#anti katniss and gale

[darklinaforever]

Everlark is one of my favorite ships of all time and I never understood the comparison with Malina that some people made... thanks to these fanarts / image (besides they are all magnificent, congratulations to the artists !), I have a little Understood. The meadow, the somewhat idyllic end of a quiet life after the war... The red cat that they recover. Also, rewatching the films HG and season 1 of SAB allowed me to understand that Mal had the same dialogue as Peeta, the famous "Alawys" ... Except that it's all very, very superficial. In reality the two ships are absolutely not similar in substance. In reality, Malina would be more like Gale and Katniss to me than Everlark. It's like how a lot of people compare the Grisha trilogy to the Hunger Games trilogy when clearly... no. It has nothing to do. Even in terms of ending, especially in its deep meaning.

I also heard that people also compared Kataang to Everlark and there... Even in superficial terms like Malina does I have difficulty understanding the similarities with Kataang. As this person pointed out, Everlark would look more like Zutara than anything else :

[sincerethoughtsblog]

katniss being the person who gave hope to everybody during the rebellion but peeta being the person that always gave katniss hope and strength since the moment they met is so poetic lord

[maadilin]

we became team peeta and anti team gale when peeta said "it's not fair to hold you for the things you said in the games. you said them to survive. you saved us."

that is the difference between peeta and gale. peeta went through them with her, and understands it was to keep them both alive. gale may not have seen it, but he basically refused that katniss said it was an act.

you picked the right man, good job katniss.

[acekoomboom]

So.

Gale Killed Prim, and his relationship with Katniss ended because of it. Why is Peeta different?

"Why was she able to forgive Peeta but not him? She had dismissed Gale from her life with barely a blink. Snow had twisted Peeta’s gifts and turned him into a weapon against the people he loved. Hadn’t Coin done the same thing to Gale? He loved Prim like his own sister." A quote from oakfarmer on ao3 that I actually have SO many thoughts on, though I can't remember which of their fanfics this is from. Darn me for not labelling my notes well enough.

What it boils down to, for me I think, is that the capitol has to create things to manipulate Peeta but D13 used what was already there for Gale. Gale already had a mean arrogant streak and wasn't good at taking criticism or rejection. He already had a cold callousness about killing and death. He was already a bit radicalized, and Coin did twist that into something worse. No, Gale didn't kill Prim, Coin did. BUT Gale did invent the weapon + tactic used by his ally and superior to kill her. Katniss told him it was wrong, this trap he'd made, and he condescended to her about it, how this is just how war works. Acted like she was just naive about it. His own ignorance of the reality of life and death and his complete disregard for human life on the other side of the war is what got Prim killed.

Peeta, on the other hand, is nothing like his highjacked self. They didn't take pieces of his personality, personal flaws, etc. and twist them into their perfect soldier. The capitol had to use false memories, had to inflate his insecurities, had to use chemicals and torture and mutated venom. They didn't make Peeta aggressive through hatred or vengeance, they made him aggressive through bodily fear. The venom and his body's extreme adrenaline, fight or flight response to that. He didn't attack Katniss bc he thought he was better than her or bc she deserved it, he attacked her because the very sight of her caused his body to go into overdrive of adrenaline to protect himself from her. This is a Peeta that *hates* Katniss, and he wants to kill her, but her specifically. He only reacts negatively towards other people (other than normal trauma-induced stuff) when she is involved somehow, like him flipping out on Delly while Katniss watched behind the glass.

These characters are not equivalent. And from a meta perspective, they're not supposed to be. Katniss ends up picking Peeta. Yes, the character obviously would have picked him, but also Katniss as a narrative figure picks him. She picks what he represents. Integrity and war. That boy on the rooftop that said he was willing to kill himself defense and to do what he needed to do but wanted to stay himself. Wanted to stay a human being even in that violence. Wanted to come out the other side of it still intact. Wanted the flowers to grow again after the harsh winter; a dandelion in the spring. Not the cycle of destruction, of forever punishing those that have wronged you, that both Gale and a capitol-kids hunger game would represent.

Which brings my thoughts also to the male loneliness epidemic. (We won't even get started on the fact that when women have problems it's something they need to just get over and take a joke, but when men have problems it's an epidemic) That is Gale. Yes, he has absolutely valid reasons behind his emotions. But he then takes those emotions and becomes radicalized, become something lesser. And that is so indicative of our current political climate in a lot of ways. Men have been hurt by the patriarchy also, they have been raised and socialized and desensitized and to not forming genuine emotional connections with the men around them or the women there in a relationships with. And I do separate those specifically, because men are also taught to not see women as people, so to a lot of men you are either a. someone they are related to b. someone they are romantically interested in or c. someone they are sexually interested in. And that is all a woman can be to them, not a friend.

So every which way they turn men are not taught the skills it takes to not be lonely. Community and having a support system and a network of people doesn't just happen by accident. That is something that you build, and cultivate, and prune, and intentionally add to. Men are lonely because they want someone else to do the work for them. The onus is on them and the system that made them that way.

And that man is the same as Gale. Someone who is rightfully hurt and wounded by the society they live in but then takes those real feelings and experiences and lets it justify all of the awfulness that follows.

Gale and Peeta are not equivalent. In dumbed down terms, Gale became bad because of what was already in him and then was fine to stay that way. Peeta became bad because of something someone else put in him, and then he did the work to not stay that way.

Oakfarmer again, to bring my rambling back to its original point: "Snow turned Peeta into a weapon, Coin turned Gale into a weapon. Both had been unleashed to destroy Katniss. They were the same, but they weren’t the same at all. The Capitol pumped venom into Peeta to create a hateful mutt. Coin only needed to provide an outlet for the hateful venom already circulating Gale’s veins. Hate and rage, he had never tried to suppress. Hate and rage, Peeta painstakingly clawed his way out of to recover his identity."

[fantasy-nerdddd]

The reasons I dislike Gale

Most obvious: He invented the bomb that killed Prim. It's not the problem that it was Prim specifically. He couldn't have known. But if it wasn't Prim it'd be hundreds of innocent children.

He was emotionally manipulative to get Katniss to like him. Example: "I knew you'd do that. Because I'm in pain." This is a) true and b) evil. The definition of manipulative.

He only saw the world in black and white. Are you from the Capitol? Evil. Are you a rebel? Good. There is no pure good or pure evil, and you should be able to judge if you're willing to act on the shade of gray you're going to.

He didn't care about human life. This ties with the first point but I want to add something else. One of his first quotes: "You know how to hunt" "animals" "it's no different". Like it should be! You cannot just waste human lives. Killing people means one of two things: a) it messes up with your psyche or b) you have a messed up psyche. Sorry Gale but you might be number 2.

He was blinded by his hatred. I mean yes the Capitol is horrible. As Gale said "We're using the same rulebook Snow used to hijack Peeta." Well that makes you no better than the enemy! Be a bit more humane at least. The rulebook you're using is an immoral one.

He was overly jealous . I mean how dare she not love me back? How dare she kiss another man for survival? Even when I have never ever proposed the idea to her that I love her? Movie fans might say that he realised he loved her during the 74th Hunger Games. This is wrong, he did about 6 months before when Darius tried to pay for some of Katniss' game with a kiss. Apparently, Gale got jealous and he realised then that he cares about her romantically.

[kg-day]

Currently on Mockingjay in my Hunger Games reread, and I am at the part where Katniss walks in on Gale and Beetee making the two-tiered bombs that later end up killing Prim. I immediately started thinking about this post I saw forever ago about how Gale had no idea what those bombs were going to be used for, so it doesn't make sense to blame him for what happened to Prim, and I would just like to say: that is a load of horse shit. Not only did Gale help to build those bombs with their full use in mind, but they are based off of his snares and traps. Gale isn't just some lackey passing Beetee parts with no idea what's happening. He is actively giving Beetee ideas on how to target and kill as many people as possible. Just so no one can start arguing with me in the comments, here's the direct quote from the book:

"This is what they've been doing. Taking the fundamental ideas behind Gale's traps and adapting them into weapons against humans. Bombs mostly. It's less about the mechanics of the traps than the psychology behind them. Booby-trapping an area that provides something essential to survival. A water or food supply. Frightening prey so that a large number flee into a greater destruction. Endangering offspring in order to draw in the actual desired target, the parent. Luring the victim into what appears to be a safe haven- where death awaits it. At some point, Gale and Beetee left the wilderness behind and focused on more human impulses. Like compassion. A bomb explodes. Time is allowed for people to rush to the aid of the wounded. Then a second, more powerful bomb kills them as well" (Mockingjay, 216).

To say that Gale can fully help Beetee design bombs meant to kill children, parents, and aid workers, but then also say he had no idea what Coin was going to use them for is disingenuous. Gale might not have meant to target Prim specifically with that bomb, but he absolutely knew what they were going to be used for. He designed them with the intent to kill people rushing to aid those hurt in the initial blast- such as medics, which Prim is- so is it really a surprise when a bomb that has that specific function in mind kills Prim? This wasn't just some last-ditch effort on Suzanne Collins' part to eliminate Gale as a love interest (because she has been sowing the seeds of Gale's character arc since book one- you know when he says that killing people can't be that much different from killing animals). Katniss had every right to hold Gale accountable for Prim's death because she knew who designed those bombs and why he did it. Prim's death was an accident, but not because that bomb wasn't meant to target people like her, but because Gale didn't mean to kill Prim specifically. He knew what those bombs would do, he wanted them to do it, he just didn't intend for Prim to be there.

[shadowqueenjude]

The Hunger Games is wild to me now because the main character actually chose the healthier love interest, like how many times do you see THAT happening in books nowadays??

*cough acotar cough*

[carloroxxes]

It's really nice to see the hunger games fans passionately hate Gale. At least majority

[refrigeratedboombursts]

People will say Z*tara should've been canon because it was the “obvious” and “realistic” choice and would've “made sense with the narrative” and then ship Katniss with Gale.

[girls-and-guts]

mansplain: gale

manipulate: president snow

malewife: peeta (love of katniss’s life) mellark

[starlightshadowsworld]

In the Hunger Games, Katniss has to be careful when she goes hunting. Because the Capitol have made it illegal to hunt.

But District 12 aren't provided with enough supplies, so Katniss and Gale both have to hunt just to have enough to survive.

Knowing they could very much be killed of they're caught.

They aren't allowed to forage or hunt on their own land.

I bring this up because it parallels how Israel have made it illegal for Palestinians to live off their land.

Plants like thyme also known as zatar and gundelia also known as akoub, have been made protected species by Israel.

And thus it's illegal to harvest.

Despite being key parts of Palestinian delicacies.

In 2021 5 Palestinian boys were detained by Israeli forces for trying to gather some akoub.

And it's not because Israel cares about the land.

They are currently carpet combing it to rubble afterall. They've also uprooted and destroyed 2000 olive trees in the West Bank.

These trees provide Palestinians with a lot of its fruit supply. And they rely on them especially during harvest season, which is usually when Israel attacks the trees.

It's worth mentioning that olive trees are a symbol of peace.

A Palestinian man went to harvest his olive trees and was shot by an Israeli settler.

It's not limited to plants either.

In the 80's, 18 cows were smuggled into Beit Sahour in the West Bank.

These cows were considered such a threat by the Israeli government, that they became wanted.

Because their presence meant that Palestinians didn't have to rely on Israel for their dairy.

There's a documentary about it called the Wanted 18.

Israel want Palestinians to be helpless and have to depend on them for food, and deprive them of any connection to their own land.

Much like the Capitol.

[sherrywillowhope]

Gale: if I say I love you will you say it back?

Katniss: yes

Gale: I love you

Katniss: it back

*five minutes later*

Prim: why is Gale crying face down on the floor?

[moonknightstarrs]

There’s something about the hunger games series that I find really interesting. The something I’m referring to is Gale. Specifically his fate.

So often I see people say ‘Gale die’ (which I myself have said) or ‘he should have died instead of Finnick’. Yes I would have loved for Finnick to survive more than anything. And if THG needed a death of a main character then Gale would have been my automatic choice.

But-

There’s something so satisfying about Katniss choosing to never see Gale again. ‘Goodbye Gale’ feels so much more powerful and good. Because we know Katniss Everdeen. If Gale had died she would have felt so much guilt it would have been unbearable. Even after knowing what Gale did. He was still her closest thing to a friend when she was young. He helped her survive after her Dad was killed. If he died she would still miss him and she would blame herself for it. Because she’s still a young adult going through trauma and war and human beings tend to turn those negative feelings and thoughts towards themselves.

So her choosing to never see Gale is a slap in the face to him. Which I find beautiful. If he died, he’d never feel the guilt of killing all of those people, those children, the guilt of killing Prim. He wouldn’t have known what happened. He’d never pay for the way he treated Katniss and Peeta. But now- now he has to live with the fact that he killed his closest friend’s (/girlfriend’s) sister. The one thing in life she loved more than anything. The person she loved more than the world. He has to live with the fact that Katniss hates him, that he disgusts her, that he reminds her of the very evil they tried to destroy and she never wants to see him again.

Call me horrible or cruel for liking that but honestly Gale deserves what he got. I’m not saying he should be tortured to death but I just think death would have been a little too fast to justify his actions and behaviour.

[kittenfangirl20]

I see people get annoyed with the whole Team Peeta vs Team Gale thing going on when the books were coming out, but I offer you something new. I ship Everlark and prefer Peeta as both a character and a romantic interest because I am above all else, Team Katniss. Katniss is my top favorite character in the Hunger Games universe and I hold her up as one of the examples of one of the best written protagonists. When I say that I am Team Katniss, it means that I want her to be happy and I think that her being with Peeta romantically is something that would make her happy. I also support her cutting Gale out of her life when she realized that she couldn’t stand to be near him.

[fantasybuff96]

Gale stans confuse me so much. Like out of every single character in The Hunger Games books and movies you pick to stan…. Gale is your choice?

[everdeensmellark]

snow allowing katniss to live following her defiance of the capitol is so much more interesting knowing his past with lucy gray. i'm curious if he assumed, because of his experiences, that katniss would run away, just like lucy gray had? and she would have, had it not been for gale's insistence that he stay and help the rebellion grow. idk just very interesting to me