Catching Fire and Alternative Universes and President Snow, Oh My!

(Sorry. Couldn't resist the Oz reference.)

Hi guys! Tonight I am recommending two of my favourite fics that deviate from canon, but still contain elements of Catching Fire. They also both feature a very sinister President Snow and Capitol manipulating Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark against their will under the premise of showing their adoring audience "their true love". Both of these fics deal with mature content (for instance, sex scenes) and the very realistic hypothesis of what if Snow used their love against them as punishment?

First up, we have I Do by HalfHope.

What I think would've happened if the Quarter Quell hadn't occurred. Katniss and Peeta are married, but how much of it is an act? Will they be puppets to the Capitol, or will they find a way to break free?

What I love most about this fanfiction is that HalfHope shows Katniss slowly realising her true love for Peeta amidst living their lives lying to everyone around them. Katniss rebels against it, fights it (just like she does against the Capitol) but ultimately, her heart wins. The key idea that covers I Do is that Snow forces Katniss to marry Peeta, and expects her to have children with him ASAP - Katniss sees this as punishment threefold: 1) It is evident she's marrying someone who she doesn't truly love at the beginning 2) The Capitol is punishing her for winning the Games, surviving, and being such a popular commodity that Snow can't really kill her and 3) Any children she has with Peeta will no doubt find themselves becoming tributes as punishment.

This fic is a multiple-chapter with lots of heartfail, angst, and lovely romantic touches. The plot is well-thought out, realistic in terms of canon issues, and ends up tying quite neatly in with Mockingjay in later chapters. I especially enjoyed that HalfHope just didn't desert such wonderful characters like our beloved Hawthorne clan, Prim and Katniss' prep team in favour of focusing all the attention on the 'happy' couple. I Do is a very unique read that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat. Here's an excerpt featuring the excellently evil snow manipulating our poor Girl on Fire:

Peeta and I have to meet countless people, shake hands. We sit through a grand meal and have everyone stare at us for our first dance. Then we have to shove cake in each other's mouths. I don't quite get the point of that tradition. Through it all, Peeta is as constant, cheerful, and personable as ever. But of course he is. Today must be a dream for him. The two of us finally married. And then…and then…

Tonight.

I feel sick. I've tried not to think about it, but with the clock ticking away the hours, it's on my mind more. I know it's what the Capitol expects. Peeta must expect it as well, since we are married and it's just what we're supposed to do. Act or not, he's now my husband and we're to have children.

He'll be kind about it, I'm sure. I couldn't imagine Peeta meaning to make me uncomfortable or humiliate me. He may be just as nervous himself. But this still won't be easy. Peeta's holding me close as we dance and I wonder if he's thinking about it, too. If he's worried at all.

Then someone taps on Peeta's shoulder. He turns and I see President Snow standing there. I'm shocked. He never went to any other of the Capitol parties and I hadn't seen him tonight at all.

"Peeta, may I have a dance with your wife?" President Snow asked.

Peeta nods his head because, really, what else can he do? He steps away and gives me a concerned look. But he stays close by so all I have to do is search for his eyes and he'll rescue me.

"Enjoying your party?" President Snow asks.

"Yes," I manage to say. "Thank you for allowing us the use your home."

"You're welcome, of course," President Snow replies. "What a joyful ride it's been for the Capitol to watch your relationship with Peeta grow. Just like that old rhyme. First comes love, then comes marriage," He pauses. "I seem to have forgotten the other part."

"Then comes a baby in a baby carriage," I finish in a whisper.

His puffy lips stretch into a smile. "Ah, yes. How the people are looking forward to that in particular."
"Well, we've just married," I say. "They can't expect that too soon."

"No, but in two months the Games will occur again," President Snow says. "You and Peeta will come to mentor. What a wonderful surprise it would be for the people to hear a new Mellark will be arriving."

Now to fanfiction #2: Their Last Night of Love: A Special Verity Presentation, Exclusively for Preferred Customers by Yahtzee.

Amid the media circus leading up to the Quarter Quell, Katniss and Peeta try to create something real.

Their Last Night Of Love... is a perfect example of what might have happened if Snow had been up to exploiting Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in other, more cruel ways. The basic plot is that they will be forced to spend their last night together before the Quell together, while being filmed; and Katniss decides in one final act of rebellion to make sure that the Capitol and Snow won't take their first time, their lovemaking, away from them and turn it into something ugly. 

Yahtzee is a wonderful writer, and apart from what I think is a very plausible plot line, this author captures everything Katniss feels, from revulsion, to innocence, to lust in a evocative manner and in perfect canon characterisation. The story world presented is something very original, too, which is what piqued my interest in the first place: in canon, our "pure" Katniss doesn't think on dark, sensual things such as what is suggest with a "verity" - but ultimately, in such a hedonistic society, would probably happen. Their Last Night of Love... is filled with erotic, dark, emotive descriptions of Katniss and Peeta's first time and is underpinned by the fragility of their lives. This one-shot really feels like a 'goodbye'. Here's an excerpt to show you want I mean by the mastery of sensual language:

Peeta slumps against the wall. He knows I'm telling the truth. "Then there's no way out."

"Yes, there is."

Before he can ask me, I lean forward and kiss him.

At first he doesn't respond. I'm pressing my lips against him with no answer, and I feel the shock of rejection – is this a shadow of what he felt when the Games ended last year? But the moment doesn't last long. He lifts his hand to touch my cheek, and he tilts his face upward, asking for another chance. I kiss him again, and this time his mouth parts to taste mine.

It's not like kissing Gale. I had felt like Gale captured me, that he was the hunter and I the prey. This makes me feel powerful. Strong.

When we stop to catch our breath, Peeta says, "I understand."

"Do you?"

"It's better this way." Better, he means, that we consummate our relationship in advance, so we'll be able to endure we what have to do tomorrow night. I mean that too – but more, besides. Peeta doesn't need to know this. It will only make it harder for him to lose me. After I die, I want him to remember me only as the foolish, headstrong girl who didn't love him back. Tonight shouldn't mean too much.

I always imagined sex as a battle of wills, saw it as the grunting, animal act I associate with the corrupt border guards and the starving women who service them for a few pennies or a crust of bread. I knew it wasn't like this between husbands and wives, but all the same, I thought it would be rough. Savage. But Peeta is tender, impossibly gentle. It takes so long for our kisses to deepen, for his tongue to begin exploring my mouth. His hands slip beneath the edge of my shirt, but he only traces his fingers along the skin. At first I think he's hesitant to go farther – still believing that I don't desire him. Then I realize he's waiting. He wants me to awaken to his touch.

He wants me to want him. I do.

I arch against him. Peeta gasps. Impatient, I run my hands along his broad back as I begin to kiss his throat. When I roll onto my back, pulling him over me, and part my legs beneath him, he finally believes. Peeta tugs my shirt upward, and I help him get it off. He looks at me in disbelieving wonder before kissing me again. The kiss is good, but it's the touch of his skin against mine – his chest against my breasts – that makes me start to shiver.

His hands are at my hipbones, sliding my pants down my legs. I push his shorts away, too, and we're naked together in a tangle on his bed. My thighs are already damp and sticky from wanting him, and for a moment I just want to straddle him. To blindly surrender to the instinct that's calling us both.

But tomorrow night, they'll want us to do more than that. That means tonight, we do more.

So, if you've been wanting to explore some Capitol-manipulative scenarios, these two fics are the cream of the crop :) Happy Reading!

~ Little Miss Mionie