#old madge gifs

[ghoulymadge]

Stand By Him - Live at El Corazon (2012) Happy belated birthday, @delulluart! 💞

[yoan-le-grall]

[humbug220]

Madge Bellamy in White Zombie (1932), the first feature length zombie film.

[alwaysginge]

I have to say, I love a character with a questionable personality.

[dragon-of-the-night]

Yay, I’ve been waiting for Elsa to show up!

She’s so iconic as the Bride, she managed to do so much with the few minutes screen time!

Unfortunately she was mostly cast as the “old maid” type of character after starring as the Bride and Mary Shelley, due to her non-stereotypical beauty that the filmmakers of the time didn’t know what to do with.

She married Charles Laughton in 1929 and never remarried after his death in 1962. They made several movies together, including “Witness for the Prosecution” and “The Private Life of Henry VIII” (where Elsa was cast as Anne of Cleves, the wife that was considered “ugly”!).

She also taught Elvis yoga in “Easy Come, Easy Go” which you can watch on YouTube!

She had such a great persona, both on screen and in real life, I love seeing it come through into her characters. You can watch her in an interview on YouTube.

Propaganda

Elsa Lanchester (The Bride of Frankenstein, Bell Book & Candle)—we love cleft chin rep for women! gorgeous but in a way that made her stand out, and she should have been a leading lady much more than she ended up being. her turn in bride of frankenstein is iconic

Madge Evans (The Mayor of Hell, Lovers Courageous)— Because she's typically seen as "the nice girl" I think people tend to overlook her, but when I first saw her in The Mayor of Hell (1933) and thought she brought a lot of depth than that to her character. She plays a nurse who repeatedly stands up to the corrupt, bullying warden of a reform school. She's fierce, determined, and outspoken, even though she risks losing her job. While her character is essentially powerless to change things and turns to an outsider for aid, I could never think of her as weak or useless. Because really it's only because she's a woman that she doesn't get to be the hero of the piece (not for lack of trying, as it were).

This is round 1 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Elsa Lanchester:

The ultimate vintage weird girl crush!! Her performance in Bride of Frankenstein is captivating and iconic and mostly done with eyes (although she doubles as Mary Shelley at the start, which is also very sexy of her). Also she’s in a film where she tries to assassinate Hitler (it’s not great but she’s great in it, and that’s frankly iconic). Also the first few sentences of the ‘early life’ section of her Wikipedia are fascinating: Her parents were bohemian socialists who rejected traditional Edwardian marriage, and her brother owned a puppet company. Coming from that of course she was gonna be an icon.

“I found it rather glamorous to be a bastard.” -Elsa Lanchester

She is just so pretty??? Her eyes and face structure is both very beautiful, but also lends to her expressions

she's always so delightful and funny in every role she turns up in <3 I love her in witness for the prosecution, I love her in the inspector general, i love her in bride of frankenstein! funny astute adept always! (and neil gaiman's personal hot woman crush)

[wrenjacobswrites]

Finished writing the rough draft of my WLW cult story so the honeymoon period is over. Now it’s time to mercilessly tear it apart with the editing and refining process.

[nebulablakemurphy]

Moves & Countermoves (Prologue)

Haymitch x Fem!Reader

Summary: No one ever wins the games, even fourteen years later, Y/N is still playing.

The Sixtieth Hunger Games will begin in five, four, three, two, one.

“Mom.” The boy at his mother’s bedside whispers, “Mom.” He shakes her shoulder lightly. She’s dreaming again and now, at the age of nine, he understands why he must be careful when waking her.

Y/N gasps, springing from the mattress, prepared to fight. But then she sees him. Everest, her sweet boy, forged in his father’s image. There is no denying, he’s her husband’s child through and through. “Sorry, sweetheart.” She sighs, letting both hands drop to her sides.

“S’ok.” He shrugs, stuffing worried hands into his pockets. “Dad’s with Arista, she’s pretty upset…doesn’t want you to go.” I don’t want you to go.

“Well,” Y/N forces a smile. “We don’t want to go without you either.” It was just like President Snow to demand they have children and then drag them away each year to mentor the games. Everest and Arista have only been required to join them in the Capitol for fanfare. The games are not about them anymore.

With Y/N aged twenty-nine and Haymitch forty, the novelty of their winnings has worn off. The most fascinating thing about them now is this, their love story and the family created from it. The anomaly that is Y/N Abernathy, Mayor Undersee’s eldest daughter, plucked from the reaping bowl at age fifteen. The girl who once hated her drunk of a mentor and grew to love him as the years passed.

The Capitol adores her, she is their darling. People hang off the edge of their seats, feasting on crumbs, anticipating her next move. What will she be wearing? Which victors sit within her inner circle?

Haymitch allows this, encourages it even. Because it keeps her safe. There is no cost too great. Y/N is everything Haymitch conditioned himself not to want. Snow knows exactly how deep his hooks are in. Killed Haymitch’s family because he didn’t appreciate the way he won the games; with an axe to the force field. Gave him a new family to dangle over his head years later.

Unfortunately for Haymitch, the cost of these theatrics means allowing Y/N’s former stylist to preen over her on reaping day.

Y/N can hear Vanity being ‘warmly’ welcomed by Haymitch on the first floor.

“Come on,” Y/N pats her son’s cheek. “Let’s go.”

Everest grins, racing toward the stairs. They do love their mother’s stylist and they only get to see her twice a year, if they’re lucky.

“You sure that headpiece is getting through the door, V?” Haymitch remarks, watching as the chandelier like dome attached to her skull pushes its way into their home.

Vanity scoffs, “good to see you too, Haymitch. What did you do to my darling?” The blue haired woman gasps at the sight of his five year old daughter, all but hysterical.

“I’m leaving her,” Haymitch sighs, shifting the little girl lightly in his arms.

“Tut, tut, my love.” Vanity coos, “Daddy will be back soon.”

“I want my Mommy to stay.” Arista sniffles, “you can’t take both.”

Everest reaches the bottom stair, saving Vanity from having to respond when he launches himself at the Capitol woman.

“Now this is a welcome,” Vanity ruffles his hair. “Look how big you are, my goodness.”

“I’ll be ten soon.”

“How the time flies.” Vanity catches sight of her victor. The first and only. “Y/N.”

“Hi.” Y/N smiles, wrapping both arms around herself. She is wearing a long sleep shirt with mismatched bottoms. The other woman is surely appalled at the sight.

“Let us…” Vanity’s eyes, unnaturally colored by contacts, flit about her, “get to work.”

————————————————————————

This year there is a bit of excitement at the reaping. Their female tribute actually volunteered, not something people really do in twelve. But it was for her sister and when it comes down to it, if Y/N was put in a position to choose between her little sister, Madge and herself facing the games, she would’ve done the same.

Y/N’s family will tend the children until they return, same as they have every year since the kids were born. Leaving them never gets any easier, especially if one or both is crying when they go. Y/N steps onto the train to the Capitol, still in her ridiculous mirror ball of a gown. Waving their children goodbye.

Haymitch is there, tense hands resting at her shoulders. “They’ll be alright.”

“I know,” Y/N nods.

“We’ll be alright.”

“I know.”

Part 1

[ex-textura]

Hi hello! Any fun facts you would like to share about your characters? (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)

Eli~!

[i'm sorry this has taken me so long i've been picking away at this since you sent it 😶 apologies for the verbosity, but you got me started and i couldn't stop lmao]

I have SO MANY facts I want to share about my characters 👀 are they fun? ehhhhh. They sure are facts.

The big scar on Auric's face is from his sister's ex. He was jealous and abusive and the one time he flew into a rage in Auric's presence, he stepped in and took the hits so she could run. He almost died then. When he woke up his head was in her lap, he was surrounded by blood, and the abusive ex was dead.

He and Gale settled down after the events of the game, got married, and opened a tavern outside of Waterdeep with his sister and her love, Halsin. They have a teleportation circle in the basement connected to Gale's tower and they basically treat it like a guest house. They've also set up a place for Astarion in the basement so he can stay there whenever he's handy. He still doesn't really like Astarion, but his sister pleaded and he couldn't say no.

Ciaran collected every poetry book, love letter, and diary he could find once he started to get feelings for Gale. He also bothered everyone in the party constantly(Gale included) about what love is, how do you know that's what you're feeling, what do you do about it? He had no frame of reference for love so the whole thing was completely foreign to him. He was like an alien trying to learn human customs. He thought he was being sneaky.

Now that he's no longer trying to die all the time, he's taken up painting and gotten pretty damn good at it, too.

Jinx is 43 years old. Technically.

His skin used to be more red, but a wild magic surge turned him blue and the colour never totally faded.

He's demisexual

Fully incapable of picking up when he's being flirted with. He doesn't think he's handsome, or ugly. He's just Jinx.

He'll try literally anything once, so he let Astarion bite him, and then let him drain him because he'd never been bitten by a vampire before, and never died before. He turned him down for sex though because "I've already had gay sex before :) thanks though!" Astarion is still reeling from that one.

Amaris is one half of a splintered soul. They grew up with their other half as their best friend and had no idea.

The illithid abduction went funky and rather than just scooping them up into the nautiloid, it shunted them into an entirely different, mirrored reality. It wasn't until before the push on moonrise that they learned the truth.

Their best friend and other half had a massive crush on the infamous Gale of Waterdeep that they used to give her hell about all the time. Until they met him, and fell for him too.

Luckily, due to alternate universe fuckery, they each got a Gale and everyone is happy.

Naught is something of an urban legend to people who travel the roads outside Baldur's Gate. He hunted highwaymen with the help of his birds Quothe and Madge. Known only as The Raven on account of the only warning of their presence being a ruffle of feathers and the cry of ravens before the arrows would start flying.

He took payment for his heroism in money, food, or sex. Whatever was on offer.

Before they hit Baldur's Gate and rented out the Elfsong they hadn't slept in a bed in over 10 years.

Their boyfriend was teaching him to read before the fire that killed him and sent Naught on the run. As such, the lad still can't fucking read.

Apparently their type is nerds who are older than him.

Jack married his ex-wife when he was 18.

Has two kids - a son and a daughter - and a grandchild on the way.

His job in the city was general labour. Lifting, fixing, building, cleaning. Anything that paid.

His ex-wife, and therefore his kids, are dwarves. He's 6'5. There's a bit of a height difference there.

He plays the drums.

Ilztaufein is a name he gave himself after escaping the fall of Ched Nasad.

He'd only been training as a wizard for about 10 years when he left. Still though, he thinks he's hot shit and won't hear otherwise.

The only wizard he thinks is better than himself is Gale. Elminster is a nobody in his eyes.

He's 5'4!

For all his big talk he's kind of terrified of women and will automatically obey any order given to him by any of the women in the party. Except for Shadowheart..who he killed......And Mystra... who he's got plans for.

He's been researching the gods after hearing Mystra's order for Gale's sacrifice. He wants to usurp her.

Most of his work on the surface has been in and around Waterdeep, and he's been to Blackstaff Academy a number of times in that time, in disguise, trading information.

He doesn't understand how humans age.

He's never seen a cat in person until they entered Last Light. He's obsessed with them (they're regal, vicious, fancy little bitches. Just like him). The first time he sees one with fur he's going to lose his damn mind.

He's never been with a human before. It's only been drow and the occasional surface elf. Gale's body hair is magical to him and he's not at all subtle about it.

He's 6'2.

Muse more or less adopted Flair - his partner in crime - when they were still teenagers. He saw this homeless kid trying to flirt with him after one of his shows and, like one might with a pet, decided this one was his and took her in. He taught her everything he knew about flirting, manipulation, and getting away with it.

Astarion clocked them both as thieves right away when they met Gale and immediately started trying to use thieves cant to communicate to each other that he was the perfect mark, and whose turn it was to do the flirting.

They caught on that Astarion was on to them later, so Muse was tasked with distracting him, lest Astarion rat them out or, worse, take their mark out from under their noses.

Absolutely devastated when Astarion started using the same tactics on him that he'd used on his targets and that shit actually worked.

He's really bad at the whole...feeling your real genuine emotions...thing. He's been writing songs about Astarion trying to sort out his feelings, rather than..yknow. talking to anyone. at all. ever.

He got really mad at Flair when she started giving Gale expensive items so he wouldn't explode. He voted to send the wizard to the underdark cause he wasn't worth the trouble.

He smells like patchouli and vanilla.

[cookieeevee]

Hello Yellow and Welcome People!!

Most people tend to call me Cookie or Cookieeevee because of my blog name, but call me Alice! I use the pronouns She/Her and They/Them (I don't mind which one you use)

I am Aroace and a Minor! ! !

I am into Rain World, OneShot, Pokemon, Warrior Cats, Kirby, Sonic, Pikmin, Ori, Chicory: a colorful tale, Steven universe, MHA, Epic Mickey, and many more

You can ask me anything, I'd love to chat with you all (Ask about ADH au or ask Lily if u want too)

Art requests are always welcomed :D

My designs of the slugcats and Iterators My Rain world OCs My other OCs

Side blogs of mine

ISAT AU: @three-multiverse-shooting-stars

Cookie: @ask-cookieeevee03

Madge: rainworld-starsandclouds023

Droplet (Old, should probably reboot at some point): rainworld-ask-the-medic

SOES: rainworld-lifeisendless230

Slugcat's: rainworld-cycle-of-slugcats

just doodle/art blog: mossy-doodles85

Silly adventurers of my plush's (feel free to send me art in Messages of the sillys if you want, I will post it and credit u, if u want :3)

you can draw for me if ya want

Amazing Friends Of Mine!: @rainworld-obsessed-cat-reborn (One of my first tumblr friends! Probably one of my closes friends here! They are really silly and has great art! I thought I'd never see them again once their main blog got deleted... I'm very glad they're back now. I care for them with the might of a 1000 suns and always wish for the best of them! I'll always have their back, no matter what <3) @stargazer0001 (A great friend, who I really care for! One of the first people I go to talk to about silly ideas and aus of mine. They're art is a joy to see and our silly chats we had before were really fun! Thanks for being there for me <3)

@southparkau00 (MY FIRST TUMBLR FRIEND! They helped me a lot when I was new to Tumblr, lots of love to them! They have been off for so long I thought they left, they didn't and I'm so glad.) @critter2 (Super silly bud that I met because of Star! Their art is amazing and its always a blast to be around them! Sadly they aren't on often so that kinda sucks... ALSO THEY ARE WHOLESOME WHEREVER THEY THINK/KNOW THAT OR NOT!!!!) @lanternlightsovercloudyskies (I've actually never checked if we're friends or not, but see her as one! Cute silly art that a joy to see, and shes super wholesome in my opinion! I always hope for the best for her!) @bananacat76 (My silly great friend! They're super cool and wholesome, all things I wish to be. They've let me add their RW persona, Banana cat, to my RW AU and even let me make Banana Cat Enot's sibling! Lots of hugs to them! A joy see and a gift to be around ^^) @rcranger (THIS SUPER AMAZING AND COOL PERSON IS MY FRIEND!!! Hes made super cute and silly art that is a joy to see and always puts a smile on my face! Cherry has been a super great person and he need MORE LOVE so go check him out and give him some love!!)

@puffstarss (I'm pretty sure we're friends, at least to me she is! Puffs is probably one of the most kind people here! She's a big UT and UTY fan and is the owner of The Undertale Yellow Runaway Route AU! If your a fan of UTY aus and stuff be sure you check out her blog! also I will die for them like all friends of mine)

Random things about me: My favorite colors are mint green and lavender I want to write but am too scared to put it online and I get writers block a lot... I wish people would ask me more things (on any of my blogs)... My IRL friend group and I do a lot of dark humour I draw all the time, in class, at lunch, at home, in the car, and many other places Cream is my favorite Sonic character I my 3rd favorite Sonic character is Chris from Sonic X, FIGHT ME ON IT I have four brothers and no sisters... I have many AUs which I will probably never tell anyone about because I am scared of doing that Rain world brain rot I REALLY want to play SA2 just because of the chao garden Undertale Yellow fan! I'VE DODGED DEATH!!!! If you want to be friends with me, just ask. Cuz I'm probably not gonna ask you that and I'm always happy to have more friends I need help

[madgeitboy]

hi! i'm madge/kanato, i'm morute and i love old things <3

[sethadams-cursed]

Who: Seth Adams & Magdalena Sparrow When: 27 May 1989 (Saturday) Where: Salem General County Hospital Type: Closed

"IT'S MY TURN NOW!"

The best thing about having siblings considerably younger than you was that it was much more easier to get your way, as Seth elbowed Jacob in the gut, and avoided his brother's sticky Rugelach covered fingers. "Nope." There was some emphasis as he popped his 'P' and continued the game. Roger Wilco… space janitor.. who was just about to infiltrate a space base using an invisible utility belt. SO DAMN COOL. Yeah no way was Jacob playing this one anytime soon. "MOMMMMMMM!"

Resigning before the inevitable came in the shape of his mother—her chastising and the reminder that he was a grown man and video games were for kids—Seth wasn't in the mood to argue. With a sigh he rolled his brother's computer chair back and climbed out of it. "Touché."

"SETH!!" What? He’d given it up! "Phone!" Oh, that. Putting his finger into his mouth and then inserting it into Jacob's ear, Seth let out a laugh as his brother screamed and ran down the stairs just in time to grab the phone off their annoyed father. Holding his angry brother back with his free hand, he answered, "Ellooooo..."

He listened, nodding, and agreed to Zo's (Lorenzo, but Seth called him Zo) pleas to pick his sister Maggie up from the hospital because he was stuck at the office still. The truth was, he felt kind of sick about the whole thing...

Maggie hadn’t gone to his school, but they’d met one year when, after begging his father for weeks to let him go to a normal (not Hebrew) summer camp, his father had finally agreed. The two had met when they were both been put on canteen duty, some sort of punishment for having a sense of humor. At least, that's how Seth saw it. After that, they’d spent most of the rest of the summer together, which concluded with a game of spin the bottle, where Seth was forced to pop his mouth cherry and kiss her. It hadn’t been a bad kiss, but he’d definitely used more tongue than was appropriate, and in the end, the two hadn’t spoken for the rest of the night or the bus ride back to Salem.

Of course, that was all in the past and when she came looking for a job a few years ago, he was more than happy to let bygones be bygones and hire her up as his new receptionist. The arthritic hands of old Madge had never adapted well to the computer age. So, anyway, the point was, when Seth heard about Maggie being injured—hospitalized—he felt just a little torn up over the whole ordeal. "County, right? Four? You got it, Zo."

Parked right on the curb beside the hospital bay, Seth picked up his drug store balloon and headed in the direction of the receptionist desk. "I'm here to pick up—" He turned, cut off by a familiar voice, as he eyed her cast and took in just how damaged she was: it looked bad, but definitely not bad enough to avoid any kind of jokes. "Looks like you’re one step ahead of everyone… or maybe one step behind?" He walked up, taking the wheelchair from the orderly with a thank you and a smile. Then, he leaned down and handed Maggie her balloon. "Can you limp or am I driving?"

[ghoulymadge]

WWE RAW 7/29/2024

[gcdeater]

𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕-𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈-𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅

gugu mbatha raw . demi-woman . she / they ➶ I RECOGNISE THAT FACE ! that’s MADGE UNDERSEE , the THIRTY-SIX year old GRAND PIANIST/VOLUNTEER MEDIC from DISTRICT TWELVE . they’ve been in the capitol around TEN YEARS , long enough to gain a reputation for being so lionhearted & paranoid . they’re so lucky getting to live in the tribute center for the duration of the games! ( character IS part of the uprising )

STATS

name: madge undersee birthday: july 14th zodiac: cancer sun, pisces moon, taurus rising gender: demi-woman pronouns: she/they orientation: pansexual panromantic occupation: grand pianist/volunteer medic district: twelve family: dianthus undersee (father), nicoletta undersee (mother) faceclaim: gugu mbatha-raw

PERSONALITY

positive traits: amiable, compassionate, courageous, curious, hardworking, idealistic, perceptive, sentimental negative traits: mannered, opinionated, paranoid, presumptuous, quirky, sheltered, secretive, possessive moral alignment: neutral good mbti: infj-a (the advocate) enneagram: 1 (the reformer) temperament: phlegmatic deadly sin: envy heavenly virtue: charity parallels: eliza hamilton (hamilton), belle (beauty & the beast), rachel chu (crazy rich asians)

BACKGROUND

IN THE STREETS OF DISTRICT TWELVE, MADGE UNDERSEE STICKS OUT FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS. her dresses, always beautiful, are always a tad too new. she never learns what it means to go hungry. when it’s time to sign up for tesserae, madge’s family never does so. always the precocious child, madge asks her father, mayor undersee, why she couldn’t opt-in and donate the rationing to someone who needed it more. he informs her of the stakes, and she is wholly unfazed. ensuring someone else could eat, at the risk of entering the arena, appeared a small price to pay. 

mayor undersee’s gaze darkens. to think she saw so little value in her own life. she was of his blood, and her brazen attempt to throw away her life becomes a slight against himself. after all, he and his wife had done to ensure she never be met with hardship. when he storms off wordlessly, madge is made to piece together her wrongdoing through her father’s silence. 

friends come and go easier than expected. madge is kind, but she’s somewhat eccentric. her interests frequently deviated from that of her peers, which became the most notable amidst conversation. madge, who knew little outside the confines of the undersee household and the piano lessons she frequented, was nowhere near the conversationalist most would’ve expected from her. still, she welcomes each and every friend.

it takes several failing friendships for madge to realize that there is a flaw in her friendship philosophy. she realizes that those select few people would only desire association based on her name alone. that was no way to sustain a friendship, and they tended to fizzle out one way or another. the people she often considered her friends most likely didn’t realize how dear they were to her. you could care about people from arm’s length.

when katniss volunteers, madge is reminded of their shared lunch table. she’d noticed her sitting alone one day. next thing she knows, she’s sitting diagonally from her— her other table mates watching her perplexedly. no words are exchanged beyond awkward first greetings, but madge knows there’s something about the girl she likes. it’s why when the time arrives, madge relinquishes her aunt’s mockingjay pin, insisting that she wear it in the arena— meant to serve as a symbol of district twelve.

when rumor of rebel activity begins circulating, mayor undersee becomes increasingly suspicious of his only daughter. while she tended to walk the straight and narrow, she’d proven on more than one occasion that a bleeding heart often led her to trouble. she’d have no particular interest in leaving home, but mayor undersee arranges for her to attend music school in the capitol.  she’s somewhere far away from the rebellious district. 

when she graduates, she lands (though she suspects this was also arranged by her father) a position in one of the top orchestra companies as a grand pianist. madge is ethereal when she plays, giving into the piano’s every whim. still, it's no secret that her talent surpasses her interest. she possessed the notoriety and accolades, but her heart wasn’t really in it. it’s during a visit home that madge stumbles across rebel activity without realizing so. it’s almost immediately that she knows what she needs to do.

madge abruptly abandons her career as a grand pianist. to the outside world, she’s merely taking a hiatus to find herself, to perform with the same vivacity as she once did. she begins training as a volunteer medic— a position of her own choosing (a freedom she’s unaccustomed to.) there are faces she recognizes, faces she recognizes in a way she didn’t before— with the newfound knowledge of what they’re all working toward. 

FUN FACTS

madge has a ten year old calico cat named sweetheart. she adopted her while working in the symphony, wanting company in her quiet studio apartment.

while she and her parents are on good terms, they were never particularly close to begin with, as if there was immediate distance between them the moment she's born.

despite her father being the one to insist on her playing piano, madge has always held a special appreciation for music.

training as a medic makes her feel differently, though. she feels fulfilled in a way the music never made her.

CONNECTIONS

childhood friends/acquaintances / people she came across while working in the capitol / fellow district 12 rebel friends / teenage romance prior her attending music school / other people she's played music with / someone who rubbed her the wrong way / a friend who winds up betraying her in the end

[gladiatefm]

@bludline

she's pissed off , but katniss has learned to understand peeta's thought process through the years , the way in which they can manipulate a crowd and hold them in the palm of their head as though it is the simplest thing in the world . she envies it , she admires it , but she is fuming all the same . his superpower is his charisma , her own is her fury .

she finds madge in the lounge , sitting quietly and alone , and she is brought back to their schooling days , the middle of a packed cafeteria and it is just them . the understanding , the kindness they share . she needs it , and it is with ease that she approaches her old friend . " madge , " she offers a small smile then slides into the seat facing her , exhaustion written clear upon her features . " it looked quiet over here . i need quiet . "

[incaensio]

@fatefought sent : ❛ You could live 100 lifetimes and never deserve that boy. ❜ (haymitch and katniss 🤪)

setting : victor's village, seven days after the wedding.

apart of the extra heads on the train (effie, the mellarks, the hawthornes, madge) the first day back at twelve feels a lot like the one from after the games. they hold hands as they play the couple in love, there's cameras everywhere, and katniss breaks peeta's heart all over again. he doesn't walk away this time — instead, he moves in. it's for the cameras, though. it's sickeningly but it's the show they're forced to perform: the lenses focus as the everdeens (and haymitch and effie) pack up peeta's things, walking the tiny distance from his house to hers, as he carries her in his arms through the archway, as they kiss and giggle.

it's fine the first couple of days. surprisingly so, not much changes in the torturously boring routine of being fucking idle around the house — peeta spends the day at the bakery, but he comes home in the afternoons with plenty of bread. he doesn't have to throw pebbles at her window or stumble sleepily to the door to tell her to come to his bed; they just do. they talk, and then they sleep, then they wake up and hit repeat.

obviously, a change in the motions is not what was planned. they shouldn't have done that, and she will never allow it to happen again. she can't. they can't. so she stays in her old bedroom upstairs, tossing and turning and refusing to sleep until it's so hot she has to walk downstairs. her tread is so light no one but the ugly cat takes notice of her (buttercup has something in his mouth though, and katniss shoos him away from the stairs, so he will not wake prim with a dead surprise), so she walks out. the lights on her neighbor's are hard to miss; haymitch never sleeps during the nights, though.

the usual happens: he welcomes her with sharp words, she glares and curses at him, they sit on his couch, staring at each other and trying to ignore each other's misery but hers is just so loud it ends up spilling out. she shouldn't be surprised that haymitch is making a sound with his tongue and telling her about how undeserving she is of peeta. she knows.

"i know."

in a just world, peeta would never have to suffer through her. he'd find a good person who does not have two monsters clawing inside of them at all times, who only kisses him eagerly under threat of murder; he'd be happily married with someone who's happy to be married with him, someone who takes care of him, who gives him sweet cheeked children and never makes him upset. katniss always makes peeta upset.

"he deserves better."

this is not a just world. it is rotten, unfair and cruel. so a good person like peeta gets stuck with someone like her.

katniss runs her hands through her face, fingers pulling curls out of her messy braid, before tucking them behind her ears. she looks dead into haymitch's eyes.

"he said i should have babies." he as in the snake, the president, the worst man to walk this earth. katniss isn't sure haymitch entirely understands, so she presses on. "when we danced." another pause as she grasps for words. "i ain't stayin' in peeta's bed when we're expected to breed just so they throw our babies in the arena."

[nebulablakemurphy]

Moves & Countermoves (Part 8)

Prologue | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

“Mom!” Everest screams, tearing down the hallway at the sight of her.

“Mommy!” Arista follows.

Causing Y/N to lose her balance, toppling backwards from her crouched position, with both children in her arms. “I missed you.” She murmurs, kissing each of their heads in turn.

Haymitch is a few feet behind, Y/N ran all the way from the train. He picks up pace at the sound of their voices.

“Daddy!”

“What are you doing down there?” Haymitch chuckles at the sight. “Should I just get on top here?”

“Ahh!” Everest giggles, “he’s gonna crush us.”

“Do not jump.” Y/N warns.

“I think your mother wants me to jump.” Haymitch teases.

“No, dad.”

“Ooof,” Haymitch grunts, carefully joining his family.

“And I’m back to being chopped liver.” Madge laughs at the dog pile forming on the sitting room floor.

“Get in here, Madge.” Y/N insists.

“I’m good.”

“Come on, Madge.” Haymitch says.

“What do you want me to do?” Madge raises a brow, “I’m not holding you.”

“Well someone’s got to.”

“Hold him, Madge.”

“Aunt Madge, Aunt Madge, Aunt Madge!” The kids begin chanting.

“This is ridiculous.” The woman sighs, pushing hair back behind her ears, preparing to mount her sister’s husband.

“There she is.”

“Welcome home.” Madge says, staring down at her sister, the only one facing upward in all the chaos.

————————————————————————-

It’s odd; the first few weeks of seeing the other houses in victor’s village lit up at night. Odd that there are other victors after being alone for so long.

Katniss falls into her old routine, hunting, visiting the hob and spending time with Prim. Even Gale. She hides her struggles as best she can.

Prim, Everest and Arista play hopscotch on the pathway between their houses. She teaches Y/N and Haymitch’s children to milk her goat and churn the milk into cheese.

Peeta is adjusting to life with a missing limb. The bottom portion of his left leg now replaced with a prosthetic, after the damage done by the mutts was deemed irreversible. Still he bakes and paints, delivering tiny offerings of scones and cookies; to Katniss and his mentors.

“Mmm, mhm.” Haymitch takes a deep whiff of the sweets. “Thank you, Peeta.”

“You’re welcome,” Peeta nods, watching as the older man carts the tray away.

“You can… if you want to stay for dinner. Doesn’t have to be every night,” Y/N knows the relationship with his family is complicated. “Just whenever you want to drop by, you’re welcome to.”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“We’d love to have you,” Y/N squeezes his arm. “Come on in.”

“Why not?” He shrugs, with a smile.

Together they walk toward the dining room. Haymitch has plopped the tray down in the center of the table, allowing Everest and Arista to have dessert before dinner.

“We’re not sticklers about the order of things.” Y/N explains, pulling out a chair for him. “Peeta, this is my kid sister, Madge. Madge, this is Peeta.”

“Nice to meet you.” The woman seated beside him holds out her hand.

“Nice to meet you too.”

“Baby, how’s the ham coming?” Y/N calls to her husband, who’s preoccupied taste testing the cookies.

“There’s a ham?” Haymitch mumbles around a mouthful of food.

Y/N’s eyes bulge. “You forgot to put it in?”

“I’m messing with you.” Haymitch swallows, moving behind her chair to check on the main course.

“Terrible,” Y/N swats at him.

————————————————————————-

Enough time has passed that Y/N watches for the lights in the windows of both Peeta and Katniss’ houses; only concerned when she doesn’t see them now.

President Snow’s retaliation could come at any time. Haymitch tries to put Y/N’s mind at ease, reasoning that if he hasn’t done anything yet, he may not do anything at all. If the districts and the Capitol are invested in the star crossed lover’s story, he has nothing to be angry about.

“The tour is only two months away, maybe he’s waiting until then.” Y/N worries at a loose string on her nightgown.

“When are we gonna talk about this?” Haymitch breathes, they’ve been dancing around it for weeks now.

“Talk about what?” Y/N turns up her chin.

“What’s really going on.”

She hasn’t even begun to process it, can’t accept it, can’t speak about it. “Haymitch.”

“I’m sorry this isn’t what you wanted. But this isn’t going away. We have got to address it.”

It.

The tiny swell of her belly.

“You wanna discuss baby names?”

“I want to discuss this baby.”

Y/N allows tears to pool in her eyes. “I-” she breaks off at the feel of his hand resting against the bump through the thin material.

“You’re not ready to tell anyone and I understand that you need time. I will give you time. Hell, if you wanna pop this sucker out here in a few months, just you and me, great. But you have got to talk to me. Trust me.”

“I do trust you.” She whispers, resting a hand over his.

“Everything is going to be ok. I’m gonna make it ok.”

“Do you want to have another baby with me?” Y/N wonders, though the outcome will not change.

“I want everything with you.” Haymitch assures her.

“I love you. I never want you to think for a second that I don’t. I just wanted a little bit more time.”

“There is no shame in mourning the ability to do this on your terms. This is your body, your life and you deserve-” he stumbles over the words. “You deserve better.”

“So do you.”

The first two times…they’d been asked. A crisp white envelope with instructions inside. There was a warning. The shots from the Capitol stopped. There was understanding, time to prepare themselves. This is different. An ambush, a means to knock them down a peg.

And they can lie there, they can stay down. Or they can get their bearings and stand up.

————————————————————————-

“One hour until cameras, Peeta and Katniss are defrosting, Vanity should be here any second.” Y/N calls, closing the front door behind her and tossing her coat onto the rack. It’s quiet in their house, alarmingly so. “Haymitch?” She calls up the stairs.

It’s tour day.

“In here,” Haymitch replies.

Y/N follows the sound of his voice down to the living room. Something is off. She fluffs out the edges of her shirt as she walks. Sure to conceal the life growing within her. She is showing, but not enough for anyone to notice at a glance, in a loose fitting top.

Turning the corner, she is greeted by a peacekeeper on either side of the entryway. President Snow is sitting on their couch with the children and Haymitch. Enjoying the tea biscuits from Peeta.

“President Snow,” Y/N greets him with a smile.

“Hello, my dear. I hope you are well.”

He knows. He has to know. “Can’t complain. I hope the trip here was an easy one.”

Snow allows a slow grin to spread across his lips, “it was. So kind of you to ask.”

“Can I get you some tea to go with that?” Y/N motions towards the biscuit.

“I’m afraid I can’t stay long. I am only dropping by to give my best and congratulate you.”

“Congratulate me for what?” She wonders.

Snow cocks his head to the side, “your victors, of course. Speaking of, I really must be off to see Ms. Everdeen.”

“Should I accompany you?” Y/N chokes out against the rapid pounding in her chest.

“That won’t be necessary, after all you need to get ready. Your lovely children have never been on a victory tour. They are very excited.”

Her heart stops, the children were never meant to come. They are to stay here in twelve, with Madge, where it’s safe.

“I will see you all in the Capitol.”

————————————————————————

“Of all the last minutes alterations,” Vanity scowls, “I spent years designing these outfits, young lady. Years!”

“I know,” Y/N tries to suck it in, but there’s no way the zipper is going up.

“Can’t we let the seams out a little?” Haymitch asks, the top buttons of his matching ensemble hanging open.

“And you,” Vanity kicks at him. “This is all your fault. I hope you enjoyed yourself.”

“Oh, I did.” Haymitch chuckles, “enjoyed myself very much.”

Y/N smirks at him, shaking her head.

“Vanity?” Arista comes to tug at the bottom of her dress.

“What is it, my love?” She continues fussing over her victor, pinning a bit of fabric to the closure of her gown. They’ll just have to sew her in.

“Something is pinching.”

“Where?” The woman leans down to tend the little girl. Outfits for the children were not on her agenda, but she knows better than to arrive unprepared. Whipping up a dress and suit combination in a matter of minutes.

Arista points toward the right side.

“Oop, see there.” The stylist plucks a wayward sequin from the arm joint of her dress. “All better.”

She dashes off happily.

“She looks just like you.” Vanity gives a smile, gathering her needle and thread.

“Dad, I need help with the tie.” Everest charges in, silken fabric in hand.

“You know we’re just riding on a train, right?” Haymitch reminds V, looping his son’s tie around his neck. “You’re doing all of this for us to sit on a train.”

“Haymitch.” Vanity pinches the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. “Honestly Y/N, you had your pick of the litter and this is who you chose… just beyond me.”

“You and me both.” Haymitch adds, finally they agree on something.

————————————————————————

“All aboard.” Haymitch helps his children over the threshold of the train first.

Madge is accompanying them, to help tend Everest and Arista. Y/N fought her on this of course, but Madge insists. I don’t want them around anyone we don’t trust. Her intentions are good, but Y/N hates that so much of their burden falls to her.

“Here comes my nanny,” Haymitch teases. “The girl on fire, the baker’s boy.”

This goes on for a while until it’s Y/N’s turn to board.

“They always save the best for last,” Haymitch remarks, helping her up.

Y/N kisses his cheek, “thank you.”

When Haymitch turns around, Katniss is right there. “Jesus, sweetheart. Almost gave me a heart attack.”

“I’m sorry, I-” Katniss looks desperately around Haymitch to Y/N. “I need to talk to you.”

“Ok,” Y/N nods. “Haymitch will get everyone settled and we’ll talk,” stepping past her husband. “Come on, let’s go.” Y/N leads her to the back of the train, with the big window.

Katniss takes it all in, the mountains of district twelve illuminated by the setting sun. “It’s beautiful.”

“Best seat in the house.” Y/N agrees, making herself comfortable on the cushioned bench, “in my opinion, anyway.”

When Katniss does find a place next to her, she can’t find the words. “I’m sorry,” is all she can say.

“For what?” Y/N’s brows pull together.

“For the berries, for winning, for Snow taking it out on you.”

“Katniss-”

“I know you don’t blame me, you’re too good a person.” That’s why it’s always harder to go to Y/N than Haymitch.

“I place blame where it’s due.” Y/N corrects her, “and this is not your fault.” Not her fault that the children must accompany them, not her fault that the Capitol sent placebos instead of contraception.

“He said…the people in the districts don’t believe our love story. He told me I need to make them believe. You’re good at it; making people believe what you say.” That’s why it has to be her. “I thought maybe you could help me.”

Y/N rests a hand on top of Katniss’. When I was your age, I would’ve given anything for someone to help me. “Of course I’ll help you.”

Part 9

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