Well, my tribe won immunity in a live challenge I knew nothing about, but Caleb was talking to Crystal about throwing the challenge to boot "Sue" next round. Lol. Also Jefra is going on the other tribe, and I'm REALLY tempted to make a play with my idol. FUCK I DON'T KNOW.

Well, I went to go grab the puzzle link to give to Jefra, but it got edited 12 hours ago. Fuck. The other idol must already be in play. UGH MY HEAD HURTS.

First off, I want to post a theory in here. I think Rudy has the other idol. Why?

Well, first off, I've been snooping around, trying to figure out if it's unanimous for Jefra, because I was considering giving her my idol. Rudy is doing the same exact thing - it makes me think he has a similar plan. (And in that vein, no way in hell am I giving it up - if Rudy does, it puts me in a great spot. If not, I'll figure something out later.)

Additionally, the idol puzzle has now been closed off. Why would they do that? Because they can't introduce more idols, because the Cobra idol has also been found. The four people that could have that are Rudy, Sue, Rupert, and Jefra. Sue seems a tad too inactive to have it, Jefra seems too desperate to have it, which leaves Rudy and Rupert. Knowing Rudy, I'd put my money on him between the two.

Granted, this is all guesswork and probably entirely wrong, but it's my read.

In other news, I'm an information spigot. I'm going around telling Sekou idol clues, Rob about the plan to boot "Sue," Rupert about the Crystal blindside. I worry about loose lips sinking ships, but like, information is a commodity. If I use it, it props me up and gives me an advantageous position. I'm being very deliberate about what I tell people - I need to keep my options open, in case of an early merge, or hell just down the line.

When you forget what you've shared with people:

Spoiler	+

I DID SUCH A SWEET JOB COVERING IT UP TO RIGHT? God I'm bad.

#BaddieMatty

Caleb's gr8.

FINAL 13

First off, I feel awful about Jefra. She messages me after she’s voted out, like “Good luck Matty!” fully content thinking I did everything I could to help her, seemingly anyway. And they DIDN’T end up splitting the vote, so I basically single-handedly sealed her fate when I didn’t give her my idol. I guess Rudy (4 PW’s liked that post so I don’t care if it's inaccurate I’M GOING WITH IT) felt similarly uncertain, so no idol play, and an ally we could have saved goes out. UGH. Fuckin’ a, man.

So, going into this round, more than anything else, we need to break up that power alliance. Literally the entire tribe minus Sue went ahead and threw the challenge (and all she was told was that Crystal was TRYING to throw it so I’m sure our antics pissed her off) and we lost by...well a PRETTY significant margin. Kenny did not seem overly pleased, but this is one of those rare circumstances where we 100% NEEDED to throw - we lose a number if we win, we gain one if we lose. Like, it’s a no brainer, despite how irritating I’m sure it is for the hosts.

In the meantime, a lot of politicking is going on. Crystal goes ahead and makes a chat of the whole tribe minus Sue and Rudy, and while we’re talking in there I’m going around like “awk she thinks it’s legit” to the others in there, to disperse any confusions over the vote. A lot of these people could jump like a frightened rabbit if they get the sense this isn’t a group decision, so I’m doing everything in my power to keep them along for the ride, every step of the way. That’s led to a few plans.

First there’s Sue. The consensus for quite some time has been “Rudy has Sue on lock, don’t worry about her,” and hell, Crystal is voting for her, and she KNOWS that - she has little to no reason to go against us. But I’m not dumb - even if she didn’t flip this vote, if she doesn’t feel contingent to our plans moving forward, the balance of power could tip against us later down the line. Sue isn’t some super social person - I think a four person chat, one of whom is her supposed #1 in this game in Rudy, should be sufficient to keep her calm and secure, for the time being anyway. Gotta keep it active, but I like to think I can do that. (Better than the way Four Amigos seems to have nearly died out, lol.)

HOWEVER, there has been like, no progress on that front - Rudy talked to her about it, and she’s in on at the vote for Crystal at least, but when I went to seal the deal...she disappeared, and by the time she got back, I was asleep. I need to talk to Sue more, and I’ve honestly been making a legitimate effort to talk to her (which I hope she’s noticed) but it’s just difficult. It could be worse - she could be JP. At least when Sue’s around she can carry a conversation.

Speaking of whom, I personally haven’t been doing a ton of work on JP, but I did make sure to confirm with him about the vote, talk to him somewhat, etc. The guy who did a ton of legwork with JP was Rudy - they have that Krueger bond, and in a chat Rudy copied to us, he said he’d go with us, but plan to blindside us when it come down to Final 9. Which, as ominous as it may sound, is actually super relieving to hear - JP just saying he’s “with us” for some indefinite amount of time is obviously not true, and makes you paranoid it couldn’t be true at the moment. Getting ANY information from JP, who may as well be a brick wall at times, and knowing that he’s acting in rational self-interest - that’s fucking gold, as far as I’m concerned.

The person who I’m not super secure on, at the moment, is Sekou. He has no reason to go against the plan, but like, I can’t think of a way to make him feel super comfortable. I feel like he’s an astute guy, and a four person-chat with me, Caleb, and Rudy would just feel disingenuous with him. So, to be utterly honest, I’ve just been talking a TON of game with him when I can - I shared with him the second idol clue before it disappeared (that whole thing closing means I can’t abuse that strategy anymore, such a shame haha) and have been discussing the merge in depth with him. I think he’s on my side for the time being, he seemed to be in the same headspace as me for the most part, but he’s someone I need to worry about in the early merge...provided I get that far, mind you. He’s in a spot that could make him a game destroyer, which is a TON of fun to consider, I assure you.

As for Crystal... I’m torn. Part of me really hopes she gets alt juror or juror, because I feel like she hasn’t played an EGREGIOUS game, and she honestly is a ton of fun to talk to. Like, I’m not backing down from the move, I’m confident it’s the one I need to make - but the empathetic part of me, the guy behind the keyboard, realizes someone’s behind the keyboard on their end too. And sure, Crystal is cocky, and she was willing to throw to eliminate someone herself, so y’know - a bit of karma there. But like, she’s not Boston Rob (more on that in a bit, holy cow) but she is inflexible, and is transparently playing with a core group.

So I guess that helps, even though we’re leading her on SUPER HARD - I’m trying not to do it too publicly. like in that 5 person chat, because I don’t want people to know the extents of how much I can lie, but I’ve done it a bit, which is worrying for like, longitudinal prospects. I’ve mostly focused on messaging her a lot, which makes it more difficult for me. I hope she takes it as a game move, but I can’t blame her for being upset if she is - she’s one of the most active people around, and fucking JP OF ALL PEOPLE is gonna place better than her.

A paranoid, Sean-like part of my head is worried that I’m gonna get counter-blindsided, and I’ve internally debated about playing the idol here and there. But, I’m not playing to get on the jury - I wanna win, or at least make some waves in this game. If I need the idol at this point, I’ve already fucked up significantly. Besides the MASSIVE ramifications playing an idol would have on my relationships, especially at this early point.

I don’t think it’s the best move for a blindside of me at this point for just about anyone, but I don’t put anything past anyone - if you think someone isn’t capable of something, that’s a one way street to blindside avenue. (Such a witty metaphor I know.) So while there is that in the back of my mind, I think I’ve made enough inroads to stay safe. Granted, Crystal probably thinks the exact same thing, so, y’know - take that as you will.

In other news, I’m considering offering Rudy a finals deal. My read is that he’s gonna be a super loyal guy to a select few people, and if he has an idol, I’ve helped him get it - he has zero reason to distrust me at this point. And, while at this point I probably talk to Caleb more, Caleb is...well, he’s a bit of a trainwreck at some points.

Like, don’t get me wrong, he’s one of the people I’m closest to in this game (who thought I’d be saying THAT day one?) but like, half the time I’m messaging with him, I’m running through various scenarios, some of which we’ve already discussed, and talking it through with him. He’s kinda like Tony Vlachos - he’s constantly going, constantly thinking, trying to find some way to get ahead. And I’m willing to talk things through with him, but hearing his plans...it makes me think I have to get him before he gets me, down the line. He’s shown an incredibly capacity to plan and lie - what’s to stop him from doing that down the line to me? I haven’t cut him a finals deal or anything, so it’d just be pure loyalty from him - which....yeaaaaaaaaaah don’t expect that. I’ve seen how he’s talking to Crystal, might need to keep that in the back of my mind.

In a similar vein, we were discussing how to handle the fallout. Boston Rob literally told Rudy to his face “I’m gonna save you, and it’s up to you to make sure you don’t go out next” has been pissing people off left and right since the whole Jefra debacle. It’s kinda hilarious - I KNEW the rep choice couldn’t be a coincidence, haha. I’d say more, but he hasn’t been doing it a ton to me - I’m mostly hearing about it second-hand, so I’m sure some of the others have better war stories. Anyway, knowing that, he’s definitely gonna want some answers, and I imagine Jaclyn and Kelly will as well. We debated a few strategies, but I pushed for us just to be honest - other things would come off as transparent, and as Caleb pretty astutely noted, if we just say we went with the majority at the last second, what does that mean? We listened to Sue? Sekou? JP?

It’s essentially just a way of incriminating ourselves while coming off as shady, so better to take a more direct route. Having said that, I’m doing what I can to make Caleb come off as more visible in pulling this move off, and I feel like he’s been discussing it with people more than me - the idea is to come off as his lacky. This move was probably 50/50, as much as I want to take most of the credit in my own damn confessional, but I’m gonna do what I can to subtly angle it as “Man, Caleb is a PLAYER.” Hopefully Rudy also comes to the forefront in the drama, as he’s wont to do.

I need to slip behind some of these bigger targets, for when the game inevitably shifts - if the Vorhees and Krueger alliance held to 9, I’d be shocked. (But also confident Rudy would flip to us.) There’s gonna be some bullets whizzing about, and I gotta do what I can to bunker down. ORGers are contrarian, stubborn people, with a mad case of Tall Poppy Syndrome - playing with that in mind could be the trick to surviving. Which, in a game called Survivor, may just be a TAD BIT important.

I WAS TALKING TO CRYSTAL ABOUT THE MERGE AND SHE ADDED ME TO THE MYERS CHAT.

WHAT.

WHAT.

WHAT.

HOW?

Crystal has just made this round SO MUCH MORE of a headache. Like, it was gonna be a neat blindside, I was gonna do damage control, but NOW I look like some schemey asshole. So, I'm like, messaging Caleb, and I'm gonna see if I can get Rudy to OK me voting him. If not, well I'll have some explaining to do. I'm considering messaging Rob before the deadline being like "something is up, idk what it is" talking about being one worded or something. Fuck, I dunno. THIS HAS REALLY PUT ME IN A BAD SPOT.

OK, got permission from Rudy, and I've told Sekou that I'm throwing a vote on Rudy in case of an idol. This is actually pretty useful in like, a multifaceted way.

1. It keeps relationships up with the other side.

AND

2. It masks my relationship with Rudy.

Sekou seemed super hesitant, and rightly so. This is an atrocious move - if you have six strong, you don't throw a vote. But I think I've assuaged his worries decently enough, so I'm gonna do likewise with JP as soon as I can. We're gonna tell Sue what's up, since we already have the four person chat deal going through and being created as we speak.

God, this is rushed gameplay at it's finest, all so I can SOMEWHAT cover my ass. GREAT JOB MATTY.

FINAL 12

These people are fucking annoying.

WHO DOES THIS? "OH ILL MESSAGE HIM BACK IMMEDIATELY THEN DISAPPEAR." CMON MAN!

OK, so a ton of shit is going on, even as I type this, so I'm gonna try and give you as much information as I can as quick as I can. (Let's see how many words I can type per minute HAVE I IMPROVED SINCE COMPUTER CLASS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL? WE'LL SEE!)

So, the Contra chat is, for all intents and purposes, dead. That alliance may as well be dead, as far as it looks. The way it looks, the only one who's actually gonna vote Sue from that bunch is Rob, maybe Stacey. Kelly quickly jumped ship, and Jaclyn followed suit not too long after. So, it's basically become, who can the majority agree to target between that bunch - barring a power shift, it'll be Rob or Jaclyn. Kelly was a possibility for some, but I shut that down where I could - yeah, she social and shady, but she has too many connections, which makes pulling that off at this point tricky. Also, I feel like I have a better relationship with her at this point than Jaclyn, so I pushed for her over Kelly.

Now, the SMART FUCKING move would be, take out Jaclyn, keep the obvious boot in Rob in the game for a bit longer. Rob is active, but he isn’t gonna pull anything off - his upside is being used as a pawn moving forward. Jaclyn though? She’s a social threat, and like Kelly recognized that Myers was a sinking ship, and hopped right the fuck off of that. I talk to her a bit, and at this point she’s with me - but when she inevitable figures out that I’m not loyal to her, I have nothing to go that route with. She lowkey has a lot of connections, as JP, the king of morons (hi Alexis I’m channeling you for a second) has aptly shown. So, ideally, we take her out at the merge, nip that in the bud before it becomes anything.

We actually got around to forming the sixsome chat (me, Sue, Sekou, Rudy, Rupert, and Caleb) and in that chat, we decided on Jaclyn. Caleb took a bit of convincing beforehand, but Rudy and Rupert were in agreement with me - Sue didn’t seem to care all that much, and if she did she (smartly) backed down before it could lead to friction. So it’s like, OK, we’ll slowly put pressure on JP (and Jonas) to make sure they go with that vote.

But in enter’s KING JP, who all of a sudden wants to control where the vote is going. REALLY? You don’t wanna respond to anyone half the time, but suddenly you want to dictate where this merge vote is going? Gee, how quaint. Honestly, it’d be adorable if it wasn’t so fucking annoying. Yes, I’m being negative, but I don’t give a fuck - this guy is adding so much goddamn chaos to a vote that doesn’t need it. Listen to what people are saying dude, stop unilaterally pushing for a Rob vote - the majority CLEARLY doesn’t want that.

If it was just him wanting Rob, no big deal, we’ll just discuss it. But nooooo - I mentioned Jaclyn as a name to him, and all of a sudden Jaclyn’s PMing Rudy saying she feels in danger. ARE YOU KIDDING ME DUDE? LIKE - ARE YOU THINKING OF WHAT YOUR DOING? Your going to the minority, in the most flagrant manner possible, and trying to use them to strongarm your own alliance who’s already hesitant to work with you, at the FIRST MERGE VOTE. This is the FIRST vote, and he’s already openly jockeying for position.

And I’m confident it was him too, since I talked with Jaclyn, and she said this:

Spoiler	+

Kelly wouldn’t have been told by anyone in on it, no one told Jonas, and Rudy wouldn’t do it. The only one who had that information was JP, and he use of it is INCREDIBLY frustrating.

Maybe you could say I’m being hypocritical, and maybe that’s right, who knows at this point, but people seem to be in agreement with me, and on top of that I’ve been very active up until this point - it’s not like there’s some super dissonance with the rest of my game. Also, I’m not being as bold as he is - I’m keeping it calm on the plate, so to speak.

At this point, I don’t know what our gameplan is. I’m gonna keep my vote on Jaclyn, and if Rob really is voting for Sue, the six SHOULD hold strong and vote her. If JP/Jonas threaten something drastic, I might need to consider flipping to boot Rob - but that option isn’t really attractive to me. ESPECIALLY after this whole mess, and JAclyn/Kelly potentially voting against him - we could possibly use him to take down JP: The Most Frustrating Man on Earth, provided he doesn’t go full Abi-Maria or Penner.

So, Caleb got super paranoid, because of JP and Jonas spreading the aforementioned information. So, deciding that we couldn't trust ANYONE on that side because of that, now we're voting JP, for a 6-5-1 blindside.

I mean, I'm happy that JP's leaving, don't get me wrong, but it feels like an overplay. But they decided it while Rudy and I weren't around, and even though neither of us really approve, there's not a ton we can do at this point. I'm just worried about drawing battlelines so early, and polarizing sides - Sekou isn't a given to be on our "side."

FINAL 11

In which I do everything possible to not get caught playing multiple sides.