The Hunger Games Chapters 16-18

So, I didn’t go to AnachroCon.  Anxiety won out, but now I’ve got lots more time to work on my blog and my costumes for other conventions, so I guess it all works out.

Chapter 16
One more gone off screen.  Nine tributes to go.
Ok, the “Rue is the Mockingjay” comments on Tumblr make more sense now.  The hug is slightly heartbreaking.
Peeta is severely hurt.  Ok.  I kind of don’t care right now.  Is that bad?  He’s nice, he’s sweet, he’s helped her.  He’s out of sight for two minutes and I’m a little bit like, “Peeta who?”
The tribute from District 3 knows explosives?  That’s kind of cool.
Katniss’s trick with the apples is kind of awesome, although, I was screaming at her to hit the ground after loosing that third arrow.  Quietly screaming.  In my head.  Because screaming out loud would be weird.

Chapter 17
If the mines are that powerful wouldn’t they have set each other off anyway?  But then, I know next to nothing about explosives.
And the boy from District 3 is gone.  Eight tributes left.  Cato and the two other Careers.  Katniss, Rue, Peta, Thrash, and the fox-faced girl.
“Something is keeping her up a tree.
I think I’ll go hunt it down.”  – Good for you Katniss.  I really hope Rue is ok, even though I know, eventually, she won’t be.
Yeah… that hope didn’t go well.
It’s funny.  I’ve been telling myself that she was going to die the whole time and I’m still just gutted.

Chapter 18

Artemis

I’m crying.
The fact that Katniss is singing and that she’s from Appalachia reminds me of the Tufa from The Hum and the Shiver.  They know the song of your life and sing it at your passing.  They’re sort of celtic-inspiried Appalachian faeries.  If you know the song of someone’s life, you can sing it early and they’ll die.  I’ve sort of got this image in my head of Katniss as a coal dusted fairy singing a dirge for all the other tributes now.

The bread is just killing me.  I’m sobbing again.
Six left.
It’s interesting that Katniss has some of her mother’s lethargy.  She wants to sink into stillness and apathy, but she doesn’t.  It’s consistent.  If we can overcome a weakness we’re even less tolerant of it in others sometimes.  Especially those we really need.
Is this another difference between the movie and the book?  That Thresh never took an interest in Rue?  Because, in the film clips I’ve seen he seems fond of her.  It would be hard not to be.
“Ever since the bloodbath, I’ve been featured on screens more than I care.”  How is she sure?  I know she thinks that there are moments where they’re probably focusing on her, but outside of the times people actually died, how does she know that the screens were focused on her?
Rule change what now?  How does that make sense?  I always thought they had pulled a **SPOILERS** Battle Royale and cheated to get Peeta and Katniss out.  But it’s coming from the Gamekeepers at a point when Katniss and Peeta haven’t even seen each other for days?  WTF?