#multiple people have used the phrase nephson before me. lily i think you were the first person i remember to do so

[felixravinstills]

How I Characterize Felix Ravinstill

I once told a friend that every single detail we have about Felix Ravinstill could be interpreted multiple ways that they essentially told me nothing. There's also very little information about him in the book to work with. When I write Felix, I try to base my characterization on whatever I can squeeze out of canon, but when presented with choices (which is basically all the time), I pick what's more interesting to me. Obviously, these are just my readings and interpretations.

(@coryo and @persephoneprice since you two expressed interest, I'm tagging you. Also some of these points will be familiar to those who frequent this blog.)

The Basics

Before I get into the true explanation, I thought since there are so few facts about him in the book that I might as well list all of them:

Felix is President Ravinstill's greatnephew in the book (Ch. 11), and son in the movie

Felix is assigned to mentor Dill, the girl from District 11 (Ch. 4).

He does manage to attempt an interview with Dill (Ch. 11).

Felix gossips with Dean Casca Highbottom while in a car with Coriolanus (Ch. 13). (I once answered an ask about this)

Felix is distracted by a camera crew upon arriving to Heavensbee Hall for the first day of the Games (Ch. 13).

Felix does seem sympathetic to Dill. He sends her water and judges Treech for taking her water (Ch. 14).

When Felix is dismissed, Lepidus Malmsey compliments him for getting Dill this far (Ch. 14).

Coriolanus notes Felix's good sportsmanship in contrast with Juno Phipps' reaction to losing (Ch. 16).

As A Mentor and the President's Nephson

I often characterize Felix on the kinder more sensitive side of the Capitol mentors, but I don't actually think this means much. Even the most sympathetic mentors are complicit in the Games and have been raised with the Capitol superiority ingrained in their heads.

I cite his relative care for Dill during her final moments (sending her water) and his ability to get her to participate in an interview as evidence of him being somewhat kind.

Now, Felix's judgment of Treech for stealing Dill's water does highlight his sympathy from her, but it also underlines a sort of limitation to his kindness. He has to have a personal connection to be able to sympathize with the District tributes. (I imagine that this is true for most of the mentors.) He's not going to understand that of course, Treech would do this for survival. Given the connection that Felix's family has to the Games since Pres. Ravinstill did put them into place, I don't think he's thinking about them too critically, and if he starts to, he likely willfully turns away from that line of thought.

Additionally, I find it interesting that Felix doesn't seem to have made much of an effort to help Dill before the Games. There are two options for this: he could have but he didn't want to or he did want to but he couldn't. (I suppose that it is also possible that he didn't want to and couldn't have either way, but that's boring.)

In the case of 'he did want to but he couldn't,' there is a viable reading of Felix that positions him as not very close to the president. He is a great-nephew after all. We get no other details about the President's family, so it's entirely possible that Pres. Ravinstill could have his own children. Perhaps, Lepidus Malmsey would suck up to anyone with the Ravinstill name regardless of how close they are to the President. Felix's attention to the cameras reads as more of a desperate attempt to stay relevant as a part of a lesser branch of a major family.

I choose not to go with that reading of Felix's relationship with the President, because I think it yields less interesting story potential. I am also influenced by the movie's decision to make Felix the president's son, and the potential historical parallel with Julius Caesar's posthumous adoption of his own great-nephew, the future Emperor Augustus (someone else has pointed this out before me, but unfortunately, I can't find the post).

Unlike with Caesar and Augustus, I don't characterize Felix as the president's heir. This is mostly me just wanting to have my cake and eat it too. It takes the some aspects of the less-close-to-the-president read of Felix and transfers it over to Felix who is close to Pres. Ravinstill.

To go back to not getting Dill medical attention, my preferred reading of this is that he is being overly conscious of his image. He doesn't want to draw too much attention to himself, because he doesn't want his mistakes to reflect on his great-uncle/family. I can see a situation where Felix believes that too much interaction with his District tribute might be spun in negative ways on tabloids and headlines.

Additionally, that he doesn't take advantage of the potential and try to spin it any other way leads me to interpret Felix with a somewhat defeatist and unambitious attitude. He also doesn't seem to be the most politically savvy, or at least, he isn't taking after his great-uncle who I imagine was rather ruthless and ambitious to get to where he is today (with Gaul of all people whispering in his ear). Felix's resigned reactions to Dill in the movie are also partially responsible for me characterizing him as defeatist.

Felix being paired with Dill stood out as unusual to me. Despite being a Ravinstill, he's assigned to mentor one of the tributes with the lowest chances of winning. This does lend credence to Felix having being lesser-relation-to-the-president interpretation, but I choose to believe that the president rigs his assignment so that there is less pressure on him.

Being a Ravinstill and More on Being a Nephson

To explain what I just asserted about Felix's mentor assignment, I need to explain how I think being related to the president and a Ravinstill affects him.

Again, Coriolanus' speculation on Felix's relation to the president being the reason that Lepidus Malmsey is speaking so highly of him feels like it would be a constant in Felix's life. People want to get closer to him because of that relation, but people are watching him because of it (see above where I mention this as a potential reason for not trying more with Dill). I imagine that this puts a lot of pressure on him which gets to him.

Due to the disingenuous nature of many people approaching and complimenting Felix, I think that it not only adds to his insecurities, but when he can find people who are genuine with him, he values them dearly and gets rather protective (and maybe possessive). (I've mentioned why I think he and Festus would be good together both as friends or lovers in my other post, but Felix and Hilarius work as friends because I imagine their families are closer in status and wealth than some others.)

As I imagine that Pres. Ravinstill is a distant father figure to Felix but also personally attached to him, Pres. Ravinstill knowing that Felix is both kind-hearted and not ruthless chooses to give him a tribute that has likely no chance of winning. This has the Ravinstills saving face (no chance for a embarrassing defeat if there's no hope of winning) and (the president hopes) that Felix will know better to get attached. (Felix still gets subconsciously a little attached. See Dill ask)

This reading of Felix's mentorship assignment also highlights that his great-uncle doesn't seem to have much confidence in his competence which leads to Felix being insecure and eager to please when possible. I do think it also has him leaning into his defeatism. He'll try his best, but if even his family doesn't expect him to succeed, then what can he do?

Pres. Ravinstill trying to do something for Felix and it backfiring and leading to more insecurities is kind of the story of their failed father-son relationship in my mind. (It might also be Pres. Ravinstill with his entire family.)

I would be remiss to not mention that I don't think that Felix likes Dr. Gaul too much. This draws on him gossiping with Dean Highbottom, but it also has to do with my half-headcanon/half implied canon of Pres. Ravinstill and Dr. Gaul being close. Satyria Click does state that a good report from Gaul is substantial to the president (Ch. 6). (See this tag for my lowkey insane take on the Ravinstill-Gaul dynamic).

What Can We Learn From Movie! Felix?

It should be noted that Felix and Pres. Ravinstill's relationship is also influenced by this line in the movie: "maybe, he would have if he wasn't so busy running the country." (In response to Festus asking if Pres. Ravinstill ever taught Felix table manners)

I love the attempt at showing off status and prestigious wrapped in humor which also hides the reality of an absentee father figure.

Additionally, while portray Felix as rather sympathetic, the haughtiness and judgment of movie! Felix is still something that I see being compatible with my interpretation of him. I think he gets particularly indignant when he feels cornered or embarrassed in a social situation. This is when the worst of him comes out. (I choose to read him shit-talking Sejanus as him actually wanting to shit-talk Gaul, but nobody joined him, so he had to change targets. Yes, I know that this is likely not what the film intended.)

Felix eating with his fingers endears him to me greatly and could be a sign of cracks in his projected facade of perfection, and it does feel to me that Felix's insecurities are showing through when he responds to Festus. I think that there are times that Felix relaxes too much in public around his peers, and he gets self-conscious about it.

I often kill Felix in my stories, and we can blame the movie for giving me inspiration for that too. Unfortunately, being a Ravinstill also doesn't help as I imagine that Coriolanus would want to get rid of any competition for power and the prestige of being family to the previous president puts a tempting target on Felix's back.

Death and a Dip into Extended Ravinstill Lore

Felix's death also speaks to me on a thematic level. The Capitol's children obviously have more privilege and luxury than the District kids. In the bigger picture, amidst all the backstabbing of politics in that corrupt system, the Capitol kids' safety is just an illusion. The system could just as easily turn on them. What better way to illustrate that than with the death of the (former) president's own nephson? In my headcanon lore, Felix is the first time that Coriolanus murders one of his former classmates (See this ask for more).

I have a lot of thoughts on extended Ravinstill lore that goes beyond the scope of this post (See this and this for more) but know that I thinned out the Ravinstill family tree quite a bit before the start of canon. This serves to reinforce the idea of how the Capitol (or at least the unfair system that it runs) isn't truly good for anyone even those in power. It also helps reinforce Felix as a deeply insecure individual who lives in the shadow of two generations worth of dead family members.

...

Okay, this is double in size from the Festus post. I hope that this is coherent! I also hope that I'm not forgetting anything! I have so many Felix thoughts that it is possible.

If any of this sounds interesting, I recommend trying to read my fics on ao3 (they're actually unrestricted now!) if you haven't already.

If you have read my fics, I sincerely hope this was interesting/insightful as a lot of what is here is already in my fics in some form.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!