kpmushu

😱😱 That's like telling me to pick my favourite child!!

... Cat-Niss, it's most definitely Cat-Niss. She's just so fun to doodle!

Compare the first and second book:

The Hunger Games

He’s introduced as a character that did something selfless who Katniss is really grateful to

Other than the conversation about his mom and staying true to himself (which I would argue is two of his most emotionally open points in the books) his interactions with Katniss are very amiable

He saves Katniss from having to share her story about Lavinia

The intent of his plan with the Careers was to protect Katniss and though it backfired a bit he mostly executed his plan to perfection and achieved his goal in the way he expected

Catching Fire

The book opens up with him being icy towards Katniss

He gets really angry to the point of throwing a lamp during the Victory Tour after he sees a man get shot

Gets withdrawn and cold during the three months of coaching for the Quell

Peeta even admits that his plan for the Quell seems like a long shot with the way Snow wants Katniss dead

Clashes with Katniss slightly more relative to their last games when he makes of fun of her for being pure and doesn’t gravitate towards the same victors she does because he’s being super pragmatic

There’s a subtext of Peeta being a little more ruthless than Katniss here for a bit because she doesn’t want to befriend people she may have to kill. Peeta doesn’t want to kill anyone either but he’s still willing to befriend people he plans to kill later

His pregnancy announcement does cause a lot of trouble but in the end it doesn’t achieve his goal of stopping the games

He fully fails to convince Katniss to not attempt to give up her life for him during the Quell

And all of these inklings of flaws are justified, he’s a traumatized seventeen year old boy who doesn’t even have a supportive family, but it does provide a different perspective from the first book. In the first book when Katniss’s view of the world is smaller, and it’s just them in D12 and the Games Peeta has this image as a kind merchant boy from a mean family who succeeds in protecting Katniss. Catching Fire makes the world so much bigger while at the same time giving Katniss a closer view of Peeta. Now the president is after them and they’re having to mitigate damage to protect people they care about. They’re losing any control they had, culminating in them being put in a death match again. Now the kind boy from a mean family who succeeds in protecting Katniss is still very kind but gets angry and withdrawn sometimes, is from a mean family that makes him think there’s no need for him, and has plans that are brilliant but do fail sometimes because he’s just a seventeen year old kid trying his best.

first, right before this, katniss sits with greasy sae at the breakfast table, asking about whatever happened to gale.

and when she learns that gale has accepted a job in district two, likely to never return to their sorry excuse of a town, she searches for any feelings of anger, hatred, or longing. only to find relief (mj, 381).

now it is very, very, very important that this "huh, where is my hunting partner/best friend" curiosity comes right after peeta comes back.

peeta, the boy whom she lamented was too far gone to ever come back to her (mj, 336). yet still, the boy she was waiting for (mj, 379). and the boy who stays with her (mj, 216; 312).

so of course, when presented with the boy who stays, her mind would turn to the boy who left.

because we need to consider is how differently katniss approaches peeta's feelings for her compared to gale’s. even in these last mentions of gale.

katniss, without even thinking about it, adores how peeta loves her and her alone. she feels foolishly at how special peeta finds her (thg, 301). how she is the only person to really make a lasting impression (thg, 304). so much so that she cannot imagine him loving anyone else, or that anyone could ever take that love away (mj, 179).

gale, on the other hand, does not give katniss the same bubbly excitement when talking about why he likes her romantically. because it all centered on him being jealous (mj, 196). and she appears let down that he has kissed many, many girls. the same way he kisses her (mj, 196).

in fact, most of katniss's narrative surrounding gale is centered on trying to make sure that he does not leave her. because she doesn't have a deep trust that he would stay with her in the end.

so when she is talking about how gale is kissing another pair of lips, it is almost as if she is confirming something she knew deep down.

that she is not particularly special to gale as a love interest. that he can easily move on from her. and that she is somehow easily replaceable.

and, again, it is so important to contextualize this entire moment as happening after peeta comes back to her.

her peeta. the boy with the bread. who has loved her since he heard her voice singing smooth melodies for the birds. and still loved her when she stopped.

who clawed his way back to her when he was conditioned to fear her. and who followed her back to the ruins of their old community.

so yeah, she throws out a sassy line, almost scoffing, about gale being able to move on so quickly from her.

and it doesn't even haunt her. doesn't even warrant a second thought. and why would it?