Tribal Council - Merge Tribe 1

[clauderainsrm]

*stands behind podium* as the tribe files into tribal council and takes their seats*

Welcome to your first post merge tribal council.

*introduces the jury as they file into the seats across from the contestants*

The Jury is here to watch and take in information that will eventually help them make their decision. They are not participants. From now on, anyone who is voted out will be joining the jury.

That changes things, because these are the people who will ultimately be deciding who will win and lose this game.




The trick is to get the people who are sitting on this side *indicates the current contestants* over to THAT side *indicates the Jury* in a way that makes them want to vote for you in the end. Because, friendships aside, only one person is going to be named the winner.

bsgsix - You dominated this game pre-merge. You were a big part of the Asaga victories, and then you went over to Luzon and helped them start winning. Now, you've won the first individual immunity. How important was it to you to come out strong early on?

halfshellvenus - The old Asaga was, at one point, up by 3 members. There was some speculation that it was just going to be a Pagonging, where old Asaga could have easily just picked off old Luzon one by one. Fortunes changed and now the original tribes have come into the first tribal council at 6 each. Do you think there's a chance of a tie-vote, or are their intertribal personal relationships that are going to be coming into play? 

alycewilson - What about for you? Do the old tribes make a difference, or has this already become an individual game? 

murielle - Before the merge, people talked about the need to "keep the tribe strong" with their vote. Now that it's an individual game though - is it better to take out someone who is "weak" in the challenges or should you be getting rid of someone who doesn't fit into your plans?

swirlsofpurple - You spent some time off on Edge of Extinction, having been voted out of your original tribe.  So you know what it feels like to be voted out of this game.  You fought really hard to get another shot.  Now that you are back, how hard are you going to fight to stay in it? 

adoptedwriter  - People made a big deal of "Not talking to Gary/answering questions" in the first half of the game.  But now you're in front of the Jury, who need to know about your thought process to help make their ultimate decision.  How do you think that is going to impact tribal councils going forward? 

lawchicky819 - What do you think is "fair and square" means in the context of Survivor?  Where are the lines, and where should they be when it comes to playing a game like this? 

bleodswean - It's come up at tribal council before that some people are playing Survivor, some are trying to play Idol and that most are trying to come up with a hybrid of those two... how do you negotiate your way through that when there are so many people and none of them are playing the same game? 

wolfden -  If people are "playing Idol" they will be looking to vote out someone with the lowest vote totals.  This week - that could be you.  What do you say to those people who are thinking that way in order to change their mind? 

gunwithoutmusic - On paper, this vote will be a 6-6 tie, if people stick with their original tribes. Is that what is going to happen, or do you think that personal relationships are going to come into play?


flipflop_diva - What is the most difficult part of shifting your thought process out of "Idol mode" and into "Survivor mode"?  Is there a benefit for that, or do you think that keeping in "Idol mode" is good for the short term? 

eeyore_grrl -  How are you going to make the decision for who to vote for - is this something being discussed in smaller groups or is everyone just winging it? 

***
alycewilson -  It's rare when an "I don't know what to write" entry can mess so easily into a "the every day beauty of the world around us" entry.  But I think you managed to pull it off.  Did you have a "rainy day" story that you were considering, or when this occurred to you did it just melt everything else away?

adoptedwriter  -  I would like to pretend that you learned about "taking a bye" from Idol.  :)  Even if that's not true, I will pretend that it is!!    Obviously the situation itself is horrible, but I like what you did with the writing aspect and connecting your mother using the Quiet Game against you.  It can be tough to open up like that in your writing, what was it about the prompt that made you remember that specific incident, or with the holidays, is that just something close to the surface right now? 

halfshellvenus - Eagles fans who make Mary Poppins references.  This may be your greatest bit of fiction yet. ;)   Or maybe it's Altoona Eagles fans in general.    :D Seriously though, this definitely took me back into some "helping friends move" moments of my own.   I was trying to put my finger on what felt different about it. There was a discussion in the comments about the "tone", but to me that doesn't seem right.  You've definitely used that tone before.  Something in the overall structure perhaps?  Or is it just the "bro"ness that was new?   Whatever it is,  it clearly had your cleverness and ear for dialogue embedded in it. It did feel a little "off" from what I expect from you, but not that's always a bad thing. Were there moves of your own that ended up inspiring this (beyond what you said about your Dad) or did the image of the two guys and a orange sofa just appear in your head fully formed? 

wolfden - The overwhelming painful frustration poured off of this, anger flaring at the Facebook comments and crashing back down again into helplessness when you were talking about your family. The news about your Mother that you just mentioned, coming on the heels of this entry just makes it hit that much harder. It's really raw, and far better than the votes would suggest. Was there ever a doubt about what you would write about, or did you always plan on talking about what was happening?

eeyore_grrl  -  I believe in the power of your words.   I love the visual structure of this, how it builds from the light rain at the beginning to a deluge of words hitting harder and harder at the end.   I hate to keep asking this question, but was this subject the only one in your head when you saw this prompt?

lawchicky819 - This went in so many interesting directions. I hope you end up going back to it and developing into a longer piece. Like Seraphina, I feel like it needs to expand it's wingspan.   Did you come up with the dragons in love idea and work backward or was it a princess story that took a turn that you discovered as you went?  

flipflop_diva - I feel that most of the attention you've gotten from this piece has been about the dealing with the weather trauma, that the lead somehow has gotten buried - "as members of the dental press."  Obviously, since this is non-fiction, that was just a detail that you used to help set the stage.  But it was such a specific detail, like the mentions of Hula Hut and Buc-ee's.  They are little, almost throwaway details that help establish a time and place. I always appreciate when I see things like that, at least when they are done well - and those were.   (maybe it's because I've been on that stretch of road between Austin and San Antonio).  I also liked the flashback element.  Was there any thought of either expanding that memory in the piece (flashing to it at various points instead of just once) or even making that accident the main focus? 

bleodswean - You certainly do love swimming in some disturbingly heavy atmosphere. :)  People tend to fall right into the spaces between your words and get lost for a time.  Since I need to ask a question somewhere in this ramble - did you consider a spring transition scene or do you think that the jump from winter to summertime with the mule worked the way you wanted?  I know it would have been a different story, but was there ever the thought of it being Jocker's skull? 

swirlsofpurple - It's amazing what we can condition ourselves to over time. Things that were once terrifying can become ordinary occurrences. Just getting to the point where things are "normal," I think that's something that a lot of people can relate to right now.  There's a tension here that worked really well, as the POV was established. Have you established, in your head canon, who she was talking to and what the backstory was of Below? I like that you kept it vague, so that everyone could fill out their own narrative, while concentrating on the moments that were happening in front of us. But I was just curious about what your process was like in determining how much to show.

murielle  -  I like how the bit from the snow and how "this could get ugly fast" is mirrored by the avalanche of garbage bags pressing the door closed in the end section, with the reveal of them towering over her.  I liked the cadence of the story and how the weight kept pressing down, to be released a little with the hope, only to come back down a little harder.   It had a really good feel to it.   I'm not always a fan of "to be continued" but I am looking forward to seeing what this plan turns out to be. 

gunwithoutmusic  -  I kept reading and listening to this one, trying to think of something that other folx haven't pointed out in the comments section.  What I keep coming back to it is the importance of water in each of these memories.  From being safe from it, to it manifesting the pain inside of you as it streams from your eyes. And then, in the second section it comes back again as big as an ocean, the rain coming down until you literally fall to the ground under the weight.  As powerful as all of that is,  I love what you do with the imagery of getting it back under control.  Putting the lid on it, to let those thoughts be reduced, but not allowing yourself to evaporate.   What made you go with poetry and, since it was brought up in the comments, what was your editing process like? 

bsgsix - You have immunity.  So we don't need to talk about your entry.  Obviously, people liked it.  What was YOUR favorite entry of the week?  
Oh, OK.  Maybe I have a few things to mention with yours as well. If you insist.  :)    I'll admit, your personal stories are always a lot more difficult to talk about - there's the "this is really f-ed up" emotional reaction to what you are saying that can cloud everything else.   But there's also a beauty to your language that transcends the horrible things that happen.  The line "But I had no sense that they were going to mourn me" stood out in particular to me.   Honestly, from a story prospective, that could have been the end right there and it would still have been solid.  Obviously, being non-fiction life didn't stop there and there was more to tell.   Like I said, being horrifying real life events makes it weird to talk about "story elements."   :D     So I'll go with the non-horrifying bits for the questions!  What made you lead off with the Baltimore Sun article, and personally, how important is it for you to share the real life pictures at the end as part of your entry? How much does it add for you? 

***



Rather than ask specific people questions. I'm going to throw out some general questions and some thoughts as follow up. There was a lot of really good discussion already.  I may get into specific items later. 

For now though - 

- Is there anyone in this competition you just can't see yourself voting out? 
- What is your general voting criteria for this first vote of the individual game? 
- There are a lot of different ways someone can be a "strong competitor" - how do you think YOU fit that description? 

bsgsix - You have immunity.  You can choose to give it to someone else, or keep it and be safe from this vote. 


***

If no one has anything else to add?   *waits for a moment*  OK then, it's time to vote.

bsgsix  is wearing the Immunity necklace, so you can't vote for her. 

 How this will work is simple.  You are casting a vote for the person you want to see exit this game.  Send them to me at clauderainsrm@gmail.com  by Thursday, Dec 31st at 5pm ET.  

If you have a hidden immunity idol, and want to play it, that is when you need to let me know.  

One by one, make your way up to the urn and make your decision. 

It's time to vote. 

Comments

[adoptedwriter]

adoptedwriter - People made a big deal of "Not talking to Gary/answering questions" in the first half of the game. But now you're in front of the Jury, who need to know about your thought process to help make their ultimate decision. How do you think that is going to impact tribal councils going forward?

Just hoping it's all fair and square, and I have faith it will be.

[swirlsofpurple]

I'm definitely planning on working very hard to stay in, but then so is everyone else. I can only do my best and what will be will be.

[alycewilson]

What about for you? Do the old tribes make a difference, or has this already become an individual game?

I'm sure that many alliances were forged within the tribes, so there's always a chance they'll make a difference. Ultimately, we're all in this as individuals, though.

[murielle]

Hi Gary!

Your question to me is, "Before the merge, people talked about the need to "keep the tribe strong" with their vote. Now that it's an individual game though - is it better to take out someone who is "weak" in the challenges or should you be getting rid of someone who doesn't fit into your plans?"

Picking off "the weak?" That's not who I am. That's not who I've ever been. Hey! I feed squirrels and sparrows and magpies. A lot of people have said that it's about "the writing" and I believe that and I believe them.

To be honest, I'm still loyal to my tribe. I love these people. We got close. They are exceptional writers and I look forward to reading their work every challenge.

I do have a question, though. Does the jury vote in the challenges, or just at the end?

[clauderainsrm]

Since the challenges have open voting, anyone can vote. But the Jury itself will only be voting for the winner at the end.

[bleodswean]

It's come up at tribal council before that some people are playing Survivor, some are trying to play Idol and that most are trying to come up with a hybrid of those two... how do you negotiate your way through that when there are so many people and none of them are playing the same game?

LOL! This is a great question for me, because I'm so not understanding Survivor. I almost fainted when you posted the "winner" and that the rest of us were going to Council to plead our case! I had NO idea this is how this portion goes...How can we possibly vote strategically or stump for votes? I realize I am not playing the same game as the rest. And I think you're right - three quarters of us aren't playing the same game!

For me, I want Idol to be about the writing and there's enough drama and discussion around the merits of such without introducing this Survivor element. Maybe I'm not competitive enough?

[alycewilson]

I feel your pain, as you know.

Your writing, of course, is always stellar.

[gunwithoutmusic]

On paper, this vote will be a 6-6 tie, if people stick with their original tribes. Is that what is going to happen, or do you think that personal relationships are going to come into play?

I honestly have no idea how things are going to go this first Tribal Council, which is why it's scary being here without that Immunity Necklace on. If we're looking at original tribes, sure it could be an even split on voting, but I don't know how much those original tribe lines are holding. This Tribal Council will set the tone, I think, for the remainder of the competition, and I think we'll find out whether people are playing "Idol" or "Survivor" or some combination of both.

The way I think that most people are probably feeling is that we want Tribal Councils to be "fair," otherwise read as "Idol rules," where the person who received the lowest vote total is going to be voted out. As you mentioned earlier in your questioning, that might make wolfden look like the person that will go this week. Maybe that will happen, or maybe she will leverage the personal relationships she has with other contestants to keep herself around. That's the beauty of this particular format - no one is guaranteed to go based solely on their challenge performance.

And, well, if this particular Tribal Council ends up swaying toward "fairness," who's to say that trend will continue? Someone that has declared themselves to be a "fair player" may find themselves in the supposed hot seat next week. It's easy to say that we'll just vote for the person who got the least votes in the challenge until we're in that position.

So, for this Tribal? In my mind, it's an "anything goes" situation. We may see Tribal lines come into play as people rally around those that they feel they can count on in the upcoming weeks; we may see people "play fair." We may see some bizarre combination of those two. As for me, I really have no idea what I'm doing yet at all. Hopefully the Tribal Council discussions will help me decide how to vote.

[bleodswean]

*nods* It is tricky. Not sure how one would go about strategizing with this many players and an unknown voting population.

[bsgsix]

bsgsix - You dominated this game pre-merge. You were a big part of the Asaga victories, and then you went over to Luzon and helped them start winning. Now, you've won the first individual immunity. How important was it to you to come out strong early on?

Honestly - and I have said this from the very beginning - bringing forth my best writing week after week is the only thing I CAN do. Sure, in teams, we had strategies, plans, and ideas of how to vote and such, but in the end, I see this as "if I don't write a quality piece, then there's no point to keep me here." So it's always important to put in the time and write something that will 1)hopefully go over well with a diverse audience and 2)hopefully show that I'm a survivor, worthy of staying in a competition about surviving. But I need all of that to be reflected through my writing. I'm not going to play an ugly, secretive game that destroys my very real friendships with people here, so for me - and maybe this IS a more "Idol not Survivor" thing - it will always come down to the writing.

"Dominate" is a strong word, and while it's a term I like (I am a competitive person, though not at the expense of others), it was never my plan to dominate. It was just to write, and to hope that my work was well-received. So while it's nice to gain a bunch of votes and to have earned immunity this week - let's say I don't next week. Even if I write something that other people view as strong, will the strategy be to remove a high-ranking player (vote-wise - not quality-wise, as there is WAY too much quality here to say otherwise)? Remove a threat, have a better shot. So I think it's going to come down to what people are playing, and what they are valuing. Even with immunity, that scares me even today! How are people going to make the ultimate choice for both the short game AND the long game?

[bleodswean]

Seeing how the polls have gone since day one - how do you anticipate NOT winning every week?

[flipflop_diva]

(oh my gosh, i feel so late to the party! ahhhh!)

- What is the most difficult part of shifting your thought process out of "Idol mode" and into "Survivor mode"? Is there a benefit for that, or do you think that keeping in "Idol mode" is good for the short term?

Ahahaha this is almost backward for me in this game. I looooove Survivor, which I think everyone knows, and I was so excited to play Survivor, but then I got here and the game started, and let's just say, it's a lot harder to play Survivor with your friends than with strangers you just met on a beach! And I don't want to hurt people or anything like that, so it is easier to slip back into Idol mode, and maybe in some ways it is fairer.

I will say that this week in voting for entries, I definitely went back to Idol mode and voted for the entries I considered the top ones. But I also don't think a lot of people did that. At one point, I was looking at the votes and there were 20 voters (not counting Gary) but just 28 votes (not counting Gary's) so there are a lot of people out there playing Survivor and not Idol, even if in Tribal they claim otherwise. Which makes it tricky to vote "fairly" when there is no real way to know what's fair. Maybe the people with the highest vote counts all got it from asking their friends to vote for them? Maybe they're just popular? Does that make them more worthy of staying in? But then that's where each person's individual strategy/opinion comes in. We're not all going to agree on who we think the three best writers are.

Honestly, this week's vote is super scary to me. I have no idea where people's heads are at. If we play by Idol rules, then I should hopefully be safe? But maybe everyone out there hated my entry and they vote me out based on their personal criteria. It could happen, and I have no way of knowing until the votes are revealed. And then we'll know if people are playing Idol or they are actually playing Survivor.

[bsgsix]

You've never late! You are fashionably on time! :)

Maybe the people with the highest vote counts all got it from asking their friends to vote for them?

Since I had the highest number of votes this week, I want to address that, since I adore you and feel that deserves an answer.

And the answer is no. I did ask here, on DW, for people to vote for me - but 99% of my DW would be comprised of Idol/Survivor friends. I know of one person who doesn't play Idol who voted for me - but that's one out of 50+. I once tried asking on Twitter (back during my brief stint with Luzon), but everyone there said, "I'm not creating an account just to vote, sorry." So my only reach is here. (I do have family members who read DW, but I don't know if they've made accounts. So that's probably not helpful.)

Where do the votes come from? I really don't know. Like I said, I asked here, so - here. I don't have a ton of people to ask, and I never post about Survivor to my Instagram account, so THAT is still a mystery to me! And I don't think I'm popular.

So then that brings in the question of "what is fair?" I struggle with that, too. How can we know what's fair - other than what we personally perceive as the quality of a piece, and if that writer should stay in based on quality. And quality means something different to everyone. There's no way to know who will end up in the top three because everyone will have differing opinions.

And that, as you said, makes voting scary. Even with immunity this week - it doesn't mean I'll have it next week. So it's scary. Based on Idol rules, I agree that you are perfectly safe. But what are people playing? What's each person's angle? Is it writing, or something else? I have the same questions, and while I have ideas and strategies, I don't know what the end game for each player is! So it really does come down to Idol v. Survivor, and THAT is tricky.

(And I didn't hate your entry at ALL, so, nope, can honestly tell you I'm not voting for you to be eliminated. I'm honest; people can just ask me. I didn't hate your entry, and I don't think you should go. So to me, in my personal world and game, you're safe. I know we won't all know until the vote is revealed, but I'm telling you where I stand, at least!)

[wolfden]

Straight up, my mom diagnosed with COVID on Wednesday. This week game has not been my priority. More than 30 people are positive in her facility. That’s what is occupying my mind and my time right this minute.

I may have been low on votes this week, I honestly didn’t look. I also don’t ask for votes and quite honestly, I didn’t get every entry read. I voted for everyone because a vote for everyone or a vote for no one seemed the most fair. That said, I have previously had a large number of votes (definitely not the lowest over all or in my tribe) every week other than this one. If this week is determined solely by the number of votes I received this week *shrug* there’s not anything I can do about it. I think there are other people here who have consistently had lower votes.

I love writing in Idol. I like Survivor. I can’t say this format of Idol is my favorite. It is what it is. Whatever happens, happens though I would say people should consider votes and writing overall not just one week of numbers.

[bleodswean]

I'm sorry to hear about your mother. I hope she isn't compromised. *hugs* My sister's husband tested positive and is symptomatic and they have been in isolation for a month this Thursday. They have little kids so it's been a hardship all around.

I hear you on all your points!

[adoptedwriter]

adoptedwriter - I would like to pretend that you learned about "taking a bye" from Idol. :) Even if that's not true, I will pretend that it is!! Obviously the situation itself is horrible, but I like what you did with the writing aspect and connecting your mother using the Quiet Game against you. It can be tough to open up like that in your writing,...”

I watched the video of the players of Survivor getting distracted and annoyed because they were tempted by candy. That reminded me of someone in my family (not naming names), and there you go. Actually I did learn the “taking a bye” strategy from Idol! I grew up in a non-football house, so I never really understood what a bye was in games till Idol came into my life. Lol.

[halfshellvenus]

For question #1, I don't think there was every any real possibility of Pagonging, given the way the game is set up. And we only had our original tribe for 3 weeks, and the revamped tribe for ONE weeks, so... IDK? If Richard Hatch is playing, I haven't seen it, but I've been wrong before.

Question #2: I could swear I've written stories with "bro-ness" before. I mean, there was one last season (I think?) that was along those lines, where the narrator was, how to say this politely, kind of... breathing-challenged?

The idea of moving a sofa was there early on, but it was not orange. At some point, I decided it should be unattractive, but how to convey that readily and in such a way that the reader probably would absorb that but Howie might not, at least at first? :O Some of the disasters of moving itself I've mostly been spared, but our son moved furniture for a couple of summers, and there were stories. No one tried to kill him with a sofa, but someone dropped his end of a washing machine going downstairs and gashed a bunch of skin over our son's knee. By the time he came home, I couldn't repair it well enough not to scar.

There were also several instances of things that would not go through doors. Sometimes it was a fridge, where they took the door off the fridge. Once, they removed an actual doorframe. :O And other times, things got left on the property. /o\

But mainly, I think we have all had exasperating friends/relatives at times that we still feel affection for or duty toward, and I wanted something that fit the prompt but that wouldn't be overwhelming and depressing. Tada!

And in summary: Please don't vote me out! I love you all!

[flipflop_diva]

If Richard Hatch is playing, I haven't seen it
Let's just hope everyone keeps their clothes on in public spaces!!

[eeyore_grrl]

eeyore_grrl - How are you going to make the decision for who to vote for - is this something being discussed in smaller groups or is everyone just winging it?
-------------------

I honestly don't know how people are gathering in small groups or not. I suspect there is, at least, some of that going on. I'm hoping i'm not on the bloc. I'm not sure if I am aiming for the best writer's or those that seem to be struggling. I hope to stay in longer and have poetry represent; but I have zero clue which way the wind is blowing; So I'm definitely winging in. i have people who like my writing and people whose writing I adore, but the nature of the game is to fuck with those people... So... eeeep i'm perplexed about my next move.

[gunwithoutmusic]

Yeah, it's a weird feeling right now because there's no real "group" to go to and discuss things with like we had before, and I personally am not really sure what people are basing their votes on... in Idol, the voting confused me sometimes because I would definitely see some people get the lowest number of votes even with a really strong piece and someone that I thought was weaker moved forward, but that always felt like... fate, I guess, since there's only so much control you can have over the public vote. But here it's just this small group of people and each of us has some direct control over how the vote goes, so it's kind of scary!

[wolfden]

The overwhelming painful frustration poured off of this, anger flaring at the Facebook comments and crashing back down again into helplessness when you were talking about your family. The news about your Mother that you just mentioned, coming on the heels of this entry just makes it hit that much harder. It's really raw, and far better than the votes would suggest. Was there ever a doubt about what you would write about, or did you always plan on talking about what was happening?


When the topic first posted my plan was to revisit Mirla and her adventures but life sort of spiraled from there.
This topic just didn't want to let go.

[lawchicky819]

lawchicky819 - What do you think is "fair and square" means in the context of Survivor? Where are the lines, and where should they be when it comes to playing a game like this?



I mean in the context of voting, I think anything is "fair and square." It actually seems REALLY silly to me to vote off the person with the least votes.. if you're trying to win the game. If someone is asking to be voted off, that's one thing, but otherwise, we have to start looking at this competition differently now. Who do you want to bring to the end? Who do you think you can win against?

In Survivor, they have something called a "goat". It's not "greatest of all time" they're talking about, it's an actual goat- someone who just follows you to the end and is easy to beat. It's always attractive to bring the goat further into the game because it helps you in the future competitions, right up until the end. Now, I'm not saying anyone in this competition is a goat, but it's really clear that the vast majority of us are in the same range for vote totals. There is a level playing field if we can eliminate a couple of outliers.

Let's be clear. If people do not change their voting strategy, we can probably point out the final 2-3 people right now.

Let's be clear again. Making comments on posts means VERY little in the game scheme of things. I had plenty of nice comments on my post this week (which was one of my better entries in this particular competition), but it didn't convert into votes. I don't believe that's because my entry was bad. I do believe it's because of strategic voting. I haven't been commenting on most posts. I refuse to be disingenuous and praise an entry and then not vote for it because I'm playing a strategy. I'd rather say nothing and vote the way I want to vote.

I hate saying this, but I do feel like a number of people in the competition are kind of "over" it. They like the writing prompts, but they're not loving this structure and not invested in playing strategically. I think that's part of the reason we've had so many quit/medivacs too.

So this vote is really interesting to me. Are the contestants playing to win, or content on letting others beat them?

[gunwithoutmusic]

I agree with you - I think if we all play this like we're playing Idol, it's fairly easy to pick out who at the very least the top 5 or 6 will be. And it's not necessarily the smartest move to vote out the person that got the least number of votes in the challenge, because it's clear that people are voting strategically.

I'll freely admit that, though I do make sure to comment on everyone's piece (mainly as a way of letting them know that I read it and appreciate the effort being put in to continue to participate in the challenge), I didn't vote for everyone this week in the challenge. I was thinking about it this morning and something about that doesn't sit quite right with me, and I think that you hit the nail on the head here. How can I on one hand tell everyone that they did a good job on the challenge, while on the other hand only select a few people to vote for?

I think that most of us will get around that by saying that we don't want to bring goats to the end; we want to see the best of the best at the top, and will place our votes accordingly. But I don't see anyone that particularly stands out as being "unworthy" of being in this competition. Any three of us would make for a good Final Tribal Council.

I will say that there is still a definite "social game" portion to this, and that not commenting and interacting could be seen as being standoff-ish, but at the same time, no one wants to be seen as the "suck-up," so there's a definite balance to be struck when trying to play the social game of Survivor here.

Personally, as much of a logistical nightmare as it would be, I would like to see the challenges decided by a combination of the public vote (to keep things in the spirit of Idol) and by a group of Gatekeepers (a la America's Next Top Model or Project Runway, where we have a consistent set of three/four judges that secretly give everyone a rating). The average of the votes and the judge scores would be the deciding factor. I think that would eliminate the bit of an advantage that exists for those that can sit and watch the polls and fine-tune their votes accordingly. I also think that would give the polls more of an ability to let people vote based on what they think is quality. As it stands now, I sort of agree that the poll numbers don't really mean anything (aside from deciding the winner), because it's too easy for someone to pump up themselves and their friends at the expense of others in the competition, regardless of the actual quality of the work.

I think this vote is going to be really important as far as setting the stage for the rest of the season, and we're going to find out who's playing Idol and who's playing Survivor.

[alycewilson]

alycewilson - It's rare when an "I don't know what to write" entry can mess so easily into a "the every day beauty of the world around us" entry. But I think you managed to pull it off. Did you have a "rainy day" story that you were considering, or when this occurred to you did it just melt everything else away?

Thanks for this question! As you probably know from having read my entries over the years, I typically stay far away from meta entries, because it's so easy to fall into the trap of sounding like you're just whining. But in this case, these multiple ideas all volunteered themselves, so I ran with it.

If I meditate on the topic "rain," in just a short period of time, I'm delivered a memory of a time my siblings and I camped with our mom on Assateague Island. My brother got really sick from food poisoning, and a severe thunderstorm swept through our campsite so that we had to go find a hotel room and a laundromat to launder our tents (because my brother had thrown up in one of them). I remember that moment more than the entire rest of our trip, especially how dark it was and how the lightning seemed timed perfectly to help me drive our old car off the island, illuminating every turn.

This week, I just didn't think I had the emotional wherewithal to go there, because the holidays are always the worst time to focus on memories of my mom. Five years later, it's still too painful that she's not here. I had only just dreamt about her a couple nights previously, where I gave her a huge hug and told her I missed her. Emotionally, I was raw.

As I talk about it here, I realize I probably should have gone with that idea, starting with the camping trip and focusing on what it says about Mom that I miss so much: her unfailing strength in extraordinary times. How that's what I try to be for my own son. The person you can rely on when things get pear-shaped.

But this week, right near Christmas, I was just too thinned-out emotionally, you know? Like a rubber band that can hold until you pull it just a bit too much. So I went with the idea that made me smile, the happy little bursts of light, color and music. I knew that it would be seen as a trifle, and probably not a huge vote-getter.

Because sometimes you just write what you need to read.

[bleodswean]

*hugs*

You can (and should) still write this story, A. Start it as a poem.

[lawchicky819]

lawchicky819 - This went in so many interesting directions. I hope you end up going back to it and developing into a longer piece. Like Seraphina, I feel like it needs to expand it's wingspan. Did you come up with the dragons in love idea and work backward or was it a princess story that took a turn that you discovered as you went?


Well, it started with the idea of crying an ocean of tears, but then I imagined that I'd need a larger, non-human character to do that. So I decided that it may be interesting to have a younger person tricked into becoming a dragon by someone with ulterior motives, and the rest developed that way. I do think this is something I could probably expand, but for purposes of the competition, I felt like I was already pressing it on the word count this week.

And yes, I'm a sucker for a happy ending, so that's what the readers got!

[bleodswean]

As I said, I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO relieved with that ending! I read it twice to get the same thrill!

[bleodswean]

You certainly do love swimming in some disturbingly heavy atmosphere. :) People tend to fall right into the spaces between your words and get lost for a time. Since I need to ask a question somewhere in this ramble - did you consider a spring transition scene or do you think that the jump from winter to summertime with the mule worked the way you wanted? I know it would have been a different story, but was there ever the thought of it being Jocker's skull?

I'll tell ya, G. Your careful and deliberate reading of the entries followed by these astonishing and expansive questions has been such a gift and a delight and a highlight of this crazyassed game you've convinced us to play. So THANK YOU for that! *elbow bump*

You caught me. I need more time!!! I want Idol to be a month-long prompt with multiple postings and edits and critique and reworkings. YOU, sir, could be an editor at a publishing house! You really could. I know this piece needs more and I'm humbled by and in the debt of my readers who put up with my coaxing them into the dark waters with some very rudimentary storytelling. I'm so giddy that they stick with me and with the words, that I usually stumble around the house for long moments after the generous comments my readers leave. This story needs a spring...but it was so dark I couldn't envision a warm April shower in there.

Now I'm going to take your question and file it in that story's word doc for further consideration. There was no thought of it being literal. The opening scene is Our Girl post-Jocker-death and the backpack is his. I wanted the reader to see it as a filthy backpack and not as the mule skull/Jocker protecting her.

You should host a short story Idol.

[murielle]

I love your story and I love what you write about it, here. It makes me want more, but then I always want more because your words fill me up with wonder and longing.

Following you to Idol has been such a huge blessing in my life. I have been exposed to such fantastic writing and inspiration here I just don't have the words to express my gratitude.

I feel so bad for that girl. I want to hug her and help her, but I suspect, no I know, she wouldn't have any of it. You create characters that LIVE!

[flipflop_diva]

I feel that most of the attention you've gotten from this piece has been about the dealing with the weather trauma, that the lead somehow has gotten buried - "as members of the dental press." Obviously, since this is non-fiction, that was just a detail that you used to help set the stage. But it was such a specific detail, like the mentions of Hula Hut and Buc-ee's. They are little, almost throwaway details that help establish a time and place. I always appreciate when I see things like that, at least when they are done well - and those were. (maybe it's because I've been on that stretch of road between Austin and San Antonio). I also liked the flashback element. Was there any thought of either expanding that memory in the piece (flashing to it at various points instead of just once) or even making that accident the main focus?

First, I love this question! And I really love that we get to see your insights into all our entries during this competition — something we never see in regular Idol. It's really nice, and I love all your takes!!

I'm also really happy the little details worked for you. I actually struggled with those a lot — I wanted to put in enough to set the scene and explain what was happening but not so much that people would be bored and not care since the main action of the story was obviously the downpour. (And do people really care about my work colleagues and where we were going? Those are the things I worried about.) So I'm super happy you mentioned those and liked them! Yay!

I actually almost didn't use the flashback at all. When I first came up with the idea, it was really just that one day on its own. But I usually try to 'write' the idea in my head a little before putting it down on paper, and I realized when I was thinking about it that it needed a little more depth than just a scary drive, and that accident in the flashback is really the root of the fear in this story so it felt fitting to include it. But because my dad was the one driving during the accident and not me, I was worried about making it too big a deal. Though I actually really like how it came out, and I think the length and the placement turned out well.

[murielle]

"I like how the bit from the snow and how "this could get ugly fast" is mirrored by the avalanche of garbage bags pressing the door closed in the end section, with the reveal of them towering over her. I liked the cadence of the story and how the weight kept pressing down, to be released a little with the hope, only to come back down a little harder. It had a really good feel to it. I'm not always a fan of "to be continued" but I am looking forward to seeing what this plan turns out to be."

Thank you, kind sir! Seriously, thank you. Coming from you, this is very meaningful and encouraging.

I feel so much for her and I'm dying to write more about her and her journey. I'm pretty sure that I can use almost any prompt (Not a dare, Gary!) for this story as it's pretty wide open at this point.

[bsgsix]

I'm going to break your second question up into sections. :)

bsgsix - You have immunity. So we don't need to talk about your entry. Obviously, people liked it. What was YOUR favorite entry of the week?

Oooh, see, THAT's a set-up, lol. First of all, while having immunity is great, I'm just grateful people see something in ME that makes them think "she should stick around." So for those of you who thought that, who commented, who have been so kind and caring and such - thank you. I don't know who liked it and who didn't, but you all rock.

Everyone had great qualities in their entries. I could talk about gunwithoutmusic stepping outside his comfort zone to write a gut-wrenching poem. I could talk about the beauty in bleodswean's dark and eloquent writing. I could talk about how much I laughed at the references and language choices in halfshellvenus' piece. I could talk about relating to both eeyore_grrl's and murielle's work in emotional ways, how adoptedwriter's family situation felt so vivid, how lawchicky provided more fun with dragons and fairy tales to remove me from the darkness of this world, how wolfden told a stark and brutal truth and displayed that trauma, how swirlsofpurple brought forth such emotion and depth in a single drop of rain, how flipflop_diva's work made me gasp and confront my own fears, and how alycewilson's meta "found poetry" was right up my alley with its creativity. EVERYONE provided something I enjoyed on varying and different levels.

You can call me a suck-up if you want, but it's the truth. There is something good in every piece. I refuse to pick a favorite until the very end. :)

Oh, OK. Maybe I have a few things to mention with yours as well. If you insist. :)

I DIDN'T BUT THANKS. ;)

I'll admit, your personal stories are always a lot more difficult to talk about - there's the "this is really f-ed up" emotional reaction to what you are saying that can cloud everything else. But there's also a beauty to your language that transcends the horrible things that happen. The line "But I had no sense that they were going to mourn me" stood out in particular to me. Honestly, from a story prospective, that could have been the end right there and it would still have been solid. Obviously, being non-fiction life didn't stop there and there was more to tell. Like I said, being horrifying real life events makes it weird to talk about "story elements." :D

I think a lot of people have - I don't want to say difficulty, because no one here is stupid at ALL, but a rough time replying to my entries because they are dark. If they were fictional and dark, well, sure, that's one thing, but I've decided to take the entire notion of surviving and use it every week. Will that mean I'll keep sharing dark things? Yep. I have an arsenal of life stories. If the chance comes, will I share something lighter? Absolutely, if it fits the prompt and game perfectly! I'm glad you see a beauty in the darkness - that's always the goal, and I love how much you pay attention to all of our works. As for the line "But I had no sense that they were going to mourn me" - I honestly have to tell you that THAT was the line I almost cut. I hated it during my first out-loud read-through. And then, I read the car scene again, and I looked through my journals from that time period where I had written, "I think I've become their deceased daughter, and I think that gives them relief, even though I'm still half-alive in some ghost-like 17-year-old form" - and the line stayed. It was too authentic to cut. Life can be dark and horrifying. But I really do have plenty of happy stories, too. And in some cases, dark and horrifying doesn't have a BAD ending. This week, however - well, when it rains, it pours indeed.

So I'll go with the non-horrifying bits for the questions! What made you lead off with the Baltimore Sun article, and personally, how important is it for you to share the real life pictures at the end as part of your entry? How much does it add for you?

The non-horrifying bits for the week! I wanted to lead with the Baltimore Sun entry because back in the day, the paper really did do a featured "person of the week" article, and as kids were graduating high school, they usually focused on those who had done something they considered "newsworthy." My newsworthy bit was that my vocal coach was internationally recognized and believed I'd make a career out of music after gaining acceptance into top-notch music programs. Since Doo Da - my grandfather who passed from brain cancer - told me to always sing for him, and he was featured so much in this piece, I wanted to include the article. He was VERY ill when it was published, but I remember him looking at it and saying, "That's my girl." He loved me, and sharing that article reminded me of his love - and set the scene for the person I thought I'd be, the person I was told I'd be, the person my parents never saw me as, and the person who was expected to do SO much as a 17-year-old. Opera is a high-pressure field, where you must look and sound perfect 24/7. I had to pretend I was perfect while my life broke down around me. That article was never something I felt good about (except for when Doo Da saw it). It made me feel like I was never good ENOUGH.

As for the pictures - when I had my traumatic brain injury in August 2010, I had to rebuild my entire life. I didn't know who my husband was, let alone anyone in any picture. Those pics are memory joggers - I pull them when I figure out what to do with the topic each time (and that usually involves looking through old journals to see which life event fits the notion of surviving, as well as the specific prompt), and then, I add them so that the people in my life are given faces to go with their names. All of the people I've shared photos of have meant something amazing to me. Photos of myself from certain ages show my emotions - from terrified to happy to trying to be someone I wasn't to please others. I think those photos add a lot, and if a story calls for them, I'll use them. This week, there were so many players that it felt wrong to leave anyone out. And since my piece started with the picture of me that was in the paper, I wanted to end with photos of the people who really kept me going - because I love/loved them and thought they deserved to be recognized, too.

[swirlsofpurple]

I know a lot about the background of the Below in the story, though I'm not telling for now, maybe in another story ;).

I knew from the beginning I didn't want to have a lot about it in the story, as I didn't want it to derail focus, just have it ominously peppered in the background.

[gunwithoutmusic]

That was what I liked the most about your entry, honestly - just that little bit of intrigue there. It was more about the character, and her experiences, and we did need that little bit of background to have it make sense, but I appreciated the laser-sharp focus on the character's experiences.

That said, I would love to read more of this world you've created. :)

[gunwithoutmusic]

Ah, finally! I thought you forgot about me because I'm over here in the shadowy corner.

I kept reading and listening to this one, trying to think of something that other folx haven't pointed out in the comments section. What I keep coming back to it is the importance of water in each of these memories. From being safe from it, to it manifesting the pain inside of you as it streams from your eyes. And then, in the second section it comes back again as big as an ocean, the rain coming down until you literally fall to the ground under the weight. As powerful as all of that is, I love what you do with the imagery of getting it back under control. Putting the lid on it, to let those thoughts be reduced, but not allowing yourself to evaporate. What made you go with poetry and, since it was brought up in the comments, what was your editing process like?

Thanks for the compliments - it was a fun piece to write and I'm glad that I was able to convey what I wanted to through it.

In response to the question, I would like to think that one of the things that set me apart in Season 11 of Idol was that I was difficult to pin down - I'd write a heartfelt non-fiction piece one week, followed by a poem, followed by an entry in my fictional overly-paranoid character's life, heck I even wrote a song (with help from our resident songwriter that season)!

So, while I did toy with the idea of doing an entire "Quest for..." series this season, along with toying with several other ideas for a "theme" to each post (which I think is something a lot of people do when they come back to Idol - deciding, for instance, to only submit poetry or something like that), I found myself thinking that I was in a bit of a rut with the hiking stories. People seem to really enjoy them, and I love telling them, because I'm nothing if not a storyteller, but I wanted to remind people that I can also do other things. I felt like poetry, in particular, was the best way to show that, and to sort of shock the system and offer a clean break from the series I had done up to this point.

So basically, I'm just trying something new and playing with my medium and hoping that it works out for the best. :)

As far as my editing process goes, that's another story. I feel like I don't really have a "process" when it comes to writing or editing. It starts with a single line in my head (in the case of this poem, "the rat-a-tat-tat / rat-a-tat-a-tat-tat" which I just enjoyed the rhythm of and felt fit the prompt), and I let that germinate for a little bit, then I just sit down and write it all out in one fell swoop.

Generally, I'll then go back and read it to myself, change a few words here or there where I may have been too repetitive, and do that a couple of times. When I do the audio recording, I'll also usually find some places to tighten up the language. In this particular case, I workshopped it a little bit and having a fresh set of eyes on it helped a lot with getting my focus on it.

[bleodswean]

The only strategy I can devise is to vote based on the writing itself.

[murielle]

Yes. This is the second-hardest vote.

[gunwithoutmusic]

Is there anyone in this competition you just can't see yourself voting out?

There are definitely people in the competition that I couldn't possibly see myself voting for, mainly because I like their work and want to see them stick around longer. For me, I get just as much enjoyment out of the gameplay part as I do out of reading the entries.

What is your general voting criteria for this first vote of the individual game?

For this first vote, I think most of us are "flying blind," so to speak. There's been a lot of talk this Tribal Council about motivations and why people do things they do, and I honestly can't speak to anyone else's motivations, so while I think I have an inkling of how this Tribal Council might go, it's really anyone's guess. My personal criteria right now is to look at what I think is the fairest thing to do, since there's not really any one person I can point at and say, "This person doesn't belong."

There are a lot of different ways someone can be a "strong competitor" - how do you think YOU fit that description?

Can I plead the 5th? Hahaha. I think I'm a decent writer and a nice guy and I have a handle on the "Survivor" aspect of things by virtue of being a fan of the show. Will that be enough to get me to the end? Who knows? All any of us can do is our best in the competition and hope that what we do is enough to keep us going.

[murielle]

I choose this question.

"There are a lot of different ways someone can be a "strong competitor" - how do you think YOU fit that description?"

I have always seen myself in a supportive role and I see that as my strength.