I'm back...
For now. Just a short window of time in which I will be also doing a couple papers for school, so I have a valid reason to be using the computer. Anyways, here's the update you've been waiting for...
THE TRIBUTE PARADE!
Aurora Austriallis, Capitolite (Diary entry... Train Rides)
First, I want to apologize. There is NO excuse for how long I have been gone. What with everything going on, one would think that I should rather keep at least once constant in my life, right?
Ah well, never mind. At least I'm back, and it looks as though I left off at one of the most interesting portions of the games! The train rides! Oh, how I love to see the different glittering costumes and the different tributes. It's our first real look at the tributes, now that they've finally been cleaned up and dressed decently. And did I mention the costumes!?
I decided I've been locked up in my house for far too long, and I really do need to get out more, so I accepted an invitation from Winngaard to the annual Gamemakers-and-Escorts party. It is an infamous party, often held with Victors as special guests, and the president is always issued an invitation, but she never accepts. Getting invited to this party is an honor, but that's not all it is. This party may be just what I need to get into that Escort position I want.
And now I'm at this party, and it couldn't be more exciting! All the food... there's as much here as there is at the Victory Tour party at the Presidential Mansion, but that's not the focal point. The parade is starting, and we have front-row-holographic-camera-seats. We can "walk" alongside the chariots, reach out and "touch" the horses.
First out is, of course, District 1, luxury. This year, the tributes, Taffeta and Blake, are dressed in matching outfits that appear to be made of gemstones. Taffeta's outfit is a dangerous-looking bodysuit that appears to be of emerald, glinting and hard, and the emerald tones compliment her dark green eyes. Parts of it are clearer than others, but nothing too dangerous is shown, of course. Blake is dressed in a similar bodysuit, but his is sapphire, not emerald. The sapphire compliments Blake's icy blue eyes the same way Taffeta's eyes are complimented by her outfit, and both tributes' hair has been embellished with what look like crystals of their respective gemstones. They both hold tall staffs with globes matching their bodysuits, and the globes emit bolts of light that imitate lightning throughout the street and square.
District 2, masonry, is dressed as a little-known secret: two provides most of the Peacekeepers for the districts and the Capitol. Both tributes, Mars and Candle, are dressed in blood-red representations of the early Peacekeeper uniforms, with the vests reminiscent of an old impact-resistant material called Kevlar, the dark red motorcycle style helmets, and text on the back of their vests stating, in bold white letters, "PEACE FORCE OF THE CAPITOL," even down to the old-fashioned revolving pistols they carry. Once District 3 has come out of the tunnel behind them, both District 2 tributes raise their pistols and fire into the crowd. At first there are frightened gasps, but when glitter and streamers come leaping from the barrels, laughs and cheers erupt. I reach out and my fingertips graze a "streamer" as it falls from the Candle's revolver. This experience is so much better than watching from home, so much better than the back of those icy cold stands that freeze your hindquarters and make it so difficult to see the tributes.
The third district, the technology district, follows District 2 out of the tunnel. Those adorable twin tributes, Viole and Viola Ro, come out dressed in similar but not identical outfits. Viola, the sister, is dressed in a bikini that looks like it's made of motherboards and wires. Viole, the brother, is dressed in a futuristic v-shaped outfit also patterned as though it is constructed of motherboards. The top of the V starts between his shoulders and his neck, with the collar rising to his ears, and the bottom of the V forms a scant coverage of his bum and crotch. Their black hair is slicked back, tinted silver, and twined with twinkling lights, but really, there is little taste involved in either of these costumes – they make the two poor twins look small and weak. Though, of course, I suppose the fact that they are from District 3 has had no beneficial effects on their health. Viole and Viola toss out microchips that fill the air with the beautiful sound of wind chimes as they float to the ground. Once they hit the ground, they dissolve with a hissing sound and smoke.
Mistle Lou and Axl, the tributes from the fishing district (4), are dressed as merpeople, Mistle Lou wearing low-rising tight black pants with shimmery green scales on them and a long sleeved crop top. This top looks like it's made out of seaweed, and pearls are twined in and throughout her wavy red hair. Overall, Mistle Lou's outfit does a fantastic job of emphasizing what few curves she has. Axl is wearing the same kind of pants, but he is topless and holding a plastic trident, and there is a spiking crown rising from the tops of his aqua-green tipped blond hair. Streams of water gush from his trident and soak the bottom of the chariot, leaving a trail of water behind on the pavement.
District 5, power, came out with a brilliant flash of light. Once everyone's vision had returned, we could see that the female tribute, Roxy, was dressed in a costume reminiscent of a nuclear power plant. The body of her dress was stone grey, and sleeveless, with the collar around her chest being perfectly circular. The high, skintight neck of her costume glows bright yellow, and pulses with a seemingly dangerous energy. Roxy's district partner Nic, the little twelve-year-old boy who wore a top hat, is in a sadly dull, ashy grey cloak/bathrobe thing. It's really quite boring, and I am disappointed in the lack of color, because everyone else, every single other stylist, has managed to include some color in their costume.
Then I am surprised, in shock and awe, as Nic sheds his ashy robe and leaps onto the front rim of the chariot. He is now in a bright orange-and-yellow costume reminiscent of a trapeze artists' suit, but this one pulses and glows like the energy of a nuclear power station. Nic does a front flip from the upper rim of the chariot to a standing position on the left-hand horses' back and from there, brightly lit, sputtering firecrackers appear in his hands. He tosses them to the right and the left, but carefully, because I see they all land in the street and not a one of them in the stands. Soon the air is asunder with the sounds of firecrackers popping and exploding. This parade has so far been one of the best I've ever seen, and I wonder if it is in celebration of the fact that next year, we have the Fourth Quarter Quell! I'm so excited; I can't wait to write about it. It's going to be one of the highlights of my collection.
The District 6 (transportation) tributes soon come into view. Both tributes are dressed like old-fashioned steam-engine firemen – the people who fed coal into the furnace on the train so the train would actually propel itself. They are dusty with a dark, coal-like substance, and each takes a handful of something black from their baggy jumpsuits and tosses it into a tall, cylindrical column that stands between them. The column begins to shake and smoke, and soon an earsplitting whistle rends the air again. I don't much like the costumes, but at least we can't easily see the hellish yellowed skin of Lee, the male tribute, or his bloodshot eyes. At least his partner, Alaina, seems to be much better behaved and doesn't act like a helpless idiot the way he does with that morphling addiction.
District 7, the lumber district, trails after the District 6 chariot. Sadly, it seems as though their stylists couldn't come up with anything interesting for them to wear, because the tributes are wearing brown satin patterned to look like tree bark. I turn away to make a comment to one of the many people surrounding me, but am startled by the woman with a stuffed fish suspended in her green hair next to me screaming "Oh look! Just LOOK!" I turn around quickly and am excited to see that the two District 7 tributes are no longer wearing brown satin. Allela's brown satin dress has transitioned into a swirling storm of green and gold leaves, like those of a tree shaking in the wind. And Jack, that fat pasty boy, has had his suit begin to transition as well. Gold vines begin to twine their way up the lapels of his suit, and once they have reached their completion, they begin to grow leaves as well. As the District 7 chariot passes, we see that trailing behind are leaves, swirling and twisting in the night air.
Mazella and Tanner, District 8's tributes, ride out in clothes styled after formal outfits but patchwork. Mazella, skinny little twelve-year-old that she is, has been made to look like a woman in her halter neck, princess-waist grey, pale yellow, light green, lilac, and robin-blue patchwork ball-gown. Tanner is dressed in a suit made of a strangely flattering yellow material printed with images of sewing pins, pincushions, spools of thread, scissors, and sewing machines. This suit is tailored perfectly, and the colors actually look good with his black hair. Tanner also holds a measuring tape in his hands, and when he throws it in the air, it lengthens and appears to float and twirl into multiple different scenes of the activities of a tailor. Eventually, it dissolves into smoke and dissipates.
The stylists for District 9, the main provider of our grain, have dressed their tributes in matching outfits, keeping with the style set by most of the other tributes. Sundance is dressed in a gorgeous sweet-heart neck-lined ball-gown that looks like it has been made of real stalks of wheat, with the fluffy column-shaped heads forming the top and bodice of the gown and the skirt swishing and flowing like a field of wheat in the wind. Sundance's long, dark brown hair is loose and flowing in a wavy fashion similar to that of a mermaid, and she wears a crown of braided wheat stalks that complement the highlights in her dark hair gorgeously. Her district partner, Ahron, wears a suit matching her gown, except the heads of wheat on his stalks are at the bottom edges of his suit jacket and they decorate the cuffs of his jacket as well as the cuffs of his pants. Ahron too wears a wheat crown, but his is the color of unripe green wheat instead of the gold of ripe wheat, and the green compliments both his blond hair and green eyes perfectly. Ahron and Sundance both throw into the air handfuls of what appear to be wheat berries, and the berries explode into a fine white powder that coats the street behind them.
Annetta Sander, from District 10 (livestock), and her partner Johny Harper are both dressed as cowboys, with the identical black cowboy hats (Annetta's short brown hair barely peeks out beneath this hat), black vests, red button-down shirts, black chaps, and black jeans. Annetta wears black stiletto boots, and Johny has on black cowboy boots. They each carry bullwhips, and they crack them over the horses' heads as they glide down the street. The noise is tumultuous, and I am honestly terrified that the horses would be freaking out, rearing and running through the streets. They keep the same steady pace, though, and all is well.
For District 11, or agriculture, Cinnamon and Coren are dressed in overalls with straw hats, with no shirts on beneath their overalls. Coren wears a straw hat that covers his gorgeous blue eyes and black hair, and Cinnamon wears a bonnet that does not cover her stereotypical twin hair puffs, as the puffs are located low on her neck. They are barefoot, and both carry between them a basket, and it looks to be full of ripe red-and-yellow apples. Coren turns to Cinnamon and appears to be talking to her, and both simultaneously pull an apple out of the basket and toss it into the air. The apples unravel into strips of red ribbon that twines itself into a tree with more ripe apples on the branches. Everyone around me ooohs and ahhhhs and gasps with delight as the ribbons continue to twist themselves into different scenes and images.
The District 12 tributes were miserable. Marian and Harrison were clinging to each other in the back of the chariot, crying. Marian wore a black, stone-textured bikini and Harrison wears a pair of shorts that are closely fitted and patterned the same way Marian's bikini is. Other than that, all the two tributes wear is coal dust – how boring. They have a bucket of coal next to them, but neither tribute pays attention to it. They just huddle together, Marian whimpering and Harrison making that unearthly cry again.
"It's a shame, really," someone behind me says loudly. "Those tributes aren't even making an effort."
I agree, but personally I think we should also consider the fact that those two tributes are both defective. One of them can't speak, the other can't hear. Neither of them will likely pass through the Bloodbath.
