#because it's 11 pm that's why

[the-sun-and-the-sea]

I have just read your fic 'Dulce et Decorum Est' and I am absolutely losing my shit. This is a work of art, that's the only way I can explain it. I was absolutely sobbing through most of it lol.

I absolutely love how you wrote Ada, including the little parallels to Rue (both cared for Katniss/Finnick even when they were passed out for days, both used a trap involving fire etc.). It got me imagining what sort of speech Finnick would give on his victory tour after, specifically when faced with Ada's family. Also omg the bit towards the end where though he didn't have to kill Corrinne, he still blames himself because Sigrid was angry at him, I am crying.

Another thing, I think it makes perfect sense that Finnick was trained to be a victor but was reaped earlier than he should've been! I never would've thought of that, but even in catching fire, he has some skills that seem more taught over time rather than learned hands on in the arena.

Sorry for the long ass paragraph, I just wanted to let you know how much I love this fic and how well written and emotional it is. I don't cry much but this fic got me lol.

Hi, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! It's so incredible to hear how my stories resonate with people and I am always down to talk about them. If you don't mind a bit of a ramble, I'd like to talk about how this fic was created. (I put it under the cut because it ended up being long - I just love this fic and want to talk about it!)

So I've been writing about Finnick and Annie for over three years, but I've never really touched on Finnick's Games, partially because I hadn't been super interested and partially because it was a situation I couldn't make a lot of sense out of. How did he end up in the arena at fourteen? More importantly, how did he actually win?

The scenario I present in the fic makes the most sense to me and honestly it's the only way I see it now. I definitely feel like he's a Career, but that doesn't account for him going in so young. But him being reaped (along with being fourteen) is what allows him to fly under the radar, with his opponents not taking him seriously until it's too late. It's a logical but unfortunate progression of events, but here we are.

Crafting Finnick's Games took a lot of thought because I didn't want to get it wrong. And I know we have basically no canon information on his Games, so actually violating canon would be pretty hard to do. I just felt such a connection to the character and his story that I wanted to present everything—from the reaping until the time he goes home—in a way that felt true, organic, and did his story justice. That's probably also why I took so long to actually write his Games; I wanted to get it just right.

I love the arena itself, and again, it needed to be the perfect balance of advantageous for Finnick but not obviously so. Finnick's victory was partially riding on his opponents underestimating him, so he needed an arena that wouldn't make people target him immediately, but it needed to be something he could still work with. So that's what I tried to do, and I think that balance ended up being super important. Because winning the Games, for anyone, is about many factors. Everything has to line up just right, even for someone as skilled as Finnick. That victory could've been Sigrid's, or Corinne's, or anyone's. So I also had to spend a lot of time within the story proving why it was Finnick's.

His relationships with the other tributes became important to me because we know from canon that Finnick loves deeply and that his relationships are important to him. The few days he spends alone in the arena take a toll on him because he needs community, and he finds that again in Ada, which I loved exploring. Pretty much everyone who's commented on the fic has said they like Ada, and that makes me so happy to hear. I like her too.

You mentioned seeing Finnick's Victory Tour, and honestly I might continue in that direction. I've never explored Finnick at this point in his life but I found his youth here so interesting to work with, so I definitely might give the Tour a try! No promises but if I do continue, I will make sure to post it here on Tumblr.

The story is 18k words and I wrote it in about three days because it just absolutely consumed me a few weekends ago. I could not stop thinking about it and developing new ideas. Once I got the arena down it was smooth from there, because that arena ended up inspiring me so much. I loved the vibe of it, and how Finnick functioned within it.

I know you did not necessarily ask for this overenthusiastic explanation, but I do feel like I've been dying to share it, so I hope you don't mind. Thank you again for your kind words, they mean a lot to me!

[hystericfae]

I counted all the dogs and cats and it's 9 dogs and 7 cats plus the new kitten 😩

[i-am-a-secret-ssshhh]

I know, like, logically that professor's are people too and are often up at all hours of the night. But, it's also kind of weird when they respond at weird hours. Like, I emailed my professor at 6:30 pm, and didn't expect a response until tomorrow morning, and they emailed me back at like 11 at night. And I don't know how to feel about that.

[milkstoner]

I don't have an insta 😔

I do have to respect that honestly.

[loveyouhomex]

MOODS

Bea had told him before that Henry sometimes gets into these moods, where he vanishes into his mind for hours or days, not talking, barely eating, hardly existing. She’s asked him, way before the whole shitshow with the leak of the e-mails happened, whether he would stay with her brother during those times, too, whether he would love those moods exactly like he loves the other parts of Henry. It was a no-brainer.

📖Read on AO3

[bunibelles]

Currently making a tres leches cake (at 3 am) and I think I messed up the sponge :’D Like this milk is not absorbing that well. Putting it in the fridge I hope tmrw it’ll look alright 🫶🏼

[sassenach082]

ch seventeen sneak peak

Jester, furiously waving paper orders and storming into Viper's office: why in the HELL does this say Kazansky is back on the Roosevelt

Viper: because Kazansky is back on the Roosevelt

Jester: WHY IS HE BACK ON THE ROOSEVELT!? WE'VE GOT NINETEEN MORE TRAINING DAYS!! WE NEED INSTRUCTORS

Viper: we'll make do

Jester, furiously: what the hell did you do

Viper, offended: me?! I didn't do shit! what I did was get woken up at 3am by an admiral's aide attempting to pound down my door and answering it in my goddamn bathrobe!

Jester, huffing: FINE

Jester: what did your idiot son do then

Viper:

Jester:

Viper:

Jester:

Viper:

Jester: I'll KILL HIM-

Viper, scrambling out of his chair: wait a second I don't actually know what he did yet I'm waiting for a call ba- hey where are you going?RICK WE HAVE A PLAN GODDAMN IT, RICK WAIT, RICK GET BACK HERE-

[binch-i-might-be]

one thing about me is I'm uhhhh Tired

[stereax]

woohoo spiraling out of control right now (what else is new really I've been fucked up and spiraling for weeks now) and trying to figure out reasons not to delete my tumblr and discord and myself along the way

but you know. talking about myself on my blog automatically means I'm attention seeking and fishing for pity right? should just shut up and stick to the news eh, it's all I'm good for :D

anyway if you need me I'll be in the corner reliving the past, coming to terms with reality, and trying to convince myself I'm not the problem despite every indication to the contrary ✌︎︎

[fridayyy-13th]

siiiiiigh.

[delicatetaysversion]

bestie is coming home on 1st im having thoughts

[arnold-layne]

ive been having nightmares and waking up in cold sweat every night for weeks now. when will this stop

[rubys-domain]

i kinda don't want to play genshin tbh. i just want to play minecraft

[orcelito]

Ok. Feeling this one too.

Probably more than the other two of the night, tbh

[eleven-words-of-wisdom]

URGENT EWOW ANNOUNCEMENT

Due to a bug with google forms, the deadline has been extended about 24 hours (September 16, 15:00 (that's 3 PM) PDT|September 16, 10 PM UTC).

Going forward, make sure:

You receive a confirmation email (check spam)

Or the form says you've responded

Also, if you keep the form open for long periods of time (like me!), you might need to hit submit again.

When I've hit submit after the form's been open awhile, sometimes it just brings me back to the the same screen.

Usually, I just hit submit again. Then, it goes through. So, it works for me.

But always double check if it went through! My experience might not be everyone's experience.

So, if you haven't responded, go! And if you have, check your email (and your spam too) to see if you got your confirmation email! Happy EWOWing!

time conversion under the cut

oh so TODAY's the day i've got to get on the timeline spreadsheet...