If I Had A Nickel For Every Time I Became Deeply Invested In A Fictional Power Couple Consisting Of An

If I had a nickel for every time I became deeply invested in a fictional power couple consisting of an incredibly compassionate and also thoroughly sarcastic veteran who lost part of his leg in battle, and a badass warrior whose fighting style mostly consists of smashing objects and/or people repeatedly with a great deal of force, all the while calling her significant other “Chief” in tones ranging from indignant to flirty depending on the moment… I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice, right?

Listen, I get where people are coming from when they say that the Hunger Games movies focused way too much on the romance but at the same time what romance??? Do you mean the ,,love triangle"? Or adding that kiss between Katniss and Gale in Catching Fire? Are you team Peeta or team Gale? Who is hotter - Josh or Liam? Because the actual romance doesn't even fucking exist. What about he gives me a smile with just the right touch of shyness that unexpected warmth rushes through me? For a moment I feel foolishly happy? There's a whole world locked away inside of him? How don't his eyelashes get tangled up when he blinks? He plays with my hair while I make a flower crown? His voice is like the morphine they give me? In a minute I can see his smile and hear his laugh? I wonder if those kisses would feel like the ones from the beach, the ones I hadn't let myself think about until this moment? Did you really hear him screaming? Don't let him take you away from me? Let me go - I can't? None of this is shown or implied.

No, this isn't a romance book and there are a lot of other extremely important scenes that the movies don't focus enough on (Hey, remember the death of her father and how important that relationship was/is to her? How much she misses him? How she never had the time to grieve him?) but the romance that does happen between the main characters is a big part of the plot - it moves the story, it creates conflict. This isn't just a story of war, it's also a story about the life of its protagonist and it's only natural to want her to find joy and peace. And no, not everyone has to like it, love it, be obsessed with it (I really don't care about that, nor is it a realistic thing to expect or the focus of this post), but can we just stop pretending like it doesn't exist? Like it's a bad thing to enjoy it. That you are exactly like the Capitol because of that. That even Katniss herself doesn't even care about it and is somehow above that - she's a confused, traumatized child who doesn't have time to prioritize her own feelings and emotions. At 17, she should be able to think about that beach kiss for every second of every day and not feel the need to hide it because she's afraid of expecting too much, or wanting too much, or needing too much.

The movies left a lot of damage, not because they focused on the romance, but because instead of filming what was already on paper they went ahead and glamorized it, deleted it or changed it. They deleted the fact that Seam people are POC. They aged up the cast. Dehumanized Kato, Clove... Didn't show how ugly the Capitol really is. How Haymich lost everything because he didn't want to be their piece in the games. How Finnick was sold from the age of 14. How Johanna isn't just angry and mad but damaged and broken. How Gale isn't a war criminal but a teenager who got lost in trying to see what is right to do in a war. How war changes people and how, in the end, it loses its right side if it ever had it. How you can still be damaged and worth something. That the real revolution isn't in the fight but in helping those around you, by giving them bread on a rainy day or singing them a song when they are dying in your arms. That Peeta lost his leg and his entire family. That both him and Katniss had traumas prior to the games. That they truly loved each other and were each other's hope. That it would've happened anyway. That it's only him. That their love is a lot of things but never practical or just for comfort. 

The romance that the movies presented was shallow and superficial. The tragedy in their love story isn't Gale, or that it only happened because it was forced, or because of their shared trauma. Instead it was Snow and the Capitol. They weren't allowed privacy and to move at their own pace. They had to be used and manipulated, and then, on top of that, hijacked. And after all of that, they were still the only ones who could have healed one another. After all of that, they still somehow grew back together. That it was absolutely everything to both of them. That they are fully equal.

So no, the problem with the movies isn't too much romance.

My chem teacher: The school’s too hot, the school’s too cold, okay Goldilocks.

steve's fighting getting erratic when bucky gets hurt

daniel beating the SHIT out of that filing cabinet when he thought peggy was in danger

and they keep shoving stevepeggy propaganda down my throat like i dont know what they're doing

shut the fuck up marvel

Dooley: How do I even begin to explain Peggy Carter

Daniel: Peggy Carter is flawless.

Dottie: She has two guns and a Sweet Dreams lipstick.

Angie: I hear her nail polish is ensured for $10,000.

Colonel Phillips: I hear she works on USO shows in Italy.

Bucky: Her favorite colors are victory red and army green.

Howard: One time, she met Captain America at Camp Lehigh.

Steve: And she told me I was pretty.

Jack: One time, she punched me in the face.

Jack: It was awesome.

Peggy: I feel like doing something stupid

Steve: I’m stupid, do me.

Peggy:

Steve:

Bucky, eating chips in the corner: You said that out loud.