#okay she did kill gale but at another time and it was just cause I was testing something

[fereldensheroesa]

Would you let her chop off your hand?

[stompanieart]

something i see a lot of people coming up with characters for bg3/dnd/stories/whatever fall victim to is the old dnd alignment chart. you know the one. it is, for brevity's sake, an utter pile of shit. it's so bad that dnd itself has moved away from it, and implemented something in 5e i think is super useful, and i want to make sure more people know about it.

ideals, flaws, and bonds as an alternative to a shitty morality chart below the cut (this ended up being a VERY long post, but i think it's useful if you find yourself wondering how the fuck you're supposed to make an interesting character within the super tight constraints of the alignment chart. short answer: you're not.)

if you look at a dnd character sheet now, there are spaces for these three things, and they provide a great framework for roleplaying that allows a lot more flexibility than saying "lawful good" or "chaotic evil".

ideals: pretty easy! what are your character's strongest beliefs? what are the principles that guide their decisions? do they believe all life is sacred? or that evil should be vanquished at any cost? just remember that this is how a character says they live their life, or wants to live their life, not necessarily how they do.

flaws: also pretty easy, but the trap here is giving them something too fancy and unique (i know, your oc is special and nothing about them is boring--but i promise you boring is good sometimes). "they hate x guy so much they'll betray their beliefs." okay, great start (and something you should hold onto for the next section), but what if they never meet that guy? "they hate x guy so much they refuse to trust any paladins, or any dwarves" is much more likely to come up. going very mundane (they have a short temper, they're always giving their thoughts on something whether people want it or not, etc) are also good places to start. you just want it to be something that could actually, reasonably cause friction in your oc's world.

bonds: this one is the most fun, and also the one people struggle with ime. we tend to think of bonds as positive, but here it just means "a link between points." the important part is that it's strong, whether it's positive or negative. it could be with an item, like a ring a parent gave them on their death bed. it could be with another person, like an old friend they thought was dead, or the man they thought was the murderer. this is something that, like an ideal, guides how they live their life, but in a much more subtle, frequently unconscious, way. go nuts with this one, it's the kind of thing you can work up into a plot for a story, or give to your dm for drama.

here's good ol' brid, a character who ping pongs wildly between true neutral, chaotic good, lawful good, and lawful evil so often as to make that stupid chart entirely useless, as an example:

ideals: brid is a bard and a scholar through and through--art, history, and stories are what make us us. creating art, specifically music, and and recording stories, then spreading them far and wide, is the highest purpose to which one can aspire.

flaws: brid has a deep mistrust, if not outright hatred, of wizards, and will not discuss why. she also has an unpredictable temper, and tends to lash out with the most hurtful insults she can think of when set off. because she feels duty-bound to record stories, she can be intensely nosy.

bonds: a wizard from her youth in waterdeep, the unbreakable lute she carries, enchanted with magic she can't explain, her parents, one dead, one estranged.

this gives you a good idea of who brid would be and how she would behave at the start of a story, or campaign, or game. if we look at her through the lens of baldur's gate 3, we can see how she'd make lawful good decisions--save lae'zel because wow, a gith is rare, what a story she must have, even if she did try and kill me that one time. we can see how she'd make chaotic evil decisions--shove gale back in that fucking portal because he's a godsdamned stinking wizard, and he cannot be trusted. and there is also plenty of space for her to grow and change--shadowheart and astarion stop her from murdering gale in cold blood, and he ends up being so gosh darn affable she considers that some wizards, a very small, vanishingly tiny number of them, might be decent.

ideals, flaws, and bonds aren't perfect, but like i said, i think they're a great way to give yourself a good setup for a character, and good points of reference you can touch back on when their personality or behavior doesn't just flow out of you when writing or roleplaying. i did a very rough version of this before writing brid, and i feel like it helped keep her consistent, and the changes in her behavior as the story went on make more sense. give it a shot if you're feeling lost with a character!

[wellthebardsdead]

Lucy: *watches as ‘Elminster’ stabilises the orb* Done?

Elminster: it is done.

Lucy: good. *snaps her fingers suddenly making the orb disappear from Gales chest*

Gale: *recoils in shock, then relief, the pain the orb had caused him now gone entirely* I…

Elminster: *standing there in shock* what did you do?!

Lucy: Tell Mystra she can lick my ass. *smashes ‘Elminster’ over the head with her axe making him disappear* Some friend, he couldn’t even turn up himself to tell you to kill yourself. No he sends a simulacrum instead, and has it eat our food!

Gale: *feels his chest, still in a state of shock* I… it’s gone… but Mystra- she-

Lucy: to hell with that bitch. Of all the mortals Ao could have chosen he picked her. And what has she done in her time as the weave mother? Attempted an uprising against him, and groomed you from the moment you sparked to life in your mothers womb before casting you aside like you were worth less than dirt only to demand you kill yourself to win back her favour. *scoffs* as if the power imbalance alone between you two wasn’t disgusting enough… the only thing worth less than dirt is her favour.

Gale: she- she didn’t groom me she just… she?… she… *gently takes her hands* …thank you… for this…

Lucy: don’t you dare find another way kill yourself or I will bring you back just to slap you to death myself.

Gale: I-I won’t. I promise… thank you… I have… I have to think… *walks back to his tent*

*post final battle*

Gale: are you- sure you want this? I’ve come to terms with the fact I’ll never have Mystras forgiveness, and I don’t want it either. After everything she’s done, she’s worthless to me.

Lucy: but this would help you move on with your life back at blackstaff, your colleagues will have no choice but to hold their tongues with any snide remarks they may have been holding onto.

Gale: *chuckles* true… true… thank you… *glances at the doorway to the tabernacle seeing Raphael Lurking, the cambion visibly wounded from the battle protecting Lucy and the group* …for everything… *walks to the shrine and makes his offering before disappearing with the crown of Karsus, unaware of the ticking time bomb orb Lucy had placed with it*

*several minutes later*

Gale: *returns with no crown, but looking at peace*

Lucy: how’d it go?

Gale: as well as it could have I suppose… but, she’s forgiven me, and apologised in turn.

Lucy: an apology from her isn’t enough. She deserves a taste of her own medicine.

Gale: heh, well, I’m not willing to risk blowing up the mother of magic.

Lucy: lucky for you, I am.

Gale: what- *hits the deck as a shockwave blasts across all of Faerûn and the realms as for one brief moment, all magic ceased to exist before the anchors took hold* WHAT IN THE HELLS WAS THAT?!

Lucy: the consequences of her actions. The weave anchors will hold it in place until Ao can find a much more suitable host worthy of taking Mystryls place. *holds up her hand as the broken fragments of the crown appear in her palm, no magic, only shards* right, let’s return it to your father.

Raphael: In that condition?? Have you completely lost your mind?!

Lucy: he had no intention of ever using it and in fact wished for nobody to use it. And now nobody can. He never specified wanting it back in one piece now did he?

Raphael: …I- am both frightened, and a little aroused by you right now.

Gale: she has that effect on many people it seems. *smiles* thank you Lucy, I’m glad to call you my friend.

Lucy: *smiles and pulls him into a hug* I’m glad to call you my friend too. Thank you… for not giving up.

Gale: *hugs her back* thank you for not giving up on me… is he okay?

Raphael: *visibly disassociating as he imagines how his father is going to obliterate him over the crown*

Lucy: he’s fine he’s got anxiety.

[redwolfstabs]

My thoughts on the Billy and Sam storyline ‼️

- bare with me, I got a lot to say about this.

• First of all- I will say I absolutely love and hate this storyline- I love it because I love Sam and Billy, I hate it because some parts felt iffy BUT ANYWAYS.

• Starting in the first movie here- hallway scene. We see two girls walk past Billy as Sid runs into him- after one of the girls pass, another passes and says “Hey christy, wait up!” Christina carpenter!! Anyways- he seems a bit distracted, doesn’t he?

You can see him look away for a moment midconvo- NOW I WILL SAY. This could just be his mannerisms, however, for this let’s say it’s not.

• this would mean that He might’ve had a fling with Christina sometime during his relationship with Sid. Not a shocker, really, considering he didn’t really seem to actually love her.

•Skip forward, Billys dead, Sam learns he’s her father, she’s an adult and has a little sister Tara.

• Sam sees hallucinations of Billy often in reflective surfaces, reason being: he’s her father. Once she knows this, and knows what he did, it causes her to distance from her family and woodsboro as she’s not keen on the idea of being like him.

• Billy kinda acts like herrrr.. “Dark Passenger”, so to speak. [if any of you get this reference I’m forever happy.]

• First time we see Ghostly Billy, it’s in the hospital. And Billy mentions that Sam needs to tell Tara why she’s being targeted. So, Sam does this.

• Later, we see Billy in the car with Sam and he’s being a silly stupid menace. He’s basically just like “let’s fucking stab whoever is doing this to you and your sister! Cmon! Stabby stab!”

• Now, you could interpret this as Billy caring about Sam and Tara. OR you could interpret this as Sam thinking that maybe Billy would actually care if he was around. Either way, this scene makes him a Grey character. As he still wants to commit murder through Sam, he’s suggesting this because it’s his kid in danger. It’s a grey character thing.

• Later, at the end of the movie, Sam sees him again. This time, it’s because her boyfriend Richie is about to murder her. Billy nods over to the knife, and when Sam looks at it then back at him, he kinda gives a nod. Which, could be a nod of approval. Which again, shows that maybe Billy could care about his kid.

• Scream 6. Sam reveals that killing Richie was pretty damn easy, because it meant her and Tara would be safe. However, because of this, she becomes the town pariah. They took Billy’s whole plan, and made it sound like her. Meaning they think she committed all the murders and pinned it on Richie. [which by the way, I didn’t like so much. Redundancy.]

• one thing I wanna mention, I believe it was Gale who mentioned Billy AND stu as killers. Most forget stu, think he was just a lapdog when he was in fact VERY IMPORTANT.

• Anyways. Sam comes across all the robes and knives with the robes and she’s immediately drawn to Billy’s.

• Sam gets her hallucinations back and the first thing Billy says is something like “How cool is this place-” and you can tell by her demeanor she’s unsettled.

• Team Loomis ‼️

• Sam ends up Taking said Robe and knife at the end of the movie to kill the ghostfaces who’re after her because of Richies death

• She doesn’t want to, because then she’s be proving to Billy that she’s a killer just like him. But she needs to survive. She really does.

• She gets a little knife happy, but that’s okay because she’s a Loomis

• TARA is actually the one who gets her to commit the final murder which I think is a slay EBDJSND

• At the very end of the movie, Sam looks at the mask in her hand [Which is billys] and then she drops it. It’s symbolic in a way, showing she’s lowkey kinda over this Loomis shit.

• I LOVE LOVE LOVE this storyline because it shows how Sam grows, and it also gives us a little bit of grey character Billy moment

[Reblogs appreciated, but not forced!] [ @smashlovesscream ]

[asidian]

Been re-reading Another Path (SO SO GOOD), and I had a hypothetical question for you! How do you think it would have gone if any of the others had found Astarion entombed? Gale doing some research, Shadowheart doing Sharran stuff, Karlach still under Zariel's control, Dark Urge doing... their thing... Lae'zel wouldn't have been in Faerun pre-canon I don't think. I'm just curious what your thoughts are on how whichever of these interest you would have played out!

Oh, man. Okay, let's see.

Gale showing up to do some research would probably end up with him being desperately outmatched. If he's in Cazador's palace solo, as a wizard, no matter how high his level is, he's probably not going to come out of that alive. Gale is spawn number 6,500 or so, hanging out down in the basement. Sorry, Gale. I imagine he would absolutely try and get Astarion out before then, though. Struggle for half an hour to get the sarcophagus lid open (that Str 15 DC, RIP) in search of some obscure engraving he thinks might be inside, then catch sight of Astarion in the lantern light and go, "Someone's in here?!" Then probably an attempt to abscond with him, but, whoops, Cazador doesn't much like anyone running off with his property. Both of them have a very bad time after, but at least Gale dies relatively quickly; Astarion gets to have a bad time for even longer, as Cazador takes it out on him for "going along with" the rescue attempt, despite the fact that he can't even walk. Whether Gale self-detonates and takes out the entire city depends on how long he stays in the basement. :' )

Shadowheart... mmm, it depends, I think. If she's solo, she's going to run into the same trouble Gale did, but she has the advantage of a) she has heal spells handy and b) she can lift more than a feather pillow without toppling over, so in theory she could grab Astarion and get him out if she wanted to. And I think she would want to, provided she was on her own. Even amnesiac and prickly, she has enough of her about herself that I think she's a decent person at heart, and she could find some way to justify it because that's a hell of a state to leave someone in. Without anything to scare Cazador off using the compulsion to bring Astarion back, though, he'd probably get up and try to walk off, so she might have to subdue him if she wanted to keep him from heading right back. Considering he was weak as a newborn kitten at first, though, it seems reasonable that she could. Now, if she WASN'T solo and rolled up with a bunch of Sharrans... bad end, I think. I can see them going "Hey, this is our palace now," and killing the spawn like the hunters did. Cazador takes off. Maybe they keep Astarion around cause, hey, they always need someone to practice torture techniques on, and if this one's been entombed forever, guess he can't die?? Shadowheart would hate it and maybe sneak him small kindnesses when she could/when she had enough of herself present to manage it.

Karlach under Zariel's control I feel would depend on what she's there for and how much control she has over the situation. If she's been sent to Baldur's Gate on her own, for a reason? Let's say she shows up looking for some information on some devil Zariel is feuding with (maybe in the same engraving Gale would have researched?), and she's by herself. In that case, no way she'd leave him. She'd pretend not to have found what she came for yet (or deliberately not have looked the first time, to buy herself more time) and then figure out how to get this poor bastard out of a sarcophagus without touching him. It's fine; she has endless belts, and probably she can find enough in the surrounding area to cobble together the world's shittiest one-sided stretcher to pull him to safety, though bad luck to Astarion, who's going to have to get dragged over the ground with his everything still broken. She'd run into the same issue as Shadowheart, where as soon as Cazador realized he was gone, he'd use the compulsion to call him back. And Karlach, presumably, is on a timer; she can only be gone for so long before Zariel yanks the leash. So I imagine she'd get a hotel room, do her best to get him in at least not miserable shape, and then show up at Fytz's doorstep like, "Hi I know I haven't seen you in years, but can you take this guy, he's had a rough time." Alternately, when Karlach gets called back, she's right by Astarion and proximity is how the spell works, and whoops, now they're both in Avernus until gamestart. You know, I like that second one better, actually. That's very appealing. >>

I unfortunately haven't done a Durge playthrough yet so I can't answer this one, and I think Lae'zel wouldn't be around, yeah. :|a

This was really fun, though. Thanks for the ask, anon! :>

[rielzero]

POV: The adventuring party meets up yearly after the epilogue to talk about their lives.

Loki Wren: So, I realized I really liked rats, and decided to raise them by hand because I thought they were cute- Even if they live short lives, I had to think: What else could befriending those critters bring? Loki Wren: Eventually, after selectively breeding the critters, I've gotten all sorts of quirky results, healthy of course. Its important to improve the lives of the offspring. They are my friends!

Loki Wren: To improve my communication skills and to tame them better, I asked Halsin to teach me a few things- I basicially don't go a day without casting speak with animals.

Loki Wren: Then, one of my nests developed a few prodigy rats, very obedient little pets. They're kind of my children. Started teaching them how to gather information. They're cute tiny spies. Very smart, very adorable.

Loki Wren: Had to neuter a lot of my babies though- You know- Things can get out of hand, one of my favorite sons tried to breed with sewer rats, and I didn't want to upset Astarion again with my obsession over these critters.. Early on he was not very happy with my research.

Loki Wren: My precious boy was angry with me first- but then understood it as if I had given him a new great holy mission: To befriend the sewer Colonies and establish an alliance with them through education.

Loki Wren: [starts laughing, there's a giggle at the end] And now I... [wheezes] Have an army of rats at my full disposal, with emissaries of rats training and teaching each other.. Convinced I am god. They developed an entire culture surrounding me.

Astarion: From ratboy, to ratfather, to Locke- then Loki Wren. And then Ratgod. Who would've thought. [chuckles] And now all in Baldur's Gate adore the critters.

Loki Wren: Anyway, the city is now psyched about pet rats and less eager to kill the sewer rats. My ''divine'' protection. [manical laughter] Of course, they do have territorial disputes. Helps keeping the population at bay.

Loki Wren: I love my rats..

Astarion: Sometimes I wonder if you are a genius or just really enthusiastic about your little hobbies.. Then I realize you are both. Always both.

Loki Wren: So what's everyone else been up to?

Shadowheart: Uh, I learned how to swim. Properly this time.

Karlach: The usual, fighting off fiends. [yawns] I would love to pet some rats though!! Wyll: I hunted a few bounties in Avernus... Nothing out of the ordinary. Seldazr: Published another book, I think Volo's jealous of my success. He's been trying to claim my glass eye is the cause. Not much else?

Gale: I've been trying and failing at modifying a scrying spell... Elminster has been dodging my letters. Lae'zel: Could you overthrow another city with the rats? They're pretty much soldiers already. I'm disappointed you haven't tried yet. Minthara: ..I would like to know as well. I think they'd do well in the underdark. Enough space. They could potentially and easily adapt to the ecosystem in a few generations, reigning terror on the denizens and cultivating with their religion into a functioning society. We've seen it happen many times before..

Loki Wren: ..How do you think the Bhaalists were driven out? They work better as spies.

Halsin: Okay- Thank Silvanus. I was worried you were conscripting them.. From what I've seen in the city itself, life thrives better with less conflict and more equity.

Loki Wren: I AM NOT SENDING MY BABIES TO WAR!!!

Astarion: [sips his drink] Of course not, Darling. Of course not.

Loki Wren: This is why we did not invite Jaheira for our repeated reunions, next thing you know she's ruining everything with her paranoia....

Meanwhile back in Baldur's gate

Jaheira: [holds up a pet rat that has no fur] Who's my little Minsc baby- who's my little baby boy??? Yes you are. You are. [scritches the rat]

Rion: Ugh.. Jord: :(

[avvidstarion]

1, 6, 8, 12, and 17 my hater in arms 💕

The character everyone gets wrong

OKAY this is niche and OUTTA LEFT FIELD but my favorite book of ALL TIME is we have always lived in the castle by shirley jackson and the HATE i see for its protagonist is ALL WRONG. It's in the same vein as like Chara undertale hate (another of my fave characters of all time) where peoples see a CHILD that clearly has a lot going on and are like. this person is irredeemably evil. no they're traumatized

6. Which ship fans are the most annoying?

bloodweave sorry bloodweave like. for why. why is it so popular why is it everywhere. like yeah every origin ship is valid and can be canon but like they both have much more interesting dynamics with other charactes. where is the gale/lae'zel art. hwere is the aslach (ass lack) or the aswylllach (ass will lack) art. why is bloodweave the most popular origin ship

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

okay this doesn't exactly fit bc i dont think it's super popular per se but it's on my mind today. i hate seeing fanart of kakashi and gojo together. people always twinkify them and alwasy draw them like they're about to fuck. 1) kakashi is not hot (dont get me wrong i want to fuck him but not cause he's like. physically attractive.) 2) they are not the same person 3) gojo will never be kakashi gojo wishes he was kakashi 4) kakashi would kill that man

OH OH ALSO THAT REMINDS ME I'LL THROW THIS IN HERE TOO. i don't like kakashi/iruka i think it's unfounded. they hardly ever talk. yeah they both love naruto but like can just be his mentor figures separately they don't have to be married. kakashi is married to guy like they are MARRIED. i feel like kakashi/guy would be way more popular if guy was a prettyboy twink (like iruka)

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

i wanna say wyll but like that shit actually makes me fucking angry and not in a silly haha way so i am going to instead say sera dragonage. now. i know there are a lot of sera dragonage haters out there and there are some things about her that i do not like. however i overall love her and i think she is a tragic case of bad writing and wasted potential. why did they have a straight white guy write a lesbian whose character arc revolves around internalized racism. why does the game literally talk shit about her during her romance arc. literally one of her romance quests is "you love sera and wanna get her something to show her how much you care. go ask your friends for gift advice" and EVERY SINGLE COMPANION OR ADVISOR IS JUST LIKE. I HATE SERA SHES SO ANNOYING WHY ARE YOU DATING HER. UGH. ALSO. the game makes you be so mean to her!! so many times the only dialogue options with her are like "stop talking weird i dont understand you'". also the fact that YOU CAN LITERALLY KICK HER OUT AT ANY TIME??? LIKE NO MATTER WHAT THERE IS ALWAYS A DIALOGUE BUTTON TO KICK HER OUT?? here are reasons why you should like sera:

she is fun trickster! solas fucking wishes he was her.

her subclass is just super fun!! throw jars of bees and fire and shit at your enemies!

she is so genuine and cares so much about what she believes in. i wish that was explored more but as i have said the game literally hates her so.

she loves you so much!!!! she marries you!!!!!!!!!

i actualy really like her voice and the way she talks. shes just fun!

she's autistic <3

17. there should be more types of this fic/art

more people should be drawing gale and halsin and karlach fat, for one. also everyone else in the party but like especially those three. larian the fact that you have zero fat people in your game sucks supremely and you should feel bad about it.

actually draw more characters as fat anyway.

[fetabathwater]

so is amma a changeling/dopplerganger? or is she actually a tiefling? and like how old is she did she study away was she always in the cult like sorry im really interested in her... bewitched me body and soul etc

okay i rambled and took like 4 days to answer this so UNDER THE CUT

she is a tieflingggggg and that's what she's sticking with! if/when she does 'change shape' or w/e its a uhhh . spell. i forgot the name of it. disguise shape spell LMAO. but its only got a handful of variations compared to like. the mask of the shapeshifter yknow. okay so my like concept of amma and the winding water is that when "amity the first" is sent to investigate some like bhaalist pop up, bc its been a while since theyve been active but hey you cant trust a bhaalist. the first however convinces these like weeping devoted weirdo bhaalists that shes one of them, dives into the water and retrieves a babe from the like long dead watery remains of bhaal, but it's not really a child. like just some sort of . ok im losing words i was gonna say jellybean LOL but like equivalent of holding a very warm piece of light in hand. like divinity. and it's the weirdest thing for the first because bhaal literally wrecked personal havoc for a good few hundred years, pre and post death, and he's technically still dead by this point too when like they shouldn't be finding anymore spawn really popping up (or at least ones with enough divinity to warrant watching over in case of death and then resurrection of father dearest). but the divinity is warm and small and sweet, nothing like what the first had experienced with the crisis. and when the first like breaks through the surface of the river with a child pulled from bhaal's remains, it more than anything puts a good amount of fear back into them.

because the gods are Very Real, still, apparently, despite the spellplague and troubles causing all kinds of havoc around them. the first gets to the shore with this child who is not a child but is all at once, just a formation of river remains, bone, blood, weeds.

but this not-child opens its eyes and looks at her and as it grows, the first starts to notice it resembles her. not completely, there are some things that even the weirdness but also lack of magic can't replace when someone is created from their father's bones. yet horns grow, and a tail, and the child is a tiefling, by all accounts. the child is kind of hers.

as for like. how amma gets Educated™ and shizz, raised by the first and primistresses. introduced to maiming biting killing etc. definitely comes into her magic girl moment early as well, divine soul and all that (but evul!). amma is a weird quiet kid, takes well to like. everything outside the bhaalist attempts to foster their perfect little bhaalspawn considering it failed the last few times. attends like idk random ass colleges or like academies for one yr or smth. just randomly appears in the back of a class, learns, leaves. i would think it would be hilarious if she was at blackstaff academy in neverwinter and gale was there too at some point LMAO like lets start that rivalry off early. as far as like 'adopted' by another family goes, that did happen kind of, but she was also introduced to other bhaalist peers like torlin silvershield (who assisted with bringing back bhaal rip to gorions ward ig), thalamra vanthampur (funded the dead three when elturel was pulled into the hells), nysene eomane, rillyn family and other mostly devil worshipping families because its baldurs gate. you can throw a stone and like not 3ft from you hit someone who rly shouldnt worship a dang devil or god like.

granted she's not living this upper city lifestyle - these people are coming to the lower city, her domain. not an assassin for hire, but like, easy to bait and intrigue. is Known™ to some people but like do they want to know about her? probably not. especially when they see her collection of preserved. idk. eyeballs? spleens? choose a body part?

but amma is mostly just idling her and studying and picking up skills around the place, doing some sightseeing, maybe some unfortunate stabbing. the first kind of does try to get her into like. a family or two while amma is a wee child but there are uncontrollable urges and then combined with the blend of a child's emotional reaction and sharp objects and loud noises, it just becomes best for this kid to not be fostered. THERE WERE GOOD TIMES but there were also more bad than good. which is unfortunate and the first adds it to a long list of regrets. but amma pretty much starts going to these places and doing these things in her teens, well until what she remembers as like her late 20s early 30s, before returning to the temple of bhaal in baldurs gate. taking over. you come to me on the day of my daughter's wedding (has no daughter). freshly slaughtered class blood all over her and then like takes control of the bhaalist temple.

fucks around. finds out. in her downtime honestly still finds herself picking up books and whatever - debates attending lectures and the like at public forums. goes to a museum. looks at the sculptures. uses one for a weapon. moves on. culture !

[ryttu3k]

I have *checks* 206 screencaps for the next parts and Tumblr has a limit of, uh, 30, so this will have to be a rather abridged version. Act 2, well into the Shadow-Cursed Lands (having just encountered Kar'niss).

Going waaay back to Grymforge about a million years ago (two days ago) and taking the elevator up. We meet Elminster, who has some rather disturbing things to say.

...no, the other kind of disturbing.

Yeah. I do love how genuinely supportive of Gale everyone is, though, and how appalled Mystra even has the audacity. I think I like Karlach's line best - she's no god worth worshipping, in that case!

The save file I made after all that.

We venture into the Shadow-Cursed Lands. Interestingly, Shadowheart has some slight immunity to it! The others... do not. Thankfully, both she and Tae have daylight spells, which Tae casts to hold it off until we can get to the Last Light in, where Karlach... promptly flips the fuck out over Jaheira.

Into the inn! Karlach meets a fan of her own:

The tiefling kids are so cute. Menaces! But so cute. It's not all good news - a lot have been taken to Moonrise Towers, and we get confirmation that Wyll's father has been taken as well. There's also a dude in a weird sort of catatonic state, which Halsin takes especial interest in - that'll be something to deal with, too, if we're to actually help restore these lands.

Concerningly: Baldur's Gate is currently in the hands of one Enver Gortash. Wyll has heard of him, and is a bit surprised - last he heard, Gortash was a minor player.

Karlach has heard of him too.

(Tae immediately starts trying to work out if killing this guy will cause a political crisis.)

Met a celebrity. I love him.

Less welcomingly, met another familiar face (engaged in a chess game with Mol). With a bit of assistance, she wins the game and scarpers, leaving the group with... Raphael, who proceeds to make some very disturbing comments.

Absolutely please do.

Astarion has a request of his own (one which results in him being stripped half-naked in the middle of the inn). A deal with the devil - this will in no means come back to bite us!

Larian please let me give him a hug as a friend. Please.

We meet Dammon again! He has good news and bad news. The good news is, with a bit of Infernal Iron, he can help cool Karlach down!

She's pretty pleased.

She's less pleased by the news that her Infernal Engine is just... too hot to exist in the material plane. Either she returns to Avernus, or she dies. It's... not a great choice, with Karlach determined not to ever return, even if it does cost her her life. Tae promises to find a solution.

The companions are generally sympathetic, in... their own ways.

(STR 8 vs STR 18. I'm just sayin' XD;; )

No time to rest and relax, though. Speak of the devil and she will come.

Tae telepathically reassures Wyll that they'll deal with it, and makes a deal of their own - they carry out Mizora's task, and she frees Wyll from his pact. Worth a try!

Meanwhile on the other side of camp, Tae finds Astarion trying to work out what his scars say via touch. They offer to have a look at them.

Tae recognises it as Infernal, but doesn't know the language, and draws it out instead. They suggest asking the others, which Astarion swiftly decides against. Okay, we can do that.

That night, Tae meets the Dream Visitor again.

They very much appreciate a hug. Tae feels sad but relieved they were able to help their guardian; I feel weird about it because I know exactly who they are XD;;

Back to the inn to meet Isobel. Shadowheart is less than impressed with Selûnite magic; Tae, who follows the fellow moon-associated chaotic good goddess Eilistraee, is pretty pleased with it.

The battle afterwards - less so. (Full disclosure - I tried this earlier on, before even talking to Dammon or Halsin, and failed. Reloaded, did other stuff, then tried again. Sorry but no, I am not losing my tiefling friends!) It's mostly a success, although the cultists do manage to get away with a hostage:

With the inn and Isobel safe for now, it's back into the dark. We ambush a party of cultists, and find their moon lantern, used to find their way through the shadow curse. Tae briefly debates on what to do, but...

You know a decision is ethically correct when [Astarion disapproves] appears <3

Lae'zel talks about enjoying battles, and adds, "And the sort made more thrilling with a hot-hearted tiefling at my side." Sorry, Lae'zel, the hot-hearted tiefling is dating the soft and squishy pastel druid. I'll set you guys up in another playthrough ^_^;;

Have a Concerning Conversation with Astarion. Amazing how he's actually able to say "you have a big heart" with "(derogatory)" at the end XD;; No bestie we're not taking over the cult, okay <3

Story of their lives.

Meanwhile, with Karlach...

And they have a very nice night indeed!

tfw you break a ten-year dry spell and promptly get the zoomies.

Only awkwardness to spoil the morning - Gale, with some... misinterpretations.

He's really sweet! Tae adores him as a friend! But they've also turned down all his advances so the whole thing is just... weird.

You know what no one is romancing Astarion in this run, go show him some love and patience and acceptance. It'll be good for both of you, I think!

Next stop - the House of Healing, to see what we can do about Art's condition and the curse, then onwards to Moonrise Towers. Current approvals: Karlach, Gale, and Wyll are all maxed out on 100, Shadowheart is on 69 nice, Lae'zel on 57, Astarion languishing on 42. Determined to get to 50 by the end of act 2, dangit!

[weve-got-dnd-at-home]

"Nezes is Not Having a Good Time"

Nezes is the character I love most of all of my characters. She helped to defeated Strahd, then was thrown into an entirely new world by a mindflayer to go after her friend, Izek. She's tired.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nezes was exhausted.

Not the tired of walking all day on a dusty path or the tired of needing sleep after a long day. Not even the tired of a parent awake with a weepy baby. Bone-deep exhausted. She was so tired that her soul ached from it. She had been having the two weeks from hell. 

Had it really be less than a month? There was no way. She had experienced entire lifetimes in those two weeks. She had gained a soul, gained, lost, and regained a patron to give her powers, been saved by a halfling and a bird-shifter, defeated two horrible monsters, met werewolves and an elf who ran purely on rage, befriended apex predators, has her home burned to the ground, found that her best friend had been turned into a… new being, fused with others, started a war with the vampire lord, and, finally, broke into his castle and killed him. She had hoped that would be the end. That they could rebuild Vlakki, she could live in peace with Garrett and Corvy, and just rest. 

Then Izek had been grabbed by the sword. Nezes knew he would do other things, he had made a pact with the sword after all. But she had hoped it wouldn't claim it's boon for a little while. A fool she had been, she supposed. Doubly so to convince the mindflayer to take her through realities to go after him. 

Izek would have been fine. He was Izek. He could have killed the vampire lord by himself. But he was her friend. She loved him. She couldn't just let him go off and not know what happened to him, if she could help. He was her family now. Though, he'd probably hate it a lot if she said that to him. 

As Nezes laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, listening to the caricature of her girlfriend storm out of the inn, she realized she should have waited a day. Just one. To find Exe and make sure she was okay. To eat a good meal with Garrett, uninhibited by camping or monsters or revelations that your girlfriend is actually a God. To just have one night to do what she had dreamed of for so long–snuggling Corvy and being safe. One day before the mindflayer sent her after Izek in this chaotic place.

Family. Vallaki. Corvy. Nezes was so mad she could spit. She was alone in this new world and she had only one thing that she could use to contact the ones she loved, the dream walking Agatha had given her. And despite how she ached for her friends, her family, she had used the power for the night to contact Gale's dad. Because it had been important to her. Because Nezes was trying to be good and kind.

They’d found Xen’thril alright, and Gale had done nothing but start a fight with another God. Did Gale even have a right to be pissed off, when she used Nezes’ powers and caused the trouble herself? 

If Izek was there, he would have said that Gale was an idiot. If Garrett was there, he would have been more kind. He would have asked Gale what was wrong, and what the situation was. But Nezes didn’t want to be kind. She didn’t want to be like Garrett. She wanted, for just one moment, to be selfish. Gale was plenty selfish, it seemed. She had family and friends whom she could visit and she just didn’t. Because she was busy. And unlike Corvy, she hadn’t even fought Strahd. No, her dad had.

Nezes ached so fiercely she thought she might cough up blood. 

She was jealous. It coated her mouth and throat like venom. The Cursebreakers had had an entire group and they had become heroes. They all had happy lives and were thriving. Vallaki had never burned. The Bluewater Inn had never crumbled to ash. 

You are not even worth remembering. The words, like a curse from the vampire lord, echoed in her head every waking moment. Being in Vallaki felt wrong. Every time she closed her eyes she saw flames and smoke and felt Corvy’s blood on her hands. 

Nezes pushed herself out of bed and limped over to the wardrobe to comb her hair. Her body ached, still sore from… well, from everything. The mirror sitting atop the wardrobe winked in the sunlight coming through the window, and in its reflection Nezes saw herself.

It wasn’t even herself, she realized. Her face was leaner, and she had several small scars now. Her eyes were hard and her lips pulled down in a way that looked like she’d forgotten how to smile. She looked tired. She was tired. Nezes wondered if she could still play instruments. Had she lost that ability when Kasxif changed her? Had she lost it on the journey here?

Nezes combed out her curls as best she could, vowing to just cut it all off if she had to keep going on these adventures. She used to take such good care of her hair. She loved its blue color and the curls, but now it was just work. She’d be able to fight better if it was a bob. Maybe she’d ask Dent to do it.

Nezes got dressed, strapped the sword of light to her back, and took a deep breath before stepping out of the inn room. Things would get better. She just had to get some breakfast. “It’ll be okay,” she whispered to herself, shutting the door.

The words rang hollow. 

Story copyright Dawn E. Dagger, 2024. Character copyright Dawn E. Dagger, Hector Fox, Dominic DK, and SchroGrey, 2024. Characters, quotes, and story cannot be used without written permission. ‘Strahd,’ ‘mindflayer,’ and ‘Vallaki’ are copyrighted by Dungeons and Dragons and Wizards of the Coast, and are used in reference as allowed by fair use copyright law.

[gamersaph]

BG3 Campaign 1: Journal: Day 1

Okay, so I've been playing BG3 since it came out and I really should have been doing this since i started because ?? I love doing things like this....SO

My character:

Name: Nyxanna

Race: Drow

Class: Sorcerer - Wild Magic

Current level (as of this post): 6

Current Party: Shadowheart - Astarion - Gale

A quick summary of some highlights:

DID NOT kill Kagbitch (As I disrespectfully like referring to Kagha as) but oh man...W

I managed to help the Tieflings and we partied! (Shadowheart and I shared our first kiss <3 ) I didn't even think I was going to like her...i was very set on Wyll; but she warmed my heart and wiggled her way in I LOVE the way she slowly opens up and the banter and it just...chef kiss - I adore her and the dynamic she can have with Tav

SCOUT HAS BEEN RECRUITED and I'm still trying to get the little owl-bear friend to come to camp? Gale scared him away....

met Raphael ONCE ? I...Am scared of when he'll decide to turn up next.

Astarion did in fact, kill me, it was worth it. I'm so glad I had revivify scrolls....

The deep gnome we save on that windmill? Yeah...hit the wrong lever and sent him FLYING i RUSHED to my previous save because I felt so bad

We defeated/fought a goblin camp - RIP Minthara, I will have to romance you another playstyle where I feel more evil

Helped some people out at a fire at a manor and its revealed Wyll is the son of a DUKE

Headed to the under dark! Found a mages tower, fought some mimics, saved some poor man from....exploding mushrooms?

And for romance?

Shadowheart

Gale is also interested? In a conversation with him and Astarion - Astarion asked him when he's going to stop pining to which Gale said 'Its been a year since Mystra left me, I'm over it' - Astarion then mentioned he wasn't referring to Mystra which made me GASSPP

SIR - Shadowheart has my...well...heart XD don't try and get under my skin like this!

SO where am I currently:

I am currently still exploring the under dark! I have yet to make my way to moon rise.

I defeated to Druegar camp//Nere

After two attempts (roughly 3-4 hours each...)

I did it

In the middle of the fight it randomly? stopped? The druegar just stopped fighting me? I don't know WHAT caused this, I'm thinking one of those 'Mindmasters' spells must have back fired. But i had no complaints because it let me

hot dark elf man - I mean...EVIL dark elf man was beheaded

If evil why hot

He had no right looking like this.

Also? He obviously pisses me off and that camp made me SO upset! Yes these two thoughts coexist; I am pulling my hair out about it...and also twirling it.

BUT ANYWAY

I managed to help free some animals and slowly brought down the camp...oh it was marvelous revealing all the slaughtered Druegar to him.

He's such a coward! And incredibly easy to off when you get rid of the camp.

I think my time in the under dark is about wrapped up with this!

I have to go back and fight 'auntie ethel....' I think if I can get to level 6 I might be able to do so finally.

All of my quests are starting to lead to Moonrise so I may head there ? But I'm just worried level 6 is still too low....

I'll need to look over my quests again to see and make sure they actually are set for Moonrise before I leave....

[vioartemis]

I’ll die with you (part 3)

(Tara Carpenter x fem! reader)

Summary: Your rest was short, another attack soon occurs, deadlier than the first one. Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6 || Part 7 Warnings: blood, death of character, angst (English isn't my first language, I'm sorry if there are mistakes or if something doesn't make sense TvT)

“I swear I’m gonna need to bleach my eyes” you heard Sam say when you went downstairs with Tara, half an hour later

“Come on, we were fully clothed, you didn’t see anything” Tara rolled her eyes and sit at the table

“That’s not the point! Since when are you even doing that? You’re too young to-”

"I mean they're adults so..." Gale started

"Would you mind stop talking about our sex life?" you groaned, cheeks still red

"What do you want us to talk about?"

"I don't know, the weather, whether or not pineapple belongs on pizza..."

"Well that's an easy question" Sam declared, taking a slice of pizza and giving one to everyone

"I suppose we all agree they don't" you girlfriend said

"We do, indeed" Gale confirmed while you nodded

"Uh, no we don't"

A debate started, Sam against the three of you. It almost looked like a normal family dinner, a normal night. You nearly forgot you were the next target of a psycho killer. Until you all jumped when your phone rang.

Probably: Damian Walker.

You never realized you never gave him your phone number. Mindy or Chad probably did.

"It's okay, it's Damian"

"Y/n-" Tara tried to interrupt

But you already took your phone and walked away from the table, picking up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, how are you feeling tonight?"

"Tired and embarrassed, but other than that, pretty good"

"What...?"

"It's a long story" you sighed "Why do you call?"

"Oh, I wanted to know if you were having fun..." the slight sound of an electronic device could be heard "while I was gutting your friends like fishes."

All color vanished from your face.

"W-what...?"

Tara stood up hearing your shaking voice, worried. Whoever called you, they hang up without answering.

"Hello?! Please don't hurt them!" you cried

"Baby wha-"

"He's gonna kill Mindy and Chad we have to go!"

“No no no. We go, you stay here”

“And get attacked again? No thank you” you protested, dialing 911

When you arrived at Mindy and Chad’s not even five minutes later, the door was slightly opened. You could hear fight noises coming from inside. There was still a chance to save them.

You opened the door and rushed inside, baseball bat in hand. The first thing you saw was Ghostface, standing over the twins.

He slowly turned his head to look at you and did his signature blade-cleaning, before running away.

You were tempted to chase after him, but your friends mattered more. When you came closer to them, your heart dropped. There was blood everywhere.

Chad’s shirt was torn apart due to multiple stab. Mindy had her back against a wall, blood coming from her stomach.

Your own wounds burned at the sight, tears coming to your eyes. You couldn’t move, paralyzed.

“Shit…” you heard Sam say next to Chad

You had no idea how much time passed, but at one point Mindy coughed, causing your head to jolt in her direction. She was regaining consciousness!

Be fire you could realize it you were kneeling next to her, applying pressure on her wound.

“You’re gonna be okay, we called an ambulance, they should-”

Suddenly Damian brushed into the room.

“Oh my god-”

“Where the fuck were you?”

“I- I went to the bathroom a-and someone knocked me out… I- I just woke up”

You looked him up and down. Blood was running down his face from his forehead. But he could have done it himself.

“Stay the fuck back” Mindy said when he tried to come closer

"N-no I- I'm not... It's not me I swear... Y/n y-you believe me right...?"

You really wanted to. But last time he didn't have an alibi, and now...

"I'm sorry..."

You could see how broken he was hearing your words. Maybe he wasn't the killer after all. Or he was a good actor, which wasn't to exclude.

You were waiting in the waiting room, Tara sitting on your lap and caressing your hair gently in an attempt to reassure you. You were starting to believe her when the doctors came.

You all got up immediately, heart beating faster than ever.

"Mrs Meeks should be okay, but she needs rest"

"And Chad?" Sam asked

"I'm... sorry. We did our best but... we couldn't save him..."

You had to sit back down, in shock. You never thought that would happen again. You thought losing friends was over. You should've known it would end up this way, with Ghostface's return.

Maybe you were just in denial. Believing if you convinced yourself it wouldn't happen everything would be fine. But nothing was fine.

The 2022 massacre left a indelible mark on you. The current events only reopened the scar you thought had healed.

Maybe if you had stick all together he would still be alive. If you had been all together Ghostface wouldn't have tried anything. If you had left this stupid town when you could...

Maybe it was all your fault after all.

You were the first target, but you survived. No first targets survived before Tara. And you weren't even sure they wanted her dead at that moment.

Maybe the killer wanted to make you suffer before killing you. Maybe it was all part of their plan to let you live. Maybe they were about to destroy everything you had. Maybe-

You felt hands on your face and looked down to see Tara, concern written on her face. She brushed your cheeks with her thumbs softly. It was only then that you realized that you were crying.

That was the moment Lexi chose to arrive, breathing heavily and sweating. She must have run here.

"I- I'm sorry I had piano lesson- I just- I just saw your texts-" she took a deep breath "Mindy- is she going to be okay? And- and Chad?"

You didn't have the strength to tell her. Not now, it was still to fresh. Instead you broke down in your girlfriend's arms. You could swear she was crying too.

A loud noise made you tilt your head up. Lexi had pinned Damian to the wall, gripping him by the collar of his shirt.

"What did you do to them? You were here to why didn't you help?"

"I- I got knocked out...! I already told them...!" he made a circle toward you with his arm "L- Lexi I swear I didn't- I can't breath can you-"

"I don't fucking believe you. That's easy pretending you passed out."

Her grip only grew tighter. Damian's face started to become red. He was struggling against the blonde.

Sam had to force them appart, holding a furious Lexi away from the poor boy trying to catch his breath.

After everyone had calmed down, the police arrived and questioned the group. They didn't seem to believe Damian's alibi either.

"Maybe we should take him into custody for a little while? Just to make sure he's not, you know, the killer?" a deputy asked the sheriff

"We can't do that without evidences, that would be abusing of our power as representants of the law-"

"Do it" all head turned to the boy "T- take me into custody, you'll see it's not me. If it's the only way I can prove my innocence... I'll do it"

"You sure about that son?"

"Y-yeah"

"Okay then... come with me" the deputy said after the sheriff nodded

"The hospital is secure, we have police officers at each floor, you should be safe here. Don't go out, don't stay alone until morning. Understood?"

You weren't totally sure you could believe him. You remembered well how it ended last time. Ghostface always managed to pass past the security, why would that change now?

When the police left, you were allowed to see Mindy. She was devastated. Fortunately, her girlfriend was here for her.

Yours was holding your hand tight, fingers intertwined with yours. She knew it could've been you as much as you knew it could've been her. At the moment, you were so glad she was safe.

But it was just temporary. It always was.

Ghostface knew when to hit you. Not too soon after the previous attack, not too long after. Just as you started to think it would get better -or at least not worse. Just when hope started coming back.

The moment it hurt the most.

"Can you guys stay here for the rest of the night...?"

"Of course, we're not leaving you alone after that..."

Everyone started to move things around to get confortable for the night. You and Tara sat on the floor, on a blanket, in a corner.

You could hear soft snores, your little group falling asleep one after another. You didn't know how they could sleep in that situation. You couldn't.

Every time you closed your eyes, Ghostface appeared before you, ready to kill all your friends one by one.

You watched as Tara was sleeping on your shoulder. She seemed peaceful. You played with her hair, trying you imagine you were in your room, and it was a normal night.

you didn't realize she was awake, caught into your daydream, until she spoke.

"Are you okay...?" she whispered

You jumped a little.

"I... don't know... you?"

"Same... I just- I just hoped it wouldn't happen again... It's stupid but- I thought it would be different..."

"It's not stupid... I would rather say unrealistic... but- that's horrible but... I'm glad it wasn't you... I don't know what I would do if- if you-"

The words got stuck in your throat, tears blurring your vision again. The simple thought of losing her was unbearable.

"Hey..." she whipped your tears off of your face gently "It's not going to happen okay? I'm not dying, not now. I swear"

She kissed you tenderly, trying to whip your worries away, hand still holding yours. You kissed her back, like it was the last time.

Because it might be. We never know.

"Try to rest a little okay...?"

You nodded, resting your head on hers once she got back in her previous position against you.

You tried not to think about what just happened, or how it could get worse. You tried to empty your mind, only leaving one thought there: Tara.

But it was always when you thought the situation wouldn't get worse that it does.

You should have known the worst was yet to come.

And it would come fast.

[Previous part] || [Next part]

[krikeymate]

Another canon divergence.

Tara’s speech to Sam, while understandable, was very harsh in some regards. The whole “you followed me, you’re working two shitty jobs, what are you doing with your life?” I’ve seen your HC about Tara actually not being angry at Sam herself but the situation.

So what if after Tara blew up at Sam, Sam said “okay” and then walked off to deal with the hurt of what Tara said. What if, instead of killing Jason and Greg that nigh, Bailey as Ghostface and maybe with Quinn sneaking out saw an opportunity to kidnap her. Holds her hostage for days. Maybe weeks!

How does Tara initially deal with Sam seemingly taking her words to heart and leaving completely? And then how does she feel when the Ghostface killings start and Sam is missing and the police call telling Tara they find her drivers license at a crime scene along with maybe something personal of Sam’s that she had on her the night she disappeared. But as the cops start testing the blood, they verify that along with Greg and Jason’s, Sam’s blood is mixed in?

(Overall Sam probably ends up figuring out a way to trick the Baileys, distracts them. Is able to kill one or two of them as she fights her way out but weeks of isolation without access to her meds messes her up even more, not to mention that the last convo she has with Tara makes her think that Tara was probably better off while she was gone)

Ouch, why would you hurt us like this?!

Tara doesn't leave her room that night, she doesn't notice that Sam doesn't come home. She eyes Sam's door in the morning, thinks about knocking, turns away instead. She doesn't hear from Sam all day, and it makes Tara guilty. She thinks Sam's avoiding her. She tries to call her. Once, twice, three times. She leaves a message: "you're supposed to pick up when I call. I'm sorry ok. Can you just… please just call me or text me or whatever. Just… I'm sorry."

Another night passes without hearing from Sam. The next morning she's visited by Quinn's father. He starts asking about Sam: is she around, when did you last see her, how has she been, any strange behaviour lately? Then he drops the news: Sam's license and blood was found at the scene of a double homicide. Sam's the current key suspect.

Tara doesn't believe it for a second, she doesn't even entertain the idea. Chad & Mindy aren't so sure, it causes a rift. There is no 'Core 4' in this timeline. Kirby appears, offers to help Tara find Sam. Tara doesn't trust her, but she has no one else to turn to. Gale still corners Tara at some point, asks her an insensitive question about her sister, gets punched, offers her help as well.

Sam is tied up in the shrine, Richie's videos on repeat, constantly being drugged to keep her docile. She sees her father. She sees Richie. Ghostface tells her all about what she's done, how she's going to pay. Ghostface tells her all about what they're going to do to Tara.

That's not something they can ignore. They want Sam to suffer. They bring her Tara's jacket, bloody and with 'stab marks' in the back. They tell her about how she cried as the knife went in, how she's not dead yet but she'll see Sam soon. They chased her down, caught her by her jacket, she managed to wiggle out of it and escape.

There's bodies they stack in the room, a new one each day, each propped up in front of a Ghostface case. People Sam's killed, they say. Billy points out how they all look like her sister - small and slight and tanned, dark hair and big brown eyes, empty in death. They dress her up in her father's robe and drop the mask in her lap. They tell her how the police are going to find her here, surrounded by the dead, and over the mutilated corpse of her sister. She was just so angry, they say, about her ungrateful little sister.

Except Gale is too good at what she does, she finds the shrine too early. Gale and Kirby and Tara, they don't waste any time checking it out. Ethan & Quinn are there, tormenting Sam. They split up and call for their father to get there asap. Kirby & Gale are distracted fighting the Ghostfaces, while Tara heads straight for Sam. Sam's delerious, from the exhaustion and the drugs and the constant mental attacks. She doesn't even think that Tara's real. She tries to listen to her anyway, she can't ignore Tara's crying even if she's just a figment of her imagination.

Bailey storms into the shrine, gun pointed straight at Sam. This wasn't going how it was planned. Kirby appears, injured, pointing her gun right back at Bailey. He tries to convince her that Sam is the killer, that she was caught on camera, how he followed her trail back here. Kirby looks at Tara, who looks back. She's got Sam's arm around her shoulder, she's holding her sister up, barely. Kirby looks back to Bailey and begins to walk backwards towards the girls.

They prevail somehow. The three of them took down Ethan together. Gale killed Quinn elsewhere. Tara gets shot and Sam still gets to multistab Bailey. Tara stops her from killing him and gives her an emotional apology and says that she doesn't know what she would do if she lost her. Sam says she forgives her and she's sorry too, and then Tara turns around and stabs Bailey in the eye and then slits his throat, for fucking with her family, and then hugs a shocked Sam.

Kirby and Gale watch this happen from the sidelines and share a glance that says fuck these girls need therapy.

[msookyspooky]

Stu one attacked her at the house defo no way billy have time to leave, get out the outfit and appear at the window that quick also think way he running the knife round her neck and down her body hints to the having thing for her confession plus way clasps the knife fits stu mo

Absolutely, 100%. I actually think Stu had the higher kill count AND he was the one that liked to gut ppl; not Billy. Billy killed out of revenge / pettiness while Stu killed for both sadistic glee AND pettiness.

- Billy obviously killed Maureen while Stu helped/watched.

- Steve was definitely gutted by Stu you cannot change my mind.

- The Casey death is controversial bc Wes says Billy killed her because of the way he stabbed overhead and strangled her while Kevin says Stu killed both Steve and Casey. It could be either one but I gotta agree with Kevin on this bc...Yeah, Billy strangles Sid at the end but so did Stu? Casey recognized her killer when she removed the mask. Not saying she wouldn't recognize Billy as Stu's friend but I think it was heavily implied she recognized it as Stu; her ex boyfriend who had a huge motive for killing her. And the way she was killed was being gutted and hung which is such a Stu thing to do. He even knew so much about how to gut someone at the fountain...Why? Cause he does it to his victims and I truly think him and Billy both chased Casey throughout the house (Stu at the patio, Billy on the phone at the front door) but Stu was who killed her.

- Stu was getting Neil while Billy distracted Sid in their makeout session.

- Stu was the one that attacked her in her home (Like you said) while Billy called Sidney to get her outside so Stu could slip in in costume bc come on. That was Billy Loomis on that phone. The tantrum he had while describing her mother? Billy. PLUS, we hear Stu on the stairs say "Easy easy" in his voice AND he was so much more of a perverted sadist than Billy was imo. Not that Billy wouldn't taunt her with the knife but Stu would actually get off on it and him making the knife almost sexual is such a Stu Macher move IM JS!

- I think the Ghostface in the school bathroom was an awful prank I actually don't think it was Billy or Stu bc that is way too risky even for those idiots AND there was no knife.

- Billy killed Tatum (The door killed her tbf but still) bc Stu was busy entertaining at his party with Gale Weathers there. It would be highly sus if he went missing at his own party while his girlfriend was found murdered. He knew Billy was waiting for her inside (probably from entering through a back door) to go to the garage fridge so he told her to get him a few beers knowing Billy would get her while he distracted everyone with talking about Gale and probably a loud horror movie they were just putting in bc they were deciding what to watch right before Tatum leaves. When Stu says "Hey want another beer? I'LL BE RIGHT BACK!"....She was already dead, hanging in the garage door and Stu was admiring Billy's handy work. Honestly, that should have been clue number one he was the killer or one of them bc as far as we knew most of the beer was in the fridge in the garage where her body was 😶 Which OF COURSE he acted shocked by when pointing the finger at Randy which....How would he know Billy was dead? Like okay 🚩🚩🚩

- Stu pretended to Stab Billy and chased her through the house out the attic window.

- Now I gotta wonder if they both wore the costume and Billy hurried up and went upstairs. Like Stu was definitely the one to kill Kenny and was outside but could Billy have been the one to almost kill Randy or Stu? Did Stu stab Dewey or Billy did it? Idk!! I feel like most of the costume was Stu but I lowkey can't imagine Billy just waiting upstairs. So idk who killed who at the party after Tatum. HOWEVER!!! I'd say majority was Stu bc Billy says "I thought you said she was dead?" about Gale meaning Stu had to have checked the van down the road to see. So I think they both had on the costume. Kind of makes me change my mind of Stu damgling the keys to the jeep bc that's a lot for him to quickly take off the costume to stop Randy from warning Sid versus Billy running back inside from a back door to take off the costume while Stu stalled Sidney. IDK IT'S A TOSS UP AT THE PARTY FOR ME 🥴

[faelapis]

I disagree that it’s comparable to how SU treated Bismuth. Bismuth wanted to kill one of the Diamonds murdering and oppressing everyone. Jet wanted to kill innocent civilians. He had a chance to change when he entered Ba Sing Se, but he became fixated on exposing Zuko and Iroh - from his perspective, working class refugees who he only hated when he realized they were fire benders.

so... here’s the thing. 

let’s talk about how “extremists” in media are often framed.

for one thing, they’re usually not really... “real”? they’re demonized. they give you easy versions of extremism, where they’re so cartoonishly evil you don’t have to confront their ideologies on any deeper level. in jet’s case, you just give him someone it’s Obviously Bad to Kill, problem solved, right?

not really. you’ve still condemned “the violent ones” as being “like jet”. Extremism Bad Because It Means Child Murder :( this is the same problem as in the hunger games, in which gale is also seen as going “too far” in this very facile, pathos-stripped way that it’s easy to condemn. both are still saying that violence, or at least that kind of violence, are bad, they just take it to the obvious extreme to get the audience on their side.

SU doesn’t take shortcuts like that. they give bismuth AND rose realistic motivations. that’s what i mean by saying bismuth is treated as more “real” and with pathos. your heart breaks for her. she’s treated like a perspective you UNDERSTAND. you get why she thinks the way she does - because from her perspective, there’s no reason to ever think a diamond could change. from her perspective, the CGs were working class. nobody truly “changed” so much as they “stood up”. that’s why she’s both worth listening to and considering the pros/cons within that universe. at no point does she strangle toddlers so the kiddos at home will know she’s a Bad Guy. it’s more complicated than that.

it might be implied bismuth would’ve killed more than just the diamonds - she speaks of homeworld gems “in their way” in the general sense, and we see her hit lapis from the back - but that’s a might. it asks the audience to fill in the blanks of how far they think bismuth would’ve gone. it’s not “the poor children :(”, it’s how far YOU, from the information you’ve gathered from her mindset, thinks she would actually go.

i think part of the controversy here is, indeed, because SU doens’t take that shortcut to tell you bismuth is obviously evil. she’s not. the narrative never treats her like “one-dimensionally” bad. her perspective makes sense, and steven doesn’t really have a strong answer for why they shouldn’t do things her way. heck, he admits as much in s5 - in s3, he was mostly hanging on to the divine image of rose given to him, in which she embodied what a CG “should” be.

the narrative itself gives you a few reasons in s3, but only if you pay very close attention - for one thing, lapis and jasper would likely both be dead. bismuth was an implied part of lapis’ trauma and the raid that started jasper’s life. peridots might’ve been killed, considering they’re kindergarteners. if you think that’s a worthy sacrifice, then you’re asked to think whether these characters, who you may very well personally relate to, deserve to be killed for doing their essentially god-designated job (from birth!), and being but small parts of a larger machine... which ALL gems were, at one point. including the crystal gems.

(also by killing the diamonds, the homeworld gems will hate you. that’s why steven couldn’t help jasper in “earthlings”. they will despise you rather than love you, because they are literally programmed to love their diamonds. you’ll give them the kind of collective trauma where they’re much more likely to turn against you than join you).

another thing - bismuth thinks they could’ve won, but... could they? how much of that is the desperate hope of someone who doesn’t want to consider other options? we don’t know that either. the crystal gems are but a small fraction of what they used to be. bismuth can pep people up, to the point where they emotionally identify with her cause (and become, like bismuth herself, entirely lacking in self-criticalness about that), but she can’t make them realistically confront their own numbers, or the obvious advantage of talking to people who are many more than you... 

which is why later, bismuth is strategically willing to accept that. she’s not entirely unreasonable. she cares about the end goal more than she cares about being as violent as possible. she wants steven to use his privilege when the time comes, because that’s what will help the most people. even if it hurts him.

that’s the mark of a true ideologue - being able to put your preferred method aside when the moment calls for it. anyone who thinks they’re ideologues or committed to a cause, but aren’t willing to put their means aside when it’s beneficial *FOR THAT CAUSE* are not ideologues. they’re just in it for the guns.

all in all though, the “big” thing that decides between steven and bismuth’s perspectives isn’t really what either of them say in s3. it’s in s5: the fact that ROSE, their leader, was pink diamond. this makes it very, very hard to other your enemies as these soulless monsters to defeat. you are your enemies. that’s what makes bismuth face that she can’t distance herself from either homeworld or gemkind - she’s been putting someone on a pedestal all along, she just wanted the “right one” to idolize on top. that’s what she has to face.

also, it is ROSE who built up pink diamond as the ultimate enemy to kill. time and again, rose does not understand the consequences of demonizing herself or distancing herself from people... then again, bismuth doesn’t give her much reason to - bismuth starts out thinking there are “good” gems and “bad” gems, and the only backstory rose thinks bismuth would buy is one in which she always knew the right thing to do. which nobody is born knowing.

there’s also a bunch of little things i could bring up, such as how the diamonds aren’t just killers or oppressors. they are, in equal parts, creators. they made gems “in their image”, seeking purpose and light. that’s what makes them a decent parallel to “petty gods” (and abusive parents) more than anything else. they create all of gemkind. they project outwards, through their “children”, in such a way that they feel entitled to give everyone purpose. they, themselves, were made with purpose - and had to find themselves outside of it. rose never internalized that she could truly change, but she did. time and again. but people still suffered for it. time and again. 

even now, it’s an open question whether rose did the right thing in putting bismuth away (even if you understand why both acted the way they did!)... but rose is gone now. and bismuth is still here. she can still live the liberated life she always wanted, with her friends by her side.

so yeah, i’ll take that over “jet started out okay but he’s Actually Really A Meanie Mean Who Must Die To Show Extremists Are Bad”. 

[ilguna]

Metanoia - Chapter Fifteen (f.o)

Summary: you will be crowned victor of the 75th hunger games.

Word Count; 10.7k

Warnings; swearing, mention of murder and torture

NOTES: i give reader a last name to fit the world.

uhhh long ass chapter jfc

–

You tap the end of the spoon against the table, “Maybe more gasoline?”

Beetee gives you a look, “I’ve engineered these perfectly--”

“I’m literally from District Two, I manufactured weapons. Just add a bit more gas, and see what happens, it can’t hurt, can it?”

Beetee readjusts the glasses on his face, “I suppose not.” he gets to work, and you scoop some of the carrots onto your spoon, trying not to make a face when you force them down your throat. They’ve gotten cold from how long you’ve been stalling, “You’ve made molotov arrows before?”

“Well…” you make a face, and he turns his eyes to you, “I wouldn’t say that. I’ve… experimented that’s for sure.”

Gale laughs, “What does that mean?”

“It means I’ve illegally made weapons and sometimes started bush fires because of it,” you laugh, “And I’ve never been caught, either.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be in here.” Beetee mutters.

You roll your eyes, “As if I would willingly do work now. Just telling you to add more gas was a bore.”

Beetee screws the top back onto the arrow, being careless with it to see if it’ll explode or whatever. Which means that you should definitely put some distance between you and the psychopath here, you’re not too fond of being inside of a molotov. No matter how small that arrow is, there will be a ton of fire.

“Give it a shot.” you motion at Gale, “Seriously.”

“It won’t set the studio on fire?”

“You’re talking to the two engineers, here. Go ahead before I do it myself.”

Gale picks up the crossbow, and then takes the arrow that Beetee is offering him. While he prepares everything, you swivel around to face Gale, while Beetee has to turn the entire wheelchair to see.

“I’ve been trying to make a trident for Finnick.” Beetee begins, the two of you watch Gale prepare, the people on the other end of the room have fire extinguishers ready to put the fire out as soon as the arrow is fired.

“Don’t make it look like an actual trident, keep the design as close as possible to the one he had inside of the arena.” you scoop up another spoonful of carrots, “And make it hollow in the middle, it’ll be easier to move around--and you can make it compatible that way too.”

“Ready?” Gale asks.

“We’ve been ready.” you eat the cold, slimy carrots.

Gale fires the arrow, and right when it hits the bullseye, it explodes into fire. The entire target, the wall behind it, mostly the floor and some get onto the ceiling too. The crew runs forward, putting out the fire before it can spread across the entire room.

You look at Beetee, “See? Not too shabby.”

“Know any ways to make them waterproof?”

“Wax, water rolls right off of it. Don’t lay it on too thick, and you’ll be just fine.” You set the empty tray onto the table, “

“They should have sent you down here sooner.” Gale says, coming back over, “Imagine how much faster all of this would have been made.”

“Beetee would have gotten fed up with me, if he isn’t already.” you say, stretching. 

“You’re not too bad to be around.” 

“You only like me because I make your weapon engineering much easier. I’m able to catch your mistakes before you even make them.” you tuck your legs in.

He ignores what you said, moving on to Gale, “How’s Katniss doing?”

Gale doesn’t give much of an answer, “Recovering.”

“Let me guess, she’s still mad at you?” you raise your eyebrows. For this, he tells you to shut up. You shrug, getting back to the sketch you were working on for your own personal weapon, “Hey, if you can’t see how out of line you were, then that’s your deal.”

“How was I out of line?”

You place the sketchbook on your knee, “Dude, you called her fiance weak for doing what he could to stay alive. Obviously you two are still pretty close after that, but I wouldn’t have made a comment like that.” you pause for a moment, looking at Gale, “Then again, you don’t know what it’s like to be under a microscope, you can run your mouth all you want, because you were nothing but a coal miner.”

Gale practically rolls his eyes, “I know what it’s like, Katniss had to start calling me her cousin.”

“Katniss was the one being watched, don’t flatter yourself.” you go back to what you were doing.

“She’s right.” Beetee chips in, “(Y/n), I mean.”

“Right.”

The sound of boots on cement makes you look up, expecting Gale to be the one walking away. He doesn’t normally like to take shit from you or Beetee. Coming down here is like a safe place, allowing him to vent and blow steam when he gets to test out the new fancy weapons.

Gale stands right where he was before, which means that it’s someone else. And since Beetee can’t walk, you turn around in the chair to see who it is.

It’s Finnick. His hands are in his pockets, with a gleeful smile on his face, “Good afternoon.”

Gale is just as suspicious as you are, “What are you up to?”

“What was I up to.” he corrects, coming to a stop behind your chair, “It’s a surprise.”

Beetee makes a face, and then wheels himself around so that he’s facing the table again. As he gets back to work, you resume critiquing Gale, and Finnick finds where he wants to be.

“Gale, don’t get me wrong, I can sorta see where you’re coming from, but you need to see it from our perspective too.” you drop your leg, “Let’s compare you to Peeta, since you were doing that already by saying you’d never say what you said.

“He had absolutely no clue what the fuck was going on. Peeta didn’t know that there was a plan to get him and Katniss out of the arena, he didn’t know that Coin was planning on using Katniss as a symbol. The only things he did know was what the Capitol fed him to get him on their side.

“And if you still can’t see eye to eye with it, imagine a gun pointed to Katniss’ head. If you so much as step out of line in a way that Snow doesn’t like, he’ll shoot her. It’s not his family, friend or girlfriend that he’s killing, it’s yours. And if you don’t cooperate after Katniss, he’s grabbing the next dearest thing to you.” you lean back in the chair, “And before you say shit, Snow literally did that to me twice. First was right after I won my games and he killed my entire family, and the second time was when we found Tanith dead in a chair. It’s a little different for Tanith, because she was already dead, but he still tried to use her against me.”

“Okay, but what were they threatening Peeta with?”

“His life, for starters.” Finnick says, “And likely his family too.”

Gale doesn’t say anything after that.

“How’s this design?” You offer the sketchbook for Beetee, and he takes it.

“We could probably start this now.” Beetee says, “Mind doing something for Finnick, too?”

“Sure.”

He hands it back, but Finnick takes it before you’re able to grab a hold of it. Sighing, you look up at Finnick, watching his face as he looks over the page, “These are swords.”

“Sai’s.” you correct.

Finnick gives you a look, “But it says right here--”

“--that it’s basically a sword, yes, I know. Normally they’re used to disarm someone--as I showed you before. But I want some that are actually sharp. Blunt force trauma is fun, but what’s even more fun is spilling someone’s guts in front of them.”

Finnick hands the book back, “Sword.”

“Sure.” you cross your legs, “What are you here for, other to annoy me?”

“Keeping an eye on you three for the next couple of hours.” Finnick pulls up a chair of his own, mirroring your stance.

“Sounds exciting.”

Everything falls back into rhythm. Beetee goes back to tinkering on arrows, having Gale use the decoys. And the times he’s not shooting arrows, he’s sitting in a chair talking to you guys. You cough up a couple of sketches for Beetee, hoping that it’ll be good enough.

You might be the one from District Two, but that doesn’t mean you actually put things together. The legal age to actually get into the warehouses is eighteen, and since you went into the games at sixteen and won, you never really had to work. You’ve sat on money for your entire life. The only people that worked were your parents, aunts and uncles and some of your cousins.

Those same cousins taught you how to put things together before your games--obviously. During family get togethers, you’d all disappear for a little while, which is when they’d take the chance. They always thought it was so cool to pass on forbidden knowledge, and have it all be a secret between you guys.

They had this secret stash of gadgets inside of a log, and they’d fuck around with it until it turned into something dangerous. Honestly, the first thing you learned from them was the molotov, and when you threw it on a rock, it exploded and the dead grass around it caught fire.

Cue you all scooping the gadgets into your shirts and taking off behind the houses to get as far as possible. Your older cousin had a backup spot not too far away, you dumped all the shit there and got back to the house in record time. Before the firefighters had even left their stations.

It’s a wonder why you weren’t caught, cause that wasn’t the first time that area specifically had been set on fire, and it wouldn’t be the last either. The firefighters definitely had an idea of why it would always set ablaze, but never pursued it. After a while, they started to monitor the place on extremely hot days, thinking that it was the sun that was starting the fires.

If only they had known that it was a bunch of teenagers doing that shit for fun.

After a while, Beetee gets tired of the arrows and starts over to the crew to begin making the sai’s. While they’re heating up the metal, he gets to making the hilt.

“I feel like we’re doing more work than we have to.” you look at Beetee.

“Do you want it to be fucked up, or do you want it to be done right the first time?” He raises his glasses above his eyes when he looks right back at you.

“The first time.” you sigh.

When you get back to work, Finnick moves in closer, curious as to how you’re designing his new weapon. Every now and then he’ll point out the practicalities, and weighing in on how he would rather it be built. 

“This doesn’t even look like a trident anymore.” you hold the journal away from your face, and turn it so it’s long-ways since the entire trident spans over both pages, “It’s basically the opposite.”

“But think of it this way.” Finnick reaches over, touching where the blades of the trident are, “Initial stab, right? But the rest of this does more damage.”

There’s a spear point at the top of the trident, which isn’t the problem. That’s pretty normal when it comes to the design. However, instead of wanting all the other blades facing up and towards it, he wants it downwards.

“And you can even make it compatible!” Finnick grins.

“At least we agree on one thing.” You pass the journal to him, “Go ahead and show Beetee, he’s the one in charge.”

Finnick goes over, and it’s basically halfway across the room, since Beetee is hovering over the crew’s work like a hawk. He wasn’t playing around when he said that he would like it to be perfect the first time around.

“Finnick’s into you.” Gale says.

“You say that like he’s not my soulmate.” you give Gale a look, “Also, I’m not into Finnick.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not a teenager and I don’t date people right after they broke up with their girlfriends.” you turn back to Finnick to see that he’s discussing the weapon with Beetee and a crew member.

“If there was no Annie, would you have dated him then?”

You squint, “No.”

Gale laughs, but doesn’t say anything because Finnick is heading your guys’ way again. He drops the journal in Beetee’s workspace on his way over, “Beetee will start it tonight.”

“Cool.” you get up, picking up the lunch tray, “Am I free to leave now?”

“Yes,” Finnick says, but he makes a point to stay in front of both you and Gale. 

“See ya later, Beetee!” you shout, “Send someone if you need my help.”

He waves, and then goes back to hovering.

Finnick starts up the staircase first, and Gale walks beside you, “Any progress on Peeta?”

Gale rolls his eyes, you can feel it, “Same as he was before. I saw him before coming here.”

“Katniss still saying no?” you look over.

Gale nods.

“That’s reasonable, I wouldn’t want to go near him either…” you trail off for a moment, and then laugh to yourself.

Finnick glances over his shoulder curiously, “What is it?”

You chuckle a bit, “Out of everyone, I’m definitely last on the list of people he wants to see.”

“Why’s that?”

Your smile is small as you look at your feet, rather than up at Finnick, “I nearly killed Peeta.”

“After the birds? I know--” Finnick says.

“No, after. After you had been pulled out of the arena, did I tell either of you that story?”

Gale says no, which is expected, but Finnick thinks about it before answerings, “We talked about emotion when you first got here, and how intense it was.”

“Well, after I left the lightning tree, my real goal was to go downhill and straight for the cornucopia. I thought that if the jungle were to burn, I would need to take my chances in the middle. On the way, I found a livid Peeta, and a strangely calm Johanna.” you smile, “Peeta started screaming at me instead, and Johanna urged me not to do anything.

“But then Peeta backed me into a rock, so when I got up, I punched him twice. Kicked him a couple of times while he was down, and then Johanna stepped in--” Finnick has slowed down now, he watches you, “--and naturally I knocked her out with a single right hook, since she’s… weak to say the least. She hit her head on a rock on the way down, and I thought I’d finish her off later.

“As for Peeta, it was just him and I.” the smile develops into a grin, “I was about to rip him apart--and I mean minutes from doing it. But then the peacekeepers came and I thought that it would be better to leave the situation as it was.”

“You’re… sadistic.” Gale says.

“I’ve heard it all before.” you say, looking at Finnick.

“At least you didn’t kill them.” Finnick says.

“Peeta knew that I was about to. Doesn’t matter if I did it or not.”

Gale laughs now, “You should go visit him to see what he says.”

“He’d probably get mad at me for not killing him when I had the chance. I’m surprised he didn’t strangle me in that hovercraft.”

“The tracker jacker venom fucked with his head, he probably barely recognized you.” Gale says.

At the top of the staircase, Finnick stops you, “We’ll see you later, Gale.”

“Sounds good to me. I’m going to see Boggs.”

You salute as a joke, getting an eye roll in return. Finnick purposely waits until Gale is gone, and then he moves out of your way, “You’re getting better.”

“At making people like me?” you ask, giving Finnick a look, “You know, a genius once told me that I’m not as dislikable as I think.”

Finnick raises his eyebrows, “A genius you say?”

“Maybe not a genius.” you laugh, and Finnick joins in, “So what were you up to?”

“You’ll see in a couple of hours.”

“Is that why we aren’t getting off on the floor we normally do?” you stare at your feet.

“We’re heading straight for the medical floor to Johanna.”

You stop on the stairs, and Finnick gets a couple of steps above you, “Did you not just hear my whole story?”

“The worst Johanna will do is run her mouth about the fact that you didn’t kill her when you had the chance. And if you don’t believe me, you can ask one of the nurses. We’ve heard her speech a couple of times now.”

“Then can I opt out and go to the dorm instead?” you start up the stairs again.

“You’re really going to leave me to talk to Johanna?”

Your eyebrows draw together, “You’re the one that wants to see her!”

“Come on, we see Johanna and then we go to the dorm right after, I promise.” Finnick says.

You hold out your pinky for Finnick, and with a slight chuckle, he pinky promises you. The two of you resume your journey up the stairs, and then he says, “Unless we talk for too long.”

You press your lips together, not giving him the satisfaction of a reaction. He laughs anyway.

When the two of you reach Johanna’s room, you hang by the door, not really wanting to go inside. You don’t like the look of the room, much less the idea of being back inside of it. Ever since you’ve been granted the freedom, you’ve made a point of not coming back to the hospital--or infirmary--floor, no matter the reason.

The other day, you cut your hand on a blade down in the workshop. The crew had wanted to call someone down to come and take care of you, and you barely stopped them in time. Over your dead body, would you be brought back here to sit and wallow in white for a couple of days.

Especially over something as childish as a cut. So, you found the first aid kit, cleaned out the wound and Beetee stitched it up for you. The crew was a little surprised how calm you were during the entire procedure but the only thing you had to say was ‘high pain tolerance’ after all your years of bullshit.

So being back here makes you nervous. As if someone will pop out from one of the walls and tie you down to a bed for absolutely no reason. You’re perfectly healthy, and the nurses and doctors knew this. Even after you had tests that came back negative for poison in your system, you were required to stay.

Finnick and Johanna’s conversation is surprisingly normal and boring. There was absolutely no reason for you to tag along, except for Finnick’s own request. The only reason why you’re here is to be nice.

As if Finnick’s read your mind, he looks at you, “(Y/n) been helping Beetee out in the workshop lately, designing weapons.”

Johanna’s eyes drag over to you, bored of it already, “She’s being helpful for once?”

You stare at her.

“She’s done quite a lot, Johanna.” Finnick says, looking back at her, “She’s the one that opened the conversation about rescuing you and the others from the Capitol.”

“For her own benefit.” Johanna laughs, “Because she can’t stand being alone. It’s why she’s kept you around so long, you know? Not because she likes you, but because she needs another soul to harvest. She’s like the fucking grim reaper.” she looks at you now, “A heartless murderer.”

You take a deep breath, and then a smile spreads over your face, “I should have killed you when I had the chance. At least then, there would be one less leech on the morphling supply.” you spit, “You deserve everything that Snow gave you, the waterboarding, the near-drowning. It’s a shame that he only kept you alive so you’d suffer and become nothing but another downer on everyone around you.”

Finnick’s head whips in your direction, clearly not expecting the outburst. You’ve been so good for so long, but there’s something about Johanna that just gets you steaming. 

“I should have stomped your head into that fucking rock in front of Peeta.” you seethe, “And then I should’ve beaten Peeta to death, because you two weren’t nearly worth sacrificing my life over.” you shake your head, “You’re nothing but another morphling addict. Another victor that couldn’t take the fucking heat. If I were you, I’d just kill myself from how embarrased I’d be.”

Johanna’s been smiling at you the entire time, like she wanted this sort of reaction, and so you finish it off, “It’s probably how Blight felt too.” 

Her smile drops, and her hand is reaching towards the needles in her arms before her feet have even hit the ground. You stand your ground, allowing Finnick to get her to stop because she does some real damage to her veins.

“(Y/n)--go!” Finnick’s angry, and he glares at you over his shoulder.

“My fucking pleasure.” you spit, leaving the doorway.

It was worth it. Every word that left your mouth was fucking worth it. Being nice to people is such a fucking chore, especially when it’s towards people who don’t deserve it.

You stand in the stairwell for a moment, thinking about where you’d want to go. But there’s really no place that’s safe if Finnick comes looking for you. The workshop and dorm are an obvious place, as well as the stream you stumbled upon. He’ll check with Boggs and Gale--and there’s no one else here that likes you.

You hate it here.

You thought you would be able to make this place feel like a real home and maybe even like it, but it’s not worth it. This whole place isn’t worth it to you.

Everything inside of you is a frenzy. 

You have to go home.

You start up the staircase, knowing that seeing Plutarch and finding a ride would be the place to start. He might not be happy about it, but there’s really no need for you here. You’re not doing anything besides designing personal weapons that Beetee likes and doesn’t like. 

Occasionally you’re genuinely helpful with dumb shit, but that’s the extent of it. Other than that, you’re miserable. The freedom you have isn’t actual freedom. 

You hop up the last couple of steps, and round the corner to the door to the control room. You practically throw it open, nearly letting it hit the wall, when your hand appears between the crack to stop it.

At your appearance, a few people look over. The only eyes who stick are Boggs, Gale, Haymitch and Plutarch.

“Where’s Finnick?” Gale asks.

“Not his owner,” you go down the steps, eyes on Plutarch, “I want a ride to District Two. Your next hovercraft is mine to take.”

Boggs stands up, crossing his arms, “What about the workshop?”

“Boring, Beetee has it under control.”

“And Finnick?” Haymitch asks, “I thought you were just liking it here--”

“I’m a liar.” 

Gale sighs, “Tell us what happened.”

“Johanna and I are going to end up killing each other the next time we come face to face.” your eyes land on Plutarch to see he has an eye on his watch, “So unless you feel like cleaning up a dead body, I’ll take one free ticket to District Two.”

“The next hovercraft is leaving in fifteen minutes.” Plutarch looks up now, “I’ll call in and let them know you’re going.”

“Does Finnick know you’re doing this?” Gale asks, “He’s going to be upset if we have to tell him--”

“It’s his fault for getting attached to me.” your face is serious, and then the smile spreads over your face, because of the irony of that statement. After what Johanna had said… “He’s your problem now, good luck.”

You go up the steps, heading right out the door you came in. You can’t take the staircase to the top, so you make your way to the elevator instead. You press the button, waiting patiently with a smile on your face.

The hovercrafts that they’re using to get the supplies to and from District Two are the slow type. District Thirteen is in no rush to get the crates there, so it won’t be a surprise to you if it takes more than just a couple of hours for you to get there. Or if it makes stops along the way.

The elevator arrives, you pull up the safety bar, and then step inside, pulling it back down. You punch the top floor button with your thumb, then you go to stare as the floors disappear beneath your feet.

At least back home you don’t have to act and lie for the happiness of others. Especially if your first and only stop is going to be your house in victor’s village. And if you need groceries, it looks like you’ll be hunting for food to eat. Or you might actually have to go into town and ransack the already destroyed buildings.

Most of the people that used to own the shops are probably dead, or they won’t be returning back home for a while. The entirety of victor’s village is going to be a graveyard--there might even still be rotting bodies inside of the houses. If the smell is too unbearable, you could always bury the corpses yourself.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

At the top, there’s someone waiting on the ramp. You don’t bother waiting for them to tell you to hurry it up, you start jogging immediately. The faster you get on, the faster you can take off.

“I’m ready.” you say when you get to the ramp.

“Good, take a seat and strap in.” the man follows you in.

--

The whole district is in ruins.

The last time you were here, everything seemed to be in near perfect condition, apart from the obvious looting that had taken place. The broken windows, and the wood splinters in the gravel could be easily looked over. But it’s much harder to see this place as it once was.

Most stores and houses that were made out of wood, and had been passed down from generation to generation have been burned to ashes or their cement flooring. There’s nothing left of them, not the furniture inside, and definitely not the foundation. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say that they were vacant lots.

If they couldn’t burn, then they were bombed. Chunks of cement and brick have now joined the mixture in the gravel. The roofs have long since caved in, and just one gust of wind makes the walls shudder. All it would take is one more bomb dropped in this area, and it all would come crashing down. 

The air around you is hardly breathable too. Before you had stepped off the hovercraft you were given a mask--not the same gas mask that you’d used during the tribute center invasion--and a pair of sunglasses that would help you see through the debris and smoke.

It’s almost like fog, but so much worse. It’s smoke from fires that can’t be put out, and it’s from the bombs that are from your own district. The loyalists and the rebels are still fighting over this place. Katniss’ visit here hadn’t done much good, in fact you’d say that it made it a lot worse.

As you wander through the streets towards victor’s village, you come up with a lousy plan that’ll likely get you killed. 

Coin had thought that sending Katniss here was a good idea, but it wasn’t by any means. Katniss got a bullet to her ribs, which bruised a ton of them, and put her right back into a hospital bed. They clearly didn’t think about what would happen if you mix people who don’t mind the games, with someone who’s leading a rebellion.

You’ve seen the speech, and as heartfelt as it was, it’s not what they want to hear. 

Here’s the way you saw it at first; this girl from the poorest part of District Twelve is kicking up a rebellion that’ll likely destroy the system that’s making District Two rich, and the favorite. District Two thinks that they’re going to get everything taken away from them. Their houses, nice clothes and furniture, the good paying jobs.

You would all much rather send in the two kids a year--mostly because your children are prepared ahead of time, and therefore the career districts have nothing to lose--than take the risk of getting everything taken away. The Capitol absolutely adores you guys, with all that you supply them. 

So, instead of having the girl that’s leading the rebellion try and convince the loyalists that they’re on the wrong side. You have someone who’s lived in the same luxury as them do it instead. How is Katniss supposed to understand how you all feel? She despised the games, while the rest of you adored it.

The outsider districts don’t understand the need for luxury and favoritism. They’ve lived on the hated side of the Capitol for a long time. The Capitol expects them to underperform in the games, so that’s why they don’t ever see the spotlight until they get a winner.

Anyway, you’re going to get to your house, change into something that says ‘living in luxury’ and then march your way to the justice building. There, you won’t ask for any sort of protection but an escort there instead. You won’t carry any weapons, you won’t pull on a bulletproof vest.

If they shoot you, then they’ll have made their choice very clear.

The gate entrance to the village is all sorts of broken. You barely push the metal door open, and the entire thing falls apart in your hands. You have to prop it up against the fence, being sure that it won’t fall over before you move on to go inside. Then, you waste no time with a quick jog through.

The fountain in the first part of the village is dry. The cement is no longer grey, it’s black from the amount of fire that must have washed through here. On the tiles that line the bottom, there’s melted coins. You’re tempted to reach in and pick one out when you realize just how bad of an idea that is.

You continue down the stone brick path after that, taking in note of every house that you pass. The doors are slightly ajar, most windows seem to be shattered, and a couple are burned down to the foundation. Most still stand though, Sorcha, Enobaria, Brutus, Tanith and Zavian’s seem to be in good condition.

As for Lyme, her house is completely gone. You have an idea that it might be because of the fact that she’s helping the rebels, and some of the loyalists must’ve gotten behind their lines to come and burn hers down specifically. As for the others, there must be a bigger story behind it.

As you come into the third part of the neighborhood, you cross your fingers as you hope it’s not like Lyme’s. You just want a moment inside of a clean house, to be able to go upstairs and find out that there’s running water. Then you’ll take a shower, get dressed in fancy clothing and put on makeup as if there isn’t hellfire around you.

It takes you a moment to find it, because all the houses in this section are still standing. And then you realize that your house is the only one that looks fresh. It hasn’t been touched by all the ash and smoke, it’s still as bright white as the day you received it. Perfect condition.

No windows are broken, the wood and cement show no signs of it being on fire at any point in time. The door is shut tight, a little stuck so you have to rattle the handle until it comes loose. You swing the door wide open, standing in the doorway as you wait to see a mess.

But it’s clean. Of course, the house has collected dust, but there’s no blood. There’s no broken vases, or stuffing all over the floor. It’s how you left it. 

You shut the door behind you, locking it for good measure. As you go inside, you can’t help but to look around and gape like you’re on a house tour. Nothing has been touched, which is the part that baffles you the most. Both the inside and outside are great.

For a moment, you’re not sure why you’re so surprised that nothing had happened--apart from the fact that the whole neighborhood is disgusting. And then you remember the last time you came home from the games. With the house torn apart with dead bodies frozen in time.

“He seriously fucked me up, didn’t he?” you ask, laughing to yourself. 

The house does smell pretty bad though, and the scent only gets stronger the more you head towards the kitchen. You have to plug your nose, strictly breathing in and out through your mouth, blinking away the tears that form in your eyes. It’s just so strong…

Going through the doorway, you take your time to look for anything that might be off. There is nothing, but you’re sure that it was coming from here specifically, and the second that you test the water with a breath of air through your nose, you gag. You go back to breathing through your mouth, even though you can taste the toxicity.

It’s not gas, that’s for sure. It’s something else…

The kitchen, the smell, the fact you haven’t been here--it’s the fridge. The food inside of the fridge and the cupboards are likely rotting. You can picture the mold in your mind already, and you shiver a little. Deciding that it’s better not to investigate further, you head straight upstairs instead.

On the way to your room, you can’t help but to pop open the doors and take a look inside. It’s just the paranoia now that’s making you do this. You don’t think you’ll find anyone in here, it’s just the thought of someone maybe hiding and waiting for you. A house like yours shouldn’t be in perfect condition, not after everything that’s happened.

And yet, there is nothing. Not even in your master bedroom, and not in the bathroom either. Despite this, you also lock your bedroom door, stripping on the way to the bathroom. And when you get inside of there, you lock that one too. For a second, the water in the shower runs cold, but then it turns warm.

While you let it heat up a little more, you take a look at yourself in the mirror for the first time in a couple of weeks. The mirrors that they have in District Thirteen are practically useless, they might as well not have them at all. You can barely see your face in them, and they’re permanently fogged over. At first, you thought that there was a protective film, until you realized that they were just shit quality.

Your fingers dance along the scars that cover you from head to toe. You turn your body to get a better angle, only to be disappointed when they continue. You force yourself to lean onto the counter, even though you’re so incredibly uncomfortable now, but curiosity is what’s fueling it all.

Then you’re able to see that the spider bite scars exist on your face too. They’re faint though, not too noticeable. What is noticeable, is the fact that there’s a scar that’s right beneath your eye. It’s so small that you can see it, even with you leaning over the counter.

You wipe the fog off the mirror, hopping onto the counter. You’re basically pressed against the mirror with how you’re seated as you desperately try to see what the fuck is beneath your eye. Wiping the mirror again, you take your chance to see.

C.S.

Your face twists as you back up, trying to think of who has those initials. Much less who would leave it on you like they’re marking their territory. You slide off the counter, rubbing beneath your eye, wishing that it’ll just go away, but it won’t.

Then it clicks, and you almost wish it hadn’t.

Coriolanus Snow.

You stare at yourself in the mirror, mouth hanging open as you watch the fog take over the mirror again, and your naked figure is covered up as a result.

He marked you. Snow fucking marked you like you’re his pet.

Your hand has swiped the vase off the counter before you’ve realized it. It isn’t until it’s shattered, when you’re jumping out of your skin. Even then, you’re still captivated by the amount of rage that’s running through your veins.

“Motherfucker!” you yell, digging your nail into the spot, gritting your teeth when it hurts. But it has to go. It has to be defaced. You won’t be seen as his. You don’t belong to Snow.

It’s a relief when your bare nail breaks skin. Though, more pain spikes in that one spot, and even in your eye a little bit. You lean on the counter, squeezing your eyes shut and giving yourself a moment to recover before you head into the shower.

You can’t fucking believe this.

--

You had always told yourself that you would be saving this dress for an occasion that you’d never be able to replicate. No weddings, funerals or parties. No victory tour, no get together, no reaping. You had to save it for something that would be groundbreaking, something that would change the game altogether.

At first, you didn’t want to pick it up for even this. Then you remembered that you have a chance of dying, and thought that was an event you’d never be able to replicate. Because you’d be dead.

And now that you’re walking to the justice buildings, holding the dress up so that it doesn’t get caught in the gravel and what lies inside of you, you’re beginning to see that you’ve got to make it count. Not the dress, but this entire encounter. If they don’t end up killing you, they’re definitely not going to let you come back again. Not peacefully, at least.

All you have to do is make them hesitate. Make them think for the rebel’s side for a second. That’s all you need. A moment of apprehension that they’ll never be able to take back. And since you’re pretty good at playing devil's advocate, this will be a walk in the park.

Seeing a sudden blast of dust and dirt heading your way, you make a home behind a building, aiming the umbrella you’re holding towards the corner that’s closest to you. It takes a moment before the dust storm comes through. The rocks pelt the plastic, and they attack your bare legs.

Since the umbrella is see-through, you’re able to tell when it dies down. You don’t wait to make sure that it’s over completely, because you never know when another gust will roll on in. At some point in time, you recognize the streets that the scouting group had brought you through, so you take that carefully.

You’re still fairly surprised that Paylor and Lyme hadn’t taken your statement of a survey group into consideration. And if they did, then that didn’t last as long as you thought it would. It’s literally only been two to three weeks since you were here last.

You guess that just means that they can’t spare the people as much as they could before. Which says a lot--that they’re losing the battle they swore that they’d be able to win. Coin said in one of her speeches that it wouldn’t be easy, and it would take a while. And here you are, thinking that you’ll be able to change their minds in a day.

“Watch this.” you smile to yourself.

You go around a corner, only to stop dead in your tracks. Standing right in front of you are some pretty armored people, holding a gun pointed straight at your chest. 

“State your name and business.”

“I see Lyme’s upgraded her shitty guards.” you give him a smile, “(Y/n) Rosecelli.”

He lowers the gun, “You’re supposed to be in District Thirteen.”

“It’s not as glamorous as it seems.” you say, continuing your way down the alley, “Quite boring. Is Lyme in the justice building?”

“Yes, I can bring--”

“I’ve got it.” you cut him off, leaving him behind you.

“I wouldn’t recommend going that way.”

“Whatever!” you shout, going right out.

The steps to the building are pretty wrecked, but there’s just enough stone for you to be able to go up them. You hike the dress up a little higher, stomping your heels when you step, as you try to get the gravel and glass off your shoes. The people standing outside the building seem confused at first.

“Excuse me.” you say, moving right past them as you head through the doors.

You take the stairs up, still having an iron grip on the dress. You won’t let it down until you’re standing in front of rebels. You swear on everything.

You pass a third set of guards on your way inside of the meeting room that they had used the first time. When the door pops open, you can see a familiar face on the hologram screen. Alma Coin.

Paylor and Lyme look over simultaneously to see who’s entered the room. 

“(Y/n)’s here.” Lyme says, standing up now.

“Good.” Coin says, “Won’t you join us?”

You make a face, stepping inside and shutting the door. You don’t head that far inside, sticking rather close to the door, but still in sight of the camera. 

“Finnick’s been looking everywhere for you.” Coin tells you calmly, “We just broke the news to him.”

“And?” you ask.

“He’s disappointed that he went through all that trouble to throw a party for you.”

So that’s what he was doing earlier. Throwing you a party, and for what? God, you can’t imagine the headache you would have had through the whole thing. Fake a smile, pretend to like it. The only parties you do like are the types that go on inside of the Capitol.

It’s all lavish there. The foods are delicious, the sweets and the sour foods. The drinks they have that you swear are going to make you dehydrated, but you drink anyway. The people there are always so friendly, even when they aren’t. They’re so stupid and naive that it makes it enjoyable to be around them.

Not to mention they worshipped you.

“Am I supposed to care?” you ask, crossing your arms, “Can’t be a very good party with your district. The entire thing is probably being attended by a total of ten people, and the food and drinks are twenty years old. I’m not missing out on anything, trust me.”

Coin bites her tongue, smiling, “Maybe it’s best that you’re back in District Two, then.”

“I’m done talking to you.” you give her a mock smile, turning to Lyme and Paylor, “I’m going to solve this whole loyalist problem for you in a second. Do you want to send a camera crew with me just in case it works?”

Lyme’s confused, “No offense, but what makes you think it’ll work? Especially with your mouth?”

“Cause I know you guys have been approaching it all wrong, and rather than having a second person fuck it up for you ingrates, I’ll do it myself. I may be selfish but I’m also open minded and have a way of words when I’m not being a complete bitch.” you look at Coin, “And if it does work, you don’t get to say you planned it at all. I’m not Katniss, and I won’t be easily manipulated.

“On top of that, you’ll also owe me a shiny, brand new apartment in the heart of the Capitol. Otherwise you can take that propaganda footage and shove it up that ass of yours.” you point to Lyme and Paylor, “Camera crew, now.”

You leave the room after that, and Paylor approves the camera crew, asking one of the people in the room with them to go ahead and gather the people. In the meantime, you take a look at yourself in the nearest bathroom. Your makeup and hair are still how you left it, and the dress isn’t that dirty either. 

When you get outside, there’s people already waiting to take you to the tunnels. And for their protection, they’re bringing volunteers with them. As for you, you’ll be out in the open just as you asked for.

“I live in luxury.” you tell yourself, raising your head a bit, “I belong in the Capitol. I am a loyalist. These rebels have no idea what they’re doing.”

You take the train tracks straight to the tunnel. The mountain has long since collapsed, which drew out most of the loyalists. And with Katniss’ speech after, a few surrendered. But there’s still plenty of people inside of there.

“I don’t know if we can follow you inside.” one of the girls tells you nervously, “It’s dark and unhealthy in there. If they begin firing, we’ll be the first to be brought down.”

“No, I will.” you say, “They’ll likely let you all live. If those cameras zoom well, keep as much of a distance as you can spare.”

The girl nods, “We trust you.”

You press your lips together, because it’s a first, “If I reach for my dress and turn my body like I’m going to run, you should take off immediately. I don’t plan on running, but I will if it gets too risky.”

“We’ll keep an eye out, I promise.”

Inside the tunnel, it’s even dirtier than you expected. Nonetheless, you all push through. The camera crew and the couple of armed people have masks over their face, but you work right through the dirt and smoke filled air. Even if you put a mask on now, you’ll have to take it off to talk anyway. There would be no point to it, you’re going to breathe in the air whether you like it or not.

“Stop!” A voice shouts, and you all come to a halt.

“Stay here.” you tell the crew.

Lights turn on, you cover your eyes for a moment as you blink through, trying to get adjusted to them. When you lower your hand, you can see that there’s several people ready to shoot you, and what looks like hundreds of people ready to back them up. The lights are coming from the train right in front of you.

“My name is (Y/n) Rosecelli, I’m here to speak to whoever is in charge, face to face.” you move forward, but stop a little bit after that, not wanting to push your limits.

Someone appears on the top of the train, an automatic rifle in his hands, “You shouldn’t be in here.”

You drop the dress down now, “No, I shouldn’t. This place is unfathomably filthy, and I can’t imagine how hard it is to breathe the air in here. What’s your name?”

“Jovian.”

“You know why I’m here, right?” you ask, crossing your arms, your eyes wandering over all the people waiting to see what happens.

“It’s pretty obvious, which is why I should let you know it’s not going to work, and you should leave while you can.” he tells you, “Or I’ll just make an example of you, just like how we did with Katniss.”

“Except Katniss is still alive in District Thirteen, you didn’t actually kill her.” you tell him, “Healthy as a horse, she was up on her feet the same day, ready to come right back here and give you guys a second chance.”

They won’t know you’re lying.

“We should’ve gone for her head.”

You ignore that, “There’s a big difference between Katniss and I, though. Katniss grew up in the poorest part of twelve, and I grew up in what was arguable once the richest parts of District Two. And then I won the games and got more money than I knew what to do with, and she didn’t have any time to get to realize her luxury.

“Because of this, she’ll never understand what you’ll have to sacrifice if you do take part in the fight. You’re putting everything up for a gamble. Your house, your clothes, furniture, a family. And you’d have to do it without knowing the outcome of a rebellion.”

Jovian nods slowly, “You get it.”

“Of course I do, I was once a Capitol pet too, and then Snow ended up killing my family, and then my friends on top of that.” you motion with your hand, “And I saw the type of people that we were supporting all this time. They’re nothing worth supporting, Jovian. I can promise you that.”

Jovian shakes his head, “What if you lose, huh? The district is already in deep shit because half of us are rebels, what if there’s a chance that the people who don’t fight with you, get rewarded?”

You snort, “You think he’s writing down names? You think he gives a shit if some of you were helping, and the others weren’t? All he’s going to see is that District Two had tried to help the rebels, and suddenly we’re all fucked. So why not give in? You know what will happen if there are no more hunger games, no more districts, no more districts versus the Capitol bullshit?

“You’d be able to live wherever you want--the Capitol, here, any of the other districts, places that were off limits, maybe even in some of the arenas that had gone untouched. You would work if you want to, and have a million kids without worrying about teaching them how to fight.

“There would be no more worries, Jovian. You’d still get to live the same, but it would be that much more freedom. And even if you wouldn’t want to live in any of those other places, you’d be able to visit them whenever you want. Take a vacation to the Capitol and come home to a sturdy house. And for anyone who hasn't found their soulmate because they exist in a different district, you’d have a greater chance of finding them.”

The silence that fills the tunnel is surprisingly calm, it isn’t as tense as you thought it would be. Jovian is obviously thinking all of this through.

“But we can’t win this without District Two. If we get those warehouses pumping out weapons, we’ll win this, guaranteed. It’ll be difficult, as all wars are, but we’ll win for once. We’ll get the justice we deserve, Snow will pay for all the shit he’s done.” you insist, “If you guys come with me now, there’s no hard feelings.

“There’s food, water, clothes, medicine. All you’d have to do is come with us now, and we’ll get you cleaned up, one at a time.”

Jovian looks down at you, “And you can promise us this?”

You look behind you, straight at one of the guards, “Get Paylor to confirm this.”

It takes a moment, but when her voice comes over the tunnel, echoing, saying all of what you said is true, you can’t help but to give a hopeful look to Jovian.

He takes in a deep breath, “Okay.”

“That’s just you, though.” you look to all the others, past the lights, “How about you guys? Are you willing to fight?”

“Will you be fighting with us?” someone yells to you.

This question you weren’t expecting, but you find yourself nodding before you can catch it, “Every step of the way.”

“Then sign me up.” A girl starts coming forward, behind her trails a couple of kids, they come in a line, all holding hands. She walks right past you guys.

It takes a moment before others start breaking off in groups. Jovian gives you a look, “These are my people.”

“They’re our people now.” You correct him, “And they’re going to be safe. Pack the hurt into the train and get this baby moving out here.”

You turn around, heading towards the camera, “Is it still running?”

“Yes.”

You look straight into the camera lense, “Twenty-three kids have died every year for the past seventy-four years. That’s one thousand, seven hundred and one kids that have died in the hunger games. Nearly two thousand of your kids have gone into an arena, scared and alone. 

“They wouldn’t know where their next meal would come from, they didn’t know if they would get sponsors or if they were worthy of them. They likely shivered and starved and were dehydrated down to their very last days. And while it was happening, all they could picture was their blue face in the night sky, signaling another fallen tribute.

“And you’re telling me, that now there’s a rebellion happening--one that will stop a cycle of heartless and meaningless murder--you’re not going to help? You’ll finally be able to have kids, and not worry about training them the moment that they’re born. No more staying up all night worrying that it’ll be your kid picked during the reaping.

“But we can’t get there if you don’t help.” You then lean a forward, “And Coriolanus, if you’re watching, I’d like to let you know that I found the scar you left on my face. You can mark me all you fucking want, but I haven’t done your bidding since I was sixteen. How’s this for calming down District Two?”

You stand up again, “For those of you who don’t know, my name is (Y/n) Rosecelli, I won the sixty-sixth hunger games when I was sixteen. I’m from District Two, and I have to admit that I have lived in luxury since the day I was born, and coming to terms with a rebellion that has ruined my whole lifestyle, isn’t easy.

“However, if I can see past all my greediness to realize that it’s unfair that I can live in luxury and others live in dirt, then you can too. There will be no more inequality, everyone will be able to live in a stable environment, and if you don’t want that, then you’re just as ill as Snow is.”

You turn to leave after that, hiking up the dress in the front so you don’t end up stepping on it and make a fool out of yourself in the process. It’s a couple of moments before the others are scrambling to follow.

“Are you really going to fight with us?” The girl asks.

“I said I would, didn’t I?”

She’s quiet for a moment, “You just don’t look like you’d been into that type of thing.”

You look at her, “Don’t be fooled by the dress and makeup. I’m a lot more than a pretty face.”

“We’ll have to get you fitted for clothing, then. You can’t march to the Capitol in a dress.”

You end the conversation, not saying anything else to her. What she said is obvious, you know that you’ll have to be dressed properly. Hell, you know what’s happening in the Capitol at the moment.

Nothing slips past you. You hear everything when it comes to secrets. You knew Johanna had been waterboarded because she failed some sort of swimming test, nearly took down a couple of people during her panic. And you knew that her and Blight were a little more than friends too.

Just like how you know that the Capitol is turning into a whole trap. Snow is planting these pods—as Beetee called them—that are near impossible to keep track of. Snow is pulling in the Capitol citizens closer, allowing him to plant more pods. Hundreds of them, every single day.

Which means that if you go out there with the other volunteers, there’s a good chance of a million things happening to you. You can’t even think of what the gamemakers would put into the streets of the Capitol. All you know is that it can’t be good. 

They might as well throw in every single project that they’ve ever created since they won’t be able to use it against you all in the future. And in that case, you might not want to be in the streets of the Capitol after all.

Right when you leave the train station, there’s a giant dumpster waiting for the people leaving the tunnel. They’re forced to give up their weapons so that they can pass into the team of medics that are waiting. As you get closer, you’re able to see that there’s no struggle. Most give up their weapons without a fight, but some are a little hesitant to do so.

You and the camera crew pass by it easily, none of you are holding a significant weapon, and if you are, you’re all rebels anyway. They’re not worried about you guys turning on them, it’s more like the newly rebels that are just coming out of the tunnel.

Past all the disarming, is the group of medics that wait for everyone who makes it past the tunnel. It takes a bit for you and the camera crew to get through the dense crowd that only gets bigger. Just before you break the last line of people, you can hear the train’s horn, warning everyone that it’s coming.

Then, you get through.

Waiting on the other side of the crowd is Lyme, with a particularly impressed look on her face. 

“Maybe we should have sent you in, initially.” Lyme says, “You did it effortlessly.”

“If any of you had bothered to tell me before sending Katniss in, I would have told you it was a bad idea.” You take a look behind you, “And by the way, this is a perfect example of what you should do when it comes to the Capitol citizens.”

“Want to be put in charge of that?” Lyme offers.

Your head whips towards her, “I will not play devil's advocate for them. That’s your fucking problem to sort.”

“It was just an offer.” Lyme says, but you’re already leaving towards the justice building again. Lyme’s quite taller than you, so it takes basically no effort when it comes to catching up with you, “While you were gone, Coin had someone flown in.”

You can’t help but let out a snort, “Oh, whoever should that be?”

After what you said to Coin, it’s no surprise to you. She would pull some bullshit like this to make you angry. It’s just her little form of payback.

“He’s waiting at your house.”

You look at her, “You had him escorted to my house?”

“He wouldn’t shut up about it. Gave him basic instructions to get to victor’s village, and then told him yours is the only one that hasn’t been touched.”

“Speaking of which, why is that?” you fix a curl that’s fallen into your face.

“Honestly, no clue.” Lyme says, “Good luck with Finnick.”

“Right.”

Lyme and the camera crew break off when you reach the justice building. From there, one single person brings you as far as they’re allowed to go into the town part of District Two, and then they head back to where they had been standing before you stumbled along.

You’re nearly home when your feet start to ache from the heels. And if it weren’t for the fact that the dirt is mixed in with glass, you might have taken the heels right off and walked barefoot the rest of the way. Before the rebellion, you definitely would have done that. Regardless of how people would feel about it.

Victor’s village still looks shitty, there’s not much to expect from it in the first place. It’s not like it’s going to have changed in the past hour or two. Although, you thought that you might find Finnick poking around in the abandoned, charcoal black houses.

Through the first arch and into the second reveals your perfect house. The door is shut--so it looks like Finnick knows his manners--and you don’t waste time going inside.

Swinging the door open, you make a point to slam it shut when you get inside. You don’t even move from the doorway before you’re tearing the heels off your feet, massaging them one at a time. Then, you head upstairs to your room.

If Finnick wants to speak, Finnick can come and find you. He invited himself to District Two, he was able to find your house, he’ll be able to find you.

Or rather, the other way around.

Finnick’s lounging on your bed when you walk in. In his hand he holds a book with your face on it. You can’t help but roll your eyes--that book was forced on you by Snow. He thought it was a good idea to draw in more attraction to you. And unfortunately it worked, and after that, you spent a couple more weeks than you were meant to, inside of the Capitol.

Of course, it ran short when everyone heard about your sour attitude, no matter what time of the day it was. People revoked their… reservations, and you were forced to go home.

“Welcome.” you say bitterly, opening the wardrobe doors and tossing your shoes inside, then you unzip the dress from the back with little to no problem.

“So the friendliness didn’t last long.” Finnick sounds amused, but when you turn to look over your shoulder, you can see that it’s not how he’s feeling. There’s a hint of a scowl on his face, maybe some touch of annoyance.

“Thank god.” you hang the dress up, then you close the wardrobe door and move onto the bathroom.

You tear off everything that you wouldn’t normally wear. The bracelets, earrings, rings. The only thing you leave is the necklace Tanith gave you, otherwise it’s all gone. And as soon as you get into the bathroom, it’s tossed into the jewelry drawer, which is absolute hellfire to sift through. 

Finnick follows you to the bathroom, and watches as you remove the makeup, unphased by the fact that you’re half naked again, “Did you actually mean any of it?”

You pause for a moment, “Mean what? What I said to Johanna? Every word, she fucking asked for it. Antagonizing me and all that, she should have seen it coming.”

“The apology.” Finnick clarifies.

“I meant that, yes.” there’s no hesitation.

“That’s all I wanted to know.” he turns and leaves the bathroom.

“So now what?” you call, “You’re going back to District Thirteen?”

Finnick laughs, “Dream on.”

You roll your eyes, “It was worth a shot.”

“Your house smells like shit, by the way.”

“It’s the kitchen, feel free to clean it out if it bothers you that much. I just figured that this house would be blown to bits the second Snow gets a chance because of what I said.”

“Speaking of which.” Finnick comes back, he’s got some clothes for you hanging over his arm, “The front lines?”

You scowl at him a little bit, “Did anyone ever tell you it’s rude to go through someone’s clothes? And yes, the front lines.”

Regardless, you pull on the shorts and shirt after tossing the makeup wipes away. You unpin your hair, letting it all fall into place unnaturally, which causes you to just pull it right back up into a ponytail anyway to keep it out of your face.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”

You side-eye him, “Let me guess, you’re coming along?”

Finnick smiles, “You know me better than I thought.”

“No, you just have a thing for following me around, so I figured. Just like how Lyme didn’t even have to say your name, and I knew you came.” you grin a little, “How was the party, by the way?”

“Surprisingly boring without you there.”

“You’re saying that I’m entertainment?” you ask.

“The best.” Finnick smiles.