So...not much new with me. I got my hair dyed green though.
Yes...I like green.

I realized that while we do know who Taurus is, we've never actually gotten a POV from him. So, I figured it would be cool to see the parade through the eyes of a Gamemaker. How does that sound?

Taurus Blackman, 34
Head Gamemaker

After shoving through a thick and noisy crowd full of paparazzi, news reporters, adoring fans, and those people from TV (no Capitmilk, I do not want to star in your commercial), I finally got to my seat. It was a good one, too. Sterling had reserved it just for me, in a little booth all to my own. Perfect. Even though we were at a Parade, I still had work to do.
I reached into my briefcase and pulled out a blank notebook. Grabbing a pen, I wrote "Tribute First Impressions" at the top.

Most people thought that the parade was just for gawking at a bunch of kids in fancy clothing. For me, it was something else. Time and time again, I had been told that we couldn't have a rebellious victor running around and stirring up all sorts of trouble. Sterling wanted to keep another rebellion from happening.
That's where the mutts came in. If the tributes were rebellious, or I sensed that something was off with them, I had full permission to kill them via mutts, if nobody else got to them first.

I scribbled District 1 underneath my title, glancing back at the road beneath my little booth. A team of Avoxes were cleaning up some litter and dirt. The Parade was going to start very soon.
And it did.

The crowd screamed out loud at the sight of a pair of gleaming white horses pulling a chariot containing Foxy and Carina. They seemed to be wearing opposite colors. Carina wore a shimmering silver dress with a red crown and shoes, while Foxy had on a golden suit. She was shimmering while he looked dusty. But they both waved and smiled to their adoring fans. Both smiles seemed forced, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Must hurt to show off your pearly whites for that long.

If District 1's cheers were loud, District 2's could've broken the sound barrier! Pulled along by two sleek, black race horses, everyone loved our volunteers Lena and Adonis. Their outfits seemed very fitting for them even if they looked plain; Adonis in a midnight blue suit and Lena in a deep purple dress. Two different colors for two different tributes.

I wrote down some notes. By the time I looked up from my paper, District 3 was out along with pale grey horses. Demara gave the crowd an adorable wave, in a metallic dress decorated with computer code. Valkner clearly wasn't going for that look, in a black and dark red suit that reminded me of those vampires from the horror movies. He pulled it off very well, though.

I had seemed quite the contrasts and maybe I could've used a little break. With a chariot led by horses who had obviously been dyed an ugly baby blue, Dany and Anya shared quite the resemblance. She wore a dress of peacock feathers and he wore a suit covered with precious gems. Each wore a crown with the other's design. Gosh, this twin angle wasn't gonna get old, was it?

Writing a bit more down, I could hear laughter when I glanced up. Bolte was a lightbub! Well not really, but his dress shirt was a bright, almost blinding yellow and his pale grey pants didn't help either. He was blinding the ashy colored horses and Thessaly, who wore a reddish blouse and blakc leggings. Her hair had been pulled away from her face, which didn't seem to help her at all.

I rolled my eyes, writing lightbulb under Bolte's name. District 6 also had a pair of black horses and once again, quite the difference. Zander wore all black, minus his silver tie, which helped him out with that sadistic edge he seemed to be going for. Florina looked much cuter, in an overall dress with a pair of goggles and some black tights underneath. Wasn't bad, considering I needed something darker to look at after the whole District 5 fiasco.

Everything about District 7 was natural, from the light brown horses to the outfits of Fennel and Everly. She had on a puffy Kelly green dress, with darker green leggings underneath. Fennel had a matching tie and a brown suit, the collar he kept tugging at. Both seemed to bask in the glow of the audience, almost looking surprised that the cheering was for them. I scrawled some stuff down, when laughter started up again.

7 was beautiful but 8 was a completely different story. I could tell that quite a bit of effort had been placed in Harper, as she reminded me of thread with her flowing, blue lacy dress and her headpiece. On the other hand, Eywill just wore...a brown towel. Yes, that was it. It didn't cover up much of him, but it certainly it did get its job done, which I was very thankful about. Harper felt the same way too. I swear I heard the reddish horses sigh too.

Thank goodness for 9, acting a bit as a saving grace. I was surprised how more mature Pellia looked in golden dress made up of a tank top and a shimmering bottom. Terran looked similar but also quite different in a yellow dress shirt, black pants, and black shoes. The crowd went nuts upon seeing them. Terran gave a confident wave while Pellia, although shy, beamed at the flattering attention. The dirty blonde horse trotted on.

Pulled by a pair of blonde horses, everyone got a kick out of District 10. Equila was both fancy but casual, in a pale green dress and ankle boots. But Desmond was something I didn't think I'd actually see, wearing a slightly ripped leather jacket, blue jeans and a checkered tie over everything. He mimicked playing a guitar which everyone had to laugh and smile at. I was even chuckling when I turned to my notebook to put something down.

District 11 had dark brown horses pulling their chariot. At first I was kinda confused, but then it dawned on me that with his plaid shirt and faded jeans, Urijah looked a lot like...a lumberjack? Do they even have those in 11? Willow was kinda normal in a white lace top and darker leggings, which combined with each other nicely. Points to District 11 for their thinking outside the box...I guess.

Last but not least was 12. riding with dusty-looking horses. And they were not gonna go outshined. Tihi had a white Greek toga on with flowing fiery fabrics over it that everyone seemed to love. Caxton was completely shirtless (I swear I heard some lady in the crowd scream with joy) with only a white robe covering his groin and carrying a fake hammer. Going for a bit of an ancient look here, guys. I can tell. Very, very cool.

Most people cleared out soon after. I stayed behind to update and fix my notes. I did have good handwriting, but only when I wasn't in a rush.
Finally, everything was in order. I packed my work up and began to leave. But soon, i was stopped by some random guy.

"Um, excuse me, fine sir! Capitmilk is working on a new commercial and we wonder if-"
"No!"

Before we end this chapter, I would like to say that-
Try Capitmilk today! We produce special quality milk for all you dairy lovers and have recently come up with a cherry-flavored one! It's delicious, nutritious, and will never make your kids choke when they drink it and wonder what kind of parent you are! I love the cherry taste! I am saying this because I actually did drink this and not because I'm being payed a hundred bucks to!

Hope you liked the parade. A bit of a short chapter, but pretty straightforward. I tried to follow what everyone wanted their tribute to wear, but there were some where I added, took away, or ended up making it all up on my own.
I should explain...I think that the idea of costumes for the tribute parade wouldn't come until a later Games, so for now the tributes just wear fancy clothing.

Whose outfit did you like? You didn't like? Like meeting Taurus? What do you think of him?