#please note that almost all extended ravinstills have names in my mind but I shall not confuse everyone with throwing them around

[scandalouslamb]

any thoughts on Felix and Livia growing up together? I tend to imagine them as their year’s “prom king”/“prom queen” archetypes — at some point, people might have thought they’d end up together (mostly for status reasons), but in reality they can’t stand each other. they probably find some of the same people (like Snow?) annoying though lol

btw, have been enjoying your Ravinstill fics a lot! I was curious if you hc’d anyone playing the role of first lady during Maximinius’s tenure — I have a weird hc where it’s actually his niece (like how a few unmarried/widowed US presidents have had a daughter/daughter-in-law/niece become the “hostess” in place of a first lady, though I also imagine that this is somewhat more gender-neutral in Panem), but was wondering if you had anything in mind

This is about to be so long. My ability to ramble about made-up Ravinstills went out of control. I apologize:

Livia and Felix

I do touch on some thoughts on Felix and Livia's relationship growing up in Chapter 6 of Close Your Eyes. I shall summarize the gist of it while pointedly ignoring my oc, because ocs aren't always everyone's thing.

Oh, I'm big on Felix and Livia being unable to stand each other! I do have the world's nichest interpretation of Livia though, so um, just walk with me. A lot of people who are charitable to Livia make her a schemer. I don't really do this. Instead, I characterize her as a sheltered, hopeless romantic who has good instincts about people but who due to being sheltered/rich is also rather self-centered and unaware of how this affects her relationship with others. Felix is also in my mind sheltered but much more aware of how he's presenting himself to others. As such, when Livia's just not trying to listen to him or pick up on clues that she's overstepping, they get off on a bad foot as kids and this continues into their teen years.

On Felix's part, I do think that he's a little jealous of how free my interpretation of Livia is with how little she cares about other people's opinions. A large part of my Felix characterization is that he is very conscious of his image as a Ravinstill, even though in his mind, I imagine that Maximinius Ravinstill tries to raise him with the attitude of letting him do whatever as long as Felix understands the basics of how to behave to maintain power, but unfortunately, the President has like the worst communication skills with his family specifically.

In my worldbuilding, Felix isn't as antagonistic to Snow as in other people's, but I can imagine that Felix and Livia could present a united front against more nouveau riche Capitolites if those people are specifically taunting them. Personally, in my mind, Felix is more likely to stay out of arguments unless they purposefully affect people close to him. If he accidentally starts an argument (due to general Capitolite haughtiness or Ravinstill superiority complex), he'll probably just leave to avoid potentially making a fool of himself or backpedal as hard as possible (what he should have said haunts him for weeks).

Okay, tl;dr, while everyone probably thinks it would have been nice to tie the Ravinstills and Cardews together, in my worldbuilding, it's obvious to everyone those two don't get along from their first few meetings.

Acting First Lady For Pres. Ravinstill's Tenure

Hmmm. First Lady during Maximinius' tenure... Well, if you don't count Gaul, because both Maximinius and everyone is just refusing to acknowledge the weird partnership, pseudo-marriage, whatever they have going one, then I think his sister-in-law probably steps up for a bit, and then the responsibility falls to one of his nieces once they have a falling out. (I imagine that being so work-first and with many a rumor swirling that you've murdered people to gain power does a number on your familial relations if they aren't as ruthless as you.)

I actually give him two nephews and two nieces (three of them have spouses). His first nephew is the family heir, his first niece is the spare/first nephew's right hand guy. Felix's father is the third child and he's busy being head-empty, no-thoughts just an all-around nice without a political bone in his body guy, so in my world, hosting probably falls to his youngest niece who I characterize as a bit of a scandal (we are fully in my extended Ravinstill family tree lore oh no). She has a kid out of wedlock, but I imagine that this does motivate her to be closer to power so that her kid is harder to ostracize later. (her attempts are futile. she and her kid are the first Ravinstills to die after Maximinius' brother). After her, I imagine that the role of host largely falls back on the President with the help of his Communications Secretary. Felix tries to help as a kid, but he's a kid, so all he does is shepherd some of the other kids and tells them to stop running in the halls. At home, hall monitor.

Anyway, thanks for the ask! This got very long!