paris vanburen ♡ one fin

dars Administrator 7,697 POSTS Member is Online — 🥀 —	paris vanburen ♡ one fin May 15, 2020 14:47:06 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by dars on May 15, 2020 14:47:06 GMT -5 ^{S W E E T H E A R T ,} m a r r y your g o a l s remain c o m m i t t e d to s u c c e s s be l o y a l to your d r e a m s it's okay to choose ^{Y O U R S E L F} ^{— R . H . S I N}
	Last Edit: Aug 14, 2020 12:51:56 GMT -5 by dars ^{I AM A GARDEN OF BLACK AND RED AGONIES}

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paris vanburen ♡ one fin Aug 13, 2020 21:00:05 GMT -5

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Post by dars on Aug 13, 2020 21:00:05 GMT -5

For you, it was never about being the strongest. It was never as easy as brandishing a knife, or knowing exactly what angle to shoot an arrow in order for it to dig its way into the bullseye. It was never about being the fastest, or the smartest. You learned what you needed in order to be considered a career, and then you used a silver tongue and an ability to tell people what they wanted to hear to climb the social ladder. Because that is what mattered. Not the games, but what came after them. The way you saw it, who a person was once is who they'd always be, in a way. The quiet ones would always be quiet, the smart ones would always be smart. The careers would peak at age eighteen, take up a job working in a training center to create more careers to follow in their footsteps. You found yourself with a choice to make: Who do I want to be for the rest of my life?

You didn't know exactly. But you knew some things. You knew you wanted a crown big enough that the entire district could see it and recognize it as an extension of you. You knew you wanted a house as big as your parents' one day. You knew you wanted everyone to know your name. The Games were an impractical way to get there- so many got caught up in the potential for glory that they didn't realize what a pipe dream it really was. Stay home, work hard, use common sense, and the power would be yours in time, anyway. Maybe you were the only one with enough patience. Maybe you were the only one who could see past Friday night.

Your father had always joked about it, laughed when you and Parker were no more than a couple of children bickering at the dinner table over who hadn't taken the trash out, or who had actually mowed the lawn: "You argue just as well as your mother," he'd say between chuckles, "The two of you together could win a fight against the world if they weren't dumb enough to cover your mouths." Maybe it wasn't exactly a compliment, but you'd taken it as one.

After all, everyone knew competing against Parker in virtually anything was an attempt made in vain. Prodigal son, golden boy. For him, it was about brandishing a knife, or knowing exactly what angle to shoot an arrow in order for it to dig its way into the bullseye. He was the fastest. Maybe not the smartest, but he certainly liked to think so. If the only thing you could win against him was an argument, then damn sure were you going to challenge him with as many opportunities as you were given. But, honestly, he was just an innocent caught in the crossfires of an unspoken war between you and your parents. Your parents, who would have loved nothing more than the opportunity to have two perfect, prodigal career children. They'd given up hope around age thirteen, when you'd started to prefer using your sword as a mirror to fix your lip gloss rather than its intended use. But that didn't stop the looks at dinner, the snide comments, the comparisons.

"Parker, what is your sprinting average these days?" your father would ask, eyes looking at you, rather than your brother, because he wasn't really talking to your brother when he asked things like that.

"Sweetie, why don't you walk with your brother to the Center today, get him to show you some better self-defense stances?" your mother would suggest, but the way she said it wasn't like, Sweetie, I want you to be strong. The way she said it was like, Sweetie, you are embarrassing us.

That's how the stories always went, you supposed. Popular girl, who spent every weekend alone either because people assumed she already had plans or because they thought she was a bitch or because they thought she was scary. Stuck at home with parents who were blinded by all that she had accomplished, choosing instead to focus on what she could've been better at. But you know that your quiet resentment for them pushes you. Their disappointment in you is what makes your strong. It's what gives you gold in the gymnastics all-around. It's what gives you the center of the hallway, everyone parting around you as if they'd suffer your wrath if they didn't move. It's what gets flowers delivered to you in the middle of class during Valentine's Day by some poor kid who doesn't stand a chance.

While everyone learned how to tiptoe the lines of life and death, you learned how to bend the line to your own will. Wrap it around your finger, hold it nice and taut for anyone whom you liked as they walked across it, snap it like a whip the second someone crossed you and watch as they plummeted.

You are a creature born of hatred, this might be true. A rose in a desert, thriving despite the odds. But thriving nonetheless.

Last Edit: Aug 14, 2020 12:53:06 GMT -5 by dars

^{I AM A GARDEN OF BLACK AND RED AGONIES}

dars Administrator 7,697 POSTS Member is Online — 🥀 —	paris vanburen ♡ one fin Aug 14, 2020 12:53:29 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by dars on Aug 14, 2020 12:53:29 GMT -5 resident pillow princess is done !
	^{I AM A GARDEN OF BLACK AND RED AGONIES}

gamemaker 🍒 maryn hale RP Tutor 3,265 POSTS Pronouns: he/him last seen Apr 27, 2024 11:45:00 GMT -5	paris vanburen ♡ one fin Aug 14, 2020 12:56:05 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by gamemaker 🍒 maryn hale on Aug 14, 2020 12:56:05 GMT -5 i have never been more obsessed with a character