May Author of the Month: Fluttering Phalanges

May Author of the Month: Very, very late *dodges rotten tomatoes*

For May, we are recognizing Fluttering Phalanges! Her Hayffie piece, Of Perfume, Liquor, and Baby Bottles has broken the 1K review barrier on FF.N, but she has some other pieces that haven't gotten the attention they deserve considering.

Because of that, I'm going to review Perfume in three sentences (fragments), and then talk about other stories.

Familiar concept. Beautifully executed. Worth the read by far.

Moving onto Food for Thought: An Interesting Outlook on Seven Meals. This story is centered on Hayffie like most (but not all) of her work. Haymitch and Effie are either married or doing that thing where you live together, share income and resources, and plan to be together for life, for better or worse, but don't get married. Either way, these cute anecdotes are full of fun little surprises, with appearances by Katniss, Peeta, Annie, and her son (she names him Bae). This a cute, light-hearted piece that'll bring a smile to your face!

Flickers of Hope is also one of my favorites. This one focuses on Thresh and Rue's train ride to the Capitol before the 74th Hunger Games. Although I think Rue is an important character for the structure of the book, I've admittedly never felt much connection to the District Eleven characters. In fact, after seeing the film my pity card shifted toward Cato because, frankly, the acting was a lot better. And then I read Catching Fire and Mockingjay and all of those characters were blown out of the water. But back to the story; Fluttering Phalanges made me connect with Thresh to a certain degree which was great. The story focuses on a few hopeful and heartbreaking conversations between Thresh and Rue with a perfect ending (that I won't spoil) that just brings it all together.

No Finnick and no quotes. Anything is possible, guys ;)

Please go enjoy the work of Fluttering Phalanges by clicking the link!

A Tri-Rec Post (Undiscovered Gems)

Why, hello there, everyone.  This post we've got three fabulous oneshots that deserve a bit more recognition.  *notes eagerness on audience's faces*  Ah well, here you are, this week's recs~!


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Title:  A boy A girl A memory
Author:  librarylemming
Summary:  The story of the boy from district 10 in the 74th hunger games - the boy with the limp. The life you didn't see, and about the girl who was there watching him from the other side of the television screen.
Quote:  "Flickering images. Distorted sound. Nothing seemed real to her anymore. With a stony expression, she watched as they were paraded in their costumes, she watched as they were interviewed, she watched as they lived what was left of their lives on a TV screen. She couldn't think, or sleep, and she barely spoke. Her eyes were forever glued to that screen, as if it held secret to life itself."
Recommendation:  Before reading this fic, I'd never given a lot of thought to the District Ten boy.  But this story is so beautiful it can make you care about the most minor of characters.  Wonderful character development in a small piece, and a tragic, tear-inducing story all the way around.  It reminds you that everyone had someone rooting for them to come home.  Brought to you by librarylemming in a unique and well-chosen format, too.  Highly recommended - check it out for yourself, and review!

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Title:  23 Flies

Author:  The Withering Panda

Summary:  Innocent Johanna Mason could never hurt a fly. But maybe 23... Written for The Rebels forum Holiday Secret Fic Exchange.

Quote:  "The girl from One, she decided, would die slowly. And her district partner would watch, then be mutilated (preferably). Gerard Sullivan from Two, obviously the biggest threat, would die last, as the king piece is always defeated last in chess. His district partner, Sabrina, would be slaughtered as quickly as possible in order to shut her up. Districts Three, Five, Six, Eight, Nine, Ten, and Eleven would be killed... normally. Without special treatment. They made no impression on her. Nick, the boy from Seven, would be avoided as long as possible, and killed quickly if it came to that. The tributes from Four, she planned to drown. And the pair from Twelve would be trapped in an inconvenient avalanche or landslide."

Recommendation:  The Withering Panda has a talent for packing a lot of power into oneshots that flow wonderfully and leave you wanting more but satisfied with the ending.  This isn't just a normal "Johanna's Games" fic that exposes her plan to appear a weakling - instead it brings out a whole different side to her character, one that's cruel and calculating and slightly scares the reader.  Subtle but understandable references give insight into what's behind the Hunger Games.  Go on, read and review - you won't be disappointed.

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Title:  Wrong Turn

Author:  Toxophilite

Summary:  "I knew I should have taken a left." Getting lost during an uprising can never turn out well. Written for the Caesar's Palace Prompts: Member Challenges, The Vivid Challenge.

Quote:  "A bomb hits a building to my left, sending me flying back. I slam into a wall and struggle for air after the force of the impact combined with the smoke. I refuse to die today. I have to keep moving.

Squinting my eyes, I make my way through the smoke filled streets.

Right, left, right, right, left."

Recommendation:  This fic features a simple concept but executes it with more sophistication, zooming in on events scarcely mentioned in Mockingjay - especially, what it was like to be in a rebelling district for a citizen.  The rather gruesome setting adds a layer to the war rarely seen in most fics which prefer to focus on large plot events instead of the regular people of Panem.  The bloodshed isn't just in the background, either, but is quite well-written and painful to read (in the way intended).  Experience it yourself - go read and give feedback.

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(Note: I apologize if the formatting of this post - apart from being a bit different than my usual style - is slightly off; the new-post page is different and I'm still adjusting.  Thanks.)

RIse Above The Crowds (Delly/Peeta)

Hey, all! Finally back with another rec for you guys.

Title: Rise Above The Crowds

Author: curiosa

Summary: Delly believes in dreams and freedom and being the best person that anyone can be, but most of all, Delly believes in Peeta.

My Recommendation:

This fic goes to show something about the author, because you would have really had to pay attention to Delly in Mockingjay to pull off characterization like this. For as little of the relationship developed between her and Peeta in the real books there is, this fic builds on it all wonderfully. This section particularly shows this:

“Why do you care what anybody else thinks?”

Peeta’s sat on the edge of her bed, staring at Delly with what looks like increasing confusion.

She wrinkles her nose at his reflection, staring flatly back at her own and sighing. “I don’t care,” she says, even if they both know that’s not true and she’s always been bad at lying. “I just want to look nice for once, you know?”

She knows what everyone says about her behind her back: Delly Cartright, the plump and pale girl with messy hair that’s barely worth a second glance over.

“You do look nice,” Peeta says and then moves restlessly from the bed, stretching out his legs and walking away to look at some of Delly’s old photos.

She tosses back her hair; pulling it up so the curls don’t look so scraggy and then lets them flop back lifelessly onto her shoulders. She likes her eyes, she thinks, a tone of blue and green, somewhere in between the two, which mix together and bring out the best of both her parents.

“You do look nice,” says Peeta, repeating himself, “won-der-ful,” dragging out the syllables and letting them catch at the edges of his teeth. “Always.”

He lets his head flop onto her shoulder and tucks his chin into the crook of her neck. Winking at her as the inevitable smile starts to unfurl on her lips, her hands moving to shove him away from her, laughing, tutting at his silly behaviour and grabbing for her coat that he’s got wrapped around his sleeve, waiting.

Peeta is perfectly in character, and a pro of the fic is that Peeta/Katniss is not completely ignored. This new relationship shown is just so beautiful, and a tragic glimpse at their future as it could've been. It's not completely unrequited love--just two different kinds of it that are contrasting with each other. (And let's face the facts: little kids are just plain adorable.)

Rise Above The Crowds is a highly ambitious piece for a focus on such a rare pairing, and it pulls it off beautifully. Even as a oneshot, you feel you suddenly know everything there is to know about these two. Just wonderful.

Farewell for this week; happy Spring!

The Way It Is (Glimmer/Cato) and Twirl for Me, Fly for Me (Cinna/Portia)

Hello, all. This week I'm bringing two new fics into the spotlight:

Title: The Way It Is

Author: The Silver Panda

Summary: A Little one-shot I wrote for the Starvation Forum Monthly Challenge. From Glimmer's POV.

and

Title: Twirl for Me, Fly for Me

Author: Serenity9419

Summary: "He was too hard to read. Too damn noble, she often thought. But she cared for him, or she wouldn't have bothered to try." Though sometimes unseen, Cinna and Portia took their own journey together - they risked, they loved, and they lost.

My Recommendation:

The theme of this post, inside my mind, is characters part of a pairing I've recc'd before, but different. "The Way It Is" fits this perfectly: Glimmer's point of view, being envious of Clove because of her relationship with Cato. The prompt this was written for was "envy", and it does a wonderfully tragic job of doing this. It's real, and you feel it all--the, well, envy; the love; and yet, the sort of bloodthirsty side to almost every Career. It packs a lot of power to affect you in a short piece. All the while, from the books, you know what happens, and the characters seem to know this to a certain extent too: only one of them, no matter what happens, can live. (At least, at the point this particular fic ends.) "The Way It Is" is a beautiful and tragic new perspective.

Next, we have "Twirl for Me, Fly for Me" (Cinna/Portia). Almost anyone who knows me can say that this is one of my favorite pairings, and this one fic is almost 100% of the reason why. If I had to pick a favorite part of this story, it would be the writing itself--a wonderful, poetic style that adds to the tragicness of it all. The romance is real--the author doesn't even need to state it, you can just feel that it's there, even in a different scene. While some parts of the story can be a bit heavy and depressing, (as it's also an angst fic), (and I cried the first million times I read it), there are also parts that are a bit more fluffy and light-hearted (and I still laugh now). Powerful writing, definitely recommended.

That's it for this week--see you next time!

Partners in Crime and Conflicted (Cato/Clove)

... I'm ba-ack! With some new undiscovered gems, of course. This week we have two amazing stories by ExplorativeComet:

Title: Partners in Crime

Summary: Cato and Clove; our famous Careers from District 2. They are ruthless, confident, and so don't get along. But this time around, they're sort of in love. And that might just change the outcome of the 74th Hunger Games.

and

Title: Conflicted

Summary: Find out how Cato feels after the Tracker Jacker attack. Tie-in to my story, "Partners in Crime". Cato's POV of Ache Chapter 3 .

My Recommendation:

Partners in Crime gives us another side to these two characters, and the relationship between them. If I had to pick a word, I'd say "balanced". It shows us the side of them that we love (to hate?): the violent, cold, and bloodthirsty Careers that we meet in the cannon. But we also get to know what's beneath all of that, the doubts, fears, and flaws. This excerpt (from the second chapter, Clove's point-of-view), captures this especially well:

I don't feel as elated as the others do. I can feel their excitement in the air at the sight of the kid's pain. In the Hunger Games, most murderers are made, not born. That's why you get so many victors from Districts 1, 2, and 4; those are the districts that encourage training the most, particularly 2.

Sure, I've been taught to enjoy slaughter. And I do.

But this sadistic twisting-the-blade, torturing, slow death thing? I really don't care for it. Murder the girl and be done with it. Celebrate the death, not the torture.

Cato's much more sadistic than I'll ever be, but I've always believed it's because his family forced it upon him. Look at how early he had that spear; how rude and careless he had been. His family was one of those District 2 families that raised a child solely for the purpose of the Hunger Games.

It captures the pairing well, with realistic romance and an ending you won't want to miss.

Conflicted is the companion to this story. While the original is well-written in Clove's perspective, it always leaves the readers wondering what Cato's been up to in his mind. Hence where Conflicted comes in, giving us a taste of what's going through his head during one chapter (the third) of Partners in Crime. An interesting change in perspective for the obsessed reader; it's distinctly different in the point-of-view, even when telling the same scene.

Both are must-reads--great stories that do the tale justice.

That's all for now!