loved your analysis of how Finnick is Annieās caretaker, I feel like Annie is very important to his balance as well considering his extreme reaction when she is taken, to what extend is Annie his caregiver as well?
what a beautiful question. I think thereās two levels of this, the background way their lives end up being structured that helps stabilize him and the active ways she cares for him.
in the absence of conistent medical and therapeutic care, I think Annie has almost certainly landed on the power of routine for managing her mental health. she has most likely figured out (as many of us do) that she needs to eat at least three times a day, have a consistent bedtime and wake up at a consistent time, have a structured day with several activities (could be chores), work out, and interact with people in an effort to manage her condition. now notably, Finnick does not have to do any of these things with her, but since I think we all hc that at some point they are presumably living together, he is going to get sucked into this routine at least slightly. in that sense, I think Annie has an extremely heavy hand in stabilizing him because I highly doubt he was living with anything close to this level of structure before she came along and it would help him a lot too. and we see this in a way! as soon as Annie is back, Finnickās life has so much more structure, and he improves dramatically! I donāt think itās just because sheās back. I think itās because he needs that, as many of us do, and her need of routine provides that as an option for him, too.
In terms of something that she might be doing more actively and is less due to him just existing in her orbit, imo itās clear from canon that she plays an incredibly important role in helping him self regulate. without Annie, he is completely unable to handle his emotions. now I think sheās helping him regulate in part because he thinks he has to be put together for her, and of course her presence makes him very happy so that helps as well, but I think her role is more active than that. I doubt theyāre at the point where itās recognizing and naming the emotion and letting it flow through you or whatever but I do think that Annie is able to read him very well and can, if he is not able to self regulate, either prompt him in a way heāll listen to (to go outside and walk it off for example) or sheās able to comfort him in a way that allows him to get himself back under control.
notably, I donāt think heās learning to manage his symptoms the way Annie does or working through his trauma in any meaningful way. he is absolutely in survival mode and I think another way Annie cares for him is that she recognizes that and meets him where heās at instead of imposing expectations on him. his ultimate goal is not to improve, but to be in control of himself and to handle everything the best he can. as such, I think Annieās support role for him is less about helping him alleviate symptoms and more providing consistent care through her presence and support.
