FINAL(?) 11OK, so honestly sorry about the lack of in depth confessionals lately. It’s just the game had been moved rather slowly for a while there. I usually like to do longer things, and each day there was content, but not enough for me to mentally justify an in depth confesh. Then when there was enough stuff, it would seem “dated.” YES I KNOW IT SOUNDS LIKE IM AN EXCUSE-MAKING LAZY WHATEVER BUT MY MIND IS WEIRD OK?!
There was a lot of talking in circles about possibly throwing the challenge to save Cochran, but ultimately it was just idle chit chat because, well, not much else to talk about. I wonder how this mighta influence relations going forward, and I wonder if it made people think Cochran was higher in my rankings than them, but I think I’ve done a decent job of convincing different allies different people are on the bottom. I am worried Ian sees me and Coach as tight, because I hid that we were co-hosts until it came up in the groupchat. (AREN’T I THE SMARTEST FOR BRINGING IT UP TOO? ^.^) I’m gonna be pushing that angle moving forward, now that merge is here, but more on that later.
So Cochran goes, Outcasts happens, my reaction is noted. I didn’t make a major push in the challenge because I figured it’d be a vote-in of some sort, since they said “team-based immunity.” so I figured we could control whichever Outcast came back in based on how well their team did, a sort of tiered thing - with JT and Cochran both up for it, we’re good regardless. Also, even if we were voting in teams, Sierra and Matty are the beasts of posting challenges - if I did nothing and wasn’t on their team, I’d have enough allies to be safe anyway. If I was on their team, they’d probably get me immunity. Not entirely on the money, when it came to the specifics, but it worked out in broad strokes.
What I WASN’T expecting was Brandon to be a complete idiot and let a loyal ally in Cochran stay in pre-jury. With Joaquin also having a vote, it went 6-5, and the actual Tribal Council vote was set into chaos.
See, I think our six-some (idc if that’s a word or not its one now regardless my google dictionary decides all obvi) is tight, but there’s definitely cracks. Naonka doesn’t like Coach because he threw her under the bus forever ago, Coach seems somewhat oblivious to that, Ian is a shady motherfucka in general, and everyone was pissed at Brandon for fucking up bringing in our clear 7th AND because he didn’t show up the day of the vote. (He had a film shoot, I don’t blame him, but he’s my friend - others are not necessarily forgiving.) ESPECIALLY Ian, who isn’t necessarily the calmest guy to begin with, who was tight as hell with Cochran. Myself and Fabio are kinda just staring at this mess like “what the fuck do we even do.”
There was a lot of talk of plans to do. Brandon was adamant, one on one and in the groupchat itself, that he could control Steph - who apparently was gonna vote Ian this round, and expect him to be blindsided in two rounds because....reasons? I’m not entirely sure, there has to be some deal or relationship or SOMETHING there that I’m missing, but she ultimately held up to the bargain. HOWEVER, in that moment of time, we were all like “Pfft we can’t trust Steph” and were discussing a myriad of options.
I personally wanted Courtney eliminated, because, as I have stressed God knows how many times, I want that twisted crew positioned neatly front and center. The longer Sierra, Matty, and Joaquin are in the game, ESPECIALLY as a unit, the longer this fragile alliance lasts. I WOULD have preferred Sierra Dawn, but Brandon said Steph is playing for her to win (true or not idk) and so that wouldn’t fly. Which is in of itself frustrating, because me, Ian, and to an extent Fabio all wanted that to happen. But because of Steph being a possible swing, even with the details this weird ass plans, it defaulted to the other option in Courtney. I told Brandon to say Steph wanted Court gone in the chat, which gave us more ammo to push that as the vote.
Fabio gets wind of the Courtney vote, and is like “uhh why don’t we take out the huge threat in Sierra R. instead, and say Steph has been throwing Court’s name out there?” The big problem being that Courtney is barely on, and even if we told her that, we don’t have a solid enough read on her to know if she’d take it at face value, or confront Steph. Which, given how things had been shaking out, opens ANOTHER bag of worms, which this crazy ass vote doesn’t need.
ALSO, I told Sierra I wasn’t voting for her - and when I said it, I really wanted it to be true. (Incidentally she said she wasn’t voting me, which was cool.) Besides strategic reasons (read: MASSSSSSSIVE TARGET) I genuinely like Sierra and talking to her, and don’t want her going out this early. This whole side deal is probably ultimately bad for my game - we both dance around topics somewhat confusedly, we barely give each other information, and when I do sometimes I’m just telling her stuff because I want to like I’m honoring that deal. I have zero real reason to pursue that alliance path, at this point especially, but the desire to work with people I like is making my game sloppy. God AS games are fuckin’ hard - I had the same goddamn problem with LJ in Warriors AS. WAIT THAT COMPARISON IS REALLY APT NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT. (AIN'T THAT RIGHT JAX?)
But yeah, I guess I’m angling to use that for when I begin cannibalizing what I’ve deemed the Sinister Six. (Because we needed a fucking name, it was me and Fabio in the title which is just the wrong effin’ vibes man.) It’s like this vague, underlying facet in my game - but fuck it I’m gonna talk to the people I wanna talk to, and if my game suffers for it, so be it. I’m bad with side deals I guess, haha, but hopefully any over-arching sway I have does what it does, and gives me options down the road.
So for awhile we were trying to angle the Sierra plan, and I was begrudgingly making my vote, hell I was even talking to Jax about vote parchments for Sierra R, but Brandon never showed up, and Court herself wasn’t around to late - since Brandon has cast his vote for Courtney the night before, we kinda just defaulted back to it, because we needed the numbers. There was some last minute speculation about Sierra Dawn flipping, and then later “pulling a Reynold” on Courtney, but the talks just kinda died down without any real resolution. SO, we just kept our votes on Courtney, and prayed that for ONCE, Brandon was right, and wasn’t gonna screw us over.
And DAMN if Steph didn’t do her harebrained scam. She voted Ian (well herself but #bootlistgate and all that jazz) like she said she would, the other side voted Coach because he’s awful at making connections with the opposition, and the Sinister Six took down Courtney, 6-5-1.
This alliance is filled with weird ass personalities, but oddly enough, I think we’re kinda sorta tight, in a Casaya-esque way, but I’m also not an idiot. Riding this to Final 6 is completely and utterly out of the question. I’m well-connected with most of the cast and give off leader vibes, and if I sit on my laurels, either myself or Fabio are gonna get taken out for being a supposed “mastermind” when we don’t expect it. I don’t trust Ian enough to keep him around long-term, and the Naonka-Coach tension is gonna cause issues down the line if I don’t nip it in the bud. If I can get to final 8 with Brandon, Fabio, and Coach intact, and avoid a rock draw, I think we can ride it out. It’s just GETTING to that point that’s tricky, especially since I’m sure Twisted Crew and co. are gonna push that Warriors is ultimately loyal to each other.
I think this alliance will hold for the Final 11 vote, and maybe even Final 10, but at Final 9 we gotta organize a coup against Ian. The tricky part being getting that all important fifth vote - if we promise Naonka a final four of me, her, Brandon, and Fabio, she might be willing to boot Ian there. It’s also possible that she’ll go running to Ian, ally with the remnants, and boot one of my core four 5-4. So I need to play in a way that minimizes that possibility.
If, by some miracle, Steph and Sierra Dawn left the next two votes, the possibility of allying with Twisted Crew could scare Naonka into just going with that plan. But I think, now that we have solidified a majority (IN THEORY, MIND YOU) it’s time to start cutting side deals. Make everyone feel comfortable. And I’m willing to not be included in all of them, if it makes me come across as less shady - less room for later note comparison, y’know? The actual core four (in my mind anyway, who knows how Brandon and Fabio and Coach ultimately feel) should probably form a chat to go over this stuff, so I’m not discussing these plans just to y’all and my word processor. Also make a deal of maybe me, Fabio, Naonka, and Ian? The only issue there being, getting Naonka to turn on Ian, especially since that could make it seem shady.
And this is all PROVIDED we make it past the next two rounds intact. I’m gonna do what I can to keep the alliance together these next two rounds, but twists or idols or even immunity could fuck it all up. I’m gonna lay what groundwork I can for the future, because if I don’t think a few rounds ahead I’m not gonna be prepared and I’m apt to be blindsided. These next few rounds are pivotal - if I can get that four to Final 8, my ideal path to the end is basically cemented. If not, I can certainly adapt, but those paths are definitely less secure. I’m in a good spot moving forward, but dammit I’m gonna play to try and get myself into a Spradlin esque spot. Which is much easier here, given the tight bonds AS games provide, which damn if they ain’t useful.
GOD that was super rambly and kinda gamebotty but I figured I’d provide y’all with the perspective I’m playing this game from. I’m angling for a Final Four of myself, Brandon, Coach, and Fabio - it’s just REALLY REALLY stressful and complicated to get all the pieces neatly in place, haha. Hope you enjoyed - fuck, I’d be satisfied if you read the whole damn thing, haha.
