames of her self - hatred begging to be released in one way or another. but treech, miraculously, never manages to poke that beast, indirectly or otherwise. she already knows what plant she would find peeta in, the real peeta, but it isn't what she wants to think about.

[mckngsong]

@volunteerlacking ( sass ) said we’re still on the same team, right?

  ‍  ‍ scab - ridden lower lip suckled between pearly whites, brows are drawn loosely into a distracted frown. as if the words have not quite hit her yet but she considers them, distantly. the same team . . . when it comes between snow or the rebellion, what choice do they have? what victor would choose otherwise? ( some have, she must remind herself. though most weren't given the choice at all. ) katniss blinks, pulls herself back to the present ﹠ glances up at the victor across from her. sass is a tough one to figure out, demeanor tightly woven -- she can respect that.

  ‍  ‍ “ i hope so, ” she says finally, bitten nails drumming unconsciously on the metal table. “ we're both here, aren't we? ” the bitter tang of irony coats her thoughts for a moment. where would the rebellion be without their mockingjay, after all?

[mckngsong]

 ‍  ‍ foggy gaze follows his form until he sinks onto the floor next to her chair, and it still lingers lazily on his mop of sun - kissed curls as she lets her head tilt back to the wall. a grunt, “ got to entertain you somehow, don't i? ” baseless banter. anyone knows that katniss usually prefers her time spent in quiet. especially when her shirt is damp and sticky, and her bones ache in ways she's certain they shouldn't. but chatter comes easily with finnick.

 ‍  ‍ an inhale, and she lifts her head to look where he had gestured. “ yeah. should be out any minute. ” she's actually getting the hang of assembling a rifle, and had been right behind katniss the last time she checked. her boot shifts, nudging finnick's calf. “ so how's it with the big shots? ” soldiers older than fifteen. people who actually get to wield their special weaponry. katniss is envious, but she's long since accepted that's her punishment for ignoring the schedule the first few months. and she's glad that finnick is up, energetic -- similar to the victor she had known in the quell but real.

⎯⎯⎯⎯ @mckngsong sent : “you look like you've been dragged ass-first through hell.”

“you have such a way with words, you know that?” he comes out of the training room doorway to join her in the hall— back sliding eventually until he just sits on the ground. the rigor and structure to thirteen is unexpected, and the trainings bring him back to memories of academy days. it’s nice, to put his energy into something even if it’s still fighting. “johanna in there?” finnick’s head motions to the room just a door down from where he’d left. 

[mckngsong]

@gl4diator said sender spits out a mouthful of blood on receiver.

 ‍  ‍ in hindsight, it's better than what katniss had been expecting. it's not even her own blood. but still, she flinches back when it spatters across her face and feels revulsion tremble through her spine, suppressing the nauseous reaction in the back of her throat with valiant effort while the hem of her sleeve is drawn up over her knuckles to wipe the crimson spittle from her visage -- disgusting, but her gaze doesn't break from cato's. there is a childish, selfish part of her, someone still stuck in the games with him, that won't give him any further satisfaction with her discomfort.

 ‍  ‍ “ i'm trying to help you, ” she hisses, though the reason is lost even on herself. if he doesn't want it, she should turn away now and let him rot ( not that thirteen would let him, when the rebels have for some reason decided he was useful long before she was even initiated into the rebellion ), not bothering to look back upon the boy still clinging to his ego ﹠ hatred ( does she blame him? not in the least ). instead, miraculously, she bites down her pride and starts forward again to grasp his forearm with both hands, another attempt to haul cato to his feet. “ come on, ” through gritted teeth, “ stand up. ”

[mckngsong]

@gamehaunt said sender spits out a mouthful of blood at receiver's feet.

 ‍  ‍ she doesn't even know why she came. why she had expected this visit to be any different from the last, when the imprints of his hands still bruise her neck. when her breath still aches in her windpipes. it's not as though there aren't plenty of things to distract her, namely the war, the very reason she bears the mantle of the mockingjay on propos with digital flames roaring in the background, to keep her mind from peeta, peeta, peeta, -- but it will not cease. it was cruel, a fantasy, to believe she would win a different reaction this time. it was probably why she hadn't even told haymitch she was coming, unwilling to face his scolding. maybe she is just punishing herself.

 ‍  ‍ and that's exactly what this is. snow's punishment to her, for defying him and the capitol. for unwittingly being the spark to light a rebellion. for failing what he knew could not be done, that it was far too late to extinguish the flames. he took the one good thing in her world and twisted it to finally see her as what she is. and katniss hates him for it. she hates them both and she hates herself even more. he is restrained and she finds herself the one with cotton - tongue, unable to say a word, phantom pain pulsing in her bones as though she is the one malnourished ﹠ bloodshot - eyed ﹠ strapped to a gourney in an empty, bleached room. he bares his teeth ﹠ thrashes like an animal and it finally occurs to her -- oh, this is not peeta at all. he cannot recover from this. snow killed the boy with the bread and it's all her fault.

 ‍  ‍ he cannot reach her but he knows what will. the blood on his teeth, taken either from a puncture in his tongue or cheek, mixed with rabid saliva ﹠ spat just inches from her feet. she flinches, as if the sight of sanguine against white shocks her back to herself, and she can barely glance to him again before she is spinning on her heel and all but leaping for the door, stomach turning. “ i'm done, let me out. ” her breath quickens and the echo of her voice is too loud, everything else too still, ﹠ calloused palm smacks the door. she can't do this anymore, she can't. louder, “ i'm done, plutarch, let me out. you hear me? open the door -- i can't, let me out, get me out ― ” just when she thinks she cannot bear it any longer, the lock unlatches and she nearly trips over her own feet on the way out; doubled over, she gasps, hands balling into fists in her hair. he is gone.

[mckngsong]

@70won said you still have hope?

 ‍  ‍ she mulls the question over like the rope she twists idly between her fingers, courtesy of finnick, pulling and looping through knots. hope. no, katniss doesn't think she's felt anything akin to that in a long time -- not since the victors were successfully rescued, before the fingers of not - peeta wrapped around her throat. it has been the hopes of others that drive her onward. the promise of purpose. the death of snow. she can hardly stand to look at her own reflection anymore but she longs for blood - red on wintry powder. and for prim. rue, thresh, wiress, even glimmer ﹠ cato ﹠ clove, cashmere, gloss. every victor and tribute who were used as glorified entertainment. for them. always for them.

 ‍  ‍ does johanna still have hope? she muses on this now, gray eyes flickering curiously to the opposite bed. no, she doesn't think so. they are made too similarly of the same stuff. she is hurt ﹠ angry, too. “ i'm still pissed off, ” she finally rasps, leaning her head back against the cool wall above her mattress. it feels close enough to the real answer. enough of a reason.

[mckngsong]

@gl4diator said " that looks like a you problem. "

 ‍  ‍ she seethes, the breath sucked through her teeth a failed deterrent to her rising temper. of course he is here, as often as he tries to make an appearance merely to take pleasure in her suffering. ( more likely, he is a trainer alongside york for the younger kids in the program -- but both are just as probable. ) katniss clenches her fists and loosens them with one long, controlled exhale, biting hard on her tongue before something unsavory comes out. it is no help to either of them, this animosity smoldering between them. he played the games the way he believed he was meant to, ﹠ she survived, unlike twenty - one others. what else is there for them to do?

 ‍  ‍ ignoring him is best. her hands return to work, but they are clumsy with unfamiliarity, and when the clip of her gun fumbles from her grasp ﹠ clatters from the table to the ground, she cannot help it. “ go to hell, cato. ”