I Wish Someone Would Hurry Up And Invent A Game Where I Help A Woman Who Is Permanently Dripping Mud

SotR is a realisation. A realisation that the rebellion didn’t start with Katniss. That all the people we see supporting her or helping her have all been wanting to fight but they’ve been failing. That there weren’t merely “rumours” of a revolution but there were many active plans playing out and failing.

It’s a reminder that the perfect Hunger Games we saw in the first hg book was an illusion because we had Katniss as our narrator. We didn’t have Haymitch, hell, we didn’t even have someone like Peeta because these people played the games. Katniss didn’t.

Katniss was introduced to us as a mad, simple, naive girl who literally only survived because of others. She didn’t know how much her taking Prim’s place mattered because she didn’t realise what it meant to everyone who came before her. To everyone who had heard rumours of how the last District 12 victor actually fought his games. No, Katniss had just kept her head down, hunting and providing for her family.

See, she grew up way before the Games got to her. She’d already lived through her dad’s death and watched it destroy her once lively mom. Haymitch didn’t have to go through that. Lucy Gray didn’t have to go through that. They were both angry, yes, but at the Capitol. Katniss? She was first and foremost angry at her mom. At her dad. She knew who was to blame but she had too much to do and deal with to think about that. She was already jaded in a way that the Games couldn’t touch.

Peeta? He was Haymitch. He knew what he was getting into and realised he was just on a chess board with no control. So, he adapted. He played the knight, the rook, the king, the pawn. Katniss? She just… did. Changing directions, not playing the piece she was assigned because she didn’t realise that’s what was going on. Remember her surprise at the crown twisting into two after the Games?? She was so oblivious. Until Catching Fire where everything caught up to her. Where everything so many other people had been waiting and working for caught up to her.

SotR is a history book. Rewritten and edited and published as a piece of fact. SotR is a mirror and it’s a reflection of what actually happens vs what ends up being shown. SotR is the playbook of those in control of any and every kind of media that we come in touch with. SotR is a wake up call and I truly don’t know how many will see it as such.

i am going to shout this from the rooftops:

Katniss, Haymitch, and the Seam inhabitants are all described as olive-skinned, brown-eyed (edit: and gray-eyed), and dark-haired.

Peeta, Maysilee, Katniss’ mother and the Merchants are largely described as blond haired, blue eyed, light-skinned.

The Hunger Games adaptations have a huge weakness to their casting because they allowed their white audience to overlook this very important fact, that the Mockingjay is a brown girl, that her mother was disowned for having a mixed-race and mixed-class marriage, that Katniss and Haymitch were long shots not just because they’re Seam but because they are brown… because the only brown characters in the movies (i.e. Rue, Thresh, 11 in general) were there to be tragic, not to be saviors.

Katniss Everdeen is brown, and I won’t forgive or forget the movies for erasing that part of her character.

this has been another tea time with hawk ☕️🦅

i dont really get how some people can thirst over snow, like tom blyth was hand sculpted by the gods themselves but SNOW!?!? he was so evil from the get go, he hated the people from the districts like he was such an elitist and not to mention he went on to traffick and sell literal children. tbosas made my hatered for snow even stronger and i never thought that could ever happen.

when your circle small but y’all doomed by the narrative

The most epic things to do with another person

playing pretend

playing outside

really talking about something hard with total mutual trust

they're all so awesome...

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes p344 / p504

Edit: I love how ‘clever, devious, deadly’ perfectly applies to Coryo as well. Birds of a feather, for lack of better words.

Something about the story of Lucy Gray, something about her disappearing in the snow, something about her song echoing in the mockingjay song, something about the woods of District 12, something about fire melting snow, something about dandelions peaking through the melting winter, something about the katniss being not quite ready to pick but growing, something about jabberjays mating with mockingbirds and making mockingjays, something about mockingbirds and mockingjays being the birds that inhabit the districts, something about nature and folktales and folk songs and mountains and forests and birds and the falseness of the Capitol not being able to reach it or understand it or predict it, something in it makes me think The Hunger Games and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes are pieces of literary genius.

hello dark mode users :)

.　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　.　　　　　　　　　　 ✦ 　　　　 　 　˚　　 . ✦ 　　　　.　　　　　　　　.　　　　　　　ﾟ　　　　　.　　　　　　　•　　　　　　　　. 　 ,　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  　　　　　　   　　　　　　.　　　　　　　　　.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 ✦ .　　　•　　　　　　　 ✦ 　　　　   　• 　　　˚　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   　　　　　　.　　☄　　 . 　　　　　　 　　　. 　　. 　 　　•　　　　 ✦ . 　.　　　　　　.　　　 　 　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　.　　   　 .　　　.　　　　　　　　　　.　　　ﾟ　  　　　.　　　　　　　　　　　　　 ✦ 　　　　　　,　　　　　　　.　　　　　　    　　　　 　　　　　.　 　　 　✦　　　　　.　　　　  . ☀️ 　　　　　　　　　•　　　　　　　　　    .　      　　　.　　        　　　　　　　　.　　　　　. • 　　　　　　　　.　　　　　　.                      .                   .

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🔭

another idea that i take immense issue with in the hunger games community is that “peeta played the games better than katniss did” - essentially saying that he knew how to play the capitol and the audience but katniss didn’t.

there is a number of evidence to counter this. the first point the people who believe this like to make is that “peeta came up with the love concept”, and while this is true it’s only true to an extent. peeta did come up with the idea of telling the audience that he loved katniss, to gain their sympathy and favour for sponsorships, but not the ploy that happens in the games where katniss falls greatly in love with him too - in the audience’s eyes. we know this because and the end of the first book, peeta and katniss have a conversation where peeta seems to realise, to quote president snow in catching fire “the extent of her indifference” to him (though of course she’s not indifferent, just not fully in love with him at this point).

there’s also the moment post the 74th hunger games, when katniss and haymitch are secretly discussing how to justify the berry incident and haymitch tells her that “her only defence can be she was so madly in love she wasn’t responsible for her actions.” katniss responds asking if he had told peeta of the situation, to which haymitch says, “don’t have to. he’s already there” (thg, pgs. 417-418). what this explains to us is that peeta doesn’t actually need instruction on ‘the love ploy’ as he is actually in love with her. this is also backed up by the fact katniss was instructed with the sponsor items in the game wheres peeta isnt.

in terms of how katniss played the capitol and the audience, there’s great evidence to her proficiency in it, too. foremost is of course the berry incident, which she came up with knowing its meaning and its danger. it is an act done in anger at the captiol, at their murder of innocent children, at their manipulation to get the two people in the arena closest to eachother emotionally to be the last to standing, to have the greatest possible ending regardless of how it felt for the tributes. katniss realises “yes, they have to have a victor” (thg, pg. 402) so she makes them have two or none.

not to mention, throughout the entire 74th hunger games, katniss is constantly thinking of how the audience will view her actions. when peeta passes with the career pack, she “needs to look one step ahead of the game” despite the fact she is confused and angry, so she “gives [the cameras] a knowing smile” and thinks “there, let them figure out what that means”. (thg, pg. 191)

there’s also the moment where she calls out peeta’s name when she finds out they could both win together, the entirety of their time in the cave, the kissing and almost their whole relationship was a great con to get them both home, and was lead by peeta’s love, yes, but also katniss’ ability to play the capitol’s hearts.

there’s so much more i can discuss about the first and the other books bc i’ve mainly talked about book 1 but this is getting super long LOL. my point is not that peeta couldn’t play the games, or that katniss was better than him at it because i dont believe either of those things. it’s that i want people to stop acting like peeta was the greater voice of the revolution, was better at playing an audience and speaking. he certainly was excellent at it, especially in catching fire when he is aware of his need to act for the capitol (after the district 11 shooting and through to the end of the quarter quell), but katniss was too. that’s all!! sorry for the essay.

yess cause finnick knew everyones secrets, EVERYONE'S. im sure snow told him about lucygray without mentioning her name and he talked to mags about it and put two and two together

my boy's smart, thats why he kept pushing katniss

lucygray never died

don’t try to convince me that one of those secrets about snow finnick knew about wasn’t lucy gray. he was so close to mags, who won the 11th hunger games, a few MONTHS after lucy gray’s games. mags definitely remembers lucy gray and probably something about what happened between her and show, and she definitely would’ve told finnick

idc about any plot holes in this theory im dying on this hill ok