#justice for annie

[cinnanamii]

Ganjis 3rd year birthday letter and the heavy mischaracterization of the characters in game 3/just ranting about the birthday letter

(⚠️⚠️‼️THIS POST WILL BE DISCUSSING LEAKS/SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR GAME 3 OF IDV!! IF YOU DONT WANT TO BE SPOILED ON GANJIS 3RD YEAR LETTER OR GAME 3, SCROLL AWAY PLEASE! AND ALSO KEEP IN MIND, I AM NOT A GAME 3 EXPERT! IF I GET ANYTHING WRONG FEEL FREE TO CORRECT ME!!‼️⚠️⚠️)

Ganjis 3rd year letter was leaked recently (you can probably find post about it on tiktok and on discord servers) and I am so far beyond unimpressed and disappointed.

To start out this yap session/rant, I’m going to list the characters serial numbers, so that you can know who I will be talking about so that you can get a grip on what I will be discussing.

• 3-1-2 is anne

• 3-?-1 is aesop

• 3-1-4 is ganji

• 3-?-3 is Victor

The fact that netease decided to fill the letter with shock value racism, ruin annie as a character, and just ruined Ganjis character arc, and basically made Victor useless is so BEYOND me. This is a a lot, so I wanna start by talking about the blatant mischaracterization of annie and ganji in this letter.

To start off, they made annie so unnecessarily, hateful and racist towards ganji. It would make sense for annie to be afraid of loud noises, as they did introduce her as a timid woman, but making her afraid of ganji and becoming violent to him because of his accent is so beyond me. The whole reason why annie attacked ganji was originally because aesop manipulated annie into hurting him, not that annie got scared of the way he spoke? Plus, due to her timid and sweet girl type personality i could never see annie physically fighting/attacking ganji, it’s just not something that would happen. How could she ever have the confidence to do that, when she was literally scared of ganji? Then, on top of that, annie wouldn’t be provoked by his accent so easy? In her trailer, she was literally described to be like her mother, who was very nice, that being a trait annie had. So for her to just go attacking him so so EXTREMELY out of character for her.

Then, next screenshot I’m showing right now is the shock value racism randomly put in this for god who knows why?

“unfavorable impression” caused by 3-1-4’s accent? This is so ooc for annie, it feels like a poorly written oc/au. The antagonization of annie feels so unnecessary and just not needed. Game 3 might not have had a Hunter, but it did have an antagonist, that being aesop. The whole antagonization doesn’t feel right for her at all.

Then now, I wanna talk about Victor. One of the main things in game 3 is that they were not able to talk or communicate with each other. if they were able to do that, what’s the point of him even being here if they could already speak verbally? His writing was already kinda not the best, but this entire letter takes whatever relevance he had to the plot away. He needs to get something consistent, or else in this case his character is just useless. It’s completely unfair that aesop is able to get clear motivations and goals, but the other characters goals and aspirations just get handled horribly.

Game 3 was so unique in the way it functioned, and with the characters that were so similar, but so different at the same time. What could have been a group of compelling a deeply well written characters now feel like a dumpster fire or mischaracterization and the severe lack of coherence. All just from one letter too. This feels like a big fat slap in the face for me as someone who loved game 3, and all of the characters for game 3, ESPECIALLY annie, and if you loved game three, also this should feel like a slap in the face for you too.

**im aware that this is a leak, and it could be potentially false, but this has been on my mind practically ever since I heard of it, and everything is just so absurd.**

edit: the letter was updated and changed, a few things did change (examp; annie isnt racist anymore) but that dosent mean I don’t have issues with the letter, I’ll probably make an updated post eventually if people r still interested in this

[muclunga]

SHIRLEY BENNETT APPRECIATION POST⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️

She is so underrated dont @ me😤😭

[epiph-annie]

For the ones unaware, an on-duty female doctor was brutally raped and murdered on the night of August 9th in India. There have been waves of mass protests all over the country regarding this issue.

The doctor, a junior resident working a 36 hours shift was resting in the hospital's seminar hall when she was subjected to this gruesome torment. Her body was found in an incomprehensible state half-naked in the same seminar hall the next morning.

I urge you to stand by truth. This is something no woman should face, after multiple years of studying and training, we do not enter this field to be subjected to inhumane treatment.

I was born to live.

I was born to dream.

I was born to achieve.

Any other human deserves the same chance at life that you and I do.

Don't let your silence become an enabling factor for inhumanity.

[formulanni]

George Russell as the Justice tarot:

The Justice card represents justice, fairness, truth and the law. You are being called to account for your actions and will be judged accordingly. If you have acted in alignment with your Higher Self and for the greater good of others, you have nothing to worry about. However, if you haven’t, you will be called out and made to own up to your actions.

Tags: @st-leclerc @three-days-time @the-wall-is-my-goal @saviour-of-lord

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Halloween prompts year 2 day 17

A supervillian had captured a supernatural creature in some kind of device, the entity in question looked like a white haired teen from what they could see of him in the glass sphere he was enclosed in.

The villian was monologing about how they would use the creatures sacred powers to resurrect some evil gods or whatever when the heros intervened knocking him away and accidentally started the machine.

The teen screamed as electricity flowed through his body. Tim ran to him searching for a way to turn off the machine when his hand touched the outside of the sphere.

Unbeknownst to the heros, the machine required a piece of whoever was dead to revive them, it could be hair, blood, bone or even...a memory

That was how Tim, as Robin (or Red Robin whoever you prefer) found himself holding not his mom or dad or anyone you might have expected.

No.

He was holding someone he never thought he'd see again. Someone who didn't even think she was real. Someone who was marveling at her new body made of flesh and blood

Annie.

[bibibusinessman]

JESUS CHRIST THE SEASON FINALE OF SEASON 4. IM NOT OK I NEED SEASON 5 ASAP. GEN V BETTER PICK UP HERE.

[arlothinkstoomuch]

Recently rewatched "Curriculum Unavailable" and the 'therapist' started listing off all the reasons the study group got to Greendale in the first place. Before he got to Britta, she stopped him because "I don't want to hear mine." And something about that is just so emotionally devastating to me. I actually can't stop thinking about it. Like what was it in particular? The An-Her-Chists bailing on her? If it really is that, then to me, this is just another reminder to Britta how people don't really tend to like her, how people always end up leaving if she doesn't go first. I think remembering that drags up too many feelings for her to the point where she'd rather ignore it than ever face the memory of it happening or the realisation it could happen again. I mean, she doesn't even wanna hear it.

Somehow that makes me think of a Britta at home thinking about it all and just helplessly, unavoidably panic crying because she couldn't bear a repeat. "What's an anarchist to do without her organisation," probably would sound something more like "What's a girl to do without her friends," now that she knows what it's like to have them. But of course, Britta being Britta, she'd never want to show that in front of anyone. So it's better to just avoid it all.

Yeah, I'm really out here just devastating myself for no reason tbh

[awakenatmidnights]

where are the fanfictions about the study group giving one ounce of a damn about Britta and Britta's trauma? where are the fanfictions where they all apologise to her in some way, shape or form for all the years spent calling her the worst, when she really was just as flawed and bare and human as the rest of them? where are the fanfictions where at least one of them realizes how she relishes in weed and smoking more and more throughout the seasons and actually DO something about it? why is there so little of this kind of fics and who do i have to beg to change this?

[bbrooklynbabe]

“did you love annie right away, finnick?" i ask. "no." a long time passes before he adds, "she crept up on me.”

melissa’s top 100 ships 13/100: annie cresta + finnick odair

[burstfoot]

the original

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

Meg's Doing It ALL Wrong!

"the most ass backwards, shocking, antisocial fail I've seen possibly ever."

If you've ever had a desire to eavesdrop on any business school course or psychology of business course, Ibble Dibble's most recent case study on Meghan Markle's business scams is not to be missed. Please forgive my use of gifs as I salute her 1,2 knock out punch to MM, Omit, NOprah & Sparry's ridiculous allegations of waycism. No one has come close to telling it like Ibble Dibble.

I salute you #1 I.D., take a bow! Your quote should be etched on the Duchess's future Frogmore Cottage tombstone because you did something no one else has been able to do: nail her waycism insanity in 1 intelligent sentence.

Friends, help me show our support for the female content creators on YT who are actually saving intelligent women from following in MEgain's footsteps.

Please follow the link to LIKE & SUBSCRIBE to Ibble Dibble's YT channel. At one point the megbots had her YT channel demonitized, but ID fought back and won. ID is an intelligent threat to MM's low class megbots. Also follow the Duchess of Suss who called out the aroscam in a hilariously funny video.

Meg's Floptastic Flaws #3: Meg is a Terrible Snob

there are good snobs like Prince Charles, Princess Margaret & Martha Stewart, bad snobs, and snobs who are just very bad at snobbing

Meghan is a narcissist who is actually an

ARCH SNOB : a snob who is a bad bad snob

"Meghan's snobbery is so appalling because SHE is BAD at snobbing."

"She is literally labeling and ranking people. Her big product launch is at best a freudian slip, at worst a passive aggressive power play...it is the most ass backwards, shocking, antisocial fail I've seen possibly ever."

A passive agressive power play:

audicity to think she can buy those celebs as friends for a jar of jam

poach their followers

insult them personally by numerically ranking them from most to least important on the very labels

the celebs are too dumb to know she's negging them

thinks we the public will admire her behavior & line up begging for the next batch of worthless nonsense she danes to sell

simply to posture on social media... gross but also ineffective

on some level Meghan always knows she's shooting herself in the foot

Meghan exhibits High Social Dominance Orientation: a genuine belief that some groups of people are innately superior to others and should therefore hold more power in society.

Meg's fury, jealousy & resentment for being scorned by Hollyweird & British high society in turn, snubs the only people who pay attention to her--you, US potential customers

a narcissist harboring true malice & intends to arrive at her rightful place upon the social ladder by any means necessary

believes she is due limitless revenge for being snubbed and immediately commences enacting it by any means necessary (a la her sewer squad & digital justice)¹

believes she has the right to exploit & abuse perceived inferiors

Meg is a bad snob. She does not judge in a qualitative measure but snobs purely to service her own delusions of grandeur OR at worst to entertain herself by upsetting her victims and creating chaos

meg has a following who wants to be like her & we know bc they leave insane comments

"Meghan Markle can't present herself as the loveable villain because she has NO sense of humor! She's just a bad bad snob." Case in point:

"Meghan (unlike a good snob), flipped what was likely a single joke about a little orphan annie ginger fro, (she heard 2nd hand), into an international incident with legal and diplomatic repercussions."🎯🎯🎯

Meg's fury, jealousy & resentment for being scorned by British high society...she believes she has the right to exploit & abuse (Catherine & William) perceived inferiors

"Another Rip Off"

¹comparisons to Mao's (actress) wife and the biblical queen Jezebel are accurate. Mao's wife jailed & murdered all who had rejected and/or criticized her during her climb up the greasy pole. Queen Jezebel sought to murder and silence all the true prophets or outspoken truthers. Meg's mission for "digital justice" is to criminalize criticism.

[crookedghosts]

making myself giggle by placing a karaoke scene in the wedding fic. an important question, however:

[moonspirit]

hello moon. i’ve been lurking on your page for a long time, never interacted. maybe i can become a regular on here, who knows?

i was hoping you’d do that send a ship thing for aruani.. i found it strange you haven’t done them yet given how clearly obsessed you are with them. you’ve already done them for the lock screen thingy but i wanted to see the rest, it’s like 5AM for you rn.. but maybe your best thoughts are at the ass crack of dawn?

yours truly, behyuu.

Hi behyuu!

Haha, feel free to become a regular on my blog, no problem xD But I had received more than one request for Aruani, so I thought I'd do them all together.

Who said “I love you” first

I think it'd be Armin. From the boat scene in 131, when Annie asks him why he kept visiting her, he really could've said any number of things that wouldn't technically have been false, like "I wanted to make sure you were okay," or "I wanted to tell you what was happening," but he very clearly says "I wanted to see you, Annie." He was blushing like a ripe tomato, and yet he chose to say the one thing that would leave no room for any doubt as to what his feelings were. Armin doesn't hesitate to express himself through words, and with Annie, I believe he'd only take this a few steps further to tell her clearly that what he carries for her is love, nothing less.

Annie herself would not say "I love you" until a long time after they're comfortably together, I feel. She's been denied love all her love, deprived of it to the extent that Armin's barest hints of care were enough for to cling onto, and so being loved and loving back is all going to be so very new to her. She will express it through her body language, but not in words; not very early on in their relationship anyway.

In the long run, I really think this spoken-aloud form of reaffirmation from Armin would be the most beneficial for Annie. As much as physical touch is her way of seeking security, safety and comfort from him, it's also very crucial to be reminded that yes, the person kissing her and loving her body also really does love her, the way he never forgets to say in words.

Who would have the other’s picture as their phone background

I answered this one here!

Who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror

Both maybe! If Armin's the one taking a shower first, then he leaves a little "I <3 U" on the mirror for her to find once he's done. Nevermind the fact that by the time she does find it (say she wakes up late and he's already left), it's all maybe mostly gone and runny around the edges, but she knows he left it there for her, and it makes her feel all warm inside.

What if Annie's the one taking the shower tho? In that case, she's brushing her teeth in front of the washbasin and the mirror, messy haired, sleepy eyed and lethargic. As she works the toothbrush between long yawns, she doodles a cat on the mirror that's steaming up from the hot water she's left running in the tub. Later on, Armin finds this cat when he comes in to shave, and he finds it to be the cutest thing ever. Maybe they name each cat she draws.

Who buys the other cheesy gifts

I have a hc that Annie's really awkward with gift-giving, so while this doesn't translate into "she doesn't pick good gifts", what it does mean is that her gifts are funny, bordering on cute-as-fuck.

Armin is good with gifts. He buys her things she needs, and throws in some flowers, some chocolate, maybe a plushie and a picnic date. He pays attention to what she likes, what she doesn't like, and this generally means Annie's going to get some of the best gifts ever, whether or not his planning and execution goes to shit because he's so nervous about everything being perfect.

So the one giving him cards with cliche quotes and a leather wallet that the seller tells her is a trendsetter with men, are some of the things Annie gets him. Cut the girl some slack. Her gifts don't suck, they're just cheesy. And he finds it so fucking cute how hard she tries.

Who initiated the first kiss

Armin. It's the pounding heartbeats in their chests, synchronizing. It's the static in the air, sparking and tingling. Her wide pale-blue eyes atop blushing cheeks, locked onto his own in baffled surprise, because he's just told her he loves her and she doesn't understand - why her? Why her, of all the other girls? But that's what his heart wants - her - and he's told her as much and all he can do is hope she feels the same.

But she does. She does, he can see it, right there in her eyes, when her gaze drops lower. She feels the same, he can see it, as her lips part, just a bit, ever so slightly he can almost touch her breath. Then she looks up again, searching his eyes.

He sees his chance, he takes it. Because who knows if there'll be another? He kisses her, long, and slow and sweet, until she's kissing him back with the same longing.

*Aherm* Okay, I got carried away. Basically he kisses her first, but the next time he loses his confidence and doesn't, and then because Annie's impatient as hell, she kisses him second.

Who kisses the other awake in the morning

Annie. I hc that she's the early bird while he struggles to wake up in the morning in general, so naturally being up first, she gives him a little peck on the nose or on the lips. Sometimes he's so deep asleep he doesn't stir at all. Sometimes he's half-awake and drags her closer for longer kisses, and the hope of sleeping in late with her. Sometimes she kisses him short and brief, when she's aching from dealing with something she doesn't like and hasn't told him about; other times they are fluttery, airy, open mouthed kisses, offering silent, sweet promises of love and happiness from between her lips.

Who starts tickle fights

Armin. He reaaaaaaaalllllyy likes teasing her. Whether that's because she's scowling to hide her embarrassment, or refusing to tell him what she's finding so funny in the magazine she's reading - he's always got his hands ready to grab her around the middle and invite her into a tickle fight. The thing though, is that Annie's laughter isn't because of his actions--she's NOT ticklish by any means--but because of the whole play-fighting itself. His laughter is infectious, and she can't help but follow with her own giggling until she's snorting at his stupid jokes and bright eyes.

Guess who's ACTUALLY ticklish? Him. Once she gains the upper hand and squirms away to straddle his hips, it's all game over.

So he may be the one starting the fights, but he's not the one winning them.

Who asks who if they can join the other in the shower

Annie. I just find it more in-character for her to blurt out that he's welcome to join her in the shower. Say they've just come back home after a long and tiring muddy hike, and they're so exhausted they might not have the energy to take showers after each other. It's a casual suggestion, quick and without much thought to it, when Annie says, "Join me then. It'll be quicker."

She might've said that, but once they're actually stripping in the bathroom and getting into the hot waters of the bathtub, Annie's the one burning to the tips of her ears. Doesn't help that Armin's lost all his initial embarrassment and inhibitions and is welcoming her to sit between his legs, pulling her back flush against his chest.

The rest belongs in a smut fic.

Who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work with lunch

Annie. Armin forgets to eat, especially when he's drowning to his neck in documents piling up on his table at work. He's studying up for a meeting on his morning transit, signing off agendas and rescheduling appointments, making six dozen phone calls, holding talks with important people... ugh. He has barely any time to breathe, so his eating habits at work are basically non-existent. During such times when things are more hectic than usual, and it's often a familiar sight to find him coming home with a loosened tie and exhaustion on his face, Annie's the one heading to his workplace with lunch and coffee in her arms. She makes sure he eats, and also eats her own lunch with him, so he's kept company by the only person he can be his silly, goofy self around.

Who was nervous and shy on the first date

I'm inclined to say both, it's just that Armin would express it more openly than Annie would. What Armin would be fretting and worrying about is how perfectly the date is going, how smoothly his plans are working out, and so on. He'd be so bothered about every teeny tiny detail and Annie's enjoyment that he wouldn't really be able to relax and enjoy it himself.

Annie on the other hand, would be nervous and scared about disappointing him. It would warm her heart how he sweetly switches to her more exposed side as they're walking down the street, but it also worries her about how expressive she's being, or rather, how much she's lacking in that respect. Disappointing Armin is probably her biggest fear.

Who kills/takes out the spiders

Annie. Armin hesitates too much. He looks at the mama spider, looks at her eggs, looks at her babies, thinks of the consequences, thinks of their extended families and their ancestors, their futures, their pasts, their presents, and so on and so forth. It's been six hours and he's ignoring the spider in the bathroom because he's conflicted over killing them.

Annie would kill them (she doesn't like bugs), but because she knows it'll break his heart, she traps them in a special plastic cup she keeps for the spiders and lets them out somewhere far away.

Who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk

Armin. Even sober, he's always running to give her a big hug with a stupid wide smile on his face, going "Aaaanniiieeeee!!". The happiest golden retriever in the world. Now get that golden retriever drunk to his eyeballs and he won't fucking shut up about how beautiful she is, how big her heart is, how soft she is, how her eyes are like the sky and the sea and other fantastic imagery. He tells her he wants to marry her (even if they're already married), and how he wants to wake up to her presence everyday. In a crowd, it's fucking embarrassing for Annie. Secretly though? She loves it. Replays it in her head over and over again.

[ladylaratybur]

There is something on her face: a stupid, ugly, fake plastic nose 😭 Seriously stop giving her a rhinoplasty, ppl. She is just Historia with it.

The AruAni vibes go hard here though, I do have to admit 👀

[solar-halos]

odesta week. day #3 - free space

summary: annie and finnick cannot live without each other. here's how that happens. 4k, angst and some fluff

“Shush!”

Annie smooshes her hand against Finnick’s mouth. He licks her palm so that she yanks her hand back. That’s a trick Annie taught him (her older sister shushed her a lot), but it’s his first time trying it out.

It works. He keeps that in mind. 

She does have a point, though. They do need to shush. He met Annie at the beach a couple weeks ago, and she’s been his best friend ever since, so he thinks it’s unfair that his mom is picking him up from Annie’s house so early. Annie has shared with him that being seven is very unfair—her sister, who is thirteen, can do whatever she wants with all her friends—which is something that’s fully sinking in for Finnick.

Heavy, adult footsteps thud scarily closely to the door. Finnick and Annie hold their breath, huddling even deeper into the coats in Annie’s closet. It’s small, which doesn’t give them much room to hide, so Finnick crosses his fingers that this plan will work.

It doesn’t. A grownup—Annie’s mom—is flinging the door open in no time. Finnick thinks she might be frowning, but he can’t be sure. He’s squinting against the sunlight too much.

“Mama, please!” Annie is already pleading their case. Finnick nods in support. “I wanna show Finnick the new board game papi got us! Please!”

“Please!” Finnick joins her chant.

“Please! Please! Please!”

“Did you find them?” 

Finnick knows that voice. That’s his mom. She sounds a bit worried, which makes his stomach hurt—he didn’t mean to scare her—but she’s by Mrs. Cresta’s side in an instant, and she’s smiling, so she can’t be that mad at him. Finnick decides to plead with her, too.

“I need to stay with Annie, please.” Finnick doesn’t see why he has to leave. It’s still light outside. “We’re still playing.”

“Dad’s about to finish his shift,” Mom says. Finnick stops her right there.

“I don’t want ice cream.” He doesn’t. He and his mom and dad get ice cream all the time after Dad finishes his shifts, but he hardly gets to see Annie all the time. 

Annie gasps. “Mama, can we get ice cream? I’ve never had!”

“What?” Finnick turns to her. “Annie, you have to try ice cream! It’s so good! Mom, we should take Annie with us! To see Dad!”

“And ice cream,” Annie adds in a whisper.

“And ice cream!” Finnick echoes, feeling better already. That sounds like a perfect plan. 

“You know the rules,” Mrs. Cresta interjects, sounding less firm and more mean. Finnick snaps his mouth shut, jarred by the change. What’d he do wrong? “You can come over here. Annie can’t go over there.”

Right. Dad always said that the carriage fare was too expensive for the Crestas. Mom always reminded Finnick never to say that out loud.

“Okay, fine,” Annie says. Finnick wonders if she knows she’s poor. Then he wonders if that’s a mean thought to have. “How about we go to the beach?”

Another great idea. The beach is awesome.

“Not today,” Mrs. Cresta says firmly. Finnick’s shoulders sag in defeat. At least they put up a good fight. 

“Ugh!” Annie responds. She took the words right out of Finnick’s mouth, but he didn’t wanna make a scene in front of Mrs. Cresta. She might not let him come back. “We’re still playing!”

“Watch that tongue of yours, Annie Cresta,” her mom says. Annie straightens up, her hand flying up to her mouth. Finnick wonders what that’s about. 

“Can we finish our game of cards?” To be honest, they didn’t even start a game of cards. It’s his last ditch effort to stay longer, even though he kinda knows they already lost.

“Goodbye, Finnick.” Mrs. Cresta is done arguing with them. “You two can go to the beach and play cards the next time you come over.”

Next time. Okay, she makes a convincing case, so Finnick walks back over to his mom—slowly, slowly, just in case either of them change their mind—but no one says anything. Not even when Finnick shoves his feet in his shoes. Or when Annie stands at the door, waving goodbye. Or when Finnick waves back, sighing in exaggerated sadness the entire time.

Looks like their master plan didn’t work. Bummer.

---

It’s like having a girlfriend is a crime or something.

“Finnick!” Dad doesn’t get frustrated with him very often. Now is obviously an exception. “What’d I say about those nets?”

“I need to meet Annie soon!” 

Correction: he needs to get ready to meet Annie. He doesn’t know what point Dad is always trying to make about them knowing each other for ages. There’s a big difference between being seven and being thirteen, so he just doesn’t want to fucking stink around her all the time. 

“You need to finish your work.” Dad narrows his eyes at him. He knows that Finnick isn’t above jumping off the boat and just swimming home. “Finnick. Now.”

Fine. Finnick admits defeat, but Dad can’t even get mad if it’s not his best work, because he was in a hurry, so it’s a relief when they finally drag up the anchor. Finnick rushes through the door, bounding up to his room as fast as he can.

He changes into non-work clothes and brushes his teeth extra hard just in case he and Annie kiss again (because that’s something they do now). Then he’s finally off.

“Annie!” He automatically opens up his arms as soon as he sees her. She’s huge on hugging. “I’m so sorry I’m late!”

She shrugs, still in his arms. Finnick is just now realizing her hair is wet. It seeps into his shirt. “‘S okay. I’ve been digging around for some jewelry. Wanna see the stuff I found?”

He nods. One perk of being thirteen is that they can go anywhere they want without their parents trailing behind them. Kinda—it’s all conditional. One condition is that it has to be a public space. And within walking distance to Annie’s house. Anything further and they have to be chaperoned.

Annie kisses his cheek. Finnick really loves not being chaperoned.

Annie shows him her jewelry stuff. Finnick shows her a new trick he learned on the water, courtesy of the Career Academy. They’re just about to engage in a seashell finding competition when some adult gets a bit too close to comfort.

Finnick already knows it’s her dad. Mr. Cresta likes him, so Finnick can afford to get a little grumpy at the intrusion. 

“Ready?”

“Well...” Annie can also afford to negotiate with him. Sometimes, he waits at a nearby bakery and they get a whole new hour to themselves. Finnick hopes it’s that kind of day. “Not really. Can we stay here longer?”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart—” Finnick bites back a disappointed sigh. It’s one of those days. “But you’re scheduled to work at the shop today. Remember?’

“Oh, shoot!” That’s right, isn’t it? Finnick worked in the morning—Annie worked in the evening. Their afternoon date was to accommodate for that. Stuff like that is so easy to forget when you’re having fun. “Okay, fine. I’ll see you later, Finnick.”

Woe is them. She gives him a hurried kiss on the cheek, then she and her dad take off. Finnick wanders down the pier. 

He wonders if any of his friends are free right now. Might as well, right?

---

Annie is allowed to sleep over at his house now. She thinks that’s an added perk to being fourteen, but Finnick just thinks that her parents feel bad for them. It’s not everyday that your daughter’s boyfriend survives the Games, so maybe they just want to give them more wiggle room to see each other.

They spend more time together now than they ever had before. Finnick knows that. It’s a fact. Not only does Mrs. Cresta allow Annie to be at Finnick’s new house in the Victor’s Village, but now she lets them have sleepovers. They were never allowed to do that before, except for when Finnick’s parents didn’t pick him up from Annie’s house in time for the curfew. Even then, he was always relegated to the couch. 

Somehow, Annie has never felt so far away. Finnick has a theory it’s because she has to sleep in a separate room during all those sleepovers, but that’s not fair. She has nightmares about him still being in the arena. Finnick knows that, and her parents know that, so how come they’re still so adamant about keeping them apart?

“You know the rules,” Mrs. Cresta says, as if that means anything. “How many of your friends get to have sleepovers with their boyfriends, Annie?”

“We just wanted to be together,” he says, equally as heated. Usually, Annie fights her battles with her parents, and Finnick fights his battles with his. But he’s so irritated right now—they just wanted to be together—that he starts picking fights with anyone. “I don’t know what you thought would happen.”

Mrs. Cresta narrows her eyes at him. Admittedly, that wasn’t a very smart thing to say, but Finnick wasn’t playing smart. He didn’t have the energy for that anymore. “Excuse me?”

��Finnick’s right,” Annie says. “If you’re gonna freak out over us being in the same bed, then I don’t get why we’re even allowed to have sleepovers in the first place.”

“You’re right.” Mrs. Cresta admits defeat. That’s never a good sign. “You shouldn’t even be allowed to be here at all. It’s too far from home.”

Finnick’s stomach drops. That can’t mean what he thinks it means. 

“What?” Annie demands, which only confirms his suspicions. “That’s not fair!”

“It’s not fair that you’re breaking all the rules I made.”

“Because they don’t make sense!”

“If we’re all being nice enough to let you two be in this big house—alone, sometimes, don’t think I’m not aware of that—then you should be nice enough to follow the rules. We’ve had this exact conversation—”

“That’s not fair!” Annie repeats. She shuffles closer to him. Finnick wraps his arm around her. They can’t get separated again. “I just wanna be with him!”

“And you will. It’s not like he’s not going anywhere. And he can afford all those carriage fares.”

“Mom.” Annie sounds close to tears. Finnick holds her even closer. “We can’t be apart.”

It almost looks like Mrs. Cresta is gonna crack under the pressure. She doesn’t. “Christ, Annie. I’m not telling you two to break up. I’m just taking away your sleepover privileges.”

It’s a distressing idea in theory, and it’s even more distressing put into practice. At least Finnick has enough courage to leave the house now, so he spends a lot of his time with Annie at her family store. His father isn’t very happy that Mrs. Cresta is putting him to work, but it’s not like Finnick needs the money. He just needs to spend time with Annie—skin-on-skin time, physical time—so he’ll construct all the nets and dust all the shelves and make all the sales the Crestas want. 

“We really need AC in here,” Annie says. He followed her into the storage room so she could grab new rope, but he’s relieved when they can finally sit down and be rib-on-rib again. He imagines that the moisture on his neck is just his body’s way of sweating all his jitters out. “You wanna come to my house after this?”

She knows he does—he always did, even back when he and his father woke up for work before the sun even came up—but it’s still pretty hard to remember that he has no obligations to anyone anymore. (Well—for about four more months, that is. Then he has to do his Victory Tour.) 

They find a loophole to the no sleepover rule. When they were younger, Finnick spent a few nights on Annie’s couch whenever his parents couldn’t pick them up in time for curfew. And, now that Finnick is fifteen, he’s trusted enough to find his own way back home. So he doesn’t. 

Mrs. Cresta may not like him, but she’s never put a hand on him. Not even to drag him out of the house. Mr. Cresta comes pretty close, but Finnick holds his ground. 

This isn’t fair. He misses Annie all the time, but especially when he sleeps. 

“What you’re doing is not okay,” Dad says the next morning. Finnick and Annie are still cuddled up together on the couch, refusing to budge, but there’s not much they can do now that the curfew is over. “I still have to work. If you’re not responsible enough to find your own way back home, and if you’re not going back to school, then your time with Annie is going to become really limited.”

That’s not fair. It causes an uproar, actually, because it’s so unfair it hurts. They’re still not treating his love for Annie very seriously at all, which makes him seriously doubt that their parents even love each other in the first place. 

His dad feels comfortable enough dragging him all the way back home, insisting that all the yelling and thrashing and protesting Finnick is doing at his grown age is fucking embarrassing, but Finnick doesn’t care. He doesn’t care about anything but Annie. 

Finnick can’t even work with Annie anymore, but if her older sister is managing that day, they can get away with spending her entire shift together. Annie can still go out with her friends, and Finnick’s dad can’t supervise him all of the time, so Annie pretends she’s having a girls day and Finnick has her in his arms and everything suddenly isn’t so bleary and uncertain and terrifying anymore.

Being away from Annie is terrifying. More terrifying than being reaped, more terrifying than the arena, more terrifying than any mutt in the history of mutts, and Finnick just wants someone to understand that, but the closest they get is their friends talking about how fucking unfair their parents are being.

That barely even encapsulates it all. They think separating the two of them is a good thing, ‘cause they apparently decided for Annie and Finnick that they needed to get used to not being around each other so much, but Finnick can’t figure out why for the life of them. The only reason he hasn’t killed himself yet is because there’s still hope of seeing Annie every day.

His dad does not like hearing this stuff. The killing-himself-stuff, he means, but Finnick is just being honest. Make fun of Haymitch Abernathy all you want—seriously, Finnick used to, back when he trained at the Academy—but no amount of lectures on bringing glory to your district can erase the fact that killing other people makes you wanna kill yourself. Haymitch doesn’t even have any friends, either, so Finnick doesn’t see the point in using alcohol to self-medicate. Wouldn’t it just be faster to overdose?

He always used to keep those thoughts to himself. Never told anyone—not even his dad, and especially not Annie—but he doesn’t see any point in doing that now. It might even wear his dad down and make him realize that Annie is the glue keeping Finnick’s skeleton together. 

Annie is more than his first and only love. Annie is his life. 

He knows it must be working when his dad refuses to let Finnick be alone. Mags has always been reliable, but she’s no one’s fucking babysitter, so she’s not gonna be watchdogging Finnick all the time. Finnick doesn’t care about all those shifts his dad ends up dropping, because he never seemed to care about all that time Finnick could be spending with Annie.

It’s only fair. Finnick knows Annie has nightmares, too, so if they’re exhausted all the time, then it’s only fair his dad suffers this same fate. 

Even after all that, Annie’s parents still cave faster than Finnick’s dad. Mrs. Cresta talks big game, but she’s never been very good at consistently telling Annie no.

“Finnick!” Annie’s knocking at his door. Finnick would’ve opened it up for her sooner, but he had been in a half-asleep daze, and he was convinced he was dreaming for a long while. Then, when he finally came to his senses, he spent a long time tripping over his own two feet. “Are you home?”

“I’m home!” he calls back, flinging the door open. They snap together in an instant, their knees buckling from the force of it. Whatever. Finnick’s porch was really comfortable, anyway. “Annie, my darling! Do your parents know you’re here?”

“Yes! And they said you needed to pay me back for the carriage fare.” Done. Done and done and done. He’ll pay for Annie’s carriage fare, and he’ll pay for her mom or her dad or whoever accompanied her. There is absolutely no price he wouldn’t pay for her. “They said moping around didn’t look very good on me.”

“My dad just got mad at me for moping around.” Kinda. He got mad at Finnick for slamming his bedroom door so hard the hinges fell off, but that counts as moping around, doesn’t it? “So we’re back? For good?”

“I think so,” she says, because they obviously didn’t wanna get ahead of themselves. They approach Finnick’s dad, waiting for the moment of truth. 

“Do whatever you need to do,” he says, but he doesn’t need to treat Finnick like a powder keg ready to explode anymore. Not when he has Annie at his side. “You just need to tell us where you’re going. And Annie still can’t sleep in the same room as you.”

They agree to those terms and conditions, but only because they fully intend on violating them again. They just need to be more sneaky this time.

It turns out that it doesn’t even matter either way. Annie sneaks into Finnick’s bed again and again and again, and they get caught again and again and again, and they get scolded again and again and again, but no one threatens their relationship. They must’ve finally figured out that Annie and Finnick need each other. 

They take a celebratory trip to the beach. Skin-on-skin, rib-against-rip, heart-on-heart.

“I can’t live without you,” Finnick tells her. 

She rests her head on his shoulder, humming in agreement. “Same. I love you.”

“Like, actually.” He wants to make sure she knows he’s completely devoted to her. He knows how she gets after he cancels plans on her last minute (due to extenuating  circumstances, like foul weather or his dad dumping more shifts on him), but she doesn’t have to worry about anything. “I’d rather die than not be with you. I love you.”

She grins at him. He grins back. 

---

Finnick is going to kill himself. He already decided.

Annie’s odds were decent, but as far as he was concerned, her victory needed to be unquestionable. 

He’s not uncomfortable with that. Dying, he means. He’d been ready to die ever since he made his first kill, but the idea of Annie waiting for him back home made him keep going.

There might be no Annie in about three weeks. Then what?

Cashmere thinks he’s giving up on Annie before she even has a time to shine in the arena, but Cashmere doesn’t know anything. Finnick is only preparing himself for the worst case scenario.

It’s not easy, you know, watching someone you love get hurt on national television. He sends her salves (that cut on her leg could get infected) and gives her all the food she needs to remain focused (she can’t do that on an empty stomach) and he only peels his eyes from the screen whenever he needs to fuck all her sponsors.

The other victors think he’s wasting all her resources, but didn’t you hear him? He’s fucking all her sponors. He’s fucking anyone that will listen, and he doesn’t even want anything but their allegiance as a reward. 

Brutus isn’t above catching an attitude whenever someone in the arena wrongs his tributes, so Finnick doesn’t feel bad about giving him a taste of his own medicine. His tribute from Two doesn’t even get to finish hacking off Annie’s district partner’s head before Finnick is lunging at him. 

Brutus punches Finnick’s nose bloody. It would be embarrassing, except Finnick hadn’t really been trying that hard, had just been a flurry of anger and fists and teeth, but it’s not fair. It’s not fair. It’s not fair. He needs Annie back.

“Well, she’s not coming back,” Brutus replies. None of them are above getting nasty with each other, but that’s so unfair he wants to kill himself on the spot. “Might as well get a head start on hoarding those pills, Finnick.”

Finnick bangs his head back into the wall in defeat, again and again and again. It’s hard enough to give himself another concussion.

---

They have a routine now.

They always had a routine, but sometimes Annie had to work and the district had too many rainstorms and it would mess everything up. Now that they’re both victors, the only time he has to leave her side is when he goes to the Capitol. 

He’s grown now—nineteen. And, even if he weren’t, it’s not like his dad was around to stop him. He hasn’t been around at all, not since Finnick was sixteen.

 Turns out that he really is the furthest thing from untouchable. Finnick doesn’t see why his dad had to deal with the fallout.

He’s on his best behavior for Annie. He goes to the Capitol, and he makes everyone who hates him very, very happy. And, for that, Snow hates him a little less. He even likes Annie, too, but not a terrifying amount.

Checks and balances. Snow needs Finnick to follow directions. Annie is the only person Finnick truly cares about. If Snow takes away Finnick’s love—his life—then he ceases to function at all. Snow finally understands that, and he finally understands that Finnick goes above and beyond in the Capitol just so he can keep Annie safe, and he really, really likes that. He likes that enough to keep Annie around as leverage. 

All that really matters is that Finnick gets to love Annie every single day until he dies. Snow knows it, too, and he can’t do anything about it. Not unless he wants profits to tank. 

Yeah. Who’s winning now?