Hunger Games publicity host - Thaddeus Flickerman
I was praying that the rest of the tributes would be as normal as the tributes of the first three districts. District 4 I knew were pretty good people, especially given that Marina was from there. So I had high hopes for them as I called up Hazel Mayfly, the female tribute. Her knee-length dress was sea green with white ruffles that mimicked waves, and the dress was complimented by golden heels and several bracelets.
I stood up to shake her hand, a large smile on my face, and she smiled back with confidence.
"Good evening, Hazel!" I beamed at her. "How are you feeling tonight?"
"Well, just amazing," she responded. "I'm so grateful for this opportunity to talk with all of you wonderful people and my future fans after I am the victor of the very first Quarter Quell!"
"Ah, so you are confident you're in it for the win?" I asked her.
"Of course," she grinned.
"Is there anyone back home you're winning this for?" I asked. "A girl with beauty such as yours surely must have a boyfriend back in District 4 she wants to go home to?"
Hazel laughed. "I am winning this thing for myself. No man could ever motivate me as much as my own strength could."
"In it for yourself, I see!" I said, and she nodded. "Well, I'm sure our crowd tonight loves a strong, independent young woman, am I right?"
The crowd let out a loud cheer, and the cameras moved to Hazel, who was smiling widely.
"Have you found good allies, Hazel?" I asked.
"Yes, I'm very happy with my alliance," she said. "We're all strong, and I believe that they'll all make it far."
"Well, I'm very glad of that," I said. "So you're not part of the Careers?"
"No, I've never attended the academy," she responded. "Which was why it was a shock I was voted in."
"Yes… do you know why you were voted, Hazel?"
She paused for a second, before saying, "I may get up to a little mischief back home."
I chucked. What else was I supposed to do? So I asked, "And no drama going on in your alliance, right? We saw what was happening in the Careers!"
"Oh, no, we're a peaceful alliance," she told me.
"That's very good," I said. "But, unfortunately, your time is up, and we must move on to our next tribute. Thank you for your time, Hazel!"
"It was my pleasure," she smiled, before standing up and walking off the stage.
"Next up, we have, from District 4, Luderick Bellamy," I called out, the next tribute's queue to come onto the stage. It was a younger boy, with blond hair dressed in a blue-green suit with a black tie. He smiled at me but flinched slightly when I held out my hand for him to shake, before lightly gripping onto it and shaking it. "Luderick. It's a pleasure to meet you. How are you doing this morning?"
"Please, call me Rick," he said. "And I'm doing good."
"Great! Now tell me, Rick, are you feeling prepared for the games tomorrow?"
"Well, three days of training has really helped," he said. "I'm sure either I or my district partner can win it for District 4."
"Oh? Are you part of Hazel's alliance?" I asked.
"No, I'm allied with some… really great people," he said, grimacing. "But I'm sure I will win, and my people will love me again. I am their future mayor."
"Future mayor, hey? You hoping to apply for the position when you're an adult?" I asked him.
"Well my father's the mayor at the moment, I will take over that role when he decides to retire," he responded.
"And if you don't go home?"
"Well then, I hope Hazel the victor from these games or any other previous victor from four gets the role. They would deserve it," he said.
"Very well," I said. "So… your suit, its sort of an ocean colour? Do you like being in the water?"
"I do, I'm a very skilled swimmer and fisher," he said, smiling. "I win swimming races frequently. I'm better than everyone else."
"So, if there's swimming involved in the arena you are well prepared then?"
"Oh, yes, if there's any form of water the rest of you are screwed," he grinned.
I raised an eyebrow. "Did you all hear that? Any water in that arena and this boy has it in the bag! I suppose we'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see what the gamemakers have in store for us. Well, Rick, it's been a pleasure. I wish you the best of luck, and for your sake hope there's water."
"Thanks," he said, standing up, hesitantly shaking my hand again before making his way off the stage.
"Alright, folks… next up we have Carmilla Wilkes!" I called out, and a girl walked onto the stage. I was a little taken aback by her appearance. Her hair was dyed in a split of blonde and black, and her black eyes and eyeliner contrasted her pale skin. Her dress was short and black and she had huge black platform boots. She really had quite a dramatic look.
"Carmilla! It's lovely to meet you!" I said, standing up to shake her hand. She gripped my hand tightly, a little too tightly with her fingernails digging into my skin so much that I had to pull my hand away. "Well… aren't you lovely? How are you feeling about the games tomorrow?"
She snatched the microphone off me, grinning out at the audience. "I cannot wait for the bloodbath. I will kill all those little rats easily."
"Right…" I said. "So tell me, Carmilla… do you have allies?"
"Of course I do," she snapped. "Who do you think I am? I only allied with the best. Of course, I'm the best, but the second best is obviously Cindy!"
"Well, I'll be intrigued to meet her soon," I said. "So, back home, what do you do for fun?"
"Kill people," she said, laughing. Was she serious? "So obviously I'm very skilled at it. Meaning I'll win. I reckon you should all sponsor me! Because I'm actually going to win, I know how to kill!"
"Right, well, you heard the girl," I said. "We all do love killing in the Hunger Games, am I right? But don't kill them all too quickly, Carmilla, our crowds want a show!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll have fun with them all," she said.
"Yes, and I see you came out with a ten for your training score? Tied for the best score out of the tributes?"
"Yeah, because as I said, I can kill," she said, and I felt the blood rushing out of my face. Did she mean… she'd killed someone during training? Surely not.
"Well… Carmilla, we might move on, then… I'm intrigued to see your strategies play out tomorrow," I said.
"Thanks," she said, standing up abruptly and walking off the stage.
The next tribute was a boy named Ezekiel Cunningham. He had wavy blond hair and was dressed in a black tuxedo. I hoped he was a little more sane than his district partner, otherwise, District 5 may be a bit of a letdown. I wasn't even sure if the audience liked that sort of thing.
"Good evening, Ezekiel, it's a pleasure to meet you," I said, smiling at him and shaking his head.
"Great to meet you too," he said, giving me a small smile.
"So, you came out of training with an eight… were you happy with that?" I asked him.
"I believe I deserved a better score, but it was alright," he said, shrugging.
"Do you have a plan for tomorrow?" I asked him. "Is the bloodbath something you want to participate in?"
"Yes, I'm all for violence," he responded. "I believe that if someone does me wrong, I shouldn't be afraid to stand up for myself with violence. And I know everyone else in that arena wants me dead so that they can win. That won't be happening."
"Right, would you consider yourself a violent person back in District 5?"
Ezekiel laughed. "Yes. There's one kid… he knows who he is, he's watching this right now… I hope he knows that he deserves to rot in hell."
"Oh, well… isn't that lovely?" I chuckled.
"Yes, I beat him up so badly that he's in a wheelchair," he said proudly. "And then, shortly before the reaping, I pushed him out of his wheelchair and kicked him."
"Oh, the poor boy…" I said. Maybe Ezekiel wasn't much better than Carmilla after all.
"He deserved it," Ezekiel grinned. "He is an awful person after all."
"Right…" I said. "So, you're planning on being violent in these games?"
"As I said, I'm all for violence," he grinned.
"Well, Ezekiel, I'm sure that violence will get you far in these games," I said. "I wish you the best of luck tomorrow, and we'll be moving on to our next tribute now. It was great speaking with you."
"Thanks," he grinned, getting up and shaking my hand again, before making his way off the stage.
"Next up is… Cindy Trimmers," I called out, a cue for the next tribute to make their way onto the stage. The girl from District Six had dark hair, eyes, and skin, and was dressed in a sparkly black dress that went just past her knees. She was beautiful, I had to admit that… but she's what? 17? 18? Too young.
"You good?" she snapped at me, and I smiled at her.
"Good evening, Cindy!" I beamed, holding out a hand for her to shake. She gave me a dirty look before shaking it. Alright, then… "So, Cindy, what's the plan for tomorrow?"
"Win," she shrugged. "Take out my enemies in the bloodbath and slowly kill off everyone else during the rest of the games. Should be easy.
"Ah, so you're confident for the games?" I asked.
"Very confident," she said. "I know that I will win."
"That's a good attitude," I said. "Have you found some good allies?"
"Yes, I've got George, Carmilla, and Ezekiel. Oh, and Patch too," she added.
"Right… I assume you're all pretty similar then?" I said. It made sense that Carmilla and Ezekiel were allied, they were both rude, and it seemed like Cindy was too. I assumed George would be rude as well, and Patch… well, Patch had already made an impression on me. "So, you've made some allies, have you made any enemies yet, Cindy?"
"Not yet but I don't imagine it would be very hard, I do not let people mess with me," she said, her tone serious.
I flashed a smile at the camera. "You heard the girl! She does not let people mess with her!"
"I'm serious," she said. "The people who just let awful things happen to innocent people are the worst."
"Can you elaborate on that?"
She tilted her head higher, adjusting in her seat slightly. "For example, if you were walking down the streets of the Capitol, and you see an… an innocent little girl, an older man tries to do something to her, and you just stand there and watch… you're an awful person."
"Well, you do have a point," I said, looking at my watch. "Thank you for your time though, Cindy."
She nodded and shook my hand before leaving the stage.
"Next up we have George Caron!" I called out. Great. Another person from this alliance. At least he was the last of the ones I hadn't met yet. He had light brown hair, that was cut short, and was wearing a black suit and shoes. He smirked as he walked onto the stage and shook my hand. "Good evening, George. How are you doing tonight?"
"Great," he said. "I'm so ready for the games."
"I can tell, and your score definitely agrees with you. An eight? Impressive."
"Well, I am the leader of this powerful alliance," he said.
"Oh? Don't tell me your alliance is having trouble choosing a leader like the Careers…" I said, raising an eyebrow to the camera.
George snickered. "No, we're not going to fall apart like those losers are. We all know that I am the rightful leader." He looked at the cameras then, and began yelling, "You hear that, Archie! I'm the leader! Not you! Me! And this gang is going to work a lot better than your stupid gang!"
I widened my eyes comically, looking out at the audience and then back at George. "Who is this 'Archie' person?"
"Ugh, he's just a sensitive little boy," George scoffed. "Leader of my gang back at home. He doesn't do anything right, though."
"Well, if he was part of the same gang as you, surely he must at least somewhat be your friend?" I asked.
"Maybe one day," he responded. "But now, I could never consider that pathetic kid to be my friend. That's why I voted for him to come to these games."
I gasped loudly, just for dramatic effect, which caused the crowd to gasp loudly as well.
"You voted for your own friend to go into the Hunger Games!" I said, in the most dramatic tone I could.
"I did," said George, smirking.
"Well… the betrayal is real," I said, and then, looking at the camera. "But the question is… will George's betrayal streak continue to the games!? Stay tuned to find out!"
Is anyone going to see Ballad of Songbirds of Snakes? I'm seeing it tomorrow, hopefully it's good!