#i'll never think it's okay that she said that about peeta

[madeofjules]

katniss: "I could easily kill peeta, he isn't human anymore"

gale, right after: "do you want me to kill him?"

katniss: *unnerved, offended, taken aback, cannot believe he had the audacity to say that*

[littlemarianah]

Willow is the older sister and often sees things her brother doesn't.

Rye asks uncomfortable questions, which they parents seem to hesitate to answer. He always asks for help with his homework and doesn't seem to understand why when it comes to the history of Panem his father's face seems to darken. In fact, he doesn't even notice his father's voice crack as he reads the text in the book. But Peeta never refuses to help.

The subject of War always leads to The Games. Either its beginning or its end. And the games always lead to star-crossed lovers and the arrow that felled an entire arena. And worst of all, this goes back to the bombs that rained on the capital. But Rye never seems to connect this to the scars marked on his parents' bodies.

"Don't worry, Daddy. I'll help him." she says, sitting next to her brother at study time.

"Well, I can..." Peeta tries to say.

"No, you can leave it to me. You know, I was in fourth grade just two years ago so it's all still fresh in my head."

The boy tries to protest, but his older sister's incisive look made him shrink in his seat. She can be persuasive when she wants to.

When the two are finally alone in the kitchen, with their books spread out on the table, Willow whispers to Rye. "Stop asking Dad for help about this, okay?"

"this what?"

"story of Panem."

"Why?” The boy asks innocently and the girl snorts angrily.

No, she never asked for help with these things. The history book seemed to bother her mother so much that she didn't even take it out of her backpack. She heard Peeta and Katniss whispering through the walls, tense and tearful. Willow preferred to keep everything to herself. The doubts and questions, most of them were already answered anyway. With her mother's howls in the middle of the night, with her father's nervous attacks.

Willow opens the story book, leafs through it until she finds a picture. A girl. Impenetrable gaze, braid hanging down her neck, a bow in her hands. She looks at her brother, hoping that will make him understand.

"What?" he shrugs

"It's mama, silly."

"Mama?" The boy leans over the book and looks carefully. It doesn't look like his mother, It doesn't have her kind eyes, nor her sweet smile, and there are no scars whatsoever. The way he always recognized his mother, the funny designs on her skin, marks. But he recognizes one thing , the gray eyes that he sees in the mirror. "oh, it's mama."

"Of course it is, what are you doing in your story class?"

He shrugs again but the answer is sleeping.

"They don't like to talk about it." the girl says. "If you have any questions, ask me."

"Is it about The Hunger Games?" he now whispers, because even though he is a little naive, he can feel the weight of those words.

"Rye, try to understand something." she says, using her big sister tone. "Everything is about The Hunger Games."

Rye seems to understand. Because sometimes at night, he wakes up from a cruel nightmare and runs to his mother's bed. Next summer he turns 11 and the older kids at school keep saying that's the age they take you. And he knows his parents went, and so did Uncle Haymitch.

Their mom enters the kitchen and the photo of her young is covered by Willow with a heavy math book. But Katniss has eagle eyes and the Willows know that. "What is it?" Katniss asks.

"Homework." Willow say.

Katniss takes the history book from the table and admires her photo with an indecipherable expression. "And why were you hiding it?"

The girl doesn't know how to respond.

"Willow said not to bother you with it." the boy says.

Damn mama's boy, Willow thinks to herself. Her face burns red. "That's not what I said!" Willow directs her gaze to Karniss, her mother's bright eyes making her shiver. "I just... It's just fourth-grade nonsense. So I can help... He doesn't need to... talk to you about it. I already know everything. It's just... I did not want.."

Katniss leaves the history book on the table, leans over Willow and gives her a small kiss on the forehead. The girl is silent. "The two of you are going to put on your boots and we're going to go for a walk." Katniss says.

The boy is happy to be taken away from his homework early, but Willow seems apprehensive. On that rainy spring afternoon they cross the muddy road, past the wreckage of abandoned buildings and go to the meadow. The flowerbed, normally green, is gray today, due to the rain and fog. Katniss sits with them on a fallen log. And it begins.

First she tells them about a miner. With a beautiful voice and a huge heart. A great father and a great husband. Tell them how he was buried alive. And even though they both already knew this story this time it seems more detailed and harder to hear. Then Katniss tells them about a boy with a loaf of bread and a hungry girl, tells them about a streak of bad luck, tells them about an arena of blood, tells them about poisoned berries.

Rye is wide-eyed, clutching his mother's arms.

Katniss tells them about a revolution, about a war, about a mockingjay. Then about the bodies in the meadow, about his grandparents and his uncles who were gone, about their late Aunt Prim. And this is another one of the stories that they knew very well, but to be told like this without whispered words, without secrets, without anything beyond reality. It's new. Willow then also snuggles into her mother's arms, a bit tearful. Listening to Katniss tell about a girl with black hair and blue eyes and a boy with blond hair and gray eyes.

Then they go home, humming an old song.

If you want more content about toast babies Read my fanfic about them - Deep in the Meadow

[w3bheadz]

Heyy I've never done a request before but I hope you'd like to respond to it! ^^

I wondered what Peeta Mellark’s and Johanna Mason’s rather smutty headcanons would be. But I don’t necessarily ask for both of their headcanons of course!! If you’re comfortable with only writing about one of them it would already bring me much joy to read!!

Greetings and love💕

Hi! Just doing some catch ups and writing out requests, I have a few hcs for each, so I'll just do a few hunger games nsfw hcs :) I also will clarify that all of these headcanons are post rebellion and all of the characters are over 18. I'm going to keep it to 5 each, but I have so many more for all of them

Katniss Everdeen ♫↬ She's a top lean switch

♫↬ She isn't very experienced, but don't let that stop her, she's good at what she does ♫↬ If she has a rough day, she likes to destress with her head between your thighs or vise versa ♫↬ She's a jealous thing, so if someone flirts with you, she's keep her hands on you but when you two are finally alone, she'll mark you up so you'll remember that you're hers ♫↬ she's slow and soft, so she doesn't really do quickies, but it it presents itself and you're in the mood, it'll have to do, and she's okay at aftercare, not fully indepth but she will clean up and check on you with some water

Peeta Mellark ♫↬ He's a bottom, theres no way he can top unless he has major motivation. that being said, quickies in public are a no go because he's really loud ♫↬ one of his major turn ons is seeing you wear his clothes ♫↬ he has mommy issues, of course he has a praise kink, and he also has a thing for his hair being pulled ♫↬ he has no previous experience, but he wants to learn, so you teach him. he doesn't care what position you're in, as long as he can see your face anything is good ♫↬ he's amazing with aftercare. he has snacks in the bedside table and little bottles of water, gives you a bath and washes your hair for you, all of the things

Johanna Mason

♫↬ She's a top, she doesn't like to bottom ever. ♫↬ she's rough, she's touchy, and damn is she possessive. if someone flirts with you, she's on you like flies on honey. she isn't one for pda but this is the exception. ♫↬ she isn't good at apologies. when you're upset with her, she'll spend hours between your thighs, getting you to forget why you were even mad in the first place. ♫↬ she's a hands on learner. when you are both starting out, she takes her time to map out every inch of your body with her hands over and over again until its memorized ♫↬ her aftercare game is pretty good, she always makes sure to have some water and a couple of towels on hand just incase.

Finnick Odair

♫↬ He's a switch, I don't think he has a preference ♫↬ Because of his trauma with sexual situations, he always wants to make sure he has your consent before he does literally anything. He's a very gentle guy. that being said, he doesn't really get jealous, because at the end of the day, he knows whos bed you'll end up in at the end of the night. ♫↬ he loves to tease. he's amazing with his tongue (i mean have you SEEN the water scene in catching fire??) and even better with his dick. he knows how to hit every spot that makes you scream ♫↬ he's got a praise kink. call him a goodboy and he is gone ♫↬ he's really sweet when it comes to aftercare. He's whisper sweet nothings into your ear while he cleans you up and then he'll cuddle you to sleep. there is not a singular time he has ever forgotten aftercare because of some sexual trauma from the capitol.

Tag List: @jhutchissupercool @taylor9736

Requests are open :)

@mxdnights0

[thesunpersists]

okay for the AU ask: regency everlark, katniss dislikes the marriage market but meets peeta at the first ball

Thank you for playing @oolhan, I always love your asks! 🧚🏻

AU game: send me an AU and i'll tell you 5 things that’ll happen in the story Okay, I had never seen Bridgerton, and I knew I had to watch an episode or two before I could take a crack at this ask. That’s why I am super late— sorry! Funny story: I started watching it with my boyfriend and I think he wasn’t paying attention at first because during the ball scene, he just turned to me, 100% serious, and said “What is this… a market for marriage?” LOL 

Let’s go! Katniss dislikes the marriage market but meets Peeta at the first ball.

1- Katniss has no choice but to dislike the marriage market with her measly dowry. It doesn’t help in the slightest that her younger sister Primrose is far more handsome and talented than she is.

2- She is accompanied to the ball by a family friend, Lord Abernathy, who reminds her to keep her strangely dislikable manners to herself if she is to find a match. 

3- Peeta introduces himself and asks her for a dance. She briskly tells him that he shouldn’t waste his time as she has no intention of marrying him. To which he smiles and replies, “I should hope so. A third son of a modest family would hardly be a match for you.”

4- Relieved to be in good company and spared from the pressures of the first ball, they spend the whole evening together.

5- At one point, they make up a game where they give each other a piece of gossip about someone only they know, and the other one has to guess whether it’s real or not real.

Bonus: The story is called “the man who feels like your dearest friend.”

[clatoera]

For the choose violence ask game - 1, 12, 18, 19, 22, 23

oh bestie you did not come to PLAY with this list okay okay okay I dont even know what i'm about to get myself into but okay!

The character everyone gets wrong and why?

I mean..we all know i have really strong opinions on the baby careers from the 74th, but a lot of that is based on extrapolation. So, instead, I'm going to go with my queen Enobaria. Yes. She has her little shark teeth. Yes she is a D2 victor. But she also is the only one left. Enobaria, we can assume, loses all of her friends either in the games or in the war. Of course people like to see her as crazy and blood thirsty, and yes I truly believe she could have won the Quarter Quell. That being said..when we see her in the end of Mockingjay she is the only Career left. period. And when she votes yes to the games it's like..not this over enthused yes because she loves the hunger games..it's let them know how it feels. Let the Capitol know how it feels to train and die and watch the children you mentor die and the friends you've made die and be abused and it's not about the glory of the games. It's about let everyone know how to feels to be the victor, to be the mentor, to be the person who watches someone they knew even briefly die. I love you Enobaria you will always be famous.

12. The unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

I have written 200k words on unpopular characters that people should like more so this one doesn't seem like i'll do much difference in answering but I'm going to go with Glimmer. Glimmer is a teenage girl who is immediately represented as a sex object. That is how she is presented; sexy. She's a teenager, literally no older than 18. Yeah we can hate her for whatever reason we want (which we don't really have a reason to) but I think it's important to recognize why she exists within the story and what I think the bigger point of her is and it's to represent how the capitol views them. She is, to me, very clearly a parallel to Cashmere who we know was a full fledged sex trafficking victim by snow. That is VERY Clearly what he fate would have been. She was a child being sold as a sex object so she could possibly survive, baby girl they could NEVER make me hate you!

18. It's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on..

Enobaria, period.

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

I have absolutely no shame/horror/etc over the fact I like anyone, I quite literally run a blog titled "mother of all careers apologists". We know who I like. We know I like Cato and Clove and Glimmer and Marvel. This is not news. I am not ashamed. It is my entire brand at this point.

22. Your favorite part of canon everyone else ignores?

I actually answered this one yesterday right here, it's the fact Peeta and Katniss come out of the arena with physical impairments and that Peeta is an amputee and that largely influences his story in Catching Fire in the arena!

23. Ship you've unwillingly come around to?

Again...I don't really think I came around to anything unwillingly. I run a Clato blog. I wrote Cashbaria into my stories. I consider myself a pioneer of Glimmer/Marvel shipping territory. If anything I think I make other people come around to ships against their will. Welcome to the fun house of career x career shipping that crosses district lines and weasels into everyone's hearts.

Thank you friend!!!

[incaensio]

cont from here. @subsiist

she's caught off guard. it's the reason she uses to rationalize the way her face is all of a sudden full of colors — not from his fingers, though she wouldn't have minded it — and she feels uncharacteristically warm, even on a summer night. there's things she wants to say, such as she was only playing, or actually offering for them to nap on the single bed, but every thing she could possibly say gets stuck in her throat because she's looking into his eyes, and then he's saying things that makes her blush so much more she feels herself growing faint. "yeah. you did." she eventually says, pathetically, just as he pulls away. katniss can feel his touch has elicited goosebumps, and they cover all her visible skin, so she pats at her arms, then the side of her thighs, shaking off her shoulders a little as she settles into the bed.

"i'd hope my hair ain't sticky like bread, mellark," what? katniss doesn't know why she's saying something so silly. her head is still flurry from his touch, so she's just saying nonsense by now. she frowns deeply the minute he can not see her face, and shifts so she sits cross legged, her fingers tugging at a part of the hem of his shirt that has become undone after years and years of usage (she should probably have asked if it was okay that she took his clothing. he never complained, so she took it as something good, but what if it is one of those things he just bites back? he does that a lot). katniss clears her throat, and tries to relax her body as he begins sorting through a knot by the end of her hair. "they are pretty. the braided bread. thought it was your da's work. dumb thought, you the one who makes the prettiest things there."

her own humor returns as he flatters her, and her shoulders roll as she scoffs. "hundreds of hours of footage would go against ya there." if she had been able to think futile things after the games — which she didn't, because her head was consumed with thoughts of him making it out alive, that the two of them were alive and were about to be crowned, and she was going home for prim — she'd have been shocked her prep team had been able to fix her matted, burned hair; octavia had said it was easy, they had the creams for it and all it took was a few soaks. it hadn't been easy back home, though — lilian had done her best, but between the work that was to draw a bath, find coal and product, the three of them settled with braiding her hair, with heath teaching the way his own ma had done (you have her hair, katniss. and mine, he'd joke, pressing his mouth to the side of her head when he was done braiding). after he was gone, and lilian was out, and katniss barely had the energy to get up in the mornings, she'd had let her hair go untreated for so long, by her fifteenth birthday, she just decided to chop it just beneath her ears (she hadn't the energy to cry then, to mourn the loss of her parents' gentle touch whenever they did her hair, but she had been somewhat content when it did grow and she could tie it back into a braid herself, like her grandma's).

she's got the means now: the shower (almost) always hot, the expensive creams, the time. this one even smells of blueberry, and she finds herself chewing on her bottom lip while hoping peeta doesn't dislike it. he hasn't stopped touching her hair, so she thinks that must be a good thing. maybe. "you can let it loose. i'll put it in a pony or somethin'. i'm hot, anyways." she brings a hand to rub at the back of her neck, feeling the perspiration stick to the palm.

[sabrinasfeather]

(For starters, you stated that Gale blamed Katniss for the games, not the marriage proposal. While the games were a means for survival and Gale knew that, it’s one thing to act like you’re in love with someone for survival than to getting married to someone else. Gale did not know the marriage was staged, so he was literally losing the girl he loved, to the same guy who blew her off for 6 MONTHS. I would be jealous about that too)

okay first of all you're telling me that he didn't know marriage for stage even though he knows that Peeta and katniss have not talk to each other in months and all of a sudden they're engaged not to mention he knew the relationship was fake in the first place but he couldn't peace together that maybe the marriage was also fake and that case he's kind of f****** stupid.

(but you’re also leaving out the crucial details, that Gale still showed up and listened to her talk) yes that's true but like I said that's most likely due to the fact that they still need to work together to feed his family and even that he was still kind of giving katniss to cold shoulder gale even says that he knows that he was being entirely Fair and he doesn't really apologize for it so again.

(When Peeta (who knew the love act was for survival) realized she didn’t actually love him, he refused to even interact with her.) okay I'm going to be a little bit honest for you I am more understanding of peeta of acting this way than Gale because it wasn't all an act there even says that a lot of the moments were genuine and real and peeta is someone who can read people very easily and I think he would have picked up those feelings so I understand his reaction more than than Gale especially since he apologize for it and that's the thing I would be more forgiving of Gale if he at least apologize for being a man child about it but he just doesn't and to me shows lack of emotional maturity ( For Mockingjay, yeah if would make sense for Gale to be jealous that the girl he loved was kissing someone else. But did he hold it against her? Did he stop taking care of her family because of it? Did he ghost her like Peeta did? No, because he knew that wouldn’t be fair. ) first of all I think the reason why the relationship got better it's because Peeta and katniss weren't in a in an fake engagement anymore if they still were I think he was still be acting like he did in catching Fire.

(For the kiss, the only way you can get that Gale was manipulating her is if you assume Gale cried so Katniss would kiss him. Which if you read the text (Gale, who I have never seen cry before) he was not cried so Katniss would kiss him. He also told Katniss not to worry about him! He wasn’t being an asshole, he was telling her she didn’t have to worry about him. )

("I knew you'd kiss me.""How?" I say. Because I didn't know myself."Because I'm in pain," he says. "That's the only way I get your attention." He picks up the box. "Don't worry, Katniss. It'll pass.") again listen to what he is telling you he said he knew that katniss would kiss him or give him affection and I'm assuming that he figured it out in catching fire because he was hurt and she figured that if she gives him affection that he'll feel better. and also if she didn't want to worry about him why would he was saying the s*** to her when there are more important things to worry about like the rebellion like this is not the time for him to be bringing up his feelings when they're bigger fish to fry and when katniss has already told him multiple times I can't deal with this s*** right now.

("I thought...I'll never compete with that. No matter how much pain I'm in." He spins the feather between his thumb and forefinger. "I don't stand a chance if he doesn't get better. You'll never be able to let him go. You'll always feel wrong about being with me.")

(Lastly, the last quote is legit Gale admitting he knew Katniss had a special relationship with Peeta)

yes but that's not what I was talking about I'm talking about how he is deliberately making katniss feel bad about all the grief she's experiencing and all the emotions experiencing because it's not about him he's making this whole situation about himself when it shouldn't be Peeta is the one who got hijacked katniss is emotionally distress about this and all he can think about is how this affects himself .

(Which is true! Best friends are supposed to be honest with each other, I wouldn’t hate a character for speaking his thoughts.)

okay let me ask you something if you are going through something traumatic and your guy best friend goes up to you say oh I know you're going through this but I'm sad about it because this how this affects our relationship I don't think you would be happy about that like you need to understand there's a time and a place for things and Gale making peeta hijacking is not cool.

And did you forget that Gale risked his life to save Peeta?? Without Gale, he’d still be in the Capital no I didn't forget in fact that's one of the few good things he does but that doesn't excuse his s***** behavior. Also, does Katniss show any signs that she felt guilted? No because at that point I think she was just genuinely tired of this b*******. I mean she does think this earlier on. here's the quote.

(As I turn to go suit up as the Mockingjay, I catch Gale watching me and Finnick unhappily. What now? Does he actually think something's going on between us? Maybe he saw me go to Finnick's last night. I would've passed the Hawthornes' space to get there. I guess that probably rubbed him the wrong way. Me seeking out Finnick's company instead of his. Well, fine. I've got rope burn on my fingers, I can barely hold my eyes open, and a camera crew's waiting for me to do something brilliant. And Snow's got Peeta. Gale can think whatever he wants.) and I personally love this line because it really just shows how f****** tired she is of Gale being a whiny little b**** about this stuff when they are bigger things going on and she can't deal with this crap right now and how she's stop giving a f*** about his feelings. also him being jealous of finnick when he's obviously just a male friend it's a major red flag behavior.

( no she did not. She kissed him because she wanted a distraction, and Gale stopped her because she wasn’t in the right state of mind. Wow! Such harassment! Letting ur friend go because she’s confused and not pressuring her. You’re right, Gale is such a bad person.)

I'm sorry but no one can convince me that he did not take advantage of a grieving, lonely girl in district two. people will always point to how gale stopped when he could tell katniss was “drunk” with grief and then use that to explain how he was caring for her. but no.  he took advantage of her. he did not stop because he knew she was grieving her lost lover and was not in the headspace to be kissing someone. he stopped because it didn't count as her choosing him. because it didn't feel like the beach scene. because it was clear he wasn't peeta. 

Alright babes chill, you sent me this same ask twice. How would the marriage proposal be obviously staged?? They did that specifically to look real and so Snow would leave them alone. Kinda funny how you also couldn’t counteract the most important detail, which was Gale still willingly showed up, let Katniss explain what actually happened, and supported the idea until he found out about the revolution. Which also, Gale DID apologize for not running (“I was wrong. We should have gone when you said […] It’s not to late”] Not only does Gale regret his choice, he admits he was wrong, which is very honorable imo, and he is clearly devastated Katniss is going back to the games, as he also pulls her in for a big hug in this scene.

For your argument of the 1st kiss in Mockingjay, that legit makes zero sense. Gale was in physical pain in CF to the point he was unconscious and could’ve died, wow Gale was really forcing her to kiss him there. In Mockingjay, he was devastated throughout the whole chapter, which you would know if you actually read the books. How dare Gale cry about the trauma of reliving the bombing of District 12. Also again, please actually read these books, Gale has NEVER cried in front of Katniss. There’s no way he knew she would kiss him until afterwards, which he literally tells her not to worry about him.

Look, I’ll give you the Finnick scene, that’s about your only accurate point. It’s important to know Finnick legit asked Katniss if she found him distracting, which while Finnick was joking, Gale obviously would not know that. But I know you did not say Gale “took advantage” of Katniss when he literally stopped her from kissing him because he knew she wasn’t mentally there. That is so insanely inaccurate and weird asf. Stop taking good Gale moments and shifting them because you don’t like him, it’s not a good look.

[viscountessevie]

What really gets me is the Kanthony fans, some of them brown girls (!!!!), policing people’s reactions to Simone missing, accusing us of “living in misery” and to stop being negative. All day yesterday they were going on and on about dilf Tony. Disgusting how Kate/Simone isn’t even an afterthought for them. She’s just an extension of him just like the show will treat her

Answering all these together because pretty sure the first three are by the same anon and the last one is in a similar vein.

Related to this post and the fallout of leaving Simone out of the S3 filming announcement video (where the fuck was S2's video fuckers???)

Okay so I am revoking all these desi people's brown cards. Like I know we're not a monolith and you're allowed to want to be happy your fave show is coming back and not have criticism on your dash but guess what? Use the block button. Don't fucking invalidate everyone else's feelings about how racist production has been to it's main Indian lead who has been constantly sidelined since DAY 1. And don't use your brown card as if you speak for all of us. It just gives the yts leeway to use your voice to hurt the rest of us and it's fucking annoying. Just because you align yourself with them isn't going to make them like you. They'll stay rotten and love their racist fave.

I'm really disappointed in those Kathonys who only focus on Anthony. Like whooo the fuck do you think makes him a DILF? Also Simone Ashley isn't campaigning this hard for a baby since Peeta Mellark (thank you to Nia for this joke) for yall to be sidelining her. My interpretation/theory is it's not so much they only see her as an extension of him but rather they hate that Kate is a WoC now and can't project onto her and put themselves in her shoes as a self insert 😒 at least that's the vibe I get from Anthony lovers who don't like Kate anymore (which feels impossible cos how fo you not love Kate?? Well turns out when you're a Sai Bennet!Kate stan 🤢)

The second ask is a clarification to my post here.

Yeah as I said, toxic positivity ain't going to help any of us and stop invalidating the rest of us' concerns and frustrations. It really doesn't make you special to hear you say we're all just so miserable or talking over our voices when talking about how Simone and Kate have been sidelined during her own season.

Lol peaceful Kathonys, I honestly have never met one. Maybe on their blog they are but I bet they're all bitching away in their group chats. Listen the captains of our fandom are Anthony and Kate Sharma-Bridgerton. They are intense clowns who have no chill and we're a reflection of that. But yes it does show how much we love Simone when even the peaceful Kathonys are speaking up on the backlash as we should. We should just keep bullying production into giving us more Kathony after they fucked us over in S2.

Of course they think its easier to market the white guy especially since if they don't talk abt his sexuality they can just let him pass as straight 😒. Honestly I'm starting to see that this show was never for us. They don't care about the POC demographic, it's just tokenism porn for the yts to pat themselves on the back for being so "enlightened" and watching a show with diversity. Same with production for doing the minimum yet pretending like they did so much for their POC characters and audiences.

So yeah fuck this show and we really need to start taking our views elsewhere and since Mr. Malcolm's List is out, we should probably throw all the money at that team so they can create similar shows for us and hopefullly it will outshine the cracker season.

[Also I have this queued so by the time its posted I'll be watching Mr. Malcolm's List so feel free to send me asks abt it! I'll answer them after I finish the movie as a cleanser from discourse!]

[rosaaeles]

☕️ Finnick Odair, Annie Cresta, and Odesta

HOO BOY

i love both of them so much as individuals and together honestly!! i didn’t ever think that i'd find a ship that would rival my love for everlark in THG but there’s something about odesta....

let’s start with finnick!

there is so much to say! i adore his unwavering loyalty to those he loves, the way he was fighting for katniss and peeta before they even realised he was, the fact that he always had their backs even in MJ when the rebellion started to demand more of them and they were being ordered around by high command etc etc. the fact that he’s willing to take katniss’s place for the propo and talk about his trauma in MJ because he can see she’s too shaken to do it and he is too but he does it anyway UGH

i love that he’s so immensely clever and that he plays the capitol’s game perfectly in order to keep the people he loves safe. the fact that he has all the capitol fooled into thinking he’s some kind of serial womanising heart-throb  when rly he said “one true love" and was talking about annie!!!!! ugh he’s brilliant idk how else to put him. i love him lots and though i understand the role his death served thematically and in the plot, i'm always going to be a bit upset about it bc he deserved to see his baby son and grow old with Annie! this is why I'm in the middle of writing a revisionist fic in which he survives, it’s going well currently and I am having the time of my life okay back to the ask

Annie Cresta is the loml honestly and I'll never forgive miss collins for not giving us more of her backstory bc idk how much of my perception of her character is due to fics ive read vs. how much is actually due to what’s canon lmfao :’)

i think the fact that she and finnick were able to find such solace in each other is devastatingly heartwarming! i think that just seeing her as the girl who went “mad” and who was dating/married to finnick is a huge huge disservice to her character because she exists apart from finnick too as an individual who went through the games and survived them!! idk i just love her lots, and i think she’s fab and would love to explore her character in more depth!

[mega-aulover]

Oohhh did I hear “Send me a prompt, I’ll write a drabble.”? You don’t have to tell me twice!

How about: “Seeing you is my motivation to get myself out of bed every morning. But sometimes it’s the opposite.” :))

@softlikethesunset12 Oooh my mind went to a Cannon AU This would happen anyway Prim was never reaped at twelve and neither was Peeta.

Rated G - all mistakes are sadly mine Enjoy:

It was a long day. Katniss dragged herself from the mines to the small hut she called home, bone tired. She couldn't imagine doing this for the rest of her life.

After she phased out of the Reaping, Katniss converted Lady's pen into a small livable shed for herself. She sold a few valuable pelts for a potbelly stove in the hob. It was a small space, just the stove, and a cot shoved into a corner but it was hers.

Moving out improved her relationship with her mother. It forced her mother to take care of Prim and it allowed Katniss the freedom to spread out and find out who she was. And what she wanted. Prim also had her own bed and didn't need to share it with her or their mother.

Katniss put her lunch pail on the wobbly table and took off her boots. The mirror on the wall showed her charcoaled reflection. She had soot and ash embedded into the lines of her face. The only part of her that didn't have ash was her hair and only because she always wore her cap. Her eyes stared back, the shown lighter amongst the filth accumulated on her face. They were also filled with exhaustion. After today, if everything went right tomorrow, she could quit the mines.

Tomorrow was the last time her sister would be in the Reaping. Katniss couldn't wait to be free of the worry that her sister could still be reaped. Her yearly nightmare of listening to her sisters name being called out kept her up at night.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day. She would give Prim all of her savings so that her sister could send off to reopen the apothecary. With the apothecary back in the family her mother and sister could move to town and live a better life. If part B of her plan didn't work Katniss would settle inside of her parent's home. All she had to do was hunt and live off of that.

"No," she muttered to herself. "That won't happen." Katniss needed to think positive as she had been told.

Pouring some water inside of the basin she splashed her face, and wash your hands.

The only hitch in her plan was her hunting partner.

Gale wanted to get married but Katniss used Prim as an excuse to keep him at bay. She'd thought by now he'd find someone else to pester. She was wrong, Gale was like a hair Ina biscuit, just hanging on.

There was a knock at the door.

"Coming," Katniss called.

"It's me Prim," her sister yelled back.

Katniss opened the door. Her sister stood with two pails of water.

"Here," Prim said shoving the pails at her.

Katniss took the pails inside.

Prim brought in two more pails before going back outside to drag in the small tin tub. "I thought you'd want to take a real bath and not your usual wipe down."

"In other words, you don't want me to stink tonight," Katniss raised an eyebrow. "Okay, who is he?"

"First off I'm insulted!" Prim pouted and batted her lashes. "Secondly, I wish there was someone," Prim sighed, "Boys are so immature."

Katniss laughed. Prim was boy crazy, she'd caught her sister more than once sneaking off to the slagheap.

"Mother's making that stew I like, she's been jittery all day."

"It's the last one Prim," Katniss said. She couldn't hide her fear. If her sister was Reaped Katniss wouldn't be able to volunteer for Prim.

"I know, but I have to believe that I'll be okay," Prim said. "Now take a bath you smell worse than the Vicks gym socks."

"That bad huh?"

Prim left and Katniss sighed. The water was still warm and Katniss sighed as she settled into the water. She scrubbed the soot from the mines from her body and hair. By the time she was done the water was black. Tomorrow was a holiday, the mines were closed. Katniss relished the clean feeling. That night she made an effort to laugh and have a good time with her family.

If everything went well her mother and sister would be surprised and set up for the rest of their lives. After her mother's sister died. The apothecary sat empty for years. Only a descendant of her mother's family could petition for it and as Katniss found out it was a small fortune. For the past 4 years, she'd toiled in the mines, scrimped, and saved every last coin she earned from hunting. Now she was so close.

If only Gale would just leave her alone.

The next morning it was bright and warm. Katniss got up late, but still took the time to comb out her hair and slip a ribbon in it. She wanted to wear her light green skirt but it was ripped.

She walked over to her mother's and knocked on the door.

"Katniss?" Her mother greeted, "What's wrong?"

"The skirt I wanted to wear is ripped."

"Oh dear there is no time to patch it up, wait," her mother said. She rushed to the room upstairs. Within a few moments, she came back down with a creamy orange dress. "Here, this should look nice on you."

Katniss took the dress, dubious that it would look nice on her but her mother was right time was running out. Taking the dress she ran out and got dressed. By the time she was finished. Her mother and sister were waiting outside. Prim wore the blue dress Katniss wore when Katniss phsaed out of the Reaping.

Her eyes unwillingly went a certain blond head that now stood above the crowd. Katniss bit the bottom of her lip, as she skimmed over his broad shoulders. Peeta's blonde hair curled over his ears. He was so handsome and now taller than his brothers. His mother the witch died last year and his brothers quickly married and left the bakery. Peeta turned his head and he stared at her and Katniss lowered her gaze feeling tingly all over.

They walked into the town, following the other hundreds of people who were headed for the same place. By the end of the day two more children would be sacrificed to The Hunger Games.

The Town square was in front of the Justice Building. Katniss took her spot next to her mother. She spotted Gale standing a few feet away with his mother. He carried Posy in his arms. They still had Rory, Vick in the reaping, and Posy had still yet to go through a Reaping.

Katniss glanced up and Peeta winked at her.

Effie trinket tapped on the microphone and Katniss snapped out of her current headspace. It was time to call the female tribute. The cameras were recording the crowd as the proceedings happened. Effie dipped her hand in the bowl.

Katniss grasped her mother's hand. Her heart pounded.

"Nephele Fleur," Effie said.

Katniss's shoulders relaxed when she saw one of Prim's schoolmates walk forward.

"Now for the men," Effie said.

Gale's chin clenched.

"Vick," the piece of paper fell to the floor. "Oh dear," Effie said. A Peacekeeper ran on stage and handed the paper to her. Katniss's eyes found Gale's brother. "The lucky tribute is Vick Rivers," Effie red.

She could see Gale's shoulders slump.

Now that everyone that she knew was safe Katniss let go of her mother's hand. The Reaping was done and the two tributes were brought inside of the justice building.

"I'll go get Prim," her mother said.

Katniss nodded.

"Catnip," Gale said.

"Hey," Katniss nodded. "How is Vick?"

"Grateful. He's being held by ma," Gale said.

Katniss searched the crowd wishing she'd gone with her mother.

"So now that Prim's safe," Gale began.

"Gale," she said. Her eyes searched the crowd. After a moment she spotted Peeta. His blue eyes lit up when he saw her. She watched Peeta approach her. She gripped her hands. They had a rapport of sorts. Over the past four years, they'd become friends.

"Katniss don't use that tone of voice with me," Gale said. "I don't like you working in the mines."

"Hey, Katniss." Peeta smiled at her, then said, "Gale."

"Peeta," Gale said looking annoyed.

"Hi Peeta," Katniss said, thankful for Peeta's presence.

"You look beautiful," Peeta said.

Gale frowned, "Yes, you look nice."

"Thank you," Katniss said.

"I've never seen you wear that color," Gale said scratching his head. "That's not your favorite color is it?"

"No," Katniss said.

"No, it's mine." Peeta slipped his hand in his pocket. "Katniss likes green."

"How?" Gale looked confused.

"My father and I would like to give you some cookies, for you and your family. I am sure you guys have a lot to celebrate. Prim phasing out of the Reaping and Vick escaping the Games."

"Thanks," Gale nodded. "I was hoping for..."

"That is so sweet of you Peeta," Katniss said. Her heart was racing and not because she was going to say no to Gale.

"Are you going to quit the mines?" Peeta asked.

Gale's eyes flew to hers, before settling on Peeta.

"I overheard what Gale said, and I know you've been talking about it for a long while?" Peeta took a step closer to her and she didn't move away.

Katniss nodded, she could feel her cheeks warming up. "I can't wait to tell my family."

Peeta shuffled closer once more and she didn't move away. His Cinnamon and dill scent wafted over her and she closed her eyes briefly. "We'll still see each other."

"Thank goodness. Seeing you is my motivation to get myself out of bed every morning. But sometimes it’s the opposite..."

"Is Peeta the reason you caught me going to the slagheap," Prim gasped in a loud voice.

Katniss didn't hear her mother arrive nor did she hear the rest of the Hawthornes approach.

"Are you and Peeta together?" Gale demanded.

Katniss glanced at Peeta and together they said, "Yes, yes we are."

[onlymollygibson]

Part 2:

Haymitch spent his lunch on Monday eating a couple of microwave burritos and grading his History class's essays on the post-Civil War reconstruction.

Someone knocked on his door. He looked up, and it was Katniss Everdeen from his AP History class. The girl didn't say much in class, but her work was decent. Also, she'd been at every wrestling match this year.

"Now, now, I haven't even graded your essay yet. You'll get it back by Friday," he told her.

"No, this is about Health class," she said.

Oh and she was in his brand new headache as well.

She continued, "Mrs Odair said something about an alternative assignment."

He checked through her lesson plans. "Yep, if students don't get a parent's permission to participate in class, they can write a five page essay on why teenage pregnancy is a bad idea."

"Okay, I'd like to do that."

He leafed through the permission slips and there was one for Katniss Everdeen, signed and filled out.

"You've already turned in your permission slip."

"Right but my mother is a nurse," she replied, "So I already know all about that stuff."

"Uh-huh," said Haymitch, "You'd rather write a five page essay - single spaced by the way - and sit in the library for the next week than do a couple easy worksheets and a half page about a love song."

"Yes." She was scowling at him. He liked it when she turned that scowl on the refs if they made a bad call. Didn't appreciate quite as much when it was directed at him though. Oh well. She was sixteen. What was the worst she could do?

"'Fraid I can't let you do that." He might have let it slide, but he figured she could use all the help she could get.

"Why not?" Katniss asked.

"Well for starters the alternative assignment is mainly for - don't tell Principal Trinket I said this - religious nut jobs who think learning about condoms will somehow turn their precious babies into devil worshippers. And secondly, how many AP classes are you in, kid?"

"Three," she muttered, still scowling.

"Bet you're taking pre-calc too."

"Yep."

"For cryin' out loud, health class is supposed to be an easy A. Don't do a five page essay if you don't have to."

"But its not relevant to me-"

"Nope," Haymitch responded. Like hell it wasn't relevant to her. Between the way that Hawthorne kid on the basketball team spoke about her in the locker room and the way Peeta always looked to her spot in the stands after every single bout, that girl was knee deep in romantic messes, whether she wanted to be or not.

"Fine!" She stormed out of his classroom.

Haymitch went back to his burrito.

E period rolled around and the students put their completed assignment into Annie's color coded turn-in box.

Haymitch took attendance and then leafed through the assignments to find one to start the discussion with. Thom's was relatively benign. "I'll Be Watching You by The Police," he read for the class, "This is my mom's favorite song, but I just think it's creepy. Well, class, let's see who's right, this student or his mother."

He pulled the song up on YouTube and let the class watch while he looked through the rest of the papers. Delly Cartwright had a decent one. Cato's submission was... definitely worth discussing.

After the class agreed not to be creepy stalkers, he went with Delly's song choice: Kid Rock's All Summer Long.

During the song, Principal Trinket slipped in and took an empty seat in the back of the classroom.

Meanwhile he kept reading through the papers. He got to Katniss Everdeen's submission. Instead of her usual precise penmanship, the assignment was submitted in an angry scrawl. It read "I chose Someone Like You by Adele. She was correct when she said "Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead," but she missed the part where if your love dies you'll just stare at a wall for two months and leave your eleven year old to keep your life from completely derailing. Like I said, this assignment isn't really relevant to me, because I'm never ever going to fall in love."

Well shit. That certainly explained some things. He made a mental note to email the school counselor and get her some professional help, but for now he had to go on with the lesson.

When the song was over, he told the class, "I have a small correction to my lecture from last time. It has come to my attention that I should only be using anatomically correct terms in this class. Last time I told you 'It's all fun and games until your dick falls off.' Please correct that in your notes to 'It's all fun and games until your penis falls off.'" He smirked at Effie. "The sentiment stands. STDs are no joke, kids. Anyway, we just finished this lovely tribute to teenage stupidity. Anyone wanna tell me where Kid Rock went wrong?"

Delly Cartwright raised her hand and brought up consent, which was the point she'd made in the paper too. One of the dipshits in the middle said something stupid that made his buddy laugh.

Haymitch called out, "Now if you two chuckleheads need whiskey to get a girl to sleep with you, that says more about you than it does about the girl. But we'll be talking more about consent later in the lesson. Anyone else?"

Someone brought up that it was illegal to have sex in a public place, which was an excellent point, but they missed on the main problems with that song, "Location, location, location," he told them, "If it doesn't have a good place to go to the bathroom and clean up a bit afterwards, the girl could end up with a UTI, which are a pain. Then of course there's the sand that gets everywhere. I mean, it's better than the wrestling mats, which is a ticket to a staph infection in a very uncomfortable location, but not by much."

"Anyway," Haymitch continued, "Next up is the worst submission by far. I will not be playing the song for the class, see Ms. Trinket I can be reasonable, but it's WAP by Cardi B." A few of the wrestlers high fived each other. Time to wipe that smile off Cato's face. "Now, the problem isn't the song selection it's that this guy wrote, 'Girls don't actually get wet like that it's just a myth.' While the song is definitely exaggerating in terms of volume, it is factually correct. There is some accounting for variation in partners, but in general, vaginal dryness is a sign that the partner isn't very good at what he's doing."

And he'd done it again. Absolute silence; even the morons paying perfect attention. Time to move on to consent.

The Hunger Games modern AU where Haymitch is the gym teacher and has to teach sex ed. He starts the week by playing Girls, Girls, Girls by Motley Crue. Then he says, "Don't you ever go to a 'dollhouse' in Fort Lauderdale. You know who does that? Florida men. It's a surefire way to get syphilis. And you know what happens with untreated syphilis? Your dick falls off. Your assignment this week is to bring in a popular song that mentions sex and tell the class exactly what's wrong with it."

Effie Trinket is the principal.

[mega-ringsandthings-world]

I guess we very fundamentally disagree then. To me it's pretty clear Peetas love isn't the kind you just move on from? I guess put the way you said it there's plenty for him to do and even be happy with, I'll agree with that being a decent ending for him. But to me there's always gonna be some pain in his life knowing the person he gave his whole heart to doesn't return that. He'd never be loved as much as he loved her, even by Katniss herself. That would be a shitty ending to me, as a fan of him, but clearly you feel different cause you aren't. I will FIRMLY disagree on him ever finding love with anyone else again. There is literally nothing to say he'd be happy doing that.

Okay? So that's a you problem then, because I couldn't give less of a fuck what you think regarding him not ending up with Katniss. He's not a real person, and the sum total of his feelings on the matter in question are zero, since he doesn't exist. In canon, he did end up with Katniss, in canon she loves him back, she fucked him and they had kids, so I don't understand why you feel the need to grandstand to me about how his life would be so unfulfilled without Kantiss? You're literally hypothesizing about an ending that doesn't exist and that I only said I'd prefer to see, so at this point...get a life? It' pretty fucking entitled to rant about your opinions at someone who couldn't care less for them.

All I said was that I think he'd be pretty capable of living a full life without being in a romantic relationship with Katniss, (the text does support that) and that thematically wise I think it would have been better to end with them being platonic rather than romantic. If you losers take that opinion (that has no influence over canon) so personally, then...okay? Lol? I'm sorry for you? Please touch grass?

[katnissmellarkkk]

Okayyyy here comes the next chapter ! Number .... lemme look. Okay, number six! 🥳🥳🥳

And yes, my thoughts as usual will be a messy, very Everlark-biased and full of typos. Letsss gooooo 🥰🥰🥰

Is this the first time Katniss and Peeta have been to their floor or is this just the most opportune time to explain and introduce the Tribute Center living quarters?

Also why are they called tributes anyway? That word suddenly seems weird to me after nine years... 🤔🤔🤔

“I've ridden the elevator a couple of times in the Justice Building back in District 12. Once to receive the medal for my father's death and then yesterday to say my final goodbyes to my friends and family” .... 😶😶 so only good memories and connotations to elevators then, huh?

“The walls of this elevator are made of crystal so that you can watch the people on the ground floor shrink to ants as you shoot up into the air.” My mind is just imagining the elevator in Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone’s Spider-Man movies 🤗.

“It's exhilarating and I'm tempted to ask Effie Trinket if we can ride it again, but somehow that seems childish” this is so cute and innocent omg. Katniss, like I said in my last chapter blog, still has some childlike innocence left in her 🥺🥺🥺. I’m a sad.

Also excuse the unnecessary extra gif use but 🤭🤭🤭

Oh wow, so Haymitch hasn’t been around since they were on the train? No wonder neither Katniss nor Peeta fled they could trust him for basically the entirety of the first book. 😐😐😐

You know it’s bad when Effie being around feels like a blessing to Katniss. Girl has more restraint than me, I’d have ripped off this woman’s janky wig by now without remorse. 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

Effie acts like they’re her purebred show dogs. I know I know how is this news, that’s a blatant fact. The movies really softened her up tho for the general audience. And I bleed the movies and books together more than I should 😔😔😔

Well at least she’s made herself useful, trying to get Everlark sponsors ... even if it’s ultimately to benefit herself above anyone else .... 😤

Effie calling Twelve barbaric while she’s preparing them for the slaughter isn’t even ironic it’s like literally just brainless. Johanna probably had the nickname floating around for a lot of people before she officially knighted Katniss with it 😭

“Everyone has their reservations, naturally. You being from the coal district.” Is this how they refer to Twelve? So basically if a district makes a better item, it’s a more worthy one in the Capitol’s eyes? So essentially, if District Eight made like diamonds or pearls or whatever then it would be more worthy? So are the districts assigned their numbers (one, two, three, four, etc) based on their order of importance to the Capitol’s lifestyle? I always thought it was based on their distance in relation to the Capitol? Okay so I didn’t really pay much attention to these facts previously when I read these books ok look away I’m an idiot

Omg 😭😭😭😭 Effie is such an idiot. But the coal turns to pearls thing is my favorite line from her only because it serves as the cutest inside joke when Peeta makes a callback to it in Catching Fire and Finnick is just like “why are these two teenagers so stupid who did I ally with? 🥵😳🥵😳���”

“I wonder if the people she's been plugging us to all day either know or care.” After reading Songbirds and Snakes, I’m sure they don’t have a clue, boo. 😑😑😑😑 although not everyone was an idiot back then ... maybe Snow is putting lead in the drinking water?

“But don't worry, I'll get him to the table at gunpoint if necessary.” I know she’s trying to help and I know we say this kind of thing today, but considering this is two kids she’s well aware will be heading into a death match this is just bad wording I know surprise surprise 🙄🙄🙄😬😬😬😬

“Although lacking in many departments, Effie Trinket has a certain determination I have to admire.” Katniss really does see the best in people. What’s sad, y’all, is I think Katniss unconsciously really tries to like people and that’s why she has her guard up so high. Because the softer you are, the easier people will step all over you. Terrible phrasing here, Samantha, I’m so sorry to any of my readers ... okay now that sounded arrogant, implying I have readers 🤭🤭🤭🤭🤣😅🤣😅🤣😅

“My quarters are larger than our entire house back home.” Omg? I mean, yes, I knew this already obviously no duh but like also. Just the fact that three people live in a space smaller than a bedroom and bathroom arena is saddy sad sad. Also do they have indoor plumbing in the Seam or is their backyards just full of—okay, I’ll see myself out. 😶🤭😅🙃

“The shower alone has a panel with more than a hundred options you can choose regulating water temperature, pressure, soaps, shampoos, scents, oils, and massaging sponges.” I’m just imagining a Spongebob scene ngl.

I’m sorry there’s so many gifs this time around it’s probably taking us out of the reading headspace I’ll never do it again 😩😩😩😩 I talk like I have a class of people listening to me 🤭🤭🤭

“Instead of struggling with the knots in my wet hair, I merely place my hand on a box that sends a current through my scalp, untangling, parting, and drying my hair almost instantly” I need this someone invent this NOW my brush is yanking out my hair 😔😩

“I program the closet for an outfit to my taste.” ‘Yes, Alexa, I’d like a hunting jacket, some boots and a green shirt. Yes, it can be brown.’

“You need only whisper a type of food from a gigantic menu into a mouthpiece and it appears, hot and steamy, before you in less than a minute.” I like this idea because it means that Peeta could order hot choccy to comfort Katniss after her nightmares in Catching Fire from the comfort of her their own bed. 🤗🤗🤗 also I want this for myself. The bad people are giving my greedy self ideas look away everyone 😬

“I walk around the room eating goose liver and puffy bread until there's a knock on the door.” 🤢🤢🤢🤢 Of everything you could have chosen, child, this is what you decided on? Someone help my girl and her rotten tastebuds now.

“Effie's calling me to dinner. Good. I'm starving.” Baby, you were just eating. She’s so nutritionally messed up. 😔😔😔

Katniss trying wine 🥳🥳🥳 she’s so funny, trying to find a way to improve the taste 😅. She’ll make a good taste tester for her baker husband one day.

Hahahaha Katniss not liking the feeling and judging Haymitch for always being tipsy. Also this is sad because she ends up addicted to morphling later one which is far worse than a little wine.

I’m glad to know Baked Alaska survived the apocalypse 😅🥳

Katniss just constantly trying to decipher the recipe of every meal and how to recreate it reads cute on a surface level but it’s actually so tragic because everything to this girl is based around food. Like even more than is typically noticed. They really should have given a hint at this in the first movie. Good thing she marries a man who can always keep her full.

I’m just forever side-eyeing you, Gare Bear.

That’s Gary Ross for the confused kids in the back.

Why does Katniss yelling mid-sentence, “oh! I know you!” add to her innocence? 🥺 it’s because she was overwhelmed by all the food and new luxuries she’d never even been able to imagine ... and also this is pre her first games so she’s still got some childhood left in her 😩😔

I wonder how Lavinia felt seeing Katniss volunteer and knowing she’d be her Avox? I wonder if she, like Cinna, somehow volunteered to be her Avox?

I mean ... talk about convenient placement that this specific girl was assigned to Katniss’ district—oh wait, y’all, I just caught myself. She’s from Twelve. She was assigned to Twelve’s tributes because she’s from there, duh. I’m such an airhead omg just call me Effie.

Don’t you actually dare.

“When I look back, the four adults are watching me like hawks.” Meanwhile, Peeta is just like 😬😬😬 eating his dinner.

Actually, ngl, this could be such a reach and it probably is but like maybe Peeta sensed a confrontation coming and, because of his implied upbringing, he naturally becomes silent or makes himself invisible when trouble starts looking like it’s gonna arise. 🥺🥺🥺 I don’t know why I say these things I’m just hurting my own feelings but ya know the drill. I thought it so I said it.

Why is Effie yelling at Katniss for saying she knows the Avox girl like omg overreaction much? And I know, the sky is blue 🙄🙄🙄 she’s prejudiced against basically everyone, I know, I know

Rip her wig off, Katty Deen 🤗🤗🤗

Oh I stupidly forgot that Avoxes are supposedly known by everyone to be traitors or criminals. So I suppose this isn’t Effie’s worst offense but I’m keeping a tally anyways

Katniss is blaming her stuttering on the wine but my girl just has social anxiety 😔😔😔

Peeta coming in with a save 😭😭😭 he’s already trying saving his girl 🤧

Alsoooo the unspoken friendship, the covering for the other and teaming up against the adults, is still riding high and going strong here 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 look away, y’all, the shipper comments are coming in strong

Also why is this the first real interaction with Peeta in this chapter yet? My baby needs more page-time 🤭🤭🤭

“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.” Now why did Katniss just tear Delly to shreds for no reason at all 😭😭😭 this was a surprise assault on the poor girl 🙃🙃🙃🙃

“She may also be the friendliest person on the planet - she smiles constantly at everybody in school, even me.” Okay not to tie absolutely everything back to Peeta ... but to tie absolutely everything back to Peeta ... this description of poor, sweet Delly is actually indicative of Peeta’s character? Since Delly, we find out in Mockingjay, is Peeta’s childhood best friend, her personality being this sunny, kind, good-natured person tells us Peeta has always probably been somewhat like her and perhaps not as much like the other town kids Katniss implies to be stuck up or snooty. Maybe Katniss is just shady and deflects onto others 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️.

Also the fact that she gives this like ... mean description of Delly but saw Peeta as popular, even though surely Delly and Peeta spent time at school together, implies further that Katniss did indeed harbor a secret crush on Peeta even before the reaping. A very mild comparison of his on her though, of course 😅😅😅

“It must be the hair” “something about the eyes too” their piggybacking on the other’s comments really is just chiefs kiss 😘🤗🥰🤧 FYI I know the saying is chefs kiss but I made the typo once a long time ago and decided to add it forever to my brand 🤗🙃🥳

Also though this Everlark interaction is reminiscent of when two kids get caught by their teacher goofing off in class and covering for each other 🥰 only it’s a lot more deadly stakes

“A few of the other couples make a nice impression, but none of them can hold a candle to us.” She’s so modest 🤧🤧🤧 her narration here and during the Tribute Parade just has the vibes of ... well .... sorry in advance

Haymitch’s comment “Just the perfect touch of rebellion. Very nice” leads me to think he and Cinna and maybe Portia were always in cahoots about the rebellion even before Katniss and Peeta came along and well ... lit their match on fire 🥁🤗🤣🤭

Katniss is like “rebellion??? Rebellion where??? What’s that you old people speak of???” And yet, girlfriend goes out to the woods and hunts illegally every day of her life 🤣🤣🤣🤣.

“But when I remember the other couples, standing stiffly apart, never touching or acknowledging each other, as if their fellow tribute did not exist” too lazy too look it up but there’s a quote from Ballad about Lucy Gray and Jessup being distinguished by their visible friendship too that set them apart from the other tributes.

Either Suzanne thought of drawing a nice parallel showing what a failed Everlark attempt looks like, because I firmly stand by the fact that without their real feelings behind their act, even Katniss’ unconscious ones, they wouldn’t have pulled it off, or Suzzie just reused her own content. I prefer the former but I think it’s probably the latter 🤭🤭🤭

“Now go get some sleep while the grown-ups talk." I know Haymitch is being facetious here but this quote reminded me of the fact that the movies would have hit differently if they’d cast actual sixteen year olds in the roles.

“When we get to my door, he leans against the frame, not blocking my entrance exactly but insisting I pay attention to him.” This is such a flirty, high school boy pose, you cannot convince me otherwise 😭😭😭

Also I definitely feel like Peeta is getting more and more confident here because he’s oblivious to Katniss’ inner monologue as much as she is his actually we all are his sadly and he probably thinks she’s starting to like him 🤧🤧🤧

“So, Delly Cartwright. Imagine finding her lookalike here." 🤣 He honestly cracks me up idk why this line isn’t even special or that great. He’s just so ... subtly nosy / funny. Which brings me to that quote from Mockingjay where Katniss talks about his sense of humor because it’s one of the things she loves most about him 😭😭😭

But he’s like, “I can keep a secret, Katniss, tell me who that tongueless chick is to you 😬”

Katniss stop talking about debts, friends cover for the other all the time 🙄🙄 I know it’s in her character stop yelling at a fish for swimming that’s not a real phrase I know that too

Okay first of all, they’re about to share a secret 🥰🥰🥰🥰. My shipper goggles are on tight and obstructing my vision. I know this and am proud 😬🥳🤗

And secondly, “Maybe sharing a confidence will actually make him believe I see him as a friend.” Hey, butthead, you two are already friends. She doesn’t even recognize that the girl who constantly sits with her, talks to her, eats with her and trades with her is her friend either though, I’m shocked she calls Gale her friend

Does Peeta get to know Cinna too? I don’t think so but it’s mentioned now a couple times in this chapter alone that Peeta has interacted with Cinna. Katniss never interacts or has a conversation with Portia.... then again, is that even surprising? Katniss isn’t ... what you would call ... social. Hashtag relatable.

Awww, they’re communicating so effectively together 🥰😭🤧🥳

Also rooftops belong to Everlark only 😍😊😉 I mean, seriously, Katniss never goes up on a rooftop with anyone else. Besides Haymitch in the first movie but we ignore.

“Electricity in District 12 comes and goes, usually we only have it a few hours a day.” Earlier she said the Seam didn’t often have electricity, in particular, so either she’s not specifying her section of the district anymore or Suzanne is backtracking.

“But here there would be no shortage. Ever.” I’ve had two power outages recently so clearly the Capitol isn’t based on us currently today then 😐😐 I’m just joking ok

“I asked Cinna why they let us up here. Weren't they worried that some of the tributes might decide to jump right over the side?” .... boyfriend, where does your mind go sometimes? Peeta’s darker than we realize, y’all 🤭🤭🙃🙃

“He holds out his hand into seemingly empty space. There's a sharp zap and he jerks it back” between this and Catching Fire, Peeta is addicted to getting shocked by forcefields 🤧🤧🤧

“I wonder if we're supposed to be up here now, so late and alone.” If this was a romantic drama or comedy, that line would have meant something a lot more fun 😒😔😬😉😏

“On the other side of the dome, they've built a garden with flower beds and potted trees.” Is this meant to resemble Snow’s grandmother’s garden???? Like he had them put a garden there to like ... put a piece of his Grandma’am in the games? Idk this made zero sense it was a stupid thought

Two people in a garden at night, with wind chimes, sounds romantic in any other context. 🥺🥺

Ummm does everyone in the entire district know Katniss and her father used to hunt together?

Oh nevermind, Lavinia is not from District Twelve. My bad, guys. I should go up and edit my previous thoughts but that’s a lot of work. 😅😅😅

Katniss, stop being so hard on yourself. You and Gale were kids. 😣😣

Ummm, Katniss for a girl always complimenting Peeta’s storyteller, you’re pretty good at painting a picture yourself...

Peeta noticing she’s shivering 🥰🥺

He gives her ... his jacket 😭😭😭😭 such a romantic troupe Samantha, get over it there’s literally children dying

Oh wow, Lavinia was from the Capitol originally. Hmm, it is sus now that she got District Twelve this particular year.

But also 🤧🤧🤧 “he secures a button at my neck.”

His hands .... are .... often .... at her .... neck .... 😶😬 .... look away, y’all

Oh wow, Katniss is over here thinking, “who’d leave the Capitol if they were from here???” And Peeta’s like instantly, loudly, without hesitating, “well I would 🙋🏼‍♂️”

Hot take, y’all ready? Peeta was a bigger rebel than Katniss from the start. At least internally.

Awww, Peeta is so jealous 😭😭😭😭 and kind of nosy 🤭🤭🤭

Katniss : “me and Gale are not related” Peeta : “😬🙃😭😩😶”

“I'd set out to tell her I was sorry about dinner. [...] my apology runs much deeper. [...] I let the Capitol kill the boy and mutilate her without lifting a finger. Just like I was watching the Games.” I feel like this is actually a good comparison though, because of you grew up in a society where you have to watch kids die, your whole entire life you’ve watched it in a glorified television show, you would be really desensitized to it...

“You don't forget the face of the person who was your last hope.” Here she’s talking about Lavinia but it applies to Peeta too. Katniss was Lavinia’s last hope and she feels like she let her down but Peeta was her last hope once and he came through. And, as she said in chapter one, she’ll never forget him for it. And for other things too. Later on. 😏

Of course my last bullet point was focused on Everlark 🤣 is anyone surprised you shouldn’t be we all knew who this post was written by right? 😅

And once again, if too made through this marathon, congratulations 🥳🥳🥳🥳 maybe next chapter I’ll talk less not likely though so don’t count on it 😅

[archersandsunsets]

OH and and and and OKAY what is the Everlark song off each album and why?

oh god oh okay i have spent my entire life preparing for this

under the cut bc i quote a lot of lyrics okay

debut: i... don’t know if there’s a song off debut? why am i thinking that cold as you is lows post-THG/pre-CF peeta mellark? no that’s too dramatic idk lemme circle back to this later uh yeah i feel like debut doesn’t really fit but if someone wants to correct me pls go for it

fearless: change - it’s an underdog story, it’s a revolution story... it’s the story about how they changed the world

It was the night things changed Can you see it now? These walls that they put up to hold us back fell down It's a revolution, throw your hands up 'Cause we never gave in

speak now: haunted - uh, self explanatory, i think. it’s mockingjay everlark, break my damn heart everlark, because he’s different when she finally realized just what he meant to her!

**proceeds to paste the whole damn song** just kidding

Come on, come on, don't leave me like this I thought I had you figured out Can't breathe whenever you're gone Can't turn back now, I'm haunted

red: treacherous - honestly i kinda see it from Katniss’s POV, like she’s falling for him and she knows she shouldn’t, can’t, it’ll break her.

I can't decide if it's a choice Getting swept away I hear the sound of my own voice Asking you to stay And all we are is skin and bone Trained to get along Forever going with the flow But you're friction

1989: this love!!!!!!!!! - mockingjay everlark, again!!!!!!!!

This love is good, this love is bad This love is alive back from the dead, oh-oh, oh These hands had to let it go free, and This love came back to me, oh-oh, oh This love left a permanent mark This love is glowing in the dark, oh-oh, oh These hands had to let it go free, and This love came back to me, oh-oh, oh

and also this gem:

When you're young, you just run But you come back to what you need

reputation: dancing with our hands tied - nuff said, i’ve also made it very clear why i feel the way i do about this song and Them, particularly CF/MJ everlark

But we were dancing Dancing with our hands tied, hands tied Yeah, we were dancing Like it was the first time, first time Yeah, we were dancing Dancing with our hands tied, hands tied Yeah, we were dancing And I had a bad feeling...

I'd kiss you as the lights went out Swaying as the room burned down I'd hold you as the water rushes in If I could dance with you again I'd kiss you as the lights went out Swaying as the room burned down I'd hold you as the water rushes in If I could dance with you again

lover: the archer - uh, i made a whole edit about it here. so, yeah, that’s my answer. mostly CF, when they’re building their relationship but also MJ.

I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost The room is on fire, invisible smoke And all of my heroes die all alone Help me hold on to you

and like... the whole chorus... and the bridge...

folklore: peace - literally does this need any explanation? (honorable mention for the lakes tho)

But I'm a fire and I'll keep your brittle heart warm If your cascade, ocean wave blues come All these people think love's for show But I would die for you in secret The devil's in the details, but you got a friend in me Would it be enough if I could never give you peace?

and again... like, the whole song....

evermore: so i’m torn between willow and evermore... honestly evermore - why? post-MJ goodness.

And when I was shipwrecked (Can't think of all the cost) I thought of you (All the things that will be lost now) In the cracks of light (Can we just get a pause?) I dreamed of you (To be certain we'll be tall again, if you think of all the costs) It was real enough (Whether weather be the frost) To get me through (Or the violence of the dog days) (Or the violence of the dog days) (Out on waves, being tossed) (I'm on waves, out being tossed) I swear (Is there a line that we can just go cross?) You were there

like... yeah.... they HEALED... the pain wasn’t!!!! for evermore!!!

if i had to put them in order, chronologically (also TLDR) i’d go: change (it’s like the intro), treacherous, the archer, dancing with our hands tied, haunted, this love, peace, (and if we count honorable mentions) the lakes, evermore

[licorice-and-rum]

Okay, let's go through this again because I'll have to draw it out to you, it seems:

First, moral compass and doing things he doesn't agree with because of Katniss or other people? That's not synonym of empathy. Everyone does things they don't specailly want to do, specially in war; everyone has a moral compass and uses it to guide their actions, but moral compasses don't come with empathy attatched to them just for being a moral compass.

Empathy is an exercise, it's a constant effort to not only understand others but also do what's possible to make sure you got it right. And it demands us to deconstruct the very values and points of views we learned since we were kids because we (just like Gale and Katniss) live in a world that weaponizes our needs and puts us against each other in an effort to contain us.

When Katniss has acess to the very people she despises because of the Capital's thinking construction, she is still able to empathize with them. That's not something I can say about Gale's constant mocking and bad-veiled disdain for the people who gave up averything to accompany Katniss in the revolution even amidst their own ignorance, for example, or even his reaction to Peeta being used against Katniss by the Capital (which is one of the worst things he did in regards to lacking empathy btw).

But still, not once I said Gale is evil, I said, using this exact words: he's not a good example of revolutionary. Every step of these texts, I emphasized Gale's character constrution and the deep nuance in it, reason why I really like him, despite most of the fandom, and despite what you, again, projected from my texts. Criticizing a character you like, unlike it might seem to you, is actually a good sign of critical thinking, not that you secretly hate them because the fandom does.

And let's be clear, I don't think Gale is at fault for not having the empathy Katniss had to the people from other districts or even the Capita - he didn't have the chance to, his first encouters with them are in a very different situation than Katniss'. But still doesn't make him less accountable for his own haste in just jumbling all people down to bad-because-"supports"-the-Capital or good-because-is-fighting-on-my-side.

Yes, he was targeting the Nut, as was everyone else, but everyone else wasn't doubling down on the plan of burying the people there alive like he was defending to Katniss. I never said they shouldn't have target the Nut, I said there were better ways to do it than burying people there alive and letting them starve to death because there is nuance and ethics present in a war, even if the enemy doesn't respect it, like the Capital.

(Lol, I just realized re-reading that you didn't READ my reply AT ALL so the next part is just useless bc you didn't understand it on the first time, maybe try to re-read more carefully up there)

Oh, and the seizing thinking being Capital thinking... is basic war strategy something just the "evil side" is allowed to use now? Is seizing supplies something only the enemy does? Are we somehow so morally better that we don't even need supplies to win a revolution now? Don't be naive. If you think armed struggle doesn't come with a lot of morally gray areas and a lot of planning, including how to seize supplies from your enemy and stopping the flow of these same supplies, you're not thinking this through. It's like... the most basic parts of war strategy ever, I fear. And yes, if it's done by the Capital, it'd be a cruelty against the districts. For the revolution, it's just good strategy.

And yes, most of the people I cite are dead (so is Prim, by the way but I guess that doesn't suit your narrative so well right). But, you see, most of the people I cite is dead because (surprise!) this is The Hunger Games and there are like, six original characters alive by the end of the book, if that. It'd be surpring if I didn't cite someone who's dead. But of course, I can't fight the idea of "omg you're criticizing a non-white character I like so you must be a racist" narrative because in your eyes, that just makes me more of a racist, isn't this true?

There's no winning for me here (winning being me proving I'm not a racist because that's not even a possibility for you now) so I refuse to watch you trying so hard to accuse me of being prejudiced just because I happened to criticize the character you like. I made my critic of Gale based on my understanding of the character and the revolutionary values I observe in other revolutionaries. Also, technically, technically, I just watched the films, so the people I have in my head for the characters and whom I used as base to make the first text are all white - thing I've already commented in my Tumblr, btw. I just answered to your commentary on racism because I'm aware that's the case in the books.

But, just curious, do you realise your conditions for me not to be a racist for criticizing Gale just keeps growing randomly to accompany my arguments, right? So the first thing is that they need to be non-white to be a good revolutionary (from a book who is written by a white author, mind you), then I have to pick someone non-white and alive in a book series where 90% of the characters die; then what? They can't be the main character if I think Katniss is a better revolutionary before I'd think of Gale? Which isn't the case, btw, just illustrating.

By your premise, it seems I have to think of Gale as a good revolutionary because he's the only non-white character who (a) defends the Revolution and (b) is alive by the end of the book. That's not a good enough of an argument to make Gale a good revolutionary, darling, it's just grasping at straws. Instead, you maybe should ask yourself why you have to do such hard mental gymnastiscs to defend Gale's lack of organization, critical thinking and lack of empathy with many people who aren't like him. Or maybe you should ask yourself why the only main non-white character who is alive by the end of the book (with the excption of the protagonist, of course) is such a bad example of revolutionary, because that's really not my doing as you may think it is.

Except, it just occurred to me, Prim isn't really white by American standards, is she? She's Katniss full sister so even if she is "white-passing", she's not actually white because her dad isn't white. I hate how Americans see race, it makes absolutely no sense to me, but it's something to also consider.

Besides, neither Reaper nor Thresh are good revolutionaries because they die (I'd say they die because they are good revolutionaries and Suzanne Collins couldn't have that with her anti-war agenda ofc). They are good revolutionaries, though, because they rebel but still manage to be compassionate to people who aren't oppressed the same way they are, like I already said btw. I didn't say they are better revolutionaries because they are "docile" as you seem to imply. They are better revolutionaries to me because their actions and ideals are better based on empathy for everyone and not a black and white way to see the world like Gale express many times, although, I recogize, not all of the times.

They die by condition of the book/film, not my premisse, if they had lived and joined the revolution, I'd be supporting them like I support Katniss for example when she does her part for the revolution, even if forced. But even if I'm not talking hypotheticals, last time I checked, District 11 wasn't decimated, most of them lived and I used them as example as well, thing you also ignored in your rush to pin me down as a racist and defend Gale from a critic that is based on arguments that have nothing to do with his race but his actions instead.

And yes, I can "spill academia" (and right) because that's the kind of thing I study and it's a part of how I see the world. I couldn't dissociate myself from it if I tried, so your anti-intelectualism is not a good argument. It's not even an argument, to begin with: anti-intelectualism is not really cool, neither it is so anti-classist as some people, perharps including you (see how you can manage to start a point on biases without outwardly projecting something on someone?), might think it is.

Academia is a valid source of information, actually it's one of the most realible sources even if it does have its biases. And please, don't try to use the elitism and whiteness of Academia as an argument here. I know, I've studied it, I discuss it every single semester, I activelly participate in initiatives to minimize that and to include more non-white lower-class intelectuals to the syllabus, I've participated in group studies and research groups about it, I've been doing my readings and my part.

So if you're accusing me of racism, you're gonna have to have a better argument than "he's my favorite character and I want to defend him of any criticism because people already hate on him so much" as your whole page seems to be about.

And yes (again), I do agree THG is a terrible representation of revolution as per my humble academic experience (And once again I never said it was a good representation of revolution so, again, stop projecting and implying things about my words that are not there). But that just make my point again, because if the entire book isn't a good representation of revolution, Gale would never be a good representation of revolutionary because the book's very condition of existence doesn't allow him to be so anyway.

Gale and Revolutionary Hate

Okay, it's been a while since I last spoke about THG but I'll give it a try because I've been thinking a lot about this matter.

It's been a while since I saw someone on TikTok defending Gale because, if I remember correctly, he was somewhat of a true revolutionary. The person meant that Gale not only believed in the Revolution but also thought violence was justified for it and although I don't disagree with it - I do think violence is justified in the face of oppression - I think this person forgot a crucial part of what is needed in a Revolution: organizing.

When Marx first brought up the idea of hatred as fuel for the Revolution, what he meant wasn't scorching and annihilating the enemies but using the hatred (born out of indignation for our oppression) as motivation to organize. Organization means being able to get together, form a community, and with that be capable of resisting capitalistic oppression.

And that's exactly what is lacking in Gale.

Don't get me wrong, there is a tremendous anti-violence message in Hunger Games - although I attribute it more to the trauma Katniss goes through because of it (which is warranted) than any ideological point Collins could be trying to make. And that message is definitely not one to pass when the motives of the Revolution are fair but anyhow, the point is: message or no message, I still believe Gale isn't a good example of a revolutionary.

That's because Gale, although filled with an appropriate amount of hatred to fuel a Revolution, lacks another essential aspect of a revolutionary, one Che Guevara puts quite well: "The true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality."

That's because love is the thing that should be at the core of your hatred. Otherwise, we fall into a trap: in our hatred and need to destroy our enemies, we forget why we're fighting in the first place - the people who are oppressed by this enemy.

So the fact that Gale is willing to go so far as to explode the people out of the mountain on District 2, that he'd bomb the Capital with no care for the people who are there on the side of the revolution but unable to get to the other side of the fight, is what makes him a bad revolutionary.

Because his hatred isn't filled with the notion of community, he sees anyone who doesn't rebel loudly and proudly as an enemy, which simply isn't true. Not everyone will help the Revolution by making a fuss, or by fighting, not everyone can do that. Gale's unwillingness to understand so shows that his hatred isn't founded in any idea of community between the oppressed or love for the people he's a part of but actually is founded in personal offense of the Capital against him and the people he cares about.

Although that's a valid sentiment if your motivations are wrong, so will your actions.

And that's why I think Prim (in the films) and Peeta are the closest thing to a good revolutionary we've got there:

Prim understands there's a reason for violence, which she doesn't partake in not because she thinks it is wrong but simply because it's not her. More than that, Prim's capacity to empathize isn't blurred by her need to survive like Katniss's (understandably so, of course) so she is able to see the people who become collateral damage with kindness and openness that lack in Gale, for example.

Peeta is the same: he understands the necessity of violence but he won't partake in it unless it's the only way (which reminds me of Fidel Castro's quote: "Revolutionaries didn't choose armed struggle as the best path, it's the path the oppressors imposed on the people. And so the people only have two choices: to suffer or to fight"). Peeta chooses to be kind but his violence stems from the hatred this very kindness creates.

So no, I don't think Gale is a good revolutionary regardless of how The Hunger Games was written.

I really like how this is structured by the way lol (:

[katnissdoesnotfollowback]

Thanks for the OTL teaser. I love how the plot lines are running along side each other, and being able to pick up the "other side" of that scene. I know you've got great readers/betas (BBA is fab and I owe her Olympic comments for all the love I had for that story!) but if you want another reader for details/continuity, I'd be up for it. (In my next life I'll be a script supervisor.) -- cheapchinesebicycle

I confess, I have two immediate reactions to this...the first one one is squealing excitement because it is a huge compliment to have someone like you, who’s been reading and dissecting my story, offer to beta read. The second is stark terror...”Oh my god then she’ll see what a disaster all my writing starts out as....” Behind the scenes is messy, ya know?

Anyways, thanks for the offer, and I’ll definitely think about it. And as a thank you for all your amazing comments that drive me to be better and dig deeper...

“Let me know when you get there, okay?” I nod and Prim tightens her hold on me. “And let me know how things go?”

“I don’t want to interrupt anything…” I trail off, conscious of Haymitch just a few feet away, talking into his phone and nodding, brow creased in thought.

“You won’t be. You’re the strongest person I know, Katniss. I don’t know how you survived some of the things that you’ve gone through. And I want you to stop surviving and start living again. That’s all I want right now. The rest can wait.”

Tears burn in my eyes and I nod against her shoulder.

“Are you going to be alright?” I ask.

“I always am. Just promise me you won’t give up.” I step back and stare at her for a moment and my stomach sinks, heavy in my gut. I have no idea if Peeta will even want to talk to me. This might be the waste of a trip. But I know that I will regret it forever if I don’t try. If I don’t give this everything I have.

Because sometimes we say things we don’t really mean and wish we could take back or we can’t find the exact right words when we’re angry or hurting. And other times, we hold back the things that we should say. Need to say. Hold them close as a shield against the world and the pain.

“You’ll work it out, I know you will. Just promise me you’ll keep trying?”

“I promise,” I tell her and she smiles, gives me a gentle nudge towards security.

“Get outta here. You’re cramping my style,” she says and I laugh.

“No orgies while I’m gone,” I admonish in a whisper and she shakes her head, her ponytail swinging and her eyes bright.

“No. I think I might be done with those.”

Haymitch finishes his phone call and hugs Prim, gives her a few words and then tells me we have a lot to talk about on the plane. I fight back the feeling that I’m sitting in the principal’s office, awaiting a verdict for some smart mouthed thing I said to a teacher. Or punishment for a fight that started because of me, even though I never threw a single punch…It’s a little surreal.

I wave to Prim one last time and then turn to show my passport and ticket to the TSA agent. When we’re through security, I tell Haymitch that I’m getting some water.

“Do you want anything?” I offer as he folds himself into a chair at our gate and looks up at me with a knowing look in his eyes. He can tell I’m avoiding this conversation.

“I’ll take a water if you’re paying. Since you scrambled up my day off and now I’m gonna have to work details from Canada instead of the comfort of my living room.”

I want to ask what details, but I have a feeling I’m about to find out so I glare at him and head back up the concourse to the bookstore. I grab two bottles of water from a fridge and turn, only to come face to face with myself. I blink at the picture of Peeta and I, slightly staggered with me in front of him. His board resting on his shoulders. Blonde curls falling across his forehead. Braid draped over my shoulder. My skis upright in my hand. Both of us smiling at the camera with bright eyes and flushed cheeks. Easily recognizable as ourselves.

So happy. So hopeful. So close.