thecapitol | [open]

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Who| Tiffany Doggett AND YOU
What| A smalltown jailbird arrives in the Capitol and immediately decides that it's the best place ever
Where| Various places; scenarios under cuts
When| Some vague nebulous time after the latest plot; can take place over a few days if needed
Warnings/Notes| If you haven't already, please take a look at her permissions post before tagging her so I know what you are and aren't comfortable with! Other than that, nothing (yet - it's always yet with her)

A: District 1 suite, Part I

If you're going to be unceremoniously pulled from your prison block with no warning and not much explanation, there are definitely worse places you could be landed. This place is insane - everything in it is more lavish and luxurious than anything she's seen in pictures or on TV, let alone in real life. It's at least a couple hours before she even considers leaving her suite - she's too busy trying everything out. She tests out her big, soft bed (which she can't resist bouncing on like a child for a minute or two), she takes a shower followed by a long, hot bath, she raids the fridge, she checks out the view from the deck. If something is available to be examined, turned on, or tried out, she does it.

Honestly, she had kind of glossed over the whole "battle to the death" thing. Forced death matches simply aren't a part of reality as she knows it, and until the idea is shoved in her face a little more, it's just not something she's going to think about at all. As far as she's concerned, this place is heaven. The Capitol has already begun to win her allegiance.

B: The streets of the Capitol

Tiffany finally leaves the Training Center, after being reassured (more than once) that this is her home now and she'll be able to come back whenever she wants. There's nowhere in particular that she's looking to go, but that's fine with her - she'll wander. She's bound to come across something or someone interesting eventually.

C: The Districts shopping center

Handed a credit card and set loose in a city, it's unsurprising that Tiffany finds her way to a mall. Not really one for thinking ahead that much, she immediately starts buying things - clothes mostly, but also earrings, bracelets, and makeup. It's only after an hour or two that she starts wondering if she's going to hit a credit limit, or be dealing with bills later. She looks around for people with similar-looking cards; when she finds someone, she stops them and holds up her own.

"Hey. How much is on this thing?"

D: Various clubs and bars (The Speakeasy, .infinity, Anomaly, The Cave, or Tesserae)

After gussying herself up at the shopping center, Tiffany eventually discovers the Capitol nightlife, and the rest is history. She bounces from place to place, skipping the sit-down restaurants but hitting all the clubs and bars, sometimes more than once. Affiliation means nothing to her at this point; any rebellion-minded talk at places like The Speakeasy mostly just goes over her head. She's shed her prison clothes and dressed herself to the nines (though she still looks pretty tame in comparison to most Capitol fashion), accessorizing with jewelry, shimmery makeup, and lightly-styled hair (nothing too fancy, but infinitely better than the untreated, unbrushed 'do she often sported in prison). She's a little underdressed for the fancier places and a little overdressed for the dive bars, but she doesn't seem to care. She'll have the time of her life - dancing, drinking, and occasionally chatting up men. She's not used to looking good, or feeling good about her appearance. The fact that she does now puts her in an amazing mood.

E: District 1 suite, Part II

Somewhere along the line, someone had slipped her some tapes of past Games - either out of a genuine desire to help, or because they'd pegged her as someone who'd be easily spooked and wanted to psych her out. She should familiarize herself with these, they'd said, because she'd be going into the arena herself soon enough. So later, tired out from her night on the town, she remembers the tapes and pulls them out, flopping down on the common room couch to watch.

And it's... terrifying. She watches intently, leaning forward, eyes wide. It's like a horror movie she can't look away from. She's killed before, and she's threatened, and she's gotten into her fair share of fights - but this is a whole new ball game. Can she really do this? Is she really going to be expected to do this? She doesn't want to die, but looking at the fighting skills of some of these people... there's no way, she thinks, that she would stand a chance.

She'll have to ask someone about it later; someone in charge. They've been helpful so far. Surely they'll continue to be.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sandy's eyes hardened as they finally got to the meat of the matter. Defending children was about as good a reason as any to take another life.

But after a moment the words rang back in her ears and her expression melted looking confused.

"Wait...what do you mean unborn? She was killing pregnant women?" The look of disgust on Sandy's face was fresh. That was a level even the Hunger Games hadn't reached.

"No, like... abortions. She was doing those." Tiffany shifts uncomfortably; awkwardly. This is the first time in years - the first time since her trial - that she's been put on the spot and asked to explain and justify what she did.

"Ab...what?"

Sandy hated not knowing what words were. She read a lot and tried to educate herself, but there were simply some words that didn't make their way into her books even when she was studying for survival.

"What does that mean?" Her stance shifted relaxing more, it's not like this woman was threatening her...just confusing her.

Tiffany looks her up and down. "How old are you?" She's clearly a kid - a younger kid than Tiffany has seen in a while.

"I'm probably like twice your fucking age, right; I probably shouldn't even be talking about this to you. And you shouldn't be trying to boss me around."

Her stare hardened and she braced herself again.

"I'm thirteen years old. But I've died more times then most people around here. I'm not bossing you around I'm trying to help."

Though...OK maybe she was being a little bossy about it. Commander Shepard might be rubbing off on her.

Well, she's a little older than she looks, anyway.

"... Abortion's killing babies when they're still in their moms. Making it so they ain't gonna be born at all."

It sounds horrible, the sort of stuff even Sandy has never had a nightmare about.

"But...why?" She bursts. "Why would she do that? And how do you do that without killing the mom?"

Her raised voice draws some more stares, but the locals are giving them a wide path for now.

"It's just something people do." Her tone is snappish; defensive, almost. "Doctors can do it; it ain't hard. You go into a clinic for a couple hours and you come out, bam, not pregnant no more."

"Wait...wait doctors?" Sandy's confusion twists her expression as she struggles with the idea. Doctors are good people usually. Doctors are supposed to help and heal. So why would a doctor do that?

"I don't understand...is something wrong with the pregnancy?"

"Some people just don't want kids, you know."

She scowls, not sure about the response but lacking any information to dispute it.

"So, this doctor was doing this...is it illegal? Couldn't you get her arrested?"

"It's not illegal - 'cause there's, like, atheists running the government and everything." She looks Sandy up and down again. "What's it matter to you, anyway?"

Atheist. Another word she doesn't know. But a corrupt government is something she's all too familiar with.

Squirming a little under her stare she tries to look more sure then she is. "I want to understand. Is that a bad thing?"

Tiffany hesitates, clearly taken aback by that response. "... You do? You wanna understand me?"

A puzzled look and then a nod.

"Well yeah...of course. The main reason people hate and fear things is because they don't understand them." A hard lesson she'd learned very early on in life when she had first developed her powers in a New York City that would no longer tolerate metahumans.

It all came back to information and how powerful and important it was.

Tiffany isn't used to people being interested in her and her life, with a few notable exceptions for certain subjects. She eyes Sandy, trying to figure out if this is a trick or not.

"You don't want to hate and fear me? We're enemies. Aren't we?"

She feels your stare and tries to keep relaxed when instinct tells her to stand up tall.

"We don't have to be enemies. There's plenty of other enemies out there already. I don't want any more."

And after a moment she added "I barely know you, that's not enough to hate and fear you."

Though she reflects that once in her life that was exactly all she needed to fear someone. She's blessed with a rare moment of being able to recognize a way in which she's grown in the last two years.

"I mean 'cause of the arena," she clarifies, still watching Sandy closely. "We're gonna have to go after each other, right?"

"Eh..." She gestured with her hand trying to indicate that it wasn't entirely the case.

"Like...there's no rule that says we have to kill each other until we're the last two people in the arena. And the arenas are so dangerous that even if we all just didn't fight the arena would kill us off one by one. Lots of people make alliances. Friendships you know? People look out for one another and it makes it easier to survive longer."

Honestly it's the only way she's gotten as far as she's gotten the times she was successful.

"You wanna be in an alliance with me?" This girl must not know how low her score is - not that she's in any hurry to tell her.

A shrug, it takes a little effort to swallow down the words "Not really" so instead she manages to sigh.

"Well I don't know yet because I don't know enough about you. That's why we're talking. I mean probably sure. The more allies the better right? I may not be very big but I know a lot of stuff about survival."

"Yeah, like what?" She looks at Sandy expectantly.

Sandy quirked an eyebrow in amusement at the challenge.

"I know how to build a fire with just wood, I know how to make a splint for a broken limb, I know how to clean a dead animal so you can cook it, I know how to build a snare trap to catch food. I know how to sleep in a tree without falling out. How's all that for starters?"

"I know how to do half that stuff too. You a hunter?"

"I can hunt." she confirmed. "I also already proved to you I know about how things work around here." She gestured vaguely around them.

"So why are you so afraid of talking about yourself?"

Re: cw: religious extremism

cw: religious extremism

Re: cw: religious extremism

cw: religious extremism

Re: cw: religious extremism

cw: religious extremism

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cw: religious extremism

Re: cw: religious extremism

cw: religious extremism

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cw: religious extremism

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cw: religious extremism

Re: cw: religious extremism

cw: religious extremism; sorry for the delay! my reply apparently didn't go through 8|

Re: cw: religious extremism; No worries~

cw: religious extremism; No worries~

Re: cw: religious extremism;

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