seven's daughter ;

starve the flesh, shave the hair, clarify the mind, define the will, restrain the senses, leave the family, flee the church, kill the vermin,vomit the heart,                                                                                                                 forget the dead.                                         JULES CHURCHILL, VICTORIOUS.

[juleschurchill]

When Jules Churchill watched the games, mostly she just  s t a r e d. 

It’s not like she was in much position to do anything else. Gathering money from sponsors, talking them up, whatever, whatever, whatever. At the end of the day, all she could really do was stare. Watch as they fought, as they died, as they played the game. Jules sighed, leaning back into the ridiculously plush chairs they put out for sponsors and mentors to sit in as they watched the games from the tower. If she were a different person, she might have wanted a drink.

“The lovers are still alive. That’s something, at least. Both of them being still alive. It’s almost impressive, I would say.” Jules scrunched up her face anyway, to let them know it was mostly a joke. “Wouldn’t you?” // @ttwstarters

[juleschurchill]

findme-wilder‌:

Wilder smirked at her comment. Named after a rock or cloth seemed a little ridiculous, but he wasn’t in the position to make fun of other peoples’ names. “I wish I did know, but growing up without a television and not caring about the Games kind of results in not knowing anything.” He nodded, Wilder would try his best to learn, but how much could he before being thrown in the Arena?

Unfortunate? It was a little bit, wasn’t it? If one of them hadn’t been Reaped, the other wouldn’t have anything holding them back. At least that’ what he thought about his chances. He still had to decide who he was fighting for. Laurel had a family, a future, would do great things. Him? He would just work until he couldn’t anymore? Take the train wherever he could? A lesser life than what Laurel could have. 

Wilder nodded his head. He had decided. He knew what was deep in his heart. He wished he had some more self-preservation. He wished it for the sakes of Stefie and Boll. But with Laurel here, he couldn’t let her down again. “I don’t know if you’ll be happy or not. I know that Lark would be happy.”

Not for the first time, Jules froze as Wilder spoke. Strange boy from a strange world, it seemed. “That’s unlucky. I might watch some reruns, if I were you. That’s what I did.” It had been compulsive, watching hours on hours of gore before she fell asleep. “Also, just a piece of side advice, I wouldn’t say that out loud to many people. It’s technically illegal, not watching the games.”

Jules had heard enough of Lark’s distaste for the boy to know what he was talking about. She let out an exasperated sigh, searching for something to say. “I....damn. Okay.” She looked down at her feet for a moment, hanging above the ground. “How long have you known this girl, exactly?”

He was an idiot. Fine. She could ignore an idiot, put him out of her head. Write him off even easier than she had already attempted to. Still, poor idiot. Why wouldn’t you even try?

[juleschurchill]

marinazale‌:

Marina could understand where Jules got her fondness for the Capitol.  Especially if she grew up around people from there with an aura of mystery surrounding them.  It was something she worried about her child.  She didn’t want them growing up only seeing the Capitol as a fun place they got to go on trips with their parents.  

Sadly, Marina offered Jules a reassuring smile.  “Neither do I,” she told the girl.  “But if you need any advice or help…I’m around if you need me.”  She wasn’t the girl’s mentor, but after seeing Lark bring toddlers around actual axes the year prior, she didn’t have the most faith in her competence.  “I’ve been doing this a long time.”

“You know I actually do have one question,” Jules said, a smirk splaying across her lips. “How long is it going to be before people stop reminding me that they’re there for me?” She let out a laugh to let Marina know she was kidding, mostly. 

Might as well say it out loud, too. “No, I should say thank you. That’s kind. You’re kind. Thank you. It’s just...” she trailed, sighing and shrugging at the same time. “I guess people view me as awfully breakable.” She wondered if Johanna and Lark had the same situation when they won. For some reason, she thought not. 

[juleschurchill]

marinazale‌:

She nodded in response.  “Yeah, it is.  It’s easier when they’re older.”  Easier to watch them die?  It was horrible to think about, but at least it was easier to see a chance for the older ones.  Watching a twelve year old get reaped always ended in sadness she couldn’t understand.

“Oh really?” Her brow arched slightly.  “That’s interesting.  Maybe I’ve just been mingling with the wrong Capitolites all these years.  You might have to point me in the right direction.”  Though Marina knew she wasn’t a shiny new victor anymore.  Her charm had worn off in a lot of ways and for a lot of people.  There was no denying that.  “It must make the sponsorship piece of the job that much easier.”

Jules nodded. Looking at a whole life, there wasn’t a great jump from twelve to eighteen, only six years, but it seemed a lifetime of difference between tributes. 

“I’ve always liked Capitolites.” Jules shrugged. “Whenever one visited Seven, they’d always have dinner with my father. Between peacekeepers, business people, victory tours, people were always coming and going.” She had learned what they found charming, what they didn’t. She had learned how to charm them. It was the best trick she had learned, how the Capitol worked. It had won her the games. At her last comment, Jules suddenly frowned, shaking her head. “No, no. I don’t think any part of it’s easy. I don’t know. I don’t like it.”

[juleschurchill]

laurelscrowned‌:

laurel was waiting on the couch in the main room of district seven’s suite. she’d gotten out of her private training earlier in the day, and she was on edge waiting for her score. would they think it was noble? would they give her a high score?

despite the thoughts occupying her mind, she practically jumped when jules entered the room. the closest victor seven had to laurel’s own age, jules had only won a few years back, in seventy-six. she was the victor laurel had spoken the least with. 

“so do you have any advice?”

// closed for @juleschurchill

 She had taken note of Laurel being in the room as she entered, but Jules hadn’t expected her to to say anything--Jules had been more than a bit cold to her tributes, out of some hope that it wouldn’t hurt as much when they inevitably died. 

But she didn’t have the heart in her to straight-up ignore the girl, especially in the stress of waiting for private training scores. Strolling over to the couch Laurel was sitting on, Jules stood behind it, leaning over to look at the girl.

“Advice.” Jules repeated, pronouncing the word slowly. “I’m not the best at that. What sort are you looking for?”

[juleschurchill]

larktimbers‌:

Jules was hinting, and Lark knew exactly at what. she was sure that if jules had ever actually delt with it, she wouldn’t be speaking about it. which is precicely why she smiled through the twinge of hatred. because as bad as it was, as much as it hurt and broke Lark Timbers, Jules was safe. “the smarter ones arent scared.” the smart ones who knew their money was too important to lose. who could take advantage of her and she’d have to comply. “the press, though? they’re fun to mess with.”

“you’re right. at least we don’t have to worry about Mea, though. do we, cutie?”

“NO!” she proudly said, looking up as Lark thumbed her cheek. she was always down to disagree.

“You’ll just have to teach them how to be such a social butterfly. you know he wants to be like his big sister.”

“I’m tempted to say there’s not an abundance of cleverness in the Capitol.” Jules said in a low tone with a small smirk. To be fair to the Capitol, there weren’t many people Jules considered clever at all. “Then again, as far as I know, there’s never been a a victor that killed a Capitol citizen, so maybe they aren't the stupid ones.” 

She was being cruel. Why was she being cruel? She didn’t know. It came out easier than panic. “Oh they’re both charming, charming, charming. They’ll be fine.”

“Eventually.” Jules promised. “I’d think it would end up coming naturally, if they keep coming to the Capitol every year, though.” Jules said, bouncing Mason on her legs. “They’ll both have to learn, eventually, if it’s what you’re around. That’s what I did. There were always people at my house, growing up. You learn to be charming.” Learn to be tricky. Learn to be what people wanted. 

[juleschurchill]

DO IT FOR THE VINE >>>

jules: i’m over this dumbass capitol with all these fake ass people--

literally any capitolite: hey!

jules: hey!

jules: fuckin bitch.

[juleschurchill]

larktimbers‌:

“alright, but you didn’t hear it from me.” Snow knew jules as well as Lark. she knew he did. she knew he knew jules wouldn’t do anything bad, but lark was greyer. and she couldn’t lose mea or mason… never.

“no, you watch i scare.” she said, with a smile. “maybe i could rope bear in. the two of us scare, you get to see them get shit, and then you console them for a minute. boom. they love you, and therefore seven. and you get to see them scared.”

“that sound like fun? oh, have you been taking mason out to see sponsors? you know he likes being held by them…” she just wanted a bit of mindless normalcy without actually leaving the games behind.

“I don’t think anyone’s going to be asking me.” Jules responded, knowing as well as Lark did that the Capitol wouldn’t ever think that Jules would do...well, anything. They were right, but Jules still thought they didn’t realize how smart she was.

“I’d like that. Though, I don’t know if any of the Capitolites get truly afraid of anyone, not even you or Enobaria.” Jules set her jaw, giving Lark a knowing look. She knew where Mea and Mason came from. “Which is weird, considering they’re the ones who get to watch the games in high definition, see the blood on screens fifty feet high in the city center. I don’t think any of them would be really afraid to be in a room alone with a victor, though.” 

She was getting vulgar. She shouldn’t do that. Smoothing out her skirt, Jules laughed, nodding along with Lark. “Oh, you know he just loves it. He’s gonna be more trouble, once he’s really talking. Who knows what he might say?” Or repeat. Both Lark and Johanna got slightly braver with their words back home. 

[juleschurchill]

thaliaohayon‌:

Thalia chuckled at Jules’ quip. “You’d think that’s why I said it. But to expect anything but the unexpected when watching these Games causes something akin to insanity.” Last Games, Thalia didn’t expect Leon to die in the cave-in. She didn’t expect the kids from Seven and Eight to fall in love. She didn’t expect Ronni to…die. And it might not have been insanity that she felt, but it wasn’t something she liked feeling. It didn’t used to be that way. She never felt so personally invested in the Games. She used to very much enjoy them - but being this close, it made it harder not to see the flaws. 

“No. I actually started styling your year. I used to run a business for my father out there. I got special permission to live and work out in Four.” She always had to remind herself that she was so lucky. Thalia got to visit somewhere different and she was lucky enough to love the place. 

It sounded like the three women Victors of Seven had found a good system. “That sounds like a good system. But, I bet talking to some of those people can be quite tiring. If they’re anything like my investors or design competition, I don’t envy you.” There were some of her fellow Capitolites that she enjoyed speaking to, but there were some that were just too much. She much preferred speaking to people from the Districts.

 “I can’t argue with that.” Jules admitted with a nod. “The games are certainly chaotic. I wouldn’t have bet on Pixel, if I was the betting sort.” Probably, she would have done the boy from Four, or one of the other Careers. The outer-districts had gotten lucky, the past two years, with the career packs imploding. She wondered how long it would last. 

“Oh, that’s...interesting.” Jules said, her curiosity piqued. As far as she knew, there were no capitolites in Seven, but the weather was nicer in Four. Still, the idea of a Capitolite willingly moving to the Districts was strange. The way they talked about her home, a lot of them seemed to almost fear the Districts, or at least consider them dangerous, backwards and poor and savage. 

Maybe they weren’t wrong. “You lived there? Among Four citizens?” 

“I owe everything to sponsors.” Jules responded, sounding almost offended at the accusation as she shook her head. “I mean, I didn’t win alone, not by a long shot. If it weren’t for sponsors, I’d be... They’re my people.” It was more that she understood how they thought, who they liked. She just had to make her tributes into people they liked. 

[juleschurchill]

findme-wilder‌:

“It’s the only one I’ve ever really known,” Wilder shrugged. “But thank you. I think the two responses are ‘oh, that’s a nice name’ or ‘what the hell kind of name is that’.” He let out a little chuckle at that. There were several people that he had met that felt the name to say either of those statements. 

Wilder’s grimace grew deeper and deeper as Jules’ explained the fantastic response the sponsors and Capitolites had to his and Laurel’s story. He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling sheepish at the answer under Jules’ scrutiny. “If I’m being honest Jules, I would never have thought to kiss Laurel just for the sponsors. I don’t know any of this stuff.” We gestured around to the general vicinity of the room. 

He didn’t know if he wanted to answer the question, but Jules should probably know what she had to deal with. “Uh, so Laurel and me - we used to date. I stayed in one place for six months because of her.” It sounded so stupid, but to Wilder that was a big thing. He had always been on the move since he was 12. “She’s - she’s important to me.”

“Victors and Capitolites tend to speak their minds.” Jules said, smiling at the small story. “Though a little ridiculous, considering some of the names coming out of One. Both Wilder and Elio are fine names, it’s not like you’re named after fabric or a rock.” Seven was more sensible with names, Jules felt. More sensible with a lot of things.

“It would be better if you did know.” Jules said as she processed the bomb he had dropped, feeling suddenly agitated. “I’d try to learn sooner rather than later. It’s a part of the game, too.”

Shit.

Jules felt her stomach sink as he told her of their history, even as she convinced that she didn’t care, not really. She would have been impressed if it was for the sponsors, but the fact that it was real--that made it sad. That made it tragic, made it stupid. She sighed, picking at her food in silence for a moment before looking thoughtfully at Wilder. “That’s unfortunate.”

Love was unfortunate. Was it always? Probably, Jules decided. She would have to think about that later. “You do realize that the whole thing is that only one person can come out, right? Have you decided what’s more important to you?”

Your life or hers? It should be an obvious question, she hoped he got it right.  She did not need or want a tribute who wasn’t even going to try. She didn’t want one dying for the other. She didn’t want to push a love story, not a real one.

[juleschurchill]

pixel-del‌:

Forever. Sheesh. Pixel didn’t want to think about forever. She was fifteen, for Pete’s sake. She barely had a grasp on what a decade was, never mind eight or nine or them. 

It was weird. Pixel had heard rumors that Jules hadn’t taken the deaths of her tributes well last year, which was why she had become a little more reclusive. But Pixel didn’t have any expectations for “her” tributes this year. She’d been told how easy it was to get attached, to get protective, to want more than anything to get them out. And sure, she would work to help Demelza and Ember get through the arena as best they could. But she also wasn’t kidding herself. And perhaps she had a hard time feeling protective over teenagers that were older than her, despite having blamed herself for almost a year now for not protecting Intra before her death. 

“I mean, I’m holding up,” Pixel answered with a shrug. “They really didn’t want me to win. That whole collapsing arena was meant to get rid of me. Like I’m not offended or anything by it, and it actually feels kind of cool to stick it to ‘em by living through all that but, like… they’ve been making it clear I wasn’t supposed to win.”

There was no way Leon would have lost a sibling after returning home. He was the winner the Gamemakers picked, not that Pixel cared half a lick about what the Gamemakers had wanted. She just wished they would let up on her. It wasn’t like she’d be doing any escaping now that she’d already won.

Feeling suddenly on edge, Jules straightened up. “You shouldn’t...you shouldn’t talk like that. Not here. Or anywhere, really.” Everyone knew there were cameras, everyone knew there were spiders. Usually, they didn’t concern Jules, but if what Pixel was saying was true...it was safer to be loved than to be hated. Even if it felt better to vex them. 

Did anyone think they were supposed to win, anyway? It was random, random, random. Unless, it wasn’t... Jules wanted to look into that. There was an opportunity there, if it was true. 

 “And besides, they dropped a building on me too.” Jules said in an attempt to comfort her, wincing at the memory of stones falling. She had gotten sick watching it happen to Pixel and Leon, remembering how it had felt to be buried alive. “That doesn’t mean you weren’t supposed to win, I mean, everyone in the Capitol loves me.” 

It was vain but true. She was still the darling, still gracing magazine covers. “It doesn’t really matter anymore, besides. What’s past is past.”

[arabhusband]

[juleschurchill]

So darling, play your violin I know it’s what you live for

[juleschurchill]

marinazale‌:

Marina nodded.  The little ones were always the hardest.  Even though she usually didn’t have to deal with those tributes, it was still heartbreaking to watch them struggle and eventually die.  It crushed Marina.  She thought about Finley, that sweet little girl from District Ten.  She’d never live and that was the most heartbreaking reality of it.

When Jules spoke, Marina honestly couldn’t tell if the girl was being honest or lying.  No one was truly comfortable in the Capitol.  That just…wasn’t the case.  Especially not for victors who had their lives turned upside down on more than one occasion.  “Oh, well, that’s wonderful.  I’ve never been quite so lucky.  I’m glad you’ve found a place where you can be comfortable.”

“Both of yours are older this year, right? Though I suppose that’s usually how it is for Four.” Careers waited till they were older to volunteer, and it was rare for a tribute from the career district to not want to be there. Lucky, lucky, lucky.

“Really?” Jules said, tilting her head as if confused. “That’s too bad. I feel like I have more in common with some capitolites than I do with some people from Seven.” What a perfectly awful thing to say, she thought to herself, though she did fear it was at least partly true. Not everyone--Lark and Johanna were who she was closest to, but sometimes it was easier to talk to sponsors than her own mother. At least she knew what to say, then.

[juleschurchill]

oberoned‌:

Her brow rose upon seeing the young victor’s daze. Demelza Oberon expected a welcoming reception in the Capitol. Anything would be more favorable to the constant stares following her every movement back home. Everyone always supervised her, as if she would crack at any moment. At least most in the utopian city celebrated her bravery to volunteer for the 78th Games, even if it meant potentially following Dayta to the grave.

Yet Jules Churchill looked as if she spoke with the girl from the bloodbath.

Demelza’s lips curled into a small smile to ease the tension. The young woman often found that conveying joy, even when feigned, helps cultivate genuine exultation. She so hoped that would prove true in this case.

“It’s the only attitude that’ll help me go far in these Games.” She offered, looking down at the hand Jules held toward her. “Demelza Oberon, District Three.” The female tribute responded, extending her own hand to meet the other’s halfway. “Not to be confused with my twin. I look a lot like her.” She retracted her hand but the smile remained on her lips. Even she could not deny the physical similarities between her and Dayta.

 A twin. Jules felt a sudden pang of grief and pity for them, both the dead Dayta and the alive Demelza. What a monstrous thing, to be ripped apart from the one you were born with like that. Still, Jules thought of her own little sister, who she hadn’t spoken to in months, longer. Dayta would have been lost to her even if she had lived. Maybe it had been a mercy. 

“You do.” Jules agreed, suddenly awkward, not being able to help but stare at the girl. studying her features, those big brown eyes and curls that she had thought were buried six feet under. “Her clone. I hadn’t realized...” she trailed off the rest of the sentence, shaking her head. Of course, she hadn’t realized. She didn’t know anything about Dayta Oberon, save for her name. Jules’ own victory tour was a blur of a similar speeches, though she must have seen Demelza in Three when she offered shallow sympathies to the tribute’s families. “The very image. I thought you were her ghost, for a second.” 

She ignored the urge to cringe at her previous slip. How callous. How true.

Jules ignored whatever it was building in her stomach--guilt, maybe, some cousin of panic. “Right. Of course. Of course. I’m sure it will help you go far in the games. A back-to-back victory would be very exciting for Three.” It wasn’t going to happen, just as it didn’t happen to Seven the previous year. But how could one family be so unlucky, two daughters dying in the games. She didn’t want to mention the other one, the dead one. Jules Churchill wasn’t bold enough to speak that name, not in front of her ghost. 

[juleschurchill]

larktimbers‌:

“i don’t know. i might never. all i know is it’s a reason that makes sense.” Lark didn’t want to admit that she’d been dead ass drunk through the final days of annie’s arena, having to be filled in by a horrified escort later.

fun times. fun times.

“you do know i’m an actress, don’t you?” she asked with a smile, laughing. “dramatic… it’s kind of what i do. oh, i need to take you out sponsor-scaring sometime.” there were about four who she was pretty sure got off on getting scared by a victor like herself. and… well, it was a bit satesfying to shake them up. even if you could tell they weren’t mad.

 “I want to find out.” Jules said, the wheels in her head obviously turning. What was it her father used to tell her? Play inside the game. Maybe she couldn’t save anyone. Maybe someone else could. Maybe someone else could make things a little softer here for herself. 

Jules laughed. “Of course, that’s why. And as fun as that sounds, I’m not sure I could scare anybody. You know I’m their one of their favorite toys.” Jules said, half-joking, half-bitter. The magazines said she fit in better with the Capitol than District Seven, and given her extended self-induced solitary confinement, Jules was beginning to think it might be true.

She pushed that thought out of her mind. 

[juleschurchill]

larktimbers‌:

“sometimes it’s not a matter of popularity. sometimes, it’s a matter of threat.” lark may not be involved at all in the rumors of rebellion, but with the way that seven had been raided, she knew that it was out there. maybe it always had been. “but, i’m just your mother. feel free to take what i say with a grain of salt.” the meaning was clear. i have theories. theories that do NOT belong in the capitol.

her prevailing one was that sometimes, a crazy quiet victor was better than a flashy rebellious one.

“i’m fairly sure i am a little crazy. you get used to it.” she smiled, ruefully. she was trying not to come off at too worried. when she did, jules shut down. lark didn’t need that today. “you’re going to be fine. we’ll get through this year. and the next, and the next. and one day… one day we’ll be dead like the rest.” like Forest, and Sunny, and Arion, and Boy, and Girl, and Boy, and Girl. one day, they would all be dead. it was an odd sort of comfort. in the end, it would all be evened out. death was inevitable. so living after the arena? in the end, it wouldn’t matter.

 “That someone else was a threat? Or someone who wanted her to win was.” The last part wasn’t a question, but Jules was obviously still filled with questions, even if Lark clearly wanted to change the subject. Jules moved closer to Lark, her voice softening but still bubbly, so as not to draw too much attention. Mentors talking in hushed tones wouldn’t look too suspicious, anyway, Jules decided. Maybe they were talking strategy. “Who could that have been?”

The thought of revolution would never enter Jules Churchill’s mind. She was a child of Panem, the girl the gamemakers made, unable to imagine a different world. But what she thinking of wasn’t revolution, it was just...working within the game. 

“A little dramatic, but yes. Someday we’ll all be worm food, so none of this matters at all.” It used to matter to Jules, whether her name was written in the great books of history, that she would leave something great behind. More and more, though, the idea of being forgotten was attractive. If she could somehow do both... “Though the difference between sixteen and sixty-plus is sizable.” Jules said. “That’s how old she was, I think. Just a shade younger than me.”

[juleschurchill]

pixel-del‌:

Pixel was relieved when Jules let down the Capitol Voice, one she recognized from too many of the victors who worked the hardest at getting sponsors for their tributes. She was generally pretty good at telling when people were bullshitting her (primarily because she was the one doing the bullshitting most of the time), and Jules seemed real. At least for the moment.

“I know,” Pixel muttered. “Uh, both of my tributes are volunteers this year? And they’re both older than me so, like… I don’t know what I’m doing.”

She didn’t know what it was that made her admit that she had no clue what she was doing. Usually that kind of confession was saved for the other victors from Three. Echo, for instance, was always up-to-date on how Pixel was feeling, but nobody outside Three, or even Lael for that matter, tended to be privy to that kind of information. 

There was something about the most recent victors that just felt comforting to her, she supposed.

Jules nodded. One volunteer from Three was strange. Two was something more. It was common enough for the Careers, but it was almost always the case that volunteers from the outer districts had a death wish. Jules frowned, feeling sorry for Pixel. She hoped she hadn’t gotten her hopes up. “My tributes last year were the same age as me. It feels strange, but...” Jules trailed off, looking for a good answer. Shrugging, she found none.”It’s our job, I guess. Forever.” 

Not great advice. But the truth, which was something. 

“You’ll figure it out though. I am.” Jules said, softening her previous statement only slightly. “I mean, how can you not get better at it, doing it every year? We’ll be old pros at it, soon enough.” She studied Pixel with a lingering gaze. She was around her sister’s age, and around the same size. The thought made her sad. 

“I, uh,” Jules said, trying to remember what the older tributes had said to her after her games. “Are you holding up okay? With everything, I mean. I can imagine things are...different, now.”