"There Will Come A Ruler, Who's Brow Is Laid In Thorn,"

Lidia Yuknavitch, from Reading the Waves: A Memoir published in 2025

Banana Yoshimoto, from her novel titled "The Premonition," originally published in 2015

“They’re just fictional characters” ok then why do I feel like their heartache personally cracked my ribs?

I think that after several years, the Rampion Crew grow so used to Cinder being cyborg that they sort of forget about it entirely, resulting in interactions such as this:

*Cinder applying sunscreen to her right leg at the beach* Thorne: Wow, you're brave. Cinder: Huh? Thorne: Well, if you only wanna put sunscreen on one leg and end up looking like a two-toned popsicle, I won't stop you. Cinder: *Stares at him* Thorne: *Stares back* Cinder: ... Thorne: What?

— Danez Smith, from "summer, somewhere" (via lunamonchtuna)

This YouTube comment has been on my mind since I finished SOTR so this is what I came up with:

Lucy Gray was the mockingbird, living on the outskirts of district 12 and was there at the wrong time when they were forced to stay there after the Dark Days. They were subjected to the Capitol’s politics despite not being a part of Panem, technically speaking. Lucy Gray became part of the Games and, likewise, the mockingbird became affiliated with the Capitol through the jabberjay’s release into the woods, but it still continued to sing its own song.

Haymitch was the jabberjay, a Capitol tool that did what it had to in order to survive. The Capitol thought they could control them, but they retaliated in the form of rebellion. Haymitch refused to be a piece in their game and tried to end it, and the jabberjay, in the eyes of the Capitol, created a freak of nature that showed the Capitol’s lack of complete control.

Katniss was the mockingjay, a slap in the face of the Capitol, something that was never meant to exist. Together, the song of the mockingbird that lived on for generations and the stubbornness of the jabberjay that refused to die, the mockingjay had the best of both worlds. It was a symbol of rebellion and unity.