#haymitch and his girl

[hungergameshyperfixation]

I was writing a different thing where I kind of mused these different ideas, but I thought this deserved its own post.

What if Haymitch and “his girl” weren’t properly dating?

What if their dynamic was more like Katniss and Gale’s?

We only get one comment about Haymitch’s family and his girl. One.

There’s so much we don’t know.

I personally don’t ship Katniss and Gale, but their dynamic was canonically explored as romantic in some capacity. They’ve kissed, blah blah blah. Snow brings him up in Catching Fire. We all know.

What if Haymitch and his girl were exactly like what we see with Katniss and Gale? Unofficial, sure, but with an underlying understanding. Maybe it was rocky (Situationship of the century). Few and varied kisses that neither really understood what was meant by them, the uncertainty of the future, hiding their feelings (they would be emotional teenagers after all). Depending on the generational circumstances, maybe their environments were different than what Katniss’s generation grew up with. The whippings being frequent.

Maybe they never had the “oh yeah we’re exclusive to each other” conversation, or even went ‘public’ with it. It was just…an implied thing. A fondness and a bond they had with each other.

Maybe Snow recognized that. Maybe he saw a boy in district twelve, who had the same walks down to the same lake with his friends, who snuck off to spend time with that one girl. Snow saw the boy and the district twelve girl, falling into the same pitfall Snow himself did years ago, and he exploited that. He knew it all too well. Just like he would in the future, when another pair from the dreaded Seam would grow close.

Or maybe it’s nothing like that! I like to think of other ways their dynamic or relationship would show up, especially since there’s just so much potential. Idk, just thinking about them again. I had to get the whole “Katniss and Gale” dynamic out of my brain before it annoyed me too much. I actually much prefer the potential literary parallel between Katniss and Peeta’s dynamic, or even an entirely original one.

[districtscare]

haymitch having to address 4 different deaths for each district on his victory tour. can anybody hear me. haymitch likely having to play the narrative that the deaths of his family were mysterious unsolved murders and to even make it so, partake in the humiliation ritual of public funerals held within the capitol. haymitch having to keep distance from the other victors because he really is a killer and cannot face it. 47 faces and 47 graves dug all because of him. is this thing on. haymitch being forced to mentor tributes he likely knew as classmates or school peers for the first few years of his victory. can you hear me do you understand !!!! haymitch having his games pulled from every possible outlet and blacklisted because of the shocking nature and traitorous way of his win. haymitch likely facing so much scorn amidst all the grief just for surviving. just for making it back home.

[jaqobis]

lucy gray is peeta this, sejanus is katniss that, when are we going to talk about how peeta is who SNOW could've been

[thefabelmans2022]

i am always thinking about the katniss and haymitch parallels like.......they both grew up in the seam. they were both reaped at 16, and by then both had no father, a single mother, and a younger sibling. it's not a stretch to imagine that haymitch felt the same responsibility to take care of his family that katniss did. he must've taken tesserae at least once. maybe he even picked up his knife skills from hunting or butchering animals to feed his family, just like she did. he tells katniss there used to be more whippings in district 12 - and that the person caring for the wounded was her mother - maybe he was breaking the rules just as frequently as she was. they were both rebels from the beginning. he survived his games by using the capitol's forcefield to rob them of a true final confrontation, she used the nightlock to rob them of a victor. they were both 16 years old.

[leulahart]

suzanne collins when i fucking catch you

[fireofamockingjay]

rereading Mockingjay for another fandom au fic i'm working on has made me realize i really love Katniss & Finnick's friendship.

in Catching Fire, it's layered with distrust, but in Mockingjay you really see how it morphs into wholesome friendship and mutual understanding as they share and bond over their fears for their loved ones and make morbid jokes in an effort to cheer each other up.

Finnick even loses his shit when Haymitch sedates Katniss in Mockingjay- so much he has to be sedated!

i just. i love them.

and it's gonna hurt as I continue rereading because...Finnick dies :(

[mitsuki91]

Okay expanding on the take "Haymitch's girlfriend was the daughter of Maude Ivory": with other headcanons she was a Everdeen, sister of Katniss's dad, and so...

What if Haymitch choose Katniss not because she was a great hunter but because it was personal? I mean Peeta is strong. And likeable. A male with strong arms and charisma. It would had be the right choice, right? Investing on his survival. Hell, he was part of the pack, he seems to have more chance then Katniss anyway at first.

Instead.

Instead there was this tiny angry sulking girl. Yeah great hunter, but unlikeable. Almost unlovable until Peeta makes her desirable.

But she has the same eyes as his late girlfriend. Color, and shape, even the eyebrows. Everdeen eyes, Haymich thought - even if, in reality, they were Baird eyes.

And he can not stand it. He can not stand to watch again while Coriolanus Snow kills her. He have to save her. He have to save her with a force that he did not feel with any other Tribute ever.

Because she is her.

Katniss is her. Connected. Bonded.

He looks in her eyes and he sees his loved one, memories buried in alchool resurfacing, all the happy times and he knew, he knew that winning is somehow worst then die, because it's train you can not left behind, because Capitol City will suck her life out of her, and yet...

He looks at her and sees her eyes and he knew, he could not let her die.

[readingforaneternity]

One thing I hate the most is when I see ppl use “you could live a hundred lifetimes and never deserve that boy” from CF as a way to say Katniss isn’t worthy of Peeta, and that he deserved better than her.

I hate it so much and I hate Haymitch a little for saying that to her. If we’re talking about reaction times, it’s not a fair argument to say that Katniss didn’t turn into the Flash and zoom on over to Haymitch’s to strike a deal with him to save Peeta’s life.

She had a PTSD episode. I just never get the fact that ppl hold that against her.

I think ppl forget that Snow came into her home and threatened her. The burden was on her to convince the Districts and Snow of her love for Peeta. So for her to see the consequence of her failure is frightening.

[moon-mirage]

Your biblically accurate Haymitch is everything to me, he's my fave character! If you ever wanted to make me cry and take an elaborate request, I'd love to see your take on Haymitch remembering his family/his girl in a half-drunken haze. Or even his devastation after the announcement of the Third Quarter Quell and he's remembering snippets of his Games while drunk at his kitchen table! :'(

So, a happy request for your favourite character then? I love it when people go "X is my favourite character… now make them suffer!" 😂

Now, it’s not like l want to make you cry but since you asked for it:

[potatounicoorn]

I know we propably won't have book accurate Haymitch, but gods I hope we'll get a book accurate Haymitch🙏

[hungergameshyperfixation]

I don’t even ship Hayffie like that but PLEASE someone draw them like this if someone hasn’t already

[districtscare]

this is the offspring of this post and i think about haymitch showing up for katniss and peeta because they're his success story, the closest thing to kin, etc. and how he goes to great lengths to be there for both of them through the entire trilogy without pause; even if it comes with snark, sarcasm, dismissiveness and even what feels like betrayal. but clearly highlighted through just about every step of the way is his constant favor for katniss, even underlying self-loathing is tied to it.

she is his star pupil, the girl on fire, she is the mockingjay to him long before she knows it herself. with every sharp jab and cut in her direction, he returns it to himself. it is the product of them both being mirror characters, doomed to be aching and grieving, but forced to climb out of that grief to find hope's gift.

haymitch doesn't show the same sentiment of attention for peeta as he does katniss. it isn't because he underestimates him — he very much knows what peeta is capable of, but he doesn't share the same fire, he does not burn a path of rebellion the way that katniss does. even with his acting in the interviews, it cannot go hand in hand with every moment that katniss acts, katniss fights. haymitch definitely likes peeta, appreciates the good in him that others do not possess, but he is not the focus and he is always to come second, even if he is likeable, even if he's a reminder of all of the good.

because behind him is the reminder of a girl that perfectly reflects him. and more often than not, they hate each other for it. but more plausible than that, it is her greatest attribute.

[katnissmellarkkk]

my aesthetics :

the second quarter quell generation, pt one (aka the generation with all the principal characters’ parents, and then also haymitch)

[enobariasdistrict2]

i love katniss's absurd observations of other people that she doesn't care about. she is absolutely a kind and empathetic individual, there is no doubt, and extends mercy towards people she dislikes/outright hates but if she can't remember your name because you haven't made an impression she will literally just be like "oh yeah sly cunning girl from district five. foxface. district six tributes that are clearly addicts. the morphlings. monstrous boy from district two" etc etc and it's. extremely funny

[og-songbird]

12 year old me really read this and said I need this man carnally (she was correct)

[francisforever2014]

the katniss peeta dynamic is so important to me like not everybody gets it but i do. the way peeta is consistently serving nothinggirl who’s dying all the time and can’t do one thing right but he’s soooo important to katniss who can take of herself better than anyone and would objectively have an easier go of it if she wasn’t lugging peetas ass around all the time saving him <3 but she doesn’t want to make it easier <3 like literally nobody wanted peeta when they rescued them from the quarter quell and she was like wtf guys he’s so special……. girl im sorry to inform you that nobody thinks that but you .. my fave dynamic is after she saves him in the first games and they’re walking through the woods and he’s being loud as fuck stomping around scaring off the animals and her inner monologue is like UGH HES SO LOUD HE CANT DO ANYTHING RIGHT and yet she is constantly saving his damsel in distress ass <3 loveeeeee