Born to Die || Hunger Games x Reader

Behind the Scenes!

The Original Plot

— Originally this was meant to be purely a love story. There wasn't even going to be a sequel. I fully had it as a sapphic reader x crush fic. The reader, who I will be referring to as 'Sparrow' for efficiency, was always meant to be from District 9. The love interest, who was meant to be a crush insert, was going to be the District 2 female tribute. The original plan was that they both die in the arena, and I came up with it because I had a massive crush on a girl and I guess I just wanted a hunger games fic where I could be with her? I think I like the series a bit too much. Anyway, I've decided to introduce her in the next book as an oc with a different storyline, since I did have a name for her as I was planning the whole thing out.

— The arena being a prehistoric jungle and desert was a very last minute decision. I'm talking like, as I was writing the chapter kind of last minute. Originally it was meant to be an apocalyptic city with zombies and a massive storm. In the scene with the carriages there's actually a part that I left in where Bailey asks Sparrow if she can "bash his face in". In the original book this was meant to foreshadow when she bashes Finch's face in with a pipe. The exact scene (although with the pipe replaced with a tree branch) very nearly made it into the book, but I got incredibly attached to Finch, and it just wouldn't make sense to kill him. However, even though it didn't quite make the cut, it heavily influenced another scene I wrote.

— Damion's death scene was originally written to be much more violent, but then I realised it was just as violent as Emily's, which didn't work so I toned it down a bit.

— Oscar replaced Ziggy. Ziggy was meant to be the sweet flower crown girl who took a spear to the head, but then I got attached to Oscar. Sorry Ziggy.

The 3 Love Interests

Believe it or not, Spindrift was actually the FIFTH love interest to be written into the book. I only decided to make him the love interest in the chapter Promise after he winked at her. Other than the original insert love interest that I mentioned in the last segment, there were three 'lethal lovers — my favourite expression' that just didn't make the final cut.

— First off, the second love interest was Finch (rip). Yeah, you heard that right. Gin's (rip) boyfriend. He was meant to flirt with her loads, and the carriage scene was meant to be a super big moment. Then I realised that I couldn't do that to Gin since she and Finch were such a great couple, so Sparrow and Finch ended up having more of a sibling-like relationship. AND NOT THE ALABAMA KIND! But that's also why Bailey calls him "Pretty Boy"

— Second there was Oscar. Yes, Oscar, the kid who died in one sentence. It's self explanatory, really. He's Edmund Pevensie.

— Finally there was Shimmer Belcourt. Sometimes I feel as though I really didn't do her justice, especially since I had a whole plot line for them. But sometimes things just don't work out and you realise that maybe it wouldn't do so well to date someone so violent and obsessed with winning.

And so, she ended up with Spindrift. Honestly, in my opinion they're a near perfect match. But there's still one guy who could be a bit more perfect...

But you'll just have to wait for the sequel.

Hint: She has a type. Very clearly.

Character Backstories

I'd just like to clarify that the backstories for all my characters are quite large, so I will only be doing a select few, and I will be keeping them as short as possible.

— Baluka Kumar (District 4):

Baluka's story takes a lot of inspiration from my own, so she's quite an important character to me. Basically she grew up always being the 'smart kid'. She was the best in the academy, not only because she was good at fighting, but also because she was really really smart.