three Hunger Games recs

[sabaceanbabe.livejournal.com]

Fandom Category: The Hunger Games
Pairing: Johanna/Finnick
Fic Title: just keep your head above
Author: nicalyse
Link: http://nicalyse.livejournal.com/31269.html
Rating/Warning(s): hard R
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
WIP?: no

Why This Must Be Read:

Part of what I love most about Johanna/Finnick is their friendship-with-benefits vibe. The way they genuinely care for each other and help each other through what the Capitol does to them. This is that fic.

Excerpt:
They met for the first time on her Victory Tour. He acted as her escort at the dinner in her honor in District 4, outwardly appearing to be everything that she'd seen of Finnick Odair on television over the years. It was the way that he acted when no one else was watching that made her like him. The jokes whispered at the expense of the other guests, how he pointed out the people to avoid and rescued her when she wasn't able to get away on her own.



Fandom Category: The Hunger Games
Pairing: Johanna/Finnick, Finnick/Annie, Johanna/Gale
Fic Title: as far as tales go, this one is cautionary
Author: jada_jasmine
Link: http://jada-jasmine.livejournal.com/16797.html
Rating/Warning(s): R
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
WIP?: no

Why This Must Be Read:

Everyone is just so painfully in character in this fic. Ouchy in all the right places, the first few lines of this fic set the tone for the rest (and should tell you all you need to know):

Finnick said, “Cheat to the camera,” out of the side of his mouth. His smile was stretched tightly at the edges where his lips curled back to bare his gleaming teeth, wrinkling lines around his mouth.

Jo rolled her eyes and turned away, the curve of her shoulder blade sharp underneath her skin. The cameras caught a glimpse of her profile, the slightest second of her mouth turned downward, her jaw set on edge.

Cut back to Finnick, someone in an editing room said, and they zoomed in on his too-handsome face.

That should tell you everything you need to know about them both.



Fandom Category: The Hunger Games
Pairing: Finnick/Annie
Fic Title: Nereid
Author: littledelusion
Link: http://littledelusion.livejournal.com/72766.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13 (mentions of forced prostitution and violence)
Genre: Angst, Romance
WIP?: no

Why This Must Be Read:

This is a gorgeous look at the way Annie crept up on Finnick, how she came to be so important to him without even trying, starting with the first time he saw her, dancing in the moonlight at home and ending with her emerging, damaged but still Annie, from the arena.

Excerpt:
The first time he sees her, she’s dancing at the docks under the moon. He has no idea why she’s dancing but it draws him in like the tide. Her dance is clearly practiced, a ritual, and her movements are smooth and precise. Her hair is dark and wavy, swirling out when she twirls, and he wishes he could see her face.

She stumbles on a broken board and he doesn’t even realize he’s running toward her, catching her before she falls. She looks up and her eyes are green, green like the sea.

“Oh,” she says and he knows she’s recognized him. Oh, Finnick Odair.

He waits for her to gasp or squeal, to try and feel his arms or his chest (like they all do at Capitol, laughing with breath that smells like drinks and money), but she does nothing. She blinks up at him and smiles wryly before pulling away and dancing again.