Episode 08 ~Merge~

[Brenda Lowe]

Ofc they don't know it for sure yet.

Rachel & Ibe & Caryn & Vytas & Cochran & Marissa & even Becky have such huge villain potential right now. I kinda even wish we had another tribal TC before merge

[Mia Galeotalanza]

No this is perfect. Almost everyone here is a huge character, and like you said, a LOT of them are going to end up being huge villains.

I'm REALLLLYYYY excited to see the fallout from Ibe voting out Laura.

[Mia Galeotalanza]

Also Ibe's "Becky who?" still gets me

[Stephanie Valencia]

All three Namibians making the merge <3 I don't think any of us predicted that :O

[Ashley Underwood]

Namibiownage is a thing. YASSSS <3

[Brenda Lowe]

Haven't hit PMs yet but doing a confessional lap (Only one board <33)

-Aw yisss Sem! I was waiting for an update like this. She is clearly turned on to exactly what went on on Tapoli. I was afraid she was a bit oblivious but not in the slightest.

-Coby is also spot on the money with his update. I sense real good things in the future for these two.

I kinda feel like I owe them a proper update (and Marissa too) but it'll have to wait till after this Katie thing settles. Too much happening rn.

[Brenda Lowe]

Doing some PM catch-up;

I'm dropping in the :38 round. Wanna take a few people with me

She was totally baiting Becky all challenge long

[Brenda Lowe]

Ive only really skimmed so far but it sounds like people are looking to round on Rachel. Some kind of NuLimici wagon with Caryn at the helm thinking she can "get Ibe" but lol, Ibe has an idol and Rachel is his friend. So idk, she might want to mention those two things before all of Shawn/Ralph/Coch/Becky/Coby start aiming that direction..

[Brenda Lowe]

Oh Caryn is deliciously blunt, she sums it up as she tells Ibe what the plan is better than I can;

So basically here is the plan:

NuLimici (Coby/Ralph/Shawn/Becky) and NuTapoli sans Rachel (Me/You/Semhar) plan to join forces and create a solid 7 majority.

It also means that us returnees can work together to take out the newbies cause they're untrustworthy.

Cochran obviously is a weasel and can't be trusted so we're replacing him with Shawn, who has no solid connections with the newbies and wants to work with us.

And the plan right now is to vote off Rachel.

For some reason idt that's gonna fly. I guess it might. Can Caryn continue to get her way at Ibe's expense?

[Brenda Lowe]

Caryn once again exceeding my expectations. You go gurl.

If they figured that out between them Shawn could start telling people his was Peter and hers was Brad and that would be a masterstroke. idk if they'll see that though.

Tell them your partner wasPeter, I'm telling everyone my partner was Brad.

And coincidentally, Peter actually did tell me his partner was Brad. I told Peter not to tell anyone his partner was Brad and he agreed.

So as long as we keep milking that then they won't know we're partners.

Did I read Shawn telling someone it was Caryn recently though? Ralph or Becky??

[Brenda Lowe]

Okay so this shit is changing hourly. I wanna quickly write up what was happening last night before I dive into PMs and what is happening today.

First up gotta touch on Katie. She won't get to ever see the discussions later but she can see easily see that she was a host fave across the board and in a real good spot to go on and win here. Ugh, so frustrating for us too that it had to end like this. And apologies if I talked Jeff up from a more lenient punishment to ejection but part of my job here to be "that girl". It's for the best for her, us and most importantly the game. It'll sting for a while and you'll have a little cloud of "cheater" hanging over you for a while but that'll pass. I will bet good money you'll never be involved in an ID scandal again and I think and hope, this isn't the end of your Stranded story. You were great girl, just oh so stupid for one momentary lapse. icon_facepalm

And her leaving does affect the game in a big way. People had started to round on her as soon as those PMs were posted anyway, but I think she was too connected for that to happen. And that is the hole she leaves. She was to be that catalyst and connector between NuBracari and NuLimici and the one to keep Cochran and Vytas from abandoning each other and the gel that could actually make Becky/Coby want to work with Vytas but that is all gone now. And now I fear a noob slaughter over the next few rounds

It looked like there will still be a team-up and Tapoli will get targeted, but instead of it maybe being Caryn or Sem or Ibe it is all about Rachel. She has not exactly been on much for the crucial merge social period, and Marissa is failing the exact same way. Merge weekend is just like opening weekend - you just *must* be here as much as you can possibly manage or you'll miss the boat.

So Caryn is once again dictating things and pushing the ideas. She wants herself, Ibe, Sem, Ralph, Shawn, Becky, Coby & Cochran all to boot Rachel. Everyone knows this. No-one seems to gaf about the three idols lol. It's a bad idea for Cochran - he doesn't know it yet but he's already been replaced by Shawn in any veteran alliance. But he is as flippant as ever and is ready to cut Vytas next round; instead of building on what numbers he does have, he is putting his faith in what is being proposed.

Ibe is kind of the power player in all this and a lot hinges on him. It is his friend people are targetting, and it is his talisman partner who will soon follow. If he and Vytas could somehow work together, there could be a Rachel/Marissa/Ibe/Vytas/Cochran/Semhar? counter alliance to the veteran one that would dominate and lead to losses for all those six. Plus they'd have both idols in that - more than enough to take control of the numbers.

But will they? Nah. idts. If Katie was here, something could happen. She's not though, so no more talk of what could happen with Katie still in.

[Brenda Lowe]

The one thing I remember Skinny ryan saying is that if you cross becky she'll start a fucking riot against you, so we need to take her out now before she gets the chance.

i can start a riot against her too. i have immunity now and an idol. she can't do shit against me for 2 votes.

There is your episode title cos that's what's going down. The big question is can the minority actually get the votes together? Do they even need the votes? If Vytas was feeling brave he could play his idol on Rachel and boom, no Becky or whoever he wants out is out. Or ~and this is one of my fave things about Stranded cos no PMs at TC~ give her his immunity necklace at the start of TC. Force them all to scheme publicly. Have a solid four votes with him, her, Cochran, Marissa all agreed on a target in advance and let's see what the other seven can come up with when their target is suddenly whipped away from under their nose.

Orrrr "they", could just work the numbers. Because the numbers are there but it's going to be a hard job to get any of them, nevermind them all. Marissa and Rachel need to show the fuck up for a start. A Rachel boot is very easy for people to propose when she's not around to defend herself. Ofc now I've typed that she showed up, but already she shot off three short ass PMs and vanished again. Marissa should work up a sweat when she arrives to one desperate PM from Vytas telling her she's in big shit here and is the back-up target to Rachel right now, and one from Ibe saying he's "worried" she's gonna get targeted. (Coby needs to show up too, promises promises..) I got through the eight pages of PMs (200) sent since I went to bed last night and none of them were from any of those three cos they are just not here and that's making it very hard on this minority to do anything. Ibrehem is very much a potential number on their side, but it won't happen if it's just Vytas & Cochran trying to convince him - they need Marissa & Rachel to heartfuck him too. If that had happened already suddenly they have a chance at getting Sem too. Because Sem right now is someone no-one wants and idgi. I think Tapoli are wary of her from before, and Bracari have just never met her so they assume she is against them when in fact, if someone took her in they would have a tight ally who right now is just floating around looking for someone to love her. Sure Cochran, Ibe & Becky are half heartedly trying, but the only one really working her is Ralph. She is online and sharing PMs back and forth with him like crazy while Vytas sees her on and PMing and concludes she is tight with Becky. Like, why not PM her some yourself then??

Ralph tho <33 For someone who was taking tips pre-game about how to be more social (send long PMs John, apparently people like that kinda thing) he is the only person getting the absolute most out of this merge. Even people who should know better like Becky, have at least one blind spot (in her case, Vytas). But Ralph is squeezing every last drop out of every last person here.

Who else then, Shawn? :/ Shawn kinda overestimates his own game sometimes which turns me off - particularly in confessional. But then I see him being humbler in PM and maybe people aren't picking up on that part of him so I think he'll be ok for the next while. I don't think he realizes how much of a "lackey to the vets" he's seen by pretty much all the noobs now in the slightest. But credit, his and Caryn's duo is the core of the most likely boot here so GJ on that I guess. More credit to Caryn than him though. She knows what she wants and she is the one instigating things to get it done. Maybe it's a little easy because it suits so many people, let's see how far she gets when it's someone who fights back. I still think it's a bad idea to target any of Tapoli in her shoes though. For all their fighting, Rachel is still closer to her than people like Becky, Coby, Marissa. Rachel is easier to do though, so I see the sense. I still think she's weakening her own footing doing it, playing to others interests.

But back to Ibe. Does Cochran know that Ralph is talking about booting Ibe next? If so why hasn't he told him yet? If not why hasn't he made it up yet? :P Ibe would be a whole ton more likely to put up a fight to save Rachel if he heard that. It's gonna be hilarious if he and Vytas end up working together because they so don't match.


I don't think they are going to be able to do enough to get Becky booted here. They could try boot Coby and have far more success. Instead I think we'll just see Rachel leave, Becky stay, and a real humdinger next round as Vytas and Becky come head to head.

[Brenda Lowe]

Becky to Marissa;

Anyway, I know we have like a day left to plot and strategize. I don't know where you're going to fall here in the merge, but I imagine it's going to be pretty intense. The only two names I heard so far are Rachel and Ibrehem, but I know Ibrehem is your talisman partner and I did like Ibe on Limici so I'm not entirely sold on that. I don't know what you think though, but I know Shawn definitely wanted to try and work something out.

Ralph has dropped Ibe's name to both Coby & Becky (maybe Shawn too?) but it went no further. Until now. When this gets back to Ibe (and it will derp cos Marissa knows her name is up), that oughtta seal him as with Marissa & Rachel

Becky might just have undone herself.

I feel like more and more they might all round on Coby.

[Frank the Tank]

What I had to say about Cochran this game couldn't be expressed in words so this is how I see him right now..

[Sophie P Clarke]

All I want is a 4-4-3 vote. Is that too much to ask?

[Brenda Lowe]

i`ll give rachel immunity at tribal.

I hope he follows through on this. All sorts of fireworks could kick off.

Not just for this TC, but for the rest of the game.

[Brenda Lowe]

OooOoooh. Sifting through PMs here and it sounds like Marissa is turning things from a Becky backlash to a Caryn one. Good plan, it's infinitely more achievable than a Becky boot. Ralph might actually do that, as might Coby and even Becky. And as far as they know Shawn would too (ofc we know he won't). Speaking of, the Shawn/Caryn pairing is known now due to process of elimination by at least Becky & Coby - just as Caryn and Shawn are starting to tell people it was Brad & Peter respectively. With a Caryn boot over a Becky one Ibe becomes kinda more of a problem than he was before. He *might* do Becky by the end, he won't do Caryn.

[Brenda Lowe]

I was getting a little cold on Coby since he's been one of the three here the least, and then Rachel and Marissa have been in and out to do a bit; but his latest confessional is great. He's got a real good grip on the whole situation and he knows he might not be served so well to just blindly stick with Limici;

viewtopic.php?f=31&p=4866#p4866


Plus I love the reality cheque he cashes on Vytas' BS'

hey man
looks like we're never online at the same time, lol
so katie's removal hurt us but i`m still keen to work with you.
what are you thinkin`?

icon_unsure Ok Vytas, you can't do this with me. Please don't do this with me. I'm very wary of the fact that
A: You're asking what I want, which is a valid question but then it's almost like
B: You've heard nothing which we both know is not the truth so that implies
C: You already have a plan for what's happening tonight, whether that includes me or not. Now, I would love to be included but I'm just worried that you're already BSing me which is what you seem to be preaching not to do.
There's shouldn't be any double standards here. There has been some increased distance created as a result of previous events but I do want to confirm with you that my plan was joining up with you and Cochran. I'm sorry if this sounds like I'm some paranoid weirdo, it's just that today's the day of the vote, and I realize that I haven't been able to talk with you but you can't make this seem like you've heard absolutely nothing.

From my point of view, the main person I've heard is Rachel but I don't know if that's what you and Cochran are doing and I want to make sure I'm on the same page with you both.

[Brenda Lowe]

Also he can spell "wary" unlike all of Marissa, Cochran, Katie & Becky who spent half the pre-merge "weary" of people.