#the major reason katniss never liked him like she did peeta was bc

[d12victor]

hot take but i actually don't hate gale as much as i probably should.

[turttastic]

You make some good points, but I think we'll ultimately have to agree to disagree. Believe it or not, I do adore Everlarke, just for different reasons. I think its an excellent example of an emotionally complex and very atypical romance in a YA novel. It has a sense of choice and autonomy to it that a lot of YA relationships lack. You get the sense that Katniss and Peeta chose each other because they WANTED to, not because they were fated. Because they genuinely care about each other, they put in a hell of a lot of work to cultivating a healthy romantic partnership. They build it back after Snow tries to destroy it because they want to, not because they have to. They choose each other even though it isnt an easy path, because they're good for each other. While I maintain my opinion that their love exists outside the typical meaning of the word, i'll reserve taking any definitive stances until I reread the series though. Ive been meaning to for a while, and now that I'm about to graduate, ill finally have the time to do so.

I would like to clarify a couple of the things I said, though. When I say "guilt" I don't mean that she feels guilty for loving him instead of Gale, I mean that she feels guilty for not being able to protect him. If I remember correctly, Katniss develops a perception of Peeta as morally superior to her, not "broken" like most HG victors. She wants to do everything in her power to protect Peeta's goodness, and blames herself when she is unable to, particularly when he is captured by the Capitol. When they do get him back, she does feel INCREDIBLY guilty about what happened to him, because she knows Snow did it to manipulate and punish her specifically. She worked so hard to convince Snow she loved Peeta that she did actually fall in love with him, and it was immediately used against her. In that sense, I do think she feels guilty for loving him, bc she believes that's what caused him to get hurt. Katniss has a major problem with blaming herself for things out of her control, I think. So I do believe that she feels some sense of guilt and responsibility to help "undo the damage" that she believes she's at fault for, though that's obviously not the extent of her feelings towards him- not by a long shot. I think that the different feelings and challenges wrapped up in their love for each other is what makes it such a potent romance, and what sets it apart from every other YA romance out there. Because at the end of book 3, neither of them are emotionally ready to be in a relationship. Neither of them are thinking about falling in love. Katniss is grieving her sister, and Peeta is still suffering the effects of his torture. That, I believe, is indisputable. And yet, they still choose to stay by each other's side because they want to work towards a future where they can be together. I don't remember if it's the epilogue or the last couple pages of the book itself where we fastforward through their healing process and see that they get to the point where they are ready to love each other. But we definitely see that they achieve that in the end.

I do agree that she never loved Gale romantically- not really. She was reliant on him as a partner and friend in her early life, and when she was in emotional turmoil, she mistook that dependency for love (in book 2 at least). By book 3 she had clearly chosen Peeta.

That's just my read of it all tho, I think that your interpretation is perfectly valid and well supported by the text itself.

It's so annoying how some THG fans insist on infantilizing Katniss and on painting her as some kind of manipulable idiot who wasn't able to make her own choices. 😒

Katniss was a born rebel. Unless someone's life was at stake, she only did what she wanted to do. And even in the Games, when her life was in danger, she rebelled many times. So stop saying that she ended with Peeta just because "he was there", or that she only had children because "Peeta forced her". It's completely out of character for her to admit being forced into anything (it's also completely out of character for Peeta to force her into anything).

Katniss ended up with Peeta because she WANTED TO. Katniss had children because she WANTED TO. No one forced her into anything. It was HER CHOICE. No one has to like her ending, but canon is canon. Just accept it and stop misconstruing the books. 👍🏻