The Hunger Games, 12 recs (Katniss/Peeta, Katniss/Gale, Johanna/Gale, etc.)
Pairing: Peeta/various, Katniss/Peeta
Fic Title: "The Water is Rising Quick"
Author: monroeslittle
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7828853/1/The-Water-is-Rising-Quick
Rating/Warning(s): M
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: Peeta learns about sex and what fits around it in this lovely, frank fic. It's funny and heart-wrenching by turns and impressively in-character throughout.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Gale, Katniss/Peeta
Fic Title: "the heart i gave to you (i cannot find)"
Author: electrumqueen
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/111230
Rating/Warning(s): PG
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: A character study of Gale after the war, this fic gives him more depth than we saw even in Mockingjay. It's never been clear to me whether Gale belonged in the same category, so to speak, as the various Victors, having chosen to fight and on what terms. But in just a few short, clear scenes, electrumqueen hints at the tragic parallels and contrasts between his choices and what might have been.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Gale
Fic Title: "The Bad in Each Other"
Author: audreyii_fic
Link: http://audreyii-fic.livejournal.com/35940.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: You'll be on the edge of your seat reading this short but powerful what-if in which Gale stops Katniss from volunteering. Some things change, others don't, but the penultimate section still gives me chills after multiple reads.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Peeta, Johanna/Gale, various other canonical and OC pairings
Fic Title: "the collective sanity"
Author: hewhoistomriddle
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6854485/1/the_collective_sanity
Rating/Warning(s): T
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: Part District 12 genealogy, part character study, and part light crack, "the collective sanity" is both like and unlike any other THG fic you've read. It's frank and funny and will twist your gut at times, but it's hard to stop reading.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Peeta
Fic Title: "A Year With No Victor"
Author: DustWriter
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8017959/1/
Rating/Warning(s): T
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: DustWriter is a THG AU master, and this what could have been" entry is no exception. "A Year With No Victor" puts a Romeo & Juliet sort of spin on the Games, where Katniss is a Career, Peeta is Peeta, and things proceed under different circumstances...to a point. The ending is particularly haunting.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Peeta
Fic Title: "Learning to Swim"
Author: imaginarycircus
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/140748
Rating/Warning(s): M
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: Five snapshots of Katniss, Peeta, and the beginnings of their life together in the rebuilt District 12. The POV switches between them, which works well, and I love the idea of Katniss teaching a younger generation about her woods. The sex scene toward the end isn't my favorite, but I'm willing to overlook it because the rest is just that lovely.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Peeta, Madge/Gale
Fic Title: "The Fire Beneath"
Author: DustWriter
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7853126/1/The-Fire-Beneath
Rating/Warning(s): M
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: This is my second AU rec by this author, admittedly, but I have my reasons. Namely, that true alternate-universe fics in this fandom are difficult to do well, and that this is an example of a fic that succeeds. The author sets a familiar cast of characters in a Pennsylvania coal mining town, and while there's no real-world equivalent of the Games, there's still plenty of risk, poverty, and weighted promises of a better life. I think it's the truest THG AU I've read, and I hope you agree.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Peeta
Fic Title: "Their Last Night of Love: A Special Verity Presentation, Exclusively For Preferred Customers"
Author: yahtzee63
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/32054?view_adult=true
Rating/Warning(s): M
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: Yahtzee is one of those authors where, if you've been in fandom for long enough, you must have read her work sooner or later, especially if you're into "Buffy." But I digress. "Their Last Night of Love: A Special Verity Presentation, Exclusively For Preferred Customers" is an AU tweak to Catching Fire that shows off the Capitol creepiness in all of its glory, as well as the small ways our Victors fight back.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Peeta
Fic Title: "Desert Blossom"
Author: DustWriter
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7821268/1/Desert-Blossom
Rating/Warning(s): M
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: True alternate-universe Hunger Games stories are incredibly hard to do well, because the progression of events and the high stakes in canon are so (intentionally) contrived that it's difficult to mirror them onto, say, a high-school or coffeeshop setting. "Desert Blossom" is the exception that proves the rule--a fic that takes familiar and original characters and situates them in modern-day Afghanistan. Rather than attempt to translate the Games or the strange and systemic oppression of Panem directly into our world, the author uses this setting to explore the contrasts between the lives of Americans and the Afghanis they purport to protect. The story is from Peeta's perspective, but I love what DustWriter did with Katniss--she is as strong, resilient, and protective as ever, but a different life story means that those traits manifest differently. The narrative stretches believability in a few places, but the whole things is so well-thought-out and thoroughly researched that you'll have trouble putting it down (figuratively speaking).
***
Pairing: Katniss/Peeta, references to Finnick/Annie and Haymitch/Chaff
Fic Title: "Twenty Four Victors, Twenty Four Tributes"
Author: aimmyarrowshigh
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6762569/1/Twenty-Four-Victors-Twenty-Four-Tributes
Rating/Warning(s): M
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: This fic creates and explores bits of truths and backstories for the two dozen Victors chosen for the Quarter Quell in Catching Fire. Some are barely a sentence long, others are nearly one-shots of their own, but each item will give you pause. Many will make you reconsider how little you cared about the unnamed or more brutal Victor-Tributes, or those less sympathetic to the rebellion--not to mention what the Capitol is capable of. The author writes with a cool detachment, recounting facts without passing judgement, and the overall effect is excellent.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Peeta
Fic Title: "The End is the Beginning"
Author: spanglemaker9
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6304318/1/The_End_is_the_Beginning
Rating/Warning(s): M
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: "The End is the Beginning" is another entry into the Mockingjay epilogue accordion folder, and it's one where the author does an excellent job of capturing Katniss's tell-don't-show voice in the books. Your mileage may vary on the literary value, but there's no doubt that this reads like a condensed chapter left out of the end of the trilogy. It's also noteworthy for treating our heroes like the adolescents they still are--barely eighteen when the story ends--and incorporating all of the angst and uncertainty and sharpened worldviews of the age.
***
Fandom: THE HUNGER GAMES/DOCTOR WHO (crossover)
Pairing: Amy Pond/Rory Williams, River Song/The Doctor
Fic Title: "District Eight"
Author: irony_rocks
Link: http://irony-fics.livejournal.com/39415.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: This author (also one of our fantastic mobs) is one of my absolute favorites, and if you haven't read her multifandom works, you're missing out. "District Eight" is short fusion tale wherein Amelia Pond and Rory Williams are chosen as District 8’s Tributes for the 100th Hunger Games. As always, irony_rocks nails the characterizations, for both fandoms, and leaves you wanting more. (Also, River Song would probably be the best mentor ever.)
Fic Title: "The Water is Rising Quick"
Author: monroeslittle
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7828853/1/The-Water-is-Rising-Quick
Rating/Warning(s): M
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: Peeta learns about sex and what fits around it in this lovely, frank fic. It's funny and heart-wrenching by turns and impressively in-character throughout.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Gale, Katniss/Peeta
Fic Title: "the heart i gave to you (i cannot find)"
Author: electrumqueen
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/111230
Rating/Warning(s): PG
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: A character study of Gale after the war, this fic gives him more depth than we saw even in Mockingjay. It's never been clear to me whether Gale belonged in the same category, so to speak, as the various Victors, having chosen to fight and on what terms. But in just a few short, clear scenes, electrumqueen hints at the tragic parallels and contrasts between his choices and what might have been.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Gale
Fic Title: "The Bad in Each Other"
Author: audreyii_fic
Link: http://audreyii-fic.livejournal.com/35940.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: You'll be on the edge of your seat reading this short but powerful what-if in which Gale stops Katniss from volunteering. Some things change, others don't, but the penultimate section still gives me chills after multiple reads.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Peeta, Johanna/Gale, various other canonical and OC pairings
Fic Title: "the collective sanity"
Author: hewhoistomriddle
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6854485/1/the_collective_sanity
Rating/Warning(s): T
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: Part District 12 genealogy, part character study, and part light crack, "the collective sanity" is both like and unlike any other THG fic you've read. It's frank and funny and will twist your gut at times, but it's hard to stop reading.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Peeta
Fic Title: "A Year With No Victor"
Author: DustWriter
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8017959/1/
Rating/Warning(s): T
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: DustWriter is a THG AU master, and this what could have been" entry is no exception. "A Year With No Victor" puts a Romeo & Juliet sort of spin on the Games, where Katniss is a Career, Peeta is Peeta, and things proceed under different circumstances...to a point. The ending is particularly haunting.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Peeta
Fic Title: "Learning to Swim"
Author: imaginarycircus
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/140748
Rating/Warning(s): M
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: Five snapshots of Katniss, Peeta, and the beginnings of their life together in the rebuilt District 12. The POV switches between them, which works well, and I love the idea of Katniss teaching a younger generation about her woods. The sex scene toward the end isn't my favorite, but I'm willing to overlook it because the rest is just that lovely.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Peeta, Madge/Gale
Fic Title: "The Fire Beneath"
Author: DustWriter
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7853126/1/The-Fire-Beneath
Rating/Warning(s): M
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: This is my second AU rec by this author, admittedly, but I have my reasons. Namely, that true alternate-universe fics in this fandom are difficult to do well, and that this is an example of a fic that succeeds. The author sets a familiar cast of characters in a Pennsylvania coal mining town, and while there's no real-world equivalent of the Games, there's still plenty of risk, poverty, and weighted promises of a better life. I think it's the truest THG AU I've read, and I hope you agree.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Peeta
Fic Title: "Their Last Night of Love: A Special Verity Presentation, Exclusively For Preferred Customers"
Author: yahtzee63
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/32054?view_adult=true
Rating/Warning(s): M
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: Yahtzee is one of those authors where, if you've been in fandom for long enough, you must have read her work sooner or later, especially if you're into "Buffy." But I digress. "Their Last Night of Love: A Special Verity Presentation, Exclusively For Preferred Customers" is an AU tweak to Catching Fire that shows off the Capitol creepiness in all of its glory, as well as the small ways our Victors fight back.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Peeta
Fic Title: "Desert Blossom"
Author: DustWriter
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7821268/1/Desert-Blossom
Rating/Warning(s): M
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: True alternate-universe Hunger Games stories are incredibly hard to do well, because the progression of events and the high stakes in canon are so (intentionally) contrived that it's difficult to mirror them onto, say, a high-school or coffeeshop setting. "Desert Blossom" is the exception that proves the rule--a fic that takes familiar and original characters and situates them in modern-day Afghanistan. Rather than attempt to translate the Games or the strange and systemic oppression of Panem directly into our world, the author uses this setting to explore the contrasts between the lives of Americans and the Afghanis they purport to protect. The story is from Peeta's perspective, but I love what DustWriter did with Katniss--she is as strong, resilient, and protective as ever, but a different life story means that those traits manifest differently. The narrative stretches believability in a few places, but the whole things is so well-thought-out and thoroughly researched that you'll have trouble putting it down (figuratively speaking).
***
Pairing: Katniss/Peeta, references to Finnick/Annie and Haymitch/Chaff
Fic Title: "Twenty Four Victors, Twenty Four Tributes"
Author: aimmyarrowshigh
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6762569/1/Twenty-Four-Victors-Twenty-Four-Tributes
Rating/Warning(s): M
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: This fic creates and explores bits of truths and backstories for the two dozen Victors chosen for the Quarter Quell in Catching Fire. Some are barely a sentence long, others are nearly one-shots of their own, but each item will give you pause. Many will make you reconsider how little you cared about the unnamed or more brutal Victor-Tributes, or those less sympathetic to the rebellion--not to mention what the Capitol is capable of. The author writes with a cool detachment, recounting facts without passing judgement, and the overall effect is excellent.
***
Pairing: Katniss/Peeta
Fic Title: "The End is the Beginning"
Author: spanglemaker9
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6304318/1/The_End_is_the_Beginning
Rating/Warning(s): M
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: "The End is the Beginning" is another entry into the Mockingjay epilogue accordion folder, and it's one where the author does an excellent job of capturing Katniss's tell-don't-show voice in the books. Your mileage may vary on the literary value, but there's no doubt that this reads like a condensed chapter left out of the end of the trilogy. It's also noteworthy for treating our heroes like the adolescents they still are--barely eighteen when the story ends--and incorporating all of the angst and uncertainty and sharpened worldviews of the age.
***
Fandom: THE HUNGER GAMES/DOCTOR WHO (crossover)
Pairing: Amy Pond/Rory Williams, River Song/The Doctor
Fic Title: "District Eight"
Author: irony_rocks
Link: http://irony-fics.livejournal.com/39415.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG
WIP?: No
Why This Must Be Read: This author (also one of our fantastic mobs) is one of my absolute favorites, and if you haven't read her multifandom works, you're missing out. "District Eight" is short fusion tale wherein Amelia Pond and Rory Williams are chosen as District 8’s Tributes for the 100th Hunger Games. As always, irony_rocks nails the characterizations, for both fandoms, and leaves you wanting more. (Also, River Song would probably be the best mentor ever.)