SURVIVE

[kahtnips]

THE  WOODS  ARE  LOVELY,  DARK  AND  DEEP.  BUT  I'VE  GOT  PROMISES  TO  KEEP  AND  MILES  TO  GO  BEFORE  I  SLEEP  —  KAHTNIPS  is  a  study  in  the  importance  of  healing  after  severe  trauma  and  the  ability  to  keep  rising  up  no  matter  what  the  world  has  done  to  you.  KATNISS  EVERDEEN  has  been  my  muse  for  well  over  a  decade  and  is  a  combination  of  book,  movie,  and  my  personal  canon.  mutuals only , selective  ,  21+.  adored  by  sabrina (  32,  she/her  )

other blogs : @doviey , @nostalgea replies : done , askbox : 5 02/05/26

my rules are pretty simple and also pretty common and tbh i don't care if you read them because i'm happy to communicate kindly with any issues i may have. so lets get into it.

i write in first person. i never expect you to do the same. <3

you must be 21+ to interact with me.

i have poor vision and i ask that you please don't do too much fancy stuff. i struggle mostly with huge spaces and small text.

duplicates are welcome here.

this blog is mutuals only. i hard block anyone i do not plan to follow back.

sending in memes is the best way to get interactions started with me. i have decided to no longer do starter calls so the other option would be to just reach out to me directly.

my priority here is really just to have fun exploring katniss and meet more people who love the hunger games. i try to give everyone a fair shot and create as kind of a space as i can.

[kahtnips]

i think i am exclusively waiting on replies here other than some memes so i will be back to reply to my askbox on tuesday.

[kahtnips]

❛ I’m gonna do something that they’re gonna remember. ❜

@subconcern

I  don't  know  Mike  Wheeler  well  but  one  glance  at  him  could  tell  anyone  he  isn't  suitable  for  the  arena.  He  seems  clever  enough  but  to  be  able  to  do  anything  means  surviving  long  enough  to  do  it.  I  feel  sick  to  my  stomach  for  thinking  about  him  like  that  but  I  look  around  the  training  room  and  all  I  see  is  a  lot  of  soon  to  be  dead  bodies.  But  it's  not  any  way  to  be  thinking  about  my  potential  ally.  I  bite  my  lip,  guiltily.  He  might  be  lacking  in  strength  but  together?  Maybe  it  is  possible  to  do  what  he's  saying.

The  room  is  well  guarded  and  with  the  added  trainers,  there's  ears  everywhere.  "I'm  sure  you  are,"  I  respond,  as  casually  as  if  he  had  been  talking  about  the  weather  but  my  eyes  have  a  hint  urgency.  "I'm  done  training  for  the  day.  I  have  to  meet  with  my  stylist  soon  so  I'm  going  up  to  the  roof  until  then."

[provisoris]

in the strangest of ways, katniss and her inability to comfort anyone actually works in my favor. letting me get it out, giving me space but still lingering may have been exactly what i needed. sometimes i think without even realizing it, she knows me better than i know myself.

i sink back onto my heels, wipe my face, and stand up because she's right. i have to carry on because life will, even if i don't. i look back and reposition myself to sit with my back against the rock of the small overhang we are at and with a sniffle, i pat the ground next to me.

"funeral's on friday," i say, looking out at the mountains, elbow resting on a knee. there's something about them that will always be home to me. it helps that she's here. it means more to me than she understands. she didn't run. she didn't walk away.

she didn't say goodbye, gale.

[kahtnips]

The truth is, I've had enough funerals for a lifetime. I think about slipping into my mothers old black dress because the one I used to use would never fit me again. But then I'm thinking about my mother and I slip thought process into a tiny box and file it away before I fall apart.

"I'll be there," I say because my respect for the dead outweighs any internal discomfort that death brings me. Hazelle deserves the entire district to be stood there. After all, she had worked for them as a washer for the entirety of most of their lives. Unfortunately, the bombing killed most our residents and even now, more people are moving away from here than staying. It'll be small but I'll be there if he'll have me. "I mean, if that's okay with you."

Prim didn't have a funeral. There was no body to bury. No mother to make the plans. And no me to make the plans when my mother fell through. Peeta planting her garden was the closest I came to laying her to rest. But back then, if Gale had even glanced at those flowers, I would have been screaming for everyone to hear. The wound in my chest aches hard and I push past it because that's all I know how to do.

I look at his profile, really look at him. He's older now. We aren't teens still growing into ourselves anymore. But he feels the same next to me. "Do you want to catch dinner?" For most people, the thought of struggling for your next meal is now gone. But some days I still come out to hunt and forage, especially on a day I want to feel normal.

[twelvereplaced]

@kahtnips is getting this because of reasons

"and she decides to grace us with her wonderful presence after all!" I say, or, rather Effie would probably say, I slurred or some shit. Doesn't matter. Another year, another two gone. I'm starting to think I'll never be able to keep my promise to Lenore Dove.

I raise the glass so fast to drain it as quickly as I can that it nearly busts my lip open and I pull a face, cough a little and shake it off.

"peeta's already knee deep in the old games. If you won't listen to anything I have to say, you're free to join him," I gesture vaguely in the direction of peeta (I think?) tucked away in a dove-colored lobby of luxury on this god forsaken train to carry them so beautifully to their death. Though I know it's pointless, I lift the glass again, just to be sure I didn't miss any of it. I didn't.

The glass hits the table and the girl, Katniss, is still standing there.

"what's is gonna be, sweetheart?" The nickname flies off my tongue (again) and after years of perfecting my poker face, she will never know the way my insides twist at that last word.

[kahtnips]

I sigh because the sun has barely risen and already I'm having the goodness of Peeta shoved in my face. Well if they think I'm so unpleasant then forcing me into proximity with the guy trying to kill me isn't likely to make me anymore cheery. I'm not having it today but I'm not thrilled to listen to his drunk ramblings either. The two of them have me wishing Effie was useful. I'd take play dress up with Cinna's team over more training with Peeta.

I stare at the bottle with all the judgment I have for him and Peeta and the Capitol and the way I'm being treated for being me and not Peeta. I'm not going to smile through this process and I can't believe Haymitch, of all people, is expecting me to rise to the occasion.

Every second of the rest of my life counts if I have any hope of keeping my promise to Prim but this place where my personality matters more than my skill is draining me quicker than Haymitch drained that bottle.

My dreams are already painted with my fellow tributes dying. I've had enough of death this morning. "I think today I'm going to focus on putting on weight," I respond after several minutes of silence. I sit at the table that still has a full spread on it even though it's gone cold and been picked over. I pour myself a cup of cold chocolate because it's the most color dense option on the table and shove a piece of bacon in my mouth in a way that Effie would never approve of.

[kahtnips]

good morning. gonna get these replies done.

[provisoris]

She doesn't finish the sentence and I almost don't hear my mother's name as I hang my head in my hands and finally, for the first time since Rory called, I let myself cry.

My knees slam into the rock that's held me through some of the worst times, holding me again. I don't know how long I cry for I just keep wishing I could stop and speak.

"thank you," is all I end up managing and it's a weak whisper at that. I don't dare lift my head. I can't look at her right now.

I don't know what I expected coming out here but I didn't think my heart would shatter the way it is currently doing.

[kahtnips]

I had been worried about seeing Gale for a lot of reasons but hadn't prepared for the most obvious. Sometimes comforting someone comes so naturally to me and other times it makes a sickening feeling start to grow in the pit of stomach the longer I don't know what to say.

But this is a Gale so I do the same thing I would have done years ago, I let him go through his emotions on his own. Sometimes you just need someone to hear them and experience them with you. That's where I land. I don't watch him. I don't comment. I let him cry over his mother because really what is there to say?

There is no comfort in death. I have lost enough people to know no words they offered me ever meant much. Except once. "Better not to give in to it. It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart." It's not comforting but it's true and it's what I have to offer.

[kahtnips]

stranger things muses give me your hunger games verses.

[goodnightmemes]

THE HUNGER GAMES (2012) SENTENCE STARTERS

feel free to change pronouns / terms / tense as needed!

❛ It’s okay. You were just dreaming, you were dreaming. ❜

❛ We could do it, you know? Take off. Live in the woods. ❜

❛ They’d catch us. Cut out our tongues or worse. ❜

❛ I’m never having kids. ❜

❛ You need to get out of here. ❜

❛ Shh, I don’t have much time. ❜

❛ No matter what you feel, you will be there for her. Do you understand? ❜

❛ Don’t cry. Don’t. ❜

❛ You’re stronger than they are. You are. ❜

❛ They just want a good show. That’s all they want. ❜

❛ You know if you don’t want to talk, I understand. But I just don’t think there’s anything wrong with getting a little bit of help. ❜

❛ Embrace the probability of your imminent death; and know, in your heart, that there’s nothing I can do to save you. ❜

❛ Now that’s a good way to get killed. ❜

❛ Oh! Joy. Why don’t you join us? I’m just giving some life-saving advice. ❜

❛ Give me a chance to wake up sweetheart. ❜

❛ That is mahogany! ❜

❛ You really wanna know how to stay alive? You get people to like you. Oh! Not what you were expecting. ❜

❛ Some water, a knife or even some matches can mean the difference between life and death. ❜

❛ That was one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen. ❜

❛ I’m sorry that this happened to you. And I’m here to help you in any way I can. ❜

❛ I’m gonna do something that they’re gonna remember. ❜

❛ We are all anybody’s going to be talking about! ❜

❛ Exposure can kill as easily as a knife. ❜

❛ They can be arrogant. And arrogance can be a big problem. ❜

❛ I hear you can shoot. ❜

❛ I have no chance of winning. None! ❜

❛ Those guys are looking at you like you’re a meal. ❜

❛ I think you have a shadow. ❜

❛ Make sure they remember you. ❜

❛ Thank you, for your consideration. ❜

❛ You realize that your actions reflect badly on all of us, not just you. ❜

❛ I hope you noticed, we have a serious situation. ❜

❛ Loosen your corset and have a drink. ❜

❛ I would have given anything to see it. ❜

❛ I thought they hated me. ❜

❛ They must have liked your guts. ❜

❛ Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. ❜

❛ A little hope is effective. A lot of hope is dangerous. Spark is fine, as long as it’s contained. ❜

❛ Don’t you know how beautiful you look? ❜

❛ I don’t know how to make people like me. How do you make people like you? ❜

❛ Just be yourself. I’ll be there the whole time, and just pretend you’re talking to me. ❜

❛ I think someone here is a little nervous. ❜

❛ So, tell me. Is there a special girl back home? ❜

❛ Well, that’s bad luck. ❜

❛ What the hell was that?! You don’t talk to me and then you say you have a crush on me? ❜

❛ He made me look weak. ❜

❛ He made you look desirable. Which in your case, can’t hurt sweetheart! ❜

❛ We are not star-crossed lovers. ❜

❛ Manners! ❜

❛ Can’t sleep? ❜

❛ I just don’t want them to change me. ❜

❛ I just don’t wanna be another piece in their game, you know? ❜

❛ I just keep wishing I could think of a way to show them that they don’t own me. ❜

❛ If I’m gonna die, I wanna still be me. ❜

❛ I’m not allowed to bet, but if I could I’d bet on you. ❜

❛ You sure she went this way? ❜

❛ Are you sure we shouldn’t just kill him now? ❜

❛ Let’s just wait her out. ❜

❛ Run! Damn it. Go! ❜

❛ Get out of here! What’re you doing? Go! ❜

❛ Don’t just sit there! Look at me! ❜

❛ It’s okay. I’m not gonna hurt you. ❜

❛ How long was I asleep? ❜

❛ So what happened when I was out? ❜

❛ Is all that true? You and him. ❜

❛ That sounds tempting. ❜

❛ We need a signal, in case one of us gets held up. ❜

❛ We’re gonna be okay. ❜

❛ I wanna see if she’s gonna figure out this booby trap. ❜

❛ It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re alright. ❜

❛ You have to win. ❜

❛ Can you sing? ❜

❛ Don’t kill her. You’d just create a martyr. ❜

❛ I know you know how to handle a mob, you’ve done it before. ❜

❛ If you can’t scare them. Give them something to root for. ❜

❛ Everyone likes an underdog. ❜

❛ There are lots of underdogs. And I think if you could see them, you would root for them either. ❜

❛ I like you, be careful. ❜

❛ It’s bad, huh? ❜

❛ I’m not gonna leave you! I’m not gonna do that. ❜

❛ We’ll figure something out. ❜

❛ You feel hot. ❜

❛ I remember the first time I saw you. ❜

❛ Well, say something. ❜

❛ I’m not good at saying something. ❜

❛ You’re not going alone. ❜

❛ You’re not gonna risk your life for me. I’m not gonna let you. ❜

❛ You would do it for me, wouldn’t you? ❜

❛ Now there’s no way I’m letting you go. ❜

❛ Please. Stay. ❜

❛ It’s too bad that you couldn’t help your little friend. ❜

❛ Well, we killed her. And now, we’re gonna kill you. ❜

❛ You shouldn’t have gone. You said you weren’t gonna go. ❜

❛ We could go home. ❜

❛ We should probably hunt around here. We don’t have any food left. ❜

❛ That’s nightlock! You’d be dead in a minute! ❜

❛ You scared me to death. Damn you. ❜

❛ I never even knew she was following me. ❜

❛ Go on. I’m dead anyway. I always was, right? I didn’t know that until now. ❜

❛ I can still do it. One more kill. It’s the only thing I know how to do. ❜

❛ One of us has to die. They have to have their victor. ❜

❛ Trust me. ❜

❛ They’re not happy with you. ❜

❛ Well, I’m sorry it didn’t go the way they planned. You know I’m not very happy with them either. ❜

❛ This is serious. Not just for you. They don’t take these things lightly. ❜

❛ When they ask, you say you couldn’t help yourself. ❜

❛ So what happens when we get back? ❜

❛ I guess we try to forget. ❜

❛ I don’t wanna forget. ❜

[provisoris]

I MISSED THIS, he thought as he moved through the woods, the trail worn, even now, so many years past.

[ still, being back here to make the arrangements for his mother's funeral is not why he wanted to return. ]

rory had called him in a panic. he didn't have any idea what to do... it wasn't something he had even thought about. two days before he called his older brother, his mother had been stricken with a fever. but that was it. suddenly, that was it. and their mother was gone.

so, gale had returned to twelve from two, taking leave for a couple of weeks to get everything straightened out and ensure his brothers and sister would be alright.

after they had settled on the arrangements, gale followed the pull of his heart out into the woods. he had no idea if he she even came out here anymore. [ why would she? ] but, if he did run into her here would be better than in town... still... he sort of didn't want to.

he knew she needed time and space;

goodbye gale.

she hadn't reached out. she wasn't ready. either way, there was no way he could ever forgive himself if he didn't come out here to their spot.

as he pushed the last of the full branches aside to reveal the spot that the pair had spent so many hours at together, dreaming, wishing, hoping, and then... the place where he alone had spent mourning, his heart stopped, right there in his chest. his breath was violently torn from his lungs, leaving him making some sort of choked gasp not unlike if he had been physically punched in the gut as his eyes betrayed him and tears slipped down scruffy cheeks.

"katniss..." he breathed, the only word that he could remember.

@reborninashes REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOoOoOOoooODDDD! (LITERALLY us and them 😌)

[kahtnips]

When I think about him, I always end up here. I thought it would be tainted but the truth is I love district 12 more than ever. Helps when there is no longer a nagging hunger in all it's citizens. When I can cross into the woods my father raised me in without fear of being shot for it.

I knew Hazelle was dying. Knew he'd probably show up. If there is one thing that could never change it's how much we both love our families. Even me, who only has a distant mother left to exchange letters with once every few months. But at least she's alive. Gale is officially parentless. Even in this new Panem, the world keeps taking from us. I suppose death can't ever really stop.

Considering the occasion, it seems ill-fitting for the woods to be so alive today. The wind pushes through them, rattling leaves, and sending the scent of berries and spring flowers to me in a way that calms the storm inside me.

I spend my time contemplating how to behave. Do I hide? Do I talk to him? Am I ready to talk to him without being hostile? How could I ever not exchange condolences for Hazelle when there was a time I helped to care for her too. Turns out, fate had already decided. I'd know his voice anywhere, just thought it'd never say my name so softly again.

So many things surge in me at once. Sadness. Guilt. Sympathy. And of course, my anger, who I am intimate with. But more than anything, "I'm sorry," I blurt out, having to take a pause myself to contemplate what for, "I'm sorry about Hazelle." And maybe other things that fill my eyes with sorrow. But I don't talk about those things. Not about my little duck or any hope of a civil reunion will slip through his fingers. His mother is dead, I remind myself and steel myself to behave.