ukiyo

Dan has struggled with his sexuality and identity for so long. Worried of what people will think and what people will do. To the point of pretending to be straight while actively in a relationship with a man

Phil, a man who hasn’t really struggled with that, going back into the closet for almost a decade, for the man he loves so much. And doing so without (public) complaint and with a smile on his face

Both dealing with their own medical, emotional, and mental issues. Dealing with fans who won’t respect boundaries and leave them alone. Who try to pry into everything little thing they do. Dealing with life as a whole

Both somehow coming out the other end better and nicer people. Forgiving each other and their fans at the same time. Being able to move to the future with joy and happiness and peace

I cannot even imagine what their relationship has gone through. The stress it put on them

I am just so happy they are both able to be their authentic selves now

I hope the future holds nothing but prosperity for them

Then there’s Katniss who remembers the silence of her mother’s absence, the disappearance of music, only finding solace in being silent in the forest, not really speaking unless she has to.

And that makes the following line so special:

So after, when he whispers “You love me. Real or not real?”

Woke: "The Games and the events that followed brought Katniss and Peeta together, but there was something special between them since the day with the bread. Katniss had a subconscious interest in him since they were 11, and after the reaping she couldn't help but fall for him due to their close proximity. The Games weren't her reason for choosing Peeta, but they were a catalyst for their relationship."

Bespoke: "The Games did more to hinder Katniss and Peeta's relationship than to help it. In fact, without the Games to complicate things, Katniss would have fallen for Peeta fast and hard. The Games and the events that followed were responsible for countless barriers to their love including (but not limited to):

1. Instilling in Katniss a distrust of Peeta that did not come naturally to her

2. Forcing her to act in love, regardless of the authenticity of her feelings, in order to survive

3. Broadcasting every moment they shared, no matter how intimate/private, onto every screen in every house in the country

4. Driving them apart due to the pain and confusion that followed the inevitable end of her "star-crossed lovers" act

5. Making their relationship a political tool of manipulation and oppression

6. Leading Snow to hold Katniss personally responsible for defusing the civil unrest within the Districts by means of their love story

7. Forcing them under threat of death to act in love for the rest of their lives, thereby taking away their agency and ability to choose each other out of real love or desire

8. Robbing them of a future together, even if they wanted it, by returning Katniss to the Games and ensuring the death of at least one of them

9. Traumatizing them in ways they'll have to deal with for the remainder of their lives

10. So many other things