𓆝 𓆟 𓆞                                           𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

         Jupiter Marrow is a Career. Born and raised in District 2, her name had been written on a waiting list since she was still in the womb, bred to go into the arena and bring glory to her name. That was the life she had come to know, surrounded by a sprawling Victor's Village and constant gifts from the Capitol, posters strung about her home as a constant reminder of the relationship the two areas shared. She had believed it. She followed their rules and their classes and attended the glamourous academy founded only to churn out Victors, and if not, Peacekeepers. She had fought tooth and nail in her performance exams, displayed herself in front of former Victors and her teachers, worked even when wounded, even when she should have stopped.

      And it had worked. Jupiter was sixteen the year the 68th Annual Hunger Games was set to happen, the Reaping fast approaching with the same bated breath it did every year in their gloomy district. Because, for them, it was not a death sentence or bad luck, a volunteer was nominated and it was punishable to defy the Academy and speak over the one chosen for that year. To volunteer and be chosen to was an honour- a birth right, even. And that year, it was Jupiter's.

        Finnick Odair was a Career. He not only won his games, he played them. He was everything the Capitol loved and wanted from a Victor, and they showered him with gifts and adoration, spoiling him rotten in a way even he had not prepared for. But the celebrations and the warmth was quick to end, as the President preyed upon the very thing that had made him so marketable in the first place, and before he knows it, Finnick no longer believes the Careers ever actually win. No one ever does.

      With a Quarter Quell approaching, and in the wake of the Girl On Fire, Finnick knows something has to give, and he wants it to. He knows it, from the secrets whispered between breaths, from the words he takes in exchange for his services, he knows that a spark started and it's only a matter of time before fire catches and gives him a chance for freedom.

      But then he thinks of her, the girl from 2 who has been a mentor since she was seventeen, returning to the Capitol each year because she was happier there than back home. Finnick cannot understand, but he listened, sitting beside her on dark nights. He took her payments - a secret - in exchange for absolutely nothing. He knows what people think she is, he knows that as the Quell looms above them and a golden rebellion coils around his wrist, that as a Career, Jupiter will be left behind.

      Secrets pay off, it seems, as Jupiter is unknowingly wrangled into a rebellion that will tear her straight from the people who had ruined her life and covered her in blood. Jupiter doesn't believe she has any place in the new world, but with Finnick's undying faith in her and knives for fingers, maybe she is exactly what the rebellion needs to help them sway Panem against the esteemed President. Either that or Jupiter really is the failed star she was named after- and she doesn't know which is worse.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞                                       𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

JUPITER MARROW

district 2 | 68th victor | a failed star

a golden cage is                                                                                       
                                                          still just a cage.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞                                           𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

disclaimer.        I do not own or claim ownership of The Hunger Games series or anything you may recognise. I do, however, own Jupiter Marrow and any dialogue, storylines and characters attached to her/you do not recognise.

I do not write smut. Do not ask or expect to find anything other than brief descriptions before or after the act.

warnings.      violence, blood, strong language, sexual references, dystopian themes, mentions of potentially triggering themes such as death, political violence, mental illnesses, self harm etc.

before reading.      this book follows the hunger games books, not the film, for accuracy. it covers catching fire, but flashbacks are present in some chapters. this is a standalone catching fire book- open-ended, bc mockingjay is hard to write and depressing. jupiter's story and arc only needs catching fire :)

        i take a lot of liberty, too, with the world around jupiter. district 2 and the way careers and the academy work is largely unexplored. i also warp the amount of times people from different districts can interact, snow be damned, finnick and jupiter are established friends and such before the quell.

        another thing, jupiter is not sold off like some of the other victors. i'm very not comfortable with writing that sort of storyline in detail from personal experiences so jupiter is spared in favour of different angst.

       no faceclaims just vibes! i do see jupiter as a mix and somewhere in my imagination as a taylor russell and dior goodjohn lovechild but hey

notes.      that summary isn't my best work but pls trust me

        thanks to the hunger games renaissance, here we are. if you ever saw my old hunger games/finnick fic, then this will be completely different. had this idea after watching tbosas and then drunk watching the first two movies with my best friend and this idea was born, thank $12 white wine

        on a real note, these books were my childhood and probably one of the first things i can actually remember reading? i had the og covers before the sleek black ones with the mockingjay emblem on it. cannot believe it's been over ten years since these books were all anyone was talking about and the holy trinity (divergent and maze runner (i have fics for both of those coming too)) were trending is insane. so yes if you read the notes, this book does follow the book instead of the movies, which does affect the timeline by like a day between the different versions

        tbosas inspired this slightly in its comments on violence and consequences, so this is what this fic mostly focuses on! i find district 2 and career culture to be interesting and with room to explore these sorts of themes, and as i'm not fan of writing a prostitution storyline from my own personal experiences, this is the direction i'm going with jupiter as a victor.

        i'm not aiming to hit certain wordcounts with these chapters either as this story is gonna be short and sweet, and sort of just vibes. please vote and comment along if you're enjoying, please don't be a ghost reader :)