The Misconceptions Meme

[pantheraliam]

Don’t
Believe Everything You Hear

So, your reputation precedes you, and maybe that isn’t the best thing. People make their judgments about you before even getting to know you, and you’re sick of it. It’s time to set the record straight once and for all. Or maybe you just want to lay to rest some common misconceptions about your profession, hobbies, lifestyle, etc.. This is the place to do it.

Directions:
1. Post a TL with your character name and canon in the subject line, and use the top level to address a common misconception about your character - or at least what they consider to be a misconception; include preferences in top level of desired
2. Post around on other characters’ top levels, responding to the misconception they address, whether that be disagreeing, calling them out, learning more, or just chatting
3. Have fun, be respectful, etc., etc.!!

Open to all fandom characters, OCs, AUs, CRAUs, etc.. Tagging around is highly encouraged!

Comments

[tridens]

Yeah, we all know that money can buy you freedom.

[procidens]

Honestly, sometimes I feel like I’m talking to a bunch of walls.

My point isn’t that it can, my point is that there’s nothing wrong with that.

[tridens]

That depends to whose detriment your advantage is.

[ Has Finnick been on the receiving end of money being spent to other people's advantage?

More times than he cares to think. ]

[procidens]

Who says it’s to anyone’s detriment? It’s my money. I’m not stealing it from sick orphans.

[Well, really it’s his father’s money, but that’s neither here nor there.]

[tridens]

[ Finnick rolls his eyes. Why did he even bother starting this conversation? ]

Not the money. The things you do with it, pay your way out of.

[ Finnick is rich enough to know both that not everybody with money is a bad person and that many of them are exactly that. ]

[procidens]

[Whelk rolls his eyes back.]

You’re right. Paying my way out of speeding tickets and into a decent university is truly evil.

[tridens]

Yeah.

Do whatever you want, tell yourself that it's okay because you have the money. That's what being rich is all about.

[ And you wonder why people might have a problem with that? But there's a line between the things he can think and the things he can say, and he's not stupid enough to say that part out loud. ]

[procidens]

[In a few short months, he’ll learn how it feels to lose everything over night and feel truly desperate, and that’s when Whelk’s true colors will show for the first time. But today’s not that day. He doesn’t look anything less than pleased with himself that he made someone squirm.]

I’m failing to see the evil in using what you have to your advantage. It’s like I said, I’m not stealing from anyone.

How much do you think jealousy plays into hatred of the rich? That’s a genuine question.

[tridens]

A lot.

[ This time, it's not a roll of the eyes, so much as an exaggerated sidelong look that turns into a stare for a few moments. Then Finnick shrugs. ]

I've been poor. I've been rich. Amazing how easy it is to feel envy when you think you might starve.

[procidens]

[Contrary to what Whelk’s general attitude might lead someone to believe - would probably lead most people to believe - he’s not entirely soulless. He’s never had to worry about starving, and it’s strange to hear someone mention it, because this very well may be the first person he’s ever actually spoken to who’s experienced it. And that makes him falter a little bit. Then his expression falls into a stubborn frown. He distracts his hands brushing some dust away from his pant leg.]

Yes, well. It’s not every rich person’s fault that people have to starve.

[He’s only a kid, he thinks, so it certainly can’t be his. He comforts himself with that.]

It’s just a reality.

[tridens]

Just reality.

[ Have to starve is an interesting way to describe it. Especially to someone from Four, where people could have as much food as they needed if they weren't told that poaching was a crime. If their catch didn't have to go to the Capitol instead of themselves.

He's sure most people in the Capitol think it's just how it has to be, but it never looks that way in the districts.

Not that it's some kid's fault, any of it. He's just sick of people who don't think. ]

Yeah. Sure. Doesn't always look that way from the other side.

[procidens]

[If Whelk is guilty of anything at this point, it’s certainly not thinking about the other person - except for when he’s forced to, like right now, which is exceptionally uncomfortable. He feels like defending himself, but then reminds himself that he has nothing to feel guilty over - right? So instead he asks, subtly avoiding direct eye contact:]

You said you’ve been on both, right? So, did you lose it or gain it?

[tridens]

[ Finnick knows enough about reading people to know that he's making the other kid uncomfortable, but he has no particular need to play nice right now. It's not part of his deal.

He doesn't actually have to be so confrontational, so he actualy dials down the biting sarcasm that's become basically his speaking voice. ]

Gained it. Money, fame, mansion, the lot.

[procidens]

How?

[For Whelk, curiosity has always been a comfort.]

[tridens]

I won it. Only real way for a poor kid to get rich where I'm from.

[ He could have fished day and night without sleep for his whole life and never made the sort of money victory brought. Even in Four, which some of the other districts think of as rich by comparison, most people will never make enough money to become anything but what they already are. ]

[procidens]

Some sort of contest then? Lucky you.

[tridens]

Yeah. Lucky.

[ There's nothing in his voice that suggests he actually agrees. There'd been some luck involved in his victory, but it had mostly been the luck of his looks. Most of the rest was skill, and good mentoring, and winning over enough sponsors to stop anyone else getting any.

The odds had been in his favor. Even so, it hadn't been lucky. Not when he hadn't known what victory would cost him. ]

There was some skill involved.

[procidens]

So you earned it then. [Whelk’s expression has become somewhat disinterested. He absent-mindedly picks a piece of lint off of his sleeve and flicks it away.] What was the contest?