Letters Home 2:
From:
tsut30
To:
csudak
Received:
10/21/2013 11:00:00 AM
Subject:
Letter to a Friend
Message:
Well, here we are, post merge. I do like the new tribe, alot of familiar friends (and foes). Many alliance members in my current tribe, which shakes out quite nicely for my game, hopefully.
If I happen to make it to the final 3, I wouldn't mind having dubs and maybe one of the newbies alongside me, maybe hookemhorns. I've had some talks with him, seems to be a good dude in the game.
From:
katzphang88
To:
csudak
Received:
10/21/2013 11:05:00 AM
Subject:
Dear Friend
Message:
Hello
So we merged tribes. This was a good thing as we re-united with some split alliance mates in da-goat and psap. Seems we have a good grasp on who we can trust now. The key will be setting us up for the merge. I think that if da-goat and psap and I were sitting in the final three it will be a good testament to how well we were able to work together. We'll see.
Take care my friend, and wish me luck.
From:
usfbully
To:
csudak
Received:
10/21/2013 2:15:00 PM
Subject:
Journal entry
Message:
Dear Diary,
I love my new tribe. When I was on the Newb tribe we hardly won a thing. Now my new tribe is 1-1 and I am loving not having to vote!
I think my alliances are solid, if I am not being played. I have been able to convince one tribe that I would be a solid “swing vote”, and I think I am doing the same in this tribe. I do think PSAP is targeting me, however.
If I make it to the final 3 I don’t care who is with me, it would be much further than I figured I would. If I had to choose I would say redraider and da_goat. I haven’t heard from either of them, so I am betting they are not as active as other owners.
I think the final 3 will be dublinuf, chuckdc, and me.
That’s all I got for today, talk to you soon!
From:
dublinuf
To:
csudak
Received:
10/21/2013 2:22:00 PM
Subject:
Letter home
Message:
Hey guys,
I have no idea where I stand now. My two closest allies are both on the Autobots tribe, but besides Tyson and Tony, I don't really trust anyone over here.
I think mb is pretty useful, but I would prefer to have stalagna and redraider.
I have a final five deal with pola, tsut, ahrens and stalagna, but I don't know how much I can trust ahrens.
I have no way of protecting redraider over there. If we have the numbers over here, we may be better off losing.
That said, I have to trust horvie and arfy to have the numbers over here, and they are inherently untrustworthy, having played with them multiple times and never had them not lie to me.
If I make the final three, then it will be me Tyson and Tony. If not, I probably won't be.
Dubs
From:
dublinuf
To:
csudak
Received:
10/21/2013 3:29:00 PM
Subject:
Letter home addendum
Message:
So, it seems stalagna hates polabonez and just lit that original alliance on fire to get traction with that.
So, I would say my core allies are still polabonez and tsut
Followed closely by redraider and mb
Tyson is working closely with Arfy
Somehow I am now aligned with horvie.
From:
Arfy
To:
csudak
Received:
10/21/2013 4:28:00 PM
Subject:
Letter to home
Message:
Dear ********,
We need to have a chat. Sit down. Pull up a chair. Grab a beer because this might take awhile.
Why aren't you watching Battlestar Galactica? Is it the name? Are you worried your friends will make fun of you? They will, mind you. Are killer robots just not your thing? Did you see one episode and it made the kind of sense that, you know, doesn't? Bygones people. I'm sick of these petty excuses.
Okay, yes. The show takes place in space and maybe you don't like space shows. You drew the line at Star Wars and even then, you only watched it because everybody else had (If everybody else jumped off a cliff…). And yes, it does have to do with technology turning against its creators in an effort to wipe out the human race (ala 2001: A Space Odyssey with less monkeys clubbing each other over the head and more sexy model like seductresses), but these are just the surface plots. I mean, sure, Battlestar Galactica may take place in space, but it is not about space. And okay, robots did cause the genocide of the human race in the first episode, but if it were as simple as that, there would have been no continuation after the mini-series.
I admit. It took me four years to get off my *** (or is that on my ***?) and check out the first three seasons. I had seen the mini-series and it was a little bit slow and although the plot was intriguing, I wasn't too thrilled with the metal looking machines that were killing off all of humanity. Yawn. I'd seen it before. I was indifferent. Uninspired. Mostly though, I was stupid. I was naïve, and finally, I was pathetically impatient. It took me a full three years and some odd number of months, plus a long trip to China where DVDs were much more in my price range (shh…don't tell the authorities) to change my opinion. And changed it has! I am a convert, my friends. I have to resist using "frak" in everyday conversation. I make Cylon jokes that I expect everybody else to not only get, but admire and I was this close to breaking into a charity fundraiser where Edward James Olmos was making a speech (I regret, in fact, that I did not hop under a catering cart and follow through with my ingenious plan). But I feel terribly alone. Witness this typical party exchange:
Naïve non-fan: You watch Battlestar Galactica? *snicker*
Me, indignant: Your point?
Naïve non-fan: Isn't that the show on Sci-Fi about killer robots?
Me, now angry: Yes, I know it takes place in space and it has to do with killer robots, but it's really good. I swear.
(Naïve non-fan goes and gets more beer. I glower.)
Oh, you uninformed masses. Don't listen to the media. Not everything on the Sci-Fi network will inevitably result in you attending Star Trek conventions and talking in Klingon. Exhibit A! I sit—convention free. And you are missing out. You are wasting the brilliance of modern television watching The Hills because your roommate raves about Lauren Conrad's sense of style (gag me) when you could be expanding your mind and reveling in the perfection that is Battlestar Galactica's epic exploration of the human condition. You could be, but you aren't. And it is sad. And it is tragic. And it needs to stop.
But I digress. Right now you are probably confused and questioning my sanity. Valid. Let's be kind and rewind. Since the majority of the television viewing audience has failed to give this show a chance (for shame, viewing audience, for shame), I'll help you play catch up by summarizing the most complex show on TV in a mere paragraph. In the very first episode, the twelve planets that are home to the entirety of the human race are simultaneously attacked by their own creation — the Cylons, robotic designs intended to serve the human race, but instead evolving and developing a god-like complex of superiority. In one day, all that remains of humanity is 40,000 people (a number that drastically decreases in the months that follow) who have desperately banded together around the last defensive battle ship in the universe, an old and outdated clunker known as TheBattlestar Galactica. With no other options, humanity has found itself in an endless struggle for survival. But this is only the beginning.
What must under no uncertain terms be understood is that what makes Battlestar Galactica fantastic is not its premise. Countless movies have started with the same basic format, but few have continued it with the finesse and subtlety that Glen Larson (the show's brilliant creator) has consistently managed. The complexity of this show is unparalleled. It tackles the very basics of founding philosophical principles. What exactly does it mean to be human? What makes us so special? As the robotic Cylons develop more and more agency, questioning their roles in the universe and even regretting their previous decision to annihilate the human race, they stop being simply machines and begin to be indistinguishable from humanity. This is first seen through Sharon, a Cylon that falls in love with a member of the air force who at first believes her to be completely human. When her true nature is eventually revealed (and believe me, this is all much more complicated than I'm making it sound), Helo can no longer see her as a robot. She feels. She loves. She bleeds. She is no different from any other human being. Through Sharon, the members of the crew are forced to look their enemy in the eye and come to terms with the fact that it is not a machine staring back at them. It is a girl. How utterly terrifying this development is! The black and white world they so relied on has been dissolved!
You see, simplicity is how wars are fought and won. If one can view his enemy as a thing — something different and foreign — one can hold up a gun and fire without guilt. It is when the enemy becomes a person that complications arise. In a memorable moment in the series, Sharon tries to explain the Cylon position to Admiral Adama, eventually saying, "Does the human race deserve to be saved?" Does it have any more right to survive than the Cylons? Adama has no answer because in the end, human history is besieged with bloody battlefields and betrayal. Are we a noble race? Are we better than the enemy? Perhaps not.
And here we encounter the true brilliance of Battlestar Galactica. It has managed to take a completely absurd situation and link it fully and effortlessly with the problems facing our society today. Exhibit one: religion. At the core of the conflict between humans and Cylons lies the irreconcilable difference about their beliefs in a greater power. In a twist, the Cylons believe they are fulfilling the "one, true God's" plan, whereas the humans are mostly polytheistic. Ahh, war bred from a difference in religious ideology where both sides are absolutely sure they are correct. Sound familiar? It should. Further still, as the Cylons infiltrate what remains of the human race as sleeper agents, we cannot help but relate to the paranoia (unfounded or not) the characters feel when anybody could be the enemy. Trust is abolished. Lines have become blurred. The bad guys are not easily distinguishable by their pointy hats and cackling laughs and the good guys are not always stalwart and true. Where, pray tell, does this leave us?
In its final season, Battlestar Galactica has become more twisted and complicated than ever before. Kara Thrace, a once strong, snarky and cocky pilot, has spent the majority of the episodes practically insane with what she deemed a divine calling to guide the fleet to its one refuge — Earth (and let's face it, we were all behind Starbuck. Her craziness, although hard to watch, was as endearing as every other failed attempt she's made over the years to do what's right). Like most things that people don't understand, Kara is shunned and scorned. She is our Antigone, dignified and tragic, fighting against the tyranny of Creon and willing to die for her cause. Meanwhile, the Cylons are facing the first civil war in their short yet eventful history. They have become the very things they were so sure they were greater than: human, a beautiful yet terribly flawed race of beings. Four out of five of the final Cylon copies were revealed in the fleet and our guts clenched because they were our heroes and they were not supposed to be the bad guys and we just can't hate them. It's Sharon all over again and it leaves the audience unsure who to root for and who to condemn.
I am a TV junkie. When I find a show I like, I engage myself fully and whole heartedly. I try to get into the minds of the characters until I rejoice at their triumphs and cringe at their failures. But it is rare when I find a show that actually teaches me something about this terrible and heart breaking world we live in. Battlestar Galactica is a diamond in a rough of television that is sub-par, that allows its audience to watch an episode and forget it a mere hour later. It is not a show about killer robots. It is a show about the tragedy of the human race. And that's just a little bit beautiful.
Oh yeah, you were asking about the game, I almost forgot. What do I think about my new trbies? I guess they are good. Horvie contacted me and told what name to put, because apparently he is a big Transformers fan. At least that's what I gathered from the picture he sent me with a t shirt that said, " Be an Optimist Prime, not a Negatron". Horvie says that I am in a alliance with Dubs, Pola, Horvie, and Tsut.
How is my alliance shaking up right now? It's pretty crazy really. Stalagna contacted me last night and told me that he heard Polabonez, Dubs, Ahrens, and mb are in a alliance and that we need to get rid of Dubs right away. I don't know, I'm just going to do whatever Horvie tells me to do. My plan is to try and do at least as possible and just be one of those guys that just rides coat tails to the end, because apparently people get butt hurt when you start to try and play the game.
If I make it to the final 3 who do I want to be sitting with? I want Horive and Polabonez I guess And who do I think will be in the final 3? I think it will be Polabonez, Ahrens, and the goat. Why? I don't know. They all just sound like cool people.....or something. Who do you think will be in the final 3?
I have said my piece. I have made my case. You are entirely in command of your own fate. But c'mon. Don't you want to be on my good side at a party? No? You don't care?
Well frak you.
You're missing out,
Arfy
From:
polabonez
To:
csudak
Received:
10/21/2013 5:08:00 PM
Subject:
My vote. and My letter.
Message:
First of all, let's get rid of Phillyboy (official vote)
Secondly, your letter request couldn't have came at a better time. If you would have asked for one yesterday I seriously would have had nothing to say.
But within the last two hours, now I do.
First off.. the alliances. I got thrown into an alliance with dubs, tsut, ahrens, and stalagna right from the beginning. This was dubs doing, as he always does... and leaves nobody a chance to say anything but "yes". This doesn't work in this game.. you have to earn trust not just start a group and hope it works.. but that's how dubs rolls... so of course I gave him my yes and moved on with it. But it's all about to change soon.
I'm not sure about the final 3 yet... but I'll give you my optimal final 4 - dubs, me, arfy, and psap. Yep... psap. Yep... Arfy.. why? 5th horvie. 6th goat. Because nobody would see that **** coming.
However I don't think its going to work out that way. I AM going to be there... that's a given..... but I don't know who will be with me. Maybe chuckc and hookemhorns.. only because I haven't talked to them two hooligans at all and I might need a complete overhaul here.
You see.... stalagna is going into sneaky mode right now. He's probably writing you a letter about how he plans to take out ahrens first in a blindside to worsen my alliance and he's going to double-snake me as soon as he gets the chance to.
He had this idea about Midnight last night. It's all hush hush so that I can't find out about it. Obviously, I did.
I don't know who he contacted about the situation, because the person created a fake account called "gogunners" telling MB625, hookem, chuck, and philly about this alliance that stalagna informed him about and are trying to rally up and take me out tonight. I suspect it's psap. My #1 alliance. Figures.
They might have the numbers... if they can get horvie or arfy to switch.... but I'm going to guess that they wont. Especially after I threaten the other newbies in our tribe. So I'm not going to play my beloved idol. I almost half assed want to play it just so I can use it to protect someone else.. but I made the mistake of telling psap about the idol. I should have left out the last part and just said I had one... but if he's after me I don't want to make myself vulnerable since he knows I can't use it on myself twice.
I really wish I could pass it... I'd hand it right over to ahrens and give a big ol' butt-rapin to stalagna for trying to raise this coo against pola already in the game.
I didn't even do anything this time.
Well that's about it for now... Hoping to find this other idol as well.... And I'm gonna go make a couple more guesses at the first one.. .so after you read this, go check the forum. Oh, and this time can you not wait 9 hours to give it to me.. IT makes me think I didn't get it and then I drink off my disappointment. And I have a busy day tomorrow.
Hope this letter suffices for an idol clue. The island is strange this year... I don't really have a solid ANYTHING so I would expect a lot of **** to change... and I'm just gonna **** **** up. Can't wait to talk to you guys in person at the Post-Survivor show when I get my crown.
From:
Arfy
To:
csudak
Received:
10/21/2013 6:25:00 PM
Subject:
fyi
Message:
If you don't feel like reading my entire letter you can skip to the bottom. The paragraph that begins with "Oh yeah"
From:
chuckc
To:
csudak
Received:
10/21/2013 5:09:00 PM
Subject:
Letter to Friends
Message:
Well this is my first time here on Survivor and it is a really fun time. I am getting to meet some new people and am enjoying the challenges. I really don't have much of a hope of winning this so it definitely won't be me. I am not sure of anyone in the newbie tribe that could win this except for hookemhorns as he told me he is in a good alliance with some veteran players so I would not be surprised to see him in the final 3.
Our new tribe is off to a slow start with us having to vote. We got to win some challenges. Right now I am trying to learn some new people and am not liking my chances of staying here much longer unless we win lots of challenges. I hope to be wrong. Right this minute we are coming up with a plan that seems cool if we pull it out but only 50% confident it will work. There is a new guy hiding behind an alias called gogunners that is stirring up our tribe on who to vote for. I hope his advice is good.
If a miracle occurs and I am in final 3 I want to be there with 2 veterans of this game that would really be cool to get there my first time with guys that have played before.
I hope hookemhorns makes it to end.
From:
stalagna
To:
csudak
Received:
10/21/2013 11:39:00 PM
Subject:
A letter to my friends
Message:
Where to start? I could probably write 6-8 paragraphs but I just don't have time.
Anyways the big thing is I got into a 5-way alliance before the game began with dubs, pola, tsut, and ahrens. Everything was good as the newbies kept losing.
Now at the merge, I decided to clue in someone on my alliance as I was intent on getting some revenge on Tyson and taking his allies out and then him. I was hoping to gather info by being in the alliance and then strike at a good opportunity. It appears it all blew up in my face as I think I trusted someone who had to do things his way and couldn't wait for me to do it the way I wanted. Oh the perils of trusting others in this game- haha!
So I am probably toast now barring a miracle. If I do get lucky and make the last 3 I would love to have dubs there with me and probably Arfy- that poor guy gets way too much crap directed at him.
Who it probably will be at the end is Tyson, ahrens, and horvie at the final with pola emerging victorious.
I need a really good clue- forget that and just tell me where the idol is! Haha!
From:
horvie78
To:
csudak
Received:
10/22/2013 12:01:00 AM
Subject:
Letter #2 - Horvie
Message:
Letter #2
10-21-2013
I’ve been playing this game one-tribe-at-a-time and not making long-term deals. The long-term deals seem to be blowing up, as happened today with the forwarding of dub’s early alliance sitemail. I’m also trying to play this game with much more loyalty. A lot of people saw me as a backstabber in Big Brother…I figure that if I screw more people over during this season, then I’ll never advance far in a forum game again.
In my first letter, I said that I didn’t have high expectations and just wanted to make the merge. I really believe that I was seen as a target early in my tribe…but when I consistently contributed picks, my tribe-mates saw me as a team-player and a good guy. Luckily, we only had to vote twice…and when we voted, we eliminated players who weren’t contributing to the tribe.
Now that I’ve made it to the merge, my next goal is to make the jury, so that I can at least have a say in crowning the winner. I figured out the merge names (not because I’m a huge transformers fan like Arfy says) and actually formed a portion of the autobots tribe…so if I get voted out, a lot of the blame is on me. But I did take a big risk in joining the same tribe as Dubs, whom I screwed over in Big Brother…and a few other players who have been known to backstab people in the past. I am planning to stay completely loyal to an alliance of Dubs, tsut, polabonez, and arfy:
-I’ve worked well with Tsut in the past games and feel like he’d tell me if the other were planning to backstab me.
-I felt comfortable working with pola during the 1st portion of the game…although he is like a politician and has a great way of making everybody feel important…if pola or dubs did happen to screw me over, I could live with the fact that I had it coming to from Big Brother and took a risk working with them. However, I didn’t want to play this game the same way as I played the others (by consistently going after big threats).
-Arfy hasn't been playing very hard...he says he is happy riding coattails and I think he's being honest because he cc’d me on his diary submission and actually offered to give me his WIS password so that I’d know he was being honest...although it wouldn't surprise me if he had some sort of long-term alliance made up from day 1 and is just coasting to get to the final tribe.
-Hookemhorns is a player who is not in the 5-person alliance, but whom I’ve wanted to work with from the beginning. I know that hookem keeps in contact with tsut, so that is a possible option if this 5-person alliance blows up.
My final 3: I haven’t thought that far ahead…like I said, I’m playing one-tribe-at-a-time. If I make the final 3, it will most likely be with two of the following: tsut, polabonez, psap, dubs, arfy, Ahrens, da_goat, hookemhorns.
My final 3 prediction: 1st place – Dubs, 2nd place – Ahrens, 3rd place - Polabonez
From:
psap
To:
csudak
Received:
10/22/2013 12:17:00 AM
Subject:
LETTERS TO A FRIEND
Message:
My new tribe is fine. Somehow ahrens and I are always together. Usually he is plotting against me, but I’m not too concerned about that this time because stalagna is after him. That should occupy ahrens so that I don’t have to worry about him.
Alliances are pretty loose. Because of the winning streak on Villians we didn’t really have to take sides. The guys who went were actually the guys who didn’t participate in the game. They made the selections easy and there was little dispute among the tribe members. Hopefully it goes the same here, but just in case I think I can continue to work with the Villians. And I also have a history with red (in tribes with him twice) and katz (in a tribe with him once). Stalagna is new to me and our first interaction ever involved him dumping on his pre-game alliance and then getting mad when I attempted to vet this info which I did not believe for a minute. I still don’t know if I trust it.
Thinking about the final 3 is too far ahead for me as I’ve never made the final merge before. If things fall right on our tribe I think I will make the final merge this time. I’m gonna say the final three will not involve me. I’m gonna guess tsut, dubs and pola for the final 3 – Pola has at least one idol and I suspect he will use it at the right time for the right people as it can be used twice.
From:
da_goat
To:
csudak
Received:
10/22/2013 9:14:00 AM
Subject:
Letter to Friends
Message:
This is a different game for me this time around. I am more actively involved and having a lot of fun with the game...love the challenges this time around!
Right now due to being on Villains tribe I have an alliance with psap, Ahrens, polabonez, horvie.....we have been great working together although not sure what happened the last 2 challenges.
On the outside of that I was contacted by psap and katz before we started and us 3 have been working together from the start....new tribe is great as us 3 are all together so we got pretty lucky that way.
I have never been one to go out fast and never one to go deep in the game either. If I do somehow get to the final 3, I would like to have pola and psap there with me.
Who I do think will make it do the end is a different story....dublinuf, polabonez, and horvie is my bet for now.
From:
redraider68
To:
csudak
Received:
10/22/2013 11:20:00 AM
Subject:
Letters to a Friend 2 - The Sequel
Message:
Well, the tribes were split up and so was my alliance. Only stalagna and myself are in this tribe while dublinuf & tsut were sent to the other one. Time to restratigize!
On a plus side, I am now with psap. We talked about an alliance at the beginning of the game. Stalgna has ahrens & goat with him so we have a majority allianace (assuming people are telling the truth HA!) .Doubtful since dubs informed me yesterday not to trust stalagna. I guess I'll find out the first time this tribe votes.
So what will the final three look like? I've worked with two power players this game (dubs & psap) so it would be nice to go the final three with them. However I suspect the final three will be veterans. I think dubs, ahrens and horvie.
By the way, this place doesn't have beer or cable. I now understand the phrase 'Hell on Earth'.
Dan (redraider68)
rom:
ahrens
To:
csudak
Received:
10/22/2013 11:25:00 AM
Subject:
Letter to home
Message:
Why hello friends.
The island was too quiet, and then all psap broke loose. An account gogunners sent a received sitemail from stalagna talking about an alliance between dubs, me, pola, tsut & stalagna. This is true in theory, but I only used it for idol clues, and not much more since they weren't in my tribe for the most part. Now its probably going to blow up in my face for no good reason. Yay!
Trying to work on getting numbers over here, but people are scared of psap. And psap is oddly quiet to me, so that's never good.
I love the new tribe setup in the Transformers aspect, however I got shafted on who I am close with, so unless I can pull some magic off I'm going home. My alliances are meh right now, not sure until a vote comes off to be sure, but since I'm a target, I'm in trouble. Going to start looking for the 1st idol, as pola has the 2nd.
Top 3 predictions: well aren't these a crapshoot. How bout a newbie (not sure who), katz & redraider as stabs in the dark. Whatever, YOLO.
Matt