tightrope to the sun

and it’s funny to see people say that prim’s death happened for “no reason.” because it’s almost like…… war of any kind inevitably causes the senseless death of thousands. and it doesn’t mean anything. yes, prim died for no reason, and that was the point.

coin only ever cared about power, it was thinly veiled as a pursuit for justice. she was fine with innocent children dying if it meant citizens would think the blood was all on snow’s hands. pair this with gale’s weapon, and the fact that prim happened to be on the front lines, and bam. innocent, senseless deaths.

that’s from an emotional standpoint, though. from a narrative standpoint, prim’s death actually DID make sense. just as rue’s death served as the catalyst that convinced katniss to die by nightlock (the act that began the rebellion), prim’s death was the catalyst that forced katniss to confront coin’s true colors. now, katniss knew that coin was really no different from snow. it all went in a circle. the rebellion started because of katniss’s love for prim, and the rebellion was won because of that same love.

and on a final note: prim’s death was foreshadowed by her name alone. a primrose is a flower that wilts shortly after blooming.

Hunger Games didn’t really eat holes in my brain the way that it did for some other people but god the opening lines. The opening lines. Katniss wakes up in bed and immediately, instinctively reaches beside her, only to find the bed empty and cold. Before we even know her name – before we know literally anything about her or this world or her place in that world – we know that she loves someone. We know that she is reaching for where Prim should be, sleeping safe and warm beside her, but Prim is not there. She is not there, and her half of the bed is cold and empty. People talk about characters being “doomed by the narrative” when most of the time the character was literally just a well-foreshadowed death, but Prim WAS doomed by the narrative. It’s the very first thing we learned. It’s the most key, integral, important piece of information we’re given about everything that is about to happen: Every single choice Katniss makes is to protect her little sister, and it isn’t enough. In the end, Prim still dies. Prim was dead before the story even started. Katniss, reaching. Prim’s side of the bed was cold and empty. There is no version of this story where Prim could have been saved. Katniss, reaching. The very first thing she does in the series. She wakes, and she reaches, but Prim is already gone. THAT is how you do Doomed By The Narrative. Edit: Also it is key that there was literally nothing Katniss could have done differently. If she had not acted to save Prim, Prim would not have survived the Hunger Games. But by acting to save Prim, Katniss accidentally kicked off an entire rebellion and ultimately massively increased the amount of danger Prim was actually in. The key is that this is irrelevant. If Katniss had done literally anything differently, Prim still would have died. If Katniss had faltered or changed course at any point, Prim still would have died. There was never a point where Katniss could have changed Prim’s fate. There’s no version of this story where Prim lives to see the end of it. She’s dead before the story begins. That’s doomed by the narrative.

Hot take but… “Gale was a teen soldier who got brainwashed, by a manipulative dictator, into the idea that sacrificing a small number of troops was worth it to definitively stop the government that had spent years ruining the lives of him and his people” and “Gale’s gross disregard for human life directly led to the death of Prim and thousands of other civilians including children, and Katniss is justified in her anger and has no obligation to ever forgive him” are two statements that can and should coexist together.

Katniss is so endearing to me, because while she describes herself as very literal, and focused on only practical things that will aid her in survival, and unconcerned with other people, she’s insanely empathetic (also way more intuitive than she gives herself credit for) and also, deeply entrenched in symbolism. Like, this girl never met a metaphor she didn’t like and didn’t get really invested in. Most people don’t give their love interests epithets but here she is. “You have a weakness for beautiful things and I don’t” girl your whole life is a poem that you’re constructing from color theory and flower motifs what are you on about??? Even Snow knows she’s Miss Literary Analysis when he sends her the lovers’ roses to taunt her. Katniss. Sweet summer child. Take your “kiss from the giver” pearl and admit you aren’t a “the curtains are just blue” person at all.

Like, please. She watches the cookies fall into a patch of dandelions in the first few pages of the book and she’s like “this is an analogy somehow.” The whole reason she can’t keep playing Crazy Cat with Buttercup is because she realizes “this is also a metaphor.” Like, Katniss. Katniss, sweetie. I love her.

“we don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. we read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. and the human race is filled with passion. and medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. but poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”

dead poets society (1989)

INCEPTION (2010) Dir. Christopher Nolan

Dead Poets Society (1989)  dir. Peter Weir

literature posters; little women by louisa may alcott

Penguin Classic Redesigns

Romeo + Juliet ❤️‍🔥 wind-down sketch

I think that part of the reason why President Snow is such a well-written villain is because he genuinely never does lie to Katniss. When he says "let's agree to always tell each other the truth," the first time they meet, it not a line, he actually sticks to that. Like a villain who is both incredibly dangerous and and totally trustworthy? Just, openly trying to kill you and being completely upfront with you about it? That's so fucking fascinating to experience

But only in their dreams can men be truly free. ‘Twas always thus, and always thus will be.

Dead Poets Society 1989, dir. Peter Weir

DAILYFLICKS 10K CELEBRATION → FAVORITE 80s MOVIE PER MEMBER DEAD POETS SOCIETY (1989) - Carol (@tonyleunq)

Bees buzzed loudly in the honeysuckle. He went back to his rosebush, thinning the smaller branches at the top. 

“Before, I was paralyzed, though I didn’t really know it,” he said. “It was because I thought too much, lived too much in the mind. It was hard to make decisions. I felt immobilized.”

“And now?”

“Now,” he said, “now, I know that I can do anything that I want.”

Moodboard: Enjolras, the Leader

His nature was at once scholarly and warlike, and this is rare in an adolescent. He was both thinker and man of action, a solider of democracy in the short term at and the same time a priest of the ideal rising above the contemporary movement.

DEAD POETS SOCIETY (1989), dir. Peter Weir 

good morning i am wearing van gogh socks and they make me very happy

did neil write this

sweet tooth on netflix literally has everything. found family. two different terrified trembling soaking wet war criminals. trains. failed attempts at dinner party power plays. a mother of 12 who keeps attacking a warlord with explosives. whimsy. attempted suicide by flower. indie rock needle drops. teenage furries with motorcycles. hallucinatory visions. that gopher kid.