This is part one of the District One reapings! Here we'll meet the tributes and see how their lives are just before the reapings!
Victoria Kingfisher, Eighteen Years Old
For all intents and purposes, The Hunger Games were a family affair when it came to the Kingfishers.
For as far back as Victoria could remember, the Games had been a large part of her life even beyond living in District One. It was always there, like a third parent or part of the household furniture. A second name that all of the Kingfisher children knew from a young age. When being the child of one of District One's most vicious victors, what did she expect? Most things in her life were thanks to her mother; thanks to the Victor's Village. Victoria was a small celebrity in her own right in District One before she could even walk and talk.
Opal Kingfisher - once Opal Jacqueline - had won the 16th Hunger Games in one of the first Games that shifted from the old amphitheatre style arena to the more elaborate ones most in Panem were accustomed to seeing on the screen. From watching her mother's Games over and over, Victoria could map out the arena in her sleep. Though more complex than the amphitheatre, the arena still lacked the complexity of recent versions. It'd been an abandoned town, derelict and falling apart. Victoria remembered once how her grandmother had commented that it looked as if they plucked it out of one of the more ruined Districts from the Dark Days. Victoria always figured, after learning about the rebellion, that it more than likely had been. Opal had, for a lack of a better term, been vicious in her Games with some Capitolite Hunger Games historians crediting her for being the prototype, the first, of the classic District One female strategy; act ditzy and cute before showing that, in fact, you too are a Career. Opal had played the role of the dutiful Career lapdog well; there had been countless conversations between the other Careers to kill her off first and then disperse, all blissfully unaware of the girl's brutality. Then one by one she murdered each of her allies in cold blood after isolating them, the only one she didn't kill being her partner. It was of little shock to anyone that she won and her victory since had been revered in glory.
It was no doubt to anyone that Victoria, like her siblings, were trained to outperform all other prospective Careers at a young age. Some in the Capitol joked that the Games were a coming of age rite for the Kingfisher children and, honestly, they weren't too far off the truth.
Victoria was the fourth born of the five Kingfisher children and, with her three older siblings having experienced the Games, it was her turn. Anyone who knew the family knew how much pressure Opal put Victoria under for the sole reason that, of her three children that had entered the Games, Opal only had one victor child to boast for it.
The eldest Kingfisher child, Gleam, had been the male tribute for District One in the 43rd Hunger Games. Being known immediately as the son of Opal, the amount of pressure and expectation for him to do well from his family, District One and the Capitol had been astronomical. Whenever Victoria watched his Games back there'd always be the questions of how he handled it and, perhaps more importantly, would she have the same treatment? Nevertheless, Gleam put up a valiant effort to win the Games but was cut short, coming third. He had fallen at the hands of that year's victor, Talon from District Ten. As much as Victoria would say she missed him, Gleam was always the sibling she never really knew... never remembered.
The next eldest child, Amethyst, competed one year after her brother with a vow to finish what her brother had started. The Capitol had been a little more enthusiastic to see her compete in the Games. Many decided that Gleam hadn't inherited the strong parts of his mother's personality and wondered if the past Victor's eldest daughter could fare any better. Sadly, she did not. Victoria's mother liked to use Amethyst as an example of not what to do in a Career alliance and that was let your guard down. Nobody could forget how she and the girl from Two, Dove, had a small showdown with the boy from District Eight and ended up victorious. It was a shared victory that ended with Dove killing Amethyst in broad daylight, mutilating her face beyond recognition. 'People will hate you for your beauty,' Victoria always remembered her mother saying, 'Do not let them act on that.'
Then, despite the demands of Opal, the next Kingfisher child volunteered for the 46th Hunger Games, two years after rather than one. Lux had been always been more adept at training, Opal liked to claim after his victory, compensating for the shortcomings of her two other children. Lux's victory had been fought for in a spectacular fashion. With the Games containing a high number of eighteen-year-olds, the odds dwindled a little. Lux had made headlines across Panem for betraying his District partner in before she could do the same; they'd been famously coined the 'Anti-Romeo and Juliet' from how much they disliked each other. Even now, years after, Lux would happily spit on the girl's grave if he didn't have a shred of dignity. Though she idolised her brother immensely, Victoria knew few details about the Games. She could recount who he killed, yes, but that was it. She supposed she'd never been pressured to memorise his Games because, well, he won. He was there - she could ask him any questions she had. Gleam and Amethyst? Victoria had to learn from their mistakes.
"Are you going to be volunteering?" Chandelier, Victoria's boyfriend of a few years, asked as he sheathed the swords they had been practising with. Victoria was more partial to axes but, as Chandelier had pointed out, it never hurt to be versatile with weapons.
"You think I have a choice?" Victoria responded with a lifeless laugh. "It's either do it or be reminded everyday that I'm not like Lux or that I don't have the honour Gleam or Amethyst have."
That'd always been the one rule in the Kingfisher house. You had to volunteer no matter what. 'No child of mine is going to skip out!' Her mother had said over and over. Once upon a time, Victoria's father would've defended their children and tried to convince his wife to think otherwise but the deaths of his eldest two children broke him down. A strong willed man, in Victoria's opinion, was replaced with someone a lot more emotionally distant. A stranger.
"Well, that's true," Chandelier said as he rubbed the back of his neck, hand slipping into her's and leading them out of the training centre. It was never good to spend your entire reaping morning in there, that's what Victoria's brother had once said. "Do you want to?"
Victoria considered the question for a few seconds. No matter how much it was her mother's doing, even she couldn't deny that the prospect of winning was an appealing one - and that was just for a regular Games. The glory of winning a Quarter Quell with twice the amount of tributes? Victoria was sure she'd overshadow even her mother's victory. Plus she and Chandelier could have a lavish life and be celebrities across Panem. It was all tempting and the thing that topped it off was either outcome - as macabre the alternate to winning was - would get her away from her mother.
"I do, yeah."
She could tell by the silence on Chandelier's end, save for a small hum of acknowledgement, that he wasn't too thrilled about the idea. He, alongside her two best friends Bliss and Lustor, never really approved of Victoria going into the Games. They were like any other District One citizen, don't get them wrong, and they thought that winning the Games was a high glory for any Panem citizen but they knew how overbearing and demanding Opal Kingfisher was and they had Victoria's best interests in mind whenever they tried to talk her out of volunteering. Victoria appreciated it, to a degree, but she wanted them to realise she wanted to be in the Games just as much as her mother wanted her to be.
The walk back to her home from the training centre was long and slow deliberately. Victoria hated living with her parents and would've much rather lived with Lux. That had been a massive argument four years ago when he had won the Games; Victoria wanted to move in with him in his house in the Victor's Village to put some distance between her and her overbearing, over demanding mother. That had been vetoed but not without the long, arduous argument that led to a spike in how often Victoria visited the training centre. Victoria knew that her mother perceived her primary function in life to become a Victor, enough so that the thought was the only thing that could ever convince her otherwise to not volunteer. For however much her mother pushed that mindset onto her, Victoria herself developed it and began to measure up her self-worth against her performance as a potential tribute. She spent many nights telling herself that she'd be better than all three of her older siblings; Gleam, Amethyst, Lux - all of them. The best Kingfisher that ever was, so much so that even her younger sister, Ruby, would never be able to be compared to her. That had become a dream of Victoria's and she'd see it through, no matter the cost.
Still, achieving that dream would've been ten times easier had she been living with Lux.
Reaching the doorstep of the family home, Victoria smiled at Chandelier before planting a soft kiss to his lips. "I'll see you at the reaping ceremony, yeah?"
"Yeah," Chandelier replied, voice somewhat detached. Victoria felt the twinges of guilt that she was familiar with. "Make sure you wear that nice yellow dress, alright? You know it's my favourite."
Chandelier's face had a cheeky smile planted on it, eliciting a smile from Victoria. Would she ever get tired of her boyfriend's cheekiness? Probably not; she knew it'd be the first thing she'd miss in the arena.
"I might wear that blue one, y'know, the poofy one that you hate."
"Nooooo, don't!" Chandelier complained as he walked backwards, laughing a little. Yeah, I'll miss this, Victoria thought to herself with an internal sigh.
She watched as Chandelier disappeared past the gates and turned back to face the door. Home. The place she had learned to hate.
Oh well. Whatever happens in the Games means I don't need to come back here. Ever.
That small thought gave her some willpower to get through the unbearable reaping day traditions.
Tiger Covington, Seventeen Years Old
The Covingtons weren't an ordinary District One family, Tiger had been made sure of that from those around him as he grew up. His maternal grandfather had, by birth, been a District Eleven citizen who managed to escape with his family into District One before all opportunities to do so had been cut off. Subsequently, as soon as anyone found out that fact, Tiger found he was often ridiculed. As a weak and scrawny boy, torment seemed to be attracted to him. A second abnormality was also very much present in Tiger's life and that was simply that the Covingtons were on the poorer persuasion of District One despite the known luxuries.
His grandfather had, once, sold golden apples that he grew in a famed orchard and enjoyed immeasurable wealth. Tiger's mother had thrown that away, severing her ties with her family, when she fell in love with Granite Covington, the son of a lowly goldsmith who's work was sub par at best. Tiger had often spent many nights wondering why they had to follow the wealth of his one grandfather and not the other, inadvertently speaking ill on the goldsmith who couldn't help his lack of talent. Looking back on those thoughts as he got older, Tiger felt twinges of guilt for what he thought but he had spent many of his formative years desperately wanting to be a bit higher in the district's social ladder. With his mother's father falling ill, however, and her brothers across Panem working as Peacekeepers, the lucrative golden apple recipe had been left to Rochelle, Tiger's mother. That'd been a few years ago and now Tiger and his family were finally experiencing some elevation financially and socially. Still, that didn't stop those around Tiger from remembering where he and his family had once been. They hadn't forgotten so, naturally, Tiger wasn't allowed to forget either. No matter the hardships, however, the Covingtons remained a close-knit family that proved time and time again to be inseparable.
Life on a shallow level perked up for Tiger when he turned fifteen or so; his scrawny stature slowly changed to a more muscular one and his height of five foot five shot up to six foot and his other infantile face had matured enough for him to be objectively attractive. Of course that never took away all the social ridicule people could still throw at him but, at least, people were more hesitant to do so and he could act as some sort of threat on the behalf of his younger sisters. Though winning the Hunger Games had never once been a goal of the Covington family - nor Rochelle's family, at that - Tiger's parents immediately put him into District One's training centre with the goal of him being able to protect himself. And, sure enough, a proficiency in throwing knives became known... enough for Tiger to rise to being a mentor for the younger students and being seen as one of the training centre's biggest success stories. Needless to say any and all ridicule died down by the time the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games came around.
Tiger came to have a reputation at the training centre for being among one of District One's budding knife throwers. He had put his name to be selected to volunteer for the 50th Hunger Games by chance, not expecting to get very far in that small choice making by the academy. He had volunteered primarily to speed up the process of him and his family having that good life. If he could win, he'd be able to give them the comfortable life ten times quicker. That and it meant that Satin wouldn't feel the need to volunteer herself. Lo and behold, however, just days before the reaping was due to take place, Tiger had been pulled aside to be told that he'd be one of the designate volunteers for District One and that he'd be going to the arena. He intentionally kept the news from his family, hoping to make it out in the reaping that he was picked by the escort by chance. Tiger wasn't ashamed of being chosen - in fact he was proud; it'd been a long way from where he had once been - but he didn't want his family knowing, especially his parents. They worried about all their children and he wondered how they'd feel knowing he intentionally put his name into the running. He just hoped they'd be okay with it.
With Tiger on one hand and Satin on the other, the two older Covington siblings walked their sister, Lacey, to her first reaping.
"You won't have anything to worry about, Lacey," Tiger said as he smiled down at his youngest sister. "Nobody's gonna let you get reaped and go up."
Unlike her siblings, Lacey Covington possessed no desire to go into the Games or even train for them; she'd much prefer working in the Covington's new orchards. That had suited Tiger fine, not that it mattered what he thought anyway. It just meant it was one less sibling to see through the Games if he won. Lacey had been the luckier of the three Covington children regardless; she scarcely remembered the true austerity that the family had faced and got to live her teen years in the growing wealth. Tiger had been thankful for that much; he and Satin would often talk about how they'd volunteer to give their parents and Lacey the best possible life they could.
"They won't?" Lacey was soft-spoken in her words and had that innocence that hadn't yet been crushed by the world. "Wh... What if someone doesn't volunteer for me?"
"Someone will, it's a Quell," Satin reaffirmed, taking Lacey's hand in her own and squeezing it lightly. "And if nobody does? Then I'll volunteer for you."
Tiger glanced over at Satin, taking note of how sure she seemed in her decision. Of course, the academy had chosen the four designated volunteers but that didn't necessarily mean that the four chosen would be the four going into the arena. Often times many thought the academy had chosen wrong and, as one of the more relaxed Career Districts, the adherence to what the academy said wavered thin sometimes. Tiger supposed the Quell would be one of those times.
"If you feel nervous, just look at Marquis," Tiger said with a laugh, one that Satin's soon complimented. Marquis was the middle-aged escort for District One who had long since lost his prime. Every year the teenagers of District One joked that he was trying to outdo his ridiculousness from the year before. For all they knew, they were right.
The comment seemed to calm the rising nerves of Lacey, her shoulders relaxing having been tensed just moments prior. Tiger remembered the feelings of one's first reaping well, knowing distinctly the nervousness. He imagined that was universal, even for Career Districts; it was one thing watching from the sidelines when you were eleven and knew you couldn't go in the arena but another to be twelve and wonder if nobody would volunteer for you if your name was called out. Of course the fear went away after a few training sessions at the centre but that sort of fear stuck with you, or at least it did for Tiger. Maybe it was just the fear that, had he been reaped at twelve, those who tormented him would encourage the older kids not to volunteer just to see him die. He shuddered as he relived that memory, it becoming a little too real as they approached the Capitolites who took the reapee's blood. At least Lacey won't have that level of fear. That was a comforting thought, at least.
Danica Stanten, Seventeen Years Old
Danica never knew much beyond her and her father. That was all she knew and, truthfully, all she needed. Her mother had died when she was three-years-old from an accident in one of District One's factories and ever since her life had just been a duo act of her and her Dad. Part of her always wondered how badly effected he was by it all; having a child at seventeen and then losing that child's mother and your new bride just three years later. She supposed it did, but he never let her in on it. Maybe that was why he encouraged her to throw tantrums and lose herself to blind rages - the beast within. He didn't want her to feel the same way. Yes, that was it. It had to be.
It was also part of the reason why Danica was sure she had never stepped foot in the training centre; that place caused unnecessary pain, or that's what she deciphered from her father. He had mentioned a few times how sore his hands would be after wielding an axe for hours on end - all of it just to end up not being the picked volunteer when he turned eighteen. Danica couldn't imagine wasting her life like that, not her prime youth years at least. No, Danica got to relax and have an easy life with her father's explicit approval. She always figured she didn't need training anyways. Kids from Outer Districts won without training, so why couldn't she? How hard could it be to swing a sword about? Sure there was some skill needed but if mindless Career brutes could wield them then so could she.
"I might volunteer this year," Danica said as she pushed some bits of bacon around her plate with her fork. "Be the winner of the quell."
"You, volunteering?" Danica's best friend, Silk, stifled a laugh. "Danica, you've never trained."
"Who cares?" She snorted with a shrug, "Reckon I could still give it a shot."
Silk was supportive of her friend, entirely, but throwing oneself into an arena with double the tributes with no training was a death wish. Hell, Silk had trained at the academy's training centre since she was eight and even she wouldn't volunteer.
"You'd have to distract the escort enough for him to forget the two designated female tributes."
"Yeah, who're they?"
Danica didn't care, not really. Sure the academy selected the tributes year after year but what was life without a little spontaneity? Besides, their last Victor was four years ago; six handpicked volunteers had died since then. Clearly the academy was losing their touch.
"Victoria Kingfisher and Glitter Kemble," Silk said, "You might have a chance getting one up over Glitter but that's providing she's selected second."
Danica knew both of the girls from school and, yeah, she'd wager that Glitter would be the easier to overpower in a shouting contest. Victoria was a guaranteed volunteer; her mother had won the Games, three older siblings competed in them and District One's mentors were none other than Opal and Lux Kingfisher. Victoria was entering that arena whether she wanted to or not.
"Glitter Kemble?" Danica snorted again, laughter sounding out, "She couldn't stop Harmonia Diamante from taking her lunch last year! How'd she get pick?"
"She's deadly with a sword, I've seen her."
"We can all swing a bit of metal around, Silk, it's not that hard."
"I don't know..."
Danica contemplated taking her best friend's word for it. She, after all, was the one who had been training for the Games and probably knew a little more about the logistics of weaponry. No matter, she could get tips from her when they said their goodbyes.
"Well in any case, my voice is louder than her's so she'll miss out."
Silk admired the confidence of her best friend, she really did, but she couldn't help but feel that Danica was underestimating the impact of the Games. She knew of the beast inside, but that could only get her so far...
"We'll just have to see," Silk said with a dejected sigh. She had no doubt that she would see Danica on that stage as a tribute but still... would she last against the other Careers? The other eleven who've trained the majority of their lives for this? Silk hoped so, but she doubted the odds would be in Danica's favour there.
"I'll be fine, Silk," Danica said with a little laugh as she smiled at her best friend, brushing her striking red locks into a messy ponytail, "I'll get them to believe I'm useless and then kill them all."
Though it took her a few seconds, Silk eventually replicated Danica's smile and nodded, "I'll make sure to try and sponsor you if I can."
"You will? You're the best!"
Glint Sarine, Seventeen Years Old
Once, the Sarine family held the Hunger Games in an unparalleled prestige. Like most in District One, they wanted the glory for their family, the chance to have one of their own as an esteemed Victor. Many a time, Glint and his siblings were pushed into the training centre at a young age. The memory of picking up his first sword was ingrained in Glint's mind as a reminder of where he had once been, coupled with the memory of overpowering the first guy bigger than him. Glint was a deadly Career machine in the making, that had been clear since he was about thirteen. Following in his older brother's footsteps, Glint wanted to wow Panem with his expertise and have them fall for him through his charm and charisma. Or at that's at least what Velvet would say. Glint always agreed; if he was a Capitolite girl he was sure he'd be begging his parents to sponsor Glint.
The Sarine views on the Hunger Games, however, shattered when the eldest of the three siblings, Velvet, placed ninth in the 44th Hunger Games. He had been brutally slaughtered after a half-hour long struggle between him and the District Nine female, Ceres Monroe. The win had been a victory for District Nine but a loss for District One and something close to a mass devastation for Glint's parents. His death had changed something in them and the parents who once pushed for their children to volunteer for the Games changed their tune. Whilst those around them pencilled it down to Velvet not being strong enough and that Glint or even his younger sister Prestige would fare better, Glint's parents never recovered and all pressures to volunteer were dropped. Being eleven at the time, Glint hadn't had the chance for the added pressure of the training centre to volunteer to influence his mindset and thus remained largely placid when those around him urged him to consider volunteering year after year. He had continued with the training centre regardless - he had been there since he was nine, after all. But there was a definite change in him. The small boy who was so eager to do well and impress became more nonchalant, an air of not caring surrounding him. It frustrated his trainers to no end but Glint didn't care. Their frustrations couldn't bring Velvet back to him. If they could? He might've cared then.
"I heard from some of the other mothers that you're a favourite of the training centre and that they want you to volunteer," Glint's mother said as she brought over some plates from the kitchen counter to the table for the family to eat. A picky, buffet style breakfast was a tradition for the Sarine family on reaping day, originating in Velvet's love for the free, open style.
"Yeah," Glint replied with a shrug as he moved to pile some sausages onto his plate. "I'm not going to."
"Don't you want the fun of being the victor of the quarter quell?" Prestige quipped, "Harlequin and Layana say that's the biggest honour out there! And everyone says you deserve it, so..."
There was a certain naivety when it came to Prestige. Too young to remember her eldest brother, she often found herself being susceptible to those around her. The little girl who had blindly followed her parents and brother in believing there was little to no glory in winning the Games was slowly transforming into someone who sought it; many a night the Sarine parents would be commended at how Career-like she was at only thirteen-years-old. Even though Glint himself was a model Career, it had taken him years to find that confidence which meant he found it uncomfortable to see how his sister was faring. If she was this Career-like now, what would she be like when she turned sixteen? Seventeen? Eighteen? Would she volunteer just like Velvet did?
A silence settled in the dining room, darting gazes being shared amongst Glint and his parents. With the view of not seeing the Games as highly, Prosper and Shimmer Sarine shied away from any talk that glorified them. They tried, however, to be supportive in their daughter's endeavours no matter how much it worried them.
"Not everyone sees the Games that way, sweetie," Their father said, setting down his cutlery, "Do you think those in the other Districts see the Games that way?"
The use of the other Districts as an example was one Glint was familiar with; his parents often used it when he was younger and the pressures of those around him seemed to make him crack. They were always quite forceful in installing the 'no glory' mentality in him, but Velvet always supposed it was because everyone said he was the walking, talking clone of Velvet.
"Well why don't they? Don't they know the Games brings you fame, glory and everything you could ever want?"
Glint was a cool, calm and collected individual who rarely showed emotions. In his view, he cried out all the tears of his lifetime when he came to grips with his older brother, his hero, not coming home ever again. His parents, however, still had that raw, open wound that was the Hunger Games. They always claimed their mourning was long over but Glint suspected they hadn't ever gotten to grips with Velvet's death, not really. Then again, how could you when you witnessed his decapitation on a big screen? Glint was sure if it was his child that he urged to volunteer that year that he too would never get over their death. He could see how his sister's reckless words - words that she didn't mean in any other way beyond curiosity - would touch... prod that open wound.
"Some other Districts aren't as rich as us and don't have a lot of time together at home," Their mother said int he tone that was loving but firm, evident that her daughter's words weren't what she wanted to hear on an emotional level. "Being ripped away from their family that they treasure so deeply is a nightmare."
"They don't volunteer, either," His father agreed with a nod, "No volunteering and no training. The ones from Seven and Ten only have an advantage because of their industry."
"But! I love you all and I don't see the Games as me being taken away from you, so it doesn't make sense! If they want to win badly enough then they should fight harder! Everyone says if you die in the Games then it's just you not having enough willpower. That you're weak!"
Their father's fist coming down on the table made everyone in the room jump, startled at the noise. Glint could tell at once that Prestige had hit that would that hadn't healed. He felt bad for her a little but she lacked tact and that would be her downfall if she was that set on the Games.
"I'm going for a cigarette." His father never smoked, not unless he got truly heated. "When I come back, you better be upstairs or on your way to the reaping, Prestige."
The room remained silent as their father walked out of the dining room, the only sounds left being the dying fizzles of the pots and pans that had been used and the remaining Sarine's heavy breaths.
"What did I say?" Prestige's voice was significantly smaller and quieter than it had been before. The furthest cry from the heated girl just moments ago.
"Velvet was in the Games and he had enough willpower," Glint said simply. He could forgive Prestige for a lot of things but he wondered if maybe his Velvet wound hadn't healed entirely. "But he's dead - he didn't make it home."
"Yeah bu-"
"Just go and meet up with Harlequin and Layana, dear." Their mother's tone was monotonous, a cold instruction rather than her usual warm words. "I think that'd be better for everyone, just for right now."
Glint didn't look at his sister but he could see in the corner of his eye that her gaze shifted from him and their mother, hoping for an ally. It took her a few seconds but she eventually trudged out of the room, the slam of the door igniting further conversation.
"One day your father is going to snap at her," Glint's mother said with a sigh as she reclined back in her chair, "And I don't want to be around when that happens."
"She'll learn," Glint suggest optimistically, though he could tell from the tired look on his mother's face that she didn't share the sentiment. "She just doesn't know any better."
"But it's her brother, Glint, your brother too! How can you let her say those things about Velvet?"
Glint smiled on the inside a little at the irony of how his mother sounded just like Prestige.
"I... don't know. Maybe I just hope she'll learn."
"She'll have to, if she wants to stay here."
The sombre mood wasn't one that Glint had wanted for the reaping morning but he supposed it'd occupy his day after the morning; he'd have to tell his friends that their reaping day traditions would have to wait a few hours.
Hi everyone! Welcome to the second chapter of this fanfic where we meet the District One tributes! Some of my favourites among the 48 are here and I hope you enjoy them all too!
Danica has significantly less than the other three, largely because her character is going to be more focused in the arena; I did contemplate her having a flashback to a particularly bad tantrum but I want to save that for the arena! We'll learn more about here in the goodbyes! :)
As I said in the last chapter, updates will be sporadic and may come at weird times so please do be aware of that.
I also tried past tense in this chapter! I definitely prefer it so much more than the present tense I used last chapter and I really hope that shows. I did, however, struggle to find a balance between being too backstory heavy and leaving some things up to find out later on. In this case I believe I was the former rather than the latter. I suppose with the Career tributes having ties to the Hunger Games, though, that's a given.
In any case, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
~ Oli