#specifically something to live in conversation with sotr

[ohhgingersnaps]

does anyone else wake up with the sudden overwhelming urge to write an effie trinket character study

[thesweetnessofspring]

Why not Katniss or Gale or Burdock? Well, they can hunt and survive. They could win and we can't have a winner from D12. Gotta punish them by reaping that little Prim girl, she has no chance. And also furthering the idea that Snow doesn't understand love, he didn't see Katniss volunteering for her sister, he brought about his own demise even more than the original or even TBOSAS suggested. Peeta, I will admit, is a wild theory to try and force into a rigged reaping. But he's the Maysilee in this situation, only he made it out alive (and as we've seen, Peeta's isn't a "real victor" 🙄).

Again, not saying I agree with this at all, but with nearly everything being a punishment from the Capitol, including Haymitch's faked reaping to Lou Lou replacing Louella to punish her family to Wiress and Mags's conditions in CF a result of aiding the rebel plot to Ampert's rigged reaping to Haymitch's father's mining accident being a rumored intentional killing by the Capitol (and therefore implying Burdock's was also no accident).....it's no wonder that conspiracies are running amok in the fandom right now. They're just following SOTR's lead.

one of my biggest issues with sotr is how much closer it puts the fandom to the “prim’s reaping was rigged” theory

[ceedaryaps]

SOTR Yapp Sesh

Heyyyy everyone! Gonna try to kick off this account again with my thoughts on Sunrise on the Reaping! Spoilers ofc!!

Before starting this book, I took the time to re-read the original series and Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes so I could really get into it. As we all know by now, Suzanne Collins does not come into play when it comes to Easter eggs from other books. It took me only 2 days to read this book and the only reason it took me two days to read it was because it was finals week. 

Anyways, here are my thoughts!

The first chapter started off with bangers, fourth of July, burdock, asterid, Lenore Dove, his brother, and mom oooooo weeeee. Like, we got a load of information super quickly. The moment I realized who Burdock was, my heart started to hurt, and adding Burdock being loosely related to Lenore Dove kinda loops the whole “Katniss being covey” thing that was going around for a while, like omg I love this so much. Seeing Haymitch interact with his brother was so precious to me, it kinda reminds me of how we first see Katniss and Prim. 

The next few chapters were a whirlwind for me. Here comes the reaping, and I’m assuming everything is gonna go as normal, right? WRONGGGGG. Maysilee and Louella go up sure no problem, Wyatt gets called up, and next is Haymitch…….WROONNGGGG. WOODBINE CHANCE. 

I read that and I paused.  I put my bookmark in the book and put it down because I knew that these were Haymitch’s games, so why wasn't he reaped I. was. Floored. I just knew something insidious was gonna happen. 

So boom, here comes Woodbine Chance, he's walking up, then zoom, and he runs. He's a brave one because what did anyone expect to happen, but hey, he had the guts. Pow bye bye Chance. Now, at this point, I thought, “Surely now they'll just call Haymitch.” WRONGGGGG. Chaos ensues. The boy's mom runs to her baby bc, well, that's her baby. Folks scatter, here comes more peacekeepers. Lenore Dove is with the boy's mom, Peeta’s dad nearly got taken out, Haymitch tries to help Lenore, and suddenly he’s the new boy's tribute. 

WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED.

At this point, I'm ignoring the fact that they made everyone get back in line to refill the moment. I'm focused on the fact that the only reason Haymitch was ever a tribute was because he wanted to help his girl…………………… …Drusilla, when I get my hands on you.

And then that hag wasn't even going to allow them to see their family, had it not been for Plutarch. What a witch. 

ALSO. This specific moment of the whole filming for content for the Capitol made me realise that this is potentially the reason that Asterid or Katniss and Prim's mother didnt have a reaction at the girls' reaping. Her bestie Maysilee just got reaped. This is scary and dramatic, and here comes Drusilla like “Chat, should we let them see their family drop a gift if yes?” Having the most awful moments of their lives filmed for all to see is so dehumanizing, so I feel like this directly contributes to how she acts later, and not wanting to give the Capitol a show to farm for. 

The tributes are then swept away, and this is really where we get to see the characters develop. Wyatt was quiet, so I didn't have a huge opinion of him, Maysilee……I knew I liked her. Slapped the shit out that hag I KNOW THAT'S RIGHT GET HER. CLOCK HER TEA. Louella, she's so precious, she's his “sweetheart’ Oh, I'm gonna cry. Haymitch is such an aura farmer, I'm sorry LMFAOOOOOOOO. Looking at the cake without saying anything and turning around with no word, pfft, bro thinks he's so cool. I love Haymitch so much. I also love the bit on the train where Maysilee is like “just because they think we're animals doesn't mean we have to act like them, show them who we are.” I love her. And she isn't afraid to fight like ugh.

Later when louella reveals that wayat and his family bet on the tributes lives was such a moment for me because I remember having a conversation with a friend some time ago before the book dropped that we are positive that peacekeepers bet on tributes but its not overly far fetched that folks from even the non carrer district would bet on tributes too. But Wyatt's family was betting, and then HE got reaped (in his last eligible year, and if I remember right, he was gonna be 19 soon) was WILD. My first thought was, “Did they bet on their son?” Like, what do you even do, as a family who gambles on folks' lives, how would you bet on your own child?

So boom, they get to the Capitol and it's soooo different from when Katniss and Peeta get to the Capitol, no private rooms, just a big gymnasium with curtains separating the boys and girls, and they are stripped and hosed with chemicals like cattle. One thing I enjoy about the Hunger Games franchise is that it never has to be explicitly stated that the Capitol views them as animals; you can blatantly see it. Herded and cleaned, branded (the district-specific clothing), and fed well before the slaughter. Maysilee beefing with a career outright was ballsy like oh em gee girl. 

They get all groomed and put up in the rooms, then another whammy. WIRESS AND MAGS MY SHAYLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Haymitch crying is so real bc, oh boy, if only he knew. I'd cry even harder. And instead of being like Here's how to kill they go “What do YOU want?” This is the first time since getting on that train that these kids are humanized, oh my heart. 

Then here we go, time for the chariot showcase. Magno is definitely on drugs, he's so wild for that ngl. Showing up last minute to put them in essentially the same costumes was how he was not fired. And reptile clothing??????????? Man whatever. But the chariot race went as well as expected, which was not well at all. The horse trainers absolutely failed, they lost control, they crashed, and the kids went flying, and as soon as Haymithc realized what happened, my heart dropped. Poor little Louell, oh my gosh. I was so hurt. HAYMITCH was so hurtful. And like Reaper and Katniss he made a show of it, took her body and put her right in front of Snow's crusty ass LET HIM SEE WHAT HE CAUSED. 

Time goes, training time, comes little Amphert, and he is just the sweetest thing. It's awful to have to remember that no one survives, but it got so much worse when the realization came that this wasn't just some poor little unlucky boy, THIS WAS BEETEE’S SON. And he was only reaped because Bettee got caught…….Coriolanus Snow, when I get my hands on you. You sentenced this man to watch his son die and not from a screen, you made him see it in person, forcing him to watch the last few days of his son's life………I blame all those snow edits on TikTok for this. Suzanne saw them, and she knew she had to make sure that you would never thirst for this man ever again. But as sad as it is, our little social butterfly, Amphert, racked up an impressive alliance, and I was impressed at how easily Haymitch and Maysilee got folks in their favor as well. I love them all.

Once again……Sno,w when I get my hands on you. Haymitch should have done more than drink the milk at that moment. That evil, horrible man took some poor girl from District 11, brainwashed and starved her, and said, “lol here's Louella.” 

So now let's keep count, for 12 districts it's usually one boy, one girl. That makes 24 in a regular year. This year, it's two boys and two girls. That's 48. Haymitch, by all technicalities, was not an original tribute, so we add one to get 49. Now we have Lou Lou, and that makes 50. 50 tributes in total, with two original tributes being dead, so the citizens of the capital aren't aware that the 48 tributes were actually 50, and two kids died before the games could even start. Coriolanus Snow deserved worse. 

So boom, here Lou Lou, this poor child doesn't know what to do or what's going on. She just knows that she's “Louella McCoy from District 12.” 

From this point, I couldn't focus much on what was going on, not the tributes, the alliances, the interviews, the absolute cruelty of Louella and Lou Lou's situation took precedence over my mind. Did Louelle's parents even know their baby was dead? What about Lou Lou's parents? It's no secret the Capitol isn't above killing and torturing children, but to go this far to cover up the Capitol's own failures is just disgusting. Those poor babies. Lou Lou saying “You'll kill us all” will forever remain in my head. 

So this is gonna be part one! For this yap session, as I didnt want it to be Overwhelming, especially when I have quite a few thoughts for the actual game portion! Part two will be up hopefully within the next few days! Until then byeeeeee.