#certaindetermination

[withereth]

@certaindetermination

THESE   PARTIES   ARE   SUFFOCATING   HIM   ,   but   he   finds   ways   to   make   do   .   finding   familiar   faces   first   ,   then   searching   the   lot   for   the   friendly   ones   .   anyone   who   hasn't   quite   hurt   him   yet   is   perfect   ,   but   not   quite   attainable   ,   so   he   settles   for   those   only   peripherally   responsible   for   his   plight   .

❝   effie   trinket   ,   ❞   he   coos   as   he   crosses   the   space   and   approaches   the   woman   ,   voice   velvet   in   delivery   .   he's   sixteen   and   on   top   of   the   world   ,   certainly   should   feel   higher   than   some   escort   who   hadn't   gotten   a   better   assignment   in   twenty   years   .   ❝   how   are   you   tonight   ?   your   dress   is   dazzling   ,   is   it   bespoke   ?   ❞

[12abernathy]

( @certaindetermination ✉️ sent . ) ‘ i know being here isn’t easy for you ’ featuring. effie trinket .

A SENTIMENT HE SIMPLY COULDN’T DECIPHER . easy ?? how could this be easy , for anyone ? how could he possibly even explain what it’s like to be reaped , to be one of the districts to a [ Capitol girl . ] there’s a distasteful expression on still innocent features , it’s only been a day but with the pending anticipation to his possible death kept replaying in his head . EVERY SINGLE PERSON , OF EVERY DISTRICT KNEW that the games meant one thing , death even if you were alive . knowing that it’s been fifty years of this lifestyle , how every waking day to the lead up of the reaping meant knowing , how to survive . meant knowing that any of them could be chosen , to a bloodbath , to be watched as they all try to be the last one standing .

and every year , still somehow trying to live a normal life . but what was normal ? when everyday every district knew that only one returns home , and the rest meant a loss . “ it must be easy for you , to say so .” was all he could say , returning the statement back with rough bitterness laced upon response , a clear notion that he wasn’t impressed by the gesture .

[mvndrvke]

@certaindetermination gets a starter!

Haymitch doesn't know how to describe his mental state right now, other than not good. The reaping is over, they're back on the train again. He shouldn't feel guilty that his name was called, he shouldn't feel guilty that Peeta volunteered, but he does.

Effie's been a comfort to him since they met. He promised Peeta he'd stay sober to get them through this, so he goes to find Effie instead of the bar. He finds her in one of the lounge cars, and flops onto the couch beside her, face down.

"I failed those kids," he says, voice muffled in the couch.

[knowstruth]

@certaindetermination liked this for a starter!

Arista has learned well over the years how to talk to capitolites, all the sponsors and socialites and, yes, escorts. Outer district escorts are a bit of a tossup between those who are bitter about their low ranking and those who believe that through their job they're doing something good for these kids somehow - which, Arista supposes she can't fault them for too much, given her mentoring and philosophy behind it.

"Ready for this year's games?" She stands next to 12's escort, only two in a room filled with victors and socialites. Another year, another round. No doubt she's been convening with the stylists and other escorts for weeks now to prepare. "It feels like last year's was just last month."

[qverdia]

@certaindetermination sent , ❛ i need you to stop talking and let me do this . ❜

abilene pursed her lips , looking up at effie through her lashes before letting out a deep sigh . she hadn't worn much makeup in ten , and the makeup slathered onto her face in the capitol was suffocating . she was surprised that something so colorful was even allowed in district thirteen , considering how everything was the same color of gray . abilene stopped talking , pressing her lips together until effie was done with applying some sort of cosmetic to them .

❛ do they teach you this stuff in the capitol ? ❜ she asked once her lips were free to move again . everyone in the capitol had colorful eyelids and lips amongst other modifications , after all . ❛ mama never wore much make up . one time when i was little i found her lipstick and covered my entire face with it . i wasn't allowed to touch make up again until i was thirteen . ❜

[griefseason]

❛   i never wanted any of this. ❜ peeta's voice is quiet as he picks at the bit of dirt under his nail , soft eyes squinting at the sight. it's his ... well , he's lost count now of the numerous trips back &* forth between the capitol &* district twelve. each trip is for the same reason --- clearing up his mind of the lingering damage of the trackerjacker venom. it has been years. he's nearly twenty. four years since his torture , &* yet he still fights against the lingering effects of war. so he goes back &* forth on these long train rides so that the doctors &* therapists can work with him. he won't stop until those tremors &* panic attacks &* the knee-jerk reactions he still has towards violence have vanished completely. ( * they say not to hope for that. the boy he was before is gone. )

❛ i ... guess we can all say that though , right ?   ❜ tired eyes flicker over to @certaindetermination. ❛ but ... sometimes i think i didn't even want a revolution.   ❜ it's a whisper ; a shame. ❛   i can't remember how i felt. what i thought for myself. the ... capitol just wanted me to think it was all katniss' plan. ❜ it's not fair to bring effie into the mess of his mind , but she is as much family as katniss &* haymitch now. if anyone could relate to not wanting that revolution , it had be the capitol citizen.

[50ths]

₍ ⠀ THE DUSTY TOYBOX. ⠀ ╎ ⠀ *͟𓉸 ྀ ⠀₎ ↷↷ ↳ @certaindetermination said : “ get out of my way. i won't tell you again. ”

the only good part of this damned train is the seemingly endless supply of booze , though the stumbling of his feet and the disheveled clothing seems to say he's already had his fill. it's the only thing that can keep his mind somewhat quiet , though. the only thing that helps him forget. the dove - colored upholstery seems to mock him , laughs at him , as uncoordinated steps send him stumbling into the bar cart with a loud clatter , glasses clinking as they get jostled into one another.

and then effie is there , halting him as soon as his hand just barely curls around a glass bottle of amber liquid , her own hand curling around the bottle as if she means to play a cruel game of tug of war. a frustrated sigh leaves his lips. “ give me a damn break , effie. ” but he's come to learn she can be rather stubborn when she wants to be. she's the only one left who tries to keep him semi - sober , who cares enough to , though her efforts haven't been all that successful. it irritates him more than anything else.

eyelids narrow and brows furrow in an attempt to stare her down , though she seems rather determined , opting to fix him with a glare of her own. “ when did you get so ― ” difficult ? infuriating ? hell - bent on keeping me from further self - destructing ? he doesn't know what exactly he wants to say , so he settles for exasperatedly throwing his arms out , as if he means to encompass everything in one single gesture. slumping down into a chair with a grumble , he's sure he'll circle back sooner rather than later. she can't stand guard over it forever. “ don't you have anything else to fuss over ? your wig's looking a little crooked , for one. ”

[everroots]

@certaindetermination said, you're lucky i can fix this . ↪     ᵗʰᵉ 𝑫𝑼𝑺𝑻𝒀 𝑻𝑶𝒀𝑩𝑶𝑿 .

ONCE AGAIN, SHE HAS UNDERESTIMATED EFFIE TRINKET. even in this drab, dreary ( effie's words ) underground, even with what she has endured to be here, she is alight in her vigilance to keep katniss camera ready. she could care less ― but she knows, now, that her escort's insistence upon appearances are a strength of their own. the fashion, the unwanted advice in manners, the cue cards: it was all, in a way, to protect her. protect them. whether or not effie knew the true scope of it.

she's come with her all this way, hasn't she? not that there was much of a choice. the capitol is unforgiving, true knowledge in rebellious plots irrelevant. they're a team, for better or for worse. and this may be the mockingjay's most important appearance yet. ( effie is at least the most forgiving in katniss' lack of acting prowess. )

so before the woman dips away to allow her prep team to swarm in on her, katniss catches her manicured hand in both of her own ― calloused, nail - bitten, marked even after a mere year's time since the polishing ― and meets her gaze, her own pale and gray as the walls confining them, but steady. awake. “ thank you, effie, ” she whispers, and hopes the weight beneath the words doesn't go unnoticed.