Planting Seeds in Vanquished Soil (9/11) (Haymitch/Beetee - R)

[millarific]

Title: Planting Seeds in Vanquished Soil
Author: millari
Characters: Haymitch Abernathy, Mags, Beetee, Chaff, President Snow, Haymitch's Dad, Haymitch's Girl, OCs
Pairing: Haymitch/Beetee
Rating: R
Beta: The incomparable trovia
Warnings: Implied references to forced prostitution, canonical character deaths
Summary: On his victory tour, Haymitch soon finds out

Comments

[roguedemon]

Oh wow, I just re-read your comments and realized you'd posted the next chapter! Thank you! I am probably the only person who regularly checks LJ for fic updates (and other things), I still have friends active here. I am not the person randomly reading AO3, I re-read this fic here. I rarely check the Haymitch tag anymore because it's all Hayffie and crappy Everlark fic featuring poorly written Haymitch in a supporting role. Thus I almost missed it. I will leave you more feedback at the site when I have more time, but I loved the chapter. I think my favorite thing was just how we got to see more of the man underneath Beetee's mask. His cockiness slipped and we got to see dark hints of what his life is really like, the pain he's going through -- Just really nice character work. He and Haymitch are so cute together, I really need to see more of their friendship in the Capitol. And gah, poor Haymitch in this chapter, being confronted with his painful future, just seeing all those dead tributes spooling out in front of him. And he hasn't even had Snow tell him he's going to be sold yet. I'm very much looking forward to the rest!

[millari]

Hey, six months too late, but I don't think I ever saw this!

I just replied to you on AO3 in much more depth, but just wanted to give you hugs for such encouraging comments and such thoughtful insight into my story.

It's amazing to me that I ever balked at writing Haymitch/Beetee when Trovia suggested it. Honestly, I took it on at first because I love the challenge of WTF pairings. But the more I thought about it, the more I could see how they actually had some crucial commonalities that would make them simpatico, and some complementary differences that would really serve a friendship between them well. The thing I did not expect was to fall in love with Beetee as a character, nor to have the in-depth backstory for him I ended up having in my head. My Beetee has had both a very privileged and very tumultuous life before he ever met Haymitch, and I find it all fascinating, even though yeah, I made it up. ;-) There is darkness underneath that mask, for sure.

Random thank-you comment posted! *runs off*