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?

JoJo

Congrats on keeping the Hot Tamale legacy alive!

I'm a bit of everything coming into the merge. I'm excited that the end of the game is so close, and I can see myself getting there. I'm nervous because I was not in the position I was in during my time in Palena. There are a whole lot of people to deal with now, and I gotta make sure that nobody flips on my side, because that would suck.

Right now, I'm focusing on how I can win this game, and how I can make it to the next round. That's my strategy every time, this time is "how can I make the final 11?" and it will go so on for the rest of the game. I'm trying to lay low, make nobody pissed off, and keep everyone on my good side. If I know that they are going hom, I'm probaby going to butter them up, so that if I make the final 3, they will be like "Jolanda was nice to me, I'll vote her." I'm also playing a "as long as it ain't me" strategy. I don't care who is voted off. If somebody gets voted off, I can just change my plans to make sure I make it further.

My main loyalties lie in Russell, Holly, and Ken, and I hope that they think the same about me. I really don't think that this is going to turn out to be a Palena vs Atacama game as I had hoped and wanted. Ken told me that Wendy was giving information about our tribe to the others, so I think that Wendy might be the first to go. That will set the tone for the rest of the merge, very unpredictable.

JoJo

Congrats on keeping the Hot Tamale legacy alive!

Thanks Mia!

I just realized that the avatars use the exact same background as the Atacama avatars...

I think I'm doing pretty decently socially this time around. Last time I was only talking to my alliance, but this time I'm talking to everyone. I'm trying to make sure that I don't seem like a threat, though, and that can be pretty challenging. From what I've heard (I have Russell, Jill, Ken, and Holly all listening for my name) it dosen't sound like my name has even come up since the opening weekend, which is great for me. If I can have those people on my side, listening for my name, I can turn things around if my name does come up to make sure that I am safe.

The only thing that worries me is people might catch on to the fact that I have many deals going on right now. Russell and Holly both consider me as their number one, I believe, so I need to play that up, telling each of them that the other one is my number two. Wendy might still think of me as her number one, too, although I doubt it. Wendy has been kinda sneaky recently. Jill and I just made a deal, this is one to keep me safe if going with Holly and Russell gets me nowhere, and I think Jill trusts me. Tyrone and I don't have a deal, but he seems to come to talk to me about a lot of things, so that's good.

I have a lot of people that trust me in this game, and that's just what I wanted. I feel as if I'm doing a decent job kinda flying UTR, but making deals to keep me safe at the same time. I can't be sure if I'm actually doing this well until the game is over, so I just gotta wait and see!

Also, why the hell do I have the most amount of posts of any player left in this game? I really hate that, honestly. I don't even talk as much as I did last time and I still have the highest post count! Gosh dangit.

It's probably because of my frequent confessionals. Probably ones most like these where I really just ramble on about nothing in particular.

You only have six confessional posts here you nutter :P They don't accumulate between boards.

HAHAHA! Oh my god I just realized that. I'm so freaking slow sometimes....

Soo, where do all these posts come from? Do you feel you've been clocking up overtime moreso in the challenges, or in the secret partner forum? Do you think anyone else noticed this?

Also, catch me up since I've really not been here much since Erica's boot. How aware are other people that you & Holly are partners? Is it an open secret or do some people not know? How does being in a still-standing partnership affect your game - is that something people want to work with or does it make you and her targets?

These posts probably come from the partner forum now that I think about it. It was gone so that's probably why I forgot about it!

I'm pretty sure that everyone knows that Holly and I are partners. And, from what I can see, it isn't really effecting that much at all. People are aware of it, but I guess they just don't care. The people without partners don't care because they aren't getting the talismans anyways, Ken/Tyrone want eachother out, Jill wants Ted out, Jake/Wendy are in a partner alliance with us, and lord knows what's going on with Chase and Yve. I just think people are accepting the partners part of the game, and are really not letting it affect them too much.

Well just you hold your horsies missy. I finally got back into PMs and I went through yours first to get the indies scoop on all these deals you are afraid of overlapping. I can read your PMs, the post-game readers cannot :P

I need a fully fleshed out response here to cover the following;
-a list of each alliance or deal you have
-how much stock you put into each
-what direction each one, or part of one, is leaning for the boot
-how that compares to what you want

I am most interested in where they overlap. Ken pushes Wendy as the boot and you don't tell her as much. Jill moots Holly as a target with an incriminating PM from Jake via Ted and you say nowt to anyone. Give me some kind of commentary on the specifics of your overlapping deals - especially where you see them as clashing - and how you are juggling them.

Ok, Brenda:

List of alliances/deals (in no particular order)
-Russell
-Holly
-Ken(?)
-Jill
-Wendy
-Jake/Wendy/Holly
-Holly/Russell/Ken
-Wendy/Dan/Holly
-Russell/Ken
-Palena 8

As for how much stock I put in each of them, I really don't know. I could find one of them to be the top of my list one day, and the next I'm not thinking anything about them.

For the boot, some of them are leaning towards booting Chase or Ted (which I think will happen) Ken wants out Wendy, and Jill wants out Holly, although I'll make sure that dosen't go anywhere soon.

As for what I want, I don't really care. Honestly, as long as I'm not the one voted off, I will be happy with whatever the outcome is, even if someone I am close allies with is booted. I tried to set up my plans so that they are flexible, so if an ally is voted off, I can just hop to another alliance if I need to.

I'm trying to make a basis of the Palena 8 for this round, I have a lost of conflicting ideas coming in from many different people. But, I'm saying "maybe next round" to the ideas I don't really like, and I am trying to get Chase or Ted out this round. The next round, I don't know.

I like talking to Tyrone because I don't feel like I need to give him a long winded response like I give everybody else.

Today I was bored and looking through the Costa Rica post game host blogs, and it makes me really frightened for what you are all gonna say about me this season. This ain't the same Jolanda. (at least I don't think so...)

And another useless confessional....

Oh also, congrats on being the last Costa Rican standing!

Thanks! Would have been better if you said that last season, but this is good too! :P

Today I was bored and looking through the Costa Rica post game host blogs, and it makes me really frightened for what you are all gonna say about me this season. This ain't the same Jolanda. (at least I don't think so...)

And another useless confessional....

I won't say too much, but you'll have a lot to read after this is all done.

Wonderful. It's gonna be the best or worst day of my life! :)

Going into today's immunity challenge, I'm not gonna try to win. If I try to win, people may see me as a threat, and would want to turn on me, and I don't want that to happen. So, if possible, I'm not gonna win the challenge.