I think at this point everyone has different opinions on each of the Districts and honestly I love that. It's so fun to read people's thoughts.
(I'm sure I'm not the first person to think or say this but) I have a theory on why District One/Two win so many of the games beyond just being Volunteers in a game full of people going in blind.
It's something I've thought heavily about and even incorporated into my own fanfics.
But District One, I think, they win by raising their volunteers to be pretty. They train them to fight, yes, but I think they pull sponsors by making their kids "sexy." In both the book and movie, Glimmer is heavily sexualized. In the book, she's in a sheer gown that shows everything. In the movie, they tone it down but still show quite a bit of her body during the interview. Even the two victors we get to hear a little more about (Cashmere and Gloss) are mentioned to be pretty. Despite being a sibling duo, they're incredibly popular within the Capitol.
But even after they get 'popular' they don't turn down their attractiveness. She still dresses pretty with make up and smiles like she's been taught to do. He's still beefy and hot. You would think if they had any bodily autonomy they would start to tone themselves down in order to get away from the sex slavery.
I think sex appeal is what makes them a victor. Literally. People 'sponsor' them in the hopes of getting to fuck them. They get told that these people are who they're indebted to and most likely are forced into sex as a way to 'repay' them. Everyone says if Glimmer had won she would become the next Cashmere. Which is true. But no one points out how this is planned and a tactic that one consistently uses. Once they win they realize how fucked they are. They don't know they shouldn't want to win until it's over. It's too late to back out. Part of why Cashmeres life is devastating is because Gloss knew what was coming and he wanted better for her. But it happened away. And now they're stuck repaying the Capitol with their bodies.
In Two I think they raise fighters. They put all their effort into skill, endurance and survival. Out of all of the districts I think they do the best at giving them a chance. They make sure they send the best trained, the most skilled and the smartest. Clove is such a good example of this. She never missed her target. (Except for when Katniss moved the backpack making her miss). She was brilliant. Cato too. He was strong and a fantastic fighter. They only lost because the story demanded Katniss win. Hell there's so many moments where Katniss almost dies at their hands only to **magically** get away. (Thresh owing her, tracker jacker nest, not seeing her a few feet away) all of it. They weren't stupid meat heads. They were warriors. Children raised to kill.
I think they delbrately send plain victors. They don't want want to send "pretty" kids. They tone down any sort of beauty their tributes have. One of my favorite examples is Enobaria. She's pretty. And I think that's her downfall. It's mentioned in the series that she wins by ripping another tributes throat out with her teeth. (A popular theory is she was raped and used the very last thing she had in order to get away.) But she ends up getting her teeth filed down. While a lot of people think it was the Capitol, I believe it was her mentors. They filed them down, knowing she wouldn't be able to be raped again. I mean, who would have sex with her knowing one wrong move and you could be dead? She can bite your dick off in seconds if she wanted to. (Not to say she doesn't get booked) It would sway a lot of people away. I think much like Haymitch fighting against Katniss's breast implants, her mentors fought to get her teeth sharpened.
If they're able to I believe Two will alter the victors in order to make them less desirable. One plays it up, Two tones it down winning off skill and merit alone. Any sponsors they get isn't driven by sex.
It's why they win so much, and why the other districts have such a hard time getting sponsors.
I also think that District Four, the last of the career pack, has it's own way of creating victors. They send tributes like the rest but I think they do something different from the rest. My own headcanon is that they send orphans. It's fucked up but if I remember correctly they never mention Finnick having family.
I think they take the kids with nowhere else to go and put them in a training center. Whoever scores the best goes that year. Unluckily for Finnick, he was picked at 14. He was attractive, and part of me thinks Mags played into that to give him the advantage, thinking he didn't have family to leverage. It would have been fine, but then Annie happened. They use her as a control tactic.
I also think Finnick is the reason it was a one and done on leaning into the sex appeal. It fucked him over. Annie was pretty too but she wasn't used. (No one has ever said ah yes she's crazy let's just not rape her, fuckwads do it anyways.) But I think Mags learned from her mistake and played Annie down. Made her less pretty like they do in Two.
It's fucked. The entire system is fucked. But I think each 'career' district creates winners any way they can. No one in Four would volunteer they're disillusioned unlike one and two. So why not send the kids who have nothing, no one to come back to? In Two why not train them and maim them after to keep them safer? In One why not make them fuckable to win? They won't understand until its too late?
Maybe I've overthought this. Probably have. Idk. Just a thought.
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i very much have little to no evidence on what headcanon i have, but i’m still putting it out there
i genuinely think that volunteering in career districts was done as an act of defiance until the capitol manipulated it.
like i cannot see kids volunteering if they witnessed / knew of the conditions the first lot of hunger games was in. why would they? tributes were kept in cages, treated like zoo animals, literally given medical exams by an actual vet.
who would volunteer for that?
now we know that after lucy gray’s game, snow put forward the idea of sponsors, victory village etc. luxuries really. but i don’t think that would be enough for someone from 1,2,4 to volunteer.
i like to imagine ppl from those districts did volunteering out of loyalty to their people. protecting the weak and vulnerable, you get me?
but of course that defeats the purpose of the games. now they lack the control, sometjing the capitol has to maintain in order to secure order and therefore manage chaos.
so what’s a better way of gaining control than controlling the volunteering system in the districts? it’s constantly reminded to readers that preparing for the games is forbidden, but the capitol seem aware that these kids are prepared prior. it’s never outright stated, but it’s almost like an unspoken fact. even districts, who lack details about each other, are aware of it.
the capitol would’ve easily been able to manipulate the career system. propagating volunteers who win, for example, would definitely be a method. highlighting how extravagant their lives are. meanwhile it’s so easy to vilify someone who “benefits” from the system. thus, hatred is directed at career tributes and not the capitol.
perfect method of deflection
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i realize that the film pretty explicitly stated that seneca thought katniss earned her tribute training score fair and square, but i’m still in favor of the interpretation that the gamemakers gave her an 11 as a way of putting a target on her back. the careers loathed her from the moment she diverted attention away from them at the tribute parade, but outscoring the entire pack truly marked her for death. no way they were going to let a girl from an outer district out-play them at their own game and live.
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Coral: Can I be frank with you guys?
Mizzen: Sure, but I don’t see how changing your name is gonna help.
Tanner: Can I still be Tanner?
Treech: Shh, let Frank speak
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