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"As we settle in, he pulls my head down to use his arm as a pillow; the other rests protectively over me even when he goes to sleep. No one has held me like this in such a long time. Since my father died and I stopped trusting my mother, no one else's arms have made me feel this safe." — The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

Hey everyone! Figured I would get in one last post before the official release of Sunrise on the Reaping. Here's one of my favorite scenes from the first book!

commissions open!

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Thinking about when Gale kisses Katniss in Catching Fire, not only does he catch her completely off-guard, but he says, “I had to do that. At least once.”

Two things stand out in this statement:

1. He had to do that. This has nothing to do with what Katniss wants, it’s about him.

2. At least once. If he thought there was even the slightest chance she wanted him in a romantic way, he wouldn’t have said “At least once” because he’d be determined to be with her, regardless of if she was in a fake relationship to please the Gamemakers (if he honestly thought it was fake). We know this because Gale is shown repeatedly to be brash, stubborn, and rebellious. (And I honestly don’t think he’d be worried about his family’s safety for this, it would be pretty easy to hide their romantic relationship if that’s what was needed.)

This shows pretty clearly that he didn’t care if she wanted that kiss, because it was only about him.

Also, the fact that he does this very soon after she was having a sobbing panic attack in front of him, and then just walks away without giving her a chance to respond, gives me the ick.

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If I were the tyrannical president of Panem, I would simply have offered Katniss Everdeen a peaceful existence with Peeta and Prim, and I feel like that would have solved most of my problems. Sorry to Coriolanus Snow but I’m different.

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But his smile is the same whether in mud or in the Capitol and when I see it, I take about three steps and fling myself into his arms.

“Having an eye for beauty isn’t the same thing as a weakness,” Peeta points out. “Except possibly when it comes to you”.

There’s something so pure about Katniss and Peeta’s most intimate moments that bring them closer being when they’re not at their most beautiful, and when they’re just appearing human. The cave, nights on the Victory Tour, Katniss’s house when her ankle was healing, the beach. All instances where they were quite vulnerable in their appearance.

Which really makes it tragic that hijacked Peeta looks at a Katniss who is done up by her prep team to look good enough for rebellion propaganda and sees someone who’s “not particularly pretty”.

Which shows how healed Peeta is when we see him in D12 at the end of the books. Katniss is at her most disheveled to the point of being embarrassed of how she looks. But their love was born in vulnerability and the beauty they saw was always in knowing each other. It’s a sign that they’re back to where they were before with their unconditional love, to have Katniss this vulnerable in front of Peeta and be treated with tenderness again.

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“katniss is at that very special age where a girl has only one thing on her mind”

“boys?”

“homicide”

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Ikd if this fandom is still alive but are you guys ready for the new book!?

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I don't really know what this is. I'm just in such a Gadge mood that I had to let some kind of stream of consciousness happen.

“What’s she doing here?” Gale huffs as he walks into the clearing.

I lower the bow that I’ve been fumbling with and cast my gaze towards him. He seems determined to look anywhere but at me, however. 

Katniss scowls. “I’m teaching Madge to shoot” she tells him.

Of course. Katniss doesn’t know anything. I haven’t told her and as I expected, neither has Gale. She has no idea about the stolen kisses of comfort shared on balmy July evenings while she was far away. 

Gale sighs. I can see him considering his options for a moment. “It’s fine.” He finally says. “I have to go and check my snares anyway.” He chances one quick glance in my direction before he turns to leave. 

Turning back to me with a grimace, Katniss apologises “Sorry about him. He’s not got used to all the changes yet.” 

Yeah. Sometimes I almost forget that they were once inseparable. Perhaps that’s why I called things off before Katniss and Peeta returned from the Capitol. So that I couldn’t get hurt when Gale’s obvious jealousy of the new pair bubbled to the surface.  Although, who can really say what’s going on with those two now. 

I shake my head, “it doesn’t matter.” I tell her.

2 Months Later

I warm my hands by blowing on them before taking another shot at the tree ahead of me. Missed. Damn. 

“You’re position on the string is wrong!” 

I startle, whipping round to see Gale. “What?”

“Your fingers are too high up on the string.” He walks to retrieve the arrow I just lost. “Surely Catnip would have told you that when she taught you to aim?”

“Well she’s off on the Victory Tour. I’m having to figure things out myself for once.” I say getting defensive. 

Gale nods, studying me for a second. “You know, I wouldn’t have expected to see you out here all by yourself.”

“Then you clearly don’t know me.”

“Clearly not.” Despite the bluntness of the statement, his face softens and breaks into a grin. “Would you like to come and check my snare line with me?”

A small smile creeps up on my face, but I’m determined to not let him see how secretly pleased I am. “Okay” I nod, packing up my things. 

As I follow Gale back into the thicket, he turns to look at me. “I’ve missed you, Undersee.”

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The roar of the crowd is deafening. Peeta has absolutely wiped the rest of us off the map with his declaration of love for me. When the audience finally settles down, he chokes out a quiet "Thank you" and returns to his seat. We stand for the anthem. I have to raise my head out of the required respect and cannot avoid seeing that every screen is now dominated by a shot of Peeta and me, separated by a few feet that in the viewers' heads can never be breached. Poor tragic us.

Love?! Who said love? He said crush.

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panem’s #1 it couple 🔥🥖✨

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a stage play that "honours the young voice of katniss everdeen and puts her front and centre." the hunger games: on stage opens october 2025!

sign up for pre-sale access on march 25!

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The thing tethering Katniss to life in Mockingjay

First chapter of Mockingjay

To become the Mockingjay ... could any good I do possibly outweigh the damage? Who can I trust to answer that question? Certainly not that crew in 13. I swear, now that my family and Gale's are out of harm's way, I could run away. Except for one unfinished piece of business. Peeta. If I knew for sure that he was dead, I could just disappear into the woods and never look back. But until I do, I'm stuck.

Chapter 14

Despite what I feel for Peeta, this is when I accept deep down that he'll never come back to me. Or I'll never go back to him. I'll stay in 2 until it falls, go to the Capitol and kill snow, and then die for my trouble. And he'll die insane and hating me.

Chapter 16

I'm on a frosting sailboat, tossed around by blue-green waves, the deck shifting beneath my feet. My palms press into the wall to steady myself. This wasn't part of the plan. I wrote Peeta off in 2. Then I was to go to the Capitol, kill Snow, and get taken out myself. The gunshot was only a temporary setback. Never was I supposed to hear the words He says he'd like to see you. But now that I have, there's no way to refuse.

Final chapter of Mockingjay

After breakfast, Greasy Sae does the dishes and leaves, but she comes back up at dinnertime to make me eat again. I don't know if she's just being neighborly or if she's on the government's payroll, but she shows up twice every day. She cooks, I consume. I try to figure out my next move. There's no obstacle now to taking my life. But I seem to be waiting for something.

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And what if I told you that Katniss declaring, ‘I know this would have happened anyway,’ is not just her saying that even without the bomb, without the Quell, without the Games—even in another life—it still would have been the boy with the bread? That this boy who gave her everything is her soulmate? The same girl who never saw the point of what-ifs is telling us that, even in another world, it still would have been the dandelion of the spring. What then?

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i mean i was reading the chapter like katniss please stand up???😭😭 they are both equally so down bad it’s crazy

It’ll always amuse me how hard Katniss tries to convince the reader she doesn’t love Peeta because these quotes all occur within 13 pages of each other:

All I know is that the only thing keeping me on this love seat is Peeta — his arm around my shoulder, his other hand claimed by both of mine.

Occasionally, I catch a glimpse of Haymitch, which is reassuring, or President Snow, which is terrifying, but I keep laughing and thanking people and smiling as my picture is taken. The one thing I never do is let go of Peeta’s hand.

“But you knew what he wanted you to do, didn’t you?” says Peeta. I bite my lip. “Katniss?” He drops my hand and I take a step, as if to catch my balance.

I take his hand, holding on tightly, preparing for the cameras, and dreading the moment when I will finally have to let go.

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peeta mellark absolutely suffered more than jesus. and he survived. sorry about your messiah but he’s different.

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I just love how Katniss and Peeta’s “someone who match my freak” moment was the whole who can piss off more the Gamemakers in CF. Like Katniss knew damn well Peeta did something rebellious during his session, and was like “oh bet? Okay watch this” and proceeded to do that by hanging a doll with “Seneca Crane” written on it.

And when Peeta and Katniss found out what the other did, they couldn’t have been more proud and secretly happy about it. All while those around them was like “uhmm wtf .Just why?” And one of the best parts is afterwards, Katniss and Peeta proceeded to hug each other lovely and sleep together. Like okay purrr? This is y’all freaks?? Pissing off brutal, authoritarian-totalitarian regimes, right in front of their faces. Ight.

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It’ll always amuse me how hard Katniss tries to convince the reader she doesn’t love Peeta because these quotes all occur within 13 pages of each other:

All I know is that the only thing keeping me on this love seat is Peeta — his arm around my shoulder, his other hand claimed by both of mine.

Occasionally, I catch a glimpse of Haymitch, which is reassuring, or President Snow, which is terrifying, but I keep laughing and thanking people and smiling as my picture is taken. The one thing I never do is let go of Peeta’s hand.

“But you knew what he wanted you to do, didn’t you?” says Peeta. I bite my lip. “Katniss?” He drops my hand and I take a step, as if to catch my balance.

I take his hand, holding on tightly, preparing for the cameras, and dreading the moment when I will finally have to let go.

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Baby boy got a little too ambitious while tree climbing 🌳

I really tried to hold out on posting this to space out my work but it's just too cute not to share immediately

commissions open!