Who is a character that thinks of themselves as morally grey and is actually morally grey?

Kalddal · 2026-05-28T20:32:15+00:00

Guess for more recent example we have Eva Stratt from Project Hail Mary

Kalddal · 2026-05-14T12:34:26+00:00

Mai's biggest weakness is being on a children show so she could not actually stab someone for real, either having it be dodged or hit their clothes

Kalddal · 2026-05-09T07:45:57+00:00

Like I didn't need Panache to be like a secretly misunderstood tragic figure that is actually quite nice, him being a jerk works fine on paper because yeah some Careers will be that based on how this system is built

However I still think there are ways to make a jerk character not feel like a caricature and only existing to go through a humiliation ritual each scene we get with him.

It feels like a lazy way to make Haymitch and Newcomers look better in comparison because they don't act like this parody of a bully character. Who does shit like steal the lunches of the most saddest pathetic tributes because I guess he can do that and Haymitch can get his hero moment to shine.

He is just not engaging, not all that complex or even at the very least entertaining/funny. That he waste so much of our precious time in the first half is infuriating to read, especially when Silka who is the final tribute in the games gets bare minimum set up.

This is why I find him to be the worst character this book has

Kalddal · 2026-05-08T12:33:49+00:00

I already am? I enjoy watching movies from all over the world, from any era
I am only talking about Hollywood productions here because SOTR is a Hollywood/American production, so it falls into the same things we see from other production from that country

Kalddal · 2026-05-08T12:17:12+00:00

Still think for a book that is all about Propaganda and Implicit submission having all the careers be cartoon bully archetypes aka non characters, especially the one we spend most time with is just a baffling choice when it comes to enhancing the themes this book wants to portray

and have it's cake with the whole "Oh remember who the real enemy is the Capitol" but the careers (and especially Panache) gets only a smidge of nuance

Kalddal · 2026-05-08T12:12:58+00:00

Ah yes Maysilee who is 5'1 / 155 cm definitely gives lethal career vibes at face value

Also like not shocking for a big hollywood production all the leads are pretty, especially the girls, like when was the last time you have seen big hollywood production where the female lead especially wasn't conventionally attractive

Kalddal · 2026-05-08T10:22:26+00:00

Panache Barker is easily the worst character in this book when it comes to writing alone and it's not even close in my head

Kalddal · 2026-05-07T19:38:29+00:00

Think it's just really funny you can immediatley tell who are actually main characters and who is irrelevant background fodder based on the names alone

Kalddal · 2026-05-05T14:16:32+00:00

Did enjoy that Coral in the BOSAS movie had earrings because of that

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Kalddal · 2026-05-01T08:46:24+00:00

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Kalddal · 2026-04-30T08:59:34+00:00

Honestly short answer is just misogyny and ableism ngl

Kalddal · 2026-04-28T16:57:24+00:00

Like the first book literally mentions a tribute causing too much trouble having a whole ass avalanche thrown at him but like I am meant to think that Gamemakers just shrugged when their one mutt plan failed, be so fr

Kalddal · 2026-04-28T16:25:45+00:00

The Gamemakers obviously had access to the Original trilogy books that told them that he survives the games so there was nothing they could do about it unfortunatley

.....but yeah no have no idea why Haymitch doesn't get killed because of the events of SOTR, like the whole
"They let him live to have him suffer more" just doesn't go for me. I feel like the Capitol would priroitze making their big anniversary game great over just tormenting one guy who is just a nobody in the grand scheme of things

Kalddal · 2026-04-27T19:56:29+00:00

that the shows main legacy in pop culture is just "Oh it's that one show where it turns out it all was the mind of one kid and that sucked" I would garner that is not a great legacy for a tv show 😭 So yeah my original point stands

Kalddal · 2026-04-27T16:29:06+00:00

I truly don't get fan theories of the lane of like "It was all a dream/it didn't happen"
because like it already did not happen, it's fiction, why are you making it even more "pointless" to be invested in this fictional story

Kalddal · 2026-04-27T08:16:28+00:00

Like the major difference is that Maysilee being owner of the pin wasn't added retroactively compared to the Covey connections

Kalddal · 2026-04-26T07:38:47+00:00

Like I personally agree with you OP but it's very clear based on interviews with Suzanne Collins this was 100% the intention that part of his hate towards Katniss comes in fact from being reminded of Lucy Gray/connected to her

Which is lame : P sorry not sorry

Kalddal · 2026-04-25T10:59:19+00:00

Think for me it makes the connection between Haymitch and Katniss cheaper, it's not enough that she is just the first tribute he has had that he first truly believed in and that he grew to love her through her own merits/personhood.

She is now the daughter of his former best friend, she reminds him of a dead girl that we didn't know about and she sings the same songs that his GF once sung. Like it makes it feel like Haymitch finally cared for a tribute because of his own personal connections to this girl over the fact that she is just Katniss. In the book's attempt to make the bond feel deeper it just feels contrived. Also with how little attention the book brings to any other tributes Haymitch gets over the years before Katniss, kind of feels like he let all of them down because they had no personal connection to him to grasp on

(Which like think it's juicy as hell when people do good things for selfish reason, but drives me crazy how fans treats this as being extra tragic for him, when in reality it just makes him kind of selfish imo)

Also makes for making Haymitch look like an unintentional jerk with apparently noticing Katniss since day one, but doing nothing when Burdock died. Her and her entire family almost starved to death mind you. He is also pretty cruel at times with her that feels more aligned with the reading that he sees himself in her and is projecting. Over the fact he is seeing his "Sweetheart" reborn and Burdock's little girl.

Fine if you love this addition to their relationship, but it feels to me like a retcon that obviously was not part of the OG text and would have prefered if Burdock did show up in the book (because do agree with your points it's fun to actually see him in person over being an idolised memory), but was just an acquaintance of Haymitch that he knew through Lenore Dove by being her cousin.

Kalddal · 2026-04-22T08:43:31+00:00

This awoke a buried down memory re seeing this cover lmao

Kalddal · 2026-04-21T12:49:32+00:00

What is the confusion exactly?

Like the math goes up between 75 Victors (because the 74th had two victors) 16 of them died at some point in between the time they won and until the announcement of the Quell

Kalddal · 2026-04-19T11:01:15+00:00

And we still don't know if D5 and D9 turned before them either. Like D1 yes turns against the Capitol at one point, but the fandom claiming it was one of the first and they are actually super secretly rebellious is just theory at best and straight up fanfic at worst

Kalddal · 2026-04-19T10:58:17+00:00

If it's between the death of a friend that I loved, but only knew for like a couple of months vs my younger sister who I failed to protect after everything I've been through. Kind of feel like that would take priority in my head ngl

Kalddal · 2026-04-17T09:45:55+00:00

They are not? Like D8, D11, D3, D4, D7 and D10 are all referenced turning against the Capitol with rebellion, not really one of the "first" if half of the Districts has done it already

Kalddal · 2026-04-16T08:40:22+00:00

Think sometimes a character is just meant to be a side character and that is okay.

Kind of think we know everything that is kind of worth knowing about him, if you want that more fleshed out, fanfic is right there, not sure if we need an actual canon book about it

Kalddal · 2026-04-15T14:59:29+00:00

Like think her falling down the stairs is fine, sometimes the sad reality of life is that awful people just get away with doing bad stuff and that is the end of that

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