I am so glad that Katniss never found out about Snow briefly living in D12. Learning that he had walked through her Seam? Her Hob? The town square and bakery? The Meadow? Her woods? Her father’s lake and cabin?? It probably would have permanently tainted all those places where she felt most at home.
As The Ballad of Snakes and Songbirds lingers in my head, I have grown to really understand that the 10th games are as much of a tipping point for the continuation of the games as 74/75 are the tipping point of their destruction. Highbottom, the creator of the games clearly does not want them to continue. No one even watches the games and tributes die before even entering the arena. Dr. Cual is the only one who seems to love that games but she’s too vicious to know how to expand the necessity of games “correctly”.
The tenth games are a mess and could have been framed as a mistake to continue with, as Highbottom seemed to be pushing for. Dr. Gual was pro- killing the 24 tributes in whatever way, not fully playing into the killing sport of it all. She was willing to have the snakes kill all of the tributes in one go, essentially ending the spectacle with all the blood on the capitals hands. Snow combines the essence of humanity, the notion of punishment and need for entertainment to build out the continuation of the games.
All the lessons Snow learns from District 12 are weaponized to full effect by the time we read about the 74th games. Adding tvs and holograms to every district, betting on the winner, having the districts route against each other, heroizing the winner and marching them around as a prop. The victors not being able to return to normal lives and being pimped out by the capital screams like a greater punishment for Lucy’s escape attempt. Snow knows how to add stakes and, in turn, flex the power the capital holds over its citizens.
Snow road the middle for so long that he could see the cracks in the foundation and smooth them over to continue the process for years to come. Without Snow’s experiences, the games would never be as brutal and brilliantly propagandized as we see in the future, and most likely would have ended far sooner.
here’s your friendly reminder that president snow is not your uwu murder daddy. he orchestrated the deaths of close to two thousand children, oppressed the citizens of panem and went as far as forcing the children who survived the massacre of their peers—often by being forced into killing them themselves—into becoming glorified prostitutes. there’s a lot to say about fandom’s obsession over villainous characters but if i see a single one of y’all simp over snow just because tom blyth is hot it’ll be on fucking sight.
One thing that’s vitally important to remember is that feeling “weirded out” is not a form of harm. It is a completely normal part of socializing. It is the feeling of encountering something unfamiliar. In order to be a kind person, you must learn to how to distinguish between “harmful” and “weird.” And then you must accept the weird.
The original percy jackson series is about cycles of abuse and neglect, right. Were introduced to percy as a kid who has clearly been left behind by a school system that has given up on him, restless and unengaged and self-defetist because hes been given nothing that works for him and no one even tries to meet him where he is. Then hes told no, listen, your neurodivergence is amazing and you just need to be given something that actually utilizes your unique palatte. And thats obviously the uplifting idea rick wanted for his kids, right. But once we get to know chb the same cycles are happening there too. There are kids “left behind” there too for one reason or another, because their parents dont want to claim them, because their parents werent important enough to get a cabin. Do you get it, all the kids who dont fit the most common neurotypes get shoved into the same closet. Kids are being left in a cruel world to fend for themselves without the tools they need. Theyre dying because no one bothered to accommodate them. Its such an obvious parallel that the first chapter introduces a teacher whos written to be especially hard on percys disability and she turns out to literally be one of these monsters trying to kill him. Meanwhile sally jackson tells him she named him after Perseus because she wanted a redemption for a hero whos story ended in tragedy. Meanwhile every book in the series replicates a greek myth step for step until the moment they break the cycle. Annabeth, playing Odysseus, is talked down from her hubris and grounded by her friends. Percy, playing Heracles, meets someone wronged by the original Heracles and rights his wrongs by refusing to go down the same selfish path as him. Monsters are reborn because they are–as the books explicitly call them–achetypes. These kids are stuck inside the cyclical nature of mythology because thats what happens to mythology, it gets retold over and over again. But these are the kids who have to live it. The series ends with percy being offered immortality and he rejects it because he wants to use his godly favor to force them to break their cycle of neglecting their kids. The series ends with a declaration that we cant keep letting this happen. The very first book offees the same choice. It ends with percy refusing to keep the head of medusa as a spoil of war, refusing his heroic reward. He lets his mother have the head and use it to kill gabe. Isnt that fucking crazy for a kids book? Gabe wasnt a Monster. He wasnt going to Turn to Dust and Disappear in a narratively convenient way. He was a living breathing mortal dude and percy and his mom killed him without remorse. Break the cycle of abuse!!!! Dont let this happen again!!! Anyway thats why the original percy jackson series is Hey where are you going with our breadsticks
I love learning about other culture’s Houseguest Protocols but I hate hate hate when they don’t match up cause like
I (PNW Canadian, raised with etiquette from my old British great-grandparents) sleeping over: Can I help with dinner. Can I do the dishes. PLEASE let me do something useful. Im sorry I’m here. I can sleep on the floor it’s fine. You don’t need to cook for me I can go outside and drink pond water. Do you hate me
My friend (Indian, raised by entire extended family in Dubai) hosting me: Why won’t you let me feed you. Do you need more coffee. Am I doing something wrong. Do you have enough blankets? I will buy you warmer clothes. Here, you can sleep in my room, I’ll take the couch. Why are you crying? Oh God am I a bad host
Part of getting older is realizing how absolutely insane it is that basically every form of media is constantly trying to convince us that the most interesting moments of the lived human experience are happening in HIGH SCHOOL…… girl who gives a flying fuck what 16 year olds are doing.
