Pax di Fiore Altomare, 17
District One


Pax woke up on the second morning of the Events feeling energized. Sure, the first day of the Events hadn't been ideal for him and Other Pax. But this was a new day! And it brought a new challenge with it. There was something so remarkable and refreshing about getting to take on a challenge after he'd already lost one. If these were the Games and he'd done as badly as he did yesterday, he wouldn't be alive anymore, which was a very sad thought. Instead, after absolutely failing, Pax got a chance to try again and redeem himself, which most Altomares didn't really get. This was going to be Pax's day; he could feel it.

With all the confidence and eagerness he had, which was a lot, Pax got dressed in his outfit for the day: a t-shirt, some sort of athletic pants, a pair of shoes with some sort of weird texture on the sole, and fingerless gloves. Not bothering to check on Other Pax, Pax grabbed some breakfast and headed right for the previous day's competition zone. Unfortunately, they were not using the same area for the day's challenge. So when Violet requested that the competitors make their way to Competition Zone Three, Pax had no choice but to trek to literally the other side of the Arena. When he arrived, he was met with a glare from Other Pax. "Where were you?" she snapped.

"I got an early start. I was waiting at the other competition zone."

"Humph."

Pax took a moment to take a look around. Today's setup was far simpler than the previous day's, just a series of thick wooden poles stuck into the ground in a circle; while they weren't all the same height, each of them must have been at least fifteen feet tall. Each pole was painted one of the colors that the competitors selected when they were in the Capitol, and an indentation of some sort had been carved around the pole every few feet moving from the bottom to the top. Next to each pole was a high platform with a ladder attached. Pax quickly spotted his pole, which was in between Other Pax's and Mettius's, and attempted to walk over to it, but before he could, he felt a hand grab onto his shoulder. "What's up?"

"We might not be allowed to go to our poles yet. There might be something Violet has to explain first."

"Oh."

"Good morning, competitors!" called Violet, her voice booming through the Arena. "I hope you had an enjoyable night. Another congratulations to the pair from Three on their victory last night to earn their right to stay in the Events for another day.

"Today, we will be honoring the value of District Eleven, perseverance. As the district that grows most of the food for our country, the citizens of Eleven must be persistent and perseverant as they work the land, even when their days are long and their harvests are less than ideal. Today, we'll be asking you to persevere through pain, just as the farmers and workers in Eleven must.

"Today's challenge is very simple. You will climb the ladders to your platforms and, when I say so, you will step off your platforms and grab on to your poles. Then, all you have to do is hold on for as long as you can. You can be anywhere on the pole, so you're good even if you slide down, but as soon as one foot touches the ground, you're out, and you'll take a seat on the benches over on this side. The last competitor holding onto their pole wins immunity for their team, and their team must select one team to enter the elimination challenge. Are there any questions?"

Violet fielded a few questions from the competitors, mostly about how the competitors were allowed to hold onto the pole and what constituted a touch of the ground. She also took the time to show the competitors a quick demonstration video of how to safely latch onto the pole, projecting it into the sky like it was the anthem in the Games. Once the video finished and the questions had subsided, Violet concluded, "In a moment we'll begin the challenge. Please find your poles and climb up to the top. Each of your poles is painted in your selected color and proportional to your height and weight, so please go to your own pole and not to anybody else's."

Most of the other competitors took a moment to quickly strategize with their partners as they walked to their platforms and ladders. But because he had already found his pole, Pax made a beeline for it, inadvertently leaving Other Pax completely in the dust. This was going to be the easiest challenge ever; if all that Pax had to do was hold on to the pole, he was a shoo in to win. This was basically what he had trained for his entire life. Pain was temporary, after all; glory and victory were forever.

While Pax was not the most graceful of people, he was able to get up the ladder to his platform with relative ease. Most of the other competitors managed to get up fairly quickly as well, but one, the girl from Eight, seemed to be having more trouble. She was the last one to get to the top of her platform, and when she got there, she immediately took a seat on the platform and took some deep breaths. "Paisley, are you OK?" called her partner.

"Yeah, I think so. Heights are not my strong suit but I'll be fine."

"You're doing great."

After a few moments, Violet said, "Competitors, please get ready to grab your poles. When the airhorn sounds, you'll have a minute to latch onto the pole, and then the challenge will begin."

Pax took a few moments to stretch himself out, making sure his limbs felt as limber as possible. After a few moments, the airhorn sounded, and Pax immediately latched himself onto the pole.

Now, all he had to do was wait.

The first bit of the challenge was pretty easy for Pax. Most of the other competitors managed to hold on for a while, but once they got past the three minute mark, some of the kids started to slip down their poles. Pax was not surprised to see that Other Pax and the skinnier girl from Eleven be some of the first two to slip down their poles, given that both of them were pretty frail; the two of them hit the ground in rapid succession, one right after the other. As the two went to the benches to take a seat and wait the rest of the challenge out, Pax somehow caught the eye of the other girl from Eleven, who dared take one hand off the pole to wave to her partner and give her a thumbs up. The first girl caught her partner's eye and gave her a small wave back as she took her seat, bringing her knees up to her chest and curling up in a ball.

The next few kids to go down were mostly unsurprising, as basically every child under the age of fourteen went down in one fell swoop: both from Three, the little girl from Twelve, and both from Nine. A few moments later, the girl from Eight made the mistake of looking down at the ground. Pax could practically see the girl's hands begin to shake; she began to lose her grip and slide down the pole. "Jack! I'm going down!" Paisley said.

"You've got this, Paisley!" he called back. "Try to get your feet into one of those notches."

"I'm trying but I just can't seem to!" It was true, she was trying, but every time her legs got in the vicinity of one of the indents it would shake so much that she couldn't quite lodge her foot in there. Within a few moments, she was on the ground.

"You did so well, Paisley. I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks Jack," replied Paisley. "You've got this too!"

As the time passed, Pax began to feel the soreness creep into his arms and legs They began to feel a little stiff, even, and although he still had a good grip on the pole he could definitely sense the fatigue beginning to creep in. But Pax had been training for this for his whole life. And as the other girl from Eleven, then the boy from Six, then both from Five, and then the girl from Six succumbed to fatigue and slid down their pole, Pax began to feel more and more confident. With each person and each district that went down, he was getting that much closer to redeeming himself from the day before and bringing home the win for District One. And sure, Pax knew that the weaker competitors were falling first, but he also knew that he could outlast the rest of them. Every moment of training and determination that he had ever built up in preparation for the Games had prepared him for this moment. He was strong, he was focused, and he was going to redeem himself.

What could possibly go wrong?


Titania Pyrrhos, 17
The Capitol


This was shaping up to be a long challenge.

At the halfway point of the challenge, with thirteen competitors left, nearly every single one had some sort of strength training. Both from the Capitol, Two, Four, and Thirteen were still in, as were the boy from One, pair from Ten, who probably had a lot of strength from working with meats and other heavy things, and older girl from Twelve whom Titania heard had trained in Two before moving to Twelve. The only exception was the boy from Eight-

Never mind. There were no exceptions.

Titania could definitely feel the fatigue setting into her limbs. She was fairly confident that most of the rest of the competitors were in the same boat as she was, but she also knew that everyone was equally determined to win. Especially given that all but two or three of the remaining competitors were Careers or Career-types, and even though Titania had never trained in a formal academy herself, Titania knew that not losing was not enough; everybody was definitely playing to win.

The one thing that Titania felt pretty confident about was that someone from her alliance was going to win, given that seven of the eight of them were still standing. Admittedly, Titania felt a little bit iffy about being in her alliance; sure, she trusted them, but there was something about being tied to them specifically that made her feel a bit icky. Titania understood that the Events were about unifying the districts, bringing them together and showing them that there was potential for something beyond pitting kids against each other to kill each other. And while she appreciated the protection the Career alliance gave her, she definitely wanted the chance to meet other teams. Especially the team from Eleven. Titania knew that Mettius had already formed a nice connection with Xayah, the one who couldn't speak, because they could both use sign language. And Titania also wanted to form a relationship with April if she could; the girl seemed like she could use a support system, and there was something tugging on Titania that told her that she wanted to be that support system for the poor thing.

Suddenly, Titania felt herself beginning to slip down the pole a little bit. As much as thinking about literally anything that wasn't the challenge was helpful, because it kept her from thinking about the fact that she felt her arms might fall off, she also needed to keep herself focused, lest she get so distracted that she lose her grip on the challenge. Fortunately, she managed to recover quickly by lodging her feet into another of the notches moving down the pole. She took a couple of deep breaths; This was a good save on her part, and if she could save herself once, she could do it again and again.

As she hung onto the pole, Titania noticed something small and flighty beginning to move across her field of vision. She hadn't noticed any natural things before over the course of the Events, so to see an animal appear was a little bit unusual. It seemed like she wasn't the only one to notice it, either; the boy from One had also caught sight of the pretty butterfly that was flitting across the playfield. "Ooh, look, a butterfly!" Pax exclaimed, taking one of his hands off of the pole to reach out for it. He began to lean over to try to grab it, but the butterfly kept just being a little bit out of his reach. Eventually, Pax leaned so far away from his pole that his center of gravity was no longer above his legs, which Titania knew was a death sentence. Pax frantically tried to grab onto the pole again, but it was too late; before anyone knew it, the boy was already on the ground. "Oops," he said sheepishly, rubbing his head. "I'm ok, I think."

"Altomare," groaned his district partner from the sidelines, putting her head in her hands. "How is this even possible?"

"I… I don't know."

The challenge dragged on. Every now and again, another competitor would slip or fall, first one of the Thirteen boys, then both from Ten, then the younger boy from Two, who was quickly followed by the boy from Four. But the final five competitors were probably still the strongest five of the bunch, so even though the challenge was nearly over, the odds of it ending any time soon were slim. Here and there, one of the competitors would start to slip a little bit, but they would very quickly recover, easily slotting their feet into the next notch. It seemed as though this challenge might drag on for a very long time. And it did. The challenge felt like it was going to go on for ages and ages.

That was, until the girl from Four started to slip. And she was going down fast. It was like the thick wooden pole had magically turned into a thin, slippery, metal one; the girl could absolutely not get a grip on the pole. "Ah! I can't get a grip!" she exclaimed.

"Are you ok?" asked the girl from Twelve, twisting herself a little bit to get a better view of the other girl. But in the process, she also began to slip down her pole. Within moments, both girls were off of their poles and on the ground.

And then there were three.

Time passed. Titania's limbs were beginning to scream. She felt the pain of being in the same position for such a long time, with cramps slowly starting to build in her arms and legs. But she wasn't going to give up, no sir; Titania was determined to stick with it and come out with the victory for the Capitol. The problem was, she had a feeling that both Noel and the boy from Thirteen who was left were equally as determined to win as she was. And so while all of them were probably feeling the same pain, none of them wanted to be the one to quit first. Titania kept a close eye on the other two, watching as they slid down their poles to make sure she was above at least one of them. This was truly a battle of attrition.

Until Noel slipped.

It was subtle, so subtle that if you hadn't been watching for it you wouldn't have caught it. But as Noel was trying to reposition themself, their foot just barely brushed the ground. They brought their leg back up, but it was too late. "Noel. That was your foot," announced Violet.

"No! It didn't hit the ground."

"Yes it did. You can see the mark in the sand."

"It didn't! I swear!"

"Yes it did. Please go take a seat on the bench."

Full of anger, Noel flung himself onto the ground. "GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!" they roared, slamming their fist down on the ground and causing the sand to fly up around them. "Titania, this is all on you. You'd better fucking win."

Noel stood up and stormed over to the bench, doing their best to sit as far away from any other competitor as they could. But their efforts were short-lived as their district partner scooted along to sit beside them. "Hey, Noel," said the boy, "you did really well! Third place is super impressive."

"Shut it."

The challenge continued to drag on. Titania felt like weights were being pushed down onto her arms and legs. With every moment she was less and less sure that she could keep going. She knew that her alliance's hopes were resting on her shoulders, but if she didn't get down from the pole now, she was absolutely going to faint. That was not exactly optimal; Titania had fainted a few times before and it wasn't fun, and if she landed wrong on the ground it could be really dangerous, not to mention that it might cause her to break a bone which she really didn't want to do. She needed to find a way out of this and fast, and in a way that kept her alliance, or at least her and Mettius, safe.

"Psst. Hey, Atticus, right?" whispered Titania to the boy on the pole next to hers.

"Yes. What is up?" he replied quietly.

"Are you getting tired?"

"Soldiers never get tired."

"Not even a little bit sore?"

"We push through soreness. Soldiers do not lose."

"Well, would you like to not be hanging on this pole anymore? Doing something else."

"Perhaps."

"Let's make a deal then. I'll drop so you can win, but you won't put my team up for the elimination challenge."

"And what is in this for me?"

"We can be done with this. You want to win this just as much as I do. And you can get a medallion for the end of the Games."

Atticus thought for a moment. "I suppose that is a fair trade."

"Shake on it."

Carefully, the two of them eased one hand off of the pole and shook, Titania desperately trying to keep the rest of her alliance from seeing. As soon as they finished, Titania began to slide down the pole, doing her best as she did so to seem stressed out and shaky and like she was not fully in control of her limbs, even though she was. "Titania!" called Noel. "What are you doing?"

"I really can't hold on longer," she replied. "I'm trying my best."

"Well that's not quite good enough," Noel scoffed as Titania hit the ground. "Next time you have to try harder."

There's only so much you can do, Titania thought, as she picked herself up and dusted off the sand. There's only so much you can do.


Atticus Otterson, 18
District Thirteen


"Atta boy, Atticus!" Otterson exclaimed as Titania hit the ground, leaping out of his seat and pumping his first. "Well done!"

"Thank you," replied Peregrine. "Soldiers do not lose."

"I knew you had it in you, buddy!" Otterson got down from the bleachers and jogged over to where Peregrine had slid down from the pole. "Need a hand?"

"Oh! Thank you." Otterson reached down to help pull Peregrine up, but found that it was a bit like trying to lift a bag of bricks with one hand. The younger boy was built like a rock. It took both of Otterson's hands and most of his body weight to pull Peregrine up to his feet.

"No problem, dude."

"Competitors! The challenge has concluded," announced Violet. "Please return to your houses and I will notify you when it is time for the elimination ceremony. You will also find some heating pads and ice packs in your houses if you would care to use them, and if you need medicine, please let us know."

The competitors began to meander back in the direction of their houses. Otterson was surprised that Peregrine was walking so well; he could feel the soreness in his own arms and legs so he could only imagine how sore his partner felt after being on the pole for at least thirty minutes longer. "Do you wanna try one of the heating pads?" Otterson asked.

"What is it for?"

"It helps when you feel sore. Like to make your muscles feel better."

"I did not know you could make your muscles less sore."

"Well, it doesn't always work but we can try."

"I might like that."

Once they arrived at home, Peregrine took a seat on the couch. "This is a really nice place to sit," he said. "It's so soft."

"Did you never have anything like it back home?" asked Otterson as he busied around, getting the heating pads ready for his partner.

"No. Just chairs and hard benches. And our beds were more like cots."

"That's not very comfortable."

"No, no it's not."

"Well, we should try to figure out who we're going to send into the elimination challenge. Do you have any ideas? Because I have a few ideas."

"It cannot be the pair from the Capitol. I promised Titania I would not choose her or her partner."

"Why?"

"So she would drop so we could win. This way we will get a medallion later." Otterson put the heating pads onto Peregrine's arms and legs, and he could see his younger counterpart relax a little bit. "Oh, this is nice. I like this."

"Uh-huh," replied Otterson, happy to see Peregrine loosening up a bit. "That agreement that you made makes sense. Not a bad move on her part. And it kept us safe too."

"So if it's not them, what do you think is the smartest move?"

"I would assume we should target the stronger ones, right? After all, they're more of a threat. And only one can win."

"Well, yes, that's part of it. We don't want to face right off against any of the stronger teams. But there's another way to avoid that," Otterson replied.

"How?"

"Well, let's say we were to pick the District Two team. They're really strong, sure, but they're also in an alliance with a bunch of other teams, the ones with trained tributes."

"Oh yes. I think Pax mentioned something like that in his interview."

"Right. So if we pick off one of the stronger teams in that alliance, it's all well and good for us for now, but in the long run, whether they win or lose, we've made an enemy of that whole alliance. And again, because they're strong, the odds of them winning challenges are pretty high. So we will have made enemies of all of the trained teams in the Events."

"So you suggest to select the weakest team intentionally. So the strong teams do not target us."

"Well, yes. But more importantly, I want to send in the team that has no connections. Even if we send in a team that is technically weaker, if they are in another alliance, we still become a target. So my thought is that if we send in the team from Three, the only team that does not seem to be allied with anybody, we can't possibly make any enemies."

Peregrine looked surprised. "Is Three really the only team that is not in an alliance?"

"I don't know. I mean, we're not in an alliance. But I think it's highly possible. I'm pretty sure Eight, Six, Five, and Ten are in an alliance together, and Nine and Twelve seem to be together too. Which leaves Three and Eleven, and Eleven has the sob stories, so we shouldn't send them in because then we'll get on the audience's bad side which is bad for our popularity."

"How did everyone make so many friends?" Peregrine asked, looking a little sad as he circled back to the beginning of Otterson's explanation.

"I'm not sure, my dude," replied Otterson, starting to feel bad for his partner. He sat down next to Peregrine and put his hand on the younger boy's shoulder. Peregrine recoiled a little bit at the touch. "Oh, did I hurt you?"

"No. It did not hurt. I did not…" Otterson could see the gears turning in Peregrine's head.

"What do you mean?"

"It is not important. You think we should send in the team from Three?"

"I think that's the best for us. It keeps us in for longer. And then like, Eleven as a second choice if we have to."

"Then that is what we will do." Peregrine got up off the couch and dusted off his clothing.

"Where are you going?" Otterson asked.

"I am going to work out in my room," Peregrine said, his voice beginning to sound a little bit shaky.

"But you just held onto that pole for such a long time! Why don't you take a break? Rest your arms."

"Soldiers do not take breaks."


Kubi Quince, 13
District Three


"And so, Atticus and Atticus, I am pleased to present you with the Medallion of Perseverance," Violet said, bringing the first portion of the elimination ceremony to a close. "Now, it is time to learn the teams that will be going into the elimination challenge today. Or should I say team. Of course, there are normally two teams in the elimination challenges, but today there will only be one. This team might be the team selected by the audience, or it might be the team that Atticus and Atticus selected. When I announce the pair of teams that came in last, those two teams will immediately return to their rooms and change into their uniforms for the elimination challenge. You will then go to the Elimination Challenge Arena, which is due south of the courtyard. The remaining competitors are allowed to hang out in each other's houses and in the courtyard, but you may not join us for the competition. If the team in the elimination challenge returns, they will be willing to share as much as they want to.

"The team that will be facing elimination today is… the pair from Three."

Kubi felt his stomach drop. Regardless of how little he wanted to be in the Events, which was really such a small amount, there was something that was honestly really sad about being told that either the audience disliked you or that the pair from Thirteen disliked you. It didn't even matter what the truth was; both options were equally disheartening, because they both meant that you weren't all that popular. But he couldn't show how sad he felt to anybody else; he'd rolled a three, which meant he had to pretend not to care (as much as he didn't want to come off as a three to the Captiol audience, it had been his interview angle, so perhaps it was good for him to keep up the same persona). So instead, he leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and then plastered an unamused smirk on his face. Nobody had to know how upset he felt on the inside.

But then Kubi looked at Kamela, who seemed just as crestfallen as he was if not more. As much as he wanted to hold up the persona he'd rolled for the day, the cynical villain who just didn't care about those around him, he'd truly taken a liking to his partner. He knew how hard it was for him to leave his home and be forced into this unfamiliar situation, so he could only imagine how bad it was for someone like Kamela, who needed a particular routine to get by in her day to day life, to survive in the Events where she couldn't settle into any routine, much less her normal one, must have been downright impossible. Everything in him wanted to reach over to her, to tell her that everything would be OK, but that would be breaking character. He'd just have to wait until they had a private moment, away from the cameras, to console her and tell her everything would be OK.

After a few moments, Kamela and Kubi got up and walked together to the competition zone. As they walked, Kubi positioned himself next to Kamela and gave her a little touch on the shoulder (he would hold her hand, but she didn't like germs). Kamela looked Kubi in the eyes and gave him a nod and a slight smile, which Kubi reciprocated, attempting not to reveal himself to the cameras.

When the two arrived at the competition zone, they were surprised to find that there was a hovercraft waiting for them. "Are we supposed to board it?" Kamela asked.

"I think so," Kubi replied. "That would make sense."

"OK," Kamela replied.

As they boarded the hovercraft, they found themselves in a small sitting room, which had two couches, a sleek, white coffee table, and a television mounted in between two small windows across from the couches. The two competitors took their seats on the couches, turning their attention to the television screen, which was displaying the seal of the Capitol. After a moment, the Capitol's seal was replaced by the image of Violet Emerald.

"Good afternoon, Kamela and Kubi," Violet said, speaking in a soft and calm tone, "and welcome to your elimination challenge. As you might have gathered, this is a bit of a different style of challenge from what you might expect, because you will not actually be competing in a challenge today.

"As you know, the value of District Eleven is perseverance. To earn your right to stay in the Events, you will have to emulate the perseverance of Eleven's citizens. At some point between now and the end of the Events, you will be granted the ability to return to the competition. But in order to do so, you must complete a number of challenges. You will compete against the other competitors in one challenge each day, either the main challenge or the elimination challenge. As long as you are not the last place team in that competition, you will stay in the running to return to the Events.

"In a moment, this hovercraft will take to you to the side area where you will live and compete until you return to the Events. Do you have any questions before we go?"

Kamela opened her mouth, then paused, then said, "What if we don't want to?"

"What do you mean?" Violet asked.

"What if we don't want to go back into the Events? All I want is to go home and get back into a routine and be a normal kid again. I don't want to go back to different challenges every day and who knows what's going to happen. I want to do what I know how to do and go back home!"

Violet might have been stunned, but she was doing a remarkable job of keeping her composure. "Well, what does Kubi have to say about this?"

Kubi thought for a moment. There was a part of him that wanted to play up the complete apathy of the persona he'd rolled for himself that day. But something told him that it was more important to be honest and tell the whole truth, rather than hide behind the mask that he'd been wearing for so long. "I have been thinking the same thing," Kubi admitted. "Like the Events are fine and all, and they're obviously not as bad for me as they are for Kamela, but I certainly prefer to watch and not be the spotlight. Honestly, I was only pretending to be into the Events for Kamela because I felt bad and I didn't want to let her down."

"I was only doing it for Kubi," Kamela replied. "I didn't want to let him down either. It has taken everything in me to hold this in and not tell Kubi outright but honestly if I could have gone home before the first challenge I would have."

Kubi was kind of touched, honestly. He didn't remember another time where someone had done something like that for him, because they didn't want him to feel bad. But he also felt a bit sad; if he'd been more honest with Kamela from the start, rather than pretending to be honest or being too meek or hiding behind the masks of his die, maybe they could have done something better, or maybe the pair from Seven could have had another chance because they probably actually wanted to be there. But there was nothing he could do about it now.

"I didn't realize, Kamela. I wish we'd talked about this sooner."

"Me too."

"Well," Violet said, "if you're both in agreement about this, I see no reason to keep you in the competition. You'll have to stay back in the Capitol until the Events end, but hopefully you'll be able to find a routine that works for you there. It has been a pleasure having you in the Events and we hope that you will be able to take something away from this as well."

"I think I will," Kubi admitted, a small smile forming on his face. "Now, Kamela, was there something you were teaching me about earlier?"

Kubi spent the entire ride back in the hovercraft listening to Kamela jabber on about physics. He couldn't quite understand anything she was saying – the girl was far smarter than him after all – but there was something refreshing about just letting Kamela's chatter wash over him as he processed what had just happened. It was as if he'd had an epiphany, which was a new feeling for the thirteen-year-old. There was a part of him that felt like the realizations he'd come to were almost too mature, but they felt right, like he'd discovered the things he was supposed to be feeling and learning at that point in time. Kubi had finally realized that if he was just himself, his honest, full self, then he might get the things that were actually right for him, and he could enjoy the experiences he found himself in more.

When they got back to their floor in the training center, Kubi was happy to find that his suitcase was waiting for him there. He took his dice out of his pocket, put them in the front pocket of his suitcase, and zipped it shut. Kubi didn't need a die to tell him who to be.

From now on, Kubi was going to be himself.


Full Placement List:

1st: Thirteen

2nd: Capitol

3rd: Two

4th: Twelve

5th: Five

6th: Ten

7th: One

8th: Eight

9th: Six

10th: Five

11th: Eleven

12th: Nine

13th: Three


Kamela Wisdom:

Well, I don't think it'll come as a surprise to anybody that this was always the fate I had planned out for Kamela. A fun fact is that on the question "How badly do you want to win?" she and Kubi had the lowest combined total of any pair, with a score of 7/20. So they were not going to last long. Kamela was such a remarkable kid to work with though! I loved getting to write a little nerd because she was like me, and she was a great opportunity to learn about tritanopia and Aspberger's. Thanks so much to Platrium for Kamela!

Kubi Quince:

Like I said in Kamela's section, this was the fate I had planned for Kubi for a very long time. I had so much fun getting to work with Kubi too! All of his different personalities were such a fun twist on luck, and I enjoyed tremendously getting to work with him and explore all of the different bits to him. I know we didn't get to see all that much of him but that kind of happens sometimes in SYOTs, and rest assured that I enjoyed him tremendously. Thanks so much to Galaxy842 for Kubi!

~.~.~

So there we have the second Events chapter! I tried out a kinda different format for this one, mostly because I realized that if I were to keep up with the format I used for D9 we'd be 25 chapters away from the end of the story, and to be honest, as much as I love IDIDE and this story and these characters I cannot write 25 more Events chapters this time around. I would much rather write fewer chapters that I'm excited about than push out more chapters that I am not excited about writing because I'm sure it'll show. I'm still going to be showcasing all the arcs I want, but I'm going to do it by writing the POVs I want to at the length I think will fit! And it gave me the opportunity to something neat with next chapter's format that I really had a lot of fun writing.

Anyways, I'm now on winter break finally, so my hope is to get through a good chunk of the Events in the next couple of weeks. The goal is to keep up with weekly updates, and potentially move up to biweekly as we get closer to the end of the story depending on how quickly I write. Any guesses on what district we'll be seeing next? It's potentially the most unconventional challenge that I've written to day (though I guess any Events challenge is unconventional).

I suppose that's all for now! I'll see you all next weekend with another chapter!

-goldie031