#the hunger games theories

[katnissandpeetamellark]

Spoiler warning, but you gotta go read this theory about the connection between The Bairds & Everdeens

[allisluv]

I personally believe that Enobaria didn’t consent to the teeth surgery. She only used them as a last ditch effort to kill her opponent in her first games, and the Capitol ate it up. She was at a Capitol party during her Victory Tour and she passes out. When she wakes up she looks in a mirror and she has the teeth. She is enraged at Snow but knows that she has to keep them because if not her loved ones will be killed. It really sucks because everyone is afraid of her and no one wants to be around her and she feels really lonely.

-🌸

i actually heard a theory before that enobaria got her teeth sharpened into fangs because it would make her less appealing to the vultures in the capitol and i really believe this one! it makes my heart ache cause i just know she would be really lonely either way :(

[between-the-pages-ofa-book]

While lots of reapings have been rigged, I wish people would understand that it makes no sense for every single reaping in the history of the Hunger Games to be rigged.

Prim wasn't reaped in order to further punish Haymitch. He'd already been broken beyond repair and pushed everyone away.

She was reaped for Suzanne Collins to show us that the odds are never in our favor, with Prim having 1 slip of paper in there versus her sister's 20.

The original trilogy was about a girl who just wanted to save her sister that turned into so much more. It wasn't a sort of chosen one story.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Dungeon Meshi: The RPG

[deadboydoodling]

red string theory

[fromdistrict12ourgirlonfire]

I'm now more convinced than ever that Effie and Haymitch had a fling. She caught feelings, he freaked out and started being a jackass and that's why she wanted a district transfer.

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

You're President Snow and it's the 50th Hunger Games and you're like ok cool big one quarter quell big deal for sure for sure, twice as many tributes, probably someone from the 1st or 2nd districts will win but it'll be more exciting, and there's this one tribute from really the worst district out there who refuses to try to kill people and you're like ok well he'll be killed soon I hope, and then somehow everyone else keeps murdering each other but this one boy keeps surviving because he just refuses to interact with the other tributes and you're like hmm we should get on that but we probably have time and you get distracted by the other events and then the numbers keep dwindling and dwindling and this boy btw he holds his friend as she dies, so sad, so emotional, it's fine we can switch cameras and all but there are now only like two tributes left and one of them??? is that weird pacifist district twelve kid? hello? the whole point of this year of games was for additional violence and he's still here? and then he wins and he barely even does it on purpose he just uses the forcefield he doesn't even fight and you have to go and congratulate him on winning and your whole special year is ruined by this teenager. Anyway Haymitch winning must have been a real kick in the teeth.

[atelierlili]

The Butterfly and the Ladybug

The Mockingjay (pin) and the Candy.

At first I thought the Butterfly and the Ladybug were suppose to represent the divide between the the Town (butterfly) and the Seam (Ladybug). Where one is seen more beautiful and seen compared to the other, but are in the same in which they are both insects useful for gardening.

But now with the Mockingjay and the candy, I think thing these promos are going in a different direction. I think we're getting the D12 tribute in the order that they're reaped. (Ladies first afterall) We are two weeks away from the release of book, just enough time to shed a spotlight on the remaining two tributes.

But that still leaves the questions of what these symbols mean for each tribute and why they are arranged this fashion.

As I stated before, Butterflies and Ladybugs are the same at the end of the day. They are both insects. If both symbols are made to represent a single tribute, then perhaps the dividing line between these symbols represent the false image the tribute puts forth for the games. Two sides of the same coin. This wouldn't be the first time Suzanne Collins flirted around with this type of dualism in the Hunger games. Additionally, I've seen people bring up the Cartwrights in response to the first image. It should be noted that both the Butter-fly and the Lady-bug are both insects which names comprised of two words of different meanings. Lady-bug in the particular makes me believe that this tribute maybe a merchant-seam child. And with the deep connection to gardening (Butterflies spread pollen and Ladybugs eats pests), the little sister Primrose Everdeen (and Rue) allusions are very strong.

This running theme of show image (illusion/propoganda) and reality is seen ever further in regards to Maysilee Donner. Who is most known in the series at the original owner of the Mockingjay pin. Until now, the only thing people have known of her were the symbolic to the resistence. But what do we really know of the girl with the pin? Her family runs the Sweetshop. ( I think, I'll let the Maysilee fans correct me if i'm wrong)

Where does that leave us now? If my theory is correct, next week we'll probably get the symbols associated with the Oddmaker. (Will he get the dice? that seems to on the nose.)

But what will Haymitch get? I think he's getting the Crow or the Raven. (maybe both) They are an intelligent bunch and it would tie in perfectly with the themes of birds vs snakes, that followed Katniss and Lucy Gray. Not to mention that Haymitch's lover is Lenore Dove :) Perhaps his true symbol would be a lovebird at the end of the day. </3

Anyway these are just my crazy delusional ramblings! I'm very excited for the new book! tune in next week to see if I was being deranged or not!

[libraryly]

Peeta making stack cake for Haymitch's birthday every year after Mockingjay

[vesteneris]

coordinating strategies

[sirnica]

I keep thinking about the fact they aired the moment with the berries in Katinss' games while censoring almost everything in Haymiche's.

With how much better the technology was 24 years later, I have no doubt they could do what they did and much more.

But, I don't think they wanted to.

First of all, what Katniss and Peeta did was a more subtle rebellion that the Capitol could spin exactly how they wanted to; star-crossed lovers, love crazed teenagers.

The real change, in my opinion, is that the Capitol actually forgot what the Games were supposed to be. The head Game maker, Seneca Crane, if we're going by the movie canon, actually believed the idea the Games were just entertainment. I have no doubt they aired the Games with a five minute delay like the Reapings. But Crane didn't want to change the story that was playing out. Like the rest of the Capitol, he thought it was peak entertainment.

That's why Snow had him killed. Because Snow still remembered what the games were for. He actually understood what the berries symbolized.

But, the people of the Districts still remembered the truth.

[kavislibrary]

SOTR SPOILERS -

Ive warned you all i can

Okay lets talk about how the 6 pictures given to us before the book released were 6 different acts of rebellion in the book

The butterfly - came when haymitch was trying to hide Lou Lou's body from the hovercraft (reminiscent of katniss burying rue) "

“ And a third, on the back of the hand that cradles Lou Lou’s blood-streaked face. As if in slow motion, a stinger descends, a tiny spark jumps off my flesh as it makes contact, and a jolt of pain blinds me.”

The ladybugs - came when he tried to find the end of the arena to find the generator to yet again bomb to arena

“Ladybugs? I lift my hand to examine one. It’s a ladybug, all right, or pretty near. All up and down my arms, the creatures latch on to the flesh.”

The mockingjay pin - i mean come on, the very symbol of standing against the captiol

“They’d been fashioned by Tam Amber over thirty years ago. I never saw them, but Merrilee’s featured a hummingbird and Maysilee’s a mockingjay, birds being one of the Covey’s great loves.”

The candy - my personal belief is that those are in reference to the chocolates haymitch drops to silka as a way to care for her (literally the captiol’s biggest thing is to make the tributes view each other as animals needing to be put down)

“Sad, desperate, but also a rare moment of district unity in the Games. You know what would make it even better? I drop a handful of chocolate balls into the night. A startled sound. The sobs soften to sniffles. A candy wrapper crackles. Quiet.”

The paint - lenore dove painting anti-capitol statements across the district

“ I’m staring at a message sprayed in bright orange paint. NO CAPITOL, NO HANGING TREE! It’s a rebel play on the Capitol’s propaganda.”

The poster - haymitch and maysilee’s desire to ‘paint the poster’ and let them know exactly what theyre doing, and when haymitch brings Louellas body to snows feet

“They don’t want to feature this death on the Capitol’s watch, unplanned and highlighting their incompetence. This is not the blood they want to paint their posters with. I scoop Louella up in my arms and begin to back away.”

Would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this

[melody-013]

No cause they cant erase Lucy Gray no matter how hard they try! They may erase her game, her memory but not her music, never her music. Cause the Covey may not sing anymore but their tale in songs will go on to their kids. Maude Ivory is Katniss's grandmother!! Thats how Katniss knows the Hanging Tree song! And i think when Katniss and Prim was kids and Katniss was singing the Hanging Tree and their mother took their necklaces they were making and said "dont sing that ever again" it was because she didnt want anyone knowing they were Covey. Singing that song could get you killed and thats why she didnt want anyone to know that theyre Covey!

They might make everyone forget about Lucy Gray but Covey will remember. Only way Katniss could know about that song is that shes Covey and Maude Ivory makes perfect sense! Maude Ivory loved to eat the plant Katniss and Katniss's dad knows about the lake which only the Covey's know and Katniss can sing everysong with hearing it once (or something like that) therefore Katniss is Maude Ivory's granddaughter!!

[hungergameshyperfixation]

Lenore Dove.

Lucy Gray.

You have to say both, it’s not Lucy, and it’s not Lenore.

[imjustmarcy]

Thought back to how everyone went off with the parallels between Lucy and Katniss bowing and. Guys. GUYS. Yes there's some of Lucy in Katniss (more so with her singing) but no, Peeta is the one who reminds Snow of Lucy.

They're the ones with the endless charm who convinced the Capitol to like them, the sweetheart that won over everyone with words and smiles and knew how to play the games before they went into the arena. They knew how to perform and did it flawlessly, and knew the games started as soon as they were picked as tributes.

Katniss is Sejanus. The one from the districts that infiltrated the Capitol somehow, who always wants to do the right thing even if it comes with major repercussions. They're reckless, and they care way too much about their own people to the point it gets used against them.

[muzetrigger]

Nevermore Theory: It’s not about “The Tell-Tale Heart”

Okay, it’s time for another Friday night rant.

Recently, I’ve been coming across some excellent thoughts and predictions about Season 2, so now I’m ready to throw own my hat in the Nevermore Theory ring.

In Nevermore, almost every character is based off of one of Poe’s works. Lenore is from the poem “Lenore”, Morella is from the short story “Morella”, Prospero is from “The Masque of Red Death”, etc. There are also some characters that draw on more than one of Poe’s works, most notably Duke who takes inspiration from “The Cask of Amontillado” (Fortunato) and “The Duc de L’Omellete” (Duke).

Now, Annabel Lee is obviously based on the poem “Annabel Lee”, which the webcomic even opens with, but @moxiepower2 and @takescrackseriously have also made the connection between Annabel Lee and “The Tell-Tale Heart” and theorized that Annabel might also be a dual-themed character like Duke. I personally find that reading very convincing too!

(I mean c’mon, her spectre has a giant heart-shaped hole in it, the logo for the WEBTOON is beating heart with wings, it’s one of Poe’s most famous works, so on and so forth.)

But today, I’m going to stick my neck out and say, it’s NOT about “The Tell-Tale Heart” (at least not entirely. Annabel Lee could be based on even more than two works!).

I think Annabel Lee’s character points to another of Poe’s stories that lines up really well with the direction of Nevermore as a whole:

That’s right, it’s time to talk about “The Pit and the Pendulum”.

First, I’m going to need to explain this leap in logic, because it’s definitely not as clear as Annabel’s heart motif. Let’s start with the visuals.

Yes, Annabel Lee and Nevermore in general have a strong heart motif, but isn’t it a little odd that Annabel’s heart isn’t totally empty?

It’s a great visual focus for her character design, but that shape is awfully familiar, and it swings around an awful lot like a pendulum, doesn’t it?

And we know that Annabel (as an actual ghost-type spectre) can control the pendulum.

AND Annabel Lee gives the pendulum back to Lenore, with a lock of her hair tied around it, literally binding herself to the tool.

That’s… an awful lot of interaction with an item that is unrelated to her inspiration poem AND has served exactly zero purpose in the story so far. There HAS to be a reason Red and Flynn keep bringing this damn thing up because they play the long con with their foreshadowing (Dirt on Ada’s hands, Annabel Lee’s panic attack, Lenore taking Annabel’s blot, the gun having no bullets at the very beginning of the webcomic).

So now, I want to delve further into the actual text of “The Pit and the Pendulum” because it mirrors a lot what we’ve seen so far in season 1 and could be a good start for predicting what comes next in season 2!

For those who haven’t read “The Pit and the Pendulum” it follows an unnamed narrator who has been arrested by the Spanish Inquisition, pronounced guilty to some crime (it could have been anything, that’s just how the Inquisition rolls), and is subjected to all kinds of unusual torture methods before being rescued by the French army.

What I find so interesting about this story though is that its structure loosely matches the trials that the Deans have set up at Nevermore Academy.

For instance after swooning at his sentencing, the narrator wakes up in a pitch-black room and tries to figure out the shape of his prison by making a circuit. He finds that it’s around a hundred paces, but because of the “many angles in the wall” he can “form no guess at the shape of the vault”. In reality however, the room is perfectly square and only half the number of steps in circuit.

How did the narrator make such a big error in estimating the size of the room? Because he passed out right after missing the marker he had been using to keep track of his location, thus making two laps instead of one.

Now let’s compare it with the first obstacle for Nevermore students, the Labyrinth. Students are thrust into the maze without any knowledge of how to manifest (Annabel only knowing how to because of the Deans making a surprise appearance in class). So metaphorically, they’re also in the dark, and as Lenore and Duke find out as soon as they enter the maze, the labyrinth’s geometry also seems to shift.

Most convincingly (in my opinion), Lenore also looses track of herself during the Dementophobia trial, just like how the Pendulum narrator faints, which is one of the main reasons the misfit trio almost fail.

That near failure also mimics what happens next in the short story, the narrator trips and narrowly avoids falling into a giant pit (hence the title).

That really ticks off the Spanish Inquisition, just like how Lenore pisses off the Deans by surviving, and so the Inquisition does what it does best, and devises a new torture method. This time, the narrator awakens to find himself strapped down to a plank and gazing up at a figure of Kronos, only instead of Father Time wielding a scythe, he’s wielding a massive bladed pendulum (there’s the second half of the title, you’re welcome).

I find this image very telling because it’s supposed to relay the message that the narrator’s death is inevitable. You can’t fight the passage of time, and it doesn’t get less subtle than the god of time killing you with a clock part.

Similarly, ringing the bell in the widow’s watch is supposed to be an impossible task, meant mainly to give the students who have manifested a chance to flex their powers. The Deans admit as much:

But back to the short story, the narrator doesn’t exactly realize his predicament at first. He just thinks it’s kind of an interesting change of scenery and he’s more worried about the fact that his captors have provided him with “meat pungently seasoned” and no water to quench his thirst, which he figures is the real torture method. Oh and the rats. They’re pretty scary too, especially when it occurs to him that he’s definitely not the first person to be shoved in this room, and those rats have to have been eating something.

Eventually, he does notice the pendulum slowly lowering and spends the next *checks notes* 9 paragraphs alternating between despair, apathy, and frenzy. (There’s actually quite a lot to dissect here with regards to Nevermore’s treatment of madness, but let’s save that for later.)

Then he gets a bright idea and rubs spicy meat all over his bonds with the one free arm the Inquisition left him to presumably eat said meat.

Why does he do this?

To entice the rats into eating his bonds, of course! He has to play dead for a bit, and also let rats crawl all over him, but it works and our narrator escapes after a few cuts.

Okay, now let’s take a look at the parallels to that trial in Nevermore. I’ve already gone over the comparison to the bell ringing class as a kind of Sisyphean task, but Lenore also almost gets eaten by Prospero’s rats:

She also succeeds because the people, who are supposed to be her enemies, help her, just like how the rats aid the narrator in escaping. Did I just compare Ada, Pluto, Morella, and Annabel Lee to rats? Yes. Yes, I did.

But I’m going to specifically single out Annabel Lee in this case because Lenore also has to play dead in order to ring the bell. Specifically she pretends to give in to Annabel’s “Kiss of Death”.

So both Lenore and the narrator are momentarily successful after reports of their death are greatly exaggerated.

Then they have the crushing realization that they’re still trapped. Then narrator in the dungeons of Toledo, and Lenore with…

(Minor aside, this is some phenomenal scene work.)

And now the final trial (for our hapless narrator at least). The Inquisition, having been denied their sliced prisoner sandwich, decide to roast him alive instead. You see, the metal walls of the cell can actually be heated up, oh and also they can flatten themselves by pulling the corners apart like a collapsing square.

So the narrator has two choices. Death by being burned alive, or death by falling into the pit at the center of room (remember that detail? It’s still the same room).

To put it in Nevermore terms, Lenore can either test her luck with the Deans OR:

This guy :)

Now, do I think the Deans created The Wild Hunt? No, and I would be very interested in if the Stag turns out to be related to Theo in some way, but I bet the Deans purposefully invited The Wild Hunt into the Academy in order to corral them back into obedience/kill off the troublemakers. (Or maybe they were just bored, who knows?)

NOW FOR THE ACTUAL THEORY PART (How in the world did it take so long to get here? I only have a paragraph left in the short story to use for theory crafting!)

”The Pit and the Pendulum” ends with the narrator being saved literally as he is falling into the eponymous pit by General Lasalle of the French army. That doesn’t make sense because Lasalle wasn’t in the Battle of Toledo where the story takes place, but anachronisms are incredibly prevalent in Nevermore. Pretty much every character comes from a different time and place than the others, most prominently Eulalie, who is probably Japanese and probably died in WWII (though who knows, maybe she was a proto-weeb and died in the firebombings of Dresden).

My theory is that similarly, the main cast is going to be saved by a third party who intervenes during the Hunt. Then, the narrative is going to shift away from Nevermore Academy and towards the afterlife at large. We’ve gotten plenty of hints about the outside, particularly towards the end of Season 1, so I don’t think it’s that unlikely, and if I may make a second literary connection, Nevermore is kind of like the Hunger Games.

Wait! Let me explain.

You have a group of kids/young adults fighting in a premade arena designed by antagonistic game makers where only one of them can come out alive. Generic? Yes? But looking at the Hunger Games Trilogy’s structure, we start with the Hunger Games, get a variation in the Quarter Quell, and then abandon the games to explore a broader scope of the world.

Now, I have the utmost faith in Red and Flynn’s ability to keep the dark academia setting fresh, but the path of least resistance might be getting out of the classroom.

It’s a weak and vague theory, that I don’t even really subscribe to myself, but I thought I should follow the short story to its end at least.

But if I don’t believe in my theory, why did I bother spending the last two hours writing this post?

Well, one, I really like pointing out the parallels between Poe’s work and Nevermore. It’s clear that Red and Flynn put so SO much effort into Nevermore and I genuinely think getting to be in on all those details enhances the reading experience.

But two, do you remember how I started this post?

That’s right, talking about Annabel Lee.

I’ve been doing a lot of comparison between Lenore and the actual text of “The Pit and Pendulum” but I want to show you this illustration of the short story by Harry Clarke:

Does that outfit remind you of anything? Maybe…

Now, Clarke drew the above piece nearly 80 years after “The Pit and the Pendulum” was first published, but considering how prominent this illustration is for the short story, I bet Red and Flynn studied it when writing Nevermore, and I find that really intriguing considering where they chose to reuse the outfit.

There are ribbons all over Nevermore (everyone with a ponytail has one to tie up their hair, Ada uses hers to set Lenore’s broken fingers), but the motif of being bound by ribbons occurs when the narrative is invoking ideas of madness and memory, specifically for Annabel.

And would you look at that. “The Pit and the Pendulum” brings up both of those ideas together: “the madness of a memory which busies itself among forbidden things.”

That’s the last line of the third paragraph, and it’s exactly what Annabel is doing in the bathtub, recalling taboo memories of Lenore.

Plus, this passage happens as the narrator is trying to recover from a swoon, and what do you know? There’s only one character in Nevermore who swooned in season one: Annabel Lee.

Okay? So? Nevermore already has a lot of parallels to this damn story, and I’ve spent the entire post point them out for crying out loud.

But! Poe is very specific about how we recover from a swoon:

“In the return to life from the swoon there are two stages; first, that of the sense of mental or spiritual; secondly, that of the sense of physical, existence. It seems probable that if, upon reaching the second stage, we could recall the impressions of the first, we should find these impressions eloquent in memories of the gulf beyond.” (Emphasis added)

Again, doesn’t that sound familiar? Throughout season 1, the main cast have all been slowly recovering their memories and thus unlocking their spectres which represent fragments of their true selves and desires.

So here’s my actual theory: in the past, Nevermore Academy was used by lost souls to recover their “mental and spiritual” identities, before they reclaimed their “physical existence” at the light beyond the grounds in order to “return to life”.

More importantly, I think the final arc of Nevermore (or epilogue I guess is more likely?) will take place in the mortal world and be about the cast “[recalling] the impressions of [their mental or spiritual senses” (ie. their time at Nevermore Academy) post-second stage, thus completing Poe’s perfect recovery.

Reincarnation isn’t Nevermore’s endgame.

Maybe they have to leave their spectres behind at Nevermore Academy like in the “Theo is the Stag” theory and the final act is about them reclaiming their personas stands spectres to fight against the Deans, or maybe we’re going to go Kimi no Na wa and just get them running into each other and remembering (which would be lame) or Annabel being the only one who remembers and gradually hiking across the globe to find the others (which would be a very cool reversal given how Lenore is usually the one trying to form genuine connections [we’re starting to see some promising Prospero-Annabel friendship development though!] but now we’re also getting into fanfic territory).

Personally, my happy ending at the moment would be Annabel and Lenore teaming up, kicking the Deans out, and reestablishing Nevermore Academy as a sojourn for reincarnating spirits. That way we don’t have to go through reincarnation drama (again) and everyone who sticks around can just chill out and lead peaceful (after)lives or be teachers and show newcomers how to awaken their spectres. But again, fanfic territory.

Wow, that was a whole lot of text that didn’t really amount to an actual theory, but I hope you guys enjoyed reading it?

TLDR if you didn’t: Nevermore season 1 is actually a sapphic rewrite of “The Pit and the Pendulum”, the Deans are the Spanish Inquisition, and the Nevermore’s endgame is going to take place in the mortal world after reincarnation.

Also, I have no spine like Ada and don’t have any conviction in my theories lmao