The Fourth Annual Writer Games: Canon

A Letter from President Snow

To Head Gamemaker Orvan Ferver,

Taking on the responsibility of Head Gamemaker is no small asking, Mr. Ferver. You of all people know that—you have seen your colleagues fail time and time again in what is meant to be the simple undertaking of making the Games something worth remembering. But you and I both know what appears to be easy is often no small feat. We must always be watching our steps, calculating forward, not back, predicting instead of reacting. That is how one makes a successful Games, Mr. Ferver. That is how one lasts in this profession.

You have no doubt heard rumours circulating about your predecessor. While I am not a man who is inclined to divulge such details, if you wish to succeed, you should already have noted what went wrong in last year's Games. Should you need nudging, let me remind you that our microcosm is fragile One misstep in your position and we run the risk of unleashing ideas we cannot control. Our recent victor has shown us how one little mistake or oversight on your part can set off a chain reaction ending only in needless suffering.

You have large shoes to fill, but be cautious of where you step, for these shoes are made of lead, and there will be no one there to pull you up should you fall into water.

This year, I expect the Games to be so successful it nearly wipes away the memories of last year. Yes, we may never be able to diminish the effect that Haymitch Abernathy had on our arena, but we must learn from this. I have had my team play the scandal off and it has worked, but in order for it to stick we must demonstrate that we are still in control. You have the task of rethinking our boundary system, for this year at the very least, there must be no chance of another tribute pulling a stunt as Mr. Abernathy did.

This year we must remind the citizens of Panem just what the Hunger Games are: penance for their ancestor's actions. You must change the way these Games are run so that our microcosm continues to work like clockwork, because at the moment some of the cogs are beginning to creak and rust. I am not imploring you, Mr. Ferver, to make these Games a great spectacle, in fact quite the opposite. You must be a skilled psychologist—able to see how the people will react before they react and work carefully and precisely to change things ever so slightly, to tilt the path of the future ever so slightly. In that way will you find success.

This is not a request, this is an expectation.

I shall be watching closely.

C.S.

Welcome, welcome, welcome, future tributes and authors. The biggest twist in these Games are they are going to be run anonymously. This was first seen in @katniss-everdeen 's Secrets along with my own twists and turns. This means you won't know who is writing who, and no one will know you are participating. More information is to follow in the Rules and Guidelines chapter. This will ensure that we bring it back to canon, that it's about the tributes and not the authors participating.