so true
and we adore them for it
everlark has the silliest “we’re trying so hard to be a situationship but unfortunately we have been symbolically married since we were eleven” thing going on
once the quell starts, every kiss between katniss and peeta is so soft and natural. a light kiss before parting for the quell (cf, 75). another one as a greeting in the arena (cf, 77).
and, like almost everything katniss and peeta do in the quell arena, it is reminiscent of a married couple. two people who know each other so intimately and deeply that kisses and affection become a part of their routine.
and after the intensity of the beach scene, their relationship takes on a new softness, returning to that married-stage with a new reverence.
and so when katniss takes peeta's face in her hands and kisses him before they split up at the end of the quell, it parallels the kisses that peeta gave to her before the quell began (cf, 105). the ones that acted as a reassurance that they would see each other soon. the ones that promised reunion.
but, of course, the rebellion had other plans. and katniss and peeta never did get a reunion kiss.
and so, at the beginning of mockingjay, katniss is left sitting on her bed. rocking her body as she rolls the pearl between her lips. still waiting for her reunion kiss. weeks later. trying to sooth herself with the memory of peeta (mj, 32).
and that is what makes it even more tragic when katniss runs to kiss peeta after his arrival in district thirteen. because it seems like she will finally get the reunion that she has been waiting for. the one started with the kiss under the lightning tree that begged to be resolved (mj, 152).
but it didn't resolve. because her peeta doesn't show up. and instead of a soft kiss, she get bruises.
so, she is still left holding onto the pearl, trying to remember the boy with the bread (mj, 168). the one that she feels is so far away from her. the one still in snow's grasp.
and katniss gives up. she wants nothing to do with the stranger that bares her beloved's face.
but when it truly seems like she might lose her precious boy with the bread forever in the winding capitol tunnels, she leans down and kisses him fully (mj, 267).
and this kiss is not like everlark's soft, routine kisses. or their empassioned kisses like the beach scene.
instead, the kiss hidden deep in the capitol tunnels is one that solidifies the two lovers together. one that is begging him to stay with her. one that is pleading for him to not let snow take him away for good.
it is a kiss meant to remind peeta of who he is. and who katniss is. and who they are. a kiss that is meant to say everything that they don't have time for.
a kiss that signals an ultimate, long-awaited reunion.
One Day
so I did a thing
outrageous.
can relate.
heartbreaking. you have to write the fic youre writing in order for it to be written
✨ Teach me how to look at you. I promise I’ll be a fast learner. ✨
Manacled by senlinyu {https://archiveofourown.org/works/14454174/chapters/33390198}
Isolation by bexchan {https://archiveofourown.org/works/23461513?view_full_work=true}
Rights and Wrongs series by LovesBitca8 {https://archiveofourown.org/series/1007625}
Remain Nameless by HeyJude19 {https://archiveofourown.org/works/23875939/chapters/57393508}
Breath Mints / Battle Scars by Onyx_and_Elm {https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/35668776?show_comments=true}
Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love by isthisselfcare {https://archiveofourown.org/works/34500952/chapters/85870804}
Wait and Hope by mightbewriting {https://archiveofourown.org/works/22818646/chapters/54531817}
Bring Him to His Knees by Musyc {https://archiveofourown.org/works/24481312/chapters/59089624}
Dragon’s Heartstrings by pinkinku {https://archiveofourown.org/works/46585585/chapters/117313114}
Cherry Mint by dirtymudblood {https://archiveofourown.org/works/21053894/chapters/50081633}
Love In A Time Of The Zombie Apocalypse by rizzlewrites {https://archiveofourown.org/works/28137807/chapters/68944698}
All You Want by senlinyu {https://archiveofourown.org/works/15153092/chapters/35140268}
Apple Pies and Other Amends by ToEatAPeach {https://archiveofourown.org/works/8156101/chapters/18691246}
The Gloriana Set by ThebeMoon {https://archiveofourown.org/works/16821571/chapters/39485710}
Love and Other Misfortunes by senlinyu {https://archiveofourown.org/works/14380728/chapters/33204618}
This World or Any Other series by olivieblake {https://archiveofourown.org/series/502333}
as brilliant as it is that this seems to be one of lucy gray's songs that was lost to time, how much do you think snow would have lost his shit if katniss had sung "pure as the driven snow" to peeta in one of the arenas
i really hate when people dismiss the ending of his dark materials because it leans into the trope "love saves the world". truly, that is what the story is about, but reducing it to a cliché is doing a disservice to the point the story is making. when it says that love says the world, it's rewriting the meaning of sin by saying that giving into desire is not shameful. it's telling us to be brave enough to experience. it's saying that dying for love can have powerful impact, but living for it is much more romantic. it's saying that storytelling saves the world, because telling stories is a language of love. it's saying that the bonds we create with other people will outlast death as long as we share our memories. it's showing how a simple childhood friendship is extraordinary enough to change the course of a war between heaven and earth. is there a better way to end a trilogy that intertwines so many paths of love than with a kiss that shifts the fabric of multiple universes?
it's so heartwarming to read fics where Ekko is all patient, level-headed, and painfully tender with Jinx.
makes me question whether I have finally turned cold, pessimistic, and heartless when I smile reading them, smile through the tears and think of how much work it would take for them both to allow themselves being soft again.
Jinx, who believes that she is a bad omen, killing and bringing misfortune to everyone she cares about and who cared about her.
and Ekko, the leader, the inspiration, the boy who became a savior before he became himself - always managing, strategizing, settling conflicts, always putting others first... because what good could ever come his way, he is a lost cause, he is damaged, he lost everyone and all that he's good for is to build and care for others so that they would never experience this - or, at least, experience it later.
for him, the world, Zaun, his people might have a chance, but Ekko... he turned himself into a tool and almost lost hope for his life, for dreaming, feeling, being soft, reckless how a teenager and a young adult are, and not as a rebel leader who sticks his hand into every trap for it not to harm his people.
how cautious it must have made him.
friendly and social, and ever cocky and confident on the outside, but closed off on the inside.
how much effort it must have taken him to really coexist with Jinx in the same space, caring for her - and for himself for the first time in years.
trying to believe and accept that this time she'd stay, that they can have good things together...
for all of that to blow up in his face.
all.
over.
again.