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coryosmin · 3 months

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reunited - finnick odair x reader

a one shot based off of this ask. reader is saved from the capitol and brought to district 13. she gets discharged from the hospital wing and is finally able to spend time with finnick.

warnings: MDNI mentions of mental health issues, trauma, mentions of starvation, female reader, smut, oral (f receiving)fingering, p in v, unprotected sex, this is honestly rushed so if it sucks I apologize lol

word count: 2,000 words

Finnick was distraught without you, to say the least. After you had been taken out of the arena by the Capitol, he taken by District 13, he didn’t know what to do, what to say, how to feel. He was lost. As though nothing had any meaning to him any longer. He wished you were dead. He wished he was dead. He wished everyone was dead because it would mean that no one would be suffering and therefore, nothing could go wrong.

Day in and day out, tying knots in a rope to ground himself so he didn’t get lost in his thoughts. Wake up, eat breakfast at the assigned time, space out, eat lunch, space out, eat dinner, space out, go to bed, and wake up in the morning. Repeat the process.

His only small sliver of hope was being gifted a trident to start practicing with. Just something to take his mind off of the horrors that you were likely going through. That was until he was asked to speak to Katniss’s PR team, to get filmed and broadcasted to all of Panem in the hopes that they rescue Peeta, Johanna, and you from the Capitol. And Finnick was more than ready to do so.

And when news came that you had been rescued and that the mission was a success, Finnick ran to the hospital wing, calling your name. “Y/N!” he shouted, busting through the doors.

And then came the shout of your voice. “Finnick!”

He looked over to you, seeing you on the hospital bed. You didn’t care for any of your injuries, tearing the tubes out of your skin to run up to Finnick. And he engulfed you in his arms, holding you closely as you wrapped your arms around him. Nothing mattered more to either of you than that you were together. No matter what happened, everything would be okay because Finnick finally had you.

A weight had been lifted off of Finnick’s shoulders as he realized that you were okay and now you were safe. He looked you up and down. You were thin, due to being starved by the Capitol, you had bruises all over your face, and you overall just looked worn out. But even so, Finnick thought you were the most beautiful woman to ever exist.

Eventually, he had to let go of you and leave. It was time for bed within District 13 and you needed to be attended to. So Finnick had reluctantly left you alone with the doctors and nurses. He had gone back to his room that night and cried happy tears, grateful that you were alive.

After that initial visit, however, you weren’t allowed visitors for a while. Apparently, the Capitol had really messed up with not only your physical health but also your mental health and being locked up in a bunker reminded you of being locked in the cell in the Capitol. Therefore, you needed time to adjust.

It took about two weeks before you could have visitors. And after that, Finnick visited you every night and talked to you about anything and everything. And it helped you so much. So much so that you were able to be released within a week, your injuries fully healed and a healthy amount of weight put back onto you. And you were allowed to share your room with Finnick.

When you and Finnick had gone to your shared room that night, nothing stopped Finnick from just grabbing your face and kissing you. And you of course kissed him back. The kiss was desperate and hungry, as though you both worried that if you stopped the other would just wither away into nothingness and you would be left alone once more. Finnick’s arms were wrapped tightly around you, not enough to hurt you but enough to be firm and secure you. You wrapped your arms around him, holding him close to you.

Finnick pulled away from the kiss, pressing his forehead against yours. “I missed you so much,” He murmured, his voice cracking. “I was so lost without you, baby.” His green eyes had turned glossy, signaling the emotions he was feeling.

You felt yourself tearing up as well, bringing a hand to caress his cheek. “I missed you so much too, Finnick,” You sniffled. “The thought of ever seeing you again was the only reason I got through everything the Capitol put me through.”

And so Finnick kissed you again. His lips were soft against yours, kissing you slowly this time. His tongue traced your bottom lip, causing you to let out a soft moan at the feeling as you parted your lips. His tongue entered your mouth, exploring it. One of your hands went to Finnick’s hair, gently entangling your fingers in it while the other was wrapped around his neck.

Finnick’s hands were roaming your body, feeling you through the jumpsuit provided by District 13. He brought his hand up to the zipper. He was about to tug it down but decided to ask you first. He pulled away from the kiss. “Need you, baby,” he murmured. “Is that okay?”

You nodded your head. “I need you too, Finnick,” you murmured back, going back to kissing his lips. Finnick immediately kissed you back, tugging the zipper down on your jumpsuit and taking it off of you. You helped by kicking it to the side. You did the same to Finnick, unzipping his jumpsuit and taking it off of him.

Finnick gently pushed you to the bed, sitting you down at the edge of the bed. He reached behind you to unclasp your bra, taking it off of you and throwing it to the side. He pulled away from the kiss to look you up and down. “You’re so beautiful, sweetheart,” he said softly, kneeling in front of you. “Gonna make you feel so good, yeah?”

You bit your lip, nodding your head at your wonderful boyfriend. Your cheeks were red as you looked at him. Finnick gave you a small smile, gently spreading your legs. He grabbed the hem of your panties, pulling them down. “If you want to stop at any point, my love, please tell me.”

You gave him a small smile. “I want this, Finnick,” you replied, caressing his face. “I need this.”

Finnick smiled up at you, taking your panties off the rest of the way and tossing them aside. He grabbed one of your legs, kissing you from your ankle and working his way up to your inner thigh. And when Finnick got to your pussy, he sighed in contentment as he placed a kiss onto your pussy lips. You bit your lip, spreading your legs further for him. Finnick gave you a smirk before bringing his tongue out, licking the slit of your cunt before tonguing your clit.

You let out a small moan, a hand moving to entangle in Finnick’s hair while the other gripped the sheets of the bed. Finnick let out a soft moan, sucking on your clit. You closed your eyes in pleasure, throwing your head back. Finnick continued to suck and tongue your clit, bringing a finger up to your hole and inserting it slowly. You let out another soft moan. “Oh fuck.”

Finnick moved his finger slowly inside of you, thrusting it in and out at the same time as he sucked your clit. He missed your pussy so much. You always tasted so divine and delicious. He just adored you with all his heart. Finnick added another finger, curling both of his digits inside of you. You let out a loud moan, gripping Finnick’s hair. “Oh fuck!” You moaned out, clenching around his digits.

Finnick pulled away from your clit to look at you, keeping his fingers inside of you as he thrusted them faster inside of you, hitting your g-spot. “That’s it, baby,” he said, looking up at you. You looked so beautiful. Your skin was flushed, you were blushing, your back was arched slightly. Finnick absolutely adored you. “Gonna cum on my fingers?”

You whined, nodding your head. Finnick smiled before going back to sucking your clit, making you buck your hips against his face. “So close, Finnick,” you whined, feeling yourself come undone. And with a few more thrusts, your thighs clenched together and shook as you came hard around his digits. “Oh my god!” You moaned out.

And when you came down from your high, Finnick removed his fingers from you. He pulled away, licking his lips as he stood up. His cock was painfully hard in his boxers. He palmed himself, looking at you. You opened your eyes, looking up at Finnick and breathing heavily. He smiled at you. “Do you want to continue?” He asked softly.

You nodded your head enthusiastically. “Please, Finnick,” you replied. “Need your cock inside me.”

And that’s all Finnick needed to pull his boxers down and throw them aside. “Lay down, baby,” he said, stroking himself slowly. You obliged, laying your head down on the pillow. Finnick crawled on top of you, holding himself up with one arm as his other guided his cock to your entrance. And without any hesitation, he eased himself inside of you.

You both moaned in unison. You wrapped your arms around his torso, holding Finnick close as he eased his cock inside of you. You both looked into each other’s eyes, not needing any words to be spoken. His green orbs looked into your beautiful e/c ones, making you smile softly at him. Though your smile quickly contorted into a face of pleasure as Finnick began thrusting his hips slowly.

“You’re so tight, sweetheart,” Finnick whispered shakily, leaning on his forearms as he moved his hips.

“You’re so big,” you whispered back, moaning softly. “Needed you so bad.”

“I needed you too, baby,” Finnick replied, leaning down to kiss your lips.

You kissed Finnick back. He continued his slow pace inside of you, thrusting his hips as the two of you relished in one another’s touch. Being able to be with you after having you gone for so long wore Finnick down a lot. And he just needed you desperately. Not just physically but mentally too. And soon, Finnick was quickening his pace and angling his hips to hit that spongy spot inside of you. You both moaned loudly at the feeling.

You pulled away from the kiss, throwing your head back in pleasure as Finnick thrusted into you. He began kissing your neck. “I missed you so much,” he practically whined in your ear.

“I missed you too, Finnick,” you whined back, gasping when Finnick kissed your sweet spot.

“I love you,” he moaned out, moving his hips faster.

“Oh fuck-“ you moaned, arching your back as you felt your orgasm approaching quickly. “I love you too!”

“Gonna cum for me, baby?” Finnick asked. “You’re clenching around me so good. Please cum for me,” he moaned, burying his head in your neck.

And so you came around Finnick’s cock, whining and moaning as you did so. And soon Finnick followed shortly after.

Finally, the two of you were reunited at last.

#the hunger games #thg #finnick odair #the hunger games imagine #the hunger games smut #the hunger games trilogy #the hunger games finnick #thg finnick #thg series #thg smut #finnick odair x reader #finnick odair imagine #finnick odair smut #finnick x you #finnick x reader #finnick imagine #finnick fanfic #hunger games finnick #finnick x y/n

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futureman · 2 months

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here in the garden [prologue]

pairing: peeta mellark x f!reader

summary: nearly a week into your unique alliance, you and peeta take a quiet bath after a colorful training session. 8 days remain until the games.

warnings: 18+ MDNI, catching fire era, older victor!reader (4 years), aged-up peeta, secret relationship, platonic!katniss/peeta, sneaking around, fluff, smut, grinding, brief accidental piv, mentions of virginity

word count: 2.5k

series masterlist | a/n: a little taste before we rewind to day 1

Today, it’s shades of green.

Some deep and dark like shadowed leaves in a forest, and others bright and mixed with yellow to mimic sun-spotted blades of grass. It takes a decent amount of scrubbing to remove, and by the time you're finished, Peeta's arms are rosy red to match the flush spreading across his chest.

Paint swirls on the water's surface like an abstract portrait. It's as beautiful staining the walls of the porcelain tub you're bathing in as it was on his skin and just as fleeting.

If it weren't for the sweet boy beneath you, you'd allow that thought to linger. You'd dwell on the shortness of life and lament the brief time you have together before your short lives end. But for so many reasons you never expected to find in this hopeless place, you don't.

Instead, you pretend what you’ve found with Peeta is real and hold it close. You sneak around and find quiet moments away from prying Capitol eyes, seeking solace in private suites and fancy bathrooms just like this.

Here, you're not tributes in the 75th Hunger Games. He's not a star-crossed lover from District 12, and you're not breaking up a relationship that was never real to begin with. There's no one else here to convince. It's just you and Peeta.

For over a week, it's been just you and Peeta, falling asleep in each other's arms and stealing slow kisses in the dark. And though your time is dwindling, he still moves cautiously and with intention. Even now, settled between your legs in this bathtub, he's waiting for permission he was already granted.

He looks up at you, heavy-lidded and content, and you know what he's about to ask. It's been a while since he felt the need to, but today is different.

"Can I touch you?" he asks softly, his hands frozen in place on either side of your waist. He's nervous.

This is the first time he's seeing you naked. Bare skin on bare skin where there's only ever been layers of fabric between you. His cheeks are dusted pink, and you know it's not just the heat and steam in the air.

"Of course. Always," you reply, smiling as you lean in to kiss him. But you hesitate, too. "Can I?"

"Always," he breathes out.

Peeta's the one to close the gap, and his kiss is soft but firm. His lips move deliberately against yours with a hint of that tempered hunger you see in his eyes whenever he looks at you. He coaxes your mouth open eagerly, and when his tongue meets yours, he lets out a sigh of relief and finally allows himself to explore your body.

It's so much more intense than you expected. His hands begin to roam your exposed skin, newfound territory for him to map and memorize, and leave a trail of blazing fire in their wake. Settling under your breasts, he teases the undersides until you're whining into his mouth and swallows the sound proudly.

Because he earned it. He spent the last week acquainting himself with your pleasure, guiding you across his lap or thigh until you came apart in his arms. Discovering where to suck and stroke to make you so wet, you soaked right through your underwear and into his.

Your clothes always stayed on as an extra precaution to avoid getting caught, but you have a sneaking suspicion that wasn't the only reason. Something in his eyes and the careful way he handled you seemed too cautious, maybe even a little shy. But it's obvious now that something's shifted. He needs more. You both do.

He smiles against your lips, cataloging your reaction as he shifts higher and above the water's surface to swipe over your nipples. They're already pebbling from the cooling air temperature, so he tweaks one and swallows that moan, too.

But this time, it's not enough to muffle the sound, and it echoes a little too loudly for the precarious situation you're in. Still toying with a sensitive bud, he pulls away and fixes you with a stern, yet tender look. His lips are distractingly kiss-swollen as he speaks, and you're torn between feeling thoroughly chastised and unbearably turned on.

"Hey, we have to be quiet, okay?" he gently hushes you, kissing your cheek, then the shell of your ear apologetically. "You sound so pretty and I don't want you to stop, but it's too risky."

"But you feel so good," you murmur, cupping his cheeks to bring his lips back to yours. He gives in briefly before parting to rest his forehead on yours.

"I know," he mumbles, nosing into your cheek. "But we can't draw attention to ourselves right now. It's just until we get back to my floor. Be patient."

You pout without meaning to and it makes you feel like a petulant child. "I suck at that and you know it. Let's just go now," you sulk. It's an unfortunate new habit you picked up from one of your stylists, and Peeta entertains it. Usually.

He raises an eyebrow, looking pointedly at the dirt and ash still sprinkled across your forearms and caked under your fingernails. Earlier at the training center, you chose to practice fire starting while he picked camouflage, and now it's coming back to bite you in the ass.

"I don't know whose bed you think you're getting into like that, but it sure isn't mine," he jokes, but you can tell he's dead serious. Eyeing him mischievously, you run your fingers along the bath water and swipe a green line across his cheek.

"Mm, then maybe I should see what Johanna's up to tonight. I bet she likes it a little dirty," you tease him, and he rolls his eyes.

"Hilarious," he deadpans, but the subtle quirk of his lips betrays him. He knows as well as you do that she'd probably take you up on the offer, but tonight, like all the others, you're his. If only you could come to an agreement.

"Okay well, we're clearly at an impasse, so unless you can think of a really great plan to soundproof this bathroom—," you inch forward to tease his cock between your folds, and he sucks in a harsh breath. "—we'll have to sit through an entire bath like this."

"Kiss me," he blurts out, tightening his grasp on your waist to hold you in place. "Whenever it—," you cut him off with a tempting swivel of your hips, and he clenches his jaw, unable to stop himself from bucking into you. "—whenever it feels like that, just kiss me. I'll keep you quiet."

You eye him dubiously. If that didn't work before, what makes him think it'll be any more effective now? Before you can question him, he leans forward and kisses you so deeply, it makes you dizzy.

"Do you trust me?" he asks softly as he cups your cheek, and you nod. Of course, you do. What you don't trust are the paper-thin walls of this bathroom and the Capitolites walking the halls, just waiting to rip all of this away. But him? With your life.

He gives you another lingering kiss in gratitude before replacing his mouth with his thumb, gently swiping across your bottom lip. "It doesn't have to be here," he tells you.

His thumb unexpectedly slips into your mouth and gently presses down on your tongue, encouraging you to suck. You both bite back a moan when you comply without hesitation, and his cock jerks violently against your thigh, but you force yourself to ignore it—for now.

"You can kiss me here," he continues breathily, ducking down to trail open-mouthed kisses along the underside of your jaw, then moves lower to dip his tongue into the hollow of your throat. "And here."

He pulls his thumb free and returns to teasing your nipple, circling the bud tenderly as he continues his path downward. The longer he persists, the more it becomes clear how badly he wants this. How badly he wants you. And he's so convincing, you're starting to believe his solution might actually work.

"I've been waiting to get you alone all day," he mumbles into your skin, and the longing in his voice makes your heart ache. "Please don't make me wait anymore."

Your breath hitches as he nips at your collarbone, leaving a faint mark he knows will fade by morning. But the thought of being marked as Peeta's, even for a short while, solidifies your decision.

"You'll keep me quiet?"

"Yeah, I'll keep you quiet," he agrees breathlessly, meeting your gaze.

"And I can be as loud as I want later?"

His hazel eyes darken enough to make you shiver in his warm embrace. He nods slowly, and there's a glimmer of promise in the darkness.

"You're going to be the death of me, Peeta Mellark," you whisper.

His expression falters. The statement is more dire than either of you are ready to accept. Or maybe you, at least, already have.

"God, I hope not," he replies too honestly.

God, you hope so.

Before that thought can fester, you lurch forward and crush his body into yours, choosing to savor this moment instead. Soon enough, you're lost in how incredible he feels against your lips and chest, heavy and searing hot against your core.

The frantic, needy way his body responds to yours is intoxicating. He kisses you with renewed fervor, gasping softly into your mouth every time you rock into him, caressing and squeezing all of the places he knows you like.

You're already starting to quake in his arms, and it only worsens when he shifts your hips higher to reach where you want him most. Without breaking your increasingly heated kiss, he slides his hands under your ass and positions you so every slide between your folds allows the head of his cock to nudge your clit.

The first thrust sends a jolt straight up your spine. Something loud and desperate threatens to escape you, so you quickly bury your face in the crook of his neck to kiss him like he told you to. But in your panic, you bite him.

It sends Peeta reeling. To his credit, he manages to grit his teeth through the shock, turning his head to groan as quietly as he can into your hair, but the rest of his body isn't as easy to control. His heart rate kicks up, strong enough to feel it pulsing in his cock, and the careful self-restraint he tried so hard to maintain begins to crumble. And that sends you reeling.

No one's ever made you feel like this before. Wet and needy, ravenous with a hunger only he can sate. It's hard to believe he's even real, that you didn't dream him up to cope with your terrible fate.

How is he so perfect? Every part of him, from the thick fingers tensed to their limits at your sides to the flushed-pink apples of his cheeks—he's the most beautiful person you've ever seen.

If you had more time to overthink, you'd probably feel insecure being touched so intimately by a boy like Peeta. But you don't. You just feel lucky.

He's been rock hard from the moment your training gear hit the floor, and now he's grinding into your heat like it's all he's thought about for days. He makes you feel wanted. That's a new feeling, too.

Soft whimpers pass his lips, displacing the steam in the air, and you lean in to capture them in a kiss. Threading your fingers through his hair, you tug him closer, hoping to convey everything you're too afraid to say out loud.

Your tongue tangles with his, and it means you're grateful. Your blunt nails scratch lightly against his scalp, and it means you don't want to let him go. You grind onto him harder, willing him to understand.

His hips stutter in response, but as he whines into your mouth, you realize his movements are getting less and less coordinated. Colorful water torrents over the lip of the tub and crashes onto the floor, giving your mosaic an entirely new canvas.

Matching his erratic pace, you inch up his thighs for more friction, but the new angle throws him off. On his next thrust, he accidentally snags on your entrance, and the head of his cock slips inside you.

Stars burst behind your eyelids. With your last remaining shred of lucidity, you hope his lips are enough to muffle your startled moan because you couldn't have stopped it even if you'd tried.

He jerks back, letting out something guttural before he frantically readjusts, almost like he's trying to avoid letting it happen again. Except, now you know what it feels like to be stretched around him and you want more.

"Peeta," you murmur to get his attention. His eyes meet yours, glassy and unfocused. "I want you to fuck me."

It takes a second to sink in, but when it does, his back goes ramrod straight, and not for the reasons you'd hoped for. He doesn't bury himself inside you like you so desperately wanted. Instead, a barrier is raised, and he looks more conflicted than you think you've ever seen him. You wait for him to explain, fighting not to feel hurt and utterly rejected.

"I haven't—," he starts, then stops, thinking better of it. He shakes his head, still panting as he struggles to collect his thoughts, but curiosity is already beginning to eat away at you. You can't help but wonder what he was about to say and why he chose to keep it from you. When he tries again, his voice is softer, imploring.

"I don't want us to have sex for the first time in a bathroom. You deserve a bed," he says gently, brushing his knuckles across your cheek. "To not be covered in dirt and paint."

The sentiment is sweet and earnest enough to relieve some of your apprehension, but something still feels off. He's not being completely honest with you, and you both know it. But you also know he'll tell you when he's ready, so you don't push him.

After a long moment, he continues, but his words are tinged with sadness and something else you can't quite define.

"We don't...," he hesitates again, and you lean into his touch, letting the warmth of his fingers soothe you. It seems to relax him, too. "We don't have a lot of time left. If this is one of the last good things I'll ever get to experience, I want it to be meaningful. No sneaking around, no worrying about getting caught. Just you and me, making the most of the rest of our lives."

Just you and Peeta.

You feel incredibly lucky again. You don't deserve a boy like Peeta Mellark, but you kiss him anyway, deeply and unhurriedly just like he asked. Because he's right.

Because he's been nothing but kind and generous in the six short days you've known him, and you only have eight short days left. Despite the ticking clock, you haven't felt peace like this since your childhood in 11 before it was stolen away from you.

Peeta gives you that. So, you'll give him this.

He deserves it.

thanks for reading! chapter one coming soon <3 divider by @saradika-graphics

#peeta mellark x reader #peeta mellark x you #peeta mellark imagine #peeta mellark smut #peeta mellark fluff #peeta mellark #the hunger games imagine #the hunger games fanfiction #the hunger games #josh hutcherson x reader #josh hutcherson

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a-aexotic · 1 year

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AAAA I LOVE THE HUNGER GAMES !! could u write either peeta or finnick during catching fire they are going oht of their way to protect you and make sure your okay (if peeta that katniss isn’t there u take her place for the story)

happy new year 😚😚

—cw: unedited, established relationships in both, general thg stuff, mentions of SA & prostitution, death

—a/n: HEY SO ik you requested a fic but i thought i could both (finnick & peeta) in headcanons!!!!!! I HOPE THATS OKAY PLS LMK 😭 also this was sooo much longer than excepted i got carried away with finnick’s! HAPPY NEW YWAR TOO!

FINNICK O’DAIR

we obviously know that finnick would go above and beyond to protect the people he loves and cares about

but there’s only a few people he cares about—you, annie & mags

you were three years younger than him, winning the hunger games at just 14 years old (like him) and you had come from district 4

you had volunteered for your younger sister in the games, like katniss would for prim later

people in the capitol found you just as, if not more, charming than finnick because of what you did for your sweet baby sister

they ate the whole thing up, crying at the beautiful gesture because they knew a little girl like you couldn’t win

but you did! it took everything in you, everything you stood for, and your morals to win

and it broke you as it did with any of the other victors

you thought it would have been all over after that but of course not

because you were so loved at the capitol, snow decided to make some profit out of it

he decided to sell your body in exchange for your family’s safety

and that is how you met finnick and became friends

he was 17 when he met you and he took you under his wing, protecting you from everything and everyone

but he knew he could only protect you from so much

when he had turned 18 he knew he had to leave you to do all those terrible things alone but he had to

you guys bonded over similar traumas and soon, you fell in love

when the quarter quell had been announced, you knew it wasn’t fair

and no matter what, you were going to volunteer for annie or mags because you knew neither could make it

annie was too fragile mentally and mags was too old, you were the only who was still strong physically and somewhat mentally

and finnick knew that was exactly what you were planning on doing but he knew he couldn’t stop you

at this point in time, finnick wasn’t wary of the rebellion so he thought he was going to have to choose between himself and y/n; and for him, it wasn’t much of a choice

he swore he would protect you, and when the time came he would kill himself so you could make it home

now you were thinking the opposite; you would pull exactly what katniss and peeta did, and if that didn’t work they might as well just die like romeo and juliet and that would cause an uproar at the capitol

when annie had been picked, you were the first to raise your hand, grabbing mags’ arm stop her

there were tears in both their eyes, looking at you with admiration, terror and slight relief

you had hugged them both tightly, knowing it was possibly the last time you’d feel their embraces

you looked over at finnick, tears brimming both of your eyes and you walked over at each other and brought your hands together, raising them up in union

when you had made it to the capitol, plutarch and haymitch had told you the plan and you immediately accepted, relief seen in both your expressions

when entering the training room, you wanted to work on your skills because you were a bit rusty, leaving all the violence back at the arena

you knew that this hunger games wasn’t gonna be like your last, it much more difficult like plutarch said

katniss always admired you, doing what you had done for your sister

she had related to you ever since she had came back from her hunger games; you were her idol

but after meeting finnick she realized that it may have been a ploy to win over some sponsors

after talking to haymitch, he told her the truth; that she was simply being shallow because you were the kindest person he had ever met

so when you were working on your bow skills, katniss had walked in

she realized you were struggling and decided to help you

you didn’t exchange much words but katniss realized what haymitch had said was true

and she had picked you for one of her allies

when the quarter quell had begun, you quickly sprinted to find finnick and when you did, you found him with katniss, then peeta

you were a pretty strong person, just as strong as finnick but he still had the urge to protect you

from the moment he laid eyes on you, he wanted to take you out of harms way and he didn’t know why until one day you had mentioned it; you had reminded him of himself when he was younger

before you, he had never felt real comfort after the hunger games because of your similarities and bonds that wouldn’t ever break

so even though you were very capable, he still protected you and made sure you were okay at all times

you and katniss bonded as well and him and peeta did

towards the end of the games, you had injured your lower leg very badly and you couldn’t walk

he couldn’t leave you because he knew that it was almost over

you had begged him to just leave, that you were just deadweight and neither him or katniss would budge

so he carried you on his back, right until the end of the games

also gale dies instead 🙄

PEETA MELLARK

basically you were katniss up until catching fire

you guys started dating after the hunger games, bonding over what had happened

when the quarter quell was announced you were heartbroken

you blamed yourself and only yourself because of it

you knew this time, you and peeta couldn’t get out of this one so easily

and you decided that peeta deserved to live and if it came to it, you would die for him

but peeta was thinking the exact same thing

you had a family to live for, you had friends to live for, you had a life to live for

and what did peeta have? nothing but you

he was prepared to take his own life for your own, in a heartbeat

now with katniss, peeta was definitely not as protective because she was more independent

but with you, he was way more protective

of course you were still a baddie like katniss but peeta felt more of a protective nature over you

he hated seeing you hurt whether it was physical or mental

peeta thought of ways to possibly stop the quarter quell, so he pulled the pregnancy stunt on caesar’s show

he couldn’t imagine his life without you, his life wouldn’t be his without you

that didn’t work as we know

in the quarter quell, he refused to leave your side

he also preferred to be in front of you even after you tried to argue that you would be better up front

when you guys slept, he would always lay his head on top of your so he could feel if you got up

he would be ready to kill anyone and everyone for you, in any moment

he hated the idea that the one of you had to die and he tried. it to think about it

the whole time during the games he just thought about ways to get you guys both out but he realized he couldn’t

when you ended up shooting the force field with your arrow and the whole thing went down, he was there

and he was saved with you because mocking jay peeta was scary & he didn’t deserve it 😭

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kit-kat-katie · 7 months

Text

Moonlight Sunrise

A/N: I'm trying to aim for a fic a month for the months that I am in school, and I know I am cutting it close to the deadline, but I made it! I hope you enjoy this third part - it doesn't flow as smoothly as other parts since it was written in three disjointed writing sessions, but I like the final product. See you all in October or whenever I can write next. :)

TW: Canon-typical violence, small bit of bodily gore and blood, brief torture mention, reader throws knives

Pairing: Finnick x GN! Reader (romantic)

Summary: The next day of the 75th Hunger Games brings new allies, new feeling, new foes, new adventure, and new tragedy in your life. Contemplation is not an option - one must act with haste and caution if they want to keep their home safe.

(<- Previous Part | Next Part -> | Series Masterlist)

You and Finnick both watch Katniss and Peeta say a final goodbye to the female morphling who has died. The cannon is a bleak reminder of all that you’ve lost, and Finnick gives a quick look back to ensure that the mutts have not followed you on to the beach.

The trident finds its way into Finnick’s grasp as he scouts the perimeter. You walk a step closer to Katniss and Peeta as an airship comes from the sky to retrieve the body.

“She sacrificed herself for me and I don’t even know her name.” Peeta looks down, and you can’t help but feel bad.

You take a few steps back to let them talk for a moment as the sunrise distracts you from what’s going on.

It’s a beautiful day, and it’ll be even more beautiful when I’m out of here. The sunrise always looked beautiful from the beaches in District Four.

Finnick finds himself fishing, a comfort for the both of you, and his trident lands a catch. You weren’t sure if District 12 kids were used to having fish for breakfast, but they would make do.

You all would because that’s the only choice you have.

Adapt or die.

Katniss devours the fish in front of her as you and Finnick take small bites of the fish. You finish yours, and Finnick adds another piece of meat to your hands before you can object.

Peeta opens a clam with his knife, and he takes the pearl of the clam to give to Katniss. You nudge Finnick, who rolls his eyes at the gesture, with your elbow. You bite down on your lip to suppress your laugh as Katniss observes the pearl in her hand.

A scream from a forest pulls everyone’s attention to the other side of the arena. You all quickly stand up as you watch the wave crash into one sector of the Cornucopia, and as it crashes over the center, it spreads to the other parts of the Cornucopia in smaller waves. The water comes crashing close to all of you, and your legs are soaked by the waves. It’s refreshing to you, but the dull reminder of a cannon and an airship brings you back to reality.

It all could be gone, just like that.

“Someone’s here.” Katniss grabs an arrow as Peeta ducks. Finnick’s stray hand covers your abdomen as his hand tightly grips his trident.

Make it more obvious, Finnick.

Finnick peeks from the bushes for a moment as you hide behind them

“Johanna.” He softly says before moving towards the water again.

Your eyes widen as you immediately follow behind Finnick.

“Johanna!” Finnick waves his hand as you look back and gesture for Peeta and Katniss to follow.

“They’re friends,” You say as you navigate the rocky beach, “and I’m friends with Johanna too. You’ll be fine with us.”

They both, reluctantly, follow behind you as you approach the three people in the distance.

“We were all the way deep in the jungle, where I thought it was safe,” Johanna, covered in blood, holds her axe to the side, “I thought it was water. Turned out to be blood. Hot, thick blood that was coming down-“

“Tick-tok, tick-tok.” Wiress approaches Johanna, who pushes her away immediately.

“-and it was choking us. We were stumbling around, gagging on it, blind. That’s when Blight hit the forcefield.” Johanna takes a quick moment to compose herself. “He wasn’t much, but he was from home.”

“Tick-tok, tick-tok.” Wiress grabs Johanna’s shoulder, and Johanna shoots you and Finnick a knowing glare.

“What’s wrong with her?” Katniss asks as Wiress continues repeating the same phrase over and over.

“She’s in shock,” Beetee explains as he finishes washing the rest of the blood off of him, “Dehydration isn’t helping. You have fresh water?”

You watch Wiress continue to hang onto Johanna, and you step past Finnick to intervene before Johanna does something she’ll regret.

“We can get some-“

“Tick-tok, tick-tok-“

Wiress clings to Johanna, but you place a hand on Wiress’s shoulder. She immediately places her hands on your shoulders as she continues to talk.

“I know, I know-“ You nod at Wiress, but Johanna’s reached her limit.

“Just- just shut up!” She screams at Wiress, and you lightly push Wiress behind you as Johanna charges at her.

“Hey, lay off her!” Katniss yells before intervening herself.

This can’t possibly end well.

Katniss charges at Johanna and tries to get her hands on her, but Johanna pushes her back. Finnick is quick to push himself between the two of them. You want to help, but Johanna’s stronger than you are, pissed-off or not, and you’re not wanting to test her as is. Finnick pulls Johanna further into the water as Peeta holds Katniss back.

“I got them out for you,” Johanna yells at Katniss before directing her anger to Finnick, “let me go!”

Johanna continues to struggle against Finnick’s grip, but the situation is diffused, for now, so your attention turns back to Wiress.

“I’m sorry, Wiress.” You look at the blood on your hands from Wiress along with the blood on Wiress herself. “C’mon, let’s get you cleaned up.”

You gently lead Wiress into the water as she continues to tell you ‘tick-tok’.

What are you trying to tell me?

You’re too tired and stressed about every little thing to try and figure it out, but you notice that Wiress is focused on Katniss. Katniss’ eyes meet yours, and you happily wave her over to help you clean her off.

It’ll help keep Katniss focused on something besides trying to hurt Johanna.

“I got this.” Katniss says as you gently pour some water onto Wiress’ clothes.

The murderous intent has left Katniss’ eyes, so you switch spots with her before heading over to Johanna and Finnick.

“Finnick, you’re lucky I didn’t kill her-“

You giggle under your breath after splashing a moderate amount of water onto Johanna and Finnick.

“-Perhaps you could save the murder for after lunch?”

Finnick heartily laughs as Johanna sends you a deadly glare.

“You look like shit. Did you tumble down a mountainside?”

“I did, actually,” A light smirk plays on your face as the next comment flies out of your mouth, “but I think you looked better with blood than without it-“

You choke on the large splash of water that Johanna sends your way. You wipe the water out of your face as you stand there, aghast. Finnick throws his head back and laughs as Johanna manages to crack a smile.

“I missed you too, Johanna,” You roll your eyes before washing the blood off of your hands, “and I wouldn’t laugh, Finnick.”

You lightly flick some water onto Finnick, and his warm smile sends butterflies into your stomach as Johanna carefully observes the both of you.

The playfulness in his eyes sends you retreating back to the shore, but he manages to grab your arm and pull you under water.

You quickly remerge from the water as Finnick pulls you towards him. You both laugh as you place your hands on his chest.

Finnick takes one of your hands and pulls you towards the shore as you try to shake off any previous shyness or embarrassment. You look back at Johanna, who quirks an eyebrow at you.

Don’t mess that up, she mouths to you as you wink at her.

I wasn’t planning on it.

The cool water feels refreshing against your skin. District 4 had taught you to find comfort in water, and your first round of the Hunger Games taught you how much of a luxury water truly was.

Dehydration was a major player in your Hunger Games as the main careers were the only ones with access to water with their strong set of sponsor. You were, in all senses, a fish out of water. Dead bodies by berry bushes taught you how to forge, but you would have been dead without a few sponsors of your own. The first canister of water came from your mentors, and you showed your gratefulness through a warm smile and a small ‘thank you’.

That moment was played over and over across Panem. Hubris flowed and weaved through most of the tributes, but not you, apparently. Finnick would laugh and tell you that you learned that from your favorite mentor. You wanted to tease him back, to say that you didn’t learn anything from him, but you did learn how humble and kind he truly was.

Instead, you told him that Mags was your favorite mentor, and he didn’t talk to you for three whole hours.

Your eyes fall to Finnick’s form next to you. He was attractive, with plenty of golden boy looks and charms to spare. You’d never live it down if you told him that, but you weren’t sure if you’d live at this moment, so maybe another moment to see his smile would be worth the temporary embarrassment.

“Are you watching me?” A sly smile rests on his face as he stands next to you on the shoreline.

“In your dreams, pretty boy.”

His trident sinks into the sand as his head leans toward you.

“I like when you call me those names, sweetheart.”

His hot breath on your neck sends a wave of shivers down your spine, and you raise an eyebrow at him before turning to face him. His lips are inches away from yours, but you want to tease him before he gets what he wants.

“Oh, and what else would you like me to call you? Handsome, perhaps?” A coy smile, matched with wide eyes, causes Finnick to laugh for a moment before responding.

“Anything would be good, as long as it came from your lips.”

“Finnick!” You lightly push him away before nervously looking around you.

“You’re nervous about one of them seeing you after you kissed me in front of the whole Capitol?”

“That was different,” You slightly whine as Finnick looks at you with amusement, “I wanted to make sure that you knew how I felt in case something happened to me.”

His mood darkens for a moment.

“No one’s going to hurt you, not on my watch,” His eyes light up again, “but it’s sweet to know that you think of me from time to time.”

“Of course I do,” Mischief finds a way to lace itself back into your voice, “you’re my dearest mentor.”

“Not your favorite?” His puppy dog eyes don’t convince you one bit.

“Still Mags,” You laugh after he sighs in defeat, “but you’re my favorite person, if that’s any consolation prize.”

“I still want to be your favorite mentor.” He grumbles as you continue to merrily laugh.

I wish we could spend every day like this on the coastline at home. Life has a different plan, it always does.

“This entire arena seems to be laid out like a clock,” Katniss explains as your group walks toward the Cornucopia, “with a new threat every hour, but they stay only within their wedge. It all starts with the lightning, then the blood rain, fog, monkeys… that’s the first four hours. At ten, that big wave hits over there.”

You admire her deducing skills as she points out each sector. You do your best to memorize them - it could help save your life.

“Wiress, you’re a genius.” Finnick softly compliments her as you approach the weapon rack.

You grab as many throwing knives as possible along with a small satchel to store them in. Being defenseless wasn’t really your style, and you had to prove yourself in some way.

The group discusses the lightning occurrence, and the chatter doesn’t catch your ear as you focus on your surroundings. You’re out in the open, vulnerable on most sides, and someone would get killed if they strayed-

“Relax, you’re tensing up.” Finnick places his hand on your back for a moment before retrieving another small knife from the group.

“I’m just worried,” You say as Finnick offers you the knife, “but thanks-“

He pulls the knife back for a moment with a wicked smile as you dramatically roll your eyes and sigh.

“What do you want me to do, say please?”

“I was going for a kiss, but please will work for me.” He tosses the knife in the air, and you snatch it before he can grab onto it.

“Perhaps you’ll get what you want when there’s less people around,” You tease before you hear the group gathering nearby. “and when there’s less people trying to murder us.”

Wiress sings a childhood lullaby on a rock near the water as Peeta draws a circle on the ground. Finnick moves his hand from your back to his side, but you’re quick grab his hand with yours.

“From twelve to one, there’s lightning, and from one to two, there’s blood,” Peeta divides the circle into even parts as he deciphers the arena, “then fog, then monkeys.”

“Ten to eleven, the wave. What about everything else? Did you guys see anything?”

I think I would remember seeing something bad from this hellhole.

You shake your head as Johanna answers.

“Nothing but blood.”

“It doesn’t matter, as long as you stay clear of whichever sectors active, you’ll be safe.” Peeta counters.

“Yeah, relatively speaking-“ Finnick pauses, as do the rest of you, when you hear a soft gasp from the same spot that Wiress was sitting at.

With a knife in her back from Gloss, Wiress was lifeless in his arms. Your survival instincts kick in as you pull a knife to throw, but Katniss beats you to it with an arrow to his chest. The cannon booms twice in a row as your suspicions are proven right: you’re a target, right where the hunters want you.

Your eyes spot a blob of blonde moving in the distance, so you push Johanna towards it as you look for the other two careers. She can handle herself, along with Katniss. You’re worried about Beetee and Peeta because Finnick cannot protect both of them with an attack on all fronts. You let go of his hand as you prepare yourself to fight like hell for yourself, Finnick, and your friends.

A canon booms as Brutus throws something sharp at the four of you. You duck and pull Beetee down with you as the rest avoid the projectile with ease. You immediately get back up as Brutus charges at Finnick while Enobaria approaches from behind. With a knife in hand, you throw it her way to pull her attention from Finnick. The knife scraps her cheek and leaves a small, bleeding cut where it had once touched her skin.

Enobaria looks at you for a moment, a small bit of fear in her eyes, before baring her teeth at you. With a small glance to Brutus and her fallen allies, she runs to take cover along with Brutus.

Finnick pushes a charging Peeta back as Katniss and Johanna chase after them. You barely have time to think before the center of the Cornucopia starts to spin rapidly. You fall to your knees but are able to grab onto a rock before you fall into the water. Peeta grabs onto one near you, but you can’t tell if any of the others have fallen in to the spinning death trap or if you all are hanging on by a mere thread.

Your eyes catch the sight of the shiny weapons above you that rattle rapidly with the movement of the Cornucopia. You curse under your breath as they start to fall off, but you’re able to navigate your body around them with little to no issue. Peeta struggles a bit more, but your focus lands on his hands. He won’t be able to hold on much longer since he’s not used to the waves constantly crashing into his body.

The last of the weapons and crates fly past you as the Cornucopia slows down and eventually stills. You crawl up to level ground before taking a deep breath.

That was… an experience.

Peeta quickly gets off the ground as you hear Katniss coughing in the distance. Johanna and Peeta run to aid her as you simple bask in the warm glow of the sun. The water was cold and unfamiliar against your skin - a feeling that you hated with every iota of your body.

You pull yourself up before Finnick and Beetee approach you.

“You okay?” Finnick asks as Beetee tries to wipe off his glasses.

How did he manage to keep those things on?

“I’ll survive.” You shake off his concern with a light smile.

Concern still rests in Finnick’s irises, but he lets the question rest for now.

“Let’s just get what we need and get off the bloody island.” Johanna convincingly says, and you nod in agreeance.

I knew this wouldn’t be a good idea, and here we are. Another person who is a needless causality.

You stare out at the ocean, reflecting on the events that have just occurred. This activity used to bring you comfort, a moment of relief from the ever-chaotic life of a Victor, but waves of sadness crashed against your heart just as the waves of water splashed your feet.

A couple of tears fall from your eyes as you replay the fight at the Cornucopia again and again. If you had been with Wiress, you could’ve saved her. If you had been more aware and less of a romantic idiot, then one less person’s blood would be on your hands.

You couldn’t listen to the five of them discuss who was alive, and the next plan. Not so soon after Wiress’ death, after someone you cared about was ripped from your life without any hesitation.

You wipe the tears from your eyes as you imagine the Capitol citizens cheering at your display of affection. You had always had a soft heart for the tributes you trained and your fellow victors, so a moment like this was not uncommon.

You remember how you bawled after the first set of tributes from District 4 died under your mentorship and guidance. You had locked yourself in your room, and Mags was the first one to come knocking on the door.

“Mags, I can’t do this!” You cry out from under the sheets.

She gently knocks, twice, against the door.

“They were counting on me…” You mumble under your breath as another wave of tears fell from your eyes.

She stayed out there all night until you came out for breakfast the next day. You had never felt such strong affection from someone until that moment, when she hugged you as she wiped your tears. Mags always knew what to do.

What would she do now?

She’d smile and stroke your face with a loving look in her eyes before nodding in front of you. With a small hug, she would send you back in to face whatever had been bothering you.

Mags was your favorite mentor because she understood you like no one else would. She knew who you were under the sunshine, and she still accepted you for it. That, however, didn’t stop Finnick from creeping into your heart.

Maybe Finnick wasn’t your favorite mentor, but rather, your favorite person. You’d have to tell him that sometime, if you got the chance.

Unfortunately, your introspective thoughts had to be put aside as someone stood up from behind you.

“Prim!” Katniss screams before running into the forest.

Your eyes widen as you realize what’s pulling her to the forest.

Mockingjays.

Mockingjays were your least favorite flying creatures by far. Many other tributes would regard them as an annoyance, but you had watched one tear your District 4 tribute, the one from your first set of Hunger Games, away from you. The birds sung praises of loved ones, and promises of safety and familial love. You knew better, but they didn’t.

That damned bird was harnessed by the career pack, and they murdered your district partner in cold blood as you watched from the shadows. After they left, you made a small bouquet of flowers and laid it on your ally’s chest. Soon after, you received a parachute from your second sponsor - a set of knives to bring harm to those who had taken your last piece of home away from you.

Here you were, again, watching as your mentor sat silently in the field after being trapped with the mockingjays for an hour. Katniss had Peeta to tell her that everything was okay, but what could you say to Finnick that he didn’t already know? Annie and Mags were safe, for now, and you were here beside him. You were physically here, but your mind kept replaying the image of your fellow tribute bleeding to death on the ground.

The man in front of you started to resemble the kid who was slain in the games, and as soon as a grotesque image of Finnick’s lifeless body entered your mind, you quickly stood up and brushed past a ranting Johanna.

“What are they-“

“Don’t, just don’t.” Johanna quickly defends you from any questioning as you make your way back to the beach, to your safe place.

You sit on the sand, waiting for some answer to rise out of the water. The waves had always calmed your mind, but between Wiress’ death and the Mockingjays, you couldn’t find anything relaxing about the water. Everything felt suffocating, like you were drowning in a tide pool of your thoughts and emotions.

You sit down on the sand and let everything crash over you. There are no more tears, no more sadness… just an empty, horrible feeling at the bottom of your stomach.

“Mind if I join you?” Finnick’s voice floats to your ears, but you can’t find the energy to respond to him.

You’re drained, tired, and ready to go back to District 4, but there was no going back from what was already planned out.

Finnick chooses to take your silence as an answer as he slowly sits next to you. You think about how odd you look, tribute and mentor, side-by-side. You’re not a teenager any more - neither is he - but you feel childish, refusing to talk to him after he went through something as horrible as those Mockingjays.

“I’m sorry.” You bluntly say while cutting out any mental excuses that your brain is making up.

Finnick doesn’t respond, and you don’t have the courage to look at him. You, subconsciously, place your hand to the side in an attempt to ground yourself in the moment. You needed to be here, now, in the moment-

His hand, ever-so-gently, is placed on top of yours.

Everything has felt so fucked-up as of late.

But this? Being close to Finnick - getting all of his touch, his teasing, his kindness, his everything - it was everything to you.

For the first time since you entered the arena, you felt at home.

A familiar tune plays as your group stops to look at those who have been killed today. Familiar faces appear in the sky, both ones you love and hate, but there is no time for any regret to be spared. There is a plan - one that is highly dangerous and highly unlikely to work - but you have no time. The clock ticks in your head, in your heart, in your body, until midnight.

You’ll be dead, a slave to the Capitol, or on your way to an uncertain future.

What great options.

You approach the tree right behind everyone else as Beetee begins to work. You back away and let him do the rest as midnight ticks closer with every waking breath.

Beetee hands Katniss the rest of the electrical wire, and instructs you, Katniss, and Johanna on what to do and where to meet. Like any decision made so far, someone has to disagree with the plan that was crafted beyond their awareness.

“I’ll go with them as a guard.” Peeta says, but Beete quickly disagrees.

“No, no, you’re staying here to protect me… and the tree.”

The suspicions quickly clouds around Katniss and Peeta as you exhale deeply.

Why does every decision have to start and end with an argument?

“No, I need to go with her.” Peeta harshly says.

“There are two careers out there, and I need two guards.” Beetee matches Peeta’s intensity as you glance over at Finnick.

Do something, you mouth at him before he turns back towards everyone else.

“Finnick and Johanna can protect you just fine.” Peeta tries to reason with him, and Katniss, as always, jumps in with her own opinion on the matter.

“Yeah, why can’t Finnick and Johanna stay with you while Peeta, Sunny, and I take the coil?”

Your ears perk at the second mention of your name as you turn to look at Katniss, but she’s staring holes into Beetee.

“You all agreed to keep me alive until midnight, correct?” Beetee approaches Katniss, who stays silent.

“It’s his plan,” Johanna chimes in, “we all agreed to it.”

“Is there a problem?” Finnick, finally, decides to speak up as you cross your arms.

“Excellent question. Is there a problem?” Beetee matches Katniss’ glare, and you watch her back down.

“No, there’s no problem.”

You would’ve stepped in, but the hostility that Katniss has displayed in the current moments has made you question that action. You’d like to walk out of here with as few arrows in your body as possible.

Peeta and Katniss share a parting kiss as you glance over at Finnick again.

Be careful, he mouths to you as you prepare to take your leave.

I always am, you silently say back before you depart with Katniss and Johanna towards the water.

Your mind is in a state of complete disarray as you make your way towards the beach. Katniss makes a point to hand you her bow instead of Johanna, but she’s quick to snatch it back as soon as she can.

I don’t blame her for being on edge. I am too.

Regret is the ugly feeling consuming you - regret for not telling Finnick something in that last moment, the last moment you might ever see him again.

Don’t say that, don’t think that. You will find your way back to home, you always do.

Thoughts of home kept you safe, calm, and sane in your first Hunger Game. Home, then, was your family home with all of your loved ones inside. Home was the beach where you and your school friends would play after lessons were through. Home was the smell of freshly cooked fish in the air that mingled with the sea salt smell of the water. Home was everything that District Four was.

Thinking about home, now, lead you back to the same person again and again. His golden locks that you spent far too long admiring, his sugary smile that melted your heart at the mere mention of it, and his sweet gestures and sly words that had you both toeing the line between fellow mentors and something more.

You wondered if you would get another chance to kiss him, to tell him every emotion that he inspired in you. If you didn’t, wherever you ended up, you would tell them about Finnick: the man he was, is, and always will be.

“C’mon, I want to put as much distance between us and this beach as possible,” Johanna sternly tells Katniss as she brings the wire behind the three of you, “frying is not the way I want to go.”

“There’s something…” Katniss trails off as she tugs on the wire behind her.

A few more tugs from Katniss, and the wire comes free. The knife naturally comes to the front of your hand as Brutus approaches from the distance.

A quick look from Johanna causes you to throw said knife at him. He dodges it before stopping, but the sickening smile on his face sends shivers down your spine. You hear Johanna hit Katniss on the back of the head as you grab another knife.

So it begins.

You throw another knife at Brutus, and his dodging skills worsen as the knife cuts open part of his uniform and stomach. The cut isn’t too deep, not enough to kill, but it gives enough of a distraction for Johanna to cut the tracker out of Katniss’ arm.

Enobaria appears next to him, and your eyes widen as Johanna tells Katniss to stay down. You ready another knife, but Johanna shoves you to her right.

“Go,” She say before preparing to strike with her axe, “and don’t look back. Haymitch isn’t the only person I made a promise to.”

Finnick-

You nod in solemn agreement before taking off back towards the tree.

After a minute of running, you hide among the bushes for the moment as you hear footsteps approach.

“Johanna, Sunny, where are you?” Finnick calls out before stopping not too far from you.

Every cell inside you is reaching out to say something, to call out to him, but you can’t.

You tear off a small part of your tribute outfit before preparing to plunge your knife into your left arm.

The tracker has to go out one way or another.

Katniss was ready to go, and with a clean knife cut, yours was out too. The pain was immeasurable, but you quickly stop the bleeding with your makeshift bandaid. You throw the tracker towards the beach as you hear Finnick walk away from Katniss and yourself.

You can hear Katniss struggling to stand, so you quietly approach her while cutting off another part of your shirt. Once you emerge from the bushes, an arrow is pointed at your chest, but Katniss doesn’t put her bow down.

“You have to trust me, just for a while longer.” You toss her the strip of clothing, and she puts her bow down to tie up her arm before heading back to the tree.

You quietly trail behind her, nerves on edge, as you hold your knife in anticipation for an attacker. Katniss holds the wire in her hand as she looks at the tree curiously.

Sparks by the left side of the tree send Beetee flying as you quickly pass Katniss to check on Beetee.

He’s twitching and non-response, but breathing.

“Beetee-“

You pause as Katniss spots a makeshift spear nearby. Your eyes widen as you look at the tree in front of you - a ticking death machine as far as you were concerned.

You pull Beetee as far away from the tree as you can manage before another cannon fires.

“Peeta!” Katniss screams as her anger flares towards you.

The arrow is lined straight at your heart - if she releases it, you’re dead.

But you don’t fear death, not for a moment. If your death saves her and everyone else, then it would be a worthy sacrifice.

A tear falls, but not of fear or sadness, but pity. Pity for the poor girl in front of you who only knows how to solve violence with more violence.

You could only hope that Peeta was alive out there, and that Brutus or Enobaria were the one dead.

Rummaging through the nearby bushes causes her to misfire, as the arrow makes it mark into your knee. You crumble to the ground in horrendous pain as you only hope that this all will work out. You wonder if you will be able to walk again - your mentors had warned that injuries to the lower-half of your body would wound you for life if it didn’t cause your death in the arena.

You can only be a spectator as Katniss prepares another arrow, one to fire at the person who’s headed this way.

“Katniss, where are you?” Finnick cries out as Katniss prepares to fire her arrow at her.

You can only writhe in pain and be a spectator as Finnick notices Katniss. Pain constricts your throat, so you can’t tell him that you’re out of the way, that you’re safe, but he’s not.

You can’t watch someone else, someone from your home, die right in front of your. You were a helpless kid then as you watched someone die, but now, you were an adult.

Hell will have frozen over if you don’t do something about it.

You try to move your injured leg after a little pain subsides, but a shooting pain in your knee keeps you from moving your legs anymore than you have to.

“Katniss, remember who the real enemy is.” Finnick warns her as she continues to stay on-guard with her arrow pointed at his chest.

You look over at Beetee as guilt washes over you. You won’t let anyone else you care about die, not even the girl who shot you in the damn knee. With one hand in front of the other, you pull yourself out of the shadows and towards the two of them. Pain shoots through your body, but the adrenaline pumping through your veins counteracts it.

You try to stay as far away from the tree as possible as Katniss decides what to do next. She lowers her bow for a moment as thunder starts to collect around the tree of you. A bush blocks your view for a moment as you continue to crawl, but you hear Finnick warn Katniss to stay away from the tree. The last thing you remember was Finnick charging forward and Katniss releasing an arrow towards the lightning strikes before sparks clouded your vision until it faded completely black.

White.

The only color you see around you is white. Your arms are restricted by some sort of holding device behind you. You struggle against them, but your effortless are completely and utterly useless.

“We had a deal, Sunny.”

Shivers run up your spine as a clean set of black boots approach you. You know that voice, you’ve heard it all over speakers and right in front of you, and you hate its smugness. Its owner, however, is objectively the worst part.

Your eyes glance up to meet his as Snow cruelly smiles at you.

“And here I was, thinking that you would be something so much greater than yourself,” He chides you before pulling something out from behind his back, “what a fool I was.”

“I think, Sunny,” He continues as the weapon in his land comes to life with electric sparks, “that you and I need to become reacquainted with one another. Who, truly, is the real Sunny?”

Your screams aren’t heard from the soundproof rooms, and he doesn’t stop after you feel yourself fade away to nothingness.

The gently rocking of a carrier ship disturbs your unpeaceful rest. An oxygen mask helps you calm your breath as you open your eyes. The lights blind your vision, and for a moment, you’re scared that your nightmare was about to come true.

“Well, that went about as well as possible.” Haymitch mumbles before setting Katniss down next to you. Your eyes dart to the other side, where Beetee gently rests next to you.

“She needs time to adjust,” Another man, one that you don’t quite recognize, says before his eyes meet yours, “but they look less violent.”

Haymitch turns to you as he lets out a deep sigh.

“Sorry about your knee, and sorry about the shit job I did wrapping it up. Finnick re-wrapped it, by the way-“

You immediately sit up as Haymitch gently grabs your shoulder.

“Yes, yes, your lover boy is okay, calm down. You’re not going anywhere fast for a long time.” You look at your knee with Haymitch as you see the wound bleeding through the bandaging. It’s carefully wrapped, not too tight, just like Finnick did whenever you got cuts on your hands from the rocks back at home.

“Sunny?”

You push Haymitch away with the strength of a toddler as Finnick approaches this part of the plane.

“Okay, I got it, you two need some alone time.” Haymitch stands up before heading to the front of the plane. “Plutarch-“

“You did good, protecting the Mockingjay. If you feel like fighting again, we could always use someone like you.” Plutarch says before following Haymitch to the front of the carrier ship.

Finnick quickly passes both of them as the door closes behind him. Once he reaches your side, he pulls the oxygen mask off your face and lightly caresses your cheek with the pad of his thumb. You, in response, raise a hand towards the bruises on his face.

“Your cheek-“ You croak out as Finnick shakes his head.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. How’s your knee?”

“Hurts.” You mumble softly.

His eyes never leave yours, and the adoration in his eyes melts your core. You two stay in a comfortable silence as you place your hand on his chest.

“I won’t let anything else hurt you, I promise. We’ll be safe in District 13, I-“

You cut him off with a sweet kiss to the lips.

“I love you,” You lovingly whisper after your lips leave his, “now and forever.”

“Even with everything we’ve been through?” He quietly says as you reassure him.

“Especially considering everything we’ve been through.”

This time, his lips meet yours as you melt into Finnick’s chest, and, for now, this feels enough like home.

tagging -> @yokolesbianism , @avoxrising (send an ask or reply to be added for any future updates!)

#fanfic #x reader #the hunger games #the hunger games fanfic #the hunger games fluff #the hunger games x reader #finnick x reader #finnick imagine #thg finnick #finnick odair

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asterias-record-shop · 1 year

Text

𓆩[in our next life || III]𓆪

𓆩[masterlist]𓆪 𓆩[next part]𓆪 𓆩[request/ask me something!]𓆪 𓆩[join the taglist!]𓆪

𓆩♡𓆪 CHARACTER - Finnick Odair x Fem! District 4 Victor! Reader

𓆩♡𓆪 TYPE - fluff, slight angst

𓆩♡𓆪 WORD COUNT - 2.6K

𓆩♡𓆪 SUMMARY - Peeta and Katniss weren’t the first to fall in love after the games. That title went to you and Finnick, your mentor after you were Reaped at the age of fifteen two years after Finnick. After being dragged back into the Games with the Quarter Quell, you both are determined to stop it, no matter what- especially if one of you would gladly sacrifice themselves for the other.

𓆩♡𓆪 STORY WARNINGS - cursing and other foul language || no smut this chapter || mentions of wanting children || Finnick gets a little frustrated, but it doesn't last very long || you and Katniss have a talk || mentions of forced prostitution || baby names inspired by water || pregnancy test || eating shared candies if that makes sense || you and Finnick cry together, this chapter is really more fluffy and you and Finnick are just loving each other || (All of the warnings I can think of, lemme know if you think i should add anything else! warnings for full fic in the masterlist)

When the interview with Caesar was over, you collapsed into Finnick’s arms, sobbing. You didn’t care who saw, it didn’t matter who saw. As much as you needed Finnick in one area of your relationship, you needed him even more emotionally.

“You did good, darling, so good,” he whispered into your hair, fixing himself to sit down on the floor as your fluffy dress pooled around your sitting form. “Look at me, darling, you did so good.”

You inhale, looking up at him as he grinned down at you. His thumb rubs your chin, a shaky exhale falling from his lips. “I love you, Y/N. Every part of you, forever and always.”

You exhaled, nodding. “I love you, Finnick. Every part of you, until the end of time.”

You hear footsteps as you lay against Finnick’s chest, his fingers drawing patterns against your bare upper back. You probably looked insane as you looked up, tears staining your perfect makeup, but when you saw Peeta and Katniss, you smiled. Your arms wrapped around Finnick’s shoulders as he pulled you closer, inhaling as Katniss paused.

“Smile, Katniss,” you say, exhaling. “It helps them believe you.”

You saw her fists relax as you nodded at her. She nods back, a slight smile developing on her lips before you giggled. “Wider, honey. If I can’t stop these games, maybe you can, Mockingjay.”

Her brow ruffled as Cinna ran over. “Y/N, darling, your makeup! Come on, we need to fix it.”

Finnick sighed. “Cinna-”

“Of course, Cinna,” you smiled as you stood, stepping off of Finnick. “Will you come with me?”

He nods as you grab onto the edge of his shirt, his other quickly taking both of your shaking hands into his own. You smiled at Peeta and Katniss, mouthing ‘smile’ at them as Cinna took you down to the salon to fix your makeup. “I like the blue, Cinna, put more of it please.”

He smiled, nodding as he does as you say. Finnick’s lips stay pressed to your skin, anywhere from your shoulder to the back of your hand. He watched the interviews of Peeta and Katniss, gasping when Peeta pulled the same trick he did. “Guess everyone has baby fever, don’t they?”

You hum. “I hope so. Maybe the more babies we make, the more they’ll want to shut down the games.”

“I wish that was how it worked, Y/N,” Cinna whispers, smiling sadly. “What names were you thinking?”

You purse your lips, pausing. “Finnick, of course,” you say, making him laugh as Finnick squeezed your hand before sighing. “I’ve always loved the name Nautilus. Or Atlantis.”

Finnick smiled. “I like those.”

You laughed before Cinna turned you back into the mirror. “You like?”

You smiled, nodding when you saw how beautiful the makeup looked. “I love Cinna.”

He grins. “Perfect. Now go, you’re going to be late!”

You quickly get out of the chair as Finnick grabs your hand, quickly leading you down to the stage so you both can raise your hands together. You grab the person’s hand next to you, grinning as you raise your arms before Caesar announces, “And we will see them at the wedding of Panem’s Prince and Princess, Finnick and Y/N!”

Your mind was hazy as you went back to the room, leaning on Finnick for support with his hand in yours as you both stood in the elevator. It was quiet on the way up, his hand softly stroking your hair as you squeezed the other. “Fin?”

“Yes, darling?”

“Can you go get me a pregnancy test?”

He pauses as the doors open, walking in with you. “Why?”

“You made me think,” you whispered, sitting on the couch. “I just want to take one.”

Finnick scoffed. “Why if you think we’re going to die?”

You pause, looking at his form; his arms crossed in a way that made his biceps bulge, jaw clenched and eyes glaring down at the floor. “Fin, come on,” you say, sitting next to him to pull him down to the couch. “It was for effect, Finnick.”

“No, no it wasn’t,” he says, looking over at you, gaze softening. “You don’t think I will protect you? I promise you, I swear to you, I will get you out of that arena alive.”

You smiled, leaning forward to press a soft kiss to his lips. “I know you will, Fin,” you whisper, sighing. You let your fingers curl into his golden hair, softly brushing your nose to his. “I will do the same for you, and you know it.”

“You don’t have to protect me,” he says immediately. “It’s been my job to protect you since you were born. I’ve always, always protected you. Remember when we were little and that fucking asshole kept untying your nets and I fucking pummeled his ass? And then-”

“I couldn’t protect you when you were Reaped, Fin,” you say, remembering when his name was drawn and you fought against Peacekeepers to get to him. You ran onto the stage, ignoring the scolding of your mother and jumped into his arms, sobbing until you were dragged away from him.

“Finnick! Finnick, don’t go!” You wailed. He had just turned fourteen, you still eleven and unable to understand the point of the Reapings and what you were feeling.

“Y/N, go, please,” he whispers into your ear, his hands still at his sides. “Go before someone kills you.”

“No! No, I'm not leaving you! Finnick, please, please don’t go. Don’t leave me, you promised,” you sobbed into his shoulder, arms around his torso. “You promised.”

His hands twitch as they slowly wrap around your waist, pulling you closer. “I’ll come back. I promise you.”

And he did. He did come back, but two years later, you went too when you were fifteen. And then, you came back.

Even then, nothing was the same as when you came back. After being sold by Snow, you and Finnick’s relationship was broken. You both blamed the suffering and traumas of the other on yourselves, and because of that, you stayed apart for about a month. It was even more torture than the literal torture of Snow, and when you both saw each other again, you never let the other go since then.

“Let me protect you now.”

He inhaled shakily as you pulled him closer, pressing a kiss to his lips. “We’ll protect each other, Y/N,” he says, kissing you again. “I swear on it.”

You smiled as he paused. “I’ll get you that test.”

You nodded, thankful as he opens the door, and when you don’t hear it close, you look over the couch. When you see Katniss standing there, Finnick’s arms crossed as he raised a brow. “Can I help you?”

“I want to speak with Y/N,” she says before Cinna comes into view.

“Finnick, darling, the rings are done.”

You jump over the couch, still in your long flowy dress. “Cinna! Let me see!”

“Ah!” Finnick says immediately, pushing you away. “No, you can’t see until tomorrow.”

You pouted, whining. “Fin, come on!”

He laughs, pushing you back slightly. “Go. Katniss, come in, Cinna, walk with me.”

You pout as he walks over, kissing your lips. “Get changed, darling. I’m sure it’s hard for you to walk around in that.”

You giggled, brushing your lips against his again. “I love you.”

He stroked your head. “I love you more.”

Finnick walks out, leaving the door open for Katniss to walk in. You hummed as she slowly closed the door. “Where’s Peeta?”

“Speaking with Effie and Haymitch.”

“Oh? So you’re here alone?” You giggled as you walked toward your room, looking back. “Can you untie my dress for me?”

Your words make her inhale, but she steps forward to let her nimble fingers tug at the satin string that tied up your dress. Easily, she gets it undone, and you let it fall from your form and step out of the dress and corset. She gasped as you walked toward the closet, basically completely nude besides your lacy panties that did little to nothing to cover you up. You pull on one of Finnick’s oversized shirts, opting to not wear bottoms as you come out and sit on your bed.

“Well? What can I do for you, Katniss?”

“What is up with you and Finnick?”

You raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

“You’re the Prince and Princess!” She yelled, covering her mouth soon after. “You both just… you, especially, you’re like… like-”

“Undeniably attractive?” You say, outstretching your leg with a giggle before leaning back on your hands. “Sexy? The epitome of lust?”

Her face falls. “I’m leaving.”

You laughed. “I’m playing! What’s your question again, Kat? Kitty Kat? Can I call you that or-”

“Why are you so self absorbed? Princess like?”

You giggle. “I was in the public’s eye since Finnick’s games. I was his girlfriend, Katniss, and when I was reaped two years later, we suffered the same fate over again,” your smile disappears. “Finnick and I’s lives are not everything you see on TV, Katniss. Even if you didn’t watch our show.”

She grimaced. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“You’re lucky you survived with Peeta, Katniss. Lucky that Snow wants you dead.”

She glared. “How is that lucky?”

You don’t look away from her, slowly hiking up your shirt. “Because it’s better than him wanting you alive,” you said, showing her a mark on your upper thigh that Cinna always covered with makeup. “Do you know what this is, Katniss?”

She pauses, but shakes her head.

“This is the mark of the people sold by Snow,” you say, pressing on it. It disappears for a few seconds, but comes back. “Only some know what it is. It’s impossible to take off, I have scars to prove it,” you say, pressing on it again to see the faded scar before it comes back. “Your games weren’t even a year ago. If Snow loved you like he did me and Finnick instead of wanting you dead,” you stand, walking in front of her to force her back against the wall. “Then you would’ve gone through the same things as us and come out just as twisted. Maybe worse.”

She inhaled, choosing to stay quiet as your fingers slowly stroked her hair. “You’re beautiful, Katniss,” you say. “And I’m glad you didn’t suffer like us. We do what we have to to survive, Katniss, and if being a whore in both the light of a camera reluctantly and behind closed doors willingly, then so be it.”

You hear the door open, stepping back. “I’m sorry- I am.”

“I don’t need your apologies, Everdeen,” you say, sitting back on the bed as Finnick walks in. “I need you to do two things for me,” you raise a finger. “One, I need you to be my maid of honor. The girls who get pregnant together, stay together. It’s good for popularity.” You raise your second finger. “Two, I need you to end these fucking games. For all of our sakes.”

Finnick pops a candy into his mouth, tapping your chin making you look up at him. He holds your chin, pressing a kiss to your lips before letting the candy slide into your mouth. You smiled, cherry flavor popping into your senses before you pulled away. “My favorite.”

He smiles. “Good thing I have more then,” he says. “Can I have another kiss?”

You giggle, nodding as you pull him on top of you.

“I’m leaving,” Katniss says immediately, turning around before you hum against Finnick’s lips.

“Oh! Wait!” You say as Finnick quickly got off, moving the bag he got before collapsing onto the bed. You go to your dresser, pulling out the box that Cinna had given you after the interview with a gift for the person you chose to be your maid of honor. As much as you wanted it to be Mags, you didn’t want to bring her out to the Capitol to watch you go back into an arena you only wanted to escape.

You took it out, ignoring the two boxes that held your matching gold bracelets before closing the drawer. Turning, you hand her the box. “For you and Peeta. Matching. I want you to be my maid of honor and Peeta to be Finnick’s best man. It works out that way.”

She slowly takes it, gasping when she opens it. She slowly takes out the necklace, cascading pearls wrapped in gold rope chains to cover her entire chest like a throwing net. She grabs the other, a thick rope chain with pearls studding each intertwined link for Peeta. “This looks-”

“Expensive? It is. Do you know how hard it is to get pure gold these days? Everyone wants those new carbon things but no, I want the classics,” you smiled as you went to the bed, quickly crawling over Finnick’s legs to sit on his lap. You push the candy around your mouth, covering it in your spit before leaning down, watching his mouth lull open obediently and let the cherry flavored candy fall into his mouth. You giggled, lulling out your tongue to lick at his own before looking over at Katniss. “Get to the estate at around nine in the morning. Finnick and I will be there earlier, but you know it’s bad luck when a groom sees his bride. Cinna’s assistants will begin dressing you when you get there.”

Katniss nods. “Okay, I will uhm… we’ll be there, all of us.”

You smile. “Sounds good. Make sure Haymitch and Effie wear black! If I see one speck of color, she’s leaving.”

Katniss laughs slightly. “Okay. See you tomorrow, Y/N.”

You look up, smiling at her. “See you tomorrow, Katniss.”

With that, she leaves as a loud crack makes you look down at Finnick who chews on the candy. He grinned, his tongue stained pink as you kissed his lips. You groaned as he pulled your hips into his own, rutting them softly into yours before his hands squeezed your sides. “You gonna take that test?”

You almost forgot about it, but you nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” He whispers, hands stroking your side as you inhale shakily.

“Yes.”

He lifts you up, taking you to the restroom, slowly setting you down onto the ground. You go to the toilet, sighing as you slowly pull down your pants and opening up the test. Quickly, you do your business, clean yourself off and wash your hands before tapping on Finnick’s shoulder.

You whimper into his back, rubbing his arms. “Fin, I’m scared.”

He turns around, stroking your cheeks. “It’s okay to be scared, darling. Just remember I’m here and I’m here to help you, to protect you, to save you.”

You sobbed into his hands, gasping as the timer Finnick must have set and quickly grabbing the test. You inhaled shakily, the words Negative not registering in your mind.

“Y/N, honey?”

“I really wanted it to be true, Fin,” you whisper, your eyes burning almost as though there were no more tears left to cry. “I really wanted to be pregnant with your baby.”

A choked sob fell from Finnick’s mouth, his arms immediately pulling you into his chest as you both crumbled to the ground. You sobbed into his chest, his hands pulling you into his lap as you rubbed his shoulders and he rubbed your back. “We’re going to get out of there alive, my darling. I promise.”

This time, you believed him. Looking up, you pressed a kiss to his lips. “I love you, Finnick Odair.”

“I love you, Y/N L/N. Forever and always.”

“And when we meet in our next life.”

Regular taglist: 𓆩[@lem0ns77]𓆪 𓆩[@cecepop15]𓆪 𓆩[@memeorydotcom]𓆪

in our next life taglist: 𓆩[@poppet05]𓆪 𓆩[@ennycutie]𓆪 𓆩[@jewelrybean25]𓆪 𓆩[@arzua10]𓆪 𓆩[@savagemickey03]𓆪 𓆩[@ok-boke]𓆪 𓆩[@instabull]𓆪 𓆩[@maxinehufflepuffprincess]𓆪 𓆩[@starryeddie]𓆪 𓆩[@ashlynhasmanyhyperfixations]𓆪 𓆩[@taestrwbrry]𓆪

next part will be uploaded this Wednesday! (and linked in masterlist and the link for next part) (05.17.23)

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queuestarter · 4 months

Text

diluted

(johanna mason x reader)

cw: panic attacks, crying, mentions of torture

link to the request → reader helping johanna overcome her fear of water

You eye Johanna critically from across the room. It’s been weeks since she’s been rescued from the Capitol and she’s been completely ignoring you since then. Every time you ask her if she’s okay or if you can do anything for her, she brushes you off.

You understand that she’s been through a lot, but as her girlfriend, her indifference upset you. In an effort to keep yourself busy, you spend most of your time with Beetee in the weapons room, helping to design defensive strategies. Ever since you banned Gale from helping, things have been better on that front.

“Stop looking at me like I’m going to collapse at any moment.” Johanna calls out to you. She’s playing with the sheets on her bed, not even looking in your direction.

You sigh. “I just want you to be okay, Jo. I worry about you.”

She sneers down at her sheets. “Worry about me when Snow’s dead.”

So you do. After Katniss kills President Coin, Snow dies, and the underground community of District 13 falls apart, you move to District 7 and begin to worry about Johanna like it’s a full time job.

It starts with weaning her off of her morphling supply. You two live in the middle of the woods, so there’s no easy access to the drug, nor do you want Johanna using it to cope anymore. It takes her weeks to get back to her healthy self, which brings you great relief.

The other issue that you quickly learn about is Johanna’s newfound fear of water. You quickly piece together that when she was held captive by the Capitol, they used water as a form of torture for her. She doesn’t like talking about it, but you can see the truth in the way her face scrunches up in fear whenever she’s confronted with water.

It breaks your heart.

You decide to take matters into your own hands once again. You helped her with her morphling withdrawals, you think, how much harder can it be to help her overcome her fear of water?

“Come on, Jo,” you plead with her. “I want to go down to the lake.”

You don’t really want to go to the lake- swimming in freshwater scares you a little bit- but you figure this is a good step one.

Johanna eyes you with a look of disdain on her face. “I don’t want to go. I’m sure there’s a hundred other people in District 7 that would love to join you.”

You grab her hand and kiss her palm. “But there’s no one else in this district that I love like I love you.” You know as soon as you say the words that you’ve sufficiently sweet talked her.

Johanna likes to pretend that she’s tough, but she’s really a giant softy.

Once you actually make it down to the lake, three hours later, Johanna grips your hand with all of her strength, it seems. You take it in stride, though, and hold on just as tight.

“It looks beautiful,” you comment, staring at the water. “Reminds me of you.”

It really does. The way the trees cast a shade upon the surface perfectly complements the highlights from the sun. Just like Johanna, there’s darkness and light.

Johanna rolls her eyes and sets your belongings down on the grass. “Go on, have your fun. I’ll be over here.”

You pout. “Oh. I wanted you to join me.”

The pained look that you’re now so familiar with makes its return. “You know that I don’t want to.”

You instantly melt, wrapping your arms around her. She clings back to you just as tight. “You don’t have to, my love. I just want you to be able to let go of what they did to you. I want you to reclaim it.”

Johanna pulls back and looks into your eyes. “Yeah. You’re right.” And with renewed vigor, Johanna grabs your hand and pulls you to the lake, kicking off her shoes along the way. When she gets to the water’s edge, she stops suddenly.

“What’s wrong, baby?” You ask, letting your own toes dip into the water.

“I don’t know if I can do it,” she says in a soft tone. “I don’t think I can reclaim it.”

You frown, standing in front of her. “Jo, if you don’t want to go in you absolutely don’t have to. It was just a stupid idea.”

Now it’s her turn to frown. “It’s not stupid, you were just trying to help me.” With that, she dips her toes in the lake.

Your jaw drops. You were not expecting her to go in the water that easily. “Baby, you did it!”

Johanna closes her eyes. “Can we eat lunch now?”

You grin. “Of course.”

After that day, you don’t force her to deal with water so boldly for another few weeks. The next time you bring up the exposure therapy is during a rainstorm that has your girlfriend curled up on the couch holding her ears.

“How about,” you say, rubbing her back. “After this has all cleared up, we do something fun.”

“Like what?” Her voice is muffled by a pillow.

“We can jump in the puddles outside.”

Johanna tenses, more than she already was. “And how is that supposed to be fun?”

You lean down and kiss her nose. “I always used to do that when I was a kid. I liked it. And I feel like it’ll help with what we’ve been working on. You’re scared of this rain, but we’ll have fun playing in the puddles it provides afterwards.”

Johanna looks at you, trust in her eyes. “Okay.”

So that’s what you do.

After the rain ends, it barely takes any coaxing to get Johanna out of the house and bounding into puddles. Once she sees you do it, giggles leaving your lips with each jump, she joins in.

“This isn’t so bad,” she admits, wiping some mud that splashed up on her off of her arms. “It’s kind of nice.”

You nod, grabbing both of her hands. “It is what you make it, baby.”

That’s what you repeat to her when it’s time to get in the shower upon your return home. “It is what you make it, baby. You need to clean off.”

Johanna shakes her head. “I can’t. This is too much.” It breaks your heart to see tears flowing freely from her eyes.

“I’ll be there with you the entire time. Holding you, kissing you. This is just going to be another good memory,” you try to convince her.

Without wasting another moment, you strip out of your filthy clothes and throw them in the hamper. You then turn on the shower, heart panging at the sound of another one of Johanna’s sobs.

You turn back to your girlfriend, helping her strip as well. You pepper kisses all over her cheeks and lips, hands running over her back. “Let’s wash off, baby. It’ll be quick.”

You step into the shower, just standing under the stream. You think that maybe if she sees that you’re okay under the flow of water, she will be too.

That hope doesn’t last long- Johanna just stands and watches you with tears in her eyes, hands twisting together.

“Come on,” you plead. “You can’t stay covered in mud forever. And I’m lonely in here. I need you with me, always.”

That seems to do it. Johanna takes a step forward, then another, and then eventually she collapses in your arms, sobs wracking her body.

“That’s my girl,” you say, petting her hair. “I’ve never been so proud of you in my life.” You continue to repeat positive affirmations to her, holding her close to you.

After a few minutes, Johanna is calm enough to agree to you washing her body. You take your time, scrubbing her from top to bottom. She even jokes around with you towards the end while you quickly wash yourself off.

Hours later, wrapped up in your matching robes on your bed, she thanks you. “I never would have done that without you. Thank you, baby.” It’s so uncharacteristic for her to say, even more so when she tucks her head in your neck.

You love that she feels safe enough with you to be soft.

“There’s no need to thank me. I just want you to be the happiest you can be. This is the start of the rest of our life, baby. I don’t want the past to hold us back.”

She nods, kissing your collarbone. A few moments later, she’s asleep.

You fall asleep shortly after her, a smile on your face.

#johanna mason #johanna request #johanna mason x reader #johanna mason x you #johanna imagine #johanna mason x y/n #johanna x reader #hunger games #thg johanna #lane's writing

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ahhnini · 4 months

Text

So Close, But So Far - Finnick Odair x Hunger Games victor! Reader

synopsis: reader is hijacked by the Capitol amidst the second rebellion, afab! reader

warnings: angst, TW: sex traffic mention (from Finnick), contains violence, 18+

as a reminder, my ask box is open, please feel free to request prompts for fics!

If you like the story, please reblog! I appreciate it! :)

word count: 1,615

You don't remember anything. You don't remember who you were. All you know is one person, Finnick Odair. You remember the Capitol showing photos of you two, photos of a wedding you two had, photos of him kissing you. But, there were also photos of him attempting to hurt you, to kill you. Why would he do that? You don't attempt to kill people you love, right? The doctor from the Capitol said that he was a killer. You couldn't believe it, how could you fall in love with a killer?

You wake up confused and angry in an unknown hospital. A new doctor is tending to you, she's young, no younger than fourteen. She told you her name, speaking in a voice so soft you could barely hear it. Prim. Such a beautiful name, why did that sound so familiar? You look around, this place was not your hospital room in the Capitol. Where were you?

Finnick rushed through the hallways in the hospital wing. You were here! The mission was successful and they've brought back the remaining victors from the Capitol underground to District Thirteen. He was worried sick about you. Every night that you've been away from his arms was another night he spent sleepless. His eyebags were a dark gray, and his face sunken. Katniss was concerned for his wellbeing, but he didn't care, he just wanted to know if you were alive. He saw your profile hung up by your door upon entering your room, your photo...what have they done to you? You don't look like yourself anymore. His anxiety spiked as he entered your hospital room, you were sleeping. "I had to sedate her, she became too aggressive" Prim said, holding a needle in her hands. You? Aggressive? "Prim, what did they do to her?" Finnick's voice becomes shaky, eyes filled with tears. What if the Capitol citizens used you like they used him? "I don't know, Finnick, but the Capitol did something to mess with her brain, she doesn't know who she is." Prim softly spoke.

Finnick had to step out of the room after Prim said those words. All your memories with each other, erased. He was devastated, and almost had to be sent to one of the hospital beds himself. Thankfully, Katniss saw him and helped him calm down.

It was midnight, Finnick couldn't sleep. You were so close but so far from him. He overheard Prim and Katniss earlier, saying that the sedation wore off and that you were awake again. He kicked his blanket off and walked to your hospital room. He still wanted to see you, he wanted to help you remember. Hell, he would even stay next to you until you regained all your memories, no matter how long it took. He caught a glimpse of you through the tiny window before entering your room. You were awake, sitting down and staring at the wall.

You flinch as you hear your door slam shut. Finnick entered your room and sat down next to you. You were scared. Do the doctors know that the person trying to kill you is in the same room as you right now? Your hands shake as he smiles at you, was this the last thing you were gonna see before you die?

You were weak, but somehow, you had enough strength to stand up. Finnick stood up as well, and stalked closer. He called your name out, and you screamed before your impulses took over, grabbing a metal tray from your table and hitting him over his head. He fell down, blood dripping from his hairline. He called your name out again, and again, sounding like a chant. He was taunting you. Every time he would call out your name you would hit him again, each time harder than the last. Your breathing became erratic, tears flow down your cheeks, his blood staining your gown. It was too much. The world began to spin, and the last thing you see before collapsing was a girl with long, brown hair and Prim standing over you.

Finnick woke up with a headache. He touched the crown of his head and felt multiple bandages wrapped around it. As he begins to wake up, he remembers how you hurt him. How you hit him harder every time he pleaded your name. You would never do that to someone, even in the Games you used non-violent tactics to win. His head perks up as he hears someone enter the room. "She's been hijacked," Plutarch states, "I'm guessing the Captiol rewired her brain to attack you. I'm sorry, Finnick, I know you loved her." Finnick wanted to speak, but his head hurt so much he couldn't. You were just an empty shell.

A couple of days pass, Finnick still gets headaches from time to time, but he takes morphling to numb the pain. He decides to visit you again. He knew this time you would actually murder him, but he's willing to risk it. He eavesdrops from the other patients in the hospital wing; you were transferred to a more socially isolated room. That broke his heart. It wasn't your fault, it wasn't your fault at all. You loved talking to other people, you wanted to know their stories. That's how you two got close in the first place. You were the first tribute to ever ask him to tell you the stories about his Game. It brought back haunting memories for Finnick, yes, but you truly wanted to listen to him, and he could sense that. So he did. He opened up to you, you were the only person that knew what the Capitol citizens did to him after his Game.

He roamed around the hallways of the hospital wing, and stumbled upon the isolation rooms. There, he saw you. You were inside a padded room, soundproof, with a window close to the door. Your hospital gown discarded, now in place a white jumpsuit. On top of that, you were restrained to the bed. As Finnick saw you violently thrash against your restraints, he wanted to take revenge to the people who did this to you. He wanted to take revenge on the Capitol.

Even though Finnick was still recovering, he chose to volunteer for Katniss's squadron. He put on his tactile gear before boarding the plane to the Capitol. As the plane landed and the squadron began making base, Finnick only thought of you. Alongside his weapons, he brought a photo of you two, from your wedding. He caressed the photo, your smile outshining the sun, eyes twinkling like the starry night. You are the only person keeping him afloat in this world. He smiled. When the rebellion ends, and Panem is free, you two would finally have the future that you've always talked about. Living a quiet life, away from the pesky Capitol citizens who invade Finnick's privacy every chance that they get, away from him being pulled every year to mentor children in a death game they have no chance of winning, finally being able to have children without the fear of them being Reaped. But, with your mental state, would you two ever get that future? Finnick stays optimistic, as it was recently reported by President Coin that Peeta, who had been hijacked alongside you, has been making progress, and became aware that he was hijacked by the Capitol. He's been remembering bits and pieces, and Finnick hopes you're remembering as well.

The sewer was damp, sticky, and smelled disgusting. Finnick had been watching over Peeta, noticing how he's slowly becoming accustomed to Katniss again. Finnick hoped you were progressing the same back in District Thirteen. He hears growling a distance away. His eyes widen as he sees the creatures. They look unnatural and uncanny. He quickly wakes up the rest of the squadron and they all run the opposite direction.

The sewers were like a maze, they were all struggling to outrun the mutts. They were terrifying creatures made to kill. He can't help but think earlier, when Katniss compared Peeta to a mutt, and wondered if the rest of the squadron thought the same way about you. Why wouldn't they? Katniss and Prim both saw the way you attacked him. It was obvious you weren't the same person anymore.

The squadron finds themselves in an aqueduct, all falling into the water. Katniss fires her arrows, as Finnick stabs the mutts with his trident. When Katniss and Finnick climb up the ladder, Finnick slips off one of the steps, and falls in.

He screams for help, for mercy. This was it. He feels the mutts' teeth sink into him, and he cries out. His last thoughts; you. How he was never going to see you again, how, now, your perception of him was someone he wasn't.

Finnick's life flashes before his eyes. He has memories from when he was born, his parents, fishing as a child, getting Reaped for the Hunger Games, his victory, what the Capitol did to him afterwards, meeting you, mentoring you, how he was the first person you went to when you won your Game, getting married to each other. He started getting glimpses of his future, the future that no longer was possible now. He sees two kids, a boy and a girl, playing catch with you two. He sees you, aged, you look as beautiful as ever with smile lines and wrinkles adorning your face. He gets one last flash-forward where you two are in bed, old and pruny, holding each other as you both prepare to go into the next life.

"Nightlock, nightlock, nightlock,"

Goodbye

#fanfic #fanfiction #hunger games #the hunger games #thg #thg series #finnick odair #finnick x you #finnick x reader #thg finnick #finnick imagine #finnick odair x you #finnick odair angst #angst #finnick x y/n #finnick angst #thg fanfiction

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iiiknowplaces · 2 months

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the girl in the trees.

katniss everdeen x reader.

summary: you were her favorite girl. one she met in the trees, one that she could never fully decipher and understand.

warnings: fem!reader, reader doesn't belong to a district, kind of established relationship but it's not mentioned??, worried katniss, mentions of not eating.

she had always found you to be an interesting soul. from the day she met you a few years back, when you were lingering in the trees and was startled by her presence, to now. you were her favorite girl. how she met you was unexpected, about three years ago, she was just wandering in the woods when she heard some rustling in the treetops, so she pointed her arrow at the noise. and in a moment of despair, you jumped down, looking equally as startled and confused as she was, and in that moment she knew that you were good. a kind and innocent soul, one with so much depth that she could never imagine. some could call you a nut, or crazy, but to her you were just unique. there was a special song that the two of you made up, a whistle, so that you would know that she's here.

and here she is, whistling that familiar tune that only the two of you know. at first, there was no sign of you, which disappointed her. maybe she was just unlucky enough to come when you were in another district. but then, she heard the routine rustling, and saw you peek out from the trees. you quickly spotted her and jumped down, and she managed to catch you in her arms before you hit the ground. she wrapped her arms around you in a tight hug, stroking your soft hair and putting her face in the crook of your neck.

"you're here."

she whispered, pulling back and looking over your appearance. you were wearing the same long, white dress you always did, and had the same peaceful look. you were as beautiful as ever. you had always reminded her of a ghost, something beautiful and precious that you could only see sometimes, and that dress of yours made it even better.

"i know."

you whisper back. she had always loved your voice, which was slightly high pitched, yet smooth and soothing. you never had a hint of annoyance or anger in your voice, just straight up calm, which she found crazy with how you're constantly on the run. she gave you a soft kiss on the head, one to calm you and put you at ease. though you never showed it on the outside, you were constantly anxious. she could feel your heart beating quickly against your chest, thudding against her. to try and soothe you even more, she gently placed her hand on your chest, which she could feel slow your nervous heart a little. she looked down and frowned slightly, seeing as you were just a tiny bit slimmer than the last time she had saw you. you worried her so much, constantly on her mind. "is she eating enough? what happens if she doesn't come back one day? is she sleeping enough?" were all just a fraction of the worried thoughts that raced through her brain.

"have you been eating enough?"

she asked gently, trying not to seem judgmental. she was never judgmental towards you, just worried.

"i eat as much as i can, kat."

was your response. one of which worried her even more. you could only stay in district 12 for a bit, before having to run again, but she would make sure you ate enough this stay, no matter how much it costs her. she hopes that one day in the future, you'll get to have a home, preferably with her, and be safe with no worries about the capitol getting involved, but for now, she'll just cherish the time she has with you. if only she knew that her dream would come true.

#katniss everdeen x fem!reader #katniss everdeen x reader #katniss x reader #the hunger games x reader #katniss everdeen fluff

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mostofthingsmostofthetime · 13 days

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My thoughts on The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie

I don’t know if I liked it as much as the original films (maybe Mockingjay 1 & 2 as they are pretty emotionally draining), but I still enjoyed it.

I think where it fell a little flat for me is 1. The beginning was a bit slow (tbh I only really started getting interested when Lucy Gray stuck that snake down that girl’s dress & even then I enjoyed the story more when the setting changed from the Capitol to the district) 2. I knew Snow would survive 3. I’d already been spoiled online for a lot of stuff that happens & 4. while I know the director did his best to make Snow as “likeable” as he could for as long as possible, even before he started getting “a little too comfortable” with killing & snitching I didn’t find him as sympathetic as Katniss or Peeta (but that is probably again down to the fact that I know what he goes onto do & there’s no real way around that), this made engaging with him difficult for me.

The world is fascinating. Getting to see all the new locations we never had access to before as well as old locations now in a totally different light (for example district 12 which, while still clearly suffering, seemed like such a bustling industrial town compared to how it is in Katniss’s time). It might have a much more retro aesthetic but there's also just a more vibrant, natural, wild & lawless atmosphere to this movie compared to the others in the franchise. The whole scope of the film just felt more cinematic then I remember the others being yet also weirdly intimate. Maybe because it was one contained story & we knew the main character’s fate from the start. I also loved the title cards signifying the start of each section of the story like from the books & wished they'd done something similar for the other films. It just added a certain flair to the whole thing. Almost gave it the vibe of a tragic play.

The costuming was great. The bright red of the academy uniforms. Flickerman’s snazzy suits. Snow’s dapper black & white outfit. Both peace keeper uniforms (despite one of them giving very ‘1930’s Germany’ vibes) looked great. Grandma might have been a bigot, but at least she was well dressed. Everything Dr Gaul wore (except the top that looked like a used tampon, lol) was exquisite. The main ladies of fashion, Tigris & Lucy Gray slayed. Our Future Capitol stylist looked like some regal yet exotic bird & Miss Survivor was giving Bohemian, country girl realness the entire time she was on screen. Even the extras were serving (like that random couple Snow walked past on his way to the reaping ceremony).

The music was amazing. Every song that played was fantastic (shout out to Olivia for her end credit contribution). The lyrics & instrumentation were beautiful & my god does Rachel Zegler have pipes! Anyone who says the singing scenes are cringy is just stupid like I’m sorry you can’t appreciate art. Also, the words ‘ballad’ & ‘songbirds’ are literally in the title. Plus, Lucy Gray is from the poorest district, so what exactly do those people want her to do in her free time? She can’t exactly hop on an X-box for a few hours. Not too mention that (as the offspring of someone who’s musically inclined) I can tell you, it’s completely realistic for a musician to use their craft to help them deal with trauma & Lucy Gray clearly had more than her fair share of that.

The Grandma'am helped to paint a sadly very realistic background for Snow. As who among us hasn’t met at least one delusional old person who thinks that their/their group’s suffering (regardless of the severity of it or the reason behind their former/newer status in society) means that no one else are deserving of even the tiniest shred of humanity & there are some people who are unlucky enough to not only be related to these people but be raised by them.

Hunter schafer as Tigris is clearly the superior Snow when it comes to things like empathy & overall mental stability but I do kind of wish they’d been more for her to do. Credit where credit is due though her & Tom did actually look like they could be related & I did buy their familial bond (which makes her appearance in Mockingjay so much sadder in hindsight).

Peter Dinklage as Casca Highbottom was a bit of a mix for me just due to his purpose as a character & the limit of film as a form of media. Like sure the audience know that Snow’s going to become an irredeemable monster in the end but without a window into his mind it really does just seem like the Dean is just out to get him & even when we find out why it seems kind of unfair. Like sure his dad sucked but haven’t the Games shown that blaming children for violence caused by others is unjust (& like ok he hates Coriolanus & probably the grandma but Tigris hadn’t done anything to deserve living in poverty, as she can’t control who she’s related to)? Plus, it felt like he could have at least tried taking Snow under his wing at some point to try to hinder Dr Gual’s influence. Saying all of that, though, Peter Dinklage is great at playing an addict with depression & the idea that some drunken rambling could lead to such long-lasting suffering is terrifying. Also its pretty realistic that living with that kind of guilt & in such a cruel environment for that long would make most people jaded & bitter, even if they did have good intentions.

Omg we finally get a Mayor family on screen & they’re assholes! Madge would be so disappointed 😭. It was interesting to see how harsh & overall “boot licky” the mayor & his family seemed compared to decades later, which makes sense as the war wasn’t that long ago for them so the dad probably felt more incentive to align himself with the Capitol as well as not feeling very connected to the district people as 12’s decline probably didn’t fully set in until they really started running low on coal & Snow became president (oh I just know he wanted to blow that district off the map 😆). I also wouldn’t put it past Billy to come up with some sob story of how he really does love Mayfair but wicked Lucy Gray is somehow preventing them from being together. Still no excuse to try to send her to her death twice in one week, though. Definitely not a girl’s girl.

Ok, so a liar. Cheat. Drunk & someone who hits women. Is there anything good about Billy Taupe? Also, trying to get your ex back, while your current girlfriend is literally standing right next to you? Dude, have some god damn back bone! You made a choice, now stick to it. Also, fumbling Lucy Gray, for a girl like that? What’s it like having no brains or taste? Well, too bad, coz you’re stuck with her forever now, lol.

Viola Davies, the actress that you are. What else is there to say? Dr Gaul is almost comic book levels of insane. Like she is how the Right see women in STEM, on crack! I don’t know what she did to get into character, but whatever it was, it worked.

Jason Schwartzman as Lucretius Flickerman is a very interesting addition to the story despite playing such a small & seemingly insignificant role. He is strange in how unthreatening he is while also extremely blasé about the abhorrent violence he witnesses that it’s as funny as it is disturbing. Making him come across as more human yet harsher than his son, who at least pretends to care about the tributes (in a very Capitol way, obviously but still). There’s also a polish & confidence to Tucci’s performance that I think Schwartzman did a great job of avoiding copying (despite knowing what audiences were probably expecting) because not only are their characters in entirely different stages of their careers but the whole ethos of the Hunger Games is different in Snow’s youth than it is in Katniss’s. Caesar is a well established presenter & during his time, the games have always been a success (minus the year with the tundra) that the entire Capitol is invested in & seemingly in support of. On the other hand Lucretius had the unique task of not only coming into a job like this with zero experience (I mean imagine going from announcing the weather to presenting the fucking hunger games) but also there were no vibes to try to emulate let alone guidelines to follow because he truly was the first person to do this. On top of that, the "event" his presenting has been panned for years as both boring & unethical. Schwartzman brought a slightly awkward, experimental, yet try hard vibe (like a comedian who's desperate to get a laugh) that I think worked wonderfully for the character.

Tom Blyth's performance was great & he was visually perfect for a young Snow (the power of a good wig! Who knew lol). Even having the cool, analytical stare of Donald Sutherland, down pat. While his appearance was very Eminem during his peacekeeping days, his realisation in the cabin and subsequent breakdown in the woods were crazy. There was so much tension between him & Rachel in that scene that for a second, it literally felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. I could almost hear the record scratch for both of them, & all that building paranoia finally coming to a sudden crescendo in the way that it did? Pure cinema!

Josh Rivera, as Sejanus, was honestly a mix for me. Obviously, I agree with his morals, but his way of going about it did seem a little dumb. However I do think it’s pretty realistic that a teenager, especially a rich one, would be rather naive. Also I’ve heard that he’s smarter in the book & I think at times my frustration with him is more just down to the fact that I’m seeing him from Snow’s point of view. Meaning scenes that would be portrayed as noble in any other film instead come across as almost painfully inconvenient because the focus is always on how they affect Snow rather than the actual victims of the situation. Lastly, sorry, Snowjanus shippers, I just don’t see it (especially on Snow’s end), but whatever floats your boat.

Rachel Zegler played Lucy Gray with the perfect mix of natural charm & emotional vulnerability with clear pride in her culture & a refusal to let the world around her change who she is. Yet there was also an air of mystery & a subtle resilience to her that makes her potentially surviving out in the woods for years without being detected actually believable (though I don’t buy the theory that she went on to become president Coin). Definitely the highlight of the movie for me.

PS. I'd love to know what you think of my review in the comments/tags & am open to criticism (as long as it's respectful) just remember that I'm only talking about the movie so please don't reference anything spersific to the book.

#some other things i wanted to mention but didn’t seem significant to put in the review (+ it was getting rather long) are:#Clemensia you were so pretty & did not desserve to die #like who hasn't cheated on their homework a little #may my hair look as good as your's if i ever get bit by a snake #dill & wovey rest in peace my darlings #Lysistrata it wasn't your fault #Arachane you got what you deserved tbh #reaper you have my respect forever king #lumina really said kill um with kindness #no but sersiously i love you girl & your 1950's farm girl aesthetic #marcus you did not desserve that & sejanus is sorry & in my heart you guys meet up & become boyfriends in the afterlife #treech you didn't leave much of an impression but at least your hat was cool #bobbin my little germin looking boy #at least you gave Snow a good scare before your demise #coral looks gay like that's a lesbian right there #thg #the hunger games #the hunger games the ballad of songbirds and snakes #the ballad of songbirds and snakes review #thg tbosas #thg tbosbas #tbosas #tbosbas #tbosas review #tbosbas review #thg tbosas review #thg tbosbas review #the hunger games the ballad of songbirds and snakes review #southern gothic is my new fravriote genre #review

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kahlanmars · 9 months

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BAD FEELING part. 20

Hi!! Next chapter is here, the song mentioned is obv from our lord and saviour Taylor Swift.

Comments make me happy!

MASTERLIST

20. Safe and sound

If Finnick weren’t there, you would be dead right now. You are sure you could never walk so fast, but the blonde guy just lifted Marjorie and tossed her through the door like she was a potato sack.

Not very classy, but efficient.

The door closes behind you with a loud noise and you begin to shake so hard it hurts you.

«She needs medical help, her ankle is broken or something. Maybe twisted.» You order. You don’t know anything about medical help, even if your mother is a midwife. You should have listened to her more, you should have been more focused.

You risked the life of a kid, perhaps multiple kids, just because you talked without thinking. “Come to me”, like you are a great warrior. You are nothing, even Marjorie almost died because of you. So caught up in your perfect little love fantasy to think about anything else, you are selfish, and you are a murderer. A killer, you killed Clark, you killed that guy in Capitol City, you…

«Daisy, please, Daisy breathe.» Marjorie looks at you, worried.

She is beautiful. You never thought about how beautiful she looks. She has blonde hair and blue eyes, so blue they are almost painful to watch. her family had a bakery you now remember, maybe she is related to Peeta, same colours.

You look… normal, in comparison. Pretty. Not beautiful, you are plain. Plain and you are not even good, you are evil, you are selfish, you deserve it. You deserve all the bad things that happened to you.

«I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s all my fault I’m sorry…» You begin to say and she rolls her eyes before hugging you. She would never do something like that if you weren’t panicking.

«You are a little shit and I don’t like you, but this is not your fault.» She reassures you and pats your head. You like honesty. She is as honest as… Well, they grew up together after all, it’s only natural.

The first bang is unexpected. You cover your ears and you watch her as she is taken by the nearest couch to get medicated. The attack has begun.

There are other people. Finnick with Annie, the president Alma Coin, Plutarch Heavensbee, guards you don’t recognize. Haymitch is not here, and neither is Katniss or the other victors. Maybe Katniss is in the Capitol trying to rescue Peeta, you are not part of the revolution, they don’t tell you anything.

You can just wait.

The second bang is terrifying. You are not afraid of dying, that is not the first thought. You are afraid the other bunker is not safe. If you die you can have peace with it. If you live and the people in the higher bunker die, you will never have peace. You can see their faces. Effie, Portia, Lora, Perla, your mother, and heaven knows if Alex came back. You didn’t make it up to your mother. You didn’t say goodbye to Effie, she will never know how much she means to you. And where the fuck is Haymitch? If somehow he knew you weren’t in the bunker and he got out to look for you, or for Marjorie… he is not fit, he can’t survive. If he dies, if Holly dies, if Effie dies…

You try not to cry simply because you are alone, and you don’t want Annie to get more upset, but you end up catching your breath because you feel like you can’t breathe anymore. Your heart pumps so loud now your ears are hurting and maybe they are bleeding and maybe you are dying.

No. You are noy dying. You remember Effie’s words, this is not a heart attack, it’s a panic attack. You just have to calm yourself.

You think of Dianna, when you were seven. Sweet tea in the summer, playing pirates and singing old songs in the meadows. Happy memories.

There was a song you always played together, an old song from district twelve you forgot with time.

Just close your eyes, the sun is going down, you’ll be alright, no one can hurt you now, come morning light, you and I’ll be safe and sound.

You can breathe a little better now.

«Daisy?» Marjorie looks at you tentatively. She must have said something you didn’t catch.

«Mh?»

«I said you have a good voice.»

«Oh, thank you.»

You didn’t realise you were singing. You bet you sound like a crazy person, singing in a bunker when bombs are exploding in your face.

«Did your mother teach you?»

Holly used to teach you everything. You didn’t grow up with a father, it has always been you and her. When she adopted you she was so young you can’t imagine it right now, barely legal but in District 12 a mother is better than nothing, so nobody said anything against it, not even the peacekeepers. It was quite usual for the families that were slightly richer to adopt a kid if they didn’t have any, so that the child could help them, work in the fields with them or in the mines. Nobody ever took the girls, though. The girls weren’t useful if not at home, cleaning and babysitting the other children, and for the most part it was a burden that mothers could hold alone.

Holly Pinecone came from a long line of midwives. Grandmother, who died before you could meet her, was a midwife too. Still at the time it didn’t make any sense that she adopted you at twenty, when she could still get married and have children. It didn’t make sense to anybody except her.

«Mommy! Look! That’s a plant we can use!» You screamed, so happy you could be helpful. Now you know you couldn’t really be helpful at five, she must have indulged you in believing you have found the plants.

«Yes, and what’s the name of this plant?» You tortured your poor raven braid trying to think. Holly told you a hundred times. You couldn’t disappoint her.

«Sagittaria!»

«Very good! And what’s that?» She asked with a wide grin, a smile you matched as soon as you saw the flower.

«That’s a daisy. That's me!»

«Come here, little one.» She put the flower in your hair. «Beautiful girl.»

You were quite beautiful, everybody used to tell you that. Big hazel eyes, raven hair always in a braid, clean clothes. You were well behaved enough to always smile at the strangers and you were so quiet it was actually nice to have you around. That was the main goal for Holly, that everybody could love you, so they would have protected you in case of danger.

«Thank you for saying that.» You answered like she instructed you to, being kind was the first thing for Holly. Well behaved. «Can we sing tonight?»

«What do you want to sing?» She asked, well knowing the answer.

«Safe and Sound!»

«Always that song. Okay, we can sing before bed time.» She caressed your hair. «Now search for edible plants with me.»

«Among other things.» You murmur.

«She loves you so much. She always wanted a kid.»

That’s the thing, she wanted a kid. And you stayed a kid until Effie called your name, jumping at her commands like a trained dog.

«She loves me.» You are not sure she likes you. «Do you think we are safe? Do you think they are safe?»

«The district was prepared.»

After what you think it’s an hour, but are in reality probably minutes, the bombs stop.

You can’t believe you survived. You hear the mechanical voice like it comes from heaven.

The blast doors will open in one minute. Please, remain calm and proceed in orderly fashion out of the bunkers.

As soon as everybody’s free to go out you try to recollect yourself to find your family, but Haymitch is faster than you. Which is news.

«Where were you?!» He is angry and his hands are shivering, he looks paler than usual. He brings you in his arms. «I came into the bunker and you weren’t there. Holly didn’t know where you were, Effie didn’t know where you were. I lost it at Effie. She always knows where you are.»

You pull him tighter. «I got trapped out and Finnick saved me.» Saved us. You will tell him in a minute, now you want him all for you. And maybe you won’t tell him everything, or he will kill the guard and you don’t want him to face consequences.

«Don’t you ever, ever do that again.» He whispers in your ear.

«Wasn’t exactly my plan…»

«I don’t care. You won’t be in danger ever again. I’ll make sure of that.» He puts a straw of hair over your ear, almost sweetly. «Couldn’t handle it.»

«You got up in the first bunker for me.» You state.

He shrugs. «You wouldn’t have left Effie alone.»

Your heart stops at these words. He would have risked everything to stay with you. You jump to reach his lips and pull him in a passionate kiss that makes you blush, also because when you try to catch a breath he kisses you again, even rougher.

I love you. You almost let it out.

«I was scared of losing you too.» You whisper instead, «I didn’t know where you were, I got so scared.»

«I’m here now, I’m here.» He closes his eyes with you in his arms, his nose buried in your hair. «Never again.»

«I have to go find my mom. I have to go to Effie!»

At least now Holly will be happy you saved her dearest friend.

«And I have to go to see Peeta. They are coming.»

«Peeta is coming back?» You ask, suddenly a lot happier.

«That’s the plan.» He kisses you again. Despite everything, the bombs and President Snow and the attacks, you can see he is happy to see his not-son again. That’s the man who doesn’t want children.

«I want to see him too, after you.» You ask. You are quite fond of the guy. «I have to talk to Plutarch about what happened, can I see you tonight? We have a lot to catch up on.» You snuggle against his neck.

«I have a meeting with President Coin, but after that I’m all yours.» He lifts you up to kiss you better. He still smells like woods, alcohol and tobacco, which is impossible since Thirteen doesn’t allow any kind of indulgences and you have been underground for a month now.

You want to talk to Holly, but after a brief hug with Effie and Portia (and Alex, who thanks you again and again instructed by his mother) you approach Plutarch Heavensbee. You don’t like him, that’s the man who wanted you to be collateral damage, so it’s only natural you don’t love him. Still, better him than President Coin, that woman scares you.

«Plutarch, can I have a word?» You approach the blonde guy, who is reluctant to be stopped by you but your face must be worried.

You quickly explain what happened, and he nods. «We will relocate him, don’t worry.»

Relocate him?

«I’m sorry but that is the man who nearly killed two people because he didn’t get laid, and you want to relocate him?» You reply, stunned. You expect this behaviour from the Capitol, from Snow.

«I get your point, however we can’t lose force at this particular moment.» He tries to explain to you like you are a kid. To him you probably are a kid.

«You will lose forces when he kills someone because he didn’t have the last cookie!» You snap.

«Daisy, you can’t confirm your story.» He argues, but you are raging right now.

«Marjorie was with me!» It’s impossible they didn’t ask her and you don’t believe she lied, so what is the truth? They simply don’t care?

It’s normal they don’t care for you, you are not even from Thirteen and you don’t expect them to have empathy, but Caius is dangerous for everybody.

«Can you please lower your voice?» He asks, and you force yourself not to jump his throat. You don’t speak like that to a tribute. It’s dangerous.

He won’t do anything. You can see in his eyes that he doesn’t want to lose a guard in his precious war, and it doesn’t matter if he leaves a man like this alone. He is no better than Snow, he was his games master after all. He was born and raised in Capitol City, and not everybody changes like Effie Trinket.

It’s okay, you think, you don’t need him. You can do it alone.

Turns out Peeta is not good. He has been tortured, and they did something to him so right now he doesn’t know what is real or not real anymore, and he thinks Katniss is the enemy. The kind, gentle hearted boy who offered you hot chocolate is gone.

When you open the door to reach for him he is staring at the wall, with watery eyes and an expression of pure pain.

«Babe…» You try to come closer, but you don’t want to interfere.

«He has been tortured. They wiped out his memory. They transformed him into a mut. He is lost.»

«No! No, we can still-»

«He is lost, Daisy!» He shouts. You try not to take a step back. «And it’s my fault.»

«The doctors here are great.» You argue.

«You knew Peeta. He was better than me, better than Katniss, better than you, better than anyone. And he paid for all of us. He is not coming back, he will never… come back. Fuck, I need a drink.»

This time you go for a hug, even if he doesn't want it he needs it, and when he wraps his arms around you he does something you could never think of, he starts crying. He cries and cries in your arms, exhausted.

«It is my fault, Sweetheart, all my fault.» You swoon him stroking his hair. Peeta has been taken by Snow, Snow is to blame, not him. He only tried to save everybody.

«It is not.» You whisper in his ear. «Everything will be okay. Believe me.»

Will it be? You can lie to him, but you don’t see how it could be okay. Katniss is broken hearted, Peeta’s memory is gone, and Thirteen’s government is exactly like Capitol City. You feel like you are fighting a tyrant with another one.

You stay in his embrace until he falls asleep, and you slowly follow him.

It is you who wakes him up this time, screaming like every night. You don’t even remember what you were dreaming about, but you hear your heart in your ears.

«Sweetheart, it’s me, sweetheart, it is a nightmare. It’s just a nightmare.» He caresses your cheek. «Just a nightmare.»

«I’m sorry…»

«Don’t be.» You breathe a little, still shocked. «You were calling for your mother.»

«Really? Not you?»

«Nah-ah, Holly.» He lies down again, taking your hand. «Are you still in non speaking terms?»

«I just want my mom back, but I can’t bow down to what she thinks it’s okay for me. Dear Heavens, I have a job, I have a purpose, I have you. I don’t think I’m that bad.»

He strokes your hair and you almost purr in content, closing your eyes. That emotion is much better than rage from your mother.

«Maybe you are punishing her too.» He says tentatively.

«Punish her? For what?»

«You needed her and she wasn’t there. You asked for her in your dreams before the games. You called her again and again while you were sleeping.»

You look at him. «She couldn’t be there, it’s not… it’s insane.»

«You knew that, but our mind… our mind does not work that way. She guaranteed for all your life that if you were kind and polite the things would have been fine. This didn’t happen, and she couldn’t help with it, she wasn’t there. Effie was. Effie helped you. So maybe your mind said “Ok, one good, one bad”.» He shrugs. «I’m not a shrink, don’t believe a word of what I’ve said.»

«That actually makes sense.» You don’t humour him, it makes sense. You are not sure you like it but it makes sense.

«Even a broken clock…» He dismisses it.

You lean to kiss him better, and you touch his chest. «What a wise man, my man.»

«Your man.» He repeats against your lips. He is smiling now, actually smiling and you want to keep it this way at least for an hour or so. Peeta is not fine and you will handle this together. That doesn’t mean he has to die under the responsibility alone, that he couldn’t smile anymore.

«Must be the old age.» You joke, but he suddenly pushes you against the mattress.

«I’ll show you old age.» He grumbles and rolls on you, causing you to giggle a little, tragedy almost forgotten for the night.

taglist: @crimsonincursive

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thesecondplacename · 1 year

Text

Title: The boy with the bread.

Part 2

Summary: watching the games, and finding comfort

Warnings: mentions of committing suicide, and more angst

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He was gone, and I was left alone. As if that wasn't enough to be stripped away from him, we would all be forced to watch the games, to see the interview. I didn't know if I could bear it. How was I supposed to watch him up there?

As it turns out I was worrying about the wrong thing, I should have been more worried of having to hear and see him confess his love to the female tribute of our district Katniss Everdeen. It was confusing watching him talk about her in the same way he used to talk about me, how he looked at her like she hung the stars in the sky. She was beautiful, with her long straight black hair, gray eyes, and olive skin. I could almost understand why he said that he loves her, but we were together and had talked about having a life after the Games. It didn't make sense as to why he would be saying all of that.

A part of me hoped everything he was saying was a lie to stay alive for us, to come home to me. I could almost convince myself of that if it weren’t for the fact that the way he looked at her was so vastly different from the way he looked at me. Stronger, more intense. It hurt, it hurt so much to the point I thought I was dying, here I was waiting and praying for him to come back to me just for him to be snuggling up against her and kissing her throughout the games.

There was only one person who understood what I was feeling. Gale Hawthorne. I don't believe he and Katniss were ever really together, but he loved her just as I love Peeta. So as the games progressed we sought peace with each other, trying to understand what was going on in their heads. Everyday we would stand together to watch the games holding hands as a sort of comfort, afterwards he would hold me as the pain would be too much and I would end up crying into his arms and sometimes the roles would be reversed and it would be me holding him.

As the days passed we became closer than ever, once acquaintances to friends who understood each other in so many ways. The games were coming to an end and it was like a punch in the gut when we all found out that two tributes from the same district could be winners. Only for a second, just for one second I found myself wishing that I missed heard the change of rules because if two people came home they both would come home together and where would that leave me. After all, why would he want me when it was so clearly shown that he could only love her?

Gale kept a tight grip on my hand as we watched both Peeta and Katniss commit suicide together. My hand hurt in his grip but I didn't try to get him to let go as I was fastly becoming numb to everything around me, he would rather kill himself then hurt her he would rather die than come home to me. What did I do that was so wrong, at what point did I matter less than everyone else?

I was forced back into reality when I heard the sound of the games being over, they both were still alive. Peeta was alive, I couldn’t hold myself up anymore, my knees were so weak that I collapsed, or I would have if Gale hadn’t caught me as I was going down.

“He’s coming home” tears were falling. “Gale, I'm scared.” What did that mean for me and Peeta, for our future? —------------------------------------------------------------

Note: I'm having way too much fun with this story! Haha Part 2 is done.

Part 1 link

#katniss and peeta #the hunger games peeta #the hunger games #Gale Hawthorne #angst #x male reader #hunger games x male reader #male reader #katniss and gale #katniss everdeen #thg fic #thg katniss #part two #Peeta x male reader #peeta mellark x male reader

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thesunrisesss · 5 months

Note

Have you seen the prequel movie? If yes🌹>>>

A. In your opinion, please rate TBOSAS movie with 1-10 scale.

(1 = I hate it, 10 = I love it.)

Things that you like :

Things that you don't like :

B. For people who also read the novel.

Your opinions about the difference between the book and the movie :

Thank you 🎼

@curiousnonny

Thank you so much for the ask!! Yes, I have seen the movie (twice lol). On a scale of 1-10, I'd rate TBOSAS as a 9, because a 10 to me would be a 1 to 1 recreation of the book. Compared to the rest of the film adaptations we have, this is the best one by far. I'll start off by breaking down the things that I liked most about the movie.

Let's start off first and foremost, Francis Lawerence was determined to fit everything cleanly into one movie. While most of us know that there was more than enough material to warrant two movies, if that happened, I believe that it would have suffered the same fate as Mockingjay Pt. 1 & 2. This is what he said during an interview that I think sums this idea up well:

"In an episode of television, if you have a cliffhanger, you have to wait a week or you could just binge it and then you can see the next episode. But making people wait a year, I think, came across as disingenuous, even though it wasn’t. Our intentions were not to be disingenuous." - Variety

So, would it have made more money in the long run? Sure. But would it make the fans happy? Probably not. Both he and Suzanne aren't just in it for the money. They want to both make something they're proud of, and something they know the fans will enjoy and I think that really shows.

Another great example of how they listen to the opinions of their fans is shown in their casting choices.

Back in 2012 when the movies first started being released, there was a lot of public outcry about not giving accurate representation to the characters in the books.

Listen, as much as I love JLaw, her personality, her acting ability, and the beautiful way she brought Katniss to life, she doesn’t look like Katniss as was described in the book. Suzanne is very intentional with the information she gives us. Katniss is a hunter, living in the Appalachian area, and has "straight black hair, olive skin, and grey eyes"; Katniss is coded as Native. Jennifer is not.

This can also be expanded into the representation of District 12 as a whole. While we're watching the events of the Reaping take place, nearly everyone in that crowd is white. If most of the people living in the district live in the Seam and look like Katniss, then where are they? Why do they all look like merchant children?

So, with that all being said, I am very glad that this time around they had a more diverse cast.

Here are the things that I picked up on myself: Clemensia is Asian, Coral was queer-coded, Bobbin was missing an arm, Tanner was missing an eye, Wovey had down syndrome and, Tigris is played by a trans actress (and was a huge fan of the original series growing up). I'm aware that there is probably a lot more I missed out on, but those are just the ones I picked up on on my own.

Another bit I loved was the character outfit choices.

Snow wore different colored roses to signify his mindset at different points in time. He wore a red rose during the reaping ceremony, red roses signifying passion and pride as he thinks he’s about to win the Plinth prize. When we see him at the train station he gives Lucy Gray a white rose, which signifies loyalty, purity, and innocence, as are his views towards her and the Games thus far. Then, during the start of the games he wears a yellow rose, which signifies friendship and luck, which represents how he feels about Lucy Gray.

Another thing that really stood out to me was the choice of character design. Of course, most of the attention is going to the Academy uniforms, and Lucy Gray’s reaping dress, but there’s so much more that we can pick up on if we look closely.

It was mentioned a TikTok, going over Tigris’s outfits, that the designer intentionally gave all of her outfits some kind of unfinished hem, as if she was still a work in progress. (I can’t find the original TikTok anywhere, I believe it was posted by Lionsgate, but it’s no longer there)

And Dr. Gaul’s outfits are phenomenal. I would say my piece about it here, but Leftie said it so much better than I could say it myself, so I will link it for you here: TikTok

Then, when it comes to the tributes, each tribute looked like they were all coming from the poor districts, but they all had something unique about them. Coral had a fish on her flannel representing District 4, fishing, Wovey had an outfit covered in buttons on her shoulders, and had a heart made of buttons on her pants representing District 8, textiles,

There are also many things I liked about the little callbacks to the original trilogy, but don't have enough to say on it to write them their own paragraphs, so I will list them below.

The long shot on the bow and arrows on the Cornucopia, sitting and waiting to be used, because no one there is ready to take the first shot.

Lucky canceling his dinner reservations. “Two and a highchair”, I wonder who that highchair is for.

The mention of Katniss and being too early in the season. Need I say more?

I think these were all great choices because anyone who has been a fan of the series will know what they were trying to tell us, but it also blends in so well with the rest of the movie. I have no doubt in my mind that those who watched this movie as their first introduction to the series didn’t think any of those moments were out of place.

Now we’ll move on to the things I didn’t like, and honestly, I’m glad to say I don’t have many, so I will list them below:

Why is District 12 still so white? If the Seam is a large part of the population then why is everyone so gosh darn pale? Where are the people living in the Seam that all looked like Katniss and Lucy Gray??

Where is Clemmy?? I really wanted to see her act like a snake.

Where is Ma Plinth? She is such a huge character in the book and yet we don’t even see her face in the movie.

The interview between Lucky and Lucy Gray while at the zoo felt too fast, could I tell you how to do it better? No. But I do think that the pacing of it was a bit weird.

I really wish we saw a mockingjay pin somewhere, that would have been a nice call back.

The overall pace of the first half of the movie. They did really well getting in the stuff they did, but so much happened in the books that it felt like we were jumping around quite a bit trying to show us all the things that were necessary for the story.

Lack of Snow's inner dialogue. I understand why it wasn't included, but it really adds so much depth to his character that without it he just appears...normal. (Listen you can think Tom is hot all you want, but babe, respectfully, if you still think Snow is smashable after the movie ends I will personally give you my therapist's contact info)

For those who didn’t read the book, but watched the movie, I will leave you with this.

Snow is a sociopath. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. He is hot and evil. That’s how it's supposed to be.

No, Snow and Sejanus didn’t kiss in the book either, I’m sorry.

Read the books. It brings so much more light and depth into the characters that you literally cannot do in any movie.

Listen to the audiobook. If you think reading the book will bring the characters to life, then this will make them feel like you know them personally. It's voiced by Santino Fontana (aka Hans from Frozen) and he adds so much to the story, minus the singing. You would think they would let a man who can sing sing the songs, but they don’t. I think it’s cause they’re scared of the edits we would create. (Btw, don’t support amazon by listening to it on audible. You can listen to it for free by either supporting your local library by using Libby or by listening to it on youtube)

Lastly, I’ll leave you with some things I'm hoping we will get to see at some point in the future.

Another book. I really hope Suzanne comes back with another addition to the series at some point. I know she only writes when she has something to say, so if she does, I'm really excited to see what she might come up with.

A TV series adaptation. Diverse and inclusive cast. One episode per chapter. One season per book. One bonus season where each episode goes over the games of previous victors. I would love to see Mags, Haymitch, Johanna, and Finnick’s games.

The extended cut. There is a 3hr 40min cut of the movie that we almost got, but didn’t, and I need to see it. There's currently a live change.org petition urging Lionsgate to release it. As of writing this, it has just over 12k signatures. If you're interested you can sign it here.

More interviews with Suzanne. Even if she doesn’t write any more books I really just want to hear more about what goes on in her head.

More people joining the HG community. It’s been a special interest of mine ever since the movies were first announced, so I’m super happy that it’s picking up steam and getting attention again!

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what-do-1000-swords-look-like · 1 year

Text

Daenerys vs Coin / GoT vs Hunger Games - The Hidden Villains = The Final Boss

I happened to catch The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 on TV and seeing the ending again slapped so much harder than I expected it to. I just couldn't stop seeing the similarities between the two women and how some still don't see Dany as the villain but had no issue seeing Coin as just that. I mean:

First we have the Rebels attacking the Capitol, to fight back against Snow and the way he has been running Panem.

youtube

While Katniss and Co are hiding out, a television address from President Snow goes out, warning citizens of the Capitol that the Rebels are there to kill them all, to "bury us", and their intention is not to save anyone. He offers up the Mansion as a place of sanctuary for the citizens and their children, not really giving a crap about them but using them as leverage/to maintain the image for the Capitol citizens so they won't turn on him.

Katniss and Gale go on foot to attempt to get her close enough to kill Snow. That's been her plan all along. If Snow is killed, then the Hunger Games and Snow's tyranny will stop.

As they're making their way, right before being caught, the Rebels attack. Innocent citizens are caught in the crossfire, even children.

And then this scene happens:

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Not only does the sister she started out protecting die, but the children also die that were at the Mansion's gate.

Later on, Katniss finds out from Snow that Coin (who was aiming to replace Snow & was the Rebel leader so to speak) was the one who killed the Capitol children and set the trap that killed more people alongside her sister.

Tyrion: "My father was an evil man, my sister was an evil woman, pile up all of the bodies of all the people they killed, and it still won't mount up to the amount of people our beautiful queen killed in a single day."

youtube

As bad as Snow is, like he says he's not "wasteful". He admits how brilliant Coin is and makes Katniss aware of what she's really aiming to do: replace him.

Sure enough, Coin holds a meeting with Katniss and the surviving Victors. She informs them that Snow is going to be executed that afternoon and this will start off a slew of executions because the Rebels want blood for all of the children they lost over the years to the Hunger Games and Snow's whims. She proposes that they restart the Hunger Games but this time with the Capitol children instead.

Some are for it, like Johanna:

Who mentions Snow has a granddaughter.

Dany: "From Winterfell to Dorne, from Lannisport to Qarth, from the Summer Isles to the Jade Sea!"

Others don't agree like Peeta, but when Katniss uncharacteristically agrees (and we see that she realizes Snow was right in this scene) as long as she gets to kill Snow herself, Haymitch hesitantly agrees with her, swinging the vote (knowing she's got something up her sleeve after the look she gives him).

We then see Katniss do her walk to the area where Snow is being held for all to witness his execution:

Coin makes her speech to the people:

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Katniss lets her arrow fly, striking Coin in the heart:

Katniss, the hero, expected to die (because she didn't intend on being taken prisoner) but ends up being stopped and arrested instead (while the people rip Snow apart):

Haymitch goes to see her where she's imprisoned:

youtube

He reads her Plutarch's letter and then informs her that she will be sent back to District 12, alone, and once some time has passed after the election of a new leader that the people have chosen, she will be pardoned:

Katniss goes back home to discover an old pet waiting for her:

And eventually Peeta (also of District 12) joins her, they eventually start a family, and she finds some semblance of peace in what has always been her home:

youtube

The reason for this very long post is that even though this is a different books series, different world, different characters, different circumstances, etc. the lead-up to the hero taking out the main villain/the final boss. So yes, Dany's dark turn was rushed and not executed well, no doubt, but it was enough that people should stop questioning if she was ever going to go dark at all or questioning just what her intentions were. (and this doesn't even begin to delve into all of the foreshadowing that was layered into the series the whole way)

There is no difference between this woman:

And this woman:

Not when it came to their pursuits for power. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

People were not going to flourish under Dany's rule. She had already burned innocents alive, including innocent children (just like Coin killed the Capitol children and was going to continue to kill them) to attain her goal: conquering to get the IT, whoever doesn't receive her with open arms and love will pay for it, and she's ripping the old world out root and stem (breaking the wheel so she could always be on top) to make the world she wants. Cersei saw through her (& bet against her and lost), Tyrion knew what she was, and even Jon did.

Like Snow said, Coin waited until the Districts were in disarray before stepping in to help and be the voice for the people to follow:

She even gave them a symbol to put their belief in aka the Mockingjay(Breaker of Chain/Mother of Dragons/The Last Targaryen)/Katniss (who people were already inclined towards):

to help pull those people together even more so she could win:

It's all right there.

youtube

(start at 1:12 - Alma Coin's life)

YouTuber MovieFlame: "She came from District 13 which was thought to be nonexistent and extinct":

Need I say more?

#dark!daenerys #dark!danyposts #dark!dany #dark!dany meta #dark!daenerys meta #got #gotposts #game of thrones #metaposts #got vs hunger games parallels #dany vs coin parallels #got parallels

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looneyleyle · 11 months

Text

darlin pt. 2 ~ f. odair

pt. 1 ||| pt. 2 ||| pt. 3

synopsis: finnick and aldrea have both survived the hunger games once, can they do it again?

warnings: hunger games typical violence, death, mentions of panic attacks

words: 7525

aldera pov

after the 74th hunger games, things were oddly quiet in district 10. we heard whispers of uprisings in the other districts, but we were too busy trying to find our next meal to contribute to any rebellion. the sentiments were there, though, the anger towards the games and the capitol, and the hope that katniss and peeta gave the districts. but we kept quiet, keenly aware of the peacekeepers lurking at every corner.

in all honesty, life in district 10 had become quite repetitive for me, though i'd never admit it out loud. it felt insensitive. everyone else in the district was fighting for their lives, and yet here i was, sitting in my comfortable home with more money than i needed, without a job or need for a job. not everyone was struggling, i guess. imena was finally getting better. she had a beautiful baby girl with, ironically, one of the cattle slaughterers in the district. he was really quite kind, forced into the job much like imena was with the games and mentoring. i would babysit their girl from time to time, either when the two wanted some time to themselves, or on the rare occasion that imena would have another breakdown.

the 75th hunger games were quickly approaching. the quarter quell, as they called it. every quell, there would be some sort of twist to make the games more exciting for those sick bastards in the capitol. in the first quarter quell, the districts had to vote on who to send into the games. in the capitol's eyes, it served as a reminder that we were the ones who chose to start the rebellion, and that we were the reason why the hunger games even existed. in second quarter quell, each district sent in four tributes as opposed to the usual two, reminding us that for every capitol citizen that was killed in the war, two district rebels died.

at order of the capitol, all citizens were to watch some sort of special announcement today, presumably to announce this year's twist. i sat alone in my living room, a cup of tea nestled in my hands. as snow appeared on the screen, anger flowed through my veins. just looking at him made me want to throw some sort of weapon at him. maybe a spear. maybe a dagger. or maybe a trident.

"ladies and gentlemen," he started, the capitol citizens going wild for him, "this is the 75th year of the hunger games, and it was written in the charter of the games that every 25 years, there would be a quarter quell to keep fresh for each new generation the memory of those who died in the uprising against the capitol. each quarter quell is distinguished by games of a special significance. and now on this, the 75th anniversary of our defeat of the rebellion, we celebrate the third quarter quell, as a reminder that even the strongest cannot overcome the power of the capitol." each word out of his vile mouth caused my skin to crawl. it was a jab at the districts, a threat, maybe even a promise.

"on this, the third quarter quell games, the male and female tributes are to be reaped from the existing pool of victors in each district." i felt the world closing in on me. my breathing became shallow, and i had to shakily put down my cup as to not drop it all over myself. "victors shall present themselves on reaping day regardless of age, state of health, or situation."

the air was heavy, like a block of lead. i couldn't breathe. outside, i needed to get outside. i fumbled around until i got to the door. opening it, i saw that i wasn't the only one with that idea. my good-for-nothing mentor counterpart was out, throwing empty beer bottles at the ground in rage. imena's husband was rocking his child in his arms in comfort, i could only assume imena was having a breakdown inside. her husband looked at me, and i could see it. he didn't have to come all the way over to me for me to see what he wanted.

he wanted me to volunteer for her.

why wouldn't i? on paper, i had nothing. no family to support, no parents to care for, no partner to come home to, no job to work. all i did was sit around all day. imena, however, had a family to support. she was already taking care of her parents by letting them live with her. she had a lovely husband to come home to at the end of the day. and while she had no official job, she was tasked with the burden of motherhood. it would be selfish of me to not volunteer. but could i do it? to volunteer would be to sign my own death certificate.

instead of answering his unasked question, i went back inside. somehow both the outside and inside were suffocating. at least inside i could suffer in peace, without judgement.

on reaping day, i wore a simple blue and white striped dress. it was something my mother had gifted me before she passed. she would tell me about how all of her best moments happened in that dress. she got proposed to in that dress, married in that dress, found out she was pregnant in that dress, and so on and so forth. granted, she only had so many dresses in her wardrobe, i think it was one of the only four outfits she owned. i was hoping that some of that luck would carry over. i stood on the platform, next to imena. there were two living male victors and two living female victors.

"ladies first." the capitol woman stuck her hand into the bowl containing our names. i could hear imena's breathing pick up. there were only two of us, i knew that the odds were not in my favor.

"the female tribute from district 10, aldera meadowwood." i felt bile well up in my throat. i slowly moved over to the woman, not even paying attention to who got picked for the male tribute. it didn't matter, did it? one or both of us would be dead in the coming weeks.

the train ride to the capitol was maddening. i was left with just my thoughts as the male tribute, who was in fact my useless counterpart, was spending his remaining moments with the love of his life, liquor.

i was able to win the games once, and it nearly destroyed me. i only survived my games through allies. i had partnered up with some solid tributes, not any careers though. we stuck together, but knew that as soon as the last person not in our little group was killed, it would be every man for himself. it never got to that point, though. each of us died one by one until it was just me and the district 5 boy. he was 18, a year older than me at the time. the two of us weren't friends per say, but we had both saved each others' lives, earning the other's respect. the two of us were tracking down the remaining tribute, the boy from district 1. while we were making our way to the cornucopia, the boy snuck up on us, impaling my partner. the district 1 tribute was reveling in his kill when i struck him with my knife, hitting him right in the chest. a couple more swipes at him out of pure fear for my life and the cannon sounded, signalling my win. i don't know if i could do it again, not with equally as skilled victors to go up against.

the capitol woman assigned to district 10 came in, recommending that i watch the other reapings. i came out to the common area and sat in front of the tv as she started the program.

district 1, cashmere and gloss. i didn't know much about them besides the fact that they were siblings.

district 2, brutus and enobaria. i had only heard rumors about what enobaria had done with her teeth, and they were confirmed when she gave the audience a sharky grin.

district 3, wiress and beetee. i knew from my time at the capitol that beetee was the creator of most of their technology. i remember finnick telling me once that him and wiress were absolute geniuses.

speaking of finnick, i held my breath when the recording got to district 4. i balled up my fists and had to force myself to watch the screen. please not finnick, please not finnick.

district 4, finnick and mags.

i thought i had already cried all of my tears, but apparently not, as more came flowing when i saw his face on the screen. why him? there were plenty of district 4 winners. it could have easily been any of them. i tried to tell myself that this was a good thing. i was guaranteed an ally, right? what finnick and i had, whatever it was, wasn't fragile enough to be broken by the games. but that also meant that i was almost guaranteed to watch him die, or have him watch me die. more bile welled up in my throat.

i missed the district 5 and 6 tributes while in the midst of my breakdown. district 7 had blight and johanna. i had the privilege of being introduced to johanna once before, while the usual female mentor from 7 was on some sort of medical leave. johanna was… quite the personality, in a bad way for the capitol, but an entertaining way for the rest of us. she wouldn't let you forget her hatred towards the capitol. i could only imagine the hell she was raising for being reaped.

"we're almost to the capitol." the lady informed me, going off to find the other victor. i vaguely heard him cussing her out, speech slightly slurred. glad to see that he was his usual chipper self in his last moments.

i tuned back in as they announced the district 12 tributes, peeta and katniss. of course, that was what this was about. they had unknowingly stirred the pot by trying to save their lives, and the capitol needed a way to get rid of them without causing a scene.

my stylist took a bit longer than usual to tidy me up. he said it was because i kept fidgeting, but who could blame me? i was anxious, not to mention itching to see finnick. i had been fighting off another breakdown since getting here, and i knew only finnick would be able to get me through it.

i found finnick talking to katniss, a slightly disgusted look on her face. i immediately made my way towards them, and as if he could sense me, he turned around right away, a mixture of emotions clouding his face. i ran to him, making the nearby peacekeepers jolt forward a bit. when i wrapped my arms tightly around his torso, him doing the same, they relaxed, deeming that this was not a dangerous situation. i buried my face into his shoulder, being slightly mindful to not smudge my makeup onto him.

"finn," i breathed out, overwhelmed by all the emotions attacking my heart. anxiety, anger, confusion, relief, worry, depression, and something else that i dared not speak. it all bombarded me.

"hey dera," he whispered.

"finnick, i don't know if i can-"

"shhh, darlin, it's going to be alright." i held onto him for a bit longer before composing myself.

"you're right. it's fine. we're going to be fine." i affirmed. a smile spread across his face.

"that's the spirit. sugar cube?" he offered, holding it out to me.

"how can you be so relaxed about all of this?" i laughed, taking the sugar cube anyways and popping it in my mouth. finnick's eyes lingered on where the sugar cube had been mere moments prior.

"i like your outfit, or should i say, lack thereof," i teased, poking his bare chest. his smirk widened.

"i can tell from the drool," he quipped back, motioning to my mouth.

"why are you looking at my mouth mr. odair?" i smirked, pulling him a bit closer to me by his necklace. he stared for a moment, opening his mouth to say something back before being interrupted by someone behind me. i turned around to see mags. finnick had told me all about her during our years mentoring together. she pointed at me with a smile, looking at finnick. he laughed, running a hand through his hair.

"yep, this is aldera. dera, this is mags." he quickly introduced. i shook her hand, smiling.

"he's told me so much about you, it's nice to finally meet you." i told her. she gave finnick another knowing smirk. i talked to her about the things finnick had told me about her, adding in some funny stories about finnick from my time mentoring with him. while i was telling a story about him eating the food off of a sponsor's plate in retaliation for them not sponsoring his tribute, i felt a stare on my face. i looked to my left to see finnick just looking at me, the softest smile playing with his lips, eyes slightly crinkled. the image burned itself into my memory, consuming my body with a fiery warmth in the best kind of way. i returned the smile before resuming my story.

i didn't get much farther in the tale before we were told that we had to get to our chariots. i held an arm out for mags, helping her get to her chariot. once she was in, i looked to finnick. he took my hands in his, not saying anything. a peacekeeper started to make his way over to us, so i let go, not wanting to get beat up right before showing myself to the capitol.

training began the next day. i spent my time relearning knife and sword tricks, as well as some refreshers on basic survival skills. i remembered a lot of them, as i preached them to my tributes each year, but a lot of these mentors were in the same boat as me. i had to stick out, or be able to do something unique. after all, the capitol just wanted a good show. it's all they ever want.

that night, finnick invited me to his room. i had never been in it, he would always come to mine. when we got inside, there was a group of victors lounging around. i grabbed onto finnick, looking up at him with confusion in my eyes.

"finnick, what's going on?" i whispered. he leaned down so his lips hovered next to my ear.

"trust me, okay darlin?" i nodded warily, following him to an empty couch.

"well then, now that the youngins are here, we can finally begin," haymitch said, somewhat sarcastically, taking a final swig of his whiskey. beetee, johanna, mags, and chaff all sat around haymitch, listening to his every word.

haymitch explained the plan, to keep katniss alive, to go to a safe place. haymitch told us how there were 'high ranking capitol people' in on the plan, but that didn't do much to soothe my worries about his scheme.

when he finished his explanation, all the others agreed, including finnick. they were to spread the word to anyone who would be willing to help us. i had my doubts about the plan, about haymitch's motives, and about his 'connections', but i trusted finnick. he's a smart man. if he was willing to die for this, then it was obviously a fight worth fighting.

the others made their way out of the room, apart from me, finnick, and mags. mags gave us a wave and a motherly smile before going off to her room, leaving me and finnick alone.

"are you sure about all of this?" i asked.

"what do you mean? do you not want things to change?" he asked, confused.

"of course i want things to change. i'm just worried about the uncertainty of it all. who are haymitch's 'connections'? can we trust them? can we trust the other tributes?" i voiced. finnick pulled me in and ran his hands up and down my back, trying to soothe me.

"i don't know darlin, but we have to at least try. they're the best chance we've got to take down the capitol. if we're gonna die either way, i'd much rather die trying to burn this shit show down than as their little plaything." he grinned, and a small smile grew on my face, his enthusiasm was infectious. he started to slowly rock us back and forth, my eyes closing a bit. i felt content, being in his arms. he brought a certain comfort to me that no one else could. there wasn't anyone else i would want to spend my last moments with.

"let's get you to bed, alright?" he whispered into my hair. i nodded, and he started moving me not towards the door, but towards his room. i didn't object, my heart warming ever so slightly. he got me a comfy shirt to put on and then got into the bed with me, his arms still around me. i laid my head on his chest a bit timidly, we were venturing into uncharted territory. we had never slept in the same bed together, never going past the comforting hugs to soothe each other's worries. our relationship, whatever it was, was weird, and we both knew it. we never spoke about it, mainly because we never felt a need to. we were there for each other, and that's what mattered.

the next day brought the interviews. my stylist dressed me in a low-cut, billowy white dress with a dark grey corset. it was much more simplistic than any of my other hunger games outfits. what sealed the deal was the necklace put on me. it was made of a brown cord and had a spiral shell dangling from it. i looked up at my stylist, who was looking at me with a smirk.

"how did you know-" i started, looking at what seemed to be a carbon copy of finnick's necklace.

"finnick suggested it. i had a beautiful blue and gold gown thought up for you, but i think i like this idea a lot better," he winked, putting the finishing touches on my hair and makeup. i was then ushered into a room to wait for my turn and watch the other interviews.

cashmere and gloss played into the brother-sister dynamic, spouting bullshit about how the capitol was their family. beetee plainly commented about how the quarter quell could be taken out of the law, how it wasn't too late to stop. when finnick went up there, in an outfit very similar to mine, i perked up.

"i understand that you have a message for somebody out there. a special somebody," caesar started, waiting on the edge of his seat. finnick chuckled, keeping his lips sealed.

"can we hear it?" caesar continued, anticipation buzzing from both him and the audience.

"my darlin, you have my heart for all eternity, and if… if i die in that arena, my last thought will be of your lips, which i have waited so patiently to kiss," he recited, looking straight at the camera. my body seemed to explode with emotions. i grasped at the necklace that sat low on my chest, holding it tight. finnick then took his necklace and kissed it, mouthing three words to the camera with a soft look that i had seen many times before.

after finnick was johanna, who had quite a lot to say, and quite a lot to be bleeped out. the tributes kept going, either voicing their 'love' for the capitol, hate for the capitol, or their sob stories to try and keep themselves alive.

"you're up," my stylist told me, pushing me towards the curtains.

"and next up, from district 10, the ever so lovely aldera meadowwood," caesar announced. i walked in, and caesar's face seemed to light up. he waited until i made my way up to him and shook his hand before he spoke.

"wow, i love the outfit. seems to remind me of another tribute's outfit tonight," he smiled out at the audience. gasps and swoons came out from the crowd. "now, i had heard rumors about you and a certain mentor being joined at the hip during the past few games, but this, this certainly seems to give some validity to what i've heard. any comments?" he asked, dying for details.

"let's just say i haven't exactly spent every night in the capitol alone for the past couple of games," i teased. finnick was the capitol's prince, their flirtatious little victor. i had to keep up his reputation. 'ooh's and 'aah's and whoops and hollers filled the room.

"wow, just wow," he commented, almost too stunned to speak. i turned around and looked up at the other tributes, finnick smirking down at me. i took my necklace and kissed it, just like finnick had. i then just held it, looking down at the ground.

"what seems to be the matter?" caesar asked. i sighed.

"i just wish it didn't have to end like this. we were supposed to live the rest of our lives in peace, and we were gonna spend all of those years together. but with the quell… it doesn't look like we'll be able to. if only we were able to love under different circumstances…" i trailed off, wiping the tears from my eyes. it wasn't necessarily a lie. i did truly wish that we were able to do all of this under different circumstances. was i playing it up a bit for the audience? yeah, who wouldn't? this was a matter of life or death.

"well would you look at that, folks, star-crossed lovers from different districts. it has been an absolute pleasure miss meadowwood, as always." the crowd gave their applause, and i made my way up to the rest of the victors, finnick smiling at me as i came up. the rest of the interviews went by, with katniss and peeta dropping the baby bomb. the crowd went feral at that, various audience members screaming for the games to be cancelled. when the two joined us at the top, we all linked hands and raised them up in solidarity.

the lights flickered off and we were all rushed out of the room. peacekeepers ushered us to our rooms, grabbing our arms harshly, not giving us a chance to move on our own.

"finnick!" i yelled, not being able to see.

"aldera!" i heard his voice call back, too far away to make it to.

the peacekeeper dragged me up to my apartment and pushed me into the room, slamming the door. i tried opening it but it seemed as though the peacekeeper was blocking me from doing so. i huffed and went over to the couch, laying down in exhaustion.

a fair amount of time had passed, and i hadn't moved. all of a sudden, there was a knock on my door. i went over and opened it, seeing finnick and a peacekeeper. he came inside and the peacekeeper yet again slammed the door. finnick rushed over to me and wrapped his arms tightly around me. both of us were still in our matching get ups from the interviews.

"how were you able to make them let you in?" i asked, still holding onto him tightly.

"let's just say that snow owed me a few favors," he mumbled into my shoulder. "you look beautiful, by the way."

"you too, my handsome little pirate," i laughed, him chuckling along with me.

"c'mon, we need to get some sleep. we won't be able to rest well in the games," i told him, squeezing his arm lightly. he nodded into my neck and swiftly picked me up, causing me to let out a surprised shriek.

"finn!" i laughed, him carrying me to the bed. he dropped me down onto the bed, him following closely behind. he then reached his hands around to my back, helping me remove the corset. he took his own off, leaving us in the flowy white clothing. i pulled the blanket up and over us, nestling my head into his chest. he left a kiss on my head, hand drawing circles on my arms.

"we're gonna make it out of these games, the both of us," he whispered.

i woke up the next day with the area next to me empty. i assumed finnick had to go to get ready for the games. i did the same, eating the last actual meal i would have in a long time, taking a nice long shower, and braiding my hair. i knew my stylist would do all of this again later, but it comforted me to think that i had some sort of independence in all of this.

before i knew it, i was on the platform, waiting to go up and into the arena. the lights blinded me once we got up, the sound of water swooshing around me. my eyes adjusted to see that the platforms were surrounded by water, with rocky formations leading up to the cornucopia. i kept haymitch's plan in mind. i looked to my left to see mags, and to my right to see peeta. perfect.

when the cannon boomed, i dove straight into the water, making my way to the rocks. i learned to swim a couple years back with finnick, when i had told him that district 10 didn't have any bodies of water to swim in. i got up to the rocks and saw mags, who held out a hand to me. i took it, hoisting myself up. we stayed back, i knew finnick would get me a nice knife or two from the cornucopia. i watched as he stabbed a tribute who was trying to kill katniss. no one else was near us, leaving me to watch to make sure nothing went wrong. mags started tapping me hysterically, and i looked to see her pointing at peeta, who was fighting in the water with another tribute.

"finnick!" i yelled. he turned around and saw the commotion, quickly grabbing a couple of knives, machetes, and survival packs before running over. he gave all the stuff to me before jumping into the water, going to save peeta. a cannon shot as finnick swam over, each of us holding our breaths to see who had survived. after a moment, peeta's head resurfaced, all of us letting out a breath of relief. finnick helped bring peeta to the shore, the rest of us following suit. we made our way through the jungle, trying to get far away from the other tributes. the heat was sweltering, causing the tensions to skyrocket. three cannons sounded throughout the arena.

"well, i guess we're not holding hands anymore," finnick chuckled. i sent a glare back at him, now was not the time.

"you think that's funny?" katniss asked, tone itching for a fight.

"every time that cannon goes off, it's music to my ears," he continued.

"finnick…" i warned. we all were here to protect katniss, but that would be a bit hard if she ended up slitting his throat before he could get a chance to prove himself to her.

he was able to somewhat gain her trust moments after, when peeta almost died on us from hitting a force field. katniss was screaming on the ground as finnick tried to bring him back. once he was breathing again, finnick got up, leaving he two to themselves. he came over to me and mags, watching the two lovebirds with us.

"i thought it was all an act," he whispered to me. i nodded, taking his hand in mine. he gave my hand a tight squeeze.

"it's gonna get dark soon," finnick informed us. we were all exhausted from the hours of walking without any food or water. "let's take turns sleeping. i can take first watch."

"not a chance," katniss argued. finnick rolled his eyes, and i had to prevent myself from sighing in annoyance.

"honey, that thing i did back there for peeta? that was called 'saving his life'. if i wanted to kill either of you, i would've done it by now." i put a hand on his arm, trying to calm his down. the heat and dehydration were getting to us all. finnick got up to make mags more comfortable. he came back and sat right next to me, leaning up against a tree and bringing my head down to rest on his arm.

"why don't you get some rest darlin?" he whispered to me.

"okay. don't kill each other," i joked, receiving a small chuckle from him.

i woke up to the sound of that dreaded anthem. we watched as the faces of the fallen tributes flashed in the night sky.

"eight."

the five of us sat there, taking it all in. we truly were back in this hellhole, the place that has plagued our nightmares. our thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a chime.

"hey…" katniss said, standing up and grabbing the capsule. she opened it quickly, reading the note. "'drink up'…" she pulled out a tiny silver trinket. she brought it up to a tree, mumbling something about a 'spile'. she stuck it in, and after a couple of moments, water flew out of it.

"holy shit," i mumbled, quickly getting up. katniss got the first few sips, laughing out in relief. peeta went, and then finnick, who lapped at the water like a madman. i nearly pushed him out of the way, the refreshing liquid filling my mouth. i laughed, letting the water hit my sweaty face.

"i'm gonna get a leaf," finnick said, grabbing one to get some water to mags. he filled up the leaf and brought it to her, helping her drink.

later on, we were jostled awake by katniss's screams.

"run! run! the fog is poison!"

we were on our feet immediately, finnick helping mags up. the five of us ran for our lives, the fog closing in on us from seemingly every direction. it nipped at our feet, staying at our heels no matter how fast we ran. i heard finnick scream behind me, and i stopped for a second.

"finnick?!" i yelled.

"keep going!" he panted, his face scrunched in agony. i followed his orders, picking up my speed again.

i didn't see what happened, but in the midst of the madness, katniss and peeta stopped, peeta groaning in pain.

"i can't carry him," she cried. i looked at finnick, i wasn't nearly strong enough to carry the boy. it would be a death sentence for the both of us. i watched as mags got off of finnick and started walking the other way. my heart dropped and eyes widened in horror.

"mags?" finnick called, slowly looking back. she gave him a sad smile before walking into the fog.

"mags! mags!" finnick sobbed, starting to follow her. i lurched forward at that, pulling him back.

a cannon fired.

"finnick, we have to go," katniss told him. "we have to get out of here."

"finnick, we have to go," i told him, his face streaked with tears. he nodded, picking up peeta and starting up again. the fog was too close now, licking at our feet, legs, and arms. i hissed in pain as i took a turn too wide, causing the fog to cover my shoulder. the fog seemed to be moving faster now. it had claimed one victim, and it was hungry for more. i felt a burning sensation in my calves, and not just from the strenuous running.

"fuck!" i screamed, falling down.

"aldera!"

the rest of them didn't make it much further, the fog soon blanketing all four of us. everything burned like nothing i had ever experienced before. i couldn't move, but i refused to die like this. i crawled forward, despite the scraping of my arms against the ground feeling like hot coals digging into my skin.

"the water! the water helps!" i heard someone yell. i forced myself to move forward, i will not die like this. i will not die.

the water burned my skin in the best possible way. it seemed to sizzle on my skin, clearing the burns and boils with every wave. i looked around to see peeta and katniss in the water, but not finnick.

"finnick!" i yelled, rushing back out of the water. peeta came up with me, helping me carry his nearly lifeless body to the water. he hissed and groaned and cussed at the feeling, but i couldn't let him die.

we were all eventually cleansed of the poison, an eerie silence settling over us. i went up to finnick and tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but he immediately shrugged it off.

"finn," i began to say. he tensed up, i knew he didn't like pity.

"no. not right now," he told me, his hands tightly gripping his trident.

"okay…" i trailed off, giving him some space. "i'm gonna go look for some food, none of us have ate in a while." i told the group. katniss and peeta were too busy whispering to each other, and finnick was staring off into the water with a blank look, so i took that as my cue to leave.

third person pov

not long after aldera left the group in search for food, katniss spotted something in the trees.

"peeta…" she whispered, "walk over here slowly." he looked up and came face to face with a not-so-friendly furry creature. he tried to step back slowly, but the monkeys didn't care, they started to scream and growl at him.

"aldera!" finnick screamed, looking around for her. she was nowhere in sight, causing him to panic. he couldn't lose both of his girls in one day. it would be too much.

"finnick, we have to go!" peeta shouted, swiping a monkey out of the way.

"i can't leave her!" he yelled, spearing a monkey with his trident.

"we don't have a choice, you're no good to her if you're dead. a cannon hasn't gone off, there's a good chance she's still alive," katniss reasoned through gritted teeth. she had a point, but finnick wasn't thinking rationally. his mind buzzed with thoughts of her, how he wouldn't be able to live if she died in the arena. peeta grabbed his arm and yanked him away from where they were standing. that seemed to get his feet in motion, the imminent danger of the situation finally dawning on him.

the three ran as fast as they could while still killing the beasts. they were getting real sick of all of this running.

"get to the beach!" one of them yelled, taking a harsh right. the other two followed, finnick swiping at a monkey that was going for peeta's arm. the chase felt like it was never ending, it seemed like the beach was districts away from them.

as a monkey battled with peeta, about to take peeta's life, another tribute jumped out, sacrificing her life for peeta. for a moment, he was too stunned to speak. was she trying to kill him and missed? was she being attacked and had to jump to escape a different creature?

"who is that?" katniss yelled. peeta looked at her, blood seeping from her body.

"a morphling. help me get her!" he yelled, picking up her body. katniss rushed over to help, carrying her other side. finnick was still fending off the monkeys a few paces behind. as soon as the group reached the beach, the monkeys stopped at the shoreline, still biting and growling at finnick. he taunted them from the beach, realizing they couldn't go any further.

peeta and katniss comforted the dying morphling, giving her a view of the artificial sky before the cannon boomed through the air.

moments later, another cannon went off, sending finnick into a panic.

"no, no, no no no no no," he mumbled, running towards the sound. instead of aldera's dead body, he found johanna, wiress, and beetee, all covered in blood.

"johanna?" he yelled, running up to her.

"we were all the way deep into the jungle where i thought it was gonna be safe. that's when the rain started. i thought it was water. it turned out to be blood. hot, thick blood. it was choking us. we were stumbling around, gagging on it, blind," she ranted, rage laced in both her words and gaze. "that's when blight hit the force field. he wasn't much, but he was from home."

guiltily, finnick breathed a sigh of relief. the cannon was for blight, not aldera.

finnick couldn't focus while they fought over wiress's incessant muttering or katniss's realization of the clock arena.

"have you seen aldera? we lost her when we were attacked by the monkeys," he blurted out. johanna let out a slight smirk.

"nope, haven't seen your lover girl since the games began." finnick's heart clenched, she was still alive, but in what condition? she could be bleeding out, the gamemakers prepping the cannons at this very second.

the conversation was interrupted by katniss's scream.

"prim?!" she cried, running back into the jungle. finnick immediately ran after her.

"katniss! katniss stop, it's not real!" he yelled after her. the girl was fast, and with their lack of food, he was lagging a bit behind.

then, he heard it. the sound he had been dreading to hear.

aldera's screams flooded his ears. he knew it wasn't real, it was just the jabberjays, but all rationality left his body. his heart lurched forward, his body following quickly after.

"dera!" he cried, racing after the sounds. his heart cracked with each pained scream. tears flew down his face, his body in physical pain from what he was hearing. he could vaguely hear katniss behind him, but it didn't matter. he needed to find aldera and save her from whatever was harming her. soon, the jabberjays started swooping down, causing the two to fall to the ground. the rest of the group found them, but they were separated by a force field. peeta went by katniss, yelling about how it wasn't real, but she couldn't hear him through the field.

a few moments later, aldera found the group, seeing finnick writhing on the floor in pain.

"finnick!" she screamed, but he couldn't hear her. she ran up to the force field, crouching down to his level and trying to calm him down. he looked up at her, tears streaming down his face. seeing her didn't help soothe him. he couldn't tell the difference between what was real and what was fake. he heard her cries of agony in his ears, and yet he saw her there, calm and in front of him, with his eyes. he grabbed at his head, feeling it split apart from the overstimulation of his senses.

aldera pov

i tried to stay calm for finnick, seeing him crumpled up on the ground. i whispered soothing words, despite him not being able to hear them. when the jabberjays flew away, i ran around the force field with peeta and johanna to grab them.

we all collapsed onto the sand as soon as we reached the beach. finnick and katniss were both still out of it, eyes glazed over and shaking. i kept finnick's head in my lap, running my hand through his hair as a way of comforting him.

"can we go to the water?" he whispered.

"yeah of course," i mumbled, helping him up and moving us so we could sit in the water. he leaned himself against me.

"i thought i lost you both," he told me, fresh tears brewing in his eyes.

"hey, hey, i'm right here," i whispered into his head. he grabbed my hand, holding onto it tightly.

"i knew she wouldn't make it, i just didn't think it would happen so soon," he continued. i didn't know what to tell him, we all knew that it would be hard to keep mags alive.

"i just wish it would end right here. you and me, in the water, with absolutely nothing happening," i whispered, the weight of all of the deaths crushing down on my shoulders. finnick turned rigid against me, moving away from me slightly.

"don't talk like that," he hissed. "i'm not losing you, not after mags, and not with the way i feel for you. i'm getting both of us out of here darlin." my whole body warmed at his words, and i found myself unable to say anything. i opted to squeeze his hand that was interlocked with mine.

after fighting with some tributes on the cornucopia, beetee came up with a plan. i passed around some of the berries i had found while searching for food earlier as beetee explained the plan. it was set into motion that night, the six of us setting off towards the lightening tree. beetee sent johanna and katniss to put the wire into the water, keeping finnick and peeta as his guards. as for me, i was to keep watch for the two women to make sure none of the other tributes would sneak up on them. the two didn't know this, though, as they had too strong of personalities to have someone else watch over their security.

"they should be far enough ahead by now," beetee told me, gesturing for me to go ahead. i looked over at finnick, his face unreadable and fists clenched. i went right up to him, getting close enough to grab his face and bring it to mine, pushing our lips together. he grabbed onto me immediately, pulling me impossibly close. i heard peeta give out a small cough before letting go of finnick.

"stay safe odair," i told him, forehead pressed to his.

"you too meadowwood." with that, i left after johanna and katniss, keeping my eyes peeled for any motion.

soon enough, i saw brutus and enobaria following the two. i couldn't find a way to take out either of them without alerting the other, and there was no way that i would be able to take on shark girl or her muscle man. luckily, it didn't take long for johanna to see them, quickly digging out katniss's tracker and 'leaving her for dead', leading the other two away. katniss got up and started heading back towards the tree, straight at me. i quickly hid, not wanting her to think something was up. i continued to follow her, watching as she confronted finnick. i held my breath as the two conversed, katniss ready to kill him. i had to hold myself back, katniss was the one who had to live, no matter what. somehow, finnick managed to calm her down, reminding her that he was not the enemy.

the lightening began to build up. i watched as katniss formed a plan in her mind, but was interrupted by a hand on my arm. i jumped, before realizing it was just johanna, her body a bit bloody and bruised, but still alive. she took her knife and grabbed my arm, not being the slightest bit gentle as she carved the tracker out of my skin. i refrained from letting out noises of my pain, it would distract katniss and ruin everything.

i felt the hairs on my arms stand up, and it seemed like johanna felt the same, for we both looked up at the sky.

"run," she quietly urged, sprinting away from the tree. i did the same, taking off in the other direction. i sprinted as fast as i could, but as soon as katniss's arrow struck the dome, i was blasted forward, my vision going black.

third person pov

"where the fuck is aldera!" finnick yelled at the three men in front of him. haymitch kept quiet, not wanting to be on the receiving end of the man's rage. plutarch, on the other hand, sighed, knowing that the man would raise hell until he got his answer.

"she wasn't the plan," he explained, finnick's fists clenching. "we looked for her, but we didn't have time to scour the whole arena." finnick got up.

"i wasn't part of the plan, and you saved me! she nearby, i know it, i saw her before katniss shot the damn arrow into the arena." the three older men kept quiet.

a small part of finnick knew that he was being irrational, but he didn't know how he was going to do it. aldera got him through everything. before aldera, he did the capitol's bidding without question. he would drug himself each night to forget about the transgressions made against his body, and then would collapse in his bed, waking up the next morning numb to his feelings. when he met aldera, he wanted more for himself. he wanted to stick it to the capitol, to give them a big 'fuck you' for everything they had done to not only him, but to everyone else. she was there for him, made those nights more bearable, gave him something to look forward to while in the capitol. without her, what would he do? become the empty shell he had been before? he couldn't, he couldn't live like that again, knowing there was something, someone out there that gave his life meaning. the tears came flooding down his face.

plutarch had said that since her tracker was taken out, they had no way of knowing where she was, but finnick knew what plutarch truly thought of the situation. she was probably in the capitol's grasp, just like enobaria, johanna, and peeta.

#finnick x oc #finnick odair #hunger games #catching fire #fanfic

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