Do You Ever Think About Rue Refusing Katniss's Mockinjay Pin And Wonder If It Symbolised Her Refusal

do you ever think about rue refusing katniss's mockinjay pin and wonder if it symbolised her refusal to be the face of the revolution and thus foreshadowed her death

soulmates are stupid i love you on purpose

sometimes i am stunned when i remember that not only are katniss and peeta the youngest people going into the quarter quell but also that they are still literally KIDS. they are children facing 22 adults with not only years of friendship between them but years of mentorship to learn the best strategies of the games.

katniss is a 17yo girl who was malnourished most of her life that only had months to try to prepare to catch up to her competitors. peeta is a 17yo boy who is likely still going through puberty! facing fully grown adults.

sure some of the victors are in their early 20s like finnick or johanna, but the maturity difference between early 20s and 17 is huge.

they are kids forced to play in an adults’ game.

katniss everdeen associating peeta mellark with the spring dandelion that gave her hope, blushing at his glances, missing his kisses, needing the comfort of his arms, fixating on his eyelashes, willing to die for him, choosing him over everyone else, and losing the will to live without him (platonically)

we don't talk enough about how messed up it was that katniss was forced into her fake relationship with peeta. how sickenin it was that her uncertain feelings were on display for the whole Capitol to see. that her survival depended on her ability to portray burning love for this boy she barely even knew. that she had to kiss him again and again and again, just to earn food or medicine. because kiss on the cheek wasn't enough for the Capitol, heartfelt conversarions weren't enough - the public wanted to see these beaten up, sixteen year olds make out.

yesh, i'm sick to my stomach, actually.

i think that a lot of the fandom mischaracterises hijacked!peeta and it low key bugs me

because he isn't a single-minded murderer or filled with bloodlust - he's terrified

like a wounded animal, he lashes out at katniss because of how much he fears her; his mind has been so utterly warped that he can't see an escape other than through violence. he's convinced she's going to torture him, so he wants to stop her

which is why i think the idea that he hurts her post-mockingjay isn't a fair assumption; by this point, he's recovered enough that he is no longer violent. even in the capitol, his final descriptive relapse shows him punishing himself before he's willing to lay a hand on katniss

while he'll obviously never fully recover, his reported periods of relapse (grabbing the back of chairs and the like) are drawn from terror, previously aimed at katniss and later at himself as he gains back functionality

he was never warped into a mutt, or stripped of his personhood, or turned into a sadist. he was just made to fear everyone and everything - primarily katniss, which then manifested as a fear of himself.