#katniss is so unintentionally funny

[enobariasteeth]

I love the hunger games movies but they really took so much of katniss’ personality out. She is so fucking funny.

[softchouli]

Katniss: *yawns*

Peeta: yeah, being pretty must be tiring

Katniss frowning: then you must be exhausted

Peeta blushing: what

Katniss blushing even harder: what

[spacegay-archetype]

I reread tbosas so I also decided to reread the original trilogy and I’m on the first book now and I forgot how melodramatic Katniss actually is it’s so funny “I take tiny spoonfuls of fish soup. The saltiness reminds me of my tears” like okay miss girl

[malinaa]

actively going insane rereading thg. the way katniss has unintentionally kept track of peeta after the bread incident… miss girl had a crush and didn’t even know 😭 she’s out here calling him dazzling and steady and thinking about him all the time i’m going CRAZYYYYYY but it’s also so funny that she’s like ugh. what is he THINKING he is an enigma!!!! (peeta: is thinking about Her)

[thegreenthepeacetheorange]

Everlark (Catching Fire, Ch. 12-13)

katniss just eating cheese buns and watching peeta sketch - the life!

it's actually crazy to see katniss still trying to be like 'peeta is just my friend' when she quite literally is prepared to die for him, while her mother and prim are still alive

peeta automatically deciding to go in to protect her. no thoughts, just love for peeta

"my head's spiining from the drink, and i'm so wiped out, who knows what [peeta] could get me to agree to?" what a WILD thing to say. her reluctance to be around peeta because it means she might spill her real thoughts is so funny

once katniss decides she needs to save peeta, that's it. hey loyalties are so strong and her loyalty to (and love for peeta) takes over

when gale comes and says it's not too late to run away, katniss says "and now i've got peeta to protect. end of discussion" and tells him it is. like that's her man and she's sticking by him

in all seriousness, katniss is a girl who is quite selfish. like she has been so preoccupied with her survival so long that she often just thinks in the immediate terms and it's usually to do primarily with what she cares about. while peeta is quite selfless and puts her first by his nature, she tends to think of herself first (this isn't an attack on katniss). i'm just pointing out that now her selfish desire is wanting, NEEDING, to save peeta. he is completely tied to her personal wants.

peeta scolding hungover haymitch and katniss and katniss frowning because he's not hugging and kissing and comforting her is hilarious. like, you "chose" gale the last time you veered into those thoughts so um why are you expecting hugs and kisses? she's so unintentionally funny

the catching fire movie stole so much from us, like peeta, katniss and haymitch training.

katniss is about to go back into the hunger games, like girl's got problems and gale is like "so what are we?" like... come up with something else!

[katnissmellarkkk]

I noticed this when rereading 😭😭😭😭. Idk why it’s so funny to me, but these are two passages where Peeta and Gale (maybe unintentionally) give Katniss a reality check that she’s not the only girl in the world 😂.

-

I make room for him in the sleeping bag. We lean back against the cave wall, my head on his shoulder, his arms wrapped around me. I can feel Haymitch nudging me to keep up the act. “So, since we were five, you never even noticed any other girls?” I ask him.

“No, I noticed just about every girl, but none of them made a lasting impression but you,” he says.

“I’m sure that would thrill your parents, you liking a girl from the Seam,” I say.

“Hardly. But I couldn’t care less. Anyway, if we make it back, you won’t be a girl from the Seam, you’ll be a girl from the Victor’s Village,” he says.

-

“How do you know?” I say, mostly to cover my embarrassment. “Have you kissed someone who’s drunk?” I guess Gale could’ve been kissing girls right and left back in 12. He certainly had enough takers. I never thought about it much before.

He just shakes his head. “No. But it’s not hard to imagine.”

“So, you never kissed any other girls?” I ask.

“I didn’t say that. You know, you were only twelve when we met. And a real pain besides. I did have a life outside of hunting with you,” he says, loading up with firewood.

Suddenly, I’m genuinely curious. “Who did you kiss? And where?”

“Too many to remember. Behind the school, on the slag heap, you name it,” he says.

I roll my eyes. “So when did I become so special? When they carted me off to the Capitol?”

-

[caesarflickermans]

🔥 Happy Birthday Katniss Everdeen 🔥

What's your first impression of Katniss after reading or watching The Hunger Games?

Do you find Katniss likable? Do you think her characterization is realistic?

What do you think the strengths and weaknesses of Katniss?

If today, you can make new movie/series adaptation, who would be suitable as Katniss? Based on visual description and acting talents.

Thank you :)

@curiousnonny

we don't talk about how long this has been in my inbox

What's your first impression of Katniss after reading or watching The Hunger Games?

I honestly don't remember. It's been over ten years, so it's been a while. But I can say that I usually don't care much for the narrating character, and it wasn't any different with Katniss. My opinions on her have fluctuated throughout, I think initially not caring much for her and maybe even finding her a bit annoying/selfish, but I've come to appreciate her a lot over time.

Especially since 2020 when I wrote my thesis on her and I read the books with a specific focus on Katniss, she did grow a lot onto me. I don't see her as annoying/selfish anymore, but a product of the environment where you cannot care about much and you will hold onto what you can.

But I also think that she's actually pretty funny. Intentionally like her quips at Effie, and unintentionally when she's just being SUCH a teenage girl. Being in my 20s now, I find that very hilarious and well written!

Do you find Katniss likable? Do you think her characterization is realistic?

As I mentioned already, I didn't find her likeable until she grew on me.

But more importantly, I find her characterisation very realistic. And it's part of why the trilogy is so good. Katniss is not the heroic main lead who happily topples her government, because those people don't really exist.

She's someone who has lived under the oppressive regime ever since she was born, and she knows nothing but that regime. For as long as she can historically look back, there's nothing but Panem. Her parents lived there. Her grandparents lived and died there, and for all she knows, so did several generations before her.

Believing in rebellion or in the greater good is nothing that really can exist, because it has been stomped out of the people. Katniss being a marionette to the adults around her carries so much symbolism. It's the direct meaning of people in such regimes, but it's also the teenage life with strict parents. It's a rebellion on so many levels, and her finally regaining a bit of that agency once she kills Coin is so wonderfully done.

I love that her love and hate doesn't come from principle itself, but from personal experience. Of course, she doesn't like President Snow. But her hatred is only fuelled when he tortures Peeta. It's realistic.

If today, you can make new movie/series adaptation, who would be suitable as Katniss? Based on visual description and acting talents.

I've since then made a post with this edit, but I love Erana James as a Katniss cast.

I also like Alexa Barajas, who I discovered in Yellowjackets. However, I don't think she has any Indigenous background.

[clatoera]

Book Katniss and Movie Katniss.

What key point or best qualities of Katniss' that lost in the movie adaptation?

What do you think about Jennifer Lawrence portrayal of Katniss?

Thank you

Ahhh. The other half to the Peeta ask.

This feels controversial but I really have very little comments in terms of loss with her. Her personality was genuinely pretty perfect. The love of her sister was so clear. You GENUINELY watched her grow from indifferent towards Peeta to falling in love with him. I suppose my disappointment would come in terms of stylistic choices and the reality of film. No we couldn’t get all her internal monologue, but Katniss inside her head? That girl was funny even without knowing it. The careers have her up a tree and she’s thinking about Glimmer’s name being stupid. Her thoughts on the capitol and their style.. Those sort of things. The girl was funny unintentionally. But also i think we are (again, as with Peeta’s leg) missing the physical burden she faces post games and war. She had hearing trouble due to being in such close impact when the bombs blew up the career’s food in the novel. She is battered and bruised and through an actual war with scars both physical and mental. I do wish we got more of that in the film! That being said those are not movie altering things. I think she was pretty remarkable.

Jennifer is fucking perfect. I remember waiting for the casting to come out for her. Waiting to know who was taking this role. And my god she was flawless. Her facial expressions kill me, especially that Johanna elevator scene. Above all else though? Her range as an actress is phenomenal. Theres a minute long scene where she watches cinna be beat and sobs, rises up to the arena, then goes from confusion at the set up to worry over peeta to rage within a 60 second period. Also mockingjay? Her portrayal of the trauma, the fear, the relief, the betrayals…it felt so real. She was the perfect Katniss. And that comes from me reading it before knowing the casting, and watching her become and embody the role. Jennifer was perfect.

Thank you!!

[jeanmoreaux]

I want to understand so bad why so many people love Catching Fire 😭😭😭 idk why I remember getting bored send help I need to reread the series

Pls tell me what makes so enjoyable for you?

i think on my first read the story definitely managed to subvert my expectations; the twist and turns caught me off guard (which makes sense for a 13yo i guess but i like to believe that even for more experienced readers the story went ways they didn’t expect). to me the tension that this book creates is just something that draws me in (a tension that is created by an instability you can find in every aspect of the narrative). because the stakes rise—this is not just a story about an arena and 24 kids fighting to the death anymore. it’s about an entire nation and its people now. the internal politics take up much more space, you can see the oppressive system at work much more intimately because you see that it extends into every aspect of life in panem. it’s every and influences everyone. not even the capitol‘s citizen are exempt from experiencing the consequences of it in one way or another. you see how, intentionally or unintentionally, some are complicit in their own oppression while others, just as intentionally or unintentionally, rebel against it. and then you have the ones that actively fight it despite the threat of violence and death. you see how fear and propaganda are used to ensure obedience but it also clearly shows you how this method of control is playing with fire…. because desperate people have nothing to lose. for me, cf manages to but thg into a context that gives these games even more (symbolic) meaning. and ofc tensions also rise BETWEEN and WITHIN characters. the everlark dynamic is especially delicious to me in this book (some of these scenes are like bread and butter to me i‘ll never get over them). haymitch relationship with both peeta and katniss is so interesting ESPECIALLY when you know how he’s essentially betraying them both in different ways for half of the book. i also adore some of the side characters we‘re introduced to (finnick and johanna mean so much to me <333). and when it comes to katniss‘s inner world i think the tension collins creates shines the most. the first person narration lets you experience katniss‘s turmoil in a manner that has you realise how torn she is between different impulses and wishes and hopes and fears. and that makes so much sense given the situations she‘s finds herself in throughout the book. and ngl her reluctance to engage with this revolution and accept the role the rebels have assigned to her makes her such an interesting character to me. it’s so realistic how she deals with this entire situation. and what’s even more tragic is how realistic it is that friends and enemies and strangers alike us her for their own agenda without ever even really think about if that’s something she wants. because they can justify it as being ‘for the greater good’…..

the plot covers so much ground as well, from the victory tour to the quarter quell, and both just adds to add to our understanding of panem as a political entity. to have them back in the games again is exciting as well because technically things shouldn’t be different but they are, and they are not what you expect, which just adds to this feeling of instability that the book as a whole evokes in the reader. and at the same time there are light and funny and sweet moments this book that don’t feel out of place because they still have a space in this world that’s only at the brink of rebellion but not quite there yet. and these moments just make you feel for these characters even more because you want That for them. you want them to be happy and safe but you know that they won’t be because the scale is about to tip one way or another and you Know their situation is precarious.

idk there is just so much There from a textual analysis standpoint as well. it’s hard to explain why i love it so much tbh. i just think it’s really well written and very exciting almost in an anxiety-inducing way because you’re trapped in katniss’s head and she’s being drag in all these different directions by all these different people without really knowing what’s going on. like maybe my reread thread will give you some idea (it’s by far not everything that stood out to me. the post would have to be at least six times as long to come even close. i mean i don’t think i even mentioned some very basic stuff like the overpolicing and police brutality in district 11—a district with a majority of black citizens). there is also my VERY short goodreads review. i wish i could list you all the reasons this book is my favourite in the series but like you probably realised i am struggling to break it down even a little bit.

[adsosfraser]

so I just read “roses love sunshine, violets love dew” and I am IN LOVE oh my goodness everything was perfect and Katniss’s narrative voice was so spot on; it was so tender and funny and sad all at once!!!! I shall leave a more detailed comment but ahhhhh! what a treat!

awww tysm 🥹! it was super fun for me writing because I had never written everlark before or really any fic from katniss’s pov or a first pov before that. and katniss is so unintentionally funny in the books and I loved that about her that I wanted to attempt to bring that out more.

[antoine-triplett]

What's your favorite character from The Hunger Games trilogy?

Why do you like this character?

Favorite quote or moment from them?

Please state one (or more) thing which you don't like from them.

Thank you 😊

@curiousnonny

Katniss and Prim are my favorite characters, but it’s a tough choice! I like Rue a lot as well.

Rue is just such a cool little kid. If she had been a few years older, she might have been able to win the Games herself. She’s so smart and I like how she and Katniss share tips from their different districts and take care of each other. It’s a nice way to foreshadow how the districts unify to beat the Capitol. To Katniss, Rue is the true Mockingjay.

Rue’s interview with Caesar is devastating but holy crap, what a champ. Imagine being 12 years old and being dressed up like a doll, pushed out on stage in front of thousands of strangers and being asked about being hunted by teenagers, then saying this in response:

She is doesn’t give up and GOD IT MAKES ME EMOTIONAL. I want to reach into the book, pull her out, and give her some toys and hot chocolate before sending her home to her family.

As Katniss states a couple of times, Rue and Prim share many great qualities which is probably why I like them both. Like Rue, Prim is helpful and kind, but also smart and not to be underestimated.

This Prim moment is just 👌👌👌

The third book is really her chance to shine. Plus she’s a cat lady so I automatically trust her.

Honestly the only thing I don’t like about both characters is that they die 🙃

Katniss is a bit more complicated but I like that. It’s more relatable for me, haha. She gets angry and says the wrong thing sometimes, but don’t we all? She’s unintentionally hilarious which is one of the best kinds of hilarious. She really, really doesn’t take shit which is admirable even though it makes her life much more difficult.

This Katniss moment is very funny to me (especially as it’s in the last book like she finally snapped and said fuck you both how bout that) given how invested everyone else is in her romantic interests throughout the series:

Some of the passages where she describes scenery are beautiful but there are too many for me to pick a fave, lol. I love her overall perspective on nature.

Katniss’ generally low opinion of herself is frustrating, but understandable and I think she grows out of it by the end of the trilogy so, you know, it’s all part of the journey. She’s got some unreliable narrator in her.

Mags is cool too! I would love to know more about her life and how she won her Games.

[petruchio]

Hey, for Katniss appreciation day. Can you give me a reason why we have to appreciate Katniss?

Thank you for answering :)

ah YESSS sorry i missed this yesterday <3 i think there's so many reasons to appreciate katniss!! but i think one that i always love is how FUNNY she is -- both intentionally and unintentionally! i feel like that's something that goes so underrated in discussions of her character and collins' writing and i just want to give a shout out to katniss the comedian because i love that about her.

[lorata]

on humour and narration in BSS

One thing I appreciated about ballad while reading is how legitimately funny it is. Right from the start I was howling with laughter -- and this isn’t a surprise, per se, because Katniss was very darkly funny, and so was Peeta, and Haymitch, and Finnick and Johanna and -- but Snow so desperately wants to be taken seriously that you don’t expect it to be funny.

This is the thing about POV though, Snow takes himself very seriously but the narration does not, not for a second. And this is why it’s great.

The very first scene is a poverty-stricken teenager trying to make himself and his family a meal that will stretch long enough to keep them from starving. Think about the tone that could set. Imagine the kind of sick horror that could bring.

We could, in fact, imagine it exactly, because we have a direct comparison: the Hunger Games, and every time Katniss thinks about food. The hard calculation and quiet desperation, she knows exactly how long every piece of bread or cheese will last, how long one meal will stretch, how long killing Prim’s goat would get them if she can’t get enough from hunting or trading. There is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- funny in Katniss’ narration when food is discussed.

Instead as our first line we get:

Coriolanus released the fistful of cabbage into the pot of boiling water and swore that one day it would never pass his lips again. But this was not that day.

Now, this is a good line, dare I say a great line. It is, in fact, even relatable. But it’s also funny -- it’s a parody of real drama. (“There may come a day when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship -- BUT IT IS NOT THIS DAY! THIS DAY WE FIGHT!”) The fact that Coriolanus says it seriously and we are invited into a larger literary context that shows how small the moment really is (it’s not war, it’s cabbage) is a hint that we are meant to laugh at him.

This is the first clue, y’all: he doesn’t know it’s funny.

And then the scene keeps going. Again, the scene itself, on the surface? Serious. He’s poor. He’s hungry. He needs to present a certain image or he won’t be able to get a job, because no one will hire you if you have holes in your clothes or can’t afford soap for a shower -- these are real problems that many people in poverty face. We could be invited to sympathize with him.

We’re not. Again, and again, the novel breaks for humour. We’re invited to laugh. Not at the situation -- not at poverty -- but his specific interpretation of it. His reaction, how it was created, how it was shaped, how power pervades it still at every step. Humour is our clue that we should not take Snow seriously.

despite residing in the penthouse of the Capitol’s most opulent apartment building, was as poor as district scum -- a RIDICULOUS line, I laughed incredulously when I read it, but HE MEANS IT. He thinks it’s TRUE

Only one thing — herself — and the house of Snow had not yet fallen that far. Or was it falling now as he salted the cabbage? -- ‘As he salted the cabbage’ is, again, a very funny line -- and it comes on the heels of his callous offhand remark that Tigris giving herself over to prostitution TO BUY A SHIRT FOR HIM would be an insult to the family name and not a traumatic experience for her. Humour used as a big hint that he’s not taking this serious situation seriously and, at a meta level, we shouldn’t take him seriously

the lines where Coriolanus critiques his grandmother’s singing (hilarious!) both undercut her dementia and his narrative of the glorious patriot and remind us this is really not a nice young man we’re dealing with

When he removed the lid, a mush of congealed, shredded potatoes stared back at him. Had his grandmother finally made good her threat of learning to cook? Was the stuff even edible? -- Again this line is HYSTERICAL and again we’re undercutting what could be a very serious scene. It’s not letting us sympathize. It’s reminding us we’re not supposed to buy his reading of things. We’re supposed to laugh. We’re supposed to find him funny, not take him seriously. Remember, HE DOESN’T THINK WHAT HE’S SAYING IS FUNNY.

The cabbage began to boil, filling the kitchen with the smell of poverty. -- Same deal: funny line, invites us to laugh, also invites us to critique. IS cabbage what poverty smells like? (Spoiler: NO. That’s a whole other post and I’m not going to get into that here thanks, but for a literary comparison, Katniss has some good actual examples.)

I’m going to stop there, but you get the idea. BALLAD is incredibly funny. It is both funny on purpose and funny unintentionally -- in that Snow (the character) doesn’t intend to be funny, but the author writing Snow very much intends him to be from the outside. It’s used as a signalling device to place him as a figure of power and privilege even when he’s positioning himself as a victim deserving of sympathy, and it’s very, very well done. And it makes it incredibly entertaining to read, rather than expecting us to cry over this poor misunderstood snot.

Mock that dumb rich boy, y’all. Mock him good.

[badnovels]

TOH!!! I'm so excited!! That chapter was incredibly well written and emotional, so thank you for sharing! Poor Katniss, poor Peeta :( that's just so much, but you conveyed the feelings of the situation so well. Some particular standouts: Haymitch being the best, Peeta calling Katniss out on being unintentionally hurtful, the funny details about the cop-calling neighbor which added some character and realism to the chapter. Fantastic work!!

Thank you so much. I had a little anxiety about this one because I knew it was going to make some people upset, so I’m really happy you saw past the ~angst~ and found some things you liked about it outside of that. Really appreciate it.

[mirrix]

Title:  Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Author:  Suzanne Collins

Thoughts:  So way back when the book was first announced I was a little leery.  I realize revisiting one’s old series is definitely a thing now, but J.K. Rowling has kind of made me very wary of the whole concept.  But I was willing to give it a shot because it has been a while since I read the original series and admittedly a lot of my memory of it has in many ways been filtered through the marketing of the movies.  Also SPOILERS.

My fears were unwarranted.  Collins continues to understand her books very thoroughly and despite the fact that future President Snow is our point of view character, it’s not out to rewrite him as a misunderstood good guy.  He’s not without his points of sympathy.  Years of hunger have stunted his growth and he has lost his parents and most of his family in the war.  His family is struggling to survive financially and he is so buttoned down he barely seems to understand human emotions anymore.  He has a PTSD induced panic attack at one point and is unfairly singled out by someone who’s taking out their hate of his father on him.

But none of these points erase the fact that he’s deeply lacking in empathy and has a deep, unhealthy need for control that extends into all his relationships.  He holds no ability to relate to the children chosen as tribute except for the one who is “his” and still holds all the districts in deep contempt.  He refuses to understand why they may not in fact be grateful to the Capital and generally finds humanity pretty distasteful.  He also makes a pretty rotten love interest, which is not shocking.

This book also shows the introduction of things that are ingrained norms by the time the original series rolls around, the betting, sponsors, a live host, and the addition of outside elements put in during the games themselves all make their first appearances here.  So does the Hanging Tree song.

A lot of this book does make the original series a little bit unintentionally hilarious because it means Katniss completely unintentionally pisses Snow off on some completely personal levels.  Which is funny to me, since she ends up being his downfall.

Recommend:  Oh yes.

Cover Image Source

[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.