Penelope's Angels

**Penelope's Angels** is one of the influential alliances of *Simvivor: StrangerVille*. Known unofficially as "The Angels", the alliance was the brainchild of its founder, Maris Wilton, as she began to explore alternate routes for herself to get to the conclusion of the season. Assisted by the foursome's common enemies, they banded together with the intention of coasting all the way to the final four.

A brutal coup sent Maris to the jury and the remaining members began to scramble for the power that remained in her absence, but no member of **Penelope's Angels** managed to make out with the win.

## History

### Formation

Shortly after the Day 24 Tribal Council, Maris Wilton realized that her position in the game was one of the best possible due to her having free reign to pick whichever side she chooses. Having just used Carleen Donahue's hatred of Alison Yao to send the latter to the jury, she felt as if she had the control to work either angle now in order to continue to dispose of the remaining players. Her close bond to Zak Barr, and his connections to other players, such as Gale Uragano and Divine Sublime, opened a door for the opportunity to create a brand new alliance in Alison's wake.

Feeling once again betrayed by Zak, who had flipped on Alison in an effort to save Maris, DeWitt Hubbell and Maritza La Playa sat on the outskirts of the tribe and had little ability to draw anybody in. Maris made quick work to lock down her numbers, forgiving Divine and Gale for voting for her at the previous Tribal Council. When the remaining players expected it least, a new bond between the four was created and the alliance was locked in by a group handshake.

### Taking Control

While the alliance's original plan was to eliminate either DeWitt or Maritza due to their close connection, Yaniz Kamau was seen as a "flip-flopper" because she immediately tried to re-join Maris's good graces. The same criticism was drawn on Gale as well, unbeknownst to the outsiders that it was due to the creation of Penelope's Angels that caused this. When Carleen won Individual Immunity, the cannon was prepared to be fired on the lovebirds. But it was Zak's intuition that figured the "outside four" would place votes on Gale rather than Maris again, so in order to force a deadlock at worst, they needed to pick someone who also had the stigma of being a flipper. He then pressed the agenda to eliminate Yaniz.

After a tied vote nearly deadlocked, DeWitt elected to flip on his alliance in order to have some semblance of a positive relationship with Gale going forward. Because of this flip, the next few rounds were decidedly going to cause a person in the minority to go home - DeWitt witnessed his entire alliance eliminated in subsequent episodes, leaving him completely alone heading into the final five.

### The Betrayal

With Penelope's Angels set to break into the top four together, DeWitt realized the urgency behind either winning Individual Immunity or causing the alliance to crumble from within. Recognizing Maris as the top contender to win the entire game, he set his sights high, despite feeling comfortable possibly turning *her* against her own members, as well. This confidence garnered him the respect of its most loyal ally, Zak.

Gale's support came soon after. Looking back on Gale's mixed history with DeWitt, they knew that trusting him would be a difficult task, but noticed their own opportunity to win the season should they flip at the final five. Divine was far too involved in Maris' strategy, so getting her on DeWitt's side seemed nearly impossible. Once Gale and Zak communicated their desires to turn on Maris, the ball rolled even faster down the ramp than imaginable.

The only complication to this plan came when Zak won Individual Immunity. Zak's newfound confidence caused him to reconsider the plot to turn on Maris, as his strength in challenges was better against her rather than against DeWitt. But Zak still committed - he re-grouped with Gale and the two set their plan in motion. That night, Maris was blindsided in a 3-2 vote, with Divine naturally sticking to The Angels' false agenda.

### The Angels' Fates

Once Maris was eliminated, it seemed to be anybody's game. Zak now declared that DeWitt was his number one ally, while he shut Divine out of the conversation completely. His bad attitude towards Divine, who had simply done nothing wrong to him, turned her into a bitter juror, where she tried everything in her power to convince Gale to reconsider their plans, to no avail. She was eliminated, placing fourth.

Because DeWitt was overall the better physical competitor, it was no surprise when he won the Final Immunity Challenge. He eliminated Gale on the penultimate night of the game, and knew that heading into the Final Tribal Council that he had the best overall shot to win next to Zak. Because of Zak's multiple flips and tendency to cater towards Maris and DeWitt before himself, he ended up losing the game in a wide margin, where DeWitt, the Angels' only survivor, became the season's Sole Survivor.

## Trivia

* Despite having a similar makeup to *Lunar Lakes* alliance Galactic Four, Penelope's Angels has an overall placement average for its members of 3.5.
* The alliance lasted ten days before it turned on itself, effectively ending its run. It could be suggested that Gale and Zak remained loyal to *each other* until Day 38, but their newly created alliance with DeWitt suggests it officially ended on Day 36.
* This is the first alliance to have its founder be the first person to face elimination.