Parachutes From Haymitch

catniphatesbuttercup:

annie cresta

• was reaped in the hunger games
• could very well have been a career!
• saw her district partner beheaded
• almost drowned
• became a hunger games victor
• had to see the love of her life be a sex slave and have her used against him
• struggled with ptsd
• almost was reaped a second time
• was tortured in the capitol
• had finnick die after only a brief period of happiness with him
• was pregnant with his son

and still managed to survive

she is not some “poor mad girl” that just serves to make finnick’s story more tragic thank you very much

• She also lost Mags, who was probably like a parent to her. We don’t know what they did to her real family— was it a Haymitch-situation?
• We don’t know what kind of torture she experienced in the Capitol, but she was returned to District 13 in nothing but a bed sheet. You put the pieces together. It’s not pretty.
• They forced her to vote on the Hunger Games for Capitol children— while she was pregnant with Finnick’s child immediately after his death.
• Annie probably heard and/or saw Peeta being tortured in the Capitol.
• Annie raised Finnick’s child alone. Enough said.

Annie Cresta is perhaps my favorite secondary character in the Hunger Games for all of the these reasons, but primarily because she’s a survivor. She survived, against all odds, because in her own quiet way, Annie is strong. She gave strength to everyone around her. And even though everything was taken away from her, she kept living. I think that’s incredible. Annie is further proof that life might not be perfect, but it can always be good again.

DANDELION ROOTS

(Preface: So, Little Duck has decided that in order to save her intellectual soul, she is actually going to start writing research papers again. In her “spare” time. Between working seven to five and fucking bitches on the side.)

I’m reading this fascinating book called Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy (http://www.tnr.com/book/review/end-russian-aristocracy-nobility-tsar-nicholas-lenin), and in one part, the author discusses how the former aristocrats came to rely on dandelion roots as a basic element of their diet. (The dandelion was always an important part of the Russian peasant diet, and I actually ate them in Russia, and they are very tasty with some beets and mushrooms and the occasional turnip.)

Naturally, I think of the Hunger Games and Katniss’ use of dandelion roots, and of Peeta’s symbolic representation as a dandelion (hope, spring, rebirth, promise, survival, blah, blah, blah, blah). The dandelion similar regenerative properties across Indo-European folklore.

BUT THEN I put my degree to good use, and recognize that dandelion roots are a common metaphor in Slavic (particularly East and West Slavic) mythology and folklore. Baba Yaga lures men to her lair with dandelion soup, Koshchei the Deathless survives on dandelion roots alone (in some variations of his tale), dandelions are aplenty in the Thrice-Nineth Kingdom, treasures are discovered under dandelion patches, princesses frequently weave crowns of dandelions, and many a Prince Ivan survived on dandelions alone. Furthermore, dandelions are a popular motif in Sorbian-Kasubian folklore— a culture that frequently serves as a bridge between Germanic and Slavic culture in what was formerly known as Prussia.

I think I will postulate that both Katniss and Peeta might have Slavic roots— particularly Baltic and Muscovite. The Slavs are renowned for their baking skills and pastries, and the Black Steppe of Russia and Ukraine is the breadbasket of Europe. Furthermore, a large number of Slavs emigrated to Appalachia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to work in the coal mines. I wouldn’t be surprised if Peeta was of Polish/Czech stock, and Katniss has some roots in Russia/Ukraine. (I’m not excluding the Southern Slavs, but their folklore has more diverse influences— particularly from the Italians, Greeks, and Turks, and I’m not as well-versed, so I’ll exclude most of the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Macedonia from this discussion for the time being.)

No, I’m not going to write a paper about Slavic folklore and the Hunger Games— although I could if I wanted to (Annie Cresta= rusalka? I think so)— but I find it interesting how Suzanne Collins has incorporated a lot of uncommon folklore into her canon.

I also wonder how prevalent the theme of dandelions is in other Indo-European folklores; I know it is more rare in Greco-Roman culture (Italic and Greek), but I’ve seen it as a recurring theme in Celtic folklore as well as Germanic, so I am curious about Iberian and Nordic. If anyone knows anything, holla atcha guidette!

CONSIDER MY MIND BLOWN

So, I was doing some folklore research (because I have nothing better to do during Frankenstorm, evidently), and I just learned that the water plant sagittaria is also known as katniss: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittaria. The plant has nourishing properties and is known as “arrowhead.” PERF. Isn’t this stuff neat?

Sagittaria is OBVIOUSLY named after Sagittarius, the Archer. The archer, the arrowhead…

Suzanne Collins is so fucking clever. ALL OF THE AWARDS.

Here’s some cool info about tubers in North America: http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_sala2.pdf

HAYMITCH FEELS

IDK, kids, I know Haymitch is from the Seam and everything, but what if he is like Katniss and one of his parents is Merchant and one is Seam? We’ll never know (since Collins doesn’t extrapolate), but I think it’s an interesting theory. I think it could explain a great deal about Haymitch and his past and why he copes the way he does, and I think it could explain why he relates to both Katniss and Peeta so well. It might explain why he understands Katniss, but chooses Peeta.

(I’m only thinking about this because la famiglia and I got into a heated debate about this over dinner. I say we’re Seam, my brother says we’re Merchant, and Daddy says we’re Capitol.)

The moment Finnick is cast, this will be us

that-crazy-capitol-citizen:

The First Stage - Shock

The Second Stage - Going Crazy

The Third Stage - Mixed Emotions

The Fourth Stage - Confusion

The Fifth Stage - Acceptance

The Sixth Stage - Denial

The Seventh Stage - Death

Little Duck the ENTIRE TIME:

(Source: suzysbinoculars)