ahhhhhhhh anon i’m so glad to offer you any support/help at all!!!!!

(what a lovely message to get hello welcome 2 my blog & self)

WELCOME TO THE CLUB OF PEOPLE-WHO-ASK-ME-HOW-PARIS-IS-WHEN-I’M-NOT-LIVING THERE

i’m sorry anon it’s a sore subject

I’m living in Rennes, in the northwest of France, through a high school study abroad program called SYA that my school sends kids to every year! It’s for juniors and seniors. The application process is fairly easy and imo it’s better than living in Paris because much fewer people speak English here than in Paris—so you’re forced to utilize your French! I would really recommend it to anyone in high school looking to study abroad—there are also programs in Spain, China, and Italy. 

i feel like i get this question on the reg and it’s gonna be really depressing when i finally have to respond “no”

tl;dr ya

i just cannot

handle

I don’t ever see people calling Gale’s actions 100% justified or excusing them completely. Do I consider him morally perfect? Do I think that the people who died because of his weapons don’t matter? Absolutely not. But what I consistently hated about THG is the way violent resistance is treated—as automatically evil. Is it automatically righteous? No, it’s not that either—war is terror, and horror, and within its confines the right thing to do is seldom clear.

I do not blame Gale for what he did. Starving the Districts was violence. Putting their children in the Games was violence. The Capitol was mercilessly violent to the citizens of Panem for years. Gale fought back with violence. What choice was left to him, or any of the other revolutionaries? Peaceful protest and strongly worded pamphlets was never going to take down the Capitol.

What makes war stories so compelling is how morally impossible they are—it is wrong to kill, yes, but is it still wrong if someone else is rushing at you with a gun? At what point is one working for the “greater good”, and does such a thing exist? That’s what I often disliked about the series, or rather its fandom, for acting as if there was a “right” choice at all.

So yes, I guess, I hold Gale responsible for the war crimes the OP listed. But that doesn’t make him evil. And it is so exhausting and unfair and frankly, boring, to say that it does.

plus omfg that post ending with “mAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOUL” lmaO

(I’ve written meta about this before too.)

it’s the same blog i just switched back to my old url about a week or two ago now

i don’t mind it! i think kristen’s a pretty good choice—just not mine personally. i think she’s somehow too serene for me to see her as a perfect arya. 

i hate this question because i feel like what it’s really asking every time is actually “how much do i have to respect you”

how big is your sphere of influence? how many other people listen to you? by which measure i can judge how seriously i myself should take you?

Hello!! To put it at its most simple: I love it.

First and foremost, I would recommend this: do not live in Paris. Not because Paris isn’t great—it is, and there’s a ton to see and do there, and that city is fucking magical. But in Paris there are a lot of tourists and a lot of people who speak English, both of which will not help you improve your understanding of French culture or your French. Visit Paris, definitely, but if you have the choice of it, live in a smaller French city. I’m in Rennes, in Brittany, and it’s great because a.) it has it’s own unique cultural identity b.) there aren’t a lot of people who speak english fluently, which forces me to use (and therefore improve!) my french and c.) because it’s not a popular tourist destination, the city isn’t catering to tourists—it’s just, i don’t know, regular people going about their lives without worrying about you too specifically. it makes you dive right in.

I’m staying with a host family and I lucked out because Ireally, really like them—they’re incredibly welcoming and helpful and living with them helped me feel at home in France more quickly. Furthermore, I find people in general actually pretty friendly once you start talking to them. It’s true that in restaurants and on the streets sometimes people might be a little brusque/cold/even, from time to time, slightly rude, but that’s the exception rather than the rule. People usually get really excited when you tell them you’re living there for a while, choosing to really immerse yourself, rather than a tourist there for a week or so. It’s never too difficult to find directions or ask for the time or whatever.

There’s a lot to see throughout all of France, too—my school takes us on trips throughout the country over the year, and some of the stuff I’ve seen so far has been genuinely, truly breathtaking. I mean that literally. It’s a great country to explore.

And of course, the food is great.

In short, on a day-to-day basis, I’ve probably never been so consistently happy in my life. And this is true for all new experience! When every day is new and different, I think that excitement is healthy and good and AUGH I RECOMMEND THIS SO MUCH EVERYONE GO ABROAD

IDK comme ce comme ca i’m so incredibly excited for paris & amsterdam over new year’s and i’m lovin my host fam at the moment and my french is A++++ but me and the boy who is now just “one of my best friends” because i’m trying to forget it have been quarreling a lot this week kinda more than usual and i’m stressed about it :(((((

thinking about him makes me ill and anxious and being apart from him makes me ill and anxious and i wish i had never met him