So There

“They said you’re my wife,” says the boy strapped to the bed.

“I told them that, for your immunity. Confirmed it. Or whatever. They had me sign the paperwork. Make it official.”

He considers his own pale, bruised knuckles. “Smart,” he finally assesses. “Thank you.”

“They said you’re aggressive,” she says, shifting her weight, aware that they are monitoring this interaction closely. “You don’t seem aggressive to me.”

Peeta makes a noise in his throat, something between a cough and an agitated groan. “No one will tell me anything. Not even what happened to me. I mean, I know I was tortured.” He gives an acerbic laugh that makes him wince. Ribs, probably. “I think they were experimenting on me. Needles.” His eyes go out of focus for a moment, then he stirs. “I don’t like doctors,” he says. “When I woke up, I guess I lashed out.”

Then that’s why she wasn’t allowed to visit him at first. Was the reasoning that he’d be a danger to her, or that she’d break down, seeing him as he is now: skeletal, battered, with a cold, brittle edge to his voice?

“And now?” she says, taking a step closer. “That you’ve been awake?”

He shakes his head. His mouth trembles. “I still don’t know what to think. I’m not a threat. Not to you. But it’s all the same. The Capitol. Thirteen. Beds. Restraints. Even the lights are the same. You’re the same. The same as when I dream of you — and I — ”

Katniss moves on instinct, climbing into the hospital bed, straddling his waist, and fumbling to undo the restraints. He stares up at her, his mouth parting in shock. She knows people are probably panicking behind the observation glass, but she doesn’t care. Haymitch can do damage control. He owes her that.

“It’s not all the same,” she says, freeing Peeta’s wrists, trying to ignore the pinprick scars all up and down his skin. “I’m here.” She wraps herself around him as the door opens and doctors come in, her arms around his welted back and her legs pinning him beneath her.

Peeta makes a pitiful sound, like a small boy frightened of a storm. “Katniss.” It’s like he’s just realized she’s real. His arms lock around her like a vise.

“Miss Everdeen,” comes the chastisement. “You can’t — ”

“Don’t tell me what I can’t do with my own husband,” she snaps. “He’s fine. He’s safe.”

all the fear and the fire of the end of the world

THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (2013) dir. Francis Lawrence

So I reread the jabber jay scene and the scene after to draw this

and holy shit I'll never get over how much of Peeta's dialogue and character got cut in the movies

Most of his role in these scenes was cut entirely or given to Johanna of all people?? (love Johanna, I just think it's kinda funny)

and it is true. i think it is widely accepted in the fandom that the first movie is the worst of the adaptations. and francis lawrence fixed some of the problems people had with the first movie. some of them...

but the hopes that were ushered in with his arrival were quickly crushed. because he consistently reduced its female protagonist to a simplification of tropes.

the books present a version of katniss everdeen that is complex. katniss is the type of person to refuse to cry in front of her family and district after volunteering for prim (thg, 23). she is also the same person who holes herself in her room to sob after shooting an arrow at the gamemakers during her private session (thg, 103). 

katniss is the type of person who never has plans to marry and have children because of her trauma (thg, 9; cf, 8). but she is also the same person who is maternal to children in the series (thg, 199; cf, 2; cf, 7; cf, 91). and she is the same person who feels a surge of giddiness when the boy she was attracted to says sweet, absurd things like how being sent to a death arena was a piece of luck if it meant that he could finally talk to her (thg, 301). or the same girl who momentarily forgets that the boy that she loves was tortured because she is basking in the euphoric anticipation of seeing and kissing him again (mj, 152)

katniss is a character with A LOT of complexity. because she is a teenage girl. she has a lot of desires to express her emotions that are natural. but, because she is traumatized from years of hunger and a single focus on survival, these emotions are often suppressed. especially when her survival could be compromised by showing them.

but francis lawrences's adaption failed to capture this nuance and instead reduced katniss to simplistic tropes. and, the first of which is the stoic badass protagonist. in the series, katniss is not portrayed as having regular teenage girl emotions. moments from the books where katniss is crying over her private session or blushing at peeta's flirting are completely pulled from the movie as katniss becomes the badass protagonist. she is cold. she is defiant. she is powerful.

she is not a girl desperately trying to reapply the bandages to peeta's wound before she takes out the berries. instead, she shakes her head in defiance and sticks it to the capitol. leaving no interpretation that she could have been doing it to save peeta because she loved him.

because in the movies, katniss is not a teenage girl. she is only the mockingjay, a badass revolutionary.

and anytime that katniss was not her stoic, girlboss self, she was reduced to another trope: the hysterical woman.

when i looked at the books, katniss doesn't actually cry that often and she especially does not cry in front of the cameras. i was initially very surprised about this because in the movies… she was hysterical all the time. all the freaking time.

when rue dies (thg, 234). when the man in district eleven is shot (cf, 18). when she finds out that she won't be able to say goodbye to her family before the quell (cf, 53). when she considers losing both gale and peeta in the capitol (mj, 144). in the movies, she. freaks. out. on. camera. (which is completely out of character)

in the books, katniss is emotionally affected. sure. of course. but she didn't hysterically sob. never. especially in front of the camera. she knew better.

there were only two times in the books where katniss hystically sobbed on camera. once, when peeta hit the forcefield (cf, 79). and when she realized how snow was torturing him to break her (mj, 141).

and these moments in the books are so powerful. because they do not happen often. because in that moment, katniss is so overwhelmed with the thought of peeta dying or being tortured that she doesn't even consider how it looks for her to be hysterical. how it makes her look weak. weak for loving someone in a world where your love can be used against you. because all she can think about is him (cf, 79; mj, 141). because he is her freaking lover.

so, francis lawrence completely missed the mark with katniss's characterization. first because he wouldn't let her just be a teenage girl. he reduced her trauma response to stoicism. and instead took a role as plutarch and molding katniss into a revolutionary. 

and, second, his depiction lacked the nuance of her responses to trauma. she was not hysterical. her screams would not fill a stage. they were usually blocked in her throat, only privy for her to hear (mj, 120). 

“From District 12, Lucy Gray Baird.”

This is my piece for the “This would have happened anyway” challenge by @promptseverlark ♥️ I wanted to also make a small tribute to one of my absolute favorite fanfics “On the Threshold” by @ghtlovesthg that also happens to be a TWHHA fanfic. 🥰