The Cachexia Chemical Blog:

https :// thecachexiachemical . wixsite . com / home

My SYOT Tributes

Mati Strye - District Nine Male

Justice: The 240th Hunger Games - Josephm611

SYOT submission guidelines

Just a short guideline on how to write a strong tribute (in my eyes):

Be creative. Never be afraid to submit someone because you think that I might not like them. I want tributes that have something memorable to them; it makes them far more interesting to write, and also far more interesting to read... To make them stand out they need to all be individual, so think outside the box and try and do something realistic, but not bland. If your tribute makes me think 'Wow, why didn't I think of that' then I'm definitely going to love them! But never forget, there are ways to make a unique tribute without relying on them being super edgy or wild. Build a backstory, make someone believable, really put your mind to it, and they will be great.

For things to avoid, firstly, original is great, but there are certainly extremities of this that can go a little too far. Instead of psychotic, try dissociative, for example. I would also avoid submitting tributes with any debilitating mental health concerns, because this is incredibly difficult to write effectively of the context of the Hunger Games. For anxiety think of how Primrose behaves in the books, she is terrified of the games, but she still prepares to go to the stage when her name is called, because she understands the reality of the world she lives in. Flaws and strengths need to be balanced in order to work well, so it's also important to avoid any unrealistically brilliant tributes, ensure that you have a couple of flaws because ultimately, flaws are more interesting than the good parts.

When you are thinking of strengths and weaknesses, remember that not everything has to directly link to the arena. Maybe your District Ten is great with animals, or perhaps your District Five burned their hand so badly that they lost their sense of touch there. I like to think I'm good enough to tie unrelated things into a character, so feel free to give me a challenge. Just remember realism though; it's unlikely that your twelve year old from District Eight is an explosives expert.

Think about the District you are submitting for. Nothing irks me more than when I am reading a tribute and they are named something that just doesn't fit, or their backstory doesn't relate to their district. Try and find something that relates to your tribute's District, but also think outside the box and try to capture something beyond the normal scope. Maybe you're naming your District One after a fine wine, or your District Three after an inventor. Creativity will really show through. A great naming guide would be the list from the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which you can find online for reference. (District Two and Twelve are the exceptions, with Two being mostly Roman names and Twelve being very loosely themed)

When I am naming a tribute, I try and think outside the box as to things relating to the District. Eleven would grow herbs and spices, Ten would be responsible for dairy and fertiliser, Nine would have experience with irrigation and grow rice, Eight would make carpets and rugs, Seven would gather sap and latex etc. Don't be too on-the-nose with a name, but don't ignore things completely either. Examples tributes that I have named: Crossland Vectra for District Six, which are both models of car. Crossland is a large vehicle that represents his physical strength, whilst Vectra was marketed as a family vehicle which represented his dislike of his own family. (Yes, go into the sort of symbolism your literacy teacher wants you to, I eat that stuff up)

Before you arm your tribute, please do a little research on weapons. Before you submit your tribute who will use a 'dagger' in the games, try and find something specific. Most weapons submitted are colloquial terms for a broad area of weaponry. A tribute using an Estoc Rapier compared to a Flamberge or a Chinese Dao would be vastly different, however they could all be classed as a 'Sword'. Just spend five minutes on wikipedia and find out what you want them to have, European, Indian, Chinese and Japanese would be the areas I usually focus on, since there is a lot of information and the variation is huge. Obviously your tribute won't know that the type of sword they're using is of Chinese design, but I will, and I can understand and describe it far better that way.

In addition, remember Panem. Thinking about the world that Panem is, obviously, very important. Firstly, don't add political issues of today into your tribute, it is unlikely that these things would be relevant this far into the future, when the Districts have enough problems as it is. In terms of ages, the majority of the tributes should statistically be older, as they are the most likely to be picked because of tesserae and general age, but that doesn't mean young tributes don't exist. If you want a tribute to volunteer who isn't from a career District, you need a really good reason. Also, as far as I am aware from the information available to us, Career tributes are hand-picked by the trainers when they are the best at the academy in their district, almost always eighteen, which is presumably the equivalent of volunteering, and there wouldn't be reaped tributes from these Districts. If you want your career to be younger, you will need to be clear as to why they're good enough not to need to wait an extra year or two. (not wanting to participate in a Quarter Quell could be a good reason here, the last one involved every tribute having their immediate family executed if they died. Oh Snow...) We don't have much information about the Career procedures, but I will do my best to capture something that seems to fit.

Also, remember the Hunger Games. These children are forced to watch the events every year so they know what death looks like and they know that they need to kill in order to survive. Even the weakest tribute would be aware of that necessity. Katniss becomes rather sinister in the books as an example; if you read the scene in the first book where she is driven up the tree by the Careers, she actively wishes to kill them all, including Peeta, and hopes Cato breaks his neck when he falls.The films downplay her ruthlessness, but it is definitely something that she has, and likely all tributes would demonstrate, in order to survive.

And finally, use my prologues to help you embellish your own designs, use the world I'm showing you to impact your tributes. And don't be afraid to world build a little yourself, because ultimately, your ideas might be better than mine!

My SYOT

I am now opening the submissions for new tributes. Each author may submit multiple tributes, but I am unlikely to end up accepting multiple tributes from the same author. I will be accepting multiple tributes for each slot, and choose the best one at the end, this may mean that your tribute does not end up getting picked, but unfortunately, I always have to choose the tribute whom I feel that I will write best and who will best suit the story I am creating.

Submissions will be open for a few weeks, but if I am given a tribute whom I am immediately decided on, I will close their slot. This should take us until I have published all of the 'prologue' parts of the story, and will then allow me to move on to the 'reapings'. I may not show the reaping sequence for all of the characters, and may instead show other events in their life to keep the story differing. I also need to point out that not every character will get an POV of each event. I will write the content equally between all of the submissions to the best of my ability, but when it comes to key events such as chariots, training demonstrations, interviews, I will use the tribute form to guide me as to who have the best material to work with.

Whilst the prologues will be quite tame, the content in the arena may move up to an M rating, as there will be graphic descriptions of violence and gore at the very least. This story will also feature slightly higher word counts, so if you struggle with longer chapters, it may not be the SYOT for you to follow.

I also recommend that after you submit, you review. As we progress into the games, I will be doing some form of 'sponsors' system that will be revolve around number of the tribute creator's personal reviews, but until then, I can only recommend that you review as we go. Not only will it tell me who is reading the story, but your feedback will help me improve my writing as we go. If I accept your submission but you never review, then I can only assume that you aren't reading my story and your tribute will possibly receive less attention, or even be replaced for a different submission altogether. If you would prefer to contact me in a PM, please do, I always love to discuss things and chat with people.

And remember, even if you don't have a tribute in the story, don't let that put you off, I have future plans to expand this story into the Quarter Quell so there will be more opportunities to submit in the future...

To help people with filling out the form below, here is the list of the stations available in the newly refurbished training centre (if you think of something that I might have missed, add it to your form!):

Weapons

Bladed weapons (swords, daggers, axes, etc)

Polearms (spears, halberds, glaives, etc)

Blunt (hammers, maces, staves, etc)

Bows (no crossbows, they'd be an unfair advantage because of their ease of use)

Thrown weapons (throwing knives, javelins, axes, etc)

Supplemental weapons (Blowguns, slingshots, bolas, etc)

Athletics

Swimming Pool, Running Circuit, Climbing, Gauntlet, Hand to Hand combat, Weight-Lifting, Balance

Stations

First Aid, Infection, Poison, Edible Insects, Edible Plants, Fishing, Hunting, Water, Fire Making, Anatomy, Knot Tying, Snares, Traps, Camouflage, Shelter

SYOT form for Upcoming story:

Chemical Induction:

Name:

Name reasoning (why did you come up with this name?):

Age:

District (no back ups, if I really like your tribute but the space is filled, I'll reach out to you):

Gender (tributes will be reaped by their assigned gender at birth, District citizens would not be able to afford the cost of gender transitioning) :

Sexuality:

Physical Appearance Face:

Physical Appearance Body:

Hair (Including body hair):

Faceclaim:

Personality:

Backstory:

Notable Relationships:

What do they think of the Hunger Games:

Skills/Strengths/Confidences:

Flaws/Weaknesses/Fears:

Weapon(s) of choice:

Reaped/Volunteered:

Reaction to Reaping/Reason for Volunteering:

Goodbyes (if any):

Tribute Token (if any):

Use of time on the train:

How would they interact with their District Partner:

How would your tribute behave when able to interact with tributes from other Districts for the first time:

What would your tribute feel when they are on their chariot:

What would your tribute prioritise in the training centre:

Would they be open to the idea of an alliance:

Would they be approachable for a relationship, either genuinely or for sponsors:

What sort of angle would they use for their interview:

What would they demonstrate during their private session with the Gamemakers:

How would they ideally behave during the bloodbath:

What type of arena design would they want to see:

What would their tactic be for survival once in the arena:

Could your tribute win, and why:

What would be your tribute's biggest downfall:

If your tribute won the games, what contribution would they be able to bring to Panem?

Please answer at least one from each of the following three sections:

I will be using these for character building and inspiration for possible reaping replacement chapters, so the more you answer and the more detail you provide, the more likely I am to accept your tribute)

What would be a typical day in their District life?

What did they think when watching the previous year's Hunger Games?

What is a specific memory that has always stuck with them about the Hunger Games?

xxx

How are they feeling the week prior to the reaping for the 99th Games?

How did they feel when their name was called by the Escort?

How would your tribute react when watching the other tributes' reapings?

xxx

What would your tribute's reaction be when seeing the Capitol for the first time?

How would your tribute be feeling when they are taken down to meet their prep-team and are made 'beautiful'?

How would your tribute react when they arrived in their apartment and were able to experience the luxuries of the Capitol for the first time?

xxx

Any further notes:

Disclaimer: By submitting a tribute to this story, you allow TWilkins full authority over that tribute. Whilst the tribute's bio will be unchanged where possible, all future decisions, actions and the ultimate fate, of the tribute, will be decided by TWilkins. Where the tribute's bio does not consist with the story canon of TheCachexiaChemical universe, TWilkins may need to alter details of the tribute's past to conform with the universe the story exists within.

District One: Luxury: Population 27,741

Female: Confirmed

Male: Confirmed

District Two: Masonry: Population 234,213

Female: Confirmed

Male:

District Three: Electronics: Population 194,922

Female: Confirmed

Male: Confirmed

District Four: Fishing: Population 132,706

Female: Confirmed

Male: Confirmed

District Five: Power: Population 144,609

Female: Confirmed

Male: Confirmed

District Six: Transport: Population 800,116

Female: Confirmed

Male: Confirmed

District Seven: Lumber: Population 28,002

Female: Confirmed

Male: Confirmed

District Eight: Textiles: 124,356

Female: Confirmed

Male: Confirmed

District Nine: Grain: Population 16,780

Female: Confirmed

Male: Confirmed

District Ten: Livestock: Population 20,609

Female: Confirmed

Male: Confirmed

District Eleven: Agriculture: Population 128,946

Female: Confirmed

Male: Confirmed

District Twelve: Coal: Population 8,182

Female: Confirmed

Male: Confirmed