ok, gosh DAMN
tears, in my eyes, right now, the last bit about the four notes echoing back (you know that bit in district 11 with the old man in Catching Fire made me cry the hardest too)

I hate you Capitol, I HATE YOU SO HARDCORE. can't even imagine what will happen once Rue and Thresh are taken by District 13 and how hard it will be for Rue to be the Mockingjay and in the name of all that is Finnick and Cinna, protect her, protect her

ahem. I love that you're remixing things and how you stagger the story like this.

Quibbles:
Katniss laughing at one of Peeta’s jokes when Haymitch sends them the same kind of brother
broth?

and for some reason, the image of Katniss and Peeta smiling into each other's mouths as they die didn't work for me? I guess unless the Nightlock berries also take care of pain, but I could only really think of the agony she must be in, and how at the last second, I'd imagine I'd cry. but THAT IS JUST ME. So.

in conclusion: wonderful storytelling, as usual. thank you for sharing.

Ack, thanks for catching the typo! It was 5am for me by the time I posted, ha, my eyes just skipped right over it. Corrected now!

I went with a smile because in my head, it was kind of their last fuck-you to the Capitol. I think I also sometimes mush together the sleep-berries and the Nightlock in my head, so I just think of them as being very peaceful and very quick -- like she wouldn't even have the time to register the pain of her wound before she died, if she swallowed quickly enough; Foxface's death in canon seemed like, way instantaneous and random.

The smile also worried me that it might be OTT, but eh. Overall, I'd say I'm pretty proud of this story. I don't like it as much as I like the 24 Victors/Tributes one, but I love Rue and I hope it does her justice all the time.

Thanks for reading!

(And OH MY GOD, AGREE: n the name of all that is Finnick and Cinna, protect her, protect her).

Oh man, I loved this. What a great spin on things, and totally believable too!

[I'd write more but I really gotta get back to homework, derp.]

Thank you so much for reading! :)

Your fics constantly kill me. In the best way possible.

Thank you so much, lovely!

Where's your icon from? White Collar?

I just.

I literally cried biguglygirltears onto my iPhone at 10am this morning reading this.

I don't have words yet. I will have words at some point.

I might come back with my words.

But right now, I'm just a mess of emotions.









Sigh. ♥.

Awwww, thank you so much, dearie! Maybe they shouldn't, but the GIFs made me LOL, hahaa. I always love your comments so much! ♥

Oh my goodness. This was just ... I have few words for how awesome this was. You managed to keep those feelings from the original games and transform them into something more. I love the President Snow insights and Thresh's skepticism and Katniss and Peeta and I have a little sister too. Wonderful job -- absolutely going in my memories and recing to my flist!

Oh, wow, thank you so much! This is such a thoughtful comment; I really appreciate it!

What a wonderful and heartwrenching twist on canon! ;_; The imagery is just so vivid and everything they have to go through is just so horrible... Beautiful job.

Thank you so much for reading!

Welp, this made me cry. I desperately did not want Peeta and Katniss to die, but then again, poor bb Rue, her death was the saddest. Basically I hate the Capitol because it makes innocent children die and I'm so upset.

I'm sorry I made you cry. T_T I cried for like half an hour writing the last few section and texted Meg like, OH GOD, WHY DID I CHOOSE TO WRITE THIS?!

bbRue is one of my favorites. Foxface and Thresh are my favorites. Cinna and Finnick are my favorites. Peeta is my favorite. I just love them all. ;_;

Everything you write is utterly amazing, but THIS KILLED ME. ;_; Haha, in a good way though. I loved everything about this piece. You always have such incredible ideas. :)

Thank you so much! ♥ I'm so glad that you enjoyed it, I really appreciate your comment. :)

THIS IS SO GOOD.

Oh my god, seriously.

Everything about it is so perfect and lovely and poignant. I am amazed.

*stands up and claps*

♥ ILY! Thank you so much! I'm so glad that you read it and gladder that you enjoyed it!

This is utterly fantastic in every way. I don't know that I have the mental capacity to say any more than that.

Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate your comments, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

*cries* OH SHIT. that is so perfect. omfg ;_; <3<3<3

Oh, thank you so much! :D

This is excellent! Well done.

Thank you so much! I appreciate you reading. :)

This is incredible! Your writing style is so engaging and emotionally-charged. What a pleasure to read! I like what you did here, mixing things around, but staying true to the spirit of THG story. You write the characters so well. Keep up the brilliant work!

Thank you so much! I'm so excited that you feel it stayed true to the tone of THG canon. :)

I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS. Oh Foxface, I have such a soft spot for her because she's BRILLIANT really. And THRESH. I LOVE this Thresh because in the books I basically SWOONED when he went all psycho on Clove because of Rue.

RUE. I LOVE HER. And I'm realizing this is basically one big capslocky vomit puddle of love but that's honestly all I can manage. And can I just saw how perfectly you ended this? Seriously. You're a goddess. I'm adding you as a friend because I'm new to THG and need as much of this as possible in my life. That is all.

Thank you so much! :D

...I was right about needing those tissues. Holy shit.

The images in this are so gorgeous. Thresh embracing Foxface before her death, and how he's counted the seeds and petals. The bread and the pick. And Katniss and Peeta smiling against each others' mouths in death. I started bawling. And I really love how you open the Games up in this, how we get snippets of what's going on in the Districts and the Capitol because of course it's never just about the Games.

And no wonder Finnick identifies Rue as the Mockingjay -- it makes me wonder about the direction of the revolution with her as its figurehead, since Katniss's was so much about the ignition of passion while so much of what Rue does is born out of compassion and community.

Really excellent. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to cry some more.

This is hopelessly and inexcusably late, but I did want to make sure that I sent a thank-you your way for the review. So thank you!

OH MY GOD. I don't have words to describe how much I love this fic. It's so, so beautiful and so, so sad and makes me want to go and punch and kick a bunch of Capitol people. And also hug Rue, because she is a darling. ♥ I'd always liked her, but this fic has made me love her so much more!

I don't normally cry over fics (or most other things either), but I teared up more than once over this one! Thank you for being awesome :)

Oh, wow, thank you so, so much! :)

Thank you so much! ♥ That's really, really sweet. I do write a lot of THG fic, to be honest, and I can recommend a lot of really stellar fic for a whole mess of different THG fics by awesome writers, if you want. :)

Frell. I don't...I don't even know what to say. This was FREAKING AMAZING. Ugh, ugh, I'm speechless.

Thank you SO much!

“I wish we could be friends when we’re old,” Rue whispers.

And that's when my eyes became watery. And such a perfect, haunting... yet hopeful end. What a great idea for an AU... and it felt true to the characters as well... had Rue survived longer, I can totally see Katniss, Peeta, and Thresh protecting her in this way.

Thank you so much for writing and sharing this with us (even if you made me cry) :')

Thank you so much! I will ACTUALLY be writing two sequels, "Taking Flight" and "Mockingjay" for panemetfabulae, so... yes. ^_^

ILY!

(Also, my favorite of my THG fics is the 24 Victors, 24 Tributes one. It is also tearjerking, hopefully. Maybe.)

I cried. I don't cry for fanfiction. Wow.

Thank you so much! I'm sorry for the late reply, LJ had that whole "notifications" issue. :(

This story literally makes me cry. There's so much goodness in it, after the dearth of the books - and it's something I've wanted since I first read Hunger Games, Rue living. I think in Catching Fire it's Peeta who says it best, that her death was the most despicable; and it was.

I love each of these scenes, how it is such an ensemble - Katniss may have begun it, by deciding to guard Rue until Thresh can come for her, but Peeta understands and supports her decision even though it thwarts his own dearest desire for her to live, and Foxface works as messenger even though she knows she'll be killed, and Finnick sends Thresh the weapon that will make sure he gets safely to Rue's side - and Panem itself is a character, stirring as it watches all these different kids from all these different districts work together to keep a little girl alive.

It really comes home, too, how Rue is innocent - because she believes that there will be a happy ending, somehow, where everyone gets to live and be friends, and meanwhile everyone around her knows what is going to happen, how the story is going to end. And it's still happy for them, but in a more complicated, adult sort of way.

I like how you incorporated the Capitol too, how it - though complicit in the Arena, in the Games, and in the deaths - responds to the narrative that Katniss and Peeta and Rue and Thresh and Foxface have created. There are riots in the streets of the Capitol, and the public polling shows that a significant portion of the viewers wants all of the final four to survive. It's a reminder that the people of the Capitol are not Snow, or the government; that they're guilty of letting Snow and the government keep on exploiting and abusing the Districts, but that they're not heartless, that they respond, that they are needed in the revolution, too.

Anyway, this has been a really rambling review, but I wanted to let you know how much your story affected me, and how well I thought it was written, and how Rue as the mockingjay will always be a beautiful idea. If you ever decide to write a sequel or a continuation in this universe, it would be so wonderful. It would be awesome to see Rue in the revolution, with Thresh as her constant guard, or something like that.

Thank you SO much! I don't even know how to respond to this; thank you.

In every District,
in every Capitol bar and club and home and school and brothel and office,
four notes echo back.
I'm beyond words.

(This goes in my Memories.)

Thank you SO much! ♥

Thank you so, so much! I'm so sorry for the late reply. ♥ I'm glad you liked it! :)

Oh my. <333333 Amazing.

*totes added this to the recommended fic at the meta comm XD

Oh, thank you so much! I'm so flattered! XD I hope you enjoy the rest of my THG fic, too! :)

This is beautiful. This is just...beautiful.

:) Thank you, m'dear.