open spectator log because why not

[shenunigans]

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.

Comments

Hanji [open]

[observationalhazard]

Hanji's there, if only relatively infrequently. It's always good to get a glimpse of what waits for her in the future, even if it's not pleasant. But she's always a bit chipper, even when things are going terrible. Although at times, her smile doesn't quite reach her eyes. In fact, her smile is almost entirely gone when the killing starts in earnest. Whatever appetite she had is gone for the moment, so a half-finished drink and a collection of miscellaneous snacks stay piled up on the table next to her.

"What a waste," she mutters.

Re: Hanji [open]

[clarityinchaos]

Armin had been keeping an eye out for Hanji, if for no other reason than to be glad to have a familiar face around. On one of her returns to the common area, he moved himself and his book over to a chair near her. He offered her a nod hello, but remained in a kind of reverent silence for a moment before he heard her mutter. "Be careful, Captain," he started quietly. "They're pretty much always listening." He let his book, a pictorial guide to great cats, go ignored on the arm of his chair as he pulled his knees up to his chest. He just hoped everyone would come back.

[observationalhazard]

"That's what I've been told," Hanji replies with a low sigh and she folds her arms across her chest. Her eyes are glued on the screen, despite herself. Aside from the sheer fascination of watching people kill each other, she's still not used to moving pictures.

"But it can't be helped, can it? The worst they can do is kill me, right?"

[clarityinchaos]

He followed her gaze to the screen briefly. The thing was fairly distracting, but he was fairly used to it by now. "I really couldn't say. But have you looked closely at the Avoxes? Have you noticed they're always silent? They don't have their tongues." He said it as though he were merely making an observation, but they still unnerved him. He tried to avoid interacting with them unless required. It wasn't expressly their fault, but he was also quite sure they hadn't been born that way.

I did that thing where I thought I'd tagged and I hadn't.

[observationalhazard]

Hanji glances at Armin and blinks behind her glasses. She carefully eyes on of the Avoxes, then back to Armin, "...I hadn't noticed why they were so quiet."

That's more then a bit grim. Killing is one thing. Mutilation is another. Hanji's expression was getting darker by the moment as she thought about that, about the Capitol, about everything they were being forced to do here.

"...and these people call themselves human."

No worries I do that too

[clarityinchaos]

He nodded. "I'm sure at some point we'll be wondering about our own humanity as well," he added.

But not everything was awful here, and just like moments laughing together were important after missions, if he stayed scared all the time, he wouldn't get anything done. And as in the last Arena, it was even a weapon that could be used against him. Now that it had happened a couple times, the actual dying part was less terrifying.

He settled his hand back on the book and ran a thumb over the cover almost reverently. "There are some nice things about this place. I'll show you the library later."

[observationalhazard]

Hanji can't really admit it, but she already wonders that about herself. Especially after that whole bit of torture she lowered herself to. She'll kill to survive - because hwo really wants to die, at the ned of the day?

The mention of books takes her mind off of the rather morbid thoughts running through her head, "Oh? What sort of books do they have here? Anything good?"

[clarityinchaos]

His mood seemed to perk up a bit at her question. "They're endless. Science, biology, geology, all kinds of living creatures, and even histories going back hundreds, even thousands of years." Though he was sure some of those had been editted by the Capitol after the fact. He couldn't help but sound a little more excited as he went on. Having such a wealth of information at his fingertips was something he hadn't gotten used to yet.

"I've been focusing a lot on animals, insects, reptiles and things of that sort since most of the past arenas have involved some in various capacities. It's just things available in this world, though. Nowhere else."

[observationalhazard]

Hanji propped her elbow on the sofa's armrest, chin cupped in her hand as she listened to him. Fascinating. They hadn't had a huge number of books at home. Especially about history. Or much of anything really. She'd managed to fill more than a few notebooks with information on Titans herself, but they were private journals. Not publishable manuscripts.

"Ah, so nothing that we could use back home..."

Which was a shame. Then a thought occurred to her and that gleam crept back into her eyes, "...what do they have on technology?"

[clarityinchaos]

He blinked. "There's quite a bit of that too! I haven't gotten into that very deeply yet, except when I was first learning the computers." He lowered his legs to a more normal sitting position. He was getting a bit more comfortable, despite what was going on in here. "Would you like me to show you the way there?"

[observationalhazard]

Hanji shoved to her feet and stretched languidly, fingers interlaced and arms extended over her head. She shot a casual look (as casual as she could manage, anyway) at the viewing screen and then shrugged, "Sure. It's better then staying here to watch people kill one another."