me getting five notes from my regular mutuals on any given post

I’m trying to expand this project and add all kinds of new features. If you want to help, you can pledge 1$ to my patreon here, and in exchange, you’ll get access to a second project where I try to create the coziest/warmest art collection on the internet.

suzanne, you did your big one with this book.

Thought this was a necessary measure because we all know that surge of clueless thirsty tiktok fans is gonna happen.

[woah this post blew up how,,,,, psa that i have indepth analysis + theories on my feed if you crave more sotr content]

Here to remind everyone the hilarious/sweet fact that most occurrences in the books of people probably thinking Katniss and Peeta have had sex is a result of actions both of them enthusiastically agreed to in order to take care of each other

Hey. Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey. HEY.

We all seem to agree, in this fandom, that Katniss's character does not boil down to merely her romantic relationships. Her choosing Peeta over Gale was symbolic of choosing peace over hate.

With that in mind, please please please remember that, just as Katniss was more than her romance, Gale was also more than his romance.

Gale's story was, first and foremost, the tale of a justifiably angry but (at the beginning) innocent young boy who grew up in extreme poverty, learned to risk his life to provide for his family, increased his chances of participating in a brutal, live streamed death match so his younger siblings wouldn't have to, and then had to watch his best friend/crush get sent into that game and suffer horrifically. He was also unexpectedly, viciously, and publicly whipped by government officials, watched his home district and everything he'd ever known be completely destroyed while saving who he could, and became so jaded and angry with the Capitol who put them through all that, and so desensitized to the violence all around him, that he was willing to do evil things to try to take down those people. District 13--the district that welcomed his people and valued his input--brought out the worst in him. He made a bomb, a criminal, inhumane bomb, and Coin deployed against his best friend/crush's little sister (who seemingly was like extended family to him.) And after that, there was no way to take it back.

Similarly to how Katniss choosing Peeta was symbolic of choosing peace over hate, Gale losing Katniss was also symbolic of how his violence and fury led him away from the love and goodness in his life.

If we can extend compassion to the Careers, surely we can extend understanding at least to Gale.

The goat story

As they settle into domestic life in the cave, Peeta prompts Katniss for a story, which she likens to singing, an activity she views as superfluous but connected to her father, and, as of recently, Rue. Peeta, the artist, and Katniss, the utilitarian.

The goat story provides important insight into Katniss’ background and their world on multiple counts:

Peeta’s prompt is specifically for the happiest day she can remember, so her mind turns to Gale, which she intuitively understands would not go over well, and Prim. I find it interesting that she doesn’t even consider memories of her father, say, teaching her to swim or singing to the mockingjays. Lady the goat was introduced back in chapter one with her cheese and milk featured in the reaping festivities and here we get her backstory as a 10th birthday present for Prim. The story opens with Prim giving a gift of goat cheese to Katniss, and this story reverses the situation with Katniss giving Prim a gift of goat, the gift that keeps on giving between the sisters. Timeline wise, Prim’s 10th birthday places the events around two years before THG, and Katniss at around 14.

The first half of the entire story is an internal monologue, not spoken out loud, to protect Greasy Sae, Rooba the butcher, and even the peacekeepers from punishment for breaking the laws by engaging in the black market. Katniss’ awareness that the audience will have already figured she was illegally hunting but her refusal to implicate anyone demonstrates her nature as a protector and the need for mutual silence within District 12. I doubt anyone from District 12, regardless if they are from the Seam, town, or a peacekeeper, would say any of the first half of the story out loud. It is their mutual silence, their mutual dependence, their mutual aid that protects them all. The black market is an integral part of their economy and way of life. 

Gale and Katniss shoot down a young buck and Katniss describes him in detail, remarking on his youth, beauty, unfamiliarity with humans, and innocence. Her description calls to mind the tributes themselves, innocent children. We learn it is Greasy Sae, a trader at the Hob, who seems to be well-respected within their community, that refers them to a butcher in town. Greasy Sae could certainly use the buck for her stews, but she clearly has Katniss’ and Gale’s best interests in mind and wants them to get the highest price for their kill. The Hob operates on goodwill and trust between the traders with Katniss and Gale being established and well-regarded members of their ranks.

They take the buck to Rooba, the butcher in town. Katniss and Gale have crossed the threshold of the Hob, where haggling is the way of commerce, and into town with Rooba where the merchant class controls trade. The pair receive the most money they have ever had at one time and head for the market square.

From here, Katniss narrates the story out loud directly to Peeta and indirectly to Panem, claiming she traded her mother’s old locket in for money. She is drawn to the Goat Man’s injured goat, noting how owning a goat can change your life in 12. I find it a bit amusing how nonchalant Katniss and Gale try to be while sizing up the goat, even buying a cup of milk, but the Goat Man insists she is for the butcher. When Rooba shows up, she complains of the goat’s worsened state, then leaves with a wink to Katniss. The crowd joins in the haggling between the Goat Man and Katniss. 

Rooba’s shenanigans and the involvement of the crowd show how invested the communities of 12 are in Katniss from even before the reaping. We see over and over her suspicious nature blinds her to the perceptions of others. She is taken aback by the salute she receives at the reaping, but as we learn over the course of the books, District 12 respects and admires her. We hear this explicitly from Delly, in Mockingjay, but more subtly in this story. Katniss denies that Madge is her friend, denies that she would get generous trades on her own merit instead of her father’s or Prim’s reputations, denies that the people of District 12 care for her. Her years of trading across the lines that divide 12, interacting with the people of the Seam, the town, and the peacekeepers and officials means she is one of the few that would be known to almost everyone. Almost everyone in 12, besides Haymitch, is aware of her dedication to providing for her family. Katniss interprets the “effect she can have” that Peeta refers to as pity and an insult, but really, it is anything but. I’ll bet NO ONE from 12 was surprised when Katniss volunteered. Katniss’ inner dialogue throughout the games show how profoundly the watchers of 12 influence her decisions and how it is distinctive from the influence of the watchers of the Capitol. She knows she would be ostracized in 12 if she didn’t ally with Peeta after the rule change, and she knows she would never accept anyone back into 12 if they didn’t do the same.

Gale carries the goat back, because, according to Katniss, ‘he wanted to see the look on Prim’s face as much as I did’. This line tears me up knowing what is coming in Mockingjay. 

Katniss has a very rare show of sentimentality here by buying a ribbon for the goat to present to Prim. The conversation between Katniss and Peeta after she tells this story never fails to crack me up. Peeta KNOWS this story is the happiest in Katniss’ life because of the ‘lasting joy you gave the sister you love so much you took her place in the reaping’ but she insists that the goat was a ‘little gold mine’. Their banter here is why we are all Everlark shippers.

Thanks for reading! Please share your thoughts on the goat story

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So. It's been... a really long time. But, um, have an update? We're up to Chapter 11 of Let Me Fly: Lovers in a Dangerous Time, Requiem.

Please pay attention to all trigger warnings and tags.  This chapter in particular has some (a lot of) trigger warnings.

Excerpt:

You can read the chapter here:

We hope you enjoy!

Ooo this is one of my faves 😍

If Peeta hadn’t been captured Mockingjay would’ve had quite a juxtaposition because in between all the war and destruction, we could have the comedy of Katniss and Peeta acting like a married couple but thinking they were “just friends”.

Katniss: yeah, I’m going to sleep with him every night but we’re just really close friends

Peeta: yeah, we kissed over and over when she woke up from being shot but she’s not in love with me

Katniss: yeah, we talk in meetings like a unit and walk in and out of them holding hands but we’re just a very good team

Peeta: yeah, I flirted and danced with her at the wedding but that’s just my natural response to being in her proximity

Katniss: yeah Gale I just don’t want a romantic relationship, no that’s not a hickey

aside from many many other things that make katniss and gale romantically incompatible is that katniss is entirely unaware of how much attention she needs in order to feel safe and loved. not only that but she freely talks about her incorrect assumption that she’s an “inherently independent girlie” and gale takes this at face value. whereas peeta just goes “im sure YOU believe that. however, i don’t so if you’ll let me, i will shower you with affection until you understand how totally okay it is to be cared for by someone else”

I always wondered why Katniss factored marriage and children into the equation when it came to reciprocating Peeta’s feelings for her. It’s a rather large leap, especially when Peeta himself never expresses wanting children at any point in the story. He uses children as a tool to persuade Katniss and the Capital to save her life, but the only time we see him express any desire/feelings of having one of his own is when he’s crying after the baby bomb. But we never hear his real thoughts.

But you wanna know who does express wanting children? Gale.

It’s one of the first thing he mentions in chapter one. And it pisses her off so much.

(I also want to add that Gale reframes/establishes the dynamic of Katniss and him caring for their siblings from something that is sibling-sibling to parent-sibling. And he is not wrong. Katniss doesn’t refute him. Both Katniss and Gale are surrogate parents to their siblings. Which is also why Katniss love and affection of Prim, is not just sisterly. I’ve seen people say Katniss is only sisterly to Prim- but she’s not. She’s parentified their relationship to the point she subconsciously see Prim as her child, which makes this a tragedy because she’ll loose her first child no matter what she does by the end of the story.)

But Gale’s phrasing here elevates himself as a potential suitor to Katniss by placing them both as the parental roles to these children. (Which irritates her a lot ). Which is why she brings the topic up with her relationship with Peeta. Because she’s subconsciously aware of Gale’s efforts and knows it will be a point of contention between them. It hangs over her head in a way.

With Gale, children are extra mouths to feed. (But Gale will do fine. He can work. He can hunt.) It’s all framed with calculated survival in mind. But it’s also not something she had planned in the future at any point.

But Peeta’s children? Oh they deserve to be born because Peeta deserves to be a father. He would be such a good father. They deserve to exist in a world where they can be safe and happy. (Even if it’s not with her.)

This is also why I think she subconsciously sees Peeta’s baby as her own. And I don’t think of it as a cruel/heartless thing, it’s just you’d be more protective of your own child compared to someone else’s. Katniss sees Gale as a reliable person who’s equipped to look after a kid. She doesn’t express the same kind of maternal instinct/yearning for the Baby Hawthrone’s safety as she does with the idea of Baby Mellark, because she doesn’t think of Gale’s child as her own. She never hopes for a better future for them, but she does with Peeta because he and that baby gives her hope. And she loves him that much.