If The Foxes’ Cheese Drawer Is Anything Like The Cheese Drawers Y’all Have Been Posting (no Offense

I had a big trauma happen a week ago and I’ve just read the first two chapters of The Sunshine Court. It’s so healing to read. Maybe it’s because I’m sure it’s going to get better for Jean, or that he has people caring for him and acknowledging his pain when he can’t. I’m in a lot of pain right now but I can’t find it in myself to express it, so I’m finding solace in his pain being expressed and dealt with in the narrative.

Some elrondriel anyone?

Hama

Let's start with the canon(ish) timeline:

Assuming that the young woman with the hair loopies is Katara's grandmother Kana and she's around the same age as Hama, I'm going to say that both are in their early-twenties. This is because Kana needed time to emigrate from the Northern Water Tribe. Yue got engaged at 16, and the healer Yagoda thought Katara was old enough to be engaged at 14. Judging by these engagement customs, Kana was probably engaged and then left around 16/17. To give her enough time to cross the world and settle in, I'd say that she and Hama must be around their early 20s.

During "The Puppetmaster", Hama says "the raids started over sixty years ago". Based on this, Hama is in her 80s during the events of this episode.

As she is describing her escape, Hama says she "walked free for the first time in decades". This could mean anything, but given that she hasn't started graying yet, I'm going to say two decades. Making her in her 40s when she first escaped.

Now, when did Hama get to the village we see in "The Puppetmaster"?

I've collected the relevant pieces from the show and discussed them. I truly can't make up my mind on this point, so I'd love to hear what others think. Let me know if I missed anything or if you guys have different interpretations of the evidence.

Here is what is said in the episode:

A merchant explains to a customer that he won't have any ash bananas until next week. The customer then says 'oh right, the full moon'. The merchant then says that he can't lose another two delivery boys to the full moon.

This interaction, to me, can be used to justify that Hama either has or hasn't been kidnapping people in this specific village for a long time:

Kidnapping in the short time interpretation: The merchant looks to be around sixty or slightly older, so he'd have been around when Hama came to the village (if she arrived immediately after escaping in her 40s). Let's assume he's been running this business for that long. If Hama started kidnapping people near immediately, I'd assume the lost delivery boys incidents happened near the beginning of that time. In this case, up to four decades ago. The merchant might not bring up those incidents to a customer who is (two?) decades younger than him and might not remember that incident. Since telling the customer is kinda bad marketing and makes the merchant look irresponsible or reckless. This could imply that these incidents are more recent.

Kidnapping in the long time interpretation: The customer doesn't need to be reminded that the full moon is that night. He knows it instinctively and doesn't need the merchant to connect the dots between the two day journey and the full moon disappearances. This awareness of the moon phases could imply that this has been happening for long enough that people have been habitually paying attention to the moon for a long time.

2. The guy who tells Aang, Sokka, and Toph about Old Man Ding says he's the "only one person who ever saw it and lived".

The word "ever" here implies that this might have been going on for a long time. However, local legends are quickly made and inflated, so the timing might just naturally be exaggerated.

3. Old Man Ding interaction, in which he says, "I'm not ready to get snapped up by any moon monster".

Honestly, I don't know what to make of this. To me, this reads like a semi-recent event, but I don't have anything to really back this up. Apart from maybe Ding saying he's not ready to get snapped up by a moon monster in response to a conversation about his age, which could imply that he was already old when this event happened.

Fun fact: the credits say "old man dig" even though the subtitles and voices clearly say "old man ding" (: 

Now for some speculation:

If Hama escaped in her 40s, the earliest she could have gotten to the village was forty years ago. In my opinion, that is a LONG time to be kidnapping people and not get caught. However, she does only have the opportunity to kidnap people once a month, but still that seems like a really long time. This brings me to the part of this that is just me asking questions (so again, please let me know what you think!)

When did Hama start kidnapping people?

Did she go to other villages before she came to the one we see in this episode? If so, did she kidnap anyone in those previous villages (I'd guess yes)? If she was in other villages, was there a point before she started kidnapping people, or did she start immediately (I think it could be interesting if she struggled with it for a bit, then gave into the urge. Or even if the urge didn't appear immediately)?

Did she ever try to go home? If so, did she find that she wasn't able to let go of the need for revenge, and leave again?

Kevin Day wearing a Jeremy Knox jersey

(:

Do you ever cry because of a book?

Day 29 - BROKEN😭

Who ordered more angst?

Okay, here you go.

i know who you pretend i am

Katniss and Haymitch are both pretty much solely motivated by community (protecting family, friends, people they deem vulnerable). The difference is in the ways that rebellion comes naturally to them.

Katniss’ rebellion are, for lack of a better word, “passive” acts of love. Building a burial for Rue, speaking to Rue’s and Thresh’s families, trying to save Peeta with the berries, etc.

Haymitch tends towards more “active” acts. Blowing up the water tank, driving the chariot to face off against Snow. While his rebellious acts diminished after the games, this pattern of “active/offensive” over “passive/defensive” becomes exacerbated when he shuts himself off from people.

Throughout the books, Katniss has to learn to be more “active/offensive” in becoming the mockingjay. Haymitch has to relearn the “passive/defensive” by opening himself up to Katniss and Peeta.

Despite their differences in how they naturally rebel, they are both so similar in that community and love are their motives. Katniss really is Haymitch but luckier. This book also proves how important luck is to a rebellion (even though we may not want it to be). In addition to luck, persistence is also necessary.

not an artist! but i saw this format and had to make a louis one <3

The Golden Raven