#lucy gray fan fiction

[saberlight1]

my love, mine all mine — lucy gray baird

pairing(s): lucy gray baird x fem!reader, mentions of coriolanus snow x fem!reader.

warnings: slight tbosas spoilers, mentions of ptsd, trauma, angst, possessive!lucy, Y/N usage, slightly mean!lucy, standard ballad of songbirds and snakes warnings.

authors note: boom! another one. i am so happy you all love my writing! keep sending in these requests, y’alls ideas are so cool and i adore reading them. this fic is based off of this request, and i hope you all enjoy it! much love .

masterlist

When your eyes first laid upon Lucy Gray Baird, you were immediately enthralled by her presence. Everyone who had ever gotten the honor to meet her would say the same.

You had grown up in the very same district that her and her family, The Covey, were locked up in after being rounded up by the Peacekeepers. Most people around Twelve talked shit on them for being different, but the thing that drew you in the most to her was the fact that she didn’t give a shit.

She didn’t care what anyone thought, no one in her family did. They loved what they did, and that was singing. You saw this on full display at the Hob, where they performed every other night.

You already knew she was beautiful, but, God, when you saw her on that stage, beaming, you swore Aphrodite was standing before you. Her voice was just as beautiful as her, as she danced around stage, captivating the whole room.

At the end her performance, you snatched a daisy out of someone’s bouquet as you walked by, speed-walking to the corridor you were watching her walk into.

“Lucy Gray!” You called, the girl turning towards your call immediately, a smile still on her face. You held out the flower, a soft smile on your face. “You’re beautiful, as well as your singing.”

She blushed, her laugh coming out. “Why, thank you, darlin’.” She took the daisy, taking it up to her nose to smell. “What’s your name?”

“Y/N,” You beamed. “It’s a real pleasure to see you and your family around here. You really light it up ‘round here.” You complimented. “Twelve’s a normally dull place, but here.. it’s different.”

“Thank you, truly.” Her hand grabbed yours, squeezing. “I’ll see you around.”

And she kept her word, finding you after her next show to get to know you better.

And just like that, the pair of you were inseparable.

She introduced you to the Covey, and after they learned you had pipes, you were immediately brought into their group. You loved it, it felt as if you had found the people you’d been longing for your whole life.

But you found yourself staring at Lucy Gray for longer than normal, a dopey smile lazily draped across your sun kissed features. It wasn’t until some teasing from CeCe and Billy that you realized that you had feelings for the girl.

“Aye, Y/N, it seems like you got some drool right there…” CeCe teased, a playful smile on his face as they caught you staring at the girl for the 100th time.

Billy butted in from his side. “Yeah, you do. Someone’s fallin’ for the songbird,” He laughed. You rolled your eyes at them, before taking their words into consideration.

Holy fuck, you were falling for her.

I mean, how could you not? She was a beacon of light, her presence alone brighting up every room she walked into to, and she had treated you wonderfully, even going as far to include you with her family.

You were caught up in your love daze, not realizing the crushing realities that came with your feelings. But when you did, it left a sour taste in your mouth.

The butterflies swirling in your abdomen stopped in an instant, replaced with an oozing, grueling feeling of worry. Lucy Gray could find you repulsing— and the whole Covey would leave you as well.

It left you wishing you had a factory reset button to forget your feelings at once.

“Y/N, what’s with the frown?” Lucy Gray suddenly appeared in front of you, her signature smile on her cherry lips.

Your eyes snapped to hers, your nerves only growing. “Oh, nothin’. Just thinkin’.”

She sat down next to you. “Oh, really? Didn’t think you was capable.��� She joked, making you lightly shove her with a smile.

Your breath caught in your throat when you realized how close you were to the girl. Her honey eyes stared up into yours, and you struggled to not look at her lips. All you wanted to do was close the space between the pair of you.

But you decided on that day that you would settle for this. After all— having her as a friend was better than nothing.

It wasn’t until the reaping of that year that you decided to throw caution to the wind.

It was the Covey’s first reaping, and it was for the annual 9th Hunger Games. Your nerves always got the best of you during this time of year, but it seemed that you weren’t the only one.

You sat in your room, Lucy Gray sitting at your desk in the corner. She said she was trying to write, but you could tell by the bouncing of her leg and her tense body that it wasn’t going well.

You licked your lips, putting your book aside. “You alright, Gray?”

She turned her head, her eyes meeting yours from over her shoulder. She sighed, turning back to the paper and rubbing her temple. “No,”

You stood up, coming to stand next to her, your hesitant hands rubbing her shoulders, the tense muscles deflating under your touch. “What’s wrong?”

“I.. I just really miss my mama.” She let out a sad breath. “And this reapin’ stuff is got my nerves wrecked.”

“I know the feelin’.” You bitterly chuckled. “You won’t get your name drawn, Lucy, none of you will. Your names are only in their once, your chances are slim. You should be okay. I miss my ma, too. I know it hurts.” You tried your best to calm her.

Her hand came up to grab yours that was resting on her shoulder, lacing your fingers together. “You know, you are about the only good thing in this District,” She smiled up at you, her worry lines faded.

At her words you felt those butterflies return, as your eyes flickered down to her lips, your teeth pulling in your bottom lip as you tried to talk yourself down.

Lucy Gray noticed this, however, and with a smile still plastered on her pretty face, she leaned up ever so slightly and captured your lips with her own. Your eyes widened in surprise, before they fluttered closed, your hands coming up to cup her face.

You let out a happy hum against her lips, the girl standing up to get a better grip on your hips, her lips never leaving yours. When you broke apart for air, a giggle left her slips at the sight of your lips stained with her lipstick.

“I’ve wanted you to do that for so long,” You admitted with a smile.

A smirk grew across her face. “I was waitin’ for you to grow the balls to do it first. Turns out you were too chicken.” She teased, her arms wrapping around your neck as she left small pecks on your lips.

You didn’t even pretend to be offended by her words, instead rolling your eyes playfully before kissing her again.

“Be my girlfriend,” She whispered against your lips. You pulled back slightly at her words, before jumping into her arms.

“Yes, yes.” You chuckled, as the girl hugged you back just as tightly.

That led you to now, where you smiled at the same brunette that was laid in your arms. She was different, anyone who had been what she went through would be, but she was also still your same Lucy Gray in all the best ways.

After you got her back from the games, you vowed to never let her go again. The turmoil you felt in the weeks that she was away from you, not knowing if you’d see her again or not— you never wanted to feel that again. And she felt the same way.

“You got a starin’ problem, girl?” Lucy Gray teased with that southern drawl you loved, seeing that you were lost in thought.

A warm smiled crossed your face at the sound of her voice, your hand going to play with her hair. “If it means I get to look at you, then yes, I do.”

She giggled, snuggling deeper into your arms. “Yeah, yeah, you sap.”

“You love it,”

She rolled her eyes, playfully. “I do,” She looked at you seriously now, leaning up to kiss you softly. You smiled against her lips, the feeling of her expressing her love for you in such an intimate way always making you smile.

You would proudly admit that you were head over heels in love with your girlfriend to anyone. But you knew you couldn’t— hell, the only people that even knew you were together was the Covey and her mentor, Coriolanus Snow. People didn’t seem expect, nor accept your type of love.

She had told him during her time there, during the nights they spent together talking through the cage bars. She talked his ear off about you, a love-sick smile on her face the whole time, the girl forgetting that some people weren’t accepting of your love.

But to her surprise, Coriolanus didn’t care if she was with a girl. In fact, he was thrilled, which confused her to no end. (She didn’t know this, but the only reason he was happy was because he now had something that would fuel her to win.)

You thanked every star above for the Snow boy for bringing your girl back to you, even if she was brought back with sharper edges. You didn’t care, you had her back in your arms. And you wanted to thank him.

But, Lucy Gray was a different girl than what she was when she left, even if she tried to pretend that wasn’t the case. She was more paranoid, more protective of the people she loved— especially you. More than you anticipated.

So the next morning when you set out to find the boy who was currently serving time as a Peacekeeper in your very district, the one goal in your mind was to thank him, the thought that this might be upsetting to your girlfriend not even crossing your temple.

You decided to bring him a rose— Lucy Gray mentioning to you that his Grandmother grew them, and you just happened to as well. It wasn’t like the pure ones his Grandmother grew in the Capitol, but you deemed it good enough.

You caught a glimpse of his platinum buzzcut, a smile growing over your ruby red lips. “Snow!” You called, jogging up to him in your cowboy boots. He turned at the call, his eyebrows furrowing when he saw it was you.

“Y/N?” He questioned.

“Hey, Coriolanus.” You smiled, holding out the rose for him. “Lucy Gray mentioned something about your Grandmother and roses, and just as a thanks for you bringin’ her back to me, I’d like to give you this,” You motioned to the rose.

To your delight, his hard face warped into that of a smile. “Thank you, Y/N. Truly.” His hand came out to squeeze your forearm affectionately. “I appreciate it, and you don’t have to thank me for that.”

“I do.” You assured him. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t get her back. You saved her… so, truly, thank you, Coriolanus. I mean it.” You felt eyes on you, but you shook the feeling off.

He nodded sheepishly, not used to the type of compliment you were giving him. “Of course.. Thank you for the rose. Let me know if you need anything, I’ll see you around.” He smiled, giving your forearm one last squeeze before he turned.

“You’re welcome, Coryo.” You flashed him one last smile before you turned on your heel yourself. What you didn’t expect to see was to see those honey eyes you loved staring daggers at you.

You cocked your head to the side as she began to stomp her way towards you. Once she reached you, she grabbed your wrist with a hard grip, and without word dragged you back to your now shared home.

“Lucy, what’re you doing?” You asked, just as your neared the front lawn of your home.

She clicked her tongue, a sign she was mad, and shook her head, continuing to lead you to the house in silence. Once the pair of you got in, she threw her bag on your shared bed, crossing her arms.

“What the hell was that?” She asked, her tone hard.

“What are you talkin’ about, Lucy?” You asked, stepping closer to her. She only backed away, her head shaking once again, while you visibly shrank at her rejection.

“Don’t play dumb, Y/N. You know better,” She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I been runnin’ around, lookin’ for you like some fool, while you were off with my mentor, lettin’ him touch you. Why were you with him, huh?” She pressed. “What, you think I’m stupid or somethin’?”

“Coriolanus?” Your eyebrows furrowed, still not quite catching on to what she was so angry about.

“Yes, damnit, him.” Her voice slightly raised as she walked up to you, her gaze lowered as she glared at you. “Why were you givin’ him a rose, huh? Why were his hands on you?”

You licked your lips as you took in her state. Her pupils were blown out, her jaw slack— God, she looked so hot when she was angry. You shook your head at your thoughts, trying to be serious.

“Aye!” Her fingers snapped in front of your face, angrily. “Answer me,”

“Lucy, I— I was goin’ to thank him..” You whispered, your voice dying in your throat as you submitted to her fiery gaze.

“Why?” Her voice was low and raspy, sending shivers down your spine.

“For bringin’ you back t’me.” You admitted, looking at the floor guiltily as it sunk in that how much you truly had upset her. “I never got the chance to properly thank him, and you said he liked roses. So I brought him one, I thought it would remind him of home. I didn’t mean anything by it, I swear,”

Her eyes softened. “Oh, baby, I’m sorry..” She whispered, one hand coming up to cup your jaw, rubbing softly. “I.. My mind went somewhere completely different when I saw him touchin’ you.. It just made me angry,”

A sly smirk came over your features. “I think you mean jealous, Lucy Gray.” You whispered teasingly.

“Only you could make me this crazy,” She smiled. “But, I am sorry.” She said, guilt swirling in her eyes.

“Hey, it’s alright.” You reassured her, seeing that she was beating herself up. “Even I get a little jealous seein’ Billy drape hisself on you when he’s shitfaced, it’s normal, baby, I ain’t mad.” Your goofy smile mixed with your southern accent making her smile come back.

But just as it returned, it was replaced with a serious look. “Just.. stay away from him, alright? I don’t fully trust ‘em.”

“I won’t go near him again, I promise. I just wanted him to know I was thankful for bringin’ my best girl back t’me,” You tried to cheer her up, your lips ghosting over hers.

“Good. ‘Cause your mine,” She smirked, closing the space between the two of you as her lips kissed you hard, her teeth nipping your bottom lip as you let out a gasp, granting her access to your mouth as she deepened the kiss.

You smiled against her lips, thanking the stars above that you had the pleasure of being hers.

#anon asks #lucy gray my beloved #lucy gray baird x fem reader #lucy gray x reader #lucy gray baird x reader #lucy gray #lucy gray baird #lucy gray fan fiction #tbosas #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #coriolanus x lucy gray #lucy gray x coriolanus

[mitsuki91]

Katniss later goes to Lucy Gray

Katniss: Is the president aka your fiancee in a good mood?

Lucy Gray: That depends, what do you need?

Katniss: Miner's rights, compensation, family compensation when there's an accident, general basic human rights and I got the other districts ' demands here.

Lucy Gray looks over the list that's longer than both of them standing on the other's shoulder

Lucy Gray: Give me a day and he'll agree to all of this.

Katniss: As long as you never tell me what you did to get him there.

YOU KILL ME PLEASE- 😂😂😂😂

(... Also yes 😏)

#my asks #fan fiction #the snow ghost #katniss everdeen #lucy gray baird #coriolanus snow #snowbaird #coriolanus x lucy gray #lucy gray x coriolanus

[take-it-on-the-run]

Burn

Sejanus Plinth, Coriolanus Snow

Looking back at it, Sejanus should've seen his fate coming at him like a brick through a window

Word Count: 2.1k

Tags: Angst (?), AU where Sejanus lives and outsmarts Coryo, OOC!Sejanus (he has a spine), guest appearance from Lucy Gray

Characters: Sejanus Plinth, Coriolanus Snow, Lucy Gray Baird

Anonymous requested: "An au of where Sejanus lives instead of dies but finds out coryo betrayed him (his only true friend betrayed him and left him heartbroken/extremely hurt) so he goes home and seeks comfort from burning that photo of him and snow (kind of inspired by the song burn from Hamilton) but he burns the photo and then sobs his poor heart out"

Read it on AO3!

A/N: This was my first ever request! I want to thank the person who requested this fic for putting some faith in me to write something! I'm not great at writing angst when it comes to people I don't know a lot about (Sejanus) but I hope this isn't too horrible. As always, any constructive criticism is welcome with open arms!

Sejanus Plinth hadn’t had many friends as he grew up.

He’d come from the Districts, and his beginnings weren’t lost to him. His family, on the other hand, acted as if they’d been born in the Capitol and hadn’t only been there for ten years.

When he transferred to the Academy, his beginnings were certainly spotlighted by his classmates. People turned away from him, whispering in each other’s ears as he walked by; he was an outsider, through and through.

Sure, people talked to him, walked with him in the halls, and laughed when he made jokes, but no one close enough he’d call his friend.

The money that came attached to the Plinth name was a blessing, but sometimes it was more of a bubble surrounding him. People only talked because of his name, only walked because of his name, and only laughed because of his name. At the end of the day, he’d go home to a house full of nothing but empty people and return to a school that only wanted to know him because of the Plinth prize.

At a mere eight years old, he’d thought of disappearing for the first time, until a boy in his class sat down and offered him a gumdrop.

It was a small gesture, but compared to the ridicule Sejanus had been under for his first months in the Capitol, it showed him that there was at least one soul in the sea of vultures surrounding him.

Sejanus had learned the boy’s name was Coriolanus, but only his grandma’am called him that, so it was simply Coryo.

Coryo didn’t mind much of what the other kids thought when the two of them started to study together in the library, sending a brief, cold glare toward anyone who talked loud enough for him to hear.

He hadn’t known it at the time, but the only person he’d call a friend had come to school with that gumdrop for a reason, but, until their final year in the Academy together, Sejanus was content with the idea of Coryo being his only friend.

When it finally came time for the two of them to graduate, and for the Plinth prize winner to be announced, he knew this year was different.

Greed leaked from every last person in the room, including the boy Sejanus befriended all those years ago. Even when it was announced that there was a final test, one Sejanus knew was coming, his friend barely blinked.

“You will each be assigned a tribute from the Games to mentor,” Professor Highbottom’s voice bellowed as he paced in front of the group of students, “and depending on how each of you does in your mentoring, your chances of winning the Plinth prize,” his steely eyes flickered to Sejanus before returning to the group at large, “will be greatly affected.”

People murmured around him, being quickly silenced by Highbottom’s finger in the air.

Sejanus nervously shifted his eyes to his friend, looking for someone to see just how insane this entire idea was, but was met with the side of his head as Clemensia Dovecote whispered something to him. The both of them laughed, Coryo wiping the smirk off of his face with his hand before looking back to their teacher.

Looking back at it, he should’ve seen his fate coming like a brick through a window.

Professor Highbottom announced mentors and their tributes right before the Reaping was displayed on the large screen in front of the class.

Marcus, was his tribute’s name, and Sejanus tuned the rest of what Highbottom was saying out - without even having to look, his heart dropped to his knees as District 2’s Reaping was screened above him.

District 2 Male, Marcus; another boy who Sejanus had befriended.

When the camera panned to the young man, Sejanus craned his neck to look at his former friend. His hands were swollen, his hair shorter, and his clothes were the customary masonry uniform of District 2; but looking at him felt like a window to his past life. His face remained the same as it always had, the small mole near his right ear almost acting as a way for Sejanus to prove that this was who he remembered. Who’s spot he could’ve easily been in if his family hadn’t transferred to the Capitol.

Marcus wouldn’t meet his eyes when they met again for the first time in ten years.

He looked at Sejanus through the metal bars, at his hand outstretched with food, and turned away silently. He didn’t give him a second glance, even after he eventually accepted the food through another tribute.

Marcus didn’t even get a chance to defend his own life.

A stupid tour of the Games’ arena, meant for strategizing, tore that away from him.

The explosion went off, and in a flash, Marcus was gone. Coryo and his tribute were covered in smokey debris, and all the screaming made Senjanus’ head practically explode. He turned back to see Coryo pulling his tribute out from underneath the rubble, yelling at them to run for the exit. He spun, looking around for Marcus, but deep down he knew he’d already run; so that’s what Sejanus did; he ran as fast as his legs would carry him as he waived the exit route to everyone trying to escape.

In the days leading up to the Games, Sejanus let himself think - hope - Marcus had escaped Panem somehow. Done something he only could dream of.

That hope was crushed the moment he saw Marcus hanging by his arms on a rock in the arena. His face was disfigured, and blood leaked from every part of him, landing drop by drop in a large pool far beneath him. The others barely flinched as they found their tributes, waiting for an alarm bell to sound.

Again, he turned to the only other person he could’ve called a friend, for some semblance of comfort, and instead saw he too was looking for his tribute.

Sejanus knew Coryo had felt something for that District 12 girl, probably before his friend realized it. Every time she spoke, his head turned to attention, taking in everything she said. He wanted to pretend that he didn’t see their hands interlaced as they went to preview the arena, but he couldn’t.

Coriolanus Snow had a heart, just not one to share.

The strings holding his heart in place buckled, and Sejanus swore that his mind, body, and heart were acting on their own accord.

Before he could pull back his words like he had all these years, he was screaming at the rest of the mentors in front of their screens. At the stupid man waiving his microphone around. At the Capitol, the formality of it all, all of Panem for existing in the first place.

At Coryo.

“Monsters!” He felt blood rush to his face as he jabbed his finger at everyone in the auditorium, “all of you, are monsters!”

No one spoke a word, yet all eyes were focused on him as he stumbled away from the stage, his stomach churning and trying to empty itself.

Not one person stopped him from running out of the room, it was like his words didn’t meet their ears.

It was only when Coryo was practically dragging him from the arena that night, tooth and nail, did Sejanus thought his words reached someone. When he felt Coryo’s hands rip him from Marcus’ body, away from the friend his family had forced him to leave behind, did he think that just maybe he cared about him at all.

The rest of that night went down so quickly, Sejanus could swear it was a nightmare; if only it weren’t for Bobbin’s death being broadcast the next morning.

As he watched Coryo bash the tribute’s head in, over, and over, and over, and over again, he felt his heart stop. Not out of loneliness, jealousy, or even desperation; but out of pure, blood-freezing, fear.

After that night, Sejanus locked himself away until his punishment for breaking into the arena came.

Being shipped to District 12 to serve as a Peacekeeper for the next twenty years of his life.

A light sentence is what his father called it.

He heard through the grapevine that Coryo’s tribute, his performer from District 12, had cheated death and managed to win the Games.

What was he feeling in that moment? Joy? Pride? Rage?

Fear?

As he stepped on the Peacekeeper train heading to District 12, their eyes connected almost instantly, and he swore he could feel the blood splattering onto his hands same as the night in the arena.

He wouldn’t admit it to himself at the time, but he felt his heart falter with relief as he saw Coryo’s familiar face blankly staring back at him, curving into a polite, but empty, smile.

Even after they’d gone and seen Lucy Gray, Coryo’s performer, Sejanus still told himself that he meant something to the boy he’d grown up with. That, if he were caught sneaking away to talk with rebels again, he would come to his aid.

“What are you doing?”

It was a simple enough question, one that someone passing by wouldn’t remember seconds after they’d heard it, but to Sejanus, it plagued his lungs with smoke as he fought the urge to run, turning away from Coryo with an empty jabberjay cage in his hands.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sejanus stated, surprised his voice didn’t raise any octaves.

“I’ve seen you, meeting with some of the Districts, whispering, don’t you think getting three of them killed was enough?”

The violent scene of Coryo shooting down that girl like an animal, and the carnage that followed flashed in his mind, almost drowning out the noise of a jabberjay’s record button being flicked on.

Like a brick through a window.

“So, you’re going to pretend like you haven’t been helping out any kind of rebel group in your free time?” Coryo asked him again, this time, in a harsher tone that was more accusatory than curious.

Sejanus balled his hands resting on the workbench in front of them, turning to his accuser as blood crept its way up his neck.

“You have never been where they are,” he whisper-yelled to the boy beside him as he felt his heart shatter to pieces once more, “we’ve both got it all, so how the hell would we know anything about their side of the story? People are starving as we do patrols, and we can’t so much as look at them without being punished.” He took a step closer to Coryo, to the jabberjay he knew was recording them, “and your girl? That Lucy Gray? Her life can’t be too different from these people we see out here. I’ve seen the way you look at her, the stolen moments, the way you almost beat that Billy Taupe to death because he was harassing her. No Peacekeeper in their right mind would do that out of simple pride for their job, Coriolanus.”

The boy beside him faltered for a moment as his full name slid off of Sejanus’ tongue, replaced with frustration as his thumb hovered over the jabberjay’s recorder controls.

Sejanus left without another word, turning the corner and waiting for the sound he knew he was going to hear.

Crack.

The jabberjay that Coriolanus had tried to use against him was as dead as his heart was.

And now, as he sat in a small cabin far outside the reach of the Capitol, a friend who’d been deemed dead along with him, strumming on her guitar, he opened the box he dragged from his barracks that day.

A faintly crinkled photo of students, both standing proud in their red uniforms, stared back at him. He didn’t know what had become of the boy standing next to him; the one he called Coryo, then Coriolanus, but tears slipped down his cheeks nonetheless. The strumming of the guitar stopped as the bright girl across the fire looked at him with pity, not saying a word.

His fingers tightened around the photo, distorting the two people in it. He couldn’t tell himself that was him, and he couldn’t say the blond next to him chose the Capitol over their friendship. These were two different people, friends, who had only had one another as they’d grown up in a climate that rejected them both.

He dipped the photo into the fire, watching as flames crawled over the only reminder that once, he had a friend, someone who wouldn’t ridicule him for his upbringing or his standing. Someone who, if fate had allowed it, may have held their friendship higher than his greed for power.

Sejanus Plinth hadn’t had many friends when he’d finally grown up. Only a girl sitting across from him, strumming away on her guitar, gently muffling his quiet sobs as he let the photo burn to ash.

#sejanus plinth #coriolanus snow #coryo snow #the hunger games #cannon divergence #au #lucy gray #lucy gray baird #tbosas #thg #young!coriolanus snow #tbosbas #president snow #hunger games #ballad of songbirds and snakes #tbosas spoilers #hg #snow lands on top #coryolanus snow #angst? #i'm trying okay #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #district 12 #district 2 #panem #fanfic #fan fiction #ao3 fanfic #ao3 link #fan fiction writing

[thestarlightforge]

TBOSAS Meta

This started as a couple-paragraphs-long Everlark & Coryo x Lucy Gray rant. It turned into an essay on the politics of systemic oppression and how we illustrate it in fiction, with The Hunger Games and Ballad as case studies. Regardless, I hope others enjoy, lol. This is where my brain lives, now, as I expect it will the rest of 2023. Cheers!

***

It’s been interesting, the last few days, some of the discourse that’s popped up around TBOSAS. FASCINATING political discussions, as I’ve come to expect for a Suzanne Collins release. (#1 in my heart.)

Personally, I always separate books vs. movie canon with her franchise. With the OG Hunger Games, sometimes I felt the films were better—like she got another pass at it and REALLY took advantage, and utilized the hell out of taking it out of Katniss’s first-person POV to develop other characters and the world (still without detracting from her narrative)—while for some details, I preferred the books.

With TBOSAS, though, the book and movie feel almost entirely different to me.

There are MANY shared elements, of course, and I feel either version gels quite nicely with the OG franchise. It’s not even that there’s that many continuity differences—some things cut or altered for time, sure, but the bones of the plot are the same. Both illustrate astute political commentary, Coriolanus’s descent into madness, Tigris’s shift in position on him (foreshadowing her full turn by Mockingjay), and Lucy Gray’s role in his life in both his initial downfall and his defeat by Katniss. The actors and creative team all did BEAUTIFUL work bringing it to life, and I honestly love both versions.

But fans who mainly like the book may be frustrated by the sympathy Coryo garners in the film.

Normally, I’d say this is because the book reveals more internal monologue—and it does. But honestly, one of the things I was most impressed by in this film was how legible the actors’ internal monologues were. It was clear, the amount of work they all did to that end. So I don’t know that it is just more. I think it’s also different.

Book Coriolanus devolves much earlier and more obviously. He starts from the same pressed circumstances and has moments of goodness, but he becomes the villain we know him eventually to be pretty damn fast.

Film-Coriolanus has a much slower descent. Ironic, honestly, given the film has far less time than the book does.

I think as a result of this, I’ve seen discourse comparing beats in his relationship with Lucy Gray to Katniss and Peeta. For example, that beautifully shot/choreographed/performed scene in TBOSAS with him and Lucy Gray on either side of the fence after the bombings that night, where they almost kiss and he asks her, “Is this real? If I’m going to risk everything?” being compared to Peeta’s long game of “real or not real” throughout Mockingjay. Everlark folks (rightfully) pointing out that for Peeta, the refrain is about shared trauma, especially between him and Katniss, and both of them grounding their relationship in mutual trust—while asserting that for Coryo, the same refrain comes from a place of selfishness.

I get where this opinion comes from: President Snow is probably one of the most violent, sadistic, genocidal dictators in modern popular fiction. His relationship with Lucy Gray started as transactional—even more acutely in the book. Nearly everything Book-Coryo does is for his or his family’s personal gain.

But to me, half the beauty and tragedy of the film is this delicious possibility—the hope—they showed us.

THG has always had a strong anti-war philosophy in general, with through-line commentary on showmanship, propaganda, surveillance and performance: The recurrent themes of cameras always bring on them, the arenas and entirety of Panem being a stage/game—and how those things impact authentic human relationships. Everlark hit for so many because of the ways authenticity bloomed out of that hellish, contrived pit. Coriolanus and Lucy Gray’s relationship started out similarly contrived: Thrown together by the politics of the Academy, the uprising, the districts, the Capitol and the Games—helping one another survive. Largely unlike Katniss and Peeta, they both played the game intentionally, to varying degrees. (Personality wise, these four really have almost nothing in common, lol.) Lucy Gray is a good person, both in the end and from her start (unlike the terrorist Coriolanus becomes). But she is a performer. He’s right about that.

So honestly, I don’t see much purpose in reading Peeta’s question as valid while Coryo’s wasn’t. I think that judgment is colored by dramatic irony—us knowing who they each become. But in theatre, we talk about living honestly in imagined circumstances. It’s used in a lot of acting techniques, but particularly for people playing villains. To stay grounded in the truth of it, you have to believe honestly in the imagined moment, not the gestalt; Leslie Odom Jr. was a great Aaron Burr because every performance, he believed in the whole journey, from hope to ruin. Tom Blythe was a great Coryo because he invested in the earnest reality of Snow as a young man, not the devil we know he becomes. And at that point in the story, at the cages that night with Lucy Gray, Coriolanus was honestly grounded in similar struggles as our OG heroes: Trying to provide for and protect his starving family. His family (and the Capitol at large) reeks of privilege, and his prejudices were obviously flawed. But in his developing love for her, he was steeped in starvation, the same political forces as lashed all citizens of Panem, and was clawing his way from beneath just as much Capitol propaganda as people from the Districts—perhaps even more so, given his Grandma’am and how his father died. Because of their given circumstances, politics bled into everything—but eventually, so did feeling, and they had several moments of genuine bonding, trust and connection which the actors invested in beyond their political need for each other. There’s a constant push and pull: Holding hands at the zoo for the cameras was political; her reaching for his hand in the arena visit was less so. The first “Stop treating me like I’ve already lost” in front of everyone was wit-soaked survival, while “Please don’t let me die in that arena tomorrow,” near-whispered and with hands held between them where the camera would struggle to see, bled into real vulnerability. Saving him from the other tributes in the cage-ride to the zoo was about survival; risking her life to go back for him when the arena was bombed was at least a mix. Her motivations for singing in her interview are complex—perhaps guilt that a “rebel” attack nearly killed Coriolanus, his advice she’d get the most money that way—but I feel strongly that a non-zero amount of her was motivated by wanting to demonstrate that she trusts him, which for her is even higher-prized than love. And I also feel that, after the hospital and her “final performance”—leading up to their near-kiss at the zoo—Coriolanus scoped out the arena (and ultimately took all those risks to help her cheat the Games) both because he wanted the Plinth prize, in theory, and because he increasingly desperately wanted her to live.

The waters between them were thoroughly, legitimately muddied—which I believe was intentional, that constant tension between authenticity and politics. And as much as he was falling for her, Coriolanus saw that Lucy Gray was just as clever and good at crowd-work as he was—maybe better.

So to circle all the way back to this Everlark comparison: Given the absurdly multilayered situation, is it really that selfish or unreasonable he would check in with her during that moment through the fence? That this child—wrapped in oppressive patriarchy, violence, starvation and propaganda—would ask for reassurance before he was willing to be vulnerable, or to potentially risk his family’s lives?

Some artists are hesitant to engage with the humanity of “villains,” their origins, because they feel humanizing them excuses them. In real life, I get this: Second chances aren’t always the answer, and people need to be held accountable. But isn’t it more powerful storytelling to demonstrate the corrosive nature of all systems of oppression in our fiction, to show how they can corrupt even those who try, than to condemn people before they’ve even had a chance? Isn’t the beauty of Lucy Gray’s whole thing that everyone starts out good, and it’s our job to choose to stay on the right side of that line?

And when President Coriolanus Snow finally chokes on his last rose, wouldn’t it be a more satisfying victory if we imagined him as a real-feeling person—full owner of sixty years of horrifying choices—rather than a cartoonishly evil cardboard cutout?

Book-Coryo has a more obviously manipulative/evil streak, much earlier on. To make it plain: He’s an ass, and his “love” for her reads more like obsession. But my favorite aspect of the film (and I feel one of the most compelling) was how it illustrated that these systems of oppression can make tragedies of almost anyone: All but those at the very, very top. Suzanne’s anti-capitalist politicking—how classism turns everyone below the 1% against each other, where the “upper middle class” (doctors/lawyers/actors) is vilified to the poor as a red herring while a handful of robber-baron CEOs amass almost all wealth on the planet—strikes again. She, Francis Lawrence, the film’s creative team and these actors came together to put tragically human faces on that struggle—how hard it is to stay a good person amidst intense, violent, systemic oppression.

But none of that sings quite as true if you go into it having decided that Coriolanus was evil in his bones. The stakes are so much higher, richer, otherwise. If his love—for Tigris, for his family, for Sejanus, and yes, for Lucy Gray—was, or became, authentic.

It’s not a descent into madness if he’s already mad. Or, as he put it in the original Hunger Games film: “Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear.”

#the hunger games meta #thg meta #thg series #tbosas meta #meta #tbosas #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #ballad of songbirds and snakes #Everlark #suzanne collins #Coriolanus snow #President snow #tigris snow #lucy gray baird #coriolanus x lucy gray #Lucy gray x Coriolanus #sejanus plinth #theatre #directing #film #francis lawrence #tom blythe #josh andres rivera #rachel zegler #leslie odom jr #aaron burr #Hamilton #hamilton musical #acting #acting school

[smalltownfae]

Looking for blogs that do book reviews or book related posts and have similar tastes to mine in order to find more excellent reads so please let me know if you are a fan of 3 or more of these:

Realm of the Elderlings series by Robin Hobb

Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Discworld series by Terry Pratchett

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

First Law series by Joe Abercrombie

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tokien

The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Winter Rose/The Changeling Sea/The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A.McKillip

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

Gentleman Bastards series by Scott Lynch

Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Greenhollow Duology by Emily Tesh

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

Sistersong by Lucy Holland

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Dawn/Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

I read mostly fantasy, but some classic literature too and I have been trying to get into historical fiction. I prefer long series if the characters are complex or entertaining enough. Books being queer is a plus.

#booklr #fantasy books

[twirlingsmilingwriting]

Hunger Games Characters as Taylor Swift songs PART 2!!

I know these aren't popular like the fan fiction on my account but I love mixing my music and intrests so ima do a PART TWO

Johanna Mason

Mad Woman- Taylor Swift, Folklore

"Does a scorpion sting when fighting back? They strike to kill and you know I will"

Honestly, it's so hard to find just one lyric in this song that I felt like truly highlights her because the whole song is literally her. Especially the last verse. Like "'Cause you took everything from me, Watchin' you climb, Watchin' you climb Over people like me The master of spin Has a couple side flings Good wives always know She should be mad Should be scathing like me" THAT JUST FEELS SO MUCH LIKE HOW SHE VIEWS SNOW. He took everything from her and she was just sitting back ready to take him and the rest of the capital down with it. Also, I love her.

Katniss Everdeen

Eyes Open- Taylor Swift, Red

"In backyards, winning battles with our wooden swords. But now we've stepped into a cruel world. Where everybody stands and keeps score"

OKAY ADMITTEDLY THIS IS A SELL OUT BECAUSE THIS SONG WAS ON THE HUNGER GAMES OTHER SOUND TRACK BUT, it is quite literally her song. Side note but this song is so sad but sounds so happy. I love when Ms. Swift does songs like this. But yeah from the first verse describing how they were just kids then one day got thrown into the cruel and harsh world of the hunger games. Also the part talking about "they never thought you'd make it this far" makes so much sense because the girl from district 12 is always seen as the runt of the picks, the one who isn't supposed to win, BUT SHE DID!! Honestly, if yall can think of another song that fits her character please let me know. I have some honorable mentions

A Place in This World- Debut: honestly, I think this song really describes her thought process going into the hunger games. She was just trying to survive and keep her family safe. Even when she was thrown into being the head figure of the Revolution, she never wanted that position, she just got thrown into it. She was just walking along the path set for her. Even the line "maybe I'm just a girl on a mission but I'm ready to fly" makes sense to me because she IS the mocking jay.

Only Me When I'm With You- Debut: So Peniss coded (Peeta X Katniss)

I Know Places- 1989: Also Peniss coded

I Did Something Bad- Reputation: Killing president coin, pushing forth with the revolution,

Sujanus Plinth

Only The Young- Taylor Swift, Miss Americana

"You did all that you could do, the game was rigged, the ref got tricked, the wrong ones think they're right. You were outnumbered, this time"

Honestly, the whole thing reminds me of his reaction to the games. Also the whole song is about how only the young can change the future and Sujanus's character really showed that spirit. He was trying to make a change but unfortunately, he trusted the whole people and the odds were stacked against him.

Haymitch Abernathy

Champagne Problems- Taylor Swift, Evermore

""This dorm was once a madhouse" I made a joke, "Well, it's made for me"

He has em. Simple as that. (alcoholism)

Seriously though this song reminds me of him more so because of the concept of it. Champagne problems is a term used to describe issues that seem rather trivial, unimportant, and I feel like a lot people tend to disregard all the genuine things Haymitch had gone through. The story of the song also is about a marriage that never happened, it also has undertones of lost family and friends. As we know, Haymitch lost his girlfriend and family to the capital. He never got to marry her because she was taken from him.

Lucy Gray

My Tears Ricochet- Taylor Swift, Folklore

"And I still talk to you when I'm screaming at the sky. And when you can't sleep at night you hear my stolen lullabies"

LETS BE HONEST, SHE IS SO FOLK-EVERMORE CODED. I could dissect this song for ages explaining why it's the perfect example of what Lucy Gray would be saying indirectly to Snow. Firstly,

"Even on my worst day, did I deserve, babe All the hell you gave me? 'Cause I loved you, I swear I loved you 'Til my dying day"

CUZ NO SHE DID NOT DESERVE WHAT SNOW PUT HER THROUGH. She loved him truly, deeply, but when it came down to it, she knew she could never trust him. Especially with the position he put her in. She could go anywhere she wants but not home after Snow made it seem like she killed the mayors daughter. And then the part

"I didn't have it in myself to go with grace And you're the hero flying around, saving face And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake? Cursing my name, wishing I stayed Look at how my tears ricochet"

She didn't go with grace. She left in a flash, deep with mystery. She has to hide for the rest of her life while he gets to be the proud hero and savior to Panem. The second half of the main chorus is so true to how Coryo was acting when they were in the forest in that last scene. He was quite literally cursing her name, wishing she'd stayed.

"You know I didn't want to have to haunt you But what a ghostly scene You wear the same jewels that I gave you As you bury me"

JEWELS? HER EARRING??? HELLOOOOOOOO and then the "as you bury me" HE DOESN'T KNOW IF SHE DEAD OR NOT BUT IF SHE IS, HE KILLED HER. HE BURRED HER AND TOOK HER EARRING.

"But you would still miss me in your bones And I still talk to you (when I'm screaming at the sky) And when you can't sleep at night (you hear my stolen lullabies)"

She had such a hold on him, he still remembers her years later, haunted by her memory. the song constantly references the "Haunting". The "I still talk to you when I'm screaming at the sky" reminded me of the way the mocking jays carried her voice all around the sky. And the last line was so clearly connecting to 'The Hanging Tree' in my brain. Many years later, Katniss sang the same song she did to lead a rebellion against him. His life is haunted by her memories and cursed by it. He can't escape her anywhere.

The tears he made her spill simply ricocheted into bullets that hit him instead.

Effie Trinket

Bejeweled- Taylor Swift, Midnights

"Best believe I'm still bejeweled. When I walk in the room,I can still make the whole place shimmer"

MS. EFFIE TRINKET IS THE BADDEST BITCH BRO OMG I LOVEEEEE HER. STYLE ICON. Listen, no matter what happens to that woman, shes gonna shine. A diamonds gotta SHINE. She is always the most sparkly, eye catching person out there at ALL TIMES! Even without all the glitz and glamour she is still so iconic. She is ALWAYS bejeweled.

#tbosas #the hunger games #taylor swift #song lyrics #lucy gray baird #katniss everdeen #sejanus plinth #haymitch abernathy #effie trinket #johanna mason #thg series #thg

[ficzhub]

A Legacy: A Snowbaird fan fiction.

Chapter 1

Relief doesn't begin to describe what he felt when he realized he was in fact, not a ephebophile. Simply a man still in love with his lost girl. It wasn't easy to find her, the wilds are difficult to navigate even with the most advanced technology available. But persistence is key, he never gave the search a day's rest. The moment he came into enough power to delegate the necessary steps that would go into finding her, he did. My, is he glad he did. He found so much more than he could've imagined. He almost regretted having to eventually pluck her from her prairie. Here she was, perfect little wildflower. Dark curls braided out of her sable face, small sylvester flowers rained on in a crown forshadowing the metaphorical crown she'd soon wear as his darling girl in the capital where they belong.

Despite the constant frigid temperatures of the wilds beyond the desolation of 13, the sun still shone bright in the early spring. Excellent light but did little to warm anything. Still, watching the bright sun shining off her rich hair and pebbled, freckled skin sheened slightly in sweat from her labor brought him a calm he hadn't experienced anything even close to since he'd been in her presence. He could watch for hours as she went through her morning routine in the tiny cabin she shared. Getting water to boil for their mushroom tea, gathering honey to sweeten it. Wondering if she had to risk getting her nearly onyx eyes or dainty hands stung to obtain it. Eating a few bites of whatever game the traders exchanged with her. The bulk of it being fish, sometimes uncommon sea creatures like octopus or such but as good for sustenance as he could wish for them, explaining the surprising but delightful realization that Lucy Gray looks better fed here than she'd ever looked back in 12.

The changes of her body, though mostly welcome, did confound him briefly. The previous night she'd disrobed before sleeping and he saw the widened flare of her hips, the greater swell of her breasts and darkening of her nipples, the beastly diagonal claw-like marks on her flat but loose abdomen and pert backside. It all made sense when he caught sight of him, Silas Ochre. A boy of eleven, and already much taller and more muscular than he himself had been at that age. Vindicating his theory that if Coriolanus been properly fed, he'd be a much more physically imposing figure. The boy opened the door with his free hand, his left occupied holding basket containing a variety of plants the camera can't completely capture from this angle.

It was agony finding her and knowing it would take a few days before the undetectable cameras would be remotely set up to use. All his men had told him after finding her was that she was living in a cabin with a boy and a woman around her age. He'd figured she'd run into a mother with her son and came together with them but the mother in question had been her all along, and what a mother she's turned out to be. Silas Ochre is an incredibly intelligent, resourceful, capable and beautiful child. His hair is a golden shade of brown with curls that shine blindingly in the sun, clearly his hair had had to have been lighter ages ago, much blonder like himself. His skin is much like that of his mother, the color of strong black tea with a dash of milk and his eyes a dazzling shade of blue, like everything else, darker than that of his father. It's as if the deeper pigment from his mother protected him in a manor his father's lightness couldn't.

Silas Ochre hunts like he was born to it. No cruelty is ever caused with his knife, only quick, merciful deaths the creatures never see coming, so unlike the offspring Coriolanus has produced with Livia who'd relish in the gore. The boy named Calix in his home borderline disgusts him. His petulance grates at his already strained nerves, his entitlement irritating him to the point of near violence. Livia's family would withdraw any support they provide if he ever did anything to properly discipline his miscreant son. The boy is turning nine and still throws tantrums like when he toddled. If his father's legacy is left to him, he'll destroy everything he ached building in a matter of a few short years, squander it like a common fool. At first glance, there's resemblance between he and his son. But Coriolanus knows, Calix's palor is that of his mother's. His shade of blond, the blue of his eyes, the shapes of his nose and mouth, all Livia's.

The likeness between Silas Ochre and his father is more subtle but obvious if one knows what their looking for. The forms of his young son's still developing muscles so like his own, visible after his peacekeeper's duties and thankfully not lost since. The proportions of his body, long arms and legs good for reaching high and running far. His lips are shaped like that of his mother's sweet mouth, but fuller like his own. The slightly downward slant of his eyes is like his father's despite the darker shade of blue inside them, the flare of his nostrils at the end of his long nose completely unlike the button nose his Lucy Gray dawns. The broadness of his shoulders to the tapering of his waist, his hairline, the shape of his strong hands. All obvious indicators of who impregnated his mother.

Coriolanus blazes to see Lucy Gray as she was when she was pregnant with him. Face rounded, arms, legs and tight bottom cushioned for her and his son's comfort. Hips broadening more as each day passes, breasts growing to become fit to feed their child producing a milk he can only imagine was a luscious nectar. Finally, belly growing bloated with their perfect progeny. The need to keep her full of his babies is one of his main purpose for wanting to keep her close to him, here in the capital despite their idyllic lives in the forest. Silas Ochre was a good example of how flawless their children would be.

Livia is pregnant again with another boy and as much as he knows he's supposed to, he doesn't love the children he has with her. The feelings of obligation and basic familial commitment pale in comparison to the fatherly love and adoration he already feels for the nearly teenaged boy, who likely has no idea who he is and who Coriolanus has never even laid eyes on in the flesh. He knows more clearly than he knows he loved his mother and Tigris, that he'd do anything to protect this child. The ferocity, the potency of his emotions overwhelmed and displeased him. So much like when he fell in love with his Lucy Gray, he knows this boy, like his mother, could get anything they want out of him. He'd relinquish it with a smile on his face as long as it made them happy. That vulnerability frightens him more than any threat any of his enemies have ever made.

The rabbits, squirrels and other animals his more competent son obtains are used in their entirety. He guts and skins them so his still sensitive mother never needs to see such ugliness. He simply presents her with the pelts for her to use as needed and gives the innards to the woman they live with for her to do what she must with them. Lucy Gray treats the fresh skins and furs in their tiny fireplace, cleans them in the river nearby and hoards them until she has enough to make a full article of clothing with them. He's spent days watching them, learning their habits and observing their behaviors. The traders come by twice a week, she'll trade fresh garlic mustard or wild ginger for whatever she and her friend "Holly May" had asked for during their previous visit. Dairy products such as butter or cheeses, salt, even sea shells on occasion are taken in exchange of safe plants to consume and fresh land game and even baby soft fur overcoats to brave the harsh conditions farther north.

Holly May was clearly responsible for teaching his son how to sustain himself. Lucy Gray might've taught him how to tie intricate knots, gather fresh fruits and render oils from any plants they might find but Holly May taught him how to be an efficient killer. A skill not to be overlooked or undertrained in when in these circumstances. The traps they use are expansive and detailed, anything that wanders in will be done away with in a matter of seconds with almost no time to realize they're dying. She taught him how to gut and skin the animals quickly and cleanly, not letting the food become contaminated by any filth by letting the pelt cover everything until every organ is removed and placed in Holly May's hands to be cleaned in boiled, cooled water and coated in salt and spices to preserve for harsher times.

The traders this time traded a small spile for two dark brown coats. Coriolanus couldn't understand why Lucy Gray would make what seems like such a poor exchange, she handed the tool to Holly May and she hammered it into a tree. The cold wood didn't let her penetrate without a fight, bouncing off the metal a few times before finally piercing through to the tenderer wood inside. She instructed Silas Ochre to fetch something and he returned promptly with a bucket and some sort of covering. She placed it beneath the tree and simply left it there. It wasn't until a few hours later he realized it's a maple tree and Lucy Gray was clearly craving some sweetness honey can't provide, given the persistent medicinal taste that lingers after you eat it.

Coriolanus found himself envying their simple lives. The grueling work of finding their food and their warmth daily, knowing the next winter might be harsher than the last and not knowing if the previous harvest will be enough to hold them until it's over. But never having to worry about large scale betrayals, or political intrigue. Never concerning yourself with the competition because there hardly is any. Your competition around the cabin are other animals not nearly as strategic as you are and always good for thicker furs or emergency meat. On the rare occasion that a passerby might make things more difficult for you, you can always dispose of them fairly simply.

He ponders if his son, just beginning pubescence, would be capable of that.

********

The observation period lasts weeks. Coriolanus finishes work and returns home to watch the recordings that have been gathered, sometimes not even bothering to eat or wash up before sitting to watch his distant family go about their business. He's ambivalent about his realization that Lucy Gray was better off without him than he would've guessed. On the one hand, had she not been better off her and their son would've died likely before he was even born and then where would he be? Just a bitter man of nearly thirty living a life with nothing bringing him any genuine happiness the way just watching his amazing son and still gorgeous songbird does. A cousin who raised him but now nearly ignores him, a wife he can't stand who's given him sons that were meant to be a continuation of the Snow line and legacy but one only inspires irritation and resentment in him and the other is yet to be born but he doesn't hold out much hope for. He knows he'll feel little affection for him, too. He'll be too like his insipid mother, and have too much of Coriolanus' most distasteful traits, like Calix.

On the other, he relished in knowing his Lucy Gray needed him. In his most self indulgent and self-aggrandizing fantasies, she always needed him. Either needed him to save her from some kind of evil, a touchy ex-lover, a murderous and petty mean girl with a senseless vendetta against her, an incompetent man with too much power like Mayor Lipp, which he in fact made sure to scrap from office as soon as he had the authority to and place someone more fitting in his place. Someone he knew wouldn’t give The Covey any trouble.

Other fantasies have more masturbatory wishes. She needs him because he’s fed her, needs him because he’s given her water to drink when she was deathly thirsty. She needs him because she’s horribly sore and he can do away with her aches and pains. Because she needs him to satiate her desire for closeness and pleasure when in reality it’s him that needs satiating. He that feels a desperate longing to touch her again because nothing and no one else feels as good.

Every day he gets to watch as she fetches water from the river that runs near her shoddy, unprotected home, brings it back to boil clean on her fireplace in a large metal pot. She collects the water in a separate container and lets any debris settle at the bottom, carefully brings it outside and waits for it to cool. She takes out a soap either she traded for or made on her own and undresses. He feasts his eyes on her, angry that any of his men might’ve seen this footage before he did. Notices her dark nipples puckering in the cold, thankfully there’s not much wind. He’d hate for her to get sick. He laments the camera quality isn’t fine enough to zoom in on her, to see her tender flesh develop goosebumps. She slowly pours the purified, hot water over herself and starts scrubbing her skin with the soap and an old, filthy looking rag.

He wonders what the soap smells like, if it’ll interfere with the aroma he remembers her having. The wild rose and fresh, ripe peach that no amount of synthesis has been able to replicate to his liking. Either it smells too manufactured or the rose scent is too clean, or the peach fragrance is too saccharine, or they don’t quite match the slightly musky trail she always had. According to the perfumers, it has a great deal to do with the pheromones one produces and picks up in another’s. Biology dictates that unless you’re wearing a strong perfume or cologne, the way you smell is subjective to whomever may be smelling you. Sometimes it permeates through even the strongest of artificial fragrances. He knows there’s no way Lucy Gray ever made enough money through her performances to buy a perfume of any kind, despite her immense talent. Much less a strong, manufactured fragrance that even in The Capital, people struggle to afford. No, of course not. Her hygiene perhaps, some rustic soap much like the one she uses now, purchased at The Hob is what she used, and a rag with any water she could find was used to keep herself clean. The scent Coriolanus remembers so fondly is all their own, produced by her and to be inhaled by him.

He ponders what he might’ve smelled like to her, if she enjoyed his scent even half as much as he delighted in hers. If his resulted in the same warm sensation in her groin that grew in his whenever he inhaled by her neck, slick with the day’s sweat.

#snowbaird #coriolanus x lucy gray #coriolanus snow #lucy gray baird #lucy gray my beloved #abosas #a ballad of songbirds and snakes #coryo x lucy gray #coriolanus snow x lucy gray baird #coryo snow #coryo x lucy gray baird #lucy gray #lucy gray x coriolanus #lucy gray x coryo #snowbaird au #original characters #yandere coriolanus snow #stalker Coriolanus snow

[gralunaisland]

being a Graylu shipper am i the only one that doesn't like the idea of Lucy or anyone else being a Gruvia Shipper?

About Fairy Tail members being either complicit or enablers of juvia abusing Gray

You're definitely not alone, my friend! I personally am a Gralu shipper, but I don't necessarily agree just because of that.

I've said it in a post before, but I became an Anti gr///vian first and a Gralu shipper second. I totally understand people who don't like a certain ship just because they ship those individuals with other people, and I think that's a perfectly valid reason to hate a ship, as we can hate ships for mostly any reason. So, yes, being a Gralu shipper gives me another reason to not like it if Lucy were to ship gr///via because that basically just reconfirms that they don't like each other.

However, for me personally, I hate it whenever Lucy (whom I don't remember supporting gr///via very much if at all, but she definitely didn't actively oppose it to the best of my knowledge), Erza, or anyone in Fairy Tail/the FT universe supports gr///via mostly because that makes them, at best, complicit in juvia's abuse of Gray, and, at worst, enablers of this abuse.

I refuse to believe that manipulative and toxic affection was the true moral of Mashima's Fairy Tail, even if his characters actively advocate for it. I think he lost sight somewhere along the line of what it truly means to be a Fairy Tail member, and that means to be a loyal, compassionate, brave friend who always looks out for each other and love one another. juvia is none of those things, not even loyal to Gray, because what she does is a detriment to him, and she's really just loyal to herself and her "love" for him. Yet, Mashima promotes her behavior by giving her what she so desperately coveted in the end and by forcing his characters to be completely OOC and back up juvia, the slobbering, nasty, selfish pig, and not their loving, stalwart brother-in-arms and victim here, Gray.

That is despicable.

What's more, beyond how awful it is that FT people would rather back juvia than Gray, it's just bad, lazy writing. In no world would juvia be able to abuse other people and manipulate them and bully women and yet also be praised and protected and loved by those same people. Erza should have never sided with juvia over the 413 days matter or berated Gray for "not being clear enough" when he's been plenty clear. The other FT members shouldn't have ever blasted Gray for "leading juvia on". No one should even like juvia or want to be her friend because of what a b*tch she is.

Yet of course, everyone loves her for NO REASON. There are so many reasons to hate her (and honestly not one good reason to love her in my opinion), but does Mashima care? Absolutely not. juvia is his self-proclaimed self-insert's waifu, after all.

Anyway, true FT fans should be enraged that juvia lockser is one of the main people we are encouraged to be like in this show. They should be indignant that juvia has been made a poster child for this anime, when she embodies none of its values. They should refuse to accept this as healthy and desirable. They should balk at the fact that their beloved characters endorse juvia's actions and life choices, which are wholly unacceptable and unhealthy not only to herself but most importantly to others.

But lots of fans delude themselves, and the fans drive Mashima, so unfortunately, here we are, with a whole cast of characters who promote and affirm juvia, the least deserving of the Fairy Tail members.

For the record, I am not really talking about the fans who acknowledge juvia's toxicity but still like her and the ship because of a sort of suspension of disbelief. Honestly, there are many problematic or evil characters that many people like, and I usually see no problem with it if you are able to separate your fictional fantasies with reality. (Some deeply problematic things I do not excuse though). For example, I like Sukuna from JJK. Do I think he's a good person? Aaaaabsolutely not. He's a completely awful person. But still, I think he's cool and his power is sick, so I like him.

My issue lies within the area of the FT community who refuse to accept that juvia's behavior is deplorable and who attack anyone who tells them otherwise. These are the rabid fans who'd go for Mashima's throat if he dared to not make gr///via canon. I don't believe the fans who know juvia is a bad person but still ship gr///via would be so up in arms about it because this sort of self-awareness indicates maturity to me.

[Sidenote, the really aggravating and only thing that sets juvia apart from the characters who are literal villains and douches is that juvia isn't treated like a bad guy within the story. Sans some uncomfortable stares and sweat drops, she is largely treated like family, and everyone loves her. When even the canon material itself won't acknowledge a character's toxicity and awfulness to itself, of course there'll be people who don't think she's toxic. I hate that Fairy Tail lies to itself in this way. It just helps to turn the deluded fans against well-meaning Antis who speak literal objective truth, that the way juvia acts is not okay in real life.]

Anyway, those are my two cents, thank you for your patience and ask!

#ill never get over how fairy tail members choose juvia over gray #it is just so effed up at its core #juvia is not yalls friend #she only cares about loving gray and nothing else when it all comes down to it #askgraluna #anti gruvia #anti juvia #anti juvia lockser #anti juvia loxar #fairy tail #ask #defend gray fullbuster #gray fullbuster #anti gray x juvia #lucy heartfilia #graylu #gralu #gray x lucy #what happened to being loyal to your friends? #gruviugh #gruvia can burn #gruvia sucks

[my-shields-are-down]

Bottle

REMINDER: I asked for one word prompts to trigger a fan fiction one shot. This one triggered a doozy.

==============

Seventeen year old Kai Bradford walks up to the podium and takes the microphone from his Aunt Angela and breathes deeply to calm himself. He is really nervous talking in front of all these people. But he knew this was excellent practice for his valedictorian speech in a few weeks.

He found and made eye-contact with his mom, who nodded, smiled and gave him two thumbs up and whispered - “you’ve got this.”

Tim turned to Lucy and asked, “Did you know about this? About what he’s going to say?”

Tim and Kai have not been on the best of terms lately. They seem to be having the same fight over and over about Kai’s future, his girlfriend, his clothes, the weather, you name it, they argue about it. So the fact his eldest son is now standing in front of his peers to speak is quite a bit unnerving and overwhelming for Tim.. Tim has no idea what his son will say. Lucy looks back at him and smiles. “I knew he wanted to speak - but no, honey, I don’t know what he’s going to say.” She leans into Tim and kisses him.

Tim grabs her hand and watches their son take a deep breath to calm his nerves.

Their first born - the boy who almost died when Lucy was shot.

Who spent hours on Tim’s bare chest as his lungs and heart grew strong; who listened to Tim talk about his mom and how much he loved her and needed both of them to live; Who said “dada” and walked way ahead of schedule; the kid who followed Tim everywhere and asked him a gazillion questions; the one who used to look at him with awe and wonder; the natural athlete who swims, and surfs, and catches anything thrown in his general direction, who brings his mom flowers just because they remind him of her; the one whose love of the ocean forced Tim to get over his aversion to it; the one who brought home creatures and plopped them on the dining room table with cheers of victory and squeals of “science!”; the one who is just like his mom, full of kindness, brilliance, humor and sunshine; who stands up for the little guy and treats everyone the same; the one who will wave and say hi to his mom on national tv when he catches the winning touchdown during a future bowl game despite the thousands of hours of drills run with his dad. The human he loves almost as much as Lucy. Tim loves this boy-almost-man more than life itself.

Kai turns to the audience and nods when he says, “Hi everyone. I’m Kai. Thank you for coming tonight to my parents’ 20th Anniversary Party. I’m here to speak for the kids - me, Diana and TJ. Besides being the oldest and most eloquent, everyone knows I’m the favorite - mom’s little sunshine miracle boy.”

He blushes and rolls his eyes - as the audience laughs and nods in agreement.

Because Kai was the first born, they had all seen videos and pictures and heard stories of everything he has ever done. The soccer games, the school plays, the boys playing in the dirt, the backyard camping adventures, the wonder and annoyance at his little siblings, the failed clarinet career, the gifted athlete, the wickedly smart and clever kid, etc.

Lucy has a large orange and green fire breathing dragon on her office wall - drawn by Kai in 7th grade art class. Tim had it framed for her office shortly thereafter.

Everyone at the party has watched him grow up and turn into the charming, smart and handsome young man before them.

At 17, he now is just an inch shorter than his dad, strong, athletic, with dark wavy hair, a golden honey complexion and stormy blue-gray eyes.

But there was a time when he lived in a NICU incubator for several months, weighing under 5 pounds, while his mom recovered from two bullet wounds and his dad tried not to sink into a pit of despair.

“I love my mom so much - she’s my best friend, my biggest cheerleader, my closest confidant, my favorite person.” Kai waves at Lucy who smiles and waves back.

“But my dad? My dad is my hero.”

And just like that - all noise in the ballroom stopped - you could hear a pin drop. Tim’s breath catches in his throat and a single tear falls down his face. Lucy smiles at Kai and squeezes Tim’s hand.

“What do I mean by that? Good question. Wikipedia defines a hero as a person who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength.”

That’s my dad. I know him as my stay-at-home protector, but I’ve heard stories from all of you, all of my life about the danger he faced day after day as a cop; how he came up with creative solutions to immediate problems - like the drilling of a hole in a car floorboard to spray pepper spray into a car to stop a carjacking or making a donut place the main lunch stop for cops so the gangs avoid it or digging through the dirt with his bare hands to dig up the barrel holding my mom as she died waiting for someone to find her.

None of my siblings or I would even be here, if my dad had given up on finding her. Well that and you know, them admitting they were crazy about each other and all the sex - no no no - Aunt Angela, I cannot say that - gross”… the audience including his parents start laughing loudly.

“Where was I? Oh right… My parents could not be more different - she’s sunshine and he’s grumpy. We kids know how to be exemplary humans because they showed us how.

My dad as a man is who I hope to be when I grow up. I measure myself against who he is in the world. He’s not perfect - just ask my mom about his “sock problem” - but he is my role model for how to treat people and how to exist in the world.

When I was 6 years old and getting ready for my first day of school, he sat me down on the bench by the door and tied my shoes and said the same thing to me he says every year - his yearly “Tim Talk” as mom calls it:

“You look your classmates in the eye, Kai. You speak to them with respect and honesty and kindness. I don’t care if they did you wrong, or if you are having a bad day. You always treat everyone you come in contact with as if they are special to you, as if it’s the best part of your day. You smile at your teachers, your classmates, the janitor. You laugh at bad jokes. You congratulate people on their accomplishments. You become friends with everyone and learn about them. What makes them excited and scared? What are their favorite things? Who are their favorite people? You be the one everyone smiles about when they remember. okay?”

All three of us live and die by this advice every day. We are all well liked by our classmates, teachers, coaches, parents neighbors and friends. Our parents - mom by telling and dad by showing - gave us the foundation upon which we stand and live.

My mom taught us how to love big, my dad taught us to love small.

My mom taught us to hold tight, my dad taught us to leave space.

My mom taught us to be confident, my dad taught us to be humble.

My mom taught us to grateful, my dad taught us to be of service.

My mom taught us to be loud, my dad taught us the value of silence

My mom gave us a love of nature, my dad gave us a love of sports.

My mom believes in second chances, my dad prefers to measure twice and cut once.

My mom taught us about forgiveness, my dad taught us about loyalty.

My mom taught us to be strong, my dad showed us how to be vulnerable.

Dad sends flowers to his ex-wife on her birthday every year. He loved her a long time before mom came along and while it wasn’t always pretty, he thanks her for loving him and letting him go.

He and Kojo and then later Jack and Diane (Di’s chinchillas) never missed a tea party with Diana and her real or imaginary friends.

Dad dances with mom in the kitchen when her favorite song comes on the radio.

He came to every recital and game, chaperoned every field trip and dance.

He knows all of our secrets and gives the very best advice. We don’t always follow it, mind you, but he gives it freely whenever we ask.

Most importantly, he showed us that he loves our mom. They’ve given us three kids infinite lessons on how to love and be in a loving relationship. We are so lucky and blessed to have these amazing creatures as our parents.

So everyone, please raise your glasses, bottles, and cans and let’s celebrate our parents - Lucy & Tim Bradford.

Thank you.

While everyone is cheering and clapping, Tim stands up and walks over to his son and grabs him in a big hug and and just holds onto him tightly while smiling the biggest smile and with tears streaming down his face. “I love you too Kai, I love you too.”

——— end ———

#chenford #tim bradford #lucy chen #the rookie #tim x lucy #i love them #askandrea #andrea writes #my emotions have been all over the place #one word prompts #bottle #I can see this life they live so clearly #miss you dad #chenford fanfic

[11queensupreme11]

Just wanted to ask (not sure if this got sent properly) but how could a loser!girlflop!MC NOT set back feminism?

Especially in the premise of your fic, where, if the tags are anything to go by, the female girlflop mc will lose everything she holds dear including her mental stability and bodily autonomy to five or more overpowered MEN (granted they are gods, but still men.)

The main difference between her and OG!Percy, who got both the love of his life Annabeth and a pretty set future at New Rome College? Their gender.

Just to explain, I for one fully, or at least mostly understood what I was getting into when I began reading Arsenic Blues. I saw the Dead Dove tag, and know how to differentiate reality from fiction.

However, there’s a possibility that some loud mouthed single braincelled men out there (or women with internalized misogyny) that considers a fem!Percy with practically the same strength, abilities, and personality, too pretentious or something, began reading your fic after seeing the tags to get off on fem!Percy being non con fucked out of her mind, traumatized, and knocked down a peg or billion, reduced to a mere common victim of the gods, because they don’t like the concept of a strong fem!Percy. Cuz surely a loser coded girl saving Olympus is just a fluke and she needs to be put in her place by capable men😒

(This possibility is of course not your problem nor responsibility of course, but it still does not negate the fact that it sets back feminism, as some may use it as “proof” that women are inferior idiots that can’t be trusted with power.

“Look at OG!Male!Percy! He saved Olympus and the world twice with little to no major losses, got the girl, and has a bright future! Look at fem!Percy. This idiot managed to destroy her world in her stupid attempt to do what only a male version of her could! I knew that first time was a fluke!)

An example of this would be Zenitsu from Demon Slayer, ( a loser coded cringey but cute badass, first character that came to mind), who has a pretty large fan base despite his loser personality. Make Zenitsu a girl, and all of a sudden everyone is bashing her for being the weak link, dead weight, pick me bitch.

Or using TBOSAS, some people truly blame Lucy Gray for leaving a clearly psychotic person and says that the Hunger Games were her fault for leaving. It’s her fault that Snow turned evil, blaming the woman for the man’s actions.

(you sent this twice, but the only difference is the last paragraph, so im just gonna answer to this one instead of repeating both, hope you don't mind!)

i truly don't believe my fanfic is gonna set feminism back because, as you said, it's not my responsibility if some incel or girl with internalized misogyny sees it and uses it as a "gotcha" that "hahaha girls are weak cuz look what happened to fem!percy".

no normal person is gonna read my fic (or any book like this in general tbh) and suddenly think "omg.... girls are inferior to men! this book told me so and i'm gonna take it as fact!". if someone does think that, then they already had issues to begin with way before they started reading. my fic did not give them those issues.

normal ppl don't let themselves get influenced by a book in such a way because they've already gotten a solidified sense of right or wrong and they should already know "yeah the stuff happening to this MC is bad and not at all their fault. anyway! time to enjoy more of their suffering 🤪".

UNLESS ofc, they don't have a fully solidified sense of right or wrong, meaning they're just way too young to be reading my fic (or books like it). even then, not really my fault because i already gave out the warnings and even ao3 gives an additional "are you sure you wanna read this?" page. people can't control who reads the fics/books, they can just give out warnings

also, about the og male!percy vs my fem!percy thing, i can easily just write fanfic about og!percy going through the same thing. then what are they gonna say? in fact, there already ARE some juicy dark fics about poor og percy, savior of olympus, being reduced to just another victim of the gods (there's actually a lot more dark fics of og!percy going through traumatizing shit then there are fem!percy ones hehe 😍)

#👸🏻| asks #👸🏻| arsenic blues

[saberlight1]

orr

a fluffy lucy gray fic

#the ballad of songbirds and snakes #coriolanus snow #coriolanus snow x reader #tbosas #coriolanus angst #coriolanus x reader #tbsoas #lucy gray baird x fem reader #lucy gray x reader #lucy gray #coriolanus my bae #lucy gray baird #lucy gray baird x reader #lucy gray my beloved #the covey #lucy gray fan fiction #coryo #coryolanus snow #coryolucy #coryo x reader #corio snow

[mitsuki91]

Of course because my brain can not stop and it's full of floating snowbaird plots, now I am thinking about a story post canon where Lucy Gray return to 12 and with Maude Ivory as the snowbaird ambassador... So I write a little bit and I present to you my own version of Maude Ivory, the new menance to society, who has the best (worst) part of Lucy Gray charm and Coriolanus manipulation:

She saw him again a year and a half later.

Unbelievable. Maude Ivory had insisted on taking part in this phantom Victory Tour that Panem was advertising everywhere - while Lucy Gray had stayed cooped up at home because she couldn't bear the thought of the Hunger Games, just as she had been at home during the summer event - and so she had gone to the square, alone in the crowd, to watch the little speech that that year's Victor was going to give.

And there he was.

Her hands itched. Maude Ivory bit her tongue, thinking back to the promise she had made, but there had to be a way... A way...

Coriolanus was not alone. He was moving with a small group of people - a blonde woman who looked like him, another blonde woman who looked like she had a stink on her face, and one with black hair so straight it looked like silk and an almost sullen expression - but she couldn't let this opportunity pass her by.

When the stage show ended she slipped through the crowd, taking advantage of her petite build and the fact that no one really paid attention to a nine-year-old girl, until she found herself just behind the group.

"... How dreary" the obnoxious blonde woman was saying "And you put up with what? A month? Far too long, if you ask me."

Maude Ivory leaned even closer and then tugged at the sleeve of Coriolanus' red coat.

He turned instinctively towards her and the world froze.

She saw it, in his blue eyes. An instant of panic, and then a pain so sharp it hurt reflexively, and then... Nothingness. A flat calm, deposited like the fine coal dust that covered everything at the Seam.

"... Do you have any caramel popcorn?" asked Maude Ivory, assuming her best good-girl-does-sweet-eyes expression.

The small group had stopped with Coriolanus and the girls were all puzzled and silent.

"No," replied Coriolanus, dryly.

Maude Ivory used her secret technique of making-a-cute-pout. Just a little glossy-eyed, to soften.

She let go slowly of his coat sleeve, trying to put in as much devastation as a poor, dirty, starving child could muster - which was a lot, she had to admit, so Maude Ivory congratulated herself as she waited for any reaction from him.

Which did not wait.

Coriolanus' lower lip trembled imperceptibly and his eyes filled with pain again - with regret, Maude Ivory realized at that moment.

A second later and Maude Ivory felt herself being lifted into his arms and found herself hanging by his side, her face at his height, while he smiled, tenderly, masking his suffering.

"Hey, how about I buy you a cake instead?"

"A cake? A whole one?!"

"Of course."

"Will you get me a chocolate one?"

"Whatever you like. Only, you have to help me. You see, I've never been to this part of the District: will you guide me to the bakery?"

Maude Ivory smiled and let out a few exclamations of enthusiasm. She began to guide him noisily and chaotically, pointing with her arms and hands, laughing when he pretended to take a wrong turn to be corrected. With a very small part of herself she was aware that the other girls were following them and that their expressions were priceless: of pure amazement, speechless in front of that spectacle in which Coriolanus almost made a fool of himself just to make a little girl laugh.

Perfectly so, thought Maude Ivory, enjoying the power she wielded over all of them, Coriolanus above all.

Barb Azure used to tell her that she was too smart and sprightly for her age, and in that moment Maude Ivory fully understood what her cousin meant. And she was proud of it.

Finally they arrived at the bakery, where Maude Ivory, still in Coriolanus' arms, made a lot of other scenes pretending to be undecided between different chocolate cakes. Finally she chose a medium-sized, heart-shaped one - because, it was obvious, even if he didn't know it, it had to be a gift from Coriolanus to his Lucy Gray - and as Coriolanus struggled to get the money out of his coat pocket, she threw her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulders, hugging and cuddling him. Surreptitiously she peered at the girls and saw that the obnoxious blonde looked disgusted, so she smiled brightly at her.

"Who are you?" she asked her, direct and innocent.

She emitted an annoyed snort.

"Livia Cardrew," she replied, "Coryo's girlfriend. You know, the guy who's buying you a cake for no good reason." she added in a hiss, addressing him.

Maude Ivory felt Coriolanus stiffen beneath her and widened her smile.

You are deluded, blondie.

"Then prepare yourself, for when I am grown I will take him away from you," she replied, quietly, and saw the dark-haired girl turn to hide a laugh in the palm of her hand.

"Oh really?" asked the third girl, smiling amused "And what is your name?"

"Maude," replied Maude Ivory. She purposely didn't say her middle name because, she knew, 'Maude' could be a Miss Nobody, but 'Maude Ivory' belonged to the Coveys - and the Coveys were a secret she only wanted to share with Coriolanus.

He seemed to appreciate it, however, as he turned his head slightly to the side to leave a light kiss in her hair.

That earned her another grunt of disapproval from stink-below-the-nose-Livia and an even squeakier laugh from the other girl.

"Then nice to meet you, Maude. I am Tigris, Coryo's cousin, and in a few years I will be honored to be a relative of yours."

You don't know how much, thought Maude Ivory.

Coriolanus had managed to pay, so they all left the bakery.

"Will you take me home?" asked Maude Ivory to Coriolanus "I'll tell you the way."

"Of course," replied Coriolanus, in a low voice.

Maude Ivory knew she was directing him towards many memories. Good memories, she hoped, though they must be full of bitterness since he didn't know Lucy Gray was back and well.

Fate would decide.

She would not break any promises, she would not say anything, but Coriolanus was going to return to the Covey house. And there he was going to find Lucy Gray.

They walked for about a quarter of an hour. Maude Ivory had chatted a little with the girls - she had found out that the third was called Clemensia and that she had been invited to attend the Victory tour as a friend of Tigris, who was the stylist, and Coriolanus, who was responsible for the success of the event.

Then they had arrived. The last house before the meadow.

Maude Ivory had stirred and slipped out of Coriolanus' grasp. Tam Amber had come out of the house and merely observed them, puzzled.

"Look!" had exclaimed Maude Ivory, taking the bag from Coriolanus' hands "Coryo gave me a cake!"

The girls called him that, so she had decided she would do the same.

Tam Amber took the bag from her hands and opened it, looking at the box with the cake shop symbol.

"Mmmmh..." he commented, neutral "Did you say thank you properly?"

Maude Ivory returned to Coriolanus and pulled him tightly into a hug. He, puzzled, merely looked at her.

"What a warm coat!" she exclaimed, looking up at him and enacting another skit of her own "I bet it would look great on my cousin Barbie! Do you know she has to run every morning to get warm because we don't have enough fabric for winter clothes?"

Come on, thought Maude Ivory, take the bait.

Coriolanus stared at her for several moments, confused. Then he raised an eyebrow, puzzled. He looked both irritated and amused.

“You want my coat? For... Your cousin?” he asked finally.

Maude Ivory performed a huge sly smile.

"My cousin would thank you very much if she were here, I'm sure."

Holy stars in the sky, that wasn't even a lie.

Coriolanus hid his mouth behind his hand. A flash of pain in his eyes, and then a secret laugh.

“You know what? That's fine. You've earned it,” he finally told her, taking off his coat. Maude Ivory heard the blonde hen exclaim "What?!" and ignored her. She took the coat from Coriolanus' hands and folded it back on itself, holding it up so it wouldn't touch the ground.

"Thank you! We will make good use of it!"

"I hope so. It's fine tailoring, you know."

"Fine what?"

"Never mind."

Coriolanus tousled her hair in a gesture that was both affectionate and familiar. Lucy Gray always did it to her.

"Kiss?" asked Maude Ivory.

Coriolanus raised an eyebrow again and then leaned towards her to leave a small kiss on her cheek.

"I really have to go now... Maude."

"Well, thanks for everything, stranger."

Coriolanus turned, after nodding to Tam Amber, and had almost reached the end of the street when Maude Ivory shouted one last thing to him.

"If you can, send me some caramel popcorn when you get home!"

She heard him burst out laughing and smiled back with thirty-two teeth. Coriolanus turned for a final wave and then disappeared behind a turn, tailed by the girls.

Maude Ivory, still with the coat in her hand, went round the house until she found Lucy Gray on the other side, standing at the wall, pale and with a terrible expression on her face.

As if she had seen a ghost.

And with a pain that mirrored what she herself had seen in his eyes.

Maude Ivory handed her the coat.

"I have not broken my promise, I swear," she told her. Lucy Gray remained silent. She did not even seem to be looking at her, lost in some memory she had not shared with her "It still smells like roses" Maude Ivory insisted.

With a terrible sigh Lucy Gray came back to reality and, with trembling hands, picked up the coat. She detached herself from the wall of the house and wrapped it around herself, sinking her face into the collar and sniffing at the top of her lungs.

“Thank you, Maude Ivory,” she said at last.

She was not stupid enough to refuse such a gift even though, Maude Ivory was sure, in a few days she would be scolded good and proper.

"Are we all celebrating with cake tonight? It's chocolate."

She saw Lucy Gray smiling, and smiled back.

The stars had not graced them this time but, she felt, sooner or later they would help her sort things out.

She wasn't going to stop trying anyway.

#coriolanus snow #lucy gray baird #snowbaird #maude ivory #maude ivory baird #fan fiction #my fics #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #tbosas #of course I miss the title #even the rest of the plot after some... things #lol

[take-it-on-the-run]

Echoes

Lucy Gray Baird & Coriolanus Snow

How could Snow know that a song written for him would come back to haunt him, all these years later?

Word Count: 1.5k

Tags: ANGST, no happy ending here folks, big spoilers for TBOSAS and The Hunger Games, time skips (back and forth), Lucy Gray gets the last laugh

Characters: Lucy Gray Baird, Coriolanus Snow, Katniss Everdeen

Read it on AO3!

A/N: This is a mish-mash of the book and the movie, and also my first attempt at fan fiction ever. I wrote a large chunk of this in the bathroom at Thanksgiving because I saw TBOSAS the night before and couldn't get it out of my head. I hope you enjoy, and any constructive criticism is always welcome! Also, I hate editing on my phone :)

The first time he’d ever heard the song, he was in a meadow, far from the prying eyes of the Capitol. Away from the television screens that broadcast his lover being thrust into the Games in a vain attempt at entertainment. The Games his life was bound to, forever.

The Games that, in a twist of fate, his lover had won purely through her charm and wit. The only weapon she wielded was his mother’s compact he’d given her in secret, filled with rat poison, which was returned when it was found on her person after the game. He was sure that if he hadn’t given her that compact and told her to hide under the arena, she’d have been dead before nightfall. She was a performer, after all.

She was there, Lucy Gray, sitting alone, idly strumming at her guitar. Once the Capitol released her back to District 12, she reunited with the Covey, her family, her one true reason that she needed to win in the arena.

At the time, he wanted to let himself think he was the reason she wanted to win, but deep down he knew her heart always laid with her misshapen family.

He slowly approached her, taking in the lyrics to the soft song she was singing. She sang so softly that if she sang any quieter, her words would be lost to the wind.

Are you

Are you

Coming to the tree?

He strolled further towards her, eyes scanning the empty landscape until they landed on the tree she was sitting under. Its branches were dry and could barely be called brown, and Lucy Gray was using a large chunk of it as a makeshift chair.

Where they strung up a man

They say murdered three

The lyrics to the song made him stop for a moment. Of all the things she chose to sing about, why would such a beautiful girl sing such a dark story?

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight

In the hanging tree

The second time he’d heard the song, he was in a forest, reeling at the pain from a trap his lover had set for him. Rain forced them to pause their journey of running from Panem, seeking shelter in a cabin among the trees. He didn’t know if his lover knew about the weapons stored beneath the floorboards, but as soon as he laid his hands on them, she must’ve thought his choice was already made.

She all but ran from the cabin, making an excuse to get food that she earlier deemed wasn’t ripe enough to eat. He knew that she was running from him, from the silver-tongued Capitol-raised son who was almost killed by her charms.

Almost.

He ran after her, gun in hand, looking to see where she’d run to. A rough trail turned into forest floor, trees suddenly the only thing he could see. He cautiously took more steps before his mother’s orange shawl he’d given her, crumpled in a small pile, came into view. Another piece of his mother given to her, being returned.

He bent down to pick up the shawl, snatching it off the ground when he felt a sudden pain shoot from his forearm. Stifling a scream from his lips, he frantically looked down, the source of his pain hanging from him.

An orange, black, and white banded snake was sunk into his skin. He ripped its fangs out from his arm with a grunt, the culprit slithering away into the grass before he could crush it with his boot.

He called out and asked the trees whether or not the snake was poisonous.

If she was trying to kill him, after everything he’d done for her.

There was a flash of bright color among the dark trees he was sure was Lucy Gray, and he fired. Without a thought, without remorse, and without a trace of the man he promised her he’d be.

He paused when he heard a grunt, a small part of him hoping he’d missed.

A larger part of him hoping he hadn’t.

He stalked through the trees, expecting to see her bleeding into the earth, but was met with her gold hoop earring, dangling with long pearls. He tucked it in his pocket, next to his compass and his mother’s compact.

He spoke again to the empty wood, saying this was enough, for her to stop.

The reply taunted him in his lover’s voice, dripping from the beaks of the dozens of jabberjays that started to circle above him.

Are you

Are you

Coming to the tree?

He craned his neck up to see his tormentors, ricocheting the voice of the girl he was running away with.

Where the dead man called out

For his love to flee

The voice of the girl that was now running from him.

He raised the gun that was slack in his arms, pressing the trigger and firing at the birds. He spun on his heel, desperate to stop hearing her voice colliding off the walls in his mind.

He fired frantically, screaming at the birds to shut up, but none of them seemed to hear his pleas or fall from the sky.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight

In the hanging tree

The third time he’d heard the song, his heart stopped, only for a moment. He was a decrepit old man now, his chin sporting a white beard that matched his hair, sitting at the head of the Capitol.

He faced a television screen that was broadcasting a large band of rebels, walking to the District 5 dam with explosives.

The attack was an act of treason against the Capitol, plain and simple. Giving the rebels a small glimmer of hope at rising against Panem’s government, all led by a seventeen-year-old girl.

The victor, the girl on fire, the Mockingjay, Katniss Everdeen; she went by many names, all of which made him want to crush her like the pest she was.

Even more when he learned she twisted a song written for him by a lover he wished he could forget.

Are you

Are you

Coming to the tree?

He diverted his eyes from the screen, lightly pounding his fist to his chest as he covered his surprise with a cough.

Where I told you to run

So we’d both be free

He blinked, and suddenly he was back in the meadow, watching Lucy Gray play from afar. Her soft voice floating through the gentle silence of the wind blowing against an open field.

Back in the forest, hunting her down and being taunted by jabberjays as the song cut through the dense forest that still visited him in his dreams.

He dug his blunt nails into his palm, standing up and walking over to a window that overlooked a courtyard. Other people in the room were glued to the television, gunfire mixing with the voices of the rebels.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight

In the hanging tree

The final time he heard the song, he was standing at a post, center attention to every eye that had invaded the Capitol. Alma Coin stood on a platform behind him, and the dearest Mockingjay stood with an arrow trained at his head.

His eyes met hers, cold and void of the emotion they held when they met. Her lips were held in a thin line, the drawstring of her bow taut against her nose.

Are you

Are you

Coming to the tree?

He raked his eyes across the crowd, and he swore for a moment he saw her. Lucy Gray, young and bright as the day he’d met her. He knew his mind was tricking itself, some rendition of his life flashing before his eyes, but he still sucked in his bloody breath at the hope of seeing her again.

He’d always been honest to the girl on fire, and for that, he hoped she’d give him a swift death; but instead, she moved her aim above him, letting the arrow fly and killing Alma Coin.

He jaw went slack, the metallic taste of his blood sliding over his tongue. She lowered her weapon as the crowd behind engulfed her form, surging at him as he closed his eyes tight.

A peaceful death wasn’t in the cards for him after all.

Wear a necklace of rope

Side by side with me

Regret didn’t surge through his veins for the countless lives he’d taken, the people he’d enslaved, or the Games; it was for the man he chose to be. Taking the guns from the floorboards of that cabin, hunting her like she was a bird with its wings broken, and swallowing her memory like a snake in the grass.

He didn’t deserve regret. He deserved a fiery endless hell that would barely serve his actions justice.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight

In the hanging tree

As brutal hands clawed at his skin, tearing his soul from his body, he brought his mind back to the memories he didn’t deserve to have. With her, his lover, Lucy Gray. The girl that was lost to the trees, erased from history in a hope that the all-powerful President Snow would always land on top.

#snowbaird #coryolucy #lucy gray x coriolanus #coriolanus snow #coryolanus snow #coryo snow #lucy gray baird #lucy gray #tbosas #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #thg #the hunger games #hunger games #angst #angst with no happy ending #angst with no comfort #snow lands on top #young!coriolanus snow #president snow #spoilers #tbosas spoilers #sejanus plinth #district 12 #panem #fanfic #fan fiction #fan fic writing #fan fiction writing #kinda edited #no beta we die like men

[overhatedcharacterspoll]

OVERHATED CHARACTERS POLL: Lucy Gray Baird (The Hunger Games)

Feel free to explain your position in the comments or tags, but any harassment, over-the-top fighting, or personal attacks will result in you being blocked. Do not attack real people, be they fans or creators, over fictional characters.

#thg #the hunger games #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #lucy gray baird #tbosas #poll

[stopbeingrude]

,,He'll be forgiven cause he's beautiful Gray,,- Short post about how Antis justify all of Gray's questionable actions.

(Yes. Boa Hancock ,,I'll be forgiven, cause I'm beautiful" meme reference)

Madre di Dio! Would you look at that!?Morality knights! Whats with you!?

Where are you!?

Gray is molesting Juvia and you're saying and doing absolutely nothing😱😭

How come it is that way, considering that If Juvia'd ever touch his manly tits like that, we would have enourmous shitstorm from ceirtan group?

It's very strange. When Gray did that in last chapter they were wierdly quiet for fictional character's protectors 😓.

What's happend? Does sexual harrasment argument only works one way? That is when Juvia hugs, or flirt with Gray?

Does Fullbuster can do whatever the hell he want with women, cause he's simply Gray? It cannot be, cause that would be massive hipocrisy on your part, Dear Antis.

Right🙂?

Well it doesn't seem so. Lately I've began to notice how absurd some of his stans can be, when justifying every single thing he does, at the same time doing mental gymnastic to prove how rotten Juvia really is.

Dont get me wrong it's comedic moment. It was random. It was funny. And Juvia's illusion(?) definitely enjoyed, this unhinged Gray(lmao), however it's further proves how obsessed Gruvia/Juvia antis are with hating her, to the point of patheticaly ignoring all Gray does wrong, or even worse, forcefully trying to paint Gray as a victim of those situation too.

,,My poor boy being a victim of comedic moment to please shippers" you can read on one of the Gray fan pages on Twitter/X (suprisingly not anti Gruvia one. At least not openly)

The fact that they can twist every questionable moments when Gray was being weird, in wrong or sometimes even straight up creepy

(-peaking on girls in the bath house, later on Juvia included

-perverted comments towards girls,

-asking girl(Lucy) he just meet for underwear,

-literally swallowing his love interest for whatever freaking reason, without HER PERMISSION,

-groping her while being on her body, without her being aware of that

- and finally, groping her in latest chapter)

into him being victim, and then go all out to prove not only Juvia, but above all us, her and Gruvia fans are the most evil disgusting creatures in history of the man kind, is not only pathetic and absurd, but also extremaly concerning and harmfull.

—————————————————————

#gruvia #juvia lockser #gray fullbuster #fairy tail #fairy tail 100 yq #gray x juvia #fairy tail gruvia #juvia x gray #Disgusting truth about Iceass stans #Shipping #Sincerely Gruvia shipper

[luciehercndale]

True Love Stories Never Have Endings

A belated birthday gift for @emmcarstairs 💜 I tried to put your most favorite ships together in a fan fiction, I hope you like it!

London, Spring 2015

Emma sat on the new parquet of the living room at Blackthorn Hall, sifting through a couple of cream-colored cardboard boxes. She and Julian found them in a closet in the only part of the house that they hadn’t renovated yet, the one dating from the 60’s. Emma wasn’t sure why they’d left that one for last. Perhaps Julian had foresighted that they’d find something valuable in there.

“There are a lot of personal belongings in this wing,” she noticed when they started checking the cupboards and the drawers. “I wonder who lived here? Do you have any idea?”

“I really don’t,” Julian shrugged. “Perhaps a Blackthorn?” he offered, but he thought he would have known. 

“Could your father and uncle might’ve lived here?” Emma wondered, but Julian quickly shook his head. She went back to her box, and found a tiny one with gray stripes on it. Inside, there were a bunch of black and white photographs with the name of the person pictured and the date on the back. In most of the photos there were little kids, three boys and a girl. They looked happy, and they seemed familiar even though they lived a century earlier. “Teddy, Kitty, Willy, Robby,” Emma said out loud, “they were Blackthorns.”

“Blackthorns who named all their children with names ending in -y,” Julian came closer to look at the photos. “I guess it’s a family tradition to follow a theme,” he laughed, thinking about his own family. “Perhaps they inspired the next generations.” He continued his search until he found a box made of wood in one of the drawers of the closet. Some of the blue velvet covering it was coming off, but it was still in good condition. There was a golden inscription on the top, with the Blackthorn family symbol underneath. “L&J, Spring 1908. True Love Stories Never Have Endings.” 

“Wow, this looks old. My parents used to have one too, it belonged to my grandma,” Emma said, suddenly interested in what Julian was looking at. “Who are L&J?”

“Blackthorns?” Julian offered with a shrug, pointing to the circle of thorns on the velvet. “I believe it was them,” he continued after opening the box, where he found a few pictures. The couple pictured could’ve been around their age. “It must have been their wedding day, considering the poses. The girl has a bouquet and this looks like wedding attire, I don’t know,” he showed it to Emma. 

“Lucie and Jesse Blackthorn, May 13, 1908. Our wedding day. You’re right,” Emma read aloud. “There’s even a tiny heart drawn here, how cute,” she smiled. “They must’ve been your great-great-great grandparents, I guess? They look a lot like you and your siblings” she observed the picture better. “I think I remember this guy from one of the portraits at the Los Angeles Institute.”

“I believe he is Rupert’s son,” he said. “They look so much like Livvy and Ty when they were little children,” Julian continued with a faraway expression, pointing a finger on the locket around the girl’s neck. It was the same one Julian had given to Livvy and that now Ty kept. “They must be the reason the Blackthorn family didn’t cease to exist after Rupert died.”

“Indeed,” Emma covered his hand with hers. “And that you’re here, with me, today,” she said lovingly, pressing her lips on his. “So thank you, Lucie and Jesse Blackthorn?”

“We should keep these photographs and memories in a safe place,” Julian nodded. “These are family heirlooms, like the locket,” he showed the two rings he found inside to Emma. They had the same inscription as the top of the box. “I don’t want them to be lost in this ruckus.”

“Smart idea,” she agreed. “Let’s see what more we have here, then.”

London, Spring 1908

It was the day before her much awaited marriage with Jesse, and Lucie was too busy worrying about her vows. Not only the vows she would exchange during the ceremony, but also the ones she would say in front of the guests before the wedding feast. She knew she could’ve just thanked everyone for being there, but as usual, she’d been verbose, as Cordelia had defined her speech. “You need to be more concise, the guests would be starving once you’re done,” she’d suggested. She was probably right, but she still couldn’t help but write half a page of words of affection and gratitude towards her future husband and her guests. They would understand. 

Jesse couldn’t even sit down to eat dinner the evening before the wedding. He asked his aunt Cecily and uncle Gabriel to spend the night at their house in Bedford street. “It’s tradition that I am not to see Lucie the day before the wedding,” he explained. “Dear, traditions are made to be broken,” Cecily said. “You’re just like your uncle Gabriel,” she laughed, and told him that they had been in a similar living arrangement before they got married, and he had done the same. “I went to my brother’s house the night before our wedding,” uncle Gabriel started, and they spent the remainder of the time talking about past memories, trying to ease Jesse’s anxiety. 

Neither he or Lucie could sleep that night, but at least it was all a blur after preparations started early in the morning. Lucie could barely remember her mother and her friends helping her with her hair and dress, before she set for the sanctuary. Nor Jesse could recall the embarrassment he felt realizing his palms were sweaty when he caught sight of the girl he loved walking down the aisle. Lucie didn’t forget her vows, while Jesse had a brief lapse of memory but he quickly remembered the words he had to say. “I’m sorry for earlier,” he told Lucie when they were taking pictures after the ceremony ended. “I was totally dumbstruck,” he confessed shyly.

“No need to apologize,” she muttered with a grin, still blushing. “We made it through, that’s what matters the most, right? ”

“No talking until we take at least five pictures,” said the vampire photographer her father hired. “It takes a few minutes to process these, so stay still and smile for the camera! Don’t you want your descendants to remember you?”

“Of course we do,” Jesse told the guy with a pleasant smile, “but let me kiss my wife before we start.” He glanced at Lucie, and she waited expectantly to be kissed. 

The vampire had to cough to make them stop. “Shadowhunters in love, the things I abhor the most,” he muttered, “I wonder why I accepted this job!”

“To make a living?” Lucie chanced, but the vampire rolled his eyes. “I apologize, that was bad. Please, we’ll behave. We’re eager to have our pictures taken,” she said excitedly. 

The vampire shook his head and muttered how Shadowhunter's sense of humor was of poor taste, but he still took their wedding pictures, preserving their memory to this day.

So, thank you Emma and Julian for remembering your Blackthorn ancestors.

#tsc #tsc fanfiction #blackstairs #emma carstairs #julian blackthorn #lucie herondale #jesse blackthorn #emma and julian #lucie and jesse #blackdale #ghostwriter #tda #tlh #tweety.writes #the last hours #the dark artifices #secrets of blackthorn hall