Midway Point Sneak Peek

If you haven't yet, you should read this post first before moving onwards with this thread;

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=138#p3338

All caught up? Okay here's what we'll do. Let's do a little bit of Survivor style editing and give you a merge recap on each player plus a few insider current-state-of-their-game snippets. Draw your own conclusions about how much sleight of hand I am using. It is all their own words and since merge. I may just have picked & chosen a little Although, there'd need to be one solid plan for me to actually need to try hide the lady Gentlemen, start your edgic!

BJ has played an extremely good social game so far, setting himself out as likeable, trustable, and a solid contributor to Chorotega's challenge streak. All the while never *the* most strategical (second-in-command to Tom), never ever discussed as a target due to challenge threat, despite being top three of the Season at least IMO. The best part about BJ is his trustability - and this is a little exclusive for y'all - when asked around about who is most likely to be the one to keep taking the Chortegan clues, everyone ranked BJ as least or second-least likely. Of course, we and now you too know that he took a clue every single damn time and didn't tell a soul. Yes, even when he missed two rounds earlier in the game, he pre-opted for the clues to shift the suspicion elsewhere - all the while using the suspicions of who it might actually be to shape his alliances the way he wanted them.

Where all those clues enough to nab an idol? A girls gotta keep some secrets

Nothing in from BJ yet today, so we'll rewind the clocks a little to yesterday's Episode This oughtta give you a good indication of how Bobbi-Jon works behind closed doors.

Since I'm immune at tonight's vote, I have decided to stir the pot and have a little fun.

In all likelihood Caryn will be voted out tonight, but I am going to ensure it's not the unanimous vote many people are expecting. I am voting for Lisa and making it seems as though my vote is actually Caryn's vote. I am telling Caryn to vote for Ibrehem, in the hope that Ibrehem thinks the vote comes from Chad. Ibrehem already hates Chad as Chad has voted for him on two previous occasions, and Chad publicly promised not to vote for Ibrehem this time around, so it should make for some good post-tribal drama. This should serve to keep the attention away from myself for the next vote, and nobody will suspect I was behind it.

Bobbi-Jon is someone that everyone kinda vaguely sees as a threat on the horizon, but he's crafted such a good impression with the rest that they all have no plans to boot him for rounds and rounds yet if ever. And if they let him get that far, he can certainly string a few immunities in a row.

Ami has had *the weirdest* story arc here of anyone. Capable, confident, cool, calm, collected and in control are all perfect descriptions of Ami & her game in rounds 1 & 2. But if any one person was truly swapfucked it is Ami. Over on Original Guatuso she knew exactly who was with who and what was going on and set out her stall nicely. However, to land with Mia & Chris was possibly *the worst* people she could have gone over with. All the way back just before the shock first shuffle as a pair they discovered just how in control she was. Then when she became flagged as a triple threat in the survey Tom/BJ/Kim all became very wary of her too. Yes, all six cross-tribally allied and decided to cut either the perceived deadweight of Caryn or Lisa should they lose at the first two challenges.. but little to her knowledge Ami was dead last in this alliance -indeed turning on her was the leverage Mia/Chris used to buy Chorotega's confidence- and had they lost any of the last four she woulda been taken out by old and new tribemates alike in the first power play of the game almost for certain.

She put a lot of trust in all of BJ/Tom/Chris and Mia and that just wasn't returned at anything more than face value till now. Not so much any more, a lot of the fear of Ami stemmed from her ties to Brook/Dolly/John/Chad - with only Chad still around, that fear is subsiding some, and she is being viewed as more valuable as an ally than a threat to win or run the show. In fact, she was so out of the loop some people are beginning to perceive her as one of the more beatable players at an FTC, and therefore doors are beginning to open that were closed before. And if anyone is capable of knowing the right doors to walk through, it is Ami.

Again from Episode 07 since she'd not updated yet today.

The overall dynamic according to Tom is that Ami-Tom-BJ-Chris-Mia will be the F5 and he said in order his boot list would be: Caryn, Chad, Gregg, Ibe/Jo, Kim/Lisa, Chris, Mia...then a F3 of Tom-BJ-Ami

I don't buy it, and I won't let HIM dictate how the game is going to go.

Caryn SEEMS to be the one leaving tonight, and the next round should be a mess. Tom claims he wants to split the vote between Gregg and Chad (to force Chad using an idol....he thinks Chad has the idol), but we want to either have Tom and a few others just fully on board with going after Gregg....or we try and do a power play while they fuck their votes up. It's a long shot, but hey, you do what you think you should do.

I do not want to play this game safely. I've played far too safe in basically every other game I've played. You only get one shot in Stranded.

She may have been swapfucked, but she has been merge-blessed, and is being waaaay underestimated by every single player remaining. If she can get past this next round or two she can regain that early game form with ease.

A glimpse at how the other half lives you say?



Simplistic is not the right word here. But Jolanda expects what Jolanda wants to happen .. to happen And what Jolanda expects is an original-tribes Pagonging of Guatuso one way or another. Get Chorotega to six, then take out Kim, then BJ/Tom. Easy as done. Her only concern is exactly the route they choose to get there.

I am not sure if it's to confidence gained from coming from down in numbers over on Guatuso or just her natural approach. She is extremely loyal to her original bonds, and just flat out presumes everyone else is the same way. The idea that Kim might be fear she's 6th behind the other five Chorotegans, or that Gregg is a serial flipper, or that Ibe might not want to sit in her shadow, or that Tom & Bobbi-Jon might have developed solider bonds in their umpteen rounds with Mia/Ami/Lisa/Chris than the two they spent with her/Ibe/Gregg just doesn't seem to occur to her.

That's a lot of negativity for such a compelling player to watch. Her confessionals are great fun with quick-fire thoughts getting jotted down as soon as she thinks them. She is as I said *the* most loyal player here, and she is not bad (although maybe a little over-rated) in challenges. Jolanda's biggest problem is that she doesn't know how to even begin to fly UTR. She just has it turned up to eleven all the time That fake fight earlier on? Yeah it was completely fake for most of you, but she used it to legitimately blow off some steam in the mix

With my alliance, I think it's a GREAT possibility that I will make the endgame with them. I trust Ibe, Bobby Jon, Tom, and Gregg fully, and I really like them. They are all great people, and I hope tried like and trust me as much as I like and trust them.

When Tom told me that he was ready to hook back up with Ibe and I, I literally started jumping around and fist pumping everywhere. I was that excited. I think I almost cried, too. I was that excited.

The plan for this round is flipping in my mind every second. Should I take out Chris, a huge threat in challenges, and a pretty sneaky social player, but outing the Chorotega alliance earlier than it should? Or should we split the votes between Chad and Ami, and possibly take out an idol, but Chris will still be here? No matter what, those three are the biggest threats I need to take out sooner than later.

I am not saying she hasn't got good plans in place, but she is the least fluid player in the game and in painfully unaware of trying to even take a look at what other people want, nevermind making sure her plans line up with theirs And that's just her allies. I am worried for her long-term.

Ahh, headstrong, that's the word I'm looking for.

Now you've probably picked up on this by now, but Ibe & Jo are seen as a solid pair by everyone

And while they do have the same general plan in mind, it's their differences where they really get interesting. And I think it's their opposing approaches that makes them work so well together. Where Jolanda lacks empathy Ibe is very good at getting along with anyone. Where with Jo you get exactly what you're given - warts and all - Ibe knows the value of keeping himself in check. While Jo wants to get a Chortega F6 out of loyalty, Ibe just flat out hates the whole Guatuso tribe

His confessionals are so N-toned sometimes they're beyond the pale. This snippet is a good taster of the differing approaches the two take, how he tries to look at the bigger picture and plan for multiple eventualities, with a good side portion of his closet bile for Guatuso

There are about a hundred different plans. Supposedly Chris and Mia are with us 6 Original Chorotegas. Last elimination, Chris told Caryn she was going before the vote. He's obviously starting to win over jury votes. On top of that, he's a shady guy, a challenge threat and an Original Guatuso member. I hate all of them, by the way. So, my idea is to lie and tell Chris and Mia to vote for Chad. The 6 of us O-Choro's are gonna vote Chris. This way, if Chris/Mia flip, we'll have numbers, and if they get Chad to use his idol on himself (thinking they've got us) it'll go to waste. I mean, duh. And if Chris/Mia don't flip the vote is still something like 6/2/3. We'll just apologize to Mia afterward. It's brilliant, and I came up with it.

I don't know if the rest of the O-Choro's are up for it. I'll have to see. A few of them liked the idea but they don't want to risk losing Chris. Not like it matters, because we'll be 6/4. 7/3 if Mia stays true to us. (I swear Tom mentioned Mia wanted me gone last vote, or something?? Bitch.)

Of course in the end I'd rather go up against Jolanda and Gregg. Jolanda would most likely win. If I didn't I'd rather it was her. Or Bobby Jon. I like Gregg, and he came through for us. But, I don't know, my trust in him has really took a beating. It feels wrong rooting for him to win the whole season.

Oh, and I know I was picking on Tom for his poor decisions, I was joking (sort of). I like Tom a lot, duh. He's kind of a threat though. He seems on good terms with everyone... Too good terms... It's really just his decision-making for when it counts I think is laughable.

And I love Kim, duh. :D

Might I highlight more idol speculation in there that Chad is packing, but he has had no confirmation to back this up apart from general suspicion.

Ibe certainly has the skills to get to the end. My fear for him is that his role in the game has been so-well hidden - most certainly he'll get the least credit of that F3 he has in mind. Ibe's problem is not getting deep in the game, but winning if he gets that far.

[Brenda Lowe]

May as well complete the unholy underdog trinity with Gregg.



Now Gregg is not a big confessor, and it's very hard to tell what he's planning at any given time. When he does post it's one-liners and they're usually golden, like so;

Oh yeah Ibe is the only original person from chautaoterssjs or whatever who is not a tard. What kind of imbecle tries to do a vote split with 11 people.

Despite his pidgin English, that might clue you in to just what an astute player Gregg is in reality despite his goofy persona. In fact I'd say creating such a persona has allowed him to get away with what he has done so far in the game. Blaming his colour-blindness for that image slice clusterfuck? I lolled for hours. in reality, Gregg arrived to that challenge drunk, and not very good at it in the first place, was lumped with Caryn and then just fell to pieces. But challenges are not his strength anyway. Social and strategic is where Gregg shines.

I will let John and Brook's stories of what the hell happened at Guatuso fill in the gaps but look at it this way. Gregg, Ibe & Jolanda formed a Day 1 alliance straight out of the bat which BJ, Tom and eventually Kim were added to. He completely blows the first challenge (by a hour) yet avoids first boot. He lands at NuGuatuso, and blindsides his Day 1 set-up by booting Wanda. Using that as a springboard, he then convinces John & Chad that booting the 100% loyal Dolly is the best next move - not only winning back Ibe & Jo's affections, and getting tribal lines back to even, but also alienating Brook from his orig tribemates to set up for a John boot, then a Chad/Brook one and so on..

Now you tell me if knowing just when to zig and just when to zag is genius or madness?

What Gregg does next is a bit of a mystery - just because I refer to him as in a trio with Ibe/Jo, he doesn't seeit that way at all. Gregg is loyal to Gregg alone. His plan is simple as;

Hopefully people will see that keeping someone who is not so set in their vote is a good idea if they ever want to make a power shuffle.

But since he sucks at confessing hw about a taster of exactly how he works his charm. He knows Chad is a gun for hire, and if that is what it takes to get past the next stage he will work it hardcore. And if anyone is willing to just vote the other way to save their own skin and figure it out later, we've already seen it in Gregg. Better to apologise after than ask permission beforehand

Gregg: Wow people are giving you the cold shoulder.
Personally for my own game I would like to work with you but it seems like people whatever they have in place they are already working towards. In general I feel like people clearly must have been making some kind of long term deals when they were a tribe of 8 on new Chorotega and unless someome slips or tries to make some kind of move me and you are gonna be picked off. I feel just as much out of the loop as you.
Chad: We need a twist or something!!!!
Oh and BTW....... do you know who those two votes for Jo were tonight? One of the messages said "I have to protect myself if an idol is played". So I'm assuming it was Lisa and Chris. But as soon as I saw that I was like OH GREAT! They're going to pin that shit on me. And no one has said a word to me. It was obvious that Caryn was the Lisa vote, so it wasn't her...
Gregg: I really have no clue. I figured Caryn was the Lisa vote or someone pretending to be her. Some people are not talking to me either I am still waiting for a simple reply back from the hellos i sent to people like lisa and kim.
Chad:
I think I'll ask around about that tomorrow. If they try to pin it on me to make Jolanda even more mad at me Imma be
Gregg: Alright dude. If you hear any info let me know. And if I hear your name as the target I will let you know.
Chad: OK. Sounds good. I did *hear* from someone when we first got here that if we were not immune, they were going to split the vote between you and I in case one of us had an idol. I think Ami maybe said that to me.... asking me what I did to piss everyone off so much? I think it may have been Ami. But that was days ago and I haven't heard anything about this vote since that. I did send out a few PMs to try to make amends with people. But obviously no one contacting me first makes me feel great about any of this....
Gregg:It's shortsighted though. And then what? I don't get why people are not trying to get either you or me on their side and use our vote how many people really think they have the numbers.
Chad: That's why I'm worried. I mean I'm a dead man walking right now. So why aren't people trying to use that and pull me over for a vote? Why get me out? It doesn't make any sense. Unless there really is a plan and I just don't know about it because no one trusts that I won't spill the beans. That is quite possible too. And if they really think you aren't part of anything either.... it's the same for you. No one from Chorotega has PMed me AT ALL. Except you. And Kim sent me a hi tonight because I had never even spoken to her. And Jo just sent me a very short PM and clearly did not want to engage in a convo telling me everyone was voting for Caryn. That's it. And obviously the old Guatusos PMed me saying OMG HI I've missed you kind of stuff. And trying to get info about what happened over there during the swap. But they haven't told me ANYTHING about nuChorotega at all, so it was pretty clear to me that there were alliances that formed and they were all keeping pretty hush hush about it.
Gregg: I really feel like we are dead men walking now unless I am just reading too much into things and certain people are just not very social or really busy this weekend. Pretty much besides Ibe,Bobby and you I am like almost getting no replies from people its pretty frustrating.

Also, Gregg was totally the vote they are talking about

Some people completely effing love Gregg (srsly - Ibe/Jo/Kim) and some people despise him (also srsly - Chris/Tom/Caryn), but if he keeps this game going all the way to the end it is gonna be very hard to argue with how he navigated & single-handedly orchestrated NuGuatuso. His trouble is, most of the people who GAF about that portion of the game are out pre-jury, and with Ibe/Jo as the two that most want to go all the way with him, that's two more people that can't give him their Jury vote for it. He is gonna need to continue to be impressive and continue to walk that fine line to win this thing.



***
ETA - this just in (why are so many people online at this hour?)

So right now since I think my original cuateugor or whatevers are disorganized I am gonna let people from original Guatuso know Greggs loyalty is open for business. Right now I will open myself up to as many votes as people need.

I might just open with;

I got completely screwed by John being annoying and Brook being an idiot. I have no alliance. I am quite certain everyone will vote me out the first chance they get. And I'm on vacation so I haven't been able to really think about this. But I think I'm screwed. LOL

And there is a lot more where that came from guys.

Fuck it got late. I gotta sleep soon so these are gonna get shorter. Y'all know Chad's story anyway. Last man standing of his alliance. Extremely rumoured to be in possession of an idol. No long term loyalties to anyone. Both the type of player that is an extremely easy number to pick up or a nice safe easy target to throw around without annoying anyone too much.

It just doesn't make sense. I am no threat at all. I highly doubt I will ever win an IC. No one likes me apparently.... holy shit wait until they see my confessionals. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha But anyway.... why take me out? But then again why did we vote Caryn out tonight? Unless that was just a gimme vote while everyone got organized. And they still have the numbers. But what was the point of voting Caryn out? She's one of the people you WANT to be around at the end. So anything is possible with these people.

I have no idea what I am going to do tomorrow night. But I'm not buying this split the vote between Gregg and Chad plan at all. Not one bit. I'm attempting to get info out of Gregg. Not that that will do a fucking thing because he's a fucking liar. But maybe I can try to pick up on SOMETHING.

No. I have no frigging idea what is going on. At this point I have no choice but to work with the old Guatusos, but they could be playing me too, although I fail to see the point of an elaborate ruse if everyone is just going to do the easy, and dumb, thing of voting me out. If I had to bet, my money is on the old Chorotegas are voting out Chris. I actually thought that may happen at the vote last night. I'm just going to keep PMing people to look for inconsistencies and try to piece together what may be really going on. And if they are going to vote Chris out, do I do something crazy? I have to do SOMETHING at this point. I'm almost thinking that since I have about a .1% chance of winning this game I might as welll just play like a lunatic. Of course Chris and Mia could be playing me. I really don't see what the point is though because I think it's fairly obvious that the Chorotega people don't like me so much. So they would be expending a lot of energy to trick me just to vote me out. That seems pretty pointless.

The problem with these games..... is you have to play the game with other people. And other people are fucking idiots.

Now you can probably pick up from that he is thinking his safest bet is to try reunite with original Guatuso. But that is just as of right now - he goes back and forth a lot. He has no idea what really went on over at Chorotega and he is under no illusion that all of Ami/Mia/Lisa/Tom/BJ weren't planning on booting him had NuNuChorotega been vulnerable. At least with the NuGuatusans he knows their game. Better the devil you know?
You will also pick up in that short excerpt just how clever he is, but with the pressure he is under from his position he is a little desperate and not exactly thinking as rationally as he was earlier in the game. In fact I would go so far as to say his confessionals and general descent into madness are the best read of the game. Certainly check em out afterwards.

And then of course there is the idol .. or is there? Everyone presumes he has it. He knows everyone presumes as much and every time there's a vote split plan from either side he knows that translates as "Chad plus whoever" getting votes.

But he is sharp, very sharp and I think between that, his position as an outsider and all these vote split plans - he might well be able to avoid getting landed with the majority of votes and find himself a niche if he can just get the right group of players on his side before tonight. He needs to be fast and clinical though. No standing on ceremony this round ffs. Work those cracks Chad, everyone roots for the underdog, even the opposition!

Lisa is the easiest write-up for me. Her latest confessional literally tells you everything you need to know about her.

Ok so things are really confusing right now. I don't really know who I can trust for sure anymore. I need to talk to everyone some more and feel things out. The game really got turned on it's head in the last few days I was told that GREGG was the mastermind of NuGuatsuo and he was the reason all that crazy stuff was going on over there I never would have expected that. He was one of the people that I kinda wanted to get to the end with cause I thought he was a loose cannon that annoyed people but it turns out he's a mastermind so going to the end with him may not be a good idea afterall lol.

I think the person I trust the most is Chris now. I don't fully trust Ami anymore cause of what Chris told me before, but I think sticking with her for now is probably the best. She's probably just using me but at least that means she wants to keep me around for awhile. I wuld be on the bottom of the totem pole if I went with Ibe/Jo/Caryn. I still need to get a lot of things figured out!! There's so many alliances, I just need to find out which one truly has my back!

Yay I survived the first merge TC! I was a little nervous there for awhile! Caryn got booted which is fine cause I never really talked to her. When the votes were being revealed, Caryn voted for me and said on her vote that Chris told her that she was going and that I was next

This makes me super nervous. idk why people want me out. I guess it's cause I'm quiet but I've really been trying to talk to people more and thought I was improving there. I guess I just need to try even harder now

Going into the Immunity challenge right after TC was a must win for me because of that but sadly I couldn't pull it off I really like Kim a lot though so I'm happy that she won if I couldn't.

I was feeling like a dead-person-walking after that loss, but then I got a message from Mia. She said that her, Ami and Chris are working on a plan where all 5 of the original Guat's can survive and then go super far. I would LOVEEEE that soooo much I hope it works. Me/Ami/Mia/Chris/Chad would really be perfect. I would love to go to the end with that group.

Isn't that just the most adorable thing you've ever read? It is reaching the levels of the Dolly/Brook pm chain. Why the hell someone hasn't snapped her up as a solid #1 I have no clue

And don't presume that means she's not strategical, she has got some plans on the boil. Most of them revolve around being likeable and getting to the end with less likeable people. And while that may not be enough to convince the more strategic-based voters, it is mosdef a legit strategy and I just wish she'd combine a pinch more moves in that she can claim ownership of if she makes the end.

She is just so PPP and I find myself rooting hard for her every time she scores a point in a challenge or figures out some layer of the game. She is contagious too. I am totally snapping her up if we ever land in a Season together so paws off, ladies.

Ugh I am sorry for how brief I am getting with these, and Kim of all people truly deserves more credit for her game than she is getting. She admitedly took it a little slow at the start when she arrived in late and that's kind of had a knock on effect to her whole game. Always lowish in her alliances, never really figuring big into anyone's trust circle or plans. She has commented in private how difficult she has found it to find anyone to be her true #1 in the game and had to adjust her game to suit by staying out of the spotlight yet being a critical cog. And you see whenever she is mentioned she is loved - she was just late to the party some. So highly liked, but not exactly being brought to the end out of love. It's a tricky situation for her. I hate that first day alliance shit btw, so I certainly feel for her, and you have to appreciate how she's maneuvered her way around it.

To highlight her game I will point out how she has *always* been at least two off the bottom, and I don't think I've heard her name come up ever as a serious target, at worst it's been used as a "well if we suffered three losses, Kim would be next in line after A&B, cos obvs I love you more than her" kinda way.

If I had to guess - and I kind of do - I would say she is closest to Tom, and will likely do what he does until he gets taken out for his threat level. But she is not so close that this bothers her at all. In fact she is counting on it

Indeed, she has been maybe the wisest birdie in Tom's ear when it comes to talking him away from some of his more um .. erratic.. trains of thought. She is acutely aware of the real situation between the rest of NuChorotega in ways Guatuso, and even the rest of NuChorotega aren't, yet she's stayed out of the spotlight in ways that the likes of Tom and Chris haven't.

I regret voting out Caryn now. We got rid of a lot of our power by doing the right thing and getting rid of the least active persona and now it could just bite us all in the ass.

The plan tonight is to split the vote between Ami and Chad and normally I'd be a little iffy and paranoid to make a move like that but since I have immunity I don't really mind. No matter what, if it fails it's not gonna blow up in my face, and least not instantly. The thing is, in order for that plan to work, Mia and Chris need to be on our side 100% and I'm not really sure if that's the case. The thing is, I don't trust Chris at all and I know for a fact he isn't the biggest fan of me, and Mia's nice and seems to be on my side but I doubt her apathy of Ami. She claims to hate her but they always act buddy-buddy around each other and it's giving me the hardest time.

I just hope this all works. But I mean, if it doesn't, Tom's probably gonna take the heat for it which buys me some more time. And if I can challenge whore my way to the end I will certainly do so. I think I have what it takes.

She's had a little bit of a kick in the tush from Jeff at the last TC too, and it does seem to have spurred her game on some. She has an incredibly high chance of getting to the end - maybe the best of anyone? - thanks to her combination of UTRness, awareness of the overall dynamic & the ability to hold her own in a challenge. The real question is, can she convince a jury that she deserves to win for her playstyle? Especially since only Tom I think has seen the true Kim.

Tom was *the* most dominant player pre-merge. Don't let those Survey results fool you. Being the only one besides Brook to try rig the results some by putting himself dead last in everything paid dividends when Mia & Chris arrived. I am 100% confident that if *any* version of Chorotega had somehow gone down to two players, Tom would be one of the two standing.

Pretty awesome for someone who was elected as a scapegoat leader boot by the insta-alliance of Ibe/Gregg/Jo to go on to become a genuine leader in every sense of the word on the winningest tribe in Stranded memory (Jeff will remember a better one I know, I know). but there is more to Tom thanjust being noble & heroic and just and fair and all that malark. He is truly in a pickle right now. And no matter what happens tonight, Tom will take the biggest hit (apart from the boot ofc). I got everyone to list off their alliances when they hit the merge and Tom has about twice as many as any given player. That just couldn't last forever Everyone expect Tom to do what he's promised, but right now he can only keep half of his promises thereby breaking the other half. Tom's biggest flaw in this game has been his decision making - and we will see that come to a head one way or another.

What is worse, depending how tonight goes, he might break his promise to half the cast yet still be on the minority side, the idolled side or the split voted side.

So I'm in some kind of alliance with everyone except for Chad :P I am playing so hard right now. Either something goes terribly wrong and I possibly get idoled out in these next few boots, or I go to the end and probably win the game. I honestly don't see another realistic option right now.

Meanwhile, Bobby Jon and I hold the power to decide who goes home. This will definitely be a huge decision and we need to tread very carefully right now.

Even if he lands on the majority side Tom is screwed. Everyone - closest allies included - has flagged Tom as a target that needs to be taken care of before he wins the whole game.

Tom loses all his power tonight. Bank it.

he won't leave though, and where we really see what Tom is made of is how he recovers from this hit.

Ugh again with the brevity apologies but I have to keep space for Miamazing plus get some sleep between now and when I get up in two hours lol.

Chris is amazing. Sloppy as fuck and he will tell you that himself, but such a catalyst for starting divilment for the sake of it. I honestly believe the NuChorotega alliance would be just mowing down the rest of the players all the way to F6 if it wasn't for Chris' impusiveness. Him and Mia are a dynamic duo and the worst thing for each other at the same time.

Chris hits the merge running;

I don't have numbers in any way except in the Tom/BJ/Mia circle. I could just stick with them until the FInal 7 and hope that I can use numbers then, but that's NOT my style. I'm going to be social as a motherfucker this next round, try to build rapport and trust, and I'll get back to you on that bootlist. Time to get CPM mode.

I hate Gregg already.

Chris last night;

11-9. Ami/Chad
8-7. Kim/Lisa

That rids of the variables because Tom gets to keep his lackey in Gregg. However I want everyone to get this "set boot order" in their mind so they feel safe, and I want to turn that upside down so I can get control. I want to propose the best possible boot order for everyone to feel happy (Ami thinks that's the boot order but that she's not involved in it, same with Kim probably).

Fuck you Probst for making Kim give a shit now. Ugh that's another variable to deal with.

Chad essentially came to me saying that he has no one and that he feels desperate. This is the kind of number I need if I'm going to gain power or control.

Chris today;

Prior to the round I told Jolanda that Tom has a lot of power, but I didn't necessarily want him out. I did this to see if she'd respond with a paragraph or an 'oh honey I know'. It was the latter, and it kinda signaled to me that I can't trust her. I didn't think she would go to Tom, but she did. Tom is also pissed that I told Caryn she was leaving, I guess because he has control issues. So Tom's no longer a fan of me, and I can't say I'm upset about that. Mia is at the forefront trying to convince him to vote out Gregg.

Well Jolanda has now deemed me as a threat due to my "Tom" comment. I honestly didn't think that one little statement could put such a target on me, but it has. She is trying to rally votes to get me out this round, and Mia has apparently convinced Tom and Bobby Jon to vote out Jolanda along with the 5 old Guatuso members. I don't exactly know what I need to do to make sure Tom & BJ stay that way, but I'm going to do just about anything.

Apologies again to Chris for being so short here. I will do a longer write-up for him in the blogs later (if he survives). Suffice to say that he is fantastic to watch and a big part of why this round is on fire right now. Flippancy as an artform <3
I said pre-game that he better do RL Chris justice and he is exceeding my expectations with his general outlook and followthrough. Go Chris go you crazy bastard!

I know you guys have been rooting for Mia all along, and even Probst has left a little wet patch in the Host blogs for her. But at game start she was legit delusional, dysfunctional, scatty, cocky and pretty dislikable to me

Which makes it all the more amazing how much she has made me fall in love with her. Watching her half-cocked plans become realities, seeing her skate circles round the "better" players as she first pwnd the "best" Guatuson in Ami, and very possibly soon the "best" of Chorotega in Tom. Her partners in crime duo with Chris is all kinds of amazeballs. Her reputation as a loose cannon among the players who'd not even met her shaped both Nuguatuso and ofc NuChorotega. She is so fucking entertaining it's unreal.

Read and fan;

I'm turning on Tom not because I don't like him or that I don't trust him much (I do still trust him, but I'm naturally paranoid and skeptical, so I want to be cautious), but I really don't believe I can beat him in the Final 3. If the F3 consists of me, him, and someone else that we would probably take as a goat, there would be no way I would get many votes from the Chorotegans on the jury. Bobby Jon, Jolanda, Ibe, Gregg, and Kim would all easily vote for him over me. I would probably get Chris's vote, and maybe Ami and Lisa's, but I don't think Chad would vote for me. Caryn is a wild card because she didn't connect with anyone and she'll be on the Jury for so long, so maybe she'll vote based on gameplay, but who knows.

But yeah, I don't think I can beat Tom, and I want to win this thing. That's why I'm secretly making a move against him. And I would like to take Chris and Lisa to the end with me.

Nobody in their right mind would vote for Lisa to win. She's in the same boat as Caryn, albeit a little more lucky. I hate to play the goat game, but it's my best shot at winning.

Chris would also be tough to vote for. Tom doesn't trust him much, and Jolanda/Ibe have basically turned against him too. I may be mistaken, but I think I can get the most votes this way. I just have to use Tom properly and dispose of him when I no longer need him.

Basically, I have to survive tonight and make sure everyone from Guatuso stays. If not, I'll have to reevaluate. I hope that Tom pulls through. Jolanda needs to go. If that happens, I have all of Guatuso on my side, plus Tom and Bobby Jon thinking they're still with Chris and I, and they would totally not expect all of Guatuso to be sticking together.

Regardless, if Jolanda goes, Guatuso will easily take back control. I can string Tom along and make him think that he's still aligning with me, but in reality, I'm just using him to take out all of Chorotega.

Even if this doesn't work out like it could, it's just :o

This is worth repeating;

I can string Tom along and make him think that he's still aligning with me, but in reality, I'm just using him to take out all of Chorotega.

Like, she is not even flipping Tom against people who love him and want to go all the way with him so that she can. She is just doing it to break up Chorotega, and boot Tom himself post-haste. This is the Gregg-Dolly-Brook plan only with every player in the game involved. And believe me if it works, it is all thanks to Mia.

HBIC <3

That's all from me. There won't be another one that juicy at least. Better appreciate y'all!

This TC better deliver after all that! But by the looks of PMs, there are still multiple plans on the table ..

:fans

Tom sounds like Helen. :lol:

WOW at Bobby Jon. He's in a good spot.

Tom won't last long, I think people will want him gone soon.

Gregg has played an alright game but I don't think people will acknowledge it plus I think his zigging and zagging will catch up with him! I don't see him making it that far to be honest.

Jolanda and Ibrehem will be carried but after reading Gregg's involvement with them shows they've been lucky in a few instances so far. I gave them more credit than they probably deserved.

Kim has come out of nowhere. People might view her as a major threat now so not sure how far she'll go. It doesn't appear she is close to anyone

Lisa is playing a quiet game and she's hard to predict. I don't think she is viewed as a threat so could go far.

Ami is toast! It'll be between her and Chad on the next vote.

Chad unfortunetly isn't looking too good either. I hope he can win that immunity.

Mia I hope makes a magic move. I have faith in her that she won't disappoint!

I see a predictable vote coming next but perhaps a blindside the one after. It's looking promising for old Chorotega to make up the final 3 that's for sure.

I'm totally pulling for Gregg. And my gurl Lisa.

In other news Kim has finally found her connection I think

Divided between Mia and Gregg.

Mia reminds me of someone...:P

omg I discovered this thread after posting in the other one what I thought was going on. I was sorta right but I truly had no idea what the fuck was going on I guess.

Anyways there are too many people for me to comment on but I will say I fucking love Gregg. Saying he was colorblind bc he showed up to a challenge late AND drunk is all kinds of hilarious. Honestly I thought that was total bullshit when I first saw that comment too.