Stuff It in Your Face

This is the tenth episode of my first fan fiction, Survivor: The Cursed Idol.

Previously on Survivor...
After viciously blindsided Belinda, Adrianna acquired her Hidden Immunity Idol and gained a new ally in Serenabw; but Serenabw was unsure of her standing in the alliance. As a solution, Adrianna gave Belinda's idol to Serenabw to cement her trust in their alliance. After losing the Immunity Challenge for the first time, Serenabw decided to shake things up by secretly making a pact with April, Alanna and Curtis to thwart the other alliance. At Tribal Council, the alliance voted for Curtis, who was visibly sick, while the outsiders voted for Carly for her loud personality. But to everyone's surprise, Serenabw gave the idol to Curtis and let him use it. Adrianna then gave her second idol to Carly after catching Serenabw murmuring Carly's name to April, Alanna and Curtis, causing a stalemate. In the end, Serenabw was blindsided by the whole tribe because she was a threat, even to the people she wanted to help.

Seven are left, who will be voted out tonight?

Challenges
Survivor Auction: Each castaway will be given P30,000 (roughly $700) to outbid each other for items, either for food, comforts, or game-changing advantage. Players may not pool money and share the sold item. Auction will end without notice. Players may only bid on $50 increments.

Immunity Challenge: Monkey Business Each player must traverse a network of hanging ropes. Once through, they would then climb up a net wall and retrieve five bags of puzzle pieces and race back to the starting line. If player falls from the ropes, they must go back to try again. Once all five bags are retrieved, they must solve their puzzle. First person to solve their puzzle (a map of the Philippines) wins immunity. Winner: Adrianna

Day 28
The day after a vicious Tribal Council, where Serenabw was blindsided, the Salamat tribe contemplated their decision of voting Serenabw out. The fearsome foursome alliance were regretting their decision to cut her loose. Later, April noticed Wes was the only person who has yet to do camp chores. When asked to tend the fire while April was gone collecting pineapples, Wes slept the whole time, not knowing their fire ran out. Seeing their fire dissipated, April yelled at Wes, telling him to reignite their fire. Wes on the other hand was being defensive and went away, telling her that he would collect food instead.

Day 29
The tribes met Jeff Probst for what they thought was a Reward Challenge. Jeff then said they would be doing a Survivor Auction instead. The survivors won:
 * Adrianna: Footlong hotdog sandwhich and soda ($200); An advantage for the next Immunity Challenge ($500)
 * Alanna: Sealed item (A serving of Halo-halo, $350) -- Alanna was given a choice between the first sealed item (the one she bought for $350) and a second sealed item. Jeff revealed that the second sealed item was a tinted bottle; and it is up to Adrianna if she would like to reveal its contents to the other players or not. Alanna still chose the item she bid for. Jeff cracked the bottle open, revealing a Hidden Immunity Idol, much to Alanna's chagrin.
 * April: A large slice of chocolate cake ($600)
 * Brock: Sealed item (A Philly cheese steak sandwich, with potato slices and a large mug of iced tea, $450); 1/4 pound cheeseburger with fries and soda ($250)
 * Carly: Chicken with rice and side dish of macaroni and cheese ($500)
 * Curtis: A family-sized pizza ($500); sealed item (a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol; $200)
 * Wes: Sealed item (balut, and a glass of water boiled from camp; $700)

Back at camp, Alanna was visibly upset for not picking the bottle which would have contained the idol, though Curtis comforted her, saying she did not know the bottle contained the idol before she bid. Curtis then told Alanna he would look for the idol using the clue he obtained, in hopes of usurping the majority alliance.

At night, while Brock, Adrianna and Carly were sleeping, Wes was approached by Alanna and April, asking him if there would be any possibility of pulling him as the swing vote. Curtis told him Adrianna is a threat because she has played a mighty game from the start. With Wes visibly uncertain, Curtis boldly asked him what moves he made apart from joining the majority alliance. Wes weakly answered he would still weight his options and immediately went to sleep.

Day 30
After receiving Tree Mail, the seven Salamat tribe members met Jeff Probst for their Immunity Challenge. After telling the instructions, Jeff told Adrianna to open the advantage she obtained from the auction, where it stated that while the castaways will have to go through the challenge using the hanging ropes with knots for foot support, there will be a lane exclusive for Adrianna where instead of five hanging ropes, three swings will be given at her disposal.

At the challenge, Adrianna put her advantage into good use, with Alanna seconds behind her. Wes on the other hand, cannot get through the hanging ropes. Curtis, who was already on his way to his third bag castigated Wes for not working hard enough at the challenge (Wes was still going for his first bag). It came down to Adrianna and Alanna, who were closely contested at the puzzle building part. In the end, Adrianna won two seconds ahead of Alanna, winning herself immunity.

Back at camp, Curtis furthered his plans of taunting Wes, telling him that it would be the right time to overthrow the Fearsome Foursome alliance. Wes again replied that he was still unsure.

Later, Wes approached his alliance to vote Curtis out, but Adrianna, sensing that Curtis' actions at the challenge might have put a strain on Wes, she agreed, saying that the alliance must stay strong. While the alliance was conversing, Curtis was looking for the idol. The Alaskan bank teller eventually found the idol, who was hidden under a rock just behind the bush where Brock, Carly, Adrianna and Wes were talking. Curtis was immediately caught by Carly, with the former telling them he would use the idol at the next Tribal Council. This forced them to choose between April and Alanna instead, to Wes' chagrin.

Minutes before Tribal Council, Alanna, April and Curtis talked at the beach, with Curtis telling them he had the idol, but was unsure who will the majority alliance vote for. Curtis then told them he already said to the fearsome foursome he would use the idol, but in truth, he would give to one of them. Knowing that April played a good under-the-radar gameplay, she would receive the idol.

At Tribal Council, Curtis and Wes bickered over the latter's lack of committment to the game, but Wes rebutted that his game is differently played than him and it was Curtis' first time to make a move because he was on the outs. Curtis told the tribe he had the idol and he said he will use it to save himself, prompting the alliance to vote for someone else.

After the vote, Curtis used the idol, but not to himself, and instead gave it to April. But to his dismay, the vote swung to Alanna's direction instead. In retaliation for his indecision, she gave the Cursed Idol to Wes, saying that she was not expecting Wes to voted out, but she gave the idol as a wake-up call for Wes because the alliance was exploiting his timid strategy.

Next Time On Survivor...

 * Curtis makes another big move, while the fearsome foursome alliance crumbles.

Author's Notes

 * Halo-halo (meaning "mixed together" (adjective) or "to mix" (verb) in Filipino) is a dessert made from caramelized bananas/plantains, chickpeas, sugar palm fruit, purple yam, gelatin, leche flan and tapioca pearl under shaved ice poured with evaporated milk and topped with ice cream. This dessert is a staple during the Philippines' hot summer days (from March to early June).Halo-Halo-from-the-Philippines.png
 * It should be noted that the Hidden Immunity Idol Alanna would have obtained during the auction is not the same idol hidden at camp, thus two idols would have been in play again.
 * In Filipino slang, a person who does things similar to Wes' actions this week is called ampaw (read as "ampao"). Literally meaning rice crispies, an ampaw is a person who is a weakling, clumsy and has no substance. Similar to rice cripies, an ampaw has a crispy exterior, but only has air on the inside.