#THANK YOU SO MUCH SUZANNE

[gurindeen]

I DON'T MEAN THIS IN ANY LITERATURE-Y OR BRAINY WAY I WAS JUST THINKING HOW GENEROUS IT WAS OF SUZANNE COLLINS TO GIVE US EVERLARK CRAZED PEOPLE THE LINE,

"THIS 🌼 WOULD 🌼 HAVE 🌼 HAPPENED 🌼 ANYWAY"

[SCREAMS]

[myname-isnia]

I can’t remember the last time I felt this much anxiety as just now when I was reading the last chapter of A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes...

Like, the switch from cottagecore-level daydreams of the future to a fucking hunter/prey thriller is instant and unpredictable and I will need 3-5 business days to recover

[ghostfacd]

WIRED AUTOCOMPLETE. | TOM BLYTH

PAIRING. tom blyth x fem!actress!reader

SUMMARY. in which you and tom make a special appearance on wired’s autocomplete interview

installment of this au | recommend reading for more context

“Hi — we’re Y/N Avocot and Tom Blyth — and this is the Wired Autocomplete Interview!”

You’re both handed a white board, bigger than your face, and there’s a list of questions with some of the words covered.

“Do you want to go first?” Tom asks, giving you a small smile.

“Yes! I’m pretty excited actually,” you begin to peel off the first question. “Okay, first question: what was Y/N Avocot’s first role?”

You think for a moment, “well in terms of roles in general, my first acting role was very small and I believe it was for this ice cream commercial as a kid. I’m not sure if it’s still up but my mom had signed me up for it and they thought I was a really cute kid so they casted me.”

Tom laughs, “really?” He then retrieves his board from the crew. “Okay my turn. Why does Coriolanus Snow turn evil?”

That question makes you slightly giggle, because it’s so broad that it’s nearly impossible for Tom to narrow down exactly what it is that made Coriolanus suddenly switch. “I believe you should be asking Suzanne Collins, shout-out to her for making the entire trilogy and prequel. But honestly? I think he was always power hungry, and even though Tigris tried her very best to bring out the humanity in him, it was just never enough. Especially after Sejanus’s death, I think Coriolanus realized there was no going back.”

“Oh wow,” you say, very impressed with how he decided to answer it. “That was a terrific answer Tom.”

“Thank you m’lady.” You giggle at his antics, rolling your eyes jokingly.

“What role does Y/N Avocot play in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes?” You clear your throat, imitating one of your character’s iconic resting bitch face.

“I play Balleona Laurent, duh.” You joke. “Anyway, yes, I play Balleona, also known as Leona. She’s originally from the Capitol just like Coriolanus. They met at the academy and she automatically knew she had to have him. She comes from the Laurent family, which is a very very wealthy, well off, intimidating family that Coriolanus knows he just has to get into, which is why they start dating. I don’t wanna spoil too much of Leona and Corio in the movie, soooo you guys should definitely check it out!”

“Alright,” Tom adjusts himself in his seat, ripping off the paper for the next question. “Does Tom Blyth have a girlfriend?”

He pretends to think, which makes you bite your lip, suppressing a laugh. “Hmm, very complex question.”

“Oh give the people what they want!” You tease, “yes he does. He’s inlove with Jennifer Lawrence.”

“I am not inlove with Jennifer Lawrence!” He exclaims quickly, “although I greatly admire her work. My girlfriend is Y/N Avocot over here, sadly.”

“Sadly?!” You fake offense, “cut the cameras. I’m gonna beat Tom up.”

You peel away at your next question, the interview already being loads of fun for the both of you. “Is Y/N Avocot a good singer?”

Your head falls forward, and Tom’s automatic instinct is to catch you, not realizing you’re only joking. “Oh God, I hope so!” You say, laughing as you pick your head up. “I’m no Mariah Carey but I like to think I’m a pretty okay singer.”

“More than okay,” Tom chimes in, which makes you laugh.

“Aw, thanks Tom.”

Tom reaches to peel another question off. “Is Tom Blyth American?” This question makes you almost spit out the water you were currently taking a sip out of. “Well, a lot of people get shocked when I say I’m from the UK. I mean, is my American accent that good?”

“Guess so,” you shrug. “Okay next. Is Y/N Avocot in The Summer I Turned Pretty?”

You clasp your hands together excitedly, giving the camera a wide smile. “Yes! I play Maekella Fisher, also known as Ella Fisher, Steven Conklin’s love interest and sister to Conrad and Jeremiah. The first season airs out soon so please stay tune for that! I’m so excited to be apart of this amazing show with such amazing people.”

“I always come to watch her on set,” Tom says, “they’re all such funny and charismatic people. I swear I’ve became friends with everyone on Y/N’s cast.”

“Okay, my last question,” Tom peels off the paper, grinning. “Will Tom Blyth star in another movie soon?”

He smirks, eyes playfully looking into the camera. “Who knows? But I do know that something exciting will be coming out soon so prepare yourselves!”

“Way to tease the crowd Blyth,” you say, rolling your eyes. “Anyway! My last question, this was quick. What is Y/N Avocot’s skincare routine? Oh, I’ve been waiting for this one.”

You sit on the edge of your seat, and Tom finds it endearing that you’re so excited about something as small as this.

“First, I rinse my face with cold water and I dip my face in a bowl of ice and water for 3 minutes. Afterwards, I put on my dewy toner from Innisfree, it’s so smooth and nice. Sometimes I’m too lazy for this step but I also put on sunscreen, it’s important so I always remind myself to not forget— but I love to use Supergoop Unseen’s Sunscreen. I use drunk elephant’s bronze drops if I wanna go for a sunkissed look that day, but I usually don’t. And then I just shake my Tower facial spray and spray it all over my face. Usually, I touch up my eyebrows and do my eyeliner but that’s really about it!”

“It’s true,” Tom adds. “She asked me if I could go buy her the tower spray yesterday because she was almost out.”

“No need to expose me like that,” you say, clinging your arms onto his. “Well thank you guys for watching!”

“Thank you!” Tom and you wave at the camera, smiling brightly.

[probably-writing-x]

Healed and Hurt.

Conrad Fisher x Reader

Summary: Conrad had broken your heart, and broken all of you along with it. You’d finally put the pieces back together… but there was just something your heart could never ignore.

Author’s Note: Can people please make more TSITP gifs so I can get more inspo for writing these pretty pretty please??? Y’all seemed to love the other tsitp one shot so I hope you love this just as much xoxo

You weren’t sure of the moment you’d lost him. But you knew the exact moment when you realised that you had. He’d come back from surfing, and it had started raining outside in Cousins - a rare summer shower even on the hottest day. Conrad had showered and came downstairs to where you were curled up on the couch, eyes closed. The Conrad that you knew would have grabbed the nearest blanket and settled it over your shoulders, and taken up the spot closest to you so that, when you awoke, you could snuggle into him and he’d share in your comfort. But this Conrad had taken a seat on the opposite couch, his eyes focused on a distant spot somewhere in the lounge. You’d woken up when it got oddly cold and realised that he’d left the garden doors open, letting in sprays of rain and the coldest wind.

“Con?” You’d spoken, voice full of sleep, “Everything okay?”

He looked at you with an off, empty look in his eyes - like he was looking at a stranger. You knew then, and you still couldn’t figure out why.

That wasn’t your Conrad. That wasn’t the Conrad that loved you.

———

That exact moment had been four months ago, only a week before things ended between the two of you. You’d cried more than your heart could cope with, and you’d had enough sleepless nights to make it feel like you wouldn’t sleep again. You’d stopped eating and stopped enjoying the smallest things in your life. Until, one day, you just felt… better. There was no specific cause or cure, just that you were yourself once again. The self that you’d been before Conrad. Healed.

Your parents had owned a house in Cousins for the past couple of years and that’s how you’d first met the Fisher family. This weekend would be the first time you were returning to Cousins since you and Conrad had finished, and it was agitating a pain in your chest that you tried your best to ignore.

“(Y/n)?” It’s your Mom’s voice that snaps you back to reality, “Do you mind taking a trip to the store?”

You look at her and blink a second time, feeling your mind return to the setting of the beach house, “Yeah, yeah, of course I will.”

“Thanks honey,” She smiles, “There’s a list on the kitchen island.”

You nod and she steps back out of your bedroom, letting you return to welcome solitude.

There was something about being back here - this house, this town - everything reminded you of him.

———

The shop is relatively empty when you get there and you make your way around the aisles picking up the items from your Moms list. It was thanksgiving next week so these were just the bits to keep you fed between now and then. She definitely wouldn’t trust you with the real thanksgiving shop.

As you round onto the next aisle, your cart bumps into someone coming the other way.

“Oh shit my-“ A familiar voice speaks quickly and you glance up to see Stephen at the end of your cart.

“Stephen!” You grin, “Hi!”

He grins just as widely and stretches out his arms, “Holy shit (y/n) it’s good to see you.”

His arms wrap you in a bear hug and he breathes deeply as your chin perches atop his shoulder, stood on your tiptoes to do so.

“What are you doing here in Cousins?” You ask him, “I thought you guys were only here for summer.”

“Yeah well my Mom and Suzanne decided to start doing thanksgiving too because they think we should see each other more often,” He shrugs his shoulders, “I’m not complaining, it’s more fun here than back home.”

“Yeah, yeah, definitely,” You nod, “I didn’t even think to ask you guys if you’d be here. I mean, normally I’d ask Co-“

Both of you stop and he looks at you with that frown between his eyebrows as if watching the discomfort settle between you.

You clear your throat, “How are the boys?”

Stephen smiles that sort of sympathetic smile, “They’re good. I’m sure they’d love to see you, and my sister would too - she’s going to hate that she didn’t come to the store with me.”

You laugh and drag a hand through your hair, the mention of Conrad and the Fishers bringing back that same glimpse of empty pain you’d had for weeks after things had ended. You avert your eyes from him towards the large windows in the store and notice that the heavens have opened, rain pouring onto the concrete.

“Shit, I knew I should’ve brought the car,” Stephen winces, “I better call Jere-“

“No, no, don’t be silly,” You shake your head, “I’ll drive you home, it’s the same way anyway.”

“(y/n) I always knew you were an angel,” Stephen jokes with a bright smile.

He helps you put your things through the checkout and then the two of you clamber into your car, dumping your bags into the back.

You drive the short distance in the direction of both houses, the Fisher’s house only being a street away from your own. The roads are all familiar, a second home within itself. But the sight of their exact house, as you pull into the driveway, settles an uneasy feeling on your chest. You ignore it.

“Thanks (Y/n),” Stephen smiles, “And, hey, don’t be a stranger. We’d all still love to see you, I’m sure they’ll all say the same when I tell them you were here.”

You smile and go to respond when your car door is pulled open.

“(Y/n) (y/l/n)!” It’s Jeremiah, his arm holding your door as he stands in the opening, grinning wildly as his hair gets rapidly soaked by the rain, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Driving Stephen back to avoid the rain,” You laugh gently, “Which you should be doing too.”

“Please come in, Belly’s going to kill me if you were here and she didn’t get to say hi,” He has those sort of eyes that it’s impossible to say no to, the same golden retriever look that ran through his personality.

You turn your keys in the ignition and pull them out, “Alright, just five minutes.”

Jeremiah reaches out a hand to you and stretched one side of his hoodie out so you can both duck under the material, the three of you hurrying towards the house.

It’s all so beautifully familiar. Stephen grumbling about the rain in his hair and Jeremiah laughing the same way he always did, the warmth of the walls in this house, the sense of home.

The door shuts behind you and you feel it again - that little bit of relief that you really had moved on. This place held good memories - for the year that you’d been dating Conrad he’d been everything and his family came with that. Losing him didn’t mean you lost the sense of family that his own people had always given you.

“Okay, now we can say a proper hello,” Jeremiah laughs, wrapping his arms around you as he lifts you up from the ground, spinning you around before settling you back down.

“It’s good to see you too, Jere,” You return, “I’m sorry, I had no idea you guys were back in Cousins.”

“Yeah, well, it was a last minute decision,” He nods, “Come on, I think Belly’s in the kit-“

Stephen grabs Jeremiah’s arm before he can go any further, “Um, Jere, is Conrad here?”

“Oh shit yeah I didn’t eve-“

“Guys, seriously,” You shake your head at them, “Come on, what happened with me and Con was a long time ago. We’re all grown ups here.”

They look at you with a slight uncertainty but nod anyway, walking through the back of the house.

Your steps pause ever so slightly when you catch sight of him but you don’t let it show, letting your eyes look around the rest of the room before falling back to him.

Conrad stands up almost instantly, his entire being alert.

“(Y/n).”

Your name from his lips turns a knot into your stomach but it dissipates when you focus on it for long enough.

“Hey Con,” You smile, running a hand through your hair.

“What are yo-“

“Oh my god (Y/n)!” Belly squeals and hurries over, engulfing you in a velocity fuelled hug, “What are you doing here?”

You laugh and squeeze her before stepping back, “Just dropping Stephen home.”

“Yeah, it was raining like hell when I was in the store so (Y/n) offered to drive back,” Stephen comments.

“You, uh, you hate driving in the rain,” Conrad clears his throat, eyes on you as if nobody else was there.

You let out a breathy laugh and let your eyes lock onto him, your fingers tightening around the car keys in your hand, “Yeah, a few months ago I did. I guess I just got better.”

He swallows the lump in his throat, his lips parting.

“I should probably get going,” You clear your throat, “My Mom will kill me if I let that ice cream melt.”

“We’ll catch up soon, okay?” Belly squeezes your arm, “I’m so glad you’re here.”

You wave goodbye and step back out, feeling the weight on your chest release just enough that it no longer feels like it’s there. You step back out of the house and, for the first time in a long time, Conrad races through your mind. You turn the music up just a little louder in your car so it’ll somewhat drown out the thought.

———

The following night, there’s a party down at the beach that it’s impossible to say no to when Jeremiah, Belly and Stephen have all been convincing you all day. You change into a pink ditsy floral dress that has a corset style top and a simple pair of white converse - they’d only end up full of sand anyway. It was cold enough that you knew it was a terrible idea to just wear a dress, so you throw over a baggy grey jumper and roll up the sleeves twice so they don’t hang over your hands.

Once they’ve texted to say they’re already there, you leave and take the short walk down to the beach, bag tucked over your shoulder.

“Hey! (Y/n)!” Cameron waves you over to where he’s filling up a red cup with a can of Sprite.

“Hey Cam,” You smile, “How are you doing?”

He nods, “I’m thinking this party is a terrible idea in the middle of November.”

You laugh, “I’m hoping a beer will warm me up a bit,” You take a cup and fill it from the keg beside him.

“How are you doing anyway?” Cam nudges you, “Is it weird being back?”

You take a second of looking at him before you respond, invisibly composing yourself, “No, it’s okay. What happened with me and Conrad was… and obviously I wouldn’t want to… I’m fine. We’re fine.”

He nods, taking it as certain sign that he shouldn’t persist with the topic, “I think Belly and the guys are over that way.”

You follow him over to where Belly, Jere and Stephen are all sat around a big campfire, warming their hands on the floating heat.

“Hey, are you not freezing in that dress?” Stephen looks at you slightly bewildered.

“Yeah, I’m used to never packing clothes to come here because I always have summer clothes in my closet in the house but… that doesn’t exactly work in november,” You wince, running your hands over the skin of your thighs.

“Yeah who thought it was a good idea to have a beach party in the middle of november?” Belly shakes her head, “It’s meant to get freezing tonight.”

Jere shrugs, “Where’s the fun in that attitude Bels?”

The chatter continues but you find your eyes drifting around the beach for a pair of eyes that you’re yet to find. Somewhere in the lost time, you get through a few more beers and the sun continues to set over the Cousins beach until the cold really starts to set in. The beer is warming your system just a little but far from enough.

A shiver runs over you and draws goose pimples to your skin, so you take it as your cue to leave, saying your goodbyes before heading up the beach towards the path that let you back to the houses.

You’re not sure why. But your feet take you in the direction of the street adjacent to your own, one you’d driven up and walked up countless times. One you missed.

In the one house that catches your attention, there’s a light on out the back and you find yourself pushing through the back garden gate into the yard.

“Jere?” It’s Conrad’s voice that speaks out and you turn to find him sat at the edge of the pool, his feet dragging below the surface.

“Um, no, it’s me,” You clear your throat, “Sorry, I’m not really sure why I came this way.”

He keeps his eyes on you, pushing himself up to stand at the poolside, “Do you-“

“Sorry, I should probably go home I-“

“I bet you’re freezing,” He interrupts, gesturing towards the doors into the house, “Do you want to come inside? I can make you a hot drink or something.”

“Um,” You look at the slightly pleasing look in his eyes and realise it’s impossible to say anything other than, “Sure.”

Conrad nods and pulls open the garden door, stepping aside to let you in.

“I think my Mom and Laurel are out at a bar tonight, it’s just me here,” Conrad comments as you follow him through to the kitchen.

You two spent every minute together when you’d been dating - thankful to be living in the same city without the hours long drive between you that you had at home. This kitchen was where he’d first kissed you. You’d been sitting atop the kitchen counter and he’d been making pancakes at the stove. You laughed when he failed at flipping one of them and he’d come over to make you try the first one - telling you it was good luck to try the first pancake of the night. He’d wiped a bit of syrup from the side of your mouth and the next thing you knew he was kissing you. His lips were uncertain at first but they soon-

“(Y/n)?” Conrad’s voice slices through.

You don’t remember ever hopping up onto the countertop but you’re in the exact spot you’d been in on that pancake morning.

“Do you want cocoa or tea?”

“Tea, please,” You swallow the lump in your throat, dropping your bag down to the counter beside you.

He nods and sets the kettle onto the stove, cracking up the heat before turning around to lean back against the counter opposite you, the water waiting to whistle to a boil behind him.

“What are you thinking about?” He asks you, crossing his arms over his chest.

You look at him and study his face for a moment, a face you’d memorised over and over again, and then shake your head, “That I’m fucking freezing.”

He laughs gently, the kind that rumbles the air, “That’ll teach you to not wear a dress in winter.”

“I didn’t have anything else,” You raise your hands in defence, “And this outfit looks cute.”

“It’s the most impractical outfit ever I mean seriously you must be cold as-“

Without you realising, Conrad has stepped forward from the counter and his hand has come to rest on your thigh - enough for you to feel the electricity charging through you.

“Sorry I-“

Before he can retract, you fly a hand down to press over the top of his, relaxing a little at the contact, “It’s okay. Your hands are warm.”

Conrad looks up at you through the hair that falls around his eyes and you bring your other hand up to brush the strands away from his face. He winces at the cold of your fingers when they brush his face and brings his own hand up to wrap around yours on his cheek to warm your skin there.

Both of you are silent, trapped in the most contact you’ve had in months. You hold each other there for just a moment before the kettle whistles behind him and it seems to snap you back to where you need to be.

“Thank god, I’m dying for a tea,” You pull both of your hands away from him and hop down from the counter, grabbing two mugs from the cupboard.

Conrad stays stood where he was, his hands resting on the countertop in front of him as he squeezes his grip against the edge of it.

You go about making two teas and hand one of the mugs over to him, wrapping your own two palms around the heat of the other.

Conrad winces as the liquid touches his lips, blowing gently on the rippling surface of the drink. You’d always loved his lips. The way they spoke, the way they laughed, the way they kissed. The indent of his cupid’s bow and the shadow of stubble that surrounded them when he didn’t shave. You’d always loved him.

“How come you didn’t come to the beach tonight?” You ask him, your hands burning a little under the heat of the mug.

“In this weather? It’s stupid.”

You shake your head, “You prefer the cold anyway.”

He stops for a moment and sets the mug down, “I figured you wouldn’t want me to be there, and I didn’t want to ruin your night.”

You purse your lips together and look away from him, down at an invisible mark on the floor, “You wouldn’t ruin it.”

Conrad doesn’t speak.

“Come on, just because we split up doesn’t mean we have to act like we don’t know each other,” You comment, “We’re always going to run in the same circles.”

He looks up at you again, studying you, “But we didn’t just split up. I broke your heart (y/n).”

You find yourself smiling just a little, “Anyone would think you’re full of yourself Con.”

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean-“

“I know,” You interject, taking a deep breath, “You did break my heart. But time heals, surprisingly. I’m good now, I’m happy.”

You watch his face falter for just a moment. Conrad was right - he had broken your heart. You’d been hurt by him. But things had changed. You couldn’t hate him forever, and you couldn’t hate your life without him forever. But, the truth was, he didn’t feel even close to being over you. And it killed him to think you’d already slipped away. Far enough away that he couldn’t pull you back.

“I’m glad you’re happy” He swigs the drink, “That’s all I ever wanted.”

You’re not sure what makes you say it. But you do without thinking.

“Really?” You raise your brows, “It didn’t feel like that last summer.”

“(Y/n)…”

“I fought for you Conrad. I really did,” You feel your voice tremble a little but regain it, “I remember even after I knew that you were done with me, I was trying so fucking hard to fix it.”

He’s silent, eyes watching you.

“Two nights before you ended it, I remember I stayed up after you thought I’d gone to sleep and I felt you pull away from me. You pulled your arm from underneath me, you took your arm away from around me, you pushed yourself back to the other side of the bed. And I knew you’d wake up and blame it on being cold in the night. But I felt you. I felt you go. And that’s when I gave up. When I knew there was no saving what you didn’t want to fix,” You shake your head, shaking out your hands to fight the way your body seems to tremble against your will.

“I never wanted to lose you (Y/n), I just… I got scared and I-“

“I don’t need you to explain things Conrad. I spent days and nights trying to figure out where the hell I went wrong. And I made my peace with it - if you weren’t going to love me that was fine, it didn’t mean I wasn’t capable of being loved.”

“I did love you, I do love you,” His words are almost pleading and he steps closer to you, still two feet standing between your bodies, “That never changed.”

You look down and smile a little at the thought, words that would have been wrenching at your heart a few months ago. Today, they settle into you and fall into your system like they weren’t ever said to have an impact.

“I shouldn’t have come here tonight Con,” You look up and take a deep breath, “Thank you for the tea, and for letting me in, and for… I don’t know, maybe we can class this as an impromptu therapy session. But I should be going.”

When you turn around, you notice the pounding rain outside, pattering against the glass and into the open cover of the swimming pool. It’s relentless, the kind that you can hardly see through.

“Stay,” Conrad speaks from behind you.

You turn around to look at him, his eyes soft as if there could never be a bad intention behind them.

“You can take my bed, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

Your breath falls deeply from your chest, staring into eyes that had once broken you into pieces as you say, “Okay.”

———

The following morning, you step out of Conrad’s room and into the house. Everyone else is asleep, or at least you suppose they are from the shut bedroom doors and faint snores. You collect up your things and pad quietly along the wooden floors, wincing when one of the boards creaks on the staircase. You slip out of the back of the house, knowing the shortcut that would lead to your own house before your parents woke up to realise you’d never made it home.

It’s a crisp morning but the sun is just starting to warm the air and you squint against the bright light. Just visible at the end of the boardwalk leading towards the water, you can make out the shape of a boy sat in solitude. You’re not sure what draws you to him, maybe the same thing that had drawn you in the first place.

Conrad turns around when he hears your feet against the wooden pier and watches as you sit down in the seat beside him along the wooden bench, both of you looking out at the still water.

“Did you sleep well?” He asks, clearing his throat when the words come out dry.

You nod, “I always said your bed was comfy.”

Conrad nods, folding his arms over his chest, “The same can’t be said for those couches.”

You smile a little and look down at your hands in your lap, “Thank you for letting me stay.”

He shrugs, “It’s the least I could do. My Mom would kill me if I let you walk home alone in the rain.”

You’re both silent.

“I should pro-“

“Can I ask you something?” He cuts you off.

You settle back into your seat and look at him briefly, turning your head back to the water soon after, “Of course.”

“How did you get over it?” Conrad asks so simply as if the question has been playing on his mind a hundred times, “How did you make it look so easy?”

You take a deep breath, “It wasn’t easy, Con. I cried for weeks over you.”

He clenches his jaw, the mention of your hurt making him hate himself a little more, “But what about now?”

“I was home and you were in Boston. It was easier to get over you when we weren’t around each other. I just… I realised I could be fine by myself,” You swallow the lump in your throat, “I just convinced myself that there was nothing I could have done. That in a thousand lives in a thousand universes, you’d have still done the same - because you’d have just fallen out of love with me. And so it was out of my control.”

“You really think I fell out of love with you?” Conrad looks at you with his eyebrows slightly raised, his lips parting as if he’s echoing the hurt into silence.

“Come on Con,” You turn your head to him, “I was there. I watched you slip away.”

“I-“ He takes a deep breath, “I meant what I said yesterday. I was scared. It wasn’t that I fell out of love with you. Hell, I think I fell so in love with you that that’s why I jumped. Because I’d wake up and Id think of you and then I’d want to see you all day, and I’d go to bed thinking of you and every single day I knew you were all I ever wanted.”

You feel the lump form in your throat, the electricity coursing through your hands that just seem to want to reach for him.

“People would mention your name and I’d be listening for the rest of their sentence. I couldn’t see colours without thinking of you, I couldn’t hear songs without reminding myself of you, I couldn’t do anything without being consumed by you,” He gasps as if all air has left his lungs and his hand lifts to press against his chest, “You became me, my whole life. And I was so fucking terrified of it. I just… it’s stupid, I know it is. But I loved you too much to ever think I’d be enough for you, like I was waiting for the moment Id hurt you.”

“And you don’t think ending it was what hurt me?” You point out.

He laughs a little and you see the tension release a tiny bit, “Yeah, yeah, I guess I should’ve thought of that.”

“You know the worst thing you can do when you love someone that much is to push them away? To make them feel like they’re not loved, not wanted, not worth it,” You explain, “You might’ve felt all of those things Conrad but did you ever try to tell me that? To show me that?”

He closes his eyes and swallows the lump in his throat, “I want to. Now, I want to.”

You shift yourself on the wooden bench and draw your legs up to your chest, wrapping your arms around them, “Okay.”

“Wh- what?” Conrad blinks, “I don-“

“We’re not getting back together, Con. I’m not the same girl that I was when we first got together, and you’re clearly not the same guy. But I think we need to get to need to get to know these versions of ourselves - and if those two love each other, then they’ll make it work,” You nod, more certain of yourself than ever before, “I’m (Y/n).”

Conrad looks down at your outstretched hand and smiles to himself, clasping it to shake his hand with yours, “I’m Conrad.”

He keeps his hand around yours and his thumb brushes your skin. When his grip releases, you watch his hand flex slightly away from the loss of touch.

You look into his eyes, the ones that pierced into your soul so often. And you feel a little piece of yourself melt under his gaze, a little piece of your heart swell softly.

“Well, (Y/n), do you like pancakes?”

“I do.”

He outstretches a hand once again and this time you lace your fingers with him, a course of adoration flooding through you.

You could do this.

You had healed.

You could be you, and he could be him. And the two could cross once more.

[thesweetnessofspring]

"Peeta coerced Katniss into a relationship" - He literally said that he liked her, she had no idea who he was until the Reaping, and got in with the Careers to protect her so they wouldn't have to interact much in the actual Games. In his mind, the most she would have to do is answer questions after she won about how she felt about him. Maybe say some nice things about him and wistfully say she wished they'd gotten a chance to know each other. Then go home and live her life however she could after. Even Katniss admits that Peeta made her memorable and secured her sponsors, which gave her burn cream and food. Peeta manipulated the Capitol and never even came clean to Katniss that he'd really, actually liked her for a long time until the cave--after she had risked her life to save him. Prior to that, there is an understanding between both of them that they're acting to save both of their lives. Look me in the eye and tell me that all of this was a grand plan for Peeta to lock Katniss down. Haymitch even says it--"he wanted it to be real." Like you think Peeta fantasized this is how he would first get to know Katniss? That was Plan A? That he knew the Capitol would "let" two victors win? Or, that when the audience wasn't looking, he was forcing and guilting her into being in love with him for real?

"Peeta made Katniss feel bad about not liking him back" - This traumatized sixteen-year-old amputee who just got back from hell didn't perfectly respond to thinking someone who was willing to die with him rather than live in a world without him actually wasn't sure of her feelings. The horror. Hang him for being upset and hurt! And how absolutely awful of him to apologize for being hurt and offering to be friends! Other than Katniss knowing he loved her and she wasn't sure how she cared for him, what did he do to make her feel bad? What did he do on purpose to bring out those feelings in her?

"Peeta was the Capitol's choice, not Katniss's" - Right, because I'm sure the Capitol absolutely loved the fact that the two of them outsmarted the Gamemakers and starting the rebellion with those berries--they wanted that and NOT the highly emotional, dramatic death of one of them, the reminder that humanity is evil and must be controlled. Snow just loved that so much, he thanked Seneca Crane by killing him.

"Peeta didn't know Katniss" - ok, and? That's like, literally most of the human population who don't know each other from birth? They had known each other for a year prior to Snow holding Peeta hostage. Then they had their unspecified amount of time where they "grow back together."

"They're only together because of the shared trauma of the Games" - Suzanne made it abundantly clear that these two get along really well and have a connection before the Games. Even without the bread (although that is a cornerstone of their relationship forming) the way they both silently agree to take care of Haymitch instead of call an attendant, the way they sell each other's strengths to Haymitch, the way they flirt during the Opening Ceremonies, and just about everything else points to them having a natural chemistry and interest in one another. And also, literally, what do you think make relationships stronger? Everything going perfectly, or having someone help you through a hard time, proving you can trust them to keep you safe? With this anti-shared-trauma mindset, no one in this world can love anyone else because they all have shared trauma of their oppression. Only Capitol/District matches here, people! Hayffie shippers only.

[hrtsdevils]

you’re no prize either. | jh86

summary actress!reader instagram au.. she’s a star!!! miss lucy gray baird herself. she dated jack. the fans know it. they hate on each other!

pairings jack hughes x ex!reader

a/n i’m obsessed with tbosas and idk where else to perpetuate my obsession fc is rachel zegler!! my love!

november 27, 2023

yourusername

liked by tomblyth, colecaufield, ryleighwhite_, and 653,289 others

yourusername oh the love i have for this cast, this movie, and lucy gray baird. my life has changed so much, and for the better!! i’ve met so many new people and learned so many new lessons ❤️

shoutout to queen suzanne for creating the loml lucy gray ☺️ and shoutout to everybody for making tbosas possible! i love you all

ps i sang the ballad of lucy gray baird with real experiences in mind.. iykyk;)

tagged nyrangers

view all 23879 comments

ryleighwhite_ YOURE SO CUTE AND SO PERFECT AND I MISS U ❤️❤️ (so does daws)

yourusername @/ryleighwhite_ I MISS U GUYS?!!! i’ll see u soon! next rags game?

ryleighwhite_ @/yourusername YES!! as long as u wear devils gear ☺️

user292 mercers the opp 💀

tomblyth so much fun working with you, mockingjay ❤️❤️

yourusername @/tomblyth youre my bff. I LOVE YOU.

user54 HER AND TOM ARE EVERYTHINGGGGG!!! never thought a man could make me like peepaw snow

colecaufield congrats!! it was a great movie:)

yourusername @/colecaufield COLEE thank you so much i tried very hard!!!

colecaufield @/yourusername you’re so awesome

trevorzegras @/colecaufield wrong team

yourusername @/trevorzegras sorry jack’s boyfriend

user45 I LAUGHEDDDDDD she ate him up

user76 @/user45 ate what?? the crumbs 💀

lhughes_06 good job y/n

user76 not her leaving jack for knock off draco malfoy like 💀💀

user32 @/user76 you’re so weird they aren’t even dating lmao

user76 @/user32 okay well she still flopped!! glad lucy bird died

user59 @/user76 i love jack and her but she is not a flop… she has the #1 movie in the world rn and what does jack have???

user76 @/user59 his sexyness!

yourbff UR SO GOOD AND INSANE AND TALENTED AND MOMMY

yourbff I LOVE SEXY INDEPENDENT WOMEN!

yourusername @/yourbff sexy indepdnent women love you

yourusername @/yourusername indipejdent

yourusername @/yourusername independent!

user86 no one’s gonna talk abt her going to the rangers game i’m deadddd she’s obsessed

user09 queen lucy gray baird future oscar winner

november 27, 2023

jackhughes

liked by trevorzegras, user76, lhughes_06 and 157,902 others

jackhughes workin hard or hardly workin?

i like katniss evergreen better anyways 🏹🏹

tagged colecaufield

view all 4936 comments

user35 this bitch has never watched a hunger games movie in his life

user59 jacquelyn… what is that caption… delete this rn!

user76 @/user59 it’s him eating lucy bird up

user59 @/user76 ur sm like jack!! you can’t spell these names right

colecaufield why are u associating me with your perpetual hate

trevorzegras @/colecaufield WRONG. TEAM.

_alexturcotte @/trevorzegras jack cant even spell everdeen right im not on his team rn either

jackhughes @/colecaufield @/_alexturcotte you guys are cruel

colecaufield @/jackhughes you’re cruel

_alexturcotte @/jackhughes LEARN TO SPELL!!!! put some respect on katniss’ name

lhughes_06 why?????

jackhughes @/lhughes_06 what did i do

lhughes_06 @/jackhughes you’re so dumb

user45 she was my fave wag.. whyd he fumble!!!!!

user34 @/user45 goodbye y/n! we hardly knew you 🙁

nicohischier I loved Y/n in TBOSAS

colecaufield @/nicohischier real of you nico

user09 i wanna know what happened between them LMAO

_quinnhughes i thought u liked the movie? u said u watched it when it came out lol

jackhughes @/_quinnhughes BRO

yourusername @/jackhughes aw jack how heartwarming!

jackhughes @/yourusername you’re horrible.

yourusername @/jackhughes well you’re no prize either 😉

[robinbuckleysfringe]

you are in love.

tom blyth social media au

pairings: tom blyth x reader

warnings: accused cheating

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*yninstagram has posted*

tagged rachelzegler & tomblyth

liked by joshandresrivera, tomblyth, hunterschafer, rachelzegler and others

yninstagram as promised, here's some more bts pics for tbosas. massive thanks to suzanne collins for letting me be apart of your universe 💚

View comments

rachelzegler not that photo of me 😭

↪️ yninstagram sorry babes 🫶🏻🫶🏻. forgive me?

↪️ rachelzegler always 🫶🏻🫶🏻❤️

tomblyth did me dirty with that photo when I know you took hundreds of nicer ones

↪️ yninstagram sorry not sorry, just giving the fans what they want 😘

hunterschafer it was so lovely to finally be in a project together ❤️

↪️ yninstagram here's to hoping there's more 🥂❤️

user is that y/n with tom in the 2nd pic?? they look awfully close

↪️ user back off and leave the cheating rumours alone. y/n confirmed that they were only friends during filming

↪️ user exactly!! leave them alone!! plus, they were probably just going over the script or something. it's not your business dude.

user these photos are everything

user everyone say thank you to y/n for listening to the fans and giving us more bts pics

user y/n stoppp, I can't fall in love with snow again

user can't decide if tom's hotter with blonde hair or brown

↪️ yninstagram I've been asking myself the same thing

↪️ user 😂 she's one of us!!!!

☆☆☆

*yninstagram has posted*

tagged robertdowneyjr, sebastianstan, chrisevans, gwynethpaltrow, anthonymackie & marvelstudios

liked by zendaya, tomholland2013, jacobelordi, tomblyth and others

yninstagram happy 10 year anniversary to my marvel debut (and also CATWS). huge thanks to @/robertdowneyjr for being the best onscreen dad, let's be in another project together soon pls ❤️

View comments

rachelzegler omg forgot that you were in the mcu!! iconic behaviour

↪️ yninstagram little me was really living the dream!!

tomblyth can't wait to see what the future of the mcu holds in store for you ❤️

↪️ yninstagram love you tom ❤️

↪️ user omg confirmed y/n return to the mcu??

↪️ user I hope so!! missed her character so much!!

zendaya happy 10 years to my favourite marvel character

↪️ tomholland2013 hey, what about me? :((

↪️ zendaya I said what I said 🤷🏻‍♀️

↪️ tomholland2013 no, but for real @/yninstagram, congrats on making it a whole decade in the mcu. it's awesome to be able to share a screen with you xx

↪️ yninstagram aww, thanks guys 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻. let's meet up next time I'm in town 💕💕

jacobelordi you used to be so cute. what happened? 😂

↪️ yninstagram shut up (said with love 🫶🏻)

user are you coming back to the mcu??

↪️ yninstagram you'll have to ask the marvel execs, sorry lovely. I wish I knew x

☆☆☆

*yninstagram has posted to her story*

☆☆☆

*yninstagram has posted*

tagged tomblyth

liked by zendaya, florencepugh, tomblyth, joshandresrivera and others

yninstagram award show season was a blast 🥂💜

View comments

tomblyth stunning 😍😘

↪️ yninstagram no, you 😘x

rachelzegler obsessed with you 😍😍😍

↪️ yninstagram I expect nothing less 🫶🏻🫶🏻❤️❤️

joshandresrivera I wanna know what was said to make you pull that face in the 3rd photo

↪️ yninstagram probably someone bringing up that once again I wasn't nominated smh 😤

user mother is mothering 😍😍😍

user you were snubbed. you should've been nominated 😤

↪️ user for real!!!

↪️ user she defo deserves an award, but I don't think any of her projects last year (other than tbosas) was really award worthy. don't get me wrong, they were brilliant. but they weren't on the same level as the stuff that was nominated

↪️ user 100%

user you just know she's so fun to hang out with

↪️ user for real!! she emits such friendly energy

user what's the new project??

↪️ user wdym??

↪️ user she posted a story the other day with the caption "new project pending"

↪️ user it's probably stranger things season 5 tbh

☆☆☆

*yninstagram has posted*

tagged greysabc

liked by tomblyth, rachelzegler, camillaluddington, jessicacapshaw, caterinascorsone, taylorswift and others

yninstagram shoutout to the stars (and my schedule) for aligning and allowing me to make my greys anatomy debut. thank you @/shondarhimes for letting me step through the doors of Grey Sloane Memorial hospital 💙

View comments

tomblyth super proud of you ❤️❤️

↪️ yninstagram ❤️❤️

camillaluddington welcome to the family ❤️

↪️ yninstagram thanks for letting me join ❤️

rachelzegler watching you get your dream roles is the best thing in the world 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻. endlessly proud of you bby 💕💕💕

↪️ yninstagram stoppp, you're making me cry 😭💕💕

hunterschafer we better be having a watch party at your house

↪️ yninstagram of course!! ❤️

joshandresrivera iconic

taylorswift big fan of this news!! congrats lovely ❤️

↪️ yninstagram love you!!! ❤️❤️

jacobelordi how the hell did you manage to keep this a secret??

↪️ yninstagram it was a real struggle

zendaya insanely proud of you!! 💕

↪️ yninstagram 😘

user I hope you're in it for at least more than one episode

↪️ user same, tho I doubt she'll become a series regular

user omg!!!

user congrats!!!

user yes yes yes!!!

user ooh, who are you playing??

user this is so cool!!! love greys anatomy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

parts 5 and 6 will probably be the last parts to this social media au, unless there's anything you guys want me to write for this series

[triassictriserratops]

hi not to be annoying but you seem to be a fic recommendation expert, do you know of any fics that are post mockingjay & cannon but with sex et cetera!! i get overwhelmed when i look for fics myself but you seem good at it! thank you so much!! found your tumblr from reading your comments on Us Among the Living!!

Oh gosh, definitely NOT an expert by ANY means so if anyone else has anything to recommend, PLEASE feel free to reblog with links! But here are a few I can recommend for myself:

I recently read through this 4 part Growing Back Together series called The Golden Spiral by ThePerk42 that I highly recommend. It's two longer pieces and two shorter one-shots all in the same universe. The chaptered ones are slice-of-life and follow them along separate stages of their lives together rather than following any plotline.

Very sweet, very loving, VERY smutty.

If you read it, let me know how you like it! (And don't forget to give kudos and leave comments for the wonderful author!)

This is a famous series in the fandom that has since become an orphaned work (so if you like it, i'd download it just in case) Also, you WILL cry. I PROMISE you. There are a few different works in the series. Three longer form works, 2 EXCEEDINGLY SPICY oneshots within the universe, and a sequel series that is just a series of oneshots that follows Toastbaby Boy's childhood. The following are all Growing Back Together one-shots:

things that you can't say tomorrow day by @purple-cube (this one is a personal fave!)

Ignite by @purple-cube

Spectrum by @purple-cube

Growth by novastars

Blue Moonlight by @dustyattic122334

And for anyone wondering, the fic mentioned in the ask is Us Among the Living by the WONDERFUL @vasilissadragomir. It's beautiful and I have so much love for that story. The characters are lovingly preserved and the tone so realistic I sometimes feel like i'm reading something Suzanne Collins might have written. HIGHLY recommend!

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

By His Command 4

Summary: dinner erupts into a marital spat. (Handmaid AU)

Warning: this series will contain violence, dystopian aspects, rape and noncon, blood, coercion, possible pregnancy and other dark elements. Please read these warnings and beware.

Character: Lloyd Hansen

Note: Thank you for reading! Also feedback and comments if you dont mind. Maybe a reblog. 💕💕💕💕

You stare at the table in the terse silence strung between the Commander and his wife. They sit at opposite ends, as if in a face off, but say little more than prescribed dialogue. Aside from their stilted lines, the air is left to curdle.

The Commander takes a deep breath, a low hum as if he weighs some novel idea. His wife pushes her food around her plate but doesn’t eat. You haven’t tasted much yourself, afraid that you might draw the wrong attention.

The Commander plants his elbow on the table. You stare at his arm as he leans in your direction. You gulp as his wife grips tight her utensils.

“Are you ovulating?” He asks abruptly.

You nearly choke. You keep your head down, reaching up nervously to tug on the cap, just near your chin. You don’t know how to answer.

“Commander–”

“May the Lord open and all that but has he… opened?” He urges.

“Commander,” his wife reproaches, “at the table?”

“Suzanne,” he snaps and points at her harshly, “I speak to the handmaid, not you.”

“I have her weeks. She is not.” 

“Again, I didn’t ask you,” he insists as he balls his hand to a fist, “do you bleed, handmaid?”

You gulp and press your hands flat to your stomach. You stare at the table cloth, still without an answer. You nibble your lip as he leans closer and closer.

“Well?” He goads, “answer me, handmaid.”

You lift your head and shake it. “No, Commander, I do not.”

“Great, then we don’t need to wait,” he declares. “Those calendars are all guesswork, anyhow. Commander Willis got his first early in the cycle–”

“That is enough,” the wife, Suzanne snarls, “it is not dinner table talk.”

“It is her only reason to be here. Of what else should I talk? Her sparkling wit? He enthralling conversation?”

“You do not need to talk to the handmaid. She should eat in her room–”

“Shut your shrew mouth,” he grabs his knife and points it down the table towards her, “why so bitter? You begged for this. Maybe the Lord did smite you for your arrogance, huh? You swore we wouldn’t need one of these.”

“You’ve never complained for them before, hm? An easy excuse for your perversion. Imagine if the Committee were to know of your predilection–”

“Watch that tongue lest it be cut out, ruinous woman,” he sneers.

She snorts and looks away. She stares at the wall and you peek up to see how her cheek dimples with the curl of a cruel smirk.

“How can I quicken when you cannot stay hard–”

“Enough. How can I be anything but soft with a bitch like you?” He slams his fists down and stands, “you goad me.”

“You started this conversation–”

“You are my wife. You take my order and my order is that you shut the fuck up.”

You sit back, bending your arms, hugging yourself as you cower amidst their argument. The Commander marches towards you and you sink down lower. His hand grips the chair above your shoulder as he puffs with anger. He stares at his wife as he reaches down to touch your shoulder. She does not react.

He trails lower until he cups one side of your chest, bending to purr into your cap. You sit rigid as a stalk and he kneads you through the red fabric. Suzanne scoffs, “go on, then.”

He retracts his hand, lingering beside you as he lets out a long exhale. He glares over your head at his wife. He storms down the length of the table, shifting your chair as he pushes off it. He grabs Suzanne by her throat and she spits in his face.

“Do not call me impotent,” he barks, “you nasty woman.” He pushes her against the table as she clutches his wrist, her chin tilted up defiantly. “You are nothing more than a used whore and I should send you to the wall to hang. An unwoman dressed in blue–”

“Fuck yourself,” she snips, shocking you.

He shoves her down so her shoulders hit the table and her legs hang off awkwardly. He keeps her pinned with his arm across her neck as she squirms. He reaches down to yank up her dress, a hint of her white shift flapping up with the folds. Her legs are exposed as he pushes them apart with his own.

You stand without a thought. Horrified. You have the instinct to stop him but stop yourself. You grip the edge of the table and look at the floor as you hear the soft clink of his buckle beneath his growling.

“Stupid bitch, I’ll show you soft,” he snarls.

You take a step back, your sole scuffing loudly. 

“Stay,” he demands, “watch.”

You blink and fold your hands tight. You make yourself look at him, his hand moving between his legs as he plays with himself, the sight of the motion blocked by Suzanne’s rumpled skirts. He meets your gaze and snickers.

“”Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—’” He grunts as he moves his feet and brings himself closer to his wife, “‘put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.’”

The verse rings in your ears as he thrusts, jerking Suzanne on the table as she hisses between her teeth. You close your eyes and the Commander growls again.

“Open your eyes or I will cut one out,” he barks above the scrape of the table legs, “my wife is teaching you a lesson. So take it well, handmaid.”

[thelightfluxtastic]

The Crawler's Language

So I'm not a linguist by academic specialty but I am bilingual and fascinated by languages and every time I reread the Underland Chronicles I think about language and especially the Crawler's style of repetitive speech.

All of the species in the Underland have different speech patterns. The bats speak rarely, quietly, and in short sentences because it is physically difficult for them. The spinners speak through vibrations. The rats as a species are associated with humor, they're most likely to use sarcasm and constantly make jokes. But when all of these species do speak, they use the grammar and syntax common to human Underland English.

The exception is the crawlers, who have a distinct verbal quirk, saying things like: "Smells what, so good, smells what?" In this essay I am making basically two arguments:

The crawlers word order is completely normal for Underland English.

Often, when discussing the crawlers, the book narration will make a point of Gregor or others having to mentally re-order sentences to understand the bugs. But if you take out the repetition, Crawler sentences become things like:

"Smells what so good?" "Be she the princess?" "Hates us, the Overlander?" "Unless this be not the Cradle"

And this order that goes Verb-Object or Verb-Pronoun is not unusual for standard Underland English. Human and other characters throughout the books say things like: "Stop you. Stay you. Slow your hearts." (Ripred, Book 1) "Meet you Mareth and Perdita" (Dulcet, Book 1) "Gather us here for we must discuss" (Vikus, Book 1)

It's even baked in to the standard Underlander farewell, "Fly you high".

So the crawlers are speaking correct sentences in Underland English, just repeating the first phrase at the end. Which brings me to my second argument.

The repetition serves a grammatical function

In paying attention to the crawler's speech, I found a pattern. The repetition is not present in every sentence. Crawlers often make simple declarative statements without repetition:

"You look much like but smell not like" "Temp will share her food with me" "Rats give many fish"

The repetition specifically happens with questions:

"Ride you, ride you? Run you, run you?" "Give you five baskets, give you?" "You so say, you?"

Even Vikus takes on this particular grammatical feature. When speaking to the Crawlers, he says "We will give four baskets, and one for thanks" but later asks "Take us to your king, take us?" when asking a question.

There are exceptions to this, but to me they seem to be in cases of emphasis or explicit confirmation:

"Only the Princess, Temp serves, only the Princess" "Hate warmbloods, cutters do, hate warmbloods"

I have no idea if this was Suzanne Collins intention, but for me personally, it reminds me of how questions are structured in American Sign Language. In ASL, a question is indicated by raising or lowering the eyebrows. Signs for question words like who/what/where/why exist, but aren't always necessary. One of the structures common with ASL is to put or repeat the question word at the end, so you can sign a longer phrase or sentence normally, and only have to worry about the question facial expression for the last word. Bill Vicars at Lifeprint/ASL University has a more in-depth explanation, comparing it to English questions structured as "You go to [X university], don't you?" or "You like engineering, do you?" But basically, in ASL, a perfectly grammatically correct way to ask if someone is Deaf is to sign: YOU DEAF YOU?

It is also worth exploring why, in my opinion, the crawlers are the only species who have this visible difference to the audience, even though all species are speaking English as a second language. And at a meta-level, it contributes to the basic assumption that the crawlers are dumber than the other species. Gregor has the most to adjust to, but even long after he's accepted that the Underlanders aren't primitive, and bats/rats are intelligent, he still has a kind but condescending outlook on the crawlers. And even other insect species (like the fireflies) look down on them. Having the crawlers speak differently from anyone else emphasizes their alienation from all other species in the Underland. And it reminds me of how some accents or dialects, like AAVE, are associated with stupidity or assumed to be "incorrect" English when they have perfectly valid and functional structures and meaning.

[writingquestionsanswered]

hello, do you have any tips for getting more creative titles? Like going for a more poetic style without it being too much. I like for example, "These Violent Delights" and "Our Violent Ends" by Chloe Gong. They're simple, telling, and short - and I just think it's different (from "The" type titles, and the Blank of Blank and Blank format). I also think "The Folk of the Air" is simple yet creative. I feel like I don't know enough words to get the title. I appreciate any advice! Thank you.

Coming Up with Poetic Titles

Some of the most beautiful, poetic titles often stem from actual prose quotes, either from poetry, classic literature, song titles, public domain lyrics, plays, etc.

These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends, for example, are actually derived from a quote from Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet ("These violent delights have violent ends...") which is appropriate since the These Violent Delights duology is a Romeo & Juliet retelling. Other examples are The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (I knew a woman, lovely in her bones... “I Knew a Woman” by Theodore Roethke), The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/But in ourselves... Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare), Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (What immortal hand or eye/Could frame thy fearful symmetry? "The Tyger" by William Blake), Across the Universe by Beth Revis ("Across the Universe" by The Beatles), To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han ("To All the Girls I've Loved Before" by Hal David and Albert Hammond, made famous by Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias.)

Series titles, like The Folk of the Air series and A Song of Ice and Fire series are usually broad references to what the story is about. I haven't read The Folk of the Air, but I know it's about faeries, so I'm assuming that's a reference to the fae in that story. A Song of Ice and Fire is a reference to a prophecy and history book in the series, but the imagery also references many of the themes and events in the story.

So, whether you're titling a book or series, here are some places you can look for a title:

-- references to relevant source material, such as original fairy tale if you're doing a retelling (Ash by Malinda Lo)

-- references to relevant poems, song titles, lyrics, plays, music, classic literature (Catch a Falling Star by Kim Culbertson)

-- relevant quote, title, person, place, or event that appears in your story (The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Cruel Prince by Holly Black)

-- beautiful imagery that appears in your story (Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes)

-- who or what your story is about (The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, The Martian by Andy Weir, All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater)

My post Coming Up with a Book/Story Title has more tips!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[i-professional-procrastinator]

It's really funny how Gale clearly has more haters than Snow.

It's strange how Snow has sympathizers even. Don't get me wrong, I love him, he's so well written and I thank Suzanne Collins' pen everyday but being a great character doesn't make him a good character...? Tom blyth did an excellent job and I have nothing but love for him. But people act like his Snow and Donald Sutherland's Snow are two different people. I personally don't think Snow had an ounce of goodness in him, or anything to question his fucked morals. That man made deliberate choices. He took the wrong actions on purpose. He chose himself over doing the right thing each time. Sure he was shaken up by Sejanus' death or killing for the first time in the arena (remember though, that made him feel powerful, that says a lot), but that didn't stop him from choosing to do that again. He got worse with time. He was always evil just not accustomed to the consequences I guess? There's not a lot of gray area when it comes to Coriolanus Snow. The sympathizers (there are SO MANY on twitter) often forget that Tigris went through the same things and still chose to be better. Snow was always a terrible person. I can't think of a suitable way to add his inner monologue to the movie but honestly that would have helped immensely because HIS THOUGHTS ARE ALWAYS INSANE and give so much insight into his growth...from a bad person to a far worse person.

Gale on the other hand is a product of war. War has no winners and Gale is the prime example of that. Sure he fought for the "right side", he fought for his people, he fought to save lives but that's didn't protect him from getting innocent blood on his hands. Gale also took the "wrong" actions I guess but unlike Snow, I don't think he had a choice. As Katniss said he's fire, like her. He fought because there was no other option, and he went in with all his heat. He got burned too. He lost a lot, putting aside Katniss, the PTSD and the trauma. He deserves to get shit for killing civilians but there was a lot behind that awful step than just "Gale evil, Gale wanted people (read Prim, most of the fandom would not have cared if it wasn't Prim but that's a topic for another day) dead."

Gale is a far more complex person than Snow (I didn't say character because I'm not talking about writing, ofc the villain is better written than a supporting character ) and he deserves respect for that. I think the early/mid 2010s shipping wars did a lot of damage to his rep. And all this is coming from an everlark shipper so just think about it for a second.

Ignore typos it's 3:31 AM. Thank you for coming to my Ted-Talk. I do not respond well to constructive criticism.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Found an old interview, with a few juicy bits

(and a lot we knew already)

The blood tasted like "Sour Patch Kid" (lol):

The three of them had dancing lessons.... 👀

And Jacob wants to see Louis in the 80s!!! (And we know Sam got his wish^^)

Also kinda sad that Bailey won't be able to explore those hairstyles, but... anyways it's long , so the rest under the cut:

Interview with Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid and Bailey Bass

Posted on October 2, 2022 by TvMegasite Admin

TV Interview!

Interview with Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid and Bailey Bass of “Interview with The Vampire” on AMC and AMC+ by Suzanne 9/29/22

This was a fun roundtable with the three stars of this great new vampire show. If you love vampire shows, or the Anne Rice novels, you should love this show. It’s very well done, and these actors are great in it. Jacob plays Louie, and we see the story through his eyes as told to ailing reporter Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian, who’s outstanding as always). Sam Reid plays LeStat, the seductive vamp that turns Louie and becomes his friend, lover, mentor, etc. Bailey plays Claudia, the young woman that joins them. They were very kind and fun to interview.

Suzanne:   Hi, I’m Suzanne Lanoue from TVMEG.com, and I’ve watched the first episode. I didn’t get screeners till this morning, so I only got to watch the first one so far, but I’m really enjoying it. It just grabs you and drags you in. So, congratulations on being renewed for season two already, which is great. Do you know when you’ll be starting to film season two, or have you already started filming it?

JACOB ANDERSON:   We haven’t started. We haven’t started shooting, no.

SAM REID:   Probably, I don’t know if we can say anything. [Laughs]

Suzanne:   Have they told you yet?

JACOB ANDERSON:   They haven’t not told us anything.

Suzanne:  [Chuckles} OK, well, thank you!

Jamie from SCIFI VISION:  Hi, I’m Jamie Ruby from SciFi Vision. Thanks for talking to us today, I really enjoyed the first five episodes that we’ve seen. So, for the three of you, can you kind of talk about how you balanced what you pulled from the book versus what you added with your own spin on it?

SAM REID:   Hello, Jamie, I’ll answer that. No. But I would say that anything for myself and my character, my own spin probably came from my own interpretation of the books and Rolins’ work. So, I wasn’t really trying to put any of my own spin on it. It’s just how I imagined it to be, really.

JACOB ANDERSON:   Yeah. I second that. It’s like, you will always view a character through your own lens to an extent and then it’s just kind of, I mean, I guess with anything, it’s like, do other do the other creative people like that, and do they want to discuss it? But you don’t want to mess with this. Like the combination of Anne Rice’s writing and Rolins’ writing, you don’t really want to touch it, you don’t want to just sort of throw your own stuff in just for the sake of it.

SAM REID:   They’re so dense already the characters that it sort of would be a shame to try and deviate too much of thing.

JACOB ANDERSON:   What could you possibly add?

SAM REID:   Yeah.

BAILEY BASS:   I feel the exact same way. It’s really, yes, we were cast because there’s something special in us that Rolin and the entire team really enjoyed when we were doing our auditions. But other than that, it’s really just doing the research and the book, reading the scripts, doing our own technique, and then just coming and creating in this world.

Jamie:  Okay, great. Thank you so much.

Jamie from STARRY MAG:  This is Jamie Steinberg, with Starry Constellation Magazine. Jacob, this is another deeply tortured soul for you to portray. Is there something about these kinds of characters that really draw you to them? Or is this them finding their way to you? Or is it something you see in them that really resonates with you and makes you want to portray them?

JACOB ANDERSON:   I think it’s a combination of both. We find each other. I think I’m slightly less like Grey Worm than I am like Louis. But yeah, I mean, I think you normally want to be like very boundaried when you talk about things and be like, “Oh, well, I’m so removed from the character, and I’m brilliant at acting and blah blah blah blah blah”. But to be honest, yeah, I feel very, very connected to Louis. It’s the thing that bothered me about how Anne Rice wrote him, and also how Rolin wrote him as well. Yeah, I’m drawn to characters who are searching. And I’d ask him questions, not just about the world, but about their place in it and what they contribute or don’t contribute to it. But yeah, I also I felt like it would be like, narcissistic of me to be like, “I am the only person who can play Louis.” But namely, because there is somebody else that’s done it, as well. Many people.

Jamie:  Well, I think you brings such a unique take on it, though, because of the artistry you have. Both of these characters that you mentioned, have just been wonderfully nuanced, I think through your portrayal. So it might be just a little bit time for you to pat yourself on the back for what you’ve brought to the role on your own.

JACOB ANDERSON:   This one’s for you, Bailey.

QUESTION:   Question for Jacob and Sam, one of the really interesting things about this particular adaptation is the romance that we kind of finally get to see between Louis and Lestat. Can you speak to that a little bit? What does it mean to you to be able to portray that relationship in that way?

SAM REID:   Well, I think AMC has the rights to the entire Vampire Chronicles, and so it’s very important to make sure that relationship is established early on. Particularly as the books progress, it becomes much more clear that they are in a very intense romantic relationship. So, I think it’s it’s great to make sure that we’re serving the story correctly. And it wouldn’t be Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire if it wasn’t there. So, yeah.

QUESTION:   I was wondering, and this is kind of specifically for Bailey and Sam, the show doesn’t shy away from race or that being a factor at all for their very long life experience. Was that important to you? And were you afraid of any ignorant backlash, because previously, the characters were paid by white actors?

BAILEY BASS:   I was really excited to play Claudia. It’s really a dream to play such a complex character that’s very loud and unapologetic. I honestly didn’t think twice about anything else. I just knew that Rolin was very intentional about the actors that he wanted to cast in the show, and I’m very fortunate that I was one of them. I just dove into all the research. I read the book. I would cross reference the book and the script and see the quotes that Rolin took from the book and was very intentional about adding them into the script. After doing all the research, I mean, I became Claudia and it was fun to play her.

JACOB ANDERSON:   Yeah, I think something that Rolin’s done, which is – I’m almost loath to call it important, but like it creates a richness is that this isn’t a colorblind casting situation. Louis’ central question is about his humanity and his place in humanity. I think that if you were to cast a black actor or black actors for Louis and Claudia, and to not address that, you’d take a lot away from that question of their humanity. I’m glad that we don’t shy away from it. And in terms of backlash, I just don’t want to give it energy anymore. Like I just – people are going to – I think people need to be seen. Sometimes they’ll say anything to be seen or recognized, and it’s sad, but it’s the internet.

QUESTION:   I would love for you to talk a little bit about what it’s like just being vampires, being able to play vampires when biting people and having these kinds of scenes. What goes into that and how much fun is that to play? How difficult is that to play?

SAM REID:  

It’s very fun. It’s very fun. Yeah, you know, because we’ve got a lot of elements that come into every scene. So, they’re very beautiful, sort of rich dialogue-heavy scenes, but we also have this whole element of the vampire, you know, he kills, so we’ll be pausing for the blood to be put in. We had all these different types of blood that we’d been drinking and tasting, and they made us hibicus flavored blood when we had to drink large amounts of it.

JACOB ANDERSON:  

It did not taste like hibiscus. It tasted like it was like a Sour Patch Kid.

SAM REID:   Yeah.

JACOB ANDERSON:   But in liquid form.

SAM REID:   But there’s a lot of thought and consideration [that had] gone into this. But yeah, it’s so much fun, really. Vampires are, I think, the best type of monster, because they have so much humanity. They’re so articulate. They experience a huge amount. Anne Rice is responsible for our shift in vampires, because she puts the perspective into the eyes of the monster, and you have empathy for them. So, it’s very fun to do these really extreme, horrific things, but also with a level of understanding and empathy and bringing that into the character. So, it’s a fun thing to do.

JACOB ANDERSON:   It’s the best! It’s the best. The best monsters.

Jamie from SCIFI VISION:  So, obviously, you guys do go to some really dark places, though, with your characters. Can you sort of talk about getting into that headspace, and how you sort of, I guess, get back out of it? Is it hard to sort of go there? For all three of you.

BAILEY BASS:   Yeah, it’s hard. We had such long days that it kind of, for me personally, it was hard for me to differ[entiate], like, who’s Claudia and who’s Bailey. So, I kind of had to, like really sit with myself and reflect, but it’s hard. But then also, this is what I love to do, and playing such an extreme character, that’s what makes it fun is that I get to relive and be in these spaces that I would never normally be in if I didn’t get to play Claudia. But the dark, even though it’s dark and everything, I definitely enjoyed it. And I had Sam and Jacob, which they were incredible scene partners, and we all had each other. We made sure that throughout the whole process, our mental health, even though we’re like hysterically crying sometimes that afterwards, our mental health was still good,

SAM REID:   I think to Bailey’s point, like, sometimes the darkest jobs or the darkest sets where the material is the most bleak are the most fun, because, we instinctively know how to just kind of like, help ourselves through that. So, we’ll be making a lot of jokes. You know, it is ridiculous, sometimes what we’re doing, and you have to step back and think [laughs] You know, we’re suspended in the air, covered in blood, so we just kept it light. It was a fun thing to do.

JACOB ANDERSON:   Yeah, I agree. I mean, it’s dense. It’s dense, so you need to focus on the language as well. Like, aside from, yeah, we had a lot of fun, but when you’re doing the scene, you focus on what you’re doing. And I think if you let yourself get dragged into it too much, then hard to to do your job, I think.

Jamie from STARRY MAG:  Bailey, this is such a beautiful costume you have. Talk about when you first saw what you’d be wearing for the series, and if you had any input, and if it takes really putting on that costume to embody your character.

BAILEY BASS:   Costume is one of my favorite things in my job, being able to speak with the costume designer and be able to talk about what she saw when she read the script, because it’s not just me, it’s a big collaboration of an incredible crew that helps make us look good, basically. And to be able to talk to hair, makeup, and costume and get to know what their first ideas were when they read the script, and then being able to collaborate with them and say what I thought, was really, really fun. And the costume designer for this show, Carol, was just so collaborative. I came in and we were talking about posture. That’s a very big thing for Claudia, because in the beginning, she’s like fourteen years old, and she’s excited being a vampire. She would shrug a lot and just walked like, however and had terrible posture. So, the costume designer would think about that when she was making the costumes. And then also I have to look like a little girl. So, she created these beautiful bows along with making sure that the shape of my costumes hid any curves possible. So, when I put them on, I really felt like a little girl. So, when I was doing the scenes where Claudia is struggling, she wants to be a woman, and I’m sitting in this pink dress that it’s not flattering to anything that’s me as Bailey, it was really easy to feel what Claudia would be feeling at that moment.

Suzanne:   I really enjoyed the wedding scene and your dancing, Jacob; that was great. Was that actually you dancing? And did you have to train for that, or did you already know how, and will there be any more singing or dancing in the show?

JACOB ANDERSON:   That was me and Steven Norfleet, who plays Paul, and we had about a month to train, to practice. I don’t know if you’ve ever done tap dancing, but it’s like learning how to walk again, like how to walk for the first time, like to get your brain to coordinate in that way and to like shift the weight of your body is really confusing. And to add to that we did a lot of our lessons on Sikkim (???). And it’s all like, it’s all sound. You like making music with your feet, but with the lag of, of like, you know, doing it online. But you just drill; you just drill it every day. You drill it every day, and just you have to listen. It’s less about like being mechanical about your body and just like listening to the sound. But there is there is more dancing in the show.

Suzanne:   Oh, good.

JACOB ANDERSON:   Yeah. It was in the trailer, right?

SAM REID:   Yeah, the three of us did dancing lessons.

JACOB ANDERSON:   Yeah, we did.

QUESTION:   I’m curious to just have any of you or all of you talk a little bit about what you love most about the dynamic between all three of your characters, either once Claudia comes in, or kind of as that progresses.

JACOB ANDERSON:   I find it, I think from Louis’ point of view, he’s trying to recreate a kind of family dynamic that he is grieving for in his human life. I think it’s probably the thing that he misses most in some ways. It’s like a grounding thing, is his brother and his sister and his mom, maybe to a lesser extent, but maybe not. So, I find the way that it kind of goes for them, and for him, it’s kind of unexpected. I think he wanted, he was hoping that in bringing somebody else into their family, I think he thought that Claudia might be like him. [laughs] So, it’s interesting. I feel like an outcast, but to also be a part of – I mean, I’ll let Bailey talk more about about that part of it, but really, Claudia ends up being sort of forgotten about a little bit, and their dynamic, which is sad.

BAILEY BASS:   I think what’s wonderful though, is that there’s really no protagonist or antagonist. It changes through every scene in every episode, because these characters are so specific and complex, and Rolin Jones, the writer of the show, did an incredible job of explaining in depth why we do what we do. There’s a reason why we kill the people that we do, why we hurt each other. And because of that, the viewer kind of feels bad for the person hurting the other, but then also feels bad for the person being hurt.

QUESTION:   So, obviously, as vampires, your characters live very long lives. Which era would you like to see, be able to play your character in?

JACOB ANDERSON:   80s 80s 80s. I want the pastels. I want the hair. Let’s go, 80s.

SAM REID:   I’d probably do the 1700s. I think Lestat really that is where he’s from, and that’s the era in which he was born into, so I’d quite like to see him in that in that era.

BAILEY BASS:   I just want to get to the 50s. Like, I just want Claudia to get to the 50s so I can wear all those skirts and just explore more hairstyles, because we evolved. Doing the prep work, there wasn’t a lot of hairstyles – we had a horrible of time looking for photos of black girls in that time period with very versatile hair, which we know they existed, just no one took pictures of them. So, to be able to expand that more and show women who have curly hair, that this is what they look like in that time. I’d love to expand that and go into the 40s and 50s.

Transcribed by Jamie Ruby of ScifiVision

[lethargicmouse]

tell us your favorites everlark fics

Thanks for the ask!! They make me very excited lol. I honestly don’t read a lot of everlark lol, I’m more of a hayeffie fan with a side of everlark. Just becuase I feel like mother Suzanne did a good job with them in the books. But truly, a lot of my fav hayeffie ships are from either Peeta or Katniss’ perspective.

The ones listed here are mostly post epilogue (:

( I lied they are all post epilogue.)

this is the first day of my life by sam_writes_fics @sam-loves-seb ----> "It’s not perfect. None of them are perfect. But that’s not the point. // katniss and peeta and haymitch and effie and their life after everything;" I LOVE THIS IT WAS GOOD

You Are in Love (Everlark's Version) by bored_author ---> "A collection of one-shots about Katniss and Peeta working through their traumas, together." This is probably the most everlark one on here. It was cute

The Team Trap by EllanaSan @ellainthetardis (my queen omg) ---> "'What’s the very good reason that’ll get her to come?/ Katniss asked. Peeta was silent for a moment, his hand stilled on her back. 'It involves a technical white lie.' In her experience, lies were hardly ever technical or white." I love EllanaSan with my entire heart.

End of the World by FernWithy ---> Ok this is a very Haymitch centered series but it literally rocked my world and I think everyone needs to read this. There is some awesome POV's of characters you rarely hear from. Delly gets the spotlight she deserves and Peets gets it, too. It's a wonderful, long read that I'd highly reccomend.

Sorry there isn't more! I have lots of other fics that I really enjoy that are from Peeta or Katniss' view that are just more Hayeffie centric (linked under the line (: ), I tried to pull the more Everlark ones for you !

they got no idea (about me and you) by fckingpoetry ---> "peeta looks for advice on how to keep katniss safe in the arena and walks in on haymitch and effie sleeping in the same bed." I cannot stress how much I love this author. And any fic where the kids find out about Effie and Haymitch makes me giggle.

The Clue in the Yoghurt by EllanaSan ---> "In retrospect, Haymitch should have known something was up the morning he walked into his kitchen, rubbing his face to chase the remnants of sleep, and found Katniss pilfering his fridge." So silly, Katniss accidental pregnancy and it makes me smile to see hayeffie acting like the parents they are.

Sprinkled on Your Life by KarlyBING ---> "With all her silliness, shallowness, and overbearing ways, Effie had still cried while holding her after coming back from the arena, she was the one to publicly unite them during the Quell, cared for her during a war, braided her hair when she was too depressed to do it herself, made her wedding dress out of worn cotton shirts and second-hand wool, held her hands after delivering her first child, changed diapers at 3 am so Peeta and her could sleep a couple more hours, taught her children how to say please and thank you, and still made her hot chocolate every rainy day without even having to ask." I cried. So much. For only 1,801 words. A nice look at mama!Effie and darling Katniss.

that which resembles a grave (but isn't) by ifonlyiwasawriter ---> "Haymitch finds Katniss covered in dirt in his backyard; there is an explanation for this, but not one that either of them likes." Haymitch and Katniss, lovely very traumatized father and very traumatized daughter bonding.

Any way I love Haymitch and Effie goodnight !

[simplykorra]

breaking more hearts than mine - part VII

Ava sighs. “Yeah I’m glad you are because somehow it’s made traffic way worse lately. I thought high schoolers slept in during summer vacation but they’re always out at the crack of dawn.”

“Ava, it’s 9:30.”

She looks bemused. “Semantics, Ms. Superion.”

Suzanne hums, watching Aliana fiddle with the knot of her mother’s shirt. “Soon enough you’ll be dropping this one off at my school.”

This is a fun little game she plays with Ava, watching her pale each time she teases her. “Oh god, not yet, four more years - four short, barely there years,” Ava hugs Aliana, who seems confused for a moment but then quickly hugs her back.

“It is strange to see you so early in the morning,” Suzanne says. “Especially here, you never come here.”

“I know, but I’m meeting someone for coffee and this is within walking distance to where she’s at.”

There’s an energy to the way Ava says it, like she’s just a little bit nervous about it. While she isn’t up on all the latest happenings in town, she is aware that Lilith is not currently here - having taken a short leave. She is also aware, thanks to Shannon, that Ava and Lilith have decided they are not romantically compatible.

“Much to Lilith’s dismay.” Shannon told her.

Suzanne is starting to understand why. “Well the cinnamon rolls this morning are exquisite,” she picks up her own, her second of the morning, but Ava doesn’t need to know that.

Ava’s eyes light up as they always do. “Ohh, okay sweet! I’ll get a couple of them. I…hmm,” she frowns. “I wanted to buy all the stuff before she got here, you know, be a gentlewoman or whatever, but I don’t actually know how she takes her coffee. Does she even drink coffee? She’s British, isn’t tea their thing? No, that’s stereotyping…plus she’s got like…a stressful analytics job and that screams coffee.”

“Ava…” Suzanne cuts her off, because if she doesn't Ava will not stop. “Are you on a date?”

She looks away then, down at her feet. “I…yeah, kind of. We…it’s not super defined yet but…yeah.”

CONT ON AO3

[goldrushenthusiast]

The Hunger Games characters have some unique names based on many cultures we've lived in today.

What's your favourite character names from THG world? What's their names meaning?

Bonus questions :

If you're a fanfic writer writing about characters who lives in Panem, what's their name gonna be?

If you're a reader, what's a name you read in a THG fanfic that stuck with you?

Thank you, @curiousnonny

Got to be Sejanus. By far who his name is based off of and who is is just…perfect.

Copied straight from the Wikipedia page, the very first paragraph;

“Lucius Aelius Sejanus (c. 20 BC – 18 October AD 31), commonly known as Sejanus (/sɪˈdʒeɪnəs/),[1] was a Roman soldier, friend, and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Of the Equites class by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Praetorian Guard (the Roman imperial bodyguard), of which he was commander from AD 14 until his execution for treason in AD 31.”

Like ok come on now Suzanne at least make me have something more to interpret!!

What’s interesting about him though is the fact that he is district born, and as we see in Katniss, Gale, Primrose, Madge, Mayfair, Carine (Katniss’ mom), Rue, Delly, and any non career district, district kids typically have fairly normal names or names related to their districts (Reaper the farming name from D11, Coral & Mizzen, sea & ship names from d4). While their names still have something to do with their character, they make more sense with district kids and are less obvious (will explain later).

However, with Sejanus, he was born in district two. His parents were from district two. Strabo even can be related to Strabo’s character but that’s for later.

Sure, it can be argued that district two is a career district, but Katniss & Coriolanus’ accounts together hint that this process took decades to be sure of and to really benefit from. District two would be a bit better off after the first revolution, but not much.

I just find it funny it’s so clear with Sejanus what he was always meant to be.

Strabo’s name is a bit more a stretch, but Strabo was an Ancient Greek geographer. He was mostly known for being, and I quote;

“historian whose Geography is the only extant work covering the whole range of peoples and countries known to both Greeks and Romans during the reign of Augustus (27 BCE–14 CE)”

He specialized in geography. District two is full of mountains (that Ma loves), and he literally moved his whole family. As I said, a bit of a stretch, but still there’s SOMETHING there.

Even the family’s last name, Plinth, means a heavy base supporting a statue or vase. Every part of Sejanus’ name includes some type of support, and it’s so apparent with just one google search. I love it, and we know so much about his character so it’s easier to make these inferences than it will be with the Ring Twins or Remus Dolittle, yet I will. This answer might have to be two parts lol.

Now onto other characters that we know just a bit better: Tigris, Persephone, Iphigenia, Vipsania, Arachne, and saving last for last, Coriolanus.

Firstly; Tigris! Tigris was the easternmost river out of two that defined Mesopotamia, one of (or maybe the) the earliest civilizations/cultures, dating back to 14,000 BC as the time period when people originally started settling. Because I’m not here to give a history lesson I’m not gonna explain the importance of a river to a civilization, but I went through 6th grade geography and suffice to say she was important as hell.

Tigris was believed to have been created by the God Enki, the Sumerian god of knowledge, crafts, and creation among other things. Tigris is continually proven to be resourceful, creative, and gives very much DIY girlie vibes, which sound a lot like Enki.

As I said before, the Mesopotamian region was one of the first civilizations. Many have theorized that mankind as we know it wouldn’t exist without Mesopotamia, and what would Mesopotamia not exist without? Tigris.

Tigris provided opportunities for the Mesopotamian region (Coriolanus) to grow, get stronger, become innovative, and provided for them. If that doesn’t scream Tigris I don’t know what does.

Now, Persephone! My favorite capital names are the ones from Greek mythology (I am a Percy Jackson fan page) or ancient mythology, because it’s less work to find connecting factors. Honestly I had no clue who Sejanus was, I just googled his name, and my mom is a Shakespeare fan which is how I know Coriolanus.

Anywho, for y’all who are normal, Persephone was the daughter of the farming/harvest goddess who was kidnapped by the death god. All versions of this myth agree on that. Some say that it was part of a deal with Zeus that Hades (the death god) knew about, but Demeter (farming/harvest goddess) didn’t. Of course these are definitely a very simple and quick way to describe Hades & Demeter, but it gets my point across.

The funny thing is, we don’t know much about Persephone in canon. I don’t know if Suzanne did this on purpose like she clearly did with Sejanus, but I find it interesting that whenever Persephone Price is brought up, so is cannibalism.

See, Nero Price, Persephone dad and Coriolanus was the main example that Coriolanus used to show how bad things were during the war. Coriolanus and Tigris saw him one snowy evening sawing off the leg of a maid with a large knife, wrapping it in the skirt from her waist, and going on his way. It makes Coriolanus question if he could ever be seen as edible, which is kinda funny to me lowkey, but the whole scene is on page 31-32.

Persephone. She is literally torn between the harvest (farmers food & stuff) and the underworld, the realm of the dead. Part of her myth is she stays there for 3 months and in the realm of the living for the other 9 because she ATE 3,pomegranate seeds. She ate something she wasn’t supposed to. Let me also mention, in different versions of the myth she wanted to leave or didn’t. When Festus and Persephone are getting close, Coriolanus questions if Persephone ever knew what was on her plate.

Now Iphigenia!! If y’all didn’t remember Persephone, I doubt yall will remember Iphigenia, as I only did combing the list of names Coriolanus had for interesting ones and finding her. She’s a very minor character- we don’t know much about her hobbies or likes and dislikes or her personality. But I’ll get to TBOSAS Iphigenia in a second.

I’m sure of y’all at least know the Trojan war. If anyone studied it specifically, you probably know Agamemnon. Here’s the paragraph explaining the story from Wikipedia;

“In the story, Agamemnon offends the goddess Artemis on his way to the Trojan War by hunting and killing one of Artemis' sacred stags. She retaliates by preventing the Greek troops from reaching Troy unless Agamemnon kills his eldest daughter, Iphigenia, at Aulis as a human sacrifice. In some versions, Iphigenia dies at Aulis, and in others, Artemis rescues her.”

You’re probably wondering, “wow, what could such a minor character have to do with that tale?”

When I say we get very little from her, I mean it. I don’t mean we get very little from her in the same way as I do when talking about Festus, or any other classmates. We know she doesn’t know if district 5 girl’s (her tribute’s) name is Sol or Sal (it’s Sol).

There’s one piece of information on her that stands out though. I’m going to paraphrase Coriolanus on page 252 when I say this- “her father oversaw food stuff in Panem, but she always looked almost malnourished. Clemensia had once said it was the only revenge she could take on her father but didn’t give any other details,”

boy oh boy. Because of this one, small little paragraph, Iphigenia has always interested me. When Clemensia doesn’t give any other details, she means it. NO details appear afterwards and Iphigenia is maybe mentioned once ever again. Trust me, I know. Every time I reread TBOSAS I look for different things, which is part of the reason I reread it sm.

We never know why Iphigenia takes revenge. We never know anything about her relationship with her father. There are so many possibilities (abuse, Iphigenia the rebel, etc), and considering her namesake’s issues with her father it’s just crazy the amount of detail Suzanne put into such a minor character.

Next, Vipsania- there’s actually not much I can say about her, I just thought it was a funny coincidence this is what came up when I googled her;

“Vipsania Agrippina (/ˌæɡrəˈpaɪnə, -ˈpiː-/; 36 BC – 20 AD) was the first wife of the Emperor Tiberius.”

Two things- first, recognize what emperor she married? Yep! Tiberius- aka the emperor Sejanus was a friend and confident of. I think Suzanne might’ve gone down a Tiberius rabbit hole, because her last is familiar as well- Professor Agrippina. She was the gym teacher, and Sejanus’ mentor. This little circle of names and relations is just funny to me is all, although there’s not much on VA in history or much to say about Vipsania.

Arachne!!! Gosh I love her. Well, I love how plain the connection is between her character in TBOSAS and her character in mythology. Really she’s pretty disrespectful and a jerk in both lol.

In Greek mythology, Arachne is a woman-turned spider, the first spider. Arachne believed she could win a weaving competition against Athena, goddess of crafts, because of how beautiful her work was and how much everyone complimented her.

Athena, hearing this hubris, disguised herself as an old woman and told Arachne not to boast like that. Arachne then challenged Athena, and told the old woman the only reason Athena hadn’t gone against her herself was she was too scared.

Of course Athena then revealed herself, and they battled. Athena’s weaver thing showed the Greek gods doing good stuff, Arachne’s showed the gods in their most unfavorable aspects. Due to this disrespect, and in some versions because it was better (tho I personally don’t believe that), Athena turned Arachne into a spider so she could weave forever.

The pride?? The taunting until it becomes serious?? The permanent change?? The rage that prompted the act?? Arachne as Arachne is the most perfect name on here, because who else would she be?? Another great one of Suzanne’s names. Genius.

Before we get to the last name, Coriolanus himself, let me point out I have no district people on here. Let this show just how interesting Strabo & Sejanus’ names are.

Finally!! The last one!! Coriolanus.

Coriolanus is actually quite disappointing compared to Sejanus or Arachne, but there’s still something here so I’m going to paste the Wikipedia on Coriolanus, the man Shakespeare based his play after & what happened in the play.

“Coriolanus is the name given to a Roman general after his military feats against the Volscians at Corioli. Following his success he seeks to be consul, but his disdain for the plebeians and the mutual hostility of the tribunes lead to his banishment from Rome. In exile, he presents himself to the Volscians, then leads them against Rome. After he relents and agrees to a peace with Rome, he is killed by his previous Volscian allies”

Now, unlike many of these other characters, Coriolanus’ relationship to his namesake mirrors his relationship to another character (Lucy Gray) more than his personality.

Coriolanus wants to be with Lucy Gray, but eventually due to his hatred of the districts and love of the capital, he ends up turning against her. He starts out wanting to help her, yet his own disgust only ends up hurting him.

Coriolanus is eventually killed by his former allies, what he’s created. That’s what happens in the original hunger games series. When Coin does the faked bomb drop, everyone he worked so hard to make love him turn against him quickly. He revolutionized the capital and they turned against him.

He almost changed his own feelings about district people and it ended up almost taking his life and career.

Help I forgot there was another part to the question 😭. Anywho if I was gonna write some, I’d probably just use random names or if I had a really good and accurate name (or totally opposite name) from mythology or a poem or something I’d use that and make it correspond to the character.

This is embarrassing, but a lot of the names from crimson rivers, a hunger games/marauders au stuck with me! Nothing specific, but anything that wasn’t a marauders character always made me go “huh! I like that!”

In conclusion though, Suzanne is a genius. As I said, I might have to reblog this later with more names if I ever think of any. This is probably my most researched answer, due to all the mythology and Wikipedia searches I had to do, so sorry that it took longer! Usually I just remember things and explain them lol.

Thank you for the question @curiousnonny, and as always, feel free to debate in the comments/reblogs but please don’t argue. I always enjoy answering and dissecting questions, so anyone feel free to ask!