#tesserae

[thesilicontribesman]

Roman Tesserae from South Shields Fort, Great North Museum, Hancock, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

[districtfourmermaid]

Who are the Tesserans of Two?

Long little ramble about my idea for how tesserae work in Career Districts. Katniss says volunteering can get messy. And for a long time, I wondered, if someone is likely to volunteer, what is the downside of taking tesserae? So, here's my idea on that, particularly how it fits into my headcanons about District 2. There would definitely be other factors to consider for places like One and Four and ways in which this might not work the same there.

This system was developed for worldbuilding in my long fic Blaze of Glory, so I'll make some references to illustrate my point, but it's kinda general.

Tesserae in Twelve and Districts like it make a lot of sense. Sign up for having your name on an extra slip in the Reaping ball, and once a month, you can collect grain and oil rations for one person. Benefit: more food for your family. Drawback: more risk of getting Reaped.

But if someone is likely to volunteer, what's to stop any teen from taking 10+ tesserae per year and relaxing? The Capitol could simply put a cap on it, but I think it's fun to make it complicated. To reconcile the significant decrease of that risk in Two because of volunteer Career culture, I created another class of trainee: the Tesserans.

I know formalized training in an academy setting is not actually canon, as we don't get any detail on what Career training looks like. However, in my Two, the Training Academy is not just for the Hunger Games but also preparation for a career in Peacekeeping. My OC Pyra's view is a very Games-oriented perspective. She thinks of the generous Capitol in Ch6. Power, "They let their children train, let the Academy slide under the guise of pre-Peacekeeper training." But it isn't completely a guise. It is their education. They want a population of kids who get that early start with physical fitness, firearm and traditional weapon handling, and discipline.

"Real" Careers pay tuition to the Academy. They can start at age 9, have access to better accommodations, and do not have to work. Tesserans are introduced in Ch2. Kindling as, "students who were obligated to enlist after taking out three or more tesserae per year or more than ten cumulatively by age fifteen." Two has economic privilege in Panem. In the Seam, we see Katniss and Gale taking tesserae for their entire families as soon as they are eligible. Even before Gale's dad died the winter before his age-14 Reaping, he was taking 5 tesserae/year. However, the Town kids usually don't take any. Maybe 1/year if they need to. I see Two as being mostly closer to Town-class or a little higher with fewer poor people and very rare cases of Seam-like conditions. Plus, with more frequent Victors (roughly one every six years), Two gets more years with Parcel Days. Given that, I don't think as much of Two gets to the level of poverty for taking 3+ tesserae/year.

Still, by the time of graduation, the vast majority of students at the Academy are Tesserans. These students start at age 12 or applicable later year. Before age 15, they mostly do the same training as the paying Careers and just get worse accommodations/less access. However, in the year of their age-15 Reaping, those who are not promising candidates for Tribute get "demoted to support staff." Training time is reallocated to work time. They do chores like wipe down the equipment and fetch water, maintain the facilities, cook, wait tables at events like the winter dance, etc. These teens are paying back their District for the grain and oil their families back home receive and earning their keep at the Academy, where they do get that pre-Peacekeeper education. To people without Pyra's background, it can be less about going there for the training and more about the work, as Wolfram says in Ch24. Breadcrumbs, "I had friends who needed to take tesserae and work at the Training Academy."

This system lets the Capitol work around the Career culture---which is technically supposed to not be allowed but is permitted because it gives them a good show---and implement the tesserae system in a slightly different way. The Capitol can incentivize kids from the lower classes to enter the path of Peacekeeping (chance at glory in the Games, a bonus motivator to work hard). This gives them a steady supply of soldiers and instills a sense of gratitude and honor in them. This is how they raise kids to become Peacekeepers who shout, "I’ll never turn my back on the Capitol, even if I’m the last soldier in your way!" at their former friends.

I've also mentioned how my Careers tend to have late summer birthdays to give them an advantage in the arena, being almost a year older than others of the "same" age. But this timing could work for Tesserans as well. Katniss, born in May, can't get tesserae the whole year leading up to her age-12 Reaping. She has to wait until that May. If she'd been born in August, she would have been able to benefit from those tesserae for longer. Maybe less common, but a possibility some parents may consider in a similar but different way than their wealthier peers.

[optikes]

Roman swept floor mosaic C2nd BCE

Sosos of Pergamon

collection: Vatican Museums

[artofenami]

Redbubble

[moreespressoformydepresso]

ykw tesserae almost feels like Snow's way of ensuring district 12 will have as few victors as possible, especially when you see the food security in 12 go down more and more over the decades. The more tesserae you take, the more likely you are to be reaped, so the only people who'd take tesserae are people who desperately need it. People who are starving already, AKA people who start the games with very low odds already since eating too much after periods of starvation can make you very sick or actually straight up kill you (refeeding syndrome). This means you can't carbo-load as much or risk screwing yourself over before the games even begin, but these tributes don't have the education to know about that and since they've never had enough food to get refeeding syndrome in the first place they either get lucky or get sick. If they get lucky and didn't eat too much, they'll still need to find more food in the arena to keep up with the physical demands of the games than other tributes who started off with more body fat and thus have more to burn before they start absolutely needing food.

Besides, if you look starved, you're less likely to gain sponsors because you don't look physically capable of winning the games, and while you can still get sponsors via other means it's gonna take a lot more effort. So you can't even get food or supplies from sponsors the way other tributes might, especially in the later games when the careers get most of the sponsors. Katniss was "lucky" enough to have hunting experience and be dropped in an arena that benefitted her, and had the added luck of a stylist who actually tried to make District 12 stand out for once and a district partner who got a storyline going for the Capitol to latch onto, but without those factors her high training score probably would've gotten her killed.

Now, of course it's entirely possible to be reaped without taking any tessarae at all, as shown by Prim and Peeta being reaped for the 74th Hunger Games, but the image of District 12 created by the fact that most of their tributes probably are from the group of kids that took a lot of tesserae also affects them. Even Peeta with his muscles from lugging around flour bags and his charming personality had to fight an uphil battle to get anywhere near the amount of sponsors the Careers get for simply being careers, because he's from 12. Nobody wins in 12. Why would you bother wasting your money on a tribute when their district is known to never win? The only exceptions are that one drunk guy and some other person nobody remembers. As soon as tesserae was introduced, a snowball effect was started that basically ruined D12's chances in most years. Or maybe not and I'm just going crazy again, who knows? It's 50/50 really.

[courtjesterart]

I fully finished my first comic page for LoreLocke and AAAA I'm so excited!!! I dunno what unlocked in my brain this past month but boy am I glad it did, I'm so looking forward to showing you all my baby girl.

Please enjoy this adorable lil preview in celebration :3

[yourantiquarian]

Roman mosaic depicting a bird

ITEM Mosaic depicting a bird MATERIAL Tesserae CULTURE Roman PERIOD 3rd Century A.D DIMENSIONS 400 mm x 440 mm x 40 mm CONDITION Good condition PROVENANCE Ex Swiss private collection, E.O., Geneve, acquired before 1990s Roman mosaics are renowned for their intricate designs and enduring beauty, often depicting various motifs that reflect the cultural and artistic sensibilities of the time. Among these motifs, the depiction of birds holds particular significance in Roman art. Birds were commonly featured in Roman mosaics for their symbolic meanings, which varied depending on the species portrayed. The birds motif in Roman mosaics served both decorative and symbolic purposes, enriching the visual appeal of the artwork while conveying deeper layers of meaning to the viewer. In Roman art, birds were frequently associated with themes of freedom, transcendence, and divine communication. Depictions of birds such as doves, eagles, and peacocks symbolized different aspects of Roman society and belief systems. For example, doves were often associated with peace and love, while eagles were emblematic of power and authority, often representing the Roman state and its military prowess. Peacocks, with their vibrant plumage, were symbols of immortality and resurrection in Roman mythology, associated with deities such as Juno and Hera. The Read the full article

[confusedbronzethunder]

I just finished my first read of Sunrise on the Reaping which cascaded I to a re-read of Hunger Games. I don't know Suzanne Collins' views on the Genocide in Gaza but especially in the third book, Mockingjay, I couldn't help but be horrified by the similarities.

The bombing of the District 8 hospital:

"I want to tell the rebels that I am alive. That I'm right here in District Eight, where the Capitol has just bombed a hospital full of unarmed men, women, and children. There will be no survivors. I want to tell people that if you think for second that the Capitol will treat us fairly if there's a cease-fire, you're deluding yourself. Because you know who they are and what they do. This is what they do! And we must fight back! President Snow says he's sending us a message? Well, I have one for him. You can torture us and bomb us and burn our districts to the ground, but do you see that? Fire is catching! And if we burn, you burn with us!"

All 36 hospitals in Gaza have been bombed MULTIPLE times. If you were horrified reading the books (with good reason), be horrified again.

“The Diocese of Jerusalem is appalled at the bombing of the hospital now for the fifth time since the beginning of the war in 2023..."

The use of propaganda within Panem is very interesting. How the two sides portray Katniss, and how different it is to who she really is. In this genocide there is still so much media coverage supportive of Israel, and there is media coverage that is critical. I worry that the reality is somehow worse.

The complete destruction of District 12. Gaza has been flattened. Over 80% of the infrastructure and houses gone.

The barriers put up around this districts to freedom and to feed themselves. There are fences and guards and it's a crime to hunt. In Gaza, fishermen and fisherwomen are shot at. The farms and orchards have been destroyed. There has been a siege of Gaza since this genocide started and before that, a BLOCKADE by Israel. People in Gaza are not permitted to feed themselves.

Tesserae is taken by the poor and desperate in Hunger Games and consists of Oil and Flour mainly. These sounds like aid staples. So many people in Gaza prior to the genocide were reliant on aid (Tesserae) and for the last 4 months this has been removed.

The Jabberjays in Book 2, screaming with Prim's voice causing Katniss to go running to save her. The Israeli drones that play the sounds of babies crying and then shoot at people as they try to help.

Based on this body of work, and the one interview I've read I would be shocked if Suzanne Collins didn't support Palestine.

Anyway, free Palestine.