@aliceinthinkland | AliceInKinkland | Alice
What's your THG origin story?
I was the perfect age for the trilogy when it was coming out—14 when the first book was released. I received the first one for Christmas and just devoured it. I still have a District 12 magnet that was part of a set my friends and I got at a Mockingjay midnight release party! My affection for these books has remained since then, but lay dormant until SOTR came out. That prompted me to reread all the books, something clicked in my brain, and here I am, caught up in the same hyperfixation I had as a young teen.
What are your favorite things about the series?
I like how many levels it operates at. It’s a pulpy adventure series full of action, suspense, and romance. It’s a thoughtful introduction to the ethics of war. It’s a character study of a young woman shaped by trauma, anger, oppression, and fierce love. It’s a clever puzzle of unreliable narration. It’s a coming of age tale in the wonderful YA tradition of letting life-or-death stakes mirror typical struggles of adolescence—being disillusioned with the adults around you, fighting for autonomy, finding your authentic self while being forced to craft an artificial public media persona (and this last one has only gotten more relevant for teens since the books came out). I am also in awe of these books on a technical level. As an aspiring author myself, I want my works to have Collins’ mix of popular fiction approachability and genuine thematic resonance, and studying her strict 3 act/27 chapter structure has helped me work towards doing that.
What’s something about the series that’s stayed with you or become more meaningful to you over time?
The scenes in Mockingjay when Squad 451 are in the Capitol apartments made a big impression on me as a teen because it’s the first time I realized that I was living like someone in the Capitol. That all these things Katniss sees as luxury items and technological marvels throughout the series are, essentially, a current middle-class Global North lifestyle with a few extra futuristic gadgets. This was one of my first moments really reckoning with my position in the imperial core. A lil embarrassing in retrospect, but I’m just glad I started somewhere.
What's something you want the fandom to know about you?
I’m new and I’d love to meet more people in this fandom! Also, I’m down to read pretty much anything if it’s well-written and well-thought-out, and I’ll try any trope once, so feel free to rec me the weird stuff.
When did you begin creating? What inspired you to begin?
I started writing fan fiction over a decade ago, when I got really into Buffy the Vampire Slayer during my third year of undergrad. Since then, my participation in fandom has waxed and waned as my circumstances have changed and my hyperfixations have come and gone, but I love knowing it’s always something I can come back to. Fanfic is many things for me: a hobby, a subculture, a way to play around with writing that’s just for fun, practice for my more professional writing ambitions, a chance to explore the dark and iddy corners of my brain, and a place for my sexuality/desire.
What is your favorite thing to depict in your work?
So far, Finnick having a bad time 😈 Might branch out though (probably to other characters also having a bad time)
What’s your personal favorite of your works?
Head Above Water, which explores two questions: what if the dam breaking in Annie’s arena was related to a failed rebel plot, and what would convince Finnick to join said rebellion? It’s actually the longest fic I’ve ever written, in any fandom!
What are the main characteristics of your favorite canon characters you always try to maintain in your stories?
I honestly think I’m still figuring this out! But some characteristics I’ve tried to use to guide me in writing Finnick are: charisma and social savvy, massive self esteem issues, dark humour, unstable sense of self, intelligence but not book smarts, emotional immaturity but also tight emotional control, “fawn” threat response, and poor sense of his own physical boundaries.
Tell us about your favorite relationship (of any kind) in the series. Why is it your favorite?
Obviously I don’t just have one favourite, but I’m actually gonna go with Katniss & Haymitch here. I love the ways they are and are not mirrors of each other, all the times they communicate without words, how they really do try their best to take care of each other, but it’s not always enough. Complicated and real.
What is a question you wish we asked and what would your answer be?
If there are any other ways we’ve engaged with or explored our love for the series! Part of the fun of getting back into this world for me is that some of my irl childhood friends have also been reminded of their love for these books, and it’s meant that I’ve gotten to do some fun offline fandom things in addition to fucking around on ao3 and tumblr. My friend and I were Finnick and Johanna for Halloween last weekend, and thrifting costume pieces together felt like we were kids again. And another friend and I hosted a watch party for the first two movies with a themed food potluck, which was delightful! I made the breads of Four and Eleven and they turned out very good if I do say so myself, although the Four bread wasn’t green enough, alas (The full menu because everyone ATE with their contributions: goat cheese bruschetta, bean and ham hock stew, salad with foraged greens, apple pastries shaped like roses, and FOUR themed cocktails—two for each movie we watched, one alcoholic and one not).
Anyone you would like to shout out in the fandom?
@lilybird23 for being my one-person Head Above Water hype squad. You are so sweet, thoughtful, and enthusiastic :) sarahwrites1234 (who I don’t think is on tumblr?) whose ongoing fic Blood In The Water totally needs more love! What really sets it apart from other fics about Finnick’s life during and directly after his games is the commentary on victors as child stars, which is really well-done.
