The odds are good...

...but the goods are odd. Mama, Wife, and Enginerd

[rosalitadiazz-deactivated202003]

[roseymama]

Random thought about Ballad

@absnow had a tag about a Snow romance and my brain just stuttered. On one hand, it’d be called the snowmance. One the other...

How old is Snow. Could this be his origin story? Like wouldn’t be a little heartbreaking to cheer on the protagonist and then realize that it all goes sideways because the hopeful little baby conceived or born or alluded to is going to be awful. Does the protagonist raise the monstrous future president? Or do they die and leave him without guidance?

[bandathebillie]

Fourth ‘The Hunger Games’ book title and cover revealed!

Almost ten years since our last cover reveal, we’re here once more with a fourth installment in The Hunger Games series! The title for the n

Almost ten years since our last cover reveal, we’re here once more with a fourth installment in The Hunger Games series!

The title for the new book is:

THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES

“With this book, I wanted to explore the state of nature, who we are, and what we perceive is required for our survival,” Suzanne Collins said. “The reconstruction period 10 years after the war, commonly referred to as the Dark Days — as the country of Panem struggles back to its feet — provides fertile ground for characters to grapple with these questions and thereby define their views of humanity.”

THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES hits shelves on May 19, 2020. Preorder it HERE.

[mareebrittenford]

Her fingers sifted through the loose dirt, frantic and searching, until they brushed upon something cool and metal.

“What’s taking so long?” the boy’s voice whispered through the doorway.  

Carlyse’s frozen fingers close around the key.  Finally.  “Keep it down,” she hissed back.  

She edged back through the door, squeezing into small gap made where the swollen wood had jammed against the stone floor.  A beam of light hit her in the face as she emerged into the icy air.  

“Richard, turn that thing off, are you crazy?”  

The light flickered out.  “Sorry, but, you left me alone in a graveyard at midnight, I got nervous.”  

Carlyse blinked rapidly, trying to readjust her dazzled eyes.  “The dead don’t care about us, and you just advertised our position to the living, idiot.”  

Her vision started to recover, and she saw his sheepish grin.  “Sorry.  Did you get it?”

She held it up and he took it, turning the brass skeleton key it between his long fingers.  “It doesn’t look like much.”  

“I know.  But it was exactly where Jack said, so, if it’s just an ordinary key, then it’s not our fault.”  

He turned, leading off with his steady ground eating jog, and Carlyse fell into step beside him.  It’s why they were chosen for this after all, endurance.  

Their foot falls and breathing, steady and even, were the only sounds in the still moonlit night.  “Hey, Lyse?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think it’s true, what Jack says?  That there’s more?”

“I don’t know.  But I guess we’re both here because we need to find out.”  

He picked up the pace.  “Yeah.  I guess so.”

[papofglencoe]

A couple years ago, @mareebrittenford and I challenged each other to come up with a story that begins with the line “Her fingers sifted through the loose dirt, frantic and searching, until they brushed upon something cool and metal.”

This is her story. I wrote one called In The Pines (you can read it on AO3 if you’re inclined). I extend the challenge to any other writers who might be interested in joining us. Consider yourself prompted.

[roseymama]

Taking up the challenge because I. Am. A. Fluff. Machine. (And I have a few minutes so I’m forcing myself to write something super quick.)

Her fingers sifted through the loose dirt, frantic and searching, until they brushed upon something cool and metal. Hoping she’d finally found it, Mae focused her attention and pulled up the loop of chain.

She hadn’t taken the chain off in weeks, so of course the one moment she decided it would be safe in her purse would be when everything would tumble out of her hands on the sidewalk. 

She probably could live without finding it; the trinket wasn’t even necessary anymore, but the thought of losing it, or losing what it represented, was heartbreaking. So her sigh of relief at the necklace’s recovery was long and honest.

Checking that the picture was still in place, Mae stood up, and dusted off her pants.

Grabbing Turner’s hand, she flashes a smile and a quick, “Thanks for repacking everything.” 

“You’re not gonna be thinking that when you can’t find anything in your own bag for three weeks.”

“I doubt I’ll be blaming you,” she replied, glancing again at the pendant in her hand. Today their lives were going to change. A definite before and after. 

“Let’s go bring home our little boy.”

[roseymama]

More suburb scenarios

The parking lot (typically Target) where moms meet up to exchange goods sold via facebook/craigslist etc.

Random abandoned storefront or office building that is still pretty well maintained. It’s been empty so long, it’s a landmark as the “old X store”. Bonus points if the chain X no longer exists.

Knowing which fast food chain location is the “good” one in town and being annoyed whenever someone wants to go to the “bad” one. For example, “Don’t go to highway Taco Bell, town TB is so much faster.”

It’s pothole season and someone came by with paint to label the nearby roads as “city” or “county” so the fixing crews don’t accidentally fill a pothole outside their jurisdiction

It’s summer and there’s are series of small turf wars between the regulars and the seasonal people at various places. Restaurants, story time at the library, city buses, local parks, pretty much anywhere. Suburbanites can get territorial.

The wholesome family dining spot which is simultaneously the place to go where you know the employees have all the hookups in town for illicit drugs.

[roseymama]

“Seedy” suburbia locations/ideas

Hotel in the middle of an office park. Typically it’s just for business travelers but occasionally a pair of local coworkers may check in.

People often eat as they grocery shop and bring the empty/open package to the register to pay. Someone starts doing this with boxed wine or other alcohol.

There are 3 local bars. And one place that is a revolving door of restaurants and owners because people only go there when they can’t go to their usual bar for a little while. The only reason not to go to the usual place is that they broke up with another bar regular, or they don’t want to be seen with someone.

A local gynecologist has figured out a whole neighborhood’s bedroom antics based on various appointments and treatments, but can’t really tell anyone because of patient confidentiality. Conventions are a great time to tell a fellow doctor without giving away names.

A couple stays too long at the local hookup spot in a park and is discovered by a group of parents with their kids on a playdate.

The local government stymies permits for anyone outside a particular group of families unless paid off. Payment doesn’t necessarily have to be monetary. Some council members just want more pieces for their weird collection (example: Beenie Babies).

[rosegardeninwinter]

this is one of those “scenes I’ll never write” from my story, the Light and the Red, but could also work in the context of any “Katniss convinces Snow” Catching Fire AU and is honestly just an excuse for me to make up wedding traditions for District 12 because why not? 

Cinna has been so kind to her mother.

“I hear you might like to prepare Katniss a bath,” he’d said when she’d come into the studio, out of place in her gray gown with jars of herbs wrapped in her thin arms, against a background of marble and gold. 

“Yes please,” Prim answered for her. 

“It’s a tradition,” her mother murmured. “A bridal bath … back home … at least when I was growing up.“ 

Well this isn’t home, but Katniss is too tired to argue. The train ride was so long and Haymitch was so drunk and Peeta barely spoke to her. So here she is, soaking in a bath of calendula and peppermint and rose petals. And though she resisted at first, now, with the clock ticking ever closer to the ceremony, she doesn’t think she ever wants to leave. 

“Katniss.” That’s Prim, looking beautiful in scarlet, her hair braided with diamonds. "You’re going to turn into a prune if you stay in there any longer.“ 

“Good,” she grouses, “maybe Peeta won’t want to marry a prune.” She sinks further into the soap bubbles.

“You’re the one that suggested this, Katniss,” Prim reminds her softly. “Come on; Cinna’s got your dress laid out.“ 

Katniss emerges from the bubbles. Prim strokes her wet hair.  "You’re going to be gorgeous,” she bolsters. “Yards of gossamer and pearls.“ 

“I would have preferred Grandma Lissy’s dress.”

“But that wouldn’t be very … how did Effie put it?”

“Divine,” Katniss says, “simply divine.”

Prim laughs and unfurls a towel. “That’s it. It’s going to be quite the spectacle,” she says. “People are packing the streets." 

Like the Reaping, Katniss thinks, but she doesn’t say it aloud. A knock comes at the door. "Katniss,” coaxes Cinna, “I’ve ordered some chocolate strawberries for you to have while I do your hair." 

Katniss gives a sigh. Everyone is being so good to her. She doesn’t deserve it: her mother with this silly bridal bath, and Cinna with his bribe of chocolate, and poor Peeta, agreeing to this insane plan in the first place. And Prim. She takes her sister’s hand. 

"Promise you’ll be with me, little duck?” It comes out more plaintive than she means it to. 

Prim kisses her forehead and Katniss feels something of their father in the gesture. “Promise.”

[roseymama]

Movie Dreams

I feel like Action-Romance is a fanfic genre that needs to take off.

Imagine: a spy thriller with heart pumping action, and also fake dating. Costume changes, car chases, mistaken identities, fake dating, onLy OnE BeD.

More even pacing between the action and the romantic plot. Like, you know, a fanfic.

[profeminist]

Mattel Adds Two Barbies With Disabilities to Its New Line of Dolls

The dolls are now available for purchase!

“Update: Mattel’s new wheelchair-using Barbie and Barbie with a prosthetic leg are now available for purchase. Part of Barbie’s Fashionista line, the Barbie wheelchair set comes with one of two dolls, her wheelchair and a ramp that’s compatible with the Barbie Estate accessories. The Barbie who uses a wheelchair is available at Target, Amazon and other retailers for $19.99. The doll with the prosthetic limb is available at Target for $9.99.

Mattel’s Barbie dolls have long been a point of contention for advocates who don’t feel she represents real women. On Monday, the company announced it will take another step forward to rectify this with a new line of Fashionista Barbies, which will include different body sizes and dolls with disabilities.

Among the new line of Barbies are dolls with darker skin tones, textured hair and a “curvier” body size in addition to two dolls with disabilities — a wheelchair user and Barbie with a removable prosthetic leg. According to Kim Culmone, Mattel’s vice president of Barbie Design, these dolls are another step toward a more inclusive toy that represents the diversity of its customers.

“A wheelchair or doll in a wheelchair was one of the most requested items through our consumer … hotline,” Culmone told Teen Vogue. “It’s important to us to listen to our consumers.”

Read the full piece here 

“I have waited 33 years to have a Barbie that looks like me. Now Black disabled girls won’t have to wait as long as I did for a doll to exist. Thank you, @Mattel.”

-  Vilissa Thompson

[roseymama]

“Lumpy” Delly

I saw some fanart and it crystallized a thought that had been vague. When Katniss describes Delly as lumpy, a lot of people translate that as fat or at least well fed. But to me, lumpy isn’t necessarily big, it is uneven in spots or poorly balanced.

So, the fanart made me “ah ha” at the thought that Delly is busty and Katniss doesn’t have the language for describing it. I can remember being a teenager and being mid-puberty. Sometimes it’s lumpy. Throw in poverty and poor diet (we read Merchants had it better, but not by much) and it’s a recipe for all sorts of hormonal wreckage. 

She describes the comparison between Delly and Lavinia like that between a beetle and a butterfly. Often that’s taken to mean Delly isn’t attractive, or Katniss is jealous of her. But some beetles are gorgeous. They just aren’t built the same as butterflies.

The Emerald Ash borer is found in Appalachia and ruinous to trees, but it’s kind of pretty, no? 

[lovely-tothe-bone]

I always took it to mean her body doesn’t have the starved look that most of the district does. But you’re right, it absolutely could mean her breasts. I love that you showed us a beautiful beetle from Appalachia 🧡 and personally I never took her comparison part of the comment as anything other than saying how absolutely different the two women look and not a slight at Delly but an emphasis on how utterly gorgeous Lavinia is and that Delly is probably very normal/average looking.

[alliswell21]

I personally think she sounded jealous while describing Delly, “pasty-faced, lumpy girl with yellowish hair who looks as much like [Lavinia] as a beetle does a butterfly” its like hearing my best friend from High School describing her crush’s new girlfriend, but that’s besides the point…

I agree that Delly might have been a little more blessed in the chest department too, but the “lumpy” descriptor does mean “bigger” when you use Mockingjay as context:

Katniss is very literal in this respect. She is however fair, saying Delly is the “friendliest person I know” “She gives this smile [like they are her best friend] to everyone.”

I think she looses that teenage animosity towards Delly during this exchange.

[roseymama]

I’ve always been split on the jealousy/honesty of the line. And the switch from yellowish to just yellow seems to support that. It’s not like she’s getting summer sun streaks in 13. I like having some interpretive wiggle room to make rereads interesting.

But I also just had the thought that maybe Katniss was employing some tactics I’ve seen people use in real life. Say a physical trait, such as hair color, is part of the stereotypical look of a certain group. Everyone knows a particular person is definitely in that group, but their whatever doesn’t quite “fit” the look. Folks will get very interesting with their descriptions. 

Like when people try to say someone Irish had dark hair with flecks of auburn when everyone knows good and well the hair is brown. But they want to use Irish stereotypes, or available short hands, or “prove” the person’s Irish,  so the red has to be there somewhere. Or trying to call a hair color some version of blond rather than light brown. 

Sometimes it pairs up with ignorance. Or discomfort. My mother-in-law twists herself into a million pretzels trying to assert my hair is curly, when it, in fact, is a kinky-straight-4C collage of mess growing out of my scalp. [Seriously the top of my head requires a completely different skill and mind set than the back.] Just because she, her son, and all her grandchildren have curly hair, does not mean that the mother of those grandchildren also has curly hair. And she’s deeply uncomfortable with actually discussing my Blackness, so that’s there too.

[roseymama]

“Lumpy” Delly

I saw some fanart and it crystallized a thought that had been vague. When Katniss describes Delly as lumpy, a lot of people translate that as fat or at least well fed. But to me, lumpy isn’t necessarily big, it is uneven in spots or poorly balanced.

So, the fanart made me “ah ha” at the thought that Delly is busty and Katniss doesn’t have the language for describing it. I can remember being a teenager and being mid-puberty. Sometimes it’s lumpy. Throw in poverty and poor diet (we read Merchants had it better, but not by much) and it’s a recipe for all sorts of hormonal wreckage. 

She describes the comparison between Delly and Lavinia like that between a beetle and a butterfly. Often that’s taken to mean Delly isn’t attractive, or Katniss is jealous of her. But some beetles are gorgeous. They just aren’t built the same as butterflies.

The Emerald Ash borer is found in Appalachia and ruinous to trees, but it’s kind of pretty, no? 

[talesofpanem]

Week 1 Prompt (Rebirth)

Welcome to Tales of Panem!

In the wake of the recent announcement of a prequel, the prompt for week 1 is rebirth. Rebirth means to resurrect, revitalize, come alive again, or reinvent.

Submissions are due Monday, July 1 at 11:59 pm Central time. May the odds be ever in your favor!

[diversitynowinc]

On June 19, 1865, the enslaved African-Americans in Galveston, Texas, finally learned the news that they were a free people, nearly three years after President Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

On abc’s Blackish season 4 premiere, the The Roots give a perfect explanation of why we celebrate Juneteenth. 🇺🇸

[staff]

Happy Juneteenth, Tumblr 🖤

[roseymama]

A program note...

I’ve decided, that if I’m going to return, then I’m gonna be messy on main and post about whatever floats my fancy. Still mostly Hunger Games, since that’s still what draws most my interest, but don’t be surprised if other random stuff gets reblogged now.

[buttercupisbrainless]

Let the prequel theories begin!

Could the prequel be about Mags? She won 11th Hunger Games, and this prequel is set to be 64 years before THG (so 10th Games). Maybe it follows her between 10 and 11 Games? Or even from earlier up until her Games?

Could explain why she was the only one with an old poster during movies and why Lionsgate is already planning a movie?

[randomnoteforfuturereference]

What I think, or at least hope, is that the story *doesn’t* directly involve the Games.

At the very most, it’d have the Games viewed from the outside and focus on how the districts rebuilt and react. So if our PoV character is Mags, I’d prefer it be before or after her Games.

[kleeklutch]

Yeah retreading games seems like it would be too repetitive. So hopefully it’s more expansive than that.

A focus on Mags at least continues keeping the series focuses on female protags which is really cool.  I’m def on board with the rise of Snow too (as in replies) and it’s neat to see others see Trump as some inspiration. BC yes. 

[buttercupisbrainless]

Same here. It would also make no sense to read about her Games since we know she won.

What I hope for is also to see how the erosion of human relationships happened. The slow decline from the districts being appalled and horrified by the games, to realizing they can’t fight it and then to quietly watching their kids die in the Games for years and years. The decline of relationships within the districts where it became normal not to help starving people and where handing out 1 bread was a great and unexpected act of kindness. And I imagine that the first games were just kids who didn’t want to fight necessarily, maybe they would run away from each other and hide at the beginnig. Until they get pushed by Gamemakers and then one kid starts to actually fight and it escalates. And during the years it changes from scared kids avoiding each other and hiding at the beginning, until the bloodbath at the beginning becomes a normal. Was the Capitol bloodthirsty from the beginning or were there people that were horrified anf fought against it? How did children dying become a sport you bet on for them? And how did 13 just sit there and watch all of this? want to read about that. Because I think a large part of evil in this world happens when erosion relationships and therefore society happens. It happens slowly, it creeps in as horrible things get normalized. And we are already seeing sings of things like these, so I think this would be a powerful way to tell a story.

[shesasurvivor]

I’m kind of confused how it takes place 64 years before the books, and also in the “Dark Days,” because I thought the Dark Days happened before the Games? But maybe there was still fighting going on. Come to think of it, Katniss would have gotten her information from the Capitol, so it’s easy to think maybe they embellished what really happened to make themselves look better. They did it with the story of what happened to 13, so maybe the original rebellion lasted longer than Katniss knew about.

At any rate, that’s always been my theory as well, @buttercupisbrainless. I actually toyed with an idea once for a fic where the very first Games involved none of the Tributes fighting each other, until the Gamemakers took matters into their own hands.

I’ve always theorized that the Mr. Everdeen/Mrs. Everdeen/Mr. Mellark triangle was meant to be a metaphor for the first rebellion that failed, while Katniss/Peeta/Gale were the second rebellion that succeeded. I know this is a sling place before any of them are born, but I’d still love to see that idea explored.

[papofglencoe]

I was talking with @posthungergamessyndrome about SC’s wording earlier, and I think the “commonly referred to as the Dark Days” bit is meant to modify “the war,” not “the reconstruction period.” Either way, someone should have volunteered as tribute to beta. :p 

Another thing that caught my eye about her statement was the wording “what we perceive is required for our survival” (emphasis added), as opposed to “what is required for our survival.” She foregrounds the subjectivity of survival- which is maybe just SC being a fancy pants author in the midst of a deep dive into character, but I think she’s being postmodern in her phrasing. If we are given a protagonist like Mags (I’m not sure it will be… but I’m with @kleeklutch and would like to see a protag or protags who, if they aren’t female, are at least intersectional characters), then we will be forced to consider the experience of the people in a career district- and what’s a better stand-in for the modern US than a career district? How did we become, as a nation, so morally compromised that we resign ourselves to sending off our children to school each day in the hopes they aren’t gunned down? How did we allow ourselves to let our elected leaders throw children into cages at the border? How do we sleep at night, having all day turned a blind eye to the children being shot in the streets by law enforcement? And so on, and so on. I can’t see a reason SC would retread the Games, but I can see plenty of other ways for her to explore the dark turns human nature takes and apply it in a dystopian setting to our increasingly dystopian world. Like @buttercupisbrainless said… there’s a decline. How do we hold onto our humanity in the decline?

[roseymama]

I just had a thought re: the use of ”Dark Days". The Capitol uses vanity numbering of the Games. We're told that this book takes place 64 years prior to HG. Not that it's the 10th Games.

There are many possibilities. It could be like the Superbowl where after a few years they decided to start numbering, so they backed up and declared certain games part of the series. So certain battles in The War are considered early ones. Or the Capitol is just lying.

Is it book Canon that Mags was in the 11th? For all we know she's the real first Victor. Or the Capitol makes it sound cut and dry, but everything was murkier. Again, so many possibilities.

[roseymama]

My birthday is May 21. The universe (or specifically Suzanne Collins) could not have handed my husband a better gift idea. Like, he’s done.

[lovely-tothe-bone]

Based on fanon I was starting to think Katniss’s hair was not straight, because we know she isn’t white, but this jumped out at me. Now I know where I got my original visual from which included straight hair. I honestly got the sense that Seam folks were descendants of indigenous tribes.

[lovely-tothe-bone]

Another clue on K’s hair being straight. I didn’t picture it as being glossy pin straight but maybe that’s wrong. Why else would she describe the braids as silky?

ETA: yep, was wrong

[porchwood]

@lovely-tothe-bone - Can we collaborate on meta? :) You keep pipping me to the post (pun intended :P) on things I’ve come across awhile back and mean to bring up but just don’t have the time or energy to pounce on fast enough.

I’ve always envisioned Katniss as having straight black hair that lends silky rather than coarse, especially once she has access to Capitol products. That said, she describes the braids her mother plaits as “silky” but in the reaping prep remarks (emphasis mine): I scrub off the dirt and sweat from the woods and even wash my hair. Which implies that 

a) it’s a big deal for Katniss to wash her hair (which makes sense if fuel for heating water is scarce and her hair is long) and 

b) Katniss’s hair is silky even when she washes it for the first time in days/weeks, probably using lye soap or something equally unglamorous/stripping.

So what really splits my head open is the fact that she wears her hair in ringlets - at least TWICE!! - in Catching Fire: 

My hair is pinned back from my face and falling down my back in a shower of ringlets. (p. 58)

Creamy lace and pink roses and ringlets. (from the wedding photo shoot, p. 166)

I’ve known a few girls with straight silky hair and it won’t hold curl whatsoever - sometimes won’t even take a perm! I won’t deny the Capitol’s scientific advancements but…they can make sleek straight silky hair into RINGLETS?!?

[roseymama]

With Seam folk coded as POC and merchants as white, I always envisioned Katniss as mixed. From my experience, mixed hair do what it wants. The trend seems to be naturally curly, with the option to style straight, but I don't think it's a stretch to go the other way.

My Black/white kids have fine, silky curls. My Black/Japanese nephew has thick, straight hair that starts to get some bounce when long. (Very Katniss-like in my mind.) My cousins and their kids have even more mix combos. With product and/or heat, an awful lot is possible.