Booked All Night
Welcome to Booked All Night, the podcast where hot takes meet craft notes and nobody gets enough sleep. Join us as we deep dive into great books and share our excessive knowledge of writing with the vibes of a bunch of kids at a sleepover who have far too much sugar.
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Booked All Night
Just Friends Forever - Catching Fire, 22-End
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How do you walk the line between compelling and frustrating when your POV character is clueless about what's going on around her? Does the conditioning of their everyday world excuse their inability to recognize physical and emotional longing when they arise? And does that inability make for a good story? "Why is everyone trying to save Peeta when I specifically requested it?" How much humanity and baseline compassion should your characters sacrifice in order to create a scene that traumatizes that POV character for the sake of a good story? Does Jess really call... it... "mooooooo"?
These questions and more drive Jess, Katy, and Julia as they tackle the plot, characterization, and divisive cliffhanger of the final chapters of Suzanne Collins's Catching Fire.
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Booked All Night is produced by Rob Cook.
Edited by Jessica Mary and Rob Cook.
Hosted by Jessica Mary, K. Leigh, Julia Johnston, and Magdalyn Ann
Welcome to Booked All Night, the podcast where hot takes me craft notes and no one gets enough sleep. I'm Jess.
IntroI'm Katie. I'm Julia. I'm Maggie. Get ready for unhinged hot takes.
Jessica MaryA whole lot of books, midnight giggles, and zero shade. Grab your blankets, booklets, it's time to get booked all night. I am Jess. I am Kaylee. I'm Julia. And tonight we are finishing our discussion on catching fire. If you have not finished catching fire, then hit pause and go back 20 years because it's been out for a while and you should have finished it by now, but whatever, we'll be here. And that was your spoiler warning. Here comes the recap, which was kind of lengthy this section again. So we have the monkeys retreat, the sacrificial morphing dies, there's absolutely no safe space to mourn, ointment camouflage, some weird friendly flirting, followed by terrorizing PETA. In the distance, screaming, waves, and all of our stuff. Enter nuts, Volts, and Joanna. It's raining blood! I got them for you. Guess we have to strip him down. TikTok, it's o'clock. Why does he have a wire? Yo, fuck you, Joanna. How might I cause this her demise? Let me count the ways. Our canary is dead. Why is everyone trying to save PETA when I specifically requested it? I'm dumbfounded. Facts! I just want to save my friend. Our screaming loved ones. How to kill a jabberjay. Your allies can't cross the barrier. They can't kill the people they need to interview. Can't kill her without risking an uprising, and we wouldn't want that now, would we? I stay in my friend who's just a friend's arms. JFF, just friends forever. The mystery at six o'clock. Holy Horn of Plenty, Batman, that's a lot of bread. I have a locket with your family in it. No one needs me. I need you. I kiss my JFF and feel things. You're going to make a great mother one day. What, like with Gail? Delicious feelings for Pita. I don't understand what's going on. Girl, we know. That's not a wire. That is not a bolt of lightning. That is not a tree. And this is a joke about Renee McGreebe's BS surrealism and the treachery of imagery. Hey, Mitch, we have enough bread. Have a pearl, my friend. Wired Tree, Maypole Edition. Take the wire to the water. A slack in the line. Get down, Miss Mocking Jay. Wam bam, cut your arm open. Concussion number, I don't know, I've lost count at this point. Gotta save my just friend PETA. I have to get to PETA for several paragraphs. A giant drunk lion appears in the sky. Remember who the enemy is. I'm just gonna shoot through this conveniently placed chink in the armor. I'm sorry, PETA, the world's largest claw machine. Against medical advice, TM, you and a syringe against the capital. See, this is why no one lets you make plans. Everyone knew what was up, but you. I'm just a game piece everywhere. Girl, no one betrayed you, shut up. Where is my very good bestest friend PETA? And there is no District 12 embossing say. Did I leave anything out?
JuliaUh she was naked again at the end.
Jessica MaryOh yeah, she's naked again at the end. I put that there. She's like, I'm naked, except for this dressing gown. Well then, girl, you ain't you're not naked. You have something on. Bruh. So we open on a very depressing scene. The Morphlings actively dying at this point after running in front of the monkey to save PETA. And Katniss is like, why is everyone trying to save PETA? As if she didn't spend the first 75% of this fucking book being like, we have to save PETA.
JuliaIn her defense. Why is everyone else trying to save PETA? It makes sense that she is, but she hasn't figured that out yet.
Jessica MarySo in her defense. Right, right, right. There's a line about that. I know why I am, because he's my friend. Quote friend. Most of my notes in my Kindle at this point are just like, girl, I am begging you to realize you have feelings for this boy because I want to strangle you.
JuliaYeah, I really liked when they were making out on the beach. Right? She's like, I feel something.
Jessica MaryI've got I've got that quote. I've got that quote written down somewhere.
JuliaAnd then Finnic saw us in an embrace and was like, interesting.
Jessica MaryYeah. He's like, oh. Feelings? Really? And then I was thinking like psychonomy.
JuliaDo you think that the capital showed that? Make it out?
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
JuliaMackin out hard. Well, then that like defends my point that I made in the first book that people are fucking.
Jessica MaryI fucking I have two theories on it. One, if PETA and Katniss, I have to say it very carefully. Pita and Katniss are actively macking on each other, that's almost guaranteed to be the focus of the camera and the broadcast, because they're like, look, they're so in love.
SPEAKER_05That's true.
Jessica MaryWhich means everybody else gets to be like, hey, so about the bread and the code.
SPEAKER_06That's true.
Jessica MaryAnd the other part was when Joanna just shouts up at the sky, she's like, because that would mean there'd be a rebellion and we wouldn't want that now, would we? Hmm. All the districts at the same time rebelling. What do you mean I'm not being broadcast right now, tying things together? That's insane. Oh, who could have thought?
JuliaDo you think the Morphling also knew to protect PETA?
Jessica MaryYes. Yeah, because that's part of the tributes that. Sorry. Uh no, specifically the trib the victors from 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 11 each had pieces of the plan, and the morphlings were from District 6.
JuliaThat's fair. I was listening to this one and not reading it because I didn't have a lot of time.
SPEAKER_02Um TikTok. Yeah, TikTok, TikTok. It's a clock.
JuliaI'm confused why the bread was never like questioned by her more.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. She got annoyed with it.
JuliaYeah. She was like, they keep sending bread.
SPEAKER_02How dare they feed us?
JuliaBut remember when one loaf was like so expensive and like, oh my god, wow, and it means all of this. And they're sending dozens. Like 20. 24 every time. And no one. And she's just like, and then they sent more bread. And I was like, okay. Yeah. Gifts don't mean anything now, I guess.
Jessica MaryWildly over her head.
SPEAKER_02I was annoyed that that wasn't brought up.
Jessica MaryI was annoyed with so much, mostly her lack of introspection. Like we talked about it last week, where she just like constantly overthinks everything around her. Like the this whole section again was like, I could kill them, I could kill them in their sleep, and I could just kill you and you. Okay, I guess the alliance is over, so I'm gonna murder you and you and you and you. And that's just her immediate reaction to things, which fair, you're in the arena where that's supposed to happen. Cool beans. But like she's even got that feeling when people are helping her and they're like, here, have a piece of bread. And she's like, I could kill you with this piece of bread. Like, girl, calm down for like two seconds.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
Jessica MaryBut the other obnoxious part to me is frequently throughout this, she's like, we have to make sure that we save PETA. Why are you saving PETA? Why are you doing exactly what I have requested?
SPEAKER_04Right.
Jessica MaryYeah, PETA is mine to say she actually kind of like says that at one point. Like Pete, I understand why I'm doing it. Yeah. I know why I'm doing it. It's because he's my friend. My goodest, bestest friend. My JFF.
JuliaDancing my tongue with.
Jessica MaryYeah. I I gotta find that quote where she they are talking. Because it is it starts off like a little weird because he shows her the locket, and the locket's got pictures of her mother and Prim.
JuliaAnd Gail. And Gail. And her cousin.
Jessica MaryYeah, and her cousin, Gail. Yes, her cousin. And he's like, You have reasons to go back and to live and to leave the arena, and I don't. Nobody needs me. And she's like, Well, I need you. Just like, oh, that's really sweet. Do you though? And then this is kind of lengthy, so I apologize for the very long but truncated quotes. So before he can talk, I stop his lips with a kiss. I feel that thing again. That thing I only left felt once before. Yeah, I laughed like a 12-year-old too, don't worry. In the cave last year when I was trying to get Hamish to send us food. I kissed Pita about a thousand times during those games and after, but there was only one kiss that made me feel something stirred deep inside. Only one that made me want more, but my head wound started bleeding and he made me lie down. Concussions just getting in the way of everything. This time, there is nothing to interrupt us, and after a few attempts, Pita gives up on talking. The sensation inside me grows warmer and spreads out from my chest, down through my body, out along my arms and legs to the tips of my being. Instead of satisfying me, the kisses have the opposite effect of making my need greater. I thought I was an expert on hunger, but this is an entirely new kind. Girl is horny.
JuliaYeah, there was no um the apex of my thighs, which is like yeah, a tingling sensation all over my body. Nope, girly pop. It was somewhere else. But okay.
Jessica MaryAnd then when I wake up, I have a brief, delicious feeling of happiness that's somehow connected with PETA.
JuliaI wonder what that was like.
Jessica MaryIt's friendship. That's what that feels like. Friendship just feels like that whole description.
JuliaOh, I don't have very good friends then.
Jessica MaryYeah.
JuliaLike I read the smuttiest of smuddy books, and that made me feel more uncomfortable. Especially finding out that she's only actually 17.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
JuliaAnd she's like, I'm pregnant and married. And no, no one that doesn't actually bother anyone. No one at any point has been like, but you're only 17.
Jessica MaryI mean, to be fair, the attitude they have toward that, like, we know from her description of Finneck, they were like, Well, because he was only 14 when he won, they had to wait like two years before they could.
JuliaYou didn't have to bring that back up.
Jessica MaryI had to, I'm sorry. It ruins the mood, and it's almost like we have a podcast dedicated to deep diving into literature.
SPEAKER_05Makes me feel so uncomfortable.
Jessica MaryI will say the ending where you find out that Finnick knew a lot about what was going on, puts his whole introduction like that much more hilarious because he's trying actively to be friends with Katniss, and she's like, get the actual fuck away from me. You like to be able to do it.
JuliaI don't want to fuck you. He's like, I don't want to fuck you either.
Jessica MaryYeah. She's down here like, I have a boyfriend. Actually, I have a husband.
JuliaHe's like, you can't afford me. Yeah.
Jessica MaryGirl, you have no secrets. There is actually just a Katniss Everdeen stream that President Snow set up.
JuliaPretty much.
Jessica MaryAnd we watch it like we watch all those baby eagle streams.
JuliaYeah. You know what I was thinking while I was reading this?
Jessica MaryYou were thinking, girl, you're horny and he's not your friend.
JuliaWell, just to shift gears just like a little bit.
unknownOkay.
JuliaThe clock as an arena is fucking boring because you know what is gonna happen. So you're like, oh, the thing goes off at 12. I'll just go to the 11 o'clock spot and then you can just slightly.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, but then all the other participants, if they figure that out, is gonna do the same and you could wind up in the same area trying to kill each other. Yeah.
JuliaWell, don't hit me up with logic and reason. I thought that was a smart take.
Jessica MaryI do feel like there were sections that were significantly less threatening than others. So, like in the blood rain section, and you could be like, I'm just gonna hide out here till that tree gets hit. Cool, now I can walk around and follow them around and then rest for like the next couple like I don't know what the hell was going on in the six o'clock hour though, because that's the one where they had uh one of the crane. No, no, the crane comes down and picks up five pieces of the same tribute. Yeah. We never find out what's in the six o'clock hour. And I'm a little terrified of what's in the six o'clock hour.
JuliaRight.
Jessica MaryPlus, there was the insects that we never like, we only ever heard the insects, we never really interacted with the insects. Uh the blood rain, I think, occurs twice because it happens when they're like, oh, I'm gonna put my hat up and drink something. Oh, that's blood, that's disgusting. And the other one was that BD and Wirus and Joanna had come from that, so they were covered in blood.
JuliaMm-hmm. It just seemed a little more predictable than the other arenas, which to me made it more.
Jessica MaryIt was also tighter.
JuliaYeah, it was really small. They knew where the edges were.
Jessica MaryYeah, they they specifically like mathed that out, and they were like, This is so much smaller than the arena we had last year, and the other tributes with them were like, Yeah, my arena was enormous.
SPEAKER_04This is like meant to put us on the beach for us to fight so that we're not able to like rest or have any sort of but also wasn't it set up so that way they could rebel and get out, and that would have to make it a little bit easier for that way it's a circle, they only have so many like ways to go and places to go, and that little vibration in the uh that they is gonna show itself. That's a good point. Yes, and that's from Plutarch, yes, and and I think it's fair to say that like it's not that crazy of an arena because it wasn't meant to. It was meant to be easy for them to see what they needed to do to get out.
JuliaI love this. I make a first layer point, and then he's like, nah, bitch, there's layers to this, and it's like perfect. Yeah, that makes sense. The person helping the rebellion designing the arena would make it so that it wasn't that bad.
SPEAKER_04Like, I mean, it really does seem bad when you think about it with the monkeys and the mocking jays and the insects and like all this crazy shit going on. Because to President Snow, it needs to look like, hey, we are trying to kill the tributes. But also, let's not make it too crazy so that way Katniss can figure it the fuck out.
Jessica MaryBut Katniss, Katniss doesn't figure it out. No, Wirus figures it out. And then shortly after, being like TikTok, and everyone's like, yeah, yeah, TikTok.
SPEAKER_04But Katniss is supposed to figure it out because he gave her the hint with the clock.
Jessica MaryYes.
SPEAKER_04But it's just he just doesn't know that she is just too dumb.
JuliaYeah, it's annoying that Katniss gets the credit for figuring it out.
Jessica MaryYes. There's There's a part in here where she talks about what a difference a day makes because yesterday Finnick was on my kill list, and now I'm willing to sleep with him as my guard because he saved PETA and he let Mags die. And I hated her take on this as a character because I feel like it diminished the sacrifice that Mags made by walking into the fog. Also, the descriptions that we had of Mags walking into the fog was that it happened so fast that nobody could have stopped it. Yeah. That she just got up, gave Finnek a kiss, and then walked into the fog. And I think that attitude also diminishes what the Morphling did to save Pita. That, you know, like, okay, well, I'm glad that Pita's okay, but why the hell would you do that? And like, even while she's holding the Morphling's hand, she has a moment she's like, I want to get up and leave, but the Morphling holds her tight. And she's like, Well, I'm not cruel enough to just rip my hand away. And I'm like, You were just talking about murdering Finnick in his sleep like two chapters ago. I think perhaps you are that cruel.
JuliaShe didn't want to. She just felt like she had to. I really like when she's like, it's only a matter of time until Joanna and I kill each other. Yeah. Okay.
Jessica MaryLike Yeah, specifically, she's like, well, BD will die because he's got no survival skills. I don't have to take care of him.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
Jessica MaryFinnick's gonna be a problem, but I can probably take him and Joanna out at the same time. Cause I'm just so good, right? Which is such a a rebound from where she was in the Hunger Games, where she's like, I don't know how I'm never gonna be able to win this. I'm so bad at everything, and everything I touch dies, and I I can't do anything right. And here she's like, You people suck.
JuliaPathetic.
Jessica MaryI'm the best, and fuck everybody else.
JuliaAgreed.
Jessica MaryYeah.
JuliaYeah. This part was just like, I don't know, I was like annoyed with this whole section. Like even the part with the jabber jays when Finnick is like helping her and he's like, Katniss, it wasn't real. And then the jabber jays Annie Annie and then takes off.
Jessica MaryI'm like, I did like Katniss's early reaction to this though, that once she does realize it's the jabber jays, she's like, oh, fuck you. Oh yeah, fuck you, and she just shoots him down. And she does the same thing when she finally finds the one that's screaming like Annie. And I feel like having BD confirm that the capital could just make those noises really took away from the terror of that moment.
unknownRight?
Jessica MaryBecause Pita comes to her when the when the force field finally comes down, he's like, Listen, like there's almost eight of us left, so they can't be torturing our family because they've got to interview our family, right? Like, and that kind of gives you this little hope, but at the same time, no, how did they get those exact sounds? Because those are insane. And to have BD just be like, Yeah, well, we can do that. We learned that really early in District Four.
JuliaThere's just five-year-olds learning how to make people sound like they're dying.
Jessica MaryYeah, exactly. Like, what the fuck is up with district four?
JuliaThat this is like part of your primary curriculum. That early on. Okay.
Jessica MaryBut I I felt like it it went from such a heightened moment to just no, it's actually they're fine. They're totally fine. It's okay. Yeah, I don't know. I think I would have dragged that out longer.
JuliaAgreed.
Jessica MaryAnd the ointment.
JuliaWhat about the ointment?
Jessica MaryThe ointment that stains them green.
JuliaUh-huh.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. So they can it's so they can reenact Wicked while they're in the arena. Like, exactly. Yeah. But then everybody is alphabet? Like in both.
JuliaYeah.
Jessica MarySo she weighs into the water and she's trying to clean up, and then she just kind of screams at the sky. She's like, hey Hamish, could you sober up for half a second and send us some medicine?
JuliaAnd then immediately she gets medicine and it's And then immediately she gets medicine.
Jessica MaryAnd she puts it on, and Finnick is like, it looks like you're decomposing, says Finnick. But I guess the itching wins out because after a minute, Finnick begins to treat his own skin too. Really, the combination of the scabs and the ointment looks hideous, and I can't help enjoying his distress. Poor Finnick. Is this the first time in your life you haven't looked pretty? I say. It must be. The sensation's completely new. How have you managed it all of these years?
SPEAKER_02Okay, Finnick.
Jessica MarySassmaster Finnick.
SPEAKER_02Love.
Jessica MaryThen they go to wake up Pita, and instead of just like gently waking him up, they get like three inches from his face covered in the green ointment and go boom.
JuliaYeah. Oh, I loved that part. I never, I so rarely get a chance to laugh. Yeah. I don't remember a single time prior to this moment that you've laughed, actually. So that's fun to think about.
Jessica MaryAnd we were talking about last week, we were talking about the super durable underwear that they have. And there's a part the the wave comes, right? Like the 10 o'clock wave or whenever the hell it comes up, and it wipes a whole bunch of stuff out into the salt water. And they manage to grab a few necessities and weapons and food and things, but they just let the suits go because of like whatever, they're damaged. And I'm like, so are you just in your underwear?
JuliaCorrect. I'm uh confused why they didn't include that in the movie, but right?
Jessica MaryBut I've got I've got two things now because Katniss is canonically really skeeved out by like nudity. Okay. Wouldn't she be uncomfortable if a guy was just there in like I can't imagine they gave them boxer briefs. They're probably there in like little speedo editions because it's the capital and they're not going to be able to do that.
JuliaYou never get a description. So unfortunately, we can just picture them all in speedos.
Jessica MaryNope, tighty whiteies. Canonically tighty whiteies.
JuliaI feel like they would have given them boxer briefs. That's more like of that. Yeah, a male speedow. Perfect.
Jessica MaryThe other part is when Beattie does show up, she's like, Well, I guess we have to get him naked to check for wounds. And she's just totally okay with old man nudity, but not nudity of men that are near her age.
JuliaYeah, I never understood why she was just like, and then I got Wires naked.
Jessica MaryYeah. We just we just strip them down, it's fine.
JuliaYeah, why did they strip them down? Oh, because they get the blood off.
Jessica MaryYeah.
unknownYeah.
Jessica MaryThey were like cleaning them off and like making certain they didn't have extra wounds and things. And I'm like, okay, so this you were okay with, but you couldn't look at PETA when he was just like, I have a giant gash on my leg, and you knew exactly where it was?
JuliaQuestion mark? She would have had some tingly feelings in her toes.
Jessica MaryFor her friend. She would have had friendly feelings for her friend. Her just friend forever. The inner friendly goddess. Yeah.
JuliaThat's what that beast was. It was a cow this whole time.
Jessica MaryMurderous cow.
JuliaHow do we feel about her not realizing that Joanna cut her tracker out of her arm?
Jessica MaryVery angry.
JuliaI was like, how do you not know what's happening?
Jessica MaryWell, first off, she's got her umpteenth concussion for the series, right? By book two. And she gets her tracker cut out of her arm, and she's laying there and she's like, Am I dying? Am I close to death? And I want to be like, you've been stabbed in the other games. Like you got wounded from things. I feel like you would know in like, presumably in your bicep, right? Was an artery that would just let you bleed out.
SPEAKER_04I feel like it's on par with Katniss, though, that she has no idea what's going on. But also when I try to think about it logically, Ray, and that's really hard because Katniss doesn't think logically, but when I think logically about it, it's like if Joannus did what she did and said stay down, I wouldn't think Joanna's trying to kill me. That's the part that pissed me off. She could have done it.
Jessica MaryYeah, was that she deliberately said stay down and she hissed it. She didn't yell it at her. Two other victors are coming.
JuliaI like how she's laying there and she's like, I'm gonna die. This is the worst. Oh, my friends, my family, fuck, beat us! Yeah. Like takes so long for her to get there. I was like, I feel like there's someone here that you should probably care about. But okay.
SPEAKER_04And not only that, it's like, stay down. And she was just like, nope, and gets right back up.
Jessica MaryKatniss Everdeen, follow the plan. No, thank you.
SPEAKER_02Seriously.
Jessica MaryBut then there is like 17 paragraphs of her being like, I have to get to PETA, PETA, who was my friend, my friend PETA, my very good friend PETA, PETA, the friend, friend, friendly, friendly PETA, PETA friend, friendly PETA.
JuliaI even thought her like justification of why the other tributes might be saving PETA was really funny. They're like, I know what it is. It's because he talks good. That's it. That's gotta be it. Everyone knows PETA is the best at the word thing. That's it. That's the whole thing.
Jessica MaryThat's why they're doing it. Yeah. No, they figured that out. Yeah. I get that I don't want a character who immediately figures things out, but at the same time, there is so much evidence prior to being on the helicor, whatever the hell they called it, that these people are allies to her, and she's just like, nope. Like a almost like a toddler just sticking their fingers in their ear and closing her eyes and just la la la la la la la la la la la la la.
SPEAKER_04But that's the way the world conditions them, right? No one's on your side, no one's your friend. And then when you get into this arena, like times that by ten. That's true. And then she's already won, right? So she already had that thinking for what was it, the double the participant? Yeah. And then she has to come out of that to live a normal life, but but of course you can't. And then you have to go back in. And so of course you're thinking that, you know? Especially when you're not told that you're part of this plan. And for good reason. Like, I would not have told Katnish anything about the plan. But like, she has no idea what's going on. So of course she's gonna be like, Finnick is trying to kill me. Joanna's trying to kill me. Everyone's trying to kill me, and I gotta kill them.
Jessica MaryI would believe Joanna is trying to kill me in this sense. But Finnick actively saves her district partner, and if he was just going to kill them, why not just let him die?
SPEAKER_04Well, he's gotta kill them at some point to become the winner. It's true.
Jessica MaryIt's true. But then that also seems very weird to be like, well, I have to kill you later, but right now I'm gonna do CPR that you're gonna think is me macking on your boyfriend, because you're too dumb to know that it's CPR, even though you've watched your mother do it a hundred times. Alright, I cut up this quote because it happens over like several paragraphs, but when after she has her I don't know, she's gotten a concussion more times than I've been to college, so it's hard to keep track. And writes so much. And she wakes up and she's like, PETA, as Julia said earlier. She's just like, oh fuck PETA, I gotta go get him. But I'm fair game and so is PETA. PETA! Literally, period, PETA! My eyes fly open in panic. PETA is waiting up by the tree, unspecting and off guard. Maybe Finnick has even killed him already. I don't know, I don't know. I only know that I must get back to PETA.
SPEAKER_05My friend.
Jessica MaryAnd keep him alive. PETA. My dying wish, my promise to keep him alive, my heart lifts a bit when I realize he must be alive because no cannon has fired. I have to move faster, I have to get to Pita. The boom of a cannon pulls me up short, I force my legs into a run. Pita PITA PETA, my friend, my dearest friend, my my true friend, Pita. And even here, she doesn't realize she got feelings.
JuliaJust like maybe one feeling.
Jessica MaryJust like one feeling is right. Just just a little itty bitty, maybe I do have a feeling for him. Would have been nice.
JuliaThe part where Pita's talking to her and he's like, you'd make a really good.
Jessica MaryShe's like, with Gail?
JuliaLiterally.
Jessica MaryDid anybody else picture that part like like the scene in Legally Blonde where he's like, you got into Harvard? It's like, what, like it's hard? Yeah. And in my head, it's just you would make a great mother. What? Like with Gail?
SPEAKER_04And just because you would make a great mother doesn't mean you have to feel like you want to be a mother. Right.
JuliaMaybe she does say right after that she's like, but I don't want to be one. I was like, well, then you don't gotta be one.
SPEAKER_04I just hate how people keep telling her, like, oh, you'll be a great mom. Let's play up this mom thing. It's true.
JuliaI guess it is to keep her alive.
SPEAKER_04And then I forgot that, you know, she is pretending to be pregnant. So they have to play up this mom thing. And I'm just like, stop telling her she's gonna be a good mom. Oh wait. Oh wait. You forgot that she was pregnant. She's flying for the camera.
JuliaYou forgot that she was pregnant as much as she forgot that she was pregnant.
SPEAKER_04Exactly.
Jessica MaryShe is the only one not playing up her pregnancy. Everybody else is like, I'll get that. You shouldn't, in your condition. Every last one of them is like, oh, a pregnant woman shouldn't be doing that. And you are pregnant, aren't you, Katniss?
SPEAKER_02Aren't you?
Jessica MaryAren't you?
SPEAKER_0417-year-old pregnant girl. I mean, wouldn't it be crazy if she got out of the arena and they had made a show called 16 and Pregnant?
Jessica MaryIt would have been 17, but yes.
SPEAKER_04Yes.
Jessica Mary17 and pregnant, and I murdered my baby daddy. And all of our friends. And all of our friends.
JuliaAnd then somehow she would then have to become pregnant to perpetuate the lie.
Jessica MaryThat's that's what Gail is for. That's the only useful contribution.
JuliaBut the baby's going to come out tall and lucky, like I guess by then. Anyways, never mind.
Jessica MaryWe have weird theories. I just I just gotta put it out there. Do they fuck in the arena? Gross, they're kissing, they haven't brushed their teeth in weeks.
JuliaThis was only two days.
Jessica MaryYeah, though this this is like three days.
JuliaYeah, the the beast is the cow that's ripping them apart. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Like the bunny from Monty Python.
Jessica MaryYes. Big, sharp, pointy teeth. So she gets to the top of the hill where the lightning tree is, and she realizes that Beattie was gonna take the stick and like put it against the force field and zap it out with the lightning. Then she sees what they keep calling like a chink in the armor of the force field, and she shoots an arrow through it. I never pictured it like she was shooting through a conveniently placed square in the force field. I always thought that she was shooting an unnaturally timed arrow at the force field.
SPEAKER_04I mean when I think of, and I hate this word for obvious reasons, the chink in the uh arena in the force field. I always thought it was like maybe like, you know how you can see like a small vibration, and it's very, very small. It's like blink if you miss it. That she's shooting like there, and there might be like a small, tiny little like nick that she just has to hit perfectly. I don't think it's big enough for her to be like, oh, there it is. I have a pretty wide space to hit, you know.
Jessica MaryLike the description felt like it was here's this giant wide space to hit, which makes like that whole plan seem a lot less impressive.
JuliaYeah, because the person that followed through with the plan didn't know that there was a plan. So if BD had stayed passed out and she didn't see the knife and like kind of figure it out in two seconds, what would have happened? Yeah. There was no one else to do the thing that needed to be done at that point in time. Yeah. Her, like, I need to do this plan right now. It's like, well, in 12 hours, the lightning's gonna hit again. So it didn't really make sense that she got so like worked up over it. Like, why did you have to follow through with that plan? You could have just run away.
Jessica MaryYeah, her especially. Like, I can see the people who know about the plan being like, no, it's gotta be this one. Uh, this one, this particular tree at this particular time. Not not 12 hours from now, no, no. Ha ha ha. But yeah, Katniss literally has no reason to feel that pressure to do it right now, right this instant.
JuliaYou're like in it and you're not really thinking about it. And then it's like, oh yeah. Kitty cat. It's just a baby.
SPEAKER_04Well, that and like she knew people were coming, and the the words from Heymet came to her, like, remember who the true enemy is.
Jessica MaryYeah.
SPEAKER_06I don't know why that wasn't a mantra, like the whole fucking book.
Jessica MaryRight. I'm glad that it wasn't though. There have been other books that have had this moment.
JuliaOh, like we don't need to be reminded. It's like in Fourth Wing when they keep being like, Violet, uh, she's very weak. Just so you know, I don't know if you remember. But she's weak. She's super weak. I don't know if you guys know this, but Violet is weak.
Jessica MaryYes.
JuliaYou're like, oh, is she weak?
Jessica MaryExactly. Exactly.
JuliaAnd then conveniently, like, they forget about it at one point, and then they come back and they're like, by the way, do you remember that? Super weak. Super weak.
Jessica MaryIt what was the other one we read with uh Rune and Gideon? Um Heartless Hunter. Yeah. That that was another one that was like, she's so small and he's so big, and all the time. He towers over her and she's so small.
JuliaThat sounds like a fetish thing.
Jessica MaryRight? It does.
JuliaI don't need to read that book. That's definitely a fetish.
Jessica MaryYeah, he's he's so big, big, big, and she's so small, so small. And there was I know we didn't do it for the podcast, but I think it's the second book in the Red Queen series. Almost every two chapters is anybody can betray anyone. And at that point, it's like, I get it. Now I just need you to betray somebody so that this you know kind of pays off. But I don't think that this needed to be repeated. I think this came at the right time so that she wasn't like, well, BD's on the ground, let me shoot him. Easy prey.
SPEAKER_05Uh yeah.
Jessica MaryYeah, I think it kind of like puzzle piece clicked for her at that moment that something's going on that no, I don't understand, which she says all the time. That one has been a mantra throughout this book. I don't understand. I'm dumbfounded, and I'm like, girl, I know. You don't need to keep telling me.
JuliaYeah, I guess. Okay, I wish she had remembered that a little earlier then.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I can see that.
JuliaIt just seemed like there was so much going on, and then for her to be like, and then I'm having this actually good thought. I was like, I feel like this thought needs more space than it's given. And I'm standing in the tornado while you have that thought. And I wish I had that thought before we were all standing in the tornado.
Jessica MaryWhere would you put that memory though?
JuliaI would have put it when she was laying in the ground after Joanna cut her fucking arm open. That's where I would have put it.
Jessica MaryAlso, speaking of, when she cuts her arm open, did Joanna just take the tracker?
JuliaMaybe she like smashed it or something.
Jessica MaryYeah, so like if she smashes the tracker, wouldn't bits of the tracker be nearby?
JuliaLike it's just like a little tiny pill. So right, that could easily be lost in like the jungle floor. I guess. Or Joanna just takes it with her and like fucking tosses it.
Jessica MaryShe takes it with her, she's like, I'm the Katniss now.
JuliaI mean, maybe to make it seem like Katniss is still running. Maybe to hide it from the Capitol, because Joanna and Pita are the ones that get caught.
Jessica MaryYes.
JuliaSo maybe she still did have Katniss's tracker and they were trying to catch both of them.
SPEAKER_05Maybe.
JuliaBecause I'm picturing like smaller than a grain of rice. I never pictured it that small. In the movie, it's like a needle that goes into her arm, and then that's it. It like shows it.
Jessica MaryFeel free to picture it however you want to picture it, but I'm picturing it like a bus stop is how I'm picturing it, and I'm mad about it.
JuliaOh my gosh, when Joanna throws the axe and it embeds itself into the cornucopia because the gold is warm from the sun.
Jessica MaryYeah, the gold, the gold in cornucopia.
JuliaLike, so bitch, you mean you could touch it and your hand would just like sink in? That's how warm it is?
Jessica MaryWhat is the melting point for gold? Let us find out.
JuliaLike, I know gold is a soft metal because like it bends easily. I I guess like if the cornucopia was made of fucking sheet metal. But it seems like it would be a little tougher than like that. I don't know.
Jessica MaryAccording to the internet, the melting point for gold is 1948 degrees Fahrenheit, and that's okay. Thank you, producer Rob. Let's look up the flexibility point of gold.
SPEAKER_06Okay. So it's actually like reasonable for her to embed an axe into the side of a cornucopia.
unknownOkay.
Jessica MaryAnd it doesn't need to be almost 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Almost 1,000 degrees Celsius. Yeah. How hot is this to read it? Jesus Christ.
unknownYeah.
JuliaMy favorite fucking stupid thing that was in this book. Yeah, so when you press coal hard enough, a pearl arrives.
Jessica MaryThey were making fun of Effie.
JuliaWere they?
Jessica MaryYes. Okay.
JuliaI'm sitting there because they kept saying it, and I'm like, no.
Jessica MaryIn the first book, when they are on the train.
JuliaI love this. I just I was so mad. Yes.
Jessica MaryIn the first book, Effie says that on the train. She's like, like when you put enough pressure on Cole, it becomes a pearl. And they're both sitting there, like, that's not how that works.
JuliaOkay, see, I'm sitting there like, that's not how that works.
Jessica MaryFinnick was too. He's like, uh no, that's incorrect.
JuliaYeah. Oh, the fucking pearl. The moment she got the pearl, I was like, I forgot about this fucking stupid. For the for the next book, that's the thing that we're gonna hear about. I rubbed the pearl in my fingers. I I don't know if you maybe.
Jessica MaryAnd thought about my friend Peter.
JuliaI just rubbed the pearl. I can't wait for her to rub the pearl in the parachute for the next 400 pages.
Jessica MaryIs that what we're calling it now? Rubbing the pearl.
JuliaThat's what I call it. What do you call?
Jessica MaryI call it moo. I don't call it moo. I want to clarify.
JuliaYour husband pops in? Yes, you do.
Jessica MaryYes, she does! Yeah. So after all this, she gets airlifted out of the arena. She finds herself in and out of consciousness in the hospital. And when she finally does break out, she's got a syringe, she's wandering around. She's like, I'm gonna find everybody and I'm just gonna put a little bit of air into their IV and then they'll die, and we'll never have to put up with whatever the Capitol is going to do. Immediate thought.
JuliaIf the Capitol wanted to kill you, they wouldn't be trying to help you in a hospital bed. But I mean, unless they were like, you know, trying to strain it there could be other reasons, but still seemed a little funny to me.
Jessica MaryYeah. So BD is beat up, for lack of a better way of putting that.
SPEAKER_02Good one.
Jessica MaryYeah. Excellent. And and she's like, I could just put like a little little air bubble, it'll be fine, but first let me find PETA. And she wanders around and she wanders into the meeting where Hamich and Plutarch and Finnick and everybody are, and she's like, the fuck?
JuliaI'm really glad that she didn't put the air bubble into BD's arm. Right. Like proactively. Could you imagine? Like, guys, I we have a problem.
Jessica MaryOh, I made a big mistake. We gotta go fix this. Um, shit. But she outright gets called out. She's like, we can't tell you anything because you are the world's worst actress, number one. And number two, you suck at making friends. Case in point, you tried to attack your allies all the fucking time in the arena. And then she learns that all these other people that she was constantly questioning, she's like, Why are they trying to like help me and PETA? What the hell? What did what did Hamish promise them for helping us? And then she learns that the victors, as we said earlier, from District 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 11 knew little pieces of the plan. It wasn't that everybody knew the whole plan. Everybody had little bitty pieces of the plan. And she's like, You didn't tell me your PETA a damn thing? He's like, That's correct, because you guys suck. Yeah. And then she finds out that PETA was taken. And her reaction is, technically, I am unarmed, but no one should ever underestimate the harm fingernails can do, especially if the target is unprepared. I lunge across the table and rake mine down Hamish's face, causing blood to flow and damage one eye.
SPEAKER_02A little dramatic.
Jessica MaryA little dramatic, and she's still upset that her friend PETA was taken.
JuliaHmm, I wonder why we didn't tell you the plan, finds out the plan.
Jessica MaryYeah, exactly. And then not long after that, she's like, no one in their right mind would let me make the plans because I obviously can't tell a friend from an enemy. You also can't tell a friend from a lover, but that's a different argument.
JuliaLike I didn't like that part. But I also feel like it mirrors her coming out of the arena in book one. Like how she has these like outrageous overreactions. She's throwing herself at the door to get to PETA while people are trying to fucking help him. Then she gets out of the arena again, is fucking batshit crazy, again having outrageous responses to things. And like, is that kind of a reference to trauma? I guess like the author kind of showing when people are in you know high pressure situations and they come out, they struggle to adapt to real life more. Like some people do struggle to adapt to real life more.
Jessica MaryLike yeah, I don't know.
JuliaShe's one of those.
Jessica MaryI would say it's more of an echo and call back to they both come out and Pita's like, oh, we're in love. And she's like, oh hey, no, we're not. We can finally like stop doing that now. And so it becomes, okay, well, we did this and now Pita can't have Katniss. And now Katnus is pretty close. She isn't there yet, because I think honestly, I think her introspection journey is a bit like a snakes and ladders board where she gets up a little bit and then she hits a snake and she comes back down. And I feel like she has hit a snake here and she has come back down, so she's not quite there, but she she almost saw the end point. And now she's got these feelings for PETA, whether she wants to have been through them or not, and she can't have PETA. And that's where I see the mirror and the echo.
SPEAKER_04I don't know. I I again kind of agree with Julia. Where like they're conditioned to think like this. They're conditioned to think that the the capital is out to get them because they're forced into an arena where they have to kill, you know, for the entertainment of the Capitol.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And now they're in a hospital well, at least in the first Look, she's in a hospital that's like run by the Capitol, who just literally tried to kill her and killed like other kids and and tried to kill her friend. Yes. And that's what she's she's thinking. Yeah. And that's what she's thinking here, that she's in a in a hospital with the Capitol who just literally try to kill everyone again. Mm-hmm.
unknownYeah.
Jessica MarySo she tries to break out of the bed like three or four times. And at one point wakes up and finds herself restrained. And so she just kind of like whacks herself in the back of the head until she falls asleep. And I'm like, that's right. Give yourself a concussion this time. Go right ahead.
JuliaInsane. Also, how hard are you hitting your head into a pillow?
Jessica MaryRight? Presumably there's a pillow or she's on a mattress.
JuliaLike yeah, like she's like, I wake up in a soft bed.
Jessica MaryWell, this soft bed causes concussions, apparently.
JuliaShe's like laying there smacking her head, and the nurses are like, we'll just sedate her.
Jessica MaryYeah. At that point, why wouldn't you have Hamich or Finnick or somebody else or Gail? Gail appears at the end of the book. Why wouldn't you have one of these three figures sit there and be like, hey, listen, we're not in the Capitol, and I need you to relax and stop ripping out your IV.
JuliaWhy did she wake up alone?
Jessica MaryYes.
JuliaWhen clearly everyone knew that she was away. Like she walks into that room, no one is surprised that she's awake. No one's like, oh, how did you get out of bed? They're like, look who's here.
SPEAKER_02Good morning, baby.
JuliaWell, I feel like Gail should have been next to the bed. Or fucking Hamich. He should have been sitting there. Why wasn't he sitting there?
Jessica MaryThat's where I'm at. These people that they know that she trusts them.
JuliaYeah.
Jessica MaryShould have been there. Especially after the first time that she got up and ripped out her IV. They should have been like, okay, well, we'll have you wait here until the next time that wears off so you can explain things. And the same information could have gotten to her.
JuliaLike she wakes up and Hamich is like so upset. And she's like, What happened? And he's like, We couldn't get PETA or whatever. I don't think she snatched his fucking eyes out then.
Jessica MaryWell, especially not if she was restrained to a hospital bed.
JuliaBut that was so insulting to her, I feel like. Like, okay, yeah, she's cold and doesn't really show her emotions ever, but they still know she's attached to PETA, and they're like, Yeah, he's still in there. And she's like in fucking panic mode. And it's like, well, obviously, like fuck, if that was me and they were like, Yeah, your boyfriend's still in there, like, we couldn't get to him, like, I'd fucking lose it too. So it just it really bothered me that they treated her without the kindness and softness and tenderness that she deserved in that moment.
SPEAKER_02There is a quote that I did not write down in its entirety.
Jessica MaryShe comments on the fact that first she was a game piece for the Capitol, and now she's a game piece for the rebellion.
JuliaAnd all she's like, it was never her choice.
Jessica MaryYeah.
JuliaYeah.
Jessica MaryWhere she's making the comment about the the berries and helping Pita and saving him and even helping Rue. She has only ever been something to manipulate on a board to become a symbol for somebody.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
Jessica MaryAnd none of it has been her choice. I'm bringing this up because I agree with you that this moment deserved some tenderness and not we're gonna let you wake up somewhere new, somewhere strange, strapped to a bed, tied up to a bunch of like tubes and shit. No explanation, not even a whiteboard with a hey catness will be with you in a minute, kinda like nothing.
JuliaBack in five minutes.
Jessica MaryYeah, back in five minutes, it's okay. Maybe no time given the arena that we just came out of. We just won't look at a clock for a little bit, but okay.
JuliaThey're all digital, but nothing. No analog.
Jessica MaryAbsolutely nothing for her.
JuliaAnd then she walks into a room and the game maker's sitting there, she's like, What the fuck?
SPEAKER_02Like, yeah, you didn't tell her anything, so she's upset and freaked out and reasonably scared.
Jessica MaryAnd then Hamet is like, oh, what is it? You in a syringe against the Capitol? Give me that, you know. Like, what do you expect her reaction to be here? That she comes in and she sees people that she thought were allies with people that she knows to be foes when she constantly has to question this everywhere, as Katie is pointing out, that she's they're conditioned for this.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
Jessica MaryAnd then after all of this, they put her back in the bed and she's like, and Gail shows up and he's like, hey, listen, so like the good news is she even comments on how he actually says it with tenderness.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
JuliaI'm like, oh, someone knows. Someone's a girl.
Jessica MaryOne that and yeah, because she notes the voice. She's like, this is not a good news voice.
JuliaYeah.
Jessica MaryThis is specifically something I'm not going to like what I'm hearing. And he leads with, Well, your mom is okay, and your sister's okay, and my family's okay. District 12 has been annihilated.
SPEAKER_02Okay, that's where we end. Everyone else is dead. So how are you? Yeah. A lot of people made it out, but the district has been leveled. You remember what happened to the hob?
Jessica MaryYeah, well, whole district. Just gone. It's fine. It's fine. Uh, and that's where the book ends. By the time I got into reading Hunger Games, the whole series was out. Yeah. And I have to say, if I had to wait any amount of time after that ending, I would have such rage.
JuliaLike Yeah. It reminds me of um Throne of Glass. Like, uh, spoilers. Uh, just ahead of time. If you have not read Throne of Glass, I'm about to talk about it in a hot minute. Major spoilers. So Empire of Storms ends with like a major cliffhanger, like an insane cliffhanger. And then the next book that comes out is based on another person's point of view. So these people wait an entire year to find out what the cliffhanger is, and then the author was like, nah, bitch, you're guessing something that's happening in a different continent. And then they waited more time, and then the cliffhanger was explained. And I was like, I couldn't imagine. Like, I would be so fucking mad. And this feels like that.
Jessica MaryLike I would riot.
JuliaI would have fucking lost my shit.
Jessica MaryThis ending feels to me what a lot of duology endings feel like to me, where there's clearly something more written after this. Yeah. Even if it's just to kind of tie us up and put us in District 13. But we decided to end it here. We decided to like, okay, this is exactly where the word count cutoff happens. Yeah. And we just that's where it goes. And I hate endings like that. I hate one this just ends mid-conversation.
JuliaSee, I'm okay with endings like this if the next book has already been announced. If I know that I'm gonna get the next book in eight months. Oh my gosh, now I can't wait. If there is an ending like this, and then it's like TBD, I'm like, you're fuck you. One of my favorite books ever. The third book came out. Burn it down. And the author finally finished the fourth book and it will be getting released soon. But we've waited two years to maybe get a fourth book, and the third book ends with a huge cliffhanger.
Jessica MarySo it's like and this is nothing in comparison to what Brandon Sanderson and George R. R. Martin fans go through. Where they have the huge sweeping series and an author who can't get words down on a page. Like George R. R. Martin recently was like, listen, I can't be bothered. I like it's not it's not happening. So the more you bug these the shit out of me, the more pressure you apply, the less it's going to happen. Enjoy that.
JuliaThat's so much pressure, so much pressure to finish these books, which is like why I think like I don't want to name names, but the author that I was just talking about, like her third book came out, and then she got picked up by a large publishing like company, and then all these people like her books started to really blow up, and then all of a sudden I can't figure out the ending because there's all this pressure, and it's like, well. Anyway, so I don't know because also when I was reading these, all of them had come out, so I don't even know how much time passed. Or if I'm curious, if the third book had kind of been announced by then.
Jessica MarySee Catching Fire Pub Date. That would have been was well, I feel old now. Yeah. Catching Fire was published September 1st, 2009. And Mocking J came out August 24th, 2010. So it wasn't that long of a wait. I'd still be pissed off about this ending, regardless of knowing if it's a trilogy or not. I really hate ending in the middle of dialogue. This doesn't feel like there is no district 12, does not feel like a place to end a book, it feels like a place to end a chapter. Even if the next chapter is like half a page and it is literally just the chopper lands, district 13 exists, and they're putting us into a bedroom, and I break down and cry because a lot of shit has fucking happened.
JuliaYeah. Because how does mocking like I I hate when they do those like time jumps. So I hope we're not walking into that.
Jessica MaryYeah, I don't remember there being a big time jump.
SPEAKER_02It's gonna piss me off.
Jessica MaryBut I know that there's enough of a time jump, but that by the time we do see like here's some spoilers. The book is 20 years old, but here's some spoilers. By the time we see PETA, he's like emaciated, which doesn't happen in the world.
JuliaThere's a big time jump.
Jessica MaryOkay. Hooray! Well, we can complain about it when we get to it because next I'm already mad about this 20-year-old book. Next time we are watching the movie, and I swear to God, I don't remember how the cornucopia looks in Catching Fire. I it might, and if it does.
SPEAKER_06I'm sure it's exactly the same.
Jessica MaryI'm going to pause that movie and yell about it being a fucking bus stop.
JuliaAnd then you're the only person on planet Earth who thinks it's a bus stop.
Jessica MaryShow me a bus stop.
JuliaShow me a bus stop.
Jessica MaryShow me a fucking bus stop. Pull you up at a fucking bus stop.
JuliaShow me a bus stop that looks like a cornucopia. You got some fancy ass bus stops up in New Jersey, I guess. We're all just sending each other pictures. I bus stop.
Jessica MaryI have to put it in the Discord. I have to put it in the Discord.
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