I'm all for nuanced asterid takes but personally for me leaving katniss alone in 12 post war was unforgivable. like sure she can have other factors that redeem her and working on a hospital is noble and stuff but. imagine how abandoned katniss felt AGAIN. and just after she was starting to let herself lean on her mom again in catching fire. katniss would have DIED if greasy sae didn't come back. you can't tell me asterid genuinely wholeheartedly thought haymitch was going to be a good responsible guardian, and even if she did he wasn't. if greasy sae didn't show up and force katniss to eat and encourage her to go outside katniss would have died alone, wounded and abandoned by her mother for the final time.
""You know why she can't come back." Yes. I know why. Because between my father and Prim and the ashes, the place is too painful to bear. But apparently not for me." Mockingjay, pg. 380
im genuinely curious to know what her life was like in 4 after the war (fic idea? 👀) but personally if I was a parent no matter how traumatized I am (and like she said asterid now has medicines for her depression) I can't imagine leaving my freshly burnt to a crisp, morphling addicted, psychologically irreparably traumatized teenage daughter entirely alone with a man who is at best a functioning alcoholic and at worst 100% neglectful. I feel like the bare minimum would be going with her to 12 and helping her stabilize and prepare her life before leaving for 4. not just cutting her loose as soon as her trial is over without so much as coming to see her. and I'm not saying asterid didn't care. katniss mentions the fact that she would sleep in the chair by her hospital bed, but after katniss recovers and after she shoots coin, it's never mentioned that her mother comes to visit her or speak to her. she just gets the letter with her new number.
so yeah long story short I do have sympathy for asterid but imo it is incredibly selfish and cruel to abandon katniss yet again to face the home and district all of those traumatic memories are held in without so much as a little support to get her on her feet. like katniss said, asterid felt going back to district twelve would be too much to psychologically bear but apparently she just left katniss to deal with that same weight entirely alone. imagine if greasy sae had decided to start a business in the capitol or move to a new district and katniss died alone and starving in her house, abandoned again, this time fatally, by the primary adult that was supposed to protect and support her.
This makes me wonder if Astrid ever talked to Greasy Sae. I know we never see them interact, but there’s a lot that Katniss doesn’t notice. As two refugees from 12, they had opportunities in the escape and in 13. Is there a possibility that Astrid knew that Sae was going to 12 with her? Or even that she asked her to look in on Katniss? It still doesn’t make the abandonment better, but I’m still curious how much Asterid knew of what was happening in 12.



















