i hate it when i cant even write a poem about something because its too obvious. like in the airbnb i was at i guess it used to be a kids room cause you could see the imprint of one little glow in the dark star that had been missed and painted over in landlord white. like that's a poem already what's the point

i hate it when i cant even write a poem about something because its too obvious. like in the airbnb i was at i guess it used to be a kids room cause you could see the imprint of one little glow in the dark star that had been missed and painted over in landlord white. like that's a poem already what's the point

Look. I’m nearing the end of TBOSAS and all I have to say is: Coriolanus is such a little shit.

Like. Seriously man? You seriously had your girlfriend go thru the fucking hunger games. Had to cheat to get her out alive. And after that. You still think the capitol is right? That without it there would be caos? I MEAN have you spared one look at your girlfriend and her family. Dammit kid they told me you were SMART

in a world of boys

he’s a gentleman

i will just never get over how well written katniss and peeta's love story is. the history, the connection, the symbolism. how much it makes sense that they would choose each other when no one else would.

deep in the meadow, under the willow

a bed of grass, a soft green pillow

lay down your head, and close your eyes

and when they open, the sun will rise.

I think something many readers completely misunderstood when the books first came out, and even now, is that Katniss IS like other girls. She’s not some solitary strong independent woman™ who’s not like the other girls. She very much is the other girls.

She’s shy and vulnerable and judgemental and inexperienced and embarrassed. She loves flowers (dandelions!) and pretty things and fashion and dresses. She would have music and singing in her life more if she wasn’t so traumatised and stunted. She has crushes and she’s very romantic, if we go by her own descriptions of Peeta and what she notices from her parents. She’s metaphorically (and sometimes literally inside her own mind) twirling her hair and kicking her feet and giggling any time she’s around him. She’s such maternal and protective instincts for Prim, Peeta, Rue and countless others throughout the series. She cares for people a lot and she values community and friendship and love. She wants softness, she wants cuddles, she wants her hair played with, she wants to look good, she wants to wear cute and fun things, she wants to be kissed and loved, she wants to go frolicking in fields of dandelions.

She is just like other girls and the tragedy is that she’s never able to fully just be a girl.

You are so right, the first passage struck me as odd last time I was listening too! Because……Gale would rather risk having his family be hungry, to go to sleep with an rumbling belly, than to accept Katniss’ money? Katniss would never to that to Prim. She’d do anything to ensure Prim would never hunger again, even if she was mad, hurt, jealous, offended by Gale.

Also, it’s nothing new to add but it enforces your point about Peeta not having this patriarchal stupid male pride: in the first book, when Katniss is thinking about Cato she thinks that surely he had it out for her since before the games started because she’d gotten a higher score than him. Then she says something like, a boy like Peeta would never care that he scored lower than a girl, but Cato did. (Sorry, can’t quote exactly from the book atm). Got me wondering. Would Gale mind?

On Gale and patriarchy/toxic masculinity

I really want to do a reading and analysis of Gale's character as upholding patriarchal values and expectations of toxic masculinity because this stuck out to me as I listened to the CF audiobook before bed last night. From chapter 1 of CF:

I think of Gale, who is only really alive in the woods, with its fresh air and sunlight and clean, flowing water. I don't know how he stands it. Well ... yes, I do. He stands it because it's the way to feed his mother and two younger brothers and sister. And here I am with buckets of money, far more than enough to feed both our families now, and he won't take a single coin. It's even hard for him to let me bring in meat, although he'd surely have kept my mother and Prim supplied if I'd been killed in the Games. I tell him he's doing me a favor, that it drives me nuts to sit around all day. Even so, I never drop off the game while he's at home. Which is easy since he works twelve hours a day. 

Highlighted the part that really made my ears perk up. There's something to be said about Gale's stubbornness and his pride, which is very similar to Katniss's but he always takes it another step. Whereas Katniss learns to accept others' help, to forge these connections, Gale doesn't. It's giving "I'm the man and this is my job." For someone who wants nothing more than to help keep his family alive, it's weird that he refuses any help.

At first I thought maybe he doesn't want her money because it's from the Capitol and he despises it that much but she says it's hard for him to even have her bring meat in from hunting. Which points to his pride. He wants to be the provider. The one taking care of her. And it leaves Katniss in a kinda tricky place. It's like she's walking on eggshells around him here - purposely not dropping off game at his house when he's there.

Compare that with Peeta (which as a reader, like Katniss, you end up doing when either of these two guys come up) and it's so different. We know Peeta is strong and smart etc. He's not a hunter but he's also still a provider (of bread). And he has his own pride too. But going through the Games, Peeta and Katniss have a balanced push and pull. She helps him, he helps her. She takes care of him, he takes care of her. When he's hurt, he lets Katniss help him. He's not too proud to try and do it himself. Same with Katniss. She lets him take care of her when she needs it. And this is something they learn from the Games, particularly Katniss; how to accept help from others. And we see her development in this over the course of the trilogy.

Gale is interesting in that I really think he is one of the characters in the books who really doesn't grow as such. In my mind, he's rooted in place in many ways. From his ideals, to his thoughts, to his strategies, to his actions, he doesn't really develop much. He has moments - but a lot of those moments are tied to wanting to apologise to or be better for Katniss (and still he comes up short). I'm thinking of the moment where he makes her feel bad for defending her prep team in 13 and then later tries to smooth things over in the canteen by being kind. I believe that's something he did only for Katniss. She's his motivation to be different (but turns out that's not enough still.)

I'll maybe build on this another time but this passage made me think of what he says when he sees Katniss after Prim's death. "Does it matter? You'll always be thinking about it... That was the one thing I had going for me. Taking care of your family." Instead of apologising for helping to create such bombs, instead of asking for forgiveness, instead of crying with her, instead of expressing his sorrow and regret at what's happened, this is all he's able to say. Which is odd to me. To not even try to comfort your supposed closest friend at such a time. To say that's all you had going for you? It's this relationship of transaction. 'I take care of your family and hunt with you so you should end up marring me.' I really don't think that's far from what Gale expected.

I think there's even more to say about Gale as a patriarchal character but I've rambled on enough at this point. But his attitude and perspective throughout the book, while aligned with that of a traumatised young adult in the midst of oppression, also aligns heavily with patriarchal constructs. The way he thinks of war and people and human relationships, the way he thinks of fighting and death, and the way he thinks of doing whatever you have to do to achieve your end, no matter what happens or who gets hurt in pursuit of it. If anyone has any reading on Gale in these areas I'd be so interested in it!

Okay but Snow saying “It’s the things we love most that destroy us” only to have the pure unconditional love between Katniss and Peeta be the thing that helps them heal. The love Haymitch has for Katniss and Peeta being the thing that brings him more into the rebellion and back to 12 to be there for them both and thus heal a bit himself. Finnick and Annie’s love being carried on through their son and that love being the thing that helped Finnick from completely losing it after all the Capitol did to him. It’s love that makes Katniss volunteer for the Games and when it seems like Katniss can’t go on, like she’s lost all hope and all she’s loved, she suddenly begins to sing. And she returns home and remembers the love she has for her sister through the cuddling of a cat and the planting of primrose, planting done with another person she loves. And it’s the love between Katniss and Peeta, the exact love Snow thought would destroy them both, is the love that puts them back together. It isn’t love that destroyed Snow, it was his turning away from it that did. It was his desire for power over love, his underestimating of love’s strength, his active shunning of anything that ever brought him love or happiness (Tigris and Lucy Gray being the two examples that come to mind) that bring about his destruction. Snow was destroyed by his lack of love. Katniss was healed by the strength of love. And I just think that’s beautiful.

Louder for the people in the back:

“The kids symbolize Katniss and Peeta’s healing, that they are more than their trauma and they can grow from their past.”

Oh I can’t even explain how angry this makes me 😬

peeta study from catching fire bc i’m a sucker for jhutch’s bread boy 🫶

(i Had to kinda give him book peeta’s hair tho but im still trying to find the perfect way to draw his curls)

Basically a crime not to read this /\

Summary: A languid morning in the Victors’ Village months after the rebellion.

“Come up here,” Peeta says. “It’s been at least seven hours since I kissed you. That’s basically a crime.”

PEETA'S SKETCHBOOK, 1/?

— after being discharged from therapy in the capitol, peeta was advised to keep a journal or sketchbook of sorts to write his thoughts and experiences down.

not really knowing what to do at first, he decides to draw people and things that he sees outside his home in the victor's village; his mentor, haymitch, and his... friend, katniss, who are his neighbours.

if only being there still wasn't so triggering.

hi have an everlark sketchy wip *runs into the woods*

no but have you all read this?

⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

i need you to read this. i'm gone 💘 bye

I feel like we as a society don't talk enough about how hard Cinna snapped when the Quarter Quell was announced

I have a whole pin board of toast babies inspo, but I need to share with you the most iconic image of them all.

That's him right there officer. The chubby legged toddler.