there's something to be said about gale telling peeta that katniss will choose the person she can't survive without - a sentiment that katniss notices lacks any mention of love or comfort or affection, only partnership and practicality. because survival is the basis of gale and katniss's relationship - their relationship is the product of an oppressive regime where so many people starve and die and suffer. they built a partnership out of pragmatic necessity - friendship and affection and yes, even love, did spring from that, but nevertheless, survival was the foundation for them, and the fact that the majority of their dynamic is spent in the woods and this is the only place gale sees her happy is symbolic of that.

but her relationship with peeta is extremely different. he gives her laughter and comfort and joy no matter where they are. he balances out the temperamental and volatile nature (a characteristic she shares with gale as a result of their conditions) with peacefulness and an appreciation for beauty and goodness. they have a trust and camaraderie and friendship that extends far beyond the need for survival, a bond that connects them beyond merely the need to stay alive and protect their loved ones. it is with peeta that she truly lives and laughs and loves and betters herself. peeta notices and brings out the most wonderful parts of her cold, dispassionate exterior (mockingjay, suzanne collins), gives her an appreciation for beauty in life (dandelion in the spring, the pearl on the beach, etc). he's the calmness and peacefulness that she needs to truly live and feel free and safe, while gale is violence and storms and outbursts (which she may agree with, but his tendencies to choose violence don't satisfy katniss's emotional needs in a relationship like peeta does).

to gale and katniss, love and relationships and friendships and human connection come second to practical concerns and the mere desire to simply not die. for peeta and katniss, love and life are about far more than just survival, which is why they share an emotionally charged connection that's stronger than what gale and katniss have.

The Mockingjay - Sketches

Primarily after-Mockingjay. A snippet of getting better and growing back together.

in another life

Peeta Mellark: *exists*

Katniss Everdeen:

tiktok is not allowed to talk about the hunger games anymore actually because why did i just see a comment saying that young snow would’ve been in love with katniss. and why were people agreeing with their WHOLE CHESTS

Katniss and Peeta would be 100% be that couple in the meme where the guy kisses his girlfriend every morning before leaving for work. One time he forgets while running late, and she just calls out, pouting 'I guess love don't live here anymore.'

“I had a dream, though,” I say, thinking back. “I was following a mockingjay through the woods. For a long time. It was Rue, really. I mean, when it sang, it had her voice.” “Where did she take you?” he says, brushing my hair off my forehead. “I don’t know. We never arrived.” I say. “But I felt happy.” ... Peeta pulls the chain with the gold disk from around his neck. He holds it in the moonlight so I can clearly see the mockingjay. Then his thumb slides along a catch I didn’t notice before and the disc pops open. It’s not solid, as I had thought, but a locket. And within the locket are photos. […] “Your family needs you, Katniss,” Peeta says. My family. My mother. My sister. And my pretend cousin Gale. But Peeta’s intention is clear. That Gale really is my family, or will be one day, if I live. That I’ll marry him. So Peeta’s giving me his life and Gale at the same time. To let me know I shouldn’t ever have doubts about it. Everything. That’s what Peeta wants me to take from him. ... He puts the chain with the locket around my neck, then rests his hand over the spot where our baby would be. “You’re going to make a great mother, you know,” he says. ... As I drift off, I try to imagine that world, somewhere in the future, with no Games, no Captiol. A place like the meadow in the song I sang to Rue as she died. Where Peeta’s child could be safe. ....

when people say peeta was coercive and pushy with katniss and essentially forcing her into a relationship with him

??whats this then?

Why do so many canon divergent/compliant/adjacent fics make Peeta a such a master player manwhore slut type before the games? You’re telling me he pined after katniss since they were five and fucked like five other girls already. What happened to only having eyes for katniss and knowing he’s loved her since he first saw her? Even if he didn’t have those feelings for katniss he is definitely not the type to just fling himself at people at that age either.

no but peeta was being a dick after the first games. yes it's understandable why he overreacted but it doesn't change the fact that he did overreact, and that it was him who created the distance between himself and katniss. which is exactly why he was the one to apologize (and another reason why the movies suck because his line if i stop acting like i'm wounded is changed into if you stop acting like i'm wounded).

not to make the most pivotal scene of Mockingjay about boys because ew and that's never the point but I also think Katniss is undoubtedly motivated throughout the entire series (as we all are) by the need to protect and defend the people she loves. And while in no way do I think Gale is the main reason she shoots Coin. I do think there's a part of her that sees Coin as the woman who manipulated Gale just as Snow manipulated Peeta. Not in the exact same way of course, but the end result was the same, wasn't it? She couldn't recognize either of them. Them, the two people she loved most in the world apart from Prim. So while she kills Coin because she sees the evil Coin is willing to perpetuate and encourage, do I also think it was incredibly personal when she pulled back that arrow? Absolutely. She was thinking about Coin destroying Gale destroying Prim.

Rereading the hunger games and oh my god literally Peeta is the Blueprint he’s so obviously gone for her like sorry but how did anyone seriously think Gale and Katniss would end up together

my aesthetics :

the second quarter quell generation, pt one (aka the generation with all the principal characters’ parents, and then also haymitch)

Y’all ever think about the parallel between Peeta’s bread saving Katniss’ life when she had nothing to live on, and the lack of closure between them before she returns home after killing Coin keeping her alive and waiting when she would have otherwise just killed herself as she had nothing to live for?

No? Just me?