#or because the entire series started with katniss protecting her

[georgecostanzaatemysoup]

Out of all the deaths in Mockingjay Prim's hit me like a ton of bricks... holy shit.

[thewormformerlyknownasletojrjr]

The thing is they’re all foils of each other, you’re supposed to see each of them in everyone, Katniss and Peeta and Gale (though nobody really cares about him, sorry dude) in Sejanus and Lucy Gray and Coryo. There’s Katniss in Lucy Gray’s singing and the mockingjays, in the curtsy, in their similar looks; in Sejanus’s ‘act first think later’ reaction, in the way they honor the dead and how they want to protect the innocent; in Coryo’s distrust of people’s motivations, the way he second guesses everything, in their survival being the first thing in their mind in dangerous situations, in their food insecurity, there’s a reason that Katniss says the two of them have always understood each other. There’s Sejanus in Gale’s righteous fury, the fire he has, the fierce morality, there’s Lucy Gray in his loyalty and honesty, there’s Coryo in the way he gets taken under the wing of a powerful and prominent adult (Dr Gaul for Coryo, Coin and Beetee for Gale) as a teenager, manipulated and offered power and used to create atrocities in the name of a greater good. You see Peeta and Lucy Gray paralleled as performers in a hunt, using their charm rather than physical ability; Sejanus shown in Peeta’s compassion for others and in the symbol of bread, given to save Katniss for starvation, sprinkled over the bodies of the dead tributes; you see Coryo in Peeta’s determination to save his girl, to get her out of the games, the way he manipulates a crowd for his own gain, in their blonde hair.

And the thing is it’s absolutely brilliant because it only furthers the notion that none of them are set in stone.

Peeta is unfailingly good, even though his survival is predominantly thanks to those manipulation tactics. He uses them to sway the opinions of those in power without them noticing it, he even makes THE CAPITOL hate the games prior to the Quarter Quell. In the beginning of Mockingjay he uses it to sway Capitol favor towards Katniss in case the rebellion fails, at this point he is not focused on what the ‘right thing’ to do is, he’s looking to keep her alive at any cost. Katniss frequently describes Peeta as ‘playing the game’ even when they arguably aren’t in the Games, he knows what he’s doing, yet we never doubt in his goodness. The ability to manipulate people like that is pretty much never seen as a positive trait in any form of media, but we never doubt him, not when we’ve witnessed his compassion, his empathy.

Gale and Sejanus are both fiercely for the rebel cause from the beginning, even when they have no chance, the idealist, tho one who doesn’t care whether they get hurt to do the right thing, the paragon of morality, the ideal hero type. And yet still, by the end of the series, we cannot describe Gale as good anymore, even if what he did was for the right reasons. The power of taking the typical type of main character and showing how their ideals can be used against them, how they can get too caught up in the cause and fail to see the consequences piling up is fantastic, because there’s a certain point before Snow becomes an absolutely irredeemable monster where the two have a lot of similarities in their arcs, even though personality wise they couldn’t be more different. Snow is a fantastic villain because, in the end that cognitive dissonance overpowers the part of him that has misgivings, he is entirely convinced he is doing the right thing no matter the cost, a path we see Gale head down in Mockingjay. We even start to see Gale considering the Capitol citizens, including children and other innocents who played no part as ‘other’ and inherently monstrous. Coin and others in 13 wanting to do a Capitol Hunger Games illustrates that point as well, the escalation of it, the end result, when a revolution ceases to be a revolution and simply becomes a change in oppressors, but Gale is integral to that point because he is the early stages of it. Coryo is in the early stages of it for a large portion of his book. Obviously the difference is that Snow has 65 years to become very comfortable with this in his fascism and increasingly monstrous tendencies, but it’s the same beginning stage, and it’s incredible how Collins shows that a revolutionary type can quickly become something bad if they aren’t careful.

For Katniss as the reluctant hero type to never really willingly step up to the role, only be strong armed into it, is brilliantly done. Most ‘chosen one’ types don’t want to be, but eventually they do take it up with some willingness, but the Hunger Games is above all about using children in immoral ways whether for ‘good’ reasons or bad. Katniss only chooses to be their hero in the face of direct threat to herself or her loved ones, but that doesn’t undermine her actions. Even though she is supposed to be their tool, she exercises her free will time and time again, she makes calls that she know place her and her loved ones in political danger with 13, she makes herself their symbol on her terms. For someone who’s first thought is how to keep herself and the people she cares about alive, this defiance means a lot, particularly because she doesn’t trust people, she genuinely isn’t sure if there is going to be someone in her corner standing up for her, protecting her from the consequences of her actions, and most of the time when there is someone she’s surprised. She fully expects the worst case scenario, the worst in others, but unlike Snow she doesn’t hesitate to offer the best of herself in spite of having everything to lose and nothing to gain. Even though she fully expects everyone to have an ulterior motive, everyone to be lying, she cannot help but be anything but genuine, anything but true to herself. She doesn’t necessarily believe in any inherent goodness in others, oftentimes the opposite, but she still offers kindness rather than violence and that is all the more powerful.

In the frame of the Hobbes/Locke duality that TBOSAS really leans into, Peeta believes in an essential goodness in people, Gale sees it as us versus them, with his side as naturally ‘good’ and the other side as inherently bad, but Katniss by default thinks of people as self serving, something she still struggles with in the epilogue, having to remind herself of evidence to the contrary, she is consistently fighting that idea, disproving it with every action, at every turn, which is much more powerful than her just seeing the world in a positive light.

The thing is Suzanne Collins has them all start out as kids, each with a personality type, Katniss most like Coryo, Gale most like Sejanus, and a melange of other characteristics and traits—Peeta and Coryo most similar in their way of dealing with people, for instance—and through the choices they make she shows that they’re not set in stone. That it’s not some inherent goodness or badness in them from birth, it’s not just the way they behave around their peers. Every choice they make, every situation out of their control sets each of them on a path. Time and time again Coryo is only protected or assisted by the corrupt adults around him, he’s shown that only a very specific type of person will protect him, and they will always have something in it for them, and they will not tolerate him being anything less than like them, and in the end he chooses to have security in his survival, to have control, over everything else, and he lets that warp him into an atrocious human being. He takes the easy way in life, in contrast to Katniss and her uphill battle for the goodness in human nature.

Collins didn’t even try to be subtle about it, it’s very deliberate in the book in the way that he narrates as Coriolanus through the entire thing, but narrates the final chapter as Snow. It’s as clear as a marker flag, the way she says, ‘this is him crossing the line of no return’. Your sympathy for him in the book doesn’t come from him being sexy or charismatic, because you’re in his head and he’s an absolute disaster honestly. His internal monologue is basically just panicked screaming. The urge to root for him comes from the fact that Collins introduces him to us as a scared teenager, a kid. He’s not necessarily a great person, but it’s not yet in a ‘set to become a fascist dictator way’ it’s just in the way that a great deal of seventeen year olds are. There were so many times in reading the book that I laughed a loud because he was SUCH a teenager in his reaction to things. There isn’t any point to having a book with a character who was poised to be evil from the start, the whole point is watching what he becomes, it’s ‘be careful how you treat the children of the world now, they grow up to run the world, and who they are is shaped by who is kind to them and who isn’t’. Casca Highbottom didn’t see Coriolanus Snow for who he was from the start, he saw an adult who had wronged people in a child and mistreated the child according to his beliefs, and in doing so opened the doors for that child to become exactly what he feared and worse.

The whole point is that they’re kids, the whole point of all four books, they were all just children to begin with, some more similar than others but they all ended up in completely different places and who they ended up with wasn’t the same as the people they had been most alike when they were young. The point is that you can’t look at a child and decide they are more or less likely to be the world’s next great monster just because of their personality traits or how they see the world or who they’re friends with. Children are blank slates for adults to write on, and then they have to take all that writing and make a book of who they are out of it someday, and they might be the ones to make that book in the end, but it matters what you write. It matters when you give them kindness, or when you hurt them, it matters when you leave them to fend for themselves too young, it matters when you give them everything they could ever want and teach them that it’s not precious to have things and that they should always get them and that others shouldn’t and that it’s nothing less than what they deserve, it matters whether you starve them, or you bomb them, because whatever they make of themselves they make with the words that you write on that slate, and even though they might be able to turn it into anything if they want to, it’s far easier to write a horror story with violence than it is to write a gentle poem.

So they are all meant to mirror each other, every one of them, to show different roads taken with circumstances similar and different.

To show you two blonde boys who could part seas with the way their words affect people, and ask you to look at them when they are five years old, or ten, or fifteen, nameless, without context, just pretty boys with prettier words in their mouths, and ask you: which one will be the monster?

[theblacktigrr]

Another one 🤲

Also I definitely probably lost my point in there lol, it's a long read so beware

The whole thing, the whole point of the series as told by Katniss is to save Prim. That is the end all be all. We start with volunteering for Prim, Katniss tries her best to save Prim. This fact is glossed over the movies, it becomes a love triangle with battles. And that's ok! It makes for an entertaining film.

But. Prim's safety was never guaranteed. The moment Katniss vowed to protect her was the moment we sealed her fate. Chapter 1, Katniss mentions that she tries to protect Prim. Chapter 2, Prim's name is called. "The odds had been entirely in her favor. But it hadn't mattered." Chance is not a thing here, it was fate. Prim had to die. She could not exist in this world. Prim represents innocence, that's no secret. More specifically, I belive Katniss' innocence. They are literally ripped away from each other during the first Reaping. Katniss is 16 at this time. She them has to endure the horrors of the games, yippee, but when she returns home? It's different. Prim and her mother are more than happy to live in the new fancy house, but Katniss is already isolating herself in the forest and their old house, she realizes thay they dont understand, Prim is safe yes but she has lost that vital connection, because of what she went through. By the time of the Quater Quell she is only 17, still just a child. And Prim is still young but Katniss notes a change in her, noticing that she is not the same frail little girl. Fast forward, to the last book. Free from the games? Yes, but now forced to be a symbol for a rebellion she doesn't want, Katniss leans on Prim like a crutch. She is clinging to the last bit of "normalcy" she has. To the idea that things can be ok, and she can be free. But now we know for sure that Prim must die. Like I said before, Peeta is now an integral part of Katniss. Prim while still beloved doesn't even portray her original ideal. Gone is the shy little girl, picture of innocence. Know we have the doctor, full of hope? Yes, but changed by the cruel reality they live in. Yada yada, she ends up in the capitol on that day, where Katniss watches her get blown up! Everything she worked to protect, the whole reason she endured this nightmare, obliterated. So that's some mental scaring, she also suffers horrible burns! Spends a while in a hospital, we don't know how long g exactly but she need skin grafts and stuff. Became temporarily mute because of the emotional trauma.

So to rewind and go back to point A.

Prim had to die. Not for the shock value or some epic twist. But because that is the reality when children are sent to war. There is no happy ending where almost everyone makes it out alive and lives happily ever after. You come out scarred, and traumatized, you've lost your innocence, maybe even a portion of your humanity. There were no winners and lovers in the Hunger Games.

Only those that had to live with the consequences

[clatoera]

Since when do you like THG/TBOSAS? Tell me your fandom story 😊

Have you read or watched all the books/movies?

Thank you.

@curiousnonny

Okay so I answered a similar version of this question last year here so I just copied my answer over and put it under a cut because it's LonG but it's still the story!

Okay, I have been waiting to do this justice. But here I go.

I was one of those fans back in the day. I think I started reading the books in 2009/early 2010s. THG and CF were out, and I was literally counting down the days with my mom and aunt to Mockingjay being released. I was 12 at the time, in 7th grade. I got into the series at the age of the youngest tributes, at the age of Rue and Prim. My mom and my aunt recommended it to me, and I remember falling in love. District 12 was my hometown. An old coal down surrounded by the woods, I remember just identifying so much with that. I was little. Me and my mom got Mockingjay the day it released and I read it within a day. I was hooked.

I counted down to the movie. I remember every announcement. All the fan casts, the fan versions of Katniss' song. The buildup as to oh who's going to be Katniss! Who's going to be Peeta! What does Cinna's eye makeup look like. The clothes, I could NOT wait to see the clothes. The girl on fire dress. All of that. I remember finding out while sitting in my aunt's bedroom about it being Jennifer Lawrence. I remember the fan casts of Dianna Aaron as Madge Undersee (RIP). I can literally remember the feelings of cast releases. I bought every merch item that came out. I had a blanket, I had district 2 nail polish that looked like cement, I had the girl on fire 12 nail polish. I remember learning how to do the braid and it becoming my personality for an entire year. I publicly counted down to this movie release. My grandma made me a custom Team Peeta shirt that I rhinestoned for the premier. My best friend and I went to the movie at midnight with my Grandma. We went to them all, and she and I will be going to the newest one this November. I was 14, turning 15, and insufferable.

The Hunger Games defined me. I thought I was Katniss. I did that braid. My baby sister was 4 years younger than me. When CF released in theaters, I was the age of Katniss and she was Prim's age from the OG movie. That relationship of love between sisters is the most relatable part of the entire franchise. To this day, my sister reminds me of Prim. She is sweet and gentle and smart and innocent. And I would do anything Katniss did to protect her sister.

I got very into Clove for reasons unknown. Maybe because Isabelle Fuhrman and I were the same age. Maybe because I remember clove in the books being described as dark hair and dark eyes with freckles. thats what I sort of looked like back then. I'm 5'3, was never very tall. There is still hunger games fanfic I wrote in 2014 floating around out there of Katniss/Peeta and also Clato obviously.

To this day when I go into surgery, I have my hair in those little training ponytails Clove wore, because it keeps my bangs out of my face.

I distinctly remember wanting to be a blonde when I was 13/14. In 8th grade I kept dying my hair lighter with highlights. But about a month before the movie, I dyed my hair back to the dark natural brown. The way home from that appointment my mom pointed out to me "Maybe the hunger games, and Katniss, showed you that you can be pretty with dark hair and you don't have to change that." That has stuck with me for 11 years.

I fell out of it naturally, as I went through HS and College. I went to all the movies at midnight, but still, I was growing up and growing out by the last Mockingjay movie. Even in HS, for golf and dance I braided my hair out of the way. I did hunger games themed dance solos at competitions. Eventually, I did fall out of it as I got closer to college.

But like all things, you find your way back home.

It's been..14.. years since I read those books.

I still do my hair like Clove, but now as an almost doctor/future surgeon.

I still think of my home town as District 12 adjacent.

I still recognize the love of Katniss and Prim as the most important love and relationship in the whole series.

My type is still tall blonde boys with blue eyes (which..I got from THG movie).

I'll be at the midnight premiere of this movie with my best friend, like I did all before.

Recently I saw the movies on prime. I cried watching mockingjay part 2 because that was still so much like me and my sister. I watched again and I mourned the reality of what my favorite series EVER was.

This is a series about children fighting to the death. The horrors of fascism and the government. About actual war. The social commentary (The outrage of the capitol at the thought of Peeta and Katniss's fetus dying in the games, vs the reality of watching 23 children fight to the death every year and cheering is one of the most jarring and realistic reflections of society today). The media sensationalized THG to a love story just like the capitol. Looking back, from the age of Finnick in mockingjay, rather than Clove or Katniss in THG and CF, the way I see these films and this series is so different.

Thats what drew me back. Theres a comfort in this series, it was my favorite thing.

Theres a comfort I want back, in the most stressful season of my life.

But there is so much for me to uncover and unpack as an adult that I missed as a child.

It feels like I am doing a service to my younger self.

thank you for asking and thank you for giving me space to gush.

[captainseaweedbrains]

Spoiler for The Hunger Games : Mockingjay.

When you first read or watch Mockingjay, did you know or predict that Primrose was gonna die?

Who do you think were responsible for her death? Why?

If Katniss couldn’t protect Primrose until the end, was it all useless?

Disclaimer : these questions are for textual analysis, it's not meant to incite fandom war, please DNI if you don't like this topic.

Thank you.

@curiousnonny

To preface: When I first read Mockingjay, I was on maybe three hours of sleep because I spent an entire night finishing up The Hunger Games, finishing that at 6 a.m., waiting until 9 a.m. for my Barnes and Noble to open up to buy the rest of the series, and finishing Catching Fire in the early mornings of the next day before jumping straight into Mockingjay. Needless to say, my memory of this book, which I GREATLY disliked at the time, is spotty at best.

When you first read or watch Mockingjay, did you know or predict that Primrose was gonna die?

No, I didn't predict Prim was going to die, but I also didn't care much when she did because I thought her character boring, and I was not invested in her at all. I actually thought it annoying how everyone seemed to love her.

By the time the movie(s) came out, I was more sympathetic toward her death, but not by much.

Now it's more that I feel for Katniss and her loss than Prim's actual death.

If Katniss couldn’t protect Primrose until the end, was it all useless?

I suppose it depends on how you look at it, but as I am a reader that tends to follow author intent more than the belief that author intent is null once a work is published, I don't think it useless. Prim represents innocence and how war corrupts it--Katniss mentions this a lot in Mockingjay, about how Prim is much more mature now at still a young age than she was at the start of the series. War and other traumatic circumstances forces people to grow up faster than they ought. Prim also represents how uncaring war is about lives. It makes me think of this quote from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak:

It's always been the same. The excitement and rush to war. I met so many young men over the years who have thought they were running at their enemy, when the truth was, they were running to [death].

Prim was always destined to die to prove how uncaring war is at the end of the day, no matter if the war is justifiable or not. How it will take and take no matter the cost.

If Prim had survived, the ending would have felt hollow, honestly, because Katniss wouldn't have faced that ultimate loss (of innocence) to drive Collins' point of war across: No one, not even the survivors, is safe from war and its aftermath. And I think that incredibly brave and poetic of Collins to do in this YA series.

[wisebeth]

🔥 Happy Birthday Katniss Everdeen 🔥

What's your first impression of Katniss after reading or watching The Hunger Games?

Do you find Katniss likable? Do you think her characterization is realistic?

What do you think the strengths and weaknesses of Katniss?

If today, you can make new movie/series adaptation, who would be suitable as Katniss? Based on visual description and acting talents.

Thank you :)

@curiousnonny

THANK YOU FOR THIS ASK. I LOVE KATNISS AND I LOVE TALKING ABOUT HER.

What's your first impression of Katniss after reading or watching The Hunger Games?

I immediately loved her. She's my favourite character in THG. There's nothing about her which I don't like. I love her development. I love her journey. I love her flaws. And most importantly, I love the way she loves so passionately, especially her sister Prim.

Do you find Katniss likable? Do you think her characterization is realistic?

Yes, she's lovable. Even with the mask of her stoic and cold personality, you can't help but root for her.

Her characterization is extremely realistic considering the situation she was in. She never wanted to kill anyone when she volunteered for the hunger games but when she was put in a life-or-death situation, with people she cared about in danger, her survival instinct kicked in and she committed the impossible. Witnessing death, war and bombing of her home lead her to become more cold (her killing a random Capitol civilian & clawing Haymitch when Peeta was captured) but at the same time, she never wanted any of this to happen, she never wanted to be a part of this because at her core, she never wanted to be a killer so the guilt and nightmares stayed forever.

Her fear for her loved ones and innocent lives when the rebellion started was on point. She was a teenager and she knew the price of rebelling against a corrupted government would be paid by people who had no participation in this. She wasn't a teenager who was willing to take out an entire govt on her own. She was scared. She needed an army to do so. And she didn't want to do this because of others’ safety.

Her trauma and PTSD, her suicidal thoughts and depression, everything is on point and I'm glad Suzanne actually made it visible how traumatic changes and affects you. Katniss’ nightmares didn't stop into adulthood either. It took her fifteen years to feel safe to have children.

What do you think the strengths and weaknesses of Katniss?

Her weaknesses are the same as her strengths — her loved ones.

Katniss’ lowest and most hopeless points have been when she lost someone she cared about. When her father died, she stopped singing because it was a painful memory about her father. When Peeta was captured, she was suicidal and hopeless, she stopped eating and responding. When Primrose died, she called herself Cinna's bird with ‘no fire and no wings’ ; hopelessness. She suffered from depression after Snow was killed and the root cause of her depression was the death of everyone she loved.

However, this is also her biggest strength. To fight for the people she loved, to protect those she cared about, has given her strength to do the impossible task. She took the job of bringing food to the table at such a young age to avoid her family from starving. She volunteered to be in hunger games to keep Prim safe. Her two major acts of rebellion were for Rue (whose death she could never forget) and Peeta (who she wanted to protect). Her main motivation to stay alive in the quarter quell was to keep Peeta alive. She killed Coin over Snow to avenge Prim's death. She's someone driven by the way she loves.

If today, you can make a new movie/series adaptation, who would be suitable for Katniss? Based on visual description and acting talent?

Honestly? I never thought about it. But ideally I'd prefer a woman of colour in her teens who can act.

[novaauster]

Three-Dimensional Characters

I did it. I’ve cracked the code.

I figured out what dimensions (or graph axes) people are talking about when they say “three-dimensional characters”. It’s “what they know about themself”, “what they don’t know about themself”, “what they show to others” and “what they don’t show to others”.

Like this!

So, for example, let’s take Katniss Everdeen. Fantastic character, iconic book series. What does she know about herself? That she loves her sister and would do anything for her. That’s the opening knowledge of the book, everything hinges on it. That makes her an active character, because she has this core of belief about herself. 

She shows that she’s angry at the Capitol. It’s imminently important to her that she do so, it makes her feel like she has personhood in a system that’s trying to strip it away. She fights and fights some more, and does not make compromises.

Of course, she doesn’t know that her anger at what is being done to her and her sister, while completely justified and probably her only available coping mechanism, actively harms her chances of survival. Like, a lot. She cannot play along, she cannot make allies (except for Peeta, who puts up with a lot because he knows she can fight better than he can), and thus she is a pretty bad leader. Even so, she makes do and starts a revolution anyway, because most people are just as angry as her.

And, finally, she doesn’t show (to other characters, not to the reader) that she’s terrified. She and her entire home district are in mortal peril, and she’s like sixteen. She doesn’t know how to protect Prim besides fight for her, and she fights so hard and so uncompromisingly that she gets in her own way. It’s an internal conflict and it makes her seem three-dimensional and very human.

These four things are kept in mind in every scene, and get specific based on each circumstance (and they’re a sliding scale too, especially on the “show” axis, she obviously trusts some people more than others). They even change over time somewhat, because she’s a dynamic character. So, yeah.

I’m gonna do the same thing for the characters I’m writing rn under the cut

Keshiro from Empty And Become Wind! He’s so fun and silly and goofy. He knows that nothing can get in the way of his duty as a Raqkesh, and he doesn’t know how to treat his own personhood, outside of his duty, with his charges. He shows that he’s kind of a funny bitch, if someone can’t understand some aspect of his identity (being an airbender, being a Raqkesh, being an agender man, what have you) then he thinks it’s hilarious to lie to them and confuse them further. He shows, to the people he trusts, that being a Raqkesh is a dead-serious thing and violence weighs on a person in the abstract. He doesn’t show, unabstractly, that he’s in pain.

Din from Empty And Become Wind! I love him so much, he’s just a Guy in Situations. He knows that he’s perfectly able to live the life he currently has, and he doesn’t know that he’s gay and the world is a lot bigger than the homophobic little Fire Nation towns he’s been in all his life. He shows that he’d like to meet someone that isn’t absolutely fucking incompetent, and he doesn’t show that, despite the haters, he is capable of whimsy and curiosity.

And those things are all on display during the scene that they meet! Din is guarded because he’s meeting someone who could, to quote popular Disney animated film Aladdin, show him the world and he doesn’t know if he trusts that, Keshiro is being a funny bitch but when someone’s actually in danger he steps up and even risks using airbending to help, and he might tell Din about his charges and the spirits, but he only references his own past (mentions Ther) when it’s imminently relevant that he explains why not having OSHA is bad, actually.

That’s why they’re so fun to write!

[geekymoviemom]

Let's talk about Annie Cresta.

What do you think of Annie as a character?

Do you think Annie volunteer or being reaped for her games?

What's about her condition after winning the games?

Headcanon post-Mockingjay?

Thank you 😊

@curiousnonny

Thank you so much for the ask @curiousnonny 💖

Since we only ever see Annie filtered through Katniss’s eyes (and then Finnick’s), it’s hard to get a good grasp on what she’s truly like. That being said, I really enjoy her as a character and feel pretty much awful for her throughout the entire series. She gets such a raw deal from start to finish, and it’s horribly tragic.

No, I do not believe Annie volunteered for her Games, but it honestly wouldn’t surprise me if she did. Maybe to protect a younger sister like Katniss?

Obviously, from what we understand in canon, her mental condition isn’t the best after her Games (because really, whose would be?). We also know that Finnick tried to protect her as much as possible both during and after her Games, as did Mags, who volunteered to take her place in the Quarter Quell.

Post-Mockingjay, I headcanon that she tries to live as calm and uneventful life as possible with her little boy, making frequent trips to the coast to remember Finnick ♥️. I also headcanon that her son grows up to look very much like Finnick.

Thank you so much for the ask! 💖

[burst-of-iridescent]

I recently saw a post that paired a quote from The Hunger Games: “That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can give me that.” With a Zutara vs. Kataang comparison, Zuko being the Gale in this quote and Aang being the Peeta. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this take.

i think this is an extremely shallow interpretation of the hunger games, atla, or both.

the implication of comparing gale and peeta to zuko and aang suggests to me that there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the point suzanne collins is trying to make about gale and peeta. the difference between the two is not that gale is angry while peeta is all about #kumbaya, but that gale has allowed his anger to blind him, while peeta, though just as furious, keeps his anger where it rightfully should be.

the love triangle in the hunger games begins to be set up in book 2, the same book that repeatedly warns katniss to "remember who your real enemy is". what katniss comes to realize over the course of the series is what peeta has known from the start: that the real enemy is president snow and the capitol elite who support him, not the other tributes or the innocent civilians caught in the crossfire, something that gale is simply unable or unwilling to understand. 

that is why gale unhesitatingly reduces the other tributes in the games to mere prey to be hunted while peeta refuses to strip them of their humanity, why gale abides the mistreatment of katniss' makeup team in district 13 and is surprised by her horror, and why he ultimately ends up being complicit in the loss of innocent lives in his course for justice and revenge.

peeta is fundamentally kind and empathetic in a way that gale is no longer able or willing to be, and it is this kindness that he shares with zuko: the boy who risked his own life to save the man who tried to kill him, who put himself in danger to protect an enemy village, who reached out to a girl on the opposite side of the war simply because he saw a child like himself in need of comfort.

it's true that zuko in book 1 does have fire "kindled with rage and hatred" but his anger is a trauma response, and part of his healing from that trauma is realizing that he cannot use his anger as a crutch, or let it fuel him. that is why there is an entire episode centered around him losing his bending and actively choosing another path ("i don't want to rely on hate and anger anymore. there has to be another way"), one where his fire is fuelled by life and warmth. that is why zuko is foiled with jet (the actual closest gale figure in atla, a revolutionary who is blinded by rage and goes too far in his pursuit of righteousness), because jet symbolizes the person zuko could have become if he didn't learn to master his anger. zuko does what gale (and jet) are never able to do, and that is the reason he ends the show as a hero while they bring about their own downfalls.

as for aang being peeta, i can see the surface level comparison of "sweet sunshine guy" but what differentiates them is that peeta is always willing to do what needs to be done. he does not remain willfully ignorant of the horrors around him, and he does not risk the lives of others for the sake of his own selfish moral purity.

the actual comparison would probably be peeta and katara (someone who chooses kindness and hope, but does not blind themselves to the realities of the world), and zuko and katniss (someone who starts off closed off, distant and angry, but eventually chooses love and peace over rage and war), but if we're just comparing the two boys: zuko is far more peeta than gale, and anyone who says otherwise should really watch the show all the way to the end this time.

[theshandora]

EVERYTHING THAT'S WRONG WITH TOKYO GHOUL

Welcome to my series

EVERYTHING THAT'S WRONG WITH TOKYO GHOUL

where I just bitch about Ishida's choices and decisions.

First things first: to me manga kinda went shit after Arima's death. Like I honestly thought the whole One-eyed King thing could be played off nicely and that Eto and Arima will give Kaneki something to work with. But yeah... nevermind, he had to handle everything himself.

Now let's review some of the problematic points in the story:

- The whole island 'extermination of Aogiri Tree' operation. It honestly seemed like the Aogiri Tree which was feared by the CCG for the rest of the manga just fell apart like a house of cards. Why did Tsukiyama and other 20th ward ghouls appeared there to help them in the first place? Like, that turn of events was never clarified. 

- Touka's character in :re. Fuck you, Ishida. She wasn't my favorite in the first book, but I acknowledged her strength, her violent tendencies due to her childhood trauma and her desire to do better. And in :re all of a sudden she becomes this soft girl with a beautiful smile which does not appear in most of it and only enters again when Ishida decides that he has to force some romantic line for the main character. There is zero chemistry between Kaneki and Touka throughout the entire manga. It is pretty obvious from the start that Ishida wanted them to have some kind of romance, but he never followed through. Like, they don't see each other after Owl Eradication Op and then within a couple of chapters in :re they go from renewed friends to lovers to having a child and getting married? Nobody can convince that this is any kind of slowburn. That's a forced lazy arc. Besides... A CHILD???? "Fucckkking kidding". You are in the middle of the biggest crisis that ghoul society has ever faced. The ghouls rescued by the Goat are starving, Tokyo is filled with Furuta's Oggai army. Kaneki is traumatized (as always), overwhelmed with responsibility and trying his best to be the man that Arima believed him to be. SO YEAH, A PERFECT TIMING TO HAVE A CHILD. And there is not one panel where Kaneki questions if it is worth to bring a new life to this fucked up world. Yeah, Ishida, fuck you.  

Okay, now I know some of you will think that I just don't like a straight ship. So let's get it out of the way straight away:

- Kaneki didn't need a romantic line. At least it should have never gotten to the point of marriage and kids. It should have been a romantic interest at most. I hate the ending of the Hunger Games for the same reason. Katniss Everdeen having a bunch of kids and being a happy mom? Yeah, fuck that. - The only valid romantic line in this manga is Amon/Akira. They must be protected at all cost. And of course Ishida does not even bother to show them in the last chapter, lol. - I don't ship Kaneki with Hide. Their friendship is precious, and it makes me sad that people can't be friends without being romantisized (Johnlock stans, I am talking to you). - Shuneki. That's a tough one because I believe that Tsukiyama at some point did develop feelings towards Kaneki, but let's be honest it's not mutual.

Which brings me to the next point:

- TSUKIYAMA WAS DONE DIRTY. He deserved THE WORLD. I can't even find words to describe how unfair his character was treated. In the first book when he is first introduced his character is pretty flat. Yeah, he has charm, he's problematic and obsessive, and randomly inserts French words into the conversation. I know many people liked him even at that point, but let's face it: his character gains his true depth and meaning in :re. After everything we learn about his family and his relationship with Karren, Chie and the servants I don't know how can anyone not love him. The influence Kaneki's death has on his character development is enormous. First of all, it was such a strong moment when he decides that it is not his place to bring Kaneki's memory back? You can see how much struggle was there in his head. He recognized that he could have been wrong in the past, that Haise might be happier than Kaneki, and also he puts his family above his desires. Imagine: we went from Shu trying to have Kaneki to himself no matter the cost to Shu thinking that Kaneki is better off being Haise so that he doesn't learn about all the suffering and loss he went through. THIS WAS SO GOOD.

Now, the fact that even after regaining his memory Kaneki throws him off the roof is a bit controversial but understandable. After all, they weren't on the best terms, Ken didn't completely trust him in the past. Moreover, he never got to learn how much Shu suffered and how much he grew emotionally. And last but not least, I like to believe that he really hoped that Shu will survive the fall. I still see this part as a bit problematic because Kaneki would literally die for any member of the squad before, but at the same time I just feel sorry that he got himself in this situation in the first place. Being confused, not having his memories, wondering whether he should hold on to being an investigator - that was too much.

Okay, I got a little carried away. This is all great, but my point in this was how Tsukiyama was treated later when he was part of the Goat. Like the man literally forgave you, never doubted you once, did everything you expected of him and more and Kaneki never thanked him once. NOT ONCE. They never even had a conversation which concerned anything outside their goal. It honestly looked like Kaneki finally realized he can trust Shu with his life, so he just used him. This was so painful to watch. Ken literally never recognized how big of a part Tsukiyama played in him being the One-eyed King. This just makes me angry. And also Shu's non-existent reaction to Kaneki being married to Touka????

I don't even know what to say about Ishida creating that panel with Tsukiyama saying he just wishes to see Ken happy JUST TO END IT WITH A SICK COMMENT ABOUT TASTING THEIR CHILD???!??!?!? Ishida, why?

To summarize: Tsukiyama is a beautiful precious flower who did not deserve to be Kaneki's unappreciated errand boy. My soul was aching everytime he adressed him as "My King".

That's all I have to say in this post. This fandom is probably dead anyways, but I felt like screaming into the void.

[clatoera]

Since when do you like THG? Tell me your THG story 😊

Thank you

Okay, I have been waiting to do this justice. But here I go.

I was one of those fans back in the day. I think I started reading the books in 2009/early 2010s. THG and CF were out, and I was literally counting down the days with my mom and aunt to Mockingjay being released. I was 12 at the time, in 7th grade. I got into the series at the age of the youngest tributes, at the age of Rue and Prim. My mom and my aunt recommended it to me, and I remember falling in love. District 12 was my hometown. An old coal down surrounded by the woods, I remember just identifying so much with that. I was little. Me and my mom got Mockingjay the day it released and I read it within a day. I was hooked.

I counted down to the movie. I remember every announcement. All the fan casts, the fan versions of Katniss' song. The buildup as to oh who's going to be Katniss! Who's going to be Peeta! What does Cinna's eye makeup look like. The clothes, I could NOT wait to see the clothes. The girl on fire dress. All of that. I remember finding out while sitting in my aunt's bedroom about it being Jennifer Lawrence. I remember the fan casts of Dianna Aaron as Madge Undersee (RIP). I can literally remember the feelings of cast releases. I bought every merch item that came out. I had a blanket, I had district 2 nail polish that looked like cement, I had the girl on fire 12 nail polish. I remember learning how to do the braid and it becoming my personality for an entire year. I publicly counted down to this movie release. My grandma made me a custom Team Peeta shirt that I rhinestoned for the premier. My best friend and I went to the movie at midnight with my Grandma. We went to them all, and she and I will be going to the newest one this November. I was 14, turning 15, and insufferable.

The Hunger Games defined me. I thought I was Katniss. I did that braid. My baby sister was 4 years younger than me. When CF released in theaters, I was the age of Katniss and she was Prim's age from the OG movie. That relationship of love between sisters is the most relatable part of the entire franchise. To this day, my sister reminds me of Prim. She is sweet and gentle and smart and innocent. And I would do anything Katniss did to protect her sister.

I got very into Clove for reasons unknown. Maybe because Isabelle Fuhrman and I were the same age. Maybe because I remember clove in the books being described as dark hair and dark eyes with freckles. thats what I sort of looked like back then. I'm 5'3, was never very tall. There is still hunger games fanfic I wrote in 2014 floating around out there of Katniss/Peeta and also Clato obviously.

To this day when I go into surgery, I have my hair in those little training ponytails Clove wore, because it keeps my bangs out of my face.

I distinctly remember wanting to be a blonde when I was 13/14. In 8th grade I kept dying my hair lighter with highlights. But about a month before the movie, I dyed my hair back to the dark natural brown. The way home from that appointment my mom pointed out to me "Maybe the hunger games, and Katniss, showed you that you can be pretty with dark hair and you don't have to change that." That has stuck with me for 11 years.

I fell out of it naturally, as I went through HS and College. I went to all the movies at midnight, but still, I was growing up and growing out by the last Mockingjay movie. Even in HS, for golf and dance I braided my hair out of the way. I did hunger games themed dance solos at competitions. Eventually, I did fall out of it as I got closer to college.

But like all things, you find your way back home.

It's been..14.. years since I read those books.

I still do my hair like Clove, but now as an almost doctor/future surgeon.

I still think of my home town as District 12 adjacent.

I still recognize the love of Katniss and Prim as the most important love and relationship in the whole series.

My type is still tall blonde boys with blue eyes (which..I got from THG movie).

I'll be at the midnight premiere of this movie with my best friend, like I did all before.

Recently I saw the movies on prime. I cried watching mockingjay part 2 because that was still so much like me and my sister. I watched again and I mourned the reality of what my favorite series EVER was.

This is a series about children fighting to the death. The horrors of fascism and the government. About actual war. The social commentary (The outrage of the capitol at the thought of Peeta and Katniss's fetus dying in the games, vs the reality of watching 23 children fight to the death every year and cheering is one of the most jarring and realistic reflections of society today). The media sensationalized THG to a love story just like the capitol. Looking back, from the age of Finnick in mockingjay, rather than Clove or Katniss in THG and CF, the way I see these films and this series is so different.

Thats what drew me back. Theres a comfort in this series, it was my favorite thing.

Theres a comfort I want back, in the most stressful season of my life.

But there is so much for me to uncover and unpack as an adult that I missed as a child.

It feels like I am doing a service to my younger self.

thank you for asking and thank you for giving me space to gush.

[sodalebooks07]

Book Characters I REFUSE to hear slander about:

The Darkest Minds:

Ruby Daly- My OG Girlboss

Liam Stewart- Nuff said

Chubs Merriweather- My little grumpy beannnnnnn

Zu Kimura- SHE IS MY QUEEN

Roman Volkov- He is so precioussss

Vida- Salty biotch she is

Priyanka- DESERVES BETTERRRR

Jude- we don’t talk about the ending of NF *insert sad emoji*

ACOTAR

Feyre Archeron- Lady Night Court herself

Rhysand- RHYSIEEEEE

Azriel- emo bat boy

Cassian- hot general who I need closure for

Gwyn- my little ray of sunshine!

Amren- SASSY QUEEN WHO DOES NOT DESERVE THE HATE

Mor- BABY WHO DESERVES THE MOON, THE STARS AND THE WHOLE ENTIRE FREAKIN GALAXY

Varian- because he’s an unproblematic king and we stan!

Helion- bestie who we all love and support

Emerie- She needs to end up with Mor

Lucien- I know he did some bad shit but I need people to know that he can be forgiven

These Violent Delights

Juliette Cai- the definition of the sacred Triple G’s- Gaslight, Gatekeep, GIRLBOSSSSSS

Roma Montagov- Looks like he can kill you, can actually kill you, is a cinnamon roll

Benedikt Montagov- because he honestly is just so underrated

Marshall Seo- my baby who I have legally adopted

Celia Lang- DO I EVEN NEED TO EXPLAIN?

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Malibu Rising and Daisy Jones & The Six

Evelyn Hugo- God herself in human form

Celia St. James- a woman we owe an apology to. SLAY

Harry Cameron- BECAUSE- BECAUSE- *SOBBING INTENSIFIES*

Rex North- UNPROBLEMATIC PROBLEMATIC KING!

Robert Jamison- Just wanted to play poker on a beach man

Connor Cameron- Her childhood was ruined and we need to start realising how resilient and strong she is *just like both her parents*

Camila Dunne- I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL *SHE IS THE SUPREME DJATS CHARACTER!*

Karen- Yes, I know she hurt Graham, but it was for the better. She needed to live her life

Nina Riva- WHY DOES SHE GET SO MUCH HATE? WHY DO HER SIBLINGS TREAT HER SO BADLY? WHY?

Caraval

Scarlett Dragna- she honestly CARRIED the series

Julian Santos- *CRIMSON*

The Cruel Prince

Jude Duarte- K-N-I-F-E  W-I-F-E

The Bomb- TEENY WITTLE GIRLBOSS

Cardan Greebriar- bec the ~emotional trauma~

Red Queen

Iris Cygnet- she did what she had to do and I respect and adore her for it

Tyton Jesper- AKA THE MOST UMPROBLEMATIC CHARACTER IN THE SERIES

Elane Haven- seriously can we just appreciate her?

Kilorn Warren- MY PRECIOUS CHILD I WILL PROTECT YOU-

Diana Farley- HELLO? Yes, I would like to exchange my soul to be run over in a 10 tonne truck by this woman.

The Hunger Games

Peeta Mellark- HE. IS. SUPREME.

Johanna Mason- she is a SURVIVOR

Katniss Everdeen- LEAVE HER THE HECK ALONE PEOPLE! I MEAN, IF YOU WERE FORCED TO COMPETE IN SLAUGHTER GAMES YOU WOULD BE PRETTY TRAUMATISED TOO!

Finnick Odair- although NO ONE would actually slander this God.

Annie Cresta- she is so underrated :(((

CONCLUSION: I will personally hunt down anyone who slanders these BEAUTIFUL people. Thanks and good night.

[umflowers]

the hunger games movies make me angry.

- katniss and gale both have olive skin, black hair, and grey eyes, as does most everyone in the seam/poorest part of the district. the wealthier people/merchant class are mostly blond and blue eyed, and not particularly sympathetic to the people from the seam. - there’s an orphanage in district 12. katniss makes the conscious decision to risk starving to death, and letting prim and her mother do the same, rather than go there. the physical abuse is addressed directly; the rest is implied. - the head peacekeeper (not the one who whips gale, the one before him that was considered much kinder) took advantage of the starvation in the district, leveraging it to commit a lot of rape by coercion on young girls desperate for food or money to buy food. - the hunger actually exists. katniss’ mom grew up in the merchant class and her family ran an apothecary. she’s the closest thing to a doctor for the whole district, and many of her patients are small children on the brink of death by starvation who die on their kitchen table while their families weep around them. it’s plainly stated that coming across dead bodies in the streets isn’t uncommon, due to starvation. - peeta’s mother horrifically physically and emotionally abuses him. she gives him a black eye when he drops the bread in the fire so that he can give it to katniss. - katniss isn’t a sassy smartass with a wooden expression cuz that’s her personality. her father was blown to ash in the mines when she was 11 or 12, which instantly hardened her, and her mother became catatonic from grief - thus why they were starving to death when she started hunting. and she’s actually quite selfish, overly guarded, and unfeeling (except for to people younger than her, whom she’s very protective of) through much of the series - it’s a great portrayal of mental illness and how it’s not always some feel good story on a talk show. - when johanna said there’s no one left she loves, it’s because president snow killed them all when she refused to be sex trafficked as a desirable victor. - finnick is male rape victim representation. he won his games at 14 and was sex trafficked thereafter. - haymitch won the 50th hunger games by utilizing the force field around the arena, so that his opponent’s axe flew back into her head. it embarrassed the games/capitol, so snow killed his entire family and girlfriend. that’s why he’s a drunk. - when they were out hunting (prior to the books/movies’ time period) katniss and gale came across two fleeing rebels. a capitol hovercraft materialized, shot the boy with a giant spear, killing him, and snagged the girl in a net. katniss lives with guilt for not trying to help them. - the girl was made into an avox and made to tend katniss’ quarters in the tribute training center. they did the same to a peacekeeper from 12 katniss got along with after he tried to stop gale’s whipping. both were later tortured to death at the same time peeta was held prisoner. the list goes on and on and on. just. if you haven’t read the books, give them a try. it’s an infinitely better story.

[petruchio]

Why are people still stuck on this cynical ass take that everything Katniss did was for survival. Did we read the same books? On the surface, that’s what it looks like. But how many times has she gone against her survival instincts to actively care for the people around her? Why the hell would she volunteer for Prim? THAT RIGHT THERE, what started all of this, is an act of love. Why would she willingly protect and bury Rue (which could have been seen as an act of rebellion by the Capitol, putting her at risk?) Why wouldn’t she kill Peeta instead of taking those berries? Yes, she was angry at the Capitol, but if she really wanted to survive and go home peacefully, she’d have killed him right there. Regardless of what type of love you think she had for Peeta at that moment, she did care for him at least platonically—which is also a form of love. THAT’S WHAT SPARKED IT ALL. WHY are we still debating this? Love doesn’t make Katniss a weaker character nor does it make this series any less about survival, violence, and the horrible shit humans can do to each other. It’s what makes these books so damn good. Despite living in a world that forces you into violence for survival, love is something radical. Both things can be true at once ! Sheeshhhhh

UGH youre completely right and it literally shocks me every time. 

and YES i’ve talked so many times about how katniss is CONSTANTLY pushing aside her survival instincts FOR the people she loves, and that’s what makes love the force that drives the ENTIRE hunger games, because everything that sets any of katniss’ crucial character arcs into motion is an act of love. it’s peeta giving her the bread: love. it’s her volunteering for prim: love. it’s her offering peeta the berries: love. it’s her agreeing to do what snow says in order to protect gale and her family: love. it’s her LITERALLY TRYING TO SACRIFICE HERSELF FOR PEETA’S LIFE IN CATCHING FIRE: THAT IS OUT OF LOVE. she’s a survivor in the sense that yes, every *instinct* she has is to keep herself alive, and she’s good at it because the society she lives in has FORCED her to do so. but the majority of the *conscious* choices she makes are driven out of love and compassion.

the other thing i want to complain about is people acting like having empathy isn’t a form of love. like, i’ve gotten more than one comment on my hunger games post arguing that katniss doesn’t do things out of love, she just does things because she can see and empathize with the lives of others, even if she doesn’t personally like them. and i get confused every time, because that literally IS love, it’s the kind that i am talking about in terms of political and social divisions. that literally IS radical love in a society that pushes you to hate anyone who is different from you. to see others with compassion and empathy despite their differences from you IS LOVE. and it’s so frustrating to watch people argue AGAINST that, because 1) that’s the entire point of the hunger games and it isnt even particularly subtle and 2) that’s one of the most damaging and divisive things our society pushes onto us, and that’s exactly what we should be fighting AGAINST. it’s such a narrow and strange perspective to reduce the word “love” to its most basic “romantic” heteronormative nuclear family modeled version that the american media pushes down our throats. love is ALL around us, it comes to us in MANY forms, and we MUST choose it EVERY DAY.

the books are about love and thats what makes them GREAT. i cant understand people who can look at this horrifying story about war and violence and imposed social division and take away from it that the answer is ANYTHING but radical and compassionate love. hate breeds hate and will continue to do so, we have to CHOOSE to break the cycle by extending to others humanity, compassion, empathy, and LOVE. 

[lesbian-in-leather]

Hunger games au and the snicket file for the wip ask?

!!!

Hunger Games AU

So this is a Snicketverse/Hunger Games AU where I just put all the Snicketverse characters into Panem for the funsies. I worked out how to fit quite a lot of the characters into the world - most of VFD were previous Victors, Violet took the role of Katniss in Volunteering to protect her brother, but because she obviously couldn't go in his place Klaus would also be in the Games with her, etc. I just sort of got stuck with the narration? And because I needed more characters, which I could probably get from atwq, but I haven't read it yet. I do want to go back to it, though! Anyway, I've put a lil snippet under the cut

The Snicket File

The original plan for this one was going to be a whole entire series - basically I would go through from when the sugar bowl gen were kids and follow them as they grew up, through the schism, and even during the Baudelaire kids era. Initially I wanted to have the narrator be a Lemony-esque character, and I wrote a little bit with that in mind, then split to it being a sort of collected document (hence the name The Snicket File) of research about VFD members and their history, but then there's another piece I started for it where that narration didn't really carry so... yeah I don't really know what I'm doing with this. Under the cut is a snippet from a piece where I actually committed to the Lemony-esque narrator

Hunger Games AU:

“Isn’t this exciting? There hasn’t been a Volunteer in District Three for quite some time, as I’m sure you’re all aware.” Mr. Poe was still talking in that gratingly cheerful tone, as if he didn’t know what happened to the children forced into the arena. “Now then, don’t be shy; say your name nice and loud!” He thrust the microphone towards her, and for the first time Violet met the eyes of someone in the crowd watching them. A girl, too thin to be healthy, staring up at her from the front of the square. She pulled her gaze away, but couldn’t avoid the reality of the crowd any longer. It was everyone in her District. Everyone she’d ever known.

“Violet Baudelaire.”

“Baude- oh my goodness! I thought I recognised you! For anyone at home that isn’t quite sure – I want you all to know that we have two very special tributes this year, because this,” he clapped his hand down on Klaus’ shoulder again, “Is Violet’s little brother!”

“Yes.” Her voice cracked again, and she willed herself not to cry. The Capitol is watching. She repeated the phrase in her head like a mantra. Her life was in their hands, now.

“There you have it, everybody! Violet and Klaus Baudelaire!” He paused, looking at them both expectantly, and Violet pulled her eyes away from the crowd of people to see that Klaus was still watching her. His lip was trembling almost as much as his hands. “Well, go on, then, you two. Shake hands.”

He took a step back and gestured for them to step in front of him. Violet took a deep breath and let it out slowly, holding out her hand as she willed it not to shake, but Klaus rushed forward and hugged her, tightly – the force of it making her stumble back half a step. She just held him, his head tucked into the crook of her neck as he shook, turning his face away from the cameras.

“Well, isn’t that just lovely? Happy Hunger Games, everybody! And may the odds be ever in your favour!” the man stopped, as if expecting applause, but there was just silence. Violet, still holding her brother close, looked out at the crowd, and saw the girl in the front row slowly, reverently, kiss the middle three fingers of her right hand before holding it up. And, one by one, everyone in the crowd began to do the same, giving her the old sign of respect that was seldom used nowadays, not since the rebellion – only at the funeral of someone truly respected. But they’d risked it now. For her.

All too aware of the cameras on her, she half-released her brother – still keeping an arm around his shoulders – and straightened her posture, looking back at the people of her District with all of the confidence that tributes were supposed to have. She thought about how her mother had looked before her Games, and how she’d looked at every ceremony since. She drowned out the doubt, and the fear, and everything else in her mind, leaving room for just one single thought that she focused on, letting it take form in her mind and replace everything else.

Klaus will survive this.

The Snicket File:

That was the last time anyone saw Esme Gigi Geniveve Squalor.

Less than an hour after Violet and I had left the room, it was empty. A month after Esmé had appeared, Carmelita Spats arrived at the hotel, looking for her adoptive mother at her last known location – to no avail. No one had seen Esmé leave, but none of us could find her on the premises either. It was as if she had simply vanished, into thin air. Even now, I cannot tell you if she is alive or dead, because I do not know. If either of my associates has discovered evidence of either outcome, they have kept it to themselves, and none of my informants have included any relevant details in their reports, unless they were written in a code I do not know how to decipher.

But that brief encounter – my first and last time interacting with Esmé Squalor – changed the trajectory of my life completely. Since the day I was born, I have been told stories of brave Volunteers and villainous Firestarters, simplified versions of the horrible circumstances my siblings and guardians were forced to endure. I had been raised on books that depicted clear villains and clearer heroes, differentiating the good people from the bad on the basis of compassion and politeness and the extent of their vocabulary. But that day, I saw first-hand one of the villainous people I had been fed stories about for years. Someone vain, and shallow, and cruel. And though I do not doubt that Esmé Squalor was all of those things, I realised for the first time that she was also a person. In that room, I met perhaps the only surviving villain of the Baudelaire tale. And I realised that, despite his best intentions, my uncle’s account of the unfortunate events that had occurred years earlier were not entirely accurate. They were coloured by personal opinion, dramatised for ease of reading, and largely curated from factual documents, rather than first-hand accounts. In short, I suddenly felt for the first time that I could not trust them.

And so, I set myself a task. I would write and research, just as my uncle had, but I would not be writing a series of unfortunate events – though many of the events that I have documented are far from pleasant, and rather serial in nature. I would compile a file, one worthy of being stored in a secret library, or hospital filing cabinet, or even a dairy farm outside of the city. I began my research, and enlisted two associates to help me – they were witnesses to the events, but generally found themselves on the outskirts of the Baudelaires’ lives, so are perfect to help me maintain an unbiased view. They were also both recruited by VFD agents – one for the firefighting side, and one for the firestarters, which led to several large arguments, but is also helpful in reconciling the incredibly biased views certain people hold when it comes to certain members of our organisation. The three of us also accepted anonymous accounts from anyone who wished to submit them – so many aspects of this file were not from the perspective of any of us, but from the point of view of someone who was present at the time. We used transcripts, security tapes, training videos, exam papers and anything else we could find to try and build up a picture of the people we were portraying. And finally, after years of writing and rewriting, arguments and reconciliations between authors, and at least one memorable attempt at arson, this file can come to an end. I hope, someday, it will become useful to someone else trying to understand the complicated events within the Volunteer Fire Department, throughout the lives of the Baudelaire children and those that came before them.

[geekymoviemom]

Hi and I am back!

I started reading Ellipses a few months ago but the angst and all the Peeta-chasing going on and the potential death threats to Peeta was too much for me and I stopped reading when Plutarch and Effie were waiting for the storm to subside to get to him. 😶😶

Today, I decided to read it again (I had forgotten I had read it and then saw the familiar storyline so I skipped to their cave time) I read it all, all the heart-breaking, gut-wrenchingly agonizing moments, all the complications arising that forced Everlark to stay away from the other, self-sacrificing and scared Peeta and all. I cried when Katniss found him burning with fever and no one knew how to save him, I full on ugly sobbed when Katniss was so close to giving birth and still not in the hospital. It hurt that she was having to be carried and protected while Wren was crowning already and it was so so so sweet and hope-instilling when Wren's umbilical cord, the connection she had with her mother before birth was used to (in a way) revive her father and uncle. It was like a new ray of hope, it felt like a symbol of rebirth and new beginnings because as soon as she was born and we found that Coin and Carter were taken in custody, it was all rays of sunshine. 🤩🤩

I loved Rye, even though he tried to kill Everlark under influence, he was a great guy who tried desperately to protect his baby brother. 🥺🥺

I honestly expected better from underestimated, stuttering, nervous Carter but I guess I was wrong. The best part was where he wonders how one petite girl can destroy the Ellipses program and put the entire country in disarray. It was hilarious!! 😂😂

I am glad Mr Everdeen was alive and so damn happy Rye and Prim fell in love with each other. 🙃🙃

It melted my heart to see parents!Everlark, so damn adoring and cuddly and cute and it was so sweet for baby Wren to be adored and showered in gifts from so many people. 💗💗💕💕

I also love Finnick, Boggs, Cinna and Haymitch in this. They were very supportive, caring and loyal friends till the end and Cinna sending a full suitcase of painting equipment for Peeta was terribly endearing while Finnick and Annie's promise to keep an eye on Prim and help her made me gush. 😍😍

I also loved that Katniss was much more protective of Prim and her growing love-life than their actual parents combined. 😏😏

This was such a wonderful journey and I love how it came full circle at the old apple tree where Everlark's story actually began. 🟠🟢

It was sad to see people like Rue, Portia, Boggs, Lyme and others die but the thought that they died for a good cause was a little reassuring. 😰😰

You're a very talented writer and I love your amazing yet unique ideas. I love how you tackle your ideas and make them into such amazing longfics and I cant deny how much I adore the romance and smut haha

I am looking forward to reading more Everlark from you and with this review, Ellipses is officially taken off my 'Marked for Later' list. 🤗🤗😊😊🥰🥰

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for sharing your amazing work and edits...you truly inspire me 😘😍

Oh wow…

I’m seriously speechless ♥️ ♥️ ♥️

Ellipses is one of my absolute favourite stories that I’ve ever written, and to be honest, when it was done, I felt a sort of petulance that it didn’t seem to be as popular as other fics at the time. It was my own issue, but it was enough that I felt compelled to stop writing Everlark for a long time. I poured my heart and soul into Ellipses, and seeing such an incredibly detailed comment like this three years after I wrote it, well… I’ve pretty much been in tears all morning ♥️

Thank you so much for this wonderful series of comments. You touched on every single aspect of the story that I love about it myself, and I’m so glad that you enjoyed reading it! Thank you so much! 💗 💗 💗