thecapitol | open spectator log because why not

Entry tags:

open spectator log because why not

Who| Anyone who wants to spectate but doesn't want to make a million logs
What| Spectations, spectactling, spectalary. Gathering together to cross fingers and watch the mini arena.
Where| The Commons
When| All through the mini-arena. However many hours people feel the need to watch.
Warnings/Notes| Watching your friends die, kind of a huge bummer.

In one of the many tasteful bursts of helpfulness the Capitolites are prone to having, the commons are full of bowls of snacks and drinks. Popcorn or many varieties, candy and drinks are spread across the table, as if it's a delightful addition to the decorum right now. In another bout of helpfulness, there's also over a dozen tissue boxes spread across the room, nested between couches and chairs. Basically, it's all super tasteful.

It's probably a little sickening watching the Arena on the screens in the common room, but it's hard not to keep a close eye on your friends. Surely some people will opt to keep their viewing in private, but perhaps others are inclined to gravitate toward other people while this shit goes all the way down.

As far as parties go, this one is a real stinker.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yeah but I haven't seen him in like...six years."

It felt heavier when she put an actual number to it.

"And who knows what happened to him in prison?"

"Normally you find out, I guess. Oh well. Everyone is different. If it was my family, I'd want them to see me, prison or not."

Mindy knew this all too well.

Sandy winced at that feeling her stomach knot up.

"Well it's not like I could just walk down the street and pay him a visit. Mom said we couldn't see him ever again."

But now suddenly she was feeling guilty that she hadn't tried harder. Then again she'd done alot of things in the last year she'd never thought she was capable of.

"A lot of adults say shit to me all the time. It doesn't mean I give a fuck what they say, not if I want it bad enough."

Which was not to say anything specific about Sandy. The two of them were very different people, after all.

"Do you still feel like that now, that you don't want to see him?"

"I...dunno." She had started decisively but was confused.

"I don't know, I wanted to see him when I was little but I didn't know where to look. And when I finally found him he was with those guys...doing what they did." She hung her head and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Like it even matters. I'd have to go home first and if I go home I'll just get eaten by the monsters anyway."

Her world hadn't been in the best shape when she left.

"Oh yeah. The old comic standby that everything gritty leads to unanswered questions. But you know, maybe you have a point. Who would want to see what became of your parent after you're not there anymore?"

It sounded like shit for Sandy, honestly. She felt bad for her, even if she wouldn't say it out loud.

"Hey, for all you know he might appear here. I mean, he's still alive, so its possible, right?"

There was some part of her that resented being thought of as a comic book character. But it seemed like a waste to argue about it right now.

"Even if he was dead, the Capitol's brought people back form the dead before." But she still wasn't sure how she'd feel about seeing him again.

"He might not be like I remember...I know I'm not like he remembers anymore." This was getting depressing.

"I know," Mindy said. "The new girl in my District is supposed to be dead, and was convinced she was going to be. Wouldn't listen to otherwise."

Ok, that was definitely a downer. So Mindy took a blue drink and pushed it into Sandy's hand.

"Drink Cassie! We can talk about sad shit later!"

Sandy took the drink and offered a cynical glance, was this where they were now? Trusting in alcohol to make it all easier?

Well she wasn't sick yet. So she tilted her head back and let the awful tasting burning poison flow down her throat to her stomach where it crashed in like a stone and set fire to her blood. Her face flushed and she let out a lovely burp.

"Or never, never is good."

Oh shut up Sandy. Mindy wasn't interested in your judgmental face right now. Nor was she into thinking about ramifications. DRINK!

She laughed when Sandy burped, then took a shot herself. God, this was awful, burned the whole way down.

"It'll come up somehow. Whether we want it to or not. But whatever. Hey, did you see their laser tag down there?"

She nodded and her vision was starting to fuzz at the corners.

"Pruna an' I did it. She's really good." She had scored decently herself but not as well as pruna.

"I'm surprised they didn't use real lasers."

"I'm not surprised. Pruna is probably a good shot."

Which was exactly why she hadn't let her keep the gun.

"That would have been fucking crazy. And expensive."

Woo. The room was spinning. Mindy let out a small giggle.

She let out a rude noise with her lips.

"Like they give two shits about safety or money."

Why even consider money given how much they must spend on each arena?

"True, but it has to have a purpose. They don't do it for shits and giggles unless its fully syndicated. What would be the fun in that, right?"

Nope. Not bitter at all.

"Anyway, they've hardly use firearms from what I saw, and I can guess why."

"Right...what's syndicated mean?"

She hated having to ask but she also knew that if she just agreed it would make her feel dumber.

"Because it's over too fast?"

"I mean basically they all decide to make that a thing, and they wouldn't. Not unless it was being made an actual, say, mini game or something. Otherwise its just mean spirited, but without people watching. What would be the point of that?"

She nodded. "Why have guns when we hack away at each other, or have liquid nitrogen fall on us or something like that? It makes the game last all the longer, and really keeps people at the edge of their seat."

It made sense and Sandy couldn't particularly argue with it on any level.

"All I can think is that guns and lasers would be flashier. But when one person with a gun can take down five people in a few seconds, the novelty probably wears off."

When did she start thinking like the Capitol programmers?

When did she start using words like "Novelty"?

"It's just as well...dad said all the best heroes and villains fought with their bodies and whatever superpowers they had. Guns were useless."

"Flash doesn't sell. A gun will end shit pretty quickly when you know where to fire, or how to sniper. The equal is maybe an arrow, but you have to have a crystal clear shot for something like that. The Arena is enough to make a quick kill harder than it should be. They want things as messy as they can be."

She was pretty impressed with Sandy now though. She was starting to get a hang of how this worked.

"Guns can fucking help. I would have been in a pretty bad place without one."

"Uh...I'm sorry are we in the same Capitol? Flashy crap sells like crazy here. Look at our stupid outfits!" She protested.

"And I just know what my dad said, if he said guns were useless back in the day then that's how it was." Her faith in his stories was solid as stone.

"THEIR flashy crap is different. It's gaudy as fuck, but its fashion, its supposed to be weird. Flash in the sense of the game makes it over too quick. The Capitol doesn't want that kind of an end, they want things slow, deliberate. The whole point of the games is seeing the worse of ourselves."

She shrugged. "I'll take a good gun over a bear trap any day."

With people she liked, anyway.

Sandy shrugged her narrow shoulders, she did that a lot around Mindy.

"I think our ideas of what flash means are different." She concluded.

"I didn't even get a shot off when we had to hunt down some escaped mutations. One of them got in my mouth and burst out my chest."

"Yeah," she said. "Oh well."

She winced. "Christ Cassie. You ever NOT die in some epic mess?"

That actually caught her by surprise and she looked thoughtful for a moment counting on her fingers.

"Let's see, head ripped off by a shape shifter tribute who's gone now. Eaten alive by spiders, monster burst out from my chest...I didn't die that time but I came close. Eaten alive by a zombie girl, eaten alive by a giant eel...and blown up fighting someone."

She sighed "When you line it all up like that I totally suck."

Mindy shook her head. "It's even more fucked up that our fight was the least fucked up death you had. Eaten alive, Jesus fucking Christ. I can't even imagine letting any more shit like that happen to you."

She took her hand, meeting the girl's eyes. "I know you don't trust me. I get that. But I won, so I don't have a reason to fight you anyway. Now, I just want to help you last longer, and hopefully have a death on your own terms, if it comes to that."

The fierceness of her eyes made Sandy uncomfortable, but she forced herself to keep the stare. It even made her heart thump faster and harder in her chest.

"Alright, it's not like you can protect me in the arena anymore I guess. So I guess training can be a thing. The more skills I learn the better chances I have right?"

And if she threw herself into learning like her life depended on it, surely some of it would stick right?

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