The Star-Crossed Lovers From District 12 - A Celebration of Everlark Fanfiction

 

Guest post by Caryn aka papofglencoe on tumblr. Artwork by the talented loving-mellark

It’s an acute sort of pain, shipping the star-crossed lovers from District 12. In the world that Suzanne Collins created, literally everything conspires to prevent Katniss and Peeta from surviving, falling in love, and getting their happily ever after. They’re pitted against each other in not one but two death arenas and are thrust into the middle of a war. They are used and physically and emotionally torn apart by sadistic and warring factions. At every turn, they are encouraged by the conditions of their lives to leave each other behind, kill each other, forget each other, let each other go.

But they can’t. And they don’t. They stay with each other, protect each other. They claw their way through the depths of hell for each other. Because that’s what they do. And somehow, despite the fact that the odds are never in their favor, their love endures. It withstands every test thrown at it. It is tried by fire, and it emerges fortified.

If that’s not real love, then nothing is.

There is no question that The Hunger Games grapples with issues that have far-reaching sociological and ethical implications. It is as much a scathing critique of war as it is a commentary about child abuse, the frivolous excesses of our society, and the depths to which media will go to manipulate and warp our sense of reality. Above all, though, it is fundamentally a story about love in all its forms.

Love is the spark that starts the rebellion. Love is the shot that ends the war. Love is the fire that will burn forever.

What begins with a single act of courage to save her sister becomes a tale about how one person can save her people. With her every step of the way is the boy with with the bread. From the beginning, Peeta’s kindness and compassion give Katniss the hope to live another day. His strategy, which is nothing more than an honest effort to love and protect her, galvanizes her as a symbol. His powers of persuasion move and inspire her. His words of reason reach her when no one else can. And, when he returns to her, it is his unwavering loyalty, tenderness, and love that bring her back from the brink. Long before she is willing or able to accept what her feelings for Peeta mean, they are there, real and irrevocable.

To be star-crossed is to be simultaneously thwarted by fate but also predestined. Every hurdle thrown in Everlark’s way is only a temporary impediment to something that “would have happened anyway.” Ultimately, no matter how much Katniss may have resisted acknowledging it, she needs Peeta to survive, and he needs her. They are two magnets drawn to each other. In their unbreakable attraction and their refusal to part, they represent the “hope against hopelessness we often feel in life, brightness in the dark, and the endurance of a real, true, complicated but enduring love.” (myusernamehere)  

Whereas star-crossed lovers like Romeo and Juliet meet a tragic end and 1984’s Winston and Julia sell each other out to save their own skins, Katniss and Peeta fight against the odds for each other, stay true to each other, and win. peetasallhehasleft notes that, “They don’t know the outcome, that don’t know how it’s going to end. So by them choosing to bridge the gap, it’s them saying that, despite what’s happened, what is happening, and what will happen, I still choose to make this journey with you, regardless of how it ends.” Theirs is a hard-fought, bittersweet victory that leaves them scarred and damaged, reassembled facsimiles of their former selves. But their journey represents every great love that refuses to be ravaged and wasted by time and experience. It is their insistence on growing together and not apart that inspires hope and adoration.

It’s painful enough to have your OTP put through the ringer, continually battered and beaten. Factor in, then, the exquisite agony of being evasively told that they “grow back together.” After seeing Everlark fractured apart and warped into mutt versions of themselves, we are denied the joy of seeing them heal. At the end, the shutters are finally closed on our prying eyes. Katniss gives us, as her audience, just enough information to assure us that she and Peeta are fine, but she finally has the power to keep the sacred details for herself. And she does.

It is this unknowing that brings so many writers to the world of Everlark fanfiction. Although it is certainly not true for all of us, for many of us, the appeal of reading and writing Everlark fanfiction begins with a dissatisfaction about not knowing. How did Katniss and Peeta come to grow back together? What did their lives look like after the war, between “real” and the meadow? The questions rapidly spiral out from there.

One of the reasons The Hunger Games provides such rich soil for exploration is the limitations of its narrative- or, more specifically, of its narrator. Someone who professes to be bad with words, is disinclined to communicate with an audience she resents having, and suffers from PTSD should automatically call into question what it is we think we know about what we’ve read. What would the story look like from alternate points of view? In what ways can we not trust Katniss to know the truth, or, if she knows it, when might we expect her, as an unreliable narrator, to evade it?

Those are just in canon considerations. What happens if you remove the Games from the equation? What would happen if any one variable in their universe changed?

Or what would happen if Katniss and Peeta had met in another time and place altogether?

Fanfiction is appealing, not only for exploring questions about the text we’ve been given and for in-universe expansion, but for taking the characters we know and love and placing them in unfamiliar circumstances to push them to their limits. In what ways can you recast Katniss and Peeta and have them retain their essential qualities and love? An allure of reading and writing AU Everlark is seeing how Katniss and Peeta, in any situation, over any one of a hundred lifetimes, are actually more than deserving of each other; they are perfect for each other.

When Panem Propaganda approached me and asked me to write an article celebrating Everlark fanfiction for their 100 Days of Mockingjay countdown, I was incredibly flattered and taken aback. To put it mildly, I’m not an obvious or immediate choice. I’m so new to the world of fanfiction that you could say, accurately, I haven’t even really cut my teeth. I can’t pretend to be an expert or historian. But that’s exactly why I agreed to write the article. As I see it, I’m like the family labrador: I’m someone who greets you at the front door, welcomes you inside, and encourages you to join the pack in playing ball.

So this is my call to you: You should be here with us. You don’t know what you’ve been missing.    

I joined tumblr this past March, and at that time the extent of my knowledge about fanfiction started and ended with EL James’ 50 Shades of Gray, with some cliched nonsense about an inner goddess and some questionably written BDSM. Because my exposure was so limited, I didn’t understand that fanfiction could transcend generic tropes and elevate the source material. There’s smut, absolutely. Beautifully rendered, sometimes heartbreaking, always steamy Everlark smut. But in our fandom, there is also a thoughtful exploration of social issues, discussions that tackle domestic and sexual abuse, disability, reproductive rights, substance abuse, suicide, racial inequality, self-harming, and PTSD. The stories can be challenging, thought-provoking, life-altering in their ability to open your eyes. And there’s fluff, too, make no mistake. Carefree, sweetly delivered stories about Everlark meet-cutes. Using the familiar characters we know and love - and those we love to hate - fanfiction authors push the boundaries of genre and situation to create something completely new and fresh every day.  

When I joined tumblr I was perfectly content with my state of ignorance- or so I thought. And if I hadn’t read any fanfiction, I certainly hadn’t tried my hand at writing it. College and graduate school inculcated in me the notion that writing was a strictly academic affair, something you did to argue your way into earning an “A” and then, ultimately, a piece of paper with a foil stamp bearing your college’s crest. It was something you did out of obligation, not love. It paid the bills but never the soul.

Strange terms and acronyms would pop up on my dash with alarming frequency, things like: WIP, drabble, one shot, SSS, Freaky Fic Friday, beta, OOC (that’s bad), and IC (that’s good). I had no idea what any of it meant other than that it was part of that other, shadowy world. At some point, out of an unbearable curiosity born from not knowing, I clicked on another user’s drabble. You know, just to see.

The fall was so swift I don’t know when my face and the floor first met.

I reject the adage that anyone who can do something well shouldn’t do it for free as nothing more than self-serving cant. It’s a gift, what authors of fanfiction provide us, something akin to community service. It is a labor of love born out of the compulsion to share whatever their brains can conceive for characters that none of us can leave behind.

I’ve bought exactly two books since March, but I haven’t read this much in years. That’s a paradox brought to you by fanfiction.     

Suddenly, I was exposed to a community of writers, hundreds of authors busily at work, eking out whatever time they could squeeze from their personal lives and work schedules to write about these characters that I love, too. As someone on the periphery, it is amazing to see the dynamics of this community, to see authors pushing, challenging, and prompting each other to advance not just their stories, but their craft. These authors are not only honest with each other, they are as fiercely protective of each other as the characters they are writing about. They work in concert to reshape and redefine the world of The Hunger Games. Peeta’s brother Rye? Yeah. Fanfiction gave us that guy.   

To be frank, it can be completely overwhelming, arriving to the party eight months before the release of the last movie, and trying to puzzle out everything that’s happened in the years before you showed up. When you’re talking about the canon ship of a blockbuster franchise based off a series of bestselling novels, you’re not exactly dealing with a niche market, either. There are thousands of Everlark authors writing across multiple platforms, many of whom have been writing for years. How do you even begin to immerse yourself in this community of authors, either as a reader or as a writer?

There’s only one way: you start small.

It would be impossible to mention every Everlark author, much less a significant number, in the space I have allotted without quickly turning this into an abridged and incomplete index of names. Part of my charter with this article, however, is to highlight some of the authors who have inspired us. The hope is that I can spark a discussion celebrating the efforts and achievements ofall of our favorite fanfiction authors. Although I can’t use this space to recommend every author who merits attention, I can assure you that every author I have chosen to feature richly deserves to be celebrated for their contributions to the fandom.

My goal in spotlighting these authors is not only to celebrate them individually, but ultimately to provide others who are new to the fandom with a few signposts for where to locate quality fanfiction. The intention is to provide others with some guidance as to where they can safely begin their deep dive, knowing that they’re in capable hands.

Having said all this, I’d like to celebrate a few of the Everlark authors who have influenced me, and, in turn, a few of the authors who have influenced them. Although these authors have written a range of stories, you’ll probably notice that my interests skew toward canon-divergent and AU.

In addition to this article, there is also a companion piece listing 50 Essential Everlark fics, as voted on by Everlark authors and tumblr bloggers. This list includes links to seminal works by authors like silvercistern, DustWriter, nonemoreblack, Mehjiren, salanderjade, aimmyarrowshigh, and HGRomance. The latter, although she was not interviewed for this article, merits particular notice for her achievements. Three of her fics appear on the list of Essential Everlark, and she has already published one novel, Touch (as Natalia Jaster), and is in the process of publishing her second, Trick.  

Stay tuned throughout the week to Panem Propaganda for interviews with each of these featured authors as they talk about what it means to write Everlark. Each post will include direct links to their works.

The following authors are listed in alphabetical order by pen name and include introductions by fellow authors and readers.   

Amelia_Day (AO3, FF, tumblr: toastbabies) is widely known for being an AU virtuoso. Her works consistently push the boundaries of character, particularly Peeta’s, recasting him in ways that would make him unrecognizable in the hands of a less-skilled author. She can place Everlark into the unlikeliest of scenarios, from the green room of a porn set to a clubhouse of an MC, and still create something authentic and real that deeply resonates with her readers. She finds a way every time, in any universe, to maintain the essential characteristics of Katniss and Peeta. And she’s peerless when it comes to writing lines that pierce the place where your heart used to be.

Discussing Amelia’s ability to do all of this, jennagill writes, “My favorite fics from Amelia all explore Peeta’s vulnerabilities, whether it be disability in With Eyes To Hear and Low Expectations, parental abuse in Eggshells, disfiguration in Lines of Demarcation, an old flame burning for his ex-wife in C'est La Vie, an underlying desire for something real in Go Easy On Me, a focus on fatherhood in What You Deserve, and then there’s that guy Scout from The Nightlock MC, who is just undeniably hot. Amelia takes the basic Everlark building blocks and constructs a thrilling roller coaster ride that feels like something so far and yet so near to canon, it leaves you breathless.”

Annieoakley1 (AO3, FF, tumblr: everlarkeologist), by her own account, studies the mating habits of Katniss and Peeta. But she does so much more than just this, imbuing her stories with tenderness, love, passion, humor, and wit. Her one shot “Love Is…” is a master class in how to write romance well; it’s narratively innovative in a way that compels you to read on, to get to the end of the aisle with Katniss and Peeta. A love letter to a true marriage, it reminded me of why I decided to become a wedding photographer in the first place: it’s all about the groom’s face the first time he sees his bride.

Praising Annie’s writing, trish86 says, “I loved her style immediately, so much, that I kept reading each one of her fics, followed her to tumblr, and then searched for drabbles. Whether she’s writing AU Panem or AU modern days, her writing is fluid, and you find yourself easily hooked in her fanfiction, reading nonstop, and then asking for more. I love how she describes the scenes, the emotions, the hilarious dialogue, the thoughts of the main characters, and lets us, the readers, relate to what she’s writing. I think she manages drama and tension like Katniss manages her bow.”

Atetheredmind (AO3, FF, tumblr: muttpeeta) was one of the first authors who drew me into the world of fanfiction, and what immediately struck me about her writing is her journalistic sensibility. Whether it’s The Education of Peeta Mellark, For a Good Time Call, Hero of the Story, or The Act, she never missteps. She not only possesses a precision that makes full use of every word, wasting nothing, but her instincts when it comes to characterization and plotting are infallible. There’s nothing overwrought about her prose, nothing unnecessarily there. Her stories, while being incredibly sexy, are always equally intelligent, exploring issues like gender roles, disability, and social inequity. Also: it’s commonly accepted that the way she can write a slow burn leading up to insanely sexy smut is unparalleled.

Discussing her merits as an author sohypothetically, writes, “Her language, her characterization while writing amazingly emotional love scenes is huge.” wrestlerpeeta adds, “Amy is pretty much one of the cornerstones of Everlark fanfiction. She has this way of writing that completely immerses you in the story. No matter what situation she puts Katniss and Peeta into, you never doubt that they are Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. She captures them in a way that makes each incarnation of them unique, yet inherently still themselves. She always leaves you wanting more.”

Authoresskika (AO3, FF, tumblr: spookiestkika) is unflinching when it comes to facing uneasy truths. Whether she’s drawing parallels between terrorism and the Games or writing a gripping political thriller, she engages and reflects on canon and carries her observations over to her stories. Countless authors have described her work to me in the same terms: deliberative, thoughtful, intelligent, insightful. Even when writing an AU, she retains the qualities of her characters, their insecurities and emotions, and what she creates is something that feels like canon. She doesn’t back down from putting her characters through pain, and the agony they experience feels so genuine you can’t help but experience it, too.

loving-mellark writes about Kika’s abilities, “She can break your heart like it’s made of glass and then heal it in no time. And her stories have these dark edges I really love in fics.” Speaking to me about Kika’s seminal work All the President’s Men, hutchhitched explains, “The Panem she creates maintains the sci-fi vibe of the original series but takes the characters in a completely unique and alternative direction. Peeta maintains his way with words, but he takes the leadership role that Katniss plays in the series. Katniss maintains her maternal pull, but it’s for Peeta’s son Rye. In short, the story keeps the inherent-ness of each character but places them in a world that is uniquely Kika’s and completely believable.”

Court81981 (FF, AO3) is, with reason, one of the most widely followed Everlark authors on FF.net. She possesses the ability to create rich, fully-realized worlds with stories that progress in measured steps toward the finish line. She is consistently praised by her peers for her technical proficiency, her mastery of narrative form, her painstaking research, and her ability to lead her readers through a gamut of emotions. All of these things are true, but part of what makes her brilliant is that you never see the wizard behind the curtain. Her stories are a romping, rollicking read. They’re smart, sexy, funny, and heart-breaking. Every story she writes feels like a magnum opus: For the Crown, Crash My Party, Windfall, A Favorable Wind. Few authors have the ability to explode someone’s dash with seemingly illegible letters that simultaneously mean nothing and everything the minute she posts a chapter: ASDFGHJKL!!! CMP.

allhailthehutch cites her as a personal inspiration: “Court is one of the most talented writers in the fandom… She’s always so willing to help out other writers, while updating her many stories she gifts us with. There’s no way to really describe how thankful I am for her. Her stories have made me laugh, cry, and almost faint from how sexy they are. She deserves all the praise in the world, and I look forward to reading more from her. I hope that one day I can create stories that touch people like her stories have touched me.” stacylk corroborates, adding, “She makes everything look easy. Not only did I learn from her to research and do the work when it comes to storytelling, she taught me not to cheap-out on a trope or a second rate shortcut. Take the time, I think she’d say, along with show-don’t-tell.”

DandelionSunset (AO3, FF, tumblr: dandelion-sunset) is, as they say in the business, a “triple threat.” She has not only written some of the most beloved Everlark fictions, but she also illustrates and makes gifsets and manips. Heather writes with a raw vulnerability that connects with readers on a profoundly personal level; she lays it all out on the table for you, whether you can stand to hear it or not. Perhaps best known for writing Sever, a harrowing tale of abuse and neglect rooted in her own childhood experiences, she refuses to shy away from portraying the effects of physical abuse, mental illness, and substance abuse. Her current fiction, Reviving Romance, provides a stark juxtaposition, tonally, to Sever, and speaks to her versatility. She can craft stories that are tragic, sweet, tender, sexy, intelligent, and- at least on the surface- cynical. And her instincts are impeccable. She never rushes her narrative, and she walks you through each step of her characters’ thought processes, revealing just how methodical and careful an author she is.   

Raving about Sever, smartalexy says, “ The story is rich with angst, but in the middle of all of that darkness is the dandelion- Everlark. While the story is not completed yet, the twists and turns are enough to place this story at the top of my read list. Getting a chapter is like Christmas.” stacylkadds,  “Sever blew away everything I knew about Katniss. It was…amazing. Detailed and stark and brutal and realistic and heartrending. There’s no fluff here, no ‘let’s do another rehash of a different arena!’ The pacing was great, the plot was well-crafted and the characterization was superb. I remember thinking that I wished I could write like that and that I hadn’t read anything quite as good in such a long while. [Her] story is thought-provoking. It’s also technically sound. She reinforced for me that fanfic writers are writers. Damn good ones. We have a story to tell. Because we love these characters who mean something to us, we will pay tribute to them in the best way we know how.”

Everlark_Pearl (AO3, FF, tumblr: ashyblondwaves) has an almost chameleonic ability to adapt her prose to the story that she’s telling. In Synchronicity, a collection of one shots she wrote about Everlark exploring their intimacy post-Mockingjay, her style is direct, fluid, tactile. The words flow seamlessly, propelling you forward. The collection is so sweet, romantic, sexy, clever, and steamy that it broke FF.net (well, sort of… it got booted off their website for explicit content). In Twelve Nights, which, depending on your views could be canon, she interweaves such vivid description that she flirts with poetry. Time and again, across her body of work, from Speed Date to Sagittariato They Go to Hell Alone she has proven that she is unafraid of taking chances, of making unusual and unexpected choices. Her voice is singular, her contributions to the fandom completely unique.  

titania522 talks about the technical achievement of Synchronicity, “What makes [it] so special is that [the vignettes] are very close to canon. They don’t have years of fanon in between to influence their characters. It’s like you’re reading canon. There’s such a sense of progress and poignancy in their growing together, and it is realistic because there are moments in which they backslide- it isn’t a straightforward path without obstacles. But they figure it out and mature as the timeline progresses. It is such a pleasure to read. It helps that the smut is hot! Finally, the writing is very clean and direct- there is no excess in the story- everything in this series matters. It’s one of the best fics of its kind.”

Fnurfnur (AO3, tumblr: fnurfnur) is renowned for her humor. She’s endlessly witty, clever, and brilliant, and she brings that sense of play to her fics like Sweat Equity and Range of Motion. Although she turns to humor most often, she is equally adept at writing dramatic material, likeSurviving Death and The People of Panem v. Katniss Everdeen. In the latter, she explores what Katniss Everdeen’s trial might have looked like had Suzanne Collins included it in Mockingjay, taking pains to alter nothing that had been mentioned in canon. The resulting product feels cinematic in scope. What people may not know is how methodically she researches material prior to writing- including types of siding for Sweat Equity. This attention to detail brings a sense of authenticity to her writing that permeates every word.

In a chat about Fnurfnur’s fiction, joshs-left-earlobe says, “I really love Sweat Equity, but the first Everlark fanfiction I ever read was The Little Match Boy. She had written it for a fairy tale challenge, and omg the tears! I made it a priority to start Sweat Equity, which is of course AU. It’s hilarious and has such great character descriptions. I give her major kudos for writing The People of Panem v. Katniss Everdeen. This story is one of those that they could have used to fill in the screenplay. It felt like an outtake of the actual series. I loved it. I will read anything written by her, sure that I will enjoy it.”

JLaLa (AO3, FF, tumblr: jlalafics) fosters an emotional and personal connection with her readers in a way that few other authors can. When polled about their favorite fics and authors, JLaLa is mentioned constantly, and in these terms: “real,” “honest,” “heartbreaking,” “complex,” “accessible,” and “resonant.” These adjectives are as true of her fiction as the person who creates it, and at times it’s impossible to differentiate. The two are inextricably linked.   

When asked about what JLaLa’s works mean to her, catching-dandelions replies, “From the moment I opened one of her stories, I instantly fell in love with everything about it. The style, the way everything seemed to come together perfectly in the middle, and then fill out in the end to complete the perfect story. I can tell that she’s someone who is going to go very far in life, in the writing career, or whatever else she decides to pursue.

dianaflynn22 elaborates, “I was still new to fanfiction when I was introduced to JLaLa, and I was reluctant to read any modern day AU. Obviously, I have completely changed my tune on that!drivebyanon sent me her story Bataan and said I had to read it. That story is now etched in my brain as one of the best stories I have ever read, be it fanfiction or fiction… It is heartbreaking and beautiful. It’s a story about the power of love where one of the protagonists is only in the mind’s eye through most of it, something to hold to in order to get through the hard times. This story shows what makes her such an amazing writer. Her stories are complex but at the same time very much grounded in the real world. She is not afraid to put her characters in unexpected relationships, but never loses sight of of their true personalities. There is no black and white in her stories- or even shades of grey. It is a beautiful rainbow of complex emotions and narrative that makes you glad you took the journey she set you on.”

Konzelwoman (AO3, FF, tumblr: everybirdfellsilent) is perhaps the newest of the featured authors, having written Everlark fanfiction for just under two years. She has made an indelible mark in that time, however, publishing around one hundred drabbles and ten WIPs and creating theEverlarkian Archives, a writer’s forum that provides support, prompts, and writing resources for over a hundred Everlark authors. She is undoubtedly the fluffiest of the featured writers,  applying her trademark sitcom-style humor to her stories in a way that feels like you’re watching a marathon of How I Met Your Mother. She brings a kinetic passion to her writing, with punchy, pithy dialogue and rat-a-tat pacing. Her way of framing the world is uniquely hers, and her version of Everlark is full of banter, flirtation, chemistry, and wit.  

smartalexy affirms, “If you need a new story to read, pick any one of Kristen’s stories, from Stop and Smell the Roses to A Matter of Time. Each story is different from the next. However, it wasn’t her [multi-chapter] stories that initially drew me to her work, it was her many drabbles. Any type of mood you may be in, I’m sure there is a fantastic drabble from Kristen that will satisfy that. She may be ‘new,’ but Kristen has contributed much to this fandom in such a short time.”

Misshoneywell (AO3, FF, tumblr: peetaspenis) deserves, in all actuality, two separate posts for her contributions to the fandom. Not only is she a prolific and auteuristic author (more on that in a moment), but she is also responsible for creating and moderating Prompts in Panem (PiP), a seven-day writing challenge open to everyone who has, over the course of its seven rounds and two holiday specials, launched the writing careers of countless authors in the fandom. She has provided an open and welcoming forum for writers of all levels of (in)experience to gather and share their writing and art. Even if she weren’t an exceptional author, for that contribution alonewe would be indebted to her.

chele20035 states that if it weren’t for PiP, “I wouldn’t be writing. She has given new writers a place to gather and to share… to the rest of the fandom.” stacylk adds, “PiP is a way for writers in the fandom to share snippets of stories or one shots. It’s like gorging yourself at an Everlark buffet of bacchanalian proportion, cooked up by the best chefs in the world, concocting dishes based on a different theme every day. Try new things. Don’t play it safe. Everyone’s doing it, so what do you have to lose? Some of my best ideas have come from PiPs, as have some of my favorite stories from other authors.”

catching-dandelions similarly lauds PiP: “[It] has been something that… has made a huge impact on who I am as a writer. Not only has it given me the chance to read so many wonderful stories, interpretations, and works, it’s provided me the courage to begin writing outside of my comfort zone… I’d say that PiP has played one of the biggest roles in my life, in regards to starting out my writing career. It’s pushed me to trying new things, and for that, I’ll be forever grateful. Not only that, but it’s allowed me to enjoy the amazing writing of others, and experience new things like nothing before. That’s something you wouldn’t trade for the world.”

But, aside from all that Jessa has contributed to the fandom through PiP, there is the matter that she is an exceptional author, having carved out a space that is distinctly hers. Her prose stubbornly, doggedly resists the cliche and trite, and the worlds she creates are characteristically unsentimental and subversive. She recasts Katniss and Peeta into abject situations, putting them in extremis, and then she challenges you to defy common sense and traditional rules of morality to sympathize with them. Whether it’s writing about incest or sociopathic!Peeta, she is never afraid to explore the dark side of the human condition. Yet, her methodology rejects gimmickry. She lures you into her characters’ worlds and insists, through her carefully crafted prose, that you still identify with them.

sothereff says, “MissHoneywell is the queen of the dark side, and while I know I can’t replicate what she does, she encourages me to take more risks in my writing.” loving-mellark concurs, adding that her writing is “ so brilliant… [it’s] cruel.” chele20035 points out that “she shows us… not everything is fluff.” joshs-left-earlobe writes, “You know when you’re about to delve into one of her stories that you’re going to get something different, perhaps taboo, perhaps forbidden, maybe a little (or a lot) shocking, and I LOVE that. Plus her writing is brilliant.” stacylk agrees, noting, “Butterflies in particular had me shaking my head saying, ‘This is so twisted and it’s so good! How the f—did she come up with this?’”

Monroeslittle (FF, tumblr: argyledpenguin) wastes no words. Her style - stark, unflinching, and spare - channels Suzanne Collins’ style of affectless narration in a way that few writers can. InHave Heart, My Dear, her writing feels like reportage, a factual delivery that makes the reader fill-in-the-blanks to discern the horror lurking behind the situation. She walks her reader through each agonizing moment of her stories, holding you accountable as witness to every ounce of angst and beauty that she pours into her tales. In The Water is Rising Quick, using just over ten thousand words, she gives you Everlark’s entire love story from Peeta’s point of view, her style so deceivingly guileless that you never question its place as fact. Never one to shy away from rending your heart in half, she shows you, tells you, exactly how it is. She weaves together canon plot lines and elements effortlessly, and whether she’s writing about Everlark in-Panem or during the American Civil War, you believe her.        

Speaking about monroeslittle’s contributions, peetaspenis says, “Maggie is a titan of fanfiction. She has set the standard for writing Everlark, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for her creative talents and wildly innovative storytelling. Maggie writes epic plot lines with what seems like effortless ease and can take the most ordinary idea and spin it into something memorable. She’s been a trailblazer for the world of AU within the fandom - she’s taken Suzanne Collins’ universe and tamed it into something that is wholly her own while still retaining the essence of the characters. Maggie doesn’t just write- she convinces. To me, that is the mark of a truly talented author.”

Peetasbunmyoven (FF, tumblr: peetasbunmyoven) is a master of emotions. She has the uncanny ability to make you literally laugh out loud, hysterically gasping for breath, and then, with one deft flick of her wrist and subtle pull of the heartstring, to reduce you into a sobbing heap. She can do all this in the space of a single paragraph. Bringing a poetic sensibility to everything she writes, she paints a scene with words and captures all the fears, frustrations, and longings of her characters. Her smut is always sexy and beautifully written, with little details peppered in that surprise you and command your attention. In every scene she writes, with every detail, she never forgets to convey the emotions. Pieces, although it is a difficult read, is a personal favorite of mine among her one shots; it explores the possibility that Peeta had been sexually assaulted in the Capitol during his captivity and torture. It takes courage, sensitivity, and skill to talk about sexual assault, and as a survivor, it resonated so deeply with me that it felt like a personal gift, something that had been whispered in my ear. Time and again, this is her hallmark: to weave tales that are universal in scope but feel like they have been spoken directly to you as the reader.

lovesbiggerthanpride writes, “Buns has an amazing gift of expressing a character’s inner thoughts and emotions by putting them into words. As a reader, it is very easy to connect with a story when you’ve experienced the same kind of heart-leaping joy or soul-crushing anguish. With her accessible writing style, Buns is able to do just that and provides a refreshing take on Katniss and Peeta’s relationship.” Addressing Buns’ strengths as an author and importance to the fandomyouarebeingridiculous adds, “I think every Everlark author has a way of influencing you whenever you read something… you always take a little bit of them with you. I have to call out my biggest Everlark cheerleader, though, peetasbunmyoven, as she is the one who always tries to push me to write.”

Sponsormusings (AO3, FF, tumblr: sponsormusings) has the ability to craft epic, sprawling Everlark love stories, from Drifting Between Grey and Blue and Portrait of a Victor. The worlds she creates are so expansive and fully actualized that you find yourself completely absorbed in the new canon she has created. Her writing feels both poetic and straight-forward; whereas her descriptions are evocative and conjure, in lifelike detail, the scene she has painted, her dialogue maintains the precision of Suzanne Collins’. It is easy to get swept away on the journey that she has carefully plotted out for you with characters that feel the same as they do in canon. Portrait of a Victor feels less like writing and more like cinema. The story is so palpable it feels like a living, breathing entity you can reach out and touch.  

loving-mellark points out: “Sponsormusings is brilliant in the way that she can give her characters a very unique personality that is still in character. And I think she has an excellent taste in everything.” chele20035 raves, “She is everything. She has given the fandom not only some of the sweetest AU’s, but she is also a great friend. Social Standing… was so in character, probably more than any [other] AU I’ve read. And… the ending, which I love! It’s the best work of any kind that I’ve read set during that time.”

Titania522 (AO3, FF, tumblr: titania522) is, without a doubt, the Peeta Mellark of this list. She is as kind and generous as she is gifted with words, her unassuming demeanor fostering a sense of camaraderie among her peers. She not only inspires confidence in others to contribute their voices to the chorus, but she inspires people through her fiction, too. As an author, her storyGood Again is repeatedly touted as one of the best and most influential of the “grow together” fics. She articulates and writes with fluency, taking a craft-based approach to her writing; she does the research, pays heed to the devil in the details, and applies a careful methodology. Her imagery is top-notch; she uses the seemingly infinite supply of words at her disposal to weave a vivid tapestry.   

jhutchmyanchor writes about Titania’s technical strengths, “What makes [her] a great author is that she’s able to capture Katniss and Peeta’s personalities from canon in all of her stories. Her descriptive writing allows you to visualize everything the characters are seeing and to feel each of their emotions along with them.” notanislander corroborates what many others have relayed to me, “I think the world of her. She… is a standard in the Hunger Games fanfiction world, but she constantly praises and encourages other writers, either by betaing for them, or recommending their stories to others. She also reaches out to new people to make them feel welcome. She gave me the courage to start my own story, and has been encouraging me every step of the way.”

Wollaston, co-author Pompeiigraffiti (AO3, FF, tumblr: alonglineofbread and yourpeetaisshowing) are perhaps most beloved for their work Alone in a Crowded Room, which is widely considered to be the standard in AU fiction.  It is one of the works most frequently mentioned among Everlark authors as a source of personal inspiration. Alone in a Crowded Room shows how you can take characters you know and love, preserve their essential qualities, and still sell the credibility of their love story in an AU. Wollaston is also equally celebrated in the fandom for her exquisite artwork. She is an emotional, powerful, authentic artist, and these qualities are inherent in every line of her collaboration with Pompeiigraffiti.   

stacylk talks about how vital their contributions are to Everlark fanfiction, “I was a canon snob when I first began reading fanfic. Why would I read alternate universe stories? That’s what “real books” and “real authors” were for! And then I read Alone in a Crowded Room. It’s canon The Hunger Games universe, but alternate events, and it hit me right in the chest, squeezed, and wouldn’t let go. I love character-driven pieces, and this story– with its intense focus on Peeta’s disability, caused by his own mother– just about ripped my heart out. I hadn’t realized that so much emotion could be contained in a fanfiction package. This story rounded out the characters in such a way that it showed alternate universe stories were possible to do well without compromising the characters. Wollaston and Pompeiigraffiti literally gave me the gift of canon characters in a different setting and cemented forever (for me) that every version of Peeta would find– and love– every version of Katniss.”

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One thing I have discovered during the process of researching and writing this article is that you can ask ten different Everlark authors which authors have inspired them in the fandom, and you’ll receive ten completely different answers… imagine asking fifty. Or a hundred. I ask each of you to reblog and share who your favorite works and authors are. Take the time to message your favorite authors, telling them what their stories mean to you. Leave kudos, comments, and reviews on their stories. Inspire them by telling them how their words have affected you.

I encourage those interested in obtaining additional information about Everlark fanfiction to reach out to the folks at everlarkficquestions. If there is a specific author, title, or trope that interests you, they can point you in the right direction. I also suggest following hgoneshotrecsand everlarkdrabbles on tumblr; both blogs are fantastic resources.  

Additionally, jhutchmyanchor has been running a Countdown to Mockingjay, featuring over the course of 100 days 400 of her favorite Everlark stories. She also maintains a comprehensive author list with links to FF, AO3, and tumblr.

Aside from FF and AO3, I encourage readers to look into F4LLS and S2SL . Both sites raise funds to fight cancer by posting stories and art collections available to donors. The latter is a HG-based fandom, and all stories contain some smut component- a bonus for money well spent.

Anyone wishing to dip their toes in the waters of writing Everlark is encouraged to join theEverlarkian Archives and to submit stories to Prompts in Panem. PiP is gearing up for one final round, with new stories being published from October 5-11.

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned in my short time here, it’s that there’s only one requirement for joining the community of Everlark authors. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, what your educational background might be, how old you are. Gender, sexual orientation, race, religion (or lack thereof)… none of that matters.

All that matters is that you love Katniss and Peeta, too.   

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About the author: Caryn hails from Detroit, MI and lives with her husband and black lab Pippa in Seattle. After collecting a few motley degrees in sociology, women’s studies, and English literature, she now works, naturally?, as a wedding photographer. She can be found on AO3, FF, and tumblr as papofglencoe.

Acknowledgments:

With many thanks to panempropaganda for this opportunity and to the countless people who helped with this article, from taking surveys, answering questions, providing feedback, holding my hand/sending me hugs and late night texts to keep me chugging along. With thanks to all my friends who served as a sounding board. You know who are, and you are much loved by *this girl.*

With special thanks to loving-mellark and everlarkedalways for their exquisite banners and graphics. Thank you for making these features gorgeous.

And of course thanks to the following people for allowing me to spend a few minutes with your beautiful minds:

allhailthehutch, alonglineofbread, arbyeatscheesebuns, argyledpenguin, ashyblondwaves,catching-dandelions, chele20035, Court81981, dandelion-sunset, dianaflynn22, drivebyanon,everlarkeologist, everybirdfellsilent, fnurfnur, hutchhitched, iamseemaree, jennagill,jhutchmyanchor, jlalafics, joshs-left-earlobe, lovesbiggerthanpride, loving-mellark, muttpeeta,myusernamehere, notanislander, peetasallhehasleft, peetasbunmyoven, peetaspenis, smartalexy,sohypothetically, sothereff, sponsormusings, spookiestkika, stacylk, titania522, toastbabies,trish86, youarebeingridiculous, yourpeetaisshowing, wrestlerpeeta

Apologies to anyone and everyone I may have missed. Any omissions were unintentional. Many thanks to cm and ct for betaing. All remaining errors are mine. 

And thanks to you for reading.