#i would die for suzanne collins

[batcavescolony]

Katniss is such an unreliable narrator. She says "Then something unexpected happens. At least, I don't expect it because I don't think of District 12 as a place that cares about me" girl you deliver strawberries to the Mayor, you hunt and trade for the district, when you fell at Prim being chosen someone caught you, when you went to Prim people parted for you, when you volunteered EVERYONE stopped. Idk how to tell you but I think you're a pillar of the community.

[beautyofattolia]

Your honor, I love him more than words can express.

[alexiaugustin]

thinking about how if people weren't reading a little life wrong we wouldn't have so many dumb takes about how the book is unrealistic or unnecessarily cruel or just an experiment of how far a person can be pushed before breaking etc etc. because once you read it as a tragedy it's like. oh, of course this would happen! of course that character would die, it was inevitable from the beginning! of course everyone in this story is just playing a part that is set in stone! there are so many things that happen that you could ask the author about and she'd be like "yeah of course that needed to happen. that's the whole point". and that, against contrary belief, doesn't make this book bad. it just makes it a tragedy

[jaykorianddickkoriforlife]

I don't remember if they ever talked about it in the books but do you wonder if anyone pulled an Octavia Blake in the hunger games universe?

Like how do the peacekeepers keep track of all the births for the games? Are home births allowed? I'm assuming no to keep everything documented, and controlled. Do they do house checks randomly?

If you don't know, Octavia Blake is a character from the 100 who was born in a place where she legally was not allowed to exist in, literally, so her mother hid her beneath the floor since she already had a son, and you could only have one kid.

I genuinely can't remember if it was ever mentioned, the rules behind that, but it would be interesting to see. It's intriguing to think that in both scenarios, the end result wouldn't be pretty since everything is so government controlled, and you can't escape it.

[solongllondon]

suzanne collins coming back to make her point even more this time around bc people are still too ignorant to get it god i would die for this woman

[ilovepersephoneprice]

Periods/menstrual cycles in Panem

recently I've been wondering about how periods and menstrual cycles as a whole are treated and spoke about in Panem.

Katniss never mentions a period to my memory which would make sense because she was malnourished and under mass amounts of stress (both things that can effect menstruation and cycle health) but obviously Mrs Everdeen has had periods as she gave birth to Prim and Katniss. They aren't just non existent by Panem's existence. Do they learn about them in school? it is implied that their education is lacking out in the districts so maybe not.

I wonder if they are taboo. I think that would be another great example of the hypocrisy Suzanne highlights throughout the series. Like how they are broadcasting kids slaughtering one another every year, but Johanna swears and they bleep it. Or how they are sending real, alive, sentient children to kill each other in the arena, but katniss is supposedly carrying a fetus and suddenly it's an issue. They'll plaster kids forced to murder other children everywhere and force you to watch it, but speaking about how we are all created and born is too graphic.

I think about how much different characters would know, like would the higher ups in districts know more about such than say a random boy? mostly likely. That would be a great commentary about withheld education and quality of education based off your privilege.

Jumping to the Capitol, mostly during the ballad of songbirds and snakes age, how much would've they known? I saw someone say how tbosas' time period aligns most with the 1940s. With many husbands dead from the war, many women were working for their families and for the economy still recovering, certain customs and traditions resembling ones of the 40s, I think such would be an accurate estimate. If so, would the ideas and stigma around menstrual cycles be the same? Once again, it would be another great representation of that hypocrisy if it was because they've just lived through a war. People had their friends and family die in front of them, were starved to the bone, corpses littered the streets, horrors were their reality yet, female anatomy is too dirty.

(Not to go on too much of a preachy rant here but once again, just to reaffirm, periods and cycles, as much as they suck sometimes, really are beautiful in their nature. People with periods can create and carry life in their bodies, more than their own and that's incredible! And even if there are issues in that realm, isn't bitching about our periods such a unifying moment everyone with a period can engage in?)

I'm very fascinated by Coriolanus' character (Suzanne Collins, you're a genius!) and would be interested to see how much he knew/didn't know about menstruation. He didn't growing up with many close men in his life, especially not in his household, and I know many men with sisters speak about how all they know about periods come from their sisters informing them. I wonder if him and Tigris had a similar dynamic. I would also care to see how Coriolanus thought of them. As we see, he carries what happens to his mother with him, so I'd be interested to learn how the experience of losing his mother to a hemorrhage she suffered during birth would taint his view on a reproductive cycle. I can only imagine Tigris bleeding through and him panicking that she's going to bleed out and die. Or when one of his friends' mothers fell pregnant, worrying for his friends that they'd lose their mother like he lost his. Would he be empathetic or avoidant and detached to the whole thing?

He despised Livia but I can't help but wonder if he felt a twinge for her when she was pregnant (maybe just in worry for his own ill fate if they copied his parents lives) or maybe that moment could demonstrate how uncaring and heartless he had become by that point.

I don't know this is just something I was pondering, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[athena-xiii]

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was fucking phenomenal. I watched the movie last night and will now be reading the book.

If I hear one more person ask why she was singing I’m gonna lose my goddamn marbles. I don’t think I should have to explain why.

It was one of the few prequels I’ve ever seen that has not only enhanced the experience of the original, but also made the world so much more interesting.

In conclusion, I would die for Suzanne Collins.

[odestasocean]

may i present to you, a rant that no one asked for about the bond between annie cresta & mrs. everdeen:

so awhile ago i had sent in an ask to @the-sun-and-the-sea talking about the implied friendship that forms between annie & mrs. everdeen post-war. now that i'm no longer just a lurker on here, i wanted to delve into my thoughts on this friendship because it is one that is sooo interesting to me and one that is hardly brought up in the fandom !!

to start, mrs. everdeen is a character that i wholeheartedly believe does not get the recognition she deserves. i mean, she leaves nearly everything about the only life she had ever known to start a new life with the man she fell in love with and have two children with him only for him to die tragically, leaving her with these two young girls who need her more than anything, but her own mind becomes a prison, keeping her locked away from being the mother that katniss and prim need her to be??? or idk maybe i just have a knack for loving the grieving widowed characters in media for some reason. anyway, i digress. her story, in a way, goes hand in hand with annie's story.

now, as we know, suzanne collins' mind is an incredibly intricate and complex place so i don't think that her specifically choosing district four to be where mrs. everdeen ends up was a coincidence. which just alludes to the fact that she has now become this personified cautionary tale for annie. since she's a doctor and she's familiar with the victors by being an extension of katniss, i'm just going to assume that she was one of finnick's doctors when he was in and out of the hospital. and that she became annie's doctor after she was rescued from the capitol. i'm also just going to go ahead and assume that if this was the case, she would've remained as annie's doctor once she found out she was pregnant. this could very well be implied to have contributed to her moving to d4 and helping to build a hospital there.

annie's story is honestly just as equally familiar and unfamiliar to us as mrs. everdeen's is. we don't know how her and finnick's relationship began or what the details of her games are or what her personality was like before her games or how she grieved after finnick was gone. but with this implication of mrs. everdeen moving to annie's home district, i can only imagine that she offered a great deal of support to her. mrs. everdeen met this woman who had just endured something so insanely traumatic and was there to offer her help and witness her heal with the happiness of her new marriage, only for her to end up on the same exact path as she herself had been on for the past seven (??) years: a widowed mother with a mind who only ever seemed to experience grief.

we don't know anything about what the weeks and months were like for annie after finnick's death. but to me, it is perfectly rational to view this as a period of time where she was so shut down from wanting help from anyone and everyone and felt entirely unsure of how she was going to raise a child in this state of mind. and it wasn't until she started to talk with mrs. everdeen, who had been enduring her own grief of losing her youngest daughter, that she found someone who finally understood. someone who didn't make her feel like she was crazy for being unwilling to do anything but lay in bed and stare at the ceiling. someone who didn't view her as the Mad Girl who was now the Pregnant Mad Girl Whose Husband is Dead, but rather as an incredibly strong individual who had to fight against the enemy of her own head. someone who offered her a shoulder to cry on rather than a judgemental stare. no one could replace prim for mrs. everdeen and no one could replace annie's mother or mags in annie's case. but after all of the hardships that they had both faced up until that point, they had a shared understanding of how they could never truly move on from their grief. but they would continue on and live their lives to the best of their abilities for themselves, their children, and those they had lost.

alas, the similarities do not end there, my friends. katniss constantly talks about how much her father loved being out in nature so the wicked sense of irony of him dying so far away from that nature he loved so much is just heartbreaking. and who else do we know of that died in a place so far underground and so far away from the element of nature that he had been surrounded by his whole life?? bing, bing, bing, you guessed it! finnick odair! there's one line toward the beginning of hunger games that has always stood out to me: "it reminds me of the mines and my father, trapped, unable to reach sunlight, buried forever in darkness." replace mines with sewer and my father with finnick and boom, you've got the exact events of page 312 in mockingjay. and, of course, i can't forget the obvious-- an explosion was involved in both of their deaths. so this again just adds to my point earlier of how it feels a little too eerily similar that these four characters all share some level of commonalities for it to have been a coincidence.

anyway, not really sure what the point of me rambling about all of this was. i guess to see if anyone else has ever put that much thought into it?? or am i just looking way too far into something that's not as connected as i think it is?? idk, let me know your thoughts if you have anything to add because i could talk about this forever and ever and ever !!!

[thebeesareback]

I would love to have a Hunger Games short story about, well, anything. I would especially like to have one which focuses on the families of the career tributes.

Because it must be so strange! Everyone we see in District 12 is aware of exactly how awful the Games are. They all hate them and know it's a slaughter and live in fear. But for districts 1, 2 and 4? Its an honour. Allegedly.

Imagine raising a child and watching them excel at killing and physical activities. You think this is an opportunity to bring wealth, prestige, honour to your family and your district. So perhaps you'd encourage them! You raise this perfect little killing machine, and try to reconcile them with the funny little baby you held and loved. Then you watch them die, on TV, and their killers come and visit your district. Would you feel angry? Ashamed? Heartbroken? If you've got other children, would you want them to volunteer to try and claw back pride?

Let's say that your child did win. They don't come back, not really. Think of Finnick. A 14 year old boy who's killed people and then been sexually exploited around the Capital. You might have raised a beautiful killer, but now he's haunted by nightmares and desperate to protect Annie. Your whole family is in danger if you don't comply with the Capital's requirements. That's not glory: it's horror.

There's an offhand line in the second book where a previous career tribute is reaped and has to return to the arena. The night before the games starts, he goes around to everyone, shakes their hands and apologises because he's going to try and kill them the next day.

I've heard soldiers talk about how they feel like frauds. In the UK we have a charity called "Help for Heros" which works with military and ex military personelle, and apparently it can be strange to have people thank and congratulate you for fighting, because you feel guilty for hurting people or upset because you couldn't protect other soldiers. I imagine Suzanne Collins would have lots of thoughts about this, given her personal history. She grew up with a father who served in Vietnam and witnessed his PTSD firsthand.

Back to the books. If you parented a teenager who came back a killer, would you be afraid of them? In denial about what they've done? Disillusioned? Ashamed? I think there's plenty which could fuel a fascinating character study or short story.

Also, if you're a fan of The Hunger Games, check out Girls Gone Canon's coverage. It's excellent

[goldyluna]

You seem the most experienced so what’s your ultimate death game tier list?

Not sure if I would call myself experienced. I always find new things that I haven't heard about before! But here is my current list of death game media (as I don't really want to rate them all) in no particular order! Games: Your Turn To Die Zero escape series Exit/corners No-one has to die Danganronpa (I won't write them all) Slenderman The Final Prize Is Soup Among us Gnosia Fatal Twelve Quantum Suicide Exile Election

Books/novels: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (all parts) Maze Runner by James Dasher (first book the most) The Long Walk by Stephen King Global Examination by Mu Su Li

Manga/manhwa/manhua: Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Tomadochi Game Doubt by Yoshiki Tonagi Judge by Yoshiki Tonagi Sss class suicide hunter King's Game Your Turn To Die

Graphic novels: Geis/Curse of the Chosen

Movies: Hunger Games (all parts) Maze runner (first part the most) Escape Room (2019) Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2021) Escape Room (2017) Cube (all parts) Saw (all parts) Circle Truth or Dare (2018) Would You Rather Nerve (2016) Ready or Not The Belko Experiment Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler The Hunt

Tv shows: Alice in Borderland Squid game

Anime: Danganronpa King's Game Deadman Wonderland Battle in 5 second Darwin's Game Btooom! Tomodachi Game Sword Art Online Talentless Nana Death Parade High Rise Invasion Alice in Borderland Mirai Nikki Kaiji Alien Stage (I will leave it here as I don't know to what category it belongs lol)

I know there is more of... everything. But yeah, that's it for now! If anyone has any recommendation that aren't on the list, please, share with us :3

[daniclaytcn]

i absolutely love that the meadow song and the hanging tree weren't just used in the prequel as clever callbacks to the triology—snow at the end of the book is so convinced and smug thinking that the memory of lucy gray would die with him, that she would be forgotten and erased from history. but her music was passed down, unbeknownst to him and her songs were sung by a girl who became the face of the rebellion. that is the biggest fuck-you that snow could have ever received suzanne collins ily

[lwh-writing]

I've been rewatching the Hunger Games movies with some friends, and I have many, many thoughts. I seriously need to reread these books because it's been years and Suzanne Collins is a literary genius, but I digress.

Anyway, there's a quote in Catching Fire where President Snow says "If head game maker Seneca Crane had any brains at all, he would've blown you to bits then and there." This is in reference to Katniss and Peeta almost eating the poison berries and getting out of the arena as co-Victors rather than them turning on each other, thus giving the rebels hope that they can stick it to the Capitol. It is Snow's belief that killing one and/or both of them would have solved the problem before it BECAME a problem.

But the thing is.... it really wouldn't have. If anything, it would have made the rebel problem worse.

Let's say Crane killed both Peeta and Katniss. For the first time in decades, the Hunger Games would have had no Victor. There would be no victory tour, no new kid to pimp out to the Capitol's highest bidders, and no new distraction until the next games roll around. And on top of that, it would have shown the entire world how little the Capitol actually cares about them. The game makers changed the rules halfway through to allow for two Victors, and then they took that away at the last second because two Victors emerging from the arena would have destroyed the very foundation of the Hunger Games. If Crane had truly shot down Katniss and Peeta, the fallout of the 74th Hunger Games would have been a wake-up call to both the Districts and the Capitol that Haymitch was 100% correct in saying that there are no winners of the Hunger Games, only survivors. The bright-eyed Capitols would have been forced to face the reality that the games were fundamentally unfair, and the Districts would have been shown that if even the Victors, the people guaranteed wealth and luxury weren't safe, that if their small beacons of hope could still be killed off without those in power batting an eye... then why even bother playing to the Capitol's tune in the first place? And the Rebels? They've got two new martyrs for their cause, and a newly discontent populous ready to fight for them.

Now, alternatively, let's say Crane did nothing. Let's say he let Katniss and Peeta eat the berries and they both die in the arena by suicide. Well, that won't be as drastic as Crane shooting them down, but the results are still mostly the same. The 74th Hunger Games still has no Victor. There's no one left to play distraction and convince the people of Panem not to look behind the curtain and catch a whiff of its political rot. And it's still the two-Victor rule change and the immediate retraction of such that doomed their favorite star-crossed lovers. It's still a wake-up call to the Capitols and the Districts that the Hunger Games are unfair, and that those in charge are willing to change the rules at their discretion no matter how it affects the general public. The people are still pissed, and the rebels still have their two martyrs.

Well, okay, what if Crane only killed ONE of them. Let's say Crane sees what's happening and decides to shoot only Peeta or only Katniss, it doesn't matter which. The 74th Hunger Games has a clear Victor, but that doesn't help a thing. Once again, it's still the rule change and retraction that got one half of Panem's OTP killed. It's still a clear signal to the people that those pulling the strings don't care. There's still discontent in the Capitol and the Districts because the Capitols lament their failed romance, and the Districts just saw an almost-should-have-been Victor get shot down on live TV. Not to mention it shows that the games are rigged beyond belief when the game makers, quite literally, chose the Victor. The Rebellion still gets a martyr. And on top of that, they get a mouthpiece stirring up shit.

You cannot look me in the eye and tell me that if Peeta or Katniss walked out of that arena without the other, the one that survived would have taken that lying down, consequences be damned. You cannot tell me that Peeta "If it wasn't for the baby" Mellark wouldn't have been playing the press and the political scene like a fiddle and knocking down Snow's regime like a line of dominos. You cannot tell me that Katniss "Girl on Fire" Everdeen wouldn't have been itching to take a quiver of arrows and massacre all occupants of the Presidential Palace. A Peeta without Katniss or a Katniss without Peeta would have Snow's worst political nightmare, and if he killed them after the fact, then the riots in the streets would have only gotten worse.

Seneca Crane's fatal mistake wasn't letting Katniss and Peeta live; it was allowing the two Victor rule change to happen. The SECOND that happened, the foundation of the games-- the image of the sole Victor shining above the rest --was shattered. Nothing could have fixed that, not even the hasty second rule change later on. There was absolutely no situation where Snow and company walked away the winners. Absolutely none. And Crane choosing to let Katniss and Peeta live was honestly the best choice in a string of horrible choices that could have been made. And the fact that Snow doesn't see that highlights exactly how out of touch he is with the human element that drives people to do the things they do.

Note: edited to fix "Capital" into "Capitol"

[genericreader99]

Foil of Katniss and Peeta

Ok so Katniss and Peeta’s Foil are Cato and Clove. So I just wanted to give my take on how the hunger games would have ended of they had gotten to the end and the rule had been retracted.

Now before I get into this I just want to say Clato is my Roman Empire. They just stick with me, the lack of the two of them and then this moment where he comes running in to late to save her; it just gets my heart every time. I think this is because they are what Katniss and Peeta could have been they are their foil in my mind. We focus on Katniss and Peeta who are kind of putting on this front of being in love while Cato and Clove would have had to do the opposite. We see all this gentleness and hope from Katniss and Peeta’s relationship while Clato is a lack of hope. It is this brutal violence. This is what makes them stand out we get to see Katniss and Peeta devolp. We see them fall in love. While we just get to see Cato running to clove like a confession to late. This lack of moments makes their moment more impactful and feel like something is missing. It is a way to remember every one is human and these are kids in these games and that and their foiling of the main characters is what makes them stand out and show Suzanne Collins’ genius.

I think that Clove and Cato would have killed one another. Maybe they throw something at the same time or something and they just sit there both falling to the ground bleeding out. Their last breaths spent cursing each other out because they are too proud to confess because they have been raised to kill for this moment. They have not been raised to feel or god forbid act on those feelings. So they sit lying their to weak to do anything else bleeding out trying to out survive the other dying at the same moment like Quantum entanglement. The Capital can’t do anything about it because they die at the same moment and so that year has no victor.

I think this is how the hunger games would have ended if the roles were reserved because the perfect foil would have the almost opposite events occurs. They would both die instead of both living and I think that is very tragic.

Thanks for listening to my ted talk.

[thelittlestladylikesthis]

The Pink Rose, part 3

Part Three- July 4th, 74 ADD

Pairing: Haymitch Abernathy x reader 

Word count: 2,972

Warnings: 18+, fluff and smut, couple argument, slapping, guilt, age gap, pet names, heterosexual relationship

**** Almost all characters and parts of the storyline are not my original creation and are credited to Suzanne Collins. And please be nice. Warning line marks 18+ part

[Y/n] had almost forgotten what it felt like to sit in the plush, velvet seats on the train that would take them to the Capitol. Haymitch was on the train somewhere; probably the bar car, and Effie would be escorting Katniss and Peeta to the train station about now. [Y/n] had boarded the train early to make herself up to Effie and the Capitol’s standards. She pinned her hair up with a hairpin that had a snake on one end and it’s eyes made of green stones. Her silk dress was a deep emerald color and wrapped around her shoulders was a sheer, matching shawl. On her feet were a set of black high heels with what might have been the sharpest toe point in history. Starting today and until the end of the games, [Y/n] would have to step into the role of the glamorous, voluptuous, female victor from District 12. The diamond in the rough who had been extracted from 12 by the Hunger Games. This was an embarrassing way to be seen and [Y/n] hated it. She felt dirty wearing an outfit that could no doubt have been sold to feed a family of 4 for at least a month. But the other Victors would only see her for what she was: a formidable opponent who had defied the odds in her own game, but never had tributes who could do the same.

Shaking her head away from the superficial complaints she’d kept to herself, she thought of Katniss and Peeta. Would they be receptive to her help? To what extent did they even have a chance? How long would they last? [Y/n] felt evil thinking that last part; but as Haymitch had said in the past, the earlier they die, the longer you have to drink about it. 

After an eternity of waiting, the silver door to the train car slid open, and in walked Katniss, followed by Peeta and Effie. The two teens had identical looks of shock on their faces. It would’ve been quite the sight to a young person from District 12. Nothing in their District was this shiny or immaculate. Even with Peeta being the son of a baker, [Y/n] doubted that neither he or Katniss had ever seen such an array of baked goods and fruit in their lives. The two took seats near [Y/n]. They moved slowly as if they were afraid they might break something. No doubt the very color of the fabric on the chairs was foreign to them.

Effie poured two cups of tea- one for herself and one for [Y/n]. She brought the cups over and made herself comfortable.

“200 miles per hour and you can barely feel a thing,” she mused excitedly to the teens, “I think it’s one of the wonderful things about this opportunity- that even though you’re here and even though it’s just for a little while, you get to enjoy all of this!”

[Y/n] smirked because Peeta and Katniss did not appear to fully share Effie’s excitement at their “opportunity”. 

Effie could only stand so much awkward tension before she got up and walked out of the car, “I’m going to find Haymitch; he’s probably in the bar car!”

[Y/n], Katniss, and Peeta sat in silence for several minutes, just observing each other and glancing around the car so as not to make eye contact. Just when the silence was about to break, the car door slid open and in walked Haymitch. He had the slightest sway when he walked, but other than that he was still in a functional stage of drunkenness. 

He looked at Katniss and Peeta and with a hint of sarcasm said, “Congratulations,” before walking to the small liquor cart to pour himself another drink. [Y/n] rolled her eyes at the snide comment from her fellow victor. The group continued to sit in silence, this time all watching Haymitch as he rummaged through the cart and mumbled, “No ice? Why can’t they get ice?” he slammed down the lid on the ice bucket, making Peeta jump in his seat. With a glass in one hand, Haymitch decided to just drink straight from the bottle if he couldn’t have his drink iced. Katniss’ eyes followed him suspiciously as he walked towards them and sat down next to [Y/n]. Katniss was just worried that he’d try and hug her again.

Peeta looked at Haymitch and [Y/n], cleared his throat and asked “Okay, when do we start?”

Haymitch immediately held up one hand, “Whoa! So eager!” [Y/n] placed a hand on his shoulder as he continued his sarcastic remark, “Usually you all aren’t in such a… hurry,”

Before [Y/n] could open her mouth, Peeta looked right at Haymitch and without missing a beat, “Yeah, well, you’re our mentor, you’re supposed to tell us how to get sponsors and give us advice!”

Haymitch looked at him with an irritated expression, “Oh, well then, embrace the possibility of your imminent death and know- in your heart- that there’s nothing I can do to save you,”

Peeta glared at him as Katniss shot back, “So why are you here then?”

“For the refreshments,” Haymitch got up, put his hand on [Y/n]’s shoulder and then walked back towards the bar car.

Peeta shot up before calmly stating, “He’ll come around, I’m gonna go talk to him,”

“Peeta!” [Y/n] called, but he ignored her and followed Haymitch out. 

[Y/n] and Katniss stared at each other for a second before [Y/n] sighed, “I’ll apologize for the rude welcoming; not that the whole idea of the Hunger Games is welcoming in the first place. But you should at least be able to trust the few people from your District who will be in the Capitol,”

Katniss nodded and quietly thanked her.

“I think we should wait to talk strategy until the boys are less… riled up,” [Y/n] suggested, “Why don’t you go take some time to yourself? Have a snack and a shower- those will be nonexistent in the arena. Might as well use Capitol resources for your benefit while you can,” she smiled at Katniss and declared she was going to take a nap before dinner as she left the car in the opposite direction of Haymitch and Peeta. 

So far, Katniss liked [Y/n] much better than Haymitch or Effie. There was something about [Y/n] that was kind and comforting, but also mysterious and seemingly held some contempt for the Capitol.

*     *     *

After dinner had been cleared, [Y/n] shooed Katniss and Peeta to bed and told them they had a long day tomorrow. The two didn’t hesitate to leave and struggled to drag their bodies- who’d never been this full of food- back to their quarters.

As soon as the doors slid closed, [Y/n] looked at Haymitch and gave him a disapproving look. Effie looked at the two of them and straightened up in her seat, wondering if [Y/n] would finally be taking her side.

Haymitch looked up at [Y/n] with an oblivious look, “What?”

“Really Haymitch? Those kids need people they can trust before they go into that arena. You didn’t have a mentor at all, and I’ll admit you were no help until you realized I actually had a chance! You could at least try. That’s all I ask is you not act like a drunken fool when you’re around kids from our District who’ve been sent to the slaughterhouse!”

“Why do you suddenly care so much about these two?” He stood up and walked over to her side of the table, “Over ten years and all of a sudden,” he put one hand on the table and one on her chair. He leaned in, “You think you can point the finger and be the only one who cares? You, the one who disappeared to the Capitol for months at a time? Boy, the Capitol must really love you- what did Snow offer you to starting caring more for-”

[Y/n] shot out of her seat and slapped Haymitch sharply across the face as Effie gasped her name loudly.

[Y/n] glowered into Haymitch’s face, “Don’t. Ever. Use Snow and the Capitol against me,” Feeling the tears begin to build, she rushed from the car. Haymitch had no idea what he was talking about. After becoming a Victor, she did spends up to 3 months in the Capitol at a time, but not by choice. Haymitch wouldn’t know. There were maybe two other Victors in all of Panem who more or less knew what she had experienced, and [Y/n] didn’t want her tears to tell the others.

*     *     *

[Y/n] lay in her bed staring at the dark ceiling of her chambers. She had enough experience with the Capitol’s trickery to know that at least one of the four sconce chandeliers held a camera. She was one of the desirable victors, so the Capitol used any chance to collect even a glimpse of her body. This was one of the ironies of being spontaneous at Haymitch’s house; the Capitol could not care less about Haymitch or his sex life. [Y/n] chuckled at the thought of someone paying money to see Haymitch pace around his room, drunk. 

Drunk and angry? How upset was he that she had slapped him? The guilt of attacking the only person who meant anything to her began to build. Did she ruin her chances with him? They’d never had an interaction like that before. A tear ran down her cheek- putting on a show, being nice, and then attacking when they’ve upset you. She was no better than the Capitol.

Her mind raced in circles: she’d just been mad at him for being drunk hours earlier. No- not for being drunk, for how he treated Katniss and Peeta. And she acted irrationally when he said something she didn’t like. And despite how they’d acted, she knew neither of them meant it- she hoped he didn’t mean it. The Capitol had done a number on her and every other Victor. No one came out of the arena the same way they went in, and that followed them until the day they died.

[Y/n]’s mind raced through the countless Victors she’d met who were unstable in so many ways. She must’ve seen crazy to someone too. She threw herself out of bed and realized she hadn’t changed out of her dinner dress or taken off her makeup. At least her hair wasn’t a disaster; not that she cared, Haymitch had seen her bedhead before. [Y/n] wouldn’t be able to sleep again until she apologized. Now.

She picked out a pair of black slippers and made her way to the next train car. The train never ceased to amaze her, sneaking around like a delinquent child and she couldn’t feel the train moving beneath her feet. But the train would feel her and it would see her too. Every hall had a camera to watch who was moving where. [Y/n] shrugged, they could know she was going to see Haymitch at 11:30 at night, but they could only assume what would happen once she went inside.

[Y/n] made it to the next car and found Haymitch’s chambers. She lightly knocked on the door and listened for a response. Instead of a voice, the door quickly slid open. Standing in the doorway was a disheveled Haymitch. His shirt was unbuttoned, his pants wrinkled, and his feet bare. His salt and pepper curls were wild and his grey eyes tired. But something about those eyes became brighter when he realized who was at his door.

After a brief moment, Haymitch grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the room and embraced her, “I’m sorry for today,” he whispered into her hair.

[Y/n] was stunned, she didn’t come here looking for an apology, “I came to apologize to you… are you still drunk?”

“No,” he said quietly and let go except for her hand, “I know I’m not because I can feel it… I understand if you don’t want to deal with… this,” he gestured to himself. 

[Y/n] sighed, “You must be forgetting, I’m the one who slapped you. I can’t even begin to say how sorry I am,”

Haymitch chuckled and pointed at the scars across his abdomen, “Not the worst I’ve had,”

She rolled her eyes, “Haymitch, I still feel bad. It was uncalled for and irrational and -”

Haymitch grabbed [Y/n] by her upper arms, and smashed his lips onto her. [Y/n] placed one hand on Haymitch’s chest. He pulled his mouth a few inches away and touched his forehead to hers, “I love you,” [Y/n] felt the fireworks in her chest leap forth.

“I love you Haymitch,” [Y/n] threw her arms around his neck and resumed the kiss. She was noticeably more enthusiastic this time. Haymitch was much taller than her so when he stood all the way up, her feet came off the ground. When their lips parted for air, [Y/n] felt bold and breathed, “Haymitch, I need you,”

Haymitch set her on her feet and stroked his hands down her sides and around to her back. He pulled the small zipper down and let his fingers lightly trail down her spine before allowing the silky dress to slip down her soft curves with ease. His eyes rested on her breasts as a deep breath caught in his chest. [Y/n] slowly pushed Haymitch backwards until he fell onto the bed. He propped himself up onto his elbows and looked into [Y/n]s deep brown eyes. As she gazed down at him, she reached behind her back and unclipped her bra, tossing it aside. Haymitch’s eyes widened, his reaction was like he had never seen her body before.He noticed her underwear were made of black lace and cut into a V shape that was hardly there. Haymitch’s breathing faltered as [Y/n] approached him. Unzipping his trousers, she helped him shimmy them lower with his briefs, and allowed him to spring up at attention.

“Well someone is ready to go,” she smiled devilishly.

[Y/n] crawled up the end of the bed and up over Haymitch until she was hovering above him, nose to nose. Haymitch reached up and ran his fingers into her hair, pulling her face towards his and kissing her deeply. She smiled into the kiss and lowered her hips to lightly grind on Haymitch. He released a deep chesty groan before sitting up and whispering into her mouth, “Damn sweetheart, I wanna fuck you again!”

[Y/n] smiled and bit her lip, “Then do it already!”

Haymitch chuckled lightly before getting up on his knees and roughly flipping [Y/n] onto her stomach, “Is this what you want?” He blew into her ear as he pinned her down by her wrists.

“Yes,” [Y/n] wiggled her rear and felt Haymitch stiffen as he moaned lightly.

Unexpectedly, Haymitch let go and [Y/n] felt the bed move as he leaned away from her. She turned around and gave him a confused look.

He furrowed his brow as he stood up and pulled his briefs back on, “What’re we doin’ Sweetheart?”

[Y/n] hadn’t been this confused in a long time, “Wha-?”

“I mean this is great- you’re amazing- but what is this?” He asked.

“What are you talking about? Not five minutes ago you said you loved me!”

“Which makes sense; you’re beautiful, smart, cunning, fiery, and you put up with me. But you loving me? That makes no sense; I’m a miserable, old drunk who took advantage of a girl who I have more than a decade on!” 

“Haymitch… when you’re not absolutely hammered, you’re also smart and cunning… and you’ve always put up with me. We’ve known each other for 13 years. You might be older than I am, but we didn’t start here- I honestly hated you when we first met,” she got off the bed and walked over to him, placing her hand gently on his face, “But I’ve considered you a great friend for a very long time; and I’ve come to realize  in the last few years that you’re the one person in Panem who has ever cared for me in the last 13 years- and I love you,”

Haymitch wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace, “Well, I’m sorry I made you love me,” he said with a hint of amusement.

She pulled back in disbelief, “Haymitch, I just poured my heart out!”

“And I’m not good with the lovey stuff; but I can say I love you too,” They stood locked in their embrace for a moment before Haymitch whispered, “Would you be mad if we finished this another night?”

“Absolutely not,” her smile disappeared, “Are we making this into something?”

“Thirteen years seems good enough… you want a title Sweetheart?”

“If we’re gonna sleep together more, I’d like to get rid of any speculation that could imply ‘desperate whore’ in my Victor description,”

Haymitch threw his head back and laughed, “Well I guess you’re gonna be my girlfriend wether the Capitol likes it or not,”

“Wether anyone likes it or not,” she kissed his jaw, “Get some sleep, you need to be a mentor tomorrow,”

Haymitch shook his head as he tossed her a robe, “Get outta here Sweetheart,”

She chuckled lightly as she put on the robe and gathered her things, “Are we crazy?”

“Crazy?” he questioned, “Maybe a little nuts. I’m a drunk. You don’t trust anyone. But I don’t think we’re crazy,” He walked over and hugged her again, lingering a little longer that time.

Masterlist

[readingpastmebedtime]

You know it would be really cool if haymitchs book is told from his perspective as the coach in Peeta and Katniss’s games alternating with his experience in the games. Like Suzanne Collins is a beast at writing symbolism and literary parallels and I think she could do some really cool stuff with that. Also I just really want to see what it was like for him as a mentor, like all the times he was given lost causes of tributes that he had to essentially raise for the slaughter. I want to see haymitch begrudgingly fall in love with Peeta and Katniss against his will, with Katniss and her steadfast determination and fiery rebellion and Peeta and his unwavering kindness and more quiet but just as strong sense of rebellion. Seeing how he had to deal with the fact that the best case scenario was only one of those kids surviving. There’s just so much there, like I wonder if he had any conflict over whether it was more merciful to let them die rather than cursing them with the role of capitol puppet that comes with being a victor. Did they remind him of any other tributes he trained? How long did it take him to give up in trying to get his tributes to victory? Do Katniss and Peeta and their dedication to each other remind him of maysilee? What happened to his family? How did he become friends with other victors? How does he feel about Effie and the role she plays in everything? I’m just so excited for his book, even if it is just his games there’s so much to explore with his character and the state of the hunger games in a time between Lucy grays games and katnisses. Suzanne Collins made such a strong concept with such interesting dynamic characters that she could make a good story around of a lot of the characters and I’m glad she’s still exploring the world.

[persephoneprice]

maybe this is silly but — do you have any thoughts on lucy grays specifically appalachian identity? I often think abt how the films erased the cultural / geographical specificities of district 12 even though it’s literally so so important to the books (it’s mentioned on page 2 of the hunger games) and idk I think it’s very interesting/ kinda funny and iconic that in response to that erasure suzanne collins literally made a character whose cultural identity cannot be erased without significantly altering her narrative function. On a meta textual level it’s also an interesting echo to the Capitol erasing lucy gray and then her being restored by the author - kinda? Idk I’m a huge appalachian folk nerd (it’s why I read tbosas lol) so I. Think abt it a lot

omg no this is not silly at all and i am so excited that someone wants to talk about Appalachian culture in the hunger games!! usually i feel like i’m just yelling my appalachian nonsense into the void. ps i love that you’re an appalachian folk nerd- are you also appalachian??

also let me apologize in advance- i started a new anxiety medicine and have felt awful and have had a lot of brain fog so it’s very possible that none of this makes sense or is even what you’re asking.

i ended up rambling a lot so i will put my actual answer under the cut:

the erasure of all the really appalachian things- especially the accents- in the trilogy will always devastate me. which i why i will go to my death defending rachel zegler against anyone who criticizes her accent in tbosas.

i love lucy gray and the covey because you absolutely can see so much appalachian and bluegrass influence in them and their lives- but the book makes it clear that they aren’t really district 12, therefore, not really appalachian.

i think in a lot of ways lucy gray really embodies an appalachian girl. she’s fun and strong and willing to do whatever it takes to survive. she’s not afraid of the woods or the creatures in it- she makes friends with the snakes. she loves music (my girl needs a banjo i will die on that hill) and brings that to her people. their performances are one of the few times that people in 12 really get to be carefree and have fun and it brings everyone together. music is such an important thing in appalachian culture and is something that always brings people together.

she as a double name and it’s important to address her using both- which is also a fairly common thing in appalachian culture, it’s rude to only refer to them by one of the names. (which is why if someone only calls her lucy i do not take their opinion on her character seriously at all.)

you can also see it in the way the covey are a family without all being really related and the way the older members take care of the younger ones. in the way they spend time at the lake fishing and swimming and collecting food from around the area to eat. in the clothes they wear. in their music (nothing you can take from me boot stomping version my beloved).

but i think the distraction that they aren’t really from district 12 and not really appalachian is important. you can see that in the way lucy gray describes the covey as outsiders in district 12. i think this is another way that you really see the influence of appalachian culture in district 12. it doesn’t matter how many similar traits that they have or how long they have lived there- they’re still outsiders to the people who have lived there their whole lives. they still aren’t fully trusted by the wider community because they’re different and not from around here.

i’ll stop rambling now because i think my brain fog is causing this to not make any sense but anyway thank you so much for sending this!!! i love talking about this!!! i would love to hear your thoughts as well