THG fic: "Spin Control" [21/24]

[trovia]

Title: Spin Control
Pairings: Finnick/Haymitch, Kat/Peeta
Characters: Finnick, Haymitch, Chaff, Peeta, Gale, Kat; plus appearances by Mags, Johanna, Caesar Flickerman, President Snow, Effie, Claudius Templesmith, Beetee, Prim, Thresh, Rue, District Twelve ensemble and various OC
Rating: adult
Warnings: forced prostitution & non-con; people dealing

Comments

[roguedemon]

I loved how Finnick recognizes his own self-loathing in Peeta, that was wince-inducing.

And this:
Maybe Peeta hated his life just as much as Finnick had used to hate his, and now he saw a chance to be a hero. Finnick hadn’t been a volunteer in his Games; his name hadn’t been carved into the Monument of Sacrifice, and there’d been a time when he’d been so jealous of those names of those dead people who’d saved somebody’s life. If he’d had a chance of dying as someone’s hero, he would have taken it, two years ago. But that had been then.

It just meant he couldn’t send Peeta in there just to let him die now.

Just, the despair... coupled with the acknowledgement that Finnick has made real progress in this fic. He's basically trying to talk Peeta out of suicide because he's been ther and recognizes that it can get better. I wanted to hug them both. I also loved how you acknowledged what a piece of work Peeta's mother is. She tells her son that he's a hopeless case heading for certain death as a way of saying goodbye to him after he's reaped, and then twists the knife by again telling him Katniss is the one that's worthy. Who does that?
Sadly, I have heard of too many abusive parents saying similar things to their kids IRL.

I definitely want to write you a long essay about all the sex in this fic and Finnick's and Haymitch's issues with such. I have a lot to say in response to various comments you've made, and I want to do a "favorite lines" analysis as well. I think at this point it might end up waiting until the end. It would be interesting to chart their progress throughout the fic. Also, my heart is still hurting too much from the last scene, and I have the feeling that this next chapter is going to be tough. I have my ideas about what might happen to everyone, but I don't want to make you spoil things, so I'm just going to wait. :) Now I really have to go!

[trovia]

I really love how you equate Peeta's attempt at martyr suicide with Finnick's decision to go live in Twelve. In a way, what Finnick did was substitute suicide. He did the equivalent of cutting all his ties and moving to a different continent and to a different culture without leaving his phone number for anybody. It's a complete cut. "I can't handle this life. I need another." He went to the shittiest district there is, but it was the only option, and it was still better than leaving everything the way it is. It's not that he suffered in Four for anything that's wrong about Four; Four definitely is one of the better districts to live, where they treat the victors well, they have almost enough food, and Finnick has a family and a mentor who watches out for him and a lot of people who understand what it's like to be him. But that's not why he left. He needed for everything to be just different so that he could be different. What without Annie being in the picture to balance his perception of bad things and good things, it was definitely a bare-bones survival thing. Peeta, of course, is struggling to keep his dignity and sense of self intact here, so it's different. But like Finnick states, if his opportunity for a different life had included becoming a hero and dying, instead of moving to Twelve, he would have gone for that option as well. (I think that's one reason why he went on television about the prostitution in MJ, and why he didn't hesitate to go back to the Capitol as a soldier. He had a strong need to make things different, in those absolute ways where there is no turning back. Things that will definitely change things no matter what. Which of course makes me think of the Chapter 23 scene that I just wrote and I'm laughing evilly to myself)

You know I would dig your sex essay and the favorite lines analysis (!) with fiery passion. And charting progress! I love charting of any kind. )