#beedelia

[gloomsday]

commission of langdon and young robby for @beedelia ♡

i had SOOO much fun with this one, and it was my first time drawing langdon. he's all angles and eyebrows, so a ton to love there :')

commissions: open | commission me!

[mollywog]

19! (Also I'm giving you a croissant while I'm at it skdndbdjs)

🥐 right back atcha @beedelia 😘

19 ⧽. give a hint/teaser about something you're writing without any context or explanation! tease us haha

Wasn't this the plot of Sweet Home Alabama?— did that make him Patrick Dempsey?— no, that wasn’t right. Maybe Katniss was posturing to be Patrick Dempsey in Man of Honor— or maybe he was that guy from The Office in Something Borrowed— or Julia Robert’s assistant in My Best Friend’s Wedding… oh God, please not Wedding Crashers.

He should have done more research.

[caesarflickermans]

my wildest theory is that you're actually V :p

Every character contains a piece of your soul. Your writing is a reflection of yourself, and so are your characters ♡

[footnoteinhistory]

I absolutely love seeing your Night Court without context because I truly have no context and it's so damn hilarious. Also seeing Toblerone is particularly funny as a Swiss 😂

Haha I'm glad you enjoy them I take notes throughout every episode just so I can compile a post afterwards 😂 Tonight we learned that Dan is apparently a big Toblerone fan, you should be proud 🍫😌😌

[aparticularbandit]

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants? 🤩 Who is your favorite character to write? 🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

Fanfic Writer Emoji Ask

🦅 - Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

It depends on the fic, honestly!

Sometimes I have a general vibe and then go from there (a lot of the Agave Stuff has been like that) - although even with those, I end up plotting as I go (in terms of - there are future events that I plan on including and more Agathian backstory (there is so much of that actually)).

A lot of times I have benchmarks, kind of like when you're driving across the country and need to know where you're going to stop and get a hotel (roughly) - I might know the beginning and the ending and maybe some middle stuff but not exact etc.

...and then there are major projects like the Roisa HP AU (unfinished and abandoned) or the PMMM/OUAT trilogy (unfinished and abandoned) or the Epic Superhero Crossover (a little too ambitious in scope for me at the moment) or the how many timelines is it Homura fic (nope) or Baby Agatha Series (started! UH) - MY TRACK RECORD ON THESE APPARENTLY ISN'T GREAT, ALAS - that are extensively plotted just due to their scope, to make sure I set things up correctly earlier on (looking at you, seven book HP rewrite that only has one book posted) and to make sure that I remember what I want to put in each fic (these are all multi-fic projects, with the exception of the Homura fic) and to make sure that everything ties together properly.

But even with those extensively plotted fics, I mostly don't have everything chapter-by-chapter (with the exception of the Roisa HP au which...was) and even then it doesn't always stay exactly with those chapters and stuff happens spontaneously and—

Which is to say yes?

🤩 - Who is your favorite character to write?

Right now?

It switches between Agatha Harkness, Eve Fletcher, and--

Actually, it’ is probably second person Agatha Harkness.

Mostly I just really like writing in second person.  (I also really liked writing second person Viola Lloyd, but I haven’t done that in a while.)

(Overall?  Probably Ms. Lint.  Or one of my book characters, Alma Rossa.  I really like writing Alma.)

🤯 - What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

Action.  I know that’s one of the examples, but I’m horrible at writing action scenes.  Horrible.

Also comedy.  I’m shit at writing comedy.

(Also also erotica, but that’s because I don’t write it.  XD)

[caesarflickermans]

can you give me a cute V and Plutarch headcanon? pretty please? 🥺

I'll elaborate a bit more on our recent idea about the apples.

We came up with apples as a sign of love shared between them based on still life art of a rose and a lemon. While the lemon did not fit them, we brainstormed and the apple came up pretty much immediately.

Claude Monet / Hugo van der Goes

The idea was initially based on Virgilia happening to hold an apple while they talk, Plutarch looking over, reaching out, and using a pocket knife to cut it open for her.

On the surface level, and what Virgilia points out to Plutarch, is that taking the apple to her and handing her pieces is a touch exchanged between them in semi-public spaces where their interactions are watched from afar.

However, there's more to it.

First, in contrast to white roses, apples are food. They feed people. White roses look pretty, are decoration, and it is the gift that Snow gives to Virgilia. Plutarch's gift is practical; he is the one giving her food, cutting apart an apple and sharing the slices between them.

Second, the biblical implications. The apple as a symbol for knowledge and sin. It is Eve who convinces Adam to eat the apple. Yet, for this ship and this idea, Plutarch is the one imparting knowledge onto her, and he's the one giving her the apple to eat. This is a conscious role reversal; the sin itself separated from the woman.

The idea is still in development, and we have exchanged some ideas that are not spoiler-free for anyone reading this, but I'm thoroughly excited to contemplate more on how to use this symbol within their relationship.

[caesarflickermans]

dear prof. dr. caesarflickermans (the prof dr is still so funny to me), can you please tell me more about how v sees plutarch's body? he's pretty neutral about his own body, but what's her opinion on it (his body and how he sees it)? thank you so much <3

What we need to keep in mind about bodies within the Capitol is that similar beauty standards apply to them as in our real world, but that changing one’s body comes at a much smaller cost than what we know. The dieting pills are hinting at this fact in canon, and my perception of the Capitol in terms of pharmaceuticals or plastic surgery has been shaped around the ease with which one had access to such the in-canon pills. For example, Virgilia makes frequent note of plastic surgery, and Caesar, too, has had some done.

This implies a lot about Plutarch’s body even at first glance: That him being overweight is, in contrast to today, a choice. Paired with his movie look—that of a relatively subdued style, little makeup, receded hairline—and you get a man who does not fall into the standard Capitol appearance.

Plutarch is not unaware of his options; which indicate that he has chosen to abstain from the Capitol’s beauty industry. You and I have often referred to this as his own little rebellion inside the rebellion.

This appearance difference is an immediate fact Virgilia notices about him in the very first description we receive of Plutarch. His weight being the main signifier:

The new [Head Gamemaker] was rounder than the usual visitor, yet it suited his face, making him appear softer and kinder than the pointed sticky faces who had aged terribly and talked in long and exhausting sentence. (SSLWR, CH1)

The first chapter and its first half cover a relatively broad and purposefully undefined time. What pauses this narration is a regular dinner with an irregular guest. Plutarch’s weight is the first irregularity within that and his interest in making watches the second. Both throw her off and both are part of the initial fascination she has with him.

Plutarch’s body is defined as the other. In the first case, it is the contrast to the usual visitors, but it’s a frequent subject with which Virgilia draws lines between her current circumstances and Plutarch. For example, we have him not fitting to the mansion:

There were barely any straight lines, except for his thick eyebrows, and he seemed so strange in the frame of a mansion that fitted right to Gratia—or Gratia to the mansion. (SSWLR, CH2)

But the most important comparison is that between Snow and Plutarch:

Yet, [Plutarch] was so very lovely the way he was; she pictured him less bony than her husband when embraced. What was it like to be held by him? It must certainly feel extraordinarily pleasant. (SSLWR, CH7)

This is the key point on why she is so drawn to his weight, especially at first, because he is the exact opposite to Snow. At first all she knows about him is the visual difference, but this visual difference is only an indicator for what comes next, insofar that Plutarch from a character level and from a relationship level is the very opposite.

For example, a frequent point within the fanfiction is that Virgilia is not good at talking and uttering her thoughts. A main reason for that is because she has never been given the momentum to speak—you cannot be good at speaking or debating if you aren't practiced in it. She is not invited to partake in any of the conversations that are, to her, not part of her skill level—"They talked about the economy, or something, [...]" (CH1). In contrast, Plutarch is noted to be waiting for her to voice her thoughts, frequently being attributed with patience as early as chapter 3. When she speaks, he doesn't interrupt her. He takes her words seriously.

Once they grow closer romantically, Virgilia begins to have a fascination with feeling his body. She wonders about what it might feel like to hug him in the above quote, and once she receives a hug, she feels positive about his body both as it is and in contrast to her husband:

Plutarch’s hug was warm and welcoming. His arms were rather strong, wrapping around her so entirely and keeping her close for only but a mere moment. But that was enough, more than enough, sensing an ubiquitous prickle spreading from her stomach as she felt him so close. Virgilia imagined hearing a pounding heartbeat—albeit it might have been her own. He was different from her husband, whose large but thin shape seemed so cold and empty. No, Plutarch didn’t slip away from her, even when her chin briefly came to rest on his shoulder. He appeared ever so real, caught in the moment in the same way the sun warmed her face after clouded days, awakening her anew in a reality that grew dense and present. (SSLWR, CH8)

To paraphrase, Plutarch is: warm, welcoming, strong, hugging her whole, stays with her, feels real. Her husband is thin, cold, empty. While some of it has to do with the nature of their hug—for example the length—much of it is a comparison between two bodies, and Plutarch’s being attributed only positive notions. She’s fascinated by how he feels and wonders about it because she is craving that connection with him. She daydreams about him, and some of those include what his body—a foreign, unexplored entity—feels like.

I purposefully wrote about those moments and about how she views his body. I did not want her to be detached from it, both because the difference felt important, but also because a romance with an overweight character would feel wrong if it glossed over the body. It felt important to make his weight part of her attraction, not an in-spite-of or a secretly feeling grossed out by it. Neither did I want to make her too obsessed with it in a kinky sense, because overweight people are people, not kinks. My goal was to make this part of her attraction to him without it being the sole part of her fascination—that, if he were to lose weight, she wouldn’t jump ship, but that she nonetheless likes him that way and isn’t interested in having him change for her sake.

Obviously, one of the most significant scenes in terms of Plutarch’s body and Virgilia's thoughts on it happen during the sex scene in chapter 14:

She kissed him the way that flowers looked up at the sun, desired every ray of its warmth, every attention of its light. Her hands had grown desperate in hunger, moving from the stubbles of his cheeks down the muscles in his arms to the softness of his belly. (SSLWR, CH14)

This is the first time she is exploring his body. She is once more affirming his softness in the first quote. Once more, Plutarch is different: Virgilia lives in a world where everything with sharp edges, poking bones, or straight lines is not safety and not love. Plutarch is, because of his otherness, safety and love.

Touching him had been different than she expected, and yet all what she had hoped for. Plutarch was not like the people in the Capitol, whose latest craze seemed to have bones poking out everywhere. Her hands trailed across his chest, led by the soft hair that adorned his upper torso. Each breath of his lifted chest and belly, bolstered his shoulders and changed the shadows cast across. Eventually, the hair was gone, far too few in between, and she had been left alone as her fingers traced to his belly button. It was then that something had tugged on the edge of her mind. (SSLWR, CH14)

She is making room for this interest by exploring his upper body; affirming the difference and being allowed to roam and explore at the speed she needs. In that moment, Plutarch is watching her, and he’s once more being patient as she is touching him. This quote is followed up by him asking about undoing her hair, and it’s an equal fascination on his part that Virgilia is not in the know about yet. They both have mysteries they wish to explore about the other that day. His body and its weight is hers.

She sunk deeper into the bed, deeper into the black fabric. Blonde hair appeared, then his thick brows, the warm gaze, and lips smudged with her lipstick. Plutarch had climbed on top of her, and what seemed a not-too-uncommon place, whenever she moved, he responded by shifting his weight; enough that she could break away if needed—except she did not want to. There was trust in the heaviness of his on top of her, and, for once her heart ached not for escaping, but for more. (SSLWR, CH14)

I’ve thought about this moment a lot before writing it, and I’ve worked on those lines a lot. Plutarch’s weight is a factor once more—again, I never wanted it to be mentioned once and then be ignored—and it’s one that could be scary. It’s a fact that he is heavy. He could easily overwhelm her and sleep with her as he pleases, completely ignoring her needs while keeping her in place. 

The easy solution is to switch—and have her be on top. Right before this quote, they actually have a conversation (“There were whispers exchanged, like small gusts of wind carried into the woods.”) and while I leave the exact words out because it’s more reaffirming the wants of each other, it being followed up by her sinking into the bed, and him climbing on top of her should give away at least parts of the content of their conversation—Plutarch, himself likely insecure, asks her if she would like to be on top.

They don’t go for the easy solution. And that is because Virgilia trusts him. I didn’t go into the depths of their sexual relationship because it did not feel like the fanfiction to do that—I really don’t like more explicit smut scenes in a work otherwise not focused on them—but it is alluded here that she enjoys the feeling of him, with all his weight, being on top of her. She likes feeling that, despite every odds technically being against her, this is a safe space, and he’s listening to her. Him moving when she does might initially be born from discomfort on his part, but it is meant to eventually become a play where both move in unison knowing the other, and this is its first act.

There is some part insecurity voiced by Plutarch at the end of the chapter. This quote happens right after Plutarch jokes about how she had not gotten a younger lover, which leaves Virgilia confused.

With an equal amount of confusion, much as if she did not understand that the sun rose every morning, he opened his mouth far before words could come out. “Most might prefer someone who is stronger or taller or younger and certainly with less grey hair.” (SSLWR, CH14)

She responds that she likes him and his hair. While much of her thoughts on his body are focused on weight, the other parts of it not affirming to Capitol beauty standards, such as non-grey hair, an indicator of aging, are loved, too. She likes him, and she likes his body.

To return to general ideas about Plutarch’s body—and we did somewhat talk about this recently!—his body is something daring to her. Virgilia has time and time again given into the beauty standards. She needs to maintain them as they are closely tied to her own survival. Plutarch does not need to do the same; and Virgilia recognises it for the rebellion it is.

She will always love him regardless the body he has, but the body he has as seen in the movies is a source of comfort, love, and safety for her. She wouldn’t change a thing about him.

[caesarflickermans]

dear prof. dr. caesarflickermans, expert in thg, i request your knowledge.

how do you picture the capitol outlines? is it something like the rich are in the middle and the outer circles are poorer? or are there different neighbourhoods with different levels of wealth with no real logic in how it happened?

also is there a clear border between the really rich and the rest of the population? or between the general population and the poor? are people in a way "restricted" to their neighbourhood a bit like inhabitants of the districts are confined in their district?

do you have any more elements that you would like to add?

thank you! 💕

(Please keep in mind I'm no expert in anything city planning, my words are by no means as educated as someone who did study this subject. Maybe @plvtarch can give some more educated information!)

My brief mention in SSLWR 13 might have indicated that the poor live in the outskirts while the rich live in the inner city, but that is not at all the impression I had intended to give!

If you look at city maps, you will usually find that if we are differentiating between inner and outer city, the rich usually tend to live a bit further away from a direct city centre, that is because they have greater mobility than the poor, feel more secure there, and have the option for larger homes.

Nothing about levels of wealth and where they settle is truly random. Much of it is determined by zoning laws or gentrification. There are many quirks in city planning and many reasons for different income levels or different races to move to or from specific neighbourhoods.

While I can see the Capitol influencing some of these aspects very actively, the Capitol is also not expanding, has no new people move to it (other than those who are born in there), and much of it is likely more stuck in a gridlock. I do believe that social mobility exists, and therefore some parts of it are moving up and down on the social ladder which implies a changing of neighbourhoods, but I assume it is much slower due to tighter class systems.

On a location level, I believe that the Capitol is located in Salt Lake City, though that is not my only inspiration and I will not keep 100% to the geography of this city. My reason for this belief is the mention of a natural mountain barrier to the East of the city (THG, 4). We also frequently receive a view of the Capitol's lake to the West and IIRC it is mentioned in the books somewhere, but I'm not sure where. Either way, lake to the West, mountain to the East. Salt Lake City seems the natural conclusion here.

When we look at the Salt Lake City area, we notice the following based on (A) median income and (B) a rating on based schools:

(A) is an obvious indicator for wealth, and it seems to accumulate in the Eastern area. (B) further supports this. Rich people like to send their kids to the best of schools, and it can be a good supporting indicator for wealth.

Thus, we have identified the Eastern part of Salt Lake City as a rich neighbourhood.

In addition, while I believe the Capitol to be located in Salt Lake City, the Capitol is a representative of large wealth concentration. The cities that, to me, as a Non-American, come to mind and were part of my inspiration on how I see the Capitol are Los Angeles and New York City. They both are THE metropolitan areas to be and have a large influence on areas such as entertainment, fashion, and finance. They feel quite right for the Capitol. Let's look at the former and its wealth concentration first:

If we compare this with topography levels, we notice a very clear pattern for both Los Angeles and Salt Lake City: The richer areas are closer to or even on mountains. Thus, we notice that our wealth indicator maps correspond with topography level:

I've always liked Los Angeles in terms of Capitol representation for its Northern mountains that overlook the city and the rich people that look into the downtown area. I've never been to Los Angeles, but the property there appears more spaced out which allows for the wealthy to built their larger residences up in the mountains.

I nonetheless also like the idea of skyscrapers which would be more representative of New York. I can envision some wealthy people who are sick and tired of the mountains to prefer living in downtown area in high rise apartments and penthouses. I think for New York City its geography is a bit less relevant, partly because it is so encased by water and the differentiation is more Manhattan/Boston. Nonetheless, I take the NYC comparison and apply it to the Capitol insofar that I read it as the rich liking to live close to or with a view of the river.

Where does this leave us with?

Well, we know that the mountains to the East of Salt Lake City host the wealthy, we know that something similar is happening in Los Angeles with its North, and we know that the wealthy in New York really love looking at the river (or parks, lol).

I like the idea of combining all three aspects into one map, bastardising SLC a bit in the process (they'll survive).

As you can see, I've moved the lake a bit more inward to allow for the New York comparison to make sense. I've added some more mountains on top to have the Los Angeles feeling.

There is an area labelled downtown which is, while still having astonishing real estate prices, the area of the training centre and the bigger shopping area. Most city districts have their own feel to it and their own inner shopping streets, but if you want to shop the big designers, you go to that grey area.

The middle class and lower class are way less defined, but I've placed them roughly in that manner as the lower part of the Capitol is the weakest area in terms of protection.

While the mountains might appear fragile, Katniss mentions that it is impossible to enter through them and, instead, the tunnels are the weak points. Thus, I've figured that the wealth distribution both in the East (SLC) and LA (North) wasn't affected (i.e. moving to the West post Dark Days).

Instead, the lower class area with its mountains receding is the true weak point, and it is likely that the rebels came in from roughly around there, possibly with the tunnels being somewhere around there, too.

This is the general inner city circle for the Capitol. There is a greater area around it which hosts vacation spots and some of the arenas.

The vacation spots I perceive as similar to the arenas, insofar that they are equally unnatural in how they have been built, but they are less adventure-y (yikes) and mostly focused on relaxation. Capitol people do not go to the Districts on vacation, but they have some beautiful areas that are meant to resemble some popular vacation destinations, such as beaches or mountains. They come in different price ranges, of course, and you usually stay overnight there in themed houses. Those places are large, thus they host several groups.

The arenas are nothing we haven't heard of in the books. I think some are in the Capitol outskirts while others are more around its actual border or around the empty stretches of land in between the Districts (no-mans land, essentially).

As to restrictions: No, there aren't any. We can gauge as much from the books as the poor and the rich shop in similar areas (avenues and the side streets, as described by Cressida in MJ & visited by Virgilia in SSLWR 17). But, generally, they maintain this idea that the middle and lower classes are able to make it big. It's a necessity to keep those people in line, and overall successful insofar that they quite literally buy into it and go in debt.

Any restrictions in place usually come through where the best schools are placed, where demand has the housing market skyrocket, but overall they, as previously said, change fairly little.

In this manner, I also think that the Capitol heavily relies on public transport. It's a small city that has had a long time to establish its public transport system, which also means that the people aren't truly restricted to one area over the other, i.e. everyone who wants to can easily attend the tribute parade. Only few people own a car--because I want some utopia in my dystopia--and only those who truly require one in the moment, such as President Snow, own one.

As to where my main cast of characters live: Virgilia obviously lives in the President area, Caesar in the Eastern NYC area (no seaside view for him), Plutarch in the Los Angeles-esque area, and Tigris in the grey downtown area as she lives above her shop.