"This year, get ready for an arena like no other. This year, tributes will be tested more than ever before as they fight to stay alive. But with only one survivor, who will be victorious? And what is in store for them? Find out next week, as the eighth Hunger Games begin!"
17-year-old Rhoda watched the commercial, eyes shining. She'd been waiting for this moment for months; spending all her free time looking through the internet for any hints, any spoilers of what was to come. And now, finally, the time was almost here. She couldn't wait to see what the arena would be this year, which tributes would be chosen. She'd been saving up all year, in the hope that she would be able to sponsor her best tribute, help them to win.
Last year, her favourite tribute, Winona George, a district two girl, had won, the only tribute who could battle the giant spiders that had killed the other three tributes that had remained. Rhoda had watched, entranced, as Winona had run around, cutting off the spider's eight venomous legs, and dodging it's hungry mouth. The other three tributes hadn't been so lucky. The district eight boy had been impaled by one of the spider's massive fangs, while the two district four tributes had actually been eaten alive. Rhoda had felt fascinated and sick at the same time.
Now, she couldn't wait to watch more of the games. She sat through the end of the commercial, showing footage of the revolution eight years ago, and the fate of district 13, but she wasn't even paying attention now; all she wanted was to text her friends and share their excitement.
Just as she was about to turn away, though, the third part of the commercial came on.
"Now, for all the young Capitol fans, we have some exciting news. We are holding a competition to invent a brand new Mutt for the Hunger Games. Make it big, creative, unique and, most important of all - deadly. The winning idea will be used in the games, with the creator being given a tour by a Game-maker and getting the opportunity to see the actual Hunger Games studio in action. Entries must be sent in by the end of the week."
That was too much for Rhoda. She squealed so loudly that her brother banged on the wall of his room next door, and raced over to her phone, putting in her friend's number so fast that she had to type it twice. She tapped her feet impatiently as she waited for Lindy to pick up. Then:
"Have you heard, have you heard? OMG, Rhoda, this is - "
"Ican'tbelieveitthiscantberealnowaynowayIhavetowin!"
Both friends squealed again and talked over each other as they started to plan ideas. The Hunger Games were going to be just amazing.
I've read loads of SYOTs, so I thought I'd write my own. This isn't first come first serve, as I've never done an SYOT before, so I want to choose interesting tributes that I can write about well. You can submit tributes by review, but I'd prefer no guest submissions, unless you've got a really good tribute. Reservations are definitely not allowed. You can submit as many tributes as you want, but I probably won't pick more than about two from one person. Tributes that are most likely to be chosen should be creative, detailed, interesting and original.
I'll start asking for entries for Mutts when I have all the tributes. You can submit them now, but they just won't be chosen yet.
I'll try to update about once a week, but as I've got exams at school this year, updates might be slow sometimes. I'll work on this when I can, though.
When I have about twelve tributes, I'll start to announce the ones I've chosen on my profile.
Anyway, here's the tribute form. Please fill everything in, the more detail the better.
Name:
Gender and age: (I need a lot of younger tributes too, so under-sixteens are more likely to get chosen)
District: (I might change this anyway, but recommend your top few, and definitely say if they're Careers or not)
Personality: (Lots of detail, not just one word answers. The same goes for back story and appearance)
Back story:
Appearance:
Family and friends: (Names and how they get on with character)
Reaped or volunteered:
Reaction or reason:
Do they think they'll win?
Open to allies?
Training score:
What they show game-makers:
What they do in bloodbath:
How far will they come? (I may have to change this later)
Skills:
Strengths: (At least 3)
Weaknesses: (At least 4)
Fears:
Strategy:
Reaping and chariot outfits:
Preferred death:
Interview angle:
Preferred weapon:
Other: (optional)