Chris's Recap
"Last time, on Total Drama Nialasach…
"The merge hit, and the teams were officially dissolved! With only a single digit number of contestants left, Zero Sum's Helen Lang appeared to foist on our unsuspecting players one of their most exhausting challenges yet, caring for little kids! During the challenge, players sought each other out and confronted or conducted strategies with their peers. Cherry and Ellie championed a plan to collectively flush out Monica's immunity medal, and while others gave this consideration, it didn't do them much good as the sudden death challenge, decided by the kids they were given to care for, sent Gran home for being the least present for his assigned child. Now, there are two pairs of allies in Cherry and Ellie, and Gabriel and Watts, and a whole host of free agents in Alison, Mirai, Monica, and Phooko. And while they've just retired to sleep after singing their merge song, Ghost Ship of Cannibal Rats, the rest of production and I are welcoming the arrival of our next challenge host, who is sure to give the Final 8 one of the most intense challenges yet!
Soon, we'll be down to 7. Who will be lucky enough to make the cut, and who will have victory snatched from their grasp? Find out right here! On Total! Drama! Niiiiialasach!"
*Total Drama Meme Song Plays*
As the song starts, various cameras come out of the flora and fauna all around the island.
Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doing fine, you guys are on my mind
The camera zooms around all of Crios Cath before finally entering into the Nialasach Ruins.
You asked me what I wanted to be and now I think the answer is plain to see,
Aaron is on his skateboard, skating through the ruins, and as he moves forward, Claude can be seen following him, cleaning up the dust left by his skateboard tracks so that he can clear a path for Monica, who smiles at him, but ends up rolling her eyes, annoyed, when she's sure he isn't looking, and begins to pay attention to another part of the ruins, which the camera then shifts to.
I wanna be famous
Watts is looking over Erin's shoulder at an experiment she is working on, and she seems to be attempting to hide it from him, when the ruins wall explodes, causing Erin to fall back into Watts's arms before shoving herself out of them, the two then look over to see that the explosion was caused by Ash accidentally triggering a tripwire. She smiles and waves in an attempt to make the situation less embarrassing for her.
I want to live close to the sun
Camera switches to show Alison sitting on a beach chair and relaxing before waves come crashing in and ruin her clothes. She stands up with a huff and takes the beach chair further inland, but the same event happens, and she appears to let out a scream.
Well pack your bags, 'cause I've already won
Camera shifts up to reveal that Simon and Arnold both saw Alison's ordeal, and while Simon starts to snicker at it, Arnold begins to flamboyantly tell Simon off, and Simon plugs his ears and walks away with rolling eyes.
Everything to prove, nothing in my way, I'll get there one day
Camera shifts to Upper Ceol Fields, where Zaiyrin is seen showering Cherry with all manner of gifts and compliments, and Cherry somewhat scoffs at them before blushing with a smile once Zaiyrin leaves and heading over to Ellie to talk excitedly with her about it while Ellie is working on a costume.
'Cause I wanna be famous
Rashi and Phooko both see the events with Zaiyrin, Cherry, and Ellie, and quietly laugh to each other as they both tend to a small garden of growing plants, with Phooko's plants looking quite healthy, and Rashi's plants looking unnaturally perfect.
Na na nananana nanananana na nanananana
Camera shifts to the Glas Woods, where Raul and Vanessa are sketching each other with smiles. Camera first hovers over Raul's shoulder showing a brilliantly done sketch of Vanessa, then switches over to Vanessa's shoulder, where a sketch of Raul can be seen, but Vanessa needs to keep adding wolves to the sketch as they crowd around Raul like he's part of their pack.
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous
Mark is playing music in Cailleach Bog, but immediately rolls out of the way of a falling tree, he looks over to see an almost seething Mirai, who turns to him and begins to smile sweetly as she begs him to play. Mark is a little nervous at first but as he begins to play, Mirai begins to cheer peacefully as the camera shifts to Lower Ceol Fields.
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous
In Lower Ceol Fields, Donny and Gabriel are engaged in a rather heated argument, and Christa and Jenae both walk up to Donny and Gabriel respectively, Christa tries to comfort Donny, but he begins arguing with her instead. Meanwhile, Jenae begins to continue to argue with Gabriel, but he stops her when he notices she's moving her hand down his chest.
As the other contestants whistle the rest of the tune around the Tine Naofa Bonfire, Gran and Zaheen both attempt to make the fire grow larger. Upon Gran's attempt the fire blows up in his face, causing Zaheen to snicker as she pulls off the trick perfectly and the flames begin to form the season title: Total Drama Nialasach.
Location: Cailleach Bog (Merge Campsite)
Contestant(s): Alison, Gabriel, Monica, Watts
"Knock, knock!" Alison tapped her fist lightly to the chicken coop. "Knock, knock! Knock, knock! I know you're in there, Gabey~."
"And?" Gabriel's face appeared in the screen window on the door. "Don't you have, like, some beauty sleep to get in your cabin away from the rest of us?"
"Oh my, no need to be so hostile~. I'm not here to harass you or anything."
"Forgive me if I find that incredibly hard to believe."
"Well, it's the truth, so I don't really care whether you believe it or not." Alison huffed. "I couldn't help but notice…you don't have a good way of heating up those eggs, and I happen to have been trained by a rather talented chef. I propose a trade. You refrain from casting a vote for me, and I'll make sure you don't starve. Do we have a deal?"
Confessional: Gabriel
"Uh, is this the real life? Or is this just fantasy? Has Alison completely lost the plot or something? Why would I trust her to keep her word after everything? And it's not like Watts and I haven't gone on journeys to gather food together before. That said though, she does have a bit of a point in that short of creating a fire, I don't have a good way to cook these eggs, but I think crucially, what she's forgetting, is that literally anyone can light a fire in the pit specifically for it. What I need more than anything else is…"
End Confessional
"I want you to find me a good pan then." Gabriel responded. "Of course, you'll have to actually leave camp to find any sort of rock that will work. You might have to get dirty."
Alison gave a low growl.
Confessional: Alison
"Ugh, this is some insufferable behavior! Here I am, a gorgeous beauty ready to cook this ungrateful cash bag breakfast, but his head must be made of tungsten! He's so stubbornly immovable! He knows how I feel about dirt, especially when it gets on me!"
End Confessional
"I'll just go back to the old Hayaji campsite." Alison shrugged. "We used a stone that worked well as a pan back there. And remember that it was your condition for this deal, Peterson, I find out you break our little contract here, and you will know no end of suffering."
"So nothing much would change then." Watts announced from his hot tub, behind Alison.
"You know, I gotta say, you really missed out on this luxury, Alison. Could double as a bath for you, and you wouldn't have to worry about dirt as much."
"This conversation doesn't involve you, Watkins. You can go back to doing…whatever it is nerds do when they try to act cool."
Confessional: Watts
"So I heard like, none of whatever conversation was happening. I had literally only just got in the hot tub. But hey, at least she's letting me know that she's scared of what I'll do when I find out what's gone on here!"
End Confessional
"Fine." Gabriel acquiesced through gritted teeth. "But you only have until the Final 7 to do it."
"That's more than enough time." Alison grinned. She flipped her hair and briskly walked off.
Confessional: Alison
"I have until the Final 7? So I'm not the immediate target yet? Interesting to know! How sweet of you, Gabe~!"
End Confessional
"So uh, what was it?" Watts asked Gabriel from the hot tub.
"Ahh, it was just her scrambling." Gabriel shrugged. "For some reason, she thinks that if I don't specifically vote for her, she won't be eliminated."
"She…realizes there are six other players right? All people who don't trust her?"
"That's why I called it scrambling!" Gabriel laughed as he exited the coop and joined Watts in the hot tub, clad in his swimsuit. "That said though…if she does hold up her end of the deal I-..."
"I wouldn't worry about it that much." Watts shrugged before turning his voice into a hushed whisper. "You've been brought up to speed on the whole Monica plan going around?"
"Yeah." Gabriel nodded. "It's a risk but, well, it's late in the game. There won't be much more room to get rid of that thing on her neck, and ideally, she'll go with it."
Confessional: Gabriel
"Currently, the plan of almost everyone is to vote off Monica as a way to flush out the medal she keeps flaunting around. It's risky, because if she plays it, she'll decide who goes home, but I'd much rather she use up that ability now than when she has less people to choose from in the future because we just gave her a free ride."
End Confessional
"Soooo…" Gabriel gestured with his hand. "This next challenge…"
"Oh boy." Watts sighed. "Real talk? I doubt either one of us is going to win immunity this time. The creator of this upcoming challenge, she's not about to reward empathetic behavior. As for what it could be….I'm not quite sure. Something that involves a lot of running around, probably. She's one of the more athletic types."
"Well, let's be sure to give it our all then." Gabriel decided.
"Right." Watts gave a nod with a smile.
After a few more moments, Monica walked up to the hot tub.
"Room for one more?"
"Sure." Gabriel made some room for her as she began stripping to her swimsuit.
"What's up?" Watts asked.
"I'm going to be blunt about this, you two. I think you both are my biggest threats in this game. You work really well as a pair, and for some reason that I can't quite fathom, no one has decided to do anything about that yet, and sometime soon, it'll be too late for them to. To that end, I propose this summit, for lack of a better term. I'm curious about your strategies, and I'm sure you have questions about mine. Let us share knowledge with each other."
"Why?" Gabriel asked immediately.
"After looking over your general abilities over the course of this game, I believe I can beat either one of you in a Final 3 or a Final 2 challenge. I have the physical edge, and I'm not concerned with playing a clean game like you two are. I have more options. Despite all this, you two are my biggest threats because you, Watts, have had consistent contact with Mirai, and you, Gabriel, you have bonded very strongly with Phooko. You have allies you can call upon that make up half the remaining cast. You could, theoretically, eliminate whoever you want, and I'd naturally be a target with my medal. I would, obviously, rather that not happen, so I'm coming to you diplomatically. I figured you would appreciate it compared to any of the trickery or backstabbing you've been dealing with, courtesy of the British one."
Confessional: Monica
"I am not a fool. I know my name is being thrown around already, but I'm also not a coward. If I feel like the vote will not go my way, I'll play my medal. What I want the two of these boys to know is that I've given them the olive branch. Now, if they refuse it by still voting against me when they do have the power to change things, I cannot be blamed by counter-voting for one of the two of them. Someone needs to deal with them, after all."
End Confessional
"Well, alright, I guess…" Watts answered after he and Gabriel shared a look. "To be perfectly honest, Monica, I think I know less about who you are as a person and a strategist than I do about what you plan to do with the money. I think everyone's heard the speech by now."
"The money, should you win it, is all going to help revitalize your hometown, so that the younger kids you care for don't have as rough a life as you did." Gabriel continued.
"Oh, that's the first I've heard of the kids, is that true?" Watts asked.
"Yeah, it's true." Monica answered as Gabriel gave an affirming nod.
"So, you're doing this whole game for the sake of other people?"
"Ehhh…." Monica wavered her hand. "I live in that town too, so it's not like I don't also stand to benefit from it. I look at it more as a utilitarian action, something that will bring joy and happiness to the most people."
"And to achieve that money, you've played a game that has ended you up here, lacking trustworthy allies, coming to who you've admitted as your biggest threats, and banking on beating us in the final challenges." Gabriel pointed out. "Forgive me, but it's just hard to square your behavior in the game with what you say you are like outside of it."
"Regardless of how hard it is to square that, you're going to have to." Monica shrugged. "It's the truth."
"You know, Monica…" Watts sat upright and locked eyes with her. "You remind me a lot of Melody Rest from Zero Sum. You definitely follow a moral code outside of the game, but inside it, when you aren't getting what you want, all bets are off. Am I accurate in that assumption?"
"Is that not how everyone should play the game?" Monica asked. "It is a competition, after all."
"Oh, I'm not about to chastise you for being different during the game than you are outside of it. I think I've done far more talking with strangers, or the general 'popular' crowd during this game than I've ever done outside of it."
"And while I've been trying to stay exactly the way I am outside of the game, and I have chastised you before." Gabriel mentioned. "I also recognize that my main goal is not to win the money. And I've recognized your end goal as an admirable one. I'm just simply not an advocate of ends justifying means."
"I, for my part," Watts continued, "might be just a little more willing to do some unsavory things for the good of those I care about, but what I was getting at, Monica, was that Melody Rest… She pretty much single-handedly eliminated the majority of her starting team in order to gain power. Then, when the swap happened, she had to fade into the background somewhat because she lost the power she had gained. During the second swap, she didn't ever really need to worry about being targeted. And once the merge hit, she also came up to the person she'd deemed as her greatest threat and offered to work with them. It's a very interesting rhyme going on here. And she placed 8th. Eliminated because of that season's equivalent of an immunity medal."
"While that's all very interesting," Monica didn't break eye contact, "I'm not her. This isn't Zero Sum. I thought you, of all people, learned that lesson back during the Final 10. Furthermore, I doubt this Melody character had the same good intentions for the money that I do. I'm sure something like that would have been on the news on the internet or something if she did. The most I ever heard about Zero Sum was that the runner up was given half the money to pay for a kidney transplant for her brother. Past that, I haven't given that season, or this show, so much as a passing glance until my own audition. Anyone still playing thinking that this is just Zero Sum again is too stuck in the past."
"I admit that until very recently, I've been playing this game through Zero Sum goggles." Watts replied. "However… the more you talk about what you plan to do with your money, the more I feel that you, Monica, are stuck in the future. Look at where your strategy has led you up to this point, and I think you'll see what I mean. People don't trust you, and by your own admission, Gabriel and I have the ability to get rid of you with all our connections. We wouldn't need to wait around until the Final 3 for that."
"Your idea is that you'll give us information we find so valuable, we agree to bring you to the Final 3 with us." Gabriel explained. "But you have no guarantee thatwe'll find it valuable, or even stay true to our word if we give it to you."
"Something you might not actually know, Gabriel, is that she and Vanessa had to compete in a tiebreaker challenge. So it might only be luck that she's made it this far."
"I think you can grant me that luck is something everyone in the Final 8 possesses." Monica smiled. "And I was also egged on to make that decision. I had the ability to play my medal back then too, but I did the honorable thing and staked my game on the vote like everyone else."
"Strange that you're talking about honor when earlier you agreed that you would do whatever you felt you needed to in order to move forward." Gabriel pointed out. "Why take the risk of not playing that medal?"
"Because as long as I have it, it's a valuable bargaining chip. I decided the reward for keeping it was greater than the risk of losing the tiebreaker. Like, if we could make a punnett square, there are four options. Play the medal and avoid a tiebreaker that I would have won, that's a bad option. Play the medal and avoid a tiebreaker that I would have lost, that's an alright option, but I've lost the medal. Don't play the medal, and lose a tiebreaker. That's a bad option. Don't play the medal, and win the tiebreaker. That option ends with me in the best position out of the four. I made my choice based on that last option. The path that gave me the most potential power in this game.
"Speaking of which…" Monica shifted her stance in the hot tub. "I know about the plan, you two. I understand that neither of you came up with it, but as I said before, I view the two of you as my biggest threats. If it turns out that you have shunned my offer to work together, and still vote for me, mark my words, it will be one of your names that I write down on that voting parchment."
Monica stood up. "I believe our business is concluded here for now, boys. I hope you at least consider my Final 3 offer. I've been nothing but honest with the two of you as a show of respect. I would hope you'll return it by giving me an answer before the next elimination ceremony. I'll take silence as a rejection of the offer."
Confessional: Gabriel
"So…she knows…"
End Confessional
Confessional: Watts
"Well…that was…an experience."
End Confessional
Confessional: Monica
"That went…predictably poorly. They are right, after all, in that I don't have much of a bargaining chip, and I regret having to use my trump card, my knowledge of their voting plans, so early on, but I don't think I came out of that interaction entirely empty-handed. I've built up a report with them, and I've probably thrown them off their game a little bit. The two of them, to my knowledge, haven't had a single vote cast against either one yet, so I'm sure there will be some squirming."
End Confessional
Location: Glas Woods
Contestant(s): Alison, Cherry, Ellie, Mirai, Phooko
"You." Cherry addressed Mirai as she walked up to her. "You and I need to talk."
"Me?" Mirai asked as she looked up from picking berries from a bush. "Have we ever even talked before?"
"No. Not strategically in any case." Cherry answered. "We're going to talk strategically now."
"Well, not like I have many options for allies at this point." Mirai sighed. "The only person I really trust right now is Watts."
"Trusting Watts is fine. I don't really care." Cherry shook her head. "I wanted to talk to you about the Monica vote."
"Monica vote?" Mirai asked. "I've heard rumors, but it's real? Isn't that super risky? Why not just get rid of Alison first instead? No one likes her anyways, and she's been consistently good in the challenges…"
"Alison doesn't have an immunity medal hanging around her neck, Mirai. It's about evening the playing field."
"Don't be stupid." Mirai crossed her arms. "Ellie revealed to everyone from the final Ebisu team that she's got the Fox Medal, and I know you two are close. Evening the playing field my ass. Break that medal, and then we'll talk about an even playing field."
Confessional: Cherry
"She what? Was she coerced into showing that thing off? Why would she do that? We had the element of surprise, and now we don't anymore! Ugh, that girl…sometimes I just can't with her.
Alright, if that avenue of approach no longer works, I'll have to try the other one.
End Confessional
"Alright, how about this instead then?" Cherry suggested. "I promise that once Monica's medal is flushed, I'll devote all my energy to helping you get rid of Alison, and if you don't want to keep working after that, then we don't have to. After all, I can't promise anything to do with a medal that I'm not the owner of. And this isn't a deal between you and Ellie anyways. This is a deal between you and me. Last I checked, I never did anything to you, you never did anything to me."
Confessional: Mirai
"Hmm…Cherry is making some good points, and Gran did spend a lot of time talking with her recently…maybe it would be good to work with her for a while. I do need allies, and I'm not about to actively seek out any of the final Ebisu members after all their stunts, so I guess that does just leave Cherry and Gabriel. And here Cherry is offering to work with me to finally get rid of Alison. But for some reason, I'm still a little apprehensive of this situation. It's not lost on me that if we flush Monica's medal, Ellie becomes the most powerful player in this game."
End Confessional
"Hmm….fine." Mirai nodded. "I'll help. But I expect complete dedication to getting rid of Alison, and if she's immune, I expect you to at least vote alongside me and not, you know, against me."
"Deal." Cherry shrugged. "No skin off my back, that's perfectly fine."
The two shook hands and proceeded to look for berries together.
Shift Camera Focus
"Oh, Alison, what are you doing all the way out here?" Ellie asked as she noticed Alison heading up towards the Ceol Mountain Range.
"I'm grabbing a kitchen utensil." Alison responded. "What are you doing all the way out here?"
"Looking for you! You weren't in your cabin when I came back from Chef's breakfast. I wanted to talk to you about the next elimination ceremony!"
"You…do?"
"Uh-huh!"
Confessional: Alison
"Am I hearing this right? Someone is coming up to me and asking to work together? Is this girl a moron? Does she not realize I'm going to use and lose her like all the others?"
End Confessional
Confessional: Ellie
"For this whole Monica vote to work, we need absolutely everyone in on it. That includes Alison. I have no intention of continuing to work with her going forwards, and quite frankly would be happy to get rid of one of the three remaining Fudo members. Nothing against the other two, but I'd rather not have to deal with any other pairs of contestants besides myself and Cherry."
End Confessional
"Well then, what is your idea?" Alison stopped to listen.
"Everyone, and I mean everyone needs to get together to cast a vote for Monica. We can't have her continuing to parade that medal around. That's the main target. Flushing that thing out of the game."
"Oh, I'm always very excited for a medal-flushing opportunity!" Alison smirked. "I'm practically the queen of that! You all saw my Jenae blindside! Buuuut…."
"Of course there's a 'but'..." Ellie muttered under her breath.
"I'm not about to just play along out of the goodness of my heart."
"Of course you're not." Ellie sighed. "What do you want in return?"
"You might have noticed that Gabriel and James are tied at the hip. I want something done about it. At this point, I don't care how it's accomplished. After this Monica vote, I expect you to help me tear them apart."
"That's…" Ellie sighed. "I'll only help if the method is through voting them off. I'm not about to mess with their friendship. You're too cruel to even suggest that!"
"All's fair in love and war, Ellie." Alison smiled with a wink. "That little nerd is stealing my boyfriend from me, you know."
"I am almost positive that he's your ex-boyfriend at this point. You know, what with the whole you cheating on him."
"For the gaaaame, Ellie, jeez." Alison had stopped taking Ellie seriously. "He should learn to just be more accepting of how easy it is to use my looks and wealth to get what I want. It's all for convenience."
"Okay, I'm getting super grossed out now, so I'm going to uh, leave." Ellie started to quickly walk off.
"Remember our deal, Ellie~!" Alison cackled after her in the distance.
Confessional: Ellie
"Oh great, I've gotten myself into a big old mess just now. Gran is gone, so that's one potential ally down the drain, and now, thanks to Alison helping out with the Monica vote, no matter who I go after between Watts and Gabriel, there is no way the other will work with me afterwards. I think my only course of action now is to somehow smooth things over with both Phooko and Mirai, but that is easier said than done, especially when it comes to Mirai…"
End Confessional
Shift Camera Focus
Phooko sat at the border of the Glas Woods and the Cailleach Bog, on a mangrove root, crossed-legged. He steadied his breath. The sounds around him gradually got quieter, until there was nothing. It was only Phooko, on a tree, one with the island.
Confessional: Phooko
"I've been doing a lot of thinking recently, a lot of soul-searching, and I've come to a conclusion.
I have made nothing but mistakes so far in this game. We never went to elimination, but I still could have confronted Aaron with his true nature on the original Ebisu, and that would've disrupted team harmony, but it would have given me a better position in this game. Gran was always going to turn on Ellie and Cherry back on the second Inari. All I needed to do was help convince Simon to our side, and the whole game might have played out extremely differently. When Rashi joined, I spent too much time with her and not enough with the others, and because of that she was very nearly eliminated. While I'm still mad at Gran for voting Rashi off after our final four agreement, it wasn't like Mirai betrayed the alliance, and the only reason I voted alongside Ellie for her at the Final 11 was freaking because I was mad at him for not keeping Rashi around. Mirai was just as mad at the outcome, she even wanted to vote for someone who I already knew I didn't like and couldn't trust. Someone who had cheated on her on international television too, and I voted for Mirai alongside Ellie because the latter was concerned the former be angry at us somehow? Yeah, that did me absolutely no favors. Two wrongs don't make a right. I was raised better than that. Not that I acted that way during the merge challenge…I barely even heard Gran out. Granted his confrontational attitude made sympathizing incredibly difficult. Still, thinking back on what was said, it seems as though Rashi was hoping for all the remaining Ebisu to be in the final five, and got caught helping Aaron. It resulted in at least half the team voting her off for solely that reason. If the reason Ellie, Erin, and I tried to vote Mirai off was because we thought she wasn't loyal to our team, then Gran, who hasn't spent the game part of Ebisu, would see not only Rashi helping the other team. He would also see her as helping someone who in his eyes was an enemy of our alliance, and that would make a vote for her incredibly understandable. I still think he should have, like, talked with her about it beforehand and listened to what she had to say, but I could give myself the same freaking advice! This whole game for me has just been one giant shitshow. But now that the merge is here, that's going to change. I'm going to correct my course. I owe it to Simon, to Rashi, to Erin, to Gran, to Mirai, all of them. Rashi says the water favors me. It's time I start favoring myself too."
End Confessional
As Phooko opened his eyes, he saw Cherry and Mirai returning with berries.
"Would you two like any help carrying those?" He asked.
"Not from you." Mirai frowned with a furrowed brow.
"I'd like some help." Cherry gave Phooko the opportunity.
Confessional: Cherry
"I don't care that Mirai doesn't trust him right now. We need information and allies, and if he's willing to talk with her, then I'd be an idiot to not try and help mend…whatever is going on here."
End Confessional
"I know…" Phooko sighed, addressing Mirai, "that we haven't been getting along recently. I've tried to eliminate you, you've tried to eliminate me, but we've had good times too, haven't we? Remember when we were placed on the second Inari together? How we got Gran to vote alongside us instead of his old team? How we'd narrowly skirt by in challenges? Or how about double-date Ebisu? We all got along really well back then too. Never even went to elimination."
Mirai stayed silent.
Phooko paused for a bit and continued. "I just want you to know, Mirai…that I'm sorry. I know I can't take back any actions I've taken. I can't un-vote for you. I can't un-argue with Gran. I cannot expect us to go back to the way things were…but what I can do… what I would like to do…is go forward. I understand if you need time, but I want you to know that if you are willing to work with me again, I will be here. We're the only two original Ebisu left. We started with such good memories. I would like to make sure that whenever we end this game, we end it with good memories too. I hope that we can make that possible."
Mirai stopped walking. She gently put her bucket of berries on the ground so as not to spill them.
"I was led along and cheated on in front of the entire world." She turned to face Phooko. "Then the people I thought were my allies tried to eliminate me instead of the person who led me along and cheated on me. The person who I tried to make sure over and over again was the target. The one none of us thought had any sort of immunity medal. Do you know how incredibly lucky you and Ellie are that I ended up safe thanks to Aaron playing that? If after being lied to, cheated on, and apparently ignored by the rest of you, I ended up eliminated at your hands…On international television…" her voice broke. "How would I ever be able to recover from that kind of embarrassment? If you think your mistakes are such an embarrassment, can you even imagine the level of shame I've been having to deal with?"
"I believe Ellie styled it as a mercy vote-off."
"If I thought I couldn't handle playing the game, I would have quit, Phooko! I was so sure we'd be giving Aaron his just desserts. We could have given Aaron his just desserts! But then you tried to eliminate me, and I was forced to work with him going forwards! And then you decide to vote him off after that? What happened to the mercy vote off then? It wasn't about that anymore because you didn't think you had the numbers, and you once again got lucky when Monica flipped and kept you here long enough for us to have this conversation. If I had gotten eliminated when you voted for me, or you had gotten eliminated when I voted for you, I would have never, never interacted with you ever again. I was hurt, Phooko. I gave you my trust, and you crushed it.
"I…I am happy to hear you apologize, and I am sorry for my retaliatory vote and attitude. Even now, I'm being harsher to you than I really want to be. But I need you to understand… you're asking me to do something I've already done and been punished for by you. I…I know there's a whole game-wide plan to vote for Monica to flush her medal next but…Phooko, I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep working with you until you can prove to me that I can trust you."
"And…how would I go about doing that?" Phooko asked. "I'm serious about this, Mirai, please…"
"I…I don't know!" Mirai shook her head. "I'm not psychic or something like Rashi is, I don't know what you need to do to prove it to me. Just, I dunno, conduct yourself and your actions in a way that will make me sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that you aren't trying to just lead me on right now! Alright?"
"Alright." Phooko nodded. "I promise I will. You're free to eliminate me the second I break it."
"Alright then." Mirai sighed. She picked up her bucket of berries. "Where did Cherry go?"
"She left the second I started talking with you." Phooko answered. "She probably didn't want to be here for that talk."
"Yeah, that makes sense…" Mirai looked forward. "Come on, we should get these berries back to camp."
As they walked on, the camera panned over to Cherry hiding behind a tree, silently wiping some tears from her cheeks as she smiled at the two original Ebisu members.
"Ces enfants…" She spoke quietly.
Location: Ionad Desert
Contestant(s): All Remaining
"Welcome, Final 8!" Chris announced as everyone walked onto the starting mat for the challenge. "Joining us to explain today's challenge, please welcome Zero Sum's Melody Rest!"
"Helloooo~!" The woman beside Chris smiled enthusiastically as she brushed her long, wavy brown hair behind her ear, and her lips curved into a devilish smile as she sized each of the Final 8 up like prey. "Have you been having fun in this game so far?"
A chorus of answers were given.
Melody smirked. "I was having fun too, until a nameless someone stabbed me in the back. To that end…"
Melody motioned out towards the desert sands. "There are a number of flags hidden out in the desert. Twenty-four in total. Each of you has three color-coded to the area of the mat you're currently standing on. It is your job to defend all the flags under your control from being captured by the other players. All another player has to do to capture your flag is touch it.
If you have 0 flags to defend at any point in the challenge, you are out of the running for immunity. The challenge ends either when someone has captured every flag, or when sundown gets here. If it ends via sundown, whoever has the most flags when time is called will win individual immunity."
"Can we just capture our flag right back?" Watts asked.
"You could." Melody smiled. "I've already given you all the rules. Touch the flags that aren't owned by you to capture them. We've got interns monitoring you on cameras so that they can change the flag colors immediately. This is a full-contact sport with no fouls or loopholes. Capturing a flag right back though, that means staying in that one spot forever. Eventually you'd be left at 0. So at the very least, that's not the best play to make. I'll give you guys that advice, but now you're on your own. Look at your color and head out to your area to get started!"
Confessional: Alison (Black)
"Oh, this is a challenge that I can get behind! I already know exactly how to win it~!"
End Confessional
Confessional: Cherry (Red)
"Alright, this is the first challenge for individual immunity. There will be a vote afterwards. That means I need to make sure Monica doesn't win."
End Confessional
Confessional: Ellie (Green)
"So Melody managed to make it to the Final 8. The contestants of Zero Sum that show up from here on our season probably know a thing or two about this game. We should pay attention to what they say if we want to improve our own games."
End Confessional
Confessional: Gabriel (White)
"I do not care about Monica's threats to myself and Watts earlier. I could very easily vote for just one person not aligned with us and give whichever one of us she chooses a chance in a tiebreaker."
End Confessional
Confessional: Mirai (Blue)
"Oh, I'm not about to go easy on any of these guys! I want that immunity!"
End Confessional
Confessional: Monica (Orange)
"Capture the flag but it's a 'by any means necessary' approach? I think I see why Watts compared me to this woman. I guess I should be flattered though since she seemed pretty attractive. Wonder if the nerd was trying to call me attractive too, hahaha!"
End Confessional
Confessional: Phooko (Purple)
"Alright, time to give this challenge my best freakin' effort. Targets to go for are obviously Alison and Monica today."
End Confessional
Confessional: Watts (Yellow)
"Seeing Melody Rest in person was an interesting experience. Though, it sounds like she hasn't been paying much attention to our season as it's been filmed. I doubt she'd have been as friendly towards us otherwise. In any case though, seeing her is a good reminder for me that we really are nearing the end now. Not much room for error anymore."
End Confessional
Challenge: By Any Means
Rules: All eight contestants are given three color coded flags to defend from the other seven. They are tasked with capturing as many flags as they can, and can go about it however they want, no holds barred. The challenge ends when one player has all flags or at sundown. The player with the most flags when the challenge ends wins individual immunity. Any player that has 0 flags to defend at any point will be removed from the challenge.
Colored Flags:
Alison: Black
Cherry: Red
Ellie: Green
Gabriel: White
Mirai: Blue
Monica: Orange
Phooko: Purple
Watts: Yellow
The wind blew across the sands of the Ionad…All eight contestants stood ready in their respective areas.
Chris, in a chopper overhead, smiled at the camera as he brought up an airhorn, plugged his ears, and let her rip.
BBBWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH.
Immediately everyone was off in different directions.
Shift Camera Focus (2 mins)
Monica was the first one to find another flag. "Whose color is this?" She asked as she grabbed the yellow pennant. "I wasn't paying attention to everyone else."
The interns didn't answer her as they quickly replaced the flag with an orange one.
"Oh well, fine, don't tell me. Doesn't matter anyways. If it's not orange, it's a target."
Shift Camera Focus
"Oh finally, a flag!" Phooko noticed. "Hm…oh, this is one of Gabriel's…sorry bro, but I need the points!"
Shift Camera Focus (11 mins)
Monica and Phooko ran into each other as they both noticed one of Cherry's flags in the ground.
They stared each other down for a bit and both ran to the flag.
Monica reached it first, and Phooko claimed it second.
The two kept going back and forth for a while.
"You know Melody said not to do this exact thing, Phooko. Go look somewhere else." Monica warned.
"I've already got an extra flag, I'm not that worried yet." Phooko smiled.
"Oh yeah?" Monica grinned. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. I happened to see Gabriel snooping around your area on my way over here."
"Oh, shit. Fine, take this one. I've got to get mine back!" Phooko sprinted off.
Confessional: Monica (Orange)
"Yeah, that was a lie. I haven't seen Gabriel at all, but I can keep Phooko at his spot while I take other flags, that can only help me win immunity."
End Confessional
Shift Camera Focus (23 mins)
Gabriel and Watts ran into each other in the middle of empty sand.
"How many did you have last you checked?" Watts asked.
"I think I'm still at 3, what about you?"
"I'm down to 1. It's no good too, I've been looking for Alison's flags since they should be closest to me in the circle, but I can't find them anywhere. Is she out already?"
"I haven't seen her yet either." Gabriel shook his head.
"Whatever." Watts sighed. "I have a request. Go take my last flag."
"You want to lose the challenge?" Gabriel wondered. "Why?"
"Because if Monica wasn't bluffing, and we decided not to work with her, I want to help whichever one of us is closer to immunity obtain it. That way we can predict who she'll vote for."
"Oooh, I see." Gabriel nodded. "But…you're sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. But this only works if you take it!"
"Right!" Gabriel nodded.
Only a few minutes later, a loud BWWWAAAAHHHH was heard, followed by Chris's voice.
"And Watts is out of the challenge! He loses all hope at gaining individual immunity!"
"So that's what it's like…" Gabriel noted Chris's announcement. "That means Alison is still around here somewhere and still has flags…but where?"
Shift Camera Focus (50 mins)
"Heh." Cherry snickered as she came across one of Alison's flags. "I see what you've been doing, clever girl. Not clever enough though!" She grabbed the pennant and interns replaced it with one of her own.
Cherry moved off on the search for more flags.
As she left, Alison emerged from behind a dune of sand and quickly reclaimed her flag before burying it back in the sand.
Confessional: Alison (Black)
"What? They said anything goes! No one said I couldn't bury my flags!"
End Confessional
Shift Camera Focus (1 hr, 40 mins)
"We're 100 minutes in!" Chris announced over a megaphone. "And flags have been constantly changing hands…except for Mirai! Not a single person has managed to claim one of her flags yet!"
"What? How?" Cherry asked the sky.
It was soon answered as she noticed Mirai taking one of her own flags, and as the interns replaced the flag, she simply picked it up and added it to the bundle of flags she was carrying with her.
"Hey! Get back here with that!" Cherry chased after her.
"They said anything goes!" Mirai called back.
"That's why I'm chasing after you!" Cherry responded. "You're carrying a gold mine!"
Cherry put up a valiant effort, but Mirai had more speed and leg muscle to carry her further faster, and eventually she evaded Cherry's sight.
Confessional: Cherry (Red)
"I'm proud she thought of that strategy when I didn't, but I'm also upset she's using it on me and not on the people we want to target! Or are they doing that now too?"
End Confessional
Shift Camera Focus (2 hrs, 3 min)
"Ohohohoho, this is perfect!" Alison smiled as she captured one of Gabriel's flags.
"Nonononono!" Gabriel arrived just in time to see Alison bury her newly captured flag and kick the sand around to make it hard to spot where it was supposed to be hidden.
"How do you even know how many flags you have if you do that?"
"I don't." Alison smiled. "But it's probably more than you. And by the way…I've delivered your pan to our campsite. So I expect you to honor our deal from this morning. No voting for Alison while she cooks for you, Gabey-dearest~!"
"Great." Gabriel sighed as Alison waltzed away.
He got to work trying to dig up the flag he'd just seen her bury, but couldn't find it.
Alison, once she was sure she was out of sight, took out the flag from behind her back and buried it in its new location.
Shift Camera Focus (2 hrs, 31 min)
Phooko, once again, came across a flag belonging to Gabriel.
"Hm…" He pondered for a moment, then he recalled that he had no idea how many of his own flags he had.
He grabbed it.
BWWWAAAAAHHHH "And it looks like Gabriel is also out of this challenge!" Chris announced over his megaphone.
"No! That's not what I wanted to happen!" Phooko shouted at the sky.
"Sorry, them's the breaks!" Chris shouted back through the megaphone.
Confessional: Monica (Orange)
"Ahahahaha! Yes! They're both out! Now, all I need to do is make sure I win immunity, and I'll either have their coerced loyalty, or I'll be free to drum up support to eliminate them!"
End Confessional
Shift Camera Focus (3 hrs, 0 min)
"OH!" Mirai shouted happily as she saw an orange flag lying flat on the sand. "So that's how Monica's been going about this! Camouflage is pretty clever! But now that flag is mine!"
She picked it up and added her replaced flag to her carried bundle.
"Noooo!" Ellie ran up towards Mirai. "Darn it, and I was so close too!"
"Huh? What's up?"
Ellie sighed and pointed up to the sky.
BWWWWAAAAHHHH! "And Ellie's out as well! We're down to five players in the challenge now, folks!"
"Oh well, I guess." Mirai shrugged, not really caring about Ellie's loss. "Where were the flags, though? You don't want Monica or Alison winning immunity do you?"
Ellie silently pointed back in the direction she came from, and Mirai ran off.
Shift Camera Focus (3 hrs, 55 minutes)
"Five minutes until time is up!" Chris announced. "Flags are all over the place. It's still any of the five remaining's game!"
"Ah-ha!" Alison smiled as she pulled one of Monica's flags off the ground. "That makes two of hers under my thumb…."
She waited for an announcement that didn't come.
"Bloody fucking hell." She cursed. "Should have known it wouldn't be that easy to get rid of that one. Fine."
She scanned the horizon.
There Phooko was. Heading towards…somewhere.
Alison decided to follow him.
He led her straight to one of his own flags.
The fool.
All she needed to do was avoid detection and she could grab it once he'd left.
…
…
…
Why wasn't he leaving?
…
Wait…
Oh, he saw her!
"Yeah, you aren't hidden that well in the open desert, turns out!" Phooko called to her. "I'm not letting you get your hands on this one!"
"You aren't doing yourself any favors by standing there, you know!"
"Of course I am!" Phooko nodded as Monica appeared on the scene as well. "Why do you think I was running here so fast? She's trying to get it too!"
"It's his last one!" Monica let Alison know. "If we get it, he's out of the game too!"
"Yeah, you can try, but if you do-!" Phooko took off his shirt and coated his body in sand.
"I'm going to fucking ruin those clothes and/or hairdos. Sand will be everywhere!"
"Grrr…." Alison gave a low growl.
Monica, however, lept into action, undeterred. She and Phooko began grappling with each other as the latter defended his flag with all his might.
Alison decided to take advantage of the opportunity and try to sneak around while they were distracting each other.
"10 seconds!" Chris announced. "9!"
Slowly…
"8! 7!"
Almost there…
"6! 5!"
Just a little bit more…
"4! 3!"
Reach out and…
"2! 1!"
"GOT IT!" Alison announced as she grabbed the pennant just before the buzzer BWWWAAAAHHHHH!
"This challenge is OVER!" Chris announced as sundown hit. Phooko with 0 flags joins Ellie, Gabriel, and Watts! Meanwhile…
"In 4th place we have…Cherry! She ended this game with 4 flags.
"In 3rd place we have…Mirai, carrying 5 flags!"
"That's a whole 15 flags between Monica and Alison?" Phooko asked, wide-eyed, as she joined Ellie, Gabriel, and Watts.
"Well, if nothing else…" Ellie responded. "It helps make our course of action easier. Whichever one didn't win is our dogpile target."
"And our winner of immunity!" Chris announced. "With 8 flags to her name, barely eking it out…
…
Is…
…
…
…
…
…
…
ALISON! She is safe from the vote at tonight's Tine Naofa Elimination Ceremony! Everyone else is fair game! I'll see you all there!"
Confessional: Alison
"Woohoo! First individual immunity win, and it's all mine! Oh, it feels nice to not have to worry about votes coming my way for once! I could get used to this!"
End Confessional
Confessional: Monica
"Well, this isn't great. But it isn't all bad either. Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum don't know which of the two I'm targeting because neither of them are immune, and it's pretty clear with Alison immune they're planning to dogpile votes on me tonight. I've got this one night to decide which of the two to get rid of. Which one's exit would be more beneficial for me? Hmm…."
End Confessional
Location: Tine Naofa Bonfire Pit (Elimination Ceremony)
Contestant(s): All Remaining
"Final 8, soon to be Final 7…" Chris grinned. "Alison, how does immunity feel?"
"Oh, it feels wonderful, Chris!" Alison smiled. "I think I'll keep it for a while. Until the end of the game, say."
"Yeah, fat chance any of us are going to just roll over and let you do that." Gabriel rolled his eyes.
"And keep in mind, Alison, whoever goes home tonight, you'll receive their luxuries! Has that changed talks about who to vote for?"
"I believe it will soon, Chris." Alison smiled. "But for tonight at least, I don't think my vote is changing. We've got some bigger fish to fry than simple luxuries."
"Monica." Chris grinned. "Alison says bigger fish, and here you are with a medal around your neck."
"I'm aware that my name is being thrown around tonight, Chris, and if they want to dogpile onto me to force me to play the medal, who am I to stop them? I'll go back to being perfectly safe once we're in the Final 7 anyways. I'll no longer have the medal, and I certainly won't have that many allies. I'll be a super useful vote for anyone looking for some political power at that point."
"Interesting that Monica brings up a dogpile, Ellie." Chris grinned. "There's one of her. There's seven of you. You could have a split vote if you wanted to."
"We could." Ellie admitted. "But this isn't about alliances or anything like that. This is about immunity medals. We want to make sure it's gone, and if we plan a split vote, it has the potential to confuse people. We don't want anyone second-guessing themselves."
"Phooko, I noticed a smile just now, anything to add?"
"Actually Chris, no." Phooko laughed. "I don't think I could agree with Ellie more. It's all about immunity medals tonight."
"Well, not for me it isn't." Monica shook her head. "Gabriel and Watts know what I'm talking about."
"Right." Watts nodded. "She'll be voting for one of us."
"So…one of you is going home?"
"Oh heck no!" Watts laughed. "Gabriel will be voting for someone else to make sure it's a tie, give us a fighting chance. We know Monica likes those."
"I am aware of this plan, and I've endorsed it." Monica shrugged.
"So…do we even need to have a vote?" Chris asked.
"Vote." Phooko urged. "Everyone's paying lip service, but it's possible some people don't really mean it. I don't want to give those people the satisfaction of not having to put their votes where their mouths are."
"I agree." Mirai nodded. "We came all the way over here. We should at least conduct the ceremony the way it is supposed to be conducted."
"Alright then…" Chris announced. "It is…time to vote. Watts, you're up."
Confessional: Watts
"Alright Monica, time to play that medal. Gabriel and I are ready for whatever you throw at us!"
End Confessional
Confessional: Alison
"Well, I guess I'll go with the grain on this one. Sorry Monica, say ta-ta to your toy or your spot in the game. I don't quite care which."
End Confessional
Confessional: Phooko
"You really only have your own actions to blame for this vote. Just saying."
End Confessional
Confessional: Cherry
"That medal is not as fashionable a necklace as you think it is. It's super tacky."
End Confessional
Confessional: Monica
"Good luck in your tiebreaker. I'm not going home."
End Confessional
Confessional: Ellie
"Alright, I think enough is enough. Time for you to shut up about having that immunity medal, Monica."
End Confessional
Confessional: Mirai
"I did promise to vote this way, so, sorry not sorry, Monica."
End Confessional
Confessional: Gabriel
"I hope to the island gods this works…"
End Confessional
"Alright…I'll go tally the votes." Chris smiled.
After a few minutes, he came back with a platter holding 7 medals.
"The votes have been tallied." He announced. "If anyone has a hidden immunity medal and would like to play it, now would be the time to do so."
Everyone looked around.
Most eyes drifted towards Monica.
Some drifted towards Ellie as well.
Both women sat in their seats for a while, weighing options.
Finally…
"Chris." Monica stood up. "The medal, for my safety. I'm feeling like the dogpile wasn't an empty threat. And I want to see who was chosen to fight in the tiebreaker."
"This is the Force Medal." Chris announced. "Any votes cast against Monica will not count."
A pause.
Ellie shifted in her seat.
She kept the idol in her bag.
"Alright then…" Chris grinned. "I have with me 7 medals. If I call your name, Alison, Monica, two immune contestants, come up and receive a medal. If you do not receive a medal, you must immediately enter the Tomb of Shame, and give up all hope of winning this season of Total Drama."
Alison and Monica both walked up to receive their medals.
Only five remained.
"Mirai." Chris announced.
Mirai walked up with a relieved sigh.
"Phooko." Chris announced.
Phooko walked up.
Both Mirai and Phooko took their medals and joined Alison and Monica.
Cherry, Ellie, Gabriel, and Watts remained.
But only three medals.
"Come on up…." Chris began.
…
…
…
…
…
…
"Watts."
Watts breathed a heavy breath, and gave Gabriel a pat on the pack. "Good luck, man."
"Thanks." Gabriel smiled at Watts as the latter joined the rest of the safe contestants.
Only two medals remained. Chris picked one of them up.
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
… "Cherry." He announced.
Cherry held a hand to her heart as she walked up and grabbed the medal.
"This is the final medal of the night." Chris addressed Ellie and Gabriel.
"And it goes to…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
… Gabriel."
"Wait, what?!" Monica asked, confused as Gabriel went up to claim the final medal of the night.
"What happened to the tiebreaker?"
"Yeah, who broke rank?" Cherry asked.
"Ah, that'd be me." Phooko lifted a finger.
"Haha, awesome." Mirai smiled.
"You aren't pissed at him? He literally betrayed us!"
"Oh, no. He betrayed, uh…I guess maybe Ellie? But he didn't betray me. Why do you think I backed him up when Chris offered to forgo the votes?"
"Yep. I brought the plan up to Mirai first." Phooko nodded. "But none of it would have been possible without Gabriel's performance just now."
"I appreciate it." Gabriel smiled.
Flashback Scene
Location: Cailleach Bog (Merge Camp)
Contestant(s): All Remaining
Everyone was preparing to head to elimination. Gabriel approached Monica.
"We figured we would give you an honest answer." Gabriel replied. "And let you know that we're moving ahead with our plan to flush your immunity medal. It's simply too powerful a weapon this late in the game."
"Well, I appreciate the warning." Monica smiled. "I had expected you would say as much. I hope you do understand, then, that I'm going to vote for one or the other of the two of you and try to eliminate you."
"We understand." Gabriel answered. "As a show of good faith, I've asked Watts to keep his vote locked on you so that whoever I choose will be the opponent in a tiebreaker, because, of course, we aren't going to just let you eliminate one of us."
"I wouldn't expect you to." Monica smiled. "Anyways, I'll see you at Tine Naofa, Gabriel."
As she left, Phooko walked up behind Gabriel. "Hey, was what I heard true? You guys are willing to compete in a tiebreaker for her?"
"That sums it up, I suppose. More like we aren't willing to just let her choose her target."
"Okay then…" Phooko smiled. "Then hear me out real quick. I think I have a better idea."
Phooko whispered in Gabriel's ear.
"That's…wow that's incredible!" Gabriel could hardly keep his jaw from going agape. "Ellie's been hiding a medal this whole time?"
"Yep." Phooko nodded. "She showed it to everyone on final Ebisu."
"No wonder it has always felt like she was lying to me!" Gabriel palmed his head. "She's been keeping that medal under wraps this whole time!"
"But we have the ability to get rid of it right now. We know Monica will play her medal, and Ellie's going to think we're with her. She's not expecting you to target her for a tiebreaker."
"But Monica's going to try and just force the tiebreaker to happen immediately." Gabriel reasoned. "Or even Chris might decide to do that. This plan only works if the vote is still a full vote."
"I've got a plan for that too." Phooko nodded. "I can make a fuss about seeing where people really stand, and I've got someone who can back me up from a ceremony perspective. And hey, just think of what this will do for us if it goes well!"
"Wait, someone else is in on this? Why not have them vote with us too?"
"No, they've already promised to keep their vote on Monica. I'm the only one who hasn't. And believe me this is an outcome they want too. It's good for all of us."
"Alright then." Gabriel smiled. "You've got a deal, sir."
End Flashback Scene
"Wow…." Ellie took the Fox Medal out of her bag. "That play was amazing. I'm like not even mad, seriously, props to all three of you, for real. I even considered playing the medal too, but aggghhh I didn't doooo iiiittt! Hey, am I allowed to will this to someone, Chris?"
"Hmm…" Chris thought to himself. "I suppose that's up to Cherry. She's the only one who can make use of it after all."
"Burn it." Cherry shook her head. "I went through all that trouble to get rid of Monica's medal because it was out in the open. I do not want to be the receiving end of another dogpile because that medal has become public knowledge."
"Got it." Ellie tossed the Fox Medal into the bonfire. "Well, everyone, it's been a real pleasure! Cherry, you take extra care. Mirai, Phooko, Gabriel, really congrats on that play, especially you for thinking it up, Phooko! Alison, Monica, I hope you don't get too used to safety because I don't think the others are going to let you keep it without a fight. Watts, I'm counting on you to help lead that fight as a fellow nerdy-type."
"Ha!" Watts laughed. "Will do."
"Goodbye everyone!" Ellie waved cheerfully as she headed toward the Tomb of Shame. "See you all at the finale!"
"And that is all for now!" Chris turned to the camera. "We're down to 7 players left, and with the removal of a power player, things are bound to get hectic! Will Monica be able to escape the target on her back? How will Cherry fare now that her closest ally is gone? And with no immunity medals in play, what crafty bargaining chips will our contestants start to use? Find out next time on…
Total!
Drama!
Niiiialasach!"
*Ellie's Final Confessional:
"Awww, I was so close to the end too! Oh well. I'm still proud of where I placed. I totally regret not just playing the Fox Medal to get rid of it, and given the fear of medals we stoked in everyone to get the Force Medal out of play, I can't blame Cherry for wanting to burn ours so she can avoid being targeted. I'm definitely rooting for her too! You go and win this thing, girl! I know you're smart enough to do it!"
End Confessional*
The Votes for those who are curious
Aliosn voted for… Monica (doesn't count)
Cherry voted for… Monica (doesn't count)
Ellie voted for… Monica (doesn't count)
Gabriel voted for… Ellie
Mirai voted for… Monica (doesn't count)
Monica voted for… Gabriel
Phooko voted for… Ellie
Watts voted for… Monica (doesn't count)
AN: And Ellie has been officially blindsided, who knew Phooko had it in him?
I really like Ellie. She might be a little more focused on the strategy of the game than most people would prefer someone to be, but I've always had a bit of a softspot for the more gamebot-y types, and Ellie I think adds a bit of flair to that general umbrella by actually actively socializing with the other contestants and legitimately befriending or getting along with most of them. Unfortunately for her, her continued lies to Gabriel and her caginess around her immunity medal, even her decision to try and vote Mirai off, all them caught up to her this episode, giving her the number 8 spot. Still though, out of 24? That is nothing to scoff at.
For those wondering, Ellie's alignment was: True Neutral (N)
Having studied her actions throughout the season, Ellie receives the title of: Neutral
I guess it's somewhat fitting given her alignment. It's that Ellie didn't do heroic things, she did. It's that she wasn't above doing villainous things either, and ultimately everything she did in the game was to further her own alliance. She was friendly and opposed the jerks and the cartoon-like villains, but she lied plenty of times, she betrayed people she was supposedly allied with, and I don't think any one thing she did was so terribly good or bad that it would have shifted her status to anything other than the neutral one. Maybe with a little more exposure to the major villains she'd be considered a Hero, but with where she ends up right now, I'd say she falls short of it, just a tad.
Ellie's Best Moment: For me at least, was the scene where she delivered blankets to the other teams. It was a great way to see what they were up to, but also a great way to put herself in the minds of the other players in a positive light. It was a strategic and social move that I think really helped her avoid being targeted for a long time.
But that's all just my opinion, what do you guys think?
Ellie will be back for the finale! Will she be able to guide the finalist she supports to victory?
Rudo's challenge is up next! What do you think it will be?
AN2: We have a discord! The link is on the profile page!
EN: This chapter was fun to go through. Maybe a bit… ugh… because of some personal writing rustiness and block getting to me at the same time… but editing is fair game, I suppose. I hope I can get back into writing though, despite how hard it's been for me recently.
Anywho, yes, blindside by my boy. Heck yeah.
I also classify Ellie as a neutral. I always have. I think with Nialasach, it's a pretty neutral heavy cast, and the more sympathetic a character is written, the more heroic they seem. I think from earlier Nialasach… Ellie offering to play her medal for Ash but unfortunately leaving it at camp could be considered heroic… if she didn't actually leave it. Also with her hiding the fact that the first elimination was a three-way tie with Gabriel probably wasn't a smart move. And her reason for hiding that fact was that she thought it was important? Considering none of that really came into play… at all, I can't really stand by many of her decisions. That being said, that doesn't make her a villain. She has good intentions towards other people. I wouldn't say that her intentions are good enough to where she is heroic, but they certainly are not bad enough to where she could be considered villainous.
Ellie's Best Moment: Honestly… I'd say the way she reacted to her blindside. I appreciate that she was more amazed than upset. In fact, it was almost as if she wasn't mad. Like bro, how are you not mad? Like… in the slightest? Maybe I'm just looking down upon Ellie just a tad too much… but if I were her, I'd be mad. At least, a little bit. Like dude… I can't even explain.
Anyways, I've started to talk about Ellie before even mentioning my opinion on Ellie because… well… um… I think the way I view Ellie is implied above. It might've been a bit of an abrupt transition from Phooko to Ellie, but I couldn't think of a way to transition it without saying something that I didn't want to say.
Rudo's challenge… I guess that it'll be martial arts related? I'd like to say this… even if I had said this in the past. I technically have access to all the challenges and what they are through the outline. However, I'm too lazy to look, and I forgot at this point, so… that's my guess.
AN3: And as always, thanks for reading!
