#capitol hill crawl

[decolonize-the-left]

In the winter of 1990, when the Congressional legislation to turn a proposed Americans with Disabilities Act into law stalled in the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation, hundreds of concerned disability rights activists and others from the affected community descended on Washington, D.C. There, they joined with local activists at the White House and at the U.S. Capitol Building to protest the efforts within government to stall and stop the Act from passing.

The most memorable moment in the winter’s activism happened on March 12, 1990, when dozens of these protestors at the Capitol abandoned their mobility aids and began to climb, crawl, and edge up the steps to the top of the west Capitol entrance on the National Mall. Some climbing on their own and some climbing with help from friends and family, they were cheered on by allies, onlookers, and the press. This direct action, which forced Congress to see them, is known to history as the Capitol Crawl.

"Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins got on all fours to begin the ascent. Just 8 years old at the time with cerebral palsy, the climb up the stairs took almost an hour. But she was determined.

"As a matter of fact, I said, 'I'll take all night if I have to,'" Keelan-Chaffins told ABC News about that day."

[rosewaterandivy]

Teaser 🖊️

A series of vignettes following President Owens’ senior personnel as they navigate just another day working in the White House.

“Of all the gin joints in all the world,” Steve Harrington croons softly before taking a sip from his now empty glass. The bartender nods to him as he readies the next round.

“Two old fashioneds, coming up.”

The sound of cocktail shakers and lulled conversation surrounds them as he traces an idle finger through the water rings on the bar top.

Clearing his throat, he begins, “I don’t think we’re gonna run the table, if that’s what you’re asking.”

His companion chuckles, “It’s deep background. I won’t even come close to using your name.”

He scoffs, "You’re not gonna come close to getting a quote, either." He nods his thanks to the bartender and grabs his drink.

“Then why are we sitting here?” His companion, the reporter, grouses. And yeah, that is the question, isn’t it?

Well, for one, this may be a Capitol Hill bar but damn if they don’t make a decent old fashioned. He wanted a drink, maybe didn’t think twice about the press crawling all over the Hill today, and well, here he is sat next to some reporter angling for a quote.

“You sat down!” He fires back indignantly, setting down the drink.

Christ, the gall of these guys.

“Is she on the way out?” He presses.

He rolls his eyes, “No.”

“Seriously?” The guys turns, trying to level with him, “Look Harrington, I know you’re colleagues… But did Caldwell say-”

“That’s a generous term.” He takes another sip, “You realize this conversation won’t end well for you, yeah?”

This guy will not let up, “Who do I gotta call, huh?”

“Well, you could call 1-800-BITE ME.”

“Harrington!”

Steve chuckles lowly, fingering the glass, “Look, she’s not going anywhere. It’s a non-story and you know that. Or you would, if you had any sense.”

The reporter admonishes him with a pointed finger, “Okay, you’re lying low, aren’t you? I get it.”

“Aw, that hurts. Why would I lie to the free press of all people?” He polishes off the drink, glancing over the guy’s shoulder.

Huh. Well, ain’t that something?

“Okay,” he allows, drumming his fingers on the bar top. “Then why do you keep looking over my shoulder?”

Steve raises a solitary brow. “Because Hillary Clinton just walked in with her emails.” Can this guy just fuck off already?

“Wait, what?” He turns to look. Steve places a hand on his shoulder to stop him before his cover is blown.

“There’s a woman over there. I think she’s lookin’ at me.”

“Really?”

“Gotten pretty good at sensing this kinda thing,” He reassures him with a smile.

And this reporter, the fuck, slowly and obviously turns to look, to corroborate Steve’s story before turning back. “Yeah, I think she was.”

Steve forcefully claps him on the shoulder, “I wanna thank you for the real casual way you did that just now. She probably didn’t notice that.” He shifts in his seat and drops his hand from the guy to get a better look at the woman in question. She smiles at him and raises her glass.

Hook, line, and sinker.

The soft cadence of the morning news plays dully in the background as Jim Hopper glances through the headlines. He pauses at the crossword section before offering, “17 across is wrong. Can you believe that?”

“What else is new?” Joyce replies, handing him a cup of coffee. “You should file a complaint.”

Jim, lost in plotting his revenge against the New York Times crossword editor, doesn’t hear the phone. “Y’know, I think I will.”

Joyce takes the call as Jim settles himself on the couch, papers still in hand. “Hop there’s a-”

“I’m in the shower!” he calls, nearly spilling his coffee to grab his paper.

“It’s POTUS.”

With an exasperated sigh, Jim drops the morning paper and motions for Joyce to patch the call through.

The New York Times can wait… for now.

The vacuum runs in the office as you fitfully attempt to sleep, arms crossed, hair mussed and face pulled in a grimace. Turns out, your desk isn’t as comfortable as you remembered. A lamp remains on, casting a soft glow on the surface; papers scattered, pens uncapped, and cell phone nearly dead.

Beep-beep-beep…beep-beep-beep…beep-beep-beep.

The alarm blearily wakes you; scrubbing a hand across your face and blinking wearily before swiping across the screen of your cell to unlock it. Quickly, you read the message and grab the phone on your desk, keying in a four-digit code.

“Hey,” you croak, voice laden with sleep, “Got the message. Now, what the fuck going on?”

“Sir,” The flight attendant urges, “Sir, I’m going to need you to put away your phone.”

The man in question continues the lazy perusal of emails, ignoring her.

She sighs, “Sir, please put your phone away. It interferes with our navigational systems.”

He smiles, “You know when you say that, it sounds pretty ridiculous, right?” He chuckles before continuing his task.

Another flight attendant comes down the aisle from the cockpit. She leans over the empty seat in front of him, “Mr. Munson? A message was just patched up to the cockpit for you. I’m not sure I’ve got it right.” She reads from the scrap of paper in her hand, “POTUS in a roller skating accident?”

He glances up at her, “You got it right sugar, thank you.” And drops his attention back to the phone, quickly typing out a message.

“Again, you cannot use your phone until we land, sir.”

He scoffs. “We’re flying in a Lockheed Eagle series L-1011. It came off the line 20 months ago. It carries a SIM-5 transponder tracking system. Are you telling me I can still flummox this thing with the latest IOS update?”

This poor woman.

She lets out an exasperated sigh, “You can call once we land, sir.” And takes her leave of him.

“Hey sugar,” he calls after her, “I never got my peanuts.”

“How ya doin’ Steve?” she calls snuffing a joint out on an ashtray.

“Let me tell ya somethin’ doll,” his voice echoes from the bathroom, “I am envious of this water pressure you have here.”

She giggles before settling back against the pillows, “I know.”

“Ya consider running hydraulics in there?” He moves from the hall back into the bedroom, scrubbing a towel through his hair, clothed in his boxer briefs. He makes a cursory search for his pants and shirt from last night until she perks up from the bed.

“Oh!” she moves to the nightstand to find their phones, “I’m sorry, your message--your phone went off when you were showering. I grabbed it, thinking it was mine. ‘POTUS in a roller skating accident. Come to the office.’ And I memorized it, just in case.”

Steve makes quick work of his clothes while she rattles on about… well, something or other.

“Hey, I’m sorry but I have to go.”

She stops rambling, “But it’s 5:30 in the morning.”

He sighs, “I know this doesn’t look good.”

“Not really, no,” she pouts.

He sits back on the bed, “But I really like you and if you give me your number, I can call you.”

She scrambles toward him across the duvet, “Why don’t you stay here yourself and save yourself the call.”

He huffs a laugh, “It’s not that I don’t see the logic in that, but-”

“POTUS was in a roller skating accident.”

He hums in agreement as she airdrops her contact to him. “Hmm..” she hums passing Steve his phone and drawing him toward her for a lazy goodbye kiss. “Tell your friend POTUS he’s got a funny name, and he needs to learn how to roller skate.”

Steve pulls back, securing a tie around his collar. “Well, I would, but he’s not my friend, he’s my boss. And it’s not his name, it’s his title.” He grabs the rest of his belongings and makes toward the door to leave.

“POTUS?”

He pauses at the door, “Yeah, President of the United States.” He opens the door and walks down the hallway, “I’ll call ya!”

Jim Hopper makes his way into the White House, tossing his belongings to the security officers and stepping through the metal detector. It goes off every time. Flashing his badge and keying in his code, he quickly walks across the corridor and into the bullpen. Greetings fly by as he maneuvers through the desks and filing cabinets.

“Hey Franz,” he offers, avoiding yet another file being handed to him. He turns against the corner of a desk and keeps walking.

“It’s Frank!” someone corrects from the filing cabinets.

“Whatever!” Hopper replies as he descends on Erica’s desk. “Morning, Sinclair. Is she in?”

Erica smiles and greets, “Morning Hop. She’s back in her office.” Then continues to type away on her computer.

Hopper rolls his eyes and clears his throat, waiting. He fiddles with some papers as the minutes trickle by. Erica continues with her work, seemingly oblivious. “Can you go get her?”

“Oh, sure.” She replies, “You alive back there?” she yells down the small hallway.

Hopper smiles, ears still ringing from her caterwaul, “Wonderful job, top-notch, really.”

Instead of returning to her work, Erica rests her chin upon her hand and glances up at Hopper, “I heard it’s broken.”

He scoffs, “You heard wrong, Shortstop. It’s not broken, it’s a mild sprain. He’ll be back later today.”

Erica processes the new information. “What caused the accident?”

Hopper shoves the papers under his arm, “What are you, State Farm?” He crosses her desk admonishing, “Go, do a job, would ya?” He waits until clearing her desk completely before rapping his knuckles against the surface and mumbling, “He was swerving to avoid a pothole.”

Robin Buckley steps into Hop’s office first, balancing a binder precariously in the crook of her elbow trying to dodge the numerous people flitting in and out of the room. She spies Hopper rounding the corner of his desk and beelines for him.

“Is there anything other I can say than the President skated himself into a tree?” Her tone is resigned with the hint of a whine because only something this ridiculous would happen after she’s finally gotten the Press Corps to somewhat respect her.

“He hopes to never do it again,” Hop supplies, kicking his feet up on his desk and sending a stack of papers careening to the floor.

“Seriously Hop, they’re laughing pretty hard.”

“He skated into a tree Rob, whaddya want me— ‘The President while roller skating on his vacation in California came to a sudden arboreal stop.’ The fuck you want from me?”

Robin scoffs and jots down a few notes, “A little compassion would do a world of good Chief.”

Steve joins her soon after, prompting Hop’s attention as he scribbles furiously at his crossword.

“Harrington, what’s the word on the migrants?”

He shrugs nonchalantly, “The intel you got from the deputy is the same as mine. 1,200 migrants embarked from a fishing village in Cuba 30 miles south of Havana.”

One of the aides pipes up, “Where are they headed?”

Eddie settles into a worn club chair and tosses a dossier on the floor, “Vegas, duh.”

“Miami,” You correct kicking the door closed behind you. “Though the navigational equipment is severely lacking.” Typing out a message on your phone, you press send and pocket it. “Y’know if one of these guys could throw a split-fingered fastball—”

“Kid,” Hop warns.

“We’d send in the U.S.S. Eisenhower,” You continue, voice brokering no argument.

“Okay," Robin allows, "That’s not entirely true.”

“For fuck’s sake, forget about the journey,” Eddie grouses from his seat, “The voyage is not our problem.”

Robin turns, craning her neck to look back at him. “Then what’s our problem genius?”

He leans forward, elbows resting on his knees, and beleagueredly rubs at his eyes. “Our problem is what we do when the Nina, the Pinta, and the Get Me the Hell Outta Here hit the port of Miami.”

“Harrington,” Hop prompts, not glancing up from his paper.

The Communications Director straightens up. “Can’t send ‘em back. They’d go to jail at best and at worst—”

“We’ll get spanked in what?” Hop hypothesizes, “Three districts? Dade county—”

“Kiss those seats goodbye,” Eddie agrees. “Texas—”

“Eh, I wouldn’t worry about Texas right now," Robin advises.

“Not to mention that it’s wrong? Like, morally wrong?” You say to no one, since they’re all seemingly ignoring your very valid and correct talking points.

“Harrington, keep the Kid in the loop on this throughout the day.”

“And normally, I’d be happy to,” Steve attempts to needle his way out of it, “But my day’s a little tight and isn’t this more of a military area?”

Hop drops his pen and heaves a sigh. Eddie looks at him like he’s spouted two more heads. Robin barks a laugh and then coughs to cover it up.

“I’m sorry,” You begin, with one of those smiles that tells Steve you’re about to eviscerate him publically and ruin his day. “Do you think the United States is under attack from 1,200 migrants in row boats?”

“I’m not saying I don’t like our chances,” He hedges.

Eddie scoffs, “Mind boggling to me that we ever won an election.”

“Who’s getting trigger-happy— Conroy?”

“Yeah, wants to send in the National Guard.”

Which prompts a bit of cross-talking. First from you, who says, “He shouldn’t.” Then from Steve with a “He’s right.” And lastly from Robin: “It’d create a panic situation.”

Eddie chuckles to himself, “I agree with the Kid, Steve, and Robin. And you know how that makes me crazy Chief?”

“Yeah, yeah, I do.” Hop says shuffling some papers around on his desk.

“They’re running for their lives. You don’t fuckin’ start a game of red rover with Cuba, and you don’t send in the National Guard.” He eyes you, and can hear you thinking from across the room.

“Right.” You nod, “Because you send in food and doctors.”

Steve has inched his way closer to the door by this point, he’d much rather be dealing with the new aides in the Communications office than spend another minute being delegated responsibilities for the day.

“Harrington,” You call out, “See that I.N.S. works with the Red Cross and Centers for Disease Control.”

“Sure.” He sighs, “Lemme get my C.D.C. guy on the phone.”

“Jesus!” Hop drawls, “Go— talk to him!”

“Uh, yep.” He unearths his phone, “Calling him now.” Steps out of the office and makes his escape just as Hop sighs.

“Okay, now let’s talk about you and your dressing down of the Christian right on public prime-time television, Kid.”

[female-malice]

Read this thread about cult social relationships by Matthew Remski:

When you deconstruct harmful ideas and beliefs—from antivax positions to reactionary social views—you will inevitably be seen and felt as attacking the relationships that people form through those views. That’s a big problem in a lonely world, and there will be blowback. 

In anti-cult theory and journalism, this alienation is usually seen as unavoidable. The idea is that the relationships within a toxic group are transactional, unfulfilling, and fragile. The gamble is that the person will wake up into wholesome relationships outside of the group.

That may work out. Or, the person will crawl out of a mid-level engagement with NXIVM and find themselves in late stage capitalism looking for gig work, missing the friends they had on the inside, and the sense of shared purpose.

This analysis can scale up: It’s been helpful for some to look at QAnon, the Trucker Convoy, and antimask protestors through a cult studies lens. All the boxes get ticked: information silos, emotional manipulation, charismatic leaders and their failed prophecies. But there is never a single explanation and the activities within these groups are diverse. It was dangerous for antivax parents to open mask-free homeschool spaces when the schools had to shut down. But the reason for the school was the outer layer on what it felt like to be in the school, or teach in it.

In researching an antivax parenting group on IG, I saw they posted about their parties and playdates in politicized language. They were also parenting at the time, doing all the things that parents do. Shooting criticism into that space will feel like an intimate attack.

There was a lot of disgust at the Convoy crowd for partying on Parliament Hill. But pissing on snow while rave music throbs can signify bonds that may outlast any incoherent ideology. Which is why the same group will cycle through different ideas. The ideas may be fragile.

The most dangerous bonds are locked in with fascist hatred and must be resisted. But most participants are not leaders, and not monetized. Many of the yoga and wellness people I interviewed had no idea how toxic the views of the leaders were. But they did feel they had friends. 

These groups are diagonalist, distrusting all power structures, including (maybe most of all) an interpretive power structure that would discredit their views without knowing or valuing their relationships. 

The truckers hated Trudeau’s position on vaccines and fossil fuels, but they may have hated more what they saw as his smug privilege and mastery of national hypocrisies. He stands outside and above their society and friend circles, like Clinton using the word “deplorable.”

There’s an amazing passage in Naomi Klein's Doppelganger where she basically asks Why should we be shocked that after decades of neoliberal cruelty and individualism, people will say Fuck you to the “elites” who are suddenly asking them to act like we’re a society after all?

I think this problem scales further, with different political valances, up to broader critiques of religion from rationalists/skeptics, where the target is low-hanging fruit: crazy shit people believe. The collateral damage is usually a neglect of social desires and needs. 

Currently there’s this question floating around about how so many former members of rationalist and skeptic movements, and IDW influencers, slid rightward and conspiratorial in their politics. Many answers there, including: “They might have always been like that.” But one answer is that when Hitchens guts Mother Teresa like a fish, there’s schadenfreude, but no more clarity around the diverse reasons for what people experienced when they gathered around her. The charismatic religious is taken down by the charismatic debunker.

And what is left over, aside from lonely smug men? Are people forming real communities of solidarity and resilience through Sam Harris’s meditation app, or in Bill Maher’s garage? Is there a single pro-community initiative that has emerged from this commentariat?

If not, could this be because they never really took an interest in the day-to-day lives or shared needs of the people whose ideas and beliefs they preferred to snigger at?

I’m not debunking all debunking here because we’re all doing what we can. But I am advocating for a more social and anthropological approach, an approach that offers more than “follow the science” or “develop critical thinking,” or anything else that implies stupidity among people who need friends and meaningful work. We all guffawed when Ron Watkins, pretty much caught out as Q, gave up on the LARP by saying “Maybe QAnon was all about the friends we made on the way.” It was a POS statement for a POS dude to make.

But he wasn't all wrong. That’s the thing about grifters. They exploit a social vacuum progressives often think they can fill with irony. They wrap their followers in flags or ideas, but in that huddle there are real connections that have to be understood and not dismissed.

–

This is very relevant when dealing with cults on all sides of the political spectrum.

Most young people are wrapped in colorful flags and anti-scientific homophobic ideas pushed by big industries. But they also find community through those flags and ideas. No young person wants to be outcast by their peers.

And then there's the people who deny climate science and oppose catastrophe mitigation policies. These people also find a powerful form of community. They are uniting through a shared relationship to the land. The relationship they all share with the land is toxic and misinformed. But uniting over your shared perspective and feelings about land is powerful. Human-land relationships are neglected by modern neoliberal society. But solastalgia is now causing everyone to reach desperately for that human-land connection. And we're all coming up with different perspectives on land and forming social groups around those perspectives.

[thebookofcommonprayer]

i'm answering this from my main; thank you for asking! here's my tweet for a little further context for everyone else:

essentially what i have going is that rusty and the boys live in death and decay in a miserable ramshackle apartment building in a bad part of denver (probably five points or capitol hill, i'm not sure yet, i'll have to do more research). rusty used to be the child star of the action/adventure show that his daddy produced and when he turned eighteen, hollywood realized that he's a terrible actor and jonas realized this too. he focused his attention entirely on funding jj's career, who became very successful for his science shows on documentary channels. jonas dies and rusty gets very little from his will. he uses this to very, very briefly live large and he tries desperately to make money by starring in terribly, critically-panned indie movies. he gets nowhere aside from briefly falling in love with one of his costars, knocking her up, and not trying that hard to make it work with her for the next several months. feeling miserable and confused and trapped, she leaves and abandons her twin infants with rusty.

so throughout the years rusty drags his kids from bad to worse places, getting constantly fired from wageslave jobs in fits of pill-addled hysteria or drunkenness. the boys are pulled in and out of school until they're around eleven or twelve and then they never go again. rusty continues to build up tolerances to prescription drugs and finally decides that things can't really get that much worse in his life and he maybe-sorta-kinda decides to try heroin via the ambiguously gay albino and little person duo that lives on another floor. and things obviously immediately get worse.

rusty's concepts of morality and shame and guilt are endlessly twisted past the point of no return after suffering so tremendously during his career and beyond that and even though he gets a little bit of welfare every month, it's not nearly enough to fund his drug habits and also pay his meager rent and also keep his children fed, and they're clearly never going to be able to go to college or amount to anything at all, so rusty starts to force dean into secondhand dresses and heels and stolen makeup and he sends him out into the streets with hank acting as his pimp (he's got more business sensibilities anyway and he knows how to handle money and sell a product). they both try very hard to make money for daddy even though this is really, really scary and weird and it feels so awful. they'll crawl back to the apartment at dawn and hand the money over and they always pray to a god who won't listen that it's enough.

over time, hank starts to pocket some of it so he can use it during the nights that he sneaks out. dean doesn't like it and he doesn't go with him, but he begrudgingly promises not to tell. if he's not trying to make awkward, insane conversation with the 24-hour convenience store cashier (21) a block away, hank will go see the gruff, ruggedly handsome former soldier a few rooms down from theirs who's been hiding out and doing spy work over the past six months. extremely sympathetic to the situation (despite not ever really letting it show), brock will let hank stick around and vent and complain and cry while cleaning weapons or doing paperwork. hank is absolutely crazy about him and whispers stories about him to dean when they're curled up in bed together, huddled on a twin mattress across the room from their father.

i have this idea that malcolm was also a former child star whose accomplishments were constantly overshadowed in comparison to rusty, who was always thought to be his much cuter, pluckier twin on screen. malcolm and sheila are a deeply codependent couple that also live in the crackhouse and they're trying desperately to scrape their way out of poverty and they've kidnapped the boys a few times for ransom, because they're really the only kids they've ever seen in the entire complex and they're very kidnappable. obviously, this never works and they're always quickly let go. malcolm is constantly overcome with rage that rusty pissed away all his money even after getting all the fame and glory over him and never being grateful for it.

there's a lot more to this whole thing knocking around in my head but this is all i have rn ... i'm thinking about it. i'm thinking about it hard

[brightlotusmoon]

Part of me feels like I was truly transformed during the Anita Hill hearings when I was twelve, having seen myself in X-Men and Ninja Turtles and anything not mainstream. That was the year of Riot Grrl. No wonder. Just the year before was The Capitol Crawl.

[moon-ursidae]

SESSION #4… & #5 (this one is SUPER LONG i’m sorry haha)

as always, SPOILERS for BOTH of the last of us games are below!

i feel like i have barely made a fuckin dent in this game haha so my goal today is to really get some ground. i want to finish this before i go back to school next week.

total play time:

session 4: about 5 hours

session 5: around 7 hours

i left off in a really weird spot last time bc i ended pretty abruptly so idk where it’ll put me

but this section is called Capitol Hill

it started me back a few minutes but that’s alright!

goddamnit i knew it was too quiet. there was too much short grass around here i knew some wlfs were gonna fuckin show up

NOOOOO the halloween stuff is probably reminding ellie of riley :(

i think that’s the same frankenstein statue/figure from the mall as well?

damn.

i have a feeling this place is gonna be CRAWLING with wlfs. i literally hear them already

FUCK as soon as i used the workbench

wlfs AND infected??? jfc

i at least found a card tho

THERE’S A WHOLE STEALTH UPGRADE BRANCH????

my rogue heart is so happy

I WAS WONDERING WHEN I COULD MAKE SILENCERS FUUUUUCK YEA

there’s a bunch of pride stuff around! fuck yea!

LMAO DINA “what’s with all the rainbows?”

FUCK YEA BOOKSTORE

SORORITY SECRETS💀 “it’s us right?” LMAOOOOO

that’s so fucking funny

there’s a trans flag in here too!! FUCK YEA

lmao dina getting distracted by the gay smut

OH MY GOD THE WLF ARE FUCKING EVERYWHERE

i fucking love silencers holy shit fuck yea

this area is HUGE holy shit

anutha card babyyyyyy

what if i don’t want to go to the tv station huh? what then?

dude i gotta try ellie’s half up half down hair style. i love it so much

it’s also crazy how this is still DAY ONE for them

ellie saying how she couldn’t do this without dina and dina telling ellie she wouldn’t have let her😭😭😭😭😭😭

oh shit explosive trap

anutha card babyyyyyy

“i like you.” “i want it in writing.” I LOVE ELLIE AND DINA

oh my god ellie’s talking about bill

i wonder what the fucker’s up to rn

ellieeeeeeeeeeeee don’t say that shit

“you have a bigger burden that puts you in a worse position” ELLIE NOOOO

“feel her love?” are we entering scar territory? oh fuck

TOMMY’S HORSE OH SHIT

oh no dina

ellie, dina’s pregs dude. be patient with herrrrrrrr

she sounded annoyed with her when she asked if she was good to keep going. and it doesn’t help that ellie just said that shit about other people being a burden. ELLLIIIEEEEEE

had to break for like 20 min due to some internet issues

well what was 20 min turned into like more than 7 hours HAHA

and what turned into 7 hours turned into 2 days…

so i’m just gonna mash the two sessions into one post bc it’s easier and i can sooo LMAO

i’m sorry ya’ll shit has been wack and the anxiety is in full force haha ANYWAY

SESSION #5 BEGINS HERE!!

idk where it’s gonna put me bc i ended pretty abruptly (again.)

also i think my first tattoo is gonna be the moth on the guitar and on ellie’s tattoo? i’ve been thinking about it for over a year😯

OKAY it started me a little bit after finding tommy’s horse

i already have shitty eyes i CANNOT see these traps in the tall grass dude

i have a feeling i’m gonna get jumpscared in this fuckin furniture store

ANUTHA CARD BABYYYY

I WAS RIGHT WHAT THE FUCK

THEY CRAWL NOW???????

damn i opened this safe just to be able to grab NOTHING i am fully stocked on everything

… i spoke too soon

going back for the med kit bc i tripped a fucking bomb…

more of the “feel her love” art

radio station WOOOOO

she really did learn so fucking much about surviving from joel holy fuck

bc if she only grew up in a community and didn’t go across the country w joel i don’t know if she would have the knowledge that she does

oh shiiiit there are some dead ppl upon this balcony

i don’t think this was tommy tho

nope! there’s an arrow in this person

i also like how they subtly tell you who killed them with the arrow. there have been no wlfs with bows anywhere. they all have firearms. tommy is always seen with a rifle of some kind but never a bow. so there’s a lot of process of elimination that can be done just from this alone. i fuckin love little details like that.

so it was scars. the “feel her love” graffiti and the wlf patrols frim earlier mentioned them. i love how this group is being introduced slowly. it really builds them up and tells you what you need to know about them before you encouter them.

i already know about the scar group so i have some insight, but the way they slowly add them into the mix is cool

hopefully i get a bow soon

onward to the inside!

ohhhhhhh fuck.

i don’t care who you are, no one deserves to be hung like that. that’s horrible.

damn i can’t even cut them down. fuck, man.

and those are wlf, so it was the scars

the scar symbol in blood? jesus christ.

and i know there’s gonna be combat here bc i see that clip on tiktok all the time of this encounter

the music is stressing me the fuck OUT

found another card tho

kimimela is fucking DOPE

although this does seem like a really comfy place to set up, it’s too big to defend dude

clearly that was their downfall bc jesus christ it is a massacre in here

i’ve only seen dead wlfs. no scars.

oh shit it’s leah

ellie’s hands are shaking :(

oh fuck there’s polaroids of all of them

OH SHIT THERE’S A PICTURE OF ABBY

god the way that she stares at the picture :(

and the music AHHHH :(

the way that dina recenters her by saying “3 down, right?”

god i love them

dina pointing out how fucked it would be to interrogate leah like tommy did to the one guy, but ellie is so persistent that she doesn’t feel it’s wrong GOOODDDDDD DUDE MY HEART

RUNNING RUNNING RUNNING FOR MY LIFE

ohhhhhh fuck we’re underground. i know what’s about to fuckin go down. and i want NONE of it bro

fuckin theatre WHEN?

this subway shit REALLY feels like the last of us

the lighting from the flares is fuckin SICK

oh shit i’m just gonna make them fight clickers and just wait it out this is great

this is some benny hill shit with the way they’re running in circles w clickers chasing them

the atmosphere is fuckin horrifying

i hate the bloater sounds that i’m hearin

it just feels musty down here dude i’m sweating

GODDAMNIT i know i missed a whole fuckin section to search back there and i can’t get back now. FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK

god fuckin damnit bro SHIT

THERE WAS PROBABLY SO MUCH STUFF BACK THERE I THOUGHT I SEARCHED EVERYTHINGUUUHHHH

THERE WAS PROBABLY A GODDAMN CARD BACK THERE

I’M SO PISSED AT MYSELF RN

the lighting and sound design down here is fucking CRAZY

the distant screams and infected sounds are helping to create a really tense environment

shambler?! what the fuckin fuck is that??

nope

nopenopenopenopenopenopenope

fuck that. i’ll see you guys later!

“holy fuck” is absolutely right ellie

i just dropped down. i want back up. fuck this dude. i don’t fuckin want it

fuck right off

thank fuck for trap mines. oh my god.

that cart holding open the door collapsing is a really smart way to close off the area

i want out of these tunnels bro

tbh scavenging is one of my favorite parts of the game. it’s so satisfying.

oh shit! there’s a carving of the scar woman in the graffiti. this shit is HELLA cultish bro

hmmmm this newspaper clipping about a community in the suburbs surviving seems like her origin story, whoever the fuck she is

“the community members unanimously credited their survival to one woman…” unanimously being the key word there

“she had a vision of catastrophe… ‘divine retribution’” yuuuup sure sounds cult-y to me

CARD ACQUIRED

“how’d you do that?” “magic.” “you’re my favorite.” THEY are my favorite your honor🥹

THERE’S A FUCKIN HAWAIIAN SHIRT IN HERE ELLIE TAKE IT

naughty dog yellow babyyyyyyy over the rail down below

oh fuck more bitches

again, thank god for trap mines

DAYLIGHT! THANK GOD!

but i know there’s more to come

ANUTHA CARD

bastet is really fuckin cool

i’m waiting for this train to fucking COLLAPSE dude

i feel so bad for dina

she’s leaning up against the train with hands on her knees :(

THERE IT IS

TRAIN COLLAPSE

ohhhh fuck i heard hella infected i’m gonna have to DIP

the way dina was so ready to go down with ellie too

she instantly offered to share masks

and the way she YELLS at ellie when she takes her mask off

GOOOODDDDDDDDDDD this is so fucked

OH SHIT TIME TO RUN

I ALMOST FUCKED THAT UP BUT I MADE IT

OH SHIT DINA

THEATRE!!!! MY BELOVED FINALLY!!!

there is a CONVERSATION that is gonna happen that needs to dude

the way dina looks at her arm AHHHHH

omg i do that same shit ellie’s doing w her hands during confrontation

her having to correct “know” to “knew” bc of joel🥲

oh fuuuuck dude i know i’m not gonna like ellie’s reaction to dina’s pregnancy

dina trying to break the tension w the “don’t worry it’s not yours” 🥺

ELLIE DON’T “are you fucking kidding me?”

I GET THIS IS STRESSFUL BUT DAMN

COMPASSION MAYBE?

ohhhhhhhhh shit a few weeks ago? shit dude.

i agree that it would’ve been good for dina to stay in jackson BUT that can’t change rn. ya’ll are in the fucking pnw

“well you’re a burden now, aren’t you?”

😐

🤦🏻‍♀️

ELLIE.

DINA’S FACE :(

FUCK DUDE

go fuckin walk it off ellie goddamn i love you and everything but ur bein dumb rn

and if joel did the same shit (which i’m sure he would have during the first game) i’d be mad at him too

DINA CURLED UP FACED AWAY FROM ELLIE :(

APOLOGIZE ELLIE.

seeing dina look so small from the balcony UUUGH

i feel like i’m gonna get jumpscared pt.716282

ANUTHA CARD

okay beyond is fucking dope i think she’s my favorite card so far

where’s the props table bc i’m gonna touch it and all the props that aren’t mine LMAO

the guy that was here before is definitely still here

and fuckin fried on the roof…

sorry bro

i feel like there’s gonna be at least one or two in the auditorium tho

THE LIGHTING IS SO FUCKING GOOD OH MY GOOOODDDDDDDDD

“joel. you’d love watching a movie in this place.”😭😭😭

WAIT I NEVER CHECKED MY JOURNAL

hold up journal break

her shambler drawings are fuckin cool

jesus i’m getting pit orchestra flashbacks from this auditorium

THE SICK HABIT PLAYED HERE!!!

AND ELLIE GETS THE SET LIST!!!

only $25 for a concert?????

A GUITAR🥲

holy shit this guitar is pretty

FUTURE DAYYYSSSSSSSS😭😭😭

fuck dude i’m crying

cut to black???

OH FUCK IT’S THE FLASHBACK

NO I’M GONNA SOOOOOBBBBBBB

I’M ALREADY A MESS

once i hear his voice i’m gonna lose it.

3 years earlier😭

losing it.

FUUUUCK THERE HE IIIIIISSSSSSSS😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I CAN SEE THE FUCKING CASETTE TAPE IN HIS TSHIRT POCKET

just seeing him standing here is making me fucking cry.

“oops.” AND HIM LAUGHING AHHHHHHH🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

“push the water with your whole arm blah blah blah” “glad to know i’m gettin through” THEY’RE SO FATHER AND DAUGHTER AND I’M GONNA LOSE MY MIND

i’m wondering if it was a choice to have joel not have any close ups during these cinematics

“i am very angry and upset.” I’M LABSLSBSKWVDKSVSOSB

I MISS HIM SO FUCKING MUCH

“you need to stop lettin people rile you up” IT APPLIES TO ELLIE CURRENTLY TOO DUDE AHHHHHH

WHEN HE’S BEEN LEADING THE WAY THE WHOLE TIME BUT THEN LET ELLIE GO FIRST THROUGH THE WOODS BEFORE THE DINOSAUR😭😭😭😭😭😭

“that’s a big boy” 🥹🥹

I’M FUCKING CRYING SO MUCH DUDE

oh i’m R E A D I N G this journal bitch

CAT MENTION!!!

omg the little 3d shape sketches w shadows and the diamond thing LMAO that shit is all over my fucking school notes

THE DRAWING OF TOMMY AND JOEL IN THEIR FUCKING COWBOY HATS😭😭

HIS CONCERN WHEN SHE WAS CLIMBING UP THE TREX😭😭

“don’t jump. CLIMB down.”

*immediately jumps*

the “HEY! HEY!” WHEN SHE JUMPED DOWN😭😭

“did you see that?” “yea i saw that” IN THE MOST EXASPERATED PARENTAL TONE UUUGGGHHHH

THE PAMPHLET THAT WAS IN HIS HOUSE😭😭

HE LOOKS SO PROUD STANDING THERE

THE WAY HE LOOKS AT HER PLEEEAAASSSEEEEEEEEEE

HE’S SUCH A DAD OH MY GOD

THE HAT!!

HAHAHAHA I LOVE HER

i know ashley said that “actually” in a kinda jokey nerd “um actually” voice on purpose💀

“pretty sure those are velociraptors.”

JOEL SAW JURASSIC PARK WOOOO

“sorry all the dinosaurs are busy right now.” “what are you doin?” “oh wait. one of the dinosaurs is here. joel, it’s for you.” “very funny.”

I L O V E T H E M

she really had to dig the knife deeper huh? LMAO “get it? because you’re old.”

“there was a sequel. wasn’t as good.” LMAOOOOOOOOO true

THE HAT ON DINOSAURS SAGA BEGINS

“is this gonna be a thing? please don’t let it be a thing.” OH IT’S A THING JOEL.

“triceratops. at least there’s one i recognize.” I LOVE JOEL.

THEM POKING FUN AT EACH OTHER

“this one’s brain was the size of a walnut.” “looks like you two have somethin in common” PLEAAASSSEEE

i’m gonna start crying more bc this is how me and my dad are i swear to fucking god

“tell ya what.. when we get back to jackson, movie night.” 😭😭😭😭

SHE PUT THE HAT ON HIS HEAD😭

THE GRUMBLE IN PROTEST HAHAHA

TROPHY BABY

A FUCKIN CARD????

“sarah was into those for a little while. or was it the tiny creatures? i forget.” KAHSKSHSKSVWKSBSKSBSKSHAKV

THE FACES IN THE MIRROR WHILE JOEL HITS THE DAD LEANING ON DOORWAY STANCE PLLLEEEEAAASSSSEEEEE

naughty dog said “LOOK AT HOW GOOD OUR FACIAL ANIMATION IS. L O O K. FEAST UPON IT WITH YOUR EYES”

“look how thick this one’s skull is!” “kinda looks like…tommy” “i’m telling him you said that.” “please don’t. catch it in the right light, boom. tommy.” I’M- 😭

“i happen to know a thing or two.” “from a movie.” “keep goin.” ASJSHAKSBSKSB HAHAHAHAHA

H A T LOCATED

now they both have hats🥹

“did you go to museums a lot?” “yea. sarah loved em. i swear that girl dragged me to every museum in texas.” JOEL PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

“looks like a giraffe” BC SHE’S ACTUALLY SEEN THEM IN SALT LAKE CITY😭😭😭😭

JOEL PUT THE HAT ON IIIIIIITTTTTTTTT😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

“i see the appeal.” IN THE SOFTEST VOICE EVER😭😭😭😭😭😭

i’m suing naughty dog for emotional damage

side note: the way the light spills in from the ceiling????? GORGEOUS

oh fuck it’s the space exhibit

i love that joel could have easily gone over the fucking cabinet next to the turnstyle but he didn’t to amuse ellie😭

“did you know this was here?!” “you don’t like it. we can head back.” “shut up!” WHILE SCRATCHING THE BACK OF HIS HEAD BC HE WAS WORRIED?? I’M GONNA-

“joel, can you name all the planets?” THE WAY HE CHUCKLED LIKE HE WAS ABOUT TO DROP THE BIGGEST FUCKIN MINDBLOWING INFO HAHAHAAAA

“my very educated mother just served us nice pizzas.” “uhhh… did you just have a stroke?”💀💀💀💀💀

“daggum girl, you are smart.” 😭😭

GOING THROUGH THIS AND KNOWING THAT HE HAD THE FUCKING SPACE FOR DUMMIES BOOK ON HIS BEDSIDE TABLE IN JACKSON MAKES ME FUCKIN- KAHSKSHSKSVSKSVS

“tell me another fun fact.” AGAIN IN THE SOFTEST VOICE LIKE HE’S GENUINELY HAPPY HERE

“why don’t you tell me what you like about it.”😭😭

“all right, kiddo. now i get it.” AGAIN. SOFTEST VOICE. 😭😭😭😭

TROY BAKER WHAT THE FUCK

hitting ANOTHER dad stance at the fucking rover

i don’t wanna go in the shuttle bc i know i’m gonna be even MORE of a mess and that this is gonna end. and i don’t want it to bc i fucking MISS joel

the way he immediately jumps in to help her open the door on the lil shuttle🥹

here come the tears

“happy birthday kiddo.” i’m gone.

THE WAY HE LOOKS AT HERRRRRR

HE CARES ABOUT HER SO FUCKING MUCH.

i fucking love how it looks like she’s actually in a shuttle to show how immersed she is🥺😭😭😭

and then it slowly fades back in GODDAMN NAUGHTY DOG

“i do okay?” JOOOOEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLL

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

THE WAY HE SMILES AFTER SHE SAYS “are you fucking kidding me?” 😭😭😭😭😭😭

THE PIN ON HER FUCKING BAG FUCK OFF 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

“whose birthday is it?” “you can’t keep doin that!” HAHAHAHA

“i want a good splash!” i love them so fucking much. oh my god.

YYYEEESSSSSSS. it isn’t a joel and ellie adventure without ye olde boost

“okay, be safe!” “you be safe!” have i said that i love them?

there’s gonna be infected in here right? has to be.

there’s an “i killed for them” written on the wall.. not creepy at all..

ANUTHA CARD WOOOO

okay jk saura is my favorite card now

“this guy needed a hug” about the i killed for them on the wall💀

“the 4 soldiers at the gate. the last one cried.” this is fuckin creepy dude

I DON’T LIKE THIS WITHOUT JOEL HERE

she has her gun out and said “oh shit” but i don’t see anything??? I’M SCARED

“the women were tortured. choked on her own blood.” this is fucking CREEPY DUDE WHERE IS JOEL

“the stragglers that snuck into camp. they just wanted food.” have i mentioned that i don’t like this?

FUCK the crashes scared me dude

“the kid who ran into the blast. i couldn’t stop him.” dude why the fuck are you plastering this shit on a museum wall

“the people in the van. we locked them in and doused it with gas.” jesus fucking christ dude.

“there is no light.” ohhhhhhhhhh were they looking for the fireflies then?

jesus fucking christ this is sad and fucked up

what a cool birthday ellie good god

THOSE WOLVES SCARED THE SHIT OUTTA ME DUDE

okay i had no fucking idea there was more to this flashback after the space shuttle like i thought it ended there so i have no fucking clue what’s next

A FUCKING BOAR???? WHAT THE FUCK???

“liars.” ohhhhhhhhhh fuck. it’s definitely the fireflies.

JOEL!! damn he looks good. SORRY

yeaaaaa there’s the logo fuck bro

AND THE WAY ELLIE TOUCHES HER SCAR AKSHAKSBSKSBKWB ASHLEY JOHNSONNNNNNNNN

THE M U S I C

and how it stays on that shot??? beautiful.

SEATTLE DAY 2 BITCHESSSSSS

YESSSSS THE ICONIC BUTTON UP OUTFIT YYYEEEEAAAAAAAA

LEMME SEE THAT TATTOO ELLIE

i’m gonna practice guitar tho

DAMN playing this is harder than actual guitar

JOURNAL check-in! how we feelin ells?

oofta. expected this though.

“i shouldn’t have said that to her.” THEN TELL HER THAT

i like that her writing reflects how her brain is going 100 miles a minute

i feel like dina’s doing all this tracking even though she feels like shit bc ellie said what she fuckin said :(

have i mentioned that i FUCKING LOVE dina? bc i very much do.

oh fuuuuuuuck it’s tommy

oh fuck HILLCREST? fuuuuuuck

i feel like dina should stay

yeaaaaaa she’s not lookin good dude

YESSSSS THE BRACELET

“i don’t believe in luck.” “i do.” I LOVE THHHHEEEEEEEEEMMMMMMMMM

a lil smooch goodbye 🥺

I START IN HILLCREST?????

FUCK.

i think i’m gonna stop here actually? this post is already super fucking long bc i’m dumb and decided to combine session posts lmao

ANYWAY i will pick back up at hillcrest… tomorrow!

this was a longer session and i feel like i got through a decent chunk today so WOOOOOOOO

[absurdthirst]

Anniversary Pancakes {Marcus Pike x GN!Reader}

Rating: Everyone

Warnings: Pure tooth-rotting fluff, love and sweetness.

Writer Wednesday 8/25/21 @autumnleaves1991-blog​ @clydesducktape​

Things with Marcus seemed to move at a whirlwind. Not that you minded. The FBI agent was sweet, charming and thoughtful in a way that you had forgotten possible in men. He listens to your day, not just an uninterested nod and a grunt while he waited for you to finish so he could talk about himself, but really listened. His thumb rubbing circles on the back of your hand while he stared into your eyes. Wether it is over a romantic dinner in a restaurant or sitting at the small kitchen table in his apartment, Marcus is fully in the moment and makes you feel like you are seen. 

Last night had honestly been the first night he had to break a date with you in the several months since you had bumped into each other at the Washington Mall. He had been about to have lunch, wanting to absorb some of the sunshine and the touristy atmosphere while families and school children took tours and generally milled about. You had been there for lunch yourself, needing a break from your job that didn’t include the three walls of your cubicle and Bob from sales cooking God only knows what in the break room microwave. 

It had been your fault. You had started reading a book while you were waiting at one of your favorite food trucks, just one street over from the Mall. Engrossed in it’s pages, you had stepped into his path and collided with him. Several profuse apologies later, your book had been put back in your purse, your offer of lunch to replace the one you had knocked to the ground accepted, and your meet cute had ended with a dinner date later that night. 

You aren’t upset to have the date cancelled, you knew that it would happen eventually. He had an important job and cases were sometimes needing to be worked beyond the 9-5 of Capitol Hill. He had given you a call as soon as he found out and told you that if you wanted he would come crawl into the bed with you whenever he finished. 

Keys had been exchanged about a month ago. It was after a few weeks of playing musical apartments and you being twenty minutes later than anticipated due to a traffic accident making you find Marcus cooling his heels on the stairwell in front of your apartment. So the idea of him slipping into bed with you at some point and time during the night sounded perfect to you, especially since the next day is Saturday. 

Except, you didn’t wake up beside him. you wake up with him bringing you breakfast in bed. Bleary eyed before your eyes widen at the tray being brought in, you shuffle to where you are sitting up. 

He’s bringing you pancakes. A plate full of silver dollar pancakes that have birthday candles stuck in them and lit, making the tray glow bright. There are two coffee cups on the tray as well and that makes you love him even more, even if those words have not yet been said out loud. 

“What’s all this?” You sit up even more and stretch slightly as he moves around the bed and set the tray over your legs. His grin is playful, leaning in and pressing his lips against yours.

“Anniversary pancakes.” He murmurs before he pulls away to skirt the edge of the bed so he can climb back in beside you, moving over so that he pressed against you while you try to understand what anniversary pancakes are. 

“It’s been six months since we met.” Oh, oh. The saccharine sweet intentions are so nice it literally makes your teeth hurt. “I just - I wanted to do something to highlight it.” Marcus gives a one shouldered shrug and flushes slightly, his grin as giddy as you were feeling. 

“Six months.” You hadn’t realized it had been that long, feeling like you had both known him forever and just met him. It was because the relationship never seemed to wane from that heart racing reaction every time you say his name pop up on your phone and or saw him. 

“It’s been a great six months.” Marcus tells you and you nod eagerly in agreement. 

“It has, baby.” You lean over and kiss him again. You nod towards the candles, the wax starting to drip down. “Help me blow these out.” 

Together you both lean in and blow out the candles on the pancakes, your giggle catch and soon both of you are laughing quietly. You cup his jaw and your thumb strokes the patchy beard you had told him you liked on him after he had shaved for your first date. “Here’s to the next six wonderful months.” You whisper, making him grin happily as you lean back for one more kiss. 

You decide right then that the big events in your life with Marcus, especially the happiest ones, were all going to have anniversary pancakes in the morning. 

[robertreich]

How Big Money Corrupts Our Politics (And How to Fix It)

Corporate money is dominating our democracy. It's difficult to do anything – increase the minimum wage, reverse climate change, get Medicare for All, end police killings, fight systemic racism, shrink our bloated military – when big money controls our politics and dictates what policies are and aren't enacted. The pandemic has made that clearer than ever. The CARES Act, passed in late March as our pandemic response began, quietly provided huge benefits to wealthy Americans and big corporations. One provision doled out $135 billion in tax relief to people making at least half a million dollars, the richest 1% of American taxpayers. 

This $135 billion is three times more than the measly $42 billion allocated in the CARES Act for safety-net programs like food and housing aid. It’s just shy of the $150 billion going to struggling state governments, and vastly more than the $100 billion being spent on overwhelmed hospitals and other crucial public health services. As Americans are still suffering massive unemployment and the ravages of the pandemic, lobbyists are crawling all over Capitol Hill and the White House is seeking continued subsidies for the rich and for corporations — while demanding an end to supplemental assistance for average working people, the poor, and the unemployed. It’s corruption in action, friends. And it’s undermining our democracy at every turn. Ask yourself how, during a global pandemic, the total net worth of U.S. billionaires has climbed from $2.9 trillion to $3.5 trillion, when more than 45.5 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. Is it their skill? Their luck? Their insight? No. It’s their monopolies, enabled by their stranglehold on American democracy… monopolies like Amazon, Google, and Facebook, which have grown even larger during the pandemic. It’s also their access to insider information so they can do well in the stock market, like Senator Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, and Senator Kelly Loeffler, whose husband happens to be chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. Both were fully briefed on the likely effects of the coronavirus last February and promptly unloaded their shares of stock in companies that would be hit hardest. And it’s the tax cuts and subsidies they’ve squeezed out of government. You are paying for all of this — not just as taxpayers but as consumers. When you follow the money, you can see clearly how every aspect of American life has been corrupted. Take prescription drugs. We spend tens of billions of dollars on prescriptions every year, far more per person than citizens in any other developed country. Now that millions of Americans are unemployed and without insurance, they need affordable prescription drugs more than ever. Yet even the prices of drugs needed by coronavirus patients are skyrocketing. Big Pharma giant Gilead is charging a whopping $3,120 for its COVID drug, Remdesivir, even though the drug was developed with a $70,000,000 grant from the federal government paid for by American taxpayers. Once again, Big Pharma is set to profit on the people's dime. And they get away with it because our lawmakers depend on their campaign donations to remain in power. As you watch this, Mitch McConnell is actively blocking a bill drafted by Senate Republicans to reduce drug prices — after taking more than $280,000 from pharmaceutical companies so far this election season. Big Pharma is just one example. This vicious cycle is found in virtually every sector, and it’s why we continue to be met with politicians who don’t have our best interests at heart. So how do we get big money out of our democracy? A good starting point can be found in the sweeping reform package known as H.R. 1 — the For the People Act. The bill closes loopholes that favor big corporations and the wealthy, makes it easier for all of us to vote, and strengthens the power of small donors through public financing of elections — a system which matches $6 of public funds for every $1 of small donations. The For the People Act would also bar congresspeople from serving on corporate boards, require presidents to publicly disclose their tax returns, and make executive appointees recuse themselves in cases where there is a conflict of interest. These are just a few examples of tangible solutions that already exist to rein in unprecedented corruption and stop America’s slide toward oligarchy — but there’s much more we can and should do. 

The important thing to remember is that the big money takeover of our democracy prevents us from advancing all of the policies we need to overhaul our racist, oppressive system and create a society that works for the many, not the few.

[bill-y]

𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐑𝐄

Peeta Mellark x male reader

[ We all know who Katniss Everdeen is, but what if Primrose hadn’t been chosen but another boy from another unfortunate family? YOUR family. ]

Info: This is basically a reader insert and I’ve changed a few rules, not ground breaking though. The reader is a bit bland for now but I plan for his actions to be different. Because he has different moral grounds from Katniss and such. Would appreciate feedback! FEEL FREE TO POINT OUT TYPOS. GRAMMARLY SOMETIMES DOESN’T DO MY DYSLEXIC ASS JUSTICE

Part three: Click this, Rumtumtugger.

Part four: you're here, jennyanydots

Part five: Clicky dicky here, buddy

Wattpad account: L0calxDumbass

Those words left my mouth without much thought. I wasn't thinking of the damned consequences at the moment.

Behind me was Kunal, an iron grip on my leg, bawling his eyes out. "Y/N! NO! NO! YOU CAN'T GO!" he pleaded, his cries getting louder by the second. 

My hand ruffled his strawberry blonde hair, messing it up. "Let go, Nal," I said in the calmest tone I could muster. He shook his head, tears running down his cheeks, I cleared my dry throat, gulping down nothing. My mouth was dry as if I just ate a handful of salt, which was honestly a luxury.

My face remained stoic, the moment I show a sign of distress I know the people in the Capitol would eat it up like good bread. It entertains them, our suffering entertains them. 

His hands slipped from my leg, gripping on my pants before he was finally taken away from me. "Up you go, Owl eyes," said Gale, his voice trying hard to remain steady. Beside him was Katniss, who was holding Kunal by the shoulders. She nodded, "Good luck, Y/n,"

I nodded, before looking back at the temporary stage. "Oh well, Bravo!" Effie exclaimed. "That's the spirit of the games!"

She was thrilled, finally seeing some action from this district. It made a pit in my stomach, I clenched my jaw. If only the roles were reversed, Capitol people fighting for their lives instead of us.

Oh, how funny that would be.

I strode to the stage, trying my best to look collected. The foreboding feeling in my stomach only grew with each step I took, my hands sweating as if they've just been dipped into water once I finally took my place.

"Do tell us your name," Effie said, her grin widening as she nodded, encouraging me to talk. It took all the will power I had to not strangle her.

"Y/n Greyback," I replied dryly, hoping it would set her off.

“I bet my buttons that was your brother. Don’t want him to steal all the glory, do we? Come on, everybody! Let’s give a big round of applause to our newest tribute!” she trilled, making me clench my fists.

Her words were met with silence. No one clapped, not a noise can be heard. Even the ones who would usually bet on who would wound up as a tribute didn't do anything.

I held back a smile, a surge of hope flowing through me. This was the most rebellious thing they could do without getting punishment of any sort. Silence.

Silence doesn't mean fear or that we're cowards. It meant that we do not accept this, we do not condone.

Just as my father always said, one does not need to shout to make a change.

The next thing that happened was even more of a surprise. Maybe it was because I was a son of a "rebel", maybe they pitied my family or maybe it was because I talked to the mayor's daughter.

Just one, then two, then a group almost all of the crowd put the three middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and held it out to me. It is an old and rarely used gesture of our district, occasionally seen at funerals. It means thanks, it means admiration, it means good-bye to someone you love.

My tense hands relaxed a sense of calm washing over me. We were united in a strange way, something I thought would only happen in my dreams.

"Look at him! Look at this one!" Hollered Haymitch, throwing an arm around my shoulder. His arm was quite heavy, understandable, he's a wreck. "I like him!"

The scent of alcohol from his breath was strong, or maybe he just smelled of alcohol. "Lots of. . ." He paused, trying to think of a word.

I cringed as he slightly swayed around, trying my best to not touch him. "Spunk!" he declared triumphantly. "More than you!"

He released me, staggering to the front of the stage. "More than you!" He declared once more, pointing towards the camera.

Was he talking to the audience? Or maybe he was addressing the Capitol. I wish it's the latter, that would be funny.

Just as he opened his mouth to continue, he fell down the stage, knocking himself unconscious in the process. I snickered slightly, my face scrunching up right after.

Thankfully, the cameras were all pointed towards him, watching as they whisked him away into a stretcher. I took this moment to glare back into the distance, watching the scenery.

There was the hill that me, Katniss and Gale were just at. It looked so peaceful, contrary to my day.

"What an exciting day!" Effie warbled, trying to fix her tilted wig. It looked ridiculous. Why would Capitol people, no, why would anyone wear that?

It looks ugly, like a beaten up squirrel. Though I'd be lying if I said it wasn't eye-catching, though, beaten up squirrels are also eye-catching. “But more excitement to come! It’s time to choose our next tribute!” she continued, putting one hand to the second bowl.

Her fingertips grab the first slip it encounters. I hoped it wasn't Gale or Katniss. I didn't want to kill them, not that I'd ever stand a chance.

Katniss was extremely skilled with the bow, she could probably shoot my head from miles away. Gale, on the other hand, was strong, compared to him, I had the strength of a broken twig.

"Peeta Mellark," She read. Oh no. Why him? Of all the people in this district. His father just "introduced" me to him this morning, not just that, I knew him.

I watched him make his way up the stage, I had a clear look at him this time. He had a stocky build, medium height,  ashy blonde hair that falls in waves over his forehead. The shock of the situation registered on his face, though you could tell that he was alarmed by the way his blue eyes looked.

Like a prey knowing it'd be hunted.

Despite this, he still manages to climb up the small flight of stairs calmly.

Effie Trinket then asked for volunteers, but no one spoke up. He has two older brothers, I've seen them. But one is probably too old to volunteer, and the other just wouldn't. This was standard family devotion, what I'd done was a radical thing.

The mayor began to say the same old words he always says every reaping day. I couldn't help but think, why him?

I remember it all too well, that day, it was raining up a storm, the wind was howling. My mother and my brother were left at home, I was tasked to find food for us since my mother couldn't bear to show her face to the district.

How could she? Her husband has been executed for rebellion against the Capitol. One of the peacekeepers found weapons under his possession and he was killed. He managed to convince them to spare us, though sometimes I wished it hadn't worked.

Within a week of his death, we began to lose money, and therefore, food. Nobody wanted to help us, nobody wanted to associate with the family of a tyrant.

Shame, the family name bared shame. My mother didn't have the gall to go out and sell any of my father's things, my brother was too young to even understand what was going on.

I was angry. How could they have just taken everything away from us that easy? Who gave them the right to do that?

But at that moment, I couldn't afford to sit still and wallow in my resentment. That was a luxury I couldn't afford. not many could afford it either.

Starvation was a fairly common thing in district 12, though the amount of covering up the peacekeepers do no one a favour and fools no one.

There I was, a boy who wasn't even old enough to be registered into the pile walking around in the harsh weather, stripped away from my dignity and whatever money we had.

I found myself in the Mellark's bakery, being told off by the baker's wife, who was tired of having brats from the Seam paw through her trash. I would've screamed back then, but I didn't want the Peacekeepers called on me.

So I left without another word, sitting at a tree for some sort of cover from the harsh rain.  I remember the snorts of the pigs beside me, and that was when I realized I'm no better than cattle; the people of Panim were no better than cattle.

My knees buckles as I collapsed onto the wet grass, shuddering from the cold and the harsh reality. Maybe I had gone insane then, but I vaguely remember talking to the pigs, ranting to them.

They didn't listen, they were too busy rolling in the mud. Looking back, I find this extremely funny, but maybe that's because I don't want to pity myself.

I didn't even notice a boy until the pigs actually rose to eat the pieces of bread thrown at them. I stared at him for a long while, mainly because of the burnt bread, the crust was scorched black.

But a red mark on his cheekbone caught my attention. Had they hit him for burning the bread? My parents have never hit me, I couldn't even imagine what that would feel like.

He took one look at the bakery as if checking if the coast was clear before he turned back to the pigs. Though instead of feeding the pigs he tossed the loaves of bread to me.

I watched him walk towards the bakery and closing the kitchen door tightly behind him. All I could do was stay silent, before shoving them up to my shirt, muttering a broken thank you as I ran home.

The loaves had cooled by the time I got home, but that didn't matter. We had something to eat. Mother looked at me, relieved I didn't die. She hugged me, apologizing.

I didn't care though, we had food, that's what's important.

And for the first time in weeks, we had a proper meal.

I was thankful, the fact that he'd probably burnt the bread on purpose never occurred to me until I crawled onto the bed, staring at the wooden ceiling. An act of kindness, someone still cared.

It was as if spring came overnight, fluffy clouds, blue sky, the warm sweet air. At school, we would always catch each other's gazes. I felt a tad bit bad, his cheek was swollen and his eye had blackened.

I couldn't come up to say thank you, instead, I watched him from a distance, contemplating whether I should. When I went to fetch Nal, out eyes met once more, I was about to mouth a thank you until Nal tugged my shirt.

He handed me a dandelion. He's always loved flowers. His love for it made me realize how I would get the food we needed. All that time I and my father spent in the forest won't be for nothing.

To this day, I still feel as if I owe my family's life to him. I had honestly given up, but he gave me something. Peeta Mellark, the boy who gave me bread and the dandelion, both gave me hope.

Maybe if I had said thank you all those years ago I wouldn't be feeling so guilty now. I could always say it but something about thanking him whilst I'm practically holding a knife against his throat seems dishonest.

The mayor finished his speech, telling us to shake hands. His were as warm and firm as those loaves of bread. He squeezed me as if reassuring me. Or maybe those were just nervous spasms.

We turn back to the crowd as the anthem of Panem plays.

There are twenty-four of us fighting in that arena, as grim as it is, let's just hope someone kills him before I'm forced to. I don't wanna kill the reason I've survived all those years.

Word count: 2026

Tags:

@nin3s

Sorry for the late update my exams are next week and im rushing to finish my requirements at school. :"

[fandom-imagines-stories]

The World is Better Now

Peeta Mellark x Reader

Words: 2503

Summary: Nearly a year since the fall of the Capitol, the reader and Peeta have lived happily together in peace. They have helped each other through the darkest nights and the worst nightmares. Now, the reader feels a new kind of fear. 

Notes: I rewatched the Hunger games series and I forgot how adorable Peeta is. So here goes nothing. As always, let me know what you think! (So this is an AU where the reader was in the Quarter Quell, just in case anyone was confused. Katniss is just a friend in this one.)

-

You thought you knew what life was like. You thought that you would die in the Games and be just another fallen Tribute. When you won, you thought you were safe. When President Snow announced that the Quarter Quell would select from a pool of Victors, your hope for a better life was gone. But then he happened. Even after everything he had been through, he still had this light. A light that you thought you had lost forever. Somehow, he brought it back. So yeah, you thought you knew what life was like. But this was so much more than that. 

“Y/N!” Peeta called from your little house on the hill as you seemingly searched the meadow for something. His voice was like a distant murmur. You weren’t sure what you were looking for, but you could feel it. Before you could think too much on it, you felt arms wrap around your middle and a puff of breath against your neck, blowing through the few strands of hair that had fallen from the hairpins you had put in that morning. You couldn’t help but jump, flinching away from the sudden contact. You turned to see your husband, clearly trying to hide the hurt in this eyes. 

“Sorry.” You muttered, feeling the shame turn your face slightly pink. Now he felt bad. You hated it when you made him feel guilty. He deserved the sun, if you only had the power to give it to him. 

“Hey,” He just smiled, quickly putting your mind at ease as he took your face in his hands. “I shouldn’t have snuck up on you. I thought you heard me calling. I’m sorry.” He placed a gentle kiss on your lips, reassuring you that he wasn’t in any way upset before taking your hand. “Come on, dinner’s ready.” 

With the exception of Katniss and Haymitch, the two of you were alone out here. You weren’t part of the new society after the fall of the Capitol. Instead, you sought refuge in the rolling fields outside what was once District 12. Due to your isolation, there was technically no legality to your marriage. In fact, the only ones there to witness your vows were Katniss, Haymitch, and even Effie, who insisted on bringing endless yards of fabric with her to help you make a dress. You exchanged rings and vows, promising to love each other through everything and to never forget what you’d been through together. You didn’t need anything official. You were his and he was yours and that’s all you could have ever hoped for.

He, of course, was far better at cooking than you were so he often made dinner. Tonight, he made fresh bread and some seared fish from the lake nearby. You hardly touched any of it, feeling your stomach twist and turn, suddenly feeling ill. Your face had grown pale and Peeta’s expression morphed with concern. 

“Are you okay?” He stood from his seat across the table to move closer, examining the sweat that now glistened across your forehead. You nodded, but you quickly pushed away from him, burying your head in the sink and losing what little you had eaten. You felt Peeta’s hand on your back, rubbing up and down your skin trying to comfort you. When you slid down against the cabinet, he sat with you, grabbing a towel to wipe your lips. 

“Sorry.” You muttered through heavy breaths. “I-I don’t know where that came from.” You stood on shaky legs, but after a moment, you felt fine again. Strange, but fine. There was nothing in the meal that would have made you sick and you hadn’t been feeling ill at all that day. Deep in your gut, you started to worry. 

-

You spent the morning wandering the woods with Katniss. It was a weekly ritual for the two of you. Some time away from the guys. You liked to think that she opened up a little more when it was just the two of you. As if you had been friends since you were little girls. Growing up in District 5, you had a much cushier life than both her and Peeta, but you’d grown accustomed to the quieter, simpler life outside the New Panem. 

“Peeta said that you were sick last night.” Katniss started, looking up into the trees. You grimaced. Of course he did. There were few secrets between the four of you since you all lived out here by yourselves. 

“Yeah, but I feel fine.” You debated whether or not you should share your fears. That your illness was anything but random. That it meant something far more frightening than an upset stomach. Katniss noticed your uneasy expression and put a hand on your shoulder. 

“What’s wrong?” You took a deep breath. You needed to tell somebody.

“I’m worried that I might be…” You couldn’t even bring yourself to say it, but she understood. Her hand slipped off your shoulder and she crossed her arms, trying to process. 

“Oh.” She just stared at you for a moment, barely even blinking. Katniss was never really one with words. You exhaled deeply and explained to her your suspicions. This wasn’t the first time you had been sick. This wasn’t even the third. On top of that, every time you looked into the meadow, you felt like something was coming. You could search and search, but you never figured out what. When you finished talking, Katniss sighed. “Follow me.” 

She took you back to her house and found a small box she had hidden in the back of her kitchen cabinet. Handing you the box, she gave you a very uncomfortable smile. You dumped a small bottle into the palm of your hand. 

“What are these?” You shook the bottle gently, hearing pills rattle around inside. 

“Effie made me promise to give them to you when you and Peeta started thinking about... you know.” She rocked back on her heels. “It’s some kind of test from the Capitol.” You gave her a look. 

“Why’d she give them to you?” 

“She didn’t want you guys to think she was pressuring you or something.” She shrugged. “And it’s not like she could give them to Haymitch.” You both chuckled, breaking up some of the awkwardness. 

“Thanks.” You stuffed the bottle into your pocket, the small item somehow making your hand feel heavy. You started to leave, but you paused. “Don’t tell him about this, okay?” Katniss gave you a crooked smile and nodded. And just like that, everything changed. 

-

A day passed and you didn’t tell a soul. The test was positive. You were pregnant. In just a few short months you would be bringing life into a world that had taken so many lives from you. And that never seemed clearer than when you got letters from Annie. Sweet, loving Annie whose son would never meet his father. As Peeta read her encouraging words, all you could hear was Finnick. His laugh, his smug little jokes to cheer you up. Even though you’d only been a Victor for two years longer than Katniss and Peeta, Finnick was the one to help you adjust to the new lifestyle. He was really the closest thing you had to a brother. You winced, his laugh replaced by his dying screams in your head. 

“Love, Annie.” Peeta finished reading with a small smile and tucked the letter into the picnic basket beside him. “I’m glad she’s been able to somewhat adjust.” You nodded in agreement. You had barely said two words to him since you found out. Maybe you were afraid that you’d let it slip. Peeta had noticed your silence, but he chose not to press you. He knew that sometimes you would just let your thoughts wander without saying a word. But there was something different about the way you looked at him. 

“Peeta,” You said his name so quietly he almost didn’t hear it. You took his hand in yours, bringing it slowly up to your lips to place gentle kisses on his fingertips. You didn’t want anything to change. Peeta held your hand in between his own, his eyes shining with both admiration and concern. You had to tell him. 

“Y/N, are you sure that everything is- what, what is it?” He noticed your eyes grow wide, staring at his hand. His gaze followed yours and his breathing quickened with panic. A wasp crawled across the back of his hand, it’s bright yellow exterior providing little comfort. It wasn’t a tracker jacker, but it didn’t matter. 

“Peeta, it’s just a wasp.” You assured him, hoping he would look at you and not the insect. 

“I-I know.” He said, but his voice was shaky and his hands started to tremble slightly as he strained to keep still. You’d never actually had to encounter the mutt insects, but you knew that he had in his games. Tracker jacker venom was also what they used on him to try and distort his memories to turn him against the rebels and even you. His hand jerked away, but he only aggravated it more. He yelped as it stung him, flying away to safety. Though the pain was brief and minimal, it was the memories you feared more. 

Peeta tried to hold it back, but his mind swirled between the present and the past, mixing with all the horrors he had seen. You took his face in your hands, urging those beautiful hazel eyes to focus on you.

“Peeta, it’s okay. Look at me. It’s okay.” You pulled him close to you, his head resting on your chest, hoping that the sound of your heartbeat would calm him. It usually did, despite how rapidly it was beating now. You ran one hand up and down his back while you gently stroked his blonde hair with the other. “It’s okay.” Sitting there, holding him, you knew more than ever that you couldn’t do it. How could you bring a child into a world that had done such cruel things to such a kind person? A world that had broken him in ways you would never understand. It had broken you. 

-

After his episode, Peeta decided to spend the rest of the day relaxing inside. He settled in front of his easel, using a mix of blacks and greys to replicate the storm clouds gathering overhead. In contrast, he painted the yellow flowers beneath them, their brightness only slightly dulled by the gloomy atmosphere. He looked out the window, watching you walk slowly through the patches of primrose. 

“It’s beautiful.” Katniss said from behind him. He turned and gave her a small smile. 

“I want it to remind her that there’s brightness growing out of the dark.” He’d noticed that you had had a hard time adjusting to a life of peace after the horrors that you’d all been through. Sometimes, he was sure you were still trying to escape the games in your mind. 

“She should probably get inside.” Katniss noted, looking out to the flowers, but you weren’t there anymore. “It looks like it’s going to storm.” As if on cue, a bolt of lightning shot across the sky, followed by a loud roll of thunder. There was another sound; a faint cry muffled by the closed window. 

“What was that?” Peeta slid the window up and listened closer. Another boom was followed by another scream. “Y/N.” Your names left his lips in a panic as he ran down the stairs and out into the rain. 

“Y/N!” Katniss shouted, the rain starting to pour down, pounding against the pavement. She might have been more scared than Peeta. She knew the truth. It wasn’t just you in danger anymore. Peeta’s eyes swept the trees while Katniss checked around the houses. After the loudest crash of thunder yet, the screams became words. 

“No! Finnick!” You were running through the trees, looking up at the sky where you saw the faces flash in your head. Each boom of thunder was another canon, another death. Haymitch, Annie, Katniss… Peeta. “Peeta!” You shrieked, falling to your knees in the mud. “Peeta!” 

“Y/N!” He knew those cries. You often screamed like that when you had a nightmare, clawing up at the air as if he was flying away from you. 

You curled up on the forest floor, not caring that mud covered your cheek or that the rain pelted against your back. You wrapped your arms around your stomach, wishing that you could make it go away. You knew that the next canon was for your baby. 

“No!” You couldn’t do it. You couldn’t raise a child in this never ending storm. 

“Y/N! I found her!” Peeta’s voice was barely audible over your own screaming and the rain. You flinched away from his touch as another canon sounded in your head. You felt his strong arms wrap around you and lift you up, holding you close to his chest. 

“Peeta…” You whimpered, weakly tugging at his shirt. “T-the canons.” 

“It’s okay. We’ll be home soon.” Katniss found him and he quickly took you back to the house, rain still pounding against your skin. You looked up at the sky one last time, seeing Finnick’s face once again flashing against the clouds. Peeta put you down on the sofa and wrapped as many blankets as he could around you while Katniss went to grab some dry clothes. 

“I can’t do this.” You cried, trembling violently from the cold. “Everything is so dark and cold and cruel. I can’t curse someone else to live through what we did.” 

“What do you mean?” Peeta pushed your wet hair out of your face. 

“The… baby.” He froze. 

“What?” 

“Peeta, I’m pregnant.” You felt more tears cascading down your cheeks, your hands clutching your stomach. “And I don’t want to bring a child into this place.” Despite your distress, Peeta could barely contain his smile. 

“We’re going to have a baby?” 

“Peeta… what about everything we’ve been through? Can we really condemn another person to that, let alone our child?” He put his hand on top of yours, looking deeply into your eyes. 

“Y/N, the world is better now.” He gave you a comforting smile. “We can raise our children in peace knowing that they will have a better life.” Your smile was still unsure so he pressed a gentle kiss to your lips. “I will never, ever let anything happen to them.” You lifted your hand to rest on his cheek. 

“You’re going to be a great dad.” His face lit up and he scooped you up in his arms, causing both of you to laugh. 

“And you are going to be the best mother.” He pressed his forehead to yours, letting his words sink in. Cradled in his arms you felt like nothing would ever harm you. Maybe it was possible, after all this time and through all of the fears, to be truly happy.

-

General Tag: @rae-gar-targaryen; @takemepedropascal; @childhood-imagination

[methethgfan]

The 45th Hunger Games

“Give up, Chaff!” he shouted behind him, “If we don’t kill you, your hand will!” He was absolutely right. There was now a glaring hole where once his hand used to be. Chaff took off his shirt and wrapped it around the wound to stop the gush of blood - he probably had a few minutes left before he would eventually die of blood loss. He glanced over his shoulder and looked at their sweaty faces and tousled blond hair. But he also saw the sparkle in their emerald green eyes and a triumphant smile playing on their lips. Not yet. He still had one last move left.

The arena: This year the tributes were transported to a rural arena with broad fields, large hills and sparse forests. The weather was pleasantly warm, now and then the cool wind sent a shiver down their sun-warmed backs. The idyllic landscape was inhabited, among others, by cows, sheep and goats, which roamed some fields and were apparently disinterested in the tributes. The Cornucopia enthroned on a green pasture in the middle of the arena and housed a lavish number of supplies as well as an impressive arsenal of weapons. The selection of weapons turned out to be very diverse: in addition to the usual weapons, the tributes also had pickaxes, hand saws, pitchforks, shovels, sickles and scythes at their disposal, typical agricultural tools that attracted the interest of tributes who came from predominantly rural districts. Most of the tributes rejoiced in their good fortune, but for a few there seemed to be a catch. Never before had there been such a perfect arena that also looked so innocent. It soon became apparent that their concerns were justified, for the arena was extraordinarily deadly. Aside from the grazing animals that attacked anyone who approached them, the arena had something phenomenal. Once in a while, the tributes would encounter silver spheres, about the size of golf balls, floating in the air. If they got too close to them, red letters would light up on the display - "detonation - touch for deactivation". They then had five seconds to move out of the bomb's range. If they didn't, the bomb would attach itself to them until it was deactivated again. If one deactivated the bomb, the red letters were replaced by green ones - "disarming - touch for activation". There had never been anything like this ever before in the Games.

The tributes: The tributes were pleasantly surprised when they saw the arena for the first time. The camera showed the two boys from Districts 10 and 11 whispering "Home." at the same time. Everything seemed calm and peaceful. But the fact that there were bombs in the arena that could activate at any time scared most of the tributes, especially the Careers. At least they had a realistic chance against an armed opponent. Against bombs, however, they could do nothing; they were just as helpless against them as other tributes. How unfortunate that they hadn’t understood one thing - it was not the bombs that they should be frightened of, but the tributes whose eyes lit up at this exciting news...

The names of the tributes were…

Day 1 – The Bloodbath: Somewhat unusual this time was that several tributes ran away right after the Games started, without even being tempted to collect some supplies first. Still, there were enough tributes for the Careers to try out their favourite weapons...

24. Wright Maybridge (age: 14 | skill: x | training score: 3 | mentor: Wyatt Ellio | days survived: 0): Male tribute from District 5. While many of his competitors either ran straight at the Cornucopia or moved away from it, Wright ran in circles around it and collected all the supplies he could get his hands on as he ran. Thus, he was able to collect the supplies without being in the line of fire. However, this didn’t escape the attention of the girl from District 1 who sent a knife into his left temple.

23. Shay Carter-Milding (age: 18 | skill: quickness | training score: 7 | mentor: Lennox Byrd | days survived: 0): Male tribute from District 9. Shay had very fast reflexes. He demonstrated the Gamemakers how he dodged small balls thrown at him by several trainers at the same time. In doing so, he could bend and curve his body in such a way that it appeared as if he had no bones at all. In addition to his relatively high score, he also scored additional points in the interview with his self-confident and self-deprecating manner (”So Shay, how was your first impression of the Capitol?“ – “I thought it was slightly better than home, Caesar.“ – “‘Slighty better?‘ Why so?“ – “You’re not living in shacks like we do in District 9. I guess that’s the only bonus. But aside from that, I don’t really understand what all that fuss is about, no offense. But how on earth are you able to endure all of the … colourfulness? Yesterday I looked at a bright yellow building for a few seconds and already got a migraine!” - “I guess you get used to it all the time, Shay. Or is anyone here who’s got a migraine? No? See? I told you!”). The viewers were amused and hoped to see more of this boy in the arena. The Gamemakers, on the other hand, were curious to see how Shay would do during the bloodbath since he had such fast reflexes. But would he even participate in the bloodbath? Indeed, immediately after the opening signal, he ran towards the Cornucopia. He trusted his reflexes (even if he was a little worried about being hit by a knife after all). He dodged the knife of the girl from District 1. He also dodged the knife of the girl from District 2. But then the spear of the boy from District 2 pierced his back - Shay hadn’t assumed that the boy could throw his spear that far. The viewers were a little disappointed that Shay was out of the picture so early. But there were still other tributes left...

22. Modesty Merdow (age: 16 | skill: x | training score: 3 | mentor: Capitol trainer | days survived: 0): Female tribute from District 12. Modesty had neither attracted much attention during the training nor during the interview. But the scrawny girl with tired eyes and mouse-brown hair became memorable during the bloodbath: instead of moving away as quickly as possible from the girl from District 2 who targeted Modesty and threw one knife after another in her direction, Modesty ran straight at the girl in a zigzag. The girl from District 2 became increasingly panicked and took several steps back but continued throwing at Modesty. Just as Modesty was about to throw herself on the girl, a knife hit her in the chest.

21. Yvette Densford (age: 14 | skill: x | training score: 4 | mentor: Aspen Burrows | days survived: 0): Female tribute from District 7. Yvette was the cousin of Aspen Burrows, who had won the Games six years earlier and was her mentor. But as much as he tried to encourage her, Yvette knew from the beginning that she wouldn’t survive the Games. In an interview with Caesar Flickerman, she spoke very candidly with him about her imminent death (”I hope it's quick and painless. I had a beautiful life, but unfortunately far too short.” - “Maybe you will be able to continue this life?” - “I don't want to lie to myself, Caesar. I know what I'm capable of and what not. The Hunger Games are out of my league. But what have I done to deserve this?”). In fact, Yvette died in the first few minutes of the Hunger Games. The girl from District 1 hurled a knife into her neck. Yvette pulled the knife out, staggered forward, and then collapsed to the ground.

20. Kestrel Pernen (age: 15 | skill: x | training score: 3 | mentor: Volt Lansee | days survived: 0): Female tribute from District 3. Kestrel had originally turned away from the Cornucopia because she had wanted to run straight into the adjacent forest. But then she had decided otherwise because at that very moment a small backpack had caught her eye nearby. She ran towards it - almost at the same time as the boy from District 12. They squabbled with each other over the backpack for a moment, which did not escape the attention of the boy from District 4. He ran up to them and pointed his crossbow at Kestrel. The boy from District 12 let go of the backpack, rolled off to the side, and then ran away. Kestrel, however, was oblivious to the District 4 boy standing behind her, and grinned, lifting the backpack as the arrow struck her in the neck.

19. Dimelza Corlin (age: 15 | skill: bodily strength | training score: 8 | mentor: Belle Surie | days survived: 0): Female tribute from District 10. Dimelza was one of the few tributes who had received an offer from the Careers to join them. They had watched her throw herself on a trainer in the wrestling station, which they had been very impressed with. Aware of her better chances of surviving, Dimelza agreed. But she wouldn’t survive the initial bloodbath. After the Games were opened, she ran for the weapons as previously agreed upon. Only five meters away from the Cornucopia, a knife pierced her neck. The knife was actually meant for the boy from District 10, but Dimelza had run straight between him and the girl from District 2, who stared guiltily at Dimelza's death body.

18. Stans Mayersbee (age: 16 | skill: flexibility | training score: 6 | mentor: Woof Luxor | days survived: 0): Male tribute from District 8. Stans impressed the Gamemakers with his talent for doing splits both when sitting and standing. He could also do several backflips in a row or prance while doing a handstand. However, his impressive talent could not help him during the bloodbath. He ran toward the Cornucopia but was immediately targeted by the boy from District 2 who fatally wounded him with a spear. Stans fell to the ground while the carnage around him continued. The viewers had already written him off, since he had been lying motionlessly on the ground for several minutes. But then he moved - very slowly - and laboriously pulled out the spear that had pierced his stomach. While the Careers were busy with the supplies, Stans crawled across the pasture toward an adjacent grain field. Just as he had almost reached the platforms, he was noticed by the boy from District 2, who ran up to him. He then threw himself on the ground next to Stans and mimicked him as he crawled around on the ground, panting (“My bad, I thought I had killed you. I really need to work on myself, don’t I?”). Meanwhile, the Careers cheered them on. Then the District 2 boy got up and plunged a knife into Stans' neck (”Pathetic!”).

17. Linola Habborn (age: 17 | skill: juggling | training score: 6 | mentor: Suede Deer | days survived: 0): Female tribute from District 8. Linola survived the Cornucopia bloodbath, even though she had come the closest of all tributes (except for the Careers) to the Cornucopia. Luckily for her, the Careers had been busy elsewhere, so she had been able to grab a backpack and make it to the wide cornfield unharmed. But since the grain blocked her view and she couldn't shake the feeling that something was moving nearby, she decided to hide in the adjacent forest instead. However, she ran straight into the arms of the Careers who had just gone in search of more victims. She turned around and ran back into the cornfield, hoping that the Careers would not follow her. Sure enough, the Careers stopped again and eyed the cornfield suspiciously - but not the girl from District 1, who used her sword to clear her way through the cornfield (”Darling, I think you’ve mixed up the games. We're not playing hide and seek here. Come out, so I can explain you the rules.”). Then she stepped on something soft: Linola had simply laid flat on the ground. The girl from District 1 grinned broadly (”You know, at least you tried.”) and stabbed Linola with her sword.

16. Toomer Mintle (age: 12 | skill: x | training score: 2 | mentor: Volt Lansee | days survived: 0): Male tribute from District 3. Toomer had run into the woods right after the start signal without even glancing at the supplies once. The gruesome death of the boy from his district last year, who had ventured into the Cornucopia at the beginning of the Games, had been permanently burned into his memory, preventing him from doing the same. Two hours after the bloodbath, however, he was tracked down by the Careers who had been combing the forest for more victims. The boy from District 2 impaled him with his spear. However, wanting to keep his weapon (for the hovercraft would retrieve the boy's dead body and with it the spear that was still stuck inside him), he stepped on the little boy's back while pulling out the spear with ease. His cold-bloodedness impressed some viewers of the Capitol but confirmed the prejudices of the other districts regarding District 2, a district they truly despised.

15. Cayley Mills (age: 13 | skill: x | training score: 2 | mentor: Jetta Nell | days survived: 2): Female tribute from District 6. Cayley had been one of the first tributes to run into the forest after the opening signal. She had simply been too afraid to join the bloodbath, and not even the tempting supplies had been able to change her decision. Since then, she had stayed mainly in her hiding place (a bush). There was a stream very close to her hiding place, so she was able to appease her thirst at any time. But since the beginning of the Games she had not eaten anything. Previously, she had nibbled on a plant, which she had regretted very quickly because it turned out to be a stinging nettle. As a result of that, she hadn’t touched anything again. During the second night, right after the hymn had been played, she roamed through the forest because she had discovered a strange animal (an opossum) near her hiding place. Suddenly, she caught a whiff of the appetising smell of grilled meat, and noticed a flickering light among the trees a little later. Driven by her curiosity and the thought of warming herself at the campfire, she tiptoed towards it. The Careers were sitting around the fire talking to each other as if they were at a summer camp rather than the Hunger Games. Cayley had just positioned herself behind a tree when a branch snapped behind her. She turned around and looked into the face of the boy from District 1, who had gone for a pee and was now looking down at her with a sinister grin. His greedy eyes reflected the light of the campfire. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the other Careers. (”Guys, look who is our guest tonight.“). Cayley was rooted to the spot with fear, she didn't even try to run away (”Oh, no need to be scared. We are nice to our guests, aren’t we, guys?“). Then he pulled out his sword and plunged it into Cayley's back (”Well, usually.“). After the cannon shot, he disposed of her body like garbage and then returned to their campfire where they continued their conversation as if nothing had happened.

14. Rheese Hayfleak (age: 16 | skill: stamina | training score: 7 | mentor: Farina Arden | days survived: 2): Female tribute from District 9. Rheese was a very fast runner with above-average fitness. This was also what she showed to the Gamemakers: for a full fifteen minutes she ran on a treadmill at highest speed. The Gamemakers were anxious to see if any of her opponents would be able to catch Rheese in the arena. But little did they know that Rheese would be running from something else instead. None of them were surprised that Rheese was the first to reach the Cornucopia, where she shouldered two backpacks and ran away before the other tributes had even come near the Cornucopia. Afterwards, she hid until her supplies were used up. On the third day, she was marching to a nearby stream when she first came across a bomb. She didn't know exactly what it was but trusted her gut instinct that told her to get away as quickly as possible. So she turned around and ran. To her horror, the bomb followed her. Rheese pushed the bomb away several times, lurched to the ground, climbed on trees - but nothing stopped the bomb from floating after her. Then she turned around and took a swing at the bomb. At that moment, the bomb detonated right in front of her face, ripping her body to pieces. The boy from District 10, who had hidden behind a tree, watched in horror as a hovercraft collected Rheese’s body parts.

Day 3: On the third day, the Careers roamed the arena in search of more victims. They were all in good spirits, talking loudly and joking around - until they suddenly stopped. Just inches away from the District 4 boy’s face hovered a silver sphere. The Careers instinctively took a few steps backward. None of them had encountered a sphere before, so they didn't know that it was a bomb. But their gut instincts told them nothing good. And when the bomb followed them soon, it was clear that they had to get away from it as fast as possible. “To the lake!” one of them shouted. It was the boy from District 4. Of course, who else would have come up with this idea? The Careers turned around and stampeded. There was a lake only about a kilometer away from the Cornucopia. The boy from District 4 ran ahead and was the first to jump into the lake. His allies, however, stopped at the shore and stared at the water as if it were lava. After a moment's hesitation, they jumped in and dove under the surface, as the boy from District 4 had done, and who still hadn't come up to surface. The girl from District 2 stared curiously at the bomb floating just above her head, until the boy from District 4 pulled her under the water as well. At that very moment, the bomb finally exploded, and the Careers gradually surfaced. The boy from District 4 swam gracefully to shore but suddenly remembered that his allies couldn't swim. Although he could have simply left them to their fate, he decided to go to their aid. In the meantime, the Careers tried with all their strength to stay above the surface. One by one, they were pulled out of the water by the boy from District 4. He had saved their lives – and even they, as Careers, were rational enough to realise that.

13. Ashton Ellmere (age: 16 | skill: adventurousness | training score: 4 | mentor: Capitol trainer | days survived: 4): Male tribute from District 12. It was destined from the beginning for Ashton and the girl from District 5 to meet one another in the arena. Both were highly adventurous and unafraid of any risk, no matter how big it was. If they were going to have fun, they were both in. They shared the same interests and had also visited the same stations during their training in the Capitol, following each other around inconspicuously. On the second day, when Ashton had gone in search of edibles, he came across the girl from 5 who had laid down on a huge rock, soaking wet, apparently sunbathing. He stepped out into the sunlight and clapped his hands once. Alarmed, the girl straightened up and stared at him from the opposite bank of the stream (”It would be more fun with the two of us working together, don't you think?”). The girl stared at him indecisively, seemingly weighing her words. Ashton knew that he just had to keep talking to her (”If I had wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have alerted you beforehand. I don't have a weapon with me either. But if you don't want to join forces with me, I'll walk away and strike out on my own.” - “Why should I ally myself with you? What is there that you could offer me?" - “I'm from District 12, I’m experienced with explosive devices as we use it in coal mining. Surely you've seen the bombs by now.”). The girl stood up unexpectedly and calmly walked towards him (”Yes, and I've already thought on something.”). And so their alliance was formed. Their goal was to bring down the Careers with the help of the bombs. They spent the following days exchanging ideas about explosive devices and working out a plan. They would blow up the supplies at the Cornucopia that would force the Careers to go foraging just like the rest of them ("You know we could get killed, right?" – "Sure. But isn’t it exciting?” – "Yes, and how! I can't wait.” – “Let’s turn up the heat on them – quite literally!”) But before they disposed of the supplies, they wanted to help themselves for a while. They regularly spied on the Careers and waited until they were gone. Then they took everything they could carry with them. The Careers didn’t notice that someone else was regularly stealing their supplies. Instead, they secretly suspected that one of them was the thief. But on the fifth day, they wouldn’t have to worry about their supplies anymore - because Ashton and his district partner planned to finally put their plan into action...

12. Bina Remington (age: 14 | skill: risk-taking | training score: 3 | mentor: Ronan Magnoly | days survived: 4): Female tribute from District 5. Bina was very inquisitive and experimental by nature. This was something she was born with, as her entire family consisted of scientists. Even before she participated in the Games, she had always thought about how she could use her brains to beat her opponents. The boy from District 12 came in handy because he could add to her knowledge while watching her back ("Bombs are basically pent-up energy. We have to find a way to let that energy out at a later time."). Then, at dawn on the fifth day, they went looking for bombs and found them a short time later - two bombs floating side by side in a clearing. Bina and her district partner could hardly believe their eyes when they realized the bombs could be defused. Tentatively, she reached her hand toward one of the bombs and the camera showed her index finger pressing a button above the display and then her hand closing around the bomb. Her district partner did the same with the other bomb ("What are we waiting for? On to the Cornucopia!"). They had thought it all out. The Careers wouldn't be back at the Cornucopia until sunrise because they were going hunting in the meantime. They would place the bombs on each side of the pile of supplies so that all the supplies would explode. Then they would hurl stones they had collected onto the pile to cause a chain reaction, if possible. Sure enough, the Cornucopia was empty. While her district partner placed his bomb, Bina kept an eye out for other tributes. Suddenly the Careers appeared! They hadn’t gone hunting, but had hidden at the edge of the forest, because they had finally understood that a thief regularly tampered with their supplies. Impressed by their cleverness, they ran excitedly toward the two tributes, who had not expected their appearance. Bina turned to her district partner and saw him standing motionless, waiting for the Careers. Determination showed on his face. She understood what he was up to. She stepped back immediately and was already turning when the first Career reached the pile and the whole world blew up. Bina and the Careers were knocked off their feet and flung through the air. Despite the severe burns on her back, Bina picked herself up and ran into the forest. But as the adrenaline rush faded, pain hit her at full force, and she slumped. The cannon went off half an hour later.

11. Shore Shylock (age: 18 | skills: athleticism, crossbow | training score: 10 | mentor: Rivo Blakeley | days survived: 4): Male tribute from District 4. Shore had been the only Career to show the Gamemakers not only his skills with a weapon, but something entirely different as well. He had balanced on a beam and had done a handstand and a somersault on it without losing his balance. He was able to keep a cool head in risky situations and, unlike his fellow competitors, didn't rush into anything. Nevertheless, he knew that his chance of survival was much higher with them. The waters in the arena contained very few fish, but all the more various forms of seafood. But when Shore had filled an entire basket with seafood and offered it to his allies, they had declined and watched in disgust as Shore had prepared the seafood and eaten it with relish. The explosion at the Cornucopia caused him severe burns while his allies escaped with only minor burns. They all showed great distress at the sight of their dying ally, who had protected them all from the bombs and saved their lives but had fallen victim to these bombs himself. Shortly after the cannon had gone off, the girl from District 2 remembered something Shore had told them a few days ago: she opened her water bottle and dripped some water on Shore's face. The other Careers did the same as the hovercraft circled above their heads. This was a funeral ritual in District 4. This was how they paid their last respects to the boy who they owed their lives to.

10. Maeve Somerley (age: 16 | skills: athleticism, herbology | training score: 8 | mentor: Adair Moss | days survived: 8): Female tribute from District 11. Maeve and her district partner were childhood friends. They didn't see each other as friends, but family, since neither had siblings. Although they couldn't have been more different from each other, they completed each other. Perhaps that was the reason why their friendship had lasted so long. Not even their participation in the Hunger Games could break this close friendship. The audience understood by their shocked faces and firm handshake at the Reaping that they were probably no strangers to each other. Caesar Flickerman's question confirmed their assumption ("I believe in fate. And if fate has planned for me to go into the arena with my best friend, then it must have a valid reason. Both of our goals will be to make sure the other makes it back home."). In the arena, Maeve and her district partner showed how serious they were about their promise to each other. Both were selfless and always concerned about the wellbeing of the other. They were also very practical. As an apothecary's daughter, Maeve knew a lot about herbs and was able to throw a delicious herbal soup together in no time. She taught her district partner everything she knew about herbs, a knowledge that was of inestimable value. Since she was lighter than her district partner, she climbed trees to collect fruits or look for other food resources. On the fourth day, they were attacked by a hungry wolf pack because they had unknowingly entered their territory. Maeve jumped in front of her district partner to protect him from a charging wolf, and together they put the wolves to flight. On the sixth day, their friendship was put to test again. Maeve had a high fever and shivering attacks. Her district partner did his best and cared for her, among other things, preparing herbal teas, putting wet rags on her forehead, and trying to bring her fever down with a sweating cure. But both knew that only a proper medication would help her. Her district partner didn't have to think long about how to obtain it ("I'm going to search through the Careers’ supplies." - "You're not going to do that. I don't want you to die because of me. It wouldn't be worth it." - "Who says I'm going to die?" - "I'm serious, Chaff. Please. Don't. I would never forgive you."). Her district partner assured her that he wouldn't do anything, but Maeve still didn't believe him. She was so tired that she kept drifting off to sleep. And her district partner took advantage of that. He gathered firewood and lit it to set the Careers on the wrong track. Then he made his way to the Cornucopia and positioned himself at a safe distance. Time was running, he had to find a cure immediately and return to his hiding place. The Careers noticed the rising smoke and ran into the forest. That was his chance. He ran toward the Cornucopia and rummaged through the supplies. Meanwhile, the Careers had turned back - they had smelled a rat. But he wouldn’t run away. When the Careers were only a few minutes away from the pasture, he finally found what he had been looking for. He jammed the first aid box under his arm and ran back into the woods. Once at his hiding place, he shook his ally by the shoulder ("Maeve, I've got the medicine! Quick, wake up!"). But Maeve didn’t move. He was still shaking her, even though deep down he knew that any help came too late ("Maeve, what's wrong with you?"). When she still didn't move, Chaff panicked ("No! No! Wake up! You can't do this to me! You promised!"). Then he hugged her lifeless body and cried for her.

09. Axle Welmourth (age: 16 | skill: camouflage | training score: 8 | mentor: Yaw Balfour | days survived: 9): Male tribute from District 6. Axle had a great talent for camouflage, but compared to his mentor, a true camouflage artist, he was only an apprentice - Yaw Balfour had owed his victory largely to his camouflage skills. He even taught Axle a few tricks. Axle demonstrated his talent to the Gamemakers by moving from one area to another in the training station for natural habitats, camouflaging himself like a tree, a sandhill or a rock. In the arena, he also camouflaged himself in compliance with his environment. For this purpose, he used solid or moist earth; fruits its juice he squeezed; plants that he rubbed against his body so that their green colour rubbed off on him and things like that. But he was never fully satisfied with himself. He knew that what he actually needed was awaiting him inside the Cornucopia - industrial paints, brushes, adhesives. And to be honest, he also wanted to impress the viewers a little with his talent. After much hesitation, he finally decided to visit the Cornucopia on the fourth day. He spied on the Careers for a while, and when the coast was clear, he ran to the supplies and quickly rummaged through them. Just as he was about to reach for a pack of coal, grinning, he heard footsteps. It was too late; he couldn't run away anymore. Panicking, he looked around for a place to hide and then did something no one had expected: he hid in the pile of supplies! He pulled a crate a little toward him and squeezed himself through the open gap. Inside was a hollow space. The Careers didn't notice anything at all. And so they spent the whole night only a few meters away from another tribute of whose presence they were completely unaware. Fortunately, Axle had camouflaged his clothes with soil, so the bright green colour of his jacket didn't send him to the knife. Afraid the pile would collapse if he pulled out some food, he didn't touch the supplies, but just sat quietly amidst them until the Careers left for the forest again in the early morning hours. But before Axle ran back into the woods, he grabbed as much as he could hold - including the pack of coal. The viewers were blown away! Although Axle was invisible for his opponents even if they went pass him, he was still sensible for the animals roaming the arena. They couldn’t see him either but smell him. Very intensely, with all the industrial colouring on his body. Some decided to stay away from him because either the smell was too much for them or they didn’t trust this unfamiliar smell. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for other, more fearless creatures like wolves. Axle had to change his hiding place several times because the animals wouldn’t leave him alone and follow him around. He was especially cautious at night when the wolves would come out of hiding. It took him a few days to understand why the animals were attracted by him, but it was already too late. Axle ran away from the wolf pack that was chasing him. He intended to jump into a nearby lake but didn’t make it there. Another wolf pack joined the chase, and soon, Axle was encircled by them. When the cannon went off and the hovercraft appeared to collect his ripped body, most viewers preferred to look away.

Day 10: When the boy from District 11 was wandering alone through the woods on the tenth day, he was attacked by vultures outside the entrance to a cave. He ran but didn’t know how to get to safety. Then he suddenly lost the ground under his feet and fell down five meters. He hit the ground hard and stared up: he had fallen down a slope. The boy tried to pick himself up, but then stopped because he felt too dizzy. A few hours later - he had tried to climb up the slope in the meantime - he heard footsteps from above. Someone was standing at the top and staring down at him. He recognized the flaming red hair: it was the girl from District 4. That’s it. It's over. But nothing happened. Then, very slowly, something moved down toward him. Ropes, knotted together. He watched in disbelief as the girl from District 4 lowered the rope to him. The boy from District 11 pulled himself up, and realized that the girl from District 4 had disappeared…

08. Cimber Grove (age: 18 | skills: bodily strength, javelin | training score: 10 | mentor: Brutus Ornathy | days survived: 11): Male tribute from District 2. Cimber was a quarrelsome person by nature. He craved every opportunity that gave him a reason to argue. Not even his district partner was spared from him ("Of course you had to get the girl from District 10 of all people! She was the one we desperately needed in the arena." - "I didn't mean to do it! She got in my way!" - "Don't make me laugh! You can tell those fairy tales to someone else."). Cimber didn't let others boss him around. And when the District 1 boy did just that, he tried to scowl him into silence ("I don't remember any of us appointing you our leader. So you have absolutely nothing to say to me. Besides, I also scored a 10, just like you, if that’s the reason you think of yourself so highly."). But Cimber didn’t stop there. He kept taunting his allies ("Shore, shut up and go catch fish or whatever it is you do in your spare time in District 4." or "I could have sworn I saved another sandwich. I'm sure you ate it, right, Sparkle? You eat so much, as we all know."). His allies just ignored him, which infuriated Cimber even more. But when their nerves were raw after two tributes had blown up their supplies, they couldn't take his malicious comments anymore. The District 1 boy grabbed a knife, pushed Cimber to the ground and stabbed him repeatedly ("Just - shut - your - goddamn - mouth!"). When he was done, he wiped his bloody hands on Cimber's face and then spat in his face. Capitol’s favorite (8th-place).

07. Lysandra Rodd (age: 17 | skills: archery, knife-throwing | training score: 9 | mentor: Severin Quinn | days survived: 11): Female tribute from District 2. Lysandra was the only child of miners whom she wanted to support financially by winning the Hunger Games. That's why she volunteered - much to the dismay of her parents. Lysandra found her district partner as repulsive as the others, but he was from her home district after all, which meant that his victory would be beneficial for her family, if she herself did not survive the Games. Therefore, she tried to mollify the rest of the Careers whenever Cimber criticised them again. Even Lysandra was not spared from his tirades ("So much food. I bet that's all new to you, isn't it, Lysandra? Since you and your family are on the brink of eating each other out of hunger."). When the District 1 boy lunged at her district partner, Lysandra tried to intervene yet again. In response, the District 1 girl rammed a sword into her back from behind, sealing her hopes of victory.  Capitol’s favorite (7th-place).

Day 12: The tributes were startled out of their sleep by the sound of fanfares. Xander Holliehopp, the Hunger Games announcer, spoke to them: “Greetings, final contestants. I’m very sorry for breaking your sleep. I just wanted to let you know about a Feast that’s going to take place today at the Cornucopia. We have provided food bags for you that contain everything that you’re longing for! But there’s a twist. Once you’ve reached the Cornucopia, you’ll see only three food bags. That’s three less than the number of tributes who are still in the running. It’s because each food bag is meant for two tributes. I’ll now read out who shares a food bag with whom: first foodbag – Districts 1 and 11; second foodbag – Districts 1 and 10; third foodbag – Districts 4 and 7. So first come, first served! … Oh, I forgot to mention. The Feast starts now. Good luck!” It took a few seconds for the sleepy tributes to realize. Immediately they jumped to their feet and then made their way to the Cornucopia. When they reached the edge of the forest and looked at the Cornucopia, six pairs of eyes could be seen on the screens, looking determinedly at the food bags only forty meters away from them…

06. Leeper Garrison (age: 17 | skills: axe, fire-making | training score: 9 | mentor: Tilia Hemlock | days survived: 12): Male tribute from District 7. Unlike most of his opponents, Leeper operated more cautiously in the arena. Although a thoroughly dangerous opponent, he had been advised by his mentor to take his time and hold back until only a handful of players were left (of course, this suggestion came from none other than Tilia Hemlock herself). But Leeper defied her advice by charging straight into the Cornucopia at the start of the Games, grabbing an axe, and making a run for it. Later, however, because of his guilty conscience, he decided to follow the advice and stayed in his hiding place most of the time. Finding food was difficult for him, but fortunately he had come across peppermint in the forest, which he often used to make tea in order to suppress his hunger. During his time in the arena, Leeper lost weight drastically. He longed for a decent meal that would help him regain his strength - and indeed, on the twelfth day, a glimmer of hope sprouted in him after Xander Holliehopp announced a Feast. Leeper hesitated at first - by now he had become used to spending most of his time in hiding. So he felt a little uncomfortable at the idea of running into the rest of the tributes again. But his empty stomach finally persuaded him to run to the Cornucopia. When he reached the edge of the forest, he was relieved to find that no one had yet touched the food bags on the feast table. Again Leeper defied the advice of his mentor, who had explicitly advised him not to rush, because he was already running towards the plain. Meanwhile, the other tributes had been thinking about the safest way to get their food bags. Only a few more meters, then he would have reached the table. He stretched out his hand and - woosh! An arrow pierced the collar of his jacket and nailed him to the Cornucopia. Leeper, at first completely perplexed, assumed that the Gamemakers had somehow shifted the ground beneath his feet. But then he saw the girl from District 4 running towards him with a bow in her hand and it dawned on him. The girl grabbed the food bag and ran away. The boys from Districts 10 and 11 also appeared but neither deigned to look at Leeper as he helplessly hung over the ground. Then, when the girl from District 1 showed up, Leeper tried even more desperately to free himself from the arrow. In his panic, it didn't even occur to him to simply take off his jacket. When the girl stood in front of him, Leeper kicked at her and swung his axe threateningly, but it was in vain. The girl pierced him with a sword. If Leeper had followed his mentor's advice, he might have even survived the Games - but perhaps he was doomed to fail from the start. Capitol’s favorite (4th-place).

Day 13: The girl from District 4 had set out to drink water from a nearby stream when she was attacked by a brown bear. She ran away and shot an arrow into the bear's chest while still running, but the bear was just too gigantic to go down. Then she ran against a rock wall. The bear continued to head towards her and the girl shot another arrow at it but missed. Paralyzed with fear, she leaned against the rock wall and closed her eyes. But nothing happened. She opened her eyes a little and saw that the bear was lying on the ground. The boy from District 11 stood over it with a bloody knife in his hand. Their eyes met for a second, and then, without saying a word, the boy turned around and ran away.

05. Rowden Cye Thomsy (age: 16 | skills: archery, climbing, herbology | training score: 9 | mentor: Auburn Elsher | days survived: 14): Female tribute from District 4. Rowden Cye (pronounced "rowan sigh") caused a stir from the very beginning. But not because of her talents and not because of her looks, but because of her unusual name ("So... Rowden Cye. Before we start - what's the meaning of your name? I think we're all very curious about it!" - "Well, Rowden derives from the word "rowing". That's what us people from District 4 do as often as breathing. And Cye is my mother's maiden name. She didn't want it to be forgotten. Yes, that's pretty much the story behind my name, Caesar."). The audience was very impressed with her clever answers, and found her very likeable. When asked how she would do in the Games, Rowden Cye replied, "I think I have good chances. After all, I won't be going into the Games alone, I'll be going with my allies. We get along quite well and each of us can contribute something different to the alliance."). This surprised many viewers because they felt Rowden Cye didn't fit in at all with the Career pack. There was something lovely about her - the short, flaming red hair; the freckles; the teal eyes and the warm smile. The other Careers gave the impression of being unpleasant contemporaries. At the start of the Games, Rowden Cye ran straight at the Cornucopia, grabbing everything she could get her hands on, including the only bow in the arena. The District 2 boy ran past her and shouted to Rowden Cye to defend the other side of the Cornucopia ("Yes, I will, let me find a weapon real quick!"). But she didn't seem to care about the rest of the tributes at all. No, she didn’t even notice them. That wasn’t unusual because not every Career set out to kill their opponents immediately. But then Rowden Cye did something that surprised the spectators yet again: she simply ran away. Quite inconspicuously, while the other tributes were still fighting. Later, after the bloodbath was over and the Careers were standing amidst the corpses strewn across the meadow, they finally noticed her absence. It would have been an understatement to say that they had been merely angry. No, they were raging with anger. The boy from District 1 hit the Cornucopia ("That sneaky rat. I'll set her hair on fire once I find her. You can bet your life on it!"). But not all Careers had been surprised by Rowden Cye's betrayal: the District 4 boy had known that Rowden Cye wouldn’t ally with them because she had confided in him just before the Games. Out of loyalty to her and his district, however, he had kept this from the rest of the Career pack ("We don't need them. We could survive on our own." - "Yeah, we could." - "Shore, you know you're a better fighter than all of us." - "So what? There's still no guarantee. Countless Careers have lost their lives because they had decided to fight on their own." - "Well, that's your decision. I just hope that you won't regret it someday."). Rowden Cye had taken several weapons, backpacks and food supplies with her - including the one bow the girl from District 2 had been desperately searching for. In her hiding place - a shelter directly behind a bush that she had camouflaged with leaves and snares - she laughed to herself while examining the contents of the backpacks ("Four idiots at one go!"). The longer the Games went on, the more often she risked things like taking a bath in the lake or frying seafood under the glaring sun. Among other things, she prepared seaweed soup, which caused a mad dash for restaurants in the Capitol that had seaweed soup on the menu. When she spotted the boy from District 11 on the tenth day, she surprised the viewers again by reaching for her backpacks rather than her bow. She took out several ropes and knotted them together. Then she tied the rope around a tree trunk, tied a tight knot, and lowered the other end of the rope to the boy. He was, after all, just a helpless boy who had fallen down a slope. Killing him wouldn't be right. It would be a cowardly thing to do. He deserved a fair fight at which he could defend himself properly. Rowden Cye did so without having ulterior motives, but her mercy and helpfulness towards this boy would pay off later. At the Feast, she nailed the District 7 boy to the Cornucopia. She hadn’t intended to kill him, but merely wanted to stop him from taking her bag of food without hurting him. The fact that she had managed to do this from a considerable distance deeply impressed the Gamemakers. Rowden Cye deserved at least 11 points! The next few days she spent mainly in her hiding place where she rested. She already had enough to eat. But soon she got bored, and although she didn't need it, she went in search of edible plants. Suddenly she heard heavy footsteps - the pair from District 1 appeared among the trees! Rowden Cye turned around and ran toward the Cornucopia. Arriving on the plain, she turned and shot an arrow at the girl from District 1, hitting her in the right shoulder. Then she aimed at her district partner, but he had gotten too close, so Rowden Cye drew her sword and engaged in a fight with the boy, as a result of which she slashed the boy's chest. The girl from District 1, in the meantime, continued examining her wound. But a little later, she, too, joined in. Rowden Cye did her best and wounded both tributes without taking any damage herself. But she knew that couldn't last forever. She tried to knock their weapons out of their hands, and managed to do that with the boy from District 1, when the girl from District 1 stabbed her with her sword. The viewers were endlessly saddened by her death, but also impressed by the two tributes from District 1 who had managed to eliminate such a dangerous opponent. Capitol’s favorite (1st-place).

04. Sair Barnard (age: 15 | skills: food procurement, practicality, trapping | training score: 8 | mentor: Falcon Seafield | days survived: 16): Male tribute from District 10. Sair had a very interesting face: almost every inch of his face was covered with brown freckles, his eyebrows were uneven and bushy, and his large, dark brown eyes were speckled with green and yellow. That Sair had survived the bloodbath at all was a miracle, because he had been very close to being killed by the girl from District 2. When he saw his district partner slide to the ground a few meters away, he stopped in horror. He hadn’t had much to do with her, but that she of all people had died instead of him made him sad. For a moment, Sair and the girl from District 2 looked at each other, and when the girl lashed out with another knife, Sair turned around abruptly and zigzagged away. A few hours later, he came across livestock in a pasture, and, smiling from ear to ear, he ran at them. He had helped out on a farm in District 10. But suddenly the cows, sheep and goats roared out and chased him all over the pasture. Sair jumped over the electrified fence at the last moment, saving himself from certain death. Shocked, he stared at the mutts that were staring at him hostilely from the other side of the fence. This wasn’t his lovely home. This was the cruel reality he was faced with. He had seen the true colours of the arena. From then on, he moved more deliberately in this new environment that always had a surprise in store, and approached everything with the utmost scepticism. Although he had initially assumed that the arena wouldn’t be very different from his home, Sair realized that the opposite was the case: the arena offered very few food resources, and he didn’t know much about edible plants. After he couldn’t catch any prey with his traps, he, too, was drawn to the Feast at the Cornucopia, where he almost died. Sair had run onto the plain and snatched the food bag. But at that moment, the knife of the girl from District 1, who shared a food bag with him, had pierced his ankle. Sair fell to the ground lengthwise. The boy from District 11, who had already grabbed his food bag and turned around, stopped and looked down at Sair. Then he shouldered him and ran back into the forest. There he put Sair back down and was already turning to leave when Sair held him back ("No, don't leave me. Please, don’t."). Please. Don't. The same words his district partner had said just before she died. The District 11 boy stopped without turning to Sair ("I can't." - "Maybe you'll think differently after I have shown you what I'm capable of." - "That's not… That’s not the reason." - "Then let me thank you." - "You don’t have to. I won't be able to protect you, anyway."). The boy from District 11 walked a few steps before stopping again ("Since I've been in this arena, I've been alone. I just can't get used to this loneliness. I promise you that I won't be a burden to you. And to be honest, you remind me of my brother. Please, Chaff." - "Fine. But you’ll keep your promise, all right?"). A new alliance had been formed from which both sides benefited. Sair told the boy about his discoveries, for example, the mutated livestock. The boy showed Sair edible plants. But one thing in particular had piqued the interest of the boy from District 11 ("Bombs, you say? Where are those bombs?" - "In the deep forest. They float. Why? … You're not planning on searching for them, are you?" - "Why not?" - "The girl from District 9 was torn to pieces." - "Too bad for the girl from District 9."). The boy was obviously serious. A day later, they found a bomb. Sair stood behind a tree, but his ally kept walking toward the bomb. After deactivating the bomb, he simply put it in his pocket! He did the same with another bomb a little further away. Sair stared at the boy in dismay ("Are you out of your mind?" - "If you can manually deactivate the bombs, you can manually reactivate them." - "And what if you accidentally activate them?" - "Then I'll be blown to pieces. But that‘s my problem, isn't it?"). The boy from District 11 stowed the bombs in a tree trunk, into which he had previously carved a cavity with a knife. They spent the following days walking around, collecting fruits and plants, and further examining the arena. Sair was curious about how the boy’s district partner had died, and after hesitating for a while, he finally dared to ask the boy. But the latter ignored his question and lay down to sleep. On the last day in the arena, Sair and his ally were wandering in the woods again when they were surprised by the tribute pair from District 1... Capitol’s favorite (5th-place).

03. Sparkle Rednam (age: 18 | skills: sword fighting, knives | training score: 10 | mentor: Lovejoy Fair | days survived: 16): Female tribute from District 1. When Sparkle stepped onto the stage at the Reaping and the cameras pointed at her, she made an unkempt appearance. Her hair looked like it hadn't been combed in days, her clothes were worn out, and the colour of her shoes was almost faded. While hardly any tributes mounted the stage in brand-new and spick-and-span clothing, at least they paid attention to a neat appearance; after all, the whole country would be watching them. Additionally, Sparkle lived in District 1, where people were a lot better off and meticulously paid attention to their appearance. Caesar Flickerman, who was an expert in human nature, brought this up during the interview as well, but in a very discreet way ("How do you like the clothes people wear here in the Capitol?" - "Mundane things like fashion aren’t really my cup of tea. What do I get from being a pretty fighter? Nothing. What really matters is your brains."). Her serious and reserved attitude intimidated some of her fellow competitors. In the arena, she also demonstrated how fearless she was. She had no trouble combing the vast cornfields for tributes or searching for food in the caves, whereas her allies shied away from it. Sparkle also joined the Feast, intending to collect the two food bags that were meant for her and her district partner. Her district partner was secretly glad that he only had to stand guard and not run toward the Cornucopia himself. But Sparkle was too late: the boys from Districts 10 and 11 had already run back into the forest with their food bags. She ran after them for a while, but lost sight of them. Angrily, she returned and told her district partner about it. Then both looked at the sky and held out their hands expectantly. But the sponsors didn’t want to reward their tardiness. Soon, they would have their revenge on the two boys… Capitol’s favorite (6th-place).

02. Emerald Shadis (age: 17 | skills: close combat, herbology, sword fighting | training score: 10 | mentor: Tulip Marylle | days survived: 16): Male tribute from District 1. Emerald golden hair fell wavelike on his shoulders. His emerald eyes were stunningly beautiful. He had broken his nose several times during training in District 1. The viewers knew from the start that this boy would make it very far. Surprisingly, he wasn’t only good with weapons, but also with plants. In District 1, he had helped out in his parents' flower store and often collected plants of all kinds for them. This made him an even more dangerous opponent because he knew about medicinal plants, and thus, didn’t have to rely on medicine from the Cornucopia or sponsors, as was usually the case with most of the Careers. During his interview with Caesar Flickerman, however, he didn’t reveal his secret talent ("Most people probably think I only have a knack for weapons. But that's not true, so get ready for a surprise in the arena!"). That way, he kept the audience on tenterhooks who were eager to find out what his secret talent was. It was also the perfect way to attract the attention of potential sponsors. Whenever one of his allies had a stomach aches, was exhausted, or felt unwell for some other reason, he would prepare an herbal mixture in no time. He did this not because he cared so much about the wellbeing of his allies, but because he wanted to impress the viewers, and he did - he collected the most sponsoring gifts of all tributes. However, he knew he couldn’t feed on plants all the time. His craving for a real meal lured him to the Feast, at which both he and his district partner went empty-handed. Once again, a tribute had scored them off - the boy from District 11 of all people! That was enough. He would make sure they would receive their punishment... Capitol’s favorite (3rd-place).

01. Chaff Morten (age: 17 | skills: bodily strength, food procurement, practicality, resourcefulness, stamina | training score: 10 | mentor: Seeder Augury | days survived: 16): Victor of the 45th Hunger Games from District 11. Chaff’s family belonged to the upper middle class, thanks to his father’s job as the gardener of District 11’s mayor. However, Chaff regularly helped out in the orchards for extra money. His life was marked by tragic losses. His mother and infant sister had both died in childbirth and his grandfather had died of the flu. Chaff had been a little boy back then. In the years that followed, he quickly got used to it, and death became a part of his life. He was very talkative and sociable. Although hardly anyone laughed at his jokes, it still made him special. Despite delivering one joke after another during his interview with Caesar Flickerman (and even raising a laugh), he was perceived as a serious opponent by his opponents. And rightly so, for he was tall and well-built. Added to this was his extensive knowledge of plants, his extraordinary stamina, and many years of practice with scythes, which he had used regularly during his work in the orchards. The Careers had watched him out of the corner of their eyes until on the third day of training, they had brought themselves to propose an alliance to him. Since Chaff was always found in the company of his district partner, they made the offer to her as well. Chaff replied that he would reconsider the offer, but neither he nor his district partner were interested in an alliance with the Careers. In truth, they deliberately kept the Careers in the dark, and made fun of them. That didn’t escape the Careers’ notice: the tribute pair from District 1 was particularly furious over the fact that tributes coming from District 11, a slum, were making fun of them. During the bloodbath, he ran straight into the Cornucopia, shouldering a backpack and picking up a knife before running into the woods where his district partner was already waiting for him. They explored the arena together, and never left each other’s side. After her death, Chaff was in shock. He stopped eating and wandered around the arena disorientated until a fall from a slope brought him to his senses. After being rescued by the girl from District 4, he vowed to repay that debt. He hated owing anyone anything. The boy from District 10 reminded him of his district partner whom he hadn’t been able to help. His presence reassured him, and sometimes he imagined that his district partner was sitting in his place instead. Chaff had initially rejected this alliance because he was afraid of losing an ally again. But part of him just couldn't help it. The death of the girl from District 4 saddened him, but he didn't let it show. The viewers would understand that he was crying for his childhood friend, but they would certainly not show him the same understanding again for someone else. On the last day, Chaff and his district partner went in search of edibles. While his district partner searched for edible plants below, Chaff climbed a tree to collect its fruit. But they were not alone there. "Thieves must be punished!" said the girl from District 1 with a sardonic grin before she cut off Chaff's left hand with her sword. She had been waiting for him in the tree. Chaff fell to the ground and saw his ally slide to the ground with a knife stuck in his stomach, right in front of the boy from District 1. Chaff turned around and ran away. The tributes from District 1 took up the chase. But Chaff was fast, even though he was missing a hand and lost a lot of blood. “Give up, Chaff!” the boy from District 1 shouted behind him, “If we don’t kill you, your hand will!” He was absolutely right. There was now a glaring hole where once his hand used to be. Chaff took off his shirt and wrapped it around the wound to stop the gush of blood - he probably had a few minutes left before he would eventually die of blood loss. He glanced over his shoulder and looked at their sweaty faces and tousled blond hair. But he also saw the sparkle in their emerald green eyes and a triumphant smile playing on their lips. Not yet. He still had one last move left. Chaff ran to his previous hiding place and hid behind a tree. "Seriously?" the girl from District 1 said, laughing. "All this way we ran for nothing? So you could just hide behind a tree?" Suddenly, something flew through the air and landed right at the feet of the tributes from District 1. They stared at the silver spheres lying on the ground, but by the time they had realized what it was, it was too late. With a deafening BOOM!, the two bombs detonated, tearing the District 1 tributes to pieces. Chaff fell to the ground. His face was pale, and he was no longer moving. The hovercraft appeared out of nowhere, collected him and the doctors scrambled to save Chaff's life. If the victor died, they too would pay with their lives....

After his victory, Chaff changed. He was no longer the joyful boy he once was. Only when he was drunk again did that boy show up again, the boy he had locked away years ago. He didn't talk about his Games to anyone, for he lived through them enough in his nightmares. Maeve - Sair - Rowden Cye. He never forgot those names, their faces. How could he? They followed him wherever he went. Five years later, a boy won the Games who had been through a similar experience. This boy was one of the few he could confide in because he could relate to his pain. His name was Haymitch Abernathy. Capitol’s favorite (2nd-place).

————————

*Capitol favorites attracted Capitol citizens’ (and therefore whole Panem’s) attention the most. Various reasons for this included their unique skills, impressive deeds or exciting storylines. More screen time made it easier for them to survive in the arena compared to less noticed tributes (e.g. in terms of sponsor gifts). Also, there was a lower risk for them to be exposed to the Gamemaker’s arbitrariness (e.g. mutts, different dangers) due to contributing to the viewer’s excitement. The higher their placement (1st, 2nd, 3rd…), the better. Nevertheless, the possibility of encountering dangers in the arena was never completely ruled out.

Sorry for any language mistakes. English is not my native language. Please let me know about any mistakes I have made.

I’d be grateful for your feedback! I spend A LOT of time writing all of this, so I’d really like to know what you think.

—-—-—-—-—-—-—-

Finished recaps: The 1st, 6th, 16th, 25th, 36th, 45th, 49th, 50th, 65th, 66th, 68th, 69th, 70th, and 71st Hunger Games

Upcoming recaps: The 22nd, 62nd, 72nd, 73rd, and 74th Hunger Games

[summerof336bc]

sometimes i just have to lay down & think about the capitol hill crawl.

[museumof2021]

January 20

It’s inauguration day in Washington

With security tightened following the riots of January 6th and COVID cases spiking, it will be a much smaller ceremony. 200,000 flags are planted into the Washington Mall, in a nod to the typically large crowds who gather on the lawn outside the capitol during presidential inaugurations.

After the calamitous riots of January 6th, when Trump-supporters overran the capitol building to try and prevent congress from certifying the election results, the capitol is crawling with 25,000 National Guardsmen. 

At the White House, Trump’s aides carry bankers’ boxes of files and belongings to Marine One, the helicopter that will shuttle Trump away from the White House. I just wanted to relish in the image of his moving boxes tbh.

The embittered Trump, sour at losing to Biden, has elected to skip his successor’s inauguration. He becomes the first outgoing president to skip this tradition in 152 years. The last president to forgo this ceremonial passing-of-the-torch was Andrew Johnson, who, like Trump, was impeached by congress. But only once.

The Trumps wave farewell to a crowd of family and maskless supporters as they board Air Force One en route to Florida, where Trump will take up residence at his resort in Mar-A-Lago.

After attending morning mass with their families, Biden and Harris arrive at the capitol building for the day’s festivities. They’re escorted up the stairs by some Republican whose name I don’t care about and Amy Klobuchar, a one-time Presidential hopeful and the sitting senator from Minnesota.

Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton arrive with their dates. I’ve just now decided I’m going to do a second post about inauguration just breaking down the iconic fashions.

President George Bush, the only other living Republican President, attends with his wife Laura (not pictured). The only way his photo was making this recap was if I could find one with Michelle in it.

Capitol officer Eugene Goodman was selected to escort Vice-President Kamala Harris to the inauguration.

The ever-iconic Bernie Sanders awaits the ceremony’s start, wearing mittens knitted for him by a Vermont constituent. Inauguration guests sat in small clusters of one and two people, to allow for social distancing.

We all fall a little bit in love with Amanda Gordon, the youngest poet laureate in history, when she recites her work ‘The Hill We Climb’.

Barack Obama greets his President-Elect Joe Biden. Biden served faithfully as his Vice President during Obama’s eight-year presidency.

Kamala Harris swears into office first, shattering a handful of ‘firsts’. First woman to hold the office of Vice President. The first Black person. The first East-Indian person. Harris is the first person-of-colour to hold the post since Charles Curtis, who served as Hoover’s second-in-command. Curtis was a member of the Kaw Nation from Kansas, through his mother’s side.

This photograph is rich in symbolism. Harris wears purple in a nod to Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman to run for President. And the bible her husband holds - the bible she chose to be sworn in on - belonged to Thurgood Marshall, the civil rights lawyer who became the first African-American judge to sit on the Supreme Court

Ms. Harris was sworn in first, using a Bible owned by Thurgood Marshall, the civil rights lawyer who became the first African-American to hold a seat on the Supreme Court when Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to the bench in 1967.

President Joseph R. Biden swears into office on a family bible as his daughter Ashley and on Hunter look on. 

Biden and Harris partake in a review of troops - this symbolic exercise demonstrates the military’s readiness to the new commander-in-chief. The pair then moved to Arlington cemetery where they laid a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

They are joined at Arlington by three of five former living presidents: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Jimmy Carter, then 96 years old, declined to attend, citing his advanced age and the risk of COVID-19.

Harris and her big blended family - inluding her two stepchildren, niece, sister, and brother-in-law - walked a short distance towards the White House. Presidents typically hold a parade en-route to the Presidential residence - this tradition was put on hold due to the health risks of large gatherings.

The Bidens embrace on the front steps of the White House.

Biden’s first order of business in the Oval Office? Signing 17 executive orders, reversing the Trump decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, halting construction of Trump’s southern border wall and cancelling the country’s exit from the World Health Organization.

Biden swears in the first batch of presidential appointees.

Meanwhile, as President of the Senate, Harris swears-in her replacement as Senator for California, Alex Padilla. He becomes the first latino in the state’s history to hold the position. 

She also swears in the newly-elected Georgia Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. With the addition of the two democrats from Georgia, the House will become evenly split between the two major parties, giving tie-break power to Kamala Harris. 

Press Secretary Jen Psaki holds her first briefing, promising the press that there will be daily updates and briefings. This stands in sharp contrast to the Trump administration, who halted press briefings for almost a year, even amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In place of the usual inauguration ball, Tom Hanks hosted a star-studded television special including musical performances by Bruce Springsteen, Yo-Yo Ma, and Katy Perry, as well as speakers like Eva Longoria, Kerry Washington, and nurse Sanda Lindsay, the first American to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Biden holds grandson Beau, during inauguration day celebrations. It’s an end to a truly-strange day, devoid of so many of the usual theatrics and rituals that mark the peaceful transition of power.

It’s been four exhausting years of Trump. His departure feels like a chance to build anew - but with so many Republicans refusing to even acknowledge their leaders’ loss in the polls, the future still looks sketchy and shaky. But, at least for today, there is space for hope.

[quakerjoe]

How Big Money Corrupts Our Politics (And How to Fix It) | Robert Reich

Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich breaks down the ways big money corrupts our political system, and what we can do to create a government of, by, and for the people.

It's difficult to do anything — increase the minimum wage, reverse climate change, get Medicare for All, end police killings, fight systemic racism, shrink our bloated military — when big money controls our politics and dictates what policies are and aren't enacted.

As Americans are still suffering massive unemployment and the ravages of the pandemic, lobbyists are crawling all over Capitol Hill and the White House is seeking continued subsidies for the rich and for corporations — while demanding an end to supplemental assistance for average working people, the poor, and the unemployed.

It’s corruption in action. And it’s undermining our democracy at every turn.

So how do we get big money out of our politics?

A good starting point can be found in the sweeping reform package known as H.R. 1 — the For the People Act. The bill closes loopholes that favor big corporations and the wealthy, makes it easier for all of us to vote, and strengthens the power of small donors through public financing of elections.

These are just a few examples of tangible solutions that already exist to rein in unprecedented corruption and stop America’s slide toward oligarchy — but there’s much more we can and should do. The important thing to remember is that the big money takeover of our democracy prevents us from advancing all of the policies we need to overhaul our racist, oppressive system and create a society that works for the many, not the few.

[proseandpinotnoir]

🌴MEET THE BOOKSTAGRAMMER🌴

So I joined bookstagram about nine months ago and have genuinely loved every single second of it! I’ve never formally “introduced” myself of here, but thought I’d share a little bit about me so y’all know who you’re following!

☀️I can put on a truly heinous one-woman performance of Hamilton.

☀️ I graduated from Columbia in 2015 and absolutely loved it even on the days I absolutely hated it.

☀️I know how to brew my own kombucha and drink it every day.

☀️I LOVE CONCERTS. The first concert I ever went to was Hannah Montana and it was truly a One in a Million (get it ok no me either) experience. My favorite concerts since then have been Taylor Swift, Kygo, The Weeknd, The 1975, and the Jonas Brothers.

☀️I totally believe in astrology. I’m a Capricorn sun, Leo moon, and Cancer rising (also an enneagram 5w1).

☀️I LOVE Greek mythology/the Classics.

☀️I am one of Those Millennials™️ who made a tiktok during quarantine and brings down the aggregate quality of the platform just by existing on it.

☀️I’m the oldest of three sisters and we’re all super close.

☀️I am a firm believer in the soul-deep benefits of reality tv. Siesta Key is the most underrated show on television, and I adore everything Kardashian, Love Island, and VPR. I actually despise Bachelor Nation but can’t stop watching for reasons I have yet to understand.

☀️I moved to DC after graduation and spent ~four years on Capitol Hill working for a Wisconsin House Member. I now know more about Wisconsin than I do Florida, and am the proud owner of a Jordy Nelson jersey. I love the Badgers, bars in Lake Geneva, Culvers, cheese curds, and Spotted Cow.

☀️Tennis was my literal identity from the time I was 10 until the end of my college career. My mom played at Clemson, my middle sister played at UCLA, our little sister played at Tufts, and my dad even taught for awhile in the Bahamas!

☀️I can’t remember a time in which I didn’t love to read. I LIVED for the 15 minutes after school and practice and homework when I could crawl into bed and lose myself in a book.

What do we have in common?!

[greekowl87]

Fic: A Transition of Sorts

A/N: Wrote my Pilot fic. It probably sucks because I wrote during multiple bouts of insomnia and just to write something so ere go, probably forced. Some of the lines are from the transcript from Inside the X. Tagging @today-in-fic @suitablyaggrieved @baronessblixen @improlificinsarcasm

Darkness and mystery surrounded Scully in her motel room as she carefully lit a series of candles throughout her room. Her first assignment as a field agent and it literally had to be in the middle of nowhere Oregon. She was tired. The day had been long and grueling and oddly enough, strangely satisfying. There was a mystery...a plausible explanation of some sort that could be discovered.

She shut her laptop, being careful not to use all her battery just in case the lights would be out longer than a few hours. She shuffled her notes and files, deciding to call it a night. Suddenly, the phone rang and she jumped slightly. She huffed to herself in amusement as she looked at her watch. She picked up the phone and greeted, “Hi, Ethan.”

“Dana,” he greeted. “How’s your first field case going? Find any aliens yet?”

“It’s not aliens, Ethan. But it’s going. I just lost power. This town literally is in the middle of nowhere.” 

She tried to keep it professional. She wasn’t really expecting her rocky, taking some space-boyfriend to call her. She had her suspicions for the past three months that he was cheating on her with someone else. Scully was able to solve the mysteries of death but not the one mystery of her cheating boyfriend.

“Well, maybe being a field agent isn’t what you’re calling is. You had a pretty sweet gig in Quantico.”

She groaned at his nagging. That was another thing had been growing worse too. “Well, I think I could do more good here than in a lab, Ethan.”

“Chasing little green aliens?” He scoffed. “What is that I hear? Spooky?”

“How did you hear that?” She rolled her eyes. “Of course, now I remember you telling me.”

“I’m a journalist, Dana, it’s my job to know. I heard he used to be quite the golden child back in the day.”

“That doesn’t matter, Ethan. I’m doing a greater good here helping these people than I would in the lab.”

“You aren’t cut out to be a field agent, Dana. You’re a doctor. It is a waste of your talents.”

“You think I can’t do it?”

“I just think that a woman shouldn’t be out in the field is a dangerous situation like that. You’re a doctor, Dana.”

“And I’m also an FBI agent!” She was clearly annoyed now. “Why did you call me, Ethan? To berate me? That’s why I asked you to move out to begin with.”

There was a noise in the background, a woman’s sultry. “Come back to bed, baby.” Sheets ruffled and a hand covered up the phone. She could hear Ethan’s quiet, “Not now, Trixie.”

“What was that?”

“What was what?” He hissed over the line. “Tricia stop it.

Scully rolled her eyes, berating herself for being so naive. Of course, she should have followed her gut instinct. “Goodbye, Ethan and don’t ever call me again, okay? Just leave me alone.”

“Wait, Dana...I can explain.”

“I’m done.” She slammed the receiver and rolled her eyes. How could she be so stupid? “Damn it.”

Her head was still swimming from the evening earlier of being out in the woods, their car mysteriously dying and restarting their case, and the emotions of what just had happened over the phone. Her heart was racing. Scully was upset. She could feel tears wanting to begin but she crushed the urge. She had to remain professional, still get Mulder to respect her. He was challenging her every step of the way and at one point, she began to question if he had any respect for her at all.

She ran her fingers through her wavy hair and got one of her candles to bring to the bathroom. A hot shower would clear her mind. She set the candle on the counter, ran the shower, and took off her robe. As her fingers grazed her lower back and felt two raised bumps. Panic set in. It coldn’t be…

As a storm raged, she rushed to Mulder’s door and knocked on it. The door opened immediately. Mulder’s surprise was clear. “Hi.” Scully’s mind was still racing. She felt panic, still striding high off her previous emotions. “I want you to look at something.”

He stood off to the side and motioned for her, “Come on in.”

Scully, with her arms crossed, walked into his motel room. Mulder shut the door behind her, sealing them off from the storm outside. She turns around and slipped down her robe. His eyebrows arched in surprise to see her only in her bra and underwear. She looked at him and down her back. Wordless, he bent down and gently touched her back. She jumped and he gently caressed her skin, soothing her frazzled nerves. He spotted two small dots and started to smile. He could understand why she would be so nervous.

“What are they?”

His smile grew wider.

“Mulder, what are they?”

“Mosquito bites.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I got eaten up a lot myself out there.“

Scully gasped in relief, blood rushing to her cheek as she slipped her robe back on. She instinctively hugged Mulder and she lingered. He hesitantly returned it, surprised at the physical contact. She suddenly realized she felt embarrassed and hugged him longer than she had to. But at the same time, it just felt...right.

“You okay?” “Yes.” Scully pulled away from the hug and tried to calm herself by taking a deep breath. “I’m fine. I just...I haven’t been sleeping well.” “You're shaking.”

She looked away. “I need to sit down.”

She sat down at the small table and he took a seat from across from here. “Take your time.”

“You don’t trust me,” she exclaimed bluntly. She clutched her chest, willing her heart to slow. “You think I am a spy.”

“Scully,” he tried to soothe.

“Don’t, Mulder. If you don’t trust, just any it! I know you hate having me here.” She got up. “It was stupid to come here!”

“Scully!” He grabbed her hand. “You didn’t waste your time.”

“You think I’m a spy,” she spat. Mulder didn’t deny it. “Your silence is deafening. I am sorry for bothering you, Mulder.”

She yanked her hand away, wrapped her robe around herself tightly, and grabbed the candle she had brought with her. “Scully, you don’t have to go out into that rain.”

“You made it perfectly clear. I was unprofessional. Good night, Agent Mulder.”

She jogged back to her room, avoiding the pouring rain and locked the door behind her. She set the candle back down on the table she had previously been sitting at. She moved to look for additional candles but had no luck until she looked under the bathroom sink. Scully chuckled at the irony of finding candles in a questionable hotel.

She lit the rest of the candles throughout her room and decided that perhaps she could try to review the case but right now, that was the last thing on her mind. She could read the book she brought for the flight but her mind was elsewhere. But her thoughts went back to Ethan.

Scully had met him on the rebound from Daniel, shortly after graduating medical school and being recruited into the FBI. Maybe she was still looking for that hole that Daniel had filled, but for a while, it worked. A successful up and coming journalist that covered Capitol Hill that was on the up and up to eventually go to national broadcasting. Ethan had nabbed a deal to a woman who was not only a medical doctor but and an FBI agent. At a Christmas party for his work, he paraded her like a prize...the oohs and awes from his coworkers still made her skin crawl...a doctor and an FBI agent? What a catch, Ethan.

Her father was so happy. His youngest had found a good man, her mother flirted the m-word, marriage. For a month she played with the idea, however, she caught him cheating the first time, and then things just went downhill from there. Tonight was the final straw.

She sighed and went to her bed, bringing a candle with her. “I’m single,” she repeated. “Fuck.”

She couldn’t fathom it and how much her life had changed in 72 hours. New assignment. A partner, could she even call Agent Mulder that, refused to trust her. Is this was being a field agent was? And now, she was free...single too. Was she free though? Ethan’s words still stung her.

Scully jumped when she heard a light knocking at her door. “Scully? You awake?”

She felt the bile rise up in her throat. “What do you want, Agent Mulder?”

“Mulder,” he corrected. “Um, can we talk?

She was reluctant to let him in. “About what? The case?”

She would not open the door.

“No. Um, about earlier, Scully…can we just talk?”

She got up and, after a moment's hesitation, opened the door. “Is this about the case?”

Mulder held his own candle and shook his head. He looked down at his feet. “No. I feel like I made an ass of myself, Scully. Can I come in or do you want me to stay out here all night?”

Scully looked past him to the storm raging outside. After a moment’s hesitation, she stepped aside. Mulder’s reluctance to enter was clear but he did so anyway. “Say what you have to say, Agent Mulder.”

“Mulder,” he corrected. He turned on his heel to tower over her. “Scully.”

“This is not some Tarazen and Jane situation,” she snapped.

He arched an eyebrow, clearly confused. “If this is about what happened earlier, I assure you it isn’t. I want to clear the air between us,” he said softly.

“There’s nothing to clear. You made that certain.”

“You know as a profiler and just as a good observer of nature, does your anger have to deal with the mysterious phone call with someone named Ethan you got right before we left Dulles?”

Scully glanced at him in the corner of her eye and sighed. After a moment, she answered, “He is, excuse me, was my boyfriend of three years.”

“So,” Mulder ventured slowly, “this happened recently?”

“Literally right before I ran over like a coward asking you to check my back. He told me,” she paused, “that this was a waste of my talents and that a woman should not be out in a dangerous situation such as this. I told him that I felt like I could do the best out here in the field, helping those couldn’t help herself, despite what people say about me.”

Mulder saw the unmentioned barb thrown his way, and her ex-boyfriend he supposed. “Well, what purpose does some guy have questioning the person who rewrote Einstein?”

She chuckled and wiped away a stray tear. “A journalist who cheats on you with someone named Trixie.” 

“Journalist...is it Ethan Minette?”

“You know him?”

“Not directly but he tried to reach out to do an interview of some sort. He seemed just like everyone else who has made fun of me over the past years so I refused it.”

“He mentioned that.”

“Can you blame me?”

She shook her head and turned to face him. “I’m not here to spy on you, Mulder. I’m here to do a job. I am here to. Find the truth, help these people, and solve this case...with you. I am tired to you fighting me each and every step!”

“Have you ever had a partner, Scully?”

She shook her head. “Unless you count a cadaver.” Mulder frowned in response. “Pathologist humor, sorry. Mulder, I’m here so we can solve a case and so I can ground our findings in science. So we can solve this case.”

He titled his head and nodded. “You know, Scully, it’s been a very long time since I’ve had anyone take me seriously since I had someone to trust.” He walked past her and sat on the floor next to her bed. “You get used to people making fun of you, teasing you…” He shrugged. “I’ve been on my own with the x-files so long, I just learned to ignore it. But when I got the news I was getting assigned a partner, a scientist no less, I can’t help but be suspicious.”

“I know the feeling,” she said, reflecting on Ethan.

“How long had your ex been cheating?”

“I caught him in my second year of our relationship. He swore it was a one-time thing. Then it happened again. Then I kicked him out.”

“Go, girl!”

Scully smiled and lowered her gaze. “I was trying to make it work because of my parents…”

He held up a hand and patted the bed behind him. Scully smiled slightly and picked up a white blanket and wrapped up around herself. She lounged behind him and adjusted the blanket to rest on her hips. “I know about trying to please your parents but coming as a third neutral party for this, Scully. I think you are better off without him. He sounds like a twat.”

“Twat?” 

“Sorry. An ass. An idiot. You did the right thing, Scully. So how did you find out?”

Scully felt a little lighter. Maybe Spooky Mulder wasn’t spooky after all. “Literally the woman said something over the phone while we chatted and I heard it. 20 minutes ago.”

“Ouch,” he winced. “Well, the fool didn’t know what he had.”

“What about you?”

Mulder’s head lolled back and looked at her. “Hmmm?”

“I give a little, you…”

“Fair enough, Scully. We’re going to be partners after all.”

The first time he had mentioned something more than temporary. Maybe he would finally take her seriously. “So, what do you want to know, Scully?”

She was quiet and then asked, “You had the whole world in front of you with your career, why the x-files?”

He smiled, surprised, and decided to trust her. “It’s a long story.”

“Well, we got time,” she countered.

He lolled his head back and took a deep breath, “I was twelve when it happened. My sister was eight. She just disappeared out of her bed one night. Just gone, vanished. No note, no phone calls, no evidence of anything.”

Scully was not expecting this. She propped her head up in curiosity. “You never found her.”

“No.” He smiled ironically. “I understand family pressures, Scully, trust me. Tore the family apart. No one would talk about it. There were no facts to confirm, nothing to offer any hope.”

“What did you do?”

“Eventually, I went off to school in England, I came back, got recruited by the bureau. Seems I had a natural aptitude for applying behavioral models to criminal cases.”

“I know the feeling. We lived on the West Coast when I was a teenager and I wanted to get out so badly to make my own name. We moved back to Maryland when I was 18. I tried to go to medical school out west but I…”

“Johns Hopkins, top of your class, recruited into the FBI,” he smiled, “something we both share.” 

Scully laughed and Mulder’s smile went wider. He faced her. “My success allowed me a certain freedom to pursue my own interests. And that's when I came across the X-Files.” “By accident?”

“At first, it looked like a garbage dump for UFO sightings, alien abduction reports, the kind of stuff that most people laugh at as being ridiculous. But I was fascinated. I read all the cases I could get my hands on, hundreds of them. I read everything I could about paranormal phenomena, about the occult and…” He sighed and drifted off in thought. “I found my sister’s file.” “What?”

“There's classified government information I've been trying to access, but someone has been blocking my attempts to get at it.”

The passion with which he spoke to her made her sit up a bit more. “Who? I don't understand.”

“Someone at a higher level of power. The only reason I've been allowed to continue with my work is that I've made connections in congress.” After a moment, he added, “The same freedom being the golden cow of VCU afforded the same connections elsewhere.”

“And they're afraid of what? That, that you'll leak this information?” Scully’s interest was piqued. “Mulder.”

He sighed bitterly. “I hate to tell you this, Scully, but you deserved the truth. You're a part of that agenda, you know that.”

“I'm not a part of any agenda. You've got to trust me. I'm here just like you, to solve this.”

He kneeled on his knees, twisting toward her. “I'm telling you this, Scully, because you need to know, because of what you've seen. In my research, I've worked very closely with a man named Dr. Heitz Werber and he's taken me through deep regression hypnosis. I've been able to go into my own repressed memories to the night my sister disappeared. I can recall a bright light outside and a presence in the room. I was paralyzed, unable to respond to my sister's calls for help.” He moved close, emphasizing, “List to me, Scully, this thing exists.” Scully felt like she could see his brilliance but a deep trauma that permeated his every move. “But how do you know…”

“The government knows about it, and I got to know what they're protecting. Nothing else matters to me, and this is as close as I've ever gotten to it.”

Scully could see why everyone thought he was crazy but she saw past that. There was something more to him that others’ could not see. “Why tell me all this, Mulder?”

“I’ve always trusted no one.” He shrugged. “Maybe, since I have a partner, maybe I should start trusting someone.” He nodded to her. “'I know you were sent to spy on me, Scully. I’m not stupid. But…” he paused. “I can see you mean what you say. You only want to solve the case.”

They shared a moment of mutual understanding before the phone rang. Scully jumped and Mulder rushed to pick it up.

“Hello? What? Who is this? Who is thi…” He slammed the phone down and turned to Scully. “That was some woman... she just said Peggy O'Dell was dead.”

“The girl in the wheelchair?” “Yeah.”

“Let’s go then.”

- - - - - - 

Days later, with their first x-files case solved together, Scully found herself sitting at a bar in a Portland airport dressed in jeans and the rain jacket she felt like she had been wearing for days now. Next to her a small duffle bag with some quick clothes she had purchased after their motel had gone up in flames. Next to her bag was Mulder’s. “Hey, sorry that took so long. I got us a flight in three hours non stop to D.C. I didn’t want to deal with any layover.”

“Good thinking.”

“You order yet?”

“Uh, no. I wasn’t sure what you wanted.”

“Usually unsweetened tea but, Scully, we’re off the clock. Why don’t you say we celebrate our first solved case.”

“If you can call it solved. There are still so many questions I have, Mulder.” She shook her head. “I’ve never studied anything or seen anything like it. I know the answers are there, Mulder. There’s probably a lot of logical answers to the files down in the basement.”

“And we’ll solve them. This is what the x-files is, Scully. Unexplained.”

“Do you think that is where the ‘x’ comes from?”

“For what?”

“X as found in explained? Or imagine if they called it the xxx files...unexplained to the third power.”

Mulder burst out laughing. “They might think the FBI solves pornos or that could be a porno. Two agents, out against the world, solving one 1-900 number at a time.”

Scully snorted. “So now we solve poor pornos.” She shook her head. “And what about celebrating our first case? Is that an olive branch I detect from you, Mulder?”

“So maybe you aren’t a spy and I am making the choice to trust you, to a degree. I don’t go around telling everyone my life story. Besides, maybe I am tired of being the lone agent. Maybe I could use a partner.”

“You’re the first one who has called me, Scully...outside of my instructors. Everyone calls me Dana or whatever. It’s always a boys’ club. I knew that going into it. Ethan didn’t help.” After a moment, Scully smirked. “You’re really bad at this.”

Mulder chuckled. “Well, I’m not perfect.”

She nodded after a moment and held up a finger. “Beer but just one.”

“Scully, we’re off the clock and I saw how you gripped the armrest during the turbulence and when we took off and landed. You don’t like flying.”

“Not particularly.”

“You better get used to it if we’ll be traveling across the country.” He nodded and put their tickets on the counter and tapped them lightly. “Um, I know we had separate seats last time but no such luck. I hope you don’t mind.”

Scully’s eyebrow arched. Another olive branch. “That’s fine, Mulder. Thank you.”

“So, how about some dinner and another beer before we fly?”

“You buying?”

“Why kind of partner would I be if I didn’t,” he teased. Scully smile coyly. Maybe he did trust her after all. “Besides, it’s only one beer. What could it hurt?”

One beer turned into two and three. They shared an order of spring rolls and spilt an order of meatball sub with extra mozzarella. The more Mulder got to know her, the more he felt like he could trust her.

“So,” Mulder said, pausing between bites. “You met Ethan where?”

Scully giggled and let her cheeks blush. He couldn’t get enough of that sound. “Of all places, a medical conference. I had just graduated from the academy and I was still fresh at Quantico. He normally covers the hill but because Thomas Miller was there…”

“The assistant director of forensics and pathology at Quantico?”

“The very same as the one who recruited me. It was by chance. He spilled a bourbon and coke on my dress. One thing led to another…” Scully shrugged looking down into her beer. “My parents approved of him but it only took a year before I caught him cheating. I was so desperate for…” She shrugged again and looked at Mulder. “I wanted so badly to believe that I could make something out of it. That it is a one-time thing. But it happened again. And again. Then I kicked him out.”

Mulder sipped his beer, intrigued. “So the phone call before we lost all our stuff?”

“I thought there was still hope. Even though he didn’t live with me, I thought I could still make it work. I’d invested three years of my life into trying to make this relationship work. We were already on rocky ground. I told him when I got the assignment and that I couldn’t have dinner with him because I was going to Oregon. I gave him my hotel phone number...out of habit I guess.” Scully shrugged. “But as I was talking, I hear this sultry voice from a woman named Trixie.”

“Trixie?” Mulder repeated.

Scully sipped her beer and snorted in amusement. “And then I just broke it off. Best thing I have ever done.”  Scully smiled. “It’s very metaphorical if I think about it. Right after I decided to cut all ties and all of our stuff was burned.”

“And our evidence,” Mulder said glumly. “We were so close, Scully.”

She hummed and held up a finger and reached into her jacket, producing a glass vial with a small implant. “You managed to save it.”

“It never left my side, Mulder.” She passed it to him. “That is our best evidence for what happened to Billy Miles and those kids. I can’t explain it but it’s a start. There’s still a lot more to do.”

He was once again taken aback. “You really aren’t a spy, are you?”

She laughed. “You still can’t get pass that, can you? Far from it. I was serious about what I said. I’m here to solve these cases, Mulder. Maybe my background as a scientist can give your explanations a bit more ground to stand on. But I want to do good in the world. I’m here to solve these cases just like you.”

He nodded and lifted his half full glass of beer. “To new beginnings, Scully.”

She smiled and he sensed a real, genuine smile. There wasn’t anything about her that was fake. She raised her glass and clinked it. “To new beginnings, Mulder.”

- - - - - - 

Mulder found his walls crumbling as he watched Scully doze against the window of their plane. During take off, they sat together and he held her hand tightly as she clutched his for dear life. Once they were airborne, and likely somewhere over the Midwest, she finally relaxed and slumped over towards the window. Mulder gently tugged on her hand. “I’m okay.”

She blinked sleepily and nodded. “I know,” he whispered. “But do you want me to ask for a pillow or blanket for you?”

“Finally trust me?”

“Just a bit.” He waved his hand slightly. “Can I…”

“I’m okay, Mulder.”

“Too late.” An air flight attendant listened as he requested a pillow and blanket. “See, I got you.” It was delivered promptly and Mulder offered them after the flight attendant left. Scully blinked sleepily.  She took the blanket and pushed the pillow towards him. “Agent Scully, we just met.”

She chuckled and lounged the seat back to get comfortable. Mulder didn’t know why, he did the same, trying his best to master the same angle. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing.”

The plane jumped slightly like it had on their way into Oregon and Scully turned her head and reached for his hand. He held it tightly. “Thanks.”

He squeezed it. “Of course.”

- - - - - - 

At about 7 p.m local time, their direct flight from Portland landed at Dulles International in Virginia. The bump-bump of the plane landing on the tarmac woke Scully and had, embarrassingly, found herself sleeping about against Mulder’s shoulder. He just offered her a smile and said nothing about it. She blinked herself awake and watched the plane taxi to their ramp.

“Welcome back,” Mulder stated softly.

“Home sweet home.”

“So, Scully, you survived your first x-file, what’s next?”

“You sound just like a game show host.”

He shrugged and gave her a goofy smile. “Well, Agent Scully?”

“Just let me know.”

Mulder smiled broadly. “I’ll grab our bags when the plane stops. So, what’re your plans once you get back home?”

“Same old, same old.”

Mulder nodded and focused his gaze forward. As the plane parked, Mulder stood up first, unlocking the overhead bin. He grabbed both of their duffle bags effortlessly. “I got it, Mulder.”

“I’ll give you your bag once we get off the plane. Besides, I can run down people with these bags.” 

His joke got the laugh it intended. Unconsciously, she grasped the back of his jacket. “Just don’t lose me in the process.”

Mulder and Scully got of the plane, and once they got to the ramp, he passed her her bag. Scully slung her duffle over her shoulder and followed Mulder. She noted that, in the beginning, she had struggled to keep up. His long strides matched his determination to seek the truth. But now, he either purposely or unconsciously matched his stride to be in tune with hers. He touched the small of her back. “You have a ride back to your place?”

“I’m fine, Mulder.”

“Dana!” 

She stiffened when she saw Ethan rushing towards her with a bouquet of flowers. Mulder frowned, turning towards her. “Is that Ethan?” He asked.

She nodded slightly. “I don’t know how he knew,” she whispered back.

“Dana! I’m so glad you’re back. I was afraid you missed your flight.” Ethan stopped in his steps, seeing Mulder talking to her. “Agent Mulder, I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure.” He offered his hand. “Ethan Minette.”

“I know who you are,” he said cooly, ignoring the offered hand. “You dogged me on a case a few years back and made my work impossible. We’ve met.”

Scully heard the chill in Mulder’s voice and shivered unconsciously. “What do you want, Ethan? How did you know where to find me?”

“I called your mother.”

“You didn’t tell her…” Scully pinched the bridge of her nose. “Ethan, we’re done! I want nothing to do with you!”

“Dana…”

“Goodbye, Ethan.”

Mulder wisely kept quiet and placed a guiding hand on her back and pushed past the ex. “Well played, Scully.”

“Is he following us?”

Mulder chanced a look over his shoulder. “No, but as a man, I would think you just took my balls as trophies.”

She stopped and couldn’t help but laugh. “Dana!” She could hear her ex-boyfriend calling her. “Don’t go off with Spooky!”

“Keep walking, Scully, however, you might become, Mrs. Spooky in the process.”

“I’ll take the chance.”

Mulder smiled boyishly and placed his hand on the small of her back. “Welcome to the basement,” he teased.

He escorted her to the taxi area and from there, they took separate taxis to their own apartments. 

When Scully got home, she stared at the empty apartment and went about her evening routine. By 11 pm, she was in bed and couldn’t sleep. By 11:21 pm, she flipped over onto her side and stared at the alarm clock. A series of thoughts rolled through her mind. She was officially a field partner. She jumped when the phone rang.

“Hello?” She answered unsurely.

“Scully? It’s me. I haven’t been able to sleep. I talked to the D.A. in Raymond County and there’s no case on Billy Miles. The case we filed was gone. We need to talk, Scully.”

Mulder? What was he talking about? Their case.

“Yes...we can talk about that tomorrow.”

He heard her sigh. “How are you doing, Scully?”

“With what? The case?”

“No. Ethan Whats-his-name.”

“I’m okay. We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay, Scully.”

“How did you get my home number?” She asked after a moment.

“How did I get your senior thesis?”

Scully smiled into the phone. “Good night, Mulder.”

She hung up and sighed: how things had changed.