THESE CHAPTERS oh my lord these chapters
The game makers were like “it’s been a lil slow” and then accidentally speed ran from 13 tributes to the final four(maybe three depending on if Galley and Ajax killed Onyx?). I felt like I was on a roller coaster that just kept going, but then instead of slowing down the track broke in the worst/best way.
First, chapter 25 has so much important exploration about the perceptions of women and girls, both as individuals and in relations to one another. Again, what can I say, I really love feminist readings and see the harms of patriarchy everywhere.
I feel like the thesis for this chapter is very much Piper’s reflection “They wouldn’t miss an emotional girl… those are too unpredictable to them, too annoying,” with the consequences for this impacting Andrea, Piper, Jade, and later Annie.
Andrea and Piper have been at odds since the game began, with Andrea having a seemingly inexplicable destain towards Piper specifically. It can’t just be because she is more light hearted and humorous,because Ajax and Luster both also tended to tease and joke around, but were never treated with the same amount of hostility or disrespect. Jade received some of Andrea’s snide comments, but no where near the degree which Piper did either. Andrea seems more comfortable lashing out at other girls and seeing them as some sort of competition beyond the hunger games sense. Piper even clocked it early on that Andrea was insecure, and it seems that manifests through having a particular hate for Piper, who is loud, seemingly endlessly confident, and unapologetically herself. To Andrea, Piper either thinks she is superior to her, seeking attention, or both, with the attack on Piper’s “show girl smiles” and acting“blessed” being directly referenced by Andrea as making her untrustworthy.
What is interesting here, is it seems Andrea was initially trying to avoid full fledged confrontation. She wasn’t being direct or accusatory, but evasive, suggesting someone go with Piper until pushed to actually address wtf she meant. Who knows, maybe she planned to scheme behind D4’s back, but this seemed more reactionary than anything else.
Piper in this chapter was so well written. It felt like there was a tangible dark cloud over her, and a tension in her narration, actions, and dialogue, broken up by moments of attempted levity. Her exhaustion and resentment towards the games is potent, with her interaction with Galley when going fishing sticking out. I really like how Piper’s dialogue isn’t tagged or described, but it is reiterated Galley is horrified. It gives the sense Piper is much more emotionally detached. It doesn’t matter whether she is trying to keep her usual light tone or if she is flat and colde, because internally she is processing so much heavy shit and is so exhausted. The dawning understanding of Galley I read as him not being disillusioned by Piper per se, but seeing more into her humanity beyond her role as the Light House Ghost. This scene obviously comes right after Piper reminds herself not to be an emotional girl, and so her emotions fittingly are suppressed.
Andrea doesn’t suppress her emotions. She acts with needless violence, and is easily offended. Her patience with Piper first snaps without Piper even saying anything. Andrea’s frustration with Ajax’s criticism is directed towards Piper for daring to agree. She backs off because Ajax tells her too, but at that point she has worn Piper’s patience thin.
Andrea always hated Piper joking around, so it only makes sense that it is bei being made the punchline that sends her fully over the edge. She is the emotional unpredictable girl, and Piper is meant to be the predictable one in their conflict. She is meant to kill Andrea, and despite telling herself earlier not to be emotional and unpredictable because people don’t like those types of girls, she can’t bring herself to do what is expected of her. She tries to save Andrea, and in doing so goes against the intention of the hunger games. Andrea however rejects the help, and dies because of it.
I’m not entirely sure if she died from her injuries from the cave in, or if Ajax actually killed her without Piper realizing, but yk thats not my focus lol.
Jade stands in contrast to Andrea. She started off just as abrasive and threatening, but Piper becomes more of a curiosity after her approach to helping Jade with her prep team. She is shown Piper is unconventional but well intentioned early on, which Andrea never personally experienced. Other reasons Jade has to be curious about Piper comes from her different approach to the games, and the fact she has such a strong sense of self without them. She didn’t exist to simply volunteer, and she knows who she is. Her dream for her life would be to make people she already cares about happy and feel connected, not to prove herself or seek honor the way Jade has. Piper has the life Jade wishes for, friends and inside jokes and communal care.
The same way Jade is curious about Piper, Piper is curious about her as well. She cannot imagine growing up the way Jade has, and is deeply troubled by it. She asks for Jade’s birthdate despite both knowing nothing could mutually exist for them outside of the arena, but Piper still asks and Jade still answers. It is a moment of shared humanity. Growing up in training, it isn’t one she has even received outside of the games.
Jade is then forced to lose her existing ruthless career girl persona after the cave in. I am so happy you confirmed she and Luster developed a friendship in those days. I think Piper’s explanation of the sea glass was also so perfectly timed, as Piper explains how the sea shapes the sea glass like how pain shapes people, which mirrors how Jade’s sharp edges have been softened by her time in the arena.
Side thought, the sea glass tradition is not prepared for a poly relationship, but I believe in seafoam’s— particularly Piper’s— power to adapt lol.
Anyways Jade. She wasn’t an emotional girl, but then became one, showing vulnerability and need for connection. She is moved by a token which one would assume someone from the luxury district would likely scoff at, seeks physical closeness,finds comfort in small talk, and is calling people (gasp) friends. She even bursts into tears over warm bread.
Jade has failed to meet the archetype the game makers had expected her too. She shows weakness, as someone prepared for the games has been so thoroughly broken down by them. Her angle was honor and confidence, and based on her willingness to kill and hunt the first few days, her sponsors and betters likely were not pleased with what they saw of her that day. They can no longer know what to predict.
With there being only three ice cream spoons and the moles being satisfied by one kill, it seems the game makers wanted only one of them to die at that point. My big brain barely supported theory is that the moles were programmed potentially to kill Jade specifically. On one hand, this would slightly negate her sacrifice, but at the same time they may have decided she was no longer what they wanted in a victor.
Speaking of girls who the capital wouldn’t want to be a victor, we have Annie. Annie’s ultimate legacy in her games is to be THE emotional girl, one who is seen as a liability and known as “mad” across the country. While I hate when the fandom treats Annie as a fluke victor— as it undermines the fact she survived the arena despite her trauma and was capable of swimming through and treading in a literal fucking flash flood— I do think it was likely the game makers didn’t intend to kill off all the other tributes and have a game without a final confrontation/fight, and they view her victory as a mistake. Because of her mental health, she is very much seen as “unpredictable,” and a problem that must be dealt with.
There are also all the other gender related issues regarding how Piper internally sees herself as annoying and too much and doesn’t understand how or why people like her, but that is rambling for another time.
Thank you for coming to my Ted talk, I love women and fems!
More thoughts coming (bc omfg chapter 26) at some point some time lol
AND YES, YES! I KNOW! hahaha, I really wanted to post the two of them together cause they also felt somehow connected, because they worked with each other's momentum, you know?
I'm so so glad you like the pacing! And... yeah, the gamemakers certainly had an agenda in mind. Whether they're successful or not in fulfilling it is another conversation. At least it's making for a very action-packed edition of the Hunger Games.
AAAAA YES! Let's talk about femininity and how I've tried to implement patriarchy's weight into these characters! I'm so thankful you want to study this, because it did take me a while to figure out how each one of the female careers was going to grapple with misogyny in the Capitol and in their own lives. I never wanted to avoid that conversation because I do think it's one of those things that are evidently important in the actual books as well as the kind of propaganda the Capitol would carefully craft for masses to control women, keep them oppressed and make the masses more docile and prone to live traditional lives with marriage and children. Obviously each District also handles it differently and it depends on the time, circumstances and many more factors, but it's genuinely such a fascinating topic for me.
YES, YES, YES! You are so correct. This chapter is a study on how vulnerability is treated like a weakness in women's case and specifically how the public will punish women for having emotions, whereas men will have a very different treatment. Like Piper said, they do not like emotional women. It is also a essential little brick placed carefully to later understand Annie's upcoming arc.
Let's discuss Andrea! You truly clocked it, Andrea is extremely insecure in her own person. While she is very confident in her training, she has a lot of internalized issues with other women's confidence and being unapologetic about it, in this case, Piper's, seeing her as a rival of sorts and resorting to pushing her down in attempts to view herself as more respectable. However, she is not stupid, she knows Piper is extremely popular with sponsors and is aware Piper is a threat, so she doesn't necessarily want to confront her at first, especially on her own. Since there is no more on her, I will say you're spot on on her trying to speak to the other careers before things escalated.
Thank you so much for saying Piper is well-written. It's honestly a great honor to know she seems realistic and complex, because my intention has always been to write about a girl who doesn't really know who she is when she's not performing joy or trying to capture it for herself. She doesn't know how to be when she's suffering. Galley notices this is not the Piper he knew. I'm so glad you enjoyed the choice of focusing more on Galley's emotions through the dialogue and keeping Piper as dettached as she could be. Piper is aware she's going to have to face Andrea and is trying to get into her "it's just another fish" mindset, but it proves to be more difficult when she's realised it's simply not. Galley, like you say, is not necessarily disappointed. He is very intelligent and knows what is really happening, which is heartbreaking and beautiful. For the first time, this kid is seeing her as a person. Before that, Piper was the Lighthouse Ghost, she was a legend, a symbol of happiness, youth and mischief, but now, she is becoming just a girl to him, and it's not out of her own choice, but because the arena keeps forcing her to face situations she's never imagined. It's an angle he never thought he'd see. It feels, a lot, like writing about a child finding out magic is not real. It's heartbreaking, but not because of reality not meeting expectations, but because he will just never be the same. Of course, it goes without saying, that is not necessarily their fault.
The situation with emotions is something that had me very scared when writing. I felt like I wouldn't be able to convey what was happening and I'm so thankful that it seems it ended up working out. It's interesting, because the Capitol punishes real emotions and raw feelings, and it's necessary to dettach from them in order to win their Games. So, Andrea believes it's the opposite and that she needs to hold onto her fire, whereas Piper tries to follow all her teachings and her gut. Still, in the end, the two are simply two girls. And in the end, both fail. Piper is emotional, Andrea is proud and scared and that leads to Andrea's doom.
What happened with Andrea in that tunnel shall remain a secret... For literally a couple chapters more, hahaha!
NOW ONTO JADE, gosh, I adore her. Writing Jade was very important to me because, in many ways, Jade is a parallel to Annie. Both have had expectations of giving up their hearts in exchange for glory, both have people counting on her and a feeling of being misunderstood, both change drastically after their District partner perishes, but there is a huge difference between the two: love. Annie has the pod, she has her parents and she has unconditional love that makes any brainwashing kind of ineffective at times. She's compassionate. That is who she is at her core, and that is what the Games later punish. I know I'm getting a bit ahead of myself but you know I adore gushing about my girl. I feel like it's interesting that, in the Games, people's true nature reveals themselves, and, in Annie's case, it's compassion, whereas in Jade's case, it's loneliness. It's the price of being a prodigy and everything everyone ever wanted for her without ever taking herself into consideration and trying to fit into every box made for her. Of course, it clashes with the image she had tried to sell of herself in the beginning and that makes her, as Piper mentioned, less likeable, simply for her emotions. I won't get too ahead of myself with Annie, but I agree that there is so much more to her Games than people give her credit for. Annie fought and survived, part of that time was also struggling with an extremely traumatic event having altered her mind stability, and I can promise she is very much a fighter and a survivor here. I adore Annie Cresta and feel like people often write her in very mysogynistic or twisted ways to avoid deepening on who she is despite her trauma and also with her trauma. The 'mad' girl is deeply rooted in mysogyny and specifically, in my opinion, on her unpredictability for holding onto her reality and finding strength in the emotions that came from the Games and, in a way, shaped the woman she later became. Ah, there's just SO MUCH to Annie's Games and I'm so, so excited to share them with you!
Sorry, Annie ramble is over! Hahahaha, but yes, yes! This chapter is so essential because while Annie is tremendously strong, the media was always going to twist her strength and her courage, to, as always, make her seem 'emotional' and disregard her.
Back to Jade! Jade and Piper being so different was so essential to me when creating Jade and writing about her backstory. The birthday moment was very special for me to write, because it truly felt like a moment in which Piper went 'we could have been friends. I would have been her friend', you know? Piper can't fathom a life like Jade's, whereas Jade has always longed for a life like Piper's.Jade breaks because she sees the system actually work and she also breaks because she sees a crack in it in the shape of love. Because something I adore about Suzanne's writing is how she made the only tool to break a heartless system be love. Of course, Jade knew she was "failing" the moment she began softening, but pain changes people's priorities awfully fast.
I will not speak about the three spoons nor the mole attack without my lawyer present! Hahahaha but, I promise, those also come with answers (the three spoons quicker than the moles, a lot of questions about Piper's Games won't be solved in... a while, but I hope you won't be bore of waiting by then and that it'll be rewarding!)
Also, sidenote about the seaglass, don't worry, she does think about it when the time comes hahahaha. As you can imagine, Piper always finds a way, especially when it comes to her loves! I'm so glad you enjoyed it and that you found the moment appropiate. It truly felt like a symbolic way to put it. Both girls have truly been softened by the arena, albeit in different ways.
Thank you for your thoughts, they're always extremely interesting and truly keep me motivated to continue writing and posting! I really love your analysis and how thorough you are with it! I also hope you enjoy the chapters that are to come, cause I can promise, this isn't the only time we touch sexism in the fic as well as other social justice topics.
Hahahaha, I've been dying to know your reaction to chapter 26! So, by all means, whenever you want, I'd love to read your thoughts! Thank you so so much for this! It was lovely!
