A Game of Cunning

Title is a bit of a misnomer here, there are countless advantages one can have in Survival of the Fittest, countless combinations. No one thing is going to propel you above the rest, a simple mistake can mean lights out. It's part of the joy in watching the game, knowing that no matter how much planning our contestants go through, one little slip could change the game landscape dramatically.

Still, doesn't hurt to have an edge, does it?

Our latest poll was about game advantages, what you'd like to have if you were pushed into the game. It had some interesting results, to say the least. Results were:

1) Cunning - 32%

2) Good Draw - 26%

3) Staying Power - 17%

4) Sex Appeal - 11%

5) Speed - 5%

6) Strength - 2%s

6) Popularity - 2%

VERY interesting to see Strength tying for last in this poll. You'd think strength to be one of the (heh, pun) strongest advantages one could have. Not so. Bruisers have gone down fast, be it from a terrible draw or another students trickery.

Who can forget SotF TV Season 3 when favorite to win Frank Bramble was the second to be eliminated? Frank was just the first victim of future winner Travis "Bug" Hood, who used a handful of stolen C4s and his given weapon, a blackjack, to net himself SEVEN kills and a trip home. Ironically, Bug was predicted as one of the first outs not just by the SotF fanbase, but by the players themselves. His ruthless turn to power player came completely unexpected, allowing him to get the jump on many of his fellow classmates. Just one example of brains triumphing over brawn.

With that being said, it's a little easier to see just why exactly 32% went with Cunning as their choice advantage. Until next time, thanks everyone for taking part in this week's poll!

Comrade_Snowball's Game Recap #2 Stray Observations

Random Notes from the Island…

- - Sean Davidson is my predicted next out, given his actions on the Resort Beach. Zach is going to finish him, mark my words. A real pity to see him go down so soon.

- - Marvia Jones and Harold Smythe… It’s obvious that Marvia has more intellect then Harold at this point in time. Still, what could be keeping her around? What has stopped her from killing him? Keep an eye on this pair; I expect their alliance to fall apart- spectacularly.

- - Odile Jones, Odile Jones... Quite the little showgirl we’ve got on our hands! I personally hope for more scenes with her soon, especially if Tiffany is around. Her behaviour is quite erratic but quite entertaining.

- - I may have said Sean is my predicted next out, but another student looks set for the chopping block as well! Glen Bole may be out of a team-mate, and he might not be the smartest student out there, but it looks like he’s got Suzanne Lanford cornered, if he could just get around to finishing her off.

- - Might as well make it three, Bobby Goldman, as of this writing, has gotten into a tight spot with Karen Ruiz, the first killer this Season. He’s still going, but this fight can go either way. Best to check out the clips, it’s a real entertaining battle thus far! I’m hoping Bobby pulls through, at least for a bit longer. But his chances of getting off the Island alive have dwindled oh so low.

- - Holly Herchenroder may win points for her bandanna duplication, but how long can she expect Jack Lemmon to stay undercover? A better plan needs to crop up, or Jack is dead in the water. Will they take the 10 kills option? Definitely stay tuned on this one- the build up has been intense so far, and I'm expecting a big payoff when their plan falls apart.

Comrade_Snowball's Game Recap #2

Well here it is Ladies and Gentlemen, you’ve waited patiently, and Karen Ruiz has finally delivered! Anthony Rollins is the first cast member to clock out this season, the very first kill of Season 65! And boy what a kill it was. I’ll admit it, I didn’t see this kill coming. The group Anthony was rolling with (Pardon the pun) was very tight. Sterling and Amber were allied with Karen, and I hadn’t expected her to open fire, especially after Amber’s tirade.

But she did anyways, prompting thousands upon thousands of pages of discussion on the official SotF Fan Forums. The twittersphere has been on fire; #KarenRuiz has topped the hashtag list for at least the past three days since the footage went live. People all around the country have been asking, just what is she playing at? Is Karen off her rocker like “Reverand” Smythe? Or is she simply thinking ahead? Could she be going after the ten kills?

I’m sad to see Anthony go. But regardless, his death has certainly left quite an impression on the game. Pink Team was never the strongest team, but they ranked at least Mid-Tier. But now with the loss of Anthony (and the continued stupidity of Jonas, Glen and Ben) they’re looking to be an early out.

Anthony wasn’t the only victim. Karen Ruiz managed to inflict quite the nasty wound to resident lunatic Ali White, blowing a finger clean off. It was a lucky shot that is sure to plague her until her inevitable demise. So far this Season has been rather lax on injuries, again, many people are decrying the slow start, but I’m thinking the exact opposite. Getting to know these characters makes the wounds and the death all the more shocking, and all the more brutal. I know I jumped when Ali was attacked. She’s a loony, (even BEFORE SotF: TV) but she is one of the fan favourites, and I myself have grown particularly fond of watching her exploits.

Speaking of fan favourites, take a look over at the tag list on the sidebar. As you can no doubt see, we’ve got a few notable names already in Season 65. The power trio of Shawn, Mae, and Zach have kept the shipping and fan fiction sections of the forum busy as hell, and it isn’t hard to see why. Interesting to note here, while ShawnxMae is wildly regarded as the better of the pairings, at least in the public eye, a quick look around any SotF fansite will reveal QUITE a lot of ZachxMae shippers on the net. Why is this? I don’t mean to offend here, but I sense some serious wish fulfillment going on.

Zach is the ultimate White Knight, and judging from the pre-game footage gathered he’s been harbouring a major crush on Mae for months, maybe years. Mae St. Clair is, to be blunt, beautiful. She’s witty and nice, and more importantly for the fans out there, she talks to Zach, the social challenged boy that he is, and even MORE importantly, she treats him with respect. When SotF was in the early stages, it first caught hold on the internet; the chans and the “nerd” demographic took hold of it and made it their own. This was their show, their chance to dream. What would it be like to kill your enemies, kill anyone who’s ever hated you? It’s one of the things so appealing about SotF: TV, the revenge and the righteous anger dealt out with no penalty. Zach has been aptly dubbed “The Love Martyr”, and he’s one of us. Anyone who’s ever fallen head over heels in love, everyone in the dark corners of the net who’ve been picked on and persecuted, they’re in Zach’s corner. When you think about it, we’ve all got a little bit of Zach in us. While you might not hear him talked about much in public rest assured, he’s a fan favourite. It’s too early to declare him my favourite, but he ranks up with Ali as a definite favourite, at least for me.

As you can see from the tags, other popular students include Marvia Jones, Panya Bishara and Sidney Rice. It’d rather obvious as to why; Marvia’s sex scene has easily been the most overplayed clip this season. Panya Bishara is another hottie, and Sidney has spent her game thus far bouncing around in a bunny costume. Ahhh fan service.

Little note on Marvia and Sidney here. While Panya has remained mostly neutral at this point (Debate is still raging on whether she is playing or not). Marvia has clearly shown she’s got a villainous streak going, beating on Nate Chauncey, stealing her things and then allying with the clearly insane Harold Smythe. (Who might win the record for fastest mental breakdown in SotF: TV, ever!) Sidney likewise, is clearly playing from her actions on the cruise ship. Often times on SotF we find girls who try to strike that ever so desired “Femme Fatale” status, utilizing looks and violence in equal measure to win the game. It’s never been truly achieved, although many have gotten close. Could this be their strategy?

Looks like we’ll have to stay tuned to find out!

I thank you once more for your continued reading! Feel free to voice your opinion down in the comments! This is Comrade_Snowball, signing off!

Contestant Spotlight: Anthony Rollins by RNN

Contestant Spot-Light: Anthony Rollins

Hello snarky readers and SOTF-TV Fans! It's us again, RNN: Rebecca and my lovah-boy Nery. Well not really, just me (Rebecca) today. Sorry for not getting into the blogging party earlier, but better late than never right? I finally had a chance to watch the entirety of SOTF-TV so far and I must say: I'm Loving it!

So what I'm gonna be doing, is this thing called "The Contestant Spot-Light." Where we examine each SOTF-TV teenager in-depth of the current season, and what better way than to start with our first dead contestant!? That's right today's spot light is on Anthony Rollins!


Anthony Rollins (Pink Team)
*The black dude who dies first.*

Episode Segments he was in:
Started: Open Plains "Establishing Shot"
Died: The Forest "Friendly Fire"

Being the first eliminated, Anthony's journey was a very short one, but the kid was pretty fun to watch. If there's something I always enjoy seeing as a viewer, that contestants do, it's when they talk to the cameras. Anthony being a camera guy himself, according to his website profile, typically did this in spades. He even gave us a small close up of his not so small claymore sword. Would have been pretty neat to see the thing in action.

Speaking of small, for an African American, Anthony was pretty short, especially when with those two tall jock looking boys Sterling and Bobby. I feel pretty sorry for Anthony. You could legitimately see the timidness and minor jealousy in his face as eye candy Amber, went to the two eye candy boys and gave them hugs and kisses. Oh the things I've read about rabid fan girls wanting Anthony gone, so the three "pretty people" could have some sort of weird three-way.

I'm glad I'm not like that! I don't just watch for "the hot guys" because well, aside from being practically married to Nery; most of these typical, clean cut jock type "hot guys" just don't do it for me, nor do I watch the show actively looking for them. In fact I said this before, but I'm the type of chick who enjoys when the hot guys die, just so the annoying fan girls STFU, already. If I wanted to see hot guys I'd "read" a playgirl magazine or something. (Erhem.. back to Anthony.)

Poor Anthony. I wanted to just give him a hug of my own, after he both figuratively and literally got overshadowed by the taller, stronger and more conventionally attractive guys. Poor boy gets no love, and I was outwardly rooting on him there. Lovable underdog that he was in many ways. And they gave him a gnome hat too. Which he actually wore! It was quite adorable.

Game Analysis: Anthony's game plan was sound. Find people he knew and stay with them, to hopefully keep himself safe. He teamed up with teenagers he was friendly with at school, in barbie girl, Amber Lyons, and Generic Eye Candy guy, Sterling Odair, and Bobby Goldman, who I think is a Jew. He was smart enough to keep his weapon for himself, when Bobby offered a trade with his crappy metal stick - thing. The two larger guys were good for support/strength to defend him. Also they could've made great meat shields due to their sizes compared to Anthony, for him to hide behind, so it was a good choice to stick with them. Amber his friend would have done her best to keep him alive as well. His one mistake however, adorable as it was, was to wear that gnome hat. He should have taken it off as soon as he could, when Karen started shooting, but he didn't, and we all know what happened there!

Death Look!
I didn't see it live, as I was at work, but the scene was very exciting even watching the replay. Karen Ruiz (one of my favs and pretty much the only likable baddie, so far - don't get me started on Harold and Marvia) saw the group of four and started shooting at them. They all hid in various spots. Anthony being small, hid easily behind one of the trees. Being the crafty sort, Karen threw a rock and caught Anthony's attention. His gnome hat, still on his head came into Karen's view, where it fell on the ground in front of him. Then Anthony followed his hat after moving slightly.

I love both Karen and Anthony, too bad one of them had to die. I really loved Anthony's last words. Even as he chokes on his own blood he still manages to talk to the camera! Of course he falls to the ground and dies, making him the first contestant eliminated, and proving once again, that the majority of the time, in any group: The black guy dies first.

Aftermath predictions: Anthony's death marked the first kill. Karen's rep is now high on the island - it's always that way for the first killers. Amber and her pretty boy will no doubt be affected by this in a big way, and we have yet to see what will happen with the Jew, Bobby... stupid to be continued captions. Anthony had relationships with many of the Detroit Students, so it would have a tremendous impact on them all. The announcements will take a hit on the Detroit students morale, undoubtly, leaving the Silver Dragon Academy students stronger in the beginning, unless someone else dies soon. Anthony's death might have a particularly strong effect on his best friend, partner, and co-sidekick, Anna Higgins. Watching Anna so far, her friend's death might send her over the edge. How will she take it? I can't wait to see.

*

That's all for now. Next time's Contestant spot-light will be in honor of the internet blogger shout outs from two "sucky" kids and another one featuring an awesome Latino. Can you guess who those three are? (comment!)

Also coming up will be RNN's individual review of scenes and episodes by location... I was gonna do the Awesome Cruise Ship scene, but I think one of my fellow blogger's have already covered it. So what better to start the Episode Segment Analysis than at the location that had the most air time so far? That's right it's the rain forest!

P.S. Follow Nery and me at our twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/RebeccaNery. We always have some fun things to say. Nery particularly. Till next time!

On the Homefront...

Hey y'all. Your admin asked me (a native of Detroit) and another blogger (who lives near Bryant) to give you the hoe down on the situation with the teams at the two ground zeros. Wait, does that make sense? Fuck it, I'm on the internet where there is no sense. So, lets start with Detroit.!

First of all if you're planning to visit during this season DON'T wear white. God help you if they even see your socks on accident. Seriously, no virgins should get married here or it'll turn into a red wedding for sure. Fights were breaking out like, well, like SOTF-TV. Except not as deadly, or entertaining. Most of the time that is, but those guys went to jail. Honestly the teams have racked up more kills here then on the show.

The colors you will want to be seen in are: Blue (pissing off the Bloods), Brown, Grey, Orange (even with the mentor), Pink (remember, real men wear pink), Purple, Red (Pissing off the Crips), and Yellow. You're more likely to see those dressed in Grey, Orange, and Purple. More colors being flashed than a gay pride parade here on the streets and in the schools.

Speaking of schools Principal Johnson of DCH and his staff have been having a hell of a time controlling the students. The dress code has been discussed in many meetings School uniforms has been considered, but the school can't get the funding nor are the students willing. Seems like they have a project on their hands while the season plays. Lets hope that banning all SOTF-TV gear will work!

Now I turn things to my rednecked partner in crime, Texas Grrl!

------------

Thanks HomeBoy, and please invest in a belt. It's nice to see your rooting for Team Pink, but, ew. You're no Shawn Morrison.

On topic it white as far as the eye can see here in Bryant, Texas. I'm not just talking about what they're wearing. Seriously, guys, I think Ferric, Mikaela, and Jeanette was all the color they had at this school. I thought I saw an asian girl, but it was just a weaboo. People here are weird.

Besides white you'll see 13, Black, Gold, and Green. Mostly white. So. Much. White. Anyways the fights aren't physical. My connections tell me that it mostly the passive stuff (stare downs, and all that passive shit). Hell, I got a picture of the cafeteria here (Photobucket.com/SDAcafe) that shows how segregated the school's become.

I can tell you now this (IM, obviously not H, O) will be one of the most interesting season of SOTF-TV. It's slow start will give way to the carnage we know and love!

Survival of the Best Dressed...

Our latests poll results have closed, and viewers have weighed in!

This week, we decided to ask you a rather humorous question, "Who's got the best threads?" Fan Service costumes have been a staple for SotF since early seasons, and we always get a few students who decide to suit up. This year it's no different, at this stage in the game no less then 7 students have worn their new duds, and it is truly a sight to behold. From Hula Girls to Geisha's, the cast of Season 65 have been giving us quite a few laughs in between the action.

Now, on to the results!

1) Panya Bishara - 28%

2) Sidney Rice - 21%

3) Jeanette Buendia - 14%

4) Shawn Morrison - 12%

5) Mae St. Clair - 10%

6) Nate Chauncey - 7%

7) Bob Lazenby - 5%

Panya and Sidney blew the competition away, Panya with her adorable (and oddly attractive) Smokey the Bear duds, and Sidney in her Playboy Bunny costume!

Not much to analysis about these poll results, but thanks anyway for everyone who voted! Another will be up soon.

The SotF Drinking Game! (Rules by SickKitty)

Hello lovelies! Okay, for those of you following me on Twitter, you know that I've been spending most of Day 1 completely and utterly drunk. Why? Because I've been developing the super secret ultra drinking game! This year we had a lot of good rules floating around, but I've narrowed it down to the absolute BEST ways to get as hammered as possible. Ready? Let's go!

(A note. Do NOT do all of these at one time, or else your liver will start to look like mine. And that's not a good thing darlings.)

Alright. Here be the rules!

1. Take a shot everytime someone changes clothes. Into an outfit, out of an outfit, doesn't matter. If clothes are coming off, shots are going down.

2. Take a shot everytime Zach Johnson gets overshadowed by the sexy godliness that is Shawn Morrison.

3. Take a shot everytime someone makes an absolutely awful pun. Announcers, mentors, and students are all fair game for this one, as are bloggers, Twitters, commentators- ANYONE MAKING A PUN WILL RESULT IN A SHOT.

4. Take a shot everytime someone from Detroit drops an n-bomb.

5. Take three shots everytime from Silver Dragon drops an n-bomb.

IF DRINKING WITH FRIENDS:

6. Everytime Shawn Morrison appears onscreen, the last person to yell DIRTY HIPPIE must take a shot.

7. Everytime Sidney Rice appears on screen, everyone must scream a month in consecutive order. (So the first time she appears, January, the second, February). The person who says December must down 4 shots.

8. Everytime someone speaks in a language other than English, pour a shot into the communal glass.

9. Everytime someone fires a gun and misses, pour a shot into the communal glass.

10. Everytime someone says something along the lines of "I never thought this would happen to me" or "I don't want to be here" pour two shots into the communal glass.

11. Everytime Ben Grayson switches bandanna's, pour a shot into the communal glass.

12. Everyone pick a team. If the first person to die was on the team you picked, you must down the entire communal glass. (Pick well dearies, this one'll hurt.)

13. Take a shot everytime someone kills someone else. If the person has killed more than one person, take a shot for every person they killed. (So if it's their fourth kill, four shots.)

14. And FINALLY, the last person to pass out must drink the rest of whatever you're drinking. Because otherwise you're no fun.

Righto! If you're still alive in the morning, you can start all over again! Have fun, and take lots of pills for those wicked hangovers! Till next time, this is SickKitty signing out!

"To the Haters..." Written by MidnightQ

BEGIN TRANSMISSION

Hello again readers,

It’s that time again. Once more, MidnightQ is here to give you a different perspective on the life and times of the innocent little children participating in this season of SOTF-TV. (Let’s put aside the fact that children are not innocent and are in fact just as capable of being bad as adults are, shall we?) There are still many people convinced that people, particularly children, don’t deserve to be put on the show. These people make arguments and cite statistics and provide analogies and examples to persuade others that they are correct. I would like to try my hand at accomplishing the opposite. Yes, I’m going to show you why the kids on the current season deserve to be here. (It’s an experiment in futility, but I’m sure it will be at least somewhat amusing.) For this experiment, I’ve decided to use the situation in the Cruise Ship as my proof. Let’s take a look and see why those kids actually deserve to be where they are right now.

First off: a rundown of the participants. We have, in as close to chronological order as a simultaneous broadcast of events can be, Sidney Rice, Joshua Doyle, Jonas Jeffries, Vincent Sullivan, and David Myerez. (I still don’t know how to pronounce your last name David. And that irks me.) Now, we have three students from Silver Dragon Academy, and two from Detroit Central High. Expectations of school allegiances are quickly thrown out the window. Of course, why would we expect such allegiances to last in the face of the game, particularly when guns are involved? What began with an execution scenario with two students became a standoff with the arrival of the third. That standoff in turn become complete chaos as the fourth and fifth arrived. From my observations, I see that these kids truly have no idea what they are doing. Yet, the game mentality seems to override things like common sense and logic. Once thrown into a scenario of kill or be killed, these children drop all pretense of societal norms and think nothing of playing the game. How easy it is to throw away basic human decency, am I correct, kids? (To be frank: if they didn’t, they’d die.)

Speaking of human decency, how long did it take Miss Rice to toss out modesty? Really Sidney? Is there something your parents need to know? Because I see little reason for a rich girl from Texas dressing up like a Playboy Bunny for kicks. (I assume she’s rich. All of the kids from SDA are, I think. I’ll double check later.) Though I suppose when you are all about to die in most likely an incredibly gruesome manner, that’s excusable. Except, of course, that it most certainly is not. Or take Mister Jeffries for example. How much time did he spend weighing the morality of threatening other people with a fully automatic weapon? Did you think it through at all? Did it occur to you at any point that you have a fully loaded deadly weapon, the express purpose of said weapon being to kill people? And how long did it take Mister Doyle to ditch his classmates? How long did it take for Mister Myerez to attack Mister Jeffries? Or for Mister Sullivan to threaten, and startle, him into causing the chaotic fiasco that I am going over again and again? These children have abandoned all sense of humanity. The game mentality has taken them over, whether consciously or not.

So do these kids deserve to be there? Do they deserve to be put into scenarios like the one they found themselves in? For the sake of this argument: yes they do, because they serve as an example of our basest human nature. For when we highly civilized people are put into an area where morality is meaningless and survival is always on the line, then we quickly become conductors of chaos. This in itself is not a bad thing. It reminds us that at our cores, we are truly no better or no worse than anyone else. In truth, everyone deserves to be put into that kind of situation. We should be thankful that we aren’t. Now, I have here in my possession a number of statistics that can back up my claims that humans are merely repressed monsters. However, I’m running out of interest and I honestly don’t believe that at all. (As I said, this is an exercise in futility.) This glimpse into the game really only served as a reminder that no matter the person, anyone can and will play the game when put into it. And that’s why SOTF-TV exists. To let people play the game, and to let everyone else have their fun enjoying it played. It’s a wonderful symbiosis of violence and euphoric response to it, isn’t it?

END TRANSMISISON

"The Camwhore Curse"

The latest poll results have just finished up here on Survival of the Snarkiest! Many thanks to all our voters. And now, for the results!

1) Jeanette Buendia

2) Marvia Jones

3) Mae St. Clair

3) Timothy Walker

3) Panya Bishara

4) Bobby Goldman

4) Glen Bole

4) Harold Smythe

4) Nate Chauncey

5) Sidney Cole

Unlike last time, our results were pretty clear. Jeanette and Marvia quickly shot to the top of the poll. Jeanette via her beach striptease and hula wearing adventures, Marvia for the now infamous "Drug-Sex" scene with Nate Chauncey. Although Marvia put up a fight, Jeanette managed to extend an early lead and come out victorious.

Interesting to note the low ranking of all the males. Yes, it's true that "Camwhore" mainly refers to fan service, but I'd make an argument that Timothy Walker's camera talk makes him far more guilty of "Camwhore" behavior then most, and out of all those tied for third place I personally believe he deserved to medal.

Now, many were opposed to running such a poll so early in the competition, but there were several reasons for this, most importantly the often mentioned "Camwhore Curse". A trend noticed on several reputable SotF blogs (Notably MarWIN's) shows most if not all students displaying "Camwhore" tendencies die out well before the halfway point. In a game like SotF there is no room for mistakes, and those who are intent on hogging screen time often make critical errors.

Time to weigh in on the matter SotF fans. Does this Poll speak truth? Are the front runners doomed to die? Any likely subversions? Comment below!