#kinda want to read all the hunger games books now

[some-things-about-life]

I watched the ballad of songbirds and snakes 2 days ago and I'm still processing it

[doomdoomofdoom]

I'm legally not allowed to interact much with the Hunger Games fandom because I'm an american studies major in my 20s and would disrupt the fragile ecosystem of teenagers engaging with fictional depictions of fascist structures and just war theory.

The other reason is that I would have to immediately combust from Hypocrite Disease because I had self-insert Hunger Games OCs and engaged in shipping discourse, too. That's part of how we engage with depictions of fascist structures and just war theory as teenagers, and enabling that is part of what makes the franchise so special.

This reduces my natural habitat to 2-hour video essays about the cultural geography of Panem (x) and a few select posts, but that's a price I'm willing to pay for conservation.

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

I just reread The Hunger Games for the first time since I was 12 in preparation for reading Sunrise on the Reaping. Here is everything I had totally forgotten about since I am now 25:

-that Peeta lost a fucking lEG to the mutts and has a fake leg for the rest of the series

-they had fucking night vision sunglasses in the arena

-Rue and Katniss were only allies for a day :(

-The mutts slowly eat Cato for the entire night because he was wearing invisible body armor, like that scene was horrific. It's bad in the movie, it's like 2000% worse in this book. The entire night, Peeta is bleeding out while Cato slowly gets chewed. He fights the mutts for an hour before he goes down, I can't even imagine.

-Thresh was chilling in a random field part of the arena we never see for the whole Games

-I finished the book and still don't know Foxface's name.

-Gale is not annoying in book 1, but he's so annoying in book 2. Like the entire first part of the book is Katniss worrying about shit, things getting way worse in District 12, and Gale being a little bitch. I don't know why I can't get past his utter inability to make space for her experience in the games.

-Kinda funny Peeta gets a debilitating leg wound twice in one Hunger Games

-I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT MADGE AND I'M OBSESSED WITH HER??? SHE GAVE THE PIN LIKE WHAT AN ICON.

-That the disabled boy from District Nine lives for so long.

-That Seneca Crane barely exists, all he does is get mentioned twice, fuck up IMMENSELY, and get murdered.

-That Katniss's prep team were just as if not more important in humanizing the capital citizens as Effie. God, that scene in octavia where they dress Katniss in her wedding dress for her interview. Cinna has talked to them because last time they were crying and making Katniss console them about her death. This scene when Octavia cries, Venia sends her out. Flavius makes it mostly through then starts crying and Venia finishes by herself silently, something that the prep team never is. Then she grabs Katniss' hands and tells Katniss it was an honor to make her look her best. I fully cried. They seem silly and foolish when we meet them before, but they see Katniss as a person who deserves better. As soon as they were corrected by Cinna, they immediately change their behavior and treat her as he asked. It's just such a human moment for them and for Katniss, who has always seen them as they see her, uneducated and strange.

-That Suzanne somehow convinced us frosting is the same as camoflage.

-That all the capital food sounds so good.

-I love the moment with Peeta being bad at hunting with Katniss because he's loud in the woods. I think it's just her most empathetic moment. It's like, the biggest contrast between him and Gale, right, he doesn't fit in her world, and she's annoyed with him. Instead of taking it personally he tells her to have him collect herbs and berries instead and even makes a joke about it. I think she even thinks like some guys would've taken it personally but not Peeta. It makes me think about how Gale would've taken it so personally. And then right after she thinks about how he went along with her and was making concessions for her and agrees to go back to the cave instead of sleeping in a tree like she wants. It's just so empathetic of her and she's like, a character who thinks she's so unempathetic. But her thoughts always are.

-How literally obvious it was all the victors were working to save Katniss and Peeta and Katniss was still like what's the ulterior motive here huh? Do we all just think Peeta is the best, because that makes sense. Just funny, like it's almost exactly the same as the first book where as the reader it's hard to see Peeta as anything but truly head over heels for Katniss, whereas she just thinks he might be trying to kill her.

-Mags is barely there and yet I remember her so well. Same with Wiress honestly.

-Didn't remember Finnick and Johanna being as good of friends as they were. When they called for each other on the beach, or checked in with each other- I am desperate to know their friendship backstory.

-Also desperate to know how Haymitch and Johanna's convo went when he told her she had to fetch Wiress and Beetee in order for Katniss to trust her, what a guy. What a conversation to be a fly on the wall for.

-Cashmere and Gloss, what is up guys, worst careers of all time there, that cornucopia attack was so bad. We're sneak attacking WIRESS??? Please.

-Even after Haymitch explains what happened during Beetee's plan, I still have no idea. Wire is cut. I assume the plan won't work. But Beetee actually only wanted to fry the forcefield. Why separate them all like that? So confused. ALSO WHERE DID PEETA GO AND HOW DID HE END UP THERE? Somewhere off fighting Brutus but not with Finnick, I am still baffled by this scene. Katniss sees Finnick and Enobaria come out of the jungle together at one point and I am endlessly fascinated by that, and by Enobaria as a character. Enobaria girl, what is up with you? Not in on the revolution but so ready for the capital kids to compete in games, please tell me more.

-They rewatch old games at one point: has no one noticed you can't watch game 10? I wonder about this all the time.

-Totally forgot about Chaff and Seeder and I miss them so much??? Seeder deserves the world okay. AND STOP KILLING HAYMITCH’s BEST FRIENDS. I wonder what changed, when Haymitch originally suggests Chaff and Seeder to Katniss as allies. But later he forces Finnick and Johanna on her, not them. Why? I assume they were in on the revolution?

- I forgot about the female morphing who dies for Peeta. Her death was so beautiful, and the way he sent her off really is what Katniss sees in him that she can’t see in herself: that deep down goodness. She sent Rue off that way first.

-Also still has me giggling kicking my feet that the entire rebellion plan hinged on keeping Peeta alive because Haymitch said Katniss wouldn’t work with anyone if he died. All these adults trying to stage a revolution and Haymitch slams his hands on the war table to be like "You gotta save her boyfriend or the revolution is over."

-ALSO giggling kicking my feet over Katniss suspiciously trying to figure out why everyone is keeping Peeta alive and she’s pretty sure it’s because they all see how good he is, like no girl you’re down bad.

-Then Haymitch is tragically proven right by Katniss’ attitude when she gets to 13. She said she needs him, then is instantly proven right lol it's not funny.

-(this is dark but how hard do we think Gale tried to get ANY merchants out of 12, because I think it wasn’t hard AT ALL).

-Barely any of Catching Fire takes place in the arena at all. I kept updating my mom, showing her where I was in the book and telling her I still wasn't at the arena yet.

-Gale drove me inSANE in Mockingjay. He was being normal, helpful even and then he would make some absurd comment to Katniss about her feelings for him. Dude. You are talking to the walking embodiment of PTSD, she's tOO BUSY FOR YOU. This clearly is not the time. And it would be so condescending, like "I wouldn't stand a chance if this happened" like telling her about her feelings and how she'd react oh it made me mad.

-Also, again, obsessed with Katniss's prep team. Oh my god I love what they represent. Gale arguing with Katniss over how she can defend them?? Infuriating. Like, you weren't there dude what do you know? He was just so condescending. Also Ocatvia being so young really hurt me. Posy telling her she'd be beautiful any color she was and Gale acting like they were normal to help Katniss, ugh, top five Gale moments, more of the prep team.

-Squad 451, especially Pollux and Castor, I love you and miss you. Icons I forgot about all of them literally. Castor's story of how it took five years for their family to buy Pollux's way out of the sewers??? How many more people are like that in the capitol? What did Pollux do to become an avox? I want to know more.

-I especially forgot and missed Messalla. There were so many more capitol rebels who were working on the front lines than I think I remember, and they highlighted that silly comment Messalla made about the apartment value right before all the skin was melted off of him like a human candle. Horrifying. I really like that they made it clear everyone suffers under a regime like that, even if it's different, and solidarity is important.

-Something about the way Haymitch and Katniss talk to each other just gets me. Them both accusing each other for being the reason they lost Peeta and then forgiving each other? Also the way he like, in the background staunchly defends and works to help Peeta recover while Katniss is like wandering around or in district 2? Obsessed. They are like the same person so they are simultaneously able to hold each other to a higher standard than they hold themselves, but also able to forgive each other more than they can forgive themselves. You get what I'm saying???

-Johanna and Katniss roommates training montage when? Forgot all about it, I don't even remember liking Johanna that much the first time. But the way she so matter of factly cuts to the root of the problem every time; telling Katniss about her and Peeta's time being tortured when Katniss asks, answering Peeta's questions about why Gale wouldn't have believed he'd be like that if he hadn't seen it himself: that he's the evil mutt version, not Katniss. I was like oh, the value of that honestly for Katniss who cannot read into anything to save her life, and for Peeta who can't tell what's real, is monumental.

-Also Gale made that comment about feeling the same type of anger that Peeta was when Katniss was in the first Hunger Games; wild. Like, that comment took me so aback I had to read it multiple times. Like, he couldn't really be telling her he was feeling homicidal rage at watching her kiss another boy in the TELEVISED MURDER GAMES. When I catch that man. He's a great character and he's realistic and honest, but god he just says all the wrong things all the time.

-Darius the Peacekeeper. Talk about a guy that haunts the narrative, I feel like this guy was in the back more than Katniss' dad. Peeta's description of his death will stick with me forever now, I had forgotten it!! Thanks!!!

This is getting too long and I have so many thoughts but: rereading childhood books that hold up is a WILD ride. Recommend me your everlark fanfictions, or even hayffie. I'm in a THG vibe now.

[imsogonesposts]

My Hero

|| ao3 || Finnick Odair masterlist || an: this kinda hurt to write ngl 😭 || requests are open !! ||

summary: Finnick Odair was known for playing hero. That’s why he was always saving you, both metaphorically, and physically. (5 times Finnick saves you, and one time you can’t save him) (wc: 4080)

warning: nightmares, canon typical violence, mention of blood, no happy ending, i think thats all

1.

You tried to calm your rapidly beating heart and your too-loud breaths as you woke up. You had had a nightmare, reliving the events of your Hunger Games from years ago. Except, somehow the memories were worse. Distorted to make what truly happened on those never-ending days into something more violent, more gory. 

You tried to ease yourself, not wanting to wake up the boy next to you, but the thing about Finnick Odair, was that he always seemed to know when something was wrong with you- even when he was asleep, it seemed. 

He turned in bed as you covered your mouth, attempting to stifle your heavy breathing. He wrapped an arm around your waist, lightly rubbing your side as he quietly, asked “you okay?” 

You stayed silent, trying to pretend you were asleep, but even half asleep, Finnick could tell that something was wrong. 

He softly whispered your name before repeating his earlier question, “are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” you quietly replied as he sat up, using his arm to support his weight as he looked over you. 

He softly repeated your name again as you turned over to look at him. You imagined your eyes were stained red from crying, your hair was probably a mess too, but Finnick didn’t seem to mind. 

“Hey, what happened?” He asked a finger lightly tracing your arm. It was a comforting gesture, and right now, it was one of the only things helping to ground you. 

You’re not back in the arena, you’re home, in bed, with Finnick. The dream wasn’t real, this is.

“Bad dream,” you whisper as he frowns. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asks as you shrug. 

“I was back in the arena,” you quietly reply. “But everything seemed worse. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Finnick instantly shakes his head no. “Don’t be sorry, I don’t mind. You know that,” he whispers, moving his hand from your arm to lightly cup your face, thumb lightly rubbing your cheek. “I never mind, I just like taking care of you,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to your forehead. 

“Is there anything I can do to help?” He asks as you shrug. 

“Hold me?” You quietly ask as he nods. 

Finnick lowered himself to the bed as he pulled you atop him, your head on his chest, right over his beating heart. It was a calming sound, it always was, and his hand tracing up and down your back only added to the comfort he was trying to bring you. 

“I’d hold you forever if you wanted me to,” Finnick whispers, pressing a kiss to the top of your head as he continues to trace your spine with one hand, the other moving to play with your hair. 

2.

The TV was playing in the living room, but neither you nor Finnick were paying any attention to it. You were reading as Finnick laid in your lap, asleep, as Caesar Flickerman showed the citizens of the Capitol Katniss Everdeen’s wedding dress options. You prayed that when you and Finnick eventually got married, your wedding wouldn’t be nearly as publicized as the “star-crossed lovers of District 12’s” were. It would be nice to have something for yourselves for once. 

“That’s right, this year will be the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Hunger Games and that means it’s time for our third Quarter Quell,” Caesar suddenly announced, pulling your attention away from your book, and onto the screen. Neither you nor Finnick were old enough to have witnessed a Quarter Quell before, but you had heard stories. Namely, what notto do- the stories of Haymitch Abernathy’s games and the consequences of his win had been told frequently as a cautionary tale, warning to not do anything too extreme to win your games, so long as you wanted your loved ones to live to see another day.

You watched as President Snow made his way across the stage, a boy dressed in white closely following behind him.

You knew that a Quarter Quell most likely meant more work for you and Finnick as victors, you knew that you wouldn’thave liked whatever cruel Quarter Quell idea the original game makers had come up with seventy-five years ago, but nothing could have prepared you for the words that left the president’s mouth. 

“On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors.”

You felt your blood turn cold as you looked at the sleeping figure atop you. Chances were, you and Finnick would be going into the arena again. Chances were, you would be going in together. And chances were, they wouldn’t let two tributes out of the arena again. 

“Finnick,” you whisper, lightly shaking his shoulder to wake him up. He smiled as he opened his eyes to be met with your face. You hated how quickly his smile dropped when he saw the look of concern etched across your own face. 

“Hey, hey, are you okay? What’s wrong?” He asks, sitting up as he turns his body to face yours, his hands almost automatically reaching for yours. 

“They announced what would be happening for the next Quarter Quell,” you whispered, avoiding his gaze as you focused on the chipping paint on the wall beside the couch. Finnick had kept putting off repainting it, and now, who knew if you would ever get to see it fixed. 

He squeezed your hands as he noticed your refusal to meet his gaze. “That bad?” He jokes, panic instantly filling his body as he watched your eyes begin to water. “Hey, hey, don’t cry,” he whispered, gently taking your face in between in hands as he began wiping the tears of your face with his thumbs. “We’ll get through whatever it is, I promise.”

He was so sweet you could cry even more. You really didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but you had to tell him at some point. 

“Finnick,” you start.

“Yeah?”

“For the Quarter Quell,” you sniffle, “they’re gonna put two past victors back into the game.” You pause as you watch him think over your words. “They could send us back in,” you whisper, watching as his eyes narrow and shoulders gotense.

“What?” He questions as you nod. 

“I don’t want to go back,” you whisper. “I don’t want you to go back.”

He didn’t want that either. He didn’t want either of you to ever have to step through that arena again, he wouldn’t wish such a cruel fate to his worst enemy.

“I’ll figure something out,” Finnick whispers, pulling you into a hug as you cry into his shoulder. “It’ll be okay,” he whispers, rubbing your back and pressing a kiss to your shoulder. “We’ll be okay.”

He wasn’t sure how true his words were, but as of right now, his main priority was calming you down and holding you, letting you cry it all out into his embrace. 

3.

The first thing you hear after sleeping in the arms of the man you love, is Katniss’s voice yelling “Run!” You could feel Finnick instantly tensing up, sitting up as if ready to fight an enemy, only to be met with a wall of fog. 

While it was obvious that neither you nor Finnick knew why you had to run from something as harmless as fog, Finnick still began pulling you up, pushing you ahead of him as the two of you ran away from the fog with Katniss and Peeta in tow. 

“What is it?” You heard Peeta ask. 

“Some kind of fog. Poisonous gas,” Katniss replied as you all continued running. 

You could feel the fog slowly catching up to you all as you began to feel a burning sensation in your body. It was on your arms, your legs, too many places for comfort. All the while, Finnick was yelling at the three of you to “keep moving.”

You had wanted to listen to him, you truly did, but slowly it began to feel as if the burning was doing much worse than causing some pain. It was targeting your nerves, making it close to impossible to run without stumbling and twitching.You had wanted to stop for a break, but Finnick had pushed you forward as he ran back towards Katniss and Peeta to help them, as Peeta could barely move due to his earlier injuries. 

You could barely feel anything but pain and worry as you fell down a hill, a few feet away from a body of water. Pain from the fog, and worry that Finnick might not have made it out of the fog, that he might have fallen there, and that you may have lost him forever. 

You wanted to thank every star in the night sky when you, weakly, lifted your head up to see Finnick, Katniss, and Peeta roll down the hill. All injured, but all alive. 

“Sweetheart?” Finnick, weakly, called out, lifting his head as much as he could to look for you. 

“I’m okay,” you replied. 

He let out a slight nod before laying his head down again, mumbling out a small “good.” 

You kept your gaze on him, watching as Katniss and Peeta carried him to the water. You would have been worried by the sounds of anguish coming from him if it weren’t obvious that the water helped with the poisonous gas, otherwise Katniss and Peeta wouldn’t be able to move as much as they were. 

“Hi, baby,” you hear after a few minutes, looking up to be met with Finnick’s warm smile. “I’m gonna take you to water and help fix you up, alright?” 

You weakly nod as he picks you up, carrying you to the water as he gently placed you in the water, waiting as you returned to your normal look. 

“Better?” He asked as you nodded. 

“Are you okay?” You asked, eyes going over his body looking for any signs of injury. “You definitely got the worst of it.”

Finnick shrugged with a smile as he tilted your chin to look up at him. “I’m okay because you’re okay,” he whispered before pressing a kiss to your forehead. 

4.

You had been talking with Johanna when you had noticed Katniss running through the forest like a woman gone mad yelling one word, one name, over and over again. “Prim.” 

You ran after her, finally catching up to her as you watched her shoot a bird down, her shoulders still slightly tense. 

“Katniss?” You whisper, so as to not startle the girl. “Are you alright?” 

She nods at you, taking the arrow out of the bird as she wipes it clean. “I’m okay,” she replied. “I thought I heard my sister, but-“ 

A loud scream cuts her off. A scream that sounds like a voice you know all too well. 

“Finnick?” You yell, running into the forest, Katniss quickly following behind you. Finnick had been talking with Wirus, Beetee, and Peeta when you left. Had he gone chasing after you and ended up in danger? Did another past victor find him? One that wasn’t in the alliance?  Was he okay?

The screaming seemed to grow louder as you kept yelling out for him, and yet you couldn’t find him. It wasn’t until a bird fell on your feet that the screaming stopped. 

Oh, it wasn’t really him. And thank god for that. 

“It’s a jabber jay,” Katniss explains, “Finnick’s probably still okay, the Capitol’s just playing a trick on us. It’s not real.”

You pick up the bird with a shaky hand as you nod. Her reasoning made sense, it all made sense, you just had to calm yourself. 

Finnick was okay. He was okay, and you would both escape the arena together. Safe and sound. 

You nodded once more as another scream filled the forest. A deeper voice calling out for Katniss’s help. 

“Katniss, we have to go,” you tell her, pulling on her arm as you try to drag her away from the screaming jabber jays that began following the two of you. And with that, Finnick screaming for your help again. 

It’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real. 

As you half drag, Katniss away from the birds, you finally catch sight of Johanna, Finnick, and Peeta waving at the two of you. Thank god he was okay. Finnick was shaking his head “no,” making an X symbol with his hands, Peeta and Johanna yelling at the two of you, though no words leaving their mouths. Strange, yes, but right now you just wanted to be held in Finnick’s arms as he assured you he was okay.

Katniss and you ran closer to them until you both suddenly ran into a wall, so transparent you couldn’t even see it. You both landed on the floor, looking up to see Finnick’s hand placed on the clear wall, mouthing the question “Are you okay?” You nodded “yes” even though your body ached from the impact of the wall. Johanna began hitting the wall with her ax, but it was obvious her attempts did little to damage it. You were stuck. At least until the hour was up. 

“Are you okay?” You ask, suddenly remembering the girl you were supposed to protect. Katniss nodded as she sat up, moving to closer face Peeta. 

You give Finnick a knowing smile, silently telling him, “see? I told you they were real.”

He only rolled his eyes in response, the hint of a smile tugging on his face before he winked at you. You swore you could get lost in his eyes.

That was, until, the jabber jays found Katniss and you. Slowly, one by one, they began sitting on nearby branches and rocks, before opening their mouths, screams pilling out. Some yelling for Katniss, some for you. You heard the voices of all that you loved: Finnick, your parents, your friends back home. 

You watch Katniss attempt to shoot the birds down, but you knew it was pointless. The game makers probably had anendless amount of jabber jays at their disposal. You wished you could help, but every second the voices seemed to onlygrow louder and louder. You covered your ears, closing your eyes, in hopes of blocking them out, yet that barely did anything. 

It’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real.

Finally, the hour passed, and Finnick kneeled beside you, rubbing your back to let you know he was there. 

“Hey, beautiful,” he whispers as you uncover your ears, finally opening your eyes to be met with his comforting green ones. 

“You’re okay?” You quietly ask. 

He nods. “I’m okay,” he tells you, hand still rubbing your back. “Are you okay?” He knows you’re probably not okay, he can see it in the way breathing, in the fear in your eyes, in the slight shaking of your body, but he wants to take things slow, he wants to help calm you down. 

You shrug at his question. “There were jabber jays,” you told him. “They sounded like you screaming, I thought something happened to you.”

He can feel part of his heartbreak at that as he slowly pulls you into a hug. “Oh, baby,” he whispers, kissing the top ofyour head. “I’m okay, I’m right here,” he begins rubbing your back again as you move your face into the crook of his neck. 

“I heard my parent too, Finnick,” you mumble against his neck. “And my friends back home…it was horrible.”

Finnick wished nothing more than the ability to take the pain away from you. To have been in your place instead so you wouldn’t have to go through such a thing. Or better yet, kill President Snow for ever helping with these games and foreverything he has ever put the two of you through. 

“They’re safe back home, sweetheart,” he whispers, kissing the side of your head. “They always interview the family, I promise you your family is safe at home right now, okay?” 

You nod against him, letting his warm embrace calm you. 

5.

“Good morning,” you say, lightly shaking Finnick away from his nap. 

He only groans in response, mumbling something that sounded like “let me sleep.” 

You brush hair off his forehead with a laugh before whispering, “I’m sorry, but I need your help with something.” 

This time, he peeks an eye open, finally meeting your gaze. “Is everything alright?” He asks through a yawn, one of his hands moving to rub up and down your arm. 

You nod in response before replying, “there’s a spider in the corner of our room, can you get it out?”

Finnick can’t help but laugh, sitting up and taking in the small room you and Finnick have grown to call your own in District 13. It wasn’t much, you only had a nightstand, a bed barely big enough to fit the both of you, and a small shaky desk, but it was enough. You were safe with him, you were both out of the arena, away from President Snow, you were both married now, and that was more than enough for him. 

“You mean to tell me you won your Hunger Games, and you can’t manage to kill a spider?” Finnick asks with a laugh, wrapping an arm around your shoulder before pulling you in to press a kiss to the side of your head. 

“It’s not funny,” you grumble, leaning into his touch as he laughs again. 

“You’re right,” he mumbles, pressing another kiss to the side of your head before getting off the bed, “it’s hilarious.”

“It’s near the desk,” you inform him as he nods, ripping a blank page out of the notebook that sat on the desk, picking up a discarded cup, placing the cup over the spider, and sliding the paper under the cup. 

“Can you get the door, sweetheart?” He requests as you get up with a nod. 

He kisses your cheek as you hold the door open for him. “It feels like you’re always saving me,” you joke as he laughs with a nod. 

“I happen to like saving you,” he easily replies. “I can be your knight in shining armor,” he says, pressing a kiss to the top of your head and walking out of the room to discard of the spider. “And it makes me feel useful,” he calls out before you close the door with a laugh.

+1

It was a strange thing. One moment, you were holding hands with Finnick, him making jokes to ease your ever-growing nerves, you laughing along as if his attempts were working. Finnick wasn’t stupid, though, he knew his attempts to calm you weren’t working, but no matter how much he tried to convince you, you insisted that you had a strange feeling in your stomach. A bad feeling that something wasn’t going to work out right today.  

One moment, he was swinging your joint hands back and forth, the next the two of you and the rebels were running from the mutts chasing you all. The mutts who stood tall like humans, chasing you with their almost reptilian-like tails, their hollow dark eyes, and their razor-sharp teeth. You could still feel Finnick’s hand in yours as you ran to the main sewer.

If you were a more selfish person, a smarter person, you would have found a way to stay back at District 13, and with that, find a way to convince Finnick to stay with you. Say something like you wanted to have as close to a honeymoon with him as you could back in District 13. Back in your almost too-small-to-move room, back in your slightly worn-out bed. Back home, safe. Without having to see so many people who were part of the rebel group die such a cruel death. Nothing about this was fair. Not one bit. 

You would close your eyes, will all of this away to be just another bad dream as you wake up safe in Finnick’s warm arms again, but every time you close your eyes, you were reminded of those who lost their lives due to the rebellion. The rebellion that you wished more than anything would just end already. Boggs, Jackson, Leeg One.

You feel something, someone, push you towards a ladder as the smell of blood, and roses, and death fills your nostrils. 

“Climb,” you hear Finnick instruct as you nod your head. 

“Finnick-“

“Climb,” he repeated, his tone more stern. “I’ll be right behind you, I promise,” he says, pressing a quick, haste kiss to your lips as he pushes you towards the ladder again. “I’ll be there soon, baby,” he tells you, turning around to fight off more of the mutts with the trident Beetee had recently crafted for him. You barely register your hands pulling you up the ladder, nor the bottom of your shoes pressing against the ladder as you make your way up. 

One second, Finnick’s lips are on yours, the next, you're atop a platform, watching the rest of the rebels climb their way up, save for one. 

“Where’s Finnick?” You ask before you hear the sound of screaming. The sound of his screaming.

It was like you were in the area again, back with the jabber jays taunting you and Katniss with the screams of those that you loved. Only this time, it wasn’t a distorted audio. This time it was real.

“Finnick!” You yell, making your way back to the ladder. You had to help him, you had to save him. He’s done the same for you countless times. You had to help him, you had to-.

A pair of strong arms pull you back, holding you tight so you wouldn't be able to escape. You thrashed against the person, Finnick’s screams of pain only further motivating your escape as the person, Gale, tells you, “No, he’s not coming back up.”

You didn’t want to believe him. Right now, your heart was overpowering any rational thought as you tried to escape from Gale’s hold. You had to try, you couldn’t let Finnick die. Not like this. Not with so much pain. Not in the water. It may not be the ocean water that he loved so much, but it was water nonetheless. He can’t die, he couldn’t, but especially not in the place he had always considered to be like a second home to him. In the place that would help calm all his racing thoughts, the water which he had practically grown up in. It wasn’t fair, nothing about any of this was. It wasn’t fair that either of you had to enter the Hunger Games at such a young age, that either of you had to go through those horrid games again years later. It wasn’t fair what the Capitol put Finnick through, it wasn’t fair that now he was so far out of reach.

You watch Katniss take out the Holo from her belt, whispering the word “nightlock” three times before releasing it to the sewer. To the mutts. To Finnick. 

“Katniss no,” you choke out through a sob, but the explosion had already happened before you could finish your plea. That’s when Gale finally releases you, letting you sink to your knees, as your sobs overtake you. 

“We can’t stay here,” Katniss suddenly says. You feel Cressida come to your side, rubbing a hand up and down your back to soothe you. The same way Finnick used to. 

That’s when it hits you: you’d never get to feel his touch again. Never wake up in his arms, hear his voice, have him next to you as you both drift off to sleep, you'd never get to tell him you loved him again. You didn’t even get to say it againbefore climbing up the ladder. 

You barely register Katniss and Peeta’s argument as Cressida helps you up, leading you to god knows where. You were only half there mentally, though you doubted anyone could truly blame you. 

Finnick was gone. The weird feeling you had in your stomach was right, and in the most cruelest way possible too. 

“I didn’t even get to say bye,” you croak out through a sob as Cressida continues rubbing her hand up and down your back. Though, it would never bring the same comfort that Finnick’s actions used to. 

[lullydoesstuff]

- TOP DYSTOPIAN BOOKS -

Well, since I want to use this blog for personal stuff too and not just for requests or stuff concerning my MANY Demon Slayer AUs, here we are talking about some of my favourite books ever.

I love dystopian ones so these three will be very hard-core, I love the Hunger Games, I love Maze Runner, I love 1984 but these three just hit different.

Let's not lose time and let's begin!

3 - Tender is the Flesh (Augustina Bazterrica)

I decided to start with a book that has arrived in my country just this year, I didn't know about it before and I'm so glad I red it, even if it really disturbed me... do you know what the Promised Neverland is? Well, take it but make it Supersayan. And this is the less disturbing one here.

Plot: Marcos works in the meat industry, he always did but recently a virus started spreading, and animals couldn't be edible anymore so what does the government do? They start searching for vegan replacements? NO! They legalize cannibalism. Marcos has a troubled life, his father has gone mad since this "transition" from animal meat to human meat and his wife left him after they lost their son. He works in the meat industry but he swears to himself that he's not like the others, because he doesn't eat meat.

I know what you're thinking, "but this is a book to bring people close to veganism, it's the whole point"... no, congratulations, you didn't understand ANYTHING. This book is way more complex, this because it's about the line that divides humanization/objectification, and this will be a recurring theme in this post.

This book is full of gore (what did you expect?), graphic descriptions, violence, sexual violence so I don't know if I recommend this book to everyone, it's very short but be aware of this if you decide to read it. In any case, the plot is very interesting and it's very well written.

2 - The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)

I'm sure many of you have seen the TV series, I've seen it too and it's one of the few cases I say that the series is better than the book, maybe because the series has a more modern setting and so I can actually be terrified by it.

Plot: the world has been almost destroyed by wars and this caused the birth to decrease to 0, and what happens in America? After a coup a new government is instituted... a totalitarian theocracy where religious confessions that aren't Christianity are banned, let's fucking go, this new country's name is Gilead. In this new world women have an only job: being literal baby machines given to rich families to have children.

This is so damn disturbing because, the insemination thing is wild, the man reads a Bible verse from Genesis, and then he just... does it. It's gross, go check for yourselves, human butchering was nothing compared to this.

We follow June, an Handmaid and we just see how things work in this new... amazing... world... I guess.

1 - Unwind (Neal Shusterman)

This deserves the first place, I've never stopped reading a book I loved because it disturbed me too much. I wanted to support the author, he's very good, so I bought all the other books from the Unwind distology... but I finished the first one and never red the second one, please tell me in the comments if it isn't as disturbing as the first one so I can give it a chance or not.

Plot: in the USA a second civil war is fought, but that's not a war where you shoot people from aontoher country to conquer it, or to oppose the government (well... kinda), it's about reproductive rights, many discussions, many things but in the end people decree that you can't abort in any case (*Lully already screaming and tearing off her hair*) BUT you can... well... Unwind your child if you don't want them anymore. But just when he's from 13 to 18.

What does unwind mean? Basically you give your unwanted child to some clinics that literally vivisection them (yes, the person is awake during the process BY LAW) and give thier organs to people that need transplants.

Now you can easily understand why this is the number 1 in this list, it's the destructive combo between "Tender is The Flash" and "the Handmaid's Tale".

We'll follow the story of Risa, Connor and Levi (and this last one oh my God, I wanted to punch his family so bad), escaping their fate of being unwind.

And yes, that scene comes, yes, you will see a vivisection, and yes... you will feel physically sick and need to throw up after, you'll probably have nightmares and life crisis. Also because... the unwind isn't exactly one of the "good guys".

Ah, dear pro-life people that care about a bunch of unborn cells and can't distinguish a human embryo from a dolphin embryo... Read this book, then change your mind about other people's body and take choices just for yours, because it seems we're going back and not aiming foward as we should.

[sirsealery]

mentioned this a bit at the bottom of some comment thread in one of my hunger games fics and figured i might expand on it a bit here? to see what other people have to say, i think. sotr spoilers !!

fyi im wearing a homemade lorax costume right now as im typing this. happy world book day!

so, anyways, i wanna talk about the careers. i wouldnt call myself a career fan or lover, and frankly i dont have much love for any of the careers in the series, especially in the first book and sotr. the only exceptions are finnick and annie (and i suppose mags? is she a career?) because theyre written as actual people. which leads me to my first point, which is that so often, theyre just so cartoonishly evil. they remind me so much of those disney channel bullies but take it up a notch. they kill people instead of shoving them into lockers or flushing their face in the toilet. but like with the same energy and the annoying jock voice you know what i mean?? lmao

and i mean i get it. in the first book theyre like the main antagonists and we're not spending more than a couple of pages with them, so they dont need to be all that fleshed out. which is totally fine, i dont care, but in some of the other books? in sunrise, where silka is actively trying to be humanized? to me, it fell very, very flat. i felt absolutely nothing reading about her eat chocolate and cry at the foot of the tree. and panache being a cato 2.0 kind of annoyed me. i get it! dumb brutes exist, but how are there so many of them? i dont think ive ever met a single person like this. ever. i dont know though, maybe my experience isnt universal. maybe in other parts of the world there are plenty of laughably stupid hunks. basically all of the careers are complete idiots, just running around and stabbing babies.

okay now what i really wanted to talk about after ranting a bit. sorry gang. i wanna talk about how sad the career existence is. i mean, theyre needlessly brutal and mean. but they were also raised this way? id love for someone more articulate than me to talk about this too. i had a thought a while ago kinda comparing the careers to like .. the people who peaked in high school? id love to have an exploration of the career experience, either an essay or fanfiction (lmk if theres any youve found !!) cuz like .. of course youre bringing honor and glory not only to yourself but also your whole district, patriotism and all that. but i wonder if its still the same once you start killing kids? i mean its basically a given that theyre pretty desensitized to violence, gore and death at the point where they volunteer for the games, but i dont think its quite the same when youre actually like .. doing it??

and when you go home, youre celebrated and praised, but only like until someone new wins, which is next year. and theres gonna be the trauma of the games and potentially life altering injuries and while in the other districts theres some kind of sympathy for victors, but since in the career districts they idolize it, theres not really any/as much i think?? i imagine itd be really weird to work your whole life, achieve your goals, and then come to the realization that you basically have no purpose now but to watch kids under your care die and hope that at least one of them will survive. i wonder if thats why some of the careers in catching fire were so eager to rejoin the games? since its all theyre known for and theyve had nothing for the last like 10-20 years and they want a shot to do what theyre best at again? relive their glory days or whatever? im honestly not sure, but i think its worth thinking about. thanks gang 🙏

[the---hermit]

April 2025 reading wrap up

The two main themes of this last month of reading were audiobooks (again), and the hunger games. Believe it or not I had never read the original trilogy. I was a teen in the hight of success of the books, I remember everyone around me reading them, but I was not a big reader back in the day. I actually didn't love reading at all. I was only reading graphic novel, and that's it. I think it's more or less in that period of time I started to very very slowly get into reading in my free time, but they journey was long and slow. In the past couple of years I had the idea of actually reading the hunger games trilogy, since I have fallen in love with the dystopic genre, and many have started to consider these books modern classics. The main thing that held me back is the fact that they are ya, and from experience I always struggle with books classified as ya. Then some beloved friends finally conviced me to give them a try and during the past month I listened to the audiobooks, fell in love with them, bought physical copies and then also read the two prequels, and loved them even more. So much so that I am already looking forward to rereading all five books to heavily annotate them like all of my beloved dystopic novels. I am still thinking about them, and I think I will be for a while.

Books I finished:

Emily Wilde's Map Of Otherlands by Heather Fawcett (I had a great time with the second book in the series, I feel like this was a great sequel to the first book, but I am sadly not having a good time with the thrid and final book of the series)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Re:Carmilla (I have read the original novella a few times and always loved it, but this audio adaptation was so good. I listened to it as it was coming out, but I plan on relistening to it in the future with no pauses between the various chapters. The performances of the VAs was incredible, they gave so much life to a story I already loved, and I know it's kind of unrelated but this hyped me so much for my yearly reread of Dracula following the Re:Dracula adaptation)

The Handmaid's Tale - graphic novel adaptation

The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Sunrise On The Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Books I am currently reading:

Emily Wilde's Compendium Of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett (ngl this book is holding me back a little bit I am super stuck with it, I kinda want to dnf it, but at the same time I'd like to finish the trilogy, so I have no idea what to do. I read a little of 100 pages and nothing has happened, and I just do not reach for it?)

The Secret Life of Trees - graphic novel adaptation (I am now realizing that one of the themes of my year of reading so far has been graphic novel adaptation of books, and I am having a great time with them)

Magellano: Il Primo Viaggio Intorno Al Mondo by David Salomoni (this is the book I am studying for one of my exams and so far it's really interesting and well written, I have high hopes for this one)

[allovesthings]

Since I'm on a hunger games thing right now, I think it's interesting that the movies managed to sanitize the violence of the books (which then removed how uncomfortable it is to read about children in a death arena which... Is kinda the point), but also remove at least half (or even more) of the small moments of relief and sweetness that allow the readers to breathe between those moments.

The moments in the cave are changed in the hunger games.

Peeta and Katniss don't get the day on the roof before the quarter quells and the weeks where they just hang out together after she broke her foot or Finnick and Katniss being goofy and pranking Peeta in the hunger games, we don't get that much of the companionships between the Victors before the games.

In Mockingjay, those moments are even more rare but they are also removed. The cake made by Peeta as a sign of hope for Katniss, The cookies the squad are all sharing while in the apartment or Peeta giving her the lamb stew.Finnick being an emotional support/mental breakdown buddy of Katniss in the first half or Katniss giving Johanna the pinecone to reminds her of home and being roommates

and to be fair, I feel like if you really wanted to do the book justice in that way you would have to have a film rated R when the target audience of both books and films are teenagers AND those are the quiet moments that might be difficult to put in action movies but they are also so good.

[asegunda]

Lots of Sparks

PJO

Pairing: PLATONIC! Jackson Family (Paul and Tyson inculded) x Mortal! GN!Reader

Words: 1222

Summary: This is supposed to be a Part 2, of my other work "A Little Spark", since I'm making this a timeskip it will be at the final of Book 4, in Percy's 15th Birthday Party, and the Start of Book 5, before he is with Rachel. The Jackson family receives 2 guests in the party, one we know who they are, but what about the 2nd?

Warnings: Timeline: End of Book 4: The Battle of the Labyrinth and Start of Book 5: The Last Olymlian. English is not my 1st language! And you are older than in Part 1. Canon change.

Notes: Thank you so much for liking so much Part 1! I tried to do my best since I didn't really have something to do. Most of this is fluff because Gabe (🤢) is finally gone! And family bonding. I hope you like this part as the first, but Idk..

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While preparing the party you and Percy were talking of what Paul calls 'Girl affairs'.

"...And then she KISSED ME." Percy says looking at you.

"Wait. She kissed you? And you are just telling me now dumbass!" You whisper to him.

"I didn't know how to bring that up and believe me when I say that I'm still trying to believe it." He says while taking napkins out of the drawer.

"...And you two are dating now right?" You ask.

"No.."

"What do you mean no?...You guys kissed and like eachother what more do you need to start dating?" You say taking plastic cups and putting them in the table.

"I don't know..it's just.." He says, don't knowing what to say more.

"Is it because of your new friend Rachel?" You ask.

"What? Why would it be?"

"It's just that you remembered her number after seeing it one time, ...and since you came back from the mission you are either talking about dying, Annabeth or her." You say looking at the sides and eating a bit of a chocolate from the blue cake.

"Hey! That's not true! And stop eating the chocolate! Mom will think it was me." He says blushing.

"Okay, but you three look like a love triangle or something. Like Katniss, Peeta and Gale." You say nodding to yourself.

"Since when did you read the Hunger Games?"

"1 month ago, but that's not the important, the important is that you are in a love triangle." You say laughing.

"I'm not!" He says getting out of the room, heat in his ears.

"Why are you running baby?" You tease but he doesn't respond back and goes to his room.

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You and Sally were eating the cake while Paul talked with Tyson, his eyes shining while Paul talks about how good at Monopoly he is, Tyson makes a big smile as he hears the compliments leave the other man's mout.

Percy was talking to his father, he looked like a fisherman to you, not the mighty God of the Seas, but you guess that was his human form.. when he saw you he gave you a quick, but genuine smile, while he smiled you thought how much his green eyes represented Percy's, they were certainly family, but he was Tyson's dad too, and Tyson loved him as you saw with his 'Daddy' the moment Poseidon enetred the apartment. You still can't understand why the gods are always having children, don't they have more mighty things to do? Like protect they're land or the Olympus? You couldn't really understand.

You get out of these thoughts when Tyson asks if you want to play Uno, you can't say no right? So you two play.

As you are playing Percy comes back from his conversation with Poseidon, looking happy but at the same time kinda shaken up.

"Are you okay Perc?" You ask, not wanting to know how the hell Poseidon dissapeard, problaly god stuff, and he looks at you and smiles.

"Yeah..it's nothing that I'm not used to." He says and sits.

While he sits Paul calls in the kitchen.

'Problaly to talk about the wedding proposal.' You think.

He already told you that he wants to marry Sally, for you it's all good, he is already the person who takes you to school and you see the way Sally looks at him and he looks at her. You know that Percy is gonna accept it too. Paul is a really cool and swett guy.

You scream Uno while Tyson still has 5 cards and you smile proud of yourself.

After that you hear a knock at the door, Sally goes open it.

As she opens a man in a suit talks to her and after the talk she looks at you.

"Y/N, dear, can you come here?" You nod and come to the door.

Sally passes her arms around you while you look at the man.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but..this is complicated to say..well.. you're biological mother entered in contact with us. She says she wants to take care of you." He tells and both you and Sally look tense.

"But why would she want something with Y/N, she never showed interest in your life until now." Sally asks while looking at you.

You tense up.

"Well, I have a guess.." He sighs. "After Mr. Ugliano death all of his debts passed to her. Maybe taking care of her would be a indirect revenge with the person with the most connections with Mr. Ugliano. That is you, Y/N."

"No, that can't be!" Sally yells alerting the rest of the family that were in the living room (Percy was on is room.)

"I'm sorry Mrs. Jackson but Y/N isn't still legally your child." He says to her and looks at you. "If your mother wants to take your full care of you, she can even go to court."

"She isn't my mother, Sally is, I don't want to see her. Or be with her." You say your eyes starting to go red, Sally hugs you.

"If those adoption files didn't took that long.." She whispers that only the man can hear, he nods.

"Im sorry Mrs. Jackson, the best you can do is go to the court against her, maybe if you win the judges acelarate the adoption process."

Sally smiles to him and nods

"Thank you Sir for alerting us."

"It's nothing Mrs. Jackson, have a rest of a good party." He smiles at you and gets out of the apartment.

"Well looks like I'm going to court." She says as she closes the door and looks at Paul.

"...What?" He asks and while he is explaining you go to Percy's room to explain the situation.

When you open the door Percy is with another boy, who looks like a zombie, and emo, really emo.

"I can come back latter, bye Perc and Perc emo friend." You close the door again and go back to the living room, hearing a laugh after that, problaly Percy's.

Paul tells you that you don't need to worry when you get at the living room.

"When the time comes everything will be solved." He says.

You nod and hug him, he smiles at you.

The rest of the night you all play card games and after some hours Percy comes back from talking with his emo friend, looking again shaken up.

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨☆୧⋆ ˚｡⋆

All of your family is taking another party from the court win. Your mom didn't even have the conditions to take you in, and even if she had you weren't coming.

In some days Percy is also taking a vacation with is friend Rachel family.

Every time he talked about it to you, you made a knowing look, his love problems were as good as a reality show, you don't even want to know Annabeth face when she finds out. You could laugh with that.

But now not even Percy is thinking about that vacation he is thinking of how much you grew up since he met you, still in the control of Smelly Gabe, and how much more happy you were in these years after taking you with them.

He hugs you. Now that doesn't matter,

you are officialy Y/N Jackson.

[thesweetnessofspring]

What blows my mind on rereading the books is how attracted to Peeta Katniss is. I hadn’t read them for years so I did think of them as a typical wholesome relationship with a nice guy that never dives into the attraction parts. But now I see the constant flirting that happens, the hunger and need to be close, the description of his body and face, the whole beach scene. And Peeta is super respectful for all of the books but Suzanne didn’t make it seem like a lot of nice guys are written where they wouldn’t dare show any attraction. Peeta in the cave is sneaking in kisses and post games he mentions them being alone together. They’re RIDICULOUSLY into each other . And I appreciate that they found the balance of a nice couple being horny for each other, it always feels like most media at the time portrayed sexual need as something that can only happen with bad boys.

They are into each other at EVERY SINGLE LEVEL it is ridiculous. As a fandom grandma, I remember when people were fancasting Peeta back in the day and one of the more popular choices (though he was 🤢 for many reasons) was Alex Pettyfer. I think a lot of people pictured Peeta super hot (as opposed to what he really is, which is boy-next-door-cute) in part because Katniss's details and descriptions of him are soooo layered with her attraction. Like yes, Katniss, please go on more about his big strong arms and the sunlight in his hair and his blue eyes. 😂 We don't get Peeta's POV but it's obvious he's smitten by her physically as well, saying the flames suit her and that to him she's "perfect."

And Peeta!! That boy could be such a heartbreaker if he wanted to! He flirts with Katniss so effortlessly and in general is really good around people, but he never gives her cause to be jealous (by my reading of the book he doesn't with Johanna in the elevator, even though the movie interpreted that part differently). And oh my, does Katniss crave his touches! Even from book one she's giving him genuine gestures of affection and delighted in what he gives to her. I think because kissing is more intimate she has a harder time feeling the "hunger" when they only ever kiss in front of the camera. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if Katniss ever had a chance to really kiss Peeta without cameras around she would have made up her mind about the boys a lot sooner.

Non, it is so, so, SO important to me that Katniss and Peeta have that real sexual chemistry you talk about and why the movies are so disappointing in this aspect. I think that relationships between adults in shows and movies have offered more that are "healthy, in love, and hot for each other" recently, but we hardly ever see it for teenagers! The "nice guy" is usually kinda awkward or there isn't a lot of chemistry, and all of the sexual tension comes from the "bad boy." There isn't really a bad boy equivalent in THG, but Peeta still fills in a sort of "good guy" role in the love triangle and the fact that Gale can get jealous and pushy but Katniss is still like 😑 with him, but 🥰 around Peeta is sooooooooooooo important. Like yes, teach those young people that healthy conflict resolution is hot!! Teach them that safety and gentleness is a turn-on!! YES YES YES!!!

[mudkip-enthusiast18]

M- name a character you’d wanna be friends with

and

P- create a random AU for any fandom

Z- random preferably with a prompt

(mudkip I see ur rosekiller obsession nOW SPILL YOUR THOUGHTS/ HCS/ LITERALLY ANYTHING ON THEM)

sry this took a while to answer bro i had a lot of thoughts hehe /pos

m- I would loveeeeeeee to be friends w ms marvel (kamala khan) (from the disney + show ms marvel) (I don’t rlly know comics 💔💔) she’s so silly goofy and I think the representation of nerdy fandom-interested teenage girl was so incredibly well-done (along w literally everything the show is so underrated) she reminds me a lot of how my irl friends and tumblr/insta mutuals (and myself) act and so I think I’d get along incredibly well with her :333 (now I wanna rewatch ms marvel,,,,,,,,)

p- (warning for sorta vague (?) violence and death) OOOOOOH I LOVE THIS :3333333 i have so many,,,,,,, I have one kind of vague rosekiller hunger games au where evan and barty are both reaped for the games and they meet in training, but don’t entirely trust each other, but something happens on the 1st day of the games that brings them very close together, they create an incredibly deep bond very very fast, and then evan gets killed, a and in a fit of rage, barty tracks down every other tribute, killing them one by one, until he wins the games (he didn’t want to win he wanted to die in there with evan) (he didn’t realize he had killed everyone until he was declared victor) (he proceeded to have a very miserable life lol,,,,,,,)

(that or they’re from the same district and already extremely close and then evan dies and etc) (can’t decide)

(I also don’t know if or where the other characters fit into this lol)

z- AA WHERE DO I EVEN START,,,,,,, hmmmmmm

i think that they bicker/jokingly “bully” each other a lot but they very rarely ever truly genuinely fight, I think they kind of learned how to properly communicate and solve issues well when they would fight as friends, so by the time they actually got together, they knew how to handle things

they’re the most cringe annoying unbearable couple on the planet /aff

they steal each other’s clothes sm to the point where they don’t actually know who half their clothes originally belonged to

adding on to that, they buy each other clothes a lot but half the time it’s kind of just buying gifts for themselves cause they’re gonna steal the shirt or hoodie or pants or wtv it is back in a few weeks anyway (tbh this goes for other kinda object or wtv gifts too lol)

barty got pandora to teach him how to do evan’s hair and it’s a big bonding activity for them whenever evan needs a retwist (evan only trusted pandora to do his hair (or even just touch it at all tbh) previous to that) (like he didn’t even like when his parents or his nanny did it at all)

they like watching shitty movies and making fun of them together :3

they both like to read and barty specifically likes to annotate books w rlly silly kinda stupid stuff most of the time but every once in a while he finds a book that reminds him of him and evan and annotates it like. more romantically/properly (?) and gifts it to evan

they like to go out late at night on long drives

adding on to that they love to go out late at night to do graffiti together since they’re both very into art and graffiti art is kind of the place where their art preferences/styles converge

evan runs rlly warm but also can’t sleep without a blanket (me) and barty can’t sleep without being in contact w evan so he’s constantly overheating at night in the summer lol

they can read each other extremely well, they know each other better than they each know themselves <3

they spoil their daughter to no end lol that’s their little princess

they name their daughter (middle name) after barty’s mother (martha is my hc name for her)

barty takes evan’s last name even before they’re married to distance himself from his father (and also legally changes his 1st name from bartemius to barty)

they love to gossip :P

that’s kinda all I can think of for now!!!! :333 TY FOR THE ASK <3333333

[littleelvenguy]

Get to know your mutuals! (chain post) Thanks for tagging me, @specimentality :3 Favorite color: Pink!! (also yellow to a lesser extent. I'm more picky about yellows) It's kinda my whole brand at this point lmao. I've had my hair dyed pink irl for about two years now. Before that I had it dyed red. Pink was my absolute favorite color as a child and then I had that whole "not like other girls phase" in middle/early high school (which ended up leading to "oh I'm not a girl actually") and cast it aside. Rekindled my love for pink halfway through highschool <3

Last song: Play by Mother Mother Currently reading: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. The Stormlight Archive is one of my partner's all time favorite series and they pestered me until I read it. It's an awesome book, but oohhh boy is it thick haha. Over 1,200 pages. It's very worth the read though. After I finish it I'm going to read Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins before I continue with Stormlight. I love the Hunger Games books and I'm excited to see Haymich's pov. Currently Watching: Mostly catching up on Game Changer and some Dimension 20 seasons now that I have access to a Dropout account. Right now I'm watching A Court of Fey and Flowers after finishing Mentopolis. I also got halfway through Apothecary Diaries and need to finish it, it's a really good series. Currently craving: Nothing at the moment, really. I am hungry, I should probably eat, but food isn't terribly appealing right now. Maybe potato salad? It's a safe food, but I don't have any in the house rn unfortunately :( Coffee or tea?: Tea 100% I don't consume much caffeine either, but if I want a hot drink it's gonna be tea. I honestly am not even sure how caffeine effects me because I'm so bad at recognizing how I'm feeling, and rarely know whether to attribute it to the caffeine or not because I'm not consistent with it. I do drink a lot of ice tea on the weekends though, which... I'm realizing now probably has some caffeine in it.

Up next! (if you guys want to do this of course) @neodafloof555 @heyitsalex14

[glennquackmire]

WE NEED LORE FOR THE HUNGER GAMES AU !!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶😛😛😛😛😛😞😞😞😞

OMG OMG OK SO

This was originally really long but I'll do a better version of it ok so (hi chat I'm re reading this now cos it's not like 2am and I'm realising how bad this is I'll re explain it soon I promise ☝️☝️) (me again this is so ass I keep getting like flashbacks to how corny this is I'm rewriting it all as we speak cause this is so bad AND ooc AUGHHHHHHHHGHGGF)

-the curtis bros live in district 12 and their parents died in a mining accident

-darry (he's 18 in this) and pony are reaped ik I just said he volunteers for soda but I'm editing this rn and I'm taking that out LMAOO (I had to make it any 2 because there just isn't enough girls in the outsiders for one girl one boy 😭)

-ponyboy believes darry genuinely despises him (WRONG) and thinks that darry is going to try kill him once they get in the arena so he spends most his time in there trying to get away from him

-meanwhile darry spends all his time trying to FIND ponyboy w his fancy career ally paul (I like to pretend he's an important character) he's from district 4 or WAS lolol get it cause he's dead

-the arena is foresty but its also got this really cliffy area that overlooks this huge body of water (that's important i swear)

-so the other ppl who are reaped are:

>dally and johnny from the lumber district: their main tactic is to stay together but that's more of a support thing because johnny is convinced he doesn't have a chance and dally is super confident bro is SWINGING that axe

>tim from the textile district: he had to leave curly and Angela to fend for themselves so he's DESPERATE to get home (post traumatic eldest sibling disorder)(ily tim)

>the careers marcia and randy (District 1) cherry and bob (District 2) Paul and ik there's other socs but I forget their names (District 4): their main tactic is to travel in groups of 2 and pick off the weakest tributes at first and then come together

>scouts here she's from the technology district hi scout

>oh and also Steve and twobit are also here LITERALLY just because I think they're a funny duo they do NOT last long I fear #divadown

-dally and johnny are also super codependant in this and if johnny were to (hypothetically) get murked by a tribute (hypothetically) dally would end up like he did in the book perchance idk they make me really sad these two are doomed in every universe

-eventually after most of the ppl are dead darry amd pony rerun into eachother and that's when ponyboy starts to realise darry does not infact want him dead and their beef is as good as over too bad it doesn't last lolol

-i wanted to add a reference to tge actual book to look smart into this so instead of their being those mutant dog mutts that chase them instead it's a HUGE fire that burns the entire arena and pushes them to the top of the cliff and when it gets down to the final 2 darry willingly steps into it so ponyboy can live which ik that's kinda corny but anyway

-I have a whole storyline in my mind for each of the characters if anyone wants to hear more tell me NEOW

[sirjuggles]

Things My Partner Knows About The Locked Tomb Through Osmosis

I am an unrepentant and annoying TLT fanboy, to the point where my partner has sworn to never read the books on principle (for this I respect them). However, given that I never shut up about these miserable books, they have picked up quite a bit of knowledge about them purely through my rants. With that in mind, I asked them to describe to me everything they think they know about The Locked Tomb (notes in italics are mine)

There are characters named Gideon, Nona, and… something like… Pacifica Sales Bonecruncher of the West? I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be Harrow's full name and title.

It's a scifi-fantasy world in a necromancy space realm 

There's… 10 kingdoms that are all part of an Empire? Or maybe houses? But they're part of a monarchy? 

The ruling classes of each of the realms gets summoned by God because they want to play a Hunger Games thing to find their… new God child? 

It's not a God child like he's gonna adopt them… it's like rebirthing them into a new god? They will also become God? 

Each one of the realms has a special quirk about them, something that's their specialty. Like, one realm are accountants. Shockingly accurate.

Gideon and Pacifica’s realm are like cool goth themed? More goth than the others. Extra-goth.

Oh there's a person named… Electra? They have long blonde hair and kickin curves and they're really hot? Everyone likes them? I'm pretty sure this is a conflation of Alecto and Corona as seen through reblogged fanart.

Personal philosophy aside rant: The whole necromancy-as-center of-an-empire thing… I find it kinda rude? I don't like the idea of people and their remains being used as a resource/tool. Like, I don't like using people as interchangeable cogs in a machine under someone else's control, both in life or in death. It doesn't seem consensual or respectful. In death your obligations should be released. 

I think Gideon has a big hero’s death while trying to save Pacifica, and then their… souls mingle? And then after that Pacific has Gideon-flavored intrusive thoughts? And I'm not sure if it actually is Gideon or just, like… the same as if you stare at the sun and get the after image burnt into your cornea. This isn't wrong, but I'm almost certain part of this is actually my ramblings about Baru Cormorant leaking through.

Is reincarnation or resurrection a thing? I feel like it should be in a necromancy setting. 

DIRECT QUOTE: “Is there a Jesus allegory in here? I feel like there is. Wait... Is Gideon Jesus?” Folks, upon hearing these words casually spoken out loud by someone with no knowledge of context, I straight up left my body.

God is just a chill dude. He's just a guy making pancakes, and occasionally he'll go “How's that whole Hunger Games thing going? You want a snack? I'm just gonna be over here.”

God was wanted by aliens or something? There's something bigger going on with entropy or heat death or the Discworld auditors and it's a problem for God and that's why he's doing the whole Hunger Games thing. 

I think God used to be not a God and that's why he's such a chill dude. And then there was a problem and everything was dying so he did something and necromancied everything and that's why he's God now and also why things are so weird? 

One of the groups from the houses was two annoying siblings who split from the party and died really quickly. 

Gideon is big and bulky and has short red hair. 

[icrypop]

Ask~~~ Hiiii i have a writing request if you don't mind! Could you write something about the banner family? Specifically the parents? I love them so much and there is a genuine lacking of content for them! Thank you! :)

Eeee yes I love this family, they definitely need more content on it all and I'm so excited to write about this!

-Writer Icy♡

General HC's for The Banner Family♡

Mike, Emma, Ashlynn

School Bus Graveyard ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Both former military people, I feel like the nickname Mike gives Ashlynn "Soldier" is just something that happened naturally which honestly is super cute and makes the family feel healthy and domestic ❤️

Emma, being the sweet anti-social woman she is, is very understanding of her daughters emotions towards not wanting to have friends, I feel like she might've had trouble with that when she was younger or even in bootcamp.

I hc that Emma and Mike met in the military, finding such a beautiful peace among so much chaos. Their love holds alot of respect and understanding because they are quite different from each other.

Emma is more quiet and collected, Mike is more of the sporty, outgoing type of guy and I feel they clicked kinda fast. Mike has a ton of energy, he drinks coffee with like...two shots of espresso and Emma has hers just black. Or she drinks tea- I can see that too..

EMMA IS A BOOK WORM- now hear me out- She enjoys reading alot into either the survival fiction books or like...the dystopia books like Hunger Games or The Giver because she can picture it more in her mind.

I also hc before Ashlynn was born, Emma either read to Mike before bed or in quiet time or read to her baby belly :,)

Ashlynn, when she was little, would ask Mike and Emma to tell stories from the military but like...the funny ones about all the crazy stupid stuff that happens in the barracks. Mike being like "Yeah and Johnny almost got caught by our Unit Commander and blah blah blah slipped and landed right into the mud on the other side of the fence" or something like that

Emma had some creativity with her quietness, I feel like she sang or danced in private, maybe was in a high-school choir or something before enlisting.

I feel like they had alot of trouble overcoming the 'Phantoms' along with after being in the military for a while. Like....that has to come with a certain amount of trauma or mental health that lessened from it. They had to rely on one another to pick each other up on especially hard days and now they work together to do said thing for Ashlynn.

They are definitely a pretty healthy family from what is given from them, they want the best for Ash and to keep her happy and safe. They're loving parents and have alot of things they carry but they manage it in healthy ways.

Ugghhh I love them, they deserve extra credit, they're so precious 💖

Send More Requests! Inbox is empty ♡♡♡

[alpaca-clouds]

The Thing About Solarpunk Romance

Something that is quite interesting to me is a certain dualogy within the few novels that have been released for the genre is that there are basically two different kinds of novels there - and then there is Fox Hunt, but let me first talk about the novels there are.

Now, mind you. This list involves only novels that according to my information were written to be Solarpunk Fiction, rather than novels written at times before the invention of Solarpunk, that the label was later applied to. And these novels are:

The Biodome Chronicles by Jesikah Sundin (a Solarpunk vs Cyberpunk story)

The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson (Solarpunk YA)

Foxhunt by Rem Wigmore (a Solarpunk action novel)

Seeds of the Swarm by Sim Kern (a story focusing on establishing Utopia)

Another Life by Sarena Ulibarri (kinda an anthology in a meta narrative and with a heavy philosophical focus)

When We Hold Each Other Up by Phoebe Wagner (a story about a Solarpunk society emerging after ecocide)

Now, it might be that I am overlooking some books here, especially as most Solarpunk publishing is happening within the context of Indie publishing and self publishing. So, if I do not hear about it through social media, I will probably not hear about it at all. And sure, I can go through Amazon and look at books tagged as "Solarpunk", but I am just guessing.

Outside of that, there is only the many, many anthologies that have been released, but I will not generally talk about them right now.

Now, I generally have the feeling that a lot of Solarpunk writers are like me: Oh, I have a story idea for a Solarpunk novel, but... I am not quite motivated to write it. Pretty much all writers I have been in contact with who were at some point writing a Solarpunk novel have put that project on pause to write something else. (Which is probably an issue for another day.)

But no, what I wanted to talk about is: Of those six books above I have read three so far. The first three. The first two I would actually categorize as romances. While both Biodome and Summer Prince involve of course the dystopia/utopia connundrum happening, they both have very much the same feel I would argue a lot of the dystopian YA novels that were released around the same time as those two novels (earlier half of the 2010s) had to me. Sure, there is a story, but in the end the books have a strong core in the main relationships.

Foxhunt also had a romance, but it really felt more tertiary to the plot and was not a focus of the story for the most part.

As I said, I have not read the other three novels yet. But yeah, this is what I can say about it. And I do wonder...

I am honestly not quite sure whether those first two novels were written as Solarpunk. I know that at the very least The Summer Prince was marketed under the tag, but that is pretty much where my knowledge ends.

It makes sense though, that those books came out at the time they did. They were just riding the dystopia high related by the Hunger Games, nothing else. And because of that there are the romance subparts there.

But here is the thing: In some way romance is a strange viability marker. No matter what kind of base idea exists, there is a romance subgenre that deals with it. Because no matter how much pretty much everyone derides the romance genre, it is actually the best selling genre of literature there is. If you look at the fiction genres, there is romance (including smut), then there is mystery/crime, then there is nothing, and then there is everything else in terms of both sales and the number of stories there is. Romance sells more books than fantasy or scifi can dream off. But at the same time Romance has crossover with pretty much every other genre, because Romance can happen in any genre.

Let's face it, the different between most superhero movies and a romance is the central focus of the story. You absolutely could restructure the Iron Man movies in a way to make them romance movies that happen to also feature one of the main couple to be a superhero.

And yes, there is a ton of superhero romance out there in the book market. Because no matter what concept there is: There is romance of it.

Now, I will openly admit: Cyberpunk is also a genre where at least the English and German market does not have a whole lot of romance. Sure, there is some, but not a whole lot. (Japanese Cyberpunk ironically has spawned a whole lot more romance - but again, a topic for a later date.)

But it is interesting to me. Romance is fairly accessible in terms of the SP market, and I note that it is interesting how there is little in terms of Solarpunk romance out there. Now there is the question: Is this because the main audience for Romance does not know much about Solarpunk - or because they don't gel with it.

I don't have the answer for this. But I cannot keep but wondering.

What do you think?