Sunrise On The Reaping - Blog Posts

katniss everdeen didnt even tell us the names of her own PARENTS. of course she didn't bring up beetee's wife and child, let alone effie's family in the original trilogy. SHE BARELY TOLD US ANYTHING ABOUT PEETA!!! she basically went through life with survival blinders on, give the girl a break😭😭😭

sunrise on the reaping was so devastating and i ALREADY KNEW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. doesn’t help that finnick did not get his happy ending!!! haymitch survived but i was STILL miserable. i am NOT surviving a finnick book.

You guys want Finnicks book so bad but personally Suzanne can keep it bro I don’t want to read what happens after his games I don’t think I could handle it. Sunrise on the Reaping destroyed me and I haven’t even finished it yet 😀

SUNRISE ON THE REAPING SPOILERS

“I first saw the girl at the Hob when she was just a baby. Burdock was so proud of her, he toted her around everywhere. After he died in that mine explosion, she started coming alone, trading the odd squirrel or rabbit. Tough and smart, her hair in two braids then, reminding me for all the world of Louella McCoy, my sweetheart of old. And after she volunteered for the Games, that nickname couldn’t help but slip out. I didn’t want to let them in, her and Peeta, but the walls of a person’s heart are not impregnable, not if they have ever known love. That’s what Lenore Dove says, anyway.”

When we first meet Haymitch, we can instantly tell that he has made a habit of distancing himself from tributes. That he has nobody left he loves, so he pushes away anybody else that tries to come into his life. But now we know how full of love Haymitch was. How deeply he loved Lenore Dove, how deeply he loved his mother and Sid, his friends, even Hattie. Everything Haymitch did was out of love. He was reaped because he tried to protect the girl he loved. As he was reaped, he did his best to protect his sweetheart, 13-year-old Louella McCoy he grew up with. He tried to distance himself from the other tributes, but eventually he couldn’t help but love them too.

He couldn’t help but call Ampert “Buddy.” He couldn’t help but call all of the district 6 tributes his doves, and mourn all of their deaths, no matter how little he actually knew them. How Louella was replaced, and how he wanted to hate her replacement, but gave her the name Lou Lou and protected her like their own. Haymitch was the one who initiated the hug of all four tributes from 12. He was distrustful of Wyatt, and grew to mourn him like a brother. He carried Lou Lou like his life depended on holding onto her. How he hated Maysilee Donner, and thought of her as the most stuck-up girl in 12. He called her Sis. He grew to love her like the sister he never had. She died as his sister.

All of the love that Haymitch didn’t need to give, and yet he loved so endlessly and so whole-heartedly. And with every person he loved, he lost them, and lost a part of himself. No wonder he didn’t want to let Katniss and Peeta into his heart. He had already tried so hard to push away Burdock, who relentlessly tried to care for him in his despair.

Then, in comes Katniss Everdeen. She carried with her a piece of every person Haymitch tried to push away. She was Asterid, Burdock, the Seam children he grew up with, all in one person. He didn’t want to let her in. He couldn’t have.

And yet, Haymitch couldn’t help but call her sweetheart.

Because Katniss was a woven tapestry of every person he had ever loved. She was his best friend’s daughter. She carried Lenore Dove’s songs. Louella’s skin and hair. Wyatt’s protectiveness. Maysilee’s fight, Maysilee’s resistance, Maysilee’s pride, Maysilee’s pin. And in the arena, she painted the best poster Haymitch and Maysilee could’ve ever hoped for- Rue, surrounded by flowers, her passing in dignity and not as another number in the games. And refusing the Capitol their winner by eating the berries with Peeta.

It’s no surprise that Katniss and Peeta broke down Haymitch’s walls. Haymitch had the flint striker, the spark. And Katniss was the fire that caught 25 years later.

My theory for the next Hunger Games book is that it’ll follow a spy from INSIDE the capitol (who’s actually organizing and failing to start a revolution), and/or a tribute from district 12, who died in the games.

The spy (Plutarch Heavensbee?) sees how the world is build, sees their own position in society and decides to rebel against it since it’s completely wrong. Sure, it may take a while, but in the end they actually do something!

And maybe, the spy tries to make a winner, or a revolutionary, of the district 12 tribute (or any other tribute), but it doesn’t work. They die, and maybe they try another tribute, and that person dies, and it continues until finally they hatch a plan?

SOTR Spoilers!!!

Okay, I'm not sure if this is just me and I'm overthinking it, but I feel like even in the book, no one acknowledges that we don't know for sure that Louella McCoy was really the one to make it home in that coffin. Hell, when Lou Lou dies, Haymitch even takes a moment to think about what will happen to her body, if it will be sent back to District 11 or left in the Capitol, or even if she would be cremated. Now of course we know that at the end of the book, "Louella McCoy" is sent back in a coffin on the train with Haymitch, but for all we know, it could still be Lou Lou. Think about it from the Capitol's perspective: they want no loose ends, no one will ever know about this, and those who do can never do anything. If they want to keep this so secret, wouldn't it make more sense to send Lou Lou back since her body would have the correct wounds from her death in the arena, so if anyone ever opened the coffin, they would assume it was Louella. Of course, they could assume that no one would ever open the coffin, and they would most likely be right, but if someone did, even years down the road, it should be pretty obvious whether this person died from blunt force trauma or poison since those are two wildly different deaths.

Besides all that, I think that it also adds another layer of tragedy to the whole situation. Lou Lou was kidnapped from her home, stripped of her identity, and murdered by the Capitol while brainwashed to be someone else. It feels even more cruel to send her to a District she's never been to, into the home of a dead girl she was forced to replace, and to be buried under a false name, where her body can be visited by people she never knew, all while everyone who loved her (presumably) rest elsewhere. Meanwhile, Louella was kidnapped from her home, died and had her identity stolen, and no one evens knows what happened to her, but we know she never made it back.

Anyone wanna talk about how there were 50 tributes for his games and it would have been 50 more when the 75th were destroyed and haymitch said he had felt them all at his back when he was trying to finish them the first time -

Wyatt Callow you will always be loved.

Currently crying over his death and I do not want to continue this mf book

I’m only on chapter 3 of ‘sunrise on the reaping’ and I already wanna cry. Suzanne Collins are you trying to hurt me?

god, the way the hunger games truly reflects today’s political climate is so… daunting. i mean, from the first few chapters you’re introduced to the astronomical amount of censorship the capitol feeds into the viewers. only those who were there to witness the true atrocities are aware of the actual occurrences but they’re bound to a hopeless secrecy out of fear they’ll be the next victim lost to lies.

haymitch did everything to tell the true story, to show the people who the capitol is and what they truly stand for. but he was punished, condemned to live a life of suffering simply because he yearned to be heard, to be seen, to do what’s right.

it’s not unlike our own lives. the lengths people are forced to go to do exactly what haymitch yearned to do - the lengths we have to go to grasp onto our humanity and do what’s right.

*trying to escape the train*

So, Sunrise on the Reaping huh? That was wild haha…

…

*sobs*

HI IM NOT DEAD

So… yeah I’ve been gone for around 40 days give or take. I’m Catholic (yeah yeah I’m Catholic and gay laugh all you want) so I recognize the season of Lent, which is the 40 days from Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday I believe? In those 40 days you’re supposed to give something up. I decided to give up Tumblr and probably will next year too. Since it’s Easter Lent is over and I’m back!

Some stuff that happened while I was gone:

SUNRISE ON THE REAPING?? HOLY SHIT??

My birthday was March 31st!

Also happy (very late) Trans day of Visibility!

F U C K Y O U T R U M P

I started watching Demon Slayer so expect fanart of that soon :D

I’ve been able to make some new stuff while I was gone and I’m happy to share it with everyone! Happy Easter!

*throws book accurate Haymitch at you* whoops

So I’ve been thinking about Sunrise on the Reaping, how it’s gonna play out. You know what would be really depressing?

Haymitch Abernathy, “first” victor from District 12. Winner of the fiftieth Hunger Games and the second Quarter Quell. A poor boy from the Seam who defeated twice the number of tributes. The unlikely champion.

He’d used the Capitol’s arena against itself. He endured extreme pain and injury. He had to witness his beloved Maysilee die right before his eyes. Watched as an ax cut through a girl’s head. Remember the countless young lives he took. The horrors that could have driven him to insanity.

After being announced as the victor and being taken from the arena, he received medical attention before having to sit through countless interviews being watched by everyone in Panem. Haymitch put on a smile, saying exactly what the Capitol wanted him to. The entire time he hid his emotions, not letting anyone see through him.

All Haymitch wanted was to go home. To see his family. He caught a glimpse of them waving and cheering as he stood before the District, but the Peacekeepers wouldn’t let him go to them. His mother, who he could always confide in. His father, who never expected him to say anything but would always listen. His siblings, who he could open up to and show his weaknesses to without being judged. His pet, because he found that being around animals was healing.

He was finally allowed to return to his little home on the edge of the Seam, facing the woods. This was where he grew up. He knew the house to be noisy and warm with fire from the coals harvested by his own father. Haymitch was impatient to step through the door and be greeted by his family, surely proud of him.

But something was different.

Silence. The house was cold, empty, and dark. There was no sign of struggle; all the furniture was standing up, but nothing seemed to be in its normal place. An uncut loaf of bread rested on the kitchen countertop. Everything was clean and perfect. Perfect, except for the lingering smell of blood. Haymitch immediately dropped his things, his victor’s crown clattering to the floor. He felt tears streaming down his face. He took a step forward.

Lying on the dining room table was an ax, and a glass vase holding a singular white rose.

Yeah I write sometimes. Haymitch is my favorite character so obviously I’m going to dump more trauma than necessary on him. It’s how I show affection 🫶

I am not exaggerating when I tell you I screamed and immediately started working on fanart when I heard Sunrise on the Reaping was coming out, I’ve been waiting for this for idfk 4 years?? Which isn’t very long but I’m quite impatient

The drawings above were made by me :D there’s the full picture, then a close up of the rose + ax and another of Haymitch. Woody did an amazing job as Haymitch but my heart belongs to the book accurate POC version of him ☺️ I suggest clicking on the images to see them better

Sorry if everything looks weird :/ I’m not used to drawing stuff like this

haymitch sees the female tribute for the 74th hunger games and it’s a girl with the rage of maysilee, fire of louella, empathy of wyatt, blood of burdock, and the same horrible odds as himself. how could sweetheart not slip out?

+ lenore dove’s geese only tolerating haymitch for food and buttercup only tolerating katniss for food !!!!

haymitch raising geese to feel closer to lenore dove and katniss taking care of buttercup to feel closer to prim. the geese not trusting haymitch when lenore was still alive and buttercup disliking katniss when prim was still alive. the parallels are paralleling

sotr wasn’t nearly as nuanced as the other books, but i feel like that was intentional. it was meant for a broader audience, one who may not be able to pick up on the subtle meanings and hauntings. it was a very centralized point, unlike the others which explored a variety of topics, because collins didn’t want a single reader to miss it. in thg, everyone focused on gale vs peeta. in tbosas, everyone focused on coriolanus. she wanted to avoid this cycle of ignoring the point in favor of the romantic relationships or “hot” characters

just realized both haymitch and katniss lost their sisters. haymitch lost three and katniss lost her reason

maybe the covey should stop naming their kids after doomed ballads. why not name them roxanne or rosemary. goddamn

omg i was thinking abt this post again and realized “and im sorry i left but it was for the best though it never felt right” also fits SO well omg this is gonna destroy me. plus the fact that the reaping is on the fourth of july lol

i am not ready for the sotr edits to fourth of july by sufjan stevens when the movie comes out

“did you get enough love, my little dove?”

i am not ready for the sotr edits to fourth of july by sufjan stevens when the movie comes out

“did you get enough love, my little dove?”

beetee’s sotr baby

i was just thinking about how it wouldnt be terribly implausible for beetee’s unborn child to have died in finnick’s games. sotr took place during the 50th games, which means by the 65th games, the kid wouldve been 14 or 15. you could say “oh, well, they wouldve been reaped as soon as they turned 12” but like, not really. it would be much more devastating for beetee to have to wait to see if his baby is going to be reaped just like their older brother. beetee would expect it at 12 and 18 since those are the first and last years theyd be eligible, but 14/15 would be more unexpected (though im not saying beetee wouldnt expect it, just less so). imagine beetee seeing this 14-year-old finnick come home after beetee’s own died (at the hands of finnick? maybe, but i think it’s more likely to be otherwise based on beetee’s and finnick’s dynamic) and seeing his own child in a broken boy’s face.

just a thought

can you imagine how devastated haymitch must’ve been when the undersees died? that was the last remnant, besides the mockingjay pin she hated so much, of maysilee donner, his begrudged sister. and he finds that maysilee is not the only one with bad luck, no, its her whole family. madge’s best friend was reaped, and then she died, right along with merrilee. merrilee, who was the stunning image of who maysilee would one day resemble. maysilee, who never became that and finally died with her family.

haymitch love-whoever-tf-u-want-but-let-me-see-my-girlllll abernathy

something that stood out to me while reading sotr is just how unreliable of a narrator haymitch is, and specifically in how he views himself. he mentions how he isnt smart repeatedly, and i almost accepted that as a character trait because it’s so often said, but his actions show otherwise. he knows the repercussions of carrying lou lou while in the arena, he just doesnt care. he isnt stupid, he’s brave. “a hero is a person who fights for liberty instead of settling for comfort.”

i need the epilogue of sunrise on the reaping to describe a vague, non-specific reaping and then it ends with effie calling “primrose everdeen”

HAYMITCH’S BIRTHDAY IS THE SAME DAY AS THE REAPING. THIS MEANS HE SPENT THE FIRST 15 YEARS OF HIS LIFE WATCHING KIDS BE SENT AWAY TO DIE, HIS 16TH BIRTHDAY BEING LITERALLY REAPED, AND THE NEXT 23. 2-3. TWENTY THREE!!! YEARS SENDING KIDS OFF TO THEIR DEATHS. AND THEN, KATNISS CAME, AND SHE AND PEETA LIVED!!!! AND THEN THE 75TH GAMES ARRIVED AND HAYMITCH WAS READY TO SPEND ANOTHER BIRTHDAY BEING REAPED, BUT INSTEAD WATCHED THE ONLY TWO KIDS FROM D12 WHO SURVIVED NEARLY (and temporarily) DIE AGAIN. STFU BRO