A couple years after my parents divorced, we went on a camping holiday in Brittany. My oldest cousin and I are both big readers and she'd brought the Hunger Games books with her. On a rainy day, she leant the first book to me ; I was hooked. Everyone else was very irritated with me for finishing the first two books within about a week, spending a lot of time in a tent by myself and refusing to play with them. It was in my very early teens, and one of my sisters especially won't let me forget how I abandonned them. This also means that I initially read the trilogy in Dutch. I then had to wait for Mockingjay to come out, and as everyone who experienced it knows, waiting with that last line "Katniss, there is no District Twelve" was heartwrenching.
What are your favorite things about the series?
As a young teen, I think I started out loving the critiques I perceived the series made about the world we live in, especially propaganda and media, though of course my analysis has evolved a lot with age. As I've grown older, I think Panem as a country is what interests me most. Questionning how these societies within the different districts, District Thirteen, and the Capitol coexist with very limited information about one another and very different systems in place is fascinating to me. How they are all part of this one country where the Hunger Games are central to society in the way they determine the yearly calendar and impact every single citizen in some way is something I enjoy reflecting on a lot.
What’s something about the series that’s stayed with you or become more meaningful to you over time?
Something that I found interesting from the beginning but has grown even more meaningful to me is related to my profound and very personal interest in political violence. Questioning how individuals come to use violence against others and justify it, but also how Panem deals with war, conflict, inequalities, social injustice, and especially how they rebuild afterwards as a country, which does not mean all these structural issues magically disappear, is something that's become even more important to me.
What's something you want the fandom to know about you?
I read all the books but can't say the same for watching the movies. I saw the first movie when it came out, but haven't seen Catching Fire, or either Mockingjay movie in its entirety. Of course, I've seen some scenes on YouTube and stuff, but just never got around to watching them. I am kind of ashamed of having gone to the movies last year by myself to watch TBOSAS and did enjoy it somewhat...
When did you begin creating? What inspired you to begin?
I was a lurker in fandoms for a long time. I started out reading fanfiction somewhere in 2011 or 2012 on fanfiction.net. I first found the site through a YouTube video depicting an alternate POV for New Moon (yes, I guess I was that teenager, gosh, this is kind of embarrassing) and then spent a lot of time reading Harry Potter fics. I was kind of reluctant to read Hunger Games fics initially but found some really good ones with time, but it wasn't really my main fandom. I started reading again during Covid as I had more time to do so and that's when I went back to the series. I always had a lot of ideas that I'd love to write but never really felt I had the time, language skills or writing ability to do so. I only started this year, initially as a writing exercise to get over blank page anxiety as I was writing a thesis after some years away from grad school. A lot of great fics inspired me. But, in the end, the idea that if you can't find what you want to read as a fanfic reader, sometimes the best answer is to write it yourself is what gave me the push to actually start posting.
What’s your personal favorite of your works?
I think my favorite work is Minutes to Midnight. It's written as Finnick's memoirs in an AU where he survived the war. I really enjoy the very reflective style this allows and how much thought and room it gives for him developing his thoughts on the war, society, and his experiences as a Victor. Furthermore, I felt that it was an opportunity to explore the nuclear aspects of the war between the Capitol and District Thirteen that are hinted at in Mockingjay by Boggs and the existence of Nuclear History lessons for the refugees from Twelve... So I made Finnick a spy! Also, the fact this is him reflecting on the past and choosing how to present himself to Panem after a decade of silence allows for some of his more manipulative side to shine through without ever being obvious and I love playing with that. It's a WIP and one I'm having a hard time with when it comes to Chapter 4 right now, but it's a story I deeply love. The first chapter is my favorite piece of writing that I've posted so far.
Tell us about your favorite relationship (of any kind) in the series. Why is it your favorite?
I can't pick just one! Obviously, Odesta is a must, but I love Finnick's relationship with Mags. I think there is a lot of complexity to be explored there, a lot of love, but also some very heavy topics... Also, I think that Finnick's friendship with Johanna is very interesting but I haven't explored it much yet myself, there are definitely some fics out there that I've loved though! Finally, and leaving Finnick behind a bit, I'm really intrigued by Gale and Katniss' friendship, and feel there is a lot that could have been done with it and I do feel SC did us dirty when it comes to them by turning that into a potential romance...
Anyone you would like to shout out in the fandom?
Now that I'm actually involved in fandom, I've greatly enjoyed discussing the series with @ongreenergrasses who has some really well thought out takes on the series and the aspects that interest me, also I just adore their stories. When working on my own worldbuilding for District Four, I keep coming back to stories by @the-sun-and-the-sea (mdr_24601 on AO3) whose stories and OC's I really love. More recently, I've taken great joy in reading @aliceinthinkland 's WIP, Head Above Water and also recommend her one-shot Pull no Punches (explicit), I feel she's got a great grasp on the trafficking and its impact on Finnick!
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Still thinking about that Lucy Gray "wears her sexuality on her sleeve" and "manipulates people" quote. And how Katniss is a "survivor" but Lucy Gray is "the opposite" of her.
Because although not confirmed, it's implied that underage Lucy Gray performed some sex work to survive and provide for her orphaned family in a post-war country.
Imagine if Francis Lawrence had said Finnick Odair "wears his sexuality on his sleeve" and "manipulates people." Like...it's not wrong. Finnick does act more sexual than any other character in the series and he uses his sexuality to get secrets out of people (thus manipulating them).
But he is also a victim of sex trafficking that began when he was a teenager and forced through threats to his vulnerable loved ones.
Do you see why this comment is still making me sick days later? It implied Lucy Gray has some evil agenda because she "manipulates". It makes her sound like a liberated woman in control to "wear her sexuality on her sleeve." She is a disenfranchised teenage girl. She is traumatized. Yet none of that gets references or contextualized. Not even the slightest bit. Katniss ("almost asexual" and "stoic" now, apparently) is a heroine, Lucy Gray (sexual, manipulative, and wily) is the opposite of her.
I get that TBOSAS is a hard sell, but come on. Can we not give Coriolanus's pitch on characters please?
another Unforgivable omission from the hunger games movie is when they announce ‘oops jk there can only be 1 winner good luck!’ and katniss immediately, instinctively draws her bow and points it at peeta to kill him, before realizing what shes doing, and who he is, and that she could never/would never want to do that! and then he tells her to do it anyway bc 1 of them has to win! but she WONT so he rips off his tourniquet so he’ll bleed to death and she can win and go home. and she drops to her knees and tries to stop the bleeding and cover his wound and BEGS him not to die……………yeah…they fucked up
OH MY GOD..and the entire scene where katniss wakes up on the ship after theyve rescued them from the arena was not in the movie AT ALL. when katniss watches them operating on peeta and she pounds on the glass and SCREAMS at them bc she thinks theyre still in the games and theyre hurting peeta. and then she backs away from the glass and sees a rabid feral animal girl in the reflection and realizes that its her…..and that line where she always wondered why the family members of a dying person stay to watch them and ‘now she knows. its because you have no choice’ that is RAW that is LOVE and they left it all OUT
the best fanfiction you've ever read was written by a woman in her 40s before she made dinner for her kids. it was written by a teenager after school when they should've been studying for a history test. and a barista came up with the idea while they cleaned the espresso machine and busser fact-checked it on their break and the post-doc edited between writing grant proposals and the nurse apologized for typos in the notes after a long shift and behind every drabble and one-shot and multi-chapter fic there is a person with a wonderful and interesting and chaotic life and it is such a privilege that we get to be apart of it because they decided to do this thing we all share, for fun.
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Something I find difficult about writing Finnick is that he is so rarely honest, even in his own head. he avoids saying or even thinking about things that cause him pain because he knows if he dwells on it, he'll fall apart. but there are so many things I want to convey to the reader about him but i can't just say it outright because i know finnick wouldn't
I CANNOT cope w the fact that in order to create the things you wanna see in the world, you have to…create the things….you wanna see in the world. You have to Create them. in the World. You have to Make them Real. fuuuuuck has anyone else noticed this??
so frustrating that the gale hate is so pervasive because there's so few posts analyzing katniss and gales friendship or romance (that arent about tearing it down, uplifiting peeta), despite it actually being a signifigant part of the story. Like lets talk about it people!!! their relationship is so interesting
Ahoy, Anon! Absolutely! Their relationship is crucial to the story, and it's a shame that it is either pushed aside or discussed in an overly negative way due to the other ship in the room. Tragedy and all, whether one sees it as purely platonic or also romantic, Everthorne is an important and interesting relationship in the story. It deserves to be discussed for its own merit and depth, independently and not through a lens of comparison. It plays a big role in how Katniss operates and how the story progresses, and it is through their interactions with each other and Katniss's thoughts of Gale that we learn about how they think and their worlds.
Any time a post implies that there is absolutely any evidence of SOTR 'truths' being in the OG canon will always be a no from me. We get literally no indication that Haymitch ever knew, let alone liked, the now-named Burdock. Fucking nothing. The retconning done in SOTR is not only 'cheating' in my book, it's not even good! Having Haymitch apparently only care about Katniss bc she came out of Burdock's balls makes him seem like POS for never caring about the 23 other girl tributes (and 24 other boy tributes aside from Peeta) for so long ON TOP OF ruining the arc they had previously had which was a pure and perfect 'begrudging mentor/mentee become found family and, turns out, are basically soul mates platonically.'
This is sadly just more proof that Suzanne writing Snow so fucking poorly that he takes out his 65y/o situationship on a country was a mistake. You shouldn't be able to boil down an interesting and complex monster like Coriolanus Snow to just 'well, he's upsetti that he never got his dick wet again.' I'm fucking sorry, what?! Where is the nuance? The characterization? The care given to the world-building? Was Lucy Gray's cooter really that good that he took over and basically tortured a country for more than half a century just to spite her ghost?!
I've made a few posts ranting about this fact before but turning Haymitch's 'sweethearts' from a basic and petty demeaning pet name that earns its power and familiarity into literally just 'you remind me of this dead kid' is so fucking insulting. Like, I'm sorry. No. We're not going to ruin the arc of 'begrudging drunk learns to hope again after almost 25 years of being hopeless bc random girl inspired him' into 'asshole drunk decides to finally give a shit about the kids he watches be murdered yearly bc one of them finally reminds him of his past loves.' Do we not see how fucking shitty that makes Haymitch seem?? And we're celebrating that?! That kind of mindset should make him a villain! No a protagonist with a new movie...
Again, this is just boiling a once-complex and terrifying monster into basically an incel with a penchant for nuclear revenge. It's fucking pathetic that Snow became this after Sunrise just wouldn't let him be a normal bad guy. And, no, I don't think Ballad is to blame. It showed us his descent into suspicious, murderous, and proactive evil stemming from a place of entitlement, superiority, and narcissism. It's Sunrise's watered-down villainy for the sake of fucking w/ a little boy loosely related to his situationship from 40 years prior that ruined his character.
Having Effie be involved w/ Haymitch and D12 from the 50th Games, implying that she more than likely stayed with them for the next 24 years, is lowkey insane. Like not only does it strip away the power and interest of her being ignorantly malicious bc she's 'new to the Games' (to an extent) and generally remove the interest of her backstory in general but like...she's a far worse person now?? Like you're telling me she's watched Haymitch be destroyed by Snow right after his Games and get re-wrecked every year (tho apparently he never cared about his tributes so idk) and she just...remained a calloused and ignorant asshole? You realize that makes her worse, right? And not a good, interesting, complex worse, either. A lazy, 2D, caricature-type worse...
Again, and I'll say this as long as I need to for people to grasp it, this makes Haymitch look like an absolute PIECE OF SHIT. It isn't cute that he could only apparently have empathy bc she reminds him of his past, it makes him a selfish asshole. And not the good kind.
And one meme I wish was basically canon to end on:
Like imagine if Snow wasn't canonically caught up on a months-long situationship from his teen years for 65+ years and, instead, was reasonably just terrified of the power of a martyr (what is it called when a martyr survives, lol) who makes sense, inspires, and questions the status quo? It's almost like that would've made for a better villain than some dude in his 60s angrily vomiting (literally) at a 16y/o who's dating his ancient situationship's great niece and then word-vomiting about his grievances w/ D12...
so I was laying on my bed thinking about odesta today, as one does. and I think that Finnick’s latent suicidality is something that when it is captured, I’ve always seen it captured beautifully, but it’s rarely captured. I don’t know if that’s from a lack of research or personal experience or discomfort or maybe all three, but it completely changes the way you think. when I was in that state I likened it to a door or pathway that was always present in my mind, this awareness and preoccupation with my own death. it’s background low level stuff a lot of the time but it’s always there and I think his behavior shows how badly he has it, mostly because of his recklessness with his own life and self sacrificial tendencies to subsume himself in others. it’s going to deeply color his relationship with Annie because I think due to her own mental health struggles, she’d be aware of how uncontrollable (in their context, with no mental health support) it is for him but that isn’t going to make the fear and concern for him go away.
anyway it’s something I’d like to explore more if I ever write fanfic again skdkdjfjfjc or at least something more substantial thematically than whatever my last update was. although to be fair it was deeply load bearing character study via uh. you know. my favorite vehicle for character study these days
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WIP Wednesday Thursday (it is still Thursday here…)
Another week, another tag game! Please share your last sentence; or, if you don’t have one, share a plot bunny or idea! (OR gifs or sketch for artwork!)
I was tagged by @thelettersfromnoone ! Thank you 💜
This is from the potential Lavinia fic…. No promises on whether this will actually get posted…
Other tidbits written (though since slightly adjusted after rereading the necessary source material about what Katniss and Gale saw in the woods) can be found here.
In the dark few days that are needed for her case to proceed to trial, she occupies her mind with stories. It's what humans do, they tell stories, and when they're seeking comfort in the dark, they grasp for their identities. It's easiest to reflect on her own path. She reflects on her name, and its meaning. Lavinia. Only daughter of the king of the latins. Last wife to Aeneas, the Trojan hero. Thus, the legendary mother of the Roman people. A name for rulers and people who hold power in the palm of their hands. A name reserved, even in the Capitol, to a select few families.
The Capitol's fascination with Greco-Roman names and cultures had been something Lavinia had found quite intriguing as a young student, so much so that she had found an obscure paper explaining that long before the United States became Panem, American slave owners used to give their slaves names from these ancient texts. She had privately enjoyed the irony of wealthy Capitolites favouring these same names for their own children and wondered about the motives of these long-dead men in doing so for humans reduced to property. That name is now her downfall. She'd be better off dead.
Tagging anyone who wants to share a little piece of their writing !
send me a 💫 in my inbox, and ill write a small snippet of the fic thats been stuck inside my head!
@marmorealwit / @districtunrest sent me a 💫 as a DM because Gabbie is still shadowbanned! #unbangabbie
Thank you for the ask 💜
When the hovercraft catches up to them in the forests North of District Twelve, Lavinia can't believe they've gotten so far only to fail now. She screams when Marcus' body is pierced through. Grief and fear pour out of her. She can’t help it.
Yet, as soon as it happens, she knows they won't kill her. Otherwise, they would have gone for her first. They will punish her. They will hurt her, they will do their utmost to destroy her, but they won't kill the daughter of a Minister who betrayed her family and the State by running away from her privileged life.
Her gaze locks with another pair of grey eyes hidden in the brush. She wants to scream for help. She wants to beg the girl and her partner to save her, but she doesn't. She's caught. They don't have to be. It's all so fast afterwards.
Much later, Lavinia had understood they had not been lucky to make it as far as they had. They’d been allowed to flee all the way to the forests surrounding Twelve. Rather than catch them immediately, following them had allowed Peacekeepers to drag into interrogation and execute every single person that helped them on the way. The young man from District Six who allowed them onto a train. The old woman from Eight who provided them with some food. All of them are dead now. Executed.
send me a 💫 in my inbox, and ill write a small snippet of the fic thats been stuck inside my head!
Thank you for the ask @kipperlillycopperkettle💜
Annie is seething. All her anger at Finnick leaving with Squad 451 on a suicide mission, at ignoring her attempts at getting him to talk about everything in the depths of District Thirteen after their wedding, at how he treated her like she was breakable and couldn't handle the truth, at how convinced he'd been his intentions to leave had been successfully hidden from her catches up with her. Her breath is stuck in her throat. She wants to scream. She wants to shake him. She wants to hurt him. She knows she can't. They're supposed to be a team, unshakable. They can't afford for anyone in this room to see the tears in their mask, especially not President Coin.
She can feel herself slipping away. Disappearing from the room. If she had any chance at being listened to, it's gone now that Finnick and her don't appear to be on the same page anymore. She'd been so sure he'd agree with her. She'd been so sure he could never want for any other child to go through an arena. That's why they've done all this after all. She can't afford to shut down now. She grasps for reality with everything she has, but static is ringing in her ears and she wants to cover them and curl into a ball on the floor and scream until they sedate her.
Her gaze searches for an ally in the room. Beetee is looking at the table, he's already accepted they've lost. There will be another Hunger Games, and let them hope it truly will be the last. She catches Peeta's eye and sees her anger at Finnick echoed in the way he stares at Katniss. As though he can't believe the dark-haired girl would choose violence. A laugh threatens to bubble out of Annie's mouth. She catches herself. She can't lose it now. She wants to remove her hand from Finnick's grasp but it's one of the few things anchoring her here. She could scream at the fact she needs him now. There is no point in even looking at Johanna. Annie knows just how badly Jo wants revenge.
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