#maybe when i finish my thg reread i Will write like. part 1 of that in snippets from his perspective

[crazyness-overpowers]

there's a whole lot about how goddamn smart haymitch is. he's a kid from the seam, the poorest part of the poorest district, but he gets it. he has the idea to break the arena, he can read people and put things together even at his lowest (he's being put through intense mental turmoil and still figures out what lucy gray baird meant to snow, among other things). at least half his shit after the games can easily be interpreted as him playing it up as being worse to cover for what he actually wants to do. he knows he has to be seen as a non-starter in order to get anything done at this point. and it's so good

[porchwood]

Hi just so I understand cause i keep waiting for it and it doesnt seem likely to happen have you kind of fallen out of love with wtm? and everlark in general tbh? cause ive been following you for a while now and you always had lil quotes and pictures and things that reminded you inspired you whatever it was about katniss and wtm and now alllll it is is gadge i followed you because personally i love what you did with everlark and im just wondering if thats gone and not foreseeable any time soon?

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to answer this… It’s afair question - to a point. If you’re more of a drop-in person (like me) thanlive-on-the-dash, coming back to find my blog awash in Gadge might have beenquite upsetting. There are several reasons for the current state of things:

1. Life has been driving me into the ground since December26, 2013. (Yes, going on six straight years.) If you were a WtM reader from thebeginning, you may recall that I was pretty energetic and prolific in 2012-2013.Oh, there were tough times, but nothing like what started on the aforementioneddate (a car accident where I was in the “bystander” vehicle and it still got totaled)and has continued relentlessly ever since. Sometimes adversity leads to greatcreativity and sometimes it turns you into a depressed, exhausted, reclusivelump, and the past 5+ years have seen periods of both from me. These past 18months have been exceptionally awful (and expensive), resulting in very littlewriting at all, about any pairing.

2. Writing WtM takes a lot out of me. I don’t know whether thisis common knowledge or not, but it’s the gospel truth. I love that world, Ilove that version of Everlark, but every chapter requires so much hard work, itmakes me tired just to think of it. Not to mention, over the past couple of chaptersEverlark have been pushing for more intimacy than the plot/timeline allows, andso I’ve been struggling with how I want to handle that. Do I fight them andstick to the plan? (I can’t advance the timeline for several reasons.) Do I tryto figure out a cheat for them? They’ve got minds of their own and have changedmy plans multiple times, but this is something they genuinely can’t have, and Ihave to fight them on it. ☹ Which is sad, frustrating, and exhausting.

3. I’m a multi-pairing shipper, and have been from about 3chapters into WtM. Which means that my Everlark fics almost always feature asecondary pairing (or more than one), and sometimes I’ll get a plot bunny for afic about a pairing other than Everlark. Most writers in the THG fandom exclusivelywrite their OTP, whatever the plot bunny, but I find that some plot bunnies don’tfit Everlark as well as they do another pairing. (This is why I’ll never write aBeauty and the Beast Everlark fic unless Katniss is the “Beast,” if you will.)

4. The Everlark fandom is…tricky. I’ve never fit in there. Idon’t write Everlark the way the majority of fans see them (except for Peetabeing “sweet,” I guess), I hated the movies (I refuse to see MJ 1 or 2), and I’vemanaged to really rub some people the wrong way over the years –unintentionally, and for a variety of reasons – all of which leaves me feeling kinda down about Everlark in general. Don’t misunderstand me: I love Everlarkand WtM, but it’s really isolating to be this sad little island of unpopularopinions and unwelcome side-ships. That’s the part I really wish I could makeyou understand. For six years I’ve had Christopher Plummer in my head saying, “You’llnever be one of them,” and he’s so, cruelly, right. I want to cry every time Ithink of Embracing the Season (my E-rated Everlark modern AU oneshot for Lovein Panem - lots of daring for me!) because I poured heart and soul into that andit still wasn’t the Everlark that people wanted.

5. About a year and a half ago (when Strawberry Time reallytook off of its own accord) I participated in Gadge Day 2017, working my buttoff to find and schedule (and tag) over 100 carefully chosen Gale/Madge/Gadge aestheticposts, and for lack of a better way to say it: it turned on my Gadge-dar. After that, thosekinds of posts just leapt out at me whenever I had a chance to scroll, and forseveral months I wasn’t sure what to do with that. With a little encouragementfrom @ghtlovesthg, I came up with #march madgeness – wherein I turned my Tumblrinto Madge/Gadge-land for one month, and it was a blast. (Side-stepping Gadgefor a moment: Madge is a highly underappreciated and underused character,especially in fic/on Tumblr and I love splashing the dash with Madge-love.) Thenext month I launched a run of pent-up Everlark posts (i.e., regularprogramming), but I missed my Madge, so I instituted #madge monday – one day aweek when I could splash the dash with Madge/Gadge. At every juncture I gavepeople tags to block if they didn’t want to see this content (though I stillget unfollows every time I post, alas). I participated in last summer’s THG Reread– on the fringe of it, but my posts (reblogs and meta) were strongly Everlark-focusedagain during that time. So there’s definitely still been Everlark on my blog,but if you’re just dropping in (or for that matter, glancing at my archive), you’regoing to see a majority of Madge/Gadge.

6. Frankly, Gadge is fun. It’s a completely different dynamicthan Everlark, with less pressure to create something transcendent, and whenthe chips are down, I’m more likely to work on something that isn’t my six-years-runningopus. This spring, in the midst of lots of awfulness, I finally wrote a piecethat I’ve had in my head for years – The Best Part of Waking Up – with a differentpairing featured in each drabble “chapter,” including Gadge, Luka/Johanna (whoI’ve been wanting to put out there for AGES) and Jack/Raisa. I haven’t beenable to write quickly in years, and I think I finished those three “chapters”in about two days, maybe three. I completed the Raisa drabble in a couple ofhours and I consider it one of the best things I’ve ever written. (Honestly, ifa pairing was going to topple Everlark in my heart, it would be Jack/Raisa, i.e.,Mr. Everdeen/Mrs. Mellark. I love them to distraction.) Once upon a time I could drabble/sprint Everlark too – notoften, but I could manage it. Maybe it’ll happen again someday, but for thetime being, when I write in quick eager bursts, it’s usually about aside-pairing.

7. Because I just need to say it: about a year ago, I set up a secondary Tumblr for almost all my side-interests and ships outside of THG. When I first joined Tumblr, porchwood was just a fun page where I posted whatever struck my fancy (pretty things, funny things, whatever I liked), and over the next few years, I honed it into a pretty “writer’s notebook” for WtM and my other THG fics (related quotes, aesthetic posts, writing check-ins, etc.). When Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out, I shared a handful of posts pertaining to a new ship (not a new direction for my blog or writing, just sharing my excitement) and it was made very clear to me that people didn’t want to see that content on my page. So when I started watching Voltron: Legendary Defender, I had a sneaking suspicion people wouldn’t want to hear about those ships either. So I started an entirely new Tumblr for that content, and every so often I accidentally post something to the wrong page, which I immediately correct in horror, but people still unfollow. Point being: this blog is THG (and a few personal life updates) ONLY, with a pretty consistent aesthetic. I hide literally everything else that I’m interested in so you don’t have to be bothered by it. Is it really so unacceptable for me to have side-ships (complementary to the main pairing, not threatening to them) in the same universe??

8. Believe it or not, I’ve been working on WtM all along,just not making any massive strides. I tried to chip away at the current chapterduring Camp Nanowrimo last July, and it was a disaster. I thought joining awriting group would be helpful, but I didn’t realize that Camp Nano is basicallya lot of writing sprints in which you try to churn out as many words aspossible, which you then report to your “cabin” – and that’s the onlyinteraction with your fellow writers. I can’t write like that anymore (seeabove) and especially not when it comes to WtM, so I got discouraged veryquickly and sort of drifted away. I reattempted Nano on my own in April and wrotealmost 15K words, but in that instance I was really just using the Nano platform toset and reach a goal (which I didn’t ☹ ); I wasn’t in a cabin and didn’t interact with anyother writers, except my friend @ghtlovesthg, who read the finished portion.

9. I want to finish this dang chapter so much, and frankly, theonly way that’s going to happen is if life gets a little better and I holemyself up with my laptop for hours on end for weeks at a time – and somemagical being comes to support/cheer/comfort me while I do so. It’s currentlysitting at about 25K and I anticipate it will need to be at least double that,which is beyond ridiculous, but that’s the nature of WtM. The chapters are asmany words as it takes.

TL, DR: I still love Everlark and I’m still working on WtM, but my life has been extremely difficult for a very long time and I don’t have a great Everlark lifeline. Gadge and all my other ships are fun, and most of the Gadge you see on my Tumblr is aesthetic stuff for themed days/months/occasions. Anything non-THG goes on my sideblog.

[tanglewood-queen]

10 Questions

1. Which of your OCs is the most like you?

Emma Town. I have to say, I don’t know that she is the most like me, but she is the one I try to be the most like. She’s not a perfect character by any means, but she is that one character that has the traits I want: bravery, intelligence, kindness. She’s not a main character, but she is my favorite. She’s selfless and has had a difficult life, but it doesn’t stop her from smiling. I actually write small short stories from her past just so I can be in her eyes sometimes. She wouldn’t work as my main character but I love her.

2. Do you have an idea that you just know would be your magnum opus if you could ever get around/motivated to write it? (or is that what you’re working on now?)

The Below and Tanglewood are both offering a lot. The Below was meant to be a trilogy, and the issue is that I can’t get out the next two parts (even though I’ve finished the first). It means the world to me. I do think Tanglewood could be great — it’s a fantasy with unique creatures and a unique world, if I could just work with it. I’m currently working on both.

3. Do you have an idea of what you want to work on next after you finish your WIP?

Not really. I do want to try out doing a children’s book next, however, and I’ve been playing around with ideas. I love to write YA, and I was thinking about testing the waters with a little younger. I’d love to have something for my children one day.

4. Are you doing NaNoWriMo? Why/why not?

I’m signed up for it this year, but who knows if I’ll go through? I’m kind of cheating if I do. I was planning on doing my rewrite for The Below.

5. Did you start out with fan fiction or original fiction?

Original. I’ve only written small, personalized fan fiction (as in people request short ones that have them in it). I haven’t done that in YEARS but it definitely wasn’t my thing. Maybe it’s because I don’t obsess over things much anymore, but I don’t particularly enjoy reading them either. Maybe a Harry Potter one?

6. What is the strangest book you’ve ever read?

I haven’t read a lot of “strange” books. So we’ll talk about one I had a strange experience with. A Prayer for Owen Meany. I read this book for my AP English class in high school. It took me the entire summer, I hated every second of it. When I read the last page? I was bawling my eyes out because it was over. Don’t ask me why!

7. What inspired your current WIP?

The Below: To be perfectly honest, I don’t remember. I started this when I was a junior in high school (five years ago). It was when stuff like THG and Divergent were big. I really loved the whole dystopian idea. I remember creating all of it, but none of the story was really INSPIRED by anything other than what was in my own head.

Tanglewood: This one is funny. So my husband and I were driving through a town I’d never been to, and I happened to glance over. I saw a street sign — Tanglewood Road. It clicked. Literally, this story just fell right into my head! I already had one of the characters (Simon Strange, I actually dreamed him up), and then a fantasy creature I had been wanting to work with. It was PERFECT.

8. Do you/have you tried drawing your characters?

I have definitely tried. And miserably failed.

9. Have you taken any personality tests for your characters?

Actually, no. I’ve never thought about doing it, but it would probably be interesting!

10. What time of day are you at your most creative?

Either at night or early in the morning.

Note: just realized I did the wrong questions. Oh well! 20 questions!

Questions:

1. Do you have a go-to series that always inspires you?

Harry Potter. I reread it all the time.

2. What is the biggest cast you’ve ever written?

The Below has a TON of characters. I’ve obviously gotten rid of a lot of them, but they’re still secretly there, just not in the story being told.

3. First person or third person?

Definitely third person. I don’t even like reading in first.

4. Do you have a routine you follow when you sit down to write?

Nope! I just let myself go. A routine might make me work harder, but I’ve set myself up to expect this! Lol

5. Have you written any scenes that you’re particularly proud of?

Oh yes. Preferably my horrible, graphic scenes. I’m very good at writing death and destruction. The scenes that will scar you for life.

6. What was the first story you ever wrote?

The first one I remember was in fifth grade. I don’t remember what it was called, but it was about these little creatures that came out of lightning bolts when they struck the ground.

7. Would you live in any of the worlds you’ve created in your stories?

I would really like to live in Tanglewood. The Below (the place is called Ilysia) wouldn’t be too bad after they rebuild it from its dystopian state, but at the present time it would be a terrible place to live.

8. How often do your characters just ignore the outline you made for them?

Pretty much always. I like to have an outline for everything, but more often than not, I wind up coming up with awesome ideas mid-write and just go with the flow.

9. Are there any common themes that pop up between your WIPs?

The only theme that I’ve seen so far is two of my characters, Simon Strange and Eben Lloyd, are nearly identical. Thanks for pointing me toward thinking that because now I better tweak one of them. Also, that the antagonist is usually a parent. Maybe not to the main character but to a character. That probably says a lot about my own life.

10. Do you have a favorite quote about writing?

“If a story is in you, it has got to come out”

[javistg]

ok, so the writer as memes. I want all the answers. ALL. OF. THEM.

Here you go, @everlarkingjoshifer! Thanks for the ask, I loved doing this!

I answered some of the questions in previous asks so, to simplify, I added the links here.

1. Favorite place to write. 


2. Favorite part of writing. Plotting and outlining. I just let my mind wander, coming up with scenarios and possibilities.


3. Least favorite part of writing. Second guessing the choices I make, followed by all those pesky questions that sometimes creep into my mind.

4. Do you have writing habits or rituals? 


5. Books or authors that influenced your style the most. THG trilogy, obviously, that’s the universe that got me into fan fiction in the first place. But Graham Greene has also had a great impact on my writing.


6. Favorite character you ever created.
 I haven’t really created many original characters, but there’s this girl from D1 who will make an appearance in WIWTTW. I like her a lot. I might even write an outtake from her POV.

7. Favorite author. 


8. Favorite trope to write. 


9. Least favorite trope to write. 

10. Pick a writer to co-write a book with and tell us what you’d write about. I’d love to write something with Mary Hoffman. I love her “Stravaganza” books. It would be awesome to work on something like that. In the fan fiction world, I’d love to do something with @notanislander. Yes, Carrie, you! I think we’d have a great time figuring out a story. Probably something about Everlark not getting together right away ;)

11. Describe your writing process from scratch to finish.

A. Have an idea (usually these come when I’m watching/reading something that inspires me, or while I’m in the shower. 

B. Write down the basics. 

C. Fill in the gaps in the plot (sometimes I even include bits of dialogue into this step) 

D. Divide de plot into segments (chapters). E. Write, aka develop each one of the points in the outline. 


12. How do you deal with self-doubts? Depends on how much of the story I have. Sometimes I ask someone to read my stuff and comment. But mostly I just clench my jaw and hit the “post” button. 


13. How do you deal with writers block? Sometimes I go back to reread stuff I’ve written, or I go over the plots I have stored to see if something catches my eye. I also ask for prompts from other blogs or participate in writing challenges. @promptsinpanem​, @everlarkficexchange​, and  @everlarkbirthdaydrabbles have all been great for me, having an idea and a due date pushes me to get my act together. 


14. What’s the most research you ever put into a book? I haven’t done a lot of research yet. But I always try to check small facts here and there. 


15. Where does your inspiration come from? Most of my inspiration comes from THG trilogy. Everything I’ve posted so far is fan fiction and most of it is either canon compliant or in Panem. So that entire universe has proven to be a great source of inspiration for me. 


16. Where do you take your motivation from? Have you ever reread something you wrote and wondered where those words or ideas came from? I’m constantly surprised by some of the passages I’ve written and I’m curious to see what else I can come up with. That curiosity is what drives me to keep on writing. And, on the days when that isn’t enough, the comments and reviews from my readers also stop me from giving up.


17. On average, how much writing do you get done in a day?  


18. What’s your revision or rewriting process like? Slow. Basically I read and reread what I have. This is where most of my insecurities creep up on me. Sometimes I’ll change a single sentence many times, only to discover that the best version was the first one. 


19. First line of a WIP you’re working on. 

Gale Hawthorne couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Her blond hair, loosely tied in a messy bun at her nape, shone like spun gold under the relentless summer sun.” (Strawberry Swing my submission to this year’s @mores2sl​ collection)

20. Post a snippet of a WIP you’re working on.


21. Post the last sentence you wrote in one of your WIP’s.
 

“It looks great. The ground floor looks like one of the houses from the old merchant quarter.” Looking out into the street, Haymitch added, “I hope you’re prepared for a big shock, a lot has changed since you left.” (Why I Went to the Woods)

22. How many drafts do you need until you’re satisfied and a project is ultimately done for you?
 Depends. Usually, my first draft is little more than a simple outline. Sometimes my second draft fells complete but, most times, it takes three drafts to add all the details and points that I want into a story.

23. Single or multi POV, and why? I like multi POVs because they give you allow a deeper understanding of what’s happening in the story. I like exploring the different sides of every story.


24. Poetry or prose, and why? Prose. My brain simply doesn’t compute poetry. 


25. Linear or non-linear, and why? 

26. Standalone or series, and why?

27. Do you share rough drafts or do you wait until it’s all polished? Sometimes I share rough drafts but I try to polish as much as possible before showing my drafts to anyone.

28. And who do you share them with? I have a handful of betas I rely on from time to time. 
@burkygirl, @xerxia31​, @thegirlfromoverthepond​, @everlarkingjoshifer​, @titaniasfics​, @pinksnailsaver​, and @randomnoteforfuturereference​ have all come to my aid at one point or another.

29. Who do you write for? Me!


30. Favorite line you’ve ever written.
 Wow, that’s a difficult question! This is the first one that came to mind: 

Anyone watching would have noticed how they mirrored each other, flustered and humming with nervous energy. But no one was watching, and they were so consumed with each other’s presence they failed to notice the reciprocity in each other’s gaze. (One Victor CH9)

31. Hardest character to write. Gale Hawthorne. 
Maybe it’s because I’m nothing like him, or because Gale’s Window was my very fist fic. But I’ve always had a hard time channeling him.

32. Easiest character to write.
 It depends on the day and the story. For the most part, I enjoy writing Peeta. He’s usually easier than Katniss. And I absolutely loved writing Haymitch! Can’t wait to do it again.

33. Do you listen to music when you’re writing? Not if I’m alone. Sometimes I write during my commute, or while the hubs is watching TV, so I use music to block out the noise.


34. Handwritten notes or typed notes? Typed. Always. 


35. Tell some backstory details about one of your characters in your story Capitol Life. Both Katniss and Peeta are recruited by Haymitch to become spies for the rebels.
 Peeta has to fake his death in order to escape District 12.

36. A spoiler for story Why I Went Back to the Woods. Peeta and Katniss will run into each other in the woods.


37. Most inspirational quote you’ve ever read or heard that’s still important to you. Here are two:

Procrastination is the thief of time. Charles Dickens. It’s simple, but it reminds me of what I’m losing when I just let time slip by.

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. Oscar Wilde. A beautiful reminder that we have to look beyond what’s there and strive for something better.


38. Have you shared your outline of your story One Victor with someone? If so, what did they think of it? Yes, I have. They thought it was good but suggested a few changes for the ending. I haven’t reached that part yet, but I’ll probably follow the advise they gave me.


39. Do you base your characters of real people or not? If so, tell us about one.
 I always try to keep my characters as close to canon as possible, but my version of Peeta in Weekend Getaway is heavily inspired by someone I met when I was a teenager.

40. Original Fiction or Fanfiction, and why? As a reader I love both. As a writer… Fanfiction, at least for now. Who knows what the future holds. 


41. How many stories do you work on at one time? Honestly, I can’t really focus on more than one story at a time. That’s why my WIPs progress so slowly. If I get distracted by a new project I put everything else on hold while I finish the new thing. 


42. How do you figure out your characters looks, personality, etc. The characters I’ve created so far exist within THG universe, so I’ve based my descriptions on information from the books. 


43. Are you an avid reader? YES!


44. Best piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten. “Describe what the character is feeling as if you want the reader to feel the same thing.“


45. Worst piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten. An anonymous comment from someone who clearly didn’t even finish reading the chapter and who had issues with the relationship portrayed in the fic in question. The truth is that I shared the reviewer’s POV. If they had finished reading, they would have seen that the characters were discussing those exact issues. 
The way it was the review was angry and useless.

46. What would your story One Victor look like as a tv show or movie? Here and Here are two inspiration boards for it.

47. Do you start with characters or plot when working on a new story? Since I always use the same characters… plot. 


48. Favorite genre to write in. Romance, humor, suspense.

49. What do you find the hardest to write in a story, the beginning, the middle or the end? The middle. The beginning is always exciting and the end feels like you’ve accomplished something. But the middle is no man’s land. 


50. Weirdest story idea you’ve ever had. Honestly…. I’m drawing a blank…


51. Describe the aesthetic of your story Capitol Life in 5 sentences or words.
 Let’s see… cold, dreary, desolate, opulent, soft. I know it sounds a bit contradictory, but the story is divided into two sections. It’s probably easier to check out my inspiration board for it.

52. How did writing change you? It’s made me happier. It’s allowed me to get in touch with myself. I get to explore my thoughts and my imagination in a way I didn’t before. It’s liberating.


53. What does writing mean to you? It’s a challenge. The challenge of finding the right words to tell a good story. I don’t always succeed, but I really enjoy trying. 


54. Any writing advice you want to share? Write to find peace, to find freedom, to fill your life with fantasy and adventure, with romance. Write to make yourself smile.

[porchwood]

THG Reread: Interesting Tidbits from Ch 1

Disclaimer: I’ve never taken part in any official THG reread/discussion and I essentially read the book in isolation, so anything I say in these posts may well have been discussed and dismissed years ago.

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and crawled in with our mother.

I find it interesting that Prim leaves Katniss to find comfort with their mother, especially since Katniss seems to see herself as Prim’s sole protector and provider. Are Prim and Mrs. Everdeen closer than Katniss realizes (having such an abrasive relationship with her mother as she does) or is it simply that Mom will always be Mom and in a moment of terror most children prefer the embrace of their mother over a sibling?

Also: sleeping directly on a rough canvas-covered mattress? Are bed sheets are that great a luxury in the Seam? :(

I swing my legs off the bed and slide into my hunting boots. Supple leather that has molded to my feet. I pull on trousers…

So she gets out of bed and puts on her boots, then her trousers... So...girl’s a firefighter, right? :D

(Sorry for the crummy pics. Apparently the Tumblr presence of the Emergency! fandom is microscopic at best - I guess that happens with a ‘70s show :P - so these are screenshots I made from the S1 DVD, because yes, I’m that big of an Emergency! fangirl and you can never have too much Johnny Gage!)

It gives “girl on fire” a whole new meaning!! ;D

All merriment aside, we know that fire was a constant danger in the Seam, with its “old wooden homes embedded with coal dust,” so it’s entirely possible that residents slept with trousers and boots in readiness at the bedside, to be stepped into at a moment’s notice for a rapid escape if needed.

I…tuck my long dark braid up into a cap…

This has been discussed in previous rereads so it really isn’t news, but I’d love to see more Katniss-in-a-cap popping up in fics and fanart. THG opens in summertime and she’s still wearing the cap, so it was definitely a staple of her wardrobe! (And it brings us a little closer to the girl-disguised-as-a-boy trope, which is one of my all-time faves! :D)

(Behold this adorable @ghtlovesthg rendering!)

Our part of District 12, nicknamed the Seam, is usually crawling with coal miners heading out to the morning shift at this hour…

Somehow I had always (erroneously) assumed that there was just one twelve-hour shift that all the miners worked (ex. 6am-6pm). Since artificial light would be required inside the mines anyway, I suppose they could work around the clock with no regard to the sun and stars. Folks who live in/near coal mining communities: do they generally operate 24 hours a day or is there some arbitrary cut-off point in the evening? (I’m sorry I’m so ignorant about this!)

Most of the Peacekeepers turn a blind eye to the few of us who hunt…

Has anyone else figured out who these mysterious additional hunters are??

I watch as Gale pulls out his knife and slices the bread. He could be my brother. Straight black hair, olive skin, we even have the same gray eyes. But we’re not related, at least not closely.

First off: it truly befuddles me that Katniss’s hair color is stated on page 8 of THG (though, interestingly, never explicitly afterward) and yet it’s unusual - maybe even rare - to find fanart or even fics that depict her with black hair. Why is that? I was in love with her long black hair from moment one (truly black hair is unique, at least in my part of the world, and so striking to boot) so I probably belabor it a bit in my own writing, but it’s such an exquisite feature, why would you not?

Secondly: “He could be my brother.” That feels significant, and not merely in the “we look alike” sense. I’ve been working on a post about how Gale came into Katniss’s life in a very significant fashion after her beloved father’s death and she was drawn to him because of certain (I would venture to say striking) commonalities, but as I was wrapping it up last night (and sharing various details with my favorite sounding-board @ghtlovesthg), I realized there was a whole - vitally important - flipside to my theory that absolutely cannot be overlooked. So I might not get that finished till we’re on CF or even MJ. (No spoilers just in case someone pips me at the post - pun inadvertent ;) - but I think it’s pretty cool!)

And thirdly, because I can’t resist: I headcanon that Gale and Katniss are cousins through their great-great-grandfather (Galen Greenbrier, if anyone cares :D), who had two daughters (Aisling and Elspeth), who each had a daughter (Wren and Ashpet), who had Hazelle and Jack (Mr. Everdeen), who begat Gale and Katniss, respectively. Ergo: related but “not closely,” per canon. :)

With both of us hunting daily…

I’d always thought Gale and Katniss only hunted a few times a week, with Sundays being their largest haul/best trading day. (“Usually we devote all of Sunday to stocking up for the week.”) I know Twelve is an unusually permissive district at this point in time, but if two Seam kids were sneaking back and forth under the fence every single day and (forgive me) flaunting the fact by selling game in town (and when did they do this? before school, after, both?), surely, inevitably, the Peacekeepers would have been obliged to do something about it. Or were there some trips where Gale and Katniss only brought back enough for their own families, making their illegal activities not quite so blatant?

Cross-referencing with Catching Fire, I find Katniss saying, “Back when we were in school, we had time in the afternoons to check the lines and hunt and gather and still get back to town to trade” - exactly what time did they get out of school and how late were they doing these trades (not to mention, when did anyone get homework done)?? - but she also says it’s “an hour-and-a-half trek” just to check the snare line. I guess it isn’t impossible, but it seems a much more extensive (and time-consuming!) arrangement than I would have thought they could get by with, even in Twelve.

We easily trade six of the fish for good bread…

Like the rest of you, I’m trying to figure out who’s selling this “good bread” at the Hob. For some odd reason, at one point I thought maybe the bakery’s day-olds were sold there, à la:

They could potentially sell said day-olds at less of a discount than merchant clientele would demand but the reduced prices would be low enough for some Seam clientele to afford, and of course, even day-old bakery bread would be superior to homemade tessera bread (and therefore: “good bread”). 

I’m not sure where I got the “bakery outlet” idea (I think it was all the early canonverse fics where Katniss ran into Peeta in the Hob, so I figured he was running a day-olds stall or something) but having been away from it for awhile, I actually kind of like it! :)

You become eligible for the reaping the day you turn twelve.

I’m going to wax exceedingly about reaping ages in another post, but for the moment: I presume this rule means that anyone who turns twelve between reaping days becomes eligible for the subsequent reaping, correct? So if we arbitrarily set the reaping at, say, June 1, someone whose birthday is on June 2 wouldn’t be eligible till the following year. (Which would be especially terrible for your 18-yr-old reaping: being a day away from 19 and freedom, of a sort, but still having to go through one last reaping.) Now I think of it, it’s possible Career districts took advantage of this. Highly invested parents in a Career district could have planned their pregnancies with the intent of a late summer birth (i.e., a month or two after reaping day) so the resulting children would have the advantage of extra months up on other tributes in their same age group.   

On the flipside of this: Prim, whose birthday is in late May, would be an especially young tribute, since she’s only just turned twelve (think school kids with summer birthdays who don’t turn the “right age” for their grade till 1-3 months after school is out), and similarly Katniss, whose birthday is May 8, would be on the young side of the group of sixteens. 

“Pretty dress,” says Gale.

Madge shoots him a look, trying to see if it’s a genuine compliment or if he’s just being ironic. It is a pretty dress, but she would never be wearing it ordinarily. She presses her lips together and then smiles. “Well, if I end up going to the Capitol, I want to look nice, don’t I?”

Now it’s Gale’s turn to be confused. Does she mean it? Or is she messing with him? I’m guessing the second.

Gaaah, so much going on here! I can’t decide if I want to make a proper Gadge post, so in the meantime, here’s some food for thought:

1) Why does Gale remark on her dress? Really - give me suggestions, because I’ve been turning it over in my head. If it’s meant to be ironic and she gives him sarcasm in reply (as seems to be the quintessential Gadge dynamic :D), it’s odd that he would be confused and not have a volley/riposte/etc of his own on deck. I mean, Katniss doesn’t seem to know (or at least, doesn’t clarify in her narration) whether or not it’s a compliment -

2) Which is interesting, because she guesses straightaway that Madge is “messing with him” in reply. ;)

3) Gale gives Madge what outwardly seems like a compliment and this is what ensues. One might surmise they’ve done this before... :D I mean, if there was no precedent, Madge would’ve just said “thank you” and exchanged money for berries. Since the mayor is such a valuable customer (being one of very few who can afford their asking price for strawberries), it’s interesting that Gale would antagonize Madge and risk losing the strawberry trade - not to mention bringing up the subject of tesserae at the mayor’s back door on reaping day! Does he take similar potshots at other merchants or is it just Madge? Is he irked (even threatened) by Katniss’s friendship with Madge? (I love that Katniss immediately defends Madge in the face of Gale’s tesserae rant. ♡) Does he feel like he can sound off at her (with impunity) because she’s Katniss’s friend? Or is he secretly crazy about her and resigned to the fact that he’ll never get her but the reminders of the impassable gap between them still incense him? Sorry, my hand slipped there for a sec. ;) 

Gale knows his anger at Madge is misdirected.

I didn’t recall this line from previous reading and it just makes me happy. :)

To my surprise, my mother has laid out one of her own lovely dresses for me. A soft blue thing with matching shoes. [...]  For a while I was so angry, I wouldn’t allow her to do anything for me. And this is something special. Her clothes from her past are very precious to her.

I’d never caught the “matching shoes” bit before! Do you suppose Katniss means dyed [blue] to match/covered with matching fabric (so that’s what they do at the shoe shop!) or simply that they go well with the dress? And if she means that the shoes literally match the dress: is this a particularly special dress (hence particularly special shoes) or is it customary for merchant girls to order shoes to match their dresses?

And further: why this year? It doesn’t sound like Mrs. Everdeen has offered one of her apothecary-era dresses before, which could have been due to Katniss’s repeated rebuffs, but still: why offer one of those very precious dresses this year? Did she have a feeling about this reaping? Or is she starting to see Katniss as a young woman, not just an angry, resourceful child? (Coupled with the fact that she subsequently puts Katniss’s hair up, the latter makes a lot of sense.) 

On a sidenote: Has anyone written meta on the significance/usage of braids in Twelve? (Notwithstanding WTM: Ch 13 and all that Mellark bridal braids/braid coils/engagement hairpin business.) Ex. Does a girl "graduate” from pigtails to a single braid around puberty and then to a crown braid as a young woman/wife, or does she/her mother simply style it however she feels on any given day? I’m just now realizing that I consistently picture reaping day!Prim in pigtails because of the film, but it doesn’t state in the text how her hair is styled, so it might be in a single braid or held back at the temples with a clip or even worn loose.

The square’s surrounded by shops, and on public market days, especially if there’s good weather, it has a holiday feel to it.

I’m really curious about “public market days,” since the Hob seems to be Twelve’s primary market - or at least, has become so in fanon - but Katniss makes a clear distinction between them (“Make only polite small talk in the public market. Discuss little more than trades at the Hob, which is the black market where I make most of my money”). Is this public market like a farmer’s market or a craft fair - or a bit of both? Is it simply the “merchant version” of the Hob? How often are they held? Who gets to sell at this market, and what sort of wares are we talking about? (Is it just merchants bringing their product outside, like a sidewalk sale?) Does the Capitol/Justice Building collect a fee from everyone wanting a stall/booth/table?

Edit: While looking up details for a different post, I found this passage:

Gale and I went to the market on the square so that I could buy dress materials [for Prim].

So apparently they sold fabric and notions in the public market? (Not at, say, a mercantile/general store?) I’m wholly confused now!