#or the jabberjay scene

[oolhan]

just rewatched catching fire and I couldn't help but think of how Finnick delivered his love poem to Annie in that Quarter Quell interview. It's canon that he intentionally said it's for his one true love but surely there are speculations to whom it was for, especially people who didn't know he's together with Annie.

Like if i'm a capitol citizen I would be FERAL on finding out who he was referring to. Just imagine the gossip running about with peeta's pregnancy announcement after it ended. Did you watched the interviews?? finnick is taken! Is it for a someone back in district four? is it another victor? oh maybe it's a capitolite! is it with a fan he encountered with at one time at that one party? or is it really just an act of some last fan service before the quell????

Imagine die hard fans analyzing every word he recited and coming to tiktok making fan theory videos "easter eggs found in Finnick Odair's Quell interview" lol

[atelierlili]

I can’t believe Gale gave me writer’s block for a week.

[flowersfortheghost]

yeah so obviously i decided to change things last minute so im now busy writing 3 (maybe 4?) scenes from catching fire but with ghostflower for today's ghostflower week

i love all those scenes, okay?

[synonymroll648]

OMG DID TOU READ THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES HELLOOOOO I FUCKING LOBE RHAT BOOK

I DID AND I AM STILL SO FUCKING MAD ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO SEJANUS HE DESERVED BETTER HE DESERVED THE WORLD AND CORIOLANUS TURNED THE WORLD AGAINST HIM OUGH FUCK SNOW ALSO THE ENDING MAKES ME GO INSANE LIKE SNOW MY MAN WHY DID YOU GO DOWN THIS PATH YES I KNOW YOU WERE DESTINED TO BE AWFUL BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I LIKE IT HOW DARE YOU HOW DARE YOU HOW DARE YOU

[tvxcue]

oh god i really am going to lose my mind over finnick aren’t i.

[cherries-and-knives]

Another one of the Peeta moments that rot in my brain constantly is the scene in catching fire when Katniss and Finnick get stuck with the Jabberjays.

Peeta had his hands pressed against the force field, trying so so hard to be there for her and wanting so badly to protect her. And when it finally ended he held her, and rocked her, and let her hide her face in his arms, and protected her for as long as she needed him to and…..that’s just so ughhhh….so heartbreakingly sweet.

[avoxrising]

The Feral One • Chapter 8

Finnick x Y/N

Series Masterlist Link

This chapter makes me want to cry especially knowing what I’ve prewritten for them.

Content Warnings - Talk of rape and murder, mental torture, talks of prostitution, tooth rotting fluff

One moment you were all sitting on the beach, the next moment, Finnick was bolting into the jungle after Katniss. You get up to follow but Johanna tells you to stay put.

She returns a minute later, beckoning for you and Peeta to follow. Something must be wrong with them.

You can spot Finnick and Katniss huddled on the jungle floor, hands over their ears as they try to block out some kind of noise.

“Jabberjays,” Johanna sighs. “They’re stuck in that wedge for the next hour.”

“Can they hear us?” Peeta asks as he tries to break the barrier with his machete.

“Nope,” Johanna states.

You sit on the other side of the barrier from Finnick, watching as the birds torture him. His nose is bleeding but otherwise he seems physically unharmed.

Who would they use against you if you were in there? Would they use the voices of your dead family?

The only person they could hurt you with was the one sitting right in front of you.

An hour can feel like an eternity when you have to sit and watch the one person you love slowly lose their mind. When the barrier drops, Peeta runs to Katniss while you walk slowly towards Finnick.

Sitting down in front of him, you set your good hand next to his to alert him to your presence.

“Finn,” you sigh, seeing the pain in his face when he looks up at you.

“You were screaming,” he states. “They were torturing you and I couldn’t stop them.”

“I’m ok,” you reply.

You sit with him in silence while Johanna rants about the games and Katniss freaks out about her sister. I guess that’s who’s voice she heard.

“Can we go to the beach?” Finnick asks and you nod, walking down with him to the shore.

The two of you sit on the edge of the water, closer than you would usually sit but you can tell he needs the comfort.

“I can’t lose you,” he tells you as you stare out towards the cornucopia.

“I can’t promise you won’t,” you respond. “But I’ll try.”

“No you have to promise,” he states with pain in his voice. “I can’t lose you.”

You look at him and see how honest he is. As much as you’d like to hope he could survive without you, you worry he can’t.

“You won’t,” you sigh, looking into his sea green eyes.

“Can I hold your hand?” he asks. “I need to know you aren’t going to slip away from me.”

You allow him to grab your hand, feeling his calloused fingers against your smooth ones. The jabber jays must have really gotten to him as he never asks for physical contact with you.

Higher up the beach, Katniss notices the scene by the water.

“I thought we weren’t allowed to touch her,” she comments.

“Only he is,” Johanna replies. “Nobody else.” This made sense to Katniss after hearing her scream for Finnick for an hour.

“Why does touching her set her off?” Katniss asks. “I didn’t see her react that way in her games.”

Johanna sighs and looks out towards her two friends.

“She was, uh, raped during her victory tour,” she explains. “Killed the guy during it and hasn’t spoken or allowed people to touch her since. That’s why the capital calls her Feral, but they skewed the story to make it seem like she attacked him unprovoked.”

Katniss silently stares at Y/N, unsure of how to process that information.

“He was a game maker,” Johanna continues. “An important man in the capital. She never healed from it.”

“I don’t know how one would,” Beetee chimes in. “She’s been through a lot.”

“Why aren’t they together?” Peeta asks the older victors.

“They’re stubborn,” Johanna shrugs. “She doesn’t want to hurt him and he has a complicated deal with the capital that would make dating hard.”

“It would be hard to date all those capital women with a girl back home,” Katniss mutters.

“Don’t assume he likes jumping from woman to woman in the capital,” Johanna angrily states. “All victors have duties we don’t have a say in. Ever wonder why most of us have families anymore?”

Katniss swallows and looks at Johanna, shocked by this revelation.

“That could have easily been you.”

“What do you want to do when all of this is over?” Finnick asks you. You’re still holding hands and you’ve moved to rest your head on his shoulder. For once the contact isn’t bothering you.

“Go back to four,” you reply. “To our old routine.”

“That would be nice,” Finnick hums. He wishes so badly that he could tell you everything but he can’t. He barely convinced Plutarch to put you on the rescue list. He wasn’t sold on the idea of you being brought to 13 with your unpredictability.

When this is all over he wants to go back to four with you. He wants to move out of victors village to your own house by the sea with a big garden you can walk freely in. He wants to spend the days outside with you, showing you around the district you haven’t explored in 5 years.

He wants you to be his, permanently. He thinks you’d say yes, but at the same time he isn’t certain. He’s never asked you out for the simple reason that Snow would kill you if he did. He told Finnick as much.

He hopes you realize how much he loves you, even if he can’t show it.

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[tending-the-hearth]

a (not entirely) comprehensive list of what i loved about the ballad of songbirds and snakes movie

(spoilers below)

i already gushed about it but the ENTIRE opening scene being shot for shot what happens in the first few pages of the book... like holy shit i was blown away

snow making the remark about the tessarae buttons reminding him of the maid's bathroom???? again directly from the book???

lucy gray's introduction, and her song!!!!

again this movie was... SO ridiculously faithful to the book it almost made me cry

tigris and snow's relationship was so beautifully portrayed, and knowing how they each end up makes it even more heartbreaking

sejanus always and forever my favorite character <3

the fact that they included arachne's death and kept it almost entirely identical to her book death?? and i'd argue that her death in the movie is more gruesome

the entire scene with reaper gathering up the bodies. it was my favorite scene in the book, and it's one of my favorite scenes in the movie. it's such a heartbreaking but powerful moment, like when peeta paints rue or when katniss gave rue a burial

the snake scene holy SHIT all the deaths destroyed me

but lucy gray singing??? and the snakes gathering around her like a dress??? and her voice just getting stronger and more steady as she realizes she won't die???

i might be wrong but i'm PRETTY sure that the first time we see lucy gray after the hunger games when she's singing in district 12 she's wearing mockingbird and jabberjay feathers in her hair!!!

and her snake bracelet that she wears!!

her smile when she saw snow in the crowd... if i didn't read the book i'd 100% be rooting for them

hearing lucy gray singing "hanging tree" was so haunting. i've seen people point out the difference in meaning in lucy vs. katniss' versions, and i'm definitely going to make a whole post abt lucy gray singing the song

omg the way people in my theater gasped SO loudly when lucy called the root "katniss"

while obviously not a good thing in context of the story, the way we could see snow slowly devolving and becoming more and more manipulative towards sejanus and lucy gray... absolutely terrifying storytelling

lucy's realization of what snow's done, and the way she holds herself together JUST enough to run away from him

the mockingjays and jabberjays coming together to sing "hanging tree"

tigris saying "you look just like your father" to snow at the end of the movie and us knowing that she also means the look of hatred in his eyes that she told snow she hoped she'd never see

THE FUCKING END WITH SNOW SAYING THE LINE AND HEARING RUE'S WHISTLE ECHOING AND EVERYTHING EXCUSE ME

[saffron-stars]

If you think about how Coriolanus always hated mockingjays for being “unnatural” and appreciated jabberjays for their efficiency (and borderline purity) the catching fire scene where katniss (THE mockingjay) is attacked by jabberjays….. has a whole new meaning.

[danae-draws]

“I know it's stopped when I feel Peeta's hands on me, feel myself lifted from the ground and out of the jungle. But I stay eyes squeezed shut, hands over my ears, muscles too rigid to release.

Peeta holds me on his lap, speaking soothing words, rocking me gently. It takes a long time before I begin to relax the iron grip on my body.“

did a sketch of the jabberjay catching fire scene bc it gets me everytime 😭😭

[spacy-snail]

Parts of the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie that did the book dirty

Spoilers!!

…

• Snow is the one to suggest feeding the tributes, not stumbling across Sejanus already doing it

• The downgrade of the whole rat problem/rat poison thing

• Grandma’am is nice now???

• The almost total removal of Clemensia’s character, her being a weird suck up instead of her making a normal teen lie, and the fallout showing the absolute apathy Dr Gaul has (and also making Snow realize he can’t even trust the Capitol)

• Dr Gaul literally spelling out what the snakes do and Clemensia still sticking her hand in that stupid snake tank

• Not having Snow calling Lucy Gray “mine” in a creepy way even once to show how he feels he has ownership of her from the very beginning

• The EXTREME downgrade of Snow and Sejanus’ relationship, and the weird bond he has with the Plinths in general

• Ma Plinth erasure

• Tigris erasure

• Getting rid of Arachne’s funeral

• Snow not going out of his way to get Lucy Gray a guitar

• Having a blink and you’ll miss it throwaway line of the tributes and Academy students that died in the explosion

• Not showing the other tributes that did the interview

• Not showing Mama Snow’s compact until Coriolanus deciding to give it to Lucy Gray

• Lucy Gray and Snow didn’t kiss before she went into the games??? I feel like that added and extra layer of her wanting to survive but idk

• The erasure of the iconic “it’s not over until the mockingjay sings” line

• The drones never being fixed was a super weird choice and I’m not sure if I liked it or not

• Snow being super suspicious and running out to put something with Lucy Gray’s scent in the snake tank instead of just getting lucky and putting it in there on the off chance instead of it being predetermined

• The Games ending with the snake scene instead of Lucy Gray having to be clever to outwit her opponents, like I get it’s dramatic but that scene with Dr Gaul was just so weird to me

• Highbottom TELLING Snow to sign up for the Peacekeepers instead of just implying it and also telling him to keep his identity anonymous instead of Snow doing it out of pride

• Sejanus not telling Snow about the diploma he literally bargained for for him

• Sejanus showing up on the train instead of after Snow gets to District 12 and has to wallow in what his life is now before having finally having someone that actually knows him

• Snow not having IMMEDIATE beef with the mockingjays

• Snow not calling Sejanus his brother until the moment he betrayed him

• Them playing the Jabberjay audio at the hanging instead of Snow having to sit with his guilt and finding out via the commander was so so SO cringy omg

• Snow finding out he was going to District 2 BEFORE finding out about the hunt for the guns and who killed the mayor’s daughter was so so weird like why did they choose to do it in that order I feel like it took away all suspense of wondering when the other shoe was going to drop

• Lucy Gray looking that man in the eye and calling herself a loose end while he has a gun in his hand and not getting shot then and there was the most unrealistic part of the movie istg

• Not showing the Plinths in the apartment with them at all and just kinda having a throwaway line about where the money’s coming from

• Dr Gaul never says that she destroyed all evidence of the 10th game because of everything that happened with Snow, Lucy Gray, Sejanus, and the other dead Capitol children

• Snow not throwing away the morphine and Highbottom digging to get it, and instead just leaving it on the desk, idk it takes away the agency of the murder to me, less like an accident and less thought out (and on top of that, not showing how meticulous he was with poisoning the morphine so it couldn’t be traced back to him)

[mr-nauseam]

A buddy encouraged my delusions so I come to talk about the TBOSAS movie. Specifically about a scene that made me want to crawl up the walls the first time I saw it: Reaper's death

And do you know why I wanted to crawl on the walls? Because at the moment I saw that scene, I was sure that I had read something in the book that was not the same, but at least quite similar. After rereading the story, it hit me: Reaper Ash's death in the movie has something in common with Sejanus Plinth's death in Snow's nightmare

If you haven't read the book, I introduced to you some vital information. First you must know Reaper's death in the movie does not occur in the same way as in the book (in short he was one of Lucy Gray's victims poisoning the water and not Drill) and second Coriolanus Snow has a nightmare after sending the tape with Sejanus's confession in the book

(Credits to @sejanusarchive for the capture)

While it is possible that the death of Reaper that we see in the movie is reminiscent of the deaths of other tributes who lost their lives during this incident in the book, I find a few details between this scene and the one about Dream Sejanus dying that make them quite similar

The position and acts that provoke the arrival of snakes are some of them. First Sejanus is kneeling in front of Marcus's corpse, scattering breadcrumbs. It is a recreation of the first great act of defiance that Sejanus commits against the Capitol: honoring a dead boy, trying to remind the audience that who has died was a human being

A child no less

The chair incident and the long debates that Sejanus held before were provocative acts but could still be excused and explained under something beyond pure and simple rebellion, however his entrance into the arena cannot be classified as anything other than a direct challenge to the Capitol. It is also a self-destructive act, something of which Sejanus is aware

The aid to the rebels and the plan to flee north that Coriolanus ratted out to Dr. Gaul (the punisher, judge of acts that attempt to destroy the foundations of her worldview) is another act of defiance that Sejanus commits and Coriolanus's guilty conscience inevitably leads him to dream of that first great offense that Sejanus committed and this tome the snakes attack him for his actions

In the film this occurs most directly with Reaper, who defied the Capitol by honoring the dead. After Drill breathes her last breath, Reaper clearly goes into an altered emotional state, having lost his district mate, a frail and sickly girl he has tried to care for. He has failed and he could have done many things but he decides that he will give a strong message to the audience that knows is watching them

He plans as Sejanus to restore humanity and dignity to these corpses. He forms them one by one, so that it is clearly seen that they are children who have died and covers them with the flag, to provoke reactions from the indifferent public who have allowed this to happen in the first place

Reaper knows this act will bring about his own destruction. He knows he will be punished for what he did but he does not shy away from his fate, he even demands it and his defiance provokes fury in Gaul who drops a rainbow of death on him and I want to note that Reaper was also kneeling in front of dead bodies, when the snakes attack at him

And something I really find fascinating is what witnessing these deaths does to their witnesses. For as much fury as the spectators felt at the falling flag, they were forced to acknowledge, if only for a brief moment, that they (as Capitol citizens who never protested against the games) had condemned children to death

In the same way that dream forced Snow to recognize that despite his fury at Sejanus lies and secrets. That despite him ignoring his warning, the truth is that when Coriolanus send that jabberjay with the confession. He condemned a child to death

Also something something Sejanus screaming in the end. How he die by his own month from Coriolanus perspective by defend the districts. Something something Reaper dying in SILENCE. How he die by his own actions that speak for him and show his defense of the districts

[arcaneillusion]

Before she was "mad”, Annie Cresta was a Career.

Although Annie is generally depicted as someone who has always been a relatively timid (or even 'weak') character, I think there is a far more convincing argument to be made for Annie being a Career tribute. For the sake of organisation (and preserving my sanity), I've split this into three main points: the purpose of Annie's character, misconceptions about the 70th Hunger Games and the likelihood of Finnick being a Career compared to Annie.

(Note: this ended up being a lot longer than intended, so uhh... sorry in advance.)

The purpose of Annie's character, and how this relates to her being a Career:

Given that District 4 is a Career district, it is not entirely beyond the realm of possibility that Annie received some form of training prior to her Games. It is also worth noting that she was 18 at the time of the 70th Hunger Games (according to the Hunger Games Exhibition, Annie was 23 during the events of Catching Fire, thus making her 18 years old at the time she was reaped). So you have a girl from a Career district who is reaped at the age that Careers tend to volunteer. Of course, this could just be a coincidence - Annie's name would've been in the reaping bowl 7 times by this point (assuming she hadn't applied for tesserae), so it could've just been poor luck that she was chosen. However, I think it's important to consider the purpose of Annie's character when pursuing this line of argument.

One of the most significant aspects of her character is how deeply she is affected by the Hunger Games. Although Suzanne Collins very clearly demonstrates how the Games affect the victors in various ways, Annie can potentially be seen as the personification of this trauma. Almost every time she is mentioned or is present in a scene, the impact the Games had on her is also brought to the reader's attention. During the reaping for the Quarter Quell - the first time her character is mentioned - Annie is described as being "hysterical".

The next significant mention of her is during the jabberjay attack in the arena, and Peeta subsequently refers to her as "the one who went mad".

Annie's character is inextricably tied to her trauma - it haunts the narrative of every scene she appears in. In Mockingjay, for example, Finnick’s suggestion to Peeta (that he simply ask someone for help if he is unsure about whether something is real or not) is inspired by Annie’s response to her own trauma. Even in more lighthearted moments such as after Annie and Finnick's wedding, the Games' influence on her is both alluded to and stated outright. For instance, she is described as being "lost in some daze of happiness", then revealed to be prone to flashbacks / disassociation.

On its own, the phrase “lost in some daze” does not seem to carry too much weight; but given that the words most frequently used to describe Annie are "mad", "unstable", "strange" and now (even in a moment of relative peace and joy) "lost" and in a "daze", it only strengthens the idea that as a result of her Games Annie is, as some might say, not quite all there. Almost every mention of her is tied to the impact the Games had on her. Perhaps even more compelling is a throwaway comment made by Johanna:

Although Johanna is acknowledging that the Games changed all of the victors in some way, there is an implication that Annie's transformation was the most dramatic. "Don't get me started" - as if the Games changed Annie so thoroughly, so completely that hardly anything of the person she was before remains. In short, Annie's character can be seen as a symbol of how the Games (or traumatic experiences in general) can change a person.

So what does this have to do with Annie being a Career?

Assuming that this is the purpose of her character, then Annie herself must have been irrevocably changed by the Games in order for this narrative to work. If Annie had always been a rather timid, 'fragile' character, the difference between who she was before vs after the Games would not be as stark (that is not to say she would not still be traumatised, only that this imagined version of who she was before the Games is not all that different to the person Katniss is introduced to in the trilogy). However, if Annie were to have been a Career, this would further emphasise the theme of how trauma can change a person and make this message all the more impactful.

Picture Annie as a cunning, skilled fighter. Imagine her as being adept at strategising and familiar enough with combat that she can remain level-headed during high-stress situations. Think of her as a tribute that many people were betting on to win - they were that confident in her abilities as a Career. Envision her as being bloodthirsty, prideful - honoured to represent her district and bring it glory. Annie with a sense of superiority and overconfidence, possessing a tendency to underestimate her opponents. Annie with her district partner, who she had known and trained with for years, and trusted enough to know that he would not turn on her before the time came when they had no choice but to go their separate ways.

Now imagine the character we are introduced to in Catching Fire - the "hysterical young woman" whom everyone believes to be "mad". Annie, who seems to lose her hold on reality every now and then, closing her eyes and covering her ears, falling into a state that seemingly only Finnick can pull her out of. Picture the devastation she must have felt when she saw her district partner - someone she trusted deeply and had come to care for - be decapitated right before her eyes. The realisation that no one can truly win in the arena, that she is just a pawn in a game so much larger than herself, and all of her training meant nothing: She would likely die anyway. The despair, the terror, the betrayal, the powerlessness - it shattered her.

To see a victor go from being a calculated killer to a mere shadow of her former self would do more than drive home Annie's role as the personification of trauma and its consequences: It would make the sheer barbarity and inhumanity of the Games all the more apparent.

Misconceptions about the 70th Hunger Games:

Admittedly, not very much is known about the 70th Games, but we do have enough information to put together a very, very vague timeline of events. At some point during her Games, Annie witnessed her district partner getting beheaded, an event that was (understandably) extremely traumatising. This led Annie to isolate herself for the rest of the Games, a strategy that we can assume worked reasonably well... until an earthquake caused a dam to break and flooded the arena. Being from District 4, Annie was an exceptionally strong swimmer. In the words of The Hunger Games: Tribute Guide, citizens of District 4 "can swim like fish themselves." This would ultimately lead Annie to be crowned as victor of the 70th Hunger Games, as she was able to save herself while the remaining tributes drowned.

A common argument against the idea that Annie could be a Career is that all she did was hide for the majority of the Games until the earthquake hit. However, I believe this to be based on a misunderstanding of the events outlined above. Once again, there is very limited information available about Annie's Games. That being said, whilst we know that at some point in the Games Annie isolated herself, we do not know when this was. It is entirely possible that Annie was an active member of the Career pack for a period of time, even if it was only for a few days. Only when her district partner was killed did she go into hiding - and, again, we have no indication of when that was. For all we know, that could've happened a few days before the earthquake broke the dam and flooded the arena, meaning Annie would've been part of the Career pack for the majority of the Games; perhaps it happened only a few days into the Games. The point is (like so much else about Annie) we do not know.

I will concede that because of the lack of information about the 70th Hunger Games, it is of course possible that Annie had no involvement with the Career pack, did not come into conflict with any other tributes, and won purely because she was a strong swimmer. However, based on everything I discussed in the previous section (Annie being from a Career district, reaped at the age Careers tend to volunteer, the purpose of her character as a symbol of trauma, emphasising the barbarity of the Games, etc.) I think it makes far more sense for Annie to have been a member of the Career pack. Ultimately, there is no solid reason, no hard evidence in canon, to suggest that Annie was not a Career tribute. If anything, the details we are aware of all seem to support the idea of her being one.

Finnick Odair — a volunteer, or simply out of luck?

As a quick side note: I do acknowledge that most of the points I have raised are largely based on assumptions. Assumptions supported by canon, but assumptions nonetheless. Having said that, there is one final topic to be explored in the case for Annie being a Career - and that is Finnick Odair.

A simple comparison between Annie and Finnick highlights Annie as the far more likely Career tribute of the pair. Indeed, there is arguably more evidence (however tenuous) to suggest that Annie was a Career than Finnick was. I am hardly the first person to point this out, but I do think it is worth mentioning and is quite interesting to consider.

The two main points of this discussion are 1) the age of the tributes and 2) Finnick's weapon of choice.

Firstly, we know that Annie was 18 when she was reaped for the Games and that Finnick was 14. Given that District 4 is a Career district, it doesn't really make sense for Finnick to have volunteered as at this age since he would be at a significant disadvantage. One of the first things we learn about Finnick is that he was the youngest victor, meaning that before the 65th Games nobody his age had survived the arena. Entering the Games as a 14 year old was just as much a death sentence as entering it at 12 or 13. There is of course the possibility that another 14 year old had won before and Finnick was simply younger by a few months; but even so, we can assume that it was a rare occurrence for anyone under the age of 15 to survive.

Why would a 14 year old boy, who (if he'd even been training in the first place) likely had not completed his training, volunteer for the Games? Why would he volunteer at an age when he was so unlikely to win, especially when Career tributes are known to volunteer at 18, meaning he would be so much younger than his fiercest, most lethal competitors? Why not wait until he was 18 and had the best chances of winning he could hope for? With this in mind, it seems far more likely that Finnick was just another kid who was unlucky enough to have the entry slip with his name on it selected.

What makes less sense is why, in a Career district, no one would have volunteered in his place. I've seen so many possible theories for this, some going with the idea that Finnick was a volunteer and either had very little training (with there being some other motivator for why he volunteered) or had received a good amount of training and was, for one reason or another, chosen to be D4's male tribute for that year. Others follow the theory that Finnick was not a Career, and it was merely a string of unfortunate events that led to nobody volunteering to take his place - for example, there being some sort of tragedy that left District 4 without any Careers-in-training. Once again (take a shot every time I say this lmfao) we do not know the specific circumstances surrounding the reaping for the 65th Hunger Games. However, based on what we can piece together, it makes far less sense, given his age, for Finnick to have been a Career. On the contrary, Annie's age at the time of her Games makes for a much more convincing argument in favour of her being a Career.

As for Finnick's weapon, it has frequently been pointed out that a trident is a strange weapon for a Career to be adept at using. Why would Finnick's training dedicate so much time to becoming skilled with a weapon that is so unlikely to be available at the Cornucopia? Instead, perhaps Finnick simply knew how to use the trident because he was a spear-fisher's son from the district that specialises in fishing.

Moreover, we are told that Finnick was adept at using spears and knives. These are weapons you would expect a Career to have been trained to use, but since District 4's industry is fishing it is entirely possible that Finnick knew how to use these tools simply because he had often worked with them before.

I do think this point about Finnick's weapon is a slightly weaker argument than the one concerning his age. Finnick may have been taught to wield spears and knives during his training as a Career, with it still being possible that he knew how to use the trident due to D4's major industry being fishing - a trade he almost certainly was familiar with, even if only slightly. In the case against Finnick being a Career, I would argue that his age at the time of the 65th Hunger Games is the most compelling point. Of course, there is no reason why Annie and Finnick couldn't have both been Careers. The reason for this comparison is simply to highlight that there is as much evidence to suggest that Annie was a Career as there is to suggest Finnick was. And in some ways, Finnick being a Career raises more questions and doubts than Annie being one does.

TL;DR:

Annie Cresta should not be overlooked just because she does not fit the stereotype of a 'strong' character. If anything, her instability due to the Games is all the more reason to suggest she was a Career. The point of her character is to show how the Games (or traumatic experiences in general) affect those who endure them, so Annie must have left the arena as a completely different person to who she was when she entered it. Most of what we know in canon seems to indicate that she was a Career; in fact, there is potentially a stronger case to be made for Annie being a Career than Finnick. Since we know so little of Annie Cresta much is left up to the interpretation of the reader, but this does not negate the fact it makes more sense for Annie to have been a Career based on the details we do have.

[itsoxyymoronn]

since we now know a major factor in why snow hated katniss so much was because she reminded him of lucy gray, all i can think about is how the jabberjay scene in catching fire was probably him being hella petty

he was probably giggling about how if he cant enjoy human-sounding birds neither can girls from district 12, all the while sitting like this:

[allisluv]

Do you think that in Catching Fire when there was that scene with the mockingjays in the arena, it was put in by Snow with his mind on his incident with the mockingjays and Lucy Gray?

i’d never thought about this but it could make a lot of sense, because if katniss (and peeta) remind snow so much of lucy gray, sending the mockingjays in would be a big fuck you to lucy gray, wherever she was. but weren’t they jabberjays? maybe we’re thinking of different scenes so correct me if i’m wrong!!

[mrs-gucci]

Study Session (blurb)

{ tutor!Coriolanus Snow x female reader }

just testing the Coryo waters with this little blurb :)

warnings. SMUT (minors dni), literally just a sex scene, sex to aid academic studying, probably incorrect Panem history (I tried), unprotected p-in-v sex, creampie, little/no aftercare.

word count: 402

** I got the concept of tutor!coryo from @murdrdocs **

Your study sessions with Coriolanus usually go like this: you’re studying flashcards, doing a review sheet and then next thing you know, your uniform pants are on the floor, you’re on the desk and he’s on top of you.

Today is no different.

"In which Districts were the jabberjays used for espionage during the First R-Rebellion?"

You whimper as his hips snap against yours. "D-Districts nine, t-twelve, and...ten?"

He comes to an abrupt halt and you groan softly at the loss.

"What was that?"

"Districts n-nine, twelve, a-and ten -- no, e-eleven. Eleven."

Coriolanus hums, then begins rolling his hips again, grunting with each forward move. Your eyes flutter shut, the table beneath you beginning to creak.

"Now, what sorts of things d-did the Treaty of Treason impose?"

It's getting harder and harder to think as your orgasm quickly approaches, but you try your best.

"Q-Quar...quarantining the d-districts..."

Coriolanus laughs breathily at your struggle. "Mhm. And what else?"

"Fuck, I-I can't think when y-you're fucking me, Coryo."

"You better give me an answer or I'll leave you here like this," he says, reaching up to hold your jaw and shake your head lightly. "Go on. You're doing so well for me."

"Surveillance w-was expanded t-too," you breathe, shuddering with arousal. "A-And the Hunger G-Games were s-started to remind the d-dis...districts of the r-rebellion."

He smirks, fucking you harder. "What a good girl. All I have to do is fuck the answers out of you and you get 'em all right."

All you can do at this point is just gasp and whimper and moan. This seems to spur him on more and his hand digs further into your jaw, keeping your head in place so you're looking up at him.

"Eyes on me," he growls, his thrusts becoming erratic. "Watch as I fill your little pussy with my cum."

As goosebumps of lust spread down your skin, Coryo reaches his peak and fucks his warm release deep inside you with a series of soft grunts.

You let out a shaky breath as his lips come up and press a few kisses to your jaw and throat. He pulls away soon after, tucking himself away before grabbing your panties and uniform pants.

When you sit up, he's looking at you with that signature smirk of his.

"What?" You ask.

He hums, still smirking as he grabs his bag.

"Good luck on your exam.”