#thg panem

[thisweekinfandomhistory]

Thank you for your consideration! This week, V and Emily are joined by a very special guest, Heidi Tandy AKA @heidi8, who is on the show to explain the intricacies of fandom and copyright law because, well, she was V's attorney for the event this week in fandom history. In 2011, V made a fanwork map of the fictional country of Panem from The Hunger Games novels -- not the movies, which had not even been officially announced yet -- and in 2023, Lionsgate released an official map of Panem that looks... extremely similar. (You can see a side-by-side below). Emily and V had questions for Heidi about what fans can do to better protect themselves and their fanworks from poaching by big corporations, what exactly constitutes fair use, and whether V is allowed to say that the whole happening sucked. Have you ever created something that became canon? Would you want to interact that way with your fave fandom?

Sources

Left: V's original map of Panem, as posted to LiveJournal and Tumblr in 2011 and adapted for The Panem Companion in 2012. Right: Lionsgate's official map of Panem, made for merch for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in 2023. Click image for full-size.

Original Map Post - LJ Original Map Post - Tumblr Booklist Review of The Panem Companion

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[writes-too-much]

Do you think there was idea of reunifying with the distircts and captiol? Like no boarder sorta thing

Also do you think the captiol gets rid of propoganda pieces that don't align what their telling the people recently?

Also president snow portraits in each home, if there's a house fire they gotta save snow before their kids

(if this reminds you of North Korea it totally is- I really like North Korea propaganda it's so interesting 😭-)

I think they take the borders down (eventually, there's a lot of fencing, lol) but there is no longer any punishment for traveling regardless. On top of that, I HC that they really want people from more fortunate Districts (less affected by the Rebellion) to help rebuild some of the wrecked ones, namely Eight and Twelve. To the point where the Victors (who I will live and die believing made it past the 'Purge(s)' but just didn't come out bc why would they) get a sort of 'amnesty' to stay in their Victors' Homes if they volunteer to help 1 year in another District first. It just feels very apt and very 'reunify but not permanently' idk

The Capitol is constantly evolving in their propaganda for sure. Do they ever explicitly go back on previous messaging? Probably not. Though I do believe there are some messages they think are too 'strong' that they'll discretely take down and replace with 'softer' ones and gaslight whoever they need to to convince them it was always like that. And that's also why they're so serious about policing/altering the media they recreate from the archives of a pre-Panem history. They don't want free-thinkers, don't want democracy to be glorified (or even considered), etc. To the point where they will take the story of the Little Mermaid, for example, and rewrite it into a glorified aquatic-Panem just to avoid having to explain royalty or autonomy, etc.

Bro, same! I freaking love studying/deep-diving on North Korean...everything. That shit is so fascinating! From what I've seen they're getting more lax (key word: more) but it's always been the 'inspiration' for most of my Panem HCs. I don't know if there's any established rules about 'you must save the Snow portrait before your child' but I do love the idea that there's a literal tax/fee if it gets destroyed and you need to replace it. Like you can't just get a fake, you have to report it to the Justice Building, pay a fine, and live with that shame. Very Social Security Number coded, imo.

[nugget-creates-things]

Satine Labelle 💎

The best stylist in the Capitol <33

[writes-too-much]

How would one get to space in panem? Who controls this?

Captiol or 3

Also

Has panem been to the moon?

Put a victor on the moon

Also wouldn't the America flag be up there, how the fuck are we supposed to explain that

god let's put some victors we hate up there, rebel victors 😭

Oh my god space race panem version idk who their racing against but 😭

Okay, but actually, since my HC of Panem's timeline sees the US dissolving (along w/ like all of the known world) in the late 1940s...they've never been to space. I think MAYBE another recovered country might have done it (after all, Panem is not communicating outside of its borders so who knows??) but definitely not Panem. And I don't think they would even broach the topic bc it not only opens up a can of worms/questions about what's outside of Panem but also...they don't wanna.

Now post Second Rebellion? I could definitely see them trying to get to space. Especially after maybe making connection w/ outside countries for the first time since WW2/when the USA was a thing and finding out maybe other countries are trying/have tried.