TV&FILM yellowjackets (jackieshauna), the craft, ikwydls, the oc, anne with an e, ahs coven (misty zoe), ahs asylum, it (stan mike bev), stranger things (jancy), sentai, fear street, assassination classroom, kimi ni todoke (ryuchizu ayane), atla, total drama, 6teen
BOOKS mphfpc (fiona hugh), if we were villains, hunger games (annie cresta odesta), pjo (percabeth tratie), six of crows (kanej), chaos walking, legendborn, a good girl's guide to murder, sunburn, last night at the telegraph club
One of the first things that drew me to Finnick as a character was how layered his portrayal was. What we see of him during his first introduction doesn't turn out to be who he really is.
I find Finnick challenging to write but also really fun because he's an incredibly calculated person. When we see him from Katniss's point of view, we gradually start to learn more about him and get better at discerning what is part of his real personality and what is just an act. The thing is that he rarely says what he means.
We know his flirtatious heartthrob personality is an act he puts on for the Capitol as well as probably a defense mechanism and a form of currency (he uses his body to get what he wants, namely secrets from his Capitol clients). So when I'm writing him, I'm wondering how much of that is fake and how much comes from his genuine personality. We see that he has a self-deprecating sense of humor that Katniss thinks is genuine, but we don't get a lot more than that.
Finnick is a person who's used to being constantly watched. He's a celebrity in the Capitol, and we also know that Snow keeps tabs on the victors via cameras, so I'm sure Finnick is also aware of that. So does this impact the way he acts? He would certainly have to avoid saying his rebellious thoughts, but beyond that, does he act differently when no one is watching?
Another major factor is that Finnick won the Games at fourteen, an age when people are just starting to figure themselves out. I have to imagine that this majorly stunted his emotional growth. He went from having a semi-normal life to everything that comes with being a victor. For this reason, I don't even think Finnick knows who Finnick is. There's a lot of self-discovery that he didn't have the safe place or resources to do. And he was probably never in a good spot to really work through his trauma.
The biggest questions running through my mind when I'm writing Finnick are these: who is Finnick? Who is he trying to be in this moment, and why? What is he thinking and feeling, and how much of that is he hiding? What is he trying to get out of this, and what is he willing to give?
In conclusion, I think Finnick's personality can vary depending on who he's around and the situation he's in. This can make it really hard to nail down a specific personality for him. Additionally, he is never going to be a paragon of self-awareness, either at twenty-four in canon or younger in the years leading up to it. He's young, he's dealing with a lot of his own issues, and he's usually not going to have the means to really know himself. We see moments of his genuine personality come through, especially in Mockingjay, so I'm not trying to say that we don't know him at all. And even the moments that are clearly insincere can tell us about his character by showing how he handles the different situations he's put in.
I don't have an answer to the question in the title. I don't think Finnick would either. Writing Finnick isn't impossible, but there's definitely a lot to think about, and I think that makes it a really fun challenge.
i'm a theater, choir and overall music freak so i'm so normal about these. enjoy
eli pretends to like whatever music is popular to fit in, but when he's alone he mostly listens to 70s-80s rock. he got most of his music taste from patrick and lisa. i like to think there's a surprising amount of queer artists like elton john, queen and bowie in his playlist in order to rub in the irony of his internalized homophobia. also listens to some indie rock like arctic monkeys and nothing but thieves
victor is, obviously, a goth. he was deep into the subculture as a teen and young adult, and has always been generally alternative. had band shirts (specifically bauhaus, joy division, nine inch nails and nirvana*) and painted his nails black. on hot days he'd wear a long flowy skirt with one of those shirts, and eli would hate being seen in public with him because it made him "abnormal" by association. taught syd to do eyeliner and diy clothes
vic (at least lockland vic) mostly listens to post-punk, industrial metal and various 80s-2000s rock bands. loves nine inch nails and depeche mode. has a vinyl collection
* had a huge nirvana phase as a kid before they became mainstream. nowadays, because he's pretentious and dreads being a normie, he only wears the nirvana shirt to sleep.
in aus where he interacts with children (teacher/professor, doctor, etc) he'd bond with alt kids who are struggling to be understood by adults. ie. rumor has it that mr vale gives bonus points if you wear shirts of bands he likes
definitely picky and pretentious with his music, especially when he's older. listens to more jazz and classical then, especially jazz that mitch recommended to him
as for singing hcs, eli would have a really good voice due to singing in the church choir as a kid (i also hc him as part filipino and that's the stereotype lmao). he'd have a disney prince-esque tenor voice. his speaking voice is warm and approachable sounding, if a little monotone. and his inner voice sounds like patrick bateman monologues
victor's voice is harder to describe. it's definitely lilting and effeminate, but you'd have trouble categorizing it because it's so versatile. definitely talks fast, especially since talking to himself a lot in prison. mostly sings on the lower and softer side, so he can make any song sound like a lullaby (sydney found this out when she couldn't sleep one night). speaking voice claim is trent reznor (courtesy of victor @frankentwink)
theater diva vic. theater diva vic. when mitch and syd do karaoke, he watches silently in the background before deciding to go all out, performing a disney villain song (inspired by another person's post about this)
syd listens to a lot of stuff, but mostly punk, riot grrl, emo and scene music. of course, she listens to the stuff vic introduced her to. blasts ear destroying death metal in her room after she has an argument with vic or mitch. mitch got her hooked on hozier. avid florence + the machine fan. avid mcr fan.
mitch likes slow rock and jazz
dom likes dad rock and 2000s metal
bonus: victor lockland playlist & eli lockland playlist
does anyone else think about how you're a painter you're a baker you like to sleep with your windows open you like sugar in your tea and you always double knot your shoes
