#also i feel like mentioning cinna and prim from the hunger games

[brutalpipemurdr]

when characters die Suddenly , Unexpectedly and Intstantly and their companion(s) have to keep going instantly after they die because of the dangers giving them no time to mourn ? Heartbreaking . i eat that shit up . and it makes me sob .

[katnissmellarkkk]

Okayyyy chappy seven 🤩 Here we goooo 🥳

Lord, Katniss always had nightmares 😭 even before the games, between her father’s death, her mother’s abandonment and the other traumatizing things she saw in her life, my girl never slept peacefully a day in her life 🥺.

She even indicates that she sometimes has nightmares about past hunger games 😭😭😭. Someone protect my smol child. Please. Someone.... Someone? Anyone? No? Okay 🥺

“I bolt up screaming for my father to run as the mine explodes into a million deadly bits of light.” This is such a powerful image and it really does show that Katniss has literally envisioned all the gory details of her father’s death for the last four years. This is so sad 😞

Also though. Katniss really doesn’t talk much about her father’s death after the first book and definitely doesn’t describe nightmares about it. So .... like basically, the games traumatized her so badly that, her father failing to escape the mines as the collapsed in on him, crushing him into the pits of despair, the possibility of rescuing his corpse deemed unimaginable, pales in comparison? Yes I just tried and failed to phrase that long run on sentence the way Katniss phrases her nightmares about her dad dying, yes that was over the top but you know what? So. Is. Katniss.

“Dawn is breaking through the windows” Twilight reference 😬😬😬. I couldn’t stop myself, y’all. Forgive for please.

“The Capitol has a misty, haunted air.” Katniss, you’re from the butthole of Kentucky, the air you’re used to is probably humid as all get out 😓😓💦😅😅

“I must have bitten into the side of my cheek in the night. My tongue probes the ragged flesh and I taste blood.” 😒😒😒😒 this feeling ..... is .... v v v .... distinct .... and .... familiar 😕🙁☹️

“I end up hopping from foot to foot as alternating jets of icy cold and steaming hot water assault me.” Why is this so funny omg 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂😂😅😅😅😅😅 Katniss is just like pressing buttons like, “Ah! Too cold! 🥶 Ah! Too hot! 🥵 Ah!!!!!” All while jumping like a .... cat 🐱🥁

Lemon foam? 🍋 Whatever. I guess there’s weirder flavors of soap we have today but like where’s the Philosophy flavors that give recipes on the bottles??? Surely they’d survive an apocalypse??? Everyone uses those???

I’m so glad Katniss didn’t forget to moisturize, even as she prepares for a death match 😅😅😅😅 even if it’s just as simple as pressing a single button, why is she even taking the time to press it?

I know, I know. She just wants to make sure her skin is so smooth for the arena that the knives and arrows just slide right off 🤣🤣🤣🤣

“This is the first time since the morning of the reaping that I resemble myself.” Lolololol which means Mr. Romantic is gonna be even more turned on by the sight of ya, since he’s crushed on you looking like this for the last decade of his life ��😎🤗💁🏼‍♀️. Peeta ain’t even here yet and I’m already making the shipper comments Samantha calm down 🙄😶😑🤐🤐🤐🤐🤐🤐

Seriously there where is Peeta? Did he also have to figure out the temperature controls in the shower? Did he also moisturize? I miss him I wanna know about his morning too 😔. Katty, is it too much to ask for you to go take a lil ... sneak peek into his room for me? 😏😏😏

Twenty dishes seems like a lot for like four people eating? Eh, maybe six people, if we count the stylists who magically pick and choose when they’re coming to a meal... Hmm, I’ll calculate just so no one else has to. 🤓😬🤗 No one else cares, Samantha. 🤐🥱😴😶 Twenty dishes amounts out to about five plates without the stylists and three and a half-ish with so.... idk it’s not that much food I guess but it seems like a lot for one meal, esp if people in the Capitol intend to keep their trim figures. This is why that one prep team girl is chubby. 🤐🤐🤐

Awww Katniss copying Peeta’s weird lil eating quirks 🤗😎🥳. She’s already taking interest in him, she just don’t realize it yet 💁🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️ shipper comment alert 🚨🚨

But also has anyone actually tried dipping bread on hot chocolate and was it good or does it taste as repulsive as it sounds to me? I hate it when my food even so much as dares to touch though 🤢😡😤😓

Oooo I always forget Prim has to be utilizing her goat, milking the thing every day until it’s dry I’m not a farmer idk how milking animals works ... so she contributes more than I give her credit I suppose.... I’m making an effort for you, Primmers. You seem useless and immature but I’m trying. 😪😶 Taylor Swift voice 🎶 *this is me trying* 🎶

Oh wow it was only two mornings ago? Man. The first book is slow moving. 😅😭 six chapters in and we’ve gotten through one point five days 🤣

“It makes me irritated that Peeta is wearing exactly the same outfit I am.” “Listen, Peeta, one of us has to change, this is getting embarrassing, you have to stop borrowing my clothes!”

“This twins act is going to blow up in out faces once the Games begin.” Ahhaahahahaha blow up 💥 💣 🔥. Get it, get it. 🥁 Because she represents fire. And she also blows things up in Every. Single. Book.

But seriously, did Cinna and Portia and Haymitch all plan on presenting Katniss and Peeta are like, tight friends or whatever, and then Peeta is like “oh b-tee-dubs, I have a massive crush on K-dog” and they just decided it perfectly fit into their plans?

I’m so jealous that their breakfast has bread baskets 😩😩😩 I know they’re headed to the slaughter but still. Bread.

if you like, I'll coach you separately. Decide now." "Why would you coach us separately?" In case one of you ... not naming names .... Peeta .... wants to reveal your lifelong crush on live television 😎😎😎

Also Haymitch is like “make an important decision but take zero time to consider it, I’m tired and hungover, kids, idc for your drama 😒”

Which as an auntie to a wonderful little two year old ... is v relatable 😅🥲🙃🤭

“And I already know what yours is, right? I mean, I've eaten enough of your squirrels." I wanna make a dirty joke here so badly but the lord himself is saying no.

“Town families usually eat expensive butcher meat. Beef and chicken and horse.” Ohhh this is interesting. Katniss believing Peeta and the other merchants live high on the hog while Peeta is later is like “I eat expired bread for every meal, Katniss” I mean, better than starving like her, but also not how she’s painting the picture in her mind. 😶😭

Also Katniss never mentions horses in Twelve, where’s the butcher getting horses from to slaughter and sell? That’s why Katniss never sees them, Samantha, duh 🙄

“I can't do anything. Unless you count baking bread.” "Sorry, I don't.” This was such a quick and matter of fact brush off, poor Peeta 😭😭😭 my baby I’m still rooting for you don’t worry you got this

Also. Lowkey, highkey, that tiny exchange triggered me. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭. Those awkward moments where people brush me off or glance over me live in my head. Rent free. For life.

I wonder sometimes often times if Katniss’ father and Gale’s father knew each other? Both hunted and worked in the mines. Just a random sidebar 😅🤭🤐🙃

“She’s excellent” He’s so proud of his wife 🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧

So uh.... is it safe to say Mr. Mellark is an Everlark fan? If he likes and admires Katniss and Peeta and him apparently have some kind of close-ish bond (okay, maybe not but maybe) then perhaps he is carrying the shipper banner back in Twelve for them 🥳🥳😎😎

Katniss, you dingaling, of course he noticed you 🙄🙄🙄

Peeta compliments her and her instant reaction is “what are you doing, weirdo?” 😅😭

“Don’t underrate yourself” Peeta, love of my life, take your own advise. Stupid. 😪😪😪

“I've seen you in the market. You can lift hundred-pound bags of flour” Katniss in the market, staring across the way at Peeta, 👁👄👁, watching him lift flour over his shoulder.

“He came in second in our school competition last year, only after his brother." This is criminally undiscussed. Peeta being a wrestler alone is undiscussed but also.... did you go to his matches, Katniss? Miss Anti-Social, Hunting-First-Everything-Else-Later? 😏😏😏 If this ain’t proof of her lil crush idk what is

“All you need is to come up with a knife, and you'll at least stand a chance.” “You'll be living up in some tree eating raw squirrels and picking off people with arrows.” Does no one else realize that Katniss and Peeta literally took the other’s advise for the first part of the games? How did Peeta get in with the Careers? The way she just said. Where is Katniss when Peeta and the Careers discover her? High up in a tree. Okay, this maybe didn’t compute right but I had a thought here so I said it

Peeta’s mother is just a monster. Who says that crap? 😔😔😔 don’t worry, baby, I’m rooting for you

“She said, 'She's a survivor, that one.' She is” Yeah, she is, no thanks to you, Mrs. Mellark 😤. Stingy ho.

Peeta’s got pain in his eyes 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Awww, Katniss accrediting her survival to Peeta’s help 😭😭😭😭. This is so pure. Also kiss now, you little freaks.

“She has no idea. The effect she can have.” This is such an iconic line... but the can has always had me laughing. She can have an effect, if she really wants to. Or not, depending on the day.

Katniss is so stupid, how did she construe that as an insult??? 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️ y’all ever just wanna smack her into a wall?

“In public, I want you by each other's side every minute” If Peeta didn’t have a long life crush, what was the ultimate plan with all this friendship act they’re being forced into? 🤔🤔🤔

Even Peeta’s trying to object to it 😭😭😭😭

“You will be together, you will appear amiable to each other.” You will fall in love. 🤩🥳😎

“I bite my lip and stalk back to my room, making sure Peeta can hear the door slam.” Okay, now imagine how much she’s hurting his feelings right now 😖😣 what a little brat

“But that didn't mean I wanted to do everything with Peeta. Who, by the way, clearly doesn't want to be partnering up with me, either.” Lolololololololol this is so funny in hindsight 🤣🤣🤣. Also if you showed a little enthusiasm, Peeta would probably be happy to partner with you.

“But a tiny part of me wonders if this was a compliment. That he meant I was appealing in some way.” No, really, Katniss? A compliment? Who’d give you one of those? 🙄🙄🙄

“It's weird, how much he's noticed me. Like the attention he's paid to my hunting.” A normal person at this point would put together a crush 😅

“And apparently, I have not been as oblivious to him as I imagined, either. [...] I have kept track of the boy with the bread.” Anddd a normal person would figure out their own crush at this point 😅😅.

“I do a quick assessment. Peeta and I are the only two dressed alike.” We stan a matching couple in this house 😎😏

“Almost all of the boys and at least half of the girls are bigger than I am” That means 18 out of 24 tributes tower over my girl here. Smol Katniss. The movies did such erasure on this front I’m still bitter 🤐😒😤😩

“I may be smaller naturally, but overall my family's resourcefulness has given me an edge in that area.” Just a tiny muscular thing standing next to a bunch of tall, lanky kids. 🥰🥰🥰🥰

Awww “Each [Career tribute] must have fifty to a hundred pounds on me.” I mean ... let’s calculate. A muscular girl would probably weigh like 150 pounds... so basically Katniss is at most, 100 pounds. Tiny Katty.

“I'm thinking that it's lucky I'm a fast runner when Peeta nudges my arm and I jump.” This is a random, cute interaction 😍😍😍. Shipper blinders are on and tight.

“Suppose we tie some knots.” “Right you are.” I legitimately just scratched my face, who says right you are? An 87 year old man, that’s who 😅😅😅. Not turning your girl on very well, Peeta baby.

Although it does sound a bit like a backwoods southern thing soooo.... hillbilly Everlark nation rise. 🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🏼‍♀️

“We concentrate on this one skill for an hour until both of us have mastered it.” Awww, so Peeta knows how to tie a snare? He’s not as clueless as half the fandom acts.

How exactly is frosting cakes equating to amazing camouflager in a death match? Books crack me up with these connections. “I’m an amazing artist because I write birthday cards!”

Lolololol Prim admiring her future brother-in-law’s handiwork 🥰🥰🥰🥰 too bad she dies before they can get together for real for real.

“Somehow the whole thing - his skill, those inaccessible cakes, the praise of the camouflage expert - annoys me.” Dude, you get praised by everyone and their brother while Peeta gets overlooked, give him a moment to shine. 😑🙄 jealous wife much?

Also she’s already picking up on Peeta’s eye for beauty 😅😅😅

“It's lovely. If only you could frost someone to death.” "Don't be so superior. You can never tell what you'll find in the arena. Say it's actually a gigantic cake-“ "Say we move on.” She’s such a little snot. 😒😒😒

But also I love that already in this point of their relationship, Peeta is noticing when she’s being a brat 😭😂😅. “Don’t be so superior.”

“Despite Haymitch's order to appear mediocre, Peeta excels in hand-to-hand combat, and I sweep the edible plants test without blinking an eye.” Lolololol their mentor’s advise went into one ear and right out the other 😂😅🤣.

But also why did the movie make a point in adding an extra scene of Peeta looking weak and the Careers staring at him? That literally took up time and served no purpose at all. 😤😤😤 I’m coming for you, Gary Ross

Awww, everyone but the careers eat alone. But Katniss and Peeta eat together 🥺🥺🥺. It’s like a forced first date 🥳🥳🥳

I like how Katniss says they include bread from every district but she then proceeds to only mention the two districts that later have relevant tributes. 😅😅😅

Lolololol their fake friendship “laugh ... now! Okay, I’ll smile, try to say something interesting”

“Ever since I slammed my door, there's been a chill in the air between us.” Well yeah, you probably hurt his feelings 🥺🥺🥺

Umm, Katniss just casually drops that she was chased by a bear.... how did homegirl live? 😬😳

Peeta knowing Rue’s name and being the one to take notice of her first 🥺🥺🥺. If the games had come down to Katniss, Peeta and Rue, y’all know Everlark would have swallowed the berries and gotten Rue home. 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

“Don't. Don't let's pretend when there's no one around.” "All right, Katniss.” He made a single comment to you, ding dong. He didn’t ask for a goodnight kiss 🙄🙄🙄.

Also anyone ever think of how lonely Peeta’s life must be? He’s not close to his family that we can see, Delly’s his only real friend, after he wins he lives in that huge house all alone... I feel sad now. I did this to myself. 😬😭🥺

Katniss’ “Oh! The weapons!” When she sees the bows and arrows is so cute 🥰🥰🥰

Katniss has such a rage built up inside of her. Let it out, girlfriend

See, I’d have done this too but in my rage, I’d probably have shot a real person and not the pig ... goodbye, Plutarch 👋🏻

Andddd I think that’s all for this chapter! Sorry my comments weren’t as interesting as usual 😬.

[phobidawg]

The Archer

I wrote this a little while ago, but thought I might as well post it. It’s an angsty-with-a-sweet-ending song fic for Katniss with the song “The Archer” by Taylor Swift. I’d recommend listening to the song while/before/after you read! Spoilers for Mockingjay. Also some Everlark. 

TW: Mentions of death, anxiety, and survivor’s guilt

(idk if the last two are proper triggers but I put them anyways)

Word Count- 1286

The bow is heavy in my hands. Since the war, I keep it with me at all times. Even the times when I feel safe. 

Combat, I'm ready for combat.

I I pull the bow string, the grip familiar. The unexpected is never expected, but I can only prepare. One never knows when the worst can happen.

I say I don't want that, but what if I do?

I catch myself aiming at a picture on the mantle. Pulling the string back, I eye my target. Shame fills me as I avoid the blue eyes of the girl in the picture. How horrified she would’ve been at these broken parts. Of me. 

'Cause cruelty, wins in the movies...

Her eyes only bring memories- memories of her death. The screams and fire of the bombings fills my senses. Cowering,My heart catches, and I grimace as I sink too the ground. 

I've got a hundred thrown-out speeches I almost said to you.

In my mind, my eyes see her bluebell ones again. Bright and alive. Her name is born and dies on my lips. Everything I wanted to say. All of my love, my dreams, my hopes for our future- 

Gone. 

Easy they come, easy they go,

Gone. Gone like so many others. Their faces haunt me. Prim. Finnick. Mags. Cinna. All of them and so many more. They seem to fall out of my life as soon as they flit in. 

I jump from the train, I ride off alone..

I shiver, as loneliness crawls like disease on my skin. A familiar feeling. One that that was briefly quenched in the short time they were with me. But now they’ve left me- alone. Or did I leave them?

I never grew up, it's getting so old,

I feel the same as I did as a child. But even then I had Gale. Now even he’s left me behind. Just as when I was a young girl, friendless and terrified, trying to support my family. All by myself. 

Help me hold onto you...

I look to the mantel again, and my eyes settle on a different photo. 

One taken after the war, of Peeta and I. 

Laughing. 

His joy and light fills the picture like it fills any room he’s in. I smile to myself, before her blue eyes catch mine again.

I've been the archer,

Guilt floods through me, and sobering, I grip my bow, longing for a physical enemy.

I've been the prey...

But the only enemy is my mind.

Who could ever leave me, darling?

Faces I loved swirl around me. My sister, my mother. Gale, my first friend. Madge, my second. Mags, who died for us. Finnick, who stood with me in my darkest times and brought light. Cinna, who supported me before anyone else did. And so many more. The sparks of their spirits fill me, and I smile in memory. A wave of anxiety crashed over me, and I buckle. 

But who could stay?

As soon as they appear, the images are gone, leaving me only with ashes. 

Dark side, I search for your dark side, 

Every room she walked into was brightened. A star she was, one that burned away too quickly.

But what if I'm alright, right, right, right here?

Bittersweet memories of my beloved sister fly. Window shopping for cakes. Dancing in the rain. Cooking stone soup. Hunting attempts. They bring a smile, but all the memories and framed in loss. 

And I cut off my nose just to spite my face,

But then, the overdue memory of the reaping comes. My volunteer.

Then I hate my reflection for years and years. 

 The decision that saved my sister, my country perhaps, but destroyed myself.

I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost.

In a fit of emotion, I jump to my feet, and begin to pace. 

The room is on fire, invisible smoke.

I walk fast to avoid the walls crashing upon me. Breathing hard, I squeeze my eyes shut. 

And all of my heroes die all alone, 

Shutting my eyes only makes me feel more alone. I force them open, but the reality I see isn’t any kinder.

Help me hold onto you. 

I glance at the picture of Peeta once more before curling into a ball.

I've been the archer,

The display of faces is joined not only by those I���ve loved, but those who’ve died at my hands. The nameless people of The Hunger Games and the war that ensued, innocents who stood in my way. 

I've been the prey. 

The faces are joined by the many who’ve hurt me. Those we wounded me physically, but mentally as well. 

Screaming, who could ever leave me, darling?

Next are the faces of the revolution. The rebels, who honored me as their indispensable Mockingjay. 

But who could stay?

The same rebels who embraced me as their martyr when the time seemed fit. 

(I see right through me, I see right through me)

The feathers, the smoke and mirrors- the grand Mockingjay. 

'Cause they see right through me.

Grand former leader of the revolution. 

They see right through me,

Scared teenage girl.

They see right through.

Broken.

Can you see right through me?

As broken as I am, I think of Peeta, who suffered torture at the Capital's hands. Who’s mind seemed beyond repair, yet he pursued. 

They see right through, 

Peeta, who is gardening.

They see right through me. 

Peeta, who is putting his pieces back together. 

I see right through me, 

Peeta, who doesn’t hole himself in his house and hide. Hide from the world that can be cruel. 

I see right through me!

And the world, that can also be beautiful. 

All the king's horses, all the king's men,

They all try to help me. The doctors, Haymitch, Effie, Peeta… 

Couldn't put me together again.

Medicines. Therapy. Sleep. 

'Cause all of my enemies started out friends,

What they don’t know, is that they scare me the most.

Because the ones who are kind, are the ones who hurt you the most when they leave. 

Help me hold onto you.

And yet, though the medicines and therapies were useless, there was always Peeta. Peeta, who can still my shaking with a touch, or clear my mind with a word. 

I've been the archer. 

However, with Peeta it’s difficult as well. Many times have I helped him, from physical enemy and his own mind.  

I've been the prey.

There have also been doubts. Doubts that he may never be able to put himself together again. 

Who could ever leave me, darling?

But through it all, he’s been protecting me. 

But who could stay?

And now, he could be the one to save my mind.

(I see right through me, I see right through me)

The fears threaten to force their ways to me. I hold them at bay, focusing on the photos of Peeta. 

Who could stay?

I lift myself up. 

Who could stay?

Take a small step towards the door. 

Who could stay?

I hear the door from downstairs opening. 

You could stay.

Racing from my fears, I run down the steps and to the entrance.  I see Peeta, and jump into his arms. 

You could stay.

He makes a sound of surprise, but spins me around nonetheless. I sink into his embrace, and I can sense his scattered pieces picking themselves up as well.

You. 

Peeta.

The Boy with the Bread.

The only one who has been on my side, no matter what.

Combat, I'm ready for combat

The one I would give my life to protect. 

Always. 

Perhaps these broken parts can be fixed after all. 

[queenlawrenceskingdom]

The Hunger Games: The Tributes

I recently returned to Tumblr, and with that decision came a thirst to return to the roots of the fandom that got me here in the first place. So here I am doing a reread of the entire thg series, along with some analysis, quotes, and questions along the way! I’ve decided to make posts for each of the three sections of each book, so here goes the first one.

The Tributes

At the beginning of this book, I think it’s only right that we start with Katniss talking about Prim. The entire series always comes back to it, because Katniss time and time again is working to protect her. Whether it be from bad dreams before her first reaping or the horrors later on, Katniss’ central motivator is her little sister. At times she seems to be a little too overprotective at great cost to herself, obviously by volunteering but also by refusing to let her take out tesserae. We meet Gale, and I’ve always wondered how he learned to snare and when he started going into the woods. Were their fathers friends, or did take their children to the woods separately? Did they ever intend to work together, or did they without the kids knowing?

The word “rebellion” is first stated on page 5, which is no accident on Suzanne Collins’ part. In the first 80 pages alone it’s mentioned 6 times, which is more than the rest of the book. She talks about the punishments of rebellion, the rebellion 74 years prior, and her thoughts when Haymitch remarks about how her at Peeta holding hands on the chariot could be seen as rebellious. From the start of the series, Katniss has been instigating rebellion even when she doesn’t mean to. Poaching, refusing children, volunteering for her sister (instead of the “honor”), shooting at the Gamemakers, showing solidarity with Peeta. I’m sure President Snow approves of none of that.

Before Katniss ever goes into the Games, I already have a sense of some mental health issues with her. It would be an easy diagnosis for her, a sudden death of her father, the sequential “loss” of her mother, and the responsibility of head of the household being thrust on her small 11-year-old shoulders. She is very doubtful of people who want to help her and finds it hard to understand how people can be kind and not expect anything in return. With this, she has a soft spot for kindness so maybe that’s why she doesn’t care for it much. I’m not an expert on mental health, but it wasn’t easy for her to take this in such a short amount of time, and there’s obviously some residual trauma she has to deal with. She talks about nightmares of her father’s death, is constantly worrying about anything and everything, and describes herself in negative ways. Some quotes to support my thoughts:

"Gale says I never smile except in the woods.” 

“I learned to hold my tongue and to turn my features into an indifferent mask so that no one could ever read my thoughts”

“I’m not the forgiving type.”

“[Peeta] gives my hand hat I think is meant to be a reassuring squeeze. Maybe it’s just a nervous spasm.”

“A kind Peeta Mellark is far more dangerous to me than an unkind one. Kind people have a way of working their way inside me and rooting there”

“He gives me a smile that seems so genuinely sweet with just the right touch of shyness that unexpected warmth rushes through me. A warning bell goes off in my head. Don’t be so stupid... He is luring you in to make you easy prey. The more likable he is, the more deadly he is.”

She has closed herself off so much and never seemed to have found healthy coping mechanisms. Sure she feels better out in the woods where she used to spend time with her father, but inside the fence she hasn’t found a way to be happy in her day-to-day life. This will only exaggerate after the Games.

Katniss’ friendship with Madge has always been strange to me. As the mayor’s daughter you’d think Madge would have been a part of the popular group in school, but she “keeps to herself... [and] neither of us really has a group of friends”. They eat lunch and partner in gym class in relative silence, which just seems awkward even if they are shy people. Madge is originally wearing the mockingjay pin when Katniss and Gale go to sell strawberries which to me marked her as an important character for the rest of the series. Madge’s absence in the films was a bummer because she has such an interesting and complex connection to the story that was lost when they removed her. When she goes to visit Katniss in the Justice Building, we knows she gives Katniss the pin but we’re not entirely sure why. “There’s an urgency in her tone” when she gives it to Katniss, and doesn’t really take no for an answer when she pins it to her dress. It also may just be me wanting to find something, but I’ve always had an underlying thought that Madge has a crush on Katniss. The kiss on the cheek, the silent (nervous?) presence around Katniss, not being part of the “popular” crowd, maybe she was outcast by her peers for this reason. I would be 100% supportive of a bisexual Madge. This was a pretty short scene on paper, but there’s a lot of meaning with the pin that we’ll discuss as we get further into the books.

The reaping itself gave me a lot of questions about how the Games came to be. We learn about the Dark Days and the Capitol extinguishing a rebellion that started the Games, but what were the districts rebelling against in the Dark Days? What was going so wrong that they wanted to rebel, and how much worse did it get with the implementation of the Games and other district punishments? District 12 has a population of 8,000, but we know this is the smallest district by far. Katniss thinks about this on her Victory Tour, but how do they host reapings with larger districts that may have 8,000 kids or more? Is there a protocol if the chosen child wasn’t at the reaping due to sudden severe illness, death, or they had run off across district boundaries like Gale wanted to do? I’ve also always wondered what happens if someone volunteers but the original tribute wants to go in the Games (like in 1 or 2), who decides?

When Katniss takes the stage, this is how I see the rebellion beginning. The silence of the crowd, the district gesture, a solidarity throughout the entire district. The rebels lost the original rebellion because they could not communicate and were fighting 13 individual wars, so President Snow is probably pretty weary of any sort of unification that doesn’t outright support the Capitol. I also love the juxtaposition that she can see the hills of the woods from the platform in the square. As she’s saying goodbye to her freedom, she is also saying goodbye to her freedom in the woods and her relatively safe existence. On a fun note, when Katniss gets to the train station and overanalyzes Peeta’s appearance in front of the cameras, we get our first description of Johanna Mason and her tactics in her Games.

Throughout the train ride and the initial prep, we learn a lot about the differences between how the Capitol and districts see the Games. Effie and Katniss’ prep team are so detached from the actual horrors of the Games the same way Nazis had no issue with seeing Jewish people as less. It’s not their fault, it’s how they were raised being in the Capitol and all they know. They may not realize it, but they see the tributes as subhuman and because Katniss has never experienced this before, she immediately doesn’t like any of them. She already feels like just a piece in the Games even though she won’t realize it for a while. Cinna is her saving grace, because he actually seems to understand how terrible the Games really are. Right away I suspect he is most likely part of the underground rebellion in the Capitol, if he thinks like that yet still wants to work with tributes and subsequently their mentors. When Katniss first meets him he says “I asked for District Twelve” and just keeps going as if it were common to request working with the “least desirable district”. We never get his full story, but I can only imagine what lead him to this life path.

Finally we start to see the beginnings of Everlark!! Katniss knows more about Peeta than she realizes and if they hadn’t been reaped I want to believe they’d still find each other. I could never actually Katniss making it in the mines and they have such history going back to their parents. We get our first flirty feeling from Katniss, even if she doesn’t know what that means. When Peeta complements her after the parade and smiles “unexpected warmth rushes through me”. I’ve always laughed at that remark because she’s so unused to desire and pleasure she has no understanding of what’s happening. They train together, they talk each other up, they have no clue of what’s to come. Katniss barely has a grip on the past when she realizes “I have kept track of the boy with the bread”. Her coldness throughout their training makes sense given her history of distancing herself from pleasure, such as when Prim had to “drag [her] over to admire [the cakes at the bakery]”. If it wasn’t functional she didn’t need it, so having frivolous things for enjoyment (boys) isn’t an option. Only later does she realize she can allow herself these things without harm.

As Effie tries to sell Katniss and Peeta, it’s an interesting slip-up that she says “if you put enough pressure on coal it turns to pearls”, especially when we know the significance of the pearl in the future. Another quote that pops out to me is when she talks about Lavinia, and says “you don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope”. She doesn’t know it now, but Katniss will be again be the face of hope for people who have nothing else to hope for. While training we see the parallels between Rue and Prim, who are both named after yellow flowers and resemble the same person to Katniss. Someone to protect.

When the interviews come, as much as she tries, Katniss isn’t going to get over her self-doubts just because Haymitch yelled at her so she isn’t very giving. She tried giving herself up, but it’s impossible when you’re talking to someone you don’t trust. When Peeta drops his bomb, we start to understand what his weapon is. While Katniss is lethal with a bow and has hunter instincts, Peeta can read people and moves a crowd with words. In his case, the pen really is more powerful than the sword.

Sassniss and other funny/interesting quotes

“District 12. Where you can starve to death in safety”

Exactly how am I supposed to work in a thank-you in there? Somehow it just won’t seem sincere if I’m trying to slit his throat.

So yes, I can handle a fork and knife. But I hate Effie’s comment so much I make a point of eating the rest of my meal with my fingers.

“Your mentor has a lot to learn about presentation. A lot about televised behavior”. Peeta unexpectedly laughs. “He was drunk,” says Peeta. “He’s drunk every year.” “Every day,” I add.

“Up, up up! It’s going to be a big, big, big day!” I try and imagine, for a moment, what it must be like inside that woman’s head.

One time, my mother told me that I always eat like I’ll never see food again. And I said “I won’t unless I bring it home.” That shut her up.

“Can you hit anything with that knife besides a table?” - Haymitch

It’s hard to hate my prep team. They’re such total idiots.

“With all that alcohol in him, it’s probably not advisable to have him around an open flame.”

Delly Cartwright is a pasty-faced, lumpy girl with yellowish hair who looks about as much like our server as a beetle does a butterfly.

You get the feeling that the knot-tying class is not the Hunger Games hot spot.

“If only you could frost someone to death”

 I try and animate my face as I recall the event, a true story, in which I’d foolishly challenged a black bear over the rights to a beehive.

“Thank you for your consideration,” I say. Then I give a slight bow and walk straight toward the exit without being dismissed.

I avoid looking at anyone as I take tiny spoonfuls of fish soup. The saltiness reminds me of my tears.

“Well, Catnip, stealing’s punishable by death, or hadn’t you heard?” he says... Gale’s eyes fastened on the bow. “Can I see that?” I hand it over. “Just remember, stealing’s punishable by death.”

“See, like this. I’m smiling at you even though you’re aggravating me.” “Yes, it feels very convincing.”

[phantomchick]

Not to mention the white washing! As The Hunger Games is a series about oppression and inequality based upon where you come from, Katniss’ colouring holds huge significance. Which was largely defused by hollywood choosing to make the protagonist white and therefore the default of the world of Panem white. When it is literally woven into the text that even Katniss’ home of District 12 is divided by race, with the merchant class having “light hair and blue eyes” and the working class having “olive skin.”

Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12, which is coal-mining country. This area is called The Seam, and unlike her sister and their mother (who prim takes after) who are both blonde and pale, Katniss has the "look" of The Seam: Olive skin, "straight, black hair," which she pulls back into a long braid, and grey eyes. She's also as @cheeseanonioncrisps​ above me explained the reasons for: "small in stature", one of the smallest tributes in the game. 

And generally speaking, olive skin is associated with people of Hispanic, Native American, Middle-Eastern, Pacific Island origin, ect. people of colour basically.    You could, of course, argue that she is just a very tan caucasian person, but Katniss lives on the northeast coast in an area that is described as constantly overcast and grey. It is unlikely that she’s got herself a tan there, even when out and about in the forest, certainly not one that definitive/constant as a character trait. I mean even white people with “olive” skin are generally described with a fairer skin shade. Over the course of the book, Suzanne Collins references her “sharper, striking” features and her feelings of alienation from her mother, sister and the “merchant” class of District 12 who look so different from people like her and Gale and her father. Peeta also has blonde hair and pale features remember.   Plus Katniss’ mother is said to have been basically abandoned by her family when she married Katniss’s father for love, which suggests the underlying racial/societal prejudices and barriers between the two factions of 12.

Considering the public backlash from making Rue and Thresh and Cinna black I at least sort of understand why they went the route they did even if it’s toxically profit-motivated. But I still think it’s whitewashing. And really taps into yet another aspect of Capitol-esque storytelling.

The Hunger Games, Actual Teen style!

On the left, 15-year-old Josh Hutcherson.

On the right, 16-year-old Jennifer Lawrence.

Think how much creepier it would be to see them killing other kids when they look so squishy-cheeked and little.

[daily-cup-of-joseph-blog]

Blog #2

The Hunger Games - I have read 75 pages

Author Biography: http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/bio.htm

Summary: An important aspect of the games is the views having the ability to provide the tributes with gifts in the arena. The best time to showcase the tributes is during the interview with Caesar Flickerman. Katniss manages to become a crowd favorite from her interview, mentioning how she wants to save her sister. In his interview, Peeta reveals that he’s had a crush on Katniss for several years. Finally the time comes. From a small underground room, Katniss is lifted into the arena and the Games officially begin. All the tributes are there, and in front of her is the Cornucopia, which houses an abundance of supplies. Rather than fight, she runs away as Haymitch advised. She hikes all day before making camp. After dark, someone starts a fire nearby, and very soon afterward, a group of Career Tributes arrives to kill the tribute. Katniss hears a very familiar voice, and to her surprise, it belongs to Peeta. 

Character Chart:

     Katniss Everdeen - a 16-year-old girl who lives in the Seam of district 12. Sister to Prim. Female tribute for district 12.  She hunts illegally, has long dark hair, excellent with bow & arrow, very defensive, has had a hard life. Becomes a fan favorite at the hunger games. Fans know her as the girl on fire. 

    Primrose Everdeen -  Katnissʼ younger sister, whose name is called at the reaping.

    Gale Hawthorne -  Katnissʼ hunting partner that lives in the Seam. Very bitter toward the Capitol. Oldest child who also lost his dad in same coal mine explosion as Katniss’. Excellent at setting snares & traps.

    Peeta Mellark -  The district 12 male tribute and also a bakerʼs son. Admits his love for Katniss on national television. Teamed up with Career Tributes. 

    Effie Trinket - District 12 chaperone for the Hunger Games tributes that is from the Capitol. Has an attachment to the two district twelve tributes. 

    Haymitch Abernathy -  The only living district 12 victor, which means heʼs the mentor for the tributes each year. However, he is always drunk. He gets over his drunkness to help Katniss and Peeta get out of the Arena alive.

    Cinna - Katniss’s stylist and one of the only people that makes her feel safe in the capital. The only person Katniss can connect at the Capital. Helps Katniss gain many fans and followers. 

     Caesar Flickerman - A capital television host. Makes tributes feel as welcome as he could. 

     President Snow - President of Panem. The overwatch of the games. 

     Career Tributes - Tributes from the Districts 1,2, and 4. These people have more lavish lives compared to other tributes and have been training their entire lives to participate in the hunger games. 

Map:

Map of Panem . english10019.wdfiles.com/local--files/start/enviro-map.JPG.

Commentary: A character that I have found to be interesting was Peeta Mellark. Peeta is seen to have many conflicting thoughts going inside his head. He realizes that there is no chance that he will survive the games, and makes no definite effort to try to win. However, in the arena, he is fighting strategically and trying his hardest to survive. Also, Peeta admits his love to Katniss Everdeen, admitting that the girl he liked his entire life “came here with me” (Collins 138). Based on his confession, the viewer would think that he would do everything he could to protect Katniss. However, he was seen to be working with the Career Tributes. Katniss a voice working with the Career Tributes and “the voice belongs to Peeta” (Collins 160). Up to this point of the story, the reader would assume that Peeta was a protagonist because of his relations with the main character. However, now we see Peeta’s betrayal, and it could be safe to assume that he is an antagonist. The character is a round character. This is because he has many different intentions but only one specific one could be read by the viewer, making him unpredictable. For example, his love for Katniss but his betrayal at the same time. The chosen character is a follower because he is following the actions of the Career tributes in order to survive. 

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. Scholastic Inc., 2014.