It’s Always Really Funny When People Say The Books Portray Peeta As Too Kind Or Too Wonderful Or That

every time I think about what Ekko must have gone through whenever he had to fight Jinx, I feel... unwell.

can you imagine having to raise your hand to strike the only one who remembers you during the softer times, the one you like to think is the real you, the one you can't seem to let go?

can you imagine what you have to rip out of yourself to do that and go on, and live with yourself afterwards? how you start seeing yourself after that?

excruciating.

we know some of Jinx's demons, but Ekko's shadow must have grown inward, suffocating him,

poisoning him before he got to really know himself.

and yet... love stayed.

once the quell starts, every kiss between katniss and peeta is so soft and natural. a light kiss before parting for the quell (cf, 75). another one as a greeting in the arena (cf, 77).

and, like almost everything katniss and peeta do in the quell arena, it is reminiscent of a married couple. two people who know each other so intimately and deeply that kisses and affection become a part of their routine.

and after the intensity of the beach scene, their relationship takes on a new softness, returning to that married-stage with a new reverence.

and so when katniss takes peeta's face in her hands and kisses him before they split up at the end of the quell, it parallels the kisses that peeta gave to her before the quell began (cf, 105). the ones that acted as a reassurance that they would see each other soon. the ones that promised reunion.

but, of course, the rebellion had other plans. and katniss and peeta never did get a reunion kiss. 

and so, at the beginning of mockingjay, katniss is left sitting on her bed. rocking her body as she rolls the pearl between her lips. still waiting for her reunion kiss. weeks later. trying to sooth herself with the memory of peeta (mj, 32).

and that is what makes it even more tragic when katniss runs to kiss peeta after his arrival in district thirteen. because it seems like she will finally get the reunion that she has been waiting for. the one started with the kiss under the lightning tree that begged to be resolved (mj, 152).

but it didn't resolve. because her peeta doesn't show up. and instead of a soft kiss, she get bruises.

so, she is still left holding onto the pearl, trying to remember the boy with the bread (mj, 168). the one that she feels is so far away from her. the one still in snow's grasp.

and katniss gives up. she wants nothing to do with the stranger that bares her beloved's face. 

but when it truly seems like she might lose her precious boy with the bread forever in the winding capitol tunnels, she leans down and kisses him fully (mj, 267). 

and this kiss is not like everlark's soft, routine kisses. or their empassioned kisses like the beach scene.

instead, the kiss hidden deep in the capitol tunnels is one that solidifies the two lovers together. one that is begging him to stay with her. one that is pleading for him to not let snow take him away for good.

it is a kiss meant to remind peeta of who he is. and who katniss is. and who they are. a kiss that is meant to say everything that they don't have time for. 

a kiss that signals an ultimate, long-awaited reunion.

E Rated Fics Masterlist (29)

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Created: December 17th, 2023

Last Checked:-----

Everybody's Got a Dark Side-shesasurvivor (ao3) Summary: When Katniss reminds Peeta about the time President Snow visited the study, it accidentally triggers an episode. Then Peeta decides it's time to reclaim Katniss… and the desk. Hijacked!Peeta smut, post-Mockingjay.

Favorite Holiday-Diana_Flynn (ao3) Summary: Misery loves company, except when it's your own family. Katniss Everdeen is hiding out from her dysfunctional family on Thanksgiving when she bonds with the last person she expected to - Peeta Mellark - the practically perfect man who she considers ruined her Halloween. Why does he have to be so gorgeous… and be so unavailable?

It Happens Any Way-hutchabelle (ao3) Summary: The trial is over. Katniss is free to return to District 12 but only if accompanied by her fake fiancé, Peeta Mellark. The problem is he’s still recovering, so time spent with him is dangerous, especially if he suffers another hijacking episode. How do the star crossed lovers of District 12 find their way back to each other when all the cards are stacked against them? It happens anyway and any way they try.

Lost and Found-Peetabreadgirl (ao3) Summary: Katniss Everdeen takes a much needed break from life on a deserted island, where she comes across the hidden treasure of a lifetime. Tarzan!Peeta request by Mega-aulover on Tumblr.

Say My Name-marycontrary82 (ao3) Summary: Peeta teaches Katniss a lesson she'll never forget. Modern day AU -One-shot - Rated MA for language and sexual content.

Something New-wheather79 (ao3) Summary: A glimpse of how Katniss and Peeta grew closer during the Victory Tour. Drabble. Everlark.

Sparked-HEA_andallthelike (ao3) Summary: She didn't expect his words, and she never imagined she could react the way she did. The consequences of it all, sweeter than she could have ever dreamed.

Sugar-promptsinpanem (tumblr) Summary: Desperate to find financial security for her family, Katniss Everdeen goes to whatever lengths it takes to bring home a paycheck. Peeta Mellark just wants someone to make him feel normal again.

The Apothecary's Daughter-LilyMaid (ao3) Summary: After a devastating illness the people of Panem find themselves on the brink of extinction. In response the games are canceled indefinitely and replaced with a breeding program to increase genetic diversity in the population.

Wrapped in Green-katnissdoesnotfollowback (tumblr) Summary: Wrapped In Red!Peeta is a horny boy and I am here for it. He likes to dress Katniss up in nothing but those naughty red stockings, spank her, and then rail her into the mattress when the kiddos are fast asleep

make no mistake, I am well aware I am projecting onto both Ekko and Jinx like hell, I know...

and yet.

can't stop thinking about them.

like, imagine how he would cope with her loss. it's not that hard, there are some truly amazing fanfiction works that are exploring that topic, I am just offering you my spin, my musings that I keep leaving here instead of sitting down and writing my own fanfic.

how would he cope?

first, of course, comes the shock. just... an exhale, his chest caving in, hands trembling, tears ready to spill onto his cheeks —

and then - slam! — an imaginary metal wall drops down on him, cutting all feelings off, as if they are buzzing behind it, but Ekko can't access them anymore.

he needs to work. do something, solve something, save her someone, at least...

so he works.

there goes denial. there was no body, she may be alive, there was no body, so maybe she didn't suffer long when she died. he is fine, he is fine, he is fine, there is so much to do in Zaun, clearing out the streets, cleaning, burying, mourning, treating the injured, supporting others, overseeing the works, playing with kids, designing, inventing, building — he is freaking fine, there was no body found, so he's fine, he has no time to stop, he'll rest later, later because there's not anyone he can truly share the load with...

of course, they fucking took her from him.

of course, she fucking left. left Vi, left Sevika, damn her, left him.

she fucking left him.

alone.

to fend for himself — and everyone and everything else.

she stayed, she fought alongside him, she tinkered, ate, slept next to him — and still fucking left him!

alone!

again!

— so there comes anger

and makes everything even worse.

[tbc.]

People need to understand that Zutara isn't about Zuko being the hot and sexy dream guy that makes Katara swoon. It's about their complimentary Tired Parent™️ energy and the fact that Zuko is—at all times—slightly terrified of Katara in the most smitten way possible.

THIS

In the first book, Peeta is stung by tracker jackers, has the presense of mind to go back and find Katniss, shoos her away when Cato (who has also been stung) arrives, and gets severely injured but somehow not killed. (I think that's because both of them were hallucinating/willing to get out of there before their symptoms get worse).

He then proceeds to walk far enough for Katniss to have to track him for a while, find a good hiding spot close to a water source and camouphlage himself so well that even Katniss, a skilled hunter, couldn't find him. He did all that with a severely injured leg and three tracker jacker stings. He pushed the collapsing in hallucinations part for a long time. And then he stayed there for a week, infected, with no food, and didn't die.

In Catching Fire, Peeta gets electrocuted by the force field early on, and Finnick resuscitates him. He's young and healthy, and he wakes up, but electrocution alone would have left him painfully sore for a long time afterwards. All of his muscles would have contracted extremely hard and possibly spasmed when he was hit by the current, not to mention he was thrown forcefully back unconscious. I read a post a long time ago that described it as "feeling like he had the most brutal workout in his life". And then CPR is having someone literally pound on your sternum with enough force to get your heart to pump, multiple times. It hurts A LOT to be at the recieving end of it. And the muscle soreness takes days to go away.

Peeta literally spent the following days continually hiking, in the heat, with no water (until they figured it out), after all of that. He barely got any chance to recover, and a couple days later he was also taking turns with Finnick carrying Beetee on his back. Not to mention everything else that the others also went through. Oh, yeah, and he's got an amputated leg.

Talk about a strong constitution.

There are a lot of posts comparing Peeta to Lucy Gray's kindness and charm and how that similarity torments Snow, I get it but I disagree. At least, I don't think that is how Snow sees Peeta.

Peeta's biggest fuck you against Snow is his love is pure, genuine, sacrificial AND it paid off. She loved him back. Peeta is literally Snow's "you wish that was you huh, lol". THAT is how Peeta tortures him.

Because Peeta was everything Snow couldn't be: trusting, vulnerable, expressive, selfless. All he had to do is be himself and somehow he still won and got the girl.

Has anyone done this yet

my ship dynamic

also this is how you'd flirt with me

this is so momtara and dadko coded