Post by Oscar 'Ozzy' Lusth on May 20, 2010 17:22:53 GMT -4
Camp Life
Things have been awfully quiet around camp lately. I don't know if the players are busy in their real lives, or if they are just getting burnt out. In the last round, I was beginning to think that Jaime and Christa were even going to self-vote because I hadn't seen them in so long, but luckily, they showed up in time. Hopefully, they will both submit their votes in time for this one.
The main people I've been in contact with lately are Jenna and Amber. It is kind of funny with Amber, because our relationship has taught me the value of cross-game friendships. I am playing one other game, and she happens to be in it. I have really tried proving my loyalty to her in that other game, and in turn, I think it's helping solidify our bond here in Majuro. Also, I think she's less likely to make a direct move against me in one game, out of fear that I will retaliate in the other.
With Jenna, we don't waste much time with the bubblegum chats. We generally get right down to business, talking about what we need to do, how we need to do it, and when to make the move. Overall, this round is pretty straight forward; but the issue that came up is potential Hidden Immunity Idols floating around out there.
My paranoia started when I decided to check out the old Kalin board. The host has hidden the original tribes, but all I did was replace "emankora" with "kalin" in the web address, and it took me straight to it. I found the hidden message about the Idol, and quickly submitted it. Unfortunately, the host informed me that it had already been found, which really didn't surprise me.
That got me thinking that one of the remaining original Kalin members (Tom or Ryan) could have it. What this means is one of my girls could easily get idoled out of the game, and that would be a nightmare.
I figured that Charlie had found his in the original Tomonaka camp, so now I needed to find out if there was still an idol at Purago. I sent Christa a private message, telling her my concerns, and what to do to check the Purago board. Unfortunately, she has not been online for three days, so I ended up having to ask Jenna to check instead. She found the message, submitted it, and apparently this is the response she got:
There is a slight chance that she changed the message before showing it to me, meaning that she technically could now have the idol to use when she wants, but I'm pretty sure she was being honest with me.
Assuming this message is legitimate, it puts us in the clear! Even if Tom or Ryan does have the Hidden Immunity Idol, they can no longer use it, so we can proceed as planned with the eliminations.
I was very careful during this whole process never to mention the Hidden Immunity Idol that used to be in the Emankora board, because obviously I have that one now, and I still haven't told anyone else. I am sure that Jenna tried snagging it after I told her about the Purago one, but she hasn't said anything to me about it yet.
Challenge
What a messy Challenge! As with the disk smashing challenge, I decided to sit back and see how the others handled it. Jenna and Brooke wasted no time giving people points, and made it pretty clear who they wanted to win.
I spent a lot of time thinking about what I should do, and eventually decided that I did not want to win. I figured if I helped Amber and Jaime win, I would finally have a round where I could prove I don't need immunity to stay in the game, and it would demonstrate my loyalty to Amber.
Brooke, however, decided to take matters into her own hands. I saw her going crazy giving Tom and Ryan a bunch of points, and had to step in and stop that nonsense. I told her that they are big targets this round, and if she helps make them immune, that would really look bad for her. I think that freaked her out enough to knock it off, and then basically asked me who she should help. I told her to just help Amber and Jaime win, but then she took it upon herself to also carry Jenna up as well.
Surprisingly, Jenna then stepped in and brought me to the forefront! This was a very good thing, and a very bad thing all at once. It's good in the sense that I am now sure that Jenna really does intend on keeping me around, but then it's bad because once again, I can not be voted for. It's probably ignorant of me to complain about being immune, but if I manage to get to the finals, how can I convince everyone that I outwitted my opponents when I was never even vulnerable...
So it looked pretty clear that Amber and I were going to win, and then in the last few minutes of the challenge, Brooke decided to flex her muscles once again and take Jaime up to the top with me. I'm sure it was to get some brownie points from Jaime and I, but all it really did was irritate me.
Tribal Council
Tom and Brooke are the obvious targets this round. They are the strongest players outside of the 6-way alliance, and since neither of them are immune, we need to take them out now while we have the chance.
This is probably the hardest Tribal Council I've had to attend so far, because I really do like both of the people I'm voting for. Brooke has been very sweet to me since the beginning of the game. We've always had problems communicating, but when it came down to it, she never argued with me, and always went along with whatever I said.
Tom is also a tough one to eliminate, because I know how dedicated he is to this game, and I'm sure he is going to feel betrayed by me. While I stand by the fact that I never officially made any promises to him, he still seems to think that we did, and that is going to hurt. When we first started talking, I thought for sure we would be able to work together all the way until the end, but as the rounds went by, he seemed to be less and less in touch with what was really going on. It was then that I decided he was not going to be the rock I needed, and in turn, had to commit completely to Jenna.
I truly hope that neither of these players take this vote personally, it's just something that has to be done.
General Thoughts
I honestly don't know how long I will last once we get down to the final seven. I have a bad feeling that the other people in my alliance are going to want to eliminate me, because they might not want to go up against me in the final Tribal Council.
I also think that once we get down to eliminating players within this alliance of Amber, Erinn, Jenna, Christa, Jaime, and myself, Jaime will be one of the first targeted. I may give her my Hidden Immunity Idol to prevent the inevitable, but I'm really going to have to weigh my options when we get to that point.
Things have been awfully quiet around camp lately. I don't know if the players are busy in their real lives, or if they are just getting burnt out. In the last round, I was beginning to think that Jaime and Christa were even going to self-vote because I hadn't seen them in so long, but luckily, they showed up in time. Hopefully, they will both submit their votes in time for this one.
The main people I've been in contact with lately are Jenna and Amber. It is kind of funny with Amber, because our relationship has taught me the value of cross-game friendships. I am playing one other game, and she happens to be in it. I have really tried proving my loyalty to her in that other game, and in turn, I think it's helping solidify our bond here in Majuro. Also, I think she's less likely to make a direct move against me in one game, out of fear that I will retaliate in the other.
With Jenna, we don't waste much time with the bubblegum chats. We generally get right down to business, talking about what we need to do, how we need to do it, and when to make the move. Overall, this round is pretty straight forward; but the issue that came up is potential Hidden Immunity Idols floating around out there.
My paranoia started when I decided to check out the old Kalin board. The host has hidden the original tribes, but all I did was replace "emankora" with "kalin" in the web address, and it took me straight to it. I found the hidden message about the Idol, and quickly submitted it. Unfortunately, the host informed me that it had already been found, which really didn't surprise me.
That got me thinking that one of the remaining original Kalin members (Tom or Ryan) could have it. What this means is one of my girls could easily get idoled out of the game, and that would be a nightmare.
I figured that Charlie had found his in the original Tomonaka camp, so now I needed to find out if there was still an idol at Purago. I sent Christa a private message, telling her my concerns, and what to do to check the Purago board. Unfortunately, she has not been online for three days, so I ended up having to ask Jenna to check instead. She found the message, submitted it, and apparently this is the response she got:
Congrats... kinda! You have found a Hidden Immunity Idol!
However, all original tribe HII's were only valid through the Final 13 Tribal Council, thus making the HII void.
Sorry,
The HII Police (Jeff)
However, all original tribe HII's were only valid through the Final 13 Tribal Council, thus making the HII void.
Sorry,
The HII Police (Jeff)
There is a slight chance that she changed the message before showing it to me, meaning that she technically could now have the idol to use when she wants, but I'm pretty sure she was being honest with me.
Assuming this message is legitimate, it puts us in the clear! Even if Tom or Ryan does have the Hidden Immunity Idol, they can no longer use it, so we can proceed as planned with the eliminations.
I was very careful during this whole process never to mention the Hidden Immunity Idol that used to be in the Emankora board, because obviously I have that one now, and I still haven't told anyone else. I am sure that Jenna tried snagging it after I told her about the Purago one, but she hasn't said anything to me about it yet.
Challenge
What a messy Challenge! As with the disk smashing challenge, I decided to sit back and see how the others handled it. Jenna and Brooke wasted no time giving people points, and made it pretty clear who they wanted to win.
I spent a lot of time thinking about what I should do, and eventually decided that I did not want to win. I figured if I helped Amber and Jaime win, I would finally have a round where I could prove I don't need immunity to stay in the game, and it would demonstrate my loyalty to Amber.
Brooke, however, decided to take matters into her own hands. I saw her going crazy giving Tom and Ryan a bunch of points, and had to step in and stop that nonsense. I told her that they are big targets this round, and if she helps make them immune, that would really look bad for her. I think that freaked her out enough to knock it off, and then basically asked me who she should help. I told her to just help Amber and Jaime win, but then she took it upon herself to also carry Jenna up as well.
Surprisingly, Jenna then stepped in and brought me to the forefront! This was a very good thing, and a very bad thing all at once. It's good in the sense that I am now sure that Jenna really does intend on keeping me around, but then it's bad because once again, I can not be voted for. It's probably ignorant of me to complain about being immune, but if I manage to get to the finals, how can I convince everyone that I outwitted my opponents when I was never even vulnerable...
So it looked pretty clear that Amber and I were going to win, and then in the last few minutes of the challenge, Brooke decided to flex her muscles once again and take Jaime up to the top with me. I'm sure it was to get some brownie points from Jaime and I, but all it really did was irritate me.
Tribal Council
Tom and Brooke are the obvious targets this round. They are the strongest players outside of the 6-way alliance, and since neither of them are immune, we need to take them out now while we have the chance.
This is probably the hardest Tribal Council I've had to attend so far, because I really do like both of the people I'm voting for. Brooke has been very sweet to me since the beginning of the game. We've always had problems communicating, but when it came down to it, she never argued with me, and always went along with whatever I said.
Tom is also a tough one to eliminate, because I know how dedicated he is to this game, and I'm sure he is going to feel betrayed by me. While I stand by the fact that I never officially made any promises to him, he still seems to think that we did, and that is going to hurt. When we first started talking, I thought for sure we would be able to work together all the way until the end, but as the rounds went by, he seemed to be less and less in touch with what was really going on. It was then that I decided he was not going to be the rock I needed, and in turn, had to commit completely to Jenna.
I truly hope that neither of these players take this vote personally, it's just something that has to be done.
General Thoughts
I honestly don't know how long I will last once we get down to the final seven. I have a bad feeling that the other people in my alliance are going to want to eliminate me, because they might not want to go up against me in the final Tribal Council.
I also think that once we get down to eliminating players within this alliance of Amber, Erinn, Jenna, Christa, Jaime, and myself, Jaime will be one of the first targeted. I may give her my Hidden Immunity Idol to prevent the inevitable, but I'm really going to have to weigh my options when we get to that point.