Tribal Council - Asaga

[clauderainsrm]

Welcome Asaga.  It's been awhile since I've seen most of you.

Have a seat and let's catch up. 



halfshellvenus  - The old Asaga was on a roll in challenges.  How big of a shock was it to you when you saw the tribe shake-up? is there anyone from the old tribe that you wish had stuck around?   

adoptedwriter  - On the other hand, you've been to the last 3 tribal councils in a row.  You have a different tribe, but the same result.  How frustrating is that? Do you think that being the only member of the old Luzon makes you vulnerable tonight? 

wolfden  -   Its a tribe of 5.  There is nowhere for anyone to hide anymore.  What do you think should be the criteria for deciding who goes home tonight? 

Megatronix -  OR, is it a matter of "there are 4 original Asagas and 1 original Luzon? Easy decision!"  Does original tribal loyalty play into this, or is "New Tribe, New Game"?

lawchicky819 - What about idols?  There hasn't been one played since the first tribal council. Has anyone been talking about the possibility that they are out there, and the impact that might have on your vote? 




lawchicky819  - Let's circle right back to your entry.  What did you like the most about twisting expectations? Did you write this entry or did Lord Wasley? ;) 

megatronix - At what point in your thought process did you go with the musical bridge as the angle for your piece?  With your own jazz band experience, do you have your own The Girl from Ipanema-related story? The story is framed between two sets of "car trouble" (Abigail's and then Vanessa's) - Abigail was able to ask her sister for a ride in the same way Madeline asked for the chance to sing.  Whereas Vanessa wasn't able to deal with a situation out of her own control (a flat).  What do you think that says about asking the uncomfortable question and its role in finding opportunities? 

wolfden -  Breaking News:  "Dream inspires Idol entry!"   You said you dreamed about the story, but not about the specific characters.  Was it just a bridge explosion or a gun running operation? What was it about the idea that made you want to write it as a small town newspaper article, with a pull back reveal at the end of the characters reading it? What did you find challenging/rewarding about that format? 


adoptedwriter - Obviously, the timing of this entry hit me in a personal way, so I'll skip the bit about the content, other than to ask -   How lucky are you to have been able to spend 18 1/2 years with her?  It's truly a gift.  What was it that made you decide to take this along "the rainbow bridge" route?  

halfshellvenus  -  "A new setting, new opportunities" could also describe where you are with the new Asaga.  How are you about embracing change in general or do you find yourself stuck under a bridge doing what you've been doing forever?  How big does the goat need to be in order to shift you out of your own unproductive habits? Are the goats methods justifiable?  They seem to have gotten a great response from readers, but at several points it's mentioned that they are "just as disagreeable" as trolls.   
Jo-Jo ends up leaving his home, for some (new) grass... will he end up "getting back" to being someone who can belong?  ;)   
Seriously though, going from "a bridge you must cross" to trolls is an obvious path, but how did you decide that this was a particular story you wanted to tell? You've written about trolls before, what about them is so interesting to you? 

 

adoptedwriter  - There are probably some people sitting at home right now, screaming at their computers.  The numbers are stacked against you.  What have you been doing to prove to Asaga that you are the person they need to keep? 

lawchicky819 - I'm just as sure that there are folx looking at how well Asaga did these past few weeks, and the makeup of the tribes and wondering if members of the tribe threw the challenge to keep their old tribe mates safe.  Is that a reasonable question or knowing these people, is that something that no one in this group even considered? 

wolfden  -   How have things changed since the tribe shakeup?  Do you think that it's helped anyone's position in the tribe or just put a bigger target on specific people?  

halfshellvenus -   For you personally, what is "the greater good" for this tribe? Loyalty or staying strong for the challenges?  At what point does that switch? 

megatronix  - I'll give you the last word  - what is it that Asaga needs to remember before they walk down that long torch lit path and decides someone's future in this game?  


***

With that said, it's time to vote! 

Please send your vote for elimination to clauderainsrm@gmail.com by tomorrow, Friday, Dec 4th at 5pm ET.  

If you have a hidden immunity idol, or other special power, and want to play it - please inform me at that time. 

Comments

[wolfden]

Its a tribe of 5.  There is nowhere for anyone to hide anymore.  What do you think should be the criteria for deciding who goes home tonight?

I don't think there was really anywhere to hide in a tribe of 9 either. Criteria wise, I think Asaga is still discussing what we want to do. I suspect we will have it sorted by the time we vote.

[halfshellvenus]

The shake-up was a huge jolt. I lost half of my team!

But in particular, I lost two of our biggest cheerleaders, bsgsix and gunwithoutmusic, and that was after losing jenwithapen, who provided SUCH great energy for the team!

We have great people and great talent, before and after. But I miss my chearleaders a LOT, and all three of them are friends as well. :(

[adoptedwriter]

Question #1: Sigh... not sure what to say.

Question #2: ya know, I almost put a TW on that because of what had happened to you. She “barfed” something pink-red tinged right before that topic came out, and it got me worrying. In hindsight it was probably due to the color of her food, but...

[megatronix]

Megatronix, is it a matter of "there are 4 original Asagas and 1 original Luzon? Easy decision!" Does original tribal loyalty play into this, or is "New Tribe, New Game"?

No, it's definitely not an easy decision! Definitely new tribe, new game! :)

[wolfden]

Breaking News:  "Dream inspires Idol entry!"   You said you dreamed about the story, but not about the specific characters.  Was it just a bridge explosion or a gun running operation? What was it about the idea that made you want to write it as a small town newspaper article, with a pull back reveal at the end of the characters reading it? What did you find challenging/rewarding about that format?


I said I dreamed about an entry but not this story at all. My dream entry was amazing and I sure would love to tell you all about it and to have written it but alas it was all lost to dreamland.

The whole story was too much to tell right now. Telling it as a small town newspaper article let me reveal pieces without sharing all of it. I enjoyed the idea of Mirla having her say at the end. It was tricky to limit her response. She has a lot to say. I liked how the small time article felt and it gives me room to revisit this story later (if not for Idol then for myself). There is more there than just a bridge explosion or a gun running operation.

[megatronix]

Megatronix - At what point in your thought process did you go with the musical bridge as the angle for your piece?

I was still wondering what I was going to write when I took a break from thinking about responsibilities as just watched The Masked Singer with my wife. Listening to the music, I thought, hey there are bridges in songs... And there it was. :)


With your own jazz band experience, do you have your own The Girl from Ipanema-related story?

Not in the way this played out, no. But the nerves and the solos and the happy audience and all that - that was all snapped up right out of real life experiences.

The story is framed between two sets of "car trouble" (Abigail's and then Vanessa's) - Abigail was able to ask her sister for a ride in the same way Madeline asked for the chance to sing. Whereas Vanessa wasn't able to deal with a situation out of her own control (a flat). What do you think that says about asking the uncomfortable question and its role in finding opportunities?

Can I just say I love this question?? I feel like you're really like delving into the stories and it feels good to have someone thinking on a deeper level about something I wrote. That's awesome!!

That said, I think there's a certain amount of vulnerability in putting yourself out there. Maddie wanted to sing, but was terrified to, but she let her fear take the backseat, so to speak (car metaphors abound!), so that she could help her whole band out and get to do something she'd wanted to do but until that point had been too scared to say anything about. I think sometimes it's really important to ask to do The Thing, that thing we want to do but are scared to let ourselves say/do/consider. It's good to be vulnerable and ask for help too. And it's good to know that if something out of our control comes up, sometimes there are unexpected solutions, and unexpected people to help us out (the way Vanessa, Mr. Stewart, or anyone else in the band, had no idea Maddie could sing).

Thanks again for the cool questions you asked here, that was rad. :)

[halfshellvenus]

Question #2:

I'm not great with change. I enjoy when things are good, and typically want to keep them that way-- even if I know it won't last forever. OTOH, if things are bad, then I'll try to either force a change or (if I can't) just endure until they get better.

You know, the little goats aren't disagreeable. And while stealing a troll's food is a jerk move, we otherwise mostly have Jo-Jo's opinion of how annoying goats are--and he overestimates how obnoxious TROLLS are, since it's obvious the other trolls are better-behaved. So, his viewpoint is unreliable. ;)

But nobody should be terrorizing little animals, regardless. I can't really blame Billy for taking him on.

Writing about trolls was not my first inclination-- I took a brief stab at something else. But this was the story that wanted to be written, and c'mon-- trolls are hilarious! The story I wrote before was all kinds of fun. They're ill-behaved, and that makes them great comic foils.

Also, as soon as I decided to go in that direction, rayaso was the only person I could definitely be sure would have gone that route, and he isn't playing this season. However, he did tell me afterward that he would have written about a goat-troll, who was a combination of both things. \o/

[megatronix]

megatronix - I'll give you the last word - what is it that Asaga needs to remember before they walk down that long torch lit path and decides someone's future in this game?

I think we all can remember that we’re a great group of strong writers, and no matter what, to just always enjoy the writing, because that’s the key thing that brought us all here in the first place anyway, our love of writing.

[wolfden]

How have things changed since the tribe shakeup?  Do you think that it's helped anyone's position in the tribe or just put a bigger target on specific people?

It’s definitely a new tribe. I think having fewer tribe members puts a little more pressure on us all.

[adoptedwriter]

All I can do is remain positive, support my team/tribe and do the best writing I can.

[lawchicky819]

lawchicky819 - What about idols? There hasn't been one played since the first tribal council. Has anyone been talking about the possibility that they are out there, and the impact that might have on your vote?


Idols haven't been a topic of discussion. I don't think any of us are sure at how idols could be found in this game, so they haven't been of much concern.


lawchicky819 - Let's circle right back to your entry. What did you like the most about twisting expectations? Did you write this entry or did Lord Wasley? ;)


My Mildred character really spoke to me and wanted to redefine the expectations of what a troll looks like/acts like. She's not your normal girl but she's not your normal troll either. Lord Walsey came about as the story developed, and actually I fell in love with him a little. We only get a glimpse of him in this story, but I think he's the kind of person that most of the competitors in LJI Survivor would like to hang out with.


lawchicky819 - I'm just as sure that there are folx looking at how well Asaga did these past few weeks, and the makeup of the tribes and wondering if members of the tribe threw the challenge to keep their old tribe mates safe. Is that a reasonable question or knowing these people, is that something that no one in this group even considered?

I'm not sure what the other competitors were thinking. Maybe they figured that we had an easy out to pick adoptedwriter off since she wasn't part of original asaga? I'll be honest though, the way the votes come in for this competition never seems to make sense to me. It's NOT like the old LJI voting at all, and it's hard to write for a crowd when you can't gauge what they're going to value at all.

[halfshellvenus]

Idols haven't been a topic of discussion. I don't think any of us are sure at how idols could be found in this game, so they haven't been of much concern.

Right? I don't know why this question keeps coming up. I mean, how would we know it if we saw it?

[halfshellvenus]

Question #3, I think our team has to prioritize staying strong, or we are at risk of being in this same position again.

But it's tough to lose anyone. :(