Behind the Scenes

==Introduction==
Hello, everyone. I'll be using this blog post as a place to post some information on my thought process while writing the 400th Games as well as revealing some things that could have happened but didn't. In short, this is a look behind the closed doors of my mind...That sounded funny.
#10 301st Games
My biggest qualm about the 301st is just how basic it is. There's not really much that makes it unique or sets it apart from any other Games on the wiki, and that fact is what has me ranking it so low. It does have some great tributes and interesting mutts, but there's not any plot point that really grabs me and the Victor's story and motivation is perhaps too formulaic. While I still like these Games, I don't quite like them as much as the others on the list.
#9 300th Games
The 300th are obviously written worse than any of my other Games and that in itself is one reason why I'm ranking it at #9. I've talked about these above, so I'm just going to reuse my quote up there; "the 300th has some serious flaws and poor characterization for several of the tributes. But it's also a fun romp with some interesting characters, a couple nice surprises, and most importantly, laid the groundwork for the series as a whole." Another thing about the 300th (and what has me ranking it higher than the 301st) is that it's very unique. While some of the twists didn't quite pan out, they did succeed in setting these Games apart from any other.
#8 326th Games
This ranking will probably surprise some people. The 326th is probably best known for the rivalry between Doug and Frade, and while that is undeniably a huge strength of these Games, I can't help but feel that it is also a weakness. That rivalry and plot point overshadows pretty much every other storyline to the point that there basically is no other storyline. All of the tributes, with the exception of Train and Philo, are pulled into the conflict and more than a few of them are killed off to further the plot. I'll speak more about this when the re-read reaches the 326th, but I wish that I could have done more with some of the characters here. Something that I really like about the Games, however, is the tributes themselves and how I made each side sympathetic, even with most of the Hellraisers being...well, insane. 
#7 401st Games
I don't know what it is about the 401st, but something about them just doesn't click with mw. Since finishing them I've actually only reread it once and I came away feeling oddly disappointed. Still, I really enjoy the tributes themselves and their storylines. Takeko and Carey's story in particular was one I always wanted to try and pull off. The Nahual was also really fun and interesting for me. Fun fact: Topher was initially just going to be the Nahual in disguise from Day One, which is why he lies to Zamara about that. I changed my mind on this before the Games began, however, because I wanted to at least try and introduce the Nahual beforehand and give some exposition on it. Honestly, I wish I had just gone with my original plan. That way Topher's storyline would have had a better ending. Also, I got totally sidetracked there, didn't I?
#6 325th Games
I really like the 325th and the way it changed the series. There's so many great characters here and story moments that I love. However, because there is so many characters I feel that too many of them are underutilized. Still, that's a great "problem" to have, all things considered. Some things probably aren't as sharp as they could be, but I love the arenas and the mutts contained within. The finale is also something I find surprisingly disappointing; it might just be the weakest finale in the entire series. 
#5 400th Games
These Games are huge. Really, really huge. It's almost impossible for me to break them down in just one go, so I won't try to go too in-depth here. There's so much story going on here that it boggles my mind that I actually managed to succeed with these. The reason I have them ranked at #5, though, is because every time I think of these I remember that I still haven't finished War of the Hunger Games. WotHG is so connected with these that in my mind that I can't help but think of the 400th as unfinished, even though they are. This is just a personal issue I have as the writer of the Games and probably not something the rest of you face.
#4 302nd Games
I really love the 302nd, even if they haven't aged so well. But all of the characters, plots, and twists are done in a way I just enjoy and the finale especially is something that I truly like. 
#3 327th Games
#2 398th Games
#1 399th Games
Josef Wilder: 9 (400th)
Anais Morrisa: 8 (399th)
Silve Wisp : 7 (401st)
Ice Hunts: 6 (301st)
Austin Aitken: 6 (327th)
Topaz Grace: 5 (302nd)
Thalia Combe: 5 (325th)
Dragon Lord: 5 (327th)
Buck Rockwell: 5 (398th)
Watt Powers: 5 (400th)
Tribute POV Count
Ryan: 16
Solar: 16
Aisha: 16
Aelia: 15
Corin: 14 
Courage: 14
Darker: 13 
Doug: 13 
Buck: 13*
Noah: 12
Dome: 12
Mist: 12*
Ganta: 11
Anais: 11*
*Counts POVs they had as Mentors
300th
Male: 9
Female: 11
Mutts: 1
Arena Hazards: 2
301st
Male: 20
Female: 5
Mutts: 2
302nd
Male: 7
Female: 14
Mutts: 5
Arena Hazards: 1
325th
Male: 22
Female: 26
Mutts: 3
Arena Hazards: 1
326th
Male: 16
Female: 9
Arena Hazards: 2
327th
Male: 28
Female: 18
Mutts: 5
Gamemakers: 1
398th
Male: 16
Female: 7
Mutts: 6
Escaped: 2
399th
Male: 13
Female: 13
Mutts: 2
Arena Hazards: 1
Escaped: 2
400th
Male: 39
Female: 28
Mutts: 1
Arena Hazards: 3
Natural Cause: 1
Peacekeepers: 1
Those Who Don’t Exist: 1
401st
Male: 13
Female: 15
Mutts: 3
Total Series Kill Count
Male: 183
Female: 146
Mutts: 32
Arena Hazards: 10
Gamemakers: 1
Natural Cause: 1
Peacekeepers: 1
Those Who Don’t Exist: 1
— 
District 1: 49
District 2: 24
District 3: 18
District 4: 32
District 5: 27
District 6: 19
District 7: 28
District 8: 35
District 9: 10
District 10: 13
District 11: 6
District 12: 18
District 13: 14
District 14: 10
District 0: 8
The Capitol: 21
Training Scores
1: 2
2: 10
3: 13
4: 25
5: 38
6: 42
7: 67
8: 87
9: 61
10: 31
11: 22
12: 5
PoV Count
Remus: 8
Mercia: 4
Valor: 3
Alcmene: 5
Atticus: 1
Lilith: 1
Zekel: 3
Talia: 3
Mako: 6
Marina: 8
Faren: 11
Opal: 3
Maximo: 4
Teal: 4
Killen: 4
Yewan: 2
Notcher: 7
Aiko: 1
Harmon: 1
Discordia: 5
Damian: 4
Briar: 9
Chrome: 3
Shiloh: 0
Matiss: 2
Kia: 2
Solomon: 8
Lucia: 2
The sixth day has come to an end! Day 7 will be the final day, so that means the next advice period will now begin, alongside the final set of questions! Also, feel free to answer these questions even if you no longer have/had a tribute in these!
1) Which PoV of Day 6 was your favorite?
2) Which day of the Games was your favorite?
3) What do you believe was the turning point of these Games?
4) From 1 to 6, rank the remaining tributes in the order you’d most like to see them win
Roscoe: Solomon, Chrome, & Marina
Rozlyn: Mako
Dimentio: Opal, Aiko, & Alcmene 
Aurilee: Remus & Faren
Escortius: None
Erevan: None
Nedry: Notcher
Unclaimed: Briar
District 1 Male: Elvis Alexander (300) -1 Dragon Lord (301) 2 Cole Harrison (325) 0 Karma Blood (325) 1 & Warwickite Jewelly (326) 3
District 1 Female: Astrid Bellia (300) 1 Diamond Coman (301) 4 Raven Armor (302) 1 Skylar Windbreeze (325) 0 Artemis Grace (325) 1 & Kate Willis (326) 0
District 2 Male: Johnny Clarke (300), Damian Weatherby (301), Drewsiff Bloodwonky (302) -2 Yuki Kokyu (325) 3 Hatch Scright (325) 5 & Jeffrey Killheart (326) -3
District 2 Female: Bethany Clarke (300), Pansy Costello (301), Onyx Eboni (302) 3 Chloe Black (325) 0 Teresa Silver (325) -1 & Ella Massey (326) 4
District 3 Male: Noah Everest (300) -1 Courage Blitz (302) 3 Elecc Commission (325) 6 Chip Parks (325) -4 & Rebel Groots (326) 1
District 3 Female: Di Thorn (300) -2 Bethunia Underium (301), Syren Song (302) 0 Elecctronny Watson (325) 0 Vision Faith (325) 0 & Watt Chargy (326) 6
District 4 Male: Flick Rivers (300th) -1 Cody Freshwater (301st) 0 Trident Bekke (302nd) 3 Giller McFish (325th) -1, Wayne Defleckt (325th) 0 & Ryan Marine (326th) 3
District 4 Female: Kaylay Netter (300) -2 Wari Oceani (301), Swatty Lakeside (302) 2 Nymph Mere (325) 1 Fressa Saltie (325) 4 & Seafoam Majesty (326) -1
District 5 Male: Trenton Powers (300) 1 Watt Powers (301), Tameo Arghus (302) -1 Kodai Hitogoroshi (325) 6 Sebastian Hive (325) -5 & Philo Ventus (326) 2
District 5 Female: Allie Costigan (300), Swift Twirpshkin (301) -2 Trick Treat (302) 6 Allana Darkbloom (325) 1 & Bonnie Cougar (326) -2
District 6 Male: Cosmo Fyngelli (300), Xavier Woods (301) -1 Illegal Drugs (302) -3 Zak Slaughter (325) 4 Wolbert Toonico (325) 1, & Train McBridge (326) 3
District 6 Female: Belladonna Saware (300) -1 Luna Fern (301) Bluffy Silvestein (302) 2 Mimic Slaughter (325) 3 Eleith Lightstorm (325) 0 & Blondie Genesis (326) -2
District 7 Male: Ransom Overman (301) -1 Wocky Oak (302) 2 Shade Spectrus (325) 4 & Frade Spectrus (326) -1
District 7 Female: May-Ann Hunter (300) 1 Nastya Gushkin (301st), Willow Firethorn (302nd) 3 Maple Leavestruck (325th) 1 Chumps Harvaria (325th) 1 & Voolia Kelopi (326th) 0
District 8 Male: Nick Kobarg (300) 0 Josef Wilder (301), Dome Citadel (302) 5 Jax Griffin (325) 1 Tot Tenham (325) -2 & Yuri Collins (326) 0
District 8 Female: Coco Joansi (300), Cashmere Prada (301) 0 Freya Prada (302) 1 Galina Von Dover (325) 2 Catalina Tweed (325) 2 & Odessa Garnetstone (326) -1
District 9 Male: Eli Dawn (300) 0 Mark Haulk (301) -2 Hunther Hayes (302) 0 Jake Price (325) 5 Folly Rover (325) -1 & Tito Granso (326) 0
District 9 Female: Plasma Perimen (300) -1 Perrie Grain (301) -1 Varina Tapora (302) 3 Layla Twozone (325) 2 & Vera Luchabra (326) 2
District 10 Male: Morolith Dmitry (300), Bronco Bagwell (301), Vlad Rockford (302) 2 Alec Cohen (325) 0 Kwarts Diodin (325) 2 & Alex Lexys (326) 1
District 10 Female: Gracie King (300) 1 Seeker Amaryllis (301) 1 Ellis Blackberry (302) 2 Alecia Cohen (325) -3 Vivan Incomstanti (325) 3 & Cassie Lexys (326) -1
District 11 Male: Wess Cornstob (300th) -2 Darker Horrfi (301st) 3 Shimdt Raspberry (302nd) 1 Trent Korey (325th) 3 Seez Croppley (325th), & Zippy Oakster (326th) -2
District 11 Female: Mondi Bakerman (300) 3 Flow’r Raspberry (301) 1 Rasp Southern (302), Flora Sapsling (325) -1 Eva Destiny (325) 1 & Flippy Twinmind (326) 0
District 12 Male: Gogh Lizta (300) 1 Exolian Dynamite (301) 4 Knight Castle (302) 0 Jack Cayman (325) 1 & Julian (325) -3
District 12 Female: Amaryllis Silvermoon (300) 1 Regina Victorious (301) -3 Mina Ebony (302), Salem Calla (325) 1 Thalia Combe (325) 0 & Steammie Pic (326) 5
District 13 Male: Ice Hunts (301) 3 Aeron Ashkyn (302), Harley Swoop (325) 1 & Douglas Biles (326) 0
 District 13 Female: Saidy Dauntless (301) -2 Kiara Mitchell (302), Violetta Nobel (325) 1 Piper Quinn (325) 4 & Jenessa Whitten (326) -1
Capitol Male: Ramon Constancy (301) 3 Avian Monte (302) -1 Josool Wiranda (325) 0, Dexter Malon (325) -1 & Olympic Oblado (326) 2
Capitol Female: Shervert Wonkalandia (301) -1 Cassandra Oracion (301) 1 Flawra Moonshadow (325), Amelia Puregold (325) -1 Isolde Blair (326) 6
302nd
Courage: 8 
Swatty: 7
Dome: 7
Topaz: 6
Freya: 6
Bluffy: 5
Wocky: 5
Syren: 4
Trick: 3 
Hunther: 3 
Varina: 3 
Willow: 3
Aeron: 3
Kiara: 3 
Cassandra: 3
Raven: 2
Ellis: 2 
Shimdt: 2 
Onyx: 2
Drewsiff: 1
Trident: 1 
Tameo: 1 
Vlad: 1 
Rasp: 1 
Knight: 1
Mina: 1 
Avian: 1 
Illegal: 0
325th
Mist: 10
Hazel: 7
Missy: 6
Piper: 6
Josool: 6
Galina: 5
Electronny: 5
Wolbert: 5 
Harley: 5 
Acheron: 4
Elecc: 4
Chip: 4
Fressa: 4 
Shade: 3
Cole: 3 
Chumps: 3 
Tot: 3 
Chloe: 3 
Teresa: 3
Vision: 3
Giller: 3
Dexter: 3
Sebastian: 3 
Jake: 3
Karma: 2 
Nymph: 2
Kwartz: 2 
Vivan: 2
Thalia: 2
Violetta: 2
Amelia: 2
Hatch: 2 
Mimic: 2 
Trent: 2 
Jax: 2
Eva: 2
Alec: 1
Alecia: 1
Yuki: 1 
Wayne: 1 
Allana: 1 
Zak: 1 
Eleith: 1 
Maple: 1 
Catalina: 1 
Folly: 1 
Jack: 1
Salem: 1 
Kodai: 0
Layla: 0 
Seez: 0
Flora: 0
Julian: 0 
Flawra: 0
Skyler: 0 
Artemis: 0
326th
Charce: 8
Doug: 7
Train: 6
Watt: 6 
Ella: 6 
Frade: 5
Philo: 4 
Jenessa: 4
Ryan: 4 
Alex: 4
Olympic: 3
Odessa: 3
Warwickite: 3
Vera: 3
Cassie: 3
Kate: 3 
Rebel: 3 
Isolde: 2
Seafoam: 2 
Blondie: 2
Voolia: 2
Tito: 2
Bonnie: 1 
Yuri: 1
Zippy: 1
Flippy: 1
Steammie: 1
Jeffrey: 0
327th
Austin: 10
Soot: 8
Rufus: 7
Ryan: 7 
Annabeth: 6
Shade: 6
Hybrid: 6
Cassandra: 5
Courage: 5 
Percy: 5
Dome: 5
Augusta: 4 
Train: 4
Marcia: 4
Watt: 3 
Wario: 3 
Alissa: 3
Zia: 3 
Darker: 3
Varina: 3
Dawn: 3
Blade: 2
Dragon: 2
Willow: 2
Cashmere: 2
Alicia: 2
Vlad: 2
Twix: 2
Vivan: 2
Swatty: 2 
Glique: 1 
Kodai: 1 
Woody: 1 
Mimic: 1
Jake: 1
Hunter: 1
Bella: 1
Gloom: 1
Daisy: 1
Exolian: 1 
Ice: 1
Kingsley: 1
Piper: 1
Celia: 1 
Ramon: 1
Dusk: 1
Trick: 0
Evelyn: 0
Mondi: 0
Astrid: 0 
Julius: 0 
Hatch: 0 
Jerica: 0 
Ella: 0
Amaryllis: 0
Rio: 0
398th
Solar: 9 
Buck: 8
Aisha: 8
Shuppet: 6
Aelia: 6
Raven: 5
Banette: 5
Luigi: 5
Crimson: 5
Celica: 5
Odin: 3
Johnathan: 3
Nikki: 3
Drago: 3
Furcifer: 3
Fiora: 2
Stephen: 2
Radiant: 2
Angel: 2
Amore: 2
Juline: 2
Trinity: 2
Trevor: 2
Aemillia: 2
Scarlet: 2
Nick: 1
Lyman: 1
Cleopatra: 1
Zoey: 1
Avia: 1
Sombra: 0
Lucinda: 0
399th
Azalea: 8
Anais: 7
Ganta: 7
Jake: 7
Fawn: 6
Jac: 6
Amaya: 5
Colin: 5
Luxio: 4
Iris: 4
Rosalie: 4
Bellamy: 4
Henry: 3
Fenrir: 2 
Bailey: 2
Arbor: 2
Carmine: 2
Aspen: 2
Octavia: 2
Kaye: 2
Mizu: 2
Clark: 2
Missy: 1
Julio: 1
Billy: 1
Misty: 1
Alexandrite: 1
Luxray: 1
Hammer: 0
Kim: 0
400th
Solar: 7 
Todd: 2 
Aelia: 9 
Rosalina: 2
Elvis: 4 
Cole: 3
Cullinan: 2 
Jake: 3 
Anissa: 3 
Trinity: 1
Rodeo: 0 
Luigi: 0
Pansy: 1
Ena: 2
Carmine: 3 
Chloe: 5
White Games
Sami: 7
Oreo: 12
Alana: 6
Anne: 6
Clarice: 7
Tori: 1 
Imogen: 7
Chris: 4
Umbreon: 5
Tristan: 5
Misha: 5
Justine: 5
Johanna: 3
Lucas: 3
Felix: 1
Haviana: 2
Fausto: 2
Killian: 1
Bree: 1
Nic: 0
Nero: 0 
Jotaro: 0 
Ali: 0
Nora: 0 
District 1: 6 
District 2: 3 
District 3: 14
District 4: 6 
District 5: 5 
District 6: 9 
District 7: 8 
District 8: 13
District 9: 6 
District 10: 2 
District 11: 3 
District 12: 5 
District 13: 6 
District 14: 3 
District 0: 5
The Capitol: 6
District 0 Male: Fenrir (399) & Todd (400)
District 0 Female: Bailey (399), Rosalina (400), & Zamara (401)
District 1 Male: Valor (333), Trevor (399), & Cullinan (400)
District 1 Female: Artemis (325), Skylar (325), & Valencia (401)
District 2 Male: Damian (301), Atticus (333), & Rodeo (400)
District 2 Female: Bethany (300), Jerica (325), & Ena (400)
District 3 Male: Wario (327), Zekel (333), & Aspen (399)
District 3 Female: Syren (302), Vision (325), & Iris (399)
District 4 Male: Flick (300), Dylan (400), & Pompeii (401)
District 4 Female: Nymph (325), Scarlet (398), & Mario (401)
District 5 Male: Trenton (300), Philo (326), & Clark (399)
District 5 Female: Augusta (327), Missy (399), & Corin (401)
District 6 Male: Cosmo (300), Xavier (301), & Armado (401) 
District 6 Female: Blondie (326), Teal (333), & Lavender (401)
 
District 7 Male: Killen (333), Henry (399), & Axel (400)
District 7 Female: May-Ann (300), Voolia (326), & Elia (401)
District 8 Male: Jax (325), Rufus (327), & Notcher (333)
District 8 Female: Galina (325), Aiko (333), & Kim (399)
District 9 Male: Mark (301), Tito (326), & Lyman (398)
District 9 Female: Juline (398), Amira (400), & Emma (401)
District 10 Male: Bronco (301), Alec (325), & Avan (401)
District 10 Female: Gracie (300), Cassie (326), & Bella (327)
District 11 Male: Gloom (327), Chrome (333), & Bellamy (11)
District 11 Female: Eva (325), Shiloh (333), & Raven (398)
District 12 Male: Gogh (300), Julian (325), & Drago (398)
District 12 Female: Kia (333), Celica (398), & Curricular (400)
District 13 Male: Harley (325), Kingsley (326), & Luxio (399)
District 13 Female: Lucia (333), Adreanna (400), & Ophelia (401)
District 14 Male: 
The Capitol: Kaneki (400) and Isolde (326). Kaneki is the obvious pick, and Isolde is someone who was very close to be winning her Death Duel in the 400th.
For those of you who are wondering, here’s the breakdown for which Games had the most tributes selected.
300th: 1
301st: 2
302nd: 1
325th: 4
326th: 3
327th: 3
398th: 6
399th: 0
400th: 6
401st: 4
==List of Mentors==
Victor 	District	Status	Hunger Games	Age	Strategy
Hadrian Finnegan 	13 	Alive 	23rd 	16 	Was adequately skilled with a knife. He flung his final opponent into a pit of vipers.
Athena Honorius 	2 	Alive 	22nd 	20 	Joined the Careers. When the alliance split apart halfway through the Games, she struck out on her own and successfully killed several tributes.
Forrest Atwood 	7 	Alive 	21st 	19 	A skilled hunter, he stalked the other tributes like prey and methodically killed them.
Fen Song 	5 	Alive 	20th 	18 	Avoided most fights and used her skills with needles to kill any tribute who crossed her path.
Laurel Greengrass 	7 	Alive 	19th 	19 	Used her skill with an axe to dispatch any tribute she encountered.
Shan Dentex 	4 	Alive 	18th 	24 	Took advantage of the fact the arena heavily featured water, and used her skills to eliminate the other tributes.
Sena Sawa 	13 	Alive 	17th 	19 	Being only thirteen, she went under the radar until the final day, where she killed the last tribute with a knife.
Azrael Price 	14 	Alive 	16th 	24 	Used his sheer strength and weaponry skills to kill ten tributes, while receiving a multitude of sponsor gifts.
Gossamer Sheen 	1 	Alive 	15th 	27 	Joined the Careers and stuck with them until the final day, wherein she defeated her last ally in a duel.
Gunner Ganbold 	2 	Alive 	14th 	28 	Became leader of the Careers and successfully led them to the finale, wherein he defeated the others in combat.
Luke “Lucky” Luger	8 	Alive 	13th 	28 	Won with the help of an almost comical amount of fortuitous events.
Vector Niddick 	14 	Alive 	12th 	28 	Actively avoided combat while using poison to eliminate several tributes.
Traxon Sloan 	6 	Alive 	11th 	29 	Killed his opponents with a mix of stealth and brutal blunt force trauma.
Sparky Daga 	5 	Alive 	10th 	30 	Used his martial arts skills to defeat the opposition.
Pyrite Tourmaline 	1 	Alive 	9th 	33 	Became leader of the Careers and killed most of his allies in their sleep.
Ford Triturus 	4 	Alive 	8th 	34 	Joined the Careers. Most of his alliance were killed by mutts, leaving him as the strongest tribute left in the arena.
Caelum Carter 	0 	Alive 	7th 	34 	Joined a large alliance and stuck with them for majority of the Games. His last two allies were killed by mutts on the final day, then he slew the lone remaining Career.
Lycra Poplin 	8 	Alive 	6th 	33 	Used charm and manipulation to work her way into an alliance, where she killed her allies before moving on to do the same with another alliance.
Lysine Canthos 	14 	Alive 	5th 	34 	Used subterfuge and stealth to eliminate her opponents.
Hera Slayte 	2 	Alive 	4th 	38 	Used strategy and sharpness, causing one of the biggest battles in a Games on the final day while she watched the whole thing go down unscathed.
Hocker Maddox 	10 	Alive 	3rd 	39 	His keen knowledge of plants and rural environments allowed him to outlast his opposition.
Kane Slayte 	2 	Alive 	2nd 	40 	Used his pure strength to kill the other tributes.
Dysc Packard 	3 	Alive 	1st 	39 	Created a large alliance and successfully kept them all alive until the final day, where he then led them into an electric trap.
==Day 1==
===Trick and Stario die in training===
The idea of having a tribute die before even reaching the arena has always been a situation I wanted to happen. And oddly enough, Trick was usually involved. Back in her first Games, the 302nd, I had the idea of her killing a tribute in training. I didn't end up pursuing this idea because I wanted Trick in the actual arena and I could think of no way how she wouldn't be executed for defying the Capitol's rules. So that plan was scrapped. However, the idea resurfaced in the 327th Games, were I was perfectly willing to have Trick die before the actual Games began. I encountered another problem, when I wondered why Trick would kill someone and put her own life at risk. She's insane, but not stupid. The Games itself would offer plenty of opportunity for killing, so she wouldn't need to risk herself for one early kill. Also, having the Capitol execute her wouldn't have the desired effect. I mean, everyone would be glad that a bloodthirsty monster was killed, and the Capitol wouldn't exactly come off as villainous. So the idea died, just lingering in my mind until the 400th Games, where I finally found an opportunity to implement it. Trick scaring someone into prematurely killing her was a perfectly reasonable thing to happen. Plus, I'm rather fond of how I pulled the scene off. I think waiting to use the idea paid off.
===Triple Cornucopia's===
When I first came up with the idea of what the arena should be, I didn't have the notion of there being three bloodbaths in my head. Originally, I was just going to have there be one giant cornucopia where every tribute would engage in a massive bloodbath. I had a few problems with this idea though: 1) It would be confusing to write. I'd need to keep tabs on ninety different tributes running around a single cornucopia. That would get messy and chaotic, if not just plain confusing. 2) I wanted the different locales of the arena to come into play sooner. If everyone just started at one cornucopia (which would have been located at the shrine, by the way) it'd take a few days for everyone to spread out into the different zones. That would have been less interesting, I think. 3) All of the alliance's would be together. This wasn't exactly a problem, but I just thought that things would me much, much more interesting if all the alliance's were split. It would offer some very intriguing storyline situations and I just knew that I needed to try and pursue these.
===The Bloodbath goes as planned===
Usually when I pre-plan the bloodbath, there's a death or two that end up being cut from the actual writing. Sometimes this is because of advice, other times I just change my mind. That didn't happen this time. Everyone I planned on dying in the bloodbath died. That's not to say I have some regrets. Mizu was someone I kinda wished had survived, just because of how she'd operate in the Games. Then again, I do feel that her death had a poignant effect on Amaya and how she interacted with her allies in the future.
===Fressa Dies Early===
When I wrote Fressa's death, I anticipated it would be considered the most surprising of them all. Not just because everyone knew she was destined to become a Victor of the 325th Games, (You can find out more on her page) but also because how unimportant it seemed. An arrow hits her in the chest and she dies. That's all. No fancy monologue, no big action scene, just an arrow hitting her. It did serve a purpose though; There was a reason why I had Josef take out Trent, Sheol, and Fressa, all very strong tributes, with such relative ease. And that was to show how big of a threat he could really be. Not that it was the only reason. No, I didn't just kill her to make another character look strong. I also didn't have much of a storyline for her to follow. She was a known betrayer, and while I could use that to great effect, she'd need an active mentor to make any such big decision. Trident and Chloe's brewing story also cut into what I had planned with her, leaving me with a difficult choice. Should I wait to see where she'd fit into a new story arc? Or should I use her to bolster a on-going one? I made a choice. One that may have surprised many.
===Kaneki Meets Rufus===
Okay, time to admit something. Rufus was a tribute that I really, really wanted to have involved in these Games. But since he didn't get voted in, I had thought that his time with the series was over...Then I remembered Kaneki and his ability to see spirits.
I was a bit worried that I hadn't developed Kaneki and his ability very much up to this point. He has only one PoV before this moment, and it was rather short. Would everyone understand he could see ghosts? I didn't exactly explain it well, mostly because I didn't want to just retell his backstory, something that I (perhaps wrongly, perhaps not) assumed everyone had already read. No one complained about it being confusing though, so I think it turned out fine.
Having him converse with Rufus felt like a good first real look at his abilities. It showed off a recognizable face, and made Kaneki's fear of his own gift well-known. Also, it revealed a different side of Rufus. He was willing to help Kaneki, even if it was only because he had nothing else to do. And was that fear in Rufus' eyes when he spoke of the demon? Rufus had never shown fear in the series before, so I thought it would give a decent idea on how dangerous this demon was. And let me tell you; it is very, very dangerous. Something that will become clear later in the Games...
==Day 2==
===Wess Dies From Dehydration===
I always want there to be more natural deaths in the Games, and what I mean by that is having people die from dehydration and exposure and stuff like that. I don't implement it much, mostly because it's not very exciting and sponsors usually bail a tribute out before they reach a critical point, but I try to make it happen when I can. It's not realistic for everyone to just get killed by another tribute, so deaths like Wess' make perfect sense. Especially when you're in a desert with just an axe.
===Banette and Johnathan Attack the Cornucopia===
This is an interesting PoV. I really liked how I wrote it out, making it one of my personal favourites of the day. Dylan surrenders, and then Banette and Johnathan have to figure out what to do with him. You could argue for either side here, and both would be adequate solutions. If you kill him, like Banette wanted, then you remove a threat while getting yourself supplies. And you risk becoming a soulless monster. If you do as Johnathan dictates, you spare the guy and still keep your soul and supplies. At risk of him coming back for vengeance. They choose to spare him, the opposite decision Aisha chose later in the day. That could prove to be very interesting later in the Games...
===Watt Speaks with Axiom===
This is the set-up PoV for Watt's story arc. It gives her a motivation and a reason for investigating things that are happening. Even if, as we learn later, Axiom is manipulating her. And about that; There's a fair share of foreshadowing in his PoV. First off, Axiom is just wandering around the courtyard, looking nervous. Yet when he speaks with Watt, his nerves completely disappear and he tells her that he needed her help. As you can tell, he purposely wandered in, hoping that Watt would encourage him to speak with her. That way, it would be less suspicious when he brought up the secret files. 
Secret files that he never read. Axiom is perfectly capable of hacking into the mainframe, he merely didn't need to because he already had access to the information. He also did not disable the cameras, though he was capable of doing so. 
Finally, the biggest hint that Axiom gives is probably the hardest to notice. At the end of their conversation, he says that they could really take an evil "entity" down. He doesn't say the Capitol, he says a rather vague word that just implies he's speaking about the Capitol. Well, as we learned later, he was referring to Those Who Don't Exist.
===Josef Takes Out an Entire Alliance===
I've always wanted to write a PoV like this. One where a single tribute takes out an entire alliance with their stealth and cunning. I never quite found the right spot for it before now, but I think I pulled it off well here. Josef made for quite the deadly killer and the trio of Marlon, Ashley, and Amira I didn't have any real plans for. It didn't help that Marlon's and Ashley's mentors sent literally no advice for them. Amira was different, as I actually felt like she could have lasted a bit longer in the Games. Still, she wound up dead...
===Introduction===
Hello, everyone. This new blog series is something that I've always wanted to do, and now I've finally decided to do it. In this series, I will be rereading my entire series (in chronological order) and offering my thoughts and opinions on what I've written. There will be talk of things that I may have done differently and explanations as to why I did some things. Feel free to reread these games alongside me as I take a trip into the history of this series. And now, without any further talk, I will get right into it.
==300th Annual Hunger Games==
===Training===
Before I get started, here's a link to the Games in question. http://thehungergames.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:LightStone123/The_300th_Annual_Hunger_Games
First off, I should probably give some backstory that led to these Games creation.
I first heard about the Hunger Games when they began advertising the movie (yes I was pretty late to the party) and I decided to go get the first book and after finishing it got the other two. (Personally I thought the first one was absolutly brilliant, the second was good while the third was just "meh")
Anyways, I then found THG Wiki (I kinda don't remember how...) and I also somehow found the Games people made. (I know the first one I joined was dedejacobs') and eventaully I saw Cloveismywife 225th Games which I read, but didn't have a Tribute in. I really liked how it seemed more...like a story I guess and had more depth to the characters then some of the other Games I had patricipated in. This inspired me to try and do the same thing myself, which why on October 22nd, 2012 I decided to create the 300th Annual Hunger Games, which, as it would turn out, would be the progenitor of this entire series.
 
−	
Oh, man. My writing here is absolutely atrocious. Okay, well, maybe it's not that bad, especially considering that back in the time these were made, Games weren't written anywhere close to as good as they are now. Other than for a few select writers most of the games were actually of the same quality as these (or lower. Much lower). Still, I cringe when I read it now. But I also have a twinge of pride, seeing how much I have improved since then. 
It's interesting to see that I didn't do any Reapings for these Games. They're the only games I've written in the series that doesn't feature Reapings. At the time these were written, I actually thought that Reapings were pointless. It wasn't long before I abandoned that way of thinking.
Now, onto the actual content of the games. It just drops you right into things, doesn't? You really have no idea who any of these characters are, or why you should care about them. But once again, that was the way of the era. And the result of having no reapings.
Rereading the first PoV, I'm reminded how much I hate Nick Kobarg. Not as a writer, but as a reader. The dude is crazy, but the realistic kind. I've seen people just like him in real life, people who are insanely possessive of other people, and it annoys me. You don't own that person, so stop. Just stop. Also, foreshadowing for his death here. Flick kills him in the bloodbath, just like he said he would.
The second PoV features one of my favorite quotes from this games.
I shrug and watch the 7 boy swing an axe and send a dummies head flying across the room. He’s extremely muscular, but also hairy. I briefly wonder what would happen if someone set him on fire.
That is hilarious. Not the idea of Edmund burning, but the fact that that Wess was wondering such a thing. Also...I just realized that I sung the praises of something I myself wrote. I hope that doesn't come off as egotistical or something. It's certainly not my intent.
Also, I have no idea who Tom is or why he lied about volunteering for Wess. See, this is the kind of things that happen when you don't have a reaping! (I jest. Mostly).
I...really don't have any thoughts on the third and final PoV of the trainings first day. It's just Morolith sitting around and examining his competition during lunch. I think I have a PoV like this in every Games training, where one character sits around and watches others. It gives a good look at all the tributes from outside their own heads, seeing their weaknesses and strengths, while also showing what the PoV character thinks about them. Wow. I said I had little thoughts on this, but look at the size of this paragraph! I guess I did have some thoughts.
Onto the first PoV of the second day of training. I can't tell if Plasma is supposed to be funny or annoying. And I don't remember which way I was trying to write her. She at least has an unique personality, which let's her stand out to the reader. It's never said in text (I think?), but Cosmo aligned with her because he saw her strength of will and sheer stubbornness as a positive. 
Once again, I don't really have much thoughts for this PoV. I like how Noah is the small, smart guy, while Eli is the big, brawny dude. It makes a nice alliance.
I had totally forgot that Trenton had tried to get into the Careers. Is it ever mentioned again? I don't remember. I guess I'll see. Also, I showed off the parallels between him and Morolith here, setting the stage for their battle at the bloodbath.
Onto day three of training. Wait, day three? Yes, day three. I used to have three days of training until...I actually don't remember which Games I stopped doing three in. The 327th, I think? I don't know. Don't quote me on that.
The Careers decide that they will choose their leader based on who gets the highest training score. As the writer, I had chosen Elvis to be their leader from the very start, thus, I knew he'd get the highest score. But what would they have done if there was a tie? I imagine that it would have resulted in a fractured alliance (as happens later) with half supporting Elvis and the others supporting Flick.
Ugh. Nick. Just go away, please! I don't think that I even hated him while writing these. It's just something that's sprung up after these Games were finished.
Why did Amaryliss volunteer for the games? I don't know. And neither does the reader. Thanks, no reapings! (Seriously, I need to stop harping on that. It's perfectly fine to not have any.) Also, foreshadowing for Garcie's death. (which was the first of the Games)
I spin around and see the 10 girl beaming at us. Why is she so jolly? Doesn’t she know she’ll be dead soon?
I usually don't decide who'll die in the bloodbath before I'm actually writing it (or at least before I get the advice) but Gracie I decided would die pretty early on. Partially because her mentor wasn't active, but also because I wanted to kill the happy, optimist girl first to show that the Games were serious and I meant business.
And as a final thought: In these games, I often referred to tributes that the PoV characters didn't know personally as things like 7 boy and 10 girl. It's realistic, because not everyone would bother learning everyone's name. But it was also harder for the reader to remember who was who, which is why I end the trend later in the series. Sometimes realism needs to be ditched for accessibility.
And that will wrap things up for this time. Next up, I'll discuss the actual bloodbath of these games, and the twist that governs said bloodbath. Until then...
Cheers!
===The Bloodbath===
And onto the next part of the Games, which is actually where the Games begins. But before I discuss the bloodbath itself, I will give my thoughts on the twist. These Games were a quell, after all. But before I say anything, here's a reminder as to what the twist was.
These Games will have a twist, which is that there will be no traditional Bloodbath at the beginning of the Games, instead the Tributes will be divided into pairs and they will then be raised into a location in the Arena that is different then all other pairs. Between each of the pairs’ platforms will be three pedestals that each holds one item. The centre pedestal will always hold a weapon that varies between what two Tributes are competing. One of the side pedestals will also always hold a backpack that contains a Canteen of Water, a loaf of Bread, and one other item. And the final pedestal may contain anything, ranging from an extra weapon to more water/food or something entirely different. This is like a normal Bloodbath but with just the two-paired Tributes by each other, they may either fight, run for supplies and/or fight, or simply run away depending on their personal preference.
So, there you have it. I originally decided that I would use this twist because I wanted something that would set me apart from all the other games going on at the time. There were quite a lot of them, and back then it wasn't too uncommon to not completely fill out your tribute slots. So I went for this twist, which was unique to my games. Also, I had actually used a setup like this for an original story of mine before, and I thought it would work well here too.
The twist was fine for the time and it gave some interesting matchups, but looking back at it now, I can't help but feel it was lacking. I mean, this was the 300th Games, and there had been a lot of quells by that time. But the quell for this one had to make the Capitol citizens feel...underwhelmed. I mean, other than for the very beginning (and the second arena twist, but I'll discuss that later) this quell effected very little of the games themselves. While it was a fine twist, it actually impacted the Games in the most minimal way possible. 
If I could go back, I certainly wouldn't change it, but I think that I would add something more to these Games. Another twist. I don't know what it would be, but something that would give the Games more of an identity.
Then again, these were my first Games, and perhaps they're better off the way they are, no?
Now for the actual bloodbath itself.
The first matchup was Elvis vs. Edmund. The two biggest threats in the Games by far. Edmund thinks that by choosing a sword as the main weapon that the Gamemakers had purposely set this up for Elvis to win. Well, that's wasn't actually the case. They just wanted a good battle between the two of them, both who were very deadly.
Bethany gets paired with Gracie, which has to be the most unfair matchup of the twelve. Gracie really has no chance in a fight here, so the Gamemakers decided to supply them with Gracie's main weapon, a whip. I already mentioned how Gracie was doomed to die, but now I should point out how she died. By being strangled. It's an odd, bloodless death, and I purposely chose it for that reason. It's so vicious and calculated, strangling someone to death. It wasn't done in the heat of the moment, it was done on purpose with clear intent to kill. This was a choice I made to show that the tributes wouldn't pull punches. Also, it showed off that Bethany really isn't very nice.
Cosmo vs. Astrid. Astrid's nickname was Astro (though no one ever called her that). Cosmo vs. Astro. See what I did there? Anyways, Cosmo flees as soon as possible, and then winds up being devoured by crocodiles. As a note, I used to try and keep everyone's tribute number fair. What I mean by that is, if someone had 3 tributes, but mostly everyone else had 2, I'd kill one of the persons with three, just so it was fair. But...that wasn't really fair, not to the tributes that were actually interesting. I eventually stopped this silly practice (after these Games, I believe) and judged each tribute on their worth alone. Cosmo, unfortunately, was a victim of this. Even though I liked him as a character, since he was a third tribute, I killed him because I felt obligated. 
Finally, here's a description of all the mutts in these Games. There are also several mutts such as shark mutts, crocodile mutts, Tracker jackers, and bear mutts. We never see any tracker jackers or shark mutts (Where would they even be? The lake? The second arena ocean?), only see the crocodiles here, and hear the bear mutt once, later on. I have no idea why I listed all these mutts without using most of them.
Nick vs. Flick. I had this pairing down since their interaction in training. The Gamemakers saw their encounter and purposely chose this. Unfortunately for Nick. Actually, I'm quite impressed that he managed to put up such a good fight against Flick, who's one of the strongest tributes in the arena.
Morolith vs. Trent. This matchup was also foreshadowed in training. I knew that one of these two would die, but it was the advice who decided whom. Also, Trenton headbutts Morolith after having his head hit by a metal canister. Ouch.
Plasma vs. Belladonna. Plasma let's us know that the Games begin before noon in the Capitol. That's helpful. After reading this, I'm pretty certain that I was writing Plasma as funny, opposed to annoying. Though the readers will decide for themselves, of course. Finally, Belladonna learns not to mess with Plasma's hair. Lesson noted.
Coco vs. Kaylay. I never really liked Coco. I guess that's shown in how quickly she gets killed here. Also, both District 8 tributes went up against District 4's. That was purposely done. 
May-Ann vs. Eli. First thing May-Ann thinks after she sees that she's up against Eli is this. 
Whew. I’m not with a Career. That means I should be able to get some items. Hopefully all of them!
Has she forgotten that Eli is literally a giant? Why does she think that fighting him would be so easy? I mean, he certainly doesn't look like he'd be a pushover. Fighting giants is genuinely not--
Oh. He ran away. I guess she will get all those items! Also, I forgot how little Eli actually does in these games. Every time I think about these, I always imagine that he's done more than he actually did. But all he really does is run away here and then get killed on Day Two. 
Wess vs. Mondi. They're both in an alliance, so there's no chance of violence. It's the only one that doesn't, besides for the May-Ann--Eli one. Nothing else to really say here. 
Johnny vs. Amaryllis. The funny thing is that Amaryllis kills Johnny completely by accident. She didn't intend to shove him off the cliff, he just fell after her shove. And Johnny's last words.
Avenge me Bethany!” I scream. Those are the last words I ever say as I smash into the ground.
Really. Really? How hackneyed could I get?
Noah vs. Gogh. Noah's reason for why they're paired together is correct. This is also the start of the Noah--Gogh subplot that happens in these Games. Nothing else to really note.
Allie vs. Di. Di's strategy of charming her opponent into thinking that she's not a threat would have worked with anyone other than another 12 year-old. Allie quickly meets up with Wess and Mondi, because they were all in the wheat field. 
And that's the end of the bloodbath. There were a total of seven deaths, Johnny and then both of District 6, 8, & 10. I didn't realize that so many pairs were killed here. I don't really have any regrets either, except maybe Cosmo. 
The final two aftermath PoVs are mostly not noteworthy. Four of the Careers group up and Plasma blames Cosmo's death on his fashion sense. Or lack of. 
Anyways, that's the end of this particular portion of the reread. It was an interesting and unique bloodbath, one very different from any other in the series. It actually took longer to read then I thought it would, which is good, I think. 
But what's all of your thoughts on this bloodbath? I'd love to hear it from someone else's perspective, especially if you weren't involved in these Games the first time around. The only people who actually had tributes in this games and are still active is Nick and Erlend (who was only a wiki contributor at the time). Man, that makes me feel like an old, wizened user (even though others were around, they were not involved). Back in my day...!
Anyways...that'll do it for this time. Next up, I'll discuss Day 2. So see ya then!
===Day 2===
Welcome back to the reread. This time I'll be covering Day Two of the 300th Games, subtitled "I'll kill you all if you want to fight!". As seen here, I used to name days after quotes in the actual day. I change this after these Games, however, because I thought that the new way I did it was better. And it is. At least for me. Now let's get to the action.
Di wakes up in the same place she began the Games and I have to wonder whether she stayed the whole day here or not. The text seems to imply that she did, but...why? She decided that staying in the same spot would be good for her? I'm not actually sure why this happened. Also, she spies on Trenton as he joins Wess and Mondi's alliance, but Allie is nowhere to be seen, despite the fact that she had joined up with the two of them the day before. While I could come up with some sort of explanation as to why she's absent, the real reason is probably just because I forgot she was with them.
Whoops.
In the next PoV Astrid is lurking through the swamp, trying to leave when she sees Eli and this happens. 
I slowly sidle up behind him and raise my spear ready to impale him from behind.
But then Noah arrives and shouts a warning for Eli, then he turns, and without moving, is suddenly far enough away from Astrid that she's forced to throw the spear in order to hit him. Looks like I've made another gaffe.
Whoops, again.
Gogh is looking for Amaryllis when he stumbles upon the Careers hunting down Plasma. I realize that this doesn't happen much in the Games; the Careers actually hunting people down one-by-one. Well, it happens here. 
May-Ann's PoV exists solely to let us know that she's met up with Edmund. Nothing to say here.
All of the Careers have now been reunited, with the exception of Astrid. Also, Flick doesn't trust Di for some reason. I don't know why. I'm sure there was a reason, I just don't know what it is. 
And...that's the end of Day 2. It was pretty short and I didn't really have anything to say, except commenting on a few mistakes. And both District 9 tributes died. Another pair. Nothing much to say about the dead. I always thought Eli did more and Plasma was eventually able to compete in the 400th Games, but...nothing else to say, really.
Next time I will discuss Day 3.
===Day 3===
In this section, I will be covering the third day of the Games, subtitled "Go!". Admittedly, it's not a very clever name. Nor is it eye-catching. It's pretty boring, actually. 
The first Pov of the day shows Gogh attempting to get access to the lake and drink some water. I like this Pov, because it shows off that the tributes actually need food and water to survive. That's forgotten all too often, despite how much I love the idea. I also used this as an opportunity to show how the Career's fearsome reputation serves in their advantage. Gogh could quite easily have killed Kaylay, but his fear that the other Careers would wake and hunt him down prevented such an action. (They wouldn't have been able to catch him, by the way.)
As much as I liked the first PoV, I dislike this one. Not because of it's content, but because of its placing. The last PoV showed all the Careers sleeping, but in this one they are all awake and hunting. I feel as if the sudden time jump hinders the reading experience; it's just too abrupt. There should have been a PoV or two between this one and the first.
But for the actual content of the PoV…I liked Mondi. She was a unique character with a likeable personality, and her disability just made you want to innately cheer for her. Unfortunately, I always knew that she would die early. Having one leg in the Hunger Games is pretty much a death sentence, especially if the person in question isn't exactly the best fighter. I felt like it would be disingenuous if she were to survive very far, and in this situation in particular, there was no way she'd live. She'd never have been able to outrun the Careers.
The second death of this PoV was Bethany's. And it actually happens off-screen. I don't know why I wrote it like that, especially considering there's no suspense as to who died; Allie reveals that she killed her a few sentences later. There's some literary justice here, as Bethany had been the one to kill Mondi.
Edmund gets an axe.
Noah begins setting up a camp before he notices that Ameryllis is watching him. He's not very observant of his new camping location, is he? And when he does notice her.
I suddenly notice the girl from 12 watching me nervously from a wall. I go to grab my axe when I think of a better idea.
He has very little qualms about killing her. This shows the detached, clinical way Noah views these Games, which is somewhat of a boon for him. It allowed him to easily shrug off the death of his friend Eli, which he had witnessed. Also, there's this.
I smile and she walks over and sits down watching me nervously. Why is she so cautious?
Noah doesn't understand why she's so nervous, despite the fact that he was literally seconds away from attacking her. Noah is very smart, but is severely lacking in the understanding people department. I liked how I showed that off.
Finally, Gogh arrives and him and Noah come to an uneasy alliance, held together by Ameryllis. More of their subplot. I don't exactly remember, but I don't think this subplot has quite the payoff I'd have liked. A shame.
The final PoV of the day is practically a repeat of Day 2's. The Careers return to the lake and meet a new member. Also, Flick is kind of a jerk here. I was setting him up for an eventual "usurp Elvis's leadership" subplot, but Nick's advice puts a stop to that. The power of advice.
That's it for this day. Day 4 will be next.
===Day 4===
The first PoV of the day starts with Wess and his alliance roaming the arena, trying to remember which tributes are left. I've always liked little scenes like this, where the tributes aren't sure whose actually still left with them. It's realistic, and lets the characters think about each other. Also in this PoV, they wander right into Edmund and May-Ann as they try to think of the last two tributes in the arena (it's Edmund and May-Ann). Is it a little too on the nose? Maybe. But I still think it's quite funny.
Oh, and Trenton is killed by Edmund. I liked Trenton as a character, but I'm really not too broken up about his death. 
The next PoV follows up with this, showing that May-Ann was hiding in the tree. Not much to say here, other than to note that the roar they hear belongs to the bear mutt mentioned in the arena description. 
A fact about the bear: The gummy bear that appears in the 400th Games was created off of this mutt. When initially planning these games, before I had even created the blog, I had designed a scene where a bear mutt would attack an alliance and kill several tributes. I had actually written this scene out with placeholder tributes, but I ended up never using it, mostly because I didn't feel like killing three to four tributes with a mutt. Also, it didn't really fit the tone or context of the games. 
Instead I just used the bear to break up a fight between alliances. It was meant to be a menacing foreshadow, because I had expected to have it actually show up later in the Games. But the opportunity never presented itself and the bear was never used.
So later on, during the 325th Games, I looked back at the old scene I had written and remembered the bear. Only this time I had the great idea to make it a giant gummy bear. It would totally fit the arena's theme, and I could finally use the mutt I had created. Unfortunately, I only used it as menacing foreshadow once again. 
The bear finally did make an onscreen appearance during the 400th Games. As I wanted to pull out all the stops during these Games, and because it had so many throwbacks to previous Games, I finally found the right opportunity to use the bear. 
And it was used pretty effectively, I think. It's definitely one of my favorite mutts from the series, and among the most fearsome. And I wouldn't rule out the possibility of seeing it again in the series...
The next PoV is more of just an update on the Careers. I didn't have any plans for them this day, so I had them remain back at the lake. I used this to further the Flick vs. Elvis subplot, too. Di ends up in the middle of the two factions, which is really District 1 vs. District 4. She's unsettled, but doesn't feel like stirring up trouble. 
Wess and Alli run from the bear and climb a tree. This is just another update Pov on how they've fared since the encounter with District 7. It's odd to me how little they care about Trenton's death, especially considering how torn up Alli was over Mondi dying, and the fact that he was her District partner. Weird. 
The final PoV is focused entirely on the Noah-Gogh subplot, which just reminds how disappointing it is that this doesn't really have much of an ending. Also, Gogh is right about Noah just using the two of them for his own gain. He would kill them once their value ran out. However, Ameryllis is correct in pointing out that the two of them are doing the exact same thing with him. Gogh is too distrustful to accept that reasoning, however. The only reason he can bring himself to trust Ameryllis is because she's from District 12 just like him. 
And thats wraps up this day. Next up will be Day 5, where I tackle some flames and rocks. Ta-ta.
===Day 5===
There's not much to say about this first PoV. It's just May-Ann and Edmund setting up their plan to trap the Careers in a ring of fire. Speaking of which, I'm not actually sure whether that was a mentors plan, or something I came up with. Regardless, the plan actually doesn't end up doing all that much damage, but more on that later.
The next PoV is almost as unremarkable as the first. More set-up for the fire plan. As I mentioned earlier, the bear mutt appears off-screen here once more, this time startling the Careers into running back to the lake. In-universe wise, the Gamemakers don't actually release the bear because the fire event happens, which makes things more interesting, as Flick mentioned. Releasing the bear now would have just been overkill.
And here is the fire plan itself in action! Ironically, the fact that Kaylay is the fastest of the group is the reason why she's it's sole casualty. I chose Kaylay to die because I didn't have much of a storyline for her. In fact, I never really had any storyline for her. She was one of those characters who was, more-or-less, just "there". Usually, during big scenes like this, if I want to implement a death that doesn't necessarily fit a storyline purpose or furthers another characters personal arc, I choose to kill a character like Kaylay, who I don't really have any other plans for. That way their death drives home the action and ups the stakes of the scene. 
And as for the plan itself, it's actually very good. As shown in the text, the plan would have completely eliminated the Career alliance if not for the Gamemaker created rainstorm. And that's why the Gamemakes put a halt to it. The destruction of the Careers would have (if Ameryllis's death is taken into account) reduced the number of total tributes to six. 
Six tributes who would then be inserted into a new arena and put into a second bloodbath, which would certainly reduce the numbers even further. In fact, it's conceivable that the Games themselves would actually end at the second bloodbath. So naturally you see why the Gamemakers (and myself) spared the Careers.
The rockslide that takes out Ameryllis was not planned by the Gamemakers. It was simply something that naturally occured due to the heavy rainfall. Ameryllis' death furthers the Gogh-Noah storyline once more, and further upsets me that it has no real end. The two of them never even get into a another fight! Argh! Where's the symmetry? This is something that, if I were to write these Games nowadays, would probably change.
Speaking of things I'd change...I really, really dislike the twist of the second arena. It just doesn't make much sense. I know why I originally decided to implement it; I wanted to the Games to have more twists and wanted to write a standard bloodbath. But the decision was really poor, now that I look back on it.
First off, the second arena is not aesthetically different enough to warrant a change. Secondly, I use it to quickly and anti-climatically kill off several characters who had existing storylines and characterization. This works in the intial bloodbath, where the quick deaths are meant to be shocking and swift, and even in the 325th Games, where I properly used the deaths. But here...here it just comes off flat and hollow. Maybe if I had given more screentime to the deaths I'd feel differently, but as it is...it just makes me feel sour. 
Well, that does it for Day 5. Next time I will cover Day 6 and the second bloodbath more thoroughly. I'm sure you're all interested in that, so stay tuned!
===Day 6===
I feel like I've made my opinion on the second bloodbath clear at this point, and I don't really have much else to say on the matter. I don't enjoy the unceremonious end to the dead tributes or their storylines. 
It doesn't help that the bloodbath consists of only three short PoVs that are pretty much devoid of fighting and only feature quick deaths. The only real fighting is when Gogh punches Di in the face. Yeah...I'm not a fan of my own work here. 
Afterwards there's a PoV of the Careers. Interestingly there was four careers left and only three others. I can't remember if there's any other time in the series when the Careers outnumbered all the remaining tributes. Of course, the Careers squander their opportunity here and a non-Career actually ends up victorious. But more on that in Day 7.
Edmund has no weapons and no allies. This is his lowest point in the Games, and the moment of truth. But he's still convinced that he's going to win, and his confidence is one thing that stands out here.
There's really nothing to say about Noah's PoV. Noah is apparently camped close enough to the see the Careers at the cornucopia. Neat, I guess.
That's all for Day 6. On Day 7 I'll discuss how the Careers end up blowing a prime opportunity to have one of their own win the Games. So see you then.
===Day 7===
In this part of the reread I'll be covering Day 7, the penultimate day of the 300th games. 
And right off the bat I have to talk about how the Careers made a huge blunder that unquestionably led to Edmund's victory...and their own defeat. I've always spoken about how people's advice effects the Games and actually influences who wins, and I don't think it's much more apparent than right here. At the start of Day 7 there was four Careers and only three other tributes. The Careers were all aligned while all of the others were on their own. When I first began to plot the day out, and before any advice had been written, I realized that a Career victory was imminent. I like to try and keep things realistic in my Games, so when I saw the numbers I knew that I had written myself into a situation were there was only one logical outcome: The Careers would hunt down and kill the remaining tributes before turning on themselves. It was a simple and logical end to the situation. 
Only that was not how it ended up happening. 
The advice came in and I immediately knew that things were going to be different. Mostly because of the advice Elvis received, which undoubtedly has to be one of the worst strategical blunders made in the series. The advice, in short, had Elvis split the Careers up so that they could all hunt solo through the arena. Which is really the last thing you want to do when you have the numbers advantage. 
While the advice was certainly not the best, it did match up with Elvis' character. He was definitely the type of person who'd think splitting up was a solid idea, and he'd even have an ulterior motive to do so: he was hoping that Flick, his biggest rival, would get killed in the process. 
However, with such a setup you can see how things could go wrong. It's not that I wanted to make the Careers suffer for the situation, it was merely something that would logically happen when they split. In the end, Elvis was the victim of his own advice. If they had not split up, Astrid would not have died and Flick and Di would not be in a position to betray and kill him. It just goes to show that advice is crucial; not just in helping a tribute out, but by sometimes harming them too.
Moving on to the second PoV of the day, we're still going to be covering the effects of the advice fallout. Noah manages to evade and hide from Elvis, but had the entire Careers been there he would certainly have been caught. 
The next two PoVs were also effected by the advice. Wess plans on killing Edmund, but before he can Edmund warns him about someone sneaking up behind him. Naturally Wess assumed that Edmund was lying. But he wasn't, and Wess ended up being killed by Astrid. Afterwards, Edmund kills Astrid with an axe sent by the sponsors. 
Contrary to perception, Edmund is not stupid. He was actually trying to warn Wess, thinking that the entire Career pack had found them and that the only way to defeat them was by temporarily aligning with Wess. They probably wouldn't have won, but they would have had more of a chance. Of course, since Elvis had the Careers split up only Astrid was there and she wasn't prepared to take on Edmund.
Speaking of Astrid, she was a character who I enjoyed but who didn't actually do much. I had planned for her to die this day whether the Careers had split up or not. The only difference is that Edmund would have also died had the other Careers been with her. 
The final PoV of the day brings the end of Elvis. Flick actually had a very good plan here, and by taking out Elvis he took out his biggest threat. Flick makes another strategical decision by trying to off Di in her sleep, but I'll save my thoughts on that for Day 8, the finale. 
I'll see you all then.
===Day 8===
Right off the bat I'd like to comment on how the subtitle of the day changed from being a quote from the day to a select title. I believe that the "Finale" has been the subtitle for every Games final day in the series except for the 400th. The reason that the 400th's was different was because I had originally planned for it to be the final day of the final Hunger Games. Obviously that didn't end up being the case, but I digress. As I mentioned earlier (I think) I personally believe that the subtitles work better as prechosen titles then as characters quotes. What do you all think?
On to the actual content of the Games. I don't know how many people know this, but Flick's advice to kill Di was actually sent by being written on my talkpage instead of the comment section. Flick's mentor, Nick, didn't want Di's creator seeing the advice and making her own counter-plan for the betrayal. An interesting trivia point. I don't have much else to say about the Pov. It's only logical that Flick would win in a one-on-one fight against Di, especially if he had the upperhand. 
Noah dies by running into the forcefield. This is the only time in the series that a tribute was killed by the forcefield. In fact, it might be the only time a tribute has even encountered the forcefield. I might be wrong about that, and if I am, I'm sure someone else will correct me. This was another situation where advice effected a characters fate. As I mentioned in the comment section, had Noah not received advice prompting him to run away from everything, he would have ended up aligning with Edmund against Flick. He would have still died in the fight, though. When Flick's trident goes flying over Edmund's head, it would have hit Noah instead. I had actually written this PoV out before changing it due to Noah's advic.. 
At this point it's down to the final battle between Flick and Elvis. My plan for writing this was to make an explosive, exciting battle that was as unpredictable as it was exhilarating. I feel like I succeeded, for the time. Looking back on it the writing is obviously poorer than the rest of the series, but that is only to be expected. But for the time, I feel that this finale was actually pretty good. Back in 2012, when these Games were written, the wiki was full of games. Most of them were just shovelware that really weren't any good. So I think that the finale, and the Games in a whole, were a success for its time when you take that into account.
Edmund ends up winning after Flick mistakenly believes he has drowned and lets down his guard. This leads to what I believe is something crucial to the entire series; Always wait for the cannon. 
That brings us to the end of the 300th Annual Hunger Games, the very first Games in the series. I can admit that they are not the best Games in the series; it has some serious flaws and some poor characterization for several of the tributes. But it's also a fun romp with some interesting characters, a couple nice surprises, and most importantly, laid the groundwork for the series as a whole. It's not hyperbole to say that the series wouldn't exist without these Games and the lessons I learned while making them. But what do you all think about them? Sound off in the comments. I'm interested to hear what everyone else thinks about these, especially if they weren't around when they were first being written.
But this reread isn't over yet. Not by a long shot. Next up I will be looking back on the 301st Games, which if the 300th games laid the groundwork for the series, then the 301st built the house atop that groundwork.
See you all then.
==301st Annual Hunger Games==
===Introduction===
Before I dive in and begin the discussion about the 301st Games proper, I have a few things to say. First off, I will be providing a link to the aforementioned Games: You can find it []. Secondly, I'd like to detail the events that lead to the creation of these Games, and, in effect, the series. After all, before I created the 301st I had not planned on this being a series; I had merely been making a one-off games. The 301st was the proper start of the series. Now, let me get to the details.
The 301st was created on February 7th, 2013. This was two and a quarter months since I finished the 300th. There was a delay between the two for several reasons, namely I wasn't certain whether or not my writing was in demand, and because I myself was busy competing in other people's games. Chiefly among those was CiMW's games, which I have mentioned before were a huge inspiration for me in creating this series. His were one of the few Games on the wiki that was actually a series. Characters from past games would show up in later ones and events would be mentioned. This was, for me, the best part of his series. I love when things stretch on for lengthy periods of time, detailing many characters and their interactions with each other, and viewing exotic locales. It's part of the reason why fantasy series are among my favourite type of books and why RPGS are my favorite type of video games. Cimw's games were the closest thing to that on the wiki, and naturally I gravitated to them.
He was in the process of writing his 374th games when I decided that I would create my second Games and make it a direct sequel to my first. I could also see the writing on the wall, so to speak. CIMW hadn't yet announced that he was leaving the wiki, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that he soon would. His games were a major reason I was still on the wiki, and when they ended I'd find myself without anything keeping me there. But I knew that I didn't want to leave yet, and besides, deep down I felt that I still had something to prove with my writing. 
Also, I would be lying if I said I wasn't seeking to capitalize on his audience which would soon find itself without a games. 
With the 301st I added some things which would undoubtedly improve the series, like Reapings and a sponsoring system. I also began to format things in a way that would petty much stay the same throughout the series. 
I think that about wraps up my thoughts for now. Next I will be covering actual content from the Games, starting with the District 1 Reaping. There'll be some interesting information covered, so stay tuned!
===District 1 Reaping===
This was the first ever Reaping I've written, so it's obviously not my best work. But I still feel that it has a lot to offer, and it does a good job at showing off the basic backstory and personality of the two tributes, which what Reapings are meant to do anyways. 
But before I go into any more detail on that, I should address the Reaping process itself. When I started planning for these I had actually envisioned an entirely different type of Reaping for the Career Districts. Since they have so many people eager to compete, I felt it was natural that the Reaping work differently. (And the books themselves say so too). What I had planned was that the Careers from the academy would go through a rigorous selection process that weeded out the weak and inferior from the group. There would then be some finalists, about a dozen or so, who would be the only ones to actually have their names put into the bowl (Obviously the Capitol would be in on this) and one of them would be chosen, wherein they would be sent into the Games with no further volunteers allowed. 
Of course, I didn't end up going through with this idea for several reasons. One was because I thought it would be difficult to relay this information to the users who were submitting Careers, and another was that so many tributes backstories detailed information about how they were reaped. If my original idea was used, most of these tributes would never have been Reaped in the first place. I didn't feel like limiting the amount of submittalss I might receive, so I opted not to change the reaping process and just keep it the same as always. Boring, yes. But it was also practical. 
Onto the characters themselves. Diamond is pretty much the typical District 1 female, but she has a slight twist to her character in that she feels obligated to prove herself. She had actually been planning on competing in the 300th Games but was passed over for Astrid. This is the first reference to a past event and one I purposely put into the first bit of writing. I wanted to let everyone know that, yes, this is a series and things that happened before would impact things yet to happen. 
This Reaping is also the first appearance of Dragon Lord. He's the very first tribute in the series who is absolutely insane, and I thought that was interesting. At the time, Dragon might even have been the most insane tribute on the wiki. That, of course, made me very excited to use him. 
The killing of the other guy who volunteered was actually part of Dragon's backstory and not something I thought up. The Peacekeepers tazing him, however, was something I created. Personally, I couldn't see the Capitol just letting someone do something like that and get away scot free. While the murder itself is technically showing how much Dragon wants to compete, and thus pro-Capitol, it's still murder, which is illegal. The tazing was how I decided the Capitol would handle it. 
Dragon, by the way, had absolutely no chance of emerging as Victor. As entertaining as he is for the audience, the Capitol would not want someone as insane as he is winning. So, if he ever were in position to win the Capitol would engineer some sort of "accident" to take him out. This holds true for other completely insane tributes, such as Trick, Drewsiff, etcetera. Caspian, however, is exempt from this. While he is clearly unstable, he is unstable in a much more tame and controlled way. Caspian would not act against his own self-interest and you can safely be assured that he will not act out before all of Panem. Dragon has no such guarantees. 
===District 2 Reaping===
Not much happens in this Reaping. 
The Reaping itself is very typical and about average for what you'd expect from District 2. It doesn't help that the PoV character is Damian. He's pretty much the template for a basic District 2 male. Try as I might, I can't really think of any traits or character quirks that sent him apart from anyone else. Nowadays he'd be a sure-fire bloodbath death, but back then there where other characters who were just as uninspired as he was, so he didn't stand out as much. The tributes who did die in the bloodbath were either somehow even less interesting then he was (Seeker) or didn't receive any sort of advice (Bronco and Watt). 
Pansy, on the other hand, is a much more interesting character. While she doesn't have any sort of backstory whatsoever, she ends up being important to how things in the Games shake out, mostly concerning the Careers. Her relatively early death had less to do with her character and more for storyline implications.
She also specialises some pretty unique weaponry, but I'm not sure whether she actually uses them during the Games. Oh, well. On to District 3!
===District 3 Reaping===
Hmm. Once again I find myself without much to say about this Reaping. Though I feel like Marcio of all Victors has the biggest "victor's edit", it's not really apparent here. Bethunia doesn't leave much of an impression here either. 
I guess that might be because, at the time, I didn't really think much of her. It didn't help that her creator didn't even remember her last name when he submitted her. Speaking of her creator, HungerGamesFanatic21, I would like to point out that he is Nick, despite him once telling me on chat that HungerGamesFanatic21 was, in fact, not him. 
The reason I know this is because Nick's username at the time was WiressFan21. Note that both he and HungerGamesFanatic21 have a "21" in their username. This alone isn't proof, of course. But considering that HungerGamesFanatic21's user profile he says his name is "Nich", the fact that both users had the same IP address, and that they both would often submit advice for each others character, I feel safe in saying that the two are one and the same. 
Not that I really care. By using two accounts Nick managed to submit more characters for these Games, and I am glad for that. At the time I wasn't receiving very much submissions and I was afraid that I might not fill out all the slots. But Nick really helped with that. Also, I was pretty flattered that someone liked my Games so much that they wanted to submit even more tributes. 
Besides, had he only used one account we would have missed out on either Darker or Bethunia, and I don't think any of us would have liked that.
===District 4 Reaping===
This seems like it's becoming a trend, because once again I find that I don't really have much to say about this Reaping. I suppose that I will just talk about the characters.
Cody is a strange case, because he lasts for quite awhile in the Games but doesn't actually do much of anything. Honestly, I don't think I've ever been very fond of him. He's always seemed to just be an inferior version of Flick. I dunno. And his backstory doesn't do much to help his case. I've never understood tributes who volunteer for the Games just because their siblings or friends died in them before. How is winning the Games "avenging" them? And if you die, not only have you failed to avenge them, but you're now dead too. I don't see the logic here, but maybe one of you do?
Moving on...Wari Oceani is known as the nicest girl in the District, but that's all just an act. She's really selfish, rude, egotistical, and has pretty much every other unlikable trait. She's been pretending to be nice and kind so that when she finally got into the Games that her District partner and all the other tributes would be fooled and never expect her real personality. Okay. That's fine. A very logical strategy. But then I put some real thought into this and I came away intrigued, because apparently Wari has been pretending for her entire life. If she's always been nice and kind, when has she ever been rude? And to who? At what point does the fake her become the real her? If you wear the mask for too long, does it wear you? Wari leaves room for plenty of philosophical questions, but luckily for all of you, I'm no philosopher. NEXT.
The escort here, Starkly Moore, is actually a character I created for an original story of mine. It's actually the same story where I first came up with Those Who Don't Exist. Starkly and TWDE don't have any connection in this series, but it's still a fun trivia point. She was also a Victor.
That's all I have for this Reaping. I think I might start doing two Reapings at once from now on, because things will move faster and I will have more to say when I'm covering more story. So I'll see you later, when I come back with the Reapings for District 5 & 6.
===District 5 & 6 Reaping===
The Reaping for District 5 introduces some interesting characters. Watt Powers has always been one of my favorite tributes in the series, surprisingly enough. He's fat, rude, and hilariously arrogant, but he's also immensely intelligent, intuitive, and actually quite lonely. Watt has never had a real friend and no real connection with his parents despite the fact that they spoil him. This alone has shaped his personality greatly. No one really likes him because he's constantly telling everyone he's the smartest person in the room. The truth is, he usually is the smartest person in the room. He's actually among the smartest tributes in the series, with only a precious few actually possessing higher intelligence. But none of them have to face the same disadvantages that Watt has. None of them are fat. None of them completely lack social etiquette. None of them are the living embodiment of what society rejects.
With how much I'm talking up Watt you'd think he lasts long into the Games, right? Nope. He died in the bloodbath. A major reason for this was because he didn't receive any advice. Actually, as far as I remember, his creator never even commented once on the Games. Watt's creator had submitted him and his other tributes (Xavier, Bronco, & Josef) when he and I were talking on chat. He must have read the Games at some point, though, because he submitted Vlad for the 302nd. So, yeah. I don't know what was up with that. Annnnywaaays...What was I talking about? Oh, right! Watt. 
You see, despite how much I like Watt as a character him dying in the bloodbath makes sense. He's not someone who is cut out for the frenetic action there and if he attended, his death would be almost certain. I was disappointed that I didn't get to use him more thoroughly, but it ended out fine, as the 400th gave me that opportunity later.
Now onto Swift. She intrigued me as a character and I knew that she would present some interesting possibilities in the Games. However, she did suffer somewhat from being one of those characters where seemingly everything in life has conspired against them. I'm not adverse to characters suffering hardships, but sometimes these hardships go too far and the characterization goes off the rails. While I don't believe this was a problem for Swift, I just wanted to throw that out there. 
I have to say, though, that I don't really understand the Mayor of District 5. He abhors prostitution and thus bans businesses from hiring any prostitutes, but in doing so he ensures that said prostitutes have no way of making a living besides for continuing on as a prostitute. Basically, he's working against himself here.
Moving on to District 6. Xavier is an isolationist who prefers to be stay silent and out of the way. This avoidant personality was brought on by his parents always telling him tales of Peacekeepers and how he needed to avoid them. Another interesting note about Xavier is that he's actually the fastest tribute to ever compete in the series. I used to have a file on my computer that contained a full list of tribute stats, listing them in order of best to worst. I had one for fastest, strongest, etcetera. Unfortunately I lost this file when my computer broke and I wasn't smart enough to save a backup of it anywhere. So I lost all that information around the 327th Games and haven't tried replicating it yet. I should have really had a backup...Oh, well. Live and learn, I guess. 
Luna was one of my favorite tributes from this games.
===District 7 & 8 Reaping===
Ransom Overman might just be the best-written bad tribute in the series. I'm not going to sugarcoat my thoughts here; Ransom is really, really boring. It doesn't help that he's basically a Mary Sue. I mean, he's a super popular kid who has everything he could possibly want but is still completely and utterly depressed. Yes, he does have some reason to be upset, but I don't think it's something that bad. He didn't even know the girl's name!
The best thing Ransom has going for him is that he was well-written. Especially at the time when the 301st was written, where it was rare for tributes to have the detail and depth Ransom had. This alone was enough for me to let him live past the bloodbath.
The Reaping itself is fine. There's nothing outstanding about it, but there's nothing terrible either. Well, except for the random bits of coding that somehow managed to get into the writing. Oh, and that huge typo in the final line. I don't know how I missed that. Did I even proofread back then? It certainly doesn't look like it! For the sake of ease, here's the line.
Soon, the entire world will my name.
Somehow I left out a "know". Don't ask me how. 
The last thing I will talk about in this particular Reaping will be Edmund. He's mostly window dressing here and doesn't really do anything, but the mere fact that he was present at all was meant to show how committed I was to making this a series. 
Onto District 8...
Josef breaking into a bakery is actually referenced in the 398th Games, where Jonathan prevents a different criminal from committing the same crime. It was a callback that I'm not sure anyone actually caught but, hey, you all know now!
I like how this Reaping shows off Josef's ingenuity and skill, even if its not to the extent we'll see later in the series. One big reason I've always liked Josef is that he's a different kind of threat. He's not classically trained in martial warfare like a Career, nor is he a physical beast like Vlad or Philo. He's undersized when compared to most other threats and straight up physical fights aren't his way--even though he could win quite a few of those. No, what Josef specializes in is subterfuge and surprise. He doesn't want you to notice him, to care about him. He wants to stick to the shadows and kill you when you least expect it. His personality is also something that I enjoy, but I don't want to get too bogged down here, so I'll save that discussion for later.
Cashmere starts out as a typical bratty rich girl, but she gets some character growth over the course of the Games. She doesn't do much here, though, so I'll also save that for later. Which brings us to the end of these two Reapings. They were both interesting and while the District 8 Reaping featured tributes who are more important to the series as a whole, I have to say that I like how 7 was structured. Nowadays I'd probably have put in a lot more detail, but it was pretty good for its time.
Anyways, I'll wrap this up here. Hopefully the wait for the District 9 & 10 Reapings won't be as long as the wait for these was. I plan on trying to get this moving quicker, but we'll see. My plans are prone to failure. At any rate, see you then!
===District 9 & 10 Reaping===
When I first started writing the Reapings for the 301st Games I didn't realize just how many Reapings I'd need to write. I didn't think I would mind, but while I was in the midst of writing fourteen straight Reapings, I got bored. Back then I didn't have the patience I have now, and there were only so many ways one could write a Reaping. A large chunk of each one is identical, after all. I knew that I hurried through a few of the Reapings, but it wasn't until just now did I realize how I basically just phoned it in for the District 8 & 9 Reapings.
In fact, I phoned it in so much that there's really not much to say here. The only interesting thing I can think of is how Mayor Grain is eventually replaced as Mayor and the Price family took over the role. The change takes place somewhere between now and the 325th, but I can't exactly name when it happened off the top of my head. 
===District 11 & 12 Reaping===
I always thought of Darker as being like Gale. He watched the girl he liked get reaped and was left behind to watch her in the Games. The girl even formed a romance with her district partner! The big difference, though, is that they both died halfway through their games instead of winning. Another difference between him and Gale is that Darker's entire family is dead and he doesn't have anything left to live for. 
I liked that aspect about Darker. If he won he wouldn't have felt bad or had any terrible memories like some others. In fact, he would have gained money and fame, and maybe even found a new reason to live. In short, he had nothing to lose and everything to gain. There would have been a lot of intriguing ground to explore in a Darker victory. 
Darker was always a candidate for winning but, the more I think about it, he might just have been a better Victor than Marcio. He certainly would have had a more interesting post-Games story. At least, in my opinion he would have. But what you guys? I'd like to hear your thoughts!
On the other hand, I didn't like Darker's district partner very much. Flow'r felt like too much of a Mary Sue, and that's why I killed her off in the bloodbath. 
As for the District 12 reaping...Exolian filled the role as a helpless weakling admirably. There undoubtedly would be people like him in the Games and, while he isn't a great character, he is a useful and realistic one. Though his backstory is kinda stupid. I mean, his family was cursed because he accidentally threw up onto a house that was built on a cemetery? What?
Regina is a pretty blank character who doesn't really do much. I think she has a more important role in the 400th Games than she does here, which is saying something. 
===District 13 & The Capitol Reaping===
The man here, Escort, is President Tiberius Stryker's brother. I don't think I ever mention it in any Games, but I had that fact in my mind while creating him. He hates the frivolity and gluttony of the Capitol but loves the power it holds. That's why he chose to become an escort and get away from the Capitol itself. You may even be able to spot his connection with the Capitol by the way he interacts with certain tributes IE: Acheron. 
Anyhow...I really like Ice. He was one of the best written characters of his time and had a lot of depth and nuance to him. The reason the PoV is from Saidy and not him was because I was worried I wouldn't have been able to do his backstory justice. I wish I had attempted it, though, because the one we got instead is kinda bland and doesn't showcase it very well. It does highlight Saidy's personality, however. That's good, because we don't have much time with her in the actual Games. Something I feel like I do well throughout the series is give increased screen time to characters right before they die. And yes, I had expected that Saidy would die somewhat early in the Games. I hadn't quite decided on her bloodbath death while writing the Reaping, but I knew she wouldn't get too far.
The Capitol Reaping is interesting because it is the very first time in the series that the Capitol has competed in the Games. I always thought it would make sense that the Citizens of the Capitol would eventually want the chance to compete themselves, and over the course of years the "punishment for rebellion" aspect of the Games has mostly faded. Except for when the Capitol wants to exploit that for one reason or another, of course. 
The idea of the President himself being in the role of escort was just something that I really liked. It's also jells well with the fact that his brother is escort of District 13. The actual plotline for this Reaping is fairly straightforward and I assume that everyone understands the emotions I was trying to convey; the Capitol really loves the Games and pretty much everyone hates Shervert.
Shervert is...a very odd character. While I liked her characterization and think that it would be realistic for someone in the lap of luxury that is the Capitol to develop the way she did, I just...didn't really know how to use her. Her joining the Careers was also something I thought was unusual. I can't really explain why the Careers would let her in other than for the fact that the Capitol is a Career district. But since this is the first year of the Capitol competing, that wouldn't have just become accepted fact yet.
Ramon doesn't really do much here, so I'll save thoughts on him for later. And, with that, I have finally wrapped up the Reapings. I have to say that I'm actually impressed by what I wrote. It had been a long time since I actually full re-read these, and I remembered my writing being cringe-inducing. While it's still clearly imperfect, it's not nearly as bad as I thought. At least I hope so, lol.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to talk about the 301st Games as a whole. While I very much enjoyed writing these and they introduced some important characters to the series, I can't help but feel that these are less noteworthy than most of the other Games. I can't really think of any big moments outside of the finale, and the arena itself is rather lackluster. There are some interesting mutts though, so it gets points for that. All in all, while the 301st were important for me improving my writing and nailing down the formula I'd use for further Games, I can't really say it's one of my favorite Games. 
But what about you guys? Where does the 301st rank on your own personal lists? I'd like to hear your thoughts! Finally, when I return I will be writing about the training period. Look forward to it!
===Training===
The very first PoV of training introduces an important sub-plot to these Games; the conflict between Dragon and Pansy. The rivalry between these two has a big impact in the early portions of the Games and, when you think about it, that effects the later parts as well. Several deaths are tied up to this story thread, so we'll be coming back to it later. But before I move on, I have to admit that I am disappointed with the way I wrote Dragon. He seems to come off more as a juvenile manchild than a psychotic killer. Yeah, the two aren't mutually exclusive, but the problem is that at the time I thought I was writing Dragon as this super cool psycho, unaware of the narm of the whole thing. Maybe it adds to the appeal of Dragon? I don't know. I'll leave that for you all to decide.
Watt's PoV serves to introduce another alliance and their characters. It serves its purpose admirably and I have nothing to add.
The thing I like about Swift and Cashmere's alliance is how realistic it would be for those two to align. Cashmere is the typical rich mean girl and Swift, with all her issues, is definitely someone who would flock to her side for validation. Their alliance is actually one I really enjoyed, and I like the way their friendship develops.
The last PoV of the first training day is from Josef and it's the usual "character sits at lunch and analyses the other tributes" PoV that I always use. I can't say I understand why I tried building Regina up to be a rival to Josef. Regina may be good at sneaking and...well, that's all. She's a really good sneaker. It definitely feels like I had some sort of plan for these two, but since it never materializes and I don't remember a thing about it, I can't really comment on it.
The first PoV of the second training day is from Wari. Not that you'd be able to tell; Wari never speaks and doesn't really have any thoughts. You can probably tell that I didn't have any big plans for her. The scene serves as a continuation of the Pansy/Dragon feud. Note that the Career who Dragon shoves is Nastya, who later helps Pansy try and kill Dragon. As much as I'd like to say that this was clever foreshadowing on my part, I'd be lying. I had yet to decide that Nastya would side with Pansy, and this was merely a way of including her in the text. Of course, just because it wasn't intended foreshadowing doesn't mean it's not foreshadowing anyways! *maniacal laughter*
Oh, and Damian somehow thought he was leader. Shows how clueless he was.
Marcio's PoV is meant to show off his and Bethunia's alliance dynamic, as well as a bit more characterization for them. I don't exactly remember if I had planned out their romance by this point or not, but I don't think I did. Still, it's nice to see their interactions.
Ice's PoV is...Well, it exists. It gives a little more of his backstory and showcases Bronco and Seeker, two tributes who get very little screentime. I wouldn't say they're the least shown tributes in the series, but they're definitely up there. 
The next PoV is Luna's and it finally gives us her backstory. While it may seem odd that the Peacekeepers would make a deal with Luna to spare her mother if she won the Games, you have to remember that her father was also a Peacekeeper and they all knew him. They've even seen and interacted with Luna before, so it makes sense that they would try and give their friends daughter a way out of this situation. Even if it was an almost impossible one. The PoV shows Luna attempting to appear as weak as possible, so no one would think she is a threat. Of course, since no one is watching her to begin with, her efforts are wasted. This strategy of hers was actually on her submission form, back when I used to have a training strategy section. The PoV also features Mark, a tribute who I actually like. He's another sociopathic tribute but, like Caspian, he is a realistic one. He's not over-the-top compared to some other tributes and he's actually killed very few people (just his parents). The simplicity of his character actually helps him, at least in my eyes. Though I have to take this opportunity to note that his weakness, as listed on his submission form, is apparently "happiness". Yeah, I don't know what to make of that either.
Day 3 of training opens up with a Pansy PoV that is solely meant to further the Dragon/Pansy plot and give a few of the other Careers some screentime. 
Darker's PoV literally exists just to remind everyone he is in the Games. I'm not even joking. That was actually the reason why I wrote it. 
Like the other two PoVs of the third training day, Ransom's doesn't have much substance to it. It shows that him and his allies are becoming friends and that they're all worried about dying. It's pretty important to make that reminder, and I feel like every Games has one part where I have the characters dwell on it. 
And, with that, I have finally reached the end of the training period. Next up is the bloodbath!
===The Bloodbath===
Now, before I get into the Bloodbath proper I will cover the five short Pre-Games PoVs. For the most part there's not much to say, as they're all very short and basically contain only world building. Each PoV is from a character who had not yet received one, thus I ensured that each tribute got at least one PoV. The only real subject of note is the fact that apparently the Capitol's jacket color is light blue. Huh. Can't say I remembered that. What color is District 4, then?
Anyways, onto the bloodbath!
First off, I will say that with a few exceptions all of the tributes who died were ones I didn't particularly care for. Seeker, Saidy, Wari, and Flow'r didn't leave much of an impression on me. They weren't all that well-developed and I couldn't really come up with a storyline for them. The other two, Bronco and Watt, died because their mentor didn't send advice. Though, to be honest, Bronco probably would have died even if he had received advice. He wasn't necessary a bad tribute just...an average one.
I'll admit that I got the idea for Dragon tackling another tribute and snapping their neck at the outset from CimW's games. I believe it was Aerial's own tribute, Drake Johnson, who came up with that strategy. So I guess we can credit Aerial for how Seeker died. 
Honestly, I'm surprised that I don't have much to say about the bloodbath. It's a basic bloodbath with me using the opportunity to give some of the stronger tributes kills and the chance to gain depth from it. I do like how I managed to include a mention of every tribute, and how even some fighting that didn't result in death. I believe that Darker fighting and escaping from people becomes somewhat of a trend. 
Other than that...yeah, I really don't know what to say. Do you guys have any questions about this bloodbath? Feel free to ask! 
===Day 1===
The first PoV after the bloodbath is from the Careers and shows then reacting to what just transpired. I feel like a PoV like this happens in pretty much every one of my games. Which brings up an interesting question; how many times has an alliance other than the Careers won the cornucopia? The Hellraisers win it in the 326th, and Aelia’s Alliance wins one of them in the 400th, but I can’t remember another time it happened.
Anyways, this PoV shows that none of the Careers (except Ramon) liked Wari or thought she was useful. And, most importantly, it features the death of Shervert. She’s basically another bloodbath death, but one that has more storyline importance. Her refusal to bend to Dragon’s will is what gets her killed and has the other Careers really consider if he’s worth keeping around as an ally. Ramon thinks about how the Careers aren’t the place for him, but he’s actually one of the Careers who stays with the alliance for the longest. Go figure. Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Dragon kills Shervert by stabbing a dagger into her mouth. I’m pretty sure I meant for that to ironic or something because she’s overweight, but it just feels stupid now.
The next PoV is from Xavier and it’s just an update on his current status in the Games. Though it also makes mention of how he managed to get a weapon and bag before anyone else could. Reminder: he’s the fastest tribute in the series.
I’m not sure how I feel about this next PoV. It features Swift and Cashmere finding a barn and Cashmere has a very sudden shift in personality. The reason is because advice told her to change the way she acted, but I feel like this is a really jarring change that comes on too quickly. Nowadays I feel like I’d be able to handle this better. Something that works out in its favor, though, is that we’re in Swift’s head so we don’t know for sure if Cashmere really changed or if she was just acting. I don’t remember if her demeanor is better explained later, so maybe I’m just complaining about something unnecessarily. Guess we’ll find out!
Exolian’s PoV lays the groundwork for Luna betraying and killing him pretty well, considering that her killing him wasn’t planned in advance and was just a part of mistymolla’s advice. Basically, it shows how Luna could find Exolian weak and a liability. Another thing I like is how that the alliance doesn’t know that Flow’r is dead yet, which is realistic. Unless they saw her get killed they’d have no way of knowing whether she was dead or not. 
Josef’s PoV exists to show us his position in the Games and how he’s not intimidated by the other tributes.
Ice’s PoV consists of him watching the Fallen and finding out that both of his allies are dead. His reaction to that is...pretty muted. Anyway, I do really like his summation of the dead.
So, two Careers are dead, two weaklings, my two allies and Saidy.
And that wraps up the first day of the Games. Not too much happened here, but that’s because it was the first day and apart of the bloodbath. Next up is Day Two. I’ll see you then.
===Day 2===
I have to say that I really like the name for this day. “When Flowers Attack”. Ha. Classic. 
We start the day off with a PoV from Cody. But before I dive into that I’d like to mention how weird it is that Dragon made a big deal about going hunting in Day 1 and yet we see no followup for that. It’s not even mentioned again. Weird. Anyway, Cody doesn’t trust Dragon but is too afraid to stand up to him, which makes some sense. Damian agrees that he doesn’t trust him, and also gives one of the best reasons for why Careers don’t just immediately turn on and kill Dragon.
“Hell no!” he whispers back but then a grin forms on his face. “But I do like how he makes all of us focus our attention on him. None of the others are even thinking about how big of a threat we can be”
Dragon soaks up all the attention and basically acts as a shield for the other Careers. With him around none of the tributes (or their mentors) will make plans to single out the other Careers. Of course, this still doesn’t work out too well for Damian. I like this line of thought because it explains why the Careers wouldn’t just kill the obviously deranged individual right off the bat.
The next POV is of Luna and it details her betraying and killing Exolian. I never really noticed this before, but Luna comes off as a very cold individual here. She hides her water so she doesn’t have to share with her allies and she outright murders Exolian because he’s weak and she thinks he could get her killed. I have to say that this was a bold strategy from mistymolla. This could have gone wrong in so many ways, but it ended up paying off well for him. If I remember correctly, Marcio and Bethunia comment later on how they suspected that Luna had really killed Exolian and never really thought it was an accident; that would explain why they bought the flimsy excuse of “accidentally” dropping an axe onto your allies head.
Ice gets another kill here in the next PoV. The four Careers who went hunting enter the clearing where he’s hiding and he pops out and kills Damian. I’ve mentioned before how I didn’t really care for Damian and the fact that he was in the Careers with more interesting tributes didn’t do much to help him. Basically, I wanted to whittle the Careers down and I chose to ax the least interesting one. You may be wondering how the Careers didn’t notice Ice hiding behin that rock, but it’s a very big rock. It’s like the ones down by Lake Michigan, if you want an example. Oh, and Dragon swears here. See, Aerial, I let the tributes swear sometimes!
When Flowers Attack! Ransom gets devoured by a flower mutt here and I really enjoy how interesting and unique this mutt is. I believe it returns in the 327th, but don’t quote me on that. Anyway, I killed Ransom off because I didn’t see any real story path for him. And why did he get killed by the flowers? Because him and Perrie were in the meadow, where I placed the flower mutts! When I first designed the arena I stuck a mutt in each of the regions so that if I wanted to kill someone off without anyone targeting them with advice I could just use a mutt.
Darker encounters Mark in the cornfield and the two of them get into a brief fight that ends with Darker running away. This is a scene I very purposely put into the Games; back in the day when these games were made it was very, very rare for two hostile tributes to encounter one another without someone winding up dead. So I bucked that trend and wrote this fight. It also serves the purpose of featuring two tributes and showing off their personalities without it being rendered useless with one of their deaths. On another note, before Mark arrives Darker is just plucking corn straight from the stalk and eating it. Is that a thing? Can you do that? I don’t know, but maybe one of you do. 
The final PoV of Day Two features Regina hiding in the graveyard lying in an open grave for...reasons. She does a lot of complaining about her lack of food which is a not-so-subtle signal to her mentor that they should send her some food. Typically if a lack of supplies is going to affect a tribute I have them do something in the text that implies their mentor should send them whatever it is that they need. Anyway, this ends the second day. The day was interesting and featured a nice mix of action and character building, which is always nice. The Fallen were tributes who I didn’t really have much plans for and ended up filling their roles admirably. Not every tribute can be a heavily featured star who defies death regularly. The Games wouldn’t work if there wasn’t midcard tributes dying in the early days. 
And that’s a wrap for this day. Do you guys have any questions? Sound off in the comments below!
===Day 3===
The third day, titled “Inferno”, begins with the culmination of the Pansy-Dragon plot and it ends with predictably bloody results. Both Pansy and Nastya wind up dead and the Careers trust is irrevocably fractured. A note here is that this entire plot line was something I came up with and advice did not effect it at all. In fact, Pansy never received any advice whatsoever which is why her coup fails so spectacularly. (A note: Nick was actually the only person who sent advice for the third day)
So, yeah. This is the moment the entire plotline was leading to and I have to say that I am mostly pleased with the way it was handled. Though Pansy’s attack does come off a little lackluster, considering she throws a sickle at Dragon from point blank range and still misses. And there’s definitely some narrative dissonance with Diamond here; she helps Dragon and kills Nastya, which distracts Pansy long enough for Dragon to kill her. Ramon also mentions how it appears that she respects Dragon, yet in the very next day she betrays and murders Dragon. The reasoning behind this is that I was originally going to have Diamond as Dragon’s assistant/henchman for the rest of the games and be the one person who doesn’t hate him, but then advice came in for her to betray him and I just rolled with it. 
Narratively I suppose you could say that Diamond saw the writing on the wall when Cody and Ramon left and knew that being alone with Dragon was a bad idea, so she did what she did. Of course, had she not killed Nastya Dragon would have already been dead and the Careers wouldn’t have split up.
Anyway, Dragon slices Pansy’s face off and keeps it as a trophy. It’s the kind of sick and twisted thing he would do and it helps push Ramon and Cody away from him. 
The next PoV also contains death, and that’s from Darker killing Xavier. This was purely advice driven, Nick had told Darker to do exactly what he did; sneak up behind Xavier and kill him with a perfectly thrown knife. I was a little disappointed that I had to kill Xavier, because I enjoyed writing him and wanted to do more with him. Unfortunately his mentor wasn’t active. Honestly, I almost had Xavier win the District 6 Death Duel and come back for the 400th Games, but I decided that it was a better choice to bring a tribute who had accomplished more and had some name recognition with the readers. 
Marcio and Bethunia reflect on how neither of them trust Luna (and rightfully suspect that she killed Exolian) and grow closer to one another. I think that this is beginning of their actual romance angle and it’s...it exists, alright. I’ve already spoken about how I think romances are my weakest point and I don’t see anything here that changes my mind on that.
Mark has a PoV here, the last one he has in the Games. This is the first time I read it in a long time and I really like it. Mark is a psychotic killer, but he’s also intelligent. He knows perfectly well that he can’t just charge the barn head on, so he starts a fire and creates the titular inferno instead. Once again this is all my doing and has nothing to do with advice, since none was sent for these tributes. I killed Swift to further Cashmere’s character, having her lose someone she’s come to view as a friend right after changing her ways is just too delightfully devilish an opportunity to pass up. It helps transform Cashmere from the bratty snot she was into someone who you want to cheer for...at least that was the goal. It’s ultimately up to the readers to decide if she deserves their sympathy or not. 
Also, I purposely had Swift reflect on her friend back home right before she died so that her death would be felt even more. 
Regina is still lying in a grave and is still hungry. Starving, even. This PoV exists to remind her mentor to sponsor or she’s gonna die. Not much to say.
Perrie’s PoV is very unsubtle with its intent. I didn’t know what do with Perrie, so I literally just had her wander the Forest wondering what to do. My goal was to get her mentor to send some advice to her and see if I could get a storyline out of that. 
The final PoV is from Cashmere reacting to Swift’s death. I already spoke about that, so I’ll wrap things up here. What about you guys? What was your biggest takeaway from this day?
===Day 4===
The fourth day of the Games is subtitled “The Strong” and I...really don’t know why. I’m sure I had a reason, but I don’t remember it. Hopefully one of you has an idea why this is, because I sure don’t!
The very first PoV of the day features the long awaited death of Dragon. Pretty much everything that happens here was decided by advice. First off, Ramon and Cody both desert the Careers, which their mentors told them to do. Then Diamond was advised to follow Dragon as they chased after the two of them, and kill him if he was to fall into their trap. And Dragon’s mentor told him...nothing. Kekai failed to give advice. So when faced with this situation I really didn’t have a choice but to kill Dragon off. 
I have to say, though, that I’m happy with how this played out, Diamond’s narrative dissonance aside. Realistically Dragon’s behavior would drive all his allies away and it wouldn’t be much of a stretch for Diamond to betray him either. Honestly, Dragon and his psychotic behavior is what doomed the Careers in this games. Had they all just stuck together it would have been almost impossible for the other tributes to defeat them, but since they fractured they lost. Actually this is pretty much what messes the Careers up every time. 
The next PoV is from Luna and details her leaving Bethunia and Marcio’s alliance. Once again my biggest takeaway from this is how cold Luna is. Once she’s decided that the two of them are no longer beneficial to her, the only thing stopping her from killing them is the fact that they would instead kill her in the attempt. Of course, she’s doing all this based on the assumption that they will betray and kill her first, so she’s not acting like a sociopath or anything. To be honest I feel like her coldness actually helps her as a character; it showcases her singleminded determination to win and save her mother at any cost. Oh, Ramon and Cody are also in this PoV. Them stumbling upon the others (but not noticing it) is what gives Luna the distraction required to slip away from Marcio and Bethunia.
Josef kills Regina in this next PoV. I gave her mentor many chances to try and save her, but they never did so I finally just killed her off. She amounts to basically nothing in these Games, but I’m glad that it’s Josef who kills her because it calls back to training when she antagonized him. I would also like to point out that Regina’s moaning here is what makes Josef think the zombie mutts are another tribute. I suppose you could say that Regina somehow is responsible for that, then? I mean, I wouldn’t but you could.
I don’t know what to say about this next PoV. It features Ice sitting around wondering who died when Perrie and Cashmere, who’ve aligned offscreen, arrive and begin to rummage through their supplies. Ice promptly shoots Perrie with a crossbow and makes his third kill, and Cashmere runs off in a panic. I think there’s a missed opportunity here, considering I never even show how the two of them came together. Honestly, I feel like Cashmere is a missed opportunity entirely. She doesn’t do much for the rest of the games and just gets unclimatically killed off the next day. I don’t know why I just brushed her aside, but it’s definitely something I’d change nowadays. Maybe I should do an updated remaster of these Games and fix it. Haha. 
Ramon and Cody sit around together and react to them abandoning the other Careers. There’s not much to say here other than for this error:
“Do you think Dragon and Diamond are still alive?” Ramon asks.
“I hope so,” I reply taking a sip of water from my canteen. “But I doubt they did
Why does Cody hope that Dragon and Diamond are still alive? Because I done goofed! Ramon is supposed to have asked “Do you think Dragon and Diamond died?” Instead I messed up and now for some reason Cody not only appears to want them alive, but it is doubtful that they are. Whoops!
The final PoV of the day is from Darker and it has him reacting to the deaths and going over who is still alive. The reason he can’t remember Josef is because in his advice Nick detailed what Darker should do if he were to encounter any of the tributes...except Josef for some reason. So that made its way into the text. The Feast is also announced here and this is the first time in the series that a Feast has occurred. How many Games don’t have Feasts? Is it only the 300th, the 326th, 398th, and the 400th? Anyway, every tribute attending the Feast has their own special bag, but I will go over that on the next day. 
And that concludes the fourth day of the Games. Two of the deaths here were used well and the third was...just kinda out of place. I still don’t know what I was thinking with the Perrie-Cashmere storyline but oh well. What about you guys? What are your thoughts on the day?
===Day 5===
In this section I will be talking about the fifth and penultimate day of the 301st Games, subtitled “Feast”. The reasoning for the name is pretty obvious, and I don’t feel like I have to explain why I chose it. Anyway, before I get to discussing the content of the day I’m just going to to list what was inside each tributes special bag, which was chosen for them by their mentor (or by myself if their mentor didn’t pick) 
Ice had chicken food. Diamond had a shield. Darker’s bag was an explosive. Josef had body armor. Bethunia’s contained darts. Marcio had mice in his. Cody had a trident. Ramon had Instant Relief. Cashmere, Luna, and Mark all just had extra food. 
With that out of the way, I will now discuss the first PoV of the day, which is from Darker and features him killing Cashmere. I really can’t explain why this happens. He’s hidden on the outskirts of the cornucopia watching the Feast to see what will transpire at the Feast and then Cashmere just wanders into the scene and attacks him with a crossbow. Once again I’ll bemoan the fact that all of her character development is wasted here. What was I thinking? I literally have no idea why this happens. I’m seriously baffled. It doesn’t even fit Cashmere’s character for her to randomly attack someone out of the blue like that! Honestly, if I was writing this nowadays Cashmere definitely wouldn’t have died like that. Oh, and Darker swears here. See, Aerial? I do let the characters swear sometimes!
The next PoV is from Ice. He, like Darker, is sitting on the outskirts of the cornucopia waiting for the bags to arrive. Ramon and Cody arrive, discuss their plan, and then Ice gets his fourth kill by planting an arrow in Cody’s back. I killed Cody because he was sort of just there and at this time I was already setting up the end game; I knew exactly who I wanted in the finale and the Feast was a good way to gather everyone else up and off them in a cool and exciting manner. Cody could have survived, however, if Nick hadn’t changed his advice at the last minute. Originally Cody wasn’t going to attend the Feast, but when Vinny advised Ramon to go, Nick changed his mind and had Cody go as well. That was the proverbial nail in his coffin, so to speak.
Diamond PoV is next and it’s a continuation of the last one. Ramon and her briefly realign before they get attacked by Mark. Who is dispatched with...surprising ease. People are just dropping like flies, which makes sense for a Feast, but there’s not much fanfare here. Mark has been built up as a sincere threat, so it’s a disappointing that he goes down as easily as he does. Anyway, Ice arrives, shoots and misses Ramon, and hits Darker’s bag. Which, as I mentioned earlier, was an explosive. Nick actually chose that to be what his bag was, but I’m not sure he expected it would be such a game changer. The second I read his advice I knew that the bag was going to explode during the Feast and be the catalyst for several deaths. I really liked the idea of a boobytrapped bag, and was kinda disappointed I hadn’t come up with the idea myself. In fact, I liked the idea so much that similarly trapped bags make appearances in later games!
Josef’s PoV details the aftermath of the explosion. Ramon, who was closest to the bag, was killed. Diamond was briefly knocked unconscious, and Ice was merely dinged up. First off, I want to mention that Ramon is credited as Ice’s fifth kill, because he was the one to activate the explosive. That’s technically accurate, but I’m sure someone could argue that Ice shouldn’t get the credit for it. Diamond is killed by Josef before she can get her bearings. I’m not sure if anyone ever caught this, but the way Josef kills Amira in the 400th was a callback to this very moment. He even tells both of them “You lose” before he kills them!
The final PoV of the Feast is from Luna and it details how she set up some snares in the forest, hoping to catch someone fleeing the Feast. Josef actually gets caught in one and Luna comes the closest any tribute gets to killing him when she slams an axe into his chest. Unfortunately for her, Josef had Instant Relief. He’d actually been carrying that around since the gained it at the bloodbath and I purposely wrote this scene so that he had a chance to use it. Luna does manage to steal most of his supplies, but she leaves behind his weapons and body armor. Oh, and the Instant Relief was in his jacket, if you were wondering. 
The first PoV of the Feast aftermath is about Marcio and Bethunia sitting around reacting to the Feast explosion and contemplating their mortality. I’ve never noticed this before but Marcio doesn’t really do much in these Games, does he? I mean, this is day five and he’s literally done nothing of note yet. Mostly he’s just sat around with Bethunia and reacted to stuff. In this reread I’ve found Luna to by far be the most interesting part of his alliance and I have to wonder why past me valued Marcio so highly. Maybe this will be a controversial opinion, but I feel that if I were to write these Games today Marcio would not be Victor.
Anyway, the next PoV is from Darker and it continues to make me appreciate his character. He’s astounded at the deaths of all the big threats and thinks about how that, even though everyone he loves is dead, he can still win and make them proud. There’s also some foreshadowing about how doesn’t think he could beat Ice in a fight and that someone else will have to take him out first. Which, of course, is exactly what happened. Still, I hadn’t decided that yet, so chalk this one up to accidental foreshadowing again. 
Ice checks his Feast bag and thinks about everyone he has back home. I’m not certain if he actually thinks his “slightly burnt chicken food” is great or if he’s just being sarcastic. I’ll let you guys decide this one.
Luna’s PoV rounds out the day. In it I begin to show that mist and low visibility will be a big factor on the final day, and Luna reacts to the deaths and reveals how Josef survived. I’m not sure how many people read the status chart and knew he had Instant Relief, so I guess this could have came out of left field. It’s definitely not something you’d know from a casual reread. 
Before I wrap this day up, I’m going to comment on the tributes who died. Though I don’t have perfect recollection on my thought process through these earlier Games (it’s been eight years since I wrote these!) I do remember the exact reason I killed the tributes this day. The moment I decided a Feast was going to occur I knew that this would be the penultimate day and that I would kill off every tribute I didn’t think would win. I wanted the finale to hold only tributes who held a real chance of winning, and 2013 me didn’t think that the five who died here had what was required. Rereading all these years later and I have to say...I mostly agree with that sentiment. While Ramon, Diamond, Cody, and Mark are good characters, I don’t feel that they did enough here to be Victor material. Ramon and Cody didn’t have enough of a storyline, Diamond was all over the place with her motivation, and Mark was a good supporting character but not someone who’d win. The only exception to this is Cashmere. I think that she should have survived this day and made it to the finale, and...I’m not sure what she should have done, but she should’ve been used better. I’m not going to go on about this again, though, because I’ve made my thoughts on that subject pretty clear. Anyway, that sums up Day Five. What about you guys? What’re your thoughts on the day?
===Day 6===
It’s time for me talk about Day Six, subtitled “Finale” and the final day of the 301st Games! First off, I’d like to point out that these games are tied with the 326th and the 398th as the shortest games in the series. Each of the three only lasts six days. 
Onto the actual writing! In the first PoV of the day Marcio and Bethunia receive night vision glasses as a sponsor gift and these let them see through the mist...somehow. I’m not sure how that works, but I digress. Then zombie mutts climb out of the lake and they flee in fear. I had this ending designed from the moment I created these Games. I knew that on the final day zombies would pour into the arena and attack the tributes, forcing them towards the cornucopia where it would begin to rain and the final battle would take place atop the shrine. The only thing I didn’t know was who the tributes involved would be. Speaking of zombies...
In the next PoV Josef gets attacked and devoured by a horde of them. Once again, I knew that this would happen to a tribute from the moment I created the Games. How did I decide it would be Josef? Well, he was the only tribute to make it to the finale with an inactive mentor. It didn’t feel right having him survive past tributes who had mentors trying, so I had the horde take him down. I would say that, had Josef actually gotten advice, he would have had a chance at winning, but 2013 me was dead set on having Marcio win and I still have no idea why that was. During this reread I found him and Bethunia to both be way less interesting than any of the others, so I’m not sure why I liked Marcio so much. Anyway, Josef’s death is a cool moment and a fitting end for someone as crafty and powerful as him.
The next two PoV’s are entwined, and they’re from Luna and Darker. In the first she makes a poisonous gas barrel and spots Darker’s trap. This is all advice related; Max had Luna craft the poison gas and Nick told Darker to start a fire and lure tributes to him. Luna realizes it’s a trap, of course, but it doesn’t matter because she needs to kill the other tributes. So she proceeds to the fire and chucks the barrel into the firelight only to get hit with Darker’s knife in return. I don’t have perfect recollection of my thought process here. Somehow I decided that Luna was going to be fatally injured and encounter Marcio so that she could make the promise to save her mother with him, but I don’t remember why I did so. Just makes a good story, I suppose.
Ice’s PoV here is just setup for the finale. I have nothing to comment on.
Marcio and Bethunia arrive at the cornucopia and encounter the dying Luna. The famous promise is made and ultimately kept. Marcio saves her mother from death. This gives Luna a tragic death that ties into her backstory and is a reason why I never really considered having Luna win. Her death here is more emotional and poignant than her winning would be; the fourteen year old who entered a death games just to save her mother fails right at the end. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I feel that this is probably the most emotionally impactful death of the 301st Games. (though I noticed that it’s not really a promise because Marcio never audibly agrees to it)
Oh, and right at the end of the PoV Ice pops out from the shrine and kills Bethunia just as she’s entering. I’m pretty sure I don’t need to explain the reasoning as to why I had Marcio’s love interest die right in front of him. It’s an old trope that’s been used countless times before. Does it work here? Eh. I’ll let you guys be the judge of that. Anyway, this is Ice’s record setting sixth kill, which holds as the most in a games until Austin ties it in the 327th. (Anais then breaks it in the 399th, only for Josef to surpass her in the 400th) Also, I’m just going to mention that I can’t recall most of Austin’s kills off the top of my head. All I remember for sure is that he tag teams Vlad with Ryan and takes Rufus out at the end. 
I’ve mentioned this before but Ice was my second choice for Victor. The only reason he isn’t runner up is because I didn’t want to go full ham with the cliches and have the guy who killed Bethunia be the final challenge in Marcio’s way. Instead I have their fight be the penultimate one of the Games and, fueled with rage and desperation, Marcio somehow manages to kill Ice. He then proceeds to climb to the top of the shrine and face Darker in an epic battle.
You might be asking yourself why the two of them randomly decide to climb the shrine. Well, the reason for that is because I thought it was cooler that way. That’s it. I don’t have a better explanation and neither does the text. Just accept that it’s super cool and stop questioning it!
The fight itself doesn’t have much for me to comment on it. It’s a cool fight scene (I hope) that ends with Marcio using some kind of martial arts move to throw Darker off the top of the shrine and to his death. Honestly I find that part a little goofy, but I’m pretty sure I thought it was the coolest thing ever when I wrote it. Following his Darker’s death Marcio is crowned Victor and he laments how he will never be able to fully recover from the horrors of the arena. 
And there you have it. The conclusion of the 301st Annual Hunger Games. All things considered I find this to probably be my weakest Games. My biggest qualm about the 301st is just how basic it is. There's not really much that makes it unique or sets it apart from any other Games on the wiki. It does have some great tributes and interesting mutts, but there's not any plot point that really grabs me and the Victor's story and motivation is perhaps too formulaic. While I still like these Games, I don't quite like them as much as the others in the series. 
Could they be improved with some better writing and clearer characterization? Most definitely. People seemed to like Marcio as Victor though, so things couldn’t have gone too wrong on that front, even though nowadays I personally think that Ice, Darker, or Josef would be a more fitting Victor. And... I can’t think of anything more to say on these Games. But if you guys have any questions feel free to ask them! 
Of course, the reread isn’t done yet. Next up I will be covering the 302nd Annual Hunger Games and I have to say that I’m excited for this. I haven’t full reread these in awhile, but I remember really enjoying them, so I guess we’ll find out whether they still hold up! Stay fresh, cheese bags!
==302nd Annual Hunger Games==
===Introduction===
Welcome to the third part of the LightStone123 series reread! Before diving straight in, I will be providing a link to the Games themselves. You can find it []. 
Secondly, I will be detailing the events leading up to the creation of these—Nah. That’s pointless, because there isn’t really any events leading up. I just created the blog for these while the 301st was in the finale, so there’s no interesting story or anything. I just wanted to keep writing and had already decided that I was going to be making this a series. The only thing to note is that these were created in March, 17, 2013 and ended June, 28th, 2013. They ran for somewhere around three months, which seems really short compared to how long I take nowadays. 
Other than that there’s not much else to say. The sponsoring system stayed the same and there weren’t any formatting changes, so without any more fanfare I’m going to roll straight into a brand new section of the reread.
===The Users===
Due to popular demand I will be adding this section to these Games as well! Basically, I will list the users who competed in the 300th, along with which tributes they submitted, and talk about some interesting factoids, such as how many Games of mine they’ve competed in and so on. I’m not going to mention any users who competed in the 302nd, because I already talked about them in that section. 
SuperTomato: This guy is awesome! He was literally one of my first friends on the wiki and we mutually participated in each other’s Games. Despite all that, though, I don’t actually know his name. Anyway, his tributes in the 300th were Elvis, Edmund, Gogh, and Cosmo. He’s had one Victor in the series, which was Edmund. He’s competed in the 300th, 325th, and 326th. His tributes were in the 400th, but they had different mentors then.
Thena.airice14: I don’t know anything about this person. I wish I could say something interesting, but I really don’t have anything to say. *shrug*. They had Astrid and Gracie in these Games, their only time competing. Their highest placing in the series was 6th with Astrid.
Gurule2012: Once again I know nothing about this person. Pretty sure I never interacted with them outside these Games. Anyway, they had Johnny and Bethany in these, which were also the only Games they competed in. Their highest placement in the series was Bethany finishing 14th.
MaybellRocks: A threepeat of obscurity here. I know nothing about this person. I think they’ve changed their account name, and I still don’t know them. In the 300th they had Allie, Nick, Coco, and Mondi. Their highest placement in the series is 10th with Allie.
Theman77: I’ve competed in several Games with this guy. He made some cool tributes, but unfortunately he never joined any of my Games other than these. Here he had Eli and Noah. His highest placement was 3rd with Noah.
Dedejacob: The very first Games I’ve ever competed in on the wiki were his. One of my tributes finished 5th, after getting “smushed flat” by a collapsed ceiling. I also got to know this guy during the course of CimW’s Games. He was a fun dude who had some trouble with spelling, but I think that was because of how young he was. He had Plasma and Ameryllis in the 300th. The only Games in the series that he competed in were these and the 398th. His highest placement was Ameryllis finishing 11th.
Write46747: I’ve competed in several Games alongside this guy. That’s all I really know, since I never quite interacted with him outside that context. The only Games he competed in were the 300th, and he only had Di in them. Di finishing 4th was his highest placement.
YoungGuy5: Some of you may know this guy but I sure don’t. The only Games he competed in were the 300th and his highest placement was Morolith finishing 21st.
KatnissRox24: This section may be boring because I literally don’t have anything to say about most of these people. I don’t know this user. No idea who they are. Kaylay was their only tribute, and this was their only Games. Their highest placement was 12th.
===District 1 Reaping===
And now we get to the first bit of actual writing in these Games. I have to say that I really liked the concept behind Topaz’s character. Realistically the Career Districts would have poor people, because there is always an underclass somewhere. Topaz was actually the first time I’d ever seen someone address that issue (though I’ve seen plenty of people tackle it later) and I was excited to have the opportunity to write a sympathetic, kind Career who pretty much bucked every stereotype about them. It’s quite apparent in the writing, from the way he worries about his mother and sister to how he refuses to make fun of Puffy (the escort) and her weird appearance.
The fact that Topaz is in the Career Academy (and thus gets free meals and training) is why he’s so well fed and muscular when compared to his family, by the way.
Also a funny anecdote is that around the same time these Games were happening Junior ii submitted Topaz to another Games but was forced to change his first name for him to be accepted because, and this is what the creator of those Games actually said,“Topaz is a girls name”. First off, how often do you see a person named Topaz in real life? Secondly, even if it was a girls name, why in the world would that mean the name would have to change? You could submit a male character named Jessica or something to my Games and as long as he was a good character I’d still accept him! 
That aside, I should probably speak about the second tribute featured in this Reaping, which is Raven. I always found her a strange character and never quite knew what to do with her, something you can probably tell from the way she’s featured in these Games. I don’t have much else to say about her right now, since she doesn’t really do anything of note here. 
Finally, before I wrap this Reaping up I’ll just like to note that the writing, both it’s style and quality, is basically the same as the 301st. Which makes sense, since I rolled right into these without a break or anything. I remember my writing improving during the course of these, but I guess we’ll find out whether that’s just my mind playing tricks on me or what. 
Up next is the District 2 Reaping. Stay tuned!
===District 2 Reaping===
I hate Drewsiff.
No offense to Nick or anything, but he’s one of my least favorite tributes in the entire series. He’s literally a flat, one note killing machine who I hesitate to even call a character because he barely has any. His backstory is stupid too. He’s literally killed a thousand people but has never been caught, despite the fact that he’s killed so many children that the District eventually wouldn’t have anyone to Reap. Oh, and did I mention that he started a massacre at school but the principal didn’t expel him because he had perfect grades? And then when the school board found out and had a meeting with Drewsiff and the principal (instead of you know, alerting the proper authorities) they both just killed the school board and went on their merry way? And don’t even get me started on how he kills people by sucking their blood out with a vacuum cleaner. A vacuum cleaner!
Aaanywaaays, let’s move onto the actual writing, shall we?
Onyx is second twelve year old Career in the series, but she actually has some justification unlike Di. Her father is a Victor and a renowned figure in the District, so it’d make sense that the other Careers would accept her. Onyx is an interesting character and one that I don’t feel was completely used to her best potential. I don’t regret the way I used her or anything, but I definitely see that she could’ve done more. 
But the main attraction of this Reaping isn’t either of the tributes. It’s the escort, Diane. Since Drewsiff’s backstory included him killing the escort I had to make sure that she was a noteworthy character who both drew the reader’s attention and was annoying enough that the President wouldn’t mind her death. Diane practically steals all the screen time here, and personally I find it absolutely glorious. Her zany actions and mannerisms never fail to make me laugh, no matter how many times I reread it. Truth be told, she’s partially based on my Grandma and the way she sometimes behaves. I don’t know if that’s an indictment on me as a person or whatever, but it’s a fun trivia note!
The best part is that even if you find Diane to be annoying and a nuisance, then you can revel in the fact that she winds up dead! By an axe that Drewsiff pulled from his pants. Yes, his pants. I couldn’t think of a better way for him to have smuggled one on the stage so that’s what I went with. It’s lame, I know, but it perfectly fits someone like Drewsiff, whose equally as lame. 
Oh, and Diane returns in the 327th Games as the new escort for District 12. Since the tributes were being revived I only felt it fair to bring back the most interesting escort as well.
Huh. Looks Diane practically stole the spotlight in this reread as well. Go figure. Well, I can’t think of anything to say right now, so I think I’ll just end this here. See you in the District 3 Reaping!
===District 3 & 4 Reaping===
I’m going to be combining the District’s into pairs from here on out, because it’ll make things go quicker and I’m not sure how much I’ll have to say about each individual Reaping. Anyway, let’s get to it!
The District 3 Reaping does a good job giving you a rundown on Courage’s life and how it, to be honest, sucks. I mean, it’s definitely not as bad some of the other tributes lives, but it’s not exactly one I’d like to live. And while I’m on this subject I’d like to note that there doesn’t seem to very many tributes with positive parents in the series. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Elecc. Maybe there are more and I’m just forgetting them, but most tributes parents seem to either be negative or completely absent. I understand that, of course, because parents aren’t ever going to be a big factor in the Games. They’ll basically just appear in the Reapings and then only get mentioned in passing after that. Still, it’s an interesting note.
Marcio makes an appearance here. It’s the first showcase of how the Games have had a negative effect on his life. I mean, not as negative of an effect as it had on all the tributes who died in the 301st, but still. Also it’s worth noting that Marcio is apparently District 3’s first Victor in a decade. Don’t think I remembered that.
Bozo laughs giddily and I can’t help but notice his flabs of fat bouncing around every which way. Gross. Just wanted to share that so everyone has to imagine it like I did. You’re welcome.
I feel as if this Reaping does an excellent job showcasing Courage’s character as a whole and sets him up as someone to keep an eye on going into the Games. So far him and Topaz have definitely had more attention paid to them than the other tributes and that was intentional. From the outset of these Games I was way more interested in them and their possible arcs than Raven, Onyx, or even Syren. Unless some kind of advice rolled in that changed things, I knew that both of them were going to survive the early portion of the Games and thus wanted to make sure they stuck out in readers heads. 
Oh, but before I wrap this Reaping up I’d like to mention that Syren herself was a tribute who I wanted to last longer, but had to kill because she was put into Checkmate by advice. In case you’re wondering what the heck Checkmate is, it’s just a term I use when there’s tribute I’d rather keep alive, but am forced to kill because of advice or another external factor. I’ll go more in-depth with Syren’s particular case when we reach it, but I just wanted to define the term here so you all understand it when I talk about it later on in this reread. 
Moving on to District 4…
Swatty is a good example of a tribute who grew on me during the course of the Games. Originally I didn’t think much of her and was actually planning on killing her in the bloodbath. I thought she was too much like Wari, just without the fake niceness. But the longer she lasted and the more I wrote her, the better I understood her brand of character. This Reaping alone has her personality just leap out at you, and anytime a tribute can stick out in my head from such a short time on screen I take notice. So it goes to show that even tributes I’m not initially high on can end up going quite far!
There’s not much else to say here, but I will touch on Trident briefly. He was always an interesting character that stuck out to me. He’s one of those tributes who’ve been created with a predefined role, so you more or less know from the outset the possible story arcs they will have. Originally I debated putting him in a storyline similar to the one he adopts in the 400th; becoming attached to a female Career who uses him for her own purposes. I never found the right fit for that story, however, so I passed on it and just had Trident be that extra Career the pack always seems to have. I liked how he was used in the 400th, though, so I’m fine with his performance here.
Oh, and I have to share this gem. “Don’t be afraid of all this masculinity,” Trident says with a wink. A friend of mine uses that line on girls and somehow it actually works. I’d like if all the females reading this could please explain that to me, because I don’t understand it in the slightest. 
And that wraps up the District 3 and 4 Reaping! Next time I’ll be tackling District’s 5 and 6. See you then!
===District 5 & 6 Reaping===
Welcome back to the reread! This time I’ll be covering the Reapings for District 5 and 6! Without further ado, here we go!
Tameo is a very depressing character. Whether you’re reading about or writing him, there’s basically nothing joyful to be had. This whole Reaping is basically set up for you to realize that nothing good has happened to him prior to now, and nothing good will happen to him in the Games. Tameo winning was never a possibility, because I felt that would be disingenuous to what I assume his character was meant to be. There would be no happy ending for him.
That said, I realize practically no one gets a happy ending in this series. The vast majority of the characters wind up dead, after all, and most of the Victors don’t really go on to have happy lives. The only ones I can really say are unambiguously happy are Edmund and Charce. Watt would have been included in that but, you know, the 400th happened. We don’t know enough about Missy, Soot, and Austin’s lives post-games to really say, and Topaz was happy up until Artemis’ demise. He probably recovered from that, though.
Oh, and Caspian is really enjoying life.
Trick doesn’t do much in this Reaping and that was intentional. I hadn’t really found the right tone for her yet, so I didn’t want to give her too much screen time until I nailed it down. I have to mention that it’s surprising her backstory is more grounded than Drewsiff’s. Which, honestly, is probably why I don’t despise her like I do him.
And that’s about all I have to say about the District 5 Reaping. Let’s move on to District 6!
You know, Bluffy is also kind of a depressing character. I mean, unlike Tameo she herself isn’t depressed, but the circumstances that surround her certainly aren’t light reading. Negligent and abusive parents aren’t happy fun times, people. And the fact that she has to volunteer for her friend when she’s only twelve years old…Yeah, not fun. 
The Reaping seems to set Bluffy up as a character to watch going forward, and while she does end up placing pretty high I don’t remember her doing too much in the actual Games. I suppose that is to be expected, considering how young she is, but I honestly don’t recall what alliance she’s even in. I think it’s the proto Anti-Careers that Shimdt makes? Guess I’ll find out during the reread!
Illegal Drugs makes his debut. He, as Bluffy describes him “looks like a mean selfish brat dude.” That was literally his description on his character submittal. I’m not joking. His creator literally had that down as—get this—his weakness. Oh, and he apparently has a twin sister who won a previous Hunger Games. I don’t know if that’s ever mentioned in the series proper, but you know what? I’m officially making it canon. Lilac Drugs won a Games sometime before the 300th. Maybe even the 299th. 
Enjoy that mind blowing news, everyone. Next up are District 7 and 8!
===District 7 & 8 Reaping===
I’ll start this off by saying I’m not really sure why I made Wocky have the POV instead of Willow. I feel like it would have been better suited for her, and we would have been able to understand her character and backstory better; something we don’t really delve into during the Games because of her romance with Dome takes up all the spotlight. As I’ve said before, I don’t believe I really nailed their romance arc and it kinda forces Willow into the background. I know people really liked their romance back in the day, but I was wondering if still held up. What do you all think?
I don’t have much else to say about this particular Reaping. It lets us know the characters and gives us insight into Wocky’s backstory, which is basically just the fact a friend of his died in a prior Games. I do find it odd that Wocky talks about his friend so much but never reveals what his name was. I know I did this because Nick didn’t pick a name for him and I didn’t want to just invent one, but I probably should have because it’s just goofy how Wocky avoids saying it.
Onto District 8!
First off, I’ll admit that I made a mistake when I said that Luna was Max’s highest placing tribute. She is actually tied with Freya. Secondly, I haven’t spoken about this much, but I really like Freya. She’s a strong character with an interesting backstory and manages to do some cool stuff during the Games. I am disappointed that I never managed to have Cashmere and Freya interact with each other in a Games. That is most definitely a missed opportunity and I wished could have explored their sisterly bond in-depth. 
I think the District 8 Reaping might be one of the best in these Games. Both tributes get good characterization and moments that show off their personalities. There’s not anything I’d change, other than cleaning up the writing itself. I do believe that Dome’s “luckiest guy in the world” schtick doesn’t get played up in the series as much as it could, but that’s not really an issue in this particular Reaping, so I’ll just end things on a high note and repeat that I really enjoyed the District 8 Reaping and I hope you all did too.
Next up is District’s 9 and 10!
===District 9 & 10 Reaping===
Hunther has the POV here and it’s a good insight into his character. He’s not a complex guy and I find that to be one of his finer points. Simple tributes aren’t bad. Not every character has to have a novel for a backstory or lived a rollercoaster of a life. Sometimes just having a simple farm-boy in the mix can improve the story more than you’d expect.
And other than that…I don’t have much to say. This Reaping fulfills it’s role admirably and doesn’t have any glaring issues.
Oh, but before I move on I would like to make note of Mayor Grain here. Earlier in the reread I was wondering when the Grain family was replaced as Mayor, and after seeing his antics here I’d have to say it was pretty soon. No way the Capitol would leave him in charge after that. I still don’t know exactly when the Price’s took over, but that’s an issue for another day.
Now for District 10!
Ellis was a tribute who I really liked that never got as high a placement as she could have. To be perfectly honest I think that, as a character, she’s worthy of being a Victor or finalist, but in the series she never survived past the third day. In the 400th she was put into Checkmate by Aerial’s advice, but I can’t recall off the top of my head what led to her early demise in these Games. I think it may have had something to do with mentor activity, but I’d have to double check that to be sure. 
Anyway, yeah, I really like Ellis. This Reaping in particular does such a good job setting up her character and motivations that, if I was a new reader who’d stumbled upon these Games, I would fully expect her to go far. Unfortunately she doesn’t, but that’s definitely not a knock on her character. 
As for her District partner…Vlad is a huge mystery and to be honest I prefer it that way. There’s no real explanation for his size or backstory for him or anything, really. As he was submitted via chat and I’ve long since forgotten and lost his info, we know basically nothing about him. The only thing I even know about his appearance is that he’s seven feet tall!
But that’s fine. The mystery kinda makes him a more compelling character and I’ve always enjoyed writing Vlad. Mentor issues prevented him from going far in these, but he fares much better once Blake takes over in the 327th. 
Annnd that’s it for District 9 & 10. Next up is 11 & 12. Catch ya then, buddies! 
===District 11 & 12 Reaping===
I’d forgotten how much I liked Shimdt’s Reaping. The setup is great, the events unfold stupendously, and the payoff is perfect. Honestly, Shimdt is a fun character with a good story and, looking back on things years later, it’s a shame that he does so little in the series. This Reaping also gives a good look at District 11 and the state of disrepair it’s currently in. To be honest, I’m not sure if the District even has a Victor between here and the 333rd. I know that at one point it’s mentioned that since Charce won District 11 has gone the longest without a Victor, but I’m not sure if a time frame is ever put on that. Maybe one of you know?
Anyway, I have to be honest and say that a big reason Shimdt didn’t last too long was his name. Yes, his name. I had real difficulty spelling it out properly and got annoyed at how often I had to go back and fix it during my proofreading. The only other time I remember having this big a problem with a tributes name was with Aemillia, but she died early for different reasons, so it’s not really comparable. 
As for Rasp, his District partner, I find myself with no thoughts. I can’t really remember the first thing about her, other than the fact she was apart of Shimdt’s proto Anti-Careers. Here’s a quote from the Reaping.
For some reason she has blood on her cheeks and begins screaming to Juvus, whoever that is, and keeps crying out that she was sorry. I have no idea what she is sorry for. 
Yeah, I have to agree with Shimdt here. What exactly is Rasp’s backstory? I can honestly say I don’t have the faintest clue. 
Well, let’s just move on to District 12! (Side note: I misspelled Shimdt’s name about five times during this reread, so yeah, still have trouble with it!)
Knight is a character who has pretty much no agency. He just exists. Unfortunately that seems to be the case for most twelve years-olds in the series, but that’s only to be expected considering the innate difficulty of developing characters so young. I mean, it’s not impossible, as shown with Bluffy and Raven, but for the most part twelve year-olds only have so much storylines possible. 
Mina was another tribute that I really didn’t have anything for. I remember this Reaping in particular being difficult for me to plan because the tributes weren’t particularly devoted and I had no idea what the content of it would be. I ended up just showcasing Knight’s youthful naivety and I suppose that worked well. Neither one of the tributes shown here makes it past the bloodbath, and I more or less knew that would be the case from the start. The bloodbath deaths for these Games were actually the easiest in the entire series for me to decide, but I’ll go into more detail when I reach it. For now I’ll just wrap this section up, and continue it with District 13 and the Capitol when it return. See you then.
===District 13 & The Capitol===
To be honest, as much as I like Kiara as a character I don’t recall the specifics of her backstory. From rereading this Reaping it’s clear she had a sister named Beth who wound up dead, possibly because Kiara failed to save her, but not much more than that is really explained. I remember Kiara having a hidden dark side, like a subdued version of Mizu, but it’s now shown here either, so I don’t know the exact specifics of how that worked. 
The Mayor, Adam Devils, is also shown here. He played a major part in Ice’s backstory and remains Mayor all the way up to the 327th, I believe. Something that’s never really played up is the fact that, since District 13 was independent from Panem prior to the 301st, Adam Devils was basically the leader of a small country. It doesn’t really mean much, but it goes to show that he’s a pretty cool guy. Anyway, I digress.
Aeron is also present in this Reaping. He’s noteworthy for being the first homosexual tribute in the series. Something that I liked about Aeron is the fact that he wasn’t solely defined by his sexuality: like in the real world, he’s just a person who happens to be homosexual and not a caricature, or a character whose whole design is based around that fact. I don’t know if I can phrase this properly, but in the real world sexuality is simply a facet of a person, not their whole being. Aeron, in my mind, is a good example of this being done right. And yeah, I’m sure that I’m not really the best person to be trying to explain this, but I wanted to put my thoughts out there any way. 
Before I move on from this topic, I was wondering just how many homosexual tributes are there in the series? From the top of my head I can only name Aeron, Julius, Ashley, Zoey, and Mercury. I’m sure there’s more that I’m forgetting, and if I am then I’ll expect you guys to correct me!
As for the Capitol Reaping…
It’s mostly focused on recapping Cassandra’s backstory. That’s not a bad thing in of itself, but something about the way its done here feels off to me. I don’t know what, so maybe I’m just over analyzing it. *shrug*
The President Stryker shown here is Tiberius Stryker, the first president in the series and the same one featured in the 333rd Games. As you may have noticed the name is still spelt “Striker” instead of “Stryker”. The change is simply due to a stylistic choice, and you have to admit that the second version is much more eye catching and cool. There’s no in-universe reason for the change: for all extents and purpose the name has always been Stryker for the characters.
Avian was the biggest blank slate in the series until the great Twan Crane showed up in the 401st. Erlend literally told me that he didn’t have any time to finish him, so I should just kill him off in the bloodbath. So, being the evil genius I am, I decided to have Cassandra have a vision of his death in the bloodbath while at the Reaping. That way his death serves the purpose of showcasing her powers as well as giving Avian some form of notable story moment. 
I’d like to note that I purposely had Raven, another of Erlend’s tributes, be the one to kill Avian. I only felt it fair; after all, if he was giving up on his tribute I may as well let another one of his benefit from it.
Actually, that got me thinking. How many tributes have been killed by their own mentors tributes? Like, for example, how often has Aerial’s tributes killed another one of his? Other than this instance here, I can’t recall a situation where it happened. That’s not to say that it hasn’t happened, I’m sure it has at some point, but I just don’t remember it. You guys will correct me if I’m wrong, certainly.
And…that about wraps it up for the Reapings! It felt like it took forever, but I’ve finally finished these! Now it’s time to move onto the training sessions. I’ll see you then!
===Training===
Whew, I’m finally done with those Reapings! They seemed to go on forever, didn’t they? Well, let’s just get these underway, shall we?
The first training PoV belongs to Aeron and features him analyzing all of the possible threats amongst the tributes. Notably he marks down the Careers, Willow, Trick, and Vlad as the biggest dangers. Funnily enough one of those tributes, Trick, actually kills him during the Games. Afterwards Aeron goes and meets up with Mina, becoming allies with her in the process. Trick winds up killing both of them in the Games, but that wasn’t my original intention. As I mentioned before, I originally planned for Aeron to be the one to end Trick, killing her in vengeance for Mina. Mentor issues prevented this storyline from ever panning out and instead he just became another casualty of hers.
Raven’s PoV serves the purpose of setting up the Career alliance and showcasing how she’ll be their leader. As she says in the writing, it wasn’t much of a choice. Raven is practically the only Career in these Games suited for a leadership role. And with that being the case, I have to say she may just be the least interesting Career leader in the series. The only real competition she has for the distinction (at least the only one I can name off the top of my head) is Trevor from the 398th. But what do you all think?
The third PoV is Dome’s and it’s the beginning of his and Willow’s romance arc. Despite my own misgivings on this romance, I do like the slow burn approach taken here. Willow is initially standoffish and doesn’t really want anything to do with Dome; something that fits her character well. Oh, and Illegal is featured here. What a goof.
Remember my typical “character sits at lunch and analyses the other tributes" PoV I always use? Yeah, it returns here, this time with Syren. She makes note of Shimdt’s (took forever to spell his name) alliance and thinks that they’re basically the opposite of the Careers. As I’ve said before, this alliance is the proto Anti-Careers. A bunch of weaker, underrated tributes banding together to try and survive against the wrath of the Careers? Yeah, definitely Anti-Career style. Anyway, she also notes the trio of Hunther, Ellis, and Cassandra. We don’t get to see how those three came together, which is a shame. In fact, neither of those three have a single PoV during the entirety of the training session, which I find odd. Was there a reason for that? I don’t believe so, but I also can’t say that with 100% certainty. 
Those four POVs make up the first day of training, so I’ll move onto the second now, which begins with Trident. Not much happens here other than him noticing that Trick is absolutely insane. Topaz doesn’t agree with that assessment, but that’s because he’s overly kind and refuses to think ill of any girl. Something I’m not sure most people know is that one of Topaz’ character quirks was that he wouldn’t kill a girl. He actually winds up killing three girls, but it’s all with explosives and he’s very disconnected from the aftermath, which is why it doesn’t effect him at all.
Next PoV is Rasp’s and it features the proto-antis. The whole alliance is just Nick and Vinny’s characters, a fact I’d just like to mention. Anyway, the point of this PoV was to show how Shimdt’s alliance is weak and unskilled with weaponry. Their whole arc is about how incompetent they are and that’s why they aligned together. Individually they’d all be easy targets, but together they form a more formidable force. Not a very skilled force, mind you, but one that at least makes up for their lack of combat ability with sheer numbers.
Vlad has a PoV and it’s basically filler showing him as a strong threat. Illegal shows up to taunt the giant and gets knocked out for his trouble. What a goof.
Mina has the next PoV and she reacts to Vlad’s interaction with Illegal. Other than that the only purpose is to show her and Aeron bonding. Nothing here for me to comment on, really.
Even though this next PoV is Avian’s, it really belongs to Kiara and Freya, because they’re featured the most. I can honestly say that I completely forgot Avian was even aligned with the two of them, as I had thought he was a loner. Anyway, Kiara is skilled with knives, due to her still unexplained backstory, and then Freya and her bond over the fact they both have dead sisters. A good character moment for the two of them. I really liked the interactions between these two and their storyline is one of my favorite from these Games.
Day Three of training begins with Drewsiff being a delusional idiot. He spends more time standing around thinking about how cool he is than actually training. Nyx calls him out on this and he gets angry. The point of this POV is to showcase those two as well as let me make Drewsiff look stupid. I hated that guy. The more I think about it, the closer I get to deciding he’s the single worst tribute in the series. Do any of you have thoughts on that subject?
The second PoV of day three is from Willow and continues the slow burn of her and Dome’s romance. While I’ve gone on the record saying that I didn’t like how their romance left little room for their character growth, I do enjoy the build to it. That’s probably due to the fact that, at the beginning of the romance, their characters are being developed. It’s not until they get into the Games and just sit around only interacting with each other does it begin to stagnate. If I were to rewrite these Games I’d probably try to tie them into another tributes storyline.
Next up is a Varina PoV. It continues the trend of showing that her alliance are all among the weakest tributes here and don’t have any confidence in themselves. Well, except for Wocky. He’s not too concerned about anything, it seems. A note about Wocky: I actually hadn’t expected him to place as high as he did. I originally didn’t foresee him lasting past the midpoint of the Games, but he just kept surviving each day. In fact, he was actually going to die in place of Shimdt on Day Two…but was spared because I couldn’t stand having to write out Shimdt’s name any longer. 
The final PoV of the training period belongs to Trick. It’s the first time we’re inside her head and it’s about as twisted as you’d imagine. I don’t have much to comment on other than the mystery tribute that Trick is focused on. Who is it, you ask? I have no idea. I just put that into the text to present a possible storyline, if I wanted to pursue it later. Honestly I was hoping that Kekai would decide who it was in his advice, but he didn’t. Yet since Trick is insane I can reasonably say that either she herself forgot about her obsession once the Games began…or that whoever it was just died in the bloodbath so she couldn’t kill them herself. I don’t know. I’ll let you guys decide which one is the truth.
And that wraps up the training period! There was a whole lot to unpack here and I’m sure there’ll be plenty to discuss, but next up I’m moving onto the bloodbath itself! Oh, but before I do so I should probably mention the single Pre-Games PoV that exists. It’s from Courage’s perspective but doesn’t do anything special: it’s just the typical “tribute is led to Launch Room and risen into arena” scene that I usually do. The only thing worth mentioning is the following quote.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” the voice of – yells out. “Let the 302nd Annual Hunger Games begin!”
The name of the announcer is just a dash. Why, you ask? Because when I originally wrote the PoV out I hadn’t decided what his name would be yet, so I placed a dash there as a filler until I went back and made a decision. Unfortunately for myself I never actually made that decision and just posted the update without fixing it. Which, of course, means that the announcers name is apparently just “–“.
Whoops.
See you all at the bloodbath, I guess?
===The Bloodbath===
Ah, the Bloodbath. The time when I have to make difficult decisions and instantly kill off several tributes, including ones I like, for the sake of the story. 
Except that didn’t happen in the 302nd’s bloodbath.
I mean, yeah, tributes died instantly and stories were progressed, but none of the tributes who died were ones that I particularly cared for, with the sole exception of Trident. That, of course, made my job deciding who’d die very, very easy. I’ll detail way that was the case in the following paragraphs.
Illegal and Drewsiff were two of the worst tributes to ever grace the series. The moment I read the submission form for both I knew they’d die in the bloodbath.
Avian wasn’t even a finished character and his mentor had told me to kill him, so yeah, he wound up dead. 
Mina and Knight weren’t as astronomically bad of characters as the others, but neither one was really groundbreaking. Knight was a normal twelve year-old boy with no allies who attended the Reaping anyway, so his death was guaranteed. Mina’s death furthered a storyline and the fact she was killed by such a huge threat made sense for her character, 
Trident was the only one of the six tributes who died in the bloodbath that I liked. But as I said before, I didn’t really see a storyline for him. I suppose he could have tied himself to Swatty and the two of them would have done the Chloe/Trident storyline from the 400th (which is actually what Trident’s advice was going for!) but I didn’t feel like going that route, so I chose to kill him off. I enjoyed the manner of his death, threatening Dome before being killed by Willow. It furthers their own storyline by showing that Willow was willing to risk herself to save Dome. As I’ve said before, I’m always happy if a tributes death can be used to somehow further the story. In fact, I usually strive to make that the case. 
As all the deaths were easy to decide, the harder choice was picking who’d kill each of them. I don’t know if most of you know this, but I put as much effort into deciding who’ll make a kill at the bloodbath as I do deciding who’ll die. Typically I want the deaths to tie into some story or further a tributes character. You can see an example of the former in how Willow and Trick each made a kill: both of them were furthering a storyline. Examples of the latter include, Onyx, Topaz, and Vlad. Each one of those three were a dangerous competitor who was skilled with weaponry: the best way to show this was by having them make an early kill. Onyx especially so since her advice wanted her to make a kill to prove herself to the other Careers. In a way I suppose she was an example of both.
Anyway, a noteworthy fact about these Games as a whole is that only three males make a kill in them. The total kill count for these Games are the following:
Male: 7
Female: 14
Mutts: 5
Arena Hazards: 1
Topaz has five of those male kills, meaning that only two of the other thirteen males in these Games make a kill. Which is Vlad killing Drewsiff in the bloodbath and Dome killing Courage on the final day. And another interesting factoid is that two of the seven male kills happen on the first day while the other five all happen during the final day, meaning that days two, three, four, five, and six have no male kills. 
And…that’s about all I have to say on the bloodbath. The next subject I’ll tackle will be the rest of day one, so stay tuned for that!
===Day 1===
The first post-bloodbath PoV is from Syren and gives an update on what she received from the cornucopia and what her current state is. I don’t have anything to add here, so I’ll just talk about my original plans for Syren: I was always planning on her attaching herself to another alliance, because I foresaw no viable path for her as a loner and that her most interesting character trait, her alluring voice, would be useless if she was by herself. Did I already know she’d join up with Topaz and the Careers? No, that was just something that came together on the second day. Initially my plans for where that storyline would go was much different than the path it ended up taking, but I’ll speak more on that when we reach the divergence point.
The next PoV features the alliance of Hunther, Ellis, and Cassandra. It’s basically another status update but includes character interaction and development. Ellis kinda has an attitude here, but she literally always has an attitude. That attitude is even what gets her killed in the 400th! 
The Proto-Antis find the small town and enjoy the benefits of the grocery store. I purposely included buildings in the arena because, at the time these were written, most arenas in Games only included outdoor venues. Anyway, apparently Bluffy thinks that because Wocky has the most formidable weapon, that makes him the leader of the alliance, which I find strange. Also, despite being present during this PoV, Tameo and Rasp aren’t mentioned in the text at all. I wish I could say there was a reason for this, but I probably just forgot about them.
Before I move on from this POV I’d like to mention the conversation Bluffy and Varina have about the entire island being sloped. Originally my plans for the big event on the final day was going to be different. Instead of the island rising into the sky I was going to have the island flood, with everything except the cornucopia (which, as the text constantly reminds us, is on a hill) being slowly submerged. I changed my mind on this because I didn’t think the idea of the island slowly flooding was exciting enough…and because I found it harder to describe in writing. Anyway, the problem with me changing my mind on that is that this whole scene here loses its impact; instead of being major foreshadowing it’s just a meaningless conversation.
Freya and Kiara find the cove and go over their supplies. Notice how the text makes a big deal of the night-vision glasses; those play a part in the fight against Ellis later on. While I didn’t have that fight planned out yet, I had intended for those glasses to be used at some point, which is why I went out of my way to feature them so prominently. A general rule of thumb is that if I seem to go great lengths to point something out, then I have a plan in mind for it later. Maybe that tidbit will help you guys in the 333rd. Bwahaha!
Courage reaches the end of the arena and correctly deduces it is a circular island. I more or less did this so that the readers could also figure out the topography of the arena. He also finds a canister of gasoline and thinks about how he might have to do something risky tomorrow. I was employing a writing trick of mine here; when I think that a tribute’s mentor may plan something for the next day I have them think about a nebulous “plan”. That way if the tribute does have a plan, then it was adequately foreshadowed instead of just popping out of nowhere. And if they don't have a plan, then I can have the tribute think about how the plan fell through.
Courage’s mentor did not have his own plan, but did state he was excited to see what Courage’s plan was, giving me the green light to go ahead with what I had intentionally set up. What was that, you ask? Well, I’ll talk more about that on Day 2!
The final PoV of the day is from Willow and features her and Dome recovering from the bloodbath. Not much to note here, but I do enjoy reading about their interactions. See, their romance arc would have been much more enjoyable had they actually done anything in the Games. From this point on the two of them literally just sit around talking to each other until Swatty kills Willow. Unfortunate.
That’s the end of Day 1, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t discuss a big moment which occurs shortly after this day was originally posted. Namely, the fact that my computer broke. Without it I had no consistent internet access and no way to write, resulting in a almost two month long delay. The 302nd saw no updates from April 10th to June 3rd, and the by the time I resumed writing several of the mentors had either gone inactive or simply forgotten about the Games, which dramatically changed the course of these Games. In fact, the only mentors who continued to send advice after the delay were Nick, Kekai, Max, and Junior. That meant Raven, Onyx, Courage, Syren, Tameo, Willow, Vlad, Ellis, and Aeron all received no advice after the first day and that undoubtedly played a huge role in the way these Games played out. 
Sometimes I sit and wonder how these would have ended had my computer not broke. Would Topaz have still won? Would Aeron have actually killed Trick? Maybe Willow and Dome would have done something! I don’t know. All I know is that the 302nd has the biggest “What Ifs” in the entire series and there’s no real way to tell what could have been. 
Aw well, see you on Day 2!
===Day 2===
Welcome back to the reread, everyone. In this section I’ll be covering Day Two, subtitled "Peek-a-Boo!". Oddly enough I returned to using a quote as a title for the day. Why? I don’t know. It’s the only time I use it for these Games, so I must have just thought it was really funny or something. Strange naming conventions aside, it is time for me to discuss the day itself!
The first PoV is from Syren and details her failed attempt to escape the Careers. But when Topaz catches her he hesitates just long enough for Syren to use her alluring voice to convince him and the rest of the Careers to let her join their alliances. This whole scene basically wrote itself. After all, Topaz doesn’t harm girls, so it’d make sense for him to hesitate and m harming Syren. That would then give her the opportunity to use her trademark voice. But, voice aside, there’s a logical reason for why the Careers would accept her proposal. There’s only four of them left and many other tributes; they clearly were in no position to refuse assistance.
The next PoV is from Courage and features him setting the forest ablaze and fighting with Vlad. Well, perhaps not fighting. “Surviving” is probably a better word, since he never really stood a chance against him in a fair fight. Honestly, the only tributes in these Games who would even stand a chance against Vlad in a one-on-one fight are Topaz and Raven. Anyway, the whole idea of Courage setting the forest on fire was something I came up with myself. I had purposely supplied him with both the gasoline and matches so that I could manufacture this moment. I knew that Vlad wasn’t going to receive any advice so I chose to kill him early, which is why I had him positioned in the forest next to Courage. However, I also knew that he wasn’t someone who’d go down easy, so I needed a creative way to end him. Thus, the idea of Courage starting the forest in fire was born. With all the chaos that would entail, there were multiple options for Vlad’s demise. 
A falling tree kills Vlad, a fitting end for the giant. All in all, I like the action scene here and it’s one of my favorites from these Games—even if Courage initially thinking that the falling tree is an optical illusion is goofy as heck.
The third PoV also deals with the forest fire as Ellis and her allies attempt to survive the inferno. Another reason I chose for Courage to burn the forest was so that there’d be something to cause conflict with the other tributes—these three wouldn’t have done anything today without it. This is a nice scene that helps characterize the alliance and sets them up for a future storyline by depositing them right in front of the cover where Kiara and Freya are hiding. I’m always thinking I’m advance! 
As much as I enjoy this scene, writing wise there is a big mistake at the very end of the PoV. Ellis’ line “Sheesh. If only she had done that sooner!” gets repeated twice for some reason.
Whoops.
Fourth PoV also deals with the fire. This time it’s Dome and Willow sitting around and commenting on the smoke the fire generated. There’s nothing for me to say here—I told you that these two hardly do anything.
The next scene features the proto-anti’s as they attempt to corner and kill Trick. This whole plot was created by Nick in his advice and and was a concept that I really liked. Yet even though they dramatically outnumbered Trick the problem they encountered by facing her was that none of them are skilled at fighting, leaving their ability to actually succeed at their task…unlikely, to say the least. Needless to say, Trick escapes and she even kills Shimdt in the process. As I mentioned before, Wocky was originally going to be the one who died here, but I changed it to Shimdt at the last moment because I was sick of spelling his name. His name is actually misspelled twice in the text! Man, I hate that name! How the heck is it even pronounced? I misspelled it so many times during this reread! I’m glad he’s dead, so now I don’t have to write his name any more!
…Sorry, rant over. Let’s move on, shall we?
Kiara and Freya sit in the cove and watch as Hunther’s alliance takes up base on the beach. This PoV is basically setup for a future fight; I purposely made it so that there would have to be conflict between the two alliances. I had Kiara and Freya debate whether they would sneak away or fight, knowing that Max would make the ultimate decision with his advice. The funny story about that is, while Max did end up giving advice, he did it at the same time I was writing the day, meaning I never saw it and put up the day without his advice. What did that mean in the long run? Well, I had Kiara and Freya try to escape and end up in a fight with Ellis. Max’s advice, however, was for the two of them to approach the trio and propose an alliance. Had that advice actually made it in by the deadline I would have followed it and a new alliance would have been born. Yet another “What-If” moment for these Games!
The final PoV of Day 2 is from Topaz and shows the Careers returning to the cornucopia for the night. The most noteworthy moment here is the conversation between Syren and Topaz at the tail end of the day. She asks him what he thinks about the other Careers and he tells her that he likes Swatty but is creeped out by Onyx and Raven. Topaz then wonders if she is planning on betraying them. This whole interaction was part of a plan I was setting up for Day Three. See, I was originally going to have Swatty side with Topaz and Syren against the other two, resulting in a Career civil war that would end with Onyx and Raven dead. Neither one of those two had an active mentor and I had no real plans for them, so my intent was to use this storyline to kill them off. 
Nick’s advice, however, prevented this plan from coming to fruition.
He advised Swatty to side with Onyx and Raven, setting up a plan that basically put Syren into Checkmate. With that being the case, I had to call an audible and change up the story. Instead of Day Three featuring the deaths of Onyx and Raven, leaving behind an intact Career alliance, it had the deaths of Onyx and Syren, and resulted in a splintered Career alliance. This undoubtedly had huge ramifications on the way these Games would unfurl, and I suppose the impact of advice is shown once again!
And that’ll be it for Day Two. I’ll discuss the whole Syren/Career debacle more in the next section, so stay tuned for Day Three!
===Day 3===
Welcome back to the reread! This time I will be covering the third day of the 302nd, subtitled "Betrayal". The title is a pretty obvious allusion to the fact that the Careers betray one another this day. So let's get on with it, eh?
The first PoV is from Swatty and has her laying the groundwork for Nick's plan to kill Topaz and Syren. As I said before I initially wanted Swatty to align with those two and betray Onyx and Raven instead, but his advice ran contrary to that and had her side with the opposite two I had intended. The swap didn't totally change my plan for the day's structure, and I actually liked the plan he had made—especially since it had enough holes for me to keep Topaz alive. To finish the PoV I'd like to comment on how Onyx is probably the only Career thinking long term here, as she points out that if the plan succeeds there'll only be three Careers left. 
The second PoV is from Willow and has her and Dome finally confessing their love to one another. This is technically progress in their storyline and I don't have anything to say about it.
Third PoV is from Syren and features the dissolution of the Careers. The very first paragraph has her thinking about how she wants to rope Swatty into her alliance with Topaz—a sign of what my original plan was. Once the two return to the cornucopia the others are acting so suspicious that Syren immediately notices something is wrong. I felt that Syren was too smart of a character for a plot like this to go off without a hitch, despite the fact I knew there was no way she'd survive. I had her kill Onyx in the struggle because, as I said before, I was originally planning to kill her and Raven today. And this way Syren’s death has much more fanfare; she manages to kill Onyx and give Topaz enough time to escape. Topaz might not have won without her help!
The fourth PoV details Topaz’s flight from the cornucopia. My intent with this scene is obvious, so I don’t have much to say about it other than to note that I purposely had him think about sponsors so that Junior would send him something—I liked writing Topaz and didn’t want to kill him yet.
The fifth PoV is Kiara’s and it showcases her and Freya’s flight from the cove leading into a fight with Ellis, which results in the girls death. As I said before, Max posted his advice just as I put up the day, so I never saw his plan. I wrote this scene out under the assumption that all five tributes failed to receive advice, so I just went with my own plan. Honestly, had Max’s advice made it in time I believe that these Games would have turned out very differently. With all five of these tributes forming an alliance of five strong competitors it would have been impossible for it not to.
That said, I have no regrets about how this situation unfolded. Kiara and Freya’s storyline is an arc that I really enjoy, and the Feast bag scene is honestly one of my favorites from these Games. I wouldn’t change anything about this…even though the five of them aligning together is a neat “What-if”.
The sixth and penultimate PoV is from Varina and is basically just a recap of how she and her allies spent the day setting traps and gathering weapons. That was all apart of Nick’s advice to try and make the alliance an effective fighting force. Nothing else to comment on.
The final PoV is from Aeron sitting in his watchtower and it’s pretty much just an update on his situation. He does make note of the trap Wocky and his alliance set at the bottom of the watchtower staircase, and that’s why he stays put the next day. I really wanted to do more with Aeron, but mentor inactivity stayed my hand. I already planned on having Courage, a tribute I really liked, survive longer than he should without a mentor, so I didn’t really have room to string Aeron along. 
And that wraps up Day Three of the 302nd Games. The more I delve into these, the more I come to realize that the middle portion of the Games are defined by mentor inactivity. Two of the the three tributes who died today had an inactive mentor—though Onyx would have died even if hers was active—and three of the four who die on Day 4 also have that problem. At this point I was more or less just clearing the board of the inactive tributes—a fact I was cognizant of when originally writing these Games.
See you all on Day Four.
===Day 4===
Welcome back to the reread! In this installment we will be covering the fourth day of the 302nd Games, subtitled “Rain & Pain”. The name obviously refers to the fact that a rainstorm is one of the most notable events that takes place on the day. And the pain part is just as self-evident—people get hurt on this day. 
The very first PoV of the day features the proto-anti’s as they finish setting up their traps and retreat outside of their building. Obviously it doesn’t make much sense for them to shelter outside during the rainstorm, but that was part of Nick’s plan so I had them do it regardless. I’m not entirely sure why Nick thought having the alliance abandon the shelter of an actual building was a good idea, but it was the plan he came up with nonetheless. Anyway, a pack of wolf mitts proceed to attack the alliance and kill Tameo. Vinny was inactive at this point and I had no plans for him, so his death was an easy call. Wocky also gets separated from his allies here and, if I’m remembering correctly, he never reunites with them during the course of these Games. 
The second PoV is from Bluffy and is a continuation of the first. Both she and Varina take shelter in a building and do their best to wait out the mutt attack. Rasp m’s death is also overheard by them. Unlike Tameo, Rasp still had an active mentor, but I just didn’t like Rasp as a character and didn’t have any plan for her. She was very forgettable, to be honest. I’m glad that both of their deaths are used to good effect, though. They upped the stakes and had an emotional effect on their allies. As for the mutts, I decided to have them attack on this day because there wasn’t much of any strategy or planning going on in the advice. By using mutts I could jumpstart the plot myself. 
The third PoV is from Swatty and features the death of Raven and the final dissolution of the Careers. Raven’s manner of death, being shoved into the mutts by Swatty, was actually a part of Nick’s advice. So it came pretty naturally to me for that to happen—especially as I already wanted to kill Raven off. She’s a pretty strange character that I have no strong feelings for. Her death here is fine, and I have no regrets about how she was used. What is your guys feelings in her?
The fourth PoV is Cassandra’s and shows her and Hunther sitting in the cove just minding their own business. Something I find strange is that Junior sent advice for Topaz, but neglected to send any for Hunther. I don’t know what the reason was for that, if there even was one. Anyway, the two of them have no idea what happened to Ellis and that guilt forces Cassandra into revealing her ability to Hunther. This scene is a nice character building moment and is also build-up to their eventual demise from the Feast Bag—something which I had already planned. As Erlend was inactive and Junior seemingly didn’t care for Hunther, I felt pretty secure in plotting their deaths a day in advance.
The fifth PoV is a strangely short one from Freya. The only thing that happens in it is that they notice someone stole their rope and water. I actually didn’t remember who took it, so I had to go back and read the advice to figure it out. Apparently it was Topaz. I guess that would explain why he doesn’t make any appearance on this day. Honestly this PoV is very short. It could possibly be the shortest one in the series. 
The sixth and penultimate PoV is from Trick and it details her fight with Aeron. The fight scene between them is cool and still a fun read, something that can’t be said for every 1st Generation fight. As I mentioned before, Aeron was originally planned to kill Trick, but I made an audible when his mentor went inactive. While that would have made a nice symmetry, I honestly might prefer Trick killing him. It’s a nice subversion of the usual expectations. Also, the fact that Trick doesn’t initially remember who Mina even is when Aeron mentions her, might be an indication that she wasn’t the tribute Trick was fixated on in training. I feel as if Trick wouldn’t have forgotten her if that was the case. Then again, Trick doesn’t mention that tribute at all anyway, so who knows?
The final PoV of the day is from Courage and is mostly just an update on his situation. The announcement of the Feast comes up towards the end and is probably the most important thing to note here. Unlike in the 301st there are only four backpacks and I myself chose what was inside each one. I didn’t feel like having all thirteen tributes have their own backpack…especially not since the mentor activity in these was so low. Honestly, a big part of why I even made the Feast happen was because advice was so low that I wanted to ensure there would be an event to incite tribute interactions. But I’ll talk more about the Feast when we get to Day Five.
Before I wrap this section up, I want to give some last thoughts about day four. Remember what I said about Dome and Willow doing nothing in these Games? Yeah, well, they don’t make any appearance on day four. They’re not even mentioned at all. Topaz doesn’t appear either, but at least his existence is alluded to in Freya’s PoV. Dome and Willow simply…disappear. Strange.
All four tributes who died on this day were apart of my clearing the board of everyone who either had an inactive mentor, or was someone I just didn’t particularly like. Tameo, Rasp, Raven, and Aeron aren’t exactly heavy hitters in the series, so I don’t imagine that many people were upset at their demise. Well, that’s the end of my recap. I suppose I’ll see you all again in Day Five!
===Day 5===
Welcome back to the reread! This time we’ll be covering the fifth day of the 302nd Hunger Games, titled “Feast”. I really don’t think I need to explain why I chose that title. Anyhoo, let’s get right into it!
Before we delve into the POVs themselves, I want to take the time to talk about the four special backpacks provided at the Feast. To be more exact, I will detail who grabbed each bag and what was inside it: The first medium bag is retrieved by Hunther and contains the monkey mutt. Topaz took the other medium bag and found a haul of many different items; the dynamite he uses on the final day is probably the most notable among them. Wocky found the small backpack, which held Instant Relief. Finally, Courage was left with the large backpack that contained tons of food, his electric net, and the golden sword. Now let’s move onto the PoV!
The first PoV is from Kiara and showcases her and Freya as they set up their plan on outskirts of the cornucopia. This was actually part of Max’s advice. He had Freya hide in a tree and provide back-up coverage for Kiara as she attacked tributes approaching the Feast. I liked the plan and thought it made good strategical sense. An interesting note about this Feast is that the only tributes who were advised to attend were Kiara and Freya, Topaz, and Trick. Every other tribute either received no advice or was expressly told to avoid the Feast. Because of the low amount of attendees, I went out of my way to ensure Hunther and Courage went. That way there’d be more action. 
Anyway, during this PoV Topaz pulls a foxface and runs off with one of the bags. Trick then makes her appearance and attacks Kiara, who actually stands a fighting chance because of her dark side. I still don’t know what that exactly is, but I do remember that being the reason why I had Kiara not only stand toe-to-toe with Trick, but actually get the upper hand. If you think about it, Trick normally avoids competent fighters and typically only attacks weaklings. This is true in all three of her Games, and is a big reason why I had her ranked lower on my tribute “Combat Ability” chart than people might expect. 
The next PoV is from Hunther and has him approaching the cornucopia before getting into a fight with Courage. He mentions an offscreen vision Cassandra had, which detailed him dying at the Feast to a boy with a sword. I set all of this up because none of the tributes involved received any advice and I wanted the Feast to have a big action scene. Honestly I really like the storyline here, and especially the battle that takes place. Hunther manages to win the fight thanks to Cassandra’s vision, though that turns out to actually be a bad thing for her, considering what is inside the bag he manages to bring back.
The next PoV after this fight is a continuation of Trick and Kiara’s battle. Trick is surprised that she’s putting up such a good fight and wondering what to do when she spots Freya getting ready to use her crossbow. This, of course, results in Trick managing to make it so that Freya accidentally shoots and kills Kiara. As I’ve mentioned in the comments, I believe this is only the second time in the series where a user has one of their tributes kill another of theirs. 
Why did I have Freya accidentally kill her ally? Symmetry! As Cashmere was positively effected by the death of her closest ally, I wanted Freya to be negatively impacted by the death of her own. The result is a good storyline by itself, but when you look at it with a wider lenses I believe it’s even more effective. Though I do wonder why Trick just runs off instead of killing Freya as well. I mean, I know it’s because I wanted to keep Freya alive, but I can’t really think of a in-universe reason for her doing so. 
Next is a POV that details the death of Willow. Her and Dome are just wandering around the forest, trying to get far away from the Feast, when Swatty’s trident comes flying from off-screen and kills her. While I liked Willow as a character, I have to say that I was excited to finally be able to do something with Dome. And killing Willow was honestly the only way for that to happen by this point. 
Advice basically decided the manner of her death, as Kekai had Dome stay away from the Feast because, and this is a direct quote from his advice, “I'm sure at least one of the bags has an horrific surprise inside’’. Haha! Boy was he right about that! Honestly I didn’t expect anyone to predict that, so I was pretty surprised! Anyway, Nick also had Swatty avoid the Feast, but he wanted her to hide in the trees and attack anyone else who was avoiding. Thus you can see how this situation came about.
In hindsight I probably should have killed Willow off earlier, but her death here is still poignant for its effect on Dome and the beginning of his rivalry with Swatty. Speaking of which…is that a popular rivalry? I never really hear people talk about it, so I was wondering what all your thoughts on the subject is. Feel free to sound off in the comments!
The next POV takes us back to the Feast, this time with Wocky surveying the aftermath. I should probably point out that Nick had instructed him not to attend, but I ignored that and had him show up after the fighting was over anyway. Too many tributes had decided to no-show the Feast and that meant, had I not made Hunther, Courage, and Wocky attend, Topaz would have been the only tribute to actually secure a bag. So, yeah, Wocky picks through the wreckage and finds a bag holding the Instant Relief which proves paramount to his survival on the final day. I was planning on having Wocky survive some deadly situation, but I hadn’t yet decided what that would be. In fact I don’t make a final decision on that until the finale.
Next POV has Hunther return to the cove and an expectant Cassandra. Right when she begins to think that she can use her future sight to make sure one of them wins, the unexpected happens and a monkey emerges from the Feast Bag. Lack of advice led to their deaths but I truly think that, unlike some other tributes, these two still had a solid story. I particularly like how Cassandra was somewhat responsible for her own death; had she not warned Hunther about what would happen at the Feast he’d have died and never returned with the bag. Ergo she would have lived. This is definitely one of the 302nd’s signature scenes, at least in my mind.
The next POV is Topaz’ and is basically just him finding out what was inside his Feast bag. I don’t remember if he ever uses that poison, but his stick of dynamite is a major factor in the finale. Honestly by this point, barring some unforeseen advice shenanigans, I had Topaz locked in to reaching the finale. So, knowing that he’d still be around, I purposely gave him the dynamite. I’d already planned how that was going to come into play, so I was pretty confident in lining these dominoes up.
Courage wakes up and finds that he has cornucopia all to himself now, including the final Feast bag. It turns out to contain a bunch of supplies, an electric net, and a golden sword. I will point out that, despite what Courage thinks, the sword is most definitely not made of pure gold. A purely gold sword would be pretty useless as a weapon and unimaginably heavy, so yeah, not pure gold. Anyway, this POV was more or less setup to position Courage for the final day. Unless someone specifically targeted him with advice I knew he’d survive past Day Six, so I was content to set him up here. Honestly, at this point I was pretty keen on having Courage emerge as Victor…except he had an inactive mentor. But had JabberJay returned for the final day, I feel pretty confident in saying that Courage would have won these Games. Make of that information what you will.
Oh and Courage also received a rather goofy note informing him that the Games will end on the seventh day. I tried being all clever and making it so that the note alludes to the endgame situation, but honestly it’s just a mess. When the Sun rises on its Seventh, so will the horzion. Not sure how that accurately explains the island is going to rise into the sky, but yeah, that was the intent. 
The final PoV of the day is from Varina and is more-or-less a showcase of her and Bluffy’s current position in the Games. I do like how they think about Wocky and wonder where he is. An interesting note is that I’m pretty sure Wocky never meets up with either of his allies again. Anyway, yeah, not much for me to say here. 
And that wraps up day five! It took a little longer to get here than I’d like, but that’s the case with basically everything in my life so I’m fine with that. As far as the deaths go, with the exception of Kiara I basically continued to clear the board of inactive players. Unlike the prior day I actually enjoyed most of the characters who died here. Still, their deaths helped strengthen storylines and drive up the stakes, so I have no regrets with how things played out. See you all at the sixth day!
===Day 6===
Welcome back to the reread. We’ll be covering Day Sixth in this section. Subtitled “Sorrow” it’s a strange day that only has five POVs, which probably makes it the shortest day in the entire series. Well, without further ado let’s jump right into things!
We begin with Bluffy and Varina playing around on the beach and just enjoying life. This scene was meant to showcase the innocence of these two characters as well as highlight the fact that they’re both only twelve years old. Sometimes I think we all lose sight of the young ages of the tributes. Just recently I was observing my twelve year old brother running around and realized that, were the Games real and he got Reaped, he’d have literally no chance against the eighteen year olds. Anyway, yeah, after playtime the two of them wander into the forest and Varina gets caught in Freya’s trap. The trap was part of Max’s advice and it wasn’t hard for me to decide who’d get caught in it; Varina hadn’t received any advice for days and Nick had told Bluffy and her to pass through where Freya had set the trap. And, of course, it would be unlikely for the two innocent twelve year olds to escape such a dastardly trap.
Courage’s PoV is just character building and giving us an update on his current status. I do like how he accurately says that you can never be safe in the Games. The moment you feel most comfortable is when something goes horribly awry…like trees coming to life and ripping you apart. Oh, and make note of the electric net he has blocking entry into the cornucopia. That comes into play during the finale.
The next PoV is from Swatty and has her searching the forest for opponents while trying to avoid Dome. Soon enough she comes upon a katana lying on the ground and thinks that means Topaz is setting a trap for her. Well, she’s right about Topaz setting a trap. His advice was for him to soak one of his katana’s in poison and leave it lying on the ground, hoping someone would grab it and poison themselves. That…is a really weird plan that was destined to fail. I mean, why would someone die from just touching poison? Are they supposed to lick the handle or something? Maybe they are meant to cut themselves on the blade? I dunno. 
Anyway, Trick shows up and attacks Swatty. The two have a neat little fight that ends up with Swatty cutting off Trick’s arm before the girl uses her sickle to kill herself. That was actually part of Kekai’s advice. He wanted Trick to die on her own accord if she were about to be killed. Trick losing this fight is once again proof of the fact that she isn’t the best fighter in the arena and the reason why she usually preys on the weaker tributes. Trick may be an insane pyscho, but she’s still no match for a trained fighter like Swatty. 
Trick is a fun character to write and can be used in interesting ways, but I felt that she had run her course and had no qualms about killing her off here. Trick filled her role as a character admirably and the fact she was voted in for All-Stars show that the readers enjoyed her as well.
The next PoV is Freya’s and is a short and succinct summary of her current thoughts and feelings. After accidentally killing Kiara and not-so-accidentally killing Varina, she’s in a pretty dark place. Not much to say here.
The final PoV is Dome’s and begins with him reminiscing about Willow and vowing revenge on Swatty. I knew that the two of them were going to have a showdown on the final day because, let’s just be honest, that’s the kind of thing that obviously had to happen for the storyline’s sake. The Anthem then plays and Dome makes this observation:
I’m reminded that Willow wasn’t the only one who suffered here, at the hands of the Gamemakers. All of us are here against our own wills…except for Swatty. She volunteered for this. She wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her own choosing.
His assessment of Swatty volunteering isn’t wrong…but he somehow forgets that Topaz had also volunteered. I mean, we know that Topaz was forced to volunteer because of his family’s situation, but Dome doesn’t know that, so it’s odd that he omits him from that summation. 
Freya then shows up and the two become allies. This was an easy call to make, because both of their advice instructed them not to harm the other and the fact that they were District partners made their aligning a natural transition. I definitely wanted there to be an alliance left on the final day, so this was a nice way for that to happen. 
And that brings the sixth day to a close. At this point only seven tributes remained and, barring some game changing advice, I had more or less already decided who the Victor would be. I knew that Swatty and Dome’s rivalry would bring them both down and, despite Nick’s best efforts, I never considered Bluffy winning a possibility. Wocky and Freya had an outside chance, but neither one was really a strong candidate in my mind. As I’ve said before, Courage had a strong chance of winning if he received any advice. But since he didn’t…well, I’ll discuss that more on the final day. 
See you then!
===Day 7===
Welcome back to the reread! We’ve finally reached the final day of the 302nd Games, aptly subtitled “Finale”. I’ll be wrapping up my thoughts on these Games, so let us get get right into it!
The day begins with a Wocky POV where he sets the forest on fire and witnesses the island rising into the sky. The fire was Nick’s idea and island rising was the event foreshadowed by the Feast note. These events cause the initial confusion and conflict for the finale, and this PoV is setup for those events. It also rolls into the next PoV, one from Swatty, almost seamlessly. She encounters Wocky in the forest and impales him with a trident; though unbeknownst to her he survives thanks to his Instant Relief. Like I said, I knew that he’d use it at some point, and I decided early in the day planning processing that I wanted everyone to presume Wocky was dead before he’d reappear at the finale.
His fake death here was actually easier to pull off back in the past than it would be today, as back then I always updated full days at once. This means that people would read the whole day before checking the death chart; thus, the only way they’d suspect that Wocky survived before his reappearance confirmed it is if they either noticed he didn’t have a cannon, or remembered his Instant Relief. Nowadays, as I typically update one PoV at a time, everyone would notice his absence from the death chart almost immediately. 
Anyways, back to the Games!
The next POV is from Dome and features the death of Courage. Originally Dome and Freya are trying to lure him out of the cornucopia by taunting him—the initial part of Kekai’s strategy. I knew this would never work because Courage is too smart to fall for that. After all, he only has to sit and and wait for someone else to show up and either attack or distract Dome. But Dome uses the second part of Kekai plans to successfully eliminate him: he throws water on the electrical net and has it conduct through the metal of the cornucopia fry Courage. 
Someone—Utkar, I think—once asked me if that would have worked in real life, and my answer was that I have no idea. Maybe one of you have a better answer, because I sure don’t!
Courage was the first finalist I killed because he had an inactive mentor—much like Josef in the 301st, I didn’t feel it was fair to keep him around longer than the tributes of those people still reading. But like I’ve said before, had JabberJay came back, then Courage would have probably wound up the Victor of these. 
In the next PoV Bluffy shows up at the cornucopia and gets captured by Dome and Freya. Their plan—well, Kekai’s plan—was to use her as leverage against Swatty because she has a soft spot for the girl. I am aware that this sub-plot literally comes out of nowhere. Not once was it mentioned or shown that Swatty cared for Bluffy in the slightest—in fact, I’m not even sure if they ever interacted in these Games at all! But Nick had decided in his advice that he wanted Swatty to make Bluffy win, so Kekai countered that by having Dome take her hostage in an effort to get her to agree to a fair fight. It’s all…convoluted.
I can’t say I’m a big fan of these shenanigans. It feels out of character for Swatty to suddenly care a fig about Bluffy, though it does make sense that Dome would be so stressed and angered that he’d feel pushed to this. This standoff is broken by the arrival of Topaz, who lights his dynamite and chucks it at everyone, exploding the island and sending everyone into the ocean. Remember that the cornucopia clearing had risen into the sky, so apparently the dynamite sent it crashing back down.
I don’t feel like that’s conveyed very well and I can understand if anyone is confused by the resulting situation, where Dome wakes up amidst some debris and finds a dying Freya. Before dying she reveals that Bluffy was killed by the dynamite and Dome—mistakenly believing he’d heard three cannons while falling—thinks that they are the final two. Of course, once she dies it’s shown that Swatty also survived, so now the two of them have their final dual to crown a Victor.
Swatty wins that fight, mostly because I thought Dome killing her would have been too cliche. Not to mention that she was armed while he only had a pipe for a weapon, and the fact they were surrounded by water—Swatty’s strength. I’ve noticed that in the comments I told Kekai that Dome almost won and I’d written the PoV several different ways before deciding on how it should go. Well, either I have a terrible memory or I lied to him, because I have no recollection of having written any different scenarios. Make of that what you will. 
Swatty’s celebration is cut short by the arrival of Topaz, who swiftly dispatches her and calls out Wocky, whom he somehow knows has survived. The resulting fight is a foregone conclusion, and Topaz winds up victorious. There is no more twists or surprise appearances, so a Victor is finally crowned and the 302nd Games come to an end.
I haven’t reread these in a long time and I’m left feeling…conflicted. I know that at one point I had these Games highly rated and ranked them as one of my favorites, but it’s become clear to me that these have not held up over time. Too many characters are killed off without any real story arc, and the ending is an overbooked mess that really needed some better clarification of what happened. 
I don’t know. Maybe I’m being too harsh. These do have some very fun and interesting characters, and…I’m sure these have another strength, but I can’t think of one right now. So, yeah. That’s the conclusion of the 302nd. What are all of your guys’ thoughts? I’m especially interested in hearing from those of you who weren’t around when they were originally written; you should have an unique perspective that would let me know if these have held up or not. 
Next up in the reread will be the 325th. These have plenty of iconic characters, twists, and is the technical beginning of the series’s Myth Arc, so I am excited to get to it! See you then! 
==325th Annual Hunger Games==
===Introduction===
Welcome back to the reread! First off, I will be leaving a link to the Games I’ll be discussing…the 325th!
I know a lot of people love the 325th, so it’s exciting that the Reread has finally reached it. Personally I feel that these Games are when a lot of tropes and ideas of the series become codified, so these were definitely a turning point in the series. But before we get too far into it, let me detail the thought process that lead to the creation of these.
The most notable difference between these and the 302nd is undoubtedly the time skip. Why did I have a time skip? Well, the main answer is because I wanted to do another Quell. I could have found a way to make the 303rd a special Games, like I did with the 327th, but there was another reason I felt like skipping time, and that was the Victor aftermaths.
While I know that the aftermaths were a beloved feature (aftermaths for the 325th were vigorously requested) I felt that they constrained me as a writer. They tied too neatly a bow on the future lives of the Victors, limiting what I felt I could do with them in further Games. I wanted an intertwined story that expanded ages, and detailing the lives of some of the most important characters was a detriment to engaging storytelling. Which is why, you may have noticed, that the 325th Victors do not get aftermaths. (Yes, the 326th and 327th do, but those were for specific reasons. I.E the 326th was because the 325th was so requested, and the 327th because I knew another time skip was imminent.)
Anyway, the main reason I had a time skip was because I had a great idea for a Quell that I wanted to use. Namely, the fact that there would be double the amount of tributes, and that they would then be divided into a male and female arena. That second part of the Twist was actually secret until the end of the training period; no user knew that there’d be two arenas before the tributes did.
I can’t think of any other pertinent facts about these creations at the moment, so I’m going to move onto the next section. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them!
===The Users===
It’s time to talk about the users! The 325th, being the turning point that it is, has the first appearance of a lot of users who end up being mainstays for the series. It also has quite a few one off appearances from users who I don’t know the slightest thing about. Well, let’s get into it!
 Aerialchinook: This is Aerial, AKA Chris, who I now know based his username after his dogs. Honestly, for the longest time I’d thought that his username was just named after chinook winds. Because winds are in the air. Aerial. Get it? Anyway, I’d already known Chris as a guy who competed in CimW’s Games, so he wasn’t a blank slate to me. I can say that I never expected he’d become such a big part of the series, however! He’s competed in every Games in the series from this point on, and his highest placement were Hazel and Austin, both of whom became Victors. In the 325th he had Hazel, Eva, and Dexter.
XXToxicScreamxx: I don’t know anything about this person. I’m not actually sure if they ever commented again after submitting their tribute. Anyway, the 325th were the only Games in the series they competed in. Their lone tribute, Skylar, placed 56th. 
Kman528: This is Kaeghan, with his original account name. I’ve always liked the guy and thought he was pretty cool, though I know that clique of idiots liked to bully him. I stood up for him whenever possible, which is probably a reason why that clique and me never got along. Anyway, Kaeghan’s competed in the 325th, 327th, 400th, and the White Games. His three tributes in the 325th were Cole, Kwartz, and Vivan. His highest placement was with Cole finishing 16th. 
CatoET: Another person I don’t really know. From a brief glance at their userpage, though, I can tell you that they really like Cato. Anyway, they had Chloe, Alec, and Alecia in these, the sole Games they participated. (Chloe was in the 400th with a different mentor) Their highest placement was Chloe at 39th. 
Mistfire333: It’s Mist! I don’t know what to say about him that hasn’t been said, but he’s crazy in an awesome way and made some excellent tributes that definitely helped the storylines of this series. To my knowledge he hasn’t been active on wikia for awhile, but I know from other sites that he’s fine. Last I saw he was complaining about Biden and pushing NFTs. In the 325th he had Yuki, Mist, Shade, and Jack. He’s had two Victors in the series, Mist and Soot.
MissRandomStuff: This is Haley. She might not stand out as a legendary user in the series, but her tributes were pretty involved during the 2nd Generation Games. If my memory serves me right, she left wikia sometime in 2014. Her tributes in these Games were Teresa, Chip, Missy, and Layla. She competed in the 325th, 326th, 327th, and 399th. She’s had one Victor in the series, which was Missy. 
Wiki Contributor: I hope none of you expect me to know anything about this anonymous person. All I can say is that they submitted Wayne to these Games and…that’s all. Wayne finishing 46th was their highest placement.
 Nommehzombies: Ugh. This idiot. He is one of the worst people I’ve ever had the displeasure of interacting with. Rude, egotistical, and immature, he got away with bad behavior because he was apart of that clique of children who thought they were something special. And anytime he was called out for his behavior, he always had some Freudian excuse to play and try to garner sympathy for himself. Honestly, the only good thing I can say about him is that he made cool tributes. Anyway…In the 325th he Alana, Sebastian, and Thalia. He competed in these and the 326th. His highest placement was, surprisingly, Blondie at 16th. 
Nightlock Kryptonite: I feel like I should know more about this guy than I do. He was pretty active around the wiki for a period of time, but I never really interacted with him outside the context of my Games. Still, his tributes were pretty neat! In the 325th he had Zak, Mimic, Harley, and Piper. He competed in the 325th and 327th. His highest placement was Harley at 10th. 
District3: This is…someone. I honestly don’t know anything about them, but I think Blake mentioned them once. I mean, maybe? Anyway, this was the only Games they competed in. Their highest placement was their sole tribute Eleith finishing 38th.
Sgirl14: I don’t know anything about this person beyond the fact she created Jax for these Games. I think she competed in some Games alongside me, but that’s the end of my knowledge. Her highest placement was Jax at 28th. 
Andredeleon19: This is the legendary figure who created Julian. Years later and we’re still all debating what Julian’s last night is and why his height is 1-40. Though, I am fairly certain English wasn’t this guys first language, so that probably explains it. Anyway, these were the only Games he competed in, and his highest placement was, you guessed it, Julian at 51st.
===District 1 & 2 Reaping===
I don’t know if anyone else shares this opinion, but I always thought of Karma as an alternate version of Dragon. Both are deranged psychos from District 1 with similar qualities, but also some key differences. Namely that Karma is a more subdued and somewhat realistic psychopath. Not as much so as Mark or Caspian, certainly, but he’s definitely not as cartoonishly over the top as Dragon. Well, we spend a lot of time of time in this Reaping inside that psychotic head of his—perhaps too much time.
Once we get to the Reaping itself we discover that Puffy Heglow is still the Escort for District 1. She was the escort back in the 301st Games as well as the escort shown in the 333rd. Is this important? No, but I think it’s a neat bit of continuity.
As for the other tributes featured, Skylar doesn’t do much here other than flaunt around on stage and flirt with Cole. Artemis meanwhile gets some focus, as she is the daughter of Topaz. While she’s shown quite a bit here, Artemis doesn’t get as much screen time as I’d like. She dies unfortunately early and doesn’t get much characterization beyond being a stoic, thoughtful girl. Mentor inactivity was the cause of that, but I still retroactively wish I would’ve done more with her. As the sole representative of a previous Victor’s child, I feel amiss at her small impact. 
I mean, yeah, Karma is technically a Victor’s child as well, but I was speaking about Victor’s who’d won actual Games in the series. 
Cole is the fourth tribute involved in this Reaping, but he literally only shows up for the final few paragraphs, so there’s not much to say about his appearance. Ironically, he’s actually the only one of the District 1 tributes who manages to make it to the final arena. While it certainly wasn’t intentional, I guess you could say that his lack of screen time here is because he gets much more later on.
Now for District 2!
Despite the fact that Chloe is an interesting character in the 400th, it doesn’t show here. She comes off as rather bland and just another stereotypical District 2 tribute. If I remember correctly, Chloe sorta goes off the rails during these Games and becomes a raving lunatic who constantly belittles her alliance. Which, unsurprisingly, results in them betraying her. In an amusing anecdote, I had my siblings read the series for the first time, and one of their main takeaways was that they all really disliked Chloe. Well, my brother utterly despise Mist and the Anti’s, but I’ll get to that later! 
Errol Flynch is the escort here. You may recall he is also the escort in the 333rd who gets shot and killed by the Speaker in Atticus’ Reaping POV. The more you know.
Teresa is the second female tribute and while she’s not the most important of tributes in the series, I always liked how she was a more laidback and less aggressive District 2 tribute. It’s nice to occasionally see a character who doesn’t live up to the usual District stereotypes. 
As for the males, Yuki gets barely any screen time, so I’ll save discussing him for later. Hatch, on the other hand, is perhaps the most boring All-Star in the series. Seriously, does anyone have any fond memories of this guy? I don’t want to put speak for Nick, but I don’t think he even likes Hatch that much, and he made him! I honestly can’t tell you how or why he won the All-Star vote for the 327th. My only real guess is that the District 2 male was a weak category. 
That’s about all I have to say on these Reapings, so I’m going to wrap things up here. Next up I’ll be discussing the District 3 & 4 Reaping. Stay tuned! 
===District 3 & 4 Reaping===
We start off this section off with a POV from Elecc, and this is a perfect time to mention something about certain backstory elements that have always given me somewhat of a difficulty as a writer. Namely, backstories which are highly detailed and interesting…but have almost no bearing on the tribute once they’re in the arena.
Elecc is an example of that. His backstory with his Father and everything is engaging and certainly helps build Elecc as a character, but once the Reaping is over there’s basically no reason to mention it again. I wouldn’t say that’s problematic or anything, but it’s definitely something that has always grabbed my attention as a writer. Anyway…
None of the other D3 tributes have much of an impact here, but all of them end up making into the third arena. Though, to be honest, I can’t really remember any big moments featuring them that isn’t their death. Actually, I don’t even remember how Elecc dies! It’s sometime during the finale, I know, but I’ll have to look it up after writing this because I am seriously drawing a blank.
I do remember really liking Elecc and purposely setting him up as a tribute to watch out for, but I have to say that my interest in him has waned over the years. When I first wrote these I had at one point seriously considered having Elecc as one of the Victors, but nowadays I don’t share that sentiment. Personally I feel there is a lot more interesting tributes who’d have deserved it more. Elecc isn’t bad in any form. He’s just…kinda boring.
Onto District 4!
My siblings didn’t like Fressa. They thought she was an example of a crazy, unrealistic character whose backstory featured her unnecessarily murdering people. Honestly, while I really enjoyed Fressa as a character, I don’t think they’re wrong about the backstory part. It is a template example of “crazy killer tribute” that was all too common during the time when the 325th was written. While Fressa definitely improves over the course of the Games and becomes a compelling character in her own right, the backstory does not do a good job establishing her as someone unique. 
Once again the other tributes don’t have much screen time, but Giller does quickly build a rapport with Fressa that excellently foreshadows their allegiance to one another in the Games. Even though Giller is functionally identical to Hatch, for some reason I like him a lot more. I don’t know why that is. Maybe it’s the name? I will say that a tribute’s name definitely plays a major part of their success in the Games, even though it probably shouldn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never killed a tribute just because of their name (outside of Shimdt) but a good name will definitely make a tribute stand out to me much more which, in turn, will make me focus on their other aspects. Likewise, a bad name will give a bad first impression, even if it’s not exactly a death knell for them.
Anyway…I think it’s kind of strange that Giller and Fressa write Wayne off as a weakling when he’s over six and a half feet tall and built like a brick house. I mean, yeah, they think he’s dumb for volunteering for his brother, but I feel they’d be smart enough to recognize that a guy like him would be far from weak. He does die in the bloodbath, but that was more a case of mentor inactivity than anything else. 
Oh, and I find it hilarious that Fressa doesn’t think Nymph will last a day, considering just how long that girl survives without even touching a weapon! I definitely didn’t plan that at the time, but it still makes for a funny moment!
And that’ll do for this section. I’ll be covering the Reapings for District 5 and 6 next, as you all probably suspected. See you then.
===District 5 & 6 Reaping===
Something I find interesting about Sebastian is that, while he is extremely eager to kill people inside the arena, he hasn’t actually ever harmed anyone outside the arena. That sets him apart from all the other vicious killers in the series and adds to his appeal as a character. Of course, his eagerness to kill sorta gets dropped after this Reaping.
The better aspect of his character, or at least the aspect that I like better, is his snobbbish upper class demeanor and his faux politeness. Sebastian is a unique character who I enjoyed writing…but performed poorly in these Games. Why? I haven’t the faintest clue. I originally thought it had to have been mentor inactivity that did him in, but then I remembered that Thalia had the same mentor and she made it pretty far into the third arena. So…yeah, I don’t know why he died so early. At least he gets a better showing in the 400th! (Which was completely intentional, by the way)
While this POV does an excellent job establishing Sebastian‘s character and giving him motivation, it does a less than excellent job showcasing the other District 5 tributes. If you didn’t already know that Missy became Victor, you’d hardly be able to guess it from her small presence here. That’s probably attributable to the fact that at the point I originally wrote this Reaping, Missy wasn’t a serious Victor contender. For most of these Games Missy was a tribute who I vaguely liked, but didn’t view as a top tier character. It wasn’t until later on in the Games that I started to take an interest in her.
Speaking of Missy, my siblings think she’s one of the least memorable Victors, alongside Charce and Marcio. I will admit that, of all the Victors, Missy does have the least definable personality. That actually kinda gets lampshades in her 333rd PoV.
As for the other two tributes featured here…Allana is nothing more than Thalia’s henchmen in the Games, which is fine. These Games have fifty-five tributes in them, so it makes sense that not all of them are fully-developed characters with loads of screen time. As a writer, I found that it helps to have someone like Allana around, a character who has a very defined role and needs little effort to establish their presence. Allana is clearly not Victor material, but her character helps flesh out the Games regardless.
And now for Kodai. Kodai…I know that he is beloved by many people, but I myself was never very fond of him. Don’t get me wrong, Kodai is a great character who fits his role perfectly, but as a reader he just isn’t the type of character who I like. However, as a writer, he was terrific. Having someone like Kodai, a crazed maniac on the side of good, creates many interesting plot points and situations. While not the type of character to ever become Victor or even make the finale, Kodai is a useful asset that is fun to write and, most importantly, connects with the audience. Kodai absolutely demolished the competition in the All-Star vote, proving himself to be a fan favorite.
Though not a favorite of my brother. He absolutely hated Kodai and was actually upset when he learned that he’d been voted into All-Stars. (Which he still hasn’t finished reading!)
Moving on to District 6…
I’ve mentioned before how Zak and Mimic’s backstory of being trained by District officials in order to establish a dynasty of Victors was one that I personally found very creative and fun. It felt different and gave a more complex motivation to their actions. Rereading this Reaping, I found myself quite enjoying the rapport between the twins. They both actually have interesting and likable personalities here! 
Unfortunately that doesn’t last. The further these Games go on the more they devolve into one note scary killers who lack the humor and personality shown in this Reaping. While it would be easy and disingenuous to blame advice or their submitted personality for this change, I realize that it’s my own fault as a writer. If I’d only kept their characterization shown here up throughout the entire Games, then I am certain we’d think differently of the two. 
Of course, you could make the argument that them being separated into different arenas is what devolved them. That argument has merit, considering just how unhinged the two become when apart. Zak especially. 
Anyway, want to know something interesting? This Reaping actually foreshadows the fact that there’s going to be multiple Victors! Here’s the relevant passage: Will one of you attempt to…kill the other?”
I feel Zak stiffen beside me and I glare at the official as my anger begins to rise exponentially.
“You told us that—”
“Yes, yes!” he interrupts me with an impatient wave and my anger snaps instantly at this show of disrespect and am about to leap at and strangle him when Zak squeezes my arm reassuringly and just like that, my anger evaporates. For a few moments at least. “I know what I said! And by all reports that will be the case…but say our insiders are wrong. Say only—”''
Before she gets cut off Mimic is about to remind the official that he told them there’d be multiple Victors. This was intentional foreshadowing that I’m not sure anyone ever picked up on. I’d planned for these Games to have multiple Victors from the outset, though the amount actually increased higher than I’d originally intended. Prior to the endgame I was only going to have two Victors, one male and one female. It wasn’t until the eighth day, when I was struggling to figure out who I wanted to win, did I decide to up the number. Honestly having four Victors doesn’t quite make sense storyline wise. Two would have been understandable, considering the divided arenas, but four is a little silly. In fact, this is even referenced in the 326th’s District 1 Reaping! Warwickite mentions that the Head Gamemaker and several others got replaced for being weak-minded and allowing four tributes to win!
Another interesting anecdote, and Utkar pointed this out before, is that the girl who Mimic volunteers in place of has the same last name as Bluffy. Was this intentional? Yes, it was. When writing this I purposely made the connection, so Sendra is somehow related to Bluffy, though probably pretty distantly.
And that’ll wrap up this section. Next time I will be covering the D7 and D8 Reaping. Catch you later!
===District 7 & 8 Reaping===
I always forget that Mist started off as a boy who idealized assassins and wanted to be one. A large part of this POV deals with his daydreaming about becoming one. That’s due to the fact that Mist’s submittal sheet basically made him a wannabe Assassins Creed character. I didn’t find that aspect of his character to be very appealing, so it gets dropped pretty quickly in favor of him being the founder of the Anti-Careers, which I found to be a much more interesting trait.
A big reason I have everyone choose alliances before I even write the Reapings is that so I can build up those alliances as soon as possible. Mist and Shade lay the groundwork for the Anti’s here in the Reaping. An alliance that, which as you all know, becomes hugely important to the series as a whole. From this point on a version of the Anti-Careers exist in every Games in the series, with the exception of the 398th and the 333rd. The success of that alliance varies greatly (the 326th version fares terribly) but they pretty much always have a huge impact on the Games as a whole. 
Chumps and Maple are also featured here. Neither one has any sort of character beyond being a pair of scary killers, but I don’t have any particular problems with the two. Maybe I would view them more negatively if this was a standard Games, but since it is a Quell with double the amount of tributes, I don’t mind their relative lack of depth and character. Though I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how their strong friendship with one another does set them apart from the typical scary killers in the series. (Yes, I stole the “scary killer” phrase from Blake. Sue me!) 
On to District 8!
I’m just going to point out that the geography in Catalina’s backstory doesn’t really make sense. A tsunami hit District 4 and took her out to sea, eventually depositing her in District 8. Okay. Understandable. Except for when you realize that District 4 and 8 are on complete opposite sides of the country. I won’t blame Max for that inconsistency, because I am sure most people don’t know where any particular District is located, but I just felt like pointing that out. 
I am also not particularly fond of how Catalina doesn’t consider her adopted parents as “real” parents. Yes, I know they’re not related to her by blood, but they raised her and took care of her for years, treating her just like their actual child. That means, as far as I’m concerned, they are real. Does this have bearing on anything? No. But it’s a topic I feel strongly on, so I needed to comment. Carrying on…
These Games are doubly so as they have twice the amount of kids in them. I should wait for next year, when I’ll be older and it won’t be a Quell, but I can’t. The thoughts of my parents have been eating at me for too long and I know I must find them.
I had to have Catalina mention this facet because it honestly doesn’t make much sense for her to volunteer during the 325th when her odds of Victory would be much higher in a normal Games. That said, I am aware her character wouldn’t work otherwise, so while I was willing to overlook this fact, I still had to lampshade it. 
And I’m just piling on Catalina, aren’t? I don’t intend to disparage her as a character or anything; I actually like her both in concept and execution. Her singleminded determination to find her parents, all consequences be damned, is entertaining and actually kinda realistic for a fourteen year-old girl to do. I definitely knew a few who were similarly blind to all logic and reason. 
Oh, here’s a passage I found quite entertaining. 
Slowly, a boy with shaggy blonde hair makes his way onto the stage and awkwardly stands on the stage, hands in his pockets and staring at the floor. I feel bad for him. He probably didn’t deserve this. 
Probably. Haha. I don’t know why, but the fact Catalina thinks he “probably” didn’t deserve to be Reaped is hilarious to me! 
Galina and Jax are introduced here as well, but I’ll save commenting on them for another time. For now I’m going to take a break and when I pick things back up I’ll cover the D9 and D10 Reapings. 
===District 9 & 10 Reaping===
Ahh, District 9. Our first introduction to both Hazel and Jake, two hugely influential tributes in the series. Both of whom I liked as characters right off the bat, I might add. In every Games there are tributes who catch my eye from the beginning, who I mark down as serious contenders and ones to watch. Jake and Hazel were both two such tributes. This isn’t to say that those tributes are guaranteed to perform well—Sebastian and the Cohens of all people were similarly marked—but it is typically a sign that the tribute will leave an impact of some sort. 
That said, I can confidently say that I never suspected either Jake or Hazel would become as important to the series as they did. In fact, I’d originally planned for the relationship between the two to be very different than what we ended with. Namely, the fact that I’d planned an actual relationship between them. 
Seeds of this can be found in the Reaping, where Jake makes a big deal commenting on Hazel’s appearance. I knew that the two would be in the same alliance, so I was trying to get things started early. Unfortunately this never pans out, because when I began to write training, I realized that the two of them would be separated in the actual arena. I didn’t feel confident in being able to advance a relationship solely through training and didn’t even know if both would make it to the third arena, so I just scrapped the idea and moved on. Still, this is an interesting anecdote about two tributes who wound being or inextricably linked in a very different way.
Other than for that little nugget of information, I don't actually have much to say about this Reaping. It does a good job of setting up both Jake and Hazel, and establishes that Folly and Layla are indeed tributes. Neither one is really a stand out in the series, and while I like Folly's name, he doesn't really offer anything substantial as a character. Layla is likewise very bland; a generic tough girl who joins the Careers and immediately gets lost in the shuffle. I can't even look at her submission sheet to get more information on her, because she as submitted through her page on the RP wiki and that has been deleted. A shame.
Onto District 10...
Vivan's parents died in a stampede of cows which, as she mentions in the POV, is actually a real thing that can and does happen. I've always liked Vivan as a character. She's just a farm girl who isn't outlandish or have an overly complicated backstory, or anything else. She's quite the realistic character, and one who I was glad to see return in the 327th. She's actually only one of five All-Stars to improve on her original placement in those Games!
Kwartz is a largely forgettable character who's probably more known for his actions in other Games than for anything he does in the series proper. Alec and Alecia, however, were characters who I was quite interested in when I first started these Games. Alec in particular was someone who I had planned on making it into the third arena. I've mentioned this before, but my original plan was for Alec to kill Zak in the male arena and for Mimic to kill Alecia, before the two would encounter one another in the third arena. Mentor inactivity on the part of Alec's creator was what mainly prevented this from happening. I would have had to drag him through the entire male arena without any form of advice, and I just didn't find that feasible. As a result, Alec and Alecia both die relatively early into the Games and become just a footnote in the series. 
My last takeaway from this Reaping is the appearance of Aelius Agrippa. District 110's escort, he was one of my favorite characters to write and I personally found him to be hilarious. For a long time I didn't know if anyone else even noticed his existence, but then Blake commented on him and I finally knew that everything was right in the world. Well, that's it for this section. See you in the next. 
===District 11 & 12 Reaping===
I don't particularly care for Trent. I don't find him interesting or unique, or anything really. He's just kinda...there. Despite this I still had him win the District 11 Death Duel in the 400th. You might be asking yourself why. Well, that's because no one else in the Duel was a compelling character either. Besides, I logically didn't see how anyone else present was going to kill Trent, unless they teamed up on him. So yeah, Trent has the dubious honor of being a tribute who competed in two Games despite the fact I don't like him in any form. Make of that what you will. 
Seez and Flora are both basically what Trent describes them as: cannon fodder. I honestly can't name a single thing about their personalities beyond the fact that they're young and weak. I don't have anything else to say about them.
Eva...Eva is an interesting character, albeit one who hardly does anything in the Games. She's the kind of character who intentionally avoids interacting with others, and while that can usually result in some good story-lines, it can also result in a tribute who barely appears on screen before dying. If I remember correctly, Eva even dies off-screen! While Eva is interesting on paper and had the potential to do more than she did, ultimately she's more or less just another body to fill out the Games. Honestly, I think she is unquestionably Chris' least important tribute in the series. 
District 12 time!
In most Games you'd expect Salem to be an important character, with her introduction being her encountering the spirit of her deceased father in the rain and all. But in this series? Nope. She's just a bloodbath death. Her early death was mostly a result of mentor inactivity, but I'd be lying if I said that the subversion of expectations wasn't on my mind when I wrote it. While I don't know if any of you ever thought Salem was a legit contender, I do know that my siblings did. Both were surprised when she died almost immediately. My brother in particular thought it was hilarious. (I also have to mention I'd forgotten that Salem's father had competed in the Games himself)
This Reaping also establishes that District 12 is currently in the midst of a seventy-five year Victor drought. As we all know, Charce ends up snapping that streak when he wins in the 326th, but at the time I originally wrote these I was seriously considering having District 12 never win a single Games in the series. That idea was mostly pushback against the actual series and how District 12 tributes were all too often Katniss and Peeta clones who were devoid of personality. Still, I like how this fact helps Charce as a character and makes his own development smoother.
The legendary Julian makes an appearance as he volunteers for his brother who has bad knees. If I remember correctly, Julian actually volunteered for his older brother, which is a nice subversion of the usual trend. I still don’t understand why he doesn’t have a last name, but maybe I will give him one in the 333rd, who knows.
Jack is based on a character from the video game “Mad World”. I actually didn’t know this for awhile, so I was a little confused by his concept. Jack is a strange character, mostly because Mist decided to use him as a replacement for Yuki after his death. 
Thalia is a great character who has a big impact on these Games, but she doesn’t do too much here. She also has the second most kills throughout the series, behind only Josef himself. I am not ashamed to say that part of my original like for Thalia was because I found the RL picture Tristen used for her breathtakingly beautiful. At some point he must have changed that picture though, because it’s not the one currently in use on her RP wiki page. 
Before I wrap things up here, I’d like to draw attention to Stuart. You may remember him as the guy who showed up in the Interlude of the 333rd Games and claimed to be Charce’s mentor when he won the 326th. You might have thought I just made him up for that POV, but nope! Stuart made his first appearance here, mentoring the D12 tributes because they don’t have any living Victors. This just goes to show that you need to pay attention when seemingly small part characters show up; you never know when they’ll reappear!
That’s a wrap! Up next are the final two Reapings, so stay tuned for that!
===District 13 & The Capitol Reaping===
Harley is an entertaining character who I had fun writing. He is definitely very unique and I always hold a fondness for unique characters, especially in the Reapings, because they break up the monotony of quite nicely. I really like the tone and pacing of this particular Reaping, and I credit that to Harley. 
Notice Escort’s (who is actually Escortius from the 333rd!) reaction towards Acheron when he’s Reaped. That’s because, as the President’s brother, he is aware of the experiments that were ran on Acheron and the boy’s true identity. This was a neat little bit of world building that went completely unnoticed at the time, but hey, you all know now. 
I don’t think we ever learn why Violetta volunteered for the Games. Honestly, she never develops much character during her time in the arena. She’s mostly just someone for Piper to care for in the female arena when she’s separated from Harley. I actually think that’s a nice use for her, even if it isn’t a particularly important use. As for Piper…she’s one of those tributes who is a great character, but not the kind I like. She’s one of those “Big Sister” types who like to mother everyone and take care of their every problem. Personally I am not a fan of that archetype, but I do realize the potential it has and that it is a realistic one. 
And yes, I am aware of the fact that I’ve previously named Piper as one of the tributes who might have won had I needed to change the 325th Victors. Time has changed my mind on this subject, however, and I no longer believe that Piper would be among those. Interestingly, that means my mind has gone back to where it was when I originally wrote these! 
I don’t have anything else to say about this Reaping, so I’ll move onto the next one.
Amelia’s backstory is kinda…meh. Instead of explaining it, I’ll just quote the whole thing, since it’s covered in the POV anyway.
I use to be a nerd and loser at school who was picked on by everyone, but once I went to the training academy and got strong, I also got popular and joined with all of the other popular people. I liked it, but I didn’t like having to bully all of the other nerdy, loser kids who I once was. It just wasn’t right. One day, I was told to beat up a little twelve year old and I refused and was excommunicated from the popular circle. I was once again a loser nerd. 
So Amelia volunteers in an effort to no longer be a loser nerd. I don’t really know how to respond to this. I guess it explains why she doesn’t really get along with Chloe. Anyway…
There’s actually not much to talk about in this Reaping. I very clearly phoned it in here, and nothing happens beyond the tributes being Reaped and Amelia reacting to them. So, once again, I find myself with nothing to say. I suppose I could comment on the tributes, but there’ll be better opportunities to discuss Dexter and Josool, while Flawra is barely a character. Seriously, can anyone name a single thing about her without looking it up? 
Yeah, that’s what I thought. Well, anyway, I will be wrapping up the Reaping section here and moving on to the next stage of the reread, which will be the training period! I actually haven’t read the training days for the 325th in awhile, so this should be interesting! See you then!
===Training===
The first PoV of the training period is one from Jax. It details him waking up in the tribute apartments and interacting with the D8 escort and his District partners. It’s a PoV mostly focused on setup and characterization, so I don’t really have anything to say about it. Moving on…
I don’t have much to say about Electronny’s POV either. It’s the typical start of training POV which features a speech from the Head Trainer and everyone rushing to the stations. The only thing of real note here is that the District 3 & 11 alliance is formed. The D11 tributes both die fairly early on, but all three of the D3 tributes make it into the third arena. Huh. I know Missy is apart of this alliance, but she’s not featured here. I guess it’s possible that she joins up later during training?
Yuki’s POV showcases the Careers and their large alliance. While the in-universe reason for them making two leaders is because the alliance is so large, the actual reason was because I knew they were going to be separated into two arenas and I wanted each pack to already have a clear leader before that happened. Artemis gets a character moment here when she tries to be the voice of reason and get everyone to stop arguing, but that only serves to rile them up further. I find it interesting that Yuki himself is barely present in his own POV. He basically just sits on the sidelines sighing as he listens to everyone else talk. He does mention how he wished the alliance was more of a democracy, which is setup for him aligning with Mist and the Anti’s, though I will admit that Mist’s leadership style isn’t very similar to a democracy in any case.
Alec’s POV tells his and Alecia’s backstory while expanding their character and showing off their skills. As I’ve said before, these two were originally intended to be more more important than they wound up being. 
The next POV is Shade’s and it details the formation of the Anti-Careers. I honestly don’t know when Anti-Careers first started appearing in Games, but this was the first time I’d ever seen the alliance, so it seemed like a big deal to me. Honestly, the Anti’s as a group makes a whole lot of sense. Everyone knows that the Careers are going to align together, so it’d only be logical for the other tributes to make their own group to counter that. Maybe they wouldn’t necessarily choose the name “Anti-Careers” but such a group would undoubtedly exist. 
I like how not everyone who is listening to Mist’s spiel ends up joining him. Makes it more realistic. Both Julian and Eva spurn his offer and flee when the Careers show up to hassle the group. You could make the case that was a bad move on their part; both Julian and Eva die relatively early while all of the Anti’s except for Folly make it to the third arena.
I wanted a physical alteration between the alliance to occur, and Trent wasn’t someone I liked very much, so that’s how I decided he’d be the one punched out by Shade. An interesting thing about Shade is that he’s portrayed very differently here compared to the rest of the series. He doesn’t say a single word and simply stands by Mist’s side acting as a bodyguard. Honestly, that’s more or less how I viewed him for the early portion of these Games. 
The final POV from the first day of training is Dexter’s and it doesn’t have much going on in it. He just watches stuff then eventually falls off the Gauntlet and knocks himself unconscious. I made that happen in order to drum up some interest with an unexpected occurrence, but…meh. I don’t think it really hit the mark. Oh well.
The second day kicks off with a Wayne POV. Though it’s from his perspective, it’s really a showcase of Nymph and her psychotic break from reality. I always liked Nymph and still find this little episode entertaining.
Next up is a Hatch POV which exists to establish that him, Giller, and Fressa all intend to ditch the Careers and form their own splinter group once the Games. That was Nick’s plan from the getgo, but it gets somewhat waylaid by the fact the tributes end up split into different arenas. 
Piper’s POV is meant to let you know her and Harley have teamed up with Violetta. I have nothing to add.
Vision really shows off her character in this next POV. Her interactions with Vivan and Kwartz are entertaining and expertly displays the personalities of all three tributes. Despite Kekai's own hatred of her, Vision is tribute that I always liked and I sorta wish I did more with her in these Games. 
The next POV establishes who Chumps and Maple are and what they’re all about. I have nothing of interest to say here. 
Folly gets a POV and gives us some insight into the inner workings of the Anti’s. Namely that Mist and Shade run the group without really telling the others anything. The both of them are working with Yuki and intend for him to join them after the bloodbath, but they’re keeping that secret from the others. Honestly, I had anticipated that Mist’s leadership style would eventually cause the others to turn on him but, with the exception of Hazel, all his allies stay surprisingly loyal. 
Oh, and this POV also features the first appearance of the Anti-Anti-Careers. They’re a formidable trio, but the arena split ensures that they’re never all together in the arena. Thalia is the only one among them to make it to the third arena. I don’t have anything else to say about this alliance, but the name always manages to draw a chuckle out of me.
The third day of training (I didn’t realize these Games had three days of training!) kicks off with a Missy POV that confirms she did in fact align with the District 3 & 11 alliance. I find it weird that she wasn’t with them on day one. Was there a reason for that? Anyway, this POV gives us a good glimpse of Missy’s personality and not much else. 
An Acheron POV! These are rare in the series! This is our first opportunity to see inside his head and it gives us a tantalizing glimpse into his backstory while letting us know that one of his main driving forces is anger. This is an integral facet of Acheron’s character and its importance can’t be understated. Acheron is furious with the Capitol and will do whatever it takes to see them destroyed. We’ll learn more about this as WotHG progresses, but Acheron only cares about accomplishing his goal and does not have Panem’s best interests at heart. 
This Eleith POV exists to introduce the readers to her and let them understand who she is as a character. Honestly though, I don’t quite know what her creator was thinking when they made her. She’s a small, weak girl who absolutely refuses to align with another tribute…so what storylines are there for her? She’s practically perfectly designed to be either a bloodbath or early game death, and her odds of Victory are almost zero. It’s just kinda baffling. Though it does give me a good question; have any of you guys ever submitted a tribute in the series that you knew had no possibility of winning? And if so, why? 
The Allana POV here doesn’t give me anything to discuss, so I’m just going to make a note of it and move on. 
The training period ends with a Tot POV that finally reveals the big Twist of these Games; the fact that the tributes will be split into a male arena and a female arena. These whole Games were designed with this Twist in mind, and I took delight in seeing people’s alliance’s and strategies formed for one arena, all the while knowing the split was upcoming. I think this Twist is actually one of the more clever ones in the series and I’m still proud of how it was an unforeseen swerve. 
What about you guys? What did you think about the Twist? Did you like it? Hate it? Completely indifferent? And to those of you who were around for these Games, how did you react to learning about the Twist? I’ve never really asked this question before, so I’m interested to hear your responses!
And that’ll wrap up the training period! Next up will be the Pre-Games POVs and the bloodbath. Right now I’m trying to decide whether I should cover both arenas simultaneously or just go through them one at a time. Guess I’ll figure it out eventually. See you then!
===The Bloodbath===
Welcome back to the reread! I've decided that I am going to cover both bloodbaths in one section, so that's what I'll be discussing here. But before I get to that, I will cover something that is vitally important to every Games but rarely mentioned...the arena!
The female arena is honestly one of my favorite arenas in the series. Entirely made of candy, it offers many interesting biomes and is definitely unique. The candy land was one of my original ideas for an arena when I first began writing the series and was almost the arena for the 302nd Games. The only negative I have concerning the arena is the fact our time with it is so short. The female arena is only four days long and it features a alot of tributes sitting around waiting out the clock. Retrospectively, I'd have preferred the candy land to be used in a Games where it was the sole arena, but that's not really a knock on the arena itself.
The male arena is...decisively less creative. It's just a jungle that doesn't have too many opportunities to showcase what makes it unique. It does hve some elements that I truly enjoy, like the waterfall and suspension bridge, but overall it is just kinda a mediocre arena.
There’s a few Pre-Games POVs I will cover before the bloodbath itself, but they’re all fairly short and don’t have much going on. The Chip POV exists to remind everyone that alliances have been split by the Twist and gives him a POV for the first time. In fact, each Pre-Games POV is the first one for the tributes featured. That was a conscious choice on my part to ensure that those characters would be sufficiently showcased. Nothing comment-worthy really takes place in this section, so I’ll just wrap it up now. 
Onto the Bloodbath!
After an opening Missy POV that sets things up and describes the arena, we move straight onto a Thalia POV that has her killing both Skylar and Layla. This was an easy way to showcase how deadly Thalia is while simultaneously removing two tributes who I felt had to go. Skylar was a casualty of mentor inactivity, while Layla was just a bland tribute who had an unfortunate backstory. 
Chloe reacts to her allies death and then abruptly kills Salem. As I said before, Salem's early death was partially a subversion of expectations and partly mentor inactivity. She’s definitely a character who could have actually done things in the arena, but I don’t really have any regrets about her early death here. 
Alecia and Flawra are both also killed in the opening bloodbath. Alecia was someone I originally envisioned going far in the Games, but mentor inactivity put an end to that. A fact I’ve mentioned before is that when I first wrote the bloodbath Mimic was originally the one who killed Alecia, while Alec would kill Zak in the male bloodbath. The two of them would then meet up in the third arena and encounter each other, the killer of their twin sibling. The reason this changed is because I knew Alec wouldn’t manage to survive until the third arena without a mentor, so I just scrapped the plan and moved on. 
The female arena has a total of five deaths in the bloodbath. Three of them are Careers, and while one was a case of mentor inactivity, the other two deaths are attributable to the fact that Flawra and Layla were just poor characters. The Careers in these Games fair really poorly in general and that’s probably a huge contributor to why the Anti’s had such an easy route to through the early portions of these Games. Anyway, I think the female arena bloodbath is undoubtedly the worst performance the Careers ever have. I mean, majority of the deaths were members of their alliance! Yeesh. 
Onto the male bloodbath.
The opening Elecc POV expertly sums up the situation and describes the arena. The only thing I have to say about it is the fact that Elecc mentions that him and Chip have to find Seez, but then the pair of them immediately run off into the jungle and leave without even looking for him. Kinda strange.
The male Careers actually have a bit of success as Cole kills Julian (RIP, we barely knew ye) and Karma ends Folly. An interesting note is that he originally killed Tot instead of Folly here. I swapped their places because I didn’t want the Anti’s to escape the bloodbath completely unscathed and I thought there’d be more potential with for a storyline with Tot. Folly was more or less just another piece on the board for Mist to move around, but Tot was independent and thus could do his own thing later on in the Games. 
Sebastian brutally murders Seez and I find myself without much reaction. Seez was barely a character and…yeah. What can I say? 
In my initial mock-up of the bloodbath Jack died here instead of Yuki. It wasn’t Zak who killed him—since he himself was originally killed by Alec—but Wayne. This whole scene came about because of the changes I made. I spared Jack at the expense of Yuki because, once again, I sought to weaken the Anti’s. Yuki was destined to betray the Careers and am in with Mist and his boys, and I knew that would shift the power structure to disproportionately favor the Anti’s, which I didn’t want to happen so early. So yeah, Zak kills Yuki and is then promptly killed off by Mist. 
Josool manages to hit Shade with an arrow as the Anti’s flee the bloodbath, which is early foreshadowing that he’s actually far more dangerous than he looks. The POV then focuses on the finish to Jack and Wayne’s fight, which results in Wayne’s death. As I mentioned, Wayne originally killed Jack here and was then cut down by…huh. Which Career was it? Cole, I think. 
Anyway, the POV wraps up with the rest of the Careers noticing that Giller and Hatch have deserted them. Once again I reiterate that their decision was made by Nick’s advice. I was never really sure what the impetus for this decision was or why he made it, but since Nick himself is here reading, he can just elaborate for us. 
Annnnd that wraps up the bloodbath! Honestly, it mostly just killed off characters who I don’t have much connection to, so I have no real regrets about who died. Alecia could have survived longer, maybe, and Yuki and Zak are interesting characters, but I don’t feel too bad about their early demise here. But what about you guys? What do you think about the two bloodbaths? Sound off in the comments and let me know!
===Day 1===
In this next section I will be covering the rest of Day 1 for both arenas. I will start with the female arena, so let’s get to it!
The very first POV is from Teresa and more-or-less just recaps the bloodbath and serves as a showcase of the Careers current situation. Honestly, that’s what most of these aftermath POVs are going to be. I typically use these moments to better set up the Games, so yeah. Anyway, Chloe starts her overbearing bossy behavior here and watching it really helps you understand why the other girls betray her later on. Also, I noticed that Fressa is still with the Careers at this point. For some reason I thought she left immediately like Hatch and Giller, but apparently that’s not the case! Huh. When does she leave, then?
The next POV is just Galina wandering around and realizing she can just eat the arena itself, so I don’t have anything to say. Moving on!
Missy and her allies find themselves in the candy cane forest and go through their supplies. Like I said before, there’s going to be many status update POVs in this section, so bear with me. I don’t have much to comment on, but I will say that the idea of all the dirt being brown sugar is one that I’m proud of and think is very clever.
Vivan and Vision find a life-sized gingerbread house and camp inside. I find it amusing how Vivan is wary of the place because of the story of Hansel and Gretel, but does it without ever actually mentioning the story by name. 
Hazel and Catalina sit under a bridge and go through their supplies while thinking about the other Anti’s in the male arena. I was—and still am!—surprised that there were only two females in the Anti-Careers, because I thought for sure they’d have drawn more to them. Anyway, Hazel mentions how disappointed she is that she didn’t manage to kill a Career, and I think that pretty accurately describes how willing she is to play this game and kill people. Hazel never once shows any real hesitancy in the arena, and that’s interesting because a character like her typically isn’t so gung-ho about these things. 
There’s a rare Eva POV here and other than serving as the usual status update, it lets us know that there is no wildlife in the arena at all. I don’t know how many of you guys have been out in the forest before, but let me tell you that Eva is correct in saying that the absence of wildlife is disconcerting. In the woods there’s practically always some kind of noise being generated by animals or bugs, but in this arena? Nope. Like she says, being in such a place would be creepy. 
The first day in the female arena closes out with a POV from Violetta and shows her and Piper, once again, settling in and going over their supplies. Violetta isn’t the most interesting of characters, but I do like how she serves as someone for Piper to protect and care for while she’s separated from Harley. And honestly, that’s about all I have to say about this, so I’m going to move on to the male arena now.
And just like that we get another POV, this time from Tot, that leaves me with nothing to comment on. It’s a simple setup one that paves the way for things to happen…later. Right now there’s nothing happening.
Ditto for the following Chip POV.
Stuff certainly happens in this Jake POV, but I don’t find much to comment on. There’s some foreshadowing about the dangers of the jungle, and Shade’s injured leg is tended to, but nothing that particularly deserves a special mention. 
There’s a short Kwartz POV that—surprise!—gives me nothing to comment about. 
The Careers get trapped in the rain and are forced to camp away from the cornucopia. I find this interesting, because it’s one of the few times where the Careers are still together but don’t have control of the cornucopia and its supplies. Anyway, this whole situation exists so that I can have Dexter sneak in and spend the night at the cornucopia, which Chris takes advantage of by having him poison the food. That, of course, results in Trent’s death on the third day. I actually don’t remember why it doesn’t happen on day two; do the Careers not return to the cornucopia until the third day? Well, I’m getting ahead of myself.
That’ll bring the first day to a close, so I will be moving onto the second of each arena next time! Stay tuned for that!
===Day 2===
Welcome back to the reread, guys! This time I will be covering the second day of both the female and male arena, so let’s get to it!
We start off with a POV from Teresa and it involves the Careers going hunting and coming into contact with the Ant-Anti-Careers. Allana and Artemis are killed in the following skirmish, and both of those were casualties because of a lack of advice. Honestly, this whole segment came about because no one here received particularly detailed advice, so I created some action by having them all encounter each other. Chloe also continues to go overboard here, and it’s becoming painfully obvious as to why the other Careers turn on her. I can’t say why I decided to have Chloe become such a maniac, but I suppose it had something to do with her lack of advice and me wanting to create some conflict. 
The next POV features Missy and her allies as they sneak up on Nymph and attempt to kill her. This was actually advice driven, because Nick wanted them to find and kill Nymph. Unfortunately for the trio, though, it doesn’t play out like that, and Mimic shows up to kill Flora right before Electronny can send an arrow at Nymph. It’s probably obvious, but I didn’t want Nymph to die just yet, so I had Mimic interrupt the proceedings and take out a tribute who I didn’t particularly care for. Flora is a very basic and very boring character who I am surprised even survived the bloodbath, so her dying here both ups the stakes and give the day a nice action scene. 
Oh, and the jelly bear makes an off-screen appearance as it roars and scares Mimic off, saving Missy and Electronny in the process. This happens because I didn’t want any of the three to die, but couldn’t think of a way to get them disengaged without further bloodshed. 
The third POV is an update on Nymph and gives her some more characterization. Nothing to add, really. 
The fourth POV is one from Maple and it doesn’t seem to have much purpose beyond showing us that Chumps and Maple still exist and are eager to play the Games. I don’t know what I was thinking when I wrote this, because it seems pretty pointless. Looking back at the advice, it seems that Nick had advised them to hunt down and kill Eleith, so I don’t know why I didn’t have that happen until the third day. I guess I wanted to try and keep Eleith alive? 
The final POV of the female arena’s second day is from Vision and it has her and Vivan waiting in the gingerbread house as they watch the Anthem and then spot Missy and Electronny hanging around outside. This was me setting up potential conflict and trying to spark an interaction between the tributes, which actually happens on the next day. Nothing else really happens here, and that brings the day to a close. 
Final thoughts time! Honestly? This day is kinda boring. There’s plenty of action, but none of it really drew me in. I can’t quite say what it is that makes me so lukewarm on it all, but it is what it is. Also, I noticed that neither Hazel, Catalina, or Galina make any kind of appearance in this day. No idea why that is, but oh well. Onto the male arena!
The day begins with the Anti’s setting traps, crafting armor, and assigning themselves ranks. This was all mentioned in Mist’s advice and is a showcase of how he runs his alliance like a little army. I don’t know how wise it was for him to make it so obvious that Jax and Jake are on the bottom of the alliance, but neither one ever betrays him, so I guess it worked out fine. 
This next POV is from Tot and features his fight in the waterfall cave with Alec. This is one of my favorite scenes from the early portion of these Games, and I especially like how Tot’s moral conscience initially prevented him from killing Alec. The writing style isn’t the best here, but I still think it’s a solid action sequence that gives some much needed screen time to lesser important characters. 
The third POV mainly exists to let the reader know where Giller and Hatch are currently located and that they’re moving into the vicinity of Tot. Nick’s advice had been for them to attack him, but I purposely held off on that happening because I wanted the Tot/Alec fight to take place first. 
Kwartz wanders through the jungle and eventually triggers one of Shade’s traps and gets killed in the process. An interesting note here is that when I originally wrote this, it was Harley who was killed by the trap. I changed this right before posting the day because I realized it made no sense to kill Harley in place of Kwartz when Harley had more storyline potential. Him reuniting with Piper in the third arena would be way more interesting than Kwartz…doing something? I mean I guess he could have rejoined Vision, but that wouldn’t really be interesting.
The fifth POV showcases the Careers as they wander through the arena in an unsuccessful attempt to find other tributes. There’s some neat character moments here, including Jack showing some sympathy for the Anti’s. This was because Mist made it pretty evident that he would eventually have Jack betray the Careers to join them, but I honestly was never a big fan of that plan. Yuki was meant to serve that role, but since he died Mist decided to just have Jack adopt it instead. I don’t think that would make much sense for Jack to do so, and that’s why he dies almost immediately after joining the Anti’s.
The final POV is from Harley and is the classic end of the day POV which gives us an update in n his condition and shows the Anthem. I have nothing to add.
Annnd that wraps up day two!
===Day 3===
The reread returns and this time I will be covering the third day in both the female and male arena. I’m going to cut the preamble short and just get right into it, so here I go!
The female arena begins with Chloe waking up to a forest fire. This was the idea of Max, who advised Amelia to get the other Careers to turn on Chloe and burn down the forest with her inside. It’s kind of a roundabout way of taking care of Chloe, but I did enjoy the chaos that starting a fire caused. 
As a matter of fact, this fire is what kills Eva. She actually dies off-screen, which is a rarity for the series, and we don’t know for sure it was her until the end of the day when her face appears in the sky. Disregarding the manner of her death, it was an easy call to kill Eva off, considering Chris didn’t even send advice for this day. I know, I’m as surprised as you are! But part of my routine when doing the reread is going back and reading what everyone sent in their advice, and Chris surprisingly did not send any for his tributes. I don’t know why that was, but maybe Chris himself can enlighten us.
The next POV is related to the first and has the Careers reacting to Chloe’s death before Fressa betrays Amelia and Teresa. I’d actually forgotten that it took until the third day for Fressa to do this. Honestly I’d always thought it happened at the outset of these Games. Anyway, her betrayal happened because of Nick’s advice. (Side note: At this point Nick has temporarily taken over sending advice for both the WiressFan21 account and the HungerGamesFanatic21 account without giving a reason. HGF21 would then resume giving his own advice later on, but would erroneously thank “HGF” for giving his tributes advice when he himself was actually HGF. He would then edit his comment to say “WF21”. Needless to say, this was one of the many red flags which led to my assumption that both accounts were the same guy.)
Chumps and Maple easily dispatch Eleith and are then joined by Fressa. First off, I can’t say that it makes any logical sense for Chumps and Maple to let her align with them. Neither one has been shown to be the type of person who would accept such a thing, and at this point in the Games the pair of them are in such a good position that allowing someone they don’t know to join could only harm them. Of course, this all happens because Chumps and Fressa are mentored by the same person, but I don’t have an in-universe reason for why this occurs. Secondly, it was an easy call to kill Eleith, because she’d never received any advice and was completely overmatched in this situation. Honestly, Eleith is a very unnoticeable character in these Games.
The next POV features the conflict at the gingerbread house that I was building up on day two. The reason why Vivan is the one who winds up with an arrow in her back is because—you guessed it!—she was the only one of the four not to receive advice. I was actually hesitant to kill Vivan off, which is why the arrow isn’t immediately lethal. I wanted to give Kaeghan the chance to save her with Instant Relief, but he doesn’t so much as send advice on day four, which is why Vivan ultimately dies that day. 
Anyway, I like how Missy takes the time to think about her allies in the male arena. It’s a very humanizing moment and also reminds the reader that both of these arenas are taking place simultaneously. 
Hazel and Catalina try and fail to kill Galina. This whole scene happened because I wanted these three to be featured, but only Galina among them had received advice. So I just went with what Chris had told Hazel to do on day two—try and kill Galina. She ultimately survives because, as I just said, she was the only tribute present who received advice. 
There’s a short follow-up POV with Vision and Vivan that basically boils down to me telling the readers that Vivan needs to be sent Instant Relief or she’ll die. Nothing else really needs to be said here. 
The next POV is one from Teresa and has her reflecting on how things have gone spectacularly wrong for the Careers. I don’t have anything in particular to comment on here, but this feels like a very superfluous POV. Honestly, the 325th in general seems to have had way more of these kind of POVs than I remembered. Maybe things will get more interesting in the third arena?
The last POV of the day is just Piper and Violetta watching the Anthem and would be chalked up as yet another superfluous POV if not for the fact that Mimic has now joined the pair. As with the Fressa-Chumps alliance, I have some qualms about how much sense this makes story wise. I just can’t imagine Piper ever willingly aligning with Mimic, or Mimic herself choosing to join them. I know that this happened because both of them had the same mentor, but once again I feel this decision stretches my belief and dilutes the story. Back in the day it was way more common for people to just lump their tributes together into an alliance for protection, even if it didn’t make sense, and that hampered stories more than it helped. 
Oh well. Onto the male arena!
We begin with the Careers finally returning to the cornucopia. Unfortunately, they do not give any real reason for their absence, so I suppose I’ll just have to eternally wonder why that was. Anyway, Trent eats some of the food Dexter poisoned and winds up dead. I’ve mentioned before how I wasn’t the biggest fan of his, so deciding that he would be the one to go down here was easy. Trent was one of those tributes who was more-or-less just “there” and didn’t offer much to the story beside being another body. 
Jake and Jax set up some more traps while Kodai supervises. If you can’t tell from how I have Jax act suspicious of Kodai and wonder what’ll happen if Mist turns on him, I’ll let you know I had this happen because I was trying to foreshadow Mist’s allies having doubts about him…which goes nowhere, because everyone except Hazel remains completely loyal to him. Jax’s advice for this day literally had the phrase “do whatever Mist or Shade tell you to do”. You can’t get anymore blindly loyal than that!
Also, I am fond of Jax’s description of Kodai being like an attack dog, because when my brother read these one of his major problems with Kodai was that the guy is basically a dog in a human’s body. In fact, he started referring to Kodai as the “dog-man” whenever he complained about him. I don’t think he’s particularly wrong about that comparison, because Kodai does act quite like a dog at times. I don’t know if that was Mist’s intent or not, but I can definitely see how it comes off that way.
Sebastian and Acheron get into a struggle in which Acheron successfully kills Sebastian. It’s interesting to note how Sebastian actually catches Acheron unaware and gets the jump on him in this scene, probably the only time that ever happens in the series. This is a nice little action sequence that successfully portrays both boys as physical threats. Anyway, I was right when I said earlier that the reason Sebastian died was due to a lack of advice. Tristan did indeed send Thalia advice for this day and beyond, yet he failed to do so for Sebastian. I don’t know why that was, but it definitely was the deciding factor in his death here. 
Giller and Hatch track down and kill Tot. This scene was all the result of advice, because Nick had expressly told the two to do exactly that. As they were both Careers and Tot was an unskilled combatant, he didn’t stand much of a chance. I feel as though Tot is a character who could have done more, but I also think his death here is well used and makes logical sense, so I don’t really have any complaints. 
Elecc and Chip sit around and watch the Careers abandon the cornucopia, overhearing how it’s all been poisoned in the process. I’m pretty sure the only point of this scene is to let the readers know that the two of them are still alive, because nothing else really happens here. I guess they also mention some sort of trap that they set up, but I don’t believe that ever comes into play, so it’s kind of a red herring. Unless I’ve completely forgotten something it does on the fourth day, which I suppose is possible. Guess we’ll find out!
The Anti-Careers sit around and watch the Anthem. One of my brothers biggest complaints about them as an alliance was that for the first portion of the Games they don’t do anything interesting. He’s kinda right, because so far they haven’t done much of anything. That was all advice driven, though, because Mist only ever instructed them to set traps and make a base, while none of the other tributes ever decided to target them. It’s not until the fourth day, when I decide to get mutts involved, does something happen with them. 
Oh, and as you might have noticed, Shade actually foreshadows the presence of the mutts at the end of the POV here. That was my way of giving everyone a heads-up about it.
And that’ll wrap up the third day! Lots of action here and several deaths, but most of those were tributes who did not receive advice. In fact, Tot and Trent were the only tributes who died on the third day that received any advice, and both of theirs was only a sentence long. A sure-fire way to wind up dead in this series is to be an uninteresting tribute who’s involved in no storyline, and receive zero advice. I’m going to name that the Trifecta of Death, and try to keep an eye out for how many times it happens throughout the series. It probably happens less often the further into the series we go, but you never know. 
Well, I can’t think of anything else interesting to say, so I’ll end this section here. Next time I’ll be covering Day 4, the final day of both the male and female arena. Stay tuned!
===Day 4===
Welcome back to the reread. In this section I will be reviewing the fourth and final days of the male and female arenas. After this point both arenas merged into one, and the third arena was born. Going into this day I knew that both arenas were going to be taken down to fourteen tributes each, so that the third one would have an equal amount of male and female tributes. This effected my thinking by making me consider who’d have a more compelling arc going into the third arena—and who wouldn’t have much of an impact. That aside, let’s get this going!
The day starts with Hazel and Catalina tracking down Vision and Vivan, then killing the latter after chasing Vision off. I touched on this yesterday, but I tried to give Vivan a chance to stay alive only for her mentor to squander it. Chris is the one who came up with the plan for this attack, and that’s why Hazel winds up with the kill. This POV also has a scene which my sister found absolutely hilarious, which I will quote below. 
Catalina (8) is just about to throw the spear, when Vision’s head snaps towards us. She screams and then for some inexplicable reason, Catalina (8) screams.
“Throw it!” I screech. “Throw it!”
Haha. I agree with my sister (which shouldn’t be surprising, considering I wrote the scene) because I just find the idea of Catalina screaming after Vision screams very amusing. Honestly though, I don’t think my original intent here was to be funny. 
Missy and Electronny don’t really do anything in this next superfluous POV. Missy receives a bow and then…nothing. The two of them just head towards the river and disappear for the rest of the day. I am assuming this happened because Nick didn’t send any advice for this day and Haley just told Missy to use her arrows wisely, but so little happens I have to wonder why I included it at all. 
Thalia lounges around the cornucopia and thinks about how good she is.
In this next POV Piper and Mimic attack the trio of Chumps, Maple, and Fressa after stashing Violetta in a safe place. No one in this situation received advice, so everything which takes place here happened solely at my discretion. And why did this happen? Because I needed two more tributes to die in order to each the fourteen tribute threshold, and barely anyone sent in advice. Seriously, Hazel and Missy were the only two people in the female arena who received any, and that explains why so little takes place on this day. 
With barely anything to go off, I had to make my own action happen. Hence why Piper and Mimic go on the offensive. The pair manages to take out Maple but lose Mimic in the process, which was just me choosing which two tributes I thought would be the least useful in the next arena. Mimic had been directionless since Zak’s death, and Maple was basically interchangeable with Chumps, so I decided that those two would be the ones to die. Anyway, I really feel that this POV strengthens Piper as a character and definitely makes her out to be someone to watch in the third arena.
The final POV is from Galina and only exists to let everyone know about the arena merger, so I’ll just touch on a few other characters who didn’t receive much screen-time today. Teresa and Amelia were the only two female Careers to survive until the third arena (discounting Fressa the betrayer) and that was more because the others didn’t receive advice then their own prowess in the arena. I originally thought that them making it into the third arena could give some good storylines with the surviving male Careers, but both of them actually wound up dying in the third bloodbath.
Onto the male arena!
We start off with a POV from Jake that showcases what the Anti’s are plotting for the day. Oddly enough, Mist (the user) thought it was important for Mist (the tribute) to clear the air over why he and Shade spoke to Yuki during training. I don’t know why that mattered, considering that Yuki had been dead for days and that none of the other Anti’s had shown any signs of doubt, but he was adamant that he explain. *shrug*
Also in this POV they find a message from Jack requesting to join the Anti’s. This was another part of Mist’s advice and I honestly hated the plan. I dislike the idea of a user stacking all their tributes together in one alliance in general, but this case is particularly problematic because I do not believe it makes any sense for Jack to wanna join the Anti’s, nor for Mist and the Anti’s to accept him. But my hands were tied in this matter and I couldn’t find a good way to prevent the merger. I will say, however, that Jack joining the Anti’s is directly attributable to his death. My original plan was for him to survive until the third arena, but him randomly joining the Anti’s made me change my mind on that. 
The second POV features the Careers and lets us know that both Jack and Karma have deserted them in the night. I’ve already discussed why Jack left, but the reason Karma left was…*checks notes*. Huh. Why did he leave? I always thought it was because of Kekai’s advice, but when I doubled checked the day’s advice I found out that he actually didn’t tell him to leave, because he didn’t send any advice at all! So…yeah. I have no clue why he left. Strange. 
Chip and Elecc get attacked by mutts and escape into the trees. This only happens because Elecc received no advice and Chip’s was literally just a sentence long. I didn’t want either of them to die yet, so I just made this sequence occur to give them something to do and to introduce the mutts. 
Hatch and Giller take on some of the panther mutts in a relatively interesting action scene. I chose to have Hatch die here because I found him and Giller to be more-or-less interchangeable, and he was the less interesting of the two. Honestly these two are just the male version of Chumps and Maple.
Karma is attacked by mutts and killed in a very short POV. This is honestly just a way to write him off the board and I don’t quite know how to feel about this. Karma comes off like a very underutilized character, but I also don’t think he was very unique to begin with, so I am at a loss as how to feel about his death. Nowadays I would handle this much differently, but back during these I was very clearly trying to get people killed so that I could reach the third arena. 
Mist and his lads join up with Jack and are promptly attacked by the mutts which have been terrorizing everyone in the male arena. The entire alliance flees to the cornucopia and Jack stays behind to hold the horde off so the rest can escape. Prior to Mist’s decision to have Jack join the alliance, I was actually going to have Kodai die here. He basically would have just done the same thing as Jack; sacrifice himself so that the others can escape. Funnily enough, that’s actually how he winds up dying in All-Stars! Afterwards the Gamemakers (which includes Doug, I will note) call the mutts off and announce the arena merger. 
Time for my final thoughts on this day. Honestly? Kinda disappointing. Things aren’t developed very well and some people just drop dead and exit stage left. To be fair, that’s mostly due to a lack of advice, but as the writer it’s my responsibility to try and make everything interesting and well-written. I wouldn’t say I failed in that regard, but I do think that this day doesn’t reach the potential it perhaps could have. 
Next time up is the fifth day and the third arena. It’s a big changing point for these Games, so stay tuned for it!
===Day 5===
In this next section of the reread we will be covering the fifth day of the Games, titled “Bloodbath”. This title, as you may have guessed, stems from the fact that the third arena kicks off with a bloodbath. Looking back, I think that was a strange decision, considering that the first day of both the male and female arena were titled the same thing. Meaning that the 325th has three separate days titled “Bloodbath”. Yeah. That’s not very creative.
But before I get into discussing the bloodbath itself, I want to cover the third arena. I’ll leave the official description of it here: The Arena is a grassy plains with forests, rivers, and lakes. The Cornucopia is situated in the middle of the plains. To the west is a grove of trees which conceals a pond. To the east is a river which stretchs from the far north of the arena where the 'North Lake' is, all the way down to the southernmost point of the arena where the 'South Lake' is. A dam sits behind the South Lake. There is a bridge across the river where the East Plains are. Forest surrounds both the South and North Lakes and are named accordingly.
As you can see, it’s not the most unique of setups, but that was intentionally done as to avoid overloading on twists and confusing people. I wanted something simple and basic that would be easily understood, so that the mentors could focus more on Games strategy and planning than worrying about environmental hazards. It serves its purpose admirably, but it definitely isn’t the most memorable of arenas. 
And now, with that out of the way, I can finally begin discussing the bloodbath itself!
We start off with a handful of POVs that have tributes reacting to the arena merger. I don’t have much to add here, other than to note that beyond mentioning they were shown highlights of the other arena the tributes do not really make note of what happened between the end of the last arena and the start of this one. I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised, considering that it wasn’t mentioned in the 300th either. 
Cole, much like in the male arena, gets a kill right off the bat when he spears Jax. The reason for that is twofold; First off, Jax received no advice. Secondly, I wanted to take out some of the Anti’s because I felt their alliance was snowballing out of control, especially considering that Nick and Mist had agreed to have Fressa, Chumps, and Giller join them. The Anti’s just running roughshod over the other tributes was definitely not how I wanted these Games to play out, so I had to try and stop that before it was too late. 
In this next POV Thalia takes out Electronny. Electronny always just felt like a filler tribute to me—someone who’s just there to round out the numbers and die in big action scenes without having any real character or direction. Actually, that’s exactly the role she serves in these Games. 
Catalina, Teresa, and Amelia all get killed in quick succession. Two of them—Catalina and Amelia—received no advice so it was an easy decision for them to die. Teresa did receive advice, yet died anyway. Unfortunately for her I typically use these big action sequences to take out the tributes whom I feel have no real storyline or direction—which is an apt description for her. Teresa wasn’t my favorite tribute but neither was she offensively bad. 
The Anti’s surround Fressa and her pals and give them an ultimatum—join the alliance or die. I am not a fan of this occurrence. I have no idea why anyone involved thought this was a good idea. For the Anti’s part, Fressa and the others clearly aren’t trustworthy and are only going to bring trouble. As for Fressa, she and her allies are obviously on the bottom of the totem pole and would be taken out first once the Careers were finished. Because of the way it’s written, you can make the argument Fressa and the others were just taking advantage of Mist’s generosity, but I don’t think that’s true out of universe. 
I don’t know. This whole situation was just odd to me. Though it did give me an easy way to disrupt the Anti’s dominance later on. 
Onto the aftermath POVs!
Harley has joined with Piper and Violetta, forming a trio that was chased away from the cornucopia by Cole. Not much to discuss here, but I will mention that Violetta basically functions as a load here—she doesn’t speak and forced Piper to carry her away from the cornucopia. 
Galina finds a tree and hides in it, thinking about how she’ll try and avoid every other tribute. You know, this reread has begun to change my mind on Galina. I use to not think very highly of her, but she actually makes some very smart choices and plays quite strategically. Plus her snarky, aggressive attitude is pretty entertaining. Maybe she deserved that runner-up title after all.
This next POV lets everyone know that Acheron still exists. He’d only shown up once before in the past four days, and that was when he killed Sebastian. 
Missy and her alliance gets a status update here. Vision joined with them in the third arena and, while it isn’t mentioned in-text, the reason is actually very simple. All three of her District partners, Elecc, Chip, and Electronny, were members of this alliance and would have accepted her unquestioningly. Anyway, the alliance stops and takes the time to mourn Electronny’s death, another humanizing moment for the group. It’s not a coincidence that most of these empathetic scenes occur when Missy is around—she’s one of the most kindhearted Victors and one of the few who routinely laments the loss of human life. 
The last remaining Careers, Josool and Cole, take the time to think about how screwed they are. All the stress and fear causes Cole to snap at Josool, and the poor fat boy thinks that the Anti’s will slaughter them like sheep—a callback to Mist’s initial speech when he formed the Anti’s. What’s interesting, though, is that the Anti’s actually don’t kill either Cole or Josool. In fact, of the sixteen Careers in these Games, the Anti’s don’t kill a single one! That’s right, the alliance called the Anti-Careers don’t even kill any Careers! Mind-boggling. How did I never notice that until now? 
The final POV is from Dexter and is the typical “tribute watches the Anthem and reacts to the deaths” scene that happens quite commonly. I don’t have anything to add here, so I’m just going to move onto my wrap-up of the day.
All-in-all I am content with how this day went. The bloodbath was a successful action sequence that took out tributes I didn’t really have any future plans for, and the merger of the Anti’s with Fressa’s group, while odd, paved the way for the chaos that takes place on day six. At this point my major concern was trying to break up the Anti’s, and the next day’s advice was about to give me ample ammunition to make that happen. 
Anyway, see you all then!
===Day 6===
Once again I welcome you all back to the reread. This time I will be covering the sixth day of the Games, titled “Flames of Change”. This title is one of those with an obvious meaning. Fire plays a major part in the day, and things inside the arena change quite a bit. Namely, the Anti-Careers get their stranglehold on the arena loosened. 
Let’s get to it!
The day starts with a Hazel POV that, of course, features her infamous killing of Jake. Before I get to that, I’d like to mention, in-universe, Hazel makes a smart decision to betray the Anti’s at this point because all their attention is on Fressa and her friends. They were definitely expecting someone to betray them, but it wasn’t Hazel! Another thing I just realized right now is that, had the Twist of their being multiple male and female Victors been announced already, there would have been no point in Hazel betraying the Anti’s, because she was the only remaining original female Anti. Mist would undoubtedly have taken her along to the end, so she wouldn’t have needed to upend the alliance. Of course, that Twist hadn’t been announced yet, so we got all the glorious chaos which unfolded here. 
Hazel’s betrayal also makes sense in-universe because she’s actually spent very little time around Mist and the others. Since she was in the female arena for most of the time, she’s only been together with them for one day in the arena itself. And considering her personality it make’s perfect sense that she’d get annoyed with his overbearing behavior. 
Hazel’s advice told her to kill an Anti before fleeing, but it didn’t specify which one, so I had free rein on who to choose. How did I decide it would be Jake? Simple. He didn’t receive any advice. Yes, that’s right. One of the most iconic deaths in the series came from a lack of advice. As I’ve said before, advice in this series is crucial and even the smallest of things can have a huge impact!
Before I move on, I’m just gonna make a note of how callously Hazel reacts to killing Jake. Other than for a brief moment of thinking about how Jake is the only Anti she likes, she has no real reaction to his death and is described as being giddy as she runs off. Considering her circumstances, that kind of behavior isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but this reread has definitely made me more aware of just how brutal Hazel can be. 
The next POV is from Shade and details the Anti’s fight against the wolf mutts. These mutts were actually driven into the cornucopia by Dexter burning the forest down, which was part of Chris’ plan to try and defeat the Anti’s. Honestly, Chris was the only person who tried doing anything to stop their dominance of the arena. Even though Fressa and her friends end up betraying them today, that actually wasn’t part of Nick’s advice. He wanted them to stick with the Anti’s until they finished off the Careers, then peacefully leave.
I didn’t think that fit Fressa and Chumps characters at all. Maybe it would have made sense for them to do that if the Careers were actually still a viable threat, but at this point of the Games they’re only two people, Cole and Josool, and no one in the arena actually thinks that Josool is a serious threat. Fressa, Chumps, and Giller definitely didn’t need the Anti’s help to dispatch Cole, so I couldn’t logically see a reason for why the three of them—all of whom are generally psychotic, unhinged individuals—would stay with the Anti’s. 
Which leads into the next POV—Giller’s. It’s here where I decided that the three of them would abandon the Anti’s, but it doesn’t go smoothly. Kodai spots them leaving and attacks, defeating Giller before being killed by Fressa. Kodai served his role in these Games well, but it was time for him to go. Partially because he himself didn’t actually have any storyline and that his death would better serve to put the surviving Anti’s—Mist, Shade, and Wolbert—in a more desperate situation. Oddly, I remember Mist hating on Giller for killing Kodai during the All-Star vote, even though it was Fressa who killed him. I don’t know if that was because he misremembered what happened or just that he blamed Giller for the whole fiasco, but it’s definitely something.
In this next POV Piper and her allies approach a river in search of a drink when Missy and her alliance attacks them. Missy dispatches Violetta with an arrow before Piper and Harley escape by jumping into the river. This situation happens because neither group was really doing anything, and their advice was more-or-less to just stand pat. I wanted more action in this day, so I had this situation occur. Why did Violetta die? Easy. She didn’t receive any advice, and the fact Piper was reunited with Harley made her redundant. 
This next POV is Cole’s and has Hazel joining up with him and Josool. Them accepting her makes sense because they’re in a pretty bad position in these Games and desperately need some help. Also, Josool recognizes Hazel as the daughter of a famous singer and decides to share his opinion on how he thinks her mother is just a “pretty average singer”. Haha. Funny fat boy!
Hey! A Nymph POV! Neat. Anyway, this is basically just a characterization and status update POV, so I have nothing to say. 
This next Harley POV is kind a continuation of the last, where Nymph saw him and Piper get washed up on the lake’s beach. Once again, this is more of a status update.
The last POV of the day belongs to Mist and shows how badly he’s taken the days betrayal. It’s funny how they went from being on top of the arena with a massive alliance to just a small trio. Of course, that was intentional on my part. Had they stuck together as this large alliance of friendship and goodwill, they would have just run over the other tributes and made everything very uninteresting. Well, until the end, where they would’ve been forced to turn on one another. 
That wraps up this day. See you all on Day 7!
===Day 7===
Hello, everyone! In this next stage of the reread we will be discussing the seventh day of the 325th Games, titled “Vengeance”. To be honest I am not entirely sure why that’s the title, but it probably has something to do with Mist and the Anti’s trying to get revenge for all the betrayals yesterday. Actually, never mind. That’s obviously the reason for the title.
Onwards!
The first POV of the day is from Shade and has him and the other two remaining Anti’s discussing how they should approach the day. Wolbert suggests they hunt down some loners and the other two agree immediately. This was advice driven, as SuperTomato had told Wolbert to take down some of the loners, and Mist wanted them to target Dexter and Acheron. As it happened, both of those two were on direct opposite ends of the arena, so it wasn’t actually possible for them to try and fight both in the same day. I wound up having them choose Dexter for several reasons. 1: Dexter’s advice was for him to create a fire and try to draw both the Anti’s and Fressa’s trio to him, forcing them to fight one another. 2: I didn’t want Acheron getting involved in any real altercation yet. I was still keen on playing up his complete stealth, and I didn’t think it would make sense for Mist to even know where in the arena he was. 
In this next POV, Fressa and her allies set the forest on fire and thoroughly ruin Dexter’s plan. Unlike some other situations, I don’t think this was intentional. From looking at the advice it doesn’t seem like Nick was actively trying to thwart Chris’ plan, and was just trying to make his own clever strategy. Anyway, the fire progresses faster than they thought, so the trio is forced to run through the burning woods to escape. A nice battle scene then occurs when Thalia shows up, resulting in the death of herself and Chumps. 
Thalia only died because she did not receive advice. She was a deadly character who killed many tributes, being one of only ten tributes in the series to make five or more kills in a single Games. Unfortunately for her, lack of advice and storyline led to her demise in this forest. As for Chumps, she’d become a redundant character ever since the arena merger. For the past few days she’d been mostly relegated to being Fressa’s henchman and Nick himself didn’t even send separate advice for her, so killing her off was an easy call. 
In this next Wolbert POV, we watch as Dexter flees the burning forest and is promptly struck with Shade’s arrow before being finished with Mist’s axe. As I mentioned before, Dexter’s plan was ruined by Fressa burning the forest down. He originally had camouflaged himself atop a tree and was waiting for the Anti’s and Fressa’s group to battle it out before swooping in and taking supplies off the dead bodies, but since the forest was on fire, he couldn’t exactly sit in a tree and hide. 
An interesting note about Dexter is that practically everything he does in this arena is off-screen and never directly mentioned. Yesterday he was the one who burnt the grove down and lured the mutts to the cornucopia, but that’s never discussed in the Games itself. Likewise, his plan here is literally never mentioned outside of Mist spotting the smoke from his fire earlier in the day. All of that has the unfortunate byproduct of making Dexter seem far more invisible and uninvolved than he really was. (Side note: My brother was a fan of Dexter and his death here made him hate the Anti’s even more. He said that they were the real Careers in these Games.)
This Josool POV is mostly a status update that gives us an idea of what is happening with the remaining Careers and Hazel. Galina makes a quick escape as they arrive at the north lake, then Josool laments his lack of food. Josool also mentions how Hazel thinks the lake will be important for future plans, and my rereading of advice shows that Chris did indeed tell Hazel that the lake would be important. From the best of my knowledge nothing ever comes from this, though, so I don’t know what to say. Maybe Chris remembers more about this?
Acheron has set traps and is waiting in the trees for someone to approach. Nothing for me to add here, really. 
Piper and Harley sit around the south lake bemoaning their lack of food. Certain groups are way more active than others, and these recaps clearly show that. 
Galina is still running around being snarky. I have nothing to add.
Missy and her friends gather around the river and Elecc talks up the need to kill people so that they can get better sponsor gifts. His gung-ho attitude towards killing is in sharp contrast to Missy, who reveals that her dreams have been plagued with nightmares of her killing Violetta. Once again this shows that Missy truly is one of the most empathetic tributes and the heart of this series. Oh, Chip and Vision are also both here. You may have forgotten that they’re even characters, because neither one has really done anything for quite some time. Vision at least had some interesting scenes in the female arena, but Chip has done practically nothing for the entirety of the Games.
The day ends with the quartet observing the Anthem and then learning about the Feast announcement. The Feast here is unique in several aspects, including the fact that it occurs on the eighth day, the latest day in the series for a Feast to take place. I’ll save discussing this in more detail for the next day, however, so I will bid you all goodbye here.
See you then!
===Day 8===
Welcome back to the reread! In this section we will be covering the eighth and penultimate day of the 325th Games, entitled “Feast”. I don’t think it’s necessary to explain why I chose that title, so I’m just going to move straight on to discussing the Feast itself. 
Earlier I said that this Feast was unique in several aspects and now I’ll discuss why that is. First off, as previously mentioned, this Feast takes place later on in the Games than any other in the series. Secondly, at the time of its launch it had seventeen tributes still alive, quite a large number. This isn’t the most (the 327th had more) but it’s a departure from the average Feast. Thirdly, practically no one actually benefits from this Feast. Out of the seventeen bags supplied at the cornucopia, only two of them wind up in the hands of a tribute. Namely Fressa and Missy. That’s right! Only two Feast bags end up being claimed by anyone! Interestingly enough, I don’t even remember what was inside Fressa’s bag! I know that the bag Missy claims (which was originally Josool’s) had fast food inside it, but I don’t think the item inside Fressa’s is ever detailed. 
Well, onto the actual POVs!
We start off with one from Fressa that has her and Giller directly approaching the cornucopia. This day kicks off right at the Feast, which is a decision I find a little strange. I don’t remember why I chose to do this, so I can’t really comment on my thought process here. At any rate, I do think it’s a little disconcerting, but at the same time it’s a pretty bombastic way to start the day. 
Fressa and Giller get attacked by the Careers just as they’re beginning to start a fire, and Giller winds up dead by Josool’s arrow. Fressa then manages to successfully start the fire and burns all of the supplies, Feast bags, and Cole himself. There’s a lot to unpack here, so I’m going to break it down piece by piece.
First off, the vast majority of the tributes not only chose to avoid the Feast, but they didn’t even name what was inside their bag. That was problematic in two regards. One, I had to personally decide what was inside each bag. Two, whichever tribute wound up winning at the Feast would end up with seventeen bags of helpful items, basically becoming unstoppable. Naturally you can see why I didn’t want that happening. Originally I was concerned with how I was going to deal with this situation, but then Nick’s advice came in with Fressa’s plan to burn the leftover bags. While this plan actually wound up harming her strategically (she would’ve had all the bags to herself if she didn’t burn them!) it did help me out by giving me an avenue to handily erase all the bags from existence. 
Now, as for the deaths which took place here…Neither Giller nor Cole received any advice, so once again it was just me removing inactive players from the board. As both of them were brought to the Feast by their ally’s advice—Giller by Fressa and Cole by Josool—it was pretty easy to use this as an opportunity to eliminate them and give the Feast itself an exciting action sequence. It was unfortunate for both Josool and Cole that SuperTomato told Josool to attend, because that was the catalyst for their deaths. Hazel had come up with her own plan (more on that in a bit) and told the two of them to avoid attending, but since Josool was advised to attend, I had to make a choice. What would Cole do in-universe? Listen to Hazel and stay away? Or attend the Feast? Considering the kind of guy Cole is, I thought it made way more sense for him to disregard Hazel’s warnings and head for the Feast. The rest is history. 
In these next POVs, Josool flees the Feast and gets caught in Elecc’s trap. While he ends up being killed, he manages to fire off two arrows and kills Chip and Vision in the process. I don’t know how to feel about this occurrence. Obviously I was trying to remove some tributes while simultaneously proving Josool was a threat, but the way this comes about feels lazy. What do you all think about this? Clever or lazy? 
Anyway, I doubted anyone would miss Chip or Vision. Kekai had long since given up on sending Vision any advice, while Chip was hardly a character at all. Honestly, it’s 
surprising he made it as far as he did! 
In this next POV Hazel mentally berates Cole and Josool for being stubborn idiots and then sets the north grove on fire in an effort to force the wolf mutts towards the cornucopia. This was the exact same plan that Dexter did on the sixth day and I have no idea why Chris thought it would work again here. All of the mutts were killed by the Anti’s earlier, and I really didn’t like the idea of repeating a previous occurrence again. Especially not when sending mutts to a Feast filled with traps and fire would have been overkill. 
Piper returns to Harley empty-handed, having arrived at the Feast after everything had been destroyed. Soon a deranged Nymph comes running onto the scene and is swiftly dispatched by Piper before the Anti’s arrive. The trio of them had captured Nymph off-screen and were using her as bait to try and flush Acheron out of hiding. Unfortunately for them, Piper and Harley happened to be in the exact same biome, so it didn’t work as they intended. This was all Mist’s advice, and I thought it was pretty clever. Of course, it doesn’t work, but that’s because I wanted to preserve Acheron’s sense of mystery and not have him actually encounter anyone else yet. 
The trio of Anti’s manage to kill Piper by the virtue of their superior numbers. I really like how this whole encounter plays out and it is probably one of my favorite scenes from these Games. There’s a good mix of action and humor here, thanks to Harley’s zany comments. It’s a fitting end for both Piper and Nymph, two tributes who were good characters which had the unfortunate luck of not really having any sense of direction or storyline. Nymph is noteworthy for making it this far into the Games without ever so much as touching a weapon, and she probably would have gone even further if Mist hadn’t actively targeted her with his advice. Honestly? If Nymph was allowed to reach the final day I think there would have been a very real possibility that she’d wind up Victor, especially after Nick gave up on Fressa.
The final POV of the day is from Harley and shows how lost and alone he is without Piper. It’s a good characterization scene that was meant to make people more sympathetic to the guy. Anyway, the announcement of there being four Victors, two male and two female, takes place and the day comes to a swift end. 
As for that Victor rule…I’ve mentioned before how it was originally just going to be two Victors, one male and one female, but I ended up increasing it to four because I couldn’t make up my mind on who I wanted to win. At the time I finished writing day 8 I was leaning towards Fressa for the girls and either Acheron or Mist/Shade for the boys. It was mostly the fact that I couldn’t decide between the guys that pushed me into increasing the Victor count. Honestly, as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t think it makes much sense for there to be four Victors. Nowadays I probably wouldn’t have done this, meaning that there would only be two Victors. Who would these two be? That’s a good question. For the girls it’d probably be Hazel, but the guys would’ve been harder to choose. Knowing what I do now about the series story, I would probably have chosen Acheron, but at the time I hadn’t quite figured out all of the details yet, so it’s possible it would’ve been Mist.
Well, that wraps up this day. Next time I will be covering the final day of these Games, so stay tuned for that! 
===Day 9===
Welcome back to the reread! This time we will be discussing the final day of the 325th Games, aptly titled “Finale”. I haven’t actually reread this particular day in a fair bit, so it’ll be interesting to see it again. If my memory serves me correctly, then I remember it having a rather strange and lackluster finale, but I’ll guess we’ll see if my memory is right, won’t we? 
Onwards we go!
The day kicks off with a POV from Mist that features the separation of the Anti’s, then Mist and Shade successfully killing off Harley. First off, the decision to send Wolbert on a quest to fight Acheron was advice driven. Mist (the user) didn’t want his guys to personally kill Wolbert, so he gave him a task that would pretty much guarantee his death. SuperTomato, for his part, told Wolbert to just follow along with whatever they told him, except he wanted Wolbert to try and ally with Acheron if possible. I’ll save discussing that for later; right now I’ll cover Harley’s death. 
As much as I liked Harley, the decision to kill him here was very easy. He was the only tribute who reached the finale to not receive any advice, he was completely unarmed, and he was alone. There was absolutely no chance he could ever defeat Shade and Mist in a fight, especially since Mist (the user) specifically targeted him with his advice. Unfortunately for Harley, this was the end of the line. 
Next up is a POV from Wolbert that has him futilely trying to align with Acheron before being slain by the mysterious guy. I was actually pretty tempted to have Acheron accept his alliance proposal so that the two of them could have a showdown with Mist and Shade later on in the Games, but there were two main things stopping me from going this direction. One, it wouldn’t make any sense for Acheron’s character to have him align with another person. Two, Kekai’s advice had strictly told Acheron to not ally with anyone for any reason. So, since Wolbert had no chance against Acheron in an actual fight, he became the second tribute on this day to more-or-less have his death lain out by outside factors such as advice and logic. 
The third POV of the day is Galina’s, and it has her aligned with Hazel as they stake out the arrival of Missy and Elecc. I skipped over how these two came together because I didn’t think it would be very interesting to write or read; both of them needed an ally and they were the only option available. They also intended to align with Harley, but considering that he received no advice of his own and was otherwise targeted, I opted to not feature that. 
Chris and Andy both actually had very detailed advice for this day that kept changing, making it hard for me to get a good grasp on how this sequence would play out. Since a lot of it depended on contingencies and what-ifs, I decided to just make things as simple as possible and have them get in a straight out fight with Missy and Fressa. Before I get to that, however, I will discuss Elecc’s death here.
When Nick gave up on Fressa, he had also given up on Elecc. Unlike with Fressa, I hadn’t ever considered Elecc winning, so this didn’t shake up my plans for him too much. Honestly, things probably would’ve gone pretty similarly to how they did even if Nick hadn’t given up. Since Nick basically tried having them both work to ensure that Mist and Missy won, I decided that Elecc would die while protecting Missy. This makes sense for his character, the storyline, and Nick’s advice, so I thought it was a pretty good way to go. As I just mentioned, this same thing probably would have occurred even if Nick had been trying. 
The next POV is from Hazel and features a lot of fighting and the eventual death of Fressa. Something you may have noticed is that, despite Fressa having received advice telling her to ensure Missy won, in-text she is never shown or mentioned to be attempting to do that. The reason for this is that I wanted to avoid another “Swatty suddenly cares about Bluffy” situation. I prefer for my stories to be internally consistent, and I did not think it made much in-universe sense for Fressa to suddenly want somebody else to win over herself. So the way I chose to resolve this was by having Fressa only fight Missy’s enemies without actually saying that’s what she was doing. In-text there’s no indication that she’s attempting to help Missy here; just that she’s currently trying to kill Galina. 
Anyway, Hazel dispatches Fressa with a poison dart right before she can finish off Galina, then Galina returns the favor by preventing Missy from turning Hazel into a pincushion. A wounded Hazel then realizes that it doesn’t matter who wins the fight between Missy and Galina, and she decides to just sit back and watch them kill each other. This is a logical move that fits very well with Hazel’s character. Despite having been allied with Galina, she doesn’t really know the girl at all and has no obligation to help her stay alive. 
This rolls nicely into the next POV, which is from Missy and wraps up the female Victors. It’s an interesting fight scene that ends with Galina skewering herself on an arrow, but my biggest takeaway is probably the fact that Galina attempts to use Missy’s bow to fire an arrow at her…without having any arrows. I mean, surely Galina is smart enough to understand how bows work, right? What exactly was she trying to launch at Missy? Compressed air? I don’t know. That scene is just wonky and kinda out of place. 
Anyway, Missy and Hazel are crowned Victors. While Hazel was always one of the tributes I’d had an interest in, Missy was definitely someone who grew on me as the Games progressed. When I first started writing these I didn’t have much of an opinion on her, but the longer it went on the more I came to see and understand her brand of character. That said, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out she only became Victor because of Nick giving up on Fressa. Heck, had Nymph survived the penultimate day then she probably would’ve won over her too! Yet don’t get me wrong. Missy is a good character and definitely someone I enjoyed writing. Even with all these outside factors, I have absolutely no regrets with either of these two female Victors. 
Oh, one last thing before I move on. Missy makes a big show of thanking Elecc for saving her life and says she’ll never be able to repay him for that—which is all fine and good—but I find it funny how she practically never thinks about him again after this moment. I mean, yes, we don’t exactly have much screentime with Missy after this (just a few 327th POVs and the 333rd) but I probably should’ve included a line about him somewhere. Oh well.
The next POV is from Mist and is very short and succinct. Him and Shade arrive after ball the fighting is over, learn that the female Victors have been crowned, then Acheron sneaks up and beheads Shade. This was really the only way to have Acheron win. I mean, him killing his last opponent without them ever knowing he was there? Priceless.
As for how I decided that he would kill Shade opposed to Mist? I’ve answered this in these very comments, so I’ll just copy and paste my answer here: One of the reasons was that Mist is much more emphatic then Shade was. Shade's death would have a larger impact on Mist than the reverse would have hade on Shade. That's not to say that Shade wouldn't have cared at all, he would have, but it would have had less effect on him then it had on Mist.
Another reason was because of the Spectrus family. I knew that Mist (the user) was planning on submitting more members of the family into my Games, and I thought that Shade dying would leave them with a better storyline then him winning. A third reason was that I felt Mist (the user) cared more for Mist then he did Shade. Normally a creators own opinion on their tribute doesn't effect anything, but in this case, where I had already decided one of the two would win, I eventually decided to go with the one the creator seemed to like most. 
And the final reason was a pure logic one. I felt that Acheron would attack Shade first, simply because he viewed him as the larger threat. 
So there you have it! All four Victors are crowned! Despite the Games being over, there’s actually two POVs left. One from Acheron, which details his very on-brand reaction to the conclusion, and another from Mist. I don’t really have anything to add on those, though, so I will be wrapping things up here. 
This finale was…well, it was something. Honestly I don’t really like how little buildup it has. People kinda just wander onto the scene and die. There’s no real bombastic set piece or exciting Gamemaker event that draws the tributes together. Everyone just wanders into each other and fights. That’s probably not the biggest flaw, but it’s definitely something that sticks out to me. Especially since this was a Quell. You’d expect one of those to have a more over-the-top and in-your-face style finale then what we wound up with here. It’s not bad, mind you, but it is very basic and I wouldn’t be surprised if anyone was disappointed with it. 
Now, as for the 325th Games as a whole, I think that while it doesn’t necessarily hold up to modern day standards, it definitely was one of the best Games of its time. A problem I’ve had with looking back at these old Games is that I’ve been judging them based on how Games play out nowadays as opposed to comparing them to their contemporaries. These shine with a much brighter light when viewed in that regard. That said, I can’t just write off any criticism I have with these. The biggest of which is probably the fact that the first two arenas feature way less action and character development than the third does, making them somewhat of a slog to get through. With this reread I don’t mean to be too harsh, but I am an innate critic of myself and feel compelled to point out mistakes and flaws when I see one. Anyway, I can’t think of much more to say about these from the top of my head, so just let me know if you have any further questions or concerns about these Games. 
I’ll end this here. Next up on the reread agenda is the 326th, which definitely has a lot of things for me to comment but on. That bloodbath…Oh boy. Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. 
See you then!
==326th Annual Hunger Games== 
===Introduction===
Welcome! The reread has finally reached the 326th Games! First off, as per usual, I will be leaving a link to the Games which we will be discussing below. 
What are most people’s thoughts on the 326th? For some reason I thought these Games were polarizing, but I don’t really know why I thought that. Maybe it’s because my own opinion of these Games is so mixed. These definitely had an interesting and compelling story with some well-developed characters in Frade and Doug, but the problem is the fact that this particular story literally dominated the Games to the point where there was practically no other story. I’ll touch on some more specific beats when I reach them, but I just wanted to mention that straight off the bat. 
Unlike with some of the other Games, I don’t have much to say about the creation of these. I created the 326th right before the final day of the 325th, so there wasn’t much delay between the ending of those and the beginning of these. The only thing of note I can really say is that means people submitted tributes to these before knowing the results of the 325th. Which, of course, means Mist (the user) submitted Frade before Shade had died, which helped me decide that Mist (the tribute) would survive over him.
Oh, one last thing to note about tribute submittals. Instead of Charce and Watt, Nick had originally submitted two different tributes of his, Pixie Nuke and Darlexx Velvet. This is relevant because Charce and Watt are quite important to the series but very nearly wound up not being included at all! I wonder how that alternate universe turned out. Who won the 326th? Who was the fourth Victor of the 327th? This might be one of the biggest “what-if” questions in the series! Actually, now that I am thinking about this, I would like to take the opportunity to directly ask Nick why he ended up swapping Pixie and Darlexx for Charce and Watt. I’ve always wondered what the reason was!
Well, with that preamble out of the way, let’s move onto the next section!
===The Users===
Only two users make their first appearance here in the 326th. That might be because there’s only eleven users who had a tribute in these Games at all. The 326th are also the only Games in the series where Max did not compete. I do not know the reason for that, but I hope Max himself can supply us with an answer. 
Equestria Girl: This is Haley/MissRandStuff’s sister. I never questioned their blood relation before, but considering that Connor has previously said that Haley herself was actually a different person, I am no longer sure if this user is actually her sister. Maybe one of you knows more, but that information is about the end of my knowledge on her. She only competed in the 326th with one tribute, Seafoam, who placed 18th. 
Socks6363: I don’t really know anything about this person, but I’ve long suspected that they know Chris in real life. Yes, I know that this claim alongside my prior suspicions of Nick being two people might make me seem crazy, but I have actual reasons for this! First off, the only thing they’ve ever done on the wiki was to compete in CIMW’s Games alongside Chris, then disappear for eight months before reappearing to join the 326th. The one other thing they did on the wiki was join Chris’ own Games. Not to mention that at one point in the 327th they sent Chris’ advice for him, and had the habit of misspelling “careers” as “carriers” just like young Chris did. To be honest, I’ve always just assumed they were his friend, but recently I noticed that their name is “Socks6363” and that calls to mind the possibility of this being a sockpuppet account. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just a paranoid maniac who spouts crazy conspiracy theories, but I guess Chris himself can clarify for us! Anyway, they’ve competed in two Games, the 326th and 327th, and their highest placement is Jenessa at 8th. 
===District 1 & 2 Reaping===
First things first, I have to say that, much like Karma before him, I’ve always felt Warwickite was just an inferior version of Dragon. I mean, a cold-hearted maniac from District 1 who loves to kill? Maybe Dragon coming first soured me on these other guys, but I personally don’t think any of them match his level of interesting, especially since they are the exact same archetype as him. Dragon was completely over-the-top to a way that masked the complete monstrosity of his character and made him more compelling, while Warwickite and Karma lacked that. Karma at least was secretive about his killings. Warwickite? Not so much. 
After all, I skinned by parents alive, amputated my sisters’ leg and have been living on the streets killing anyone who I see for the past year.
^That‘a a direct quote from the Reaping referencing his backstory, and I have to say that it actively harms his character more than it helps. Am I supposed to believe Warwickite has been wandering the streets for a year, killing everyone he sees, and hasn’t been caught and executed yet? I mean, maybe he would’ve been able to get away with that in District 12, where they have comparatively little Peacekeeper presence, or District 6, which is so large he could easily pass under the radar, but in District 1? There’s no way he would’ve remained undetected. 
Anyway, not much happens in this Reaping beyond Warwickite letting you know how much of an edgelord with a god-complex he is, so I’ll comment a bit on Kate. 
Honestly? I remember being very lukewarm on her at the outset of these Games. That’s because I didn’t quite like the way her character was represented. Kate is simultaneously a skater girl and a former diehard Career who had a change of heart, only to be forced into the Games against her will. Both of those things are very good concepts for a tribute…but I didn’t like how they were put together. Had Kate picked one lane and stayed in it, I would’ve been much higher on her than I originally was. That said, Kate actually winds up doing more and lasting longer than I thought she would, and that’s mostly due to Chris’ advice. I never really came to like her character, but her role in the story was definitely something I enjoyed, and that propelled her to greater heights than she normally would’ve reached. Kate was actually supposed to die in the bloodbath before my last minute change up, so that in itself is a good indicator of how things can change between the Reaping and the bloodbath! 
Before I wrap up the District 1 portion of this section, I have one more quote for you all.
Except for last year of course, where four tributes won after the Gamemakers became weak-minded. Rumor on the street though is that the President wasn’t too happy about how things ended and was furious with the Gamemakers. Last years Head Gamemaker, Romeo Gallagher, and several others even got replaced.
^That’s a reference to how I couldn’t make up my mind and ended up just arbitrarily increasing the Victor count. The fact that the Gamemakers got replaced is a shot at myself for being so soft-hearted. Haha. Take that, me!
Onto District 2!
I like Ella as a character and think that she plays her role in these Games well, but I have to say that I do not like the way her backstory is told in this Reaping. It is very clumsy and feels like an info-dump. I should have wrote this in a way that would’ve related the necessary information in a more natural and appropriate way. For some reason I must have felt compelled to include every single bit of information from the backstory which…isn’t good. Sometimes less is more, especially when it comes to these overly convoluted backstories. 
Ella volunteering for her younger cousin is nice foreshadowing for how she eventually ends up trying to protect Cassie. Of course, I had no possible way of predicting that would ever happen in the Games but, as I said before, accidental foreshadowing is still foreshadowing!
Jeffrey is also showcased here. For the life of me I can’t figure out why Mist decided to make an expy of Jeff the Killer, but that’s exactly what Jeffrey is. Much like with Kate, I did not really click with Jeff’s character from the outset. I thought he was too outlandish and—you guessed it—too much of a Jeff the Killer ripoff to take seriously. He ends up doing surprisingly well, but I don’t really think there’s a particular reason for that. I never had a Eureka! moment with him, at least. 
That’ll wrap up the Reapings for this section. Something I’ve noticed is that only one of the four tributes featured here actually attended the Career Academy, and that was Kate, who didn’t even want to compete. Considering that Ryan is also not an attendant, that means the only Career District tribute who actually wanted to compete in the Games was Seafoam and Olympic. Which probably explains why they didn’t fare so well. 
See you next time.
===District 5 & 6 Reaping===
Well, welcome back to the reread! It has been a particularly long gap between updates, but that’s because I’ve spent most of my free time writing the the 24th. Now that I’ve got a litttle pause between days, I can get back to work on these. Without further ado, let’s discuss the District 5 Reaping!
I don’t think I ever got confirmation on this, but I think Bonnie was based on the character with the same name from The Walking Dead video game. At least she shares many of the same traits and experiences as that character, so I assume she was influenced by that. Who knows, maybe I’m completely wrong? 
Anyway, I liked Bonnie as a character and she actually survived my first write-up of the bloodbath. In fact, the remnant of that can still be found in the writing itself, where due to a mistake there is a paragraph describing Bonnie fleeing from the bloodbath…after she’d already died. 
That bloodbath in general was a mess for me to write, but I’ll get to that later. Suffice to say, I made a pretty big mistake that I’ve gone out of my way to avoid replicating ever since. 
This Reaping also has an appearance from Missy and makes a reference to Kulver Tarros. I originally was setting this up for Kulver to make an appearance as a mentor in later Games, but I somewhat forgot about this idea so it never materialized. I also just realized that the Games which Kulver won have never been confirmed. The most we know is that he was District 5’s most recent Victor prior to Missy’s own Victory. 
This Reaping also features Philo, and I’ve always liked him. He’s a good example of how I say that not every tribute has to have a long complicated backstory or nebulous explanation. Philo is a simple giant with an easy to understand premise that works very well and doesn’t require anything too complicated for a reader to get a grasp on his character and story. As I’ve said before, not every tribute needs a whole novel for a backstory to be an effective character. 
Onto District 6!