Round 8 - The combine or cause to combine to a single form

[survivorjoshua]

We merged, would have rather had one more challenge to vote Ben out in but hey we get what we get, and I’m happy I’m at merge of course!

[survivorjoshua]

okay beautiful people, I'm here with my long essay that no one cares about but ill type at 1 am anyway cause I got nothing else to do with my life haha

So wow let me just soak up the fact that i have just tied myself for my best placement (in CYS, shoutout to Knight and Jenny). So thats nice, as well as merge, yay.

But I wish i could say i was really really happy about a merge, because honestly, i wanted to vote ben out before we merged, make it easy for all of us, but oh well thats just me nit picking at this point.

We merge and my initial reaction was oh goodness i need to go talk to Kilby and Taylor and then Gaston and make sure they know we can not trust Ryan moving forward, as well as explain why gina went home and the situation at the new Arkanoid tribe hoping to get something if anything out of them.

In the process of that i also told Kilby that he and i were being thrown out as a duo and as strategic forces within the game to establish that information flow immediately with him so he knows i am THE first person he went to go talk to and let him know whats going on which i think was important. He also told me that ryan had mentioned that they should get me out sooner rather than later (i don't disagree with you there buddy but i cant have everyone else thinking that haha).

I then go to Taylor and say everything i told kilby minus the kilby and i as a duo sorta thing and she mentions to me that Ryan and I had been kinda lumped into a duo relationship because ryan was going around telling everyone we had a final 2 deal from original galaga (ryan buddy i have no idea what the fuck you are doing... just why). 
Taylor also filled me in on Ryan's thoughts as he told her "we should ride galaga strong only for a vote a or two." which obviously plays into the whole idea that Ryan was going after me and kilby lol. Anyway, She's cool, gave me that info so i feel we are good.

My next call was Gaston and truth be told he was the one person i was looking forward to hearing from the most because i felt we had built a great bond before the second swap and that he would be more willing to swap information with me and make something work out. So i told him largely the same what i told kilby and taylor but i also knew he had spoken to Antoinette prior to me so anything he wanted to know i would make sure that my story would line up with what Antoinette would have said. I also told him he was being perceived as a trio with taylor and kilby rightfully so. which he then brought up a point about how taylor and kilby are almost blatantly close, both leaving calls at the same time for "other calls" and the whole 3 person alliance deal they've had with me and with gaston and with gina... it was interesting and i felt like that time was really well spent on my end cause on top of that gaston let me know the perception of me as of right now and that is "blindly loyal" which is great in a sense but also not really. Very funny.

And of course i had my chats with Alex, of course keeping anything he shouldnt hear out of my mouth. I told him the basics of whats going and he told me about gaston saying these assumptions about me and ryan and such (alex and i's call was before gaston and i had called). 

At this point i genuinely fell i am safe for this first round, i am not the immediate target but also i will be a target and will most likely get votes so very very exciting haha.
 

[survivorjoshua]

also i just want to say that people think ryan and i are close because i knew what he does for a living... like that just made me laugh haha



also also, i dont care if its dumb i just dont wanna talk to kari lol, that whole dynamic was just ruined 1000% as soon as i said i was 18. Ben i might talk to but oh well. 

[survivorjoshua]

People see me as blindly loyal which tbh is intentional, cause if I supposedly don’t speak to the people who I plan on voting out and then all the sudden I’m speaking to everyone in the game no one thinks much of it cause then I’m speaking to them, so not a big deal and people will feel safe with me that I am talking to them.

I have two main information men in Alex and Gaston and neither of them realize that the other is relating info to me.

[survivorjoshua]

I decided not to follow through with my original idea to not try so hard in the challenge, i figured itd be good if i were safe for this initial vote if i can be with my name probably going around. So scratch that idea, imma at least try and if i lose i lose and if i win i win no big deal either way haha. 

Im honestly feeling pretty safe tbh but its always better safe than sorry especially since the idol is already gone...

[survivorjoshua]

I feel pretty safe going into this tribal to be honest, no one sees me as a huge threat nut rather a loyal number so no one in their right mind would try to rally votes against me if they thought they had me on their side. Making myself up to be this blindly loyal companion has helped tremendously in gettin in the know of lots of alliances, plans and information. At some point im going to have to separate myself from the herd, but right now its allowing this shit show to go down and picking up the pieces to build my master piece. As of right now the people in danger are Gaston and Ben/Ryan, Everyone else is pretty much off the chopping block but there are so many names that will come up before im even mentioned as someone to vote out which is beautiful because people dont realize how much say i truly have. I will be underestimated for the long run and i plan on playing into that because i know i can make a strong case at a FTC. It's just about making sure the power stays out of the wrong hands. 

Right now i have solid connections with Kilby, Taylor, Alex especially, Gaston, and Antoinette, all of whom are giving me valuable information to some degree and are always filling me in which is a good spot to be in. They all think im with them which is a fantastic spot to be in, and i would love to get us all to a final 6 maybe, because from there I can deploy a Cesternino strategy where I can flip back and forth on alliances willy nilly and still be in the know of whats going, and not take any heat until a potential final 2/3.

My ideal situation right now is this:

10th - Ben
9th - Ryan
8th - Marcellino/Kari
7th - Marcellino/Kari
6th - Kilby (move him up to 7th, and move here who ever of Marc/Kari doesnt get voted out to here, if we get concerned about him having two idols, and James Clement him)
5th - Gaston
4th - Alex
F3 - Myself, Taylor and Antoinette

If it's a F2 and I were to win Final Immunity i would take Antoinette to FTC with me because its her first org and like if i cant win she'll start her org experience on a major high and I know that would be really awesome and like shes a sweet girl just gotta make sure she doesnt stress out too much so she can get to this point haha.

I know for me to win Gaston Kilby and Alex all have to go home so i plan to vote them all out in a row pretty much so that i can leach off of the remaining ones and put that case as "you know they are gonna give you the best chance of losing at a FTC" and with getting Alex on board with voting Gaston i just pull tell him i will 100% vote with him no matter what at F4 to at least let it tie and of course thatd burn him but oh well, he'll still vote me to win in the end so ii wont complain haha