most_unwanted | [Video]

Looks like someone knew exactly what I wanted... or should I say, needed.

[The image focuses on a poster on the wall of Mulder's office area in his apartment. There are a bunch of other things pinned to the wall as well- mostly his own notes, and other things of interest he's collected over time here. But the poster is clearly the focus of the picture. Finally, Mulder moves in.]

Did anyone else catch sight of that sleigh in the sky on Christmas Eve? I know I saw something up there, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't a spaceship. This time.

You see... on my world, Santa Claus is a mythical character believed in by children... but I'm starting to wonder now if there might be something to that supposed legend of good old Saint Nick. It would explain the freaky little elves who were running around demanding things, too.

[Believing in children's fantasies is a bit of a stretch even for him usually, but after his sighting and the gift he wonders. Sure, it's just as much possible it's some trick of the Malnosso... but would that matter right now with what this means to him? He glances back to the poster. Back home, it had been burned up in that fire, along with a great deal of his work. Having it back gives him a feeling of hope and renewal.]

Maybe that's what Santa- or someone- wants to tell me. To keep believing, to never give up. It's a very different message than I'd have gotten from a fruitcake.

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I gather that some worlds have something very similar to Christmas, but it seems not to be entirely universal. Does your world have any sort of holidays?

[He's almost afraid to ask, given the other things she's told him about it.]

The closest thing to a holiday we have is Reaping Day. No one works, no lessons anywhere. Everyone has to watch their district's reaping and you can watch other districts', too.

But it's not like the holidays I've heard about around here.

By District's Reaping, you mean...?

[Though he can tell where this is going.]

The day they select the tributes from each district for the Hunger Games. Every district has a reaping, all of them staggered throughout the day.

[It... really doesn't seem a very pleasant thing, at all.]

So they actually... hold celebrations for that? How are the selections made?

It's... The Capitol makes it a celebration. The whole of the Game is televised. People bet on it, wealthy people or those pooling their money can even act as sponsors -- send you stuff when you're in the Arena. But Reaping Day... We all gather together, but no one in the Districts really celebrates it.

The initial stage of the Reaping is random. Or it's supposed to be. Girls' names in one bowl, boys' the other. Every District is different from there. Some limit who's in it. Like, they divide the district into regions and cycle through them. District Two has the Academy. We're trained for the Games. The fifty best girls have their names put in, fifty best boys. After a name's drawn and the tribute announced, someone of qualifying age and the same gender can volunteer to take their place. Different districts handle that differently, too.

Ah, so it sounds like more of a traditional ritual or ceremony of sorts...

[And that they're trained so much for them, that the mentality is so much a part of their lives, certainly explains how she can be so accepting of the whole thing. Still it's troubling. The whole idea, whenever it comes up, unsettles him like nothing else.]

...Wait, wait, this whole thing is on tv? They broadcast a bunch of kids fighting and... dying, like a reality tv show?

Of course. It's a major thing every year. Leading up to it, they interview all the tributes. Then, when it's down to six, they show a more detailed biography, interview people from their districts who know them, things like that.

[The whole thing disturbs Mulder, but even more so that he could... almost see it actually happening, anywhere.]

Why do people even... Oh. Right. It was fame and fortune, or along those lines. [Even at such risk...] But what do the people running it stand to gain from holding this event?

It prevents war. And why do people do what?

I wish I had a good answer to why they wage war. There are always reasons- for land or resources, because of cultural and religious differences, because people are oppressed and there's no way out, or conversely to oppress others, and so on... but... fundamentally, I don't know if anyone can truly answer why war exists.

So having these games, it... prevents people from rebelling against whoever is in charge?

[Not what she'd meant with her question, but Clove lets it go.]

The districts, led by Thirteen, rebelled against the Capitol long ago. The Capitol destroyed Thirteen, as the instigator, but offered mercy to the other Districts, if they would stop fighting. The Treaty of Treason was signed, and the war ended. In repayment for their strike against the Capitol, the Hunger Games were established within the treaty.

The tributes are chosen every year and put into the arena, to remind the Districts of the pain and loss of the Dark Days, when they were at war with the Capitol. The lone victor, showered in riches for them and their district, remind us of the Capitol's mercy for allowing the treaty, rather than destroying all the districts, as they were within their rights to do.

This is how we remember our past; this is how we safeguard our future.

So people find this the easier course of action to rebelling, and possibly making themselves a better future?

[Though with so much power in the Capitol, it sounds like that probably wouldn't end well, and would be like the other time it happened. Though that was one area- district- working alone...]

Maybe an open rebellion wouldn't work, but has anyone ever considered any possible alternatives? Or maybe even some of these many districts banding together?

The districts don't have any communication with one another. We ship our wares to the Capitol, and the Capitol distributes them.

[And yet, somehow, the Girl on Fire helped a revolution happen.

But she can't speak to that, so Clove doesn't mention it.]

No means of communication at all? Not even encrypted letters or something along those lines?

[He's just... too used to being in his world of people doing these sneaky things, on both sides of good and bad.]

Not that I know of, but we're kept pretty isolated at the Academy, so maybe there's a little. Nothing big, at least.

And I'm sure that's how the Capitol prefers it, to make sure you're all isolated and unable to make a significant impact against them.

Probably.

[It still feels wrong to admit to that.]

But we've never had another war. Families against families, widows and orphans with their homes destroyed. Twenty-three lives a year in exchange for countless.

[Propaganda is easier than questions.]

But it still keeps you all behaving, keeps you under control...

[Though yes, he can see how it looks to an outsider like him but it's a very different perspective from someone in that system...]

Isn't that what a government does? Or tries to do?

They shouldn't be allowed to control people's personal lives, to that extent.

[Video]

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pfft, and I think I misread "what" as "that" for some reason XD ah, late night RPing

Ah, well! These things happen!

hehehe yes! just one of those "...what WAS I thinking, should have let things wait!" moments

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