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Hey y'all. Just wanted to start off by thanking JP, Charles for doing a fantastic job of hosting, Mark for that one time he showed up to ask questions and y'all for making this an amazing and memorable journey.
I did not expect to make it here after the way the merge started out. I went into every round expecting the worst but trying to find a way to survive another round. To make it easier I am just going to divvy up the summary of my game into the 3 phases: Chonos, NuJaruud and Daichid.
Phase I: Chonos
Chonos was a family. We were all extremely close with each other. Even the Dave vote was a hard one and it felt sad voting out such a nice guy. And he was such a class act about it all. Taking it like a true champ. I started Chonos bonding the most with Matt B at first and being included in a trio of Chase, Misty and I. I also made sure I had a great rapport with Ciera. But we were all very tight and genuinely (albeit naively) hoping to meet back up at the merge and make a run till F5.
Phase II: NuJaruud
This phase was mostly about Misty and I ensuring that the target wasn't either of us. Ciera being with us was a huge bonus because she was able to bond with John the best and kept Misty and I updated about her bond with him. Misty bonded with Christine the most to begin with and I bonded with Chelsea. Our initial plan was to stick with the Oronor girls to eliminate John but Christine just stirred up stuff and made everyone lose trust in her. So we settled on taking her out. After that we never lost but I kept working on strengthening my relationship with Chelsea and to a lesser extent Hali in this time.
Phase III: Daichid
Merge started in an expected way. Misty and I had agreed that we would target someone neutral at the merge vote. We felt that we had good enough bonds with Hali, John and I trusted Chelsea implicitly at this point. The final 10 vote was a huge setback for me in many ways. I lost an ally who would never have turned on me. I felt like I lost the trust I had in Chelsea and the trust she had in me. I lost what little trust Brett would have had in me moving forward. And after this vote I was in a terrible mood. Socially I cut back a lot at this stage with regards to talking with the Jaruud 4 of Hali, John, Matty, Fabio. And even with Brett I just had a very brief conversation where I cleared the air as much as I could about the vote. But I tried to make myself look as non-threatening as possible during F9. As much as I was hoping, F9 was just too early for anyone in the majority to make a move and a Chonos was going home no matter what we did. I did what I could to try and make sure it wouldn't be me. In all honesty I do not know why y'all chose to target Matt B. But it bought me one more round and that is when things changed drastically.
At F8 Brett and Chelsea both came to me saying they want Hali out. I initially argued it and pleaded Chelsea and Brett to go after Fabio. This was for a couple of reasons. I took the Misty vote extremely personally and to me Fabio was the person I most wanted vengeance on. This is also the reason why I never attempted a conversation with Fabio. Secondly, I needed Hali in the game for strategic reasons. Hali was the only person that I could realistically sell as a bigger threat than myself at any point in the game and it would be a valid argument. So I needed Hali to stay in the game for as long as possible. This is also why I didn't agree to voting Hali at F7 when Brett and Chelsea came to me again with the same proposal. And it paid off because the one time when I should have been in most jeopardy, at F6, I was able to deflect the target entirely on to Hali. After Hali was gone, I felt quite confident in my abilities to beat the others in challenges and win my way to the end. Yes I was lied to and blindsided when Ciera was taken out at F5. But that only served to fuel both my rage and passion to win the next challenge. When I saw it was endurance I spent much of Wednesday mentally prepping myself. Much like a lot of the rounds during the merge, I felt as if it was do or die. And after having fought so hard for so long, after having seen ally after ally get taken out, I wanted to make sure I left nothing back and gave it absolutely everything I had.
I think that is a succinct enough summary of my game. I didn't go into too much detail and tried to touch on the critical points. I hope that my game isn't looked at simply as one-dimensional challenge whoring. Each round I played my ass off trying to make things happen which would propel me forward in the game one round at a time. I may not have been the most social with everyone, but I stayed as pleasant and affable as I could with as many people as I could. My strategic plans failed more often than they succeeded but that didn't deter me from dusting myself off and getting right back up to try out the next available avenue. Good fortune played a huge part in me getting here as well, specifically during the F8 and F7 rounds. But it wasn't blind luck and I certainly didn't rest on my laurels at any point during the game. It was fight to the finish and I am extremely proud of myself for never giving up and finding it in me to make it all the way to FTC tonight. I look forward to all your questions with the same gusto and enthusiasm with which I have played this entire game. Thanks to all of you again for being a part of it. | 
