Okay but it’s fucking brilliant that one of the themes of the book was about the distortion of history.
Usually prequels are a dangerous thing to write because unless they’re planned out well in advance, they risk contradicting lore in the main series. Even still, we knew barely anything about Haymitch’s games. They were the perfect stomping ground for new information, with a rough series of events but without a close temporal connection to the main books.
But though she had this freedom and safety net, while she could have just written a story that aligned with what we knew, Collins leaned into the idea of contradicting past lore head on and made it the damn thesis of the book; that yeah, actually, it did play out entirely differently from how the characters saw it, and yes that contradicts what you were told, that’s the point.
We didn’t really know what happened in the 50th games until we read it from Haymitch’s perspective, because what little information we did have was spliced up and edited. The video evidence was processed through the Capital, and twisted to serve their purposes.
Tackling that idea of history being written by those in power with a notoriously inconsistent medium? Goddamn, writer that you are, Suzanne Collins.
meeee
do not eat your yummy cheeseboruger too fast. something fucked up and sinister might happen
is it Tender?
is it Homoerotic?
is it Implicitly homosexual?
is it Noticeably repressed?
is it Kind of gay?
in another universe you dont get angry when im sad and i dont get sad when you’re angry
does anyone have any suggestions for baby punk? (idk if that's the term)
The mothers in SGE today, sitting altogether talking about how they traumatized their children...
(Except Callis. Callis was amazing but she HAD to die 😭 WHY SOMAN??)
"Well, how do I look?"
"In my most humble opinion, I think you look quite lovely."
"What about the least humble?"
"What?"
"If that's your most humble opinion, then what is your least humble one?"
"Hmm. In my least humble opinion, I believe that anyone who sees you in that dress and cannot be you or have you should want to kill themselves."
"Nice."
"that trope is so overused in fanfiction"
no. i have never once looked at fanfic and thought "i wish there weren't so many amortentia Aus" "i wish they didn't always have that Oh, Oh moment" "i wish there weren't so many jokes alluding to canon"
in fact, i want more. make more silly little jokes about reg drowning. give me the oh moment again.
i will read the same trope over and over again, that's what fanfiction is for
I absolutely love your fic 'The Shark in Your Water'! It's amazing!
I’ve also really enjoyed the fic recommendations you’ve been sharing. I’d love it if you could recommend more fics, maybe from other fandoms like The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Naruto, or something else!"
My fandom history is a bit all over the place, so I'll just rec some of my favorite fics of all time:
(which if you've never read, has a phenomenal first book and an okay second and third. There is also a second and third trilogy I haven't even touched. + a Netflix movie, which admittedly isn't the best, but I love it anyway. Very much so a guilty pleasure for me. I would genuinely recommend watching the movie/reading the first book and then reading the following fics.)
Scott Street by astardanced (Agatha/Tedros):
Agatha and Sophie realise quickly that ‘going home’, and ‘living in Gavaldon for the rest of your miserable existence’, aren’t quite the same thing. With the barrier between Gavaldon and the Endless Woods permanently damaged, they’re offered a chance to return to the School, for what the Deans promise to be a ‘new and improved!’ and ‘much more serene!’ second year. Agatha doesn’t exactly believe them; but there are reasons why they might consider going back. A few… Well, anyway. Don’t be a stranger.
Remember how I said I didn't like the second book? This fic pretends the second book doesn't exist---it's a complete rewrite of it, and I love it a lot.
Simmer: Or, A True History of the Second Life of One Callis Wardwell, Witch, Who Cheated Death (And More Besides) by astardanced:
Making it out of two Gavaldon witch burnings alive takes a special kind of audacity. Thankfully, Callis has plenty of it. But chasing Agatha back into the Endless Woods, leads her directly into a web of lies, intrigue and backstabbing that points all the way back to Rafal, and her time at Evil. It’s lucky, then, that Callis’s infamous mother is so good at all of those things, because in order to survive this brutal extension of their tale, Agatha, Sophie and Tedros are going to need all the help they can get. But everyone knows parents are peripheral, in fairy tales. And being peripheral is much harder than it seems. They’ll do what they can. or, callis survives into the camelot years.
This follows the main character's (Agatha) mom, who is a single mother + a witch + has a cat companion who talks. I genuinely cannot think of a fic that was written more for my specific interests than this
Technically this is a sequel to another fic, but I didn't know that the first time I read it and I understood everything fine. I love this fic a lot.
The Heir to the House of Prince by elph13 (need an ao3 account to read this) (Harry Potter/Theodore Nott):
"So you're adopted? "Supposedly." "So your Dad ... he's not ...?" "Seems like it." "Huh." Theo stares at Harry with those grey eyes that look silver in the cauldron smoke between them. "But you're the heir to this ... House of Prince, so he's probably -" "Yes. Probably." Harry looks at Theo sharply. "You don't know who he is, do you?" "No." Theo looks back just as sharply. "If I did, I would tell you. You know I would." "I do." Something loosens inside Harry's chest. Something that has been tightening ever since Cedric died. He may not have his friends, or Sirius, or even know who he fucking is anymore, but he has this. At least he has Theo. Summer of 4th year and Harry's all alone, dealing with his grief and the sudden revelation that James Potter is not his father. Support comes in a strange form. The form of Theo Nott, son of a death Eater. A strange friend who says he'll help him find his true father, whoever this Lord Prince might be.
This deviates drastically from canon, so if that's not your thing steer clear. With that being said, I remember this fic being very charming when I read it. Also major trigger warnings for suicide, torture, and child abuse (plus some other things I might be forgetting, it's been a hot minute since I last read this)
Too old to be this young by Nadia_Castillo (Harry Potter/Tom Riddle):
He was smiling. At Tom Riddle. He was going to get murdered before the year ends, he just knows. Alternate universe/Post-Hogwarts. warnings: mature themes, drinking, swearing. An adult Harry Potter with all his knowledge and experience is transported to his 23yo body in a universe with no war.
Crack, stupidly overpowered Harry, and simping Mister for Magic Tom Riddle. Still updating
Batnesia by Qui (Superbat):
In which Bruce forgets a few key facts, and Clark has to go along with it. Or, the Bruce-Has-Amnesia Fic we've all been wishing for.
Every ship needs an amnesia trope fic
ship-to-ship combat by pomeloquat (Superbat)
"Clark. What the hell is this," Lois asks, staring at Clark's Bruceman WIP folder. Clark's first instinct is to fly away, but that would still leave his fic on display for her to see. His second instinct is to blast a hole straight through his laptop screen with his heat vision, which isn't much better. Clark, in an attempt to make some spare cash, unintentionally stumbles into the world of superhero fanfiction, becomes a prolific writer for Gotham's OTP, and tries his best to fend off rival fans who want him to convert to superbat instead.
Identity porn, crack, characters-are-involved-in-fandom trope
scramble by IHadHimOnTheRopes and rory_gone_mattie (Superbat):
The words on his skin were his everything. After everything he'd seen, done and been through, they were a reminder that Bruce Wayne still existed. That somewhere there was a person who would love him despite the coldness in his chest and the scars that roped their way across his skin. A reminder that he wasn't alone - that he wasn't destined to live forever in the shadows, silent and isolated. That somewhere out there was the other half of his soul. He just wasn't expecting the other half of his soul to be an alien.
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? by poisonivory (Damian/Jon) (NSFW):
After years in the future with the Legion of Super-Heroes, Jon is finally back in Damian's life, and Damian's determined to keep him in this century. If that means a little fooling around between friends, so be it. It doesn't have to mean anything. (It just might mean everything.)
I love nineteen year olds being dumb
The Emperor Skywalker Conspiracy by loosingletters:
The Emperor is dead and so is Darth Vader. So. Uh. Who exactly inherits the Galactic throne? Or, the Holonet discovers the existence of one Luke Skywalker and promptly makes it a meme. I present you the one long rant of a lone blogger trying to disentangle the mystery behind Luke Skywalker and his maybe inheritance of the Empire.
A blogger talks about the end of Return of the Jedi. Originally it had embedded memes, but they seem to be broken now, which is really sad. One-shot.
I Panicked, Okay? by newdog14:
“Danny, we can’t help you if you don’t tell us what’s going on,” his mother said, clearly picking up on his panic and gentling her tone, as if he were a skittish animal. “Whatever that ghost is doing to you, you can tell us. It’s not your fault, Sweetheart.” “No, Mom, he’s not…it’s not like that,” Danny said. Her reassurances were setting off all kinds of alarm bells, but they also gave him an idea. It wasn’t a good idea, not by any means, but he couldn’t think of anything better, and he needed to say something. “Then what is it like Danno?” his dad asked, giving Danny a worried look. He had the Fenton Xtractor in hand, and Danny spared it a wary glance before looking between his parents. Tucker was never going to let him live this down. “We’re dating!” "WHAT?!"
Don't you hate when you have to pretend to be dating your secret identity so you're parents don't accidentally destroy you with their ghost hunting weapons?
The Trouble with Ghosts by Lynse:
Lancer hadn’t realized how closely young Mr. Fenton’s school troubles-–and the secrets he surely wasn’t telling his parents–-were tied to ghosts until after that encounter with Phantom.
Okay, I last read this fic in 2020ish, so I don't remember it that well, but I really like outsider POVs and bookmarked this as one of my favorites, so!