chrkrose

[chrkrose]

Nettles with the dragon Sheepstealer - Art by ertacaltinoz

[chrkrose]

HELLA'S 8K CELEBRATION 🌿@henwilsons asked "💍🥰"

Do you remember when we first met? I thought I had wandered into a dream. – JRR Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

[chrkrose]

BRIDGERTON (2020-)

KATE AND ANTHONY

3.01

[chrkrose]

SIMONE ASHLEY & JONATHAN BAILEY Bridgerton | BTS

[chrkrose]

She was. It was very weird. It’s as if she was trying to erase Maysilee importance from her own story, and weirdly stripping her away from things that were supposed to be hers to carry on and giving it to Lenore. I’ve written before how I don’t like the way Lenore is written, but there’s something else I dislike as well: I feel like Suzanne did pitch the two of them against each other, even though what she was trying to do was push Maysilee away from the story so Lenore could have center stage instead.

I think Maysilee looking so much like Peeta in appearance on a surface level, only to have a personality that is so much more similar to Katniss in its rage, having her being the owner of the pin that later on comes back to haunt Snow in the form of the rebellion, and the subtle call backs she draws to the coven (who was her grandmother???) would have been a much more interesting story to watch, and the type of subtle writing that Suzanne used to go for. It would feel much more natural in the worldbulding as well. I also don’t like that she made Snow’s vendetta against 12 so personally tied to Lucy Gray. LG should be an echo, and certainly something that grates at him, but it would be so much more effective to me if Haymitch and Maysilee were an “echo” to the “future”, aka, bringing back Katniss and Peeta in a role reversal way, so when Peeta and Katniss do show up, it feels grander.

I also think it would have worked better for the theme she was going for (propaganda) if the version we got from Haymitch games was a downplay on Haymitch and Maysilee’s bond. It didn’t even have to be romantic for it to work (although I wouldn’t be against it either, I don’t think romance cheapens or makes a storyline poorer, quite the opposite when it’s done right), just have their bond being something the capitol starts to fall for and roots for (two people who disliked each other coming to love each other in the end in whatever form), and that Snow realized that and squashed it by manipulating the games and selling a different version of it when he realizes what’s happening. That would tie really well with Haymitch later on being one of the main people to orchestrate Katniss and Peeta PR romance even before the games begin, because he knew he needed to establish a narrative before snow could have the power of erasing it at his convenience.

Anyways, I feel like Suzanne had a very weird thing going on when writing Maysilee, and that if she had allowed her presence to be what it was supposed to be (because I don’t believe for one second that this book was what she had in mind when she first created the character), we would have had a much more natural and better book in hour hands.

There was something about Maysilee and Haymitch being a role reversal of Peeta and Katniss in how they became allies in the game and down to their appearance and where they came from in District 12, with Maysilee being the original owner of the pin, and how Haymitch later becomes one of the key players of the rebellion that has the mockingjay as its symbol…

And Suzanne Collins threw that away because she was weirdly self projecting some mean girl vendetta against Maysilee and erasing her from her own storyline. Go figure.

Nvm the whitewashing of Haymitch’s character that she contributed it to by not firmly describing his appearance in the book and now with them casting two blonde white actors to play Maysilee and Haymitch.

A shame really.

[chrkrose]

Kate, Anthony and Edmund Bridgerton II circa 1815

[chrkrose]

Happy Anniversary Kanthony

[chrkrose]

Just remembered that Anthony Bridgerton was at the altar, writing his own reader-insert fan fiction about getting married to Kate, in front of God, the Ton, the Archbishop and his family

[chrkrose]

Bride in Bridgerton Blue

[chrkrose]

There was something about Maysilee and Haymitch being a role reversal of Peeta and Katniss in how they became allies in the game and down to their appearance and where they came from in District 12, with Maysilee being the original owner of the pin, and how Haymitch later becomes one of the key players of the rebellion that has the mockingjay as its symbol…

And Suzanne Collins threw that away because she was weirdly self projecting some mean girl vendetta against Maysilee and erasing her from her own storyline. Go figure.

Nvm the whitewashing of Haymitch’s character that she contributed it to by not firmly describing his appearance in the book and now with them casting two blonde white actors to play Maysilee and Haymitch.

A shame really.

[chrkrose]

Kate: I’m moving back to India Anthony: the actual living embodiment of the this is fine meme

[chrkrose]

the main reason i struggled to connect with the haydove storyline was because so much of it was tell not show. haymitch recalling past interactions with his tRUe loVe at random moments throughout the book was less romantic and more irritating as a reader. i understand in the circumstances, there wasn’t the time to have them develop over time or see the course of their love, so when we just continually get told they love each other like all-fire it’s like…. okay? but like.. i’m still not that invested.

that’s why i was immediately drawn into his dynamic with maysilee. it’s all happening in the present. he’s had these long held views about who she is and what she does — she’s the most stuck up girl in town, she flounces around in nice dresses and nail polish, nicknames him itchy itchy haymitchy, supposedly looks down on everyone else in town — but he soon learns there’s a lot more to her than he realised. his perceptions of her are challenged, and he comes to not only really respect her, but genuinely like her. they form a trusting bond despite their initial dislike/mistrust of each other. they have a mutual disgust of the capitol and you’re lying if you think they don’t find it admirable and attractive, that the other doesn’t back down in the face of adversity and stands up to anyone who disrespects them, which could and does often result in disastrous consequences (haymitch placing louella’s body directly in front of snow, maysilee slapping drusilla right back, haymitch actively trying to dismantle the arena, maysilee attacking the gamemakers who are trying to fix the berms etc). and yes, we hear that lenore has done some of this too back in 12, but again i feel less connected to it because it’s all tell and not show. maysilee and haymitch’s acts of defiance are shown, not told.

not just that, but they actually get along? their little chats in the training room, the way they joke around together a lot in the arena (miss donner! mr abernathy!), the way they look out for each other and care about each other. that’s a gOOD STORY. that dynamic is so engaging and fun to read, and ultimately so tragic when they have to split up, and he ends up losing the girl he swore he didn’t give a stuff about? and he holds her as she’s dying, pinky swearing to tear down the capitol brick by brick. like??? him seeing her twin sister back in district 12 and running to her, screaming her name?? only to realise… it’s not her. but her face will haunt him forever. LIKE. my HEART. none of his reminiscing of lenore or their two three-page scenes managed to hit as hard as these two.

even his interactions with effie??? like i was SEATEDDD. i loved how she was still kind, empathetic and respectful, despite being brainwashed. she was still a good person, who had been completely indoctrinated into a set of ideals by her government. but clearly had the empathy from the beginning to change perspectives as the story goes on. the way they come to trust each other. the ‘i’m not going to hurt you’ ‘i know’ like???? nothing about their relationship gave romance (yet), but their interactions were so damn lovely, and knowing she stuck by him all those years afterwards, just adds to the sweetness.

in conclusion, sc should’ve made maysilee his love interest. she set it up perfectly. he didn’t need to have the girlfriend back home (she was like lucy baird 2.0 like….. we’ve seen it already) when the tension with his fellow tribute served so hard. him and maysilee basically acted like parents to half the tributes like are we SEEING THIS!!!! and the story still set up effie to be his second chance at love. like the slowest of slowburnnnnn. i need ten more books on that. it’s what i deserved and what the narrative should’ve followed through with, because those relationships were the pumping heart of the book (aside from louella/loulou).

[chrkrose]

“Do you ship...” Buddy I will ship almost anything if I think about it too long. I love love and situations

[chrkrose]

I hate that the pin is covey. I’m seeing posts on TikTok about how maysilee was so “ungrateful.” And “terrible.” For not liking the pin 💀 way to make Katniss the chosen one.

Exactly. I've seen people defending this choice as presenting Maysilee for being spoiled pre-games, or how great of a decision it was to make the pin matters bc Madge made it matter when she gave it to Katniss. And just... Not at all, no.

While I'm certain that Maysilee not likening it was written specifically to show her being mean, it really doesn't. We know very little of Maysilee's relationship with her parents, but all evidence leans into 'not great' territory. We already know Maysilee likes looking different than her twin, so giving them almost identical gifts is already going against her wishes but also... not likening something doesn't make you spoiled. I was raised in a veeeery lower middle class home, and never wore jewelry but before my 14th bday, my mom told me that my aunt wants to buy me a bracelet. I asked her many times to suggest my aunt to buy me a book instead, because I don't want a bracelet and I won't wear it. Of course, she never did so, so I got the bracelet and was forced to wear it each time the aunt visited us. I'm telling all this because Maysilee and her pin remind me of this story from my childhood, which moral is LISTEN TO YOUR CHILDREN. Like it's not hard to know your kid's taste, if you listen to them. Yes, Maysilee likes jewelry, but she also likes being her own person, so as long as Merrilee gets a very similar pin, the gify fails.

Also, making Maysilee hate the pin affects her twin too tbh. Like, we know that Merrilee never recovered from her twin's death, so her keeping the pin was a strong suggestion that it mattered to her sister. But nope. And it's not like she didn't have anything else to remind her of Maysilee- hell, the tokens are returned with bodies as far as I remember, so it would be only natural for Merrilee to keep the necklaces instead.

Honestly, the whole point of making Maysilee hate the pin is the same as minimalizing her role in the book, as never giving her grace to show her background, which was done with Peeta to show Katniss that merchants are not immediately luckier than her. It's to undermine her, which sounds riddiculous about a fictional character, but it's true. For years, people believed Maysilee was this very important element of 2QQ, but in this book she's criminally underused, and I can't shake off the feeling that it was done bc Suzanne wanted direct connection between Katniss and Covey, and also to create the trio of Covey girls through three generations. But not only. Honestly, it feels very directed at the fact that Maysilee isn't poor, because SotR plays very much into the noble poverty trope.

It would be so easy to include that damn pin, but it would also mean taking something from Lenore Dove, who seems to be creator's pet.

[chrkrose]

jb bedding [real]

[chrkrose]

Trying to find a way to fix SotR, a short essay by yours truly.

(Mind you, I'm still reading this book but it doesn't matter - we all know how it ends, not only due to reading Catching Fire, but also because this book is almost offensivly predictable in most aspects. So, these are not my final thoughts, but my proposition how the book could be improved in my humble opinion.)

First and foremost, don't make Haymitch a narrator, except for the epilogue. Because Haymitch brings nothing new to the table as POV: he's a boy from the Seam, half-orphan with one sibling who he loves very much or at least we're supposed to believe that because he struggles to find a fuck about anything else than Lenore Dove alas, all we've already seen. We know this perspective. Instead, give us two narrators: Maysilee Donner and Lenore Dove. One for describing the games from the inside, and give us a peek into Capitol 24 years prior to the og trilogy, and one to let us finally take a look into districts when the game is on. Especially since, as someone pointed out, 2nd Quarrel seems like a moment when the anger in districts started to slowly outweight the fear of Capitol - because this time they took almost fifty children, and it's both horrifying and, against Snow's wishes, makes them realize for the first time that the numbers are on their side, not their opressor's. This would also fix the problem of us not knowing much about Haymitch life before the games: because Lenore Dove is part of this life, so what would she do in this scenario? Try to help Abernathys by taking over some of Haymitch's duties in the household? Spent time with their mutual friends, when they're forced to watch the games, so at least they could have emotional support while doing so? Also, having Haymitch as the narrator of the epilogue, outliving both POVs who told the story of the quarrell, matches him being the only survivor of the arena.

Having Lenore Dove as POV could avoid adapting the Covey as some sort of noble savages, who live sort of outside the system, and are so much more aware than others. The Covey we know from TBOSAS are just a bunch of young people who were forced to live in one place, with no adults to take care of them, and by the end of that book they took another blow, losing their unofficial leader. Show us the real Covey, two middle aged, lonely men raising a girl, who clearly romanticizes Lucy Gray - which in itself tells us, how dear her memory is held. Seeing Lucy Gray through Lenore Dove's eyes could even serve as a good commentary on glorification and dehumanization of inspiring figures: something we can currently see with people thirsting over Luigi instead of focusing on his case, and even with the weird woobification some people do to Bisan ("if Bisan die, we riot" etc), as if she isn't reporting on mass genocide for people to focus on the entire situation, not her. It was something only briefly touched upon in the og trilogy, and it was seen from Katniss' perspective, when she was the subject of that, so, unlike what we actually got, it would be something new in SC's commentary.

Don't retcon Haymitch's personality. Let him be cocky and arrogant, it doesn't automatically mean he's a bad person. Hell, he was like that through three books and readers loved him, so it's not like it isn't even a safe option (and SotR chooses safe options for itsplot through and through). Moreover, it's a possibility for another commentary: sexism. Because Maysilee is rude and confident too, but she's treated like a bitch, while Haymitch is a loveable rascal. By keeping Haymitch's original personality, the book would allow them to be each other narrative mirrors - different backgrounds, different lives, but similar personalities. Show us both how differently they're treated back in D12, and how differently Capitol approaches them because of their gender, when they say similar things.

Bring Chaff in. If you don't remember, who Chaff is, don't worry - Suzanne Collins seems to forget as well! Anyways, Chaff is the victor of 45th Hunger Games, and Haymitch's friend, who lives in D11. He could be very easily vowed into the plot by assuming that usually every tribute has their own mentor, so D12 this year gets three: Mags, Wiress and Chaff (and none for Louella, as she still dies in this version before they arrive in the apartament). Not only for the development of his and Haymitch's relationship, but also to give his character some depth. I think Mags and Wiress' relationship with Loose Cannons was actually one of the bright points for the book, so Chaff having interactions with both LC and the other two mentors could work well.

Don't shy away from romance. Not because of fanservice reasons, but because it can compell the narrative and give the story another layer. With prequel like SotR you obviously need some parallels to the source material, but you can twist them - and Maysilee and Lenore Dove are perfect for that. Whether you like Gale or not, Lenore Dove is Gale of this story, even in the og book, no matter how SC avoids this comparison bc people don't like Gale. She already shares emotional connection with Haymitch, she lives life similar to his, she despises the merchant families from D12 (her constant criticisms of Maysilee...), she's open in her hatred for the Capitol - but in the end, all she could do in SotR was to sing some songs, unlike Gale, who was the first one to push for resistance in D12. So show Lenore Dove as this initially strong person, who gets challenged by reality, and it turns out that she isn't as tough as she thought of herself. On the opposite side we have Maysilee, or Peeta of this equation. A merchant kid, conventionally attractive (pale, blonde etc), with implied not-so-pleasant family life (her comment about her mother choosing clothes for her and her sister implies some sort of lack of control of her life even in her household) - but, unlike Peeta, she's angry. And she doesn't try to appeal to people, she bares her teeth at them, which they don't even expect of her, giving her proper looks and cool attitude. The romance doesn't have to be outright spelled out to readers, it can only be implied that Haymitch and Maysilee's trauma bonding is getting into territories dangerous for his relationship with Lenore Dove. Just don't throw that damn sibling line out of the blue and let readers decide for themselves, how they read it. Having said that, I believe that Snow would definitely frame this version of Haymitch and Maysilee as romantic to get on Lenore Dove's nerve, as in his head she's merely a Lucy Gray's proxy.

NO PLANNED RIOT PLOTLINE. We already had that in CF, and it clearly wasn't in Collins' head while writing about Haymitch's games in there for one obvious reason: Capitol would never let Mags or Wiress or Beetee live, if that was the case. Sure, those characters still should provide the tributes with some informations that would be useful later in the plot, but the entire idea of Newcomers is about these kids grasping the reality that they outnumber the enemy. Let them use this and decide to ruin the arena as the one last hurrah from them because they know they're going to die, so might as well show Capitol that they're here. That they matter. We had small act of defiance in the very first book with the berries, but everything after that was some sort of greater secret scheme - so let's go back to the roots, and let the tributes be the initiators. Let their riot inspire the rebellion, be the first spark and the start. Leave. The. Agency. To. The. Tributes. Bonus gain? Avoiding of accidental ableism by retconning Wiress' autism-coded behavior and Mags functioning despite implied stroke as the effects of Capitol torture. Not everything has to be the evil caused by the Capitol! Mags entire arc in Catching Fire was so moving and powerful because it was a woman so old, she couldn't even talk anymore, yet she still decided to save people.

ENOUGH OF THE DAMN RETCON JUST TO SHOW THAT EVERYONE ARE CONNECTED. Yeah, D12 is small, the Seam is even smaller, so it's obvious Burdock and Haymitch knew each other and were probably friendly, but WHAT IS THE POINT OF MAKING THEM SUPER BESTIES, WHEN HAYMITCH NEVER MENTIONED ANYTHING ABOUT IT IN THE OG BOOKS? While it's obvious that he could influence Katniss through that the moment he started to care about her winning? How come that Katniss never knew anything about the Covey, if it was still alive and well with her dad apparently having more than one Covey relative? (And how big is Covey anyways? I feel like SC doesn't know either). Just stop with the fanservice ffs. And yeah, Effie totally was in D12 for the last 24 years. Totally. Apparently, Katniss is just an idiot who doesn't understand what she sees.

While we're at it, stop making Capitol look stupid. I can buy Snow letting Haymitch live after the parade because he decided it's a better punishment to have him fear the unknown - but that's as far, as my suspension of disbelief can go. The Second Quarrell was supposed to be the biggest event ever held by Capitol until 75th games, yet there's a fuckup after fuckup. I know it's supposed to show us how neglected D12 is, but I think it could be done without making Snow look like a fucking idiot, who's apparently not feared enough by organizers, if they aren't afraid of screwing something up. That being said, the accident on the parade can still play out similarly to how it happened, simply because accidents happen, especially with 48 people in the chariots. I could make entire bulletpoint just about how badly Snow is written in this book for the sake of reminding people of Snowbaird, but not having Haymitch as POV during their encounter before introducing Lou Lou basically erases this problem. We still could see that Snow is not over Lucy Gray, and will be forever bitter about it without spelled it out in the most riddiculous way possible.

Remember the love triangle plot I proposed? It also helps with Haymitch as a middle-aged man still longing after his dead, teenage girlfriend. It's not romantic, it's creepy - and Suzanne Collins knows it too, because she makes sure to let readers know that he totally sees her in his imagination as if she grew old with him. While never letting that one teenage love go suits Snow, because he's an evil person who never develops emotionally, it doesn't suit Haymitch's characterization; moreover, it doesn't work as a narrative foil for Snowbaird, because Lenore Dove never decided to stay with Haymitch. She's dead, and it's not her ghost, only his fantasy of her. But where's Maysilee's place in all of this, if she's dead too? Well, that's kinda the point. Maysilee, the girl with whom he emotionally cheated with on his girlfriend, and also the first death for which he can blame himself. And when she dies, he promises himself that he'll never let Lenore Dove know the truth, that he will lie about what she saw on tv, especially after learning that Lenore Dove is the only one left for him, because his family is dead too - and then, Lenore Dove dies as well (in this version, still by Haymitch's unknowing hand, but I think it could be executed better), filling Haymitch with regret that he could neither stay loyal, nor save her. The geese metaphor would be fine, if SC did fact checking and knew that geese mourn for a long period of time but eventually can find another partner. Haymitch can still mourn the girl(s) he loved, but the period of mourning ends for him when the war ends, and there won't be any more dead girls like Maysilee and Lenore Dove. Of course, since I hate how Haymitch's entire mourning in the books was retconned into a single target, the girls are not the only ones he mourns, his family, Louella, Lou Lou, and the tributes from the next 23 years are also what haunts him - but his two love interests have a special place in the line because the regret of 'casuing' their deaths is mixed with personal regrets of very grounded teenage mistakes that couldn't reach any resolution. And when the war ends, the world in which his two biggest regrets died, ends as well, so he can finally heal with his family of choice: Katniss, Peeta, and Effie too (honestly, I think even SC believes that movies handled Effie better than her in Mockingjay). We don't need another romance in the epilogue, but we need the spark of hope that it can happen. Not necessarly with Effie, Asterid would be a reasonable narrative choice as well, but don't just leave this man who lived a lonely, miserable life still hanging onto his high school sweetheart. And, for the love of god, if you have to involve poetry, just don't choose the poem that tells you directly that he will never meet his lost love in the afterlife:

Even with all these changes, I think SotR would be a very unnecessary book, but miles more respectful for both the readers and the established characters.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk, I guess.

[chrkrose]

lenore dove doesn't haunt the narrative, she suffocates it.