I’m here and ready for the #PipersOutOfTheArenaParty! Eeeeeven if I’m a lil late. this ask is focused on chapter 28, in particularly identity
For chapter 28, I see it first as an exploration of how the Capital is taking and co-opting what makes Piper Piper, with herphysicality and persona both being made into a profitable brand. I’m so committed to this analysis I went back to reread secrets from the light house segments I’m on it I’m so ready!!!!
So, the first clear example of branding her physically is is of course the prosthetic. Beyond her being forced to go through the body horror of waking up with it there without any prior informed consent, it also holds a lot of visual imagery. The main design components are the seeming porcelain and gold materials, the teal accents, and the rose on the upper arm. I— honestly have no idea how the technology works, so will only comment on the aesthetics.
I’m assuming appearing porcelain means it’s mostly white. Maybe I’m “too woke,” but based on the fact the capital has continuously desired to lighten Piper’s skin, and her joke of it being the wrong color match, there is definitely a certain degree of distrusting the capital’s motivation. It could totally just be because white makes the designs more visible, the color match meant the shade of teal, and there isn’t any *conscious* mal-intent, but there could still be emotional and social impacts— particularly from interactions with ignorant capitalites or judgmental people from the district.
I am fairly safely assuming the gold is meant to be a reminder of her victory and wealth, and the rose is to make it clear she belongs to Snow like a branding. Less safely assumed however are the teal designs, which can’t effectively be discussed without touching on Piper’s hair as well.
Teal is a special color to Piper. Beyond just being bright and playful, like the role she always tries to play, the color has a connection with Finnick and Annie. The teal hair dye prank and the subsequent teal solidarity streaks marked a turning point in Finnick and Piper’s relationship, highlighting both the rock bottom of their tension but also the beginning of their friendship. Getting the teal dye initially was what introduced Piper to Annie, and redoing the streaks became a designated time for just the two of them.
It seemed that the capital first viewed Piper’s teal streaks as an issue. The capital in a way has restricted physical forms of self expression from the districts, with colorful hair, tattoos, dyes, and other forms of bodily modification being uniquely Capitalite. In dying her hair, Piper had taken back a form of self expression that the capital had attempted to restrict and make exclusive. Piper’s teal streaks were treated as a problem by most stylists and camera crews who came to work with her, them finding it unappealing, clashing, or sloppy.
Having won her games, Piper is now fully a possession of the capital. As such, her hair is no longer the sign of a district girlexpressing herself in a way that had been forbidden to her, but a way to further own and control her. The capital has done a complete 180, and is forcing teal onto her. Piper didn’t get to choose her prosthetic, but someone else commissioned it for her. They saw the teal in her hair without any semblance of what it meant to her, and decided teal should embody her further. The teal in her hair symbolized agency and human connection, Weill the teal on her prosthetic symbolizes lost autonomy and surface level understanding.
The dynamic between teal as a color of freedom and a color of control further is showcased through the branded hair dye, as Piper’s form of unique self expression is now being mass produced,bought, and sold. What made her stand out at home is becoming an aspirational trend in the capital, and a way for people to feel superficially closer to her.
Beyond her prosthetic and teal, Piper has also lost ownership of her persona of the lighthouse ghost, which similarly was a way to claim back agency from the capital. The lighthouse became a source of trauma for the Ronin family, and served as a ✨haunting✨ reminder of the power the capital has. It was a fourteen year old Piper empathizing with the tributes she’s seen taken away and how their impact is left on the district, as well as knowing her paternal family was killed and seeing the impact, that motivated Piper to try and forge connection and comfort for the district children. The reason she chose to do it with magic was because it once again was something the capital restricted, and something she chose to reclaim and share.
The progression of Piper losing the core of being the lighthouse ghost started with her discomfort in doing magic shows for money, such as birthday parties, because it made her method to bring people together more exclusive. Then, of course, there was the performance for the capital, which was obviously antithetical to her reclamation of magic because of their suppression. During the game, the lighthouse ghost was something that was reflected fondly upon, with “I already was someone in the district.” Now, we have reached the Lighthouse Ghost being her victor monicker, and what inspires her styling. Orion really was like okay bet, and went all out with the ghastly shimmery glow and flowy white ensemble to the point Piper says she looks like a spectral… There is definitely heavy irony that to hide the fact Piper was just days prior on the brink of death, she is made to look like a ghost as a way to distract.
Since the arena, Piper has turned to distancing language regarding herself and the lighthouse ghost: “He’s not giving them Piper Ronan. He’s giving them the Lighthouse Ghost…. Like I’m not even a real person, but some apparition. I am not the girl they sent into the arena, but the consequences of her surviving…. The ones the Lighthouse Ghost doesn’t know how to answer, because they cater to Piper’s heart…. The Lighthouse Ghost seems to possess me and has those answers covered, while I try to hold everything else inside.” Piper has had to essentially repurpose her persona of the lighthouse ghost as a way to dissociate and survive her trauma. The persona she created to offer healing from what haunted the district and her family has now been tainted because she is haunted by her time in the arena and the other tributes who died.
I wanted to highlight this quote from the chapter when she became the lighthouse ghost in secrets, as it exemplifies what emotionally Piper has lost: “if ghosts are full of love and luck, maybe if the kids who have left today don’t make their way back, we can stop being so scared of them.” On one hand, this was the optimistic perspective of a younger Piper who couldn’t remember experiencing loss personally, but intimately understood the ripple effects and how it’s shaped those around her. Now, Piper is at the center of a series of losses, and she is scared and heartbroken because the ghosts now have names and stories that involve her. Yet, it will more likely than not be love which is her hope and strength.The ghosts of those tributes are still love, even if it is hard to imagine for some of them.
The last thing I want to say about Piper losing the lighthouse ghost is her slogan. Caesar ends up the interview with “ghosts don’t get killed, and Piper remarks that he said it wrong. Yet, I doubt Snow will ever allow the phrase to be “ghosts don’t get caught” again, because as far as he is concerned Piper has been thoroughly caught and he wants her to remember the fact. The capital is also the primary reason Piper didn’t get killed, so it offers a cruel reminder, “you didn’t get killed because we didn’t allow it.”
Now I’m wording this in a way that is intentionally obtuse, but I see her arc as reclaiming what the capital reclaimed after she reclaimed what was restricted to the districts in the first place. While the color teal, the lighthouse ghost persona, and even magic might be initially tainted, Piper’s growth will be in deciding not to let the capital redefine what means love to her. Teal, the lighthouse ghost, and magic are all examples and displays of love the capital can’t take away, nor even gets to know. They can mean empowerment and strength instead of loss and misinterpretation. In the same way she reclaims those symbols of love and identity, she is also capable of redefining her relationship with her prosthetic. It becomes more of a means to access autonomy and a way to rediscover her identity and independence, rather than a symbol of violated autonomy and loss of identity. Maybe… she’ll even have Annie paint over the Rose! Please! Please can Annie paint over the rose! Pleeeeeeeaseeeeeeee /j
OK, I still have so much more to say, but that’ll be in other asks. Like, I’m not even done talking about chapter 28, and then there’s chapter 29 and 30 and now the side story and I just cannot be normal about this series. Like “maybe the blue curtains are just blue curtains” but hell if I don’t find an elaborate way to analyze everything.
Jane a great rest of your day and as always, thank you for sharing this world with us!
AAAAA HIII! Welcome to the party! Take a seat, we have cookies! Can't wait to read your thoughts! Also you're far from late, don't even worry! Always take your time!
Oh my god, you really did your homework Anon! Okay, this got me even more excited to reply to this, because I have actually been leaving little foreshadowing moments fo a while, but always thought they were too sneaky. Okay, okay, I'm so excited to speak about Piper's identity and how it is handled by the Capitol after her Games, let's do this!
The technology will be developed more as the chapters go on. Admittedly at first Piper has no idea, so I'm kind of having her discover it more as she grows more comfortable with it and also with not wearing it, finding out what works. But... this chapter was exactly made with the aesthetic of it being the focal point for that reason! So I'm genuinely SO EXCITED for this!
First of all, NEVER feel like you're being too woke in my fic. Like, if you think you are being too woke, you're probably the right amount of woke, because you're right. The white porcelain does have a lot of subtext to it. As we know, Piper is mixed, but somehow she is always presented to favor her more "white" traits when it comes to the Capitol. You caught on perfectly to all the subtext about her skin tone always being lightened. Piper's skin is brown, and that, to them, isn't part of the image she should give, mostly due to stereotypes black people are constantly battling when it comes to the media. I'm so sorry, please forgive me for rambling on, but when I wrote about Caspian, I wanted it to be a story about a black boy who was always too quiet, so he was immediately deemed as "dangerous", because of course black people can't be shy. Especially not a black, physically strong man. In a similar note, when it came to designing Piper's storyline I knew I wanted her to be mixed, as I am of mixed heritage and wanted to explore that in this and how it could affect her image in the Capitol. I feel like there is so much to say when it comes to race and racism in Panem. So, in the case for this arm, it is certainly a subliminal message from the Capitol. Porcelain is white and it sends just enough signs about a lot of things, including her race and stereotypes surrounding it as well as what the Capitol is expecting of her now.
YES TO THE ROSE PART! Okay, I'm not sure if this is considered a spoiler. Ugh, I really wanna yap about it though! Okay, I'm not going to say anything in here but I am gonna make a quick post later with the actual spoilery bit so you can choose whether to check it out now or after it is mentione in fic. It'll definitely go more in depth here, as in the fic it'll only be mentioned briefly. Alright, alright, now, time to move on to the teal!
Also, almost forgot! You got it with the gold! I honestly thought that given the patrons are putting their all in this, they want it to look luxurious as possible.
God, I'm so glad you're focusing on all of this cause I did put in so much effort when it came to all these details. I'm so glad you point out how much it means to Piper's bond with Finnick and with Annie, because... this is so cheesy but... Teal fades into seafoam color. So when Piper's teal streaks have been left on for too long and she's in need of a retouch, it's seafoam color by then. This is such a stupid, cheesy detail, sorry! But yeah, these teal streaks represent her history with Finnick and also her time with Annie. They mean so much to her. They aren't meant to be pretty, they're meant to be fun and also a reminder of the two people she loves so dearly (even if she's oblivious about Annie still).
Oh, they certainly didn't like the streaks. There's many reasons but the main one is what you said. Bodies aren't meant to be decorated by District people. Just like District people don't deserve art or magic or anything beyond survival, so, Piper having her hair colored feel very strange to them, especially as it was done in such a special and natural way, with seaweed pigments. Piper, as you say, decides that she is entitled to self expression and that she is entitled to dyeing a few streaks on her hair. The Capitol does not like it. They find it a crude attempt at looking like them, without ever realising it was never the goal. There's also the argument that Piper's hair is copper, brightly so, and there's always been the whole "oh, it'd be a shame to ruin naturally red hair with dye!" thing, which is also, in her case, tinted with racism a little, as her red hair was so loved by them because it was reminiscent of her ginger mum.
In fact, as I was choosing the color, I decided I wanted it to crash with her hair color. I didn't want it to be a common combination. Because I feel like the Capitol thinking it clashed against Piper's red, so it was "ugly" was so important. Because Piper never did it with aesthetic in mind. She's always had a very complicated relationship with being considered beautiful in the first place.
Oh, definitely. The teal streaks have become a 'signature look' for her in the Capitol without them caring about what it meant in the first place. The fact that they had began selling Piper Ronan's hair dye line while she was asleep proved just how much they were like "okay, let's take this part of her that was fully hers and make it ours and profitable". I adore how you think, what you said about Piper' hair symbolizing agency and her arm symbolizing loss of autonomy is perfect. Literal poetry.
AAAA NO BECAUSE THE WAY YOU GET TO THE BOTTOM OF IT ALL, YES, YES! The worst part of Piper's waking up is her losing the Lighthouse Ghost because from the very beginning it had been a small rebellion of hers built on joy that the District was supposedly not allowed to have. She did it with scraps and with fear and tried to create something beautiful out of it, but now, everyone knows the Lighthouse Ghost and it's related directly to her time in the Capitol and the arena. She is no longer feeling in control of the narrative so, as a way to cope, she dettaches herself from that title and that persona that had once been so dear to her.
NOT YOU REFERENCING THE BIRTHDAY PARTY SCENE CAUSE YES, YES! IT'S SO IMPORTANT! Piper always wanted her magic to not feel the way the Capitol's performance does. She wanted her magic to be inclusive for everyone and anyone, without an age limit and most definitely without money being involved. The Lighthouse Ghost, however, had been considered by Capitolites for ages. The Victor's daughter who did magic. In creating something for her District she'd almost forgotten she was always being studied by the Capitol. The Ghost accompanies her in that Capitol show and it also goes with her in the arena. Somehow, while she is there, she still holds onto it, but the moment she is faced with the Capitol trying to rip so many things off her, she shields herself in thinking she is no longer the Ghost, that it's been taken from her.
ORION MY MANS, oh god, I remember when getting that comment about him making deliberate choices through his designs got me, cause yes. He is very aware of the messages he is sending with Piper. He's making her unreachable in a way, because you can't touch a ghost, and in making it so evident he is also giving her some safety. But the most important part is what you said. He is basically saying "this could have been her" to all those Capitolites that had been sobbing in their houses while watching Piper starve in the arena. But it can also just be a distraction. He is very smart about his messages and makes sure that usually they can be read in two opposing ways.
Yes, totally. Your analysis, as always, is on point. She needs to survive this and the greatest way to do it is to use the Lighthouse Ghost as a foreign figure and a tool to dissociate. It has too many implications of heavy moments and people that had once loved the ghost. Ironically enough, Piper is, for the first time, afraid of ghosts, but because of the emotions they awaken in her. I adore that you went back to her beginning as the Lighthouse Ghost. Your study on it is beautiful. I agree and you'll find that Piper is,at her core (much like Peeta), a lover girl. She needs love, love is her motivator and her strength, so, it will certainly be love that gives this persona meaning once more and gives her the will to make it hers again. But you'll certainly see more of that in her upcoming chapters!
Oh, definitely. Snow enjoys having caught Piper and making it known that, in the end, she was wrong. Ghosts can be caught. At least, with their definition of what being caught entails. It's something that will also be developed as the fic goes on, but I love that you caught on that, cause I didn't know if anyone would! It's very much yet another "you're ours now" situation, a power play that she is always meant to lose from this perspective.
THE WAY I CANNOT SAY ANYTHING REGARDING THIS PARAGRAPH OTHER THAN... I love how you view this fic and I feellike you truly, really understand what it is and what it means at its core. Seriously. I can't say much other than this is certainly only the beginning and that Piper is not someone who gives herself up when it comes to what truly matters. But I can't say anything else cause I'm afraid of spoiling!
I won't speak further on the matter other than... I'll be posting a very short spoiler to answer your request/question. Partially cause I cannot wait to give you guys more Annie. Partially cause... sweet. It'll be in another post tho, so you can choose whether to check it out or not!
Honestly, I'll say I don't think you're over analyzing at all. If anything, you're catching up on all the things I doubted anyone would care about, so, thank you so so much for that. As always, thank you for your time and for sending me these. Having feedback means more than I can say and it keeps me so hyped to continue sharing my writing. Thank you so so much for loving this story so much and being so passionate about it. Can't wait to get those other asks! I'm so sorry for posting so many things so quickly!
Hope you have a super lovely night, Anon! Thank you so so much for all of this, seriously! It definitely made my day!
