UGH THIS POST IS SO BEAUTIFUL I CAN'T EVEN DEAL. It's almost frightening how closely it all fits.
And although Peeta/Katniss has utterly consumed my brain (GOD THAT FIC YOU LINKED BTW!!), I actually really loved what you wrote about Katniss/Gale here. When I first read the books (lol last week) their ending just made me so sad. And it still does, but at the same time I am fascinated by how tangled their relationship became due to the war. You can tell in the beginning that even though they were perfectly in sync about so many things, there was a slight difference in the way they spoke about the the terrible world they found themselves in. But at the time that was just talk, they were just kids. And then to see them both forced to grow up, and forced to have those ideas manifest in a real way...it was just heartbreaking. But I think there was something real about what happened to them. It wasn't specifically one thing or the other. These intensely horrifying situations can bring unlikely people closer, and sometimes put a
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There's a part of me that loved Katniss/Gale from the start (BFFs with repressed feelings!) but I think that I'm drawn to them even more now BECAUSE they're so doomed and tragic. For her, their relationship is so cemented in what they were, in the easiness they had before the Games, he represents a time before these awful things happened to her but her Games are what make him a revolutionary and now he's looking to the future so they'll only ever get snapshots when time is stood still. UGH. KILL ME NOW.
BUT realising that has made me really appreciate Katniss/Peeta. GENUINE MULTI-SHIPPING! I don't understand why/how I didn't love Peeta more the first time I read the books but !!!!!! I LOVE THAT KID!!! I'm still not convinced by his story in Mockingjay but 'real or not real' is the GREATEST.
Yea, I kind of like them more for being doomed too. I think the only time I really think about them in a semi-romantic state is pre-series. And then after that it's more about longing for what might have been? Or for another time? It seems odd that the "innocent" part of the series so to speak is more or less spent with them hunting in the woods. Despite everything, that's where they were happy...for a time. But I guess some relationships are just meant to exist in a certain part of your life
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'Romantic' seems a really way of characterising the Katniss/Gale relationship to me because from she the moment she volunteers it's obvious that they can never really have a future together as she's going to share this horrific experience with someone else and he'll never be able to fully understand that, just as she'll never be able to know how it felt to have to stand-by and watch. From that point on they'll only ever have moments but it takes them so long to realise that. But UGH, I love watching them try to fix it
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Ah! I've actually wondered for a long time why I LOVE SO MUCH to tie existing short-form pieces of vague subject matter in with more concrete, fleshed-out characters and universes that exist separately (i.e. from another creator's mind). The primary example of this is the fanmix. I honestly view fanmixing as a true art. (My personal effort at a Hunger Games mix is actually forthcoming...)
To me, this is clearly what you are doing here. And I love it. I love to read the excerpts (and the poem you linked) and let my mind situate it within The Hunger Games. I'm not huge on standalone poetry in general -- to be honest. (As for Margaret Atwood, I've read and much enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx & Crake, although it's been years.) And a part of me has traditionally felt ashamed that I should enjoy such a piece much more with that forged context in place
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I completely agree about fanmixing being an art to the point that I rarely do it because I get really nitpicky! Whilst I appreciate fandom's effort I'm often really frustrated as people fail to strike the right balance between lyrical relevance and tone/musical consistency. Some people manage it flawlessly but it takes me months to get everything ~right~ by which time I've usually lost interest!
It's mutually beneficial to each work, to live in this space, isn't it? This is exactly right. The poetry has more resonance when it can be considered alongside/contextualised with established characters and situations whilst my appreciation the book is hugely improved by the poetry's stunning style - the themes and characters are made infinitely more vivid. (As you may have gathered I am not a fan of Collins' style throughout and the plot for Mockingjay is horrific!) I'm far more content existing within this personal headcanon informed by this poetry than I am in the books as a whole!
Bless this post to pieces. This series is a source of constant heartbreak for me because I love it so much and can't stop rereading it. But you've coupled it with Atwood! The power of her poetry is so good alone, but I feel absolutely overwhelmed by how you used it here. I'm destroyed, seriously. I'm not a major multi shipper, but I always felt so much sorrow for Gale and his unrequited feelings for Katniss. Like their relationship would forever be stuck in the past because of the war.
But it's Peeta and Katniss that really kill me. The constant question throughout the series over whether their love is real or orchestrated, and either way, how can they use it to survive. Just A Games by Birdy was playing so loud in my head while I read this that I had to listen to it about 50 times afterwards. ;-;
I read the books for the first time a couple of years ago and came away a little underwhelmed (curse you 'Mockingjay'!) so I'm genuinely shocked by how invested I am in the characters now having watched the movie/reread the books!
My reaction to Mockingjay was mixed the first time I read it. I know the themes of the trilogy in general are horrible, but I felt truly horrified by what was happening in the third book. Like how Katniss and Gale didn't exactly grow apart. It was more like the war snapped them apart, and I really felt sad for both of them. And then how much Peeta hated Katniss. And then how Prim died and then Katniss's death wish really manifested. I was thinking "Dear mercy, is anything good going to happen to the poor girl ever again?!" Even when Peeta started to get better, Katniss had been yanked off the pedestal he put her on, and I had no hope for that relationship until the end of the book.
It retrospect, that was probably good for Katniss/Peeta, but I really wasn't feeling it until I reread Mockingjay before the movie came out. And now I've already seen the movie three times. I'm just so invested asdfghjkl;. /end ramble
I adore the soundtrack. My favorite song right now is Come Away to the Water, but all of the tracks are really resonate.
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....Apparently, the volume costs 25 bucks here in Singapore CRIESSS. But this was such a lovely post, thank you for sharing your thoughts ♥ Coincidentally we are doing Atwood's The Journals of Susanna Moodie (a more obscure work of hers I suppose) in literature class right now!!! I will probably take awhile to read some of the poems and digest your post, then come back to respond appropriately again ;;; Admittedly I'm very new to this fandom - I only read the trilogy this week after catching the movie in cinemas, but I am in love with the plot and Peeta/Katniss!
Also I couldn't help sneaking around on your profile - you went to Oxford THAT'S ABSOLUTELY IMPRESSIVE ♥ ♥ ♥
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And although Peeta/Katniss has utterly consumed my brain (GOD THAT FIC YOU LINKED BTW!!), I actually really loved what you wrote about Katniss/Gale here. When I first read the books (lol last week) their ending just made me so sad. And it still does, but at the same time I am fascinated by how tangled their relationship became due to the war. You can tell in the beginning that even though they were perfectly in sync about so many things, there was a slight difference in the way they spoke about the the terrible world they found themselves in. But at the time that was just talk, they were just kids. And then to see them both forced to grow up, and forced to have those ideas manifest in a real way...it was just heartbreaking. But I think there was something real about what happened to them. It wasn't specifically one thing or the other. These intensely horrifying situations can bring unlikely people closer, and sometimes put a ( ... )
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There's a part of me that loved Katniss/Gale from the start (BFFs with repressed feelings!) but I think that I'm drawn to them even more now BECAUSE they're so doomed and tragic. For her, their relationship is so cemented in what they were, in the easiness they had before the Games, he represents a time before these awful things happened to her but her Games are what make him a revolutionary and now he's looking to the future so they'll only ever get snapshots when time is stood still. UGH. KILL ME NOW.
BUT realising that has made me really appreciate Katniss/Peeta. GENUINE MULTI-SHIPPING! I don't understand why/how I didn't love Peeta more the first time I read the books but !!!!!! I LOVE THAT KID!!! I'm still not convinced by his story in Mockingjay but 'real or not real' is the GREATEST.
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To me, this is clearly what you are doing here. And I love it. I love to read the excerpts (and the poem you linked) and let my mind situate it within The Hunger Games. I'm not huge on standalone poetry in general -- to be honest. (As for Margaret Atwood, I've read and much enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx & Crake, although it's been years.) And a part of me has traditionally felt ashamed that I should enjoy such a piece much more with that forged context in place ( ... )
Reply
I completely agree about fanmixing being an art to the point that I rarely do it because I get really nitpicky! Whilst I appreciate fandom's effort I'm often really frustrated as people fail to strike the right balance between lyrical relevance and tone/musical consistency. Some people manage it flawlessly but it takes me months to get everything ~right~ by which time I've usually lost interest!
It's mutually beneficial to each work, to live in this space, isn't it?
This is exactly right. The poetry has more resonance when it can be considered alongside/contextualised with established characters and situations whilst my appreciation the book is hugely improved by the poetry's stunning style - the themes and characters are made infinitely more vivid. (As you may have gathered I am not a fan of Collins' style throughout and the plot for Mockingjay is horrific!) I'm far more content existing within this personal headcanon informed by this poetry than I am in the books as a whole!
Reply
But it's Peeta and Katniss that really kill me. The constant question throughout the series over whether their love is real or orchestrated, and either way, how can they use it to survive. Just A Games by Birdy was playing so loud in my head while I read this that I had to listen to it about 50 times afterwards. ;-;
Reply
I read the books for the first time a couple of years ago and came away a little underwhelmed (curse you 'Mockingjay'!) so I'm genuinely shocked by how invested I am in the characters now having watched the movie/reread the books!
Isn't the soundtrack great?
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It retrospect, that was probably good for Katniss/Peeta, but I really wasn't feeling it until I reread Mockingjay before the movie came out. And now I've already seen the movie three times. I'm just so invested asdfghjkl;. /end ramble
I adore the soundtrack. My favorite song right now is Come Away to the Water, but all of the tracks are really resonate. ( ... )
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Also I couldn't help sneaking around on your profile - you went to Oxford THAT'S ABSOLUTELY IMPRESSIVE ♥ ♥ ♥
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