(Truffles: Released 11/28/2016)

"Arf arf!" Truffles barks as he wakes up Isis after entering her room. He climbs up the bed and pulls the comforter away from Isis.

"Uh..." Isis groggily moves to face the other side of the bed.

Truffles looks at Isis's sidetable. On top is a book, titled Cards of Mortality.

"Arf!" Truffles grabs the book with his mouth and flips the pages randomly.

Approximately an hour later, Isis wakes up to see Truffles below her bed, making a mess.

"Truffles, no!" Isis picks up the torn pages of the book from the carpet. "Why did you do this Truffles?"

Truffles looks at Isis with regret, and he makes a sound to match it too. Isis sighs and tells him, "Truffles, please don't do it again. I'll have to order another copy of this."

Truffles makes that sound of regret once again, and he nods to what Isis just told him as Isis gives him a hug of forgiveness.


(Freetime: Released 02/23/2017)

Alistair Lysander is playing cards with some of his fellow gamemakers. He puts down the cards on his hand.

"Hah! Take that Radon."

Radon puts down his cards as well.

"Ugh! Why do I always get the bad cards!?"

Solomon says, "Because your luck is awful."

"Since when?"

"Since the day you were born!"

Radon gives him the middle finger.

"Take it easy, I'm just kidding."

Alistair gets his glass of wine, or rather he attempts to without looking.

"Oh crap!"

He sees his hardbound book titled "Cards of Mortality" getting wet from the wine he just spilled.

"You're not looking," Solomon remarks."

"Yeah yeah, I know." Alistair attempts to dry up the book.

"Just leave it out under the sun," says Solomon. "Oh wait, there is no sun. Hahaha!"

"I can wait for the sun to rise, or I can use someone's hairdryer."

Alistair puts the book away before it gets wetter from another possible clumsy spill.


(Christmas: Released 12/29/2017)

Vamp Polyhaima enters his restaurant, Vamp's Steakhouse and Bar. He rolls his eyes upon seeing his niblings.

"Uncle Vik!" a boy and a girl call.

"Look what we got for you this Christmas!" says the boy.

"I don't celebrate Christmas. How many times do I have to tell that to your mother?"

Vamp then realizes what the gift was wrapped with, so he freezes.

"It was grandma!" says the boy cheerily.

"Yeah!" his sister agrees.

"Viktorio!"

Vamp internally cringes then turns around to see his mother giving him a hug.

"Look what my grandchildren and I prepared for you! We ran out of Christmas wrapping, so your nephew and niece suggested to use an old book."

"Ma, what was the title of the book?"

"Cards of Mortality!"

"MA! That's an original copy!"

"You can get a new one."

It's not that easy, if she only knew. Vamp sighs, "I-I'll..."

"Merry Christmas Viktorio!"

"Ma, I don't..."

"Uncle Vik, what are you supposed to say?" says his niece innocently.

Vamp sighs and rolls his eyes. "Thank you."

"That's my boy!" Vamp's mother gives him another hug.

"Group hug!" says his nephew.

"Weee!" follows his niece.

Vamp is not only stressed about how the pages of his book got turned into Christmas wrapping, but also with the time of the year wherein he has to sit through with all this 'unexpected' family gathering in his restaurant.

This is gonna be a long night.


(Brenna Addendum by LiveFreeOrDie - Never Released)

(After writing Brenna's intro, Brenna's submitter was inspired to write a deleted scene about Brenna's backstory.)

It's late at night. The room is silent except for the grunts of exertion coming from the two trainees in the boxing ring. They don't take any notice to my entrance as I move to sit in one of the metal folding chairs scattered haphazardly a few yards from the ring. I focus on one of the trainees, a girl of medium build and on the short side of average in height. Her cerulean eyes spell concentration and her movements are sharp and swift. Her blond ponytail dances behind her head as she expertly dodges the attacks from her opponent. Her name is Brenna O'Hare and she is the chosen volunteer for the upcoming Hunger Games. She is also my closest friend.

Since we became friends around eight years ago, no one has spent more time around Brenna than I have. I understand her in a way that no one else does. Beneath her cold, sadistic, and slightly deranged façade is a girl that only I know – a sweet and gentle girl that would rather not be trained in the field of killing. And while she is certainly the best out of all the trainees here at the Center, she does not actually enjoy hurting others. Her plan was always to be the ideal Career and thus to become the designated volunteer for the Games. The assessment for this is a complex process, since trainees are not only evaluated based on their proficiency in survival and the lethal arts, but also on their personality traits. D2 tends to look for someone who can induce fear in others while maintaining enough control of themselves to win. After winning the Games, she would have the freedom and means to live out a life that she deserved. At least that is what I have gathered together from bits and pieces over the years, since Brenna never said too much all at once.

But the Games are unpredictable. And while D2 Tributes tend to be popular with the Capitol audience, having Careers win too often makes the Games less exciting. I have full confidence in Brenna's abilities, but no level of training can ever guarantee a victory. And even if she wins, I cannot help but wonder what kind of effect the experience would have on her. As strong as she is, no one emerges truly unscathed from the traumatic reality of the Hunger Games.

I try not to dwell on these thoughts as Brenna finishes her sparring match. Her face, slick with sweat, reflects the light of the fluorescent lamps above. She sees me sitting here and flashes me her classic close-mouthed smile. That disquieting feeling returns as I remember that in a few hours, we will be heading together to the annual D2 Reaping, which is little more than a congratulatory sendoff for the selected volunteer.

Could it be the last time I see her?


For archival purposes:

Sponsor System:

"Decent" Review: 10

Substantial Review: 20

Submitting Male Tribute: 20

Submitting Female Tribute: 10

Submitting 12- to 13-year-old: 15

Submitting 14- to 15-year-old: 10

Submitting 16- to 18-year-old: 5

Providing Fanart: 50 (PM me the link some way or another.)

Submitting Stylist: 15

Getting at least 18/24 for guessing the submitter of each tribute: 100

Providing Fun Interview Questions: 5

Guessing a Bloodbath Death Correctly: 20

Guessing Next Death Correctly: 20 (plus 10 for consecutively correct guesses)

Oh, and I don't think I ever mentioned this, but the reason behind the points being different for each biological sex and age is to encourage people to submit more male tributes and younger tributes, especially since back in 2016 I've seen most stories being flooded with older kids than younger ones and females usually get filled up faster than males. This rule no longer applied to Playing with Capitalism if you noticed, but this was when I started my 1st SYOT so I should let you all know my reason behind it.

Sponsor Points: docs. google. come/spreadsheets/d/1qBdjcnJZc7ASP4G2Zb-93dKghs4-ZTbdGAsywGi5ZOs/view (remove spaces to access link; remove e after com)

Has-Needs List: docs. google. come/document/d/1lf5KV85YmnguXquC2UOANIjeAmCoGv9PBrkcwPZ0uPA/view (remove spaces to access link; remove e after com)

Official Blog by ShunKazamis-Girl: cards-of-mortality-140th. weebly. com (remove spaces to access link)

Arena Map (Day Version): www. deviantart. come/platrium/art/Elymantyl-Day-Version-815070299 (remove spaces to access link; remove e after com)

Arena Map (Night Version): www. deviantart. come/platrium/art/Elymantyl-Night-Version-815070323 (remove spaces to access link; remove e after com)

Official list of tributes, mentors, escorts, and stylists in Chapter 25.

List of things you can sponsor can be found in Chapter 41.

Number of unique submitters with accepted tributes: 21

Stylist Submission Count: 10


Cards of Mortality updates and outline: (MM/DD/YYYY) (my time zone)

1. Of Tricks and Trials: 07/08/2016

2. Gamemaking with Alistair Lysander: 07/09/2016

3. Shopping Day (and Sponsor List): 07/11/2016

4. D7 Reapings: 07/24/2016

5. D5 Reapings: 09/01/2016

6. D10 Reapings: 09/05/2016

7. D2 Reapings: 09/10/2016

8. Stuntmen 1 & 2: 09/21/2016

9. D6 Reapings: 09/26/2016

10. D9 Reapings: 10/10/2016

11. D12 Reapings: 10/28/2016

12. D1 Reapings: 12/19/2016

13. Stuntwomen 3 & 4: 12/19/2016

14. D3 Reapings: 12/25/2016

15. D8 Reapings: 01/01/2017

16. D11 Reapings: 04/25/2017

17. D4 Reapings: 05/04/2017

18. Recap & Analysis Preparation: 05/29/2017

19. Reaping Recap & Analysis: 06/08/2017

20. Train Rides A: 06/15/2017

21. Stunt People's Orientation: 06/30/2017

22. Train Rides B: 07/08/2017

23. Stylists' Orientation: 08/31/2017

24. Train Rides C: 09/06/2017

25. Pre-Parade: 09/09/2017

26. Tribute Parade: 09/11/2017

27. Night 1: 11/04/2017

28. Training 1 (AM): 11/18/2017

29. Training 1 (PM): 03/20/2018

30. Night 2: 04/20/2018

31. Training 2 (AM): 05/04/2018

32. Training 2 (PM): 05/11/2018

33. Night 3: 05/18/2018

34. Training 3: 05/25/2018

35. Private Sessions 1: 06/01/2018

36. Private Sessions 2: 06/08/2018

37. Score Reveal Night: 06/15/2018

38. Free Day 1: 01/04/2019

39. Free Day 2: 01/06/2019

40. Free Night: 07/08/2019

41. Gamemaking & Interview Preparations: 07/23/2019

42. Interviews 1: 09/19/2019

43. Interviews 2: 09/19/2019

44. Final Night & Brunch: 09/20/2019

45. Launch & Bloodbath: 09/30/2019

46. Day 1 Part 1: 10/03/2019

47. Day 1 Part 2: 11/21/2019

48. Night 1: 12/11/2019

49. Day 2: 01/16/2020

50. Night 2: 01/30/2020

51. Day 3: 02/06/2020

52. Day 4: 02/19/2020

53. Day 5: 03/04/2020

54. Day 6: 03/11/2020

55. Day 7: 03/26/2020

56. Day 8: 04/07/2020

57. Day 9 & 10 (Feast): 04/15/2020

58. Night 10: 04/29/2020

59. Day 11 & 12: 05/08/2020

60. Day 12: 05/25/2020

61. Day 13: 06/06/2020

62. Day 14 (Finale): 06/20/2020

63. Victor's Interview & Coronation: 07/19/2020

64. Capitol Epilogues: 09/20/2020

65. Tribute Epilogues: 10/02/2020

66. Bonus Dump: 10/02/2020

The outline is on the blog too. I just wanted to do this.


~Final Message from the Author~

This... was such a long journey. I honestly did not expect it to last this long. Ever since 2014, I was very skeptical in starting my own SYOT, knowing that the responsibility is very big. When I returned in 2016, I was skeptical, but at one point, I decided to start one. I guess one factor to this decision was the lack of reviewers in my active story that time. It wasn't hard to motivate myself into writing TARP3, because I write it for my own and it's all my own characters. Although that time, I guessed I craved visible participation from readers, since I read other SYOT stories and those were getting reviews, whether it's a few or a ton.

Once I had an arena idea, I knew I was gonna write this. I pressured myself to update between short gaps to show my dedication. Eventually, I learned that my readers are understanding when life comes in the way. This story has been with me for so many ups and downs. Final projects in school, my co-curricular involvements, my newfound interest in 3D modeling, thesis, and existential crises led to the 4-year run of this story. However, the community, both in the SYOT Alliance! Forum and in several Discord servers kept me from continuing this. Finishing college gave me time to work on all the arena chapters, and even though 2020 is a bad year overall, it was a good year for the SYOT community, and thus I was able to finish this story this year.

When I started it, I knew I was going to finish it. It may be disheartening for some authors when there's a lack of readers or reviewers for their story, and that was probably the case for TARP3, but not here. I didn't want to disappoint the people who submitted their characters to me, and that kept me pushing to finish this story. By submitting to me, whether it's a tribute or a stylist, it means they all had faith in me with finishing this story. Here I am. I did it! At the same time, my love for arena designs motivated me to finish this story too. I wasn't just writing for others. I was also writing for myself.

To everyone who stayed with me... thank you very much for being a part of this journey.

To all submitters and reviewers, thank you for having faith in me and helping me grow as a writer.

Special shoutout to ShunKazamis-Girl for making the blog for Cards of Mortality. Thank you! :)

Another shoutout to CelticGames4, HogwartsDreamer113, and goldie031 for consistently reviewing the story. Thank you! :)

If you're reading this story silently from start to end or if you're reading this story late, I would like to say thank you to you too!

It means a lot to pour 4 years of time and effort into this literary work and have people read and enjoy it. It's been a long journey, but all adventures must come to an end. As we close this book, we open another, and so I invite everyone to be a part of the spinoff-sequel of this story, Playing with Capitalism. You can impact the story even without a tribute in it! Want more details? Go check it out! ;)

That's all I have to say. I'm done being sappy, haha! XD I know I had strengths and weaknesses on different parts of this story, but I guess it's all part of the writing process. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed the story overall.

With that, I'm signing off.

This is Platrium, playing it awesome! ;)


"Holy shit!"

"Oh my god..."

The person gets up from a knelt position. They shake their head. "I have no idea how this happened."

"You never know. It could be someone from outside Panem."

"Yeah, but... no... why would someone of this size come out here wearing just... this!?"

"I have no idea!"

"See what I mean?"

"Shhhh!"

The three observe the... specimen. It squints its eyes to adjust to the bright light.

"Wh-where am I? Who... who are you guys? How did I get here?"

"I know you have a lot of questions, kid, but consider yourself lucky to survive in an environment like this."

"You were right out there just as we were cruising by."

"Yeah, we brought you back from the dead!"

"We don't want to overwhelm you with questions, but can we get your name, so we can address you properly."

The kid looks at three curious but concerned faces of strangers. Well, heroes.

"My name is Kobe, Kobe Bridger."