━━ ♡ 𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒

[drcmctic]

amira.

amira had nearly forgotten that her eighteenth birthday fell the day of private training, purely by coincidence. she spent the day being ushered around and down to the training center to try and show the gamemakers that she had a chance - something she wasn’t sure she believed herself. the scores had just been flashed across the screen in their district suite. when amira saw jude’s seven flash across the screen, her smile widened in pride for her friend as their team burst into applause. 

“a birthday and a high score, this really is my lucky day!” amira turned to see their escort praising her situation and clapping primly. “now you two have fun, but don’t get into any trouble,” her high pitched voice held no maternal warmth, but she blew a few air kisses in her tributes’ direction before turning and leaving the suite - presumably to celebrate her success.

as soon as the door closed, amira turned to jude sitting next to her on the sofa with a smile still on her face. “what did you do in there?” there was excitement in her voice and her genuine curiosity must have been plastered across her face.

closed for @drcmctic

as soon as the district ten scores faded from the screen, jude turned around and threw his arms around amira, kissing the top of her head. he wasn’t sure how the scores would influence their time in the arena and, for that moment, he wanted to pretend he didn’t care.

“when do we ever get in trouble?” he asked, looking from their escort to amira, an incredulous look on his face. jude was in an exceptional good mood considering the circumstances – it was amira’s birthday and he’d like to enjoy a nice celebration, after all, no matter what happened, they’d never celebrate anything together again. 

“showed them my manly strength, of course.” he didn’t want to talk about private training, or the scores or anything that made him think of the next couple of days. “anyway that doesn’t matter. what do you wanna do birthday girl? i wish i could’ve baked you a cake – well, asked my mother to bake you a cake i guess.”

[drcmctic]

monday.

“that’s right. it’s a little bitter, though… we put it with tesserae sometimes, just to make the bread taste like… something. you know?” the bread was commonly cheap and tasteless. notoriously so.

“cookies for lunch? jude, you  read my mind! you know there’s this real nice buffet i heard of, for sponsors while they watch us?… maybe we could go raid that? there were so many people at the buffet when we got here. I couldn’t push through! you could help this time, right?”

“we don’t use a lot of sugar in district ten either, so i don’t mind. sugar is really expensive.” jude added that last part almost to himself, thinking about all the overly sweet treats he had already tasted in the capitol.

sponsors would get treated to a nice buffet. he wasn’t sure how long it’d take before they were allowed to eat lunch – maybe they could go now if they wanted, he wasn’t sure. but the idea of raiding a buffet that wasn’t made for them, had him a little shaky. jude was a good, rule-abiding boy after all. “um, monday, i don’t think that’s a great idea. it’s not ours you know, they might get mad. i’m sure we’ll get cookies for dessert.”

[drcmctic]

elektra.

TIME: MORNING LOCATION: TRAINING CENTER   STATUS: OPEN, @tbpstarters

elektra could feel a strange rush of energy as she was herded into the group of tributes to be explained the rules and regulations of the training center by the head trainer, imamu. brown eyes surveyed the various stations, vastly different trainers posted at each one with hands crossed over their chest or held behind their backs. it was the shiny weapons that attracted elektra the most, but the large matted ring was calling her name as her knuckles clenched. 

once the head trainer finished her speech, tributes began to slowly disperse, unsure of where to go. elektra glanced to her right, eyeing the tribute next to her and she spoke with a smile, (avis warned her to be nicer), and although she said it with a clenched fist, elektra wanted to test the waters on who these other tributes were in face of all the tools needed to win. “do you want to train with me?” she asked, “you can pick where.” 

all her life, vanessa didn’t do great with following rules – not because she was overly rebellious or wanted to show off, she just tended to forget. but the rules that the head trainer was setting seemed more than fair. she didn’t have any particular wish to fight any of the tributes, but she didn’t want to stand by in the middle of the room, arms crossed, and do nothing, either.

she was almost startled by the other girl’s voice. training with someone else by her side did sound a lot less weird though. “yeah, sure.” looking around at all the stations, imamu’s words echoed in her head. finally her eyes set on a bunch of wood, boxes of matches and other small sticks gathered around. “there?” she asked, finger waving at the survival station. “oh i’m vanessa, by the way. i’m from eight.” if they were going to sit together, they might as well know each other’s names.

[an-terra]

seriously is there anything sexier than sustainable farming

[jarring]

me: *has feelings*

me: Pathetic. Disgusting. Won’t Let It Happen Again.

[gifsofbravotv]

[drcmctic]

monday.

“jude!!!” Monday grinned from ear to ear as he sat beside her. she reached out to hug him, a spare bit of gllitter in her hair rubbing off on him from the parade. “yay!” she was so glad her friend was coming to train with her.

she’s been too nervous to ask him her real question yesterday.

“it’s alright. we eat it at home sometimes.” when the alternative was nothing at all. it wasn’t filling or good, and it was a bit taxing to dig up. “cookies are way better, but there aren’t any of those here.” they were all at the buffet that the gamemakers were eating as they watched the tributes train.

monday reminded him of his little cousins, but even then, they weren’t as loving. maybe because they saw each other almost every day, but reunions mostly included smiles and pats on the back – like proper gentleman.

“at least i know it won’t kill me then!” that wasn’t a lot, but considering that he’d probably starve as soon as they entered the arena, it was something. taking the root, he took a little bite. nodding, he tried his best not to pull a face. “it’s not, um, bad? cookies are always better but maybe we’ll get some cookies for lunch? that’d be nice.”

[tallwife]

You used me? For my vibe?

[malecsz]

maia mitchell on film by @rileytaylor 

[slothblog]

arent you like 5'2?

i self identify as tall 

[timotaychalamet]

when friends talk to me about their men

[ethanhunt-deactivated20230911]

mood

[klaw]

how is “””pretty boy””” supposed to be an insult i’m the prettiest goddamn boy in town

[satansonmyside]

I know I just called you dude but I’m trying to flirt with you

[ngalitzine]

[drcmctic]

jasper.

after the parade, jasper was on cloud nine. he had managed to smuggle some more alcohol from his mentors, and if it hadn’t been for his excellent balance, death grip on tommy he probably would have been trampled to death by horses. a fitting end for the life of a clown, but upon seeing vanessa he was grateful. 

she was definitely wrong, he looked better and objectively she looked better than he did - and that was something hard to do. “you know, i know i’m supposed to be… impartial.” he walked a little closer to her, observing the small details on her outfit, and it really elevated it from beautiful to outright phenomenal. “but you look like a dream.”

“impartial? is that another hot, sweaty career rule?” counting on her skill for making everything more dramatic than it had to be, vanessa put up a hand to fan herself. “the things a bit of makeup and a fancy dress can do to a poor district eight girl.” for the first time in the entire day, she was feeling a bit funny. if she didn’t take advantage of it, who would?

“did you have fun out there? you looked like you were having the time of your life.” jasper, like herself, seemed to love the attention.

[drcmctic]

raf.

“thought it might. can’t have that, can i? my mom raised me better than that.” nor would he actually like to, seeing lizzie any form of sad was the worst thing in the world. he laughed when she told him to stop flirting with him. taking a step back, he lifted his hand sup a little in defence. “you started it.” he bit his lip before taking a sip of his drink. 

“a bit of both. we kind of exposed ourselves during our games - me more than you though.” he knew that if francis had seen something, he would have mentioned it a long time ago, however, he just knew conspiracy theories were currently swimming through his mind silently. “surprisingly, i don’t think he’s caught us yet. well, i think he hasn’t.” it wasn’t a massive issue either way, he didn’t care if francis had seen the two of them - he just didn’t want to hear loads of questions.

“you weren’t exactly a dream to work with as a tribute you know. everybody deals with this in their own way.” some dealt with it worse than others, and if he was honest, monday was probably acting the most mature of all the ones he had seen. the sensation of lizzie’s hands on his chin brought him back to reality, and although he didn’t want to talk about it more, she was making him. “yeah, i know.” and he did, but after he was forced to volunteer for antonio, he couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if the same thing had happened to his sisters.

he took lizzie’s hands in his after she let go of him. “you know lizzie… one day…” he paused for a moment as he rubbed her knuckles. “i’m gonna kick your ass again.” he pushed her hands away before shoving her shoulder lightly, that was enough sad shit for now. “now i think it’s about high time we started seducing sponsors and convincing them to sponsor our useless tributes.”

she was ready to tease him back, but his mother really was too lovely. ant not even in an annoying way. “i started it? if that’s what helps you sleep at night raf,” she said with a little smile, despite her best efforts to keep a straight face. 

“your arena was way more fun though.” and although she was joking, if it wasn’t for raf’s pending death leaving her beyond stressed, she would’ve silently praised the gamemakers for some a fucked up idea. “maybe you need to start climbing up to my window again yeah? it’ll be funny.” the mentors from district six only had each other as neighbors, so it wasn’t far-fetched that if francis saw someone climbing up the side of lizzie’s house in the middle of the night, he’d think they were to kill her. it just made the whole situation better.

“i was an absolute fucking delight. it’s not my fault you were stressed out.” lizzie was still in two minds about raf’s presence during her first stay in the capitol – he was the best at keeping her alive, including herself, and he kept her focused, but there was something about it that made the experience even harder. something she never managed to pinpoint. “you really couldn’t be more of a pessimist if you tried.”

with as much sarcasm as she could possibly muster, lizzie laughed. “again? you think you’re so cute, i’m the one who was always kicking your ass. you can try though.” she almost invited him for a friendly spar during training, but it was known to everyone how much raf actually hated the training center and so, for once, lizzie kept her mouth shut. 

mentioning their tributes really just brought the whole mood down. “for what? they won’t even have time to send anything in, that’s how quick these kids will die.”