fandomhighdorms | Second Floor Common Room [Tuesday evening]

Katniss was not fond of the television. The ones here were, at least, far more primitive than the ones at home, but she still associated them strongly with bad news, and mandatory viewing for all districts.

However, the common room was a place that she knew had food. It wasn't as convenient as her quarters at the Training Center had been, when she could press a button and receive food, but she knew she could find something she hadn't tasted before here. And now that she was beginning to grow more comfortable in this environment -- even if she was conscious of the ever-watching eye of the Capitol -- she figured that selecting a box of crackers from one of the cupboards and curling up on one of the couches was safe enough. After a few moments of silence (and unbearable curiosity), she set to work figuring out how to turn on the television.

What she discovered was not replays of old Hunger Games, or footage of the destroyed District 13. No, she found a program of simplistic figures made out of basic shapes, in bright colors. The figures seemed to be small children who screamed at one another in horrible voices, often using coarse language. It was easy enough to follow, even if she didn't quite understand why it was playing. And yet she couldn't look away.

[yeah, Katniss discovered South Park because I'm watching it on Comedy Central. Open!]

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"I have no idea," Katniss admitted, also not sounding particularly impressed. Their voices were grating on her nerves in the worst way. "Is this standard viewing for this world? I turned on the television and this is what came on."

"It certainly isn't standard," she said, levelling a Look at the television. "There's quite a lot that is both informative and entertaining. That is neither."

A pause.

"Except as, possibly, a precautionary show of what not to do or react as."

And even then...

"I don't understand. Were these figures created by small children?" she guessed, thinking this was a reasonable explanation. "Why would this be on the television in the first place?"

"I would hope," she said direly, "that no parent would allow their children to speak as such."

Rosalind eyed it.

"More likely, it is the brainchild of some over-privileged teen-aged boy whose parents had enough influence to get it on the air."

Katniss's nose wrinkled instinctively. "This is supposed to be entertaining, then?" She didn't think Peeta or Gale would find it particularly funny, but she could see it appealing to some of the other boys she knew. Or Haymitch, for that matter.

"That would be my evaluation," she said, giving the screen another glance before going to fetch herself a glass of water. "Which I profoundly disagree with what's entertaining, in this case."

And while Rosalind's sense of humour was... decidedly dry, this was still... well worse than what she would normally not find particularly funny.

"Me, too," Katniss decided, frowning at the television and debating simply turning it off, since she didn't know that there were multiple channels from which to choose, yet. "I'm not very impressed with this world's idea of fun, if this is what they watch to be entertained. Or else I'm just not impressed with the caliber of teenage boys."

"Do you have the remote?" Rosalind asked. Stalling with her water only worked so long. "There is surely something on that is less irritating."

"...there's more than one thing to choose from?" she asked, perking up and fumbling for the little black box that she figured must be the remote. She'd turned the television on manually, not thinking to check for a remote.

She leaned over the back of the couch, not directly behind Katniss--that was too intrusive--but near enough to be able to point.

"The buttons are labelled," she schooled. "The one marked 'channel' will change what's on the television. There should be a channel that contains a list of what is on at any given time."

That was a 'yes', Katniss.

Katniss hesitantly pressed the button indicated, and was rewarded with a soothing, accented voice telling her about some yellow fish now being shown swimming around on the screen. "How many channels are there?" she asked, somewhat amazed. "We only have one, in District 12."

Much better, that.

Rosalind glanced at Katniss. "Several hundred, I believe are available. One channel? For news, I would guess?"

"News, national...sporting events," she said vaguely, not sure if she was ready to talk about the Games just yet. She suspected she'd have to explain. "Mandatory viewing. It's how they reach us all at once. The television isn't used that way, here?"

"It can be," she said, "at least in my world. But that would be only in times of emergency--the news channels are always running and most people check them several times a day just to see what's going on." Most was possibly an over-estimation but Rosalind liked to think the best of people.

Mandatory viewing?

"The primary use of it here is for entertainment. It is not mandatory for anyone to watch anything. Some people do not watch it at all."

"But then how does the government tell people things?" she wondered, confused. "What about times of crisis? Is there some other way to make sure everyone hears?"

Not that the Capitol restricted itself to using the television in times of crisis; more often, it was announcements and reruns of the Games, and then the Games themselves.

"The news channels cover that," she said patiently. "As does the radio, newspapers and the internet. Even if someone does not pay attention to one method of delivery, they'll find out the truly important things through another, or failing that, word of mouth."

"But what if they choose to not watch?" Katniss wondered. "Someone will just tell them, I suppose, but what if they get the details wrong?"

"It works out," she said, sipping her water and straightening. "A person does not need all the details to understand when a severe storm might be coming, so long as they know it is, you understand?"

"Yes," she said, frowning a bit. "It's different at home. They don't want any details getting disrupted, I suppose. It's less...regulated, here."

"Would you consider that a poorly made decision?" she asked. "Allowing people to choose whether or not they will listen?"

[Annnd it's bedtime for me! SP is shiny? Night!]

Katniss barely paused before shaking her head. "No," she replied. "I like it. This freedom to watch or not. Plus I think the entertainment is better, here. We're a bit more, um, bloodthirsty at home. Even if I don't really like those circle-people."

[I love SP! Sleep well!]

Edited 2010-07-07 03:40 (UTC)

"Bloodthirsty?" Rosalind turned her glass of water in her hands. "Most people are, underneath the veneer of civilization. The freedom to choose helps keep it at bay--there are less reasons to act so if you are not being constrained."

"Sometimes the ones doing the constraining are the most savage, I've found, under all that civilization," Katniss commented thoughtfully.

Second Floor Common Room [Tuesday evening]

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