Episode 08

Welcome to the merger!

You made it!

Tell me how you're feeling, nervous? excited? a bit of both?

Also, now that the game is shifting from tribes to individual, are you focusing now more than ever on how to win the game, or is it merely how to advance as far as you can?

How do you plan on making an impressive enough showing in the merge to warrant a vote from the potential jurors that you are playing with now?

Where do your loyalties lie? With the original tribe? Your newly swapped tribe? or your original fans/favorites split? Who do you trust the most/least going into the merge?

I'll have ahuge update later but for now I must point out that Magallenes was solved by me in the anagram challenge and located by me in the wordsearch. Obvious Winner Clue y/y <3

Excited and nervous. I entered the merge in Malaysia in similar circumstances and I'm keen to avoid having the same fate as last time. This time I'm much more confident in the people I am with. I'd like to think I can secure a majority <3

Right now I'm thinking more short-term and about how to survive this initial merge vote. Once I have a clear path to the end then I will start to evaluate my endgame options. I feel like my game so far has been pretty solid and the connections I have made are strong, so I like how everything is looking right now. Right now I need to be social with everyone and make sure that I am key in recruiting players away from Palena 3.0.

My main alliances are with Yve and Ted, with Jake joining us as our 4th member. Our hope is that we can use past connections with Jill and Ken to bring them over to our side. Originally I hoped that I would be able to rely on Russell too, yet everything I have heard indicates he has a comfortable position already and that the Fabio boot took them by surprise, so I am unsure about my chances of getting him to vote with me at this stage. Instead we might have to consider the other person who was alledgely on the outs at Palena 3.0. Ted told me Tyrone contacted him as soon as PMs came on so hopefully we can get him to vote with us and end up with seven votes.

We do have the hidden immunity idol if it doesn't work out. Only Yve and I know about this. Someone must also have the Palena idol. None of them can be ruled out but if I had to pick someone to have it I would suspect Russell. For that reason I think the best thing for me is to make the merge boot be Dan. I feel that Wendy Jo and Russell could potentially be useful later on. Dan is someone I don't see myself ever trusting. I reckon he would go after me just as easily as I would go after him.

I have yet to hear from Jill. Holly introduced herself straight away and I can see why she has the reputation she does. It has been a good conversation so far and I want to make the most my time with her since I don't intend her to be here for long. Holly/Jolanda is the first partnership that I am specifically looking to break up. If everything goes to plan (which it wlikely won't ) then my hope is to make to to a Final 6 with another partnership (Ted/Jill ideally) and two singles. Then Yve and I can eliminate a member of the other partnership (Jill), ensuring we get the Talismans and have a guaranteed path to the Final 4

..my hope is to make to to a Final 6 with another partnership (Ted/Jill ideally) and two singles. Then Yve and I can eliminate a member of the other partnership (Jill), ensuring we get the Talismans and have a guaranteed path to the Final 4

This sounds foolproof

For someone who's missed the past few rounds, could you extremely briefly recap how you got from the Jimmy/Erica boot to this point?

..my hope is to make to to a Final 6 with another partnership (Ted/Jill ideally) and two singles. Then Yve and I can eliminate a member of the other partnership (Jill), ensuring we get the Talismans and have a guaranteed path to the Final 4

This sounds foolproof

For someone who's missed the past few rounds, could you extremely briefly recap how you got from the Jimmy/Erica boot to this point?

In a perfect world it could happen <3 Unfortunately I don't live in one those

The second swap was not something I anticipated, but fortunately I with six people who I had connections with already and I felt straight away that I wasn't in any danger at all. Yve and I were able to allign immediately. I feel that if we had been separated until the merge there was every chance that we would have some trust issues because we lacked the oppurtunity to prove ourselves to each other, which this swap allowed us to do and grow even closer than we already were. I had options on Atacama 3.0 and was right in the middle of the tribe. It was difficult to decide what direction to go in.

Ted could be said to have been in the middle also, like Yve and I he was in no danger whatsoever at any stage. He leaned towards the Marty & John pair due to the existing Australian Alliance. They intended to eliminate Fabio. On the other side I had Fabio & Jake. If Yve and I wanted we could have sided with them instead, however they were vague in their intent and nothing could be solidified, plus it would turn out that Jake could not get online to vote for Marty in time. After some discussion Yve and I agreed that the best option for us was to side with Ted, Marty & John even though be both liked Fabio. Once I removed the bias I had towards him due to the Malaysia connection it was the most logical vote to make. I had doing it and still feel guilty about it, but it has worked out perfectly since.

My hope was that with Brook out the picture I could take over as leader of this Australian Alliance concept. However the only agenda John cared about was making those who voted Brook out lose and this included Yve, who turned the tables against Brook based on information that I gave her about the way Brook approaches the game. John created a lie that Yve had come to him about voting me out instead of Fabio, which caused some confusion at first since he told Jake Ted was also approached when Ted knew perfectly well that wasn't true. Ted and I agreed that this desperate act from John was likely because he figured that the next Tribal Council would not work out for him or Marty if we lost again. We made John & Marty switch away from Yve back to Jake initially intending a 3-2-1 vote against John, but when Jake came to us with the knowledge that John had lied to him and proposed splitting up that partnership, we instead made it 4-2.

From here Ted had a preference towards keeping Marty due to his involvement in the Palena 2.0 majority. However I wanted Marty out instead as I could never be sure what his involvement was in John's plan and his communication was not reliable enough, plus I have a solid connection with Jake. I told John information that Wendy Jo gave me at Palena 2.0 before we swapped about her thoughts on the alliance, how she wished to remove Marty and replace him with Jolanda instead. I also pointed out that Marty would have a greater chance of survival over us at the merge because he was a single who lacked a partner. We all agreed to vote Marty out. I feel that the experiences of the last two pre-merge rounds have solidified the alliance I have with Ted, Yve and Jake. I have seen many times in ORGs how uniting together to survive difficult situations can create strong bonds. I have confidence in the four of us to stick together.

Right now several sources have made it clear that the likely options if Palena 3.0 stay strong are Ted or myself. They feel that Ted is a challenge threat and that I am a social threat. I would like to think that Wendy Jo and Russell have been sincere when they say that they want to help me stay, although I can't really rely on them for long-term security so I won't be going UTR for their sake. I ant to try to secure a majority with the Atacama 3.0 alliance of four in the best position possible, what I am willing to do is let Ted take the lead a bit in making that happen. I believe that Ken is definitely with us. So we need two more votes to make this work.

Ted is paranoid that they are saying Dan is inactive to lead us into targetting him, which would make sense since we have wondered if they actually want Yve or Jake out first instead for the same reason, to avoid a hidden immunity idol. Someone in that Palena 8 must have the silly thing. Russell is my main suspect as it is the most logical explanation for the Atacama idol not being obtained until Yve got it. Holly has apparently created a rumour that Ted and Jill have both, so I feel that the other alternative is that Jolanda has the Palena Idol, but Yve beat Holly to to Atacama Idol. If Holly suspects that Jill found it and that she or Ted will play it, then her hope could be that everyone will assume that Ted and Jill have both of them. I know that I intend to use a similar line of thought if the Palena Idol is ever played before Yve uses the Atacama Idol.

I feel much better about this merge compared to last time. I have faith that nobody will make the decision Peih-Gee made if we need to use the idol. None of them are generally wierd like Cao-Boi. I'm sure Yve isn't going to reveal her ID while drunk to anyone. Ted, Yve and Jake are all people who I have faith in. I have avoided being controversial this time around and I don't have enemies. I'm going to take the social threat tag that I have recieved as a sign that everything I have been doing has been working. I'm satisfied with the game I have played so far and look forward to how the rest of this experience goes.

OK so a powershift is lookiing unlikely atm. We could maybe get five clear votes against one of the core Palena 3.0 players. Yet we cannot figure out who our sixth could be.

And I honestly think six would be enough. Jake and Ken both have immunity, neither of them would ever be in danger if we had to go to Rocks. I recently learned just how powerful the concept of an unexpected tied vote can be. Suddenly the other side is facing a completely different situation, they can't be sure who is on what side, they don't have the power to prepare in advance. If a tie happens and it can be done without any of them expecting it, then I think we would win it. They would be spooked into switching their votes. Yve, Ted and I would absolutely be willing to take that chance. We would need just one more vote on our side.

The problem is Jill. I don't feel mislead by Ted necessarily but I was expecting a completely different person! She has made no effort in messages with anyone. She is not acting like someone who was on the outs should be. Maybe she just doesn't know how to communicate properly, but the way it is right now none of can trust her at all, when everything with her looked so promisin coming into this merge. If we could secure her vote then we would have it made whether they voted for Tyrone (6-5-1) or sprung a shock vote of their own (6-6). Unfortunately Jill has given us no reason to assume that ind of action from her and I am wary of bringing anything up to now incase it backfires. I want to leave it to Ted. Maybe she just wants to wait until a flip benefits her over us, which I understand even if I don't like it.

Ken has defied my expectations of him with his aggressive gameplay since the merge. I honestly thought that he would be content to sit back and let someone else lead, but it seems there is much more to him than that. He has told Yve and I that we are his favourite people, so I do have confidence in him to stay loyal <3 His intended target switched from Wendy Jo to Tyrone to Jolanda throughout the day and I'm sure by the time I wake up tomorrow he wil have gone through this process several times again. I've enjoyed reconnecting with him and he is a great guy

Wendy Jo is a hard one to analyse. Everything she is telling me indicates she would love to come over and join us, yet she isn't. I think she is genuinely torn about what to do. Her idea to eliminate Tyrone instead may be her way of appeasing both sides and ensuring that she has a little longer to make her decision. Wendy Jo has assured me that if not Tyrone it will be Ted as she will not write my name down and neither will Russell, which I appreciate. I'm happy to go along with whatever she wants for a while. Her latest message has hinted quite visibly at a desire to blindside someone out of the game in the near future and she requested my assistance in this move, which I was happy to give. Right now I think Wendy Jo should be keen to split out the Jolanda/Holly partnership eventually, if only because it will help her obtain the Talismans.

Tyrone never got back to me after I asked him if he would be willing to work with me on this vote, so I have no issue voting him out And Jolanda is just as bad, having failed to reply back to me since Saturday or so. I don't dislike Jolanda, her personality is quite fun, but I find it hard to respect her at all because her approach to the game just seems so careless to me. Ignoring someone is the most obvious tell that you are not in their long-term plans that there is and when it happens abruptly, you know for sure that they want you out soon. I made sure to talk with John about future dynamics right up until the last second incase he had an idol. It is such an easily preventable situation to get in. I actually want Holly gone first because Jolanda is way more predictable.Holly and I have been basically talking about anything other than strategy, so I know she doesn't intend to use me either, but the fact she is making the ffort to keep up communication nevertheless is proof that is she is on top of things.

Yve and I have not discussed how to handle the idol. It is a complicated situation now because Ted and Jake will probably not appreciate being left out of the loop about it. I think we can risk not using it this time. The longer we can hold onto it the better.

OK now I'm paranoid. Ted mentioned that Holly told him she thought I was getting the votes. Now I've seen several people come online and not reply to what I'v sent them

I sent Jill another PM to see if I can get a conversation going. Ted mentioned she was Australian too, she said it in their partnership forum. Maybe if I can have a good back and forth without any distractions around something can be worked out? Idk.

Stop answering my questions before I ask them damnit.

Srsly, I got nothing here. Maybe drop a quick rankdown on how close you feel to each and every player in the game? idk, just keep ruminating on thoguhts as they occur to you. How heavy is that idol in your pocket - at what point do you let Ted & Jake into the loop, if ever?

My hope is that when Ted doesn't play an idol tonight, whether he stays or goes, they take that to mean Jolanda/Holly must have both of them.

This feels so unceratin right now. They are being way too open about Ted being an option for it to actually be Ted and yet I have no idea how to manage that

Hope this communication issue with Yve doesn't cost us

If nobody switches then it'll come down to who Tyrone didn't vote for between Ted and I, since we both voted him :/