Coriolanus Snow - Head Gamemaker
"Lysistrata!" Coriolanus called out Lysistrata Vickers, one of the Assistant Gamemakers, "Fetch me some grapes."
Lysistrata had become a somewhat skimpish girl, but she was good at following Coriolanus' orders and whenever she spoke, she had good ideas. She was self contained, which he appreciated. They were longtime friends from school, and she supported him through the whole Lucy Gray incident, making him trust her on a deep level, even though he could be cruel to her. When Coriolanus was selecting his team of Assistant Gamemakers, she was his first pick, and besides Clemensia Dovecote, the only former classmate he trusted enough to work with.
"I have your grapes Coryo!" Lysistrata walked into his office with a bowl of green grapes.
"Don't call me Coryo," Coriolanus hated his childhood nickname with a burning passion, "And you know I prefer red grapes, or even purple."
"Well we only had green grapes," Lysistrata sighed.
"Well have Arturo buy some then." Coriolanus demanded, referring to Arturo Crane, the recently hired Capitol intern.
"Noted." Lysistrata said, "You've gotten so demanding lately."
"I'm just stressed out." Coriolanus sighed.
"Why?" Lysistrata asked, "You have so much going for you. You're the Head Gamemaker and everybody thinks you'll be the next President of Panem."
"I'm not so sure about that."
"Everybody loves you."
"They only pretend they do."
"You don't know that."
But Coriolanus did. Even if everybody said it wasn't, he knew that the 24th Games were a boring flop. It was a mere eight days long and Coriolanus wasn't even able to use the mutts he and the other Gamemakers had designed.
"But I can tell they hated the Games last year."
"They did not. Trust me."
"Well if you think that then let's make this year better!"
"Anyways," Coriolanus ended the conversation because he was close to actually crying, and Coriolanus Snow did not cry, "I need to watch the reapings and see what we have to work with this year."
"Can I watch with you?" Lysistrata asked, "I should probably see them too."
"Don't you usually watch them with the other assistants?"
"I don't want you to be alone."
"Do you think I'm mentally unstable or something?"
"I just think it's time you open yourself up to other people. The Lucy Gray incident was fifteen whole years ago"
"Don't mention Lucy Gray," Coriolanus yelled, "Get out of my office!"
Lysistrata complied, likely out of fear of getting fired, but regardless, Coriolanus had had enough social interaction and emotions for the day, and he needed some peace and quiet. He picked up the remote control from his desk and pointed it at the television.
"Here we go," Coriolanus sighed to himself.
District 1: Sapphira Starlett (18) and Brycen Rosenthal (18)
Sapphira was an attractive young woman for sure, and by the looks of it, she knew it as well. She was confident, as the District 1 kids often are, but her smile hinted that there was something she was hiding, and she was more than what meets the eye. Brycen appeared equally confident, but unlike Sapphira, Coriolanus could tell it was genuine. He looked like he could go far, but then again everybody from District 1 looked like they could go far, and usually they did. Sapphira and Brycen surely would not be exceptions, but only time can tell.
District 2: Hosanna Guerra (18) and Ammo Lawson (18)
District 2 is always the same pompous know it alls who go into the arena thinking they'll win it all, and unfortunately they're usually right. Hosanna and Ammo appeared to abide by the stereotype which was quite frankly boring, but it would be all the more satisfying when at least one of them died. They would probably be allies and then one would kill the other in some big dramatic way, and if that didn't happen, Coriolanus would be sure to send in a mutt to do the deed for them. While sponsors hated it, nothing thrilled Coriolanus more than watching district partners tear eachother apart.
District 3: Ada Barr (16) and Jacob "Pow" Powell (17)
District 3 was always a weird mix of geniuses who either had the capabilities to win it all, or the misfortune to die in the bloodbath, and this year didn't deviate from that norm. Ada appeared to be the latter and Coriolanus nearly pitied her, emphasis on nearly. He could tell that she looked lost, as it was clear in her eyes, but unfortunately the Hunger Games wasn't a good place to be found. Jacob, err Pow on the other hand was different. Coriolanus could tell he was a hunk with the potential to go far, provided he had an attitude that was appeasing to sponsors, but he was almost so attractive it didn't matter.
District 4: Adira Price (17) and Luca Pargus (18)
The first thing Coriolanus thought when looking at Adira was that she was stunning. Unlike the tributes from District 1, Adira's beauty was natural and didn't appear to be manufactured. She seemed trained, which was always a good sign, and Coriolanus hoped she would go far. Luca was equally beautiful. District 4 truly was underrated in terms of having extremely attractive tributes, but if Coriolanus knew one thing, it was that looks aren't everything, but he didn't think it would be a problem for Luca or Adira, since those from District 4 usually had some sort of prior experience whether it be training or some other form of labor.
District 5: Wendy Roofer (18) and Bariq Fossil (15)
Ah, the outlier districts were always fun. Right away the surname Roofer rang a bell, and it took Coriolanus exactly 30 seconds to realize that she must have been somewhat related to Ria and Colton Roofer, two well known rebels that Corniolanus' Grandma'am told him about. Figures that she would be voted in. Come to think of it, he hadn't put much thought into why the tributes were voted but he assumed the tributes from 1,2, and 4 wanted to be voted in, and those from 3 were scapegoats. Bariq looked like a depressed mess, and Coriolanus wasn't shocked he was voted in. It was always easy to kill those already closest to death.
District 6: Winona Morgan (17) and Xan Freight (17)
Nobody from District 6 had ever won the Hunger Games, and it appears that this year wouldn't be the one where somebody finally did. It's not that there was any particular issue with Winona or Xan, but rather that Coriolanus was painfully realistic, and either of them winning appeared to be painfully unrealistic, but never say never. They were both average looking and didn't show much potential physically and Coriolanus would be shocked if either of the pair made it out of the bloodbath alive.
District 7: Sam Hillgaze (18) and Cedar Ranthine (15)
Right away Coriolanus could tell that Sam thought too highly of herself. He had heard word that she actually wanted to be in the Hunger Games which was simply absurd coming from somebody from 7. Cedar was a shoe-in to die quick. Anybody under the age of 16 was when there was an arena full of near adults to be faced with, but Coriolanus was always open to surprises, he just didn't think Cedar would provide him with one. Overall District 7 had average Tributes, for the average district that it was.
District 8: Velvette Wilmington (16) and Logan Webster (16)
Coriolanus could not believe his eyes when he saw Velvette. He had heard rumours that President Ravinstil forced the District 8 girl into the arena after she punched his granddaughter, but seeing her on the screen made Coriolanus laugh out loud at the pure stupidity of the situation. As for Logan, he looked charming to say the least, and slightly dangerous. The kid had definitely seen things, and it was obvious by the tired look on his face, despite the fact he seemed strangely excited to be in the Games.
District 9: Summer Lindell (18) and Isaac Galavan (14)
Summer actually looked like a nice person, unlike the majority of the outer-district Tributes who looked like criminals or at the very least, troubled kids. Maybe District 9 would finally have its first victor. Isaac would certainly not be that Victor, as he was quite literally throwing a hissy fit on stage, and if the other tributes somehow took well to his spoiled brat persona, mutts certainly would not.
District 10: Willadeene Rhodes (16) and Brandon Colt (18)
Coriolanus was familiar with the infamous story of the District 10 mayor's daughter being kept in a bunker for three years after being kidnapped, so when he saw her face, he was quite confused as to what she could have possibly done to deserve being thrown into the arena, as she'd already had it hard enough. Brandon was a stud, and that was for certain. He was chiseled like a marble statue, and had beautiful brown eyes Coriolanus just knew the capitolites would melt in.
District 11: Tulip Everly (18) and Louis Staker (18)
District 11 had the reputation for being a mixed bag, and this year's bag was indeed mixed. While Tulip was beautiful, she had a look on her face that made it seem like she had a bad attitude about nearly everything, and that could be fatal. Louis also looked like he wasn't the best of people, though granted Coriolanus shouldn't be expecting the best of people in this year's Games. At least he looked strong enough to survive.
District 12: Christabel Rose Clade (13) and Simon Steele Clade (13)
Coriolanus looked at the twins from District 12's names and scoffed. How the hell did Lucy Gray keep reappearing in his life? Everybody mentioning her was already too much, but now he was faced with kids who appeared to be related to Clerk Carmine. They looked weak at least, and Coriolanus was more than thrilled that he'd have the chance to destroy them.
"Lysistrata," He called out for her once again, "Get me a pen and paper. There's some mutts that need to be created."
Thank you for reading Chapter 15! The purpose of this chapter was to give a recap of all our lovely tributes, as well as to let us see what Coriolanus has been up to. Train rides will be coming shortly, but I thought this intermissionary chapter of sorts was important.