Survivor: LJ Idol Reunion Part 4
May. 11th, 2021 07:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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therealljidol For other people, we've already had their worst stretch of the game. But for me, this is the bad part.
I came in knowing that there were people who were going to play Survivor, and people who were going to "play Idol", and figured that the majority would probably end up somewhere in between. I was probably naive in thinking that if people were willing to sign up, after my constant warnings (to the point that I felt like I was actively discouraging people to sign up! A first for me!) that even the reluctant ones would, at some point come around.
What I didn't predict was how real life was going to become a player of it's own, from the very first vote, and end up stretching on throughout the pre-merge.
Where was MY head at? There had been an unplanned double elimination, one of those contestants (someone that I was a big fan of their writing) had left the competition entirely and wouldn't be on the Jury... which was doubly disappointing in that it meant they weren't going to be on the Jury - and I thought they would ask some potentially great questions... and the numbers were going to be even for the potential Jury members. Which meant, despite my commitment to an old fashioned final two, there was suddenly a chance that it *could* end in a tie.
I had gone into that last tribal council thinking that whoever survived the vote would make things interesting for the tribal shakeup. I was looking forward to seeing how that was going to play out.... so of course neither one of them ended up moving forward! :O
Going into the mix, I was excited about the possibilities. Especially since the numbers were so uneven. If I hadn't switched things up, I think there was a good chance we would have seen Asaga continue to dominate... but then again, maybe the smaller Luzon would have been a tighter unit... we will never know. Which is why it's fun for me to play it out in my head.
Who would end up in the new tribes? What new combinations and friendships would come out of it??? Of course, we know how it played out. But what was I thinking going into that process and where was I coming out of it?
I had decided that whoever was the "Captain" was going to remain with their original tribe. Survivor has swaps a variety of ways, but there have been quite a few where one (or more) people automatically stay in the same place for continuity. So I decided to go with that.
Everyone else would be put in that random name generator. I'd hit submit and then take that person out of the mix, hit submit again... filling one spot on each tribe at a time...
halfshellvenus stayed with Asaga. At that point in the game I was thinking "merge boot". The well liked Captain of the dominant tribe, a talented writer... why would anyone possibly keep her around? I was looking at her as maybe the worst person to sit next to at the end. But didn't think anyone would actually do it. :)
bleodswean stayed at Luzon. I saw her as the "winner" of the recent power struggle. Had the tribe remained intact, as far as I was concerned. Again, well liked and a fantastic writer... her future post-swap would depend entirely on who ended up in the tribe. But again, no one could possibly want to sit next to her at the end.
The first random selection was for the leader of LaMina. Which I thought was an interesting touch. The other two were "the most popular" contestants at the start of the game. How would someone react to the idea of being "Captain" being randomly thrust on them? How would other people react to them? The fact that it was eeyore_grrl made me even more curious. She was coming from the dominant Asaga (not a surprise) but, as usual, seemed to be doing her own thing in the game. It was a huge mystery to me how that was going to play out.
The next pick was going to go to Asaga... it was adoptedwriter. OK. A former Luzon. But still good news for halfshellvenus. Solid. Loyal. Unlikely to want to shake things up too much.
Next pick went to Luzon... and it was bsgsix. That was a game-changer. I know there had been tension between Luzon and her in the past. But a lot had changed in the past week. She was also one of the biggest consistent vote-getters. I was thinking this might shift the balance of power...
LaMina's next pick was flipflop_diva, which I thought was great news for her. After the last tribal council, I thought she was a goner the next time Luzon had to vote.
Back to Asaga, and they got megatronix. I was thinking this was good for her. She had already been a part of that tribe, and seemed to have a good relationship with halfshellvenus. Now that the person that I saw her as natural ally was gone from the game, she would need friends... and depending on how things shook out, she had at least one already. In a regular Survivor game, she was the perfect "extra vote" to bring into the fold.
Luzon got n3m3sis43. Weird... another contestant staying with the same tribe. I guess that's not completely unexpected. But definitely good for her. She was well situated in a tribe of "bigger targets", and seemed to be picking up on playing the game. (I didn't know about the alliance with flipflop_diva. But I was getting the feeling from just watching her in the game that there was more going on than was being said.) She was one of those people that if she got to the merge there would be clear sailing for quite some time. (Unless the other side stayed completely "Asaga Strong", and even then she wouldn't have been the first target)
minikin25 went to LaMina. I was really worried about her in that spot. She hadn't come in with a lot of the same relationships as the other people. But then again, so far that seemed to be a potential bonding point for the tribe. Maybe they could become friends with each other and ride out the game! Or maybe not,.. and if it was "not", I thought minikin25 might have ended up on the wrong side of that vote. Especially if word from the former Asaga got out that she had already tried to sacrifice.
Next selection for Asaga was lawchicky. *hits the side of the random generator* Is thing working??? ;) She had the old Asaga numbers on her side and an "easy vote" for at least one former Luzon. The side of me that wanted to see the Survivor fans in action had wanted her on the tribe with the other Survivor fans. But she seemed to be in a decent position, so I wasn't all that worried.
Next member of Luzon... WTH... seriously... was alycewilson. At this point I think I was probably swearing at this random generator. Still, this was great news for alycewilson. As long as her tribe didn't completely implode - and there was no reason to think it would - she was golden to the merge and from there it looked like a pretty easy path to the end of the game. I didn't get the sense that people saw her as anywhere near as dangerous of a social player as she actually is, or realize just how determined she can be... this is the person who in her first season played right up until she gave birth, and was prepared to play from the hospital if she had to... you never, ever, ever, underestimate alycewilson or take your eye off her as an opponent. Just saying. :)
LaMina's penultimate member was impoetry. He had been so excited when he signed up, and designed the season's logo. He was just going to be playing all out and erratic... and it was just going to be "good TV"... and it just never happened due to Real Life. It was making me sad (because it's all about me, and MY needs!!! :D) .. BUT he was now on a tribe with flipfliop_diva, maybe they could talk Survivor and bond! Perhaps that would help him get his head back into the game.
The final member of Asaga was wolfden. Yes, this thing definitely had to be broken or something. :) But I felt good for her. She had been the last member to join the team the first time, and was the last one to join this time, HOWEVER she was now in the majority. There was absolutely no reason for her to be the first boot from the tribe. If she had the chance to get to the merge she was definitely a contender to get deep into the game.
The final member of Luzon was... *holds breath*... of course, murielle. She had strong relationships with the rest of the tribe, and what was viewed as an unbreakable bond with bleodswean... and a MUCH better head for the game than I think anyone realized. She was still not happy voting for people... but I started noticing that slowly she was starting to have a better time. If she ever got "into it"... people were in a LOT of trouble.
Which meant that gunwithoutmusic was going to LaMina... there were *3* of the 4 major Survivor fans on the same tribe! This was either a recipe for greatness, or they were about to tear each other apart. flipflop_diva was the only original Luzon member though, so if they voted down former tribal lines, she was done... BUT I didn't think that was gunwithoutmusic's game. If there was going to be anyone running LaMina's voting strategy, I thought he was the most likely to pull a group together.
Ultimately, it was the worst tribe swap since Survivor: All Stars when everyone but Amber stayed with their old tribe! But, maybe, like that situation, there could be something big that could happen...
***
Looking through the entries, this was also the point in the game where it became apparent that there were people outside the game who WANTED to talk about it, and I needed to give them a space to do so. Which is when the first Watch Party started to attempt to keep things from *completely* spinning out of control. :D
They never took off the way I wanted, but I definitely know there were some people very much following and commenting *to me at least* about all the twists/turns and surprises. We had comments earlier about how it "didn't work" for some of the audience. For others - this was the time that I started hearing that it did... *shrug* different people have different opinions. Go figure. :)
****
I recall getting a LOT of questions about how the tribes were picked at this time. I was posting as I was using the random name generator. So the tension of the tribe reveal was as real for me as it was anyone else! I think some people thought maybe I had done it and was just showing one name at a time... nope. It was a "live" moment. My shock at how they shook out was as genuine as anyone else's. In that moment, I wish I could have redone it - but as I said before, that was the hand I had dealt before the game started about how a tribe shuffle would work, and those were the results!
I do recall thinking that one of the former Asaga-heavy tribes might actually throw a challenge just to save bsgsix. (who was the only former Asaga member on that tribe, and thus the "obvious boot" when it came to Survivor-moves, if they ended up going to tribal council.) That way you protect your old friend while getting rid of a member of your former rival. Given how many people I saw still "in Idol mode", I didn't see it happening. But in thinking about it this morning, that thought definitely did cross my mind.
(more conversation to come)
I came in knowing that there were people who were going to play Survivor, and people who were going to "play Idol", and figured that the majority would probably end up somewhere in between. I was probably naive in thinking that if people were willing to sign up, after my constant warnings (to the point that I felt like I was actively discouraging people to sign up! A first for me!) that even the reluctant ones would, at some point come around.
What I didn't predict was how real life was going to become a player of it's own, from the very first vote, and end up stretching on throughout the pre-merge.
Where was MY head at? There had been an unplanned double elimination, one of those contestants (someone that I was a big fan of their writing) had left the competition entirely and wouldn't be on the Jury... which was doubly disappointing in that it meant they weren't going to be on the Jury - and I thought they would ask some potentially great questions... and the numbers were going to be even for the potential Jury members. Which meant, despite my commitment to an old fashioned final two, there was suddenly a chance that it *could* end in a tie.
I had gone into that last tribal council thinking that whoever survived the vote would make things interesting for the tribal shakeup. I was looking forward to seeing how that was going to play out.... so of course neither one of them ended up moving forward! :O
Going into the mix, I was excited about the possibilities. Especially since the numbers were so uneven. If I hadn't switched things up, I think there was a good chance we would have seen Asaga continue to dominate... but then again, maybe the smaller Luzon would have been a tighter unit... we will never know. Which is why it's fun for me to play it out in my head.
Who would end up in the new tribes? What new combinations and friendships would come out of it??? Of course, we know how it played out. But what was I thinking going into that process and where was I coming out of it?
I had decided that whoever was the "Captain" was going to remain with their original tribe. Survivor has swaps a variety of ways, but there have been quite a few where one (or more) people automatically stay in the same place for continuity. So I decided to go with that.
Everyone else would be put in that random name generator. I'd hit submit and then take that person out of the mix, hit submit again... filling one spot on each tribe at a time...
halfshellvenus stayed with Asaga. At that point in the game I was thinking "merge boot". The well liked Captain of the dominant tribe, a talented writer... why would anyone possibly keep her around? I was looking at her as maybe the worst person to sit next to at the end. But didn't think anyone would actually do it. :)
bleodswean stayed at Luzon. I saw her as the "winner" of the recent power struggle. Had the tribe remained intact, as far as I was concerned. Again, well liked and a fantastic writer... her future post-swap would depend entirely on who ended up in the tribe. But again, no one could possibly want to sit next to her at the end.
The first random selection was for the leader of LaMina. Which I thought was an interesting touch. The other two were "the most popular" contestants at the start of the game. How would someone react to the idea of being "Captain" being randomly thrust on them? How would other people react to them? The fact that it was eeyore_grrl made me even more curious. She was coming from the dominant Asaga (not a surprise) but, as usual, seemed to be doing her own thing in the game. It was a huge mystery to me how that was going to play out.
The next pick was going to go to Asaga... it was adoptedwriter. OK. A former Luzon. But still good news for halfshellvenus. Solid. Loyal. Unlikely to want to shake things up too much.
Next pick went to Luzon... and it was bsgsix. That was a game-changer. I know there had been tension between Luzon and her in the past. But a lot had changed in the past week. She was also one of the biggest consistent vote-getters. I was thinking this might shift the balance of power...
LaMina's next pick was flipflop_diva, which I thought was great news for her. After the last tribal council, I thought she was a goner the next time Luzon had to vote.
Back to Asaga, and they got megatronix. I was thinking this was good for her. She had already been a part of that tribe, and seemed to have a good relationship with halfshellvenus. Now that the person that I saw her as natural ally was gone from the game, she would need friends... and depending on how things shook out, she had at least one already. In a regular Survivor game, she was the perfect "extra vote" to bring into the fold.
Luzon got n3m3sis43. Weird... another contestant staying with the same tribe. I guess that's not completely unexpected. But definitely good for her. She was well situated in a tribe of "bigger targets", and seemed to be picking up on playing the game. (I didn't know about the alliance with flipflop_diva. But I was getting the feeling from just watching her in the game that there was more going on than was being said.) She was one of those people that if she got to the merge there would be clear sailing for quite some time. (Unless the other side stayed completely "Asaga Strong", and even then she wouldn't have been the first target)
minikin25 went to LaMina. I was really worried about her in that spot. She hadn't come in with a lot of the same relationships as the other people. But then again, so far that seemed to be a potential bonding point for the tribe. Maybe they could become friends with each other and ride out the game! Or maybe not,.. and if it was "not", I thought minikin25 might have ended up on the wrong side of that vote. Especially if word from the former Asaga got out that she had already tried to sacrifice.
Next selection for Asaga was lawchicky. *hits the side of the random generator* Is thing working??? ;) She had the old Asaga numbers on her side and an "easy vote" for at least one former Luzon. The side of me that wanted to see the Survivor fans in action had wanted her on the tribe with the other Survivor fans. But she seemed to be in a decent position, so I wasn't all that worried.
Next member of Luzon... WTH... seriously... was alycewilson. At this point I think I was probably swearing at this random generator. Still, this was great news for alycewilson. As long as her tribe didn't completely implode - and there was no reason to think it would - she was golden to the merge and from there it looked like a pretty easy path to the end of the game. I didn't get the sense that people saw her as anywhere near as dangerous of a social player as she actually is, or realize just how determined she can be... this is the person who in her first season played right up until she gave birth, and was prepared to play from the hospital if she had to... you never, ever, ever, underestimate alycewilson or take your eye off her as an opponent. Just saying. :)
LaMina's penultimate member was impoetry. He had been so excited when he signed up, and designed the season's logo. He was just going to be playing all out and erratic... and it was just going to be "good TV"... and it just never happened due to Real Life. It was making me sad (because it's all about me, and MY needs!!! :D) .. BUT he was now on a tribe with flipfliop_diva, maybe they could talk Survivor and bond! Perhaps that would help him get his head back into the game.
The final member of Asaga was wolfden. Yes, this thing definitely had to be broken or something. :) But I felt good for her. She had been the last member to join the team the first time, and was the last one to join this time, HOWEVER she was now in the majority. There was absolutely no reason for her to be the first boot from the tribe. If she had the chance to get to the merge she was definitely a contender to get deep into the game.
The final member of Luzon was... *holds breath*... of course, murielle. She had strong relationships with the rest of the tribe, and what was viewed as an unbreakable bond with bleodswean... and a MUCH better head for the game than I think anyone realized. She was still not happy voting for people... but I started noticing that slowly she was starting to have a better time. If she ever got "into it"... people were in a LOT of trouble.
Which meant that gunwithoutmusic was going to LaMina... there were *3* of the 4 major Survivor fans on the same tribe! This was either a recipe for greatness, or they were about to tear each other apart. flipflop_diva was the only original Luzon member though, so if they voted down former tribal lines, she was done... BUT I didn't think that was gunwithoutmusic's game. If there was going to be anyone running LaMina's voting strategy, I thought he was the most likely to pull a group together.
Ultimately, it was the worst tribe swap since Survivor: All Stars when everyone but Amber stayed with their old tribe! But, maybe, like that situation, there could be something big that could happen...
***
Looking through the entries, this was also the point in the game where it became apparent that there were people outside the game who WANTED to talk about it, and I needed to give them a space to do so. Which is when the first Watch Party started to attempt to keep things from *completely* spinning out of control. :D
They never took off the way I wanted, but I definitely know there were some people very much following and commenting *to me at least* about all the twists/turns and surprises. We had comments earlier about how it "didn't work" for some of the audience. For others - this was the time that I started hearing that it did... *shrug* different people have different opinions. Go figure. :)
****
I recall getting a LOT of questions about how the tribes were picked at this time. I was posting as I was using the random name generator. So the tension of the tribe reveal was as real for me as it was anyone else! I think some people thought maybe I had done it and was just showing one name at a time... nope. It was a "live" moment. My shock at how they shook out was as genuine as anyone else's. In that moment, I wish I could have redone it - but as I said before, that was the hand I had dealt before the game started about how a tribe shuffle would work, and those were the results!
I do recall thinking that one of the former Asaga-heavy tribes might actually throw a challenge just to save bsgsix. (who was the only former Asaga member on that tribe, and thus the "obvious boot" when it came to Survivor-moves, if they ended up going to tribal council.) That way you protect your old friend while getting rid of a member of your former rival. Given how many people I saw still "in Idol mode", I didn't see it happening. But in thinking about it this morning, that thought definitely did cross my mind.
(more conversation to come)
