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Am I the only one who thought that Blair was Gale's father?

Like considering how he and Burdock probably still stayed close after Haymitch pushed them away, it wouldn't be a stretch to say Burdock taught Blair how to hunt in the forest.

It would also explain why Blair wasn't there to help Katniss after her father's death, since he perished himself.

It would also be super funny in making Katniss and Gale actually somewhat of cousins.

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Everything you need to know about Snow is revealed at the very beginning of Ballad.

All other books begin, showing how the protagonist is taking care of their family members.

Katniss with Prim. Haymitch with Sid and his mum.

In Ballad? Snow is the one being taken care of.

It's a clear juxtaposition to other protagonists, it quickly establishes that he does not have the same care for his family as Katniss and Haymitch do. He let's Tigris do everything, doing nothing on his own to help. He could pick up a part time job, learn from her how to sew, and maybe find another brand of business to help, but he chooses not to, simply to preserve the family image, and more importantly, his own.

To both Haymitch and Katniss, that didn't matter. Katniss did not care about her dignity when it was put against survival of Prim (and her mother but that's for another post). Haymitch didn't care about being caught making alcohol as long as it brought more money and food, as long as to help his mum.

Katniss is like Lucy Gray, had to use her talents to feed herself, there was no other way to survive, since no one else would do that for her.

Haymitch was in a similar position to Coriolanus. Technically, he could just depend on his mum's income. Yet he still went out as soon as he could, to help get more money, so she wouldn't have to suffer so badly.

Coriolanus never actually had to fight for survival (prior to games), Tigris always fought for him. This clearly shows, that he would rather starve, than lose his reputation.

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Puzzle pieces

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Soooo it's been almost 6 months of my stobotnik hyperfixation. I suppose It's time to post some things I drew of them, hope y'all enjoy:]

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Call them G.U.N. Dogs ;) 🐶🦴

GIFs under the cutoff!

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Gale's whole arc was so perfectly set out and foreshadowed from the begining it's making me go absolutely insane.

When Katniss introduces us to Gale, the first thing he does is mock Effie - and by extension - Capitol. This clearly shows his distain and contempt which is very valid and understandable.

Next he talks about how he would want kids, if he didn't live in district 12, or in Panem at all, showcasing the urge to change it all, the underlaying hope of things being different, which Katniss didn't share. Katniss talks about how she'd never be able to leave Prim, how Prim is her life and all she does is FOR Prim. I would wager to go as far as speculate that this is the first sign in the fundemental differances between Gale and Katniss. While he is able to hope and wish for better things, Katniss is firmly rooted in the current reality not seeing an out and not really having any revolutionary spark. This shows the begining of how Gale would be able to prioritize "if" instead of "now" if it meant, things could change.

Later on, there is interaction with Madge, Gale letting his feelings talk over his rational mind. He snaps at her, shoving her privalage in her face, even though, he rationally knows that it's not her fault and that she is also opressed under the same system, also under the constant threat of the Reaping.

At this point of the story, Katniss and Gale are very similiar when it comes to their mindsets, they live the same reality, have almsot exactly the same circumstances, their differances are minimal.

As the books progress though, their lives start to difffer greatly. Katniss goes through the Games, seeing the Capitol's cruetly up close, yet also being confronted with two things:

How it is to kill a person

How most Capitol citizents are brainwashed pawns of the system who are raised to think that the cruelty around them is normal.

Katniss is confronted with horrific reality of actual murder and also with humanity that Capitol citizens still hold, how even if arrogant, they're still human and they are still being hurt by the system, in a different, more privalaged way.

The lesson Katniss learns in Catching Fire is to remember who the real enemy is. Gale does not get taught that lesson, only thing he gets, is fuel for his hatered for the Capitol.

This further leads into the Mockinjay, where Gale, a hopeful, angry, young man is further manipulated by Coin into growing his contempt and further dehuminzing Captiol citizens, making all of them become his enemies.

That is why he comes up with the bomb. (Side note here, it wasn't all his idea, we can't just keep saying that, Beetee also had his hand in this but it's another can of worms for another post). The bomb which targets innocents, medics, the demographic that fits Prim perfectly. He is able to come up with that because he not only doesn't see captiol citizens as human, but also since he can prioritise the "if" over the "now". This directly lead to the tragedy which was Prim's death.

Did he ever regret letting his feelings take over his rational thought? Was Prim's death an awakaning for him or did he stay validated in his belief that "if" was more important than "now"? We will never trully know that.

Gale's arc is a cautionary tale, of not letting your feelings dicate radical actions which bring harm to other and also of trully remembering who the enemy is.

Katniss states it the best in the ending, he was a fire she didn't need. He burned so bright that his good intentions got turned into a weapon. He burned innocents, his loved ones and himself.

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the reluctant pope

inspired by @lmxpsuedonym's post about the painting "the reluctant bride" :D

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Effie has always been super fascinating to me and I'm glad SotR ended up expanding on her character a bit. In the Waterstones edition of the same book, there's a Q&A at the back, where Suzanne even notes the contrast between Drusilla and Effie and comments at the end of that section that while the latter is certainly ridiculous, she isn't malicious. And tbh, though I don't interact with the fandom often, I have noticed that there seems to be this kind of pretentiousness in certain parts of it, how some people will practically shame others for "missing the point" of what Suzanne is saying... while also missing the point of what Suzanne is saying.

And speaking as someone who loves this series, if they still don't like the direction Suzanne took Effie's story, fine, but even from that side, it seems like alot of people in this fandom like to act like Suzanne always gets it right 100% of the time, forgetting that she's still human. In the case of Effie, if I recall correctly, Suzanne is heavily involved with the films and approved of having Effie be at District 13 in the adaptation of Mockingjay, so if that's the case, then what does that say about the author's intentions, never mind the character's?

Thanks for the ask!

I absolutely agree! While I somehow understand the dislike of Effie in fandom spaces, I am rather frightened about the things it implies about fandom.

I 100% get being mad at her, she is, after all, a woman in a place of privilege and she is contrasted against marginalized, and oppressed. Many people in this fandom also are a part of marginalized communities and they're speaking from the place of rightful anger towards the system, I cannot speak over them, while I am marginalized in some ways, I am a white person living in Europe (Central-Eastern but still Europe), and I will never try to speak over their opinions.

The anger is valid and understandable, yet some people seem to fall into the mindset of Gale. They forget that the system is the enemy, not a random woman in place of privilege.

With the direction Suzanne took in both movies and sotr, you can see she regretted not elaborating more on Effie. I won't speak on movies since I still haven't watched Mockingjay, but in sotr she is laying it thick.

"This woman stays in the system because she is scared. She has no power in said system. She is kind. She doesn't enjoy violence. She doesn't know better because no one told her. She is a pawn."

We can't expect people to overcome indoctrination with no information provided to them.

I am not saying, that this reaction isn't valid. I am not saying Suzanne is 100% correct. I am saying that if we are discussing the themes of the book, and then go against the main one, while trying to say we are agreeing with it, the discussion loses its merit.

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I need to get this off my chest before I go INSANE.

"You are not immune to propaganda"

This is the main thought I have when people are talking about Effie.

Effie is a clear example of that and people are kinda missing the point.

Suzanne take time to establish that not all Capitol citizens are pure evil, even if they're not rebels. We see it in Katniss' stylists, the girl in the lemon coat, countless kids that died in that bombing, people who died at the hands of both Peacekeepers and rebels alike.

We see it in Effie.

Over the course of the series, Katniss learns that capitol citizens are humans, ones that were put under years upon years of propaganda, with no knowledge on how to behave differently.

The whole message of the series is "remember who the real enemy is". It's the higher powers oppressing people, not common people living privileged life. That is why Katniss shoots Coin, that is why Games, of any kind, had to stop.

Some people focus too much on Effie being typical capitolite, and miss the crucial element of what she is representing. She is a picture of a person who lived their whole life under propaganda and could only break away from it when faced with real facts that contradicted it. Katniss and Peeta being reaped again, shattered Effie's view on Games, making her see through the propaganda.

It doesn't make Effie evil to change only after that.

Sotr also established that Trinkets are an ostracized family, one that is least likely to rebel since they'd be the first ones to go. They need to keep being in the system to survive, they need to comply or they die.

The difference between propaganda in Captiol and Districts is simple.

Districts are confronted with harsh reality daily, Capitol isn't.

That's why propaganda in the Capitol is more effective and why it's harder to break away from it. We cannot judge those characters as if they have access to all the information we have, since it's simply not true.

Effie is a woman in a situation where it's hard to break from the hold of Capitol, from the information that's being fed to her, you have to remember that.

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Day 6: [Motorcycle]

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Over the years Effie was Haymitch's only friend, because even if he didn't want to admit it to himself before Katniss and Peeta, he got attached to her during their first meeting. He thought she would be safe, because they saw each other once a year to lead kids to their doom, besides she was from the Capitol. She wasn't anything that was his.

And then they took her away anyways and he could do nothing about it once again.

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Katniss and Peeta unconsciously managed to take what Haymitch tried to do in his games and made it actually stick. Haymitch playing up his 'bad boy' persona being reduced to a selfish prick because it was still too threatening? Peeta played up the 'love sick boy' part which was innocent and harmless on it's own. Haymitch's alliances being completely cut out? You can't cut out Katniss and Peeta's loyalty to each other because that's the main part of the story. Haymitch taking care of Lou Lou taken out? Can't take out Katniss and Rue because it's vital for the plot. Haymitch's final act of rebellion being too blunt? Katniss' actions can be wrapped in the 'love sick girl' persona. Unknowingly, Peeta and Katniss pulled off everything Haymitch wasn't able to do and that set up Katniss to be the face of the rebellion.

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Do you think Haymitch held his breath, as Katniss offered the berries to Peeta? Do you think, that in that moment he saw himself and Lenore Dove in their places, and those damned jellies? Did he fear he'd lose yet another two people who he let himself love?

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Lucy Gray started it, Haymitch played it up, Peeta added fuel to the fire and Katniss finished it.

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Snow and his obsession with Lucy Gray continues to astound me. His projection on male District 12 tributes also.

I think, deep down, he considers himself a tribute, even if he doesn't want to admit it and that is why he projects so violently onto not only Peeta but also Haymitch.

He 'tries to save' both of them from the girls associated with Covey, yet they don't need to be saved from anyone but him.

Katniss isn't Lucy Gray, Lenora Dove isn't Lucy Gray, yet he views them as such, finding the slightest similarity and running with it.

He should get a journal or something tbh.

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Most insane pipeline known to man:

Help your younger sister pass her university assignment -> Accidently end up as a part of the rebellion to overthrow the tyrannical president

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I NEED TO KNOW WHAT KATNISS AND PEETA'S REACTIONS WERE TO LEARNING THAT BEETEE WAS A DAD. THAT HE LOST HIS SON TO THE GAMES. AND THAT HAYMITCH WAS THERE TO WITNESS IT, THAT HE WAS NEXT TO HIM AND TRIED TO SAVE HIM