It shouldn't have been as long a week as it's been...

[heidi]

The boys are off on a golf trip this weekend with my parents, so Catie and I have been doing a lot of mommy-daughter stuff, like swimming and going to the Science Museum in Lauderdale and hanging around the bookstore, and things that can get complicated when trying to run three kids of very diverse ages and interests around the town.

Had an incident at Target yesterday where the checkout-person, who's supposed to enter the last four digits of the credit card, screwed it up and charged the whole thing to the card three or maybe four times, and each time the computer told her it didn't go through, but I managed to call Aaron and tell him before he got the "Your Account Has Issues Now" email from the credit card company and they sorted it within five minutes, but still, is there anything more annoying than spending over an hour stocking your kids' camp clothing (bags of socks and shirts and batteries for reading after dark) to find out that you can't walk out wiht any of it because of the clerk?

Teach me to stop shopping at Target (and yes, I know the issues but when it comes to camp shopping, my options are basically Target and Wal Mart and neither are very good options. And at least Target gives a portion of the proceeds to our elementary school).

Luckily, Catie had a book while we were waiting for all of this to be solved, and I had Hunger Games-verse fanfic.

Yes, I finally read all three of the Hunger Games books in a two day spiral into madness last Sunday and Monday. I've been waiting to read it because I wanted to read it with Harry, but he told me he wants to read it at camp with his friend Dawson, so I ended up downloading all three to my kindle-app and read them switching between my ipad and iphone.


I loved the first one, I loved it desperately and it was exactly what I was hoping for. I was impressed by the second one, and the introduction of so many new characters and the feel for the other Districts, which was fascinating.

But.

I had a huge problem with Katniss's lack of agency in parts of the third book, that she was being cared for and protected because she was a symbol, and the continual drugging they did and the way she was almost Harry Potter-ish (well, Harry of books 1 - 5) in not asking questions, but it was at least consistent, so there's that. And there were some moments of awkward writing - a flashback that turned into the present in the start of book 3 threw me so much I had to reread it a few times.

But the characters, overall, were wonderful. And it may not surprise many to guess that Finnick is the focus on my adoration at this moment, and I am devouring any fic about him, or Annie, that I can find (link me to ANY you know of, please!) (he is also Jared Padalecki in my head, at least S3/4 Jared). I want to read more fic about Cinna, and about District 3, too, even though I have weird issues with some aspects of the world-building, the economy, the technology being so askew, etc. Any essays on that, or is it just something to accept?

I had somehow misread a spoiler in the last year that Peeta died - I dunno, maybe it was because his heart stopped even though it wasn't permanent - so I spent the last two books waiting for it and it never happened, and it was a joy that he survived. Are there any fics where he and Annie interact at all while being held in the Capital?

I know many of you have read the books over the last two years or so, and I would like to read your posts, especially when Mockingjay came out, so please, links to those, too?


Are there any icons without the movie cast? I would love at least one "May the odds..." icon in a color I like, and yes I appreciate the irony.

This week is a week to finish a slew of Harry Potter and Supernatural fanvids, the former for my Leakycon project (although I may post them online beforehand) and the latter for the amazing, creative BigBang fic I am vidding for. If you haven't seen the vid/trailer-for-the-series Through the Pensieve, you should check it out. It's the kind of thing that makes me feel juvenile and incompetent re the vid I made for lubricus2011 over the last few weeks. Sigh. Still, must finish the ones I've planned to do, if only to get them out of my head.

ETA: Me on tumblr, finally. Thanks to jlh for helping me figure out how to set up an account, GAH!

Comments

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

Funnily enough, I posted about it yesterday. That post includes a link to my first reaction after reading Mockingjay last summer.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Perfect timing! Thank you!

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

I made this one just for you, but you can gank the one I am using too. :D

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

YOU KNOW ME SO WELL! It's vaguely Effie-ish, so I am quite happy with it! THANK YOU SO MUCH.

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

<3

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

I may need to put it on a button to wear to Dragoncon this summer, too. Any chance of you making it to fit on a 1.5 inch button?

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

I can try. :D

[eibbil-libbie.livejournal.com]

I hate it when the back button steals my post.

Icon here is my only THG one...but you're welcome to it, even though it's just the symbol.

I've only ever read one THG fic - mostly because, to me, the universe was complete in and of itself and I didn't feel the impetus to go searching for fic. In fact, the only one I read, I did so because she's a Twi-Author and I had her on alert so when she posted it, I got the notice in my inbox. It's an expansion of the last chapter, so Peeta and Katniss heavy.

I couldn't even think about reading Annie or Finnick fic - I still cry when I read about the addition of their son into the memory book and BAWL when Finnick dies.

My posts regarding the book were very OMG scattered because I was still so shaken from the experience - so they're typical me...all over the place. If you want, they're here

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way about the fic. I got a THG assignment for Yuletide last year though and it sounds like I wrote exactly the same thing as your Twi-author! :D

[eibbil-libbie.livejournal.com]

LOL!!!

It's weird. I love Twi-fic and used to eat up HP fic with a spoon, but some books/series, I don't even go looking for it.

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

I never thought I would be reading or writing fic again. EVER. And I've written um, 22 fics in the last couple of months. >_> And I've read hundreds... SO WEIRD.

[eibbil-libbie.livejournal.com]

ITA - I thought my fic days were over when the HP muse fled screaming into the night . And then boom went Twilight and all of the sudden I can haz fic again =) Not nearly as prolific, but my writing time is.....catch as catch can anymore.

I don't read nearly as much Twific as I used to - because finding one that isn't porn-centric and/or actually about vampires? Very difficult. I keep my reading to actual book fiction mostly.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link. I know it's probably just me, but after Sirius dying for no reason, and Regulus being so brave and wonderful and going to his death with such purpose and agency, the deaths in HP didn't bother me as much because of the concept of the afterlife being right on the page, and the portraits retaining some of the person's "spirit" - but the muttants and the finality of it in THG disturbed me a lot more.

Finnick is a weird parallel to Regulus, story-wise, to me - a character about whom your expectations are completely up=ended in the last part of the story (which may be why I adore him as much as I do). But yeah, as I've seen a few others say, how did the Capitol keep all these traps and muttants and deadly things under the city, even if only for a short time before the rebellion came in? Was it a stasis like the ladders on the hovercrafts? Or is it something I just shouldn't think about too much?

[eibbil-libbie.livejournal.com]

That one comment about the bloodbath deaths in DH wasn't so much about Sirius, or even Regulus. I think the parallel I was drawing was to Remus, Tonks and Colin Creevey. Deaths with no other purpose than to show that no one's safe (like we didn't already know that in this world).

Finnick's still bothers me on so many levels. I still lose it.

Regarding the last - I would say probably the last ;) But it could be things kept in stasis as well - because for Plutarch knew about them and he'd not been an active resident of the capital for quite some time.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

No, I know you were talking about the Battle of Hogwarts specifically, but for some reason, the deaths after Hedwig and Dobby in DH didn't destroy me the same way that Sirius's death did in OotP.

And sigh, yeah, worldbuilding WTF. In 100+ish years D13 doesn't re-figure out how to make boats to go across the sea and team up with those in other parts of the world? I accept it, but I don't totally get it.

Sigh, Finnick. Too perfect to live, but able to send psychic messages to Katniss.

Of course, the bit in my head that remembers JKR saying Tonks and Remus had to die to show that in the next generation an orphan could grow up without being mistreated makes me wonder if Collins was trying to parallel Katniss & Prim's mother after their father was killed, showing that a mother with psychological damage where the father was killed could raise a child well. Or whatever. Or maybe I'll just hold to the idea that Finnick was taken out by an invisible hovercraft before the lizardthing killed him and is on the tropical isle of Spain with Cinna and some amnesia and will show up two days after the Epilogue.

[sangre-fria.livejournal.com]

Whenever someone mentions wanting fic for The Hunger Games, my mind immediately jumps to Five Places Cinna Came From (http://aimmyarrowshigh.livejournal.com/58930.html).

Summary: Cinna did not come from the Capitol. Five paths he took out of the Districts, and why he set a nation on fire.

Each of the five parts create a whole new backstory for Cinna, with his birth in each district giving him different experiences and different motivations for what he ultimately did in the canon.

I can't even describe these five fics, and I'm not even going to try because I don't want to spoil your enjoyment of them. Each is so different and yet they're all beautiful. I feel like the author explores all sorts of possibilities for Cinna's character (slash and het and gen); all of them have angst to the level that you'd expect in The Hunger Games world.

If you choose to read it, let me know what you think!

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Wow, timing! I was reading those stories just as you were posting this. I haven't looked up from the for over an hour and they were each and all wonderful! I have to go and officially review its perfection. I've always been able to enjoy muktip,e distinct characterization specifics at the same time but I've never seen a single fix have so many layers as to make each of the characterization versions equally right and true.

[sangre-fria.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I loved how complex each of them were, how "genuine" they felt when compared to the canon; after each and every one, I thought to myself, "That could be Cinna's canon backstory..."

It kind of blows my mind that someone could take a minor (albeit well-loved) character and be able to construct 86,000 words of such diverse and high quality story-telling. Just, wow.

[drgaellon]

I've never heard of Hunger Games; who's the author, what are the titles, what is the premise?

[zorb]

I posted a bunch about the first book here, briefly about the second book here, and again at length about the third book here. I liked the second one best and the third one least.

[melwil.livejournal.com]

There's a great book of essays about the series - by memory I think it's called The Girl on Fire, but it's at school, so I may be wrong.

If you haven't read them, I also highly recommend the Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins. One of my very favourites.

[mmichelle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's called The Girl Who Was On Fire, and I second this recommendation. The essays are really fascinating.

[roguebitch.livejournal.com]

I just recently finished the trilogy myself, and one of the thoughts I kept having was, "Wow, Katniss is really *stupid*." She took a long time to get to where she needed to be, mentally. Not a lot of sense of, "what happens next?"

I liked the writing overall, and the ideas, and dystopia has always been my cup of literary tea, and I don't usually sweat the details. One of the things I did keep losing sight of was that the Games involve kids killing other kids, and suddenly that realization would hit me all over again and freak me out about the story premise.

I haven't been looking for fanfic, but I would be interested in essays as well.

Also, I have a mockingjay charm on my keychain. ;-)

[akemi42.livejournal.com]

So glad you finally read Hunger Games! I also have a soft spot for Me. Odair although you can see how I pictured him from my fancast vid, which was made before any announcements were made. Also here are some links to my posts...

Book 1 reaction: http://chaeche.livejournal.com/525870.html

Book 2 reaction: http://chaeche.livejournal.com/529337.html

Book 3 reaction: http://chaeche.livejournal.com/530181.html

[thunderemerald.livejournal.com]

Sooooo many problems with book three. SO. MANY. PROBLEMS. Of my biggest two, you already mentioned one, which was Katniss's lack of agency. Where the hell is the girl who volunteered to take her sister's place? Sheesh.

The other is (and I can't take credit for the phrasing, as it comes from a friend of mine) that Mockingjay felt like the deleted scenes from the book I actually WANTED to read. All the important stuff happened off-page, and all we got was hospital recovery bullshit.

That say? FINNICK AND CINNA. HELLS YES.

[hermione-like.livejournal.com]

I haven't read any fic for the series, but ugh. Finnick (and Finnick/Annie) = <333333

[mmichelle.livejournal.com]

I read them all a couple of months ago, and my review of the series is here. I loved the first two, and while I think Mockingjay has some serious issues (namely, authorial laziness), overall I really enjoyed the series. And am super pumped for the movie, and hope they don't completely eff it up.