THG fic: "Spin Control" [22/24]

[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]

One thing I am proud to say that I called in this chapter was that Finnick would get Peeta the medicine and that would be a real game changer. I want to deal with Finnick's reaction to Peeta's wound and his desperation to get him that medication later -- he totally lost his objectivity there (pets him). I loved seeing a Peeta who had received intensive coaching in how to play the games. It all made total sense to me because the boy has skills. He managed to kill Brutus during the closing moments of the Quell, after all. He manipulated the audience even without coaching in canon. And I think he totally should be shipped with Foxface, who is an interesting character. She has real brains and Peeta outsmarts her, that was a frat moment. Well, in a totally twisted way, of course. ;) Nothing you had him do was a surprise to me, although it would be to many people. I never thought that Peeta was somehow incapable of killing when he had to, although I have read that opinion in fic and meta many times. Everything he did was totally in character. But he's still justifying it in his mind as something he is doing to save Katniss, I think. So if he ends up surviving and she doesn't....I loved him being designated as the "kind" career.

Finnick’s hand was already reaching for the phone dial. He had a lot of sponsor calls to make, yet again; any number of people only got interested after a tributes’ first proper first-degree murder.

That boy was on.

I love it. Next time: discussion of what Haymitch and Finnick are going through behind the scenes.

[trovia]

Peeta/Foxface would just be very awesome. ;)

Peeta incapable of killing? Really? He supposedly killed the girl from Eight. He fought Cato, probably not with the intention of shaking his hand afterwards and calling it a day. He killed Brutus. I'd worry more about Kat's ability to kill. ;) Although shortly before the rule change, she seemed to have reached the point where she was ready to go for it.

[roguedemon]

I've read fic and meta that argues that Haymitch should have gone into the arena with Kat because Haymitch was more capable of killing. And yeah, I just don't see it. I actually kind of think that the quell would have been even worse for Haymitch after decades of watching tributes die, and of course the necessity of killing lifelong friends and acquaintances.

I do think that Kat was definitely coming around to the idea. I remember that when she finally got her hands on the bow and realized that she was capable of attacking rather than running away, she got a feeling of power.

Anyway, back to the fic, I loved how Finnick was leaning on Haymitch to guide him in spinning everything, and how Haymitch remained so calm throughout, while dealing with all the stress of the pin and Chaff's drinking. I loved the detail of that pin up on the screen and Haymitch repeatedly washing his face and hands. Just something to hint at what was going on in his head. Also, I was really proud of him for dealing with Chaff's repeatedly rubbing booze in his face. The way he just left when he needed to, that is a step forward from the last games. I loved Caramel helping Finnick out, I like that they can work together when the objective is taking care of Haymitch. :) I'd love to know what the conversation between Haymitch and Caramel was like, and how Caramel dealt with Chaff. And where is Beetee in all this? The dynamics of their friendship group really fascinate me.

Is Chaff deliberately testing whether Finnick will follow through on his threats, or is he just too distracted to keep track of what he's drinking/doing? It's also interesting that Finnick is too overwhelmed to deal with Chaff, and I wonder what would have to happen for him to carry out those threats.

In general, I just find it pretty awesome that Haymitch is really the calming presence throughout this chapter. I loved how he was rubbing Finnick's shoulder and being his rock while he's struggling through another games full of clients. I find that sort of thing a hundred times more romantic than fics where characters are serenading each other constantly.

I really winced when Chaff attacked Haymitch over the bread. I just kept imagining how painful that must be for him to keep having to deal with the loss of a lifelong friend, much less be accused of having evil intentions. And of course, he is trying to play the games to win, and that does involve hoping other tributes die, which is just another trigger. But in the end, he is showing that he is able to make some hard choices that Finnick really can't make. It's another great role reversal.

Well, it's 8:00 again, and I have to go.

[trovia]

I've read fic and meta that argues that Haymitch should have gone into the arena with Kat because Haymitch was more capable of killing.

It's kind of awesome how much you have to misunderstand the whole complexity and psychology and tragedy of the Hunger Games to even use the words, "more capable of killing". It's not like it's a special skill set or anything. I think they each of them have to be really traumatized and desperate to go there, Haymitch or Peeta or Kat.

. I loved Caramel helping Finnick out, I like that they can work together when the objective is taking care of Haymitch. :) I'd love to know what the conversation between Haymitch and Caramel was like, and how Caramel dealt with Chaff. And where is Beetee in all this?

Clearly Beetee is keeping Chaff company since he's all Haymitch-less now. More on those four in the next chapter. :)

Chaff drinks more, the more hope he has for his tribute. He's in a fucked up situation where he wants to safe those kids like he's never wanted anything else, but at the same time, he knows that that's not how it works in D11, and he feels that his district doesn't want them to survive either. I think people in D11 are suspicious of victors; Chaff might feel that they're more comfortable with the idea of poor kids becoming victims of the Games and dying, then they are with the reality of people who have gone and killed and survived. So he feels like in getting a kid closer to victory, he's doing a good thing and a bad thing, a selfish thing and a good thing all at once, and the cognitive dissonance messes him up, so he drinks. Then his sense of victor solidarity is damaged - because Finnick threatened him, but mostly because Haymitch stopped drinking and they lost that connection - and that throws him off kilter even more. I don't think he's trying to test Finnick. I think he honestly cannot not drink right now. Finnick is giving him more stress with his threats, but at this point that just means he wants to drink even more. He leashes out at Haymitch partly because of all of that.

Haymitch gets to shine in these chapters! I kept reminding myself of that fact as I was writing the first couple of chapters after his initial return to Twelve, when he was a mess. :)

[roguedemon]

Yeah, it makes perfect sense that Chaff just can't not drink, even though he's been threatened with consequences, because that's the essence of addiction. I like the whole cognitive dissonance thing because I think it's a huge part of every mentor's struggle and they all have to find a way of making peace with it. Some manage to do it in a way that helps them stay sane, like Mags. Some just can't, and a District like 11 would make it harder if you are continually confronted with that sort of attitude towards victors. I imagine Haymitch must have gone through something similar, but he seems to have come to his own conclusions -- he keeps his own counsel, maybe he's less influenced by outside opinions in that way? He doesn't care as much about what other people think if he feels that his own thinking is sound, I think.

This also reminds me of what Finnick is wrestling with re: trying to save tributes while feeling he's dragging them closer to a life as a sex slave. This is such a happy fandom. ;)

It's too bad that Chaff's sense of victor solidarity doesn't move him to support Haymitch -- it all depends on your point of view. I'm interested in their whole friendship group because I'm interested in the dynamics of long-term friendship to begin with, and this sort of thing tends to be neglected in any kind of fiction in favor of romantic or family relationships. I mean, it's an interesting problem they have here. I get the feeling that Caramel considers Haymitch his best friend and was worried about the fact that he was killing himself; I'm guessing that maybe he gets that Chaff has a real problem as well? And someone as smart as Beetee must get it. I don't know, I am just intrigued about how their friendship group formed, how things changed over the years as they all grew up, and how they're going to resolve things -- or not. And this also reminds me of things I've seen happen with the close friends I still have from college. Ten years ago two of my best friends had a falling out and one of them decided to stop talking to the other. The three of us used to be a unit, now I see them separately. An awkward and painful situation, to say the least. There really wasn't anything I could do, their differences had nothing to do with me. A sad part of getting older.