WHAT DO I READ

Lucy Gray’s reaping being rigged. Haymitch being selected illegally. Katniss volunteering to save her sister. The victors of District 12 have always been inherently wrapped in rebellion because they have all entered the games at the hands of injustice.

I feel such a deep soul bond with this image. It is me and I am it

🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️

MASSIVE SPOILERS for SOTR but this book made me absolutely feral bc it's not a story just about implicit submission and propaganda, it's also one about the deeply personal cost of resistance and how that resistance is ALWAYS going to fail if you go in alone

haymitch's story isn't a tragedy because he failed to incite a rebellion or stop the games, it's a tragedy because he absolutely could have succeeded if different choices were made by the people around him

there are numerous ways this is illustrated throughout SOTR, but one of the most telling is through haymitch's interactions with plutarch heavensbee, particularly the last few conversations they have in the book, like this exchange during the victor's tour:

Here, both plutarch and haymitch are acknowledging that haymitch was unlucky, which he was, but it also showcases that the CRITICAL thing missing from haymitch's efforts at resistance was support.

(this isn't germane to this analysis but I would like to stress this is plutarch pitching resistance to haymitch pretty much immediately after the capital burned his family alive and poisoned his girlfriend, and I hope at some point during/after the mockingjay rebellion haymitch got to hit plutarch with a shovel)

after his reaping, haymitch is pulled into a plan for resistance by people who provide him with tools, and information, but then, crucially, step back entirely and wait to see if haymitch is successful. Like katniss, they pin the face of resistance (in the eyes of the capital) to haymitch, but make sure they themselves are out of the direct line of fire.

haymitch even points this out during another exchange with plutarch:

In keeping with the main theme, Plutarch's ability to create and distribute propaganda is thrown into the spotlight—as is his deliberate choice to create propaganda for the capital, and not the resistance. Not haymitch.

plutarch could have allowed footage of the true circumstances of haymitch's reaping, his protection of lenore dove, to be broadcast. He could have let the citizens of panem see haymitch lay louella's body at snow's feet, or haymitch running with lou lou's body, trying to protect ampert, or shown any of the other small acts of rebellion haymitch did throughout the book.

But he didn't.

Instead, he gave haymitch tiny hints, spun out just enough hope to ensure haymitch would try to disable the arena. Him and the other "conspirators" like beetee came up with a plan and instead of working alongside haymitch, chose to put the plan's success or failure entirely on the shoulders of a 16 year old kid, knowing full well the price of any failure, and in certain instances, not just failing to support his effort but actively taking steps to ensure nobody is ever going to know about it.

And when it fails, when the games end, haymitch is the one who pays the cost for what the capital sees as individual resistance. beetee and mags and wiress and the other district victors suffer alongside him.

Ultimately, though, as tragic as haymitch's story is, it's also a painful but crucial lesson in resistance. There is no katniss without haymitch. There is no girl on fire without the boy with the flint striker.

haymitch isn't a spark that failed to ignite. haymitch is a spark that people noticed, but nobody fed, and then snow stamped it out. and when katniss comes around, they know enough not to make that same mistake.

i want to get my shit together so badly

i also want to just give up

do not go gentle into that good night

Bruh i expected so many older characters but was still so shocked when they were actually there

sunrise on the reaping was one gunshot to the head after another but at least we got catching fire part 2 all stars

Suzanne Collins was really pissed when she saw all those edits of Snow as ‘daddy’ and whatever other bullshit after the TBOSAS movie, sat down at her laptop again and started typing “let’s see if you get the message now when HE KILLS 47 CHILDREN”

all i can imagine everytime i hear “what is this feeling” from the wicked soundtrack is them watching the wicked movie, with keeley sitting in between roy and jamie and whispering

“this song reminds me of you guys…..”

local man tortures 16 year old boy and kills his whole family over a failed situationship from 40 years ago! more on this later

Jegulus in the wild? Again?

“yeah…”