#Katniss meta

[terresdebrume]

You know, I feel like the falling out between Katniss and Gale is framed as a choice between him and Peeta for romantic interest and there's a part of it that is that

But at the same time I think Peeta not being in the picture romantically wouldn't have prevented it, and the two of them wouldn't have worked out in the long run even if they gave it a go

Gale thinks too much like the Capitol for that

ETA: Like. He's definitely a hero and what's left of district 12 owes their lives to him AND there's no guarantee that under Coin's government he would have turned to horrible things... But he showed a knack for it and for coming up with ideas that were ultimately very similar to the way Gamemakers think and that's too opposed to how Katniss looks at thing for them to work, Peeta or no Peeta

[angrycommiedyke]

Katniss kills only in defense

One thing that striked me reading the first book was Katniss mentions several times she could kill some of the tributes, but then…She just doesn’t.

First, it happens when a tribute lights a fire beneath the tree she’s sleeping and hiding in. 

She states it herself : “my instinct has been to flee, not fight”, before explaining that she may do an exception and kill her (without actually ever saying these words) but ONLY because with the fire she’s making at night, she puts not just herself but Katniss as well in danger. 

But then, she waits for “the next couple of hours really thinking” that she won’t have “the least problem taking out [her] new neighbor”. That’s the thing : she’s really thinking yes, and thinking is the only thing she does about it. 

Now even though she says she devises this tribute’s death, look at the full sentence : it’s almost dawn (DAWN!!) and she says “We might actually have gone unnoticed”. Katniss had the whole night to do it, and didn’t act. Then the careers show up so I guess we’ll never know (we do) if Katniss was going to kill her eventually or not. 

Later, after Katniss just blew up the supplies, she sees Foxface and hesitates to make her an ally. When she suspects this alliance might get her “a knife in the back”, she thinks about killing her. And again, she doesn’t. The reason ? Well, “[Foxface] has heard something, not me, because her head turns away, toward the drop-off, and she sprints for the woods”. 

Katniss had some opportunities to eliminate other tributes but she always had a good reason, a (lucky ?) coïncidence that made her not do it. And we know her reluctance to kill is still very present in the QQ, when she doesn’t want to know her opponents better because it’s going to make it harder to kill them later on. Except I think this time she’s more aware of it, because in the first arena, it’s like she’s lying to herself idk, like “yea I could kill them, I could, just now, I’ve got a clear shot and it’s for the best, they’re dangerous and…oh...well, they ran off I guess it’s too late…”

[ringtoned]

suzanne collins is such a genius... the cultural phenomenon of her series leading to the hanging tree house remixes, mockingjay being milked for two (bad) movies, the capitol-inspired makeup palettes, the halloween costumes, the explosion of the market for dystopia, the butchering of her characters and removal of disabilities, disfiguration, and racial tension + representation to sell more tickets, the extra gale scenes to fuel discourse, and the audience showing up to cinemas to watch what was pretty honestly marketed to them (the jacob vs edwardification of the symbolic love story and also to watch children fight to the death) it's just so ridiculously ironic i would say you can't write this shit, but she did write about it... in The Hunger Games published 2008

[nunyabznsbabes]

Katniss is like Lucy Gray this, Katniss is like Sejanus that, and yes fine that's all good and true and lovely but Katniss Everdeen is also a direct parallel to Coriolanus Snow and people NEED to start talking about this because it's driving me crazy.

Think about it: they both grew up poor and deeply vulnerable, losing parents at a very young age, with a matriarchal adult (Katniss' mother and Coriolanus' Grandma'am) who fails to provide for them emotionally and physically. They intimately understand the threat of starvation, even developing with stunted growth because of it, and their narrations in the books share a fixation on food. Throughout their childhoods, both experienced constant fear and suffered a fundamental lack of control over their circumstances. Because of this, they're inherently suspicious of the people around them. They resent feeling indebted to others, especially those who have saved their lives. They're motivated almost entirely by family and deeply connected to their communities. Both are used and manipulated by the Capitol, both are forced to perform to survive and despise every inch of it, both are thrown into the Arena and made to kill. Both have a self-sacrificial, genuinely sweet sister figure acting as their conscience. Peeta and Lucy Gray - performers and love interests with a fundamental kindness and sense of hope about them - fulfill markedly similar roles in their narrative. Both contribute to the development of the future Hunger Games, Snow throughout tbosas and Katniss towards the end of Mockingjay.

It's easy to ignore these similarities because, as mirrors of each other, they are exact opposites. Katniss is from District 12, viewed and treated as less than human; Snow is the cream of the Capitol crop, given the privilege of a name with social weight, an ancestral home, and the opportunity of the Academy despite having no more money than a miner from 12. Katniss has no agency over her life, and responds by being kind whenever she's able, while Snow justifies horrendous evils in order to continue his quest for complete control. Katniss does everything she can to protect her family; Snow does everything he can to protect his family's image as an extension of his own ego. Katniss loves her District and connects with its inhabitants on a meaningful level, but Snow is indifferent at best to his peers - the apparent "superior people" - and only engages with his community for personal gain. Katniss emerges from the Arena horrified at herself and the system, but Snow takes his trauma and turns it into an excuse to perpetuate the violence with himself at the top. Katniss cares for Prim until her death and then snaps at the loss of her little sister, while Snow survives on Tigris' blood, sweat, and tears and then torments and abandons her, presumably because she calls him out on his insanity. Snow actively adds to and popularizes the Hunger Games because of his vendetta against the Districts following his childhood wartime trauma - Katniss briefly agrees to a new Hunger Games in the pursuit of vengeance, but later stops them from happening by killing Coin and choosing a life of peace and privacy. Snow is obsessed with revenge, but Katniss empathizes with the Capitolites and does what she can to keep them from suffering. He exists in a cruel system and selfishly upholds it; she exists in a cruel system and works to dismantle it for the good of her family and community, at great personal cost. And Peeta and Lucy Gray are incredibly similar, but Katniss and Peeta forge a relationship of genuine love and understanding that shines in comparison to Coriolanus' obsessive projection onto Lucy Gray.

So, yeah, Katniss is Lucy Gray haunting Coriolanus. But I bet you anything that eighty-something year old President Snow looks at her, the girl on fire, bright and young and brilliant, emerging from a childhood of starvation with a relentless hunger for success, a talented and charming performer helping her win the Games, and he sees the ghost of his own past. And that's why he's so afraid of her! Because if he sees himself in her, then he's up against his own cunning, his own talent for manipulation, his own charisma, his own genius. He's up against the version of himself that he once wished to be, with the nightmare army of his childhood at her back and her star-crossed lover at her side, spewing Sejanus' truths in his own voice. This isn't to say that Katniss ever achieved the level of power and agency that Coriolanus did during her time with the rebellion, but it is to say that Snow was taken down by what truly terrified him - his own morality, come to finish the job.

[peetapiepita]

Something a lot of people don't realise is that Katniss likes Peeta as a person.

That plays a far bigger part in her wanting to spend her life with him than his undying love for her. It's not like how Gale imagined it or some readers interpret it to be, that Katniss loves Peeta because of how much he loves her and is devoted to her.

For a long time, Peeta's undying love for her only made her feel guilty because she thought she couldn't give him what he wanted, which we know is completely false, but she got it in her head.

She assumed Peeta wanted children and never bothered to ask. She assumed Peeta wanted her undying love as well and thought she didn't harbor that feeling for him. Both were wrong, but the point is that Peeta "simping" for her did nothing for him to win her over.

She wants to be with Peeta because they always get along from the moment they're put together. They enjoy each other's company and have intellectual and deep conversations. They didn't even realize how soul-searching it was when they talked about wanting to die as their true selves on the roof before the first game. But they've been like that from day one.

Katniss had been spending a lot more time with Gale by that point, but they had never talked about something that deep. That's part of the reason their relationship starts falling apart the moment they need to align their morals. They never talked about it, period.

Katniss and Peeta are compatible in morals, ideals, and even humor. They can laugh together in a deadly game. They can tease each other in any circumstances. That's what makes their relationship enjoyable. That's why they'd still end up together even if the games never happened. I stand by that.

[xplore-the-unknwn]

"Who needed wealth and success and power when they had love? Didn't it conquer all?" -Coriolanus Snow

Yup. That's it. That's the end of their story. No need to turn the other pages that's the end of the book. Coriolanus Snow finally learned all the right lessons. They lived happily ever after. (in denial)

After watching this franchise and reading the books- I just love that Katniss and Peeta at the last scene of the series are in the meadow living their lives peacefully, the very SAME meadow where Snow once considered "Didn't Love conquer all?".

It did.

[briarlovesclara]

Ok i personally like it? She's fairly neutral about it through the series. The only reason she swears to never have them is because it would put them in danger, especially when her future is with Peeta. I just reread Catching Fire and her thoughts about a rigged reaping for a double victor child is very terrifying for her!

She also has a line falling asleep in the 75th games on the beach where she dreams of a meadow like in the song she sang to Rue, where "Peeta's child could be safe".

Taking all of that into consideration, I think the symbolism of her finding that meadow where their child is safe is fantastic in showing not telling their development. I know some people are iffy about the idea that Peeta forced her, but I interpret it more as him helping her heal and her willing once again to do something scary for him that she also wants or is at least open to (it never says he pressures her just that his want swayed her somewhat).

Anyways. Approved 👍

right ok so now that I’ve plunged headfirst back into my hunger games obsession I need to read the takes on the books ending with Katniss having children. I know y’all have feelings. I know there’s deep metaphors and symbolisms. Give me them.

[loungemermaid]

Saying Peeta “will never love Katniss the same way” is ableist and I shouldn’t have to elaborate but I will.

1). Of course he doesn’t love her the same way. He fell in love with her as a child. As they grew up, he (probably) held onto an idealized view of her, as he only got to love her from afar. But, over all their time together in catching fire, their first growing together, he got to know her as a real person. Doubly so after their second growing together after mockingjay. He doesn’t love her in the puppy love innocence of childhood anymore, nor is it in the burning crush way of teenage love. When he falls back in love and works through the hallucinations and delusions, it’s a much more holistic picture of Katniss. I don’t love my wife the same way I did nearly 9 years ago when we first met. It’s deeper, richer, and altogether more than it was in the beginning, as it should be.

2). Whatever Peeta’s condition post-hijacking would be labeled by a psychiatrist is neither here nor there, and I’m not a psychiatrist so I cannot say, but based on the information we have and some of my research, it’s a form of substance induced psychosis. Tracker jacker venom is a hallucinogen, deliberately designed to fuck with you and cause bad trips. Psychedelics can trigger psychosis and can unlock schizophrenia. Whether Peeta would’ve developed something like schizophrenia or borderline personality disorder or any number of other things without the hijacking, this is where he is after mockingjay. He does not have amnesia. His memory wasn’t wiped like Bucky in the winter soldier. Katniss tells us he’s more or less back to normal, just sometimes has flashbacks/hallucinations/delusions that make him grip a chair. Honestly, considering everything, pretty damn good.

3)He’s changed. Fundamentally changed. War and love both will do that to a person. But to say he’s not himself, that he’ll never be himself, is ableist. Saying people with ““scary”” mental illnesses cannot fully love as purely as someone without those illnesses is ableism, and yeah, this is a book, but people with these illnesses exist in the real world. Peeta is disabled, and he acquired disability, he was not born with disability. That changes you, of course it does. But saying that he’s lost himself permanently isn’t only explicitly going against the text of the book but also telling all the disabled people in your life and on the internet that they’re a shadow of their former selves. That they’re ruined and broken.

Peeta isn’t ruined or broken or too damaged to love and be loved. He’s just different. And that’s okay. He’s still the same person. He’s the person Katniss fell in love with. He’s her dandelion, the boy with the bread, and the father of her children. Do you honestly think that Katniss would settle? If Peeta didn’t love her back, do you think she’d have children with him?

Think about the people in your own life. If they developed mental illness, would you really love them less? Would you constantly doubt their own love for you? If you wouldn’t, why do you doubt Peeta? And if you would, you need to look inward and ask yourself why.

[timeturnerz]

The Hunger Games, 2012 (Gary Ross) and The Hunger Games, 2008 (Suzanne Collins)

It's so interesting that, from the very beginning, Gale is established as someone who has a disregard for human life, and who does not truly view those different from him as "people." We see this here, where he dehumanises the children Katniss will have to fight in the Games. We see this in Gale's vocal resentment of Madge Undersee, in how he despises her for the privilege she was born with and grew up with.

This "us vs. them" infighting and mentality that Gale falls for (a mentality that the Capitol propagates, and that the Games act as a metaphor for) is one that eventually leads him to kill innocent children.

This thinking is also something Katniss must learn to break out of -- when she grapples with killing her opponents in the Games, who are truly just children, or when she realises "who the real enemy is" at the end of Catching Fire.

But Gale is unable to grow past this. He's willing to kill children (!) who are innocents, who haven't committed any crime other than being born in the wrong place at the wrong time -- just like Madge, who Gale despised in Book 1.

And Gale obviously DOES feel bad about "killing" Prim. But what's worse is the thought that, if it wasn't Prim who died, if it was just some random faceless people, would Gale still care?

I think Gale is a really interesting character whose development is so tragic yet still makes so much sense. It's a shame to see people write him off so quickly without seeing the analytical, thematic, and political value that we can gain by exploring his story and ideology.

[crazyaboutto]

I wanted to make a proper post about Katniss' crush on Peeta before, during and after the games after reblogging that post. So getting my screenshots from there and adding some more

Had to divide thg and sequels for how long the post had become.

Before starting, I must say I love how Suzanne Collins writes the teen characters as teens instead of being mature for their ages or acting like they are in their mid 20s/30s. This is how I'd imagine a teenager, who had to grow up in dystopian AU and has only survival in her mind, deal with emotions.

Evidence for Katniss' crush on Peeta in The Hunger Games

Let's start with Katniss' reaction to Peeta being reaped:

Katniss associating Peeta with spring and dandelion:

Katniss noticing things about him in the past Part 1

Katniss noticing things about him in present Part 2:

Katniss getting immediately defensive when Haymitch strikes Peeta:

She finds comfort in Peeta and more importantly, he feels safe for her Part 1:

Katniss blushes upon receiving compliment from Peeta:

Katniss hasn't been talking to Peeta for a long time, yet she feel he's safe enough to reveal a secret like this Part 2:

Katniss noticing Peeta and keeping track of him part 3

Katniss getting very defensive about Peeta suggesting she has a boyfriend:

Katniss blushing when she hears Peeta having a crush on her even though she quickly thinks he was lying:

Katniss finding comfort and safety with Peeta once again:

Katniss feels stirring in her when they kiss whilst being fully aware, and wants another kiss:

He makes her feel safe Part 3:

She kisses him for herself, not for audience:

The implication of Peeta dying has Katniss shook:

Even though they haven't been talking for a long time and she had had doubts about him, Katniss trusts Peeta with her life. Their backs turned each other, no way they can know if the other will actually go through with the plan. Yet they still trust each other. We know how hard it is for Katniss to open up and trust someone, but she does for Peeta for her own life:

[mswyrr]

[starrrbakerrr]

Katniss describing Peeta:

“Medium height, stocky build, ashy blonde hair that falls in waves over his forehead.”

“For the first time, I look at him and realize that ablaze with the fake flames, he is dazzling.”

“He looks so clean and healthy and beautiful.”

“Then Peeta’s there looking handsome in red and white, pulling me off to the side.”

“I like to watch his hands as he works, making a blank page bloom with strokes of ink…”

“I also become a little fixated on his eyelashes, which ordinarily you don’t notice because they’re so blonde. But up close, in the sunlight slanting in from the window, they’re a light golden color and so long I don’t see how they keep from getting all tangled up when he blinks.” (girl you’re obsessed)

“My eyes travel up to where the flames licked across his forehead, singeing away his brows but just missing his eyes. Those same blue eyes that used to meet mine and then flit away at school. Just as they do now.”

Katniss describing Gale:

“Gale does look striking in the uniform, I guess.”

[tetheredfeathers]

The beach kiss as an act of defiance.

The beach kiss is not only a pivotal moment in Katniss and Peeta’s relationship but also a significant turning point for the entire nation.

Totalitarian governments, like President Snow’s regime, often seek to suppress love and hope because these emotions have the power to inspire resistance and undermine authority. In George Orwell’s 1984, romantic love is similarly suppressed to maintain control over citizens. Love is a threat to such regimes because it redirects loyalty away from the state and towards one another.

When Katniss accepts her love for Peeta on her own terms, she subverts the Capitol’s carefully constructed narrative. The Hunger Games are designed to be a spectacle that instills fear and reinforces the Capitol’s power. The tributes are meant to be mere pawns in a deadly game, stripped of their humanity and reduced to savagery. But Katniss and Peeta refuse to conform to these roles, instead displaying love and solidarity in the face of death. To the people of Panem, they become more than just a couple; they embody a symbol of resistance and a reminder of human dignity. Snow has orchestrated the Games to portray the tributes as brutal and emotionless, but the tenderness between Katniss and Peeta disrupts this narrative. For the districts, this display of affection might be affirming, but for the Capitol elites—who are indoctrinated to view the districts as barbaric—it’s a moment that forces them to confront the humanity of those they’ve been taught to despise.

The kiss also represents a profound act of love and sacrifice. Katniss and Peeta are willing to embrace death for each other’s sake, a selflessness that is especially striking for Katniss, who has a family depending on her. Katniss’s choice to prioritize Peeta over her sister Prim—who has been her driving motivation—reveals the depth of her love for Peeta. Despite Prim being being 'the only person she's certain to have ever loved' she still chooses Peeta. Despite Prim being the very reason for her entry in the games, she now chooses to die for Peeta. This moment is astonishing to the audience, as Katniss dismisses Peeta’s plea with his locket, saying, “I need you.” Their decision to choose each other over the Capitol’s imposed narrative fundamentally undermines the premise of the Quarter Quell: that even the strongest cannot resist the Capitol’s power. Regardless of whether they survive, Katniss and Peeta have already won a moral victory by sparking rebellion and prioritizing love over fear. Their unity directly challenges the Capitol’s divide-and-conquer strategy, making them symbols of defiance and hope.

[hrpayo01]

Katniss' love for Peeta has taught her to understand and forgive her mother for emotionally abandoning them when her father died.

Katniss has always resented her mother for disappearing, leaving them to starve in her grief. And she has all the right to think, and feel that. She was eleven and selling baby clothes in the rain, about die of starvation. She was signing up for tessarae the minute she was qualified. She was hunting in the woods as a child. She was pushed into immense responsibility because her mother no longer had the will to live--despite her and Prim still being alive. She believed that relationship was severed and she saw her mom as weak, incompetent, and unloving.

But she became her mother when she was separated from Peeta. She, point blank, said she lost the will to live. Even if Prim was still there, and her mother, and Gale, and the country was relying on her to get them through a revolution.

She talked about how she never understood why people stay and watch their loved ones die on the table instead of going away...she did that with Peeta at the end of the first games.

She said that if she know for sure that Peeta was dead, she would just disappear in the woods and never look back. She was also willing to abandon them.

It's slowly sinking in but it was such and important detail how, after she saw Peeta return to district 12 in the last chapter, one of the first things she did was call her mother. Process her grief with someone else, made sure she wasn't alone. Because that's probably when it all clicked for her: Peeta came back, her father could not. She suffered like her mother, but not cometely like her mother.

She said the reason why she hasn't taken her own life back at 12 was because she was waiting for something. Peeta, like he always has, was giving her hope. Her mother did not have that. Nor did she have anyone to share that grief with. No family, no friends, and her children were too young.

When Peeta came back, Katniss realized that she just went through what her mom went through but with a better ending. She understood and felt what it was like to paralyzed with grief despite people relying on you... When Peeta came back, Katniss was ready to heal. Katniss was ready to forgive, not just her mother, but also herself.

[peetapiepita]

Snow not believing Katniss was in love with Peeta is actually part of his character

Thinking back, Katniss' actions after the first game were as convincing as they can be when you don't see her inner monologue. She was only saying she was acting because she wasn't able to process her own feelings and Haymitch pretty much told her, "You're acting, girl, keep acting if you don't wanna get killed." That again put a strain on her and further complicated her feelings.

But if you think about it, she was banging on the door of the operation room when Peeta was being treated, acting hysterical; she kissed him for 10 minutes straight on stage and she was kind of into it; she was so upset about Peeta losing his leg that she cried on stage and hid her face in his shirt to the point HE had to console her about it; she was pretty much sitting in his lap throughout the whole interview.

That looks like a girl madly in love to me. Like, when did she ever give anyone any hint that it was fake? It was all in her head.

Still, Snow was convinced no one would love another person so much they'd rather die with them. Because he didn't think like that and he can't comprehend why someone would think like that.

I'm also wondering why Snow didn't assume Peeta was lying, too. We as readers know Peeta actually lies more than Katniss does and is good at it. Snow probably thought he was just someone waiting to be saved or something. Everyone underestimates Peeta as per usual. That's a topic for another day.

[xplore-the-unknwn]

There’s an ongoing joke that this random man punching Snow is Katniss’ grandfather. It’s so hilarious that I choose to believe it is CANON.

It’s true. It’s all connected. 🤓👆

It’s a joke where the punchline is delivered first and Katniss is the one that ends it.