#district thirteen

[hrrystylesbookclub]

on the topic if suzanne will write a book centered around finnick/if she will continue adding to the hunger games universe:

I’ve seen a lot of discourse about the possibility of a finnick book- a lot of people saying they don’t want it because they don’t need a book centered around child prostitution. however, i think it could be incredibly well done centered around the themes of the exploitation of minors (especially famous ones). i think there’s also a great way to work in finnick and annie’s story, each of their individual traumas and how they found love together.

however… so far throughout the five books the common denominator is district twelve. now that there aren’t any other twelve victors, part of me feels like expanding to other districts is asking a lot.

don’t get me wrong, i want books for finnick and annie and johanna and district thirteen and tigris and before the dark days and the covey and all sorts of random tributes or citizens of panem we haven’t been introduced to yet. but i am not sure if more books are in the picture. at least not yet.

[mumblelard]

on the way to lithia springs i saw military drones over the highway. when i got to the park i could hear them shooting something high caliber at the law enforcement range up river and all of it together was very unsettling

walking in the woods, i found eight dollars, still wadded up from falling out of a pocket, so on the way home i stopped at the old gas station on lee road where someone is always selling food in the parking lot. i bought three tamales wrapped in foil, kept hot in an igloo cooler, and i ate them in my car

i took the long way home and stopped at a bin store to look for a new case for this old phone, but i was out of patience for the digging of it all

boba and i napped on the couch and now it's raining and maybe nothing else needs to happen today

[vanillasunsetsss]

The Stranger | Chapter 20

“When the war’s over, I’ll take you to Four. You can see real stars,” he says simply.

My stomach flips at that. “Okay,” is all I manage to say.

He falls quiet, staring at me. I don’t know why, but I get nervous, I feel like he can see right through me.

“You have so many freckles,” he murmurs, “I bet I could find some constellations in there.”

“Yeah?” I whisper, barely breathing.

He reaches out his hand slowly, like he’s giving me time to pull away. I don’t. His thumb brushes my nose lightly. I don’t know why I let him. I should swat his hand away, tell him to stop being weird. Instead, his thumb lingers, tracing my freckles one by one. I find myself looking into his eyes, trying to read them, but he isn’t looking at mine. He’s staring at my cheek, intense and focused, like it matters more than anything else in the room. I can’t figure out why I’m holding my breath.

District 12 is in ruins. Peeta’s missing. And Briella Mellark is trying to figure out how she’s supposed to keep going when everything she’s ever known has been burned to the ground.

Part three of The Sister Series

[a-sweet-little-fangirl]

I can't remember if it's touched upon in the books. But the anger and the frustration Katniss, Finick, and Haymitch, all the victors, must have felt at being in district thirteen...

A place untouched by the Hunger Games where they never had to be scared about being reaped or their loved ones being a part of them... Do we think some of district thirteen members watch it like the Capitol? Did they bet on them? Were they debating whether or not Katniss and Peeta were in love?

How betrayed would you feel if you realised that this district "free" from consequences had been there since the beginning and never had to send a kid off to the games...

Of course, they remained hidden. You wouldn't be too mad about it, but you can't help but feel angry about all of those weapons and arsenal deep underground...

[lilybird23]

In your headcanon, in canon, what is the connection between Boggs and the organization of Coin's black ops-secret operations that aim to secure her personal goals?(451 and Prim's death examples of D13 black ops)

Dear Anon’ thank you for an interesting question and the opportunity to reflect on Thirteen’s political and military structure and Boggs!

We know from canon that Boggs is sufficiently highly ranked to be involved in confidential meetings in Command. His opinion is clearly valued and he is also involved in strategising the one very secret operation in the Capitol we know about, specifically the rescue of the Victors left behind. We can quite logically believe he has a very high security clearance in Thirteen.

His relationship with President Coin is something we know a lot less about. Him being entrusted with Katniss’ safety and obedience is a sign of Coin’s trust in him and in his loyalty to her. I might argue that that trust could erode a little over the course of MJ as he provided Katniss with more freedom and trust than what Coin would probably prefer. Yet, this could easily be explained as necessary for him to be able to work with Katniss. I would probably conclude that Coin remains convinced of his absolute loyalty to her or he wouldn’t be given command over Squad 451. Perhaps, she understands that something is amiss when he gives the Holo to Katniss and not his second in command.

You mention two situations which you attribute to a secret Black Ops team which exist to further Alma Coin’s personal objectives, specifically the false flag operation which leads to Prim’s death and the mission of Squad 451 (I interpret this to be the entire mission, but I imagine you could be thinking of the incorrectly labelled pod that causes the deaths of Mitchell and Boggs or the fact that Peeta integrates the mission?)…

I would argue both missions have reason to exist and don’t require a specific secret team.

The mission of Squad 451 is very much intended to be about propaganda, showing the heroes of the Rebellion fighting on the frontlines. Considering the importance of propaganda throughout MJ in the war, this aspect of the mission is very much credible as having been approved by higher command in Thirteen. Furthermore, Katniss, Finnick and Gale are very much wanting to go and volunteer for the frontlines! I think Plutarch is probably behind some of the instructions for Cressida and her team, more so than Coin herself.

There are several examples of false flag operations in various modern and contemporary wars. I believe it’s plausible that higher command in Thirteen could approve such an operation with the belief it could shorten the war. These people wouldn’t have to know about the exact nature of the weapons used and so wouldn’t be aware of the risk to their own side. We know that Beetee and Gale were involved in designing the bombs. But I believe Gale is honest with Katniss when he says he doesn’t know if it was theirs. The pilots would have to have their objective, they don’t need to know everything either. Soldiers obey orders. This comes down to compartmentalisation.

I do agree with you that Coin would have had a couple people assist her in manipulating situations to her personal advantage, namely ensuring Primrose was part of the medic team and probably sending Peeta to Squad 451. But she could do both these things as President and I wouldn’t assimilate these few people to a dedicated Black Ops Team.

I think it’s possible that Boggs was part of these, and that him giving Katniss control over the Holo was his way to apologise or right things after realising some things. But it could also have been his position from the start in which case I believe Coin is smart enough to recognise his ethics and use them, but he then wouldn’t be involved in any secret operations in this manner. Both options merit exploration and have their pros and cons from a storytelling perspective… some people also theorise that Boggs was from another district originally which would also inform a lot of things about him when choosing how to write him.

Finally, we have to take into account the way Thirteen is constructed. Katniss tells us that disobeying or questioning Coin is unthinkable for most natives in Thirteen. This gives Coin a very big range of action. She basically has power over the entire military. So Thirteen’s equivalent of special forces/black ops team are hers to command. She is commander in chief. Finally, intelligence appears to be pretty strictly compartmentalised in Thirteen which does allow Coin to manipulate things for her personal gain. So I don’t think she needs a dedicated team! Actually, having such a team if it’s found out could discredit her as Thirteen’s leader if it became public knowledge.

Boggs is definitely part of a close circle to President Coin. I feel like he’s shown to have a little too much independence of thought and opinion in favour of Katniss to say that he’s deeply involved in secret operations that favour Coin politically. To me, he is the archetype of a good soldier with strong individual morals that lead him to make certain decisions that go against his hierarchy. Yet, those decisions can be explained as ways to manipulate Katniss into working with him and that’s probably how he presents things to Coin. But it could also be the other way around and Katniss might have been blinded to it because of the relative autonomy he provides her with and the respect he shows her through the way he treats her. He is smart enough for both options in my opinion!

[ilguna]

District Thirteen - Shapeshifter.

excused from the games because of their human appearance, the shapeshifters are lucky they’re locked in a bunker away from the carnage. impersonation and playing pretend are not outrageous ideas that they’re too old to be using.

[shinesundark]

Spoilers for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes!!!

At the end of TBOSAS, it’s accepted that Lucy Gray either: dies somewhere up north, eventually returns to District 12 and lives, or returns to twelve and dies due to starvation since she wouldn’t be able to play music for a living. But there’s another possibility that wouldn’t be mentioned in the book since no one knew about it (maybe Dr. Gaul, but I’m not really sure).

Lucy Gray lives in District 13.

It makes sense if you think about it. In THG, Gale leads the survivors from twelve into the forest. Guessing from Gale’s knowledge of the forest, he’s most likely going to lead them in the direction of the meadow, which is the same direction Lucy Gray goes. I have a feeling Lucy Gray was really determined to not return to District 12, and if she does decide to return, she would have covered a lot of distance.

At the time, District 13 isn’t as developed as it is by the time Mockingjay takes place. Since it has only been a decade since they’ve signed the treaty with the Capitol, they would probably place some sort of security system in place to warn them if the Capitol try to reclaim District 13. Like a just mentioned, thirteen is new, so there’s probably going to be some evidence that there is a whole population of people underground. Whatever security system they have in place, District 13 is going to know Lucy Gray is there.

I doubt that thirteen has enough resources to use only technology for security. Even in THG, they have human guards. I’m not going into more detail about how Lucy Gray ends up in the area above District 13; I think you’ve got the point already. So now she has three choices: stay in District 13, go back to District 12, or continue north. I’m ruling out the last option because just for the sake of simplicity. There are two main pros if she stays in thirteen.

First, she’ll be away from the Capitol and Panem. “‘We’ll be free of him, of District Twelve, of the Capitol, all of it. Tomorrow. At dawn’” (483). (There was another quote I was looking for that proves my point better, but I couldn’t find it. If I do, I’ll edit this.) Basically, she’s running away in the first place to get rid of the Capitol influence. This is a common trait of both District 13 and Lucy Gray.

The second reason that Lucy Gray might stay in District 13 (which I think is what happened) was that she was forced to stay. At this point, she already is aware that District 13, or is about to realize, exists. It would be a risk for the district if someone is to know about them and be able to return to Panem. To protect their secrecy, they would force or highly encourage her to stay.

With our knowledge, whatever happens to Lucy Gray in District 13 is left a mystery. Again, this is just a theory so you may not agree with what I said.

BTW, there is absolutely no way that Lucy Gray changes her name and becomes Alma Coin. I’ve already thought about it, and I can’t bear to think that Lucy Gray is President Coin. There is absolutely no way.

Edit: Coin could be her daughter.

[genericthememusic]

So District 12 is said to be in Appalachia, and most people seem to pin it in a West Virginia/Kentucky area, and 13 is somewhere to the north. It would’ve meant a long walk for Gale and the rest of the bombing survivors, but I’ve recently decided that I’m picturing 13 in the New York area because of the Manhattan Project (even though it wasn’t actually made there).