#2nd Hunger Games

[thehungergamesarchives]

2nd Hunger Games

2ND YEAR, II ADTT

The 2nd Hunger Games was the second year of the annual event known as the Hunger Games. Like the previous year, one boy and one girl from each district was sent to the Capitol to fight for their life in the Capitol Arena. A live audience was present, but because of heckling and interference from the crowd this year, as well as fear for the safety of the crowd after a tribute attempted to interact with them, it was determined in future years that there would no longer be an audience present in the arena, meaning that the only way to watch the Games live would be on television. This year also marks the only year that the victor died while still in the arena.

Timeline

The Reaping

DATE: JULY 4, 2 ADTT

This year, extra precautions were taken at the reaping to ensure that tributes would not attempt to escape and therefore no deaths would occur before the tributes actually made it to the Capitol. As per the previous year, the reapings occurred according to the locations of the districts, starting from east to west. In all districts, an extra number of peacekeepers accompanied the tributes to the carriages, leaving most tributes too scared to even think about fleeing.

Tributes

District 1: M - Aureum Shaffer, age 16 F - Jewel Valencia, age 16 District 2: M - Morter Caballero, age 13 F - Lucerne Ritter, age 18 District 3: M - Buffer Rannoch, age 14 F - Modelica Torrid, age 14 District 4: M - Gaff Saeling, age 15 F - Magella Callahan, age 18 District 5: M - Nikola Bozzelli, age 16 F - Ionna Vanadis, age 14 District 6: M - Oto Montgomery, age 18 F - Nairobi Didsbury, age 13 District 7: M - Ficus Acciai, age 17 F - Pithia Woodward, age 17 District 8: M - Merino Cooley, age 12 F - Kelsi Cortez, age 15 District 9: M - Rueben Mulder, age 12 F - Semolina Marija, age 17 District 10: M - Tartare Huescas, age 17 F - Skinner Bale, age 14 District 11: M - Charce Sheels, age 15 F - Primicia Swet, age 18 District 12: M - Gove Cartwright, age 18 F - Ophra Dell, age 16

Arrival in the Capitol

DATE: July 6, 2 ADTT

When the tributes arrived in the Capitol the following night, they were moved to the Peacekeeper stables instead of the animal pens, separated by district. This measure was intended to limit interactions between tributes before their entry into the arena. Peacekeepers were stationed outside of the stable room, blocking the exit as to not allow any attempt at escape.

DATE: July 7, 2 ADTT

However, the following morning, when Peacekeepers checked on the tributes, they found Nairobi (D6) and Ionna (D5) dead. Nairobi had multiple stab wounds on her stomach and torso, while Ionna had a deep gash cut along her neck. Peacekeepers demanded for a confession as to who caused the deaths, but none of the tributes spoke up. After the peacekeepers cocked their guns, Nikola (D5) eventually pointed towards Oto (D6), claiming that he had killed the tributes and that he was hiding a knife. Oto resisted the claims, but he was overpowered by the peacekeepers and promptly shot in the head. The bodies of Oto, Nairobi, and Ionna were then taken from the stables while the other tributes were left in shock and fear.

A malfunction with the Capitol Arena’s doors caused a significant delay in starting the Games. While they were scheduled to be taken to the arena just before 10 AM, it wasn't until later that evening that the doors were fixed, leaving the tributes without food or water over their elongated period of time in the stables, making them dehydrated and weakened.

The Arena

DATE: JULY 7, 2 ADTT TIME: 20:00 - 22:59

The tributes were transported to the Capitol Arena, which was once used for sporting, entertainment, and military events prior to the Dark Days, but fell into disrepair afterwards. The tributes were limited to the central playing field.

Because of the late start of this year's games, the audience turnout was much lower than expected, leaving the stands sparsley filled. Many of the tributes appeared dizzy due to the lack of food and water that they had received over the last few days. Gaff (D4), confused and delirious, ran towards the weapons pile before the countdown had even began; however, in just seconds, he was shot in the skull by a peacekeeper. No other tributes dared to move as they took their spots around the weapons, and when the countdown ended and buzzer sounded, only a few tributes sluggishly made their way towards the pile of weapons, while the rest remained on their spots, hardly able to stand due to the dizziness. After a few minutes passed with hardly any action, the crowd started growing bored and restless as they booed from the stands, while one audience member threw an open bag of nuts out of anger. The nuts fell into the field and scattered on impact, drawing the attention of many of the tributes. Merino (D8), who had grabbed a knife from the pile of weapons, lunged at the bag of nuts and began clawing them up from the ground, but it wasn't long before other tributes realized that they too wanted a share of the food. Pithia (D7), Semolina, (D9), and Aureum, (D1), quickly ran up and began collecting nuts from the ground as well. Pithia, realizing that Merino had collected most of the nuts, attacked him with her hatchet, killing him, and stole the handful of nuts that he had wrapped in his shirt. In the meantime, Aureum and Semolina grappled over the last of the nuts, with Aureum eventually being able to stab Semolina in the back of the neck with his knife before sprinting to the edge of the field and scoffing down the nuts. The fighting that had occurred over this food greatly pleased the crowd, and many more members of the audience began throwing their food and drinks as well, littering the field with all kinds of nutriments. However, this actually had the opposite effect of what the audience desired, as all the tributes ignored each other's presence in favor of the food and beverages, which in turn made the audience stop throwing anything into the field.

As the minutes went by the and tributes scoffed down whatever they were able to collect, the supplies began to dwindle. At this point, tributes were beginning to confront one another for food and drinks, causing fights to break out. The first tribute to be killed because of this was Jewel (D1), who tried to steal a bottle of water from Lucerne (D2). However, Lucerne fought back and was able to greatly injure and kill Jewel with a hooked machete. In the meantime, some tributes were stealing from one another and injuring each other in the process, while Modelica (D3), the tiny girl who was beginning to drink from her third bottle of water, was confronted and killed by Ficus (D7), who took the bottle of water plus the half-eaten sandwich that she had. As Ficus was taking sips from the bottle and munching on the sandwich, Aureum began to approach him after unsuccessfully trying to steal a apple from Lucerne, but Ficus quickly raised his ax in defense and threw a brick at the boy, making him back up and divert his attention to another tribute. Aureum looked around before seeing Pithia, who was busy drinking from a bottle of cranberry juice. Pithia was so indulged in the drink that she failed to notice Aureum approach her until it was too late, and Aureum slaughtered her with his knife before taking her drink and chugging it. Over the next several minutes, Tartare (D10) was killed by Lucerne over a sandwich, and Rueben (D9) was killed by Gove over a bottle of water, before Gove was then killed by Magella (D4) with a short spear. In fact, Magella did not even seem interesting in taking the food for herself and instead solely seemed set on killing her stronger opponents. As Gove was killed by Magella, Ophra (D12) appeared furious over the death of her district partner. As Magella was slowly approaching Ficus, prepared to fight, Ophra grabbed a pickaxe from the pile of weapons before running with a limp at Magella. Magella easily heard Ophra coming towards her and dodged her attack, and for the next few minutes, Ophra repeatedly swung at Magella with the pickaxe, which she was clearly not adept with, while Magella seemed only slightly irritated by the attempts towards her death. The audience was quite amused by this scuffle, laughing every time Ophra failed to hit Magella. Eventually, it wasn't long before Ophra became too exhausted to even raise the pickaxe above her head, at which point Magella shoved her to the ground and impaled the short spear into her heart.

Many of the tributes had become distracted by this fight, which allowed some of the tributes to easily attack. Morter (D2), who had been watching while eating a cookie, was unable to detect Primicia (D11) come up behind him before she subsequently stabbed a pitchfork into his back. Not too long after this, Buffer (D3) was axed to death by Ficus, who took a bag of nuts that was in the boy's jacket pocket. As the next several minutes went by, the tributes continued to consume the last of their food and water, while Magella stood near the weapons pile as she intimately eyed up the other tributes. By this point the crowed was quickly becoming bored and a few audience members began to leave. However, the silence was soon interrupted by chanting coming from the entrance of the stands. Apparently, a group of anti-Hunger Games protesters had gotten past the peacekeepers and were now raising signs while chanting, "Stop the games, end the fight, no more blood, its not our right!" The audience members who had already been seated immediately began booing the protestors and many more got up to leave, annoyed by the constant commotion, while peacekeepers were calmly trying to get the protestors to leave.

Down in the field, the tributes appeared to be somewhat amused at this sight; however, Charce (D11) could be see covering his ears due to the constant chanting of the crowd. He became so annoyed, in fact, that he stood up, walked towards the stands, and threw his knife at the protestors, hitting one in the stomach. The audience in the stands and the protestors immediately began to abandon what they were doing as they rushed to the exit amidst a large uproar, fearful that they too could be attacked by the tributes. Due to the chaos of the situation, some Capitol citizens even ended up being stomped to death. In the meantime, Charce was immediately shot by a peacekeeper, while Kelsi (D8) was hit and killed in the crossfire. The rest of the tributes quickly took cover from the bullets. Even when the stands were now empty, the tributes still remained in their spots, huddled and shaking out of fear.

Nearly the next hour went by with almost no action. Some tributes, such as Magella and Aureum moved around a bit, but the interactions between tributes was scarce. It wasn't until the peacekeepers ordered for the tributes to begin fighting that some action occurred. Not wanting to be another victim to the peacekeepers' bullets, Magella picked up her short spear and chose to try and take out some of the weaker competition in order to achieve easy kills. Her first target was Skinner (D10), whom she had no difficulty killing. She then targeted Nikola (D5), who put up a fight, but was ultimately unable to defend himself against the girl from 4. At this point, Magella appeared to be having trouble on which of her remaining opponents — who were Aureum, Lucerne, Ficus, and Primicia — she would attack next. However, as she was trying to decide, both Lucerne and Ficus got up from their spots with their weapons and began to approach Magella. Magella seemed to worry at the sight of both tributes, but chose to focus her attention on Ficus, as she likely believed that she would have an easier time fighting against him than Lucerne. The pair fought as Lucerne watched from a safe distance. Eventually, Ficus managed to disarm Magella and chopped his hatchet into her skull. Just as soon as Magella slumped to the ground, Lucerne ran over and swung her hooked machete at Ficus, who narrowly dodged the attack. The pair fought for several minutes, managing to injure each other slightly, but ultimately Ficus gained the upper hand on Lucerne and the latter was forced to retreat. However, before Lucerne could even find a place to station herself to rest, she was ambushed by Aureum. Lucerne was too weak to defend herself, allowing Aureum to ultimately kill her. This now left just Aureum, Ficus, and Primicia remaining, the latter of which had been quietly watching the action from a distance, keeping most of her attention on the peacekeepers rather than the other tributes.

After several minutes of rest, Ficus approached the weapons pile and picked out a deadlier ax, discarding his hatchet. He swung the ax around for a minute, testing out its weight, before turning to face Primicia, who had been staring at a peacekeeper for the past five minutes. Ficus began to slowly walk towards her with his ax, but she quickly noticed him and stood up and instantly began moving away, but Ficus followed her. Soon enough, the pair had broken into a run. Although Primicia was quick, Ficus eventually caught up to her. The two tributes fought each other, gaining hits on one other every so often, and after a while, Ficus, although rather injured, managed to shove his ax into her heart. While this was happening, Aureum chugged down the last of a water bottle and grabbed the hooked machete from Lucerne's corpse. Shortly after Ficus had killed Primicia, Aureum ran forward an attacked Ficus. The two boys fought, but Aureum gained the upper hand several times on Ficus, who was weak from all the injuries he had endured. At one point, Aureum slashed open Ficus's stomach and he was forced to practically hold his intenseness from falling out. Ficus took a few steps back from Auruem, but fell to the ground and was now unable to get back up. Aureum hobbled towards ficus with the hooked machete and just as he raised his weapon to kill, Ficus threw his ax at Aureum with all his strength, hitting the boy in the neck. Aureum fell to his knees and took the weapon from his throat, but blood then began pouring from the wound and he was unable to breath. After a minute, Aureum died.

As Ficus continued to lay on the ground, struggling to breath, the peacekeepers surrounded him and seemed stuck on how to deal with this gravely injured tribute. After a minute, an order was given by Head Gamemaker Gaul to shoot the boy, seeing how paramedics would be unable to save him at this state. So, a peacekeeper did just that and the bodies were promptly dragged from the building.

Aftermath

After was seemed like an extremely chaotic and embarrassing year for the Hunger Games, it was questioned whether or not the event should be ditched all together. However, after much convincing from Dr. Volumnia Gaul, the head of the Capitol's Experimental Weapons Division and the Head Gamemaker of the Hunger Games, who promised that extra precautions be taken, another year of the games was agreed to — but, if the following year failed to live up to its expectations, there was an almost definite chance that the Hunger Games would scrapped entirely. Additionally, all but one recording of this year's games were destroyed.

Placements

1st: Ficus Acciai (Victor) - shot by peacekeepers after it was determined that his injuries were too severe. 2nd: Aureum (JULY 7, 22:59) - killed by Ficus 3rd: Primicia (JULY 7, 22:48) - killed by Ficus 4th: Lucerne (JULY 7, 22:22) - killed by Aureum 5th: Magella (JULY 7, 21:51) - killed by Ficus 6th: Nikola (JULY 7, 21:44) - killed by Magella 7th: Skinner (JULY 7, 21:36) - killed by Magella 8th: Kelsi (JULY 7, 20:43) - killed in the crossfire of a peacekeeper's gun 9th: Charce (JULY 7, 20:43) - shot by peacekeepers after throwing a knife at the audience 10th: Buffer (JULY 7, 20:27) - killed by Ficus 11th: Morter (JULY 7, 20:25) - killed by Primicia 12th: Ophra (JULY 7, 20:24) - killed by Magella 13th: Gove (JULY 7, 20:18) - killed by Magella 14th: Rueben (JULY 7, 20:15) - killed by Gove 15th: Tartare (JULY 7, 20:14) - killed by Lucerne 16th: Pithia (JULY 7, 20:12)- killed by Aureum 17th: Modelica (JULY 7, 20:11) - killed by Ficus 18th: Jewel (JULY 7, 20:09) - killed by Lucerne 19th: Semolina (JULY 7, 20:05) - killed by Aureum 20th: Merino (JULY 7, 20:05) - killed by Pithia 21st: Gaff (JULY 7, 19:58) - shot by peacekeepers after running before the countdown started 22nd: Oto (JULY 7, 09:20) - shot by peacekeepers 23rd: Ionna (JULY 6/7, UNKNOWN TIME) - throat slit by unknown tribute, possibly Oto 24th: Nairobi (JULY 6/7, UNKNOWN TIME) - stabbed to death by unknown tribute, possibly Oto .

Inspired by: Panem Academy's 2nd annual Hunger Games.

[thetimetraveler24]

“Oh my god we’re getting Haymitch’s games” “oh my god I can’t wait to see this from Haymitch’s pov”

Suzanne Collins doesn’t write unless she has something to say. With the current political climate, I can’t wait to hear what she has to say. It’s supposed to be about the power of propaganda and implicit submission? Consider me sat, oh my god this is going to be great.

[bra1nw0rmz]

Ughhh smth smth eat the two headed sacrificial lamb uhhh second coming of christ ?? Idfk kid named Funger just got hungry!!!

[fictionadventurer]

I think the most interesting thing about the press release for the new Hunger Games prequel is that it never actually says it's going to be about Haymitch's Games. It just says it starts on the day of the Reaping for the Second Quarter Quell. It could start there but then skip to something completely different or cover a vast period of time. It could follow characters from any District. Maybe a Gamemaker. Maybe a Career. Maybe a Victor. Maybe someone completely outside the structure we know about. As far as I've seen (and I recognize I could have missed things), we know nothing about this except the day the story begins, and that means possibilities are wide open.

[tomblyth95]

Happy 29th Birthday Gorgeous! 🎂

[queenofshilla]

THE HUNGER GAMES APPRECIATION WEEK -- day 1 - favourite book/movie - CATCHING FIRE

[its-tea-time-darling]

nothing good is about to go down here babes...

part 2/? of babyboy's descent into madness (1, 3)

[literary-chameleon]

Thirsting over young Snow pisses me off but also does countering such people with "lets not forget what he did to Finnick". I know what he did to Finnick was awful. I also know Finnick is a well constructed and likeable character. But this specific statement diminishes the severity of the state of other tributes. The hunger games have been carried out for a long time and around 65 years under the rule of Snow himself. Imagine how many tributes are dead. How many people from the districts (and the Capitol) have been tortured. How many victors have been traumatized, experimented on, sold for sex work. And all this because Snow's petty little high school romance didn't work out due to his own actions.

The point is, yes, Finnick deserved better but so did every other child who was chosen as a tribute. Since the 'Sunrise on the Reaping' news, some fans seem to be more focused on which hot new actor will be playing Haymitch Abernathy and not on what Suzanne Collins has been trying to say through FOUR books now.

[sincerelya-stories]

I AM DECEASED

Scholastic Editorial Director David Levithan just dropped an intriguing hint about Sunrise on the Reaping during their 2025 YA preview. Fans already know Suzanne Collins’s new Hunger Games novel focuses on Haymitch and the infamous second Quarter Quell, but Levithan revealed there’s more to that story than we ever imagined. Here’s what he teased: “All I can really say right now is that it’s Haymitch’s Games, and everything you thought you knew about the second Quarter Quell - well, you didn’t really know any of it. What Suzanne has done is mind-blowing. This is the missing piece to the series that connects everything - from the world of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to the original trilogy.”

Gimme....gimme now

[imasradiantasthesun]

Ez’s Hunger Games aesthetics, part 16: The Second Quarter Quell Generation, part 1

Jack Hawthorne, the miner’s son

Alys Everdeen, the apothecary’s daughter

Gordon Jet Everdeen, the musician’s son

Hazelle Hawthorne, the hanged man’s daughter

Leiney Undersee, the lonely twin

Maysilee Donner, the candy maker’s daughter

Nick Mellark, the baker’s son

Dahlia Mellark, the teacher’s daughter

Haymitch Abernathy, the orphan

[ohbo-ohno]

ok here’s the thing: I’m a fucking Hunger Games lore buff. I’ve read the books a million times and seen all the movies a bunch and read Songbirds and Snakes cover to cover. YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE OVER MY BRAIN.

Here’s a little brainworm for you: Tribute reader pulling a little Johanna Mason. Let me explain.

When Johnny and Simon get their hands on this years tributes, they can already tell they’ve got their work cut out for them. Simon takes over with the boy because the girl is quite obviously a pathetic sniveling mess. So Johnny gets to see through the trick mirror into Reader’s actual plan: disguise herself as a weakling and then catch everyone by surprise. She trains privately with Johnny, and he gives her all the know how and information she needs to survive. All Simon ever sees, though, is the weepy little thing with no chance of survival. So he’s understandably confused and agitated when Johnny insists that Reader’s gonna win, and places all of their bettings on her. He expects her not to make it through the bloodbath, and he thinks he’s right, until they play the faces of the day’s deceased and Reader is noticeably still alive.

A few more days pass. Johnny sends Reader some supplies to keep her alive and well-stocked. At midnight on the fourth day, Reader’s plan begins for real.

There’s about 14 tributes left counting her. Then thirteen. Then twelve. And then eleven. The cameras zoom in on Reader, covered in blood, with a satisfied smile on her face. She’s wearing a splint on her leg because allegedly she took a tumble- she rips the damn thing off with prejudice and sighs in relief. The broken leg was an act as well.

Simon has never been harder in his fucking life when he watches Reader carve her way through the remaining tributes. The games end with a catastrophic earthquake and a cinematic finish, as Reader pushes the last competitor into a ravine. After she comes out of the healing bay good as new and ready to make her debut as the newest Victor, Simon and Johnny are waiting for her. They have to postpone the after games ceremonies while Simon pounds the Reader against the nearest surface and licks all the blood off of her face.

there's this moment in the first hunger games book where katniss recalls several past hunger games and why they were/weren't popular, and in one of them she mentions a games where the only weapons provided were "horrible spiked maces that the tributes had to bludgeon one another to death with" and it's my personal headcanon that that was johanna's year 💞 can you imagine her going from being a little teary, a lot pathetic, to a killing machine with a fucking mace and winning the whole Games? ohhh my god

anyways i'm fucking obsessed with this take on a hunger games au and i would read several thousand words about it. tysm for gifting it to me

[lineycantdance]

For all the people clamoring for a book/movie/prequel about Haymitch's Games, why is there virtually ZERO fanart of the 2nd Quarter Quell? Young Haymitch who was canonically a baddie? Maysilee Donner, the OG owner of the Mockingjay pin whose death Katniss explicitly compares to Rue's? Where y'all at?

Suzanne dedicates 3-4 pages in ch 14 of CF to describing Haymitch's Games. We know what the arena was like, how most of the tributes died (bloodbath killed 18, volcanic eruption killed 12), we know how Haymitch outlasted 47 other tributes, we know how he won and why the Capitol was unhappy with his victory.

PLEASE the fact that the arena was designed to look picturesque and enticing but every temptation, from the flowers and fruit, to the butterflies and even the water itself, was toxic like some kind of twisted Garden of Eden???? Gotta hand it to the Gamemakers, that's so scrumptiously evil!

Also, I'm sorry to bring this back to my girlie Maysilee, but the fact that she wasn't killed by another tribute but by flamingo mutts minutes after she broke off her alliance with Haymitch and just as soon as he figured out the force field... Ohhh the Gamemakers did her so dirty!

Honestly, for a character with connections to many established characters in the trilogy, (she was Madge's aunt, Katniss's mom's best friend, AND Haymitch's ally) and who is the originator of an object which was both a testament to the intergenerational dynamics in the series and whose symbolic significance is central to the entire HG franchise, we know very little about Maysilee.

Maysilee's family ran a sweet shop, she owned a pet canary (a songbird used to detect poisonous gas in coal mines) which was bequeathed to Katniss's mother after her death, and she had a twin sister who eventually married the Mayor but suffers from chronic pain, presumably because she remains devastated by her sister's death.

These details establish Maysilee as someone distinctly of the well-off merchant class of D12, and they evoke notions of frivolity, excess, and indulgence. Arguably so does the pin which is described as a family heirloom made of solid gold in the book. And yet, these details also speak to the simple joys in life that should be luxuriated.

Katniss's mother receiving the songbird foreshadows her falling in love with Katniss's father as well as his eventual death in the coal mines. Similar to the cakes in the Mellarks' bakery that Prim so admired, sweets represent joy, beauty, and pleasure, even if rare and fleeting.

Candy as both a source of temptation and pleasure, the canary as both a melodious songbird and detector of poison, plus the fact that the 2nd QQ arena was a poisonous paradise, I feel like these dualities had to be intentional! Maysilee's weapon of choice was poisonous darts. She was both beautiful and lethal.

I would like to imagine that Maysilee had something of a rebellious streak as the original owner of the Mockingjay pin. I would like to imagine that she probably had some important things to say given that the last thing the Gamemakers did to her was rob her of her voice.

Maysilee stuck her neck out for Haymitch and rescued him from a Career tribute before their alliance was formed. I would also like to imagine that, even though she died in the arena, her legacy lives on in the little and big acts of defiance exhibited by the other characters around her.

Her spirit lives on in Katniss's mom who moved from the merchant sector to the Seam to be with Katniss's father. In Madge who brings Gale her mother's medicine after he's whipped for hunting illegally. In Haymitch who becomes a key figure in the rebellion. And obviously in Katniss who risks her life for Prim, Rue, and Peeta.

We're all familiar with the origin story of the Mockingjay as a crossbreed between the mockingbird and a Capitol muttation—the Jabberjay which was intended to gather rebel intelligence but backfired. The Mockingjay thrived outside of the Capitol's control and thus became a symbol of anti-Capitol resistance.

It's called a MOCKINGjay because it made a mockery of the Capitol's failings. Sometimes mockingbirds are called nightingales but Suzanne intentionally used the former in the portmanteau of her fictional bird species because she literally spells things out with her naming conventions!

Thus, any character who acts in defiance of the Capitol's expectations or designs is akin to a Mockingjay. It's Haymitch avoiding other tributes as much as possible and only winning by exploiting the arena's forcefield—the D1 girl's axe backfires, and she's taken out by her own weapon. It's Katniss holding out the berries and refusing to win on the Gamemakers' terms, forcing their hand to let both her and Peeta live. It's Reaper using the Capitol flag for his makeshift morgue.

It's all the tributes who gave solace, comfort, dignity, and respect to other tributes in their deaths (this happens A LOT but notice that all the D12 Victors do this). It's Thresh sparing Katniss for taking care of Rue. It's Peeta playing with the intent of helping Katniss win. It's Mags volunteering for Annie, it's Finnick resuscitating Peeta, etc. It's anyone risking their life or livelihood for someone else's sake. It's care, compassion, and even love persisting in the most brutal of circumstances.

For me, taking risks to care for others is what flies in the face of the Capitol ideology that people are inherently prone to war, violence, and destruction. This is especially true when it happens in the Games which are premised upon an "every man for himself" and "kill or be killed" mentality.

For me, taking risks to care for other people is the power of the Mockingjay symbol. It's also the meaning of the Hanging Tree song; risking everything for the chance of love and true freedom, even unto death. And that kind of hope is what rebellions are built on.

I just think that the Mockingjay pin means so much!!! I didn't even mention how, when Katniss pins it on her green shirt, she associates it with the freedom of being in the woods. It reminds her of her father whose singing voice was so beautiful that the mockingjays stopped to listen. The pin grounds her and makes her feel like she's taking a piece of home, a piece of her father into the arena.

Also, the pin is what makes Rue want to trust Katniss! For Rue, music is the one thing she can't live without, and back in D11 she sings to mockingjays to communicate that the working day is done. Katniss offers to give the pin to Rue, but Rue says she likes seeing it on Katniss better.

Also, let's not forget that the pin is a parting gift from Madge, Katniss's friend who truly cherishes her. As with the crowd who offers her the three fingered salute which she attributes to D12's respect for her father or Prim's loveableness, Katniss has difficulty recognizing that people like Madge already respect, admire, and care for her in her own right for her tenacity and bravery.

Madge is very insistent about informing Katniss that she's allowed a district token and implores her to wear the pin into the arena. This is likely a way of honoring her aunt who presumably also wore the pin as her district token. If so, then it's likely that Haymitch would have recognized the pin which may have given him an extra push to do his utmost to save Katniss because it reminded him of the girl he couldn't save.

Anyway, I feel like the intricacies of the mockingjay pin, its original owner, and its connection to the 2nd QQ are a little underappreciated. Like, this isn't even getting into the everlark parallels that write themselves... Please, Haymitch and Maysilee paved the way. They were the blueprint.

Personally, although I'm just as intrigued about the 2nd QQ as the rest of y'all, I'm fine with it being left up to the readers' imagination. There have been some great fan interpretations both in the form of fanfiction as well as the fan film by mainstay pro: https://youtu.be/7mUjssn86h4?si=PNH1rblPBp1Us5pg

I just find it kind of strange that, given how much interest there seems to be around Haymitch's Games, there isn't that much fan content, discussion, or analyses about them. Please feel free to contribute any thoughts, corrections, or reactions to this post!

[lethargicmouse]

tell us your favorites everlark fics

Thanks for the ask!! They make me very excited lol. I honestly don’t read a lot of everlark lol, I’m more of a hayeffie fan with a side of everlark. Just becuase I feel like mother Suzanne did a good job with them in the books. But truly, a lot of my fav hayeffie ships are from either Peeta or Katniss’ perspective.

The ones listed here are mostly post epilogue (:

( I lied they are all post epilogue.)

this is the first day of my life by sam_writes_fics @sam-loves-seb ----> "It’s not perfect. None of them are perfect. But that’s not the point. // katniss and peeta and haymitch and effie and their life after everything;" I LOVE THIS IT WAS GOOD

You Are in Love (Everlark's Version) by bored_author ---> "A collection of one-shots about Katniss and Peeta working through their traumas, together." This is probably the most everlark one on here. It was cute

The Team Trap by EllanaSan @ellainthetardis (my queen omg) ---> "'What’s the very good reason that’ll get her to come?/ Katniss asked. Peeta was silent for a moment, his hand stilled on her back. 'It involves a technical white lie.' In her experience, lies were hardly ever technical or white." I love EllanaSan with my entire heart.

End of the World by FernWithy ---> Ok this is a very Haymitch centered series but it literally rocked my world and I think everyone needs to read this. There is some awesome POV's of characters you rarely hear from. Delly gets the spotlight she deserves and Peets gets it, too. It's a wonderful, long read that I'd highly reccomend.

Sorry there isn't more! I have lots of other fics that I really enjoy that are from Peeta or Katniss' view that are just more Hayeffie centric (linked under the line (: ), I tried to pull the more Everlark ones for you !

they got no idea (about me and you) by fckingpoetry ---> "peeta looks for advice on how to keep katniss safe in the arena and walks in on haymitch and effie sleeping in the same bed." I cannot stress how much I love this author. And any fic where the kids find out about Effie and Haymitch makes me giggle.

The Clue in the Yoghurt by EllanaSan ---> "In retrospect, Haymitch should have known something was up the morning he walked into his kitchen, rubbing his face to chase the remnants of sleep, and found Katniss pilfering his fridge." So silly, Katniss accidental pregnancy and it makes me smile to see hayeffie acting like the parents they are.

Sprinkled on Your Life by KarlyBING ---> "With all her silliness, shallowness, and overbearing ways, Effie had still cried while holding her after coming back from the arena, she was the one to publicly unite them during the Quell, cared for her during a war, braided her hair when she was too depressed to do it herself, made her wedding dress out of worn cotton shirts and second-hand wool, held her hands after delivering her first child, changed diapers at 3 am so Peeta and her could sleep a couple more hours, taught her children how to say please and thank you, and still made her hot chocolate every rainy day without even having to ask." I cried. So much. For only 1,801 words. A nice look at mama!Effie and darling Katniss.

that which resembles a grave (but isn't) by ifonlyiwasawriter ---> "Haymitch finds Katniss covered in dirt in his backyard; there is an explanation for this, but not one that either of them likes." Haymitch and Katniss, lovely very traumatized father and very traumatized daughter bonding.

Any way I love Haymitch and Effie goodnight !

[katnissmellarkkk]

my aesthetics :

the second quarter quell generation, pt one (aka the generation with all the principal characters’ parents, and then also haymitch)

[lethargicmartyr]

My own Sunrise bingo card all filled out

Most of these i truly think are going to happen, but i tried to throw out something more specific in each row.

May the odds be ever in your favor

All credit to the template goes to @atleastmymomlikesme

[kay9leo]

It's hard being the new kid...

Sort of "modern" HL AU

Meet Iñaki "MC" Martinez Cariaga! She's the new transfer student from the United States. She was late for the sorting ceremony so she's currently houseless right now, hence the gray tie. Unfortunately for MC, her ancient magic is a magnet for attracting trouble and getting her into situations she rather not be in, sort of like Percy Jackson.

Fun Facts:

Normally her eyes are brown, but ever since she ended up in the UK, if she's around the presence of high Ancient Magic activity, her own ancient magic activates, turning her eyes a magical blue. They also turn that color when she's using it. At the advice of Prof. Fig, she tries to keep a small flow of it running consciously if she's not at a nearby ancient magical source.

She's also big runes fan! Since her family comes from both Central and South America, she has a big love of studying Mayan glyphs and Incans quipus (they use that instead of runes to conducting their magic). She also knows some indigenous words in Kaqchikel and Quechua; some for fun and some for spell casting. Seeing Norse runes in person was the one thing she was definitely looking forward when going to Hogwarts.

While she doesn't originally goes by MC back in the States, it became her deferred nickname/shorten version of her double surname Martinez Cariaga to use at Hogwarts. She's gotten tired of both professors and peers taking too much time to say it or have them accidently butcher her surnames (or first name even). Her nickname of MC is used so often that it gets to the point that barely anyone remembers that her name is Iñaki 🤣

Ancient Magic & Hogwarts Castle

I headcanon that the Hogwarts Founders were ancient magic users who build Hogwarts and never told anyone about their abilities. Since the place is humming with Ancient Magic, MC's eyes are always a constant magical blue. It's when she leaves Hogwarts grounds that she has to focus on maintaining that magical flow.

The Big Move, Fourth Year & the Reserved New Girl

Unfortunately, Iñaki's dad lost his job during the first layoffs of the Great Recession in early 2008. Thankfully, he had a buddy who hooked him with a new temp job in London, causing the Martinez Cariaga family to move across the pond from New York to London during the end of summer. While she loved the idea of traveling and going to Europe (and maybe even learn more about the different ancient runes used there), she wasn't too pleased at the idea of moving abroad and leaving everything she knows and loves.

Instead of starting her freshman year with her close friend group at Excelsior (NYS magical school system, Ilvermorny is the New England private magical prep school - the most famous, oldest and only school most people know outside the US), Iñaki is starting 4th year at Hogwarts.

Note: The words between "< >" is spoken in Spanish. MC comes from a Spanish-speaking Latino household. If the words are not in between "< >" assume she's speaking English.

6: At the end of MC's first week:

MC:

<¡Hola Mami!>

< I'm fine. ¿And you? >

< Nothing interesting happened this week. >

< ¡NO! ¡It wasn't like I fought a dragon or a troll this week. >

< ¡Just because I faced the Jersey Devil in 6th grade or the Headless Horseman in 7th OR befriended Champ at Lake Champion in 8th doesn't mean weird things always happens to me! >

<¡I'm fine Mami! Nothing happened...>

<¡I had to Mami! ¡He told me he wanted to give me a "proper Hogwarts welcome" before we started! I told him "That's how we say 'Hello' in New York." Made it too easy for me by saying his spells out loud. The prof said I was a great example of how magical duels are different in the New World with our non-verbals...>

<He was cool with losing. ¡Sebastián even gave me a tour of the magical village nearby and introduced me to the "dueling club" the school has! >

< We dueled together…¡It was fun! I almost forgot how much I miss home… >

8:

MC:

< I still want to go home. >

< No Mami. I don't mean visiting you guys back in London. Home as in New York. >

< ¿Why should I make friends if we're only going to be here for a year?>

< ¿It's only a year...right? >

< ¿Right? >

< I gotta go...I promised my classmates I'll study with them for our exam next week. >

< I love you too. >

"Bye."

*Flips phone closed*

*Ends call*

......

MC's trying...but she is rather homesick.

She's now stuck in Hogwarts and isn't too keen on making friends since she has no clue whether she'll be there for a year or not - it all depends whether if they extend her father's work contract and she's isn't keen on making friends if she's only there for a few months in her mind. It gets to the point where Sebastian trying to friend her is like an unstoppable force meeting an unmovable object. (He ends up winning though when she accidently slips up and calls him her friend later on in the year).

For now though, MC is a very angsty teen right now and had her world flipped upside down.

At least she can take out her angst in dueling club 😅

I want to thank @myokk for listening to my ideas about my MC and to my sibling who needed to borrow my laptop for work (leading me to doodle and actually make a digital drawing on my tablet -that I use as a second monitor for work- since I couldn't edit some papers on those days). Without them this drawing wouldn't have happened.

I'm never doing this ever again because I a bit too perfectionist for art and I hated the number of layers I needed. It was supposed to just be a SIMPLE digital doodle!!!! Instead I made this 😭. Never again. I'm sticking to my pen doodles. I was bored out of my mind and I was either reading or doodling while my sis was testing out her new laptop and I was on stand by in case she needed me.