Just realized I never reviewed the epilogue so here I am giving you what I owe you!

I thought the time jumping here was a great stylistic and narrative choice so we can get a wide range of what she has been up to since we saw her win. Going from being stuck in the hospital where she couldn't do anything and being constantly monitored to going home and realizing she can't have her life the way it once was really struck home and was such a great transition. I also loved how one of the first things she did when she woke up was tell her mentor to never talk to her again and let him have it, she never needed him and she will never need him again, good riddance to him honestly. Such a great full circle moment.

In the end I loved that you included the orders from the President that she must become a mentor for the tributes in the upcoming Games. I love how it was forced on her and she knew what the words meant even if she so desperately denied wanting to do it. The closing line from her dad was so powerful and really shows just how hard it is for the mentors to get into the right frame of mind when they need to start mentoring. He was totally right and I think deep down she knows this and I wonder how this will affect her mentoring style in the future and if maybe, just maybe, she takes her dads advice she can bring home one of those kids so she doesn't have to face all of this alone anymore.

Great story overall Olive, honestly I am so happy you came back to write more stories even if it is only temporary with everything going on in the world right now. Your writing has always been standout to me as one of my favorites on this site and thank you for accepting and writing Orienne the way you did! It's been a pleasure reading this story and I hope you write a couple more even after TWW!

epilogue.
yeah FUCK aubin! that’s the last person madina deserves to see after she wakes up from being in the arena. honestly love that response from her. she’s so allowed to feel furious at him!
a month and a half. jesus. she’s really not doing so hot.
it’s good she’s got someone on her side, even if she still doesn’t fully trust him. I loved the detail of how the wind outside her window reminds her of the arena and how, even a month out, she’s still completely on edge. yes, the mind heals slower than the body. that was a really nice line as well.
ugh, yeah. she wants d8 to feel like home but nowhere will anymore. poor girl. she’s stuck.
oh my gosh, that’s right. she and milan had that bond where they always seemed to find each other. good thing his wasn’t the first speech she had to do or she never would have gotten through it.
you know how I feel about shitty mentors and i’m gonna try to not make an exception for madina but I kind of get it? it’s her first time back. I just hope she can help them more going forward, because ignoring them won’t help her mental state at all. she’s cursed to be unhappy for life, but maybe having other victors around might help her feel a little less lonely.

and that’s a wrap on FE! I just remembered my favorite part of this story: when you made goose mutts that were literally just geese. I think about this at least twice a day. probably the funniest shit i’ve ever seen.

alright go team! off to TTW, but before I dip- excellent job with this story. I loved my d7 kids so much. rest in peace everyone!

I am HERE as promised

night 8- finale! ooooOOo
I remember really pulling for airla here because careers always get taken out by the others and I honestly saw her as the underdog in this fight.
I love the complexity though of emrys/madina teaming up (sort of) and then emrys stepping back like… why would he risk his neck for her. that’s totally legitimate.
then when they have to turn back on each other! I love the energy here— how quickly they’re both forced to flip the switch. there’s no lingering loyalty, which is smart. it could have been anyone’s game but i’m pleased with the victor. I would have liked any of these 3!
i’d answer the questions but i’d have to go back and reread parts to remember which parts I loved best and that’s really gonna slow my roll especially if i’m getting through all your reviews today so- when i’m caught up i’ll be answering questions! hehe
and yes you know I love them epilogues might go back and reread some and cry? idk

i'm SO LATE to the party on this one dxcfgvhbj omg i'm sorry xD but again, better late than never. this finale was, without exaggeration, wholly epic; having madina and emrys team up to take on airla made sense, but the immediate flip/change in madina's attitude when she realizes emrys is close to getting our pseudo-career out is also quite realistic and speaks to the development that madina's undergone with his games plotline; she's become far more opportunistic and is rooted in a survivalist mentality, so as soon as she's confronted with the opportunity to attack (and not have it be detrimental) she takes it. very nice. also, emrys continually lapsing into periods of doubt while fighting against airla (because of the way that madina impacted koda's death earlier, in part - there's still a tension between them, even with the truce), but ultimately keeping pragmatic about working with madina because he sees her as less of a threat made total sense... unfortunately, his judgment was thrown a bit. madina's one of the characters who played the game hardest, and that's what led her to become a victor; she wasn't an obvious threat, but she was gritty, smart, and utterly determined to survive.

some quick eulogies for the two that passed this chapter:

airla - never one of my favorites, but such a well-crafted character that i always appreciated her. as an early version of the careers we know from THG canon, she absolutely seems like a forebearer for the way career training will shape up in your universe moving forward; and as a person, her mindset coupled with her training helped mold her into an archetype that i've always appreciated but don't see nearly as often as i'd like to. honorable, even stalwart, a trained tribute and a proven killer in the games, but one who was composed and humane. while she was self-sufficient, she didn't seem to act out of self-interest through a lot of the games; she took into account the feelings of other tributes based on what she gleaned from them, effectively marking her as a merciful killer who did what she did out of necessity, never personal interest/desire. i ended up liking her a lot by the end of the games.

emrys - oh man... my favorite tribute in FE honestly? like i'm not even gonna try and pretend otherwise... his cynicism, his snark, his semi-callousness and refusal to display vulnerability or openly feel his emotions early on was intriguing, but once we saw him extend that alliance offer to sena, subsequently lose her in the bloodbath, and then later lose colm and koda to the very bombs he'd been encouraging them to make, he really started to flourish further. sure, he was still cynical and a bit abrasive, and he definitely continued to act in line with self-interests, but there was a path of internalized guilt and deep remorse built up there that you just characterized so well. he was struggling by the end, mentally if not as much physically, taking responsibility for the acts he was involved with in the arena and letting them really define his view of himself. some really powerful shit here.

okayyyyy and now we have... the victor! madina! i'm SHOOK but i'm honestly grinning like mad i'm so glad that this girl powered through all the obstacles set in her path to emerge victorious from a games where the odds were definitely stacked against her. from aubin's awful treatment of her as a person, not to mention turning all his attention to harland and doing nothing for madina's benefit, to harland's betrayal of her during training, starting the games as a loner without sponsors who was generally somewhat unliked because of her attitude through the pregames, madina was an underdog going into the games, and so i think having her win is deeply satisfying. she's a testament to the fact that personal strength and hardiness outweigh the judgment, scrutiny and opinions of others; she went through the games acting on her own terms (shooting harland, trucing with milan, her interactions with orienne/eleni and koda/emrys) and it WORKED. she'll have a lot of demons to contend with once she's out, but she'll make it work. she's proven that she's resilient and capable of bouncing back from pain once already.

side note... one of the only times i've seen a loner (from the very beginning) actually win the games? way to flip the usual tropes on their head. lone wolf win is something i'm HERE for.

okay, questions time!

favorite tribute - hasn't changed since the last time i reviewed, when we still had thirteen left! gotta be emrys, with madina as a close second. loved the both of them so much. notable mentions to airla, zaid and milan, all of whom grew on me as time went on.

most memorable death - laurent. not because his death was the most standout or shocking, and not because the fight was even the most intense... it was just SO SATISFYING to see him go; he was truly this story's games antagonist, and it's always neat to watch them get taken down or meet their end. i'm a fan of antagonists so i appreciate what he brought to the story, and honestly? like him for how utterly detestable he was. love to hate character for me.

which scene was the most memorable - okay i'm biased but THE SNOWBALL FIGHT DCFVGBHJYT? with ainsley and vervain. it brought some much needed levity and lightheartedness into a games that was otherwise quite dark. but bias aside, i have to say that zaid's death and airla's reaction to it was painful as hell and so bittersweet afterward... that reunion and subsequent loss... an emotional moment for sure and one of the hardest-hitting ones.

who would i have chosen as victor? honestly madina's an awesome choice. no disagreement here. i might've gone for emrys when we hit the final three but that's just personal preference. tbh i also think madina deserved it more though... again, we love seeing that underdog victory arc.

this story's been amazing. and the word count! the speed! the intensity and depth put into each chapter! the emotional weight of so many moments throughout! you are prolific! thanks so much for writing, and i'm glad i was able to be a part of this story in some small way as well. it's been a wild ride and it's sad to see it over, but all good things must come to an end eventually. i'm excited for TTW! shall be working my way through reviews on that one soon.

I'm having a review catch-up today — I really need one since I've been MIA for the past two weeks. Let's see how long I can go before my procrastination hits me...

It would be best to give my thoughts on the Victor — Madina. Yep, I predicted and really agree with this choice of victor. You'll see no complaints from me. No one else in this story has had quite the development or endured the struggle that Madina has went through. Honestly, I'd go as far as to say Madina had the only real development aside from Malachi. It felt like the other tributes were so stuck in their old ways and refused to change, whereas Madina quickly adapted to this world and thrived in it from the beginning.

Aubin and Harland fucked her over and created a no-holds-barred war machine. She was an underdog, but not a typical sort of underdog that just gets beaten down over and over again and somehow pulls off a victory. She was the sort of underdog like Buster Douglas who nobody expected to win but then went on to outbox and lay Tyson the fuck out in front of the entire world. Madina just dominated from start to finish. I've never seen an 'underdog' perform this well in a Games and she really had everything going against her here. I can't say I necessarily felt *strongly* about Madina personality-wise — I really feel like her actions did the talking for her. She was very Lara Croft to me — just a badass survivor who maybe I couldn't relate to or connect with mentally, but admired and respected for her personal development and her incredible display of endurance and willpower.

I'd like to leave my thoughts on some of the other deaths real quick. First, Malachi. Yeah, I was pretty upset when I read this initially, I won't lie. Out of everyone in the story, I really connected with Malachi and I was so sure he was going to survive because of his amazing development. But then, my incredibly smart tribute Valya (we'll get to her in a minute), goes and shoots him AFTER he saves her life. Like...? Okay. You're welcome! If it wasn't gonna be Madina, it was gonna be Malachi. That's what I kept saying, and well, meh. But I loved him, and it's too bad what happened. People just make rash decisions. RIP Malachi.

Now Valya. Sigh. Despite the fact that I made this character, I can honestly say that I grew to really dislike her. I had my own ideas about what should have been done with her, how her story could have been resolved with Laurent. How perhaps she could've saved Malachi from Laurent's wrath or something. But this isn't my story and I have to respect that. Valya to me as a character never developed — she just felt stagnant and to me, regressed into being this sobbing, insecure girl making all the most bizarre, counterproductive decisions. I just could not relate to her at all, which is hilarious. I'm not saying I would have treated her with the utter disrespect that Laurent did, but I probably would have lost my patience with her at some point.

I don't mind that she died at all, like yeah I absolutely anticipated it and had in mind a few ways that could have been achieved earlier in the story. To me it's the *how* and tbh I just don't understand why she'd kill Malachi but then hesitate as Laurent was screaming in her face. Stockholm Syndrome? Panic Attack? Ugh, I think it's just the fact that it was Laurent, the only person I felt she should have shot, and she didn't and just allowed him to bully her *again* like a scared little girl seriously irked me. At that point I just said "well she deserved it!" She had every chance and didn't take it, but then when someone helps her, then she takes it when they turn their back. It's completely asinine.

You wrote her so well, and took her in a direction that was quite different than what I'd originally imagined. I feel like Airla and her were fairly similar in personality, and perhaps that's why Valya faded into the background a lot. Her backstory was not as standout — it was very family-oriented and personal with the aspects of her missing brother and the tough family life and there probably wasn't a lot you could do with that. I was surprised to see her make it this far into the Games, but you definitely saw something in her and took her in an interesting, unseen direction for an early Career.

RIP Val. She can go and find her brother now.

Laurent. Yeah, personally, I felt like maybe Valya and Laurent's deaths could have been switched up here because it seemed like when the flood happened, Airla and Laurent suddenly became agreeable with each other and I was a little confused. I'm so glad he finally died, no offense, but man what a smug prick. He died in the flood but to me he got off easy. He deserved so much worse. rip ya douchebag.

I could never connect with Airla, but she had a purpose in this story and I could see why you took her far. She always felt so serious and uptight to me. Emrys was so underrated — yeah he was an asshole and I felt like he was becoming less of an asshole but still hung onto that which made him realistic. He was manipulative and domineering to an extent, and wasn't seeing the mental anguish he was causing for Koda. Emrys just wanted to win and had the ability to do it with the bombs and never had a plan B for after that. He didn't deserve it as much as the other tributes — he was a very flawed, insecure person but he still had a heart, which I loved. RIP Emrys.

Loved Madina's ending and god that scene where she yelled at Aubin was so sweet. The fucker still had the nerve to smirk at her and I honestly wish she could have spit in his face or bit his nose off or something. Fuck that guy — but then again, if he hadn't had treated Madina as he did, would she still have had the motivation to win in the manner that she did? She wanted to prove him and Harland wrong and she did. I wonder what would have happened if they had initially accepted her like they were supposed to. Something to think about.

This was the perfect ending for Madina — a completely harrowing and realistic take on the moral quandaries a victor would be plagued with after going back home and having to face the families of the tributes she murdered. And then capping it off with her father's callousness towards her tributes and her initial anger, but then slowly realizing he's right. She'll be doing this for the rest of her life and I can't even imagine the hardened person she's going to become. I'm so curious to see her in the next story.

Favorite tribute? At first it was Zaid, and then I really grew to love Malachi and Emrys. I think of all the female tributes, my favorite was Aneira and Madina.

Most memorable death was Colm falling into a hole and blowing up. That shit was crazy! But I also loved Aneira's chilling death.

Memorable non-death scene...I really enjoyed the scenes in the Capitol with Zaid assembling his alliance. I also loved when the tributes got attacked by random geese.

My preferred victor was Malachi or Zaid but for shock value I might have gone with Milan or Emrys because not only would nobody have expected it, but neither of them deserved it or wanted it and something about that is so ironic.

I was never a huge fan of "early Games" stories but this story changed my opinion. I'm fascinated with all the world building you're laying out here. This was very dramatic and the implications you laid out here with the rise of Coriolanus and the drama with the arena was so enjoyable to read. I loved how realistic this story was. When you think about what an actual early Hunger Games would read like, this is it. You really laid the groundwork here with For Evergreen.

This was a great comeback story. It had all the realism, drama, and gore that befits this genre. On the subject of an early Games, I don't see how it can get any better than this.

Amazing story!

Loved this. Everything about it. Her telling off Aubin (who does he think he is? Strutting into her hospital room like a proud mentor when he’s the shittest mentor there is?! The audacity!), her coming back home to District Eight, and the Victory Tour. It’s interesting to see that the Victors go on tour despite them not having had much of a part in the Games after their own. Especially seeing as most of them doesn’t seem to have done much with the title before the Victor Villages were constructed and they became mentors. You would have though they got home and got on with their lives. But the tour makes sense for closure. I like it nonetheless, every part of your set-up for following stories in this universe is really interesting.

And it was nice to get some closure for the fallen tributes as well. Both the ones mentioned in Medina’s POV and the paragraphs they got in the blog gave For Evergreen a nice ending. It was a wild ride!

I love the short epilogues! Valya's dad and the kitten was my favorite like AW. I love seeing how the legacies go on in the districts, like how Vervain's family reached out to Ainsley's and how Harland's brother hated seeing Madina everywhere.

Speaking of Madina... thank you so much, I think this was a lovely epilogue! There's a lot of ground to cover to account for all that she went through during the Games. I liked that the Aubin plotline was so quickly and firmly wrapped up, and the time that she spent in the hospital makes sense. Like yeah, we can't forget how long recovery really takes. It's a lifelong thing, really, but the first month or so in the hospital- yeah. She's gotta physically heal! And then dealing with forming relationships again, revisiting districts and families and all of that! The depth of emotion and response that you gave Madina to all these harrowing situations really fits. It's not a normal life by any means. And then using her brother as pawn to get her to mentor... YIKES!

And I really appreciate that the very last scene is a great setup to segue into the mentorship aspect of To The Wolves. It really just flows from that scene right into the reaping chapters, doesn't it?

Well done, Ollie, fantastic job. And happy writing!

What an interesting way of linking the way she was mentored to the mentor that she has become. From the beginning of this chapter screaming and ripping the tubes from her body just to get to Aubin… to feeling as if she is becoming Aubin in a different sort of way.
This was such a fantastic way of tying up her story. From feeling disconnected to her family and hoping she would be able to patch their relationship back up, to struggling through the Victory Tour. Madina is still silently strong but with enough emotion due to the Games… I’m looking forward to when she pops up in your current story!

What a great ending. Such a great story from start to finish… yeah honestly this is one of those stories that will stick with me.
bye bye For Evergreen!

Good ending. Aubin was a ass, and definitely isn't someone Madina would like to see the first thing she wakes up. In any case, Madina is bitter and guilty and it's clear she doesn't want any emotional attachments to others much, and she's a predictably closed off person. It makes sense, and the ending is bittersweet, but that's life - I'd be the same if I had to kill someone and live with it. I'd be surprised if Madina did have a happy ending.

Story closed - Now, Onto the Wolves! Hopefully, we'll see a glimpse of Madina and Venice there.

This was a beautiful way to end this story and for her anger towards Aubin was justified in every way and she went through hell but she made it out and now has a duty to make sure to bring honor to her district and bring more children home.

ok QUEEEEEEEN MADINAAAA! sorry im so late LOL i be BEHIND behind uwuwuwuwuwu

seeing AS i'm going to be BRIEFi but i really enjoyed this finale! i felt how up in the air your decision was bc i was guessing for a while too as to who would win it wasn't this clear-cut decision yk! anyway big enjoy we luv to see this! aubin boutta GET it when madina gets out of the arena

questions!

fave overall - honestly probably zaid! i really enjoyed his development and the path he went down as well as where he started off. close seconds go to madina and emrys!

death - probably laurent w the flood!
non-death scene - random but madina letting ainsley go it humanized her and set her up for a redeemable murderer story which was a biiiiig plus for her victor odds!
victor - out of these three, madina! out of the whole batch, probably zaid!
final thoughts - u KILLED THIS QUEEN LMAO U ARE NOTHING IF NOT A CONSISTENT LIGHTNING BOLT W WRITING!

luvluvluv see u soon

YES FUCK U AUBIN. FUCK U HARLAND. FUCK ANYONE WHO GOT IN MADINA’S WAY.
I am so happy that Madina is walking away as the Victor. As a loner right from the word go, it’s incredible the story you weaved for her. Honestly – it’s unheard of in our SYOT community amongst all of our annoying asses (myself included) who go on about loners being dull blah blah. You said fuck that noise. Madina could hear us from inside the story. And yeah. GO MADINA.
I’m so happy.
The fight was fast-paced and fantastic to read – action-oriented obviously but with enough emotion to really drive in the last two deaths. Finding that balance is trickiest within the bloodbath and a finale, but I think especially for a finale because there are so few tributes. But you found it and it totally worked and yes.
I’m just so happy.
Thank you Katie for blessing us with Madina and thank you Olive for somehow – SOMEHOW – in literally every single damn chapter of these Games, you showed us every tribute. Even the mundane moments of Orienne and Eleni giggling over a rabbit. Those were mundane because of the lack of action but told a deeper story – one that has worked so well and you should be so proud of.
I’m gonna sound like a broken record but you achieved something with this story that lent itself to the format you chose. But regardless of format, you had fun with it, and as readers we can see when a writer is having fun with something or if it becomes a chore. Literally fanfiction is just meant to be a place where we put something out there and have fun with it – rather than try to tear other authors down and offer two cents that no one damn well asked for, you’ve written such a compelling story and it’s been a great journey to go on and see unfold.
Sorry I’ll stop kissing your ass and answer the questions.

Favourite overall tribute? Pre-Games… Weylyn lmao. But overall it would have to go to either Madina or Valya!

Most memorable death? Laurent because it needed to happen. Orienne/Eleni because I did not expect both dying so soon after each other. Maybe Ike as well – again, someone that I thought had more left in him.

Which scene was most memorable? Airla and Malachi leaving the Careers. Any scene with Madina and Milan and their truce. Eleni and Orienne scouting out the Cornucopia area.

Who would I have chosen as Victor? Out of the final three – definitely Madina. Pre-Games… Malachi for biased reasons, probably Madina as well, or maybe even Ainsley because I really thought she had a lot more in her until she started to crack.

Final thoughts? You just gotta read above tbh to see my thoughts!

Can’t wait for the last chapter. Sorry for the late-ish review. I will always get there in the end, but with work yeah… I ain’t on it as much as I used to be.

I’m so sorry about not reviewing. Now I’m like 20 chapters behind but I’ll always review everything I read no matter how long it takes so... here I am.

Chapter 9:

Orienne: Aww do I spot a little alliance forming? I like Orienne being outgoing but nervous at the same time. I feel like all of them are nervous, so that’s to be expected.

Ainsley: The mentions about dumb teenage fights reminds me of when school was in. I miss it. She’s right about Vervain wasting what time they have, it’s only two days and you can’t waste a second. Aw I feel bad about him tearing up tho. Poor child.

Zaid: Interesting choice to pick Malachi instead of Ike. Malachi is strong and hides his emotions well so it makes sense.

Valya: She’s big jealous but I understand. It must suck to have your district partner be in the spotlight while you’re not. But tbh, sixth isn’t a bad placing. Nice to see she joined the baby Career pack.

Milan: This is a weird alliance. Milan and Weylyn are extremely different, at least mindset wise. Poor Weylyn has been brainwashed by her parents and Milan despises the Capitol. Nice, Landen has allied with them. At least she’s found friends.

Vervain: Laughing really does help when stuff gets awkward or tough. Well this alliance built up fast. Nara, Vervain, and Harland.

Chapter 10:

Nara: She’s willing to play the Capitol’s game, which isn’t honorable but smart. I mean, it’s unlikely for you to win if you’re unwilling to do what they want. Which sucks.

Airla: This really is a reality tv show. They’re really coming up with a group name to stick out. Airla seems like a nice girl which is a contrast from what we normally get from District 2 girls. But this is a very early Hunger Games so it makes sense.

Koda: That’s quite a big improvement. Seventeenth to eighth. Nice job Koda. He seems like a really smart kid which will help him in the arena. There’s a lot of alliances popping up, especially more than in the original books but to be fair Katniss was a loner and didn’t pay much attention to the others.

Ike: Awww... him and Ainsley are so cute. It’s also cute that he seems to be a big softie. This isn’t the time for romance but it’s expected to happen when you put teenagers in close proximity for like a week.

Aneira: Yes, you’re right. Strength and skill is important but common sense is under-looked. I wonder why her parents wouldn’t have liked Elior? And she really just shot homeboy down. Tough.. well until he bothered her enough into saying yes. Another alliance.

Mercury: Interesting that they can video chat other tributes, I’ve never seen that in a fanfic about THG before. I feel bad for him since he had to volunteer to escape poverty. He’s really stoic, keeping up appearances while inside he seems somewhat insecure and sad.

Chapter 11:

Ah the interviews are finally here.

Valya: I just want to say your descriptions are amazing. The word choice is perfect. Teach me your ways. Hopefully she’ll be able to outshine Mercury. I still think the board is cool, it’s a thing I have never seen implemented in a SYOT before but it was in the movies.

Zaid: Awe he thinks Airla is pretty. He’s also playing the interview game well. He seems a little full of himself but he is a D2 boy in the strongest alliance soo... that’s to be expected.

Ainsley: I mostly just feel sorry for Vervain in this chapter. He’s a scared and awkward teenage boy which is realistic. Ainsley did a lot better though since she’s good at hiding her awkwardness. Ainsley isn’t a bad person, she’s just realistic and more harsh. I can respect it.

Harland: Oh wow. He really had Marina thinking he was her ally. That’s really messed up and it’s way too late to be saying that now. Did her dirty.

Milan: His relationship with Weylyn is adorable. He really doesn’t understand the inner conflict Weylyn is going through but all he wants to do is help her. It’s interesting and really nice of him.

Eleni: Poor Eleni. I feel awful for her but crying is realistic. It’s a lot of stress and it’s horrifying. I mean, asking them about their family... what do you expect? And Laurent is just awful. He’s an asshole. Leave poor Eleni alone.

Chapter 12:

Elior: Oop. I wasn’t expecting that outburst from him. Ooh, “I want everyone to go home but you,” was fucking dirty. She deserves it though, maybe not, but still she’s being a total ass. Let him speak. Good luck Elior :(.

Weylyn: Yes.. you have to know this isn’t okay. It’s sad her parents taught her that the Hunger Games is necessary but she’s such an interesting character. I love her and Milan. Poor girl is tormented by her thoughts.

Malachi: He’s such a soft boy. A little dim but not obnoxiously stupid. Honestly it’s a mood of wanting to hit decline on a FaceTime call.

Emrys: Aww poor Sena. I can’t imagine how scared she must be, she’s only 12 after all and even the oldest tribute would be afraid. Nice that they made a last minute alliance. Emrys isn’t a bad guy.. He’s a good guy at heart.

Madina: I feel bad for what Harland did to her. He’s really wrong for that. But is this one of the first Avoxes at the end of the chapter? Interesting that the tributes don’t know about the tongue thing yet.

Chana: Well shit. It was smart implementing this, I really almost thought you killed someone’s character off before the Games. I actually liked Chana too.

I would save Eleni from the BB. She’s so sweet and I feel bad for her.

Chapter 13:

One more chapter until the BB...

Landen: My child, good luck with trying not to murder in the arena.. Don’t die. :(

Colm: Poor kid has no clue that the real Chana is dead.

Vervain: Aww.. Landen is here being a sweetheart again. She really doesn’t deserve this. And poor Verv is crying :(. This is so sad.

Orienne: Why would they force them to be silent? Rude. Miko is so sweet to Orienne, it’s nice not to see a completely apathetic stylist.

Sena: I feel bad for her. She’s only 12 and she’s right about her chances not being good. All she can do is try her best :(.

Laurent: This guy just rubs me the wrong way so much. Like, he’s so full of himself and such a jerk to anyone that shows a little bit of weakness. It’s good to be confident but not arrogant, even if you have a clear advantage.

My favorite season is summer since school is out and I don’t have to stress as much.

I know this is very late but hey.. this is my attempt of making this up. I’ll be reviewing the rest of the chapters soon!

This was an intense finale. I knew you were still undecided on who to kill and make Victor, which reflects in the back and forth of the scenes. It really was a huge toss-up, particularly when you made it to your final two. Emrys vs Madina could've gone either way and I liked that level of unpredictability in a fight! Both were great candidates for Victor, and the pairing was sound.

Overall favourite tribute? I had so many. Emrys and Madina, for sure. My girl, Airla, and her puppy, Zaid. Malachi was strong too. Weylyn... the potential. There was a lot! Some real great characters.

Most memorable will be Valya for the pure sad/gross factor. You wrote enough detail to leave the imagery in my head and it was just... a lot.

Koda's bomb making, Madina's constant struggles, Aneira's hypothermia, Airla and Malachi leaving the pack. Lots of memorable moments! Each chapter just hit harder and harder than the last.

I'm very, very happy with Madina. For me, by about Final 10 or so, it was down to Emrys and Madina. You showcased their struggles and development and identity really well. Either one I would've been happy for, but you're right — Madina just has that sliiiiight edge. And a loner! Unheard of.

This was so good considering the speed you updated! Sometimes, fast updates impact the story a little, as things feel rushed and readers have trouble digesting so much in a short span of time. But the chapter lengths were good, the characterisation flowed, the scenes were a blend of action and dialogue and internal dilemma. You've balanced things superbly well!

I shall catch up on TTW soon. But Katie requires my attention next!

What a great finale miss Ollie! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time waiting to see who you'd choose cause I know you struggled to settle on a Victor leading up to posting this chapter. I think you made a great choice! I think having Madina as a Victor sends out a great message to any authors that just because you have a loner doesn't mean that they have to be boring or stagnant. As long as you give them actions and fights with either other mutts or tributes then you can still have them go through some strong development which you certainly did with her. I can't wait to read the epilogue where she faces her mentor who basically wrote her off the second that he met her. And on top of that, on her return to her district, I can't wait to see how she reacts to seeing Harland's family because she killed her own district partner. Very interested in this epilogue for sure and happy you went with her cause she went through so much shit in the Games and even in the Capitol!

Favorite overall tribute: Weylyn on the low, she was fascinating as a character, give my props to her submitter ;) But in general in the Games, Emrys for sure was my favorite, great development path for him and he was so fun to read about.

Most memorable death: Valya's for sure whew. Having Laurent slowly pull that gun up to her and then force her to pull the trigger on herself, messy and insane but such a good read.

Most memorable scene: Honestly the flood, I was not expecting it and was not expecting them to drain it in the way that the Gamemakers did, very clever and also tied into Madina's story nicely and set up some really good deaths.

Victor?: I'd have chosen Emrys out of the finalists with Madina as a close second cause I felt they went through the most development overall and were more compelling Victors.

LOVED this story overall and love this Verse with you setting things up from the beginning of the Games! Your idea of how they came to be is much better than Miss Collins' ideas, and I can't wait to see you wrap this story up and focus on TTW!