#suzanne Collins is a master

[thebookishwitch]

Just finished The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and....

AHHHHHHHHHHHH

[ao3-anonymous]

Fastest Growing Fandoms on AO3 This Week (03/18/2024)

Every week I pull data on how many fics are in each fandom and compare to the previous week, then calculate the percentage increase to determine fastest growing fandoms.  Since this naturally skews towards smaller fandoms, I have included the same data filtered to Over 1k, 5k, & 10k fics.

Overall:

Over 1,000 Fics:

Over 5,000 Fics:

Over 10,000 Fics:

Source: AO3 Fandom Dashboard

[patheticblorbloscholar]

There is something so special about District 11. The love, and loyalty. The kindness passed on to other tributes. They are my Roman empire.

[i-mustache-your-opinion]

ROUND 1 - MATCH H3

[lunar-years]

I’m going to see the new hunger games this morning :)

[colormehappyy]

peeniss and anus the way it should be. suzanne collins master of accidental horrific ship names

[writingquestionsanswered]

hello, do you have any tips for getting more creative titles? Like going for a more poetic style without it being too much. I like for example, "These Violent Delights" and "Our Violent Ends" by Chloe Gong. They're simple, telling, and short - and I just think it's different (from "The" type titles, and the Blank of Blank and Blank format). I also think "The Folk of the Air" is simple yet creative. I feel like I don't know enough words to get the title. I appreciate any advice! Thank you.

Coming Up with Poetic Titles

Some of the most beautiful, poetic titles often stem from actual prose quotes, either from poetry, classic literature, song titles, public domain lyrics, plays, etc.

These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends, for example, are actually derived from a quote from Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet ("These violent delights have violent ends...") which is appropriate since the These Violent Delights duology is a Romeo & Juliet retelling. Other examples are The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (I knew a woman, lovely in her bones... “I Knew a Woman” by Theodore Roethke), The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/But in ourselves... Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare), Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (What immortal hand or eye/Could frame thy fearful symmetry? "The Tyger" by William Blake), Across the Universe by Beth Revis ("Across the Universe" by The Beatles), To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han ("To All the Girls I've Loved Before" by Hal David and Albert Hammond, made famous by Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias.)

Series titles, like The Folk of the Air series and A Song of Ice and Fire series are usually broad references to what the story is about. I haven't read The Folk of the Air, but I know it's about faeries, so I'm assuming that's a reference to the fae in that story. A Song of Ice and Fire is a reference to a prophecy and history book in the series, but the imagery also references many of the themes and events in the story.

So, whether you're titling a book or series, here are some places you can look for a title:

-- references to relevant source material, such as original fairy tale if you're doing a retelling (Ash by Malinda Lo)

-- references to relevant poems, song titles, lyrics, plays, music, classic literature (Catch a Falling Star by Kim Culbertson)

-- relevant quote, title, person, place, or event that appears in your story (The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Cruel Prince by Holly Black)

-- beautiful imagery that appears in your story (Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes)

-- who or what your story is about (The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, The Martian by Andy Weir, All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater)

My post Coming Up with a Book/Story Title has more tips!

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[grigori77]

Donald Sutherland, R.I.P.

It's another dark day as I discover that another of the wonderful actors whose work I've loved for ABSOLUTELY YEARS has been taken from us. To me, he was always one of the great kind old men of Hollywood, even when he so consitently excelled at playing such wonderful villains, too ... as well as fathering another one of my very favourite actors, his son Kieffer.

Of course, to me, like a great many others who grew up in the 80s and 90s, he was MOST OF ALL the original Hawkeye, in the original movie of M.A.S.H. ... that being said, even today, my very FAVOURITE role he ever played is STILL that of the dlightfully bizarre "hippie" tank commander Oddball in Clint Eastwood's singularly AWESOME WWII action comedy Kelly's Heroes ...

He's been a regular fixture in a great many of my favourite movies over the years, either leading the cast in a variety of interesting and instantly memorable roles in the likes of the best the Invasion of the Body Snatchers movies, Don't Look Now, Klute and The First Great Train Robbery, or providing stellar support in the likes of The Dirty Dozen, The Eagle Has Landed, JFK, Backdraft, Six Degrees of Seperation, Outbreak, A Time To Kill, Space Cowboys (a criminally underrated Clint Eastwood flick, in my opinion), Cold Mountain, Pride & Prejudice and Ad Astra ...

And then, of course, there was, OF COURSE, the role he's probably going to be most well-remembered for in the years ahead, simply due to its sheer popularity - the very best of his pure villainous turns, the monstrous but SPECTACULARLY charismatic President Coriolanus Snow the cinematic adaptation of Suzanne Collins' wildly successful The Hunger Games. The man gave us all endearing CHILLS throughout playing a man who couldn't possibly have been further from who he was in real life, an effortless indication of the vastness of his talent.

So raise a glass and drink with me to the memory of one of cinema's true master elder statesmen, truly one of the greatest actors of his entire generation, and a truly singular talent whose immense star power will be fondly remembered for many years to come ... not to mention one truly wise, compassionate and remarkable human being.

DONALD SUTHERLAND (17 July 1935 - 20 July 2024) ... Rest in peace.

[thevagabondexpress]

diagnosing the last hours characters with modern music tastes

Cordelia: I feel like she'd have two modes. The first would be soft, upbeat, folk and country but also piano-based stuff, anything major key and with big sound. Caroline Jones, Ruth B., Noah Kahan. I also thing she'd really like Shakira. That's her kind of day-to-day music, it's what she puts on in the car, around the house, when going for a jog, etc. But she also has a collection of women rap artists of the Megan and OSHUN variety which is what she puts on when she's doing hard workouts/training.

James: I agree that he'd be emo but I don't think he'd actually listen to a lot of "traditional canon" emo music. I think he'd find it too loud and intense in the wrong way. I think he'd prefer shoegaze, a la Radiohead, and bands like Five Three Eyes that are fast but fuzzed out. Generally anything with softer mastering where it sounds great at a lower volume.

Matthew: He'd love disco and neuvo-disco/retro-rock. Gloria Gaynor, Suzanne Somers, MonaLisa Twins, the Lemon Twigs. It's fun and silly and also empowering, besides which I think he'd like the fashion and the sparkle of it all. On his bad days, though, when the depression and/or ptsd and/or temptation to return to the addiction hits hard, what used to be his heavy drinking days, I think he'd fall back on an artist like P!NK or Florence + the Machine. Someone who can speak to the truth of the lowest lows of where he's been and remind him that he doesn't have to go back there, that there are other choices, things to live for. That, with time and effort, it does get better.

Thomas: He dug up the local college student indie rock station and he listens to it religiously. It's a habit he picked up in Madrid, he wanted to listen to Spanish music but didn't know where to look/how to search for it so he acquainted himself with radio and just flipped stations until he found something with a sound he liked. When asked to pick songs individually/curate his own music I think he'd end up falling back on his dad's taste in music: Eric Clapton, Bruce Cockburn, the Stones.

Alastair: I feel like Alastair would have unarguably the vastest taste in music of the lot of them, but also that it would generally run to music from well before his time. His mom has vinyls and cassette tapes from Iran before the Revolution and he's dubbed CDs and MP4's of them so he has his own copies and isn't stealing her. He enjoys listener-supported classical music radio, and also newer instrumental of the Haygood Hardy variety. He likes soft jazz and blues, Mahalia Jackson, Mama Thornton. He would ADORE Nina Simone. I think if I had to give a taste in music from after 1970, I'd say he also probably likes artists like Tracy Chapman and Mint Green that speak to a similar lived experience to his own.

Christopher: On one hand, I don't think he really cares that much about music. On the other hand, I think he would be the type to unapologetically listen to high school concert band music. He got hold of Robert W. Smith's storms series (Into the Storm, The Tempest, The Maelstrom), realized there's a crap ton of pieces in this genre that are Inspired By Science, and now every time Matthew comes down to the basement laboratory he ends up lodging a complaint about the sheer amount of French horn.

Grace: Living with Tatiana I don't think she was really allowed much if any access to music but I imagine she found ways around that anyhow. I think she's the other person who would really enjoy Florence + the Machine. I think most of her music would be older, melancholy women folk singers. Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, Claudia Schmidt, the McGarrigle Sisters. I think she'd find them soothing. They'd help her calm down when things get difficult, help her to find beauty in a world that's caused her mostly pain. I think her favorite artist would be Lenka. She's got this kind of upbeat, slightly silly vibe that would make Grace smile but I also think she'd find that songs like "Silhouette" and "Ivory Tower" could speak to her truth when she needs someone to, without getting too deep in and triggering her.

Lucie: She listens to Kpop and movie soundtracks. Also if it's appeared in one of those "badass women" edits over on youtube 100% she has it on her playlist or did at some point.

Jesse: Like Grace, he didn't really have access to music living with Tatiana. Also he was dead for like almost a decade so there's that. He probably mostly listens to whatever Lucie listens to, but I like to think he does experiments like picking a new genre/radio station to listen to every day, trying to figure out what he likes and doesn't like independently of his girlfriend.

Anna: idk. She strikes me as someone who'd like Siouxsie and the Banshees. Also Halsey and Hozier. Maybe bands like Linkin Park and Evanescence—she doesn't say it because she doesn't like being dissed for listening to "old cringe emo" but they got her through gender dysphoria when she was twelve so she knows there's some worth in them.

Charles: He really doesn't listen to music. He listens to NPR or Radio Canada or the British equivalent because it makes him feel up-to-date and liberal but he doesn't actually hear the content, it just goes in one ear and out the other.

@alastairstom @chaosandtwo

[remapped-soul]

I know people hate more than love the ballad of songbirds and snakes but mygod it is brilliant, especially if you read it after you've already read the hunger games series. going into that universe knowing what i know from the trilogy, everything makes so much sense, and it adds to the growing horror instilled in you by the trilogy. not one dystopian book had, has the same effect on me the way suzanne collins' books have. no one managed to capture the horror reality of this genre the same way she did. for that, she's a true master of the genre.

[ao3-anonymous]

Fastest Growing Fandoms on AO3 This Week (04/01/2024)

Every week I pull data on how many fics are in each fandom and compare to the previous week, then calculate the percentage increase to determine fastest growing fandoms.  Since this naturally skews towards smaller fandoms, I have included the same data filtered to Over 1k, 5k, & 10k fics.

Overall:

Over 1,000 Fics:

Over 5,000 Fics:

Over 10,000 Fics:

Source: AO3 Fandom Dashboard

[bestnoncannonship]

I started another fic.

More of a massive, Post-Cannon series, really, centering on Haymitch and the ending he deserves. (Sorry Suzanne Collins but our boy deserves better than being isolated and struggling the rest of his life.) This first part covers Effie Trinket being put on trial for her role in the Games and letting Haymitch the master storyteller flex his narrative manipulation skills again.

First two chapters are up, more to come!

[wistfulweaverwoman]

I love deep diving into the symbolism in The Hunger Games, there's so many layers in the writing, so much thought placed in seemingly unimportant narrative that it boggles the mind if you go searching for meaning. Classic literature is rich with symbolism, especially Christian symbolism. Suzanne Collins is a master at writing and crafted these books to bursting.

So, Peeta Mellark.

His first name, Peeta, a Greek flatbread (pita), but also a nod at Saint Peter. The feast of Saint Peter is also called Lammas Day or Loaf Mass Day, a harvest festival. It’s customary to bring to a Christian church a loaf made from the new crop, which began to be harvested at Lammastide, which falls on August 1, at the halfway point between the summer solstice and the autumn September equinox.

Mellark, a combination of the word malarkey and meadowlark. The meadowlark is a yellow breasted song bird that makes its nests on the ground rather than trees, in small hallows, covering it with grasses or animal hairs. Basically tiny bird caves.

Malarkey: most commonly defined as speech or writing designed to obscure, mislead, or impress; bunkum, BUT also thought to be derived from Greek μαλακός (malakós, “soft; compliant, meek; gentle, mellow, mild, mild-mannered”

Not long ago I came across the Bible quote while researching more deeply into the symbolism of pearls.

“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”

After a fair amount of analyzing I've come to believe it's actually one of the most important themes in the series. The gist of it means don’t give away what is precious to those that can’t appreciate its worth.

Symbolically Peeta offers himself to Katniss, repeatedly, throughout the series. The words

“neither cast ye pearls before swine lest they trample them under their feet,”

are what first caught my attention, both symbolic and literal, reminding me of the scene when Peeta burns the bread. His mother beats him and then instructs him to feed the bread to the pigs. Instead he passes the loaves along to Katniss.

Katniss describes the bread Peeta gives her

“It was good hearty bread, filled with raisins and nuts.”

But a pearl isn’t bread, is it? Pearls symbolize a lot of different things, but specifically in the Bible it can symbolize anything Christ-like, from Christ himself, to the gospel of the church. Christ said

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven”

Thus a pearl could symbolize bread, in the right context. When I went to research this train of thought further I was shocked to find a whole bunch of recipes instead of a whole bunch of quotes. Christ’s Bread, or Christopsomo. A Greek Orthodox bread made at Christmas. A rich bread filled with raisins and nuts.

I always thought it curious that the author would choose a name with a Greek origin when so many in D12 have the last names that seem British in origin (Everdeen, Hawthorn, Cartwright, Abernathy), and that there must be more to the name. Therefore I believe it’s no coincidence then, that this Greek bread is so similar to the bread that Peeta gifts to Katniss. It’s further evidence that the author purposefully meant to represent Peeta as Christ-like. Peeta offering his body as sacrifice to save Katniss is a theme that repeats over and over in the series. The strongest example of this, in terms of Christ-like symbolism, was his sacrifice of facing Cato in front of the tracker jacker tree to allow Katniss to escape and hide. That tree is a nod to the Hanging Tree, specifically the line:

Where the dead man called out for his love to flee.

“What are you still doing here?” he hisses at me. I stare uncomprehendingly as a trickle of water drips off a sting under his ear. His whole body starts sparkling as if he’s been dipped in dew. “Are you mad?” He’s prodding me with the shaft of the spear now. “Get up! Get up!” I rise, but he’s still pushing at me. What? What is going on? He shoves me away from him hard. “Run!” he screams. “Run!”

The Hanging tree itself is symbolic of both the Tree of Life, and the cross that Christ was crucified on. With TBOSAS we know the origin of the song, but the actual song written by Suzanne Collins was most likely inspired by the song The Hanging Tree (written for the movie of the same name back in 1959) and the song Strange Fruit made popular by Billy Holiday and became a popular civil rights ballad. I am planning a separate post about the song and how Peeta is symbolically the lover in the song.

This death and resurrection of Christ imagery continues with Katniss later bandaging Peeta and bringing him to a cave where he nearly died, and then left the cave healed three days later. There's so much more, but I'll leave that for another post.

But what about the other part of that quote?

“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, [lest they] turn again and rend you.”

This applies to Katniss, rather than Peeta. Peeta is what's holy, symbolically, as reinforced by the pearl that he gives her in Catching Fire, and that represents him symbolically in Mockingjay. He was literally rended by dogs at the cornucopia in The hunger Games, but she doesn't cast him aside till the end of the book.

“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”

There is metaphorical meaning in the entire quote as well as this theme continues in both Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Peeta offers himself to Katniss and she "casts" him aside. She realizes this towards the end of Mockingjay.

Seeing it in his hands, it’s like Finnick’s echoing what Haymitch just said, that I’ve cast off Peeta.

She finally realizes his true value, even after he's been hijacked, and refuses to allow him to be killed, and instead of casting him away she does her best to keep him.

It’s a long shot, it’s suicide maybe, but I do the only thing I can think of. I lean in and kiss Peeta full on the mouth. His whole body starts shuddering, but I keep my lips pressed to his until I have to come up for air. My hands slide up his wrists to clasp his. “Don’t let him take you from me.” Peeta’s panting hard as he fights the nightmares raging in his head. “No. I don’t want to . . .” I clench his hands to the point of pain. “Stay with me.” His pupils contract to pinpoints, dilate again rapidly, and then return to something resembling normalcy. “Always,” he murmurs.

This is not to say that she never values him or cares for him before the end of Mockingjay, there is plenty of evidence to suggest she fully loved him by the end of The Hunger Games, only that she did not learn the lesson to "cast not what is holy" till then.

I wrap my arms around his neck, feel his arms hesitate before they embrace me. Not as steady as they once were, but still warm and strong. A thousand moments surge through me. All the times these arms were my only refuge from the world. Perhaps not fully appreciated then, but so sweet in my memory, and now gone forever.

This theme is also apparent in the narrative in that the Rebellion abandoned Peeta, representing both which is holy and the pearl, to the Capitol. The Capitol did not value his worth, nor see him as a treasure. They tortured and hijacked him "trample them under their feet" , and used him to "rend" the Rebellion by programing him to kill Katniss, the symbol of the Rebellion.

[wheelsvoid]

INSIGNIFICANT ; THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES

masterlist insignificant m.list

word count: 822

warnings: none

this plot does not belong to me, all rights go to suzanne collins, lionsgate films and everyone else involved with the movie.

chapter four: honesty

With all the music around me, I was quite sure I was the only one in the room who wasn’t dancing. The games were over, I was back in District 12, but I was not who I had been before this all began.

Once, I was the straight A student with a love for reading and writing whenever I got the chance. Then, I was the person who was lost in a world with nothing but the clothes on my back.

Now? I was a killer, who’d spilled blood just to save my own skin. It was sick and twisted and I shouldn’t be standing here. Why was I even sent to this universe in the first place? It wasn’t my job to do this for Lucy Gray, so why had I done it?

Stop, I told myself. I did it to save her. I did a good thing.

Lucy had wept when I returned, alive, yet bruised and scarred. She hugged me tight and for the longest time she would not let me go. I didn’t let her go either.

As Maude Ivory walked up to the mic, the familiarity of it made me feel like the person I was before the Games. I had been here before, and watched them play their beautiful music before.

Only this time it was different, because I knew that if I turned my head I’d see Snow as a Peacekeeper. I refused to look at him, because I knew that he was already changing.

During games he was… scary. It felt as though everything he was doing was for him, not me. The strategies to get me sponsors, keep me alive… he never cared for me in the slightest.

If I didn’t know who he really was, I probably would’ve fallen right into his trap. He was a master manipulator, but he wasn’t perfect. Lucy Gray would have figured him out if I hadn’t taken her place. Sooner or later, he would start to lose his sense of self… or maybe he was just evil to begin with.

“Lucy Gray Baird!”

I watched with a hint of a smile as Lucy walked up onto the stage. She did a twirl, her dress flowing as she did so, before she skipped up to the mic. Seeing her so carefree made me feel like I had done exactly what I needed to do, even if I had to sacrifice my own peace for it.

Her voice was soft, and joyful, and as a hand rose up in the crowd holding a bottle of alcohol, she tilted her head and pointed at it. “Oh, is that bottle there for me?” She took it with a dramatic eye roll, “oh, come on, y’all. You know, I gave up drinking when I was twelve.” The crowd hollered, and as she tossed the bottle back she said, “it’s to clear my pipes, y’all. To clear my pipes. Now,” her eyes gleamed, “how ‘bout a song, huh?”

“Can’t take my past. Can’t take my history… you can take my pa…”

In the corner of my eye, I saw the crowd clearing as a figure got closer. When my eyes landed on Snow, the sound of the music became muffled.

He had yet to shoot at Lucy Gray, or kill more than once, but I knew what he was becoming and I tried my best to hide my fury. My job wasn’t done here. I could fix this. I just had to change his mind.

The crowd began to dance as the beat of the music picked up in pace. It was a fun song, one of my favourites, but with Snow approaching there was no time for me to dance.

“Y/N.” he said simply, like it’d been months since we’d last seen each other. “It’s good to see you.”

I nodded at him. I didn’t stop him from cheating during the Games, as it had saved my life. I saw this all coming, but I still didn’t like the thought of him here. “Surprised that I survived?” I asked.

He pursed his lips, maybe deciding on whether or not he should lie. “I’m not sure.”

I hummed, raising an amused brow. “Honesty. Is that new for you?”

I never made it easy for Snow when he was my mentor, and I wasn’t going to make it easy now. Still, I would accept his help and if I could, I would help him become good again. Lord only knew what was going on in his mind right now.

Snow chuckled, unamused. “Will you ever be nice to me?”

I looked at him, squinting my eyes. “Depends.”

He lifted his chin. “On what?”

“On everything.” I said. Snow didn’t understand, but I didn’t care. I had meant what I said. I’d give him kindness when I felt he deserved it.

“You never make it easy.” He said.

“No.” I agreed. “I never do.”

chapter five

[burst-of-iridescent]

I recently saw a post that paired a quote from The Hunger Games: “That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can give me that.” With a Zutara vs. Kataang comparison, Zuko being the Gale in this quote and Aang being the Peeta. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this take.

i think this is an extremely shallow interpretation of the hunger games, atla, or both.

the implication of comparing gale and peeta to zuko and aang suggests to me that there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the point suzanne collins is trying to make about gale and peeta. the difference between the two is not that gale is angry while peeta is all about #kumbaya, but that gale has allowed his anger to blind him, while peeta, though just as furious, keeps his anger where it rightfully should be.

the love triangle in the hunger games begins to be set up in book 2, the same book that repeatedly warns katniss to "remember who your real enemy is". what katniss comes to realize over the course of the series is what peeta has known from the start: that the real enemy is president snow and the capitol elite who support him, not the other tributes or the innocent civilians caught in the crossfire, something that gale is simply unable or unwilling to understand. 

that is why gale unhesitatingly reduces the other tributes in the games to mere prey to be hunted while peeta refuses to strip them of their humanity, why gale abides the mistreatment of katniss' makeup team in district 13 and is surprised by her horror, and why he ultimately ends up being complicit in the loss of innocent lives in his course for justice and revenge.

peeta is fundamentally kind and empathetic in a way that gale is no longer able or willing to be, and it is this kindness that he shares with zuko: the boy who risked his own life to save the man who tried to kill him, who put himself in danger to protect an enemy village, who reached out to a girl on the opposite side of the war simply because he saw a child like himself in need of comfort.

it's true that zuko in book 1 does have fire "kindled with rage and hatred" but his anger is a trauma response, and part of his healing from that trauma is realizing that he cannot use his anger as a crutch, or let it fuel him. that is why there is an entire episode centered around him losing his bending and actively choosing another path ("i don't want to rely on hate and anger anymore. there has to be another way"), one where his fire is fuelled by life and warmth. that is why zuko is foiled with jet (the actual closest gale figure in atla, a revolutionary who is blinded by rage and goes too far in his pursuit of righteousness), because jet symbolizes the person zuko could have become if he didn't learn to master his anger. zuko does what gale (and jet) are never able to do, and that is the reason he ends the show as a hero while they bring about their own downfalls.

as for aang being peeta, i can see the surface level comparison of "sweet sunshine guy" but what differentiates them is that peeta is always willing to do what needs to be done. he does not remain willfully ignorant of the horrors around him, and he does not risk the lives of others for the sake of his own selfish moral purity.

the actual comparison would probably be peeta and katara (someone who chooses kindness and hope, but does not blind themselves to the realities of the world), and zuko and katniss (someone who starts off closed off, distant and angry, but eventually chooses love and peace over rage and war), but if we're just comparing the two boys: zuko is far more peeta than gale, and anyone who says otherwise should really watch the show all the way to the end this time.

[adamshallperish]

started rereading the hunger games and i must say that suzanne collins did a really masterful job at constructing a liberal capitalist dystopia, and it's sad but not shocking the fact that it is a liberal capitalist dystopia goes over so many people's heads.