After the storm (Johanna)

[kawuli]

After the storm (2488 words) by kawuli
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Johanna Mason, Annie Cresta
Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, canon-typical horribleness, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Drug Use, Additional Warnings In Author's Note

Summary:

Johanna, in the aftermath.

(I am too cranky for formatting, sorry, you can read on AO3)

Comments

[roguedemon.livejournal.com]

I thought this fic was great. Really wrenching and dark, but that fits my mood atm. Sorry I've kind of avoided fandom a lot lately -- all I can do is agonize about the election, and I've been glued to political blogs. And my health has been rough -- that's normal, but it's not a good mix with current events, psychologically speaking. This needs to be over.

I've been re-reading your stuff lately, and I just wanted to let you know I've really enjoyed it. Everything hangs together nicely. And well. I'm in a Hunger Games state of mind.

[kawuli.livejournal.com]

oh my GOD this FUCKING ELECTION I can not even. At least it's over soon? Except that if Trump gets elected I just....i think my head might actually explode. Since when does a fucking presidential candidate require trigger warnings for sexual assault and victim-blaming horseshit? And STILL get 40-whatever-538-says-now percent of the vote? That says a lot of horrible, frightening things about Americans honestly...

Anyway, yes writing.... when I can actually write things it's a sign stuff is getting better, brain-wise, even when what I write is bleak as shit. Sometimes you just need the catharsis. I'm glad it hangs together--I'm never quite sure how well it all works for people who aren't me, since I write all over the place.

I hope your health stuff gets less awful.

[roguedemon.livejournal.com]

I've signed up to phone bank over the next four days. And I despise any kind of cold calling, I'm not good at it. I mean, I thought Hillary had it in the bag, but this FBI stuff is really freaking me out. I donated money to key senate races, but I'm going to do the calling for Hillary because GOTV is crucial. SO wish me luck.

Regarding writing, sometimes dark stuff is exactly the catharsis I need. Sometimes I need a happy ending, but I always want the ending to be earned, not mindlessly fluffy. I think I need to rematch some Jessica Jones.

[kawuli.livejournal.com]

GOOD LUCK I would help if I wasn't broke and already way too stressed about work and life and everything to even think about it...

I hear you about needing happy endings to be earned. I usually say I want hopeful endings, which my or may not be happy but at least are sort of aimed in the right direction.

And oh man, I love Jessica Jones but I've only been able to rewatch bits and pieces because it hits me really hard...

[roguedemon.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I understand about being a broke grad student. Every dollar counts though -- even a one dollar contribution is significant because it shows that Hillary and other candidates have support from small donors. That's my feeling anyway, after listening to Bernie yammer on about how superior he was because of all his small donors. Then he refused to release his tax returns for 2015 or anything besides the short summary of his 2014 returns, and bought a 600,000 Lake house. Whatever. Anyway, that's not pressure to donate, so please don't take it that way. I wanted to reiterate that the smallest effort counts even if it seems futile. I totally understand not being able to think about even one more thing.

I did forty calls today. It was good, and I'm going to do more over the weekend and on Monday. I got one guy to commit to voting on Tuesday, a few people who said they'd already voted, and one person who wasn't supporting Hillary. And some wrong/disconnected numbers. The rest were voicemail. But Hillary's people are adamant that this process works, and every little bit helps, even if you're just freeing up other volunteers to connect with voters who answer their phones, lol. And it helps to collect data on voter info that's incorrect. The upshot is that it was easier and much less nerve-wracking than I thought it would be (I hate cold calling, always have, I prefer face to face or email/messaging). I'm going to do this again for other elections, now that I've taken the plunge. I should have been doing this long time ago, but hey, it's never too late.

I think the happy/hopeful endings need to fit the fandom. There are some fandoms that are much more suited to happier, fluffier fic, and that can be lovely if done well. It takes a good writer to write cheerful fic that isn't cloying. I feel that THG fandom suffers from an excess of writers who just write sugary stuff that is utterly unsuited to the characters. However, it offers opportunities to writers who like to tackle the kind of fic where characters struggle and work through serious problems and arrive at hopeful places after going through shit. And you've done a great job with that.

I just need to watch the part where she snaps Kilgrave's neck again. SMILE! I love that show for talking about that kind of misogyny, the more subtle stuff that women get hit with all the time. I have always hated being told to smile, I have a resting serious face. :P

Lately I've been on a kick of rewatching old Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series shows. I have always loved the Buffyverse, and even with its flaws it's very cathartic to watch. I love the mixture of drama and humor, often dark humor. I love that the characters develop and work through so much shit.

Well, anyway, hang in there. Take care of yourself. ((hugs))

[kawuli.livejournal.com]

Good to know about the calling! Maybe next election...

I literally gasped when I watched the "Smile" thing the first time. It was just so amazing. And ha, that's another example of the kind of hopeful ending I like: it's hard-earned and it's not like everything is fixed, but it's not "welp everything is terrible forever." But agreed--you gotta earn it. I'm actually really pleased you think I do that well--it's a huge goal of mine. Also why I tend to write toward somewhat canon-divergent "not everyone dies" postwar stuff, because fuck, if all those OCs go through hell and then DIE it's just fucking depressing. So. NOPE. (lord, there's a bunch of actually-plotty stuff to get there that I really want to write sometime when I'm not braindead by the time I get home from work...)

(speaking of work...back to that now)