Survivor : All Star

[The Saucepan Man]

Ah well, looks like any Merry deal is off the table for now, unless a few quick Alf votes come in. Sorry, morm. As I said, I have no objection in principle to seeing Merry go, given that he has won once already, but I would rather see the airy king of faerie go first.

[wilwarin538]

You guys must be annoyed with the way I'm ending late or early every day, but I'm seriously trying my best. Before I decided to do this my summer was slow and I had plenty of time. But now lots is happening with me that I didn't expect, and I'm really sorry for that. Hopefully my life will slow down soon.

The votes for today were as follows:

Merry - 3
Princess Pam - 6
Bullroarer - 2
Sauron - 1
Bofur - 1
Alf the Prentice - 3

So today, Day 8 of Survivor All Star, Princess Pam is the minor character to be kicked out of the game.

After a bit of winning and begging, the Princess gave in and sulked away from the tribe. As she was walking away, she got into her princess carrage(sp?) and followed by many servants and a parade was led away from her tribe.

Thus ends Day 8!

The remaining contestants:

From the Lord of the Rings Survivor
Merry
Gimli
Hama
Gandalf
Arwen

From the Silmarillion Survivor
Sauron
Elbereth
Osse
Ingwe

From the Hobbit Survivor
Smaug
The Bullroarer
Gloin
Durin
Bofur

From the Second Age Survivor
Tar-Miriel
Celebrian
Thorondor
Tar-Aldarion

From the Minor Works Survivor
Chrysophylax Dives
Goldberry
Alf the Prentice, King of Faerie
Perry-the-Winkle

***************************************

You may now start voting!

[The Saucepan Man]

+ + ALF THE PRENTICE, KING OF FAERIE

I have nothing against Faerie itself. But Faerie, to me, should be exciting, perilous, slightly dangerous. And the King of Faerie should exemplify those things. Alfie does no such thing. He's just bland and boring.

Off with him!

[mormegil]

Really to keep some balance we should be voting for the hobbit or LOTR characters as most will see the poor minor works folks won't make it very far because apparently some of you don't appreciate those works.

Look at Merry's name. Double r's are ambigious linguistically as they are pronounce very differently depending upon the language or dialect even. Take Portuguese for example, in Portugal you would make a near rolling R sound similar, yet different, to that of traditional Spanish. However, in Brazil it would make something closer to an H sound but even then the double R is messy and confusing in all languages and should go, ergo

++Merry

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

+ + ALF THE PRENTICE, KING OF FAERIE

He reminds me of a dish I once ate !

[Bêthberry]

morm, I love a linguistic argument!

++ MERRY

Sauce, re your query about Merry yesterday. Merry isn't one of the weakest and smallest. He survives the Quest very well, thank you very much, returns with no small amount of mental equanimity to The Shire, to become very much a well to do squire himself. In more modern terms, he might be seen as a socially-climbing bourgeoisie, very able to find himself a comfortable niche anywhere--so much like the rest of us as to be, well, ho hum.

[Firefoot]

++ALF THE PRENTICE, KING OF FAERIE

It's not that I don't appreciate the Minor Works. It's that I've never read them. And I'm hardly going to vote a character to win that I've never heard of.

And if he's a king of something, well, he hardly needs more honors, does he? And Prentice... it sounds like Apprentice - so what, is he just learning to be king, hm? Trial and error is hardly a fit way to rule.

[Lalaith]

So that is the way it is going? Well, I like Merry, the viewers like Merry, but this Alf guy is dull as paint drying. Not quite as dull as Bofur, but I will just have to wait for that eviction.

++ALF

[mormegil]

My friends, it has become horribly obvious that there is some deft subterfuge at work here. This blatant attempt to get every minor work character evicted is nothing short of genocide. Mark my words today the excuse is "I like Merry so Alf needs to go" and tomorrow it will be a similar story but it will be another minor work character.

It is our moral obligation to stop this genocide and save those characters who, through no fault of their own, haven't received their due recognition. Alf is a wonderful character who has much more personality than Merry. He has a rags to riches story unlike Merry who was born in the hobbit aristocracy and never did anything to benefit anybody but himself.

SAVE THE MINOR WORK CHARACTERS AND VOTE MERRY.

PS For Rune, Mac and other with a vendetta I do not particularly care if Alf wins but I'd rather he stay so as to stop this wholesale slaughter of the poor minor works who seem to have no voice!

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

A vendetta . . . me ? I never seek vengance. . . .well I never get vengance, at least until now it seems!

[The Elf-warrior]

I heartily second what Bêthberry said about this not being the weakest link, but I believe we should kick off the bad guys and let the best person win. Even if he or she is "boring".

++Sauron

[Firefoot]

Merry who was born in the hobbit aristocracy

And hobbits pre-Bilbo and pre-Frodo were how important in the large picture of things? I suppose "aristrocrats" always feel like useless baggage?

never did anything to benefit anybody but himself.

Because Merry was so selfish when he left his home to go with Frodo. It was totally for himself that, seeing Eowyn in trouble, he stabbed the Witch-King. And he selfishly refused to accept more than a small gift from Eomer and Eowyn.

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by mormegil

My friends, it has become horribly obvious that there is some deft subterfuge at work here. This blatant attempt to get every minor work character evicted is nothing short of genocide.

Au contraire, I shall be quite content to let the minor works characters be once Alf has departed. And, despite being a minor works character, Alf can hardly be described as a minor character. That's what makes it so awful that he is so bland and featureless.

Originally Posted by morm

Alf is a wonderful character who has much more personality than Merry.

Uh? Character? Wonderful? Alf? Sorry, does not compute. You are surely thinking of someone else.

Originally Posted by morm

He has a rags to riches story ...

Ah yes. I think that you must be. In what way does Alf have a rags to riches story? He was King of Faerie, for goodness sake. Can't get much more aristocratic than that. And I like my aristocrats (and my Faerie inhabitants) to have character. Merry has more in his little finger than Alf.

[mormegil]

Ah yes. I think that you must be. In what way does Alf have a rags to riches story? He was King of Faerie, for goodness sake. Can't get much more aristocratic than that. And I like my aristocrats (and my Faerie inhabitants) to have character. Merry has more in his little finger than Alf.

SpM how dare you? You think that somebody won't rebute this arguement and that you can manipulate those who have not read it into believing this. Alf did not start as king. No he was a boy of little consequence in a small village of little consequence who became a prentice to the master cook then became king. How is that not a rags to riches story?

Merry on the other hand was born into wealth by hobbit standards and a family of power and influence yet he did little with it.

Alf was humble about all his experiences and fortunes, Merry however flaunted his riches to his final days and tried to usurp that of others. He is a thief and that's a fact! He stole from Saruman and then flaunted Saruman's own pipe weed when he was a beggar. He taunted a poor old beggar man that had been cruelly defeated and stripped of any dignity by trees.

[Gil-Galad]

well i started this bandwagon so i might as well ride it out

++Alf the Prentice, King of Faerie

[Kuruharan]

Never let it be said that I am inconsistent, particularly during those times when I am inconsistent.

However, this is not one of those times.

++Alf the Prentice, King of Faerie

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by morm

Alf did not start as king. No he was a boy of little consequence in a small village of little consequence who became a prentice to the master cook then became king. How is that not a rags to riches story?

Actually, he was King all along. But who cares? He's boring.

You make Merry sound rather exciting, though. All the more reason to keep him.

[Diamond18]

SPM is right, morm -- Alf was the King all along and the persona of Alf the Prentice was just an alias. A disguise. If you'll remember, Master Cook Rider went on travels and came back with Alf, he was not from the village and no one knew his history or parentage.

And Firefoot, "prentice" does indeed mean "apprentice" as Alf's role was the apprentice to Master Cook Rider. This was all a ruse more or less so that he could plant a magic star in a cake.

But you bring up something interesting about the whole anti minor works crusade. It's really kind of shameful the way that people are touting their ignorance as if it's something to be proud of. I mean, really, and you call yourselves Tolkien fans? Really! You won't even bother to read his minor works? I encourage everyone here to think twice before jumping to say "I haven't read them so I don't care." It's like saying, "I only listen to what's on Top 40 radio" or "I believe everything I see on TV."

!

I personally wouldn't mind seeing Alf go, but right about now I'm feeling that it's my duty as the MWS moderator to stand up for the Tolkien that isn't LotR/Silm/Hobbit. The stuff only real fans have bothered to read.

So, let's get rid of a megalomaniac who would be the first to jump on an anti minor works bandwagon:

+ + Sauron

Maybe games like these should be incentive to become more knowledgable about the world of Tolkien, eh? Vote not in ingnorance, my friends.

[mormegil]

*psst* Diamond hush up and help me on this ruse okay!

Well I was hoping that only Saucie would contradict my story but alas it wasn't to be, but at least he's mysterious and people like that.

[Diamond18]

Well, morm, if you change your vote from Merry to Sauron, that'll be 3 votes for Sauron, making the score:

Alf -- 6
Sauron -- 3
Merry -- 2

If I change my vote it'll be Merry 3 and Sauron 2. However I dislike the idea of voting Merry here because Sauron is quite clearly more at odds with Alf than Merry is. He stands for all that is boring about stomping on the little guys and ignoring what's too small to merit his observation (read: anti minor works crusade) whereas Merry as a hobbit is too closely aligned to the overlooked end of things.

By the by, Bb, how about changing your vote to Sauron, eh? Merry may be part of the hobbit upper class, but compared to the self proclaimed Lord of the Rings, well....

[Mirkgirl]

It's not that I don't like Alf. It's not that I haven't read the minor works. It's that I've read SoWM and the only thing I can remember is they put something in the cake - so I don't know atm enough to have an opinion on Alf. Oh and that just remembering A.L.F. every time they mentioned the boy's name was more entertaining than the story itself. Most management books I've read have left more trail in my memory (and thats the prose equal to vogon poetry)

++Alf the Prentice, King of Faerie

[Macalaure]

Originally Posted by morm

PS For Rune, Mac and other with a vendetta I do not particularly care if Alf wins but I'd rather he stay so as to stop this wholesale slaughter of the poor minor works who seem to have no voice!

Vendetta? Well... maybe...

However, do we want to keep people around who have no voices of their own? Shall those have our island? No, I don't think so. Down with minor works characters!


So, with all honesty ( ) : I like Merry so Alf needs to go

++Alf

[Bêthberry]

Alas, alas, Diamond, it appears that changing my vote would do nothing to stop this juggernaut of Antoinettes. I bet these people yell, "Let them eat not-cake"! What do they have against sweet confections anyway?

I bet Sauce, Mac, Mirk, Kuru et al are all just a bunch of evil Fridge Fairies who can't stand seeing people enjoy good food.

[Mirkgirl]

ooops she figured us out.

I need better tarning... at least you dont know about that other thingy do you?

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

What do they have against sweet confections anyway?

Nothing at all. I just prefer my confectionary free from foreign objects - particularly hallucinogenic ones which induce visions of Faerie.

There we are. Another reason to vote off Alfie. He was not the King of Faerie at all, but an evil drug pusher. He probably sends spam e-mails with titles like "FaYRee.sTAr@diScOnt.pRYces".

[Celuien]

Cake is good.

This may well be futile, but I'm used to futile causes.

++SAURON

Save Alf!

[mormegil]

I will relent on my Merry crusade for today and help out the Sauron clause. We all know Alf to have made a short modern appearance on our sitcoms and oddly he was called ALF again however this time he was a delightful alien whose zany antics and relentless desire to eat cats created hilarity during every scene.

--Merry

++Sauron

Though the twit called Merry is next!

[The Saucepan Man]

But morm, you are forgetting:

Originally Posted by morm, earlier in this thread

Yes but without Sauron we wouldn't have our beloved game of WW now would we?

Do you have any particular reason for wishing to save Alf? If not, I would ask you to bear in mind my decisive support for Maglor ...

[mormegil]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

Do you have any particular reason for wishing to save Alf? If not, I would ask you to bear in mind my decisive support for Maglor ...

No particular reason but it is enjoyable to see people believing I care for him. That's right I have no particular affinity with him other than his evicition means Merry doesn't go today but I can get rid of Sauron so as to save Alf if needs be.

Yes I remember your support but I believe you remember some 'aid' I rendered to you and yours on a particular game that may have been pivotal at times.

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by morm

Yes I remember your support but I believe you remember some 'aid' I rendered to you and yours on a particular game that may have been pivotal at times.

Aye, and I have acknowledged that aid. But this time, I act alone (a certain Dwarf's vote for the W-K saw to that).

Nevertheless, a loose arrangement of sorts to reflect and revive the past co-operation between you and I could be of mutual benefit. I have already offered you my support on the Merry issue once Alf has gone, in return for your support in achieving that end.

[mormegil]

Fine I accept the offer.

--Sauron

++ALF

I guess my victory of Merry must wait.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

He probably sends spam e-mails with titles like "FaYRee.sTAr@diScOnt.pRYces".

Well at least he is bright enough to see the modern form of Fairie and devise new ways of reaching out.

On the other hand, I bet Sauron is probably busy as an Internet impersonator, never revealing his true self but putting on new personas and identities in order to entrap the unwary, the innocent, the trusting, the curious, the bored, and the comically underpriviledged to say nothing of the comically challenged.

- - Merry

+ + Sauron

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

I am still convinced that the "Minor Works" characters means something to Mormegil and I shall continue to vote for them. . .

[Firefoot]

Diamond: And I did read Roverandom - the only one my library has... and I don't ever remember seeing SoWM, anyway, in my bookstore. I saw the Adventures of Tom Bombadil once, but I don't even like him in LotR...

[wilwarin538]

So today the Day actually ends on time!

The votes:

Alf the Prentice, King of Faerie - 9
Sauron - 4

Alf the Prentice will be the minor character voted off the island today.

Alf, the second minor character, and royalty, voted off in a row, stood and walked away from the tribe. He was led to a small canoe on the shore of the ocean and put into it, by himself. he was pushed of and slowly he drifted off to sea.

Thus ends Day 9!!!

The remaining contestants:

From the Lord of the Rings Survivor
Merry
Gimli
Hama
Gandalf
Arwen

From the Silmarillion Survivor
Sauron
Elbereth
Osse
Ingwe

From the Hobbit Survivor
Smaug
The Bullroarer
Gloin
Durin
Bofur

From the Second Age Survivor
Tar-Miriel
Celebrian
Thorondor
Tar-Aldarion

From the Minor Works Survivor
Chrysophylax Dives
Goldberry
Perry-the-Winkle

***************************************
You may now start voting.

[Volo]

Why vote Merry off? He is more of a hero than Bullroarer and him some of you protected because he's a hero...

I just don't like to change my opinion...

Or maybe I am a soulless minion of Lommy, who knows...

++The Bullroarer

[mormegil]

What did Merry do that made him a hero? He didn't kill the W-k we all know it was Eowyn and but for the charity of a lady he would be relegated to telling Hobbit stories to the Rohan women, it is my personal belief that Merry breathed a sigh of relief when King Theoden wouldn't let him come on the journey but to his utter dismay Eowyn roped him in and essentially had to tie him down so as to make him come. Of course since Merry had access to the history books he rewrote history to make himself look better.

Bullroarer, however, stopped and Orc invasion whereas didn't even kill a single orc in all of Pellenor fields let alone stop the entire invasion.

Plus, and most importantly, Merry is named after an emotion! What kind of man is named after and emotion? Seriously though!

++Merry

[Firefoot]

*coughScouringoftheShirecough*

++Arwen

In the movies she's obnoxious and in the books she's practically nonexistant. Hers and Aragorn's story in the appendices is touching, sure, but what else does she really contribute?

[mormegil]

What did Merry do in the Scouring of the Shire? He blew his horn and devised the master stratagem of surrounding his foes with superior numbers. Had his foes had any level of intelligence he wouldn't have done anything and would have been massacered. The Hobbits for crying out loud, guerilla tactics would be much more suited for them then open combat yet Merry was too dim witted to even see this.

He would never be my captain.

[The Saucepan Man]

A promise is a promise.

+ + MERRY