The 226th Hunger Games: Escape

Fanfiction
Title:	The 226th Hunger Games: Escape
Author(s):	Europa22
Date(s):	Published: Oct 21, 2011. Finished: Updated: Aug 4, 2014
Length:	354,684 words (60 chapters)
Genre(s):	Rated T, Horror/Suspense, SYOT
Fandom(s):	The Hunger Games
Relationship(s):
External Links:	Escape by Europa22
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The 226th Hunger Games: Escape (or simply Escape) by Europa22 is one of the most popular SYOT stories in The Hunger Games fandom, having more than 1300 reviews and nearly 150 follows and favourites. It is the third installment of Europa22's Ravenverse. An AU where the mockingjay rebellion failed and the games carried on. Along with the typical structure of a SYOT fic, Europa22 added POVs about some of her victors planning another rebellion to bring down President Raven.

Publication

Having published several SYOTs, Europa22 already had a solid reader base and when the prologue of Escape was published, she received fifty-six tribute forms, which helped her to choose the tributes that she liked or was interested in developing.

Europa22 wrote thirteen typical reaping chapters, one per district. The rest of the fanfic consists of chapters with three or four POVs each, all from different tributes. Sometimes a POV from outside the Arena was added to the chapter. The argument of these POVs was parallel to the development of the Hunger Games and did not affect what was happening inside.

Reviews

Victor name has been edited out to avoid spoilers.

And a hush fell over the crowd...

Damn, just damn. That last line sent chills down my spine. Legit chills. That hasn't happened to me in...a long time. Well, I can tell you carefully made your decisions about how to end this. What a way to do so! Tying up some loose ends while expanding the bits for another, and final, entry. It's gonna be good, I can feel it. :)

I know I jumped on the bandwagon a tad late, but it was fun to look forward to your updates each day. You have a charisma and skill only a handful of writers have, so kudos for being so fine-tuned. I guess you could say you march to the beat of your own drum...or something. :P Anyway, fantastic way to end this amazing story!

There was some real poetry in your closing sentences. Not just the final paragraph, but all of the little line breaks as well. You conveyed brutality and sympathy with just a few simple words. It was quite touching, really. And it is sad that you must put a complete on this story, it is. However, with the closing of one door, another opens.

Let us embark on a new chapter, a new tale, and see where it takes us. And I hope you have me along for the ride. :D

...Gosh, I just sounded so darn cheesy just then! ;)

I know this is the end of this SYOT but maaaan, am I pumped up for the next one! You never fail with your twists and this one certainly does not fall short. I am so curious to see just how many of the Victors are really in on the rebellion and who else will be swayed to the cause. It's really cool how you show different perspectives with the different characters, it adds more layers to it. Also you've got new characters like Zavij, I guess we'll see if they'll be popping up anytime soon. This chapter was wonderful, although there were some spelling errors, just be careful of those. This SYOT was pretty much a roller coaster rides. There were a lot of twists, turns and suspense. It was literally hard to predict what would happen next. Most of all, you've done a fabulous job on the characters themselves. You took these characters that people gave and you brought them to life. You gave them more dimension and most importantly, development. I can't wait for your next SYOT!

Not going to lie; I spent the entire day (and night) reading this SYOT. In all honesty; this is one of the best (if not the best) written SYOT. The characters are realistic, likable/not likable and the characters development is beyond perfect! Your writing style is really good too!

I really didn't think that [Tribute Name] would win. I even though that they were going to end up as a bloodbath tribute. My overall favorite tributes would be Stark or Thomas.

Can't wait for another SYOT from you!

Controversy and Criticism

Tribute names have been edited out to avoid spoilers.

While the story was highly praised, attracting a huge amount of readers that didn't have a tribute in the story, it also received some backlash for some decisions Europa22 made, to the point where the author has to write an author's note asking people to stop sending her anon hate over the decision she made when killing a beloved tribute.

I just wanted to address the… backlash I received last chapter over [Tribute name]'s confirmed death. I'm going to say this only once. All the decisions I make are the ones I believe are the best for my story. 'My' being the keyword. If I did whatever I wanted to do, I would have had one victor this year and three tributes escape. Among those tributes would have been Asita, Winnifred, and Valhalla (all tributes I loved dearly). However, as I continued to write, I decided the escape plan wasn't what was best for the story. As I continued to write, I decided if, how, and when these characters died was what was best. You can sit and type and say what you believe is best. You can even say it in a purely negative/hateful way and attempt to tear me and this story to shreds. However, at the end of the day, it is my story not yours. You can call me selfish, but I write for myself. I'm thrilled people love what I write and enjoy it, but I will not change anything just for other's satisfaction that they 'got what they wanted'.

Anyways, the only reason I am addressing this at all (I would usually choose to ignore this) is because of something I had to change. I now have someone else moderating all of my anonymous reviews. If they read something inappropriate, hateful, sexist, racist, or anything other than positive reinforcement, criticism, and ideas; they will not let it be permitted to be published. I've taken this precaution because of all the anonymous hate I received over my decision in my story. If it continues, I will disable anonymous reviewing all together. Then they will have to make an account and face me as themselves, which I can then block from reviewing and reading my stories.

Again, this situation is extreme and only if the extreme happens. I'm just saying this to show that, in the end, any flamers and haters will not win you won't get anything changed and you won't get any respect or recognition. You'll only miss good things.

Europa22 also received negative feedback about the decision to kill off one of the tributes before the start of the Hunger Games and replace her with another tribute that was not as popular.

why did you kill her off without consent? Was this pre determined? It doesn't seem like it! I hate it so much, we could have had so much with [Tribute Name] before her death occurred? What the hell is this? This personally put President Raven into the villain sue territory. I have trouble believing that a character like her can exist even in the Hunger games. This scene ruined your fanfiction for me.

There were also complaints about Davis, one of the tributes, being overly childish for a twelve year old.

All of that done, I do have one suggestion for future reference. I know Davis was only twelve, but the way he spoke made him sound much younger. Like, seven or eight. I'm guessing you don't have much experience with twelve year olds, but they are a bit more mature. Just for future stories.