#katniss is just in love

[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.

[sapphicathenas]

anyone else thinking about effie spending 24 years watching haymitch completely fall apart. effie, who met haymitch by accident, who knows exactly what kind of person he is, who sees him every year on his birthday for 24 years and each year he’s drunker, each year he’s angrier, each year he’s faster to give up. and then they get katniss and peeta. peeta, who is kind and open and understanding, who refuses to give up on haymitch. and katniss, who is so much like haymitch at 16 that it hurts. and over the few days they’re together, effie watches haymitch come back to life. watches him try. watches him have hope. and then they get to keep not one but both of those kids. they get to come home. and then, less then a year later, effie pulls haymitch’s name at the reaping.

[peetapie]

Just a reminder that we don’t know all the good things Katniss does/did for her community, because Katniss wouldn’t tell us unless it was relevant to what was going on.

In Catching fire, she doesn’t tell us that she’s being going around and bringing food to poor children in the seam until she needs to explain why she had a bag of food and why her mother wouldn’t find that odd.

In the first book, when she’s telling Peeta about the story of how she got Prims goat, she refuses to admit that this wasn’t a selfish move so she could get money out of that goat. (You could also argue that this is her refusing to be vulnerable in front of Peeta and all of Pamen though. I think it’s both, because she doesn’t even admit that she did this purely for her sister in her internal dialogue.)

And in Mockingjay, she never tells us that she’s the one that got Haymitch the goose eggs to help him heal after the games. All she says in the epilogue is that Haymitch raises geese when the liquor runs out. And we would never know otherwise if Haymitch didn’t mention that SHE was the one who got him the geese in sotr.

[eeverlark]

if i think about the hunger games in peeta's perspective i WILL start sobbing

[jakeperalta]

"The show's not over until the mockingjay sings," she said. "The mockingjay?" He laughed. "Really, I think you're just making these things up." "Not that one. A mockingjay's a bonafide bird," she assured him. "And it sings in your show?" he asked. "Not my show, sweetheart. Yours. The Capitol's, anyway."

[sunshine-photo-frame]

the tragedy and beauty of lucy gray and maude ivory and lenore dove who all loved so much that they payed for it with their lives. gray and ivory and dove, neutral shades describing girls who were colourful and daring and bold. singers. rebels. musicians. covey. three colours so very close to white, but ultimately not. almost, almost white, like the snow, but not quite. gray and ivory and dove, living in parallels and dying in parallels then resting next to each other, in a pretty row, a gradient, forever and always just beyond snow's reach.

[beautyofattolia]

Catching Fire really is just 439 pages of Katniss being unhinged about how much she loves Peeta without realizing she's in love with him.

[disgurrr]

I just love how Katniss and Peeta’s “someone who match my freak” moment was the whole who can piss off more the Gamemakers in CF. Like Katniss knew damn well Peeta did something rebellious during his session, and was like “oh bet? Okay watch this” and proceeded to do that by hanging a doll with “Seneca Crane” written on it.

And when Peeta and Katniss found out what the other did, they couldn’t have been more proud and secretly happy about it. All while those around them was like “uhmm wtf .Just why?” And one of the best parts is afterwards, Katniss and Peeta proceeded to hug each other lovely and sleep together. Like okay purrr? This is y’all freaks?? Pissing off brutal, authoritarian-totalitarian regimes, right in front of their faces. Ight.

[peaceinpanem]

if you don’t think peeta was ever able to love katniss as much as he did before he was tortured don’t talk to me about thg

[lunar-years]

Haymitch and Peeta's relationship matters sooo much to me actually and I do not think we talk about it enough! Considering Haymitch's reluctance to allow himself to care about anyone at the start of the trilogy, it's remarkable how quickly he lets both these kids in. A big part of it is just that he actually put effort into mentoring them, of course, which necessitates getting to know them a little, which is something he hasn't let himself do with any of his tributes for years (and that's really all it takes, isn't it, getting to know them a little is all it takes to start caring about them, because despite everything the big heart Haymitch had as a 16 year old is still beating somewhere inside him somewhere, no matter how hard he's tried to beat it down). But it's not just that. After all, he wouldn't have put effort into mentoring them if it hadn't been for who Katniss and Peeta are as people. They're his pair of fighters.

Despite the new info about Burdock in SOTR, I do not think that alone was enough get Haymitch to start caring as a mentor, nor do I think it really contributes all that much, actually, to his decision to "choose" Katniss over Peeta in the first games. Obviously he cares that this is Burdock's daughter, but in the end it's really just that Katniss flat out has a better chance of winning, and Haymitch knows it. So he picks Katniss.

...Then they both make it out. And back in the Victor's Village, Katniss has her family to watch over and everything that's going on between her and Gale. She's got plenty keeping her busy. But Peeta is alone, like Haymitch. His family doesn't ever seem to come visit. He and Katniss aren't really speaking. Suddenly this kid is dropping off bread in Haymitch's kitchen every morning and coming by to eat meals, this great kid who shouldn't be alone, but is seemingly nonetheless alone, because why else would he constantly be there? It's been a long time since Haymitch has been the best someone's got. After that realization, how can he help but open himself up a bit further? Cleave open a crack in the fortifications he's built up around his heart?

Then...the Quell. And Haymitch is denied even the chance to volunteer to die in Peeta's place. He has to find a more complicated, creative way to save the both of them. Because at this point I don't think it's fair to say Haymitch chooses Katniss again over Peeta. It's largely out of his hands. Plutarch, the narrative, the rebellion, all of them have already chosen Katniss over Peeta for him. So Haymitch has to resort to making his separate promises to both of them, and trying his best to stay true to those promises, even when they seem diametrically opposed.

I imagine Haymitch is doing a lot of maneuvering behind the scenes at the beginning of Catching Fire, first to get all the other tributes to be willing to die not only for Katniss (who is the established priority of the plan), but for Peeta too. The explanation later given is "well they all knew you'd fall to pieces if Peeta died, Katniss, so they had to keep him alive to keep you going along with them" but... is that even strictly true? Do most of the tributes *actually* believe that? Finnick doesn't. He straight up tells Katniss later that he didn't, not until he actually witnessed Katniss' reaction when Peeta collided with the force field. I have to conclude he's not the only one who had serious doubts about Peeta and Katniss' ~love~. Yet somehow all these people go into Games willing to save Peeta over themselves and a bunch of other people they've known a lot longer, when Peeta isn't even the one labeled as critical to the Revolution. Why is that? Because Haymitch somehow convinces them it's important. That there's at least some validity to Katniss being inconsolable and uncontrollable if Peeta dies, even if they don't believe in the love story itself.

The first part of Haymitch's plan is convincing the other tributes Peeta also needs to be kept alive, and the second part is making sure Peeta is in the right place at the moment of rescue. This is revealed when Haymitch and Katniss confront one another in Mockingjay about Peeta's capture: "How could you not save him?" "How could you let him out of your sight?" Haymitch was banking on Katniss and Peeta refusing to leave one another's side in the arena. It's obviously a dicey gamble, given the unpredictability of the Games and the fact that he's keeping the rebellion a secret from them entirely, but it's kind of where Haymitch has to place all his hopes. Let Plutarch and the others prioritize Katniss, and do everything in his power to make sure Peeta still gets rescued, anyway. It doesn't work, but he does try to keep his promises to both of them. He loves them both the same amount!

I also think it's notable that pre-highjacking, Peeta never genuinely blames Haymitch for choosing Katniss over him in the first games. He only throws it back in Haymitch's face when he's particularly angry at him about something else (as in Eleven's Justice Building on the Victory Tour, when he's made about Haymitch & Katniss keeping secrets from him) or when he's using it as leverage (his bargaining chip to get Haymitch to save Katniss in the Quell). Peeta doesn't blame him, but Haymitch does blames himself, for a long time after. And even though he didn't strictly choose Katniss in the Quell, he blames himself for that, too. That Peeta was taken.

So Haymitch is the one visiting highjacked Peeta everyday in the hospital, and the one keeping tabs on his recovery to relay to Katniss when she refuses to get involved directly. He's the one on the phone begging her to remember their promise to try and save Peeta! I wonder if at the end of Mockingjay, a part of him feels a bit guilty for accompanying Katniss back to Twelve. Obviously he knows there's not really any choice, Katniss does need him more than Peeta in that moment, she can't be sent off on her own. Peeta needs to stay in the Capitol to get the best care, and Katniss is the one who's the least stable. Still, it must feel a bit like he's leaving Peeta behind...again. The boy nobody was able to be there for at his least stable. This boy who's never been anyone's top option or first choice, not until Katniss catches up to her heart (and even that's something that's so tangled nowHaymitch doesn't even want to poke at it.) So he goes home with Katniss but it's still all wrong. Half his family is still missing.

It must come as such a relief when Peeta finally comes home.

[motherhenna]

Blaming everyone on my dash for making me obsessed w THG and Everlark again goddamn y'all

[navarice]

no because what was with the division between team gale and team peeta back when the books/movies released anyway? movies I understand, they made a compelling case for gale by erasing 70% of peeta’s loving nature but the BOOKS? miss katniss everdeen herself can only spare a few paragraphs over the thought of gale (usually accompanied by some other external factor like the rebellion or the thought of her mom and prim) but for peeta??? miss girl went on for pages and pages about his hair, eyes, eyelashes, sturdy and strong body, his comforting presence, his concentrated face, his wit, his humor, his ability to draw in the crowd, his ability to clear out the competition with his words alone, how she never has nightmares when she’s with him, how selfless he is, how artistic he is, how good his bread is, how creative he is, how much better he is than her, how much she HUNGERS for his kisses (and more), how willing she is to kill both of them off to save each other from torture, and how she could never live on if he died. she’d become like haymitch. like miss girl peeta was your Lenore dove since day 1 come the fuck ON. Get outta here w team gale.

[madeofjules]

I'll never agree with the short Peeta/tall Katniss takes because their canonical sizes are both narratively and thematically relevant.

Peeta's medium height and stocky build give him the size and strength to overpower most of his competitors in the arena, yet he rarely uses those traits to hurt people despite being in circumstances that encourage violence. Having the power and motive to be deadly and choosing to be kind instead is what defines Peeta's character.

Katniss's small size generally puts her at a disadvantage in the Games but she's still very deadly. I like that she's earned the skills (bow and arrow, hunting) and survivor mentality that make her a formidable tribute because she's not supposed to be this naturally gifted "chosen one" type figure. She's a regular teenage girl who has some special qualities but still needs a lot of help to win the Games.

Their size difference is also relevant in their relationship. Katniss has had to take care of herself since she was a young girl because of her mother's neglect, and as a result she doesn't trust other people to protect her. She's understandably mistrustful of Peeta's kindness when they become tributes, as one of them has to die for the other to live and he has the ability to kill her with his bare hands if he wants to (which we see later on when he's hijacked). Yet once they become allies, his larger size is no longer a potential threat but a source of comfort and protection; being held by him is the safest Katniss has felt with anyone since her parents held her as a little kid. And after they leave the arena, his strong arms are the only ones she trusts to guard her from her nightmares.

So even though I do think short guy-tall girl couples deserve more rep, it doesn't really make sense for Peeta and Katniss. And tbh viewing the gentle and compassionate boy as short and the tough hunter girl as tall is a little stereotypical lol.

[wikiipediabf]

something something how haymitch lost two sisters because they came a little early to their own lives and then he went on to find two sisters in louella (and lou lou!) and maysilee, but they came into his life just a little late, only a few moments before he lost them again. something about the importance of sisters in haymitch's life, how he has always been surrounded by their absence instead of their love and laughter, and how 24 years after this he would see an older sibling just like himself put her life on the line for her sister, something that he never really got the chance to do. something about the fact that somehow, in just a tiny little way, both of these revolutions started and ended with sisters. something like that.

[a-very-sparkly-nerd]

So Katniss just really disliked Coin. And Coin knew that was enough to sway the districts and the war; only whether or not Katniss liked her. And Katniss doesn't even realize it, the one-track mind on that girl. Similar to how she's like "oh everyone must be trying to save Peeta because he's so kind and good and amazing 🥰" when really it's because everyone and their dead mother knew that if something happened to him she'd lose her shit and they wouldn't stand a chance. Iconic.

[lilislegacy]

me: fictional romances are so fake and people should not think of them as realistic portrayals of relationships

me whenever someone brings up percabeth, everlark, hinny, MerDer, or polin: fictional relationships are beautiful and poetic and we should all aspire to have that