Previously on… Survivor!
Both tribes merged into one, but underlying tensions still remained. NanTheDark led a Shadowsquid-exclusive alliance, and Raz also led an alliance solely of his own former tribes-mates. Outnumbered 6-4, the Squids had to think on their feet fast.
Unfortunately, they would be outnumbered and outclassed, as the Oerhaos alliance would combine their efforts in a personal immunity challenge, leading to a Venexis victory. However, the answers in the questionnaires the challenge was based upon led to a twist, granting enemy target Magnen immunity.
Voting would also stay along Tribal lines, but a subtle attempt to flip backfired on Venexis, and Nin10mode would also attempt to spare NanTheDark, leading to a freak 4-4-1-1 vote. However, both would flip back against NanTheDark, sending the Squid leader home, and his fellows with little hope on the horizon.
Nine are left. Who will be eliminated next?
SPOILERS: Avoid the Breakdown if you don’t want spoilers!
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Breakdown:
Episode 7: “The Price is Right.”
Challenge: Survivor Auction
Description: Players would bid on covered items with money from the Jeopardy challenge.
Prizes: Individual Immunity (Harmless, given to Magnen), Memorial (Raz), Vote Revealer (BY), Dueling Glove (Nin10mode), Challenge Advantage (Yurimaster), Exile Vilify and Time Master (Unclaimed)
Voted Out: Brandobrawl (5-4)
Other Votes: Harmless
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NanTheDark, leader of the Shadowsquids, owner and operator of the memorial, has now been memorialzed as the only Xalos member who has not made the jury.
“Dammit Oerhaos. Why'd you vote out Nan. He was our best leader >.< ...Jerks.” ~Magnen
Raz, on the other hand, is also going through a surprisingly emotional phase; he was nearly voted out, and more than anyone else, he really didn’t want to leave, especially like this.
“Wow. Just wow. I was shaking out of fear.
I'm pretty sure I was voted simply because I was being a dick, and yeah, I understand that. But then again this is seems like a thing where roleplaying is encouraged and I always like playing the antagonist in a roleplay.
Although on second thought if I really want to stay in longer playing an antagonist isn't gonna help, as others really are determined to win. Also I still see us being the bad tribe. There was way more to us than just the forum posts and stuff you guys have seen.” ~Raz in TC Results Thread
Immediately after the vote, he sent me this confessional:
“I can't believe it. How the hell? I'm actually still in this. I sent pleas to both MK and Yuri, since I was pretty sure they were the ones who weren't apart of the alliance that we have (and this latest confessional has made me need to reconfirm my trust in our alliance.) and the alliance that I don't think they have, but instead they have mutual feelings about me.
I don't remember much about my plea because of my short term memory, but I said stuff along the lines of "I'd appreciate it if I could still stay in the game, not because of the money, screw money, others could use it more than me, but because of the games. I like playing with everyone, and that's pretty much it, I'll be voted out by the final 5 or before anyways."
I don't send people on guilt trips either, I seem like the person that would, but fuck that, I'm the equivalent of applejack from my little pony when it comes to that stuff, I genuinely enjoy working with everyone else.” ~Raz
Slowly I begin to notice the disparity between who Raz is and how others see it. Raz’s biggest weakness as a player is that even if he has some awareness as to how others see him, he doesn’t do overmuch to correct it, as he doesn’t go out of his way to associate with the Squids. He doesn’t know them, and he is very closed-off and straightforward in his gameplay. Therefore, he still comes off as the big bad evil Oerhaos stomping on the Squids’ fun in a manner of nothing but discrimination and hatred when he’s really just playing a game. His biggest crime is that he’s unaware of how others quite see him, even if he has ideas.
However, the idea of Raz being a horrendous person is greatly exaggerated. He’s an acquired taste but having observed this man all game he is anything but awful. Not only has he been active, he’s been enthusiastic, he’s been at the frontlines, and he’s probably the most invested player out of all of them. He was nearly blindsided that night, and it definitely got to him.
On the other hand, Venexis’ vote for Brandobrawl is cleanly believed to be by Emelia Kaylee, just as I’m sure Venexis intended. It’s never really brought up, despite it being five votes against Oerhaos members with 4 Squids. Really, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be utterly confident. Six Oerhaos, an alliance of 5 of them (poor MK), and only three Squids. Aligned as they may be, they can’t take them down.
Unfortunately, something’s going to change.
“Let's get it straight. You're about to lose right now. One by one will get kicked and there's nothing any of you could do right now. However. This round would be the last one to turn everything upside down. According to my knowledge there are two alliances. Number 1 being Raz, Venexis, nin10mode and brandobrawl. Number 2 being you three. MK is either a part of yours or stays neutral right now. But he's definitely no part of said first alliance.
I guess you know what I'm going for. We're 9 people, and we're one step away of seeing some pretty evil predictable rounds. If you're going for the plot twist you're needing both, me and MK to make that possible. I'm yet not certain who I trully belong to, so please be nice and don't tell anyone else about my thoughts.
Might add that I'm mainly doing that for yuri, as it'd be a cheap end and he deserves something better. So yeah. Shoot for MK asap and we will see how that turns out.” ~BY
Feeling the heat of being #5 in a 5 person alliance, Blackyoshi flips, joining close friend Yurimaster and his alliance to move towards evening the odds. All they have to do is flip Emelia Kaylee and they’ve got a new majority.
The stage is set for some rebellion, but can it be pulled off?
Survivor Auction:
In lieu of an immunity challenge, given the tension in the tribes and in Ponderosa, I put forth a Survivor Auction to fill in time during a busy schoolweek, as I thought of future challenges. There would be seven items to take, all of which would have a small but favorable impact on the game if used correctly.
And, of course, two dud items.
This money would be calculated by who helped with what in the Jeopardy challenge, the winnings from which would be incorporated into this challenge. Ultimately, since the tribes got the same scores, the money amounts would be similar. However, since less people were around to work on the Squid side, they ultimately got a better split per person.
Furthering the tribal divide, the former tribes funnel a good chunk of the money through one person: for Oerhaos, Raz; for Shadowsquid, Magnen. While the Squids simply announce that they’re transferring money over to their lightning rod, the Oerhaos group gets into a little… roleplaying… of their own.
“In exchange for services of a nature.... too inappropriate to mention here, I have agreed to transfer a sum of $200 over to Raz.” ~Brandobrawl
“I am not proud of what I have done.” ~Raz
“Sum of $200 to Raz please, happy ending for Ven too.” ~Venexis
“I can explain. It's the only good way for money, my family can barely even afford to put food on the table.” ~Raz
And then there’s Blackyoshi, who does an odd bit of giving of his own.
“I want to exchange 1$ each for brandobrawl, Raz, EmKay, Ven, nin10mode, Magnen, Harmless and Yurimaster and act like "bitch please."”
At the end of the trading, though, Magnen and Raz end up in the $3000s zone, with Blackyoshi having given the most to Raz, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that he was working on turning against him.
So what are the items?
Vote Revealer: If used during Tribal Council, at the end of the Tribal Council as the votes are being read, the name of who cast each vote. It was claimed by Blackyoshi, after his random dollar exchange and his $1200 giveaway to Raz.
Dueling Glove: This item would be used to generate a second immunity necklace. The owner could challenge anyone left in the game to a duel of their choice (that I could officiate) and the winner would get immunity. Nin10mode would walk away with this item.
Coconut Husk: Complete with a giant spider inside of it. Brandobrawl claimed this hunk of junk.
Challenge Advantage: Exactly what it says on the tin. In one of any of the future challenges, Yurimaster could exchange it for a pretty decent advantage.
Exile Vilify: Whoever owned this would be able to put another player in the game in exile, just as was done to Nin10mode, minus the twist that the exiled one would get. However, no one bid on this item. So into inventory it goes.
Time Master: Also shelved is the Time Master, an item that would give a player the power to extend Tribal Council or challenges by 24 hours, or decrease them by 12 hours. This would give people more chances to compete, or others less time.
Water Container: While Venexis tried his best to turn it into a bioweapon, the fact of the matter was that it was the second dud item.
Memorial: The big mystery item of the game that both the big money players were gunning for, the Memorial gives its user one Post-Game interview with future jury members to gain important information for the current game.
Finally, the last item:
Individual Immunity: Harmless bid on it, and Harmless got it: one of the surprise containers held the immunity necklace. With that around his neck, it was time for the Xalos tribe to return to Tribal.
But not without starting with a bang.
“Immunity giveaway
Sent: 09 Mar 2014 03:35
From: Harmless
To: HostOfDreams
To Magnen.”
Needless to say, I wanted to bash my head against the wall.
For those of you who know me in the ORG world, it’s probably for one thing and one thing only: I am the guy who gave away immunity in Logan Supacoowacky Saunders’ ORG. I am the entire reason one of the dreaded Sad Pudding alliance members won the game because my attempts to wildly outsmart the three of them backfired in a way that still has me humiliated across the land; partly by my own doing, partly because that’s just the kind of story that gets away from you.
So imagine me, the immunity giving guy, hosting an ORG he wants to be a really big deal, something pristine and well-done, a true showing of newcomers playing Survivor, and someone does THIS. Not only has the Oerhaos tribe given away immunity, so has an individual member.
At this point, I was certain Harmless just fucked himself over for the sake of honor.
Regardless, it was time to go to Tribal and watch the fireworks happen.
Tribal Council:
It seems almost certain that, despite BY’s cooperation, the tribes are divided beyond repair. The Squids+BY are united together against the Oerhaos stronghold, and the Oerhaos appear to have it on lock against the Squids. The only one that could conceivably flip is the one Oerhaos without an alliance, Emelia Kaylee.
“Voting MK.” ~Harmless
Oh, don’t do that!
“Wait wait wait no. Voting Brando.” ~Harmless
Okay, good. You’re on the right track.
This is a smart move to make. Brandobrawl is Raz’s second in command. While it’s more desirable for them to target Raz, they still see him as having a vendetta with EmKay, tempting them to vote against each other. If Emelia Kaylee has no alliance, then there’s a shot that he could vote Brando, tipping the scales in favor of the Squids.
“With that in mind, I vote out Harmless.
If you give away your immunity, you obviously want something to happen to you. He seems to have the strongest bond with Magnen, so severing that and leaving just Yuri should muddle things up a bit.” ~Emelia Kaylee
Well that’s sunk.
By all means, Oerhaos should be confident. They’ve got what seems to be a secure alliance that now has a fifth (whether they know it or not) in Emelia Kaylee. Blackyoshi’s step back won’t affect anything other than giving Brando his fourth vote.
As for the immunity giveaway, it was good for giving Blackyoshi and anyone else who dared a reason to not vote Squid: everyone wanted Magnen out. Who was racing to vote out Harmless of all people? If he had enough people but some were so-so, this gave more people incentive to vote your way. However, I don’t see that happening.
So, yes, the tribes are divided beyond repair.
“[Shadowsquid] sees us as evil. But I can plainly say that they're wrong. We're all easily some of the closest knit people on the forums, and we all work together really really well. And I can without a doubt say our friendship is way bigger than their's is, no matter how it may seem that it's not.” ~Raz
“From what I gather, their time together is mostly in forum games and are strictly on-site relationships. I wouldn't say it's much like the majority of our old tribe.” ~Nin10mode
“1) NanTheDark is gone. One of the answers in last challenge pegged you as being the true leader of Shadowsquid. Do you think this is true?
... Let me establish something first. I do not deny that I sort of took over as a leader at one point. What I will say is this: I was just trying to fill in some blanks.
We were missing the real leader, and the fill-in was doing a poor job. Somebody had to be the mature one.
Nan wasn't a figurehead. He just wasn't around. I wasn't their true leader, I was really just a tough sort of counselor.
2) Why do you see Oerhaos the way you do?
Ah, I can join this answer with my last one.
When the merge happened, I tried to keep an open mind. Then they voted off Nan, and something occurred to me.
Whenever they get the chance to vote off someone I'm close to, they do it. First it was my brother.
Did I ever tell how seriously pissed I was when that happened? No? Right, I let it go because I still had Nan.
You know where this is going, right?
Then, Nan was voted off. While they both still give me support outside of this forum, it would have been nice to make it a little farther into the competition with him. So now, the people that I've come to trust over the years are out of the game.
This isn't to say I don't trust my former Shadowsquid. I'm just not as close with them as I am with Xero and Nan.
Back to the point. I don't hate them, but its difficult to put all of my bitter feelings to rest.” ~Magnen
“A little birdie told me that I am not going to risk Nan's right-hand lady being vulnerable, even if we are all equally important. Other than that I have nothing else to say. I don't know if I'll survive, or if this would be sacrificial of me. But my passing of Immunity is not at all out of cockiness, I guarantee that.” ~Harmless
Wait, huh?
That’s an awful lot of cockiness for someone down 5-4 who just gave away their necklace.
...something is up, isn’t there?
“Uuuugggghhhhhhh I was thinking of just self voting but that won't accomplish anything since it's going to be a 4-4-1 split then, so uh... fuck. I don't really want to vote Harmless at all because Squids have just been getting destroyed this entire time and it's honestly pretty lame So I suppose that leaves the only other person, brando.” ~Venexis
Ladies and gentlemen, the game has changed.
With five votes certified against brando from the three Squids, Venexis, and BY, the Oerhaos alliance has been blindsided, and Brandobrawl, the last person anyone suspected, has been voted out of the game.
And of course this leads to my big slip-up of the game: with eight certified votes and five certified for Brando with no one changing, I get excited and put up the TC results… before Brando casts his vote. Oops. It wouldn’t have made a difference (I assumed he had, and he had planned to, voted for Harmless) but I got a little overexcited there. I made sure to confirm with everyone from that point on before I finalized any TC results.
But… what can you say about Brando? He was quiet, in the background, alienated some people, and was the target because they didn’t want to go after any big names and settled for someone mostly known for one fight with another tribe member. That’s not to say anything against Brando; he’s a cool guy, and if you get to know him he’s very funny, but he didn’t have much activity to speak of. I didn’t see him winning, and I wasn’t surprised he was voted out, but I was surprised he was voted out like this, with Harmless of all people pulling off one of the ballsiest moves I’ve seen in an ORG, period. It was one I wish I coulda gotten away with.
For the first time in the game, it looks like the Squids have propelled themselves on the right track. The same three people who worked on the level in the F12 have now taken on and won the first match against a monster alliance, turning them against each other.
There’s no telling what happens here.
Next Episode Predictions:
Blackyoshi made a good move for himself, although it can backfire. Obviously Harmless’ risk paid off for him, and Raz is in trouble. Raz is liable to go next unless he turns it around, but I think as far as Oerhaos members go, nin10mode is the most likely to go the furthest because he is very respectful to the Squids, which could get them points.
Good fucking Jesus I’m excited
8. Raz
7. Emelia Kaylee
6. Blackyoshi
5. nin10mode
4. Venexis
3. Yurimaster
2. Harmless
1. Magnen
Next Time On...Survivor:
A heated up flash gaming challenge leads to a close finish.
A medical emergency leads to another shocking blindside!
Archive: Find the Confessionals, Voting Reasons, TC Answers/Story, and Post-Game Interview
