#but before he decided to cannibalize the man he had that moment of genuine compassion that is just so good

[the-acid-pear]

Something I adore about T-Bag is how subtle but consistent his character development is because as the seasons go on and he spends more time out of the jail (or, in other, worse jails) the more of his worst traits and beliefs he kinda let's go. Which is what makes me passionate about him he really has it in him to improve, to change. By the intro of season 5 he was literally just living alone in a swamp or something and didn't even want anything to do with Michael.

Like it's not that it happens from morning to noon it's just that there's less and less opportunities for him to repeat his problems to the point he just stops doing it altogether willingly it's just really neat. I just enjoy it.

[libralita]

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Suzanne Collins

Summary: Ambition will fuel him. Competition will drive him. But power has its price. It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute. The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined—every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Rating: ★★★★★

Review:

So, this is a bit of a “disclaimer” or more of an interesting fact: I’ve technically never read The Hunger Games Trilogy. I had to read the first book for my English class, and it was a time where I hated being told what to read so I used SparkNotes. We also watched the first film in that class but that doesn’t really matter because A) that was like 8 or 9 years ago and B) it was for my class so you can bet I wasn’t playing attention. So, for all intents and purposes, I have not read the Hunger Games. Now you may be asking why I decided read this…seemingly controversial book rather than the much beloved original trilogy. Cuz my friend said I should, the audiobook sample intrigued me, and when are you going to see a review of this book from someone who hasn’t read the original trilogy?

Before I go into spoilers with this book, I just want to say as someone who has at best a surface level understanding of the Hunger Games trilogy, I think people are being a little bit harsh about this book. This book made me completely understand why Coriolanus Snow went down the path that he did while also not glamourizing it or making excuses for it. I genuinely felt bad for this young man who has delt with so many hardship that no one would should suffer through. However, he still does horrible things and the book recognizes that he does horrible things. It is a fascinating character study with a bit of background on how the Hunger Games came to be. Perhaps my opinion will change once I read The Hunger Games trilogy (which I intend to do) however at this point I think this was an amazing book and you should give it a fair shake. Now, onto spoilers.

The only flaw I found with this book was it was a bit too on the nose with a couple of things. First some of the names. Gaul. Satyria. Highbottom. I know that Collins started off as a middle grade writer and these feel like very middle grade character names. They just describe the characters a little too perfectly. In YA, it’s more popular to make characters where their names’ meanings give an insight into their character. Not a huge problem but a bit silly.

Second, I’m a little conflicted on the political talk. On the one hand, holy shit a YA book that talks about political theory? In an intelligent way? That’s not just screaming about real world politics? Oh my! On the other hand, it’s a little too on the nose. Gaul having Coryo write about the Social Contract and then this conversation:

“‘I do. Unless there’s law, someone enforcing it, I think we might as well be animals,’ he said with more assurance. ‘Like it or not, the Capitol is the only thing keeping anyone safe.’ ‘Hm. So they keep me safe. And what do I give up for that?’ she asked.”—Page 434

Hobbes would swoon over Coryo. It wasn’t bad just on the nose. And to a degree, I get it, I’m working on getting my masters in political science and I’ve read Hobbes and Rousseau whereas most the intended audience probably hasn’t. So, I call this a nitpick for me

Other than this book being a little too on the nose, I found very little fault in this. Maybe the Post-Games story line was a little less interesting but it still wasn’t bad by any means.  This book is a character study of Coriolanus Snow, so I’d like to talk about him and his dissent. While reading this, my friend asked me if I hadn’t known that Coryo would one day become President Snow, if I could see it coming. And, while it’s hard to tell exactly, I think Collins manages to balance both Coryo being sympathetic and showing how he could become the person that he is in the trilogy. There are three…phases or Coryo’s life that really illustrate how he becomes President Snow. First is his life during the War. Second, is his life During the 10th Hunger Games. Then his life Post-Games. Collins does a wonderful job of portraying what it was like for Coryo during the war. The horrors he had witness of enjoying the life of luxury at an early age and then his world crashing around him. Of his family dying. Of the struggles to survive. Of him witnessing his friends’ parents restore to something horrible like cannibalism. It’s brought up a lot because it’s something that scarred him.

Now his During-Games life/the first half of this book. Coryo and the people around him are clearly dealing with the PTSD of growing up in a war zone. He’s essentially starving through most of this section during the book and on the verge of losing of what little he’s held onto since the War ended. I feel really bad for him. There was a part of me during this section where I hoped along side him that Lucy Gray would win the Hunger Games, he could go to University and continue his relationship with her. Maybe they could have changed Panem for the better. And while in this section he was no pure angel, you could see Gaul and Highbottom pushing him to become a worse person. You could also see the red flags that become worse in the Post-Games section.

There are two major red flags I picked up on during this read through. First, is his relationship with Lucy Gray. He’s very possessive of her and he gets very jealous when she sings about another guy during The Hunger Games. This made the relationship slightly uncomfortable for me…though let’s be honest if Sejanus was pining after Lucy Gray he would be acting no different from any other YA love interest (shots fired.) He actually reminded me a lot of Jace from The Mortal Instruments. The second red flag is his treatment of Sejanus. In a meta sense Sejanus is your typical hero and the fact that Coryo is using him (and really anyone besides maybe his family?) is a giant red flag to me as a reader. He doesn’t like Sejanus or Mrs. Plinth. He just wants to use them. Which is really sad but shows that is eventually dissent into Post-Hunger Games Coryo is foreshadowed.

Now, let’s talk about Post-Games. I took a break once the Games ended because I was a little unmotivated to keep reading. I didn’t know if I would like Coryo leaving the Capital. I liked seeing the political maneuvering of the Games and his dynamics with his classmates. However, watching his dissent was great. His relationship with Lucy Gray went from slightly concerning to full blown toxic. His possessiveness of her really amped up. Coryo also isn’t really happy to see Sejanus because it’s a friendly face, it’s because there’s someone to recognize his status and for someone he can use. Again, another moment of possibility of where Coryo could have let Sejanus and maybe Lucy Gray escape and he could have gone off to become an officer. Work his way up and become the President. However, he didn’t take that path.

It was so heartbreaking to see Sejanus die, there was still a glimmer of Coryo’s humanity where he genuinely felt guilty but you could see his self-preserving nature showing its ugly head. And then his journey is cemented when he can’t handle being out with Lucy Gray so he may or may not have killed her, then he goes back where his family pictures are ruined and his mother’s powder is mush. The only thing left his is father’s compass.

Speaking of his father, one final character I’ll mention is Dean Highbottom. I wish we got a little bit more of him because his view of Coryo is interesting. It seemed like Collins gave a very subtle story about how Highbottom was worried that Coryo would turn out like his father. But Highbottom ended up created the monster he wanted to prevent. If he had shown Coryo compassion and understanding, he might have turned out differently. This ended up getting Highbottom killed which was a great way to end the book. Sad but great.

Overall, I think this is a great story. I loved seeing all the different roads Coryo could have taken and how things could have turned out differently. I am planning on buying the Hunger Games trilogy so it’ll be interesting to see how this changes things for me.

[rebuildhq]

Ben Barnes || Kurt Wagner || Nightcrawler || X-Men || Identity: Not Common Knowledge || 32 || Cis Male || Bavaria, Germany || X-Men / Teacher & Recruiter at Xavier’s || Unregistered || Unlisted || PLAYED BY BO

biography:

How do you know where you belong, if you don’t even know where you began? Kurt Wagner’s done a lot of thinking on that subject. He’s had to.

The start of his story is a mystery to him; all he knows for certain is that somehow, a baby wound up abandoned in the Bavarian woods. A baby who looked like the devil himself, just, bluer. But a baby nonetheless, helpless and alone. He was found by Margali Szardos, a fortuneteller with a traveling circus, a mother of two. She couldn’t simply leave him; and better yet, Margali could see a place for him in the show. She was right. In a sense. While Margali might have meant well, Herr Getmann, the ringleader, simply had a business to run and money to make. For a time, the demon-child was an excellent investment. A natural acrobat, he soon became the star of the aerial show; his bizarre looks only helped to draw the crowds. Getmann raked in the cash, while his Nightcrawler grew up under Margali’s watch, alongside her children Jimaine and Stephan. They weren’t the kindest siblings, tweaking his elfish ears, pulling his tail, teasing. But he had nothing to measure them against, and they were a kind of family. The whole cast was, misfits all. Still, Kurt, as Margali called him, was soon longing to see beyond the tents and ticket lines. His foster mother warned him that the outside would be much, much different. There’d be no cheering. Only terror, and hate. Kurt listened, crushed. But he had to wonder. Had to hope. People couldn’t be so terrible. He’d get out there, some day. He needed to. There was so much more to know.

Unfortunately, by the time Kurt was eleven, the awe of Getmann’s demon boy on the high wires had become old news. Just some kid in a costume. More tacky carnival nonsense. From Madrid to Moscow, the seats stood emptier and emptier. One night, after an especially disappointing turnout, Getmann summoned Kurt to his tent. A decision had been made. He’d been sold; Arnos Jardine would be adding the Nightcrawler to his act. Not as an acrobatic star, but a prize monster in the freakshow.

Kurt had no choice in the matter. Wrangled and drugged, he woke up chained, in a cage. Like one of those old toothless tigers, the miserable elephants. Like a thing, not a person. Soon, he was shown just how brutal humanity could be: the curtain would go up, day after day, to a burst of gasps and shrieks. Cameras flashed. Jardine would boom away about the creature behind the bars, a demon, a cannibal, a work of dark sorcery. Whatever the story was, that day. Then he’d gather up the euros and leave Kurt in the dark again. As for his “family,” well. There’d been no goodbyes. Maybe they’d known, maybe they hadn’t. He never saw them, there in the freakshow. And Kurt was glad of that.

It all came to an end when his secondary mutation manifested. Drunk and raging over his menagerie’s floundering success, Jardine had decided to take it on his star attraction. Then, as the bullwhip came down, the Nightcrawler was simply… gone. A ripple of smoke, and nothing more. Kurt stumbled into the rocky hills outside camp, not sure how he’d got there, dark smoke curling on the breeze. Suddenly, he was down at the riverbank ahead, up in the treeline, further still. He just wanted to get away, far away. Where didn’t matter, how it was happening didn’t matter. His staggered journey ended in a cool, quiet courtyard. Bloodied and bruised, absolutely exhausted, Kurt curled up in a dusty storeroom corner. Out of the circus, at last. And terrified of what would come next.

That’s how Father Wagner found him the next morning, as he readied for Mass. Shocking as his guest was, the Father was a kind soul. His gentleness earned Kurt’s trust, slowly but surely, over the months that followed. The old man tended his injuries, made him at home. All without prying; the Father asked few questions, demanded no answers. Simply accepted. And Kurt was wholly grateful. It was a peaceful time, the first like it in all his life; hiding in the rafters, he’d listen to the psalms, breathe in the smell of candles. Even if he struggled with the sermons, unable to see a place for himself in the huddled, faithful pews below, the ritual of it all was comforting. But it couldn’t cure his restlessness, and wouldn’t protect him for long.

Kurt tried to stay hidden. He truly did. It was a tiny church, though, in a small village. He wasn’t chained down anymore, and couldn’t help a little exploring. Always by dark, into the woods, the mountains. Where nobody should see. A few stories of a yellow-eyed shadow bounding across the rooftops, those could be brushed off. Children, seeing goblins. Oma squinting at stray cats. That was all. Until he stayed out a little too late, one night, roaming the forest until the dawn - and a couple early morning hunters - caught him. Kurt didn’t even know he’d been seen until a shot struck his side. Terrified and badly hurt, he teleported toward home. Unfortunately, shocked by the pain, Kurt wound up in the village streets instead. Over, and over again, panicking, he tried to find his way. Those hunters weren’t the only ones awake, though. Kurt was seen, screamed at. By the time he collapsed in the nave he was a desperate, shaking mess. And there was a trail. Blood, sightings, shouts. Soon, the townspeople were hammering at the door, calling for the old Father to come out, demanding he explain why some kind of creature was denning in their church.

Father Wagner was about to do just that - trusting in the grace of God and the goodness of humankind, against Kurt’s pleas to stay inside, not get hurt for his sake - when it all stopped. There was one knock more. A single voice. English, American. Slowly, Kurt opened the door. On the other side were people, strange people, and behind them, a growing mob that had simply frozen in place. One of the strangers introduced himself as Professor Charles Xavier. He had an offer: come with him, to the United States. To a safe place. Everyone here would forget what had happened, go home peacefully. The Father would be safe. And Kurt would have a future, at a school for people like him, with the X-men. If he wanted to. Fearing for Father Wagner, knowing the danger if he stayed, Kurt could only say yes.

Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters has been Kurt’s home ever since. For much of that, the campus truly was his everything; the grounds, the manor, that was his whole world. It wasn’t like he could join his fellow students on their field trips, their joyrides into New York City. They could be out there. Pretend to be normal, for a while. Not him. If he was seen, then - it would go like it always went. This family he’d found would be in danger, because of him. That was a risk he couldn’t accept. So he stayed hidden. Studied, read. Tried not to scare the new students. The first time he crossed the fence was as a proper X-man, suited up and on mission. But Kurt didn’t complain. How could he? His dreams always seemed so small, compared to the cost of chasing them. It would be selfish. Ungrateful.

And he was grateful. Only more and more as time went on, and, slowly but surely, that crippling shyness began to fall away. Never completely; but like when he was first making his way in the high wires, Kurt learned to fake all the confidence he needed. Soon, he was making his first true friends. By the time he graduated, he was known as much for his odd looks as his compassion, dedicated optimism, and mischievous sense of humor. That warm intelligence made him a wonderful tutor, then, after several years of coaxing, a great teacher. Kurt was happy, genuinely. Still thought about everything else out there, beyond the manor. But he had such faith in what he served: the school, the X-men. They were doing good work. Important work. All those children who came through their doors, he could see such beautiful futures for them. If that’s what his life came down to - helping others better theirs - he could be satisfied. Despite all he’d miss, for himself.

Then, a couple years ago, along it came: the gift that changed everything.* It wasn’t much to look at, perhaps, but. This little trinket was his greatest wish come true. With its help, he could just… stop being Nightcrawler for a while. Simply be Kurt Wagner. No blue fur, no tail, no fangs. Ten fingers, ten toes. Human, all of him. Until you got near enough to touch, but - for a few hours, so long as nobody came too close, he could look like everyone else. Live like everyone else. Be part of the world, like he’d always wanted. The freedom of it was incredible. Every second is precious, every moment a first of some kind, an experience he’s never known before. Yet, as attached as he’s become to his other face, he won’t wear it on campus. What would that say to the students? He can bear a few stares around the mansion, the jokes and nicknames. Even the odd scream, out of a fresh recruit. Not that it doesn’t hurt, more than he lets on. But if even the Nightcrawler can find a place in things, and walk tall, those kids can too. They just need to believe in that. Like he believes in them.

So, how do you know where you belong, according to Kurt Wagner? You choose. And you stand by it. He’s done just that, through the Accords, a Skrull Invasion, now, some kind of mysterious relocation to a twisted hellscape. Just another adventure. They’ll make it through, the X-men. Together. Like they always do.