THG fic: "Spin Control" [24/24] (wheeeew!)

[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]

Man, I just wrote out a whole comment and it got eaten. I desperately need a new computer and probably a new iPad at some point. So to cut to the chase, i was ruminating on how it hit me after I read this chapter how much things are really going to suck for Gale in this universe. He's stuck in 12 for the duration. I have never been able to get all the Gale hatred. He's extremely bright, he sees the big picture, he understands that everyone is complicit in a system that basically condemns him to a life of constantly struggling to keep his family from starving to death and working himself to death in the mines. God, I'd be furious too. Also, he commits some genuinely selfless acts -- it's not like volunteering to go save Peeta would help him in any way. Anyway, I think Everlark fans hate him for just being there and everyone else hates him for the comment he made about the workers in the nut. It was wrong, yes, but I certainly understood where he was coming from. These are the people that are working for the military that casually bombed 12 to smithereens and he saw the whole thing...it makes sense that he'd feel that way. I see things where people are all up in arms because Gale insulted D2 and their victors, etc., but I think they can take it. D2 has a boatload of privilege compared to Gale and D12, and he is just a traumatized 19 yr. old boy. Gale's life has been a breeding ground for complex PTSD (I don't think he has it, but he is definitely very damaged, he'd have to be. Life in the seam damaged everyone in some way, I think.) OTOH I think there is room for discussion of Stockholm Syndrome with regards to D1, D2, and probably any number of people across Panem.

"They had the Twelve tailor fashion new sheets for Haymitch’s bed to replace the stiff and dusty ones that he’d been using since he’d won. They were cozy and soft and unlike any fabric used in either the Capitol or Twelve. They’d lie down on those sheets, and Haymitch would allow Finnick to touch him wherever he wanted. Sometimes, he’d close his eyes for a bit, trusting that Finnick would keep talking to him while he did so."

I just love their new sheets so much. It's like their version of a marriage bed. It's a way of making a safe space and saying that this is theirs and they are deliberately making their relationship a priority. Their sex life also probably have benefits from the commitment they made. They know that they are on the same page, and Haymitch knows that Finnick loves him, he understands now how important Finnick actually thinks he is to him. It's a security he's never had before.

I loved what you said yesterday about how for Haymitch touch is so exotic it's a kink to him. I would definitely love to read that ficlet if it's something you are willing to share (no worries either way). But I really find that hot and touching at the same time. I have a kink for that kind of thing: the way a character's background and idiosyncrasies affect their preferences. It's much hotter than generic perfect sex. And it says to much that Haymitch is able to close his eyes a bit and trust Finnick. That is hot, and warms my heart.

Well, gotta go, they're closing. I will find you online Saturday or Sunday, I'll be hanging around doing different things. My husband has been gone all week so I should probably spend some actual time with him. ;) Take Care

[trovia]

I like Gale rather a lot. I like how smart he is, the way he has a capacity of how the Hunger Games are a part of a bigger scheme of oppression. And honestly, I think most people just dislike him because he gets in the way of Everlark. Also because of the bomb that killed Prim. But you can only blame him for that if you have a really reduced scope, methinks. That said, I like to think that the Games school in this universe has a therapeutic value for him. It gives him a sense of effectiveness and agenda. Once the school grows, he can quit the mines and get actually paid for doing it fulltime. I'm sure that'll give him a really good reputation in the district in the long run, so that he eventually gets a higher social status. It'd be good for him.

Definitely I agree that Gale, and a number of other people in Twelve, should have a mild form of complex PTSD. Sort of, a group variation of it. Thinking of the idea that communities can get traumatized as a whole just as much as individuals can be.

As I said yesterday, I'm going to check with M about that ficlet!

That's what interests me about writing sex to begin with -- the way your life and personality are reflected in the bedroom. I remember reading an essay on slash many, many years ago, when people were still talking about why people in fandom write sex. It proposed that original writing always ends at the bedroom; it doesn't let you, as a reader, follow the characters through the door, as if the sexual experience is a mystical thing completely removed from who you are. Slash (and fandom porn) on the other hand lets you take part in that experience. Slash specifically also allows you to explore how sexuality and personality are connected without having to take into account gender roles. That essay has always stayed with me because I think it's very true.