Episode XIV

[thiago]

18 down, 5 more to go.

Wow. I can't believe I'm in the Final 6. Pinch me this isn't real! It's been such a crazy game. I'm sure there is more crazy to come with these two Favourites battling it for immunity. I would love an opportunity to fight for myself in the finals, but getting there still feels like many timezones away.

I've just noticed that I am the only person left who has not received a vote at Judgment, and the only one left who has always voted in the majority. I'm beginning to worry about my jury management, because Gloria is of course not going to be happy with me; Knox, although he did try to get me out behind my back on numerous occasions, was still blindsided; Carly/Taylor hopefully saw me as a leader of the Fans, but we never got to know one another; Chad was blindsided by me; Starr will find out that I played her on Reliquum, and knowing how emotional she is that could definitely be a lost vote. Bree or Zac is going to get blindsided, both think they are going to the F3 with Mark and myself. Ben has a bromance with Mark however it seems to have gone south recently since I had him vote for Mark; Liam I do think is someone who would actually vote for me no matter what at this point, which further confirms that I need him on that jury bench.

I think this round Mark and myself will try our hardest to win immunity, and the other will play the idol we worked together to find. Bree wanted to make an F4 with Liam/Ben so that we could get information on who they vote and to idol them out. Surprisingly enough, they seem to be biting because Ben started copying and pasting to Bree convos where Mark said he wanted Bree off, which Bree knew was a lie but Ben isn't aware that Mark/Zac knew we were voting Knox and even encouraged it in case an idol came out. I told Bree to show Mark. I really need to make sure Mark sees Ben as more of a threat. Ben needs to go over Liam. He's capable of winning whole this thing.

I don't think Bree always thinks with her head. She wants to blindside Liam/Ben with Mark's idol very much. I'm talking Natalie Bolton flossing her teeth with his jugular very much. She said "I'm usually a hero when I play these games but I'm feeling villainous. The boys are ripened for a blindside." I think it's a little unecessary, especially after Knox told us that Gloria had the idol. Of course, we can never be too sure. I just don't see the point in "blindsiding" two guys on the bottom who are desperate for help. I think it's a little mean if you ask me. She's sounding a lot like that chick last season who blindsided people without cause. Teresa was her name I think? She was black.

I think it's kind of cool that the F6 is composed of pairs who have been on the same tribes the entire game: Bree/myself, Mark/Zac, and Ben/Liam.

Another reason I decided to take Knox out over Liam, besides the obvious benefits of Liam being closer to me than Mark/Zac, was because I needed to have options. If this is the Final 6:

Ben
Knox
Bree
me/Mark/Zac

Knox could always get Ben and try get Mark/Zac to join him and take out Bree, which I think Mark could go for since he worries that Bree will win puzzle challenges.

I need to make sure Mark doesn't take any route to save Ben under any circumstance.

I knew that if Knox was in the F4 over Bree, Knox would vote against me. Bree will not. I need to make sure that in the end game, I'm guaranteed an F3 position. Right now my only obstacle is Ben.

I told Liam last night that I knew everything about Knox lying, and that I believed him all along. I told Liam that I couldn't morally vote off Liam over Knox when I knew Knox had been lying the whole time. Liam seemed super grateful so I'm hoping that this admission will keep him feeling loyal to me, even once he's voted off. I think that Mark/Zac didn't want to vote for Knox because they would lose a jury vote, but given that Knox knows he was playing a sneaky game, I think Knox will respect a move like that. I don't know if Knox will respect that Mark told me that Knox sold us out during the Ben vote, which gave me a lot of options and valuable information the round Knox almost flipped and voted me or Bree off instead of Taylor.

[thiago]

I'm hoping that Liam and Ben are heathens so that they don't win this challenge. I would really prefer if Mark or myself won, because then the other will be safe with the HII. I do believe that the idol is out of play and that Gloria had it, given that Knox says she told him she had it earlier, but of course you can never be sure in this game, so being safe will make me feel much better.

I would ideally like an F4 of Bree/Zac/Mark/myself because I know that I'm guaranteed a spot in the F3. If Bree does somehow pull off a win at the last IC, I'm not too upset because I do expect her to be very beatable.

I don't want Liam or Ben anywhere near the F3, so I need them both gone the next two rounds. I can't risk either of them getting to the end and sweeping the favourites' votes. I think Ben has a better shot than Liam, so preferrably Ben will be the next to leave. I cannot win against either of them. I don't know if Mark is playing up his new dislike for Ben because all of us are a little concerned that he will target Liam first over Ben, and also he seems worried about Bree. I hope Mark stays focused and targets Ben, then Liam, as this is what we both need to have a shot at the win. If Mark and Ben really are "over," then I'm pleased to see that my move to get Ben to vote Mark resulted in the end of that relationship.

I know that I would have a great shot to win if I took both Bree and Zac to the end. I personally really love Zac, and I think he has great ideas, I just think that his activity level has been low and his allegiance all game has been to the same people, so he hasn't really branched out and played his own game. I think that this should make Zac someone that I can beat, but also someone that, if things go terribly wrong, I will be honoured to lose against because he really is such a stand up guy.

I would like Bree in the F4 simply because she is loyal to me, more than Mark. We have been on the same team all game. We have had our ups and downs but I think Bree has suffered through a lot of animosity regarding who she is outside of the game, which always sucks, but that's the price you pay when you decide to be some annoying character. I said from the beginning that Bree made a big mistake playing a character that she could not infuse strategy into. I think that Bree will be the easiest to beat, which is why I don't feel as comfortable taking her to the end, because in case she does win I wouldn't feel very proud. I know that Bree will make a very bitter juror though, moreso than Zac.

I know that it may seem like taking Mark to the finals is a gamble, and to some extent it is. However, if Mark wins, he deserves it and I would be able to sleep at night with that result. I do think that I've quietly, and honestly, played some jury management games that will hurt Mark, and have some ammunition, if need be, to make a stronger case for myself than Mark. We may have played a similar game, but I made more decisions and moves than him, so we will see if that is respected. I know that Mark is equally as social as I am, so his likability could hurt me. I'd like to think that people liked me too.

If I were to eliminate Mark, I think a lot of the jurors would look at it as reckless, disloyal, and crappy to take two "goats" in their eyes to the end. It's a risk that could give Zac a default win. I'd rather battle it out with Mark who I really care strongly for. I would love to be able to say that my main alliance, that I created while on Reliquum, all made the Finals, and I think that is worthy of some recognition.

My biggest concern now, going into the FTC, if I am to make it, is how Starr and Bree will respond to what I did while on Reliquum, using the alliance we had to make another alliance that I showed even more loyalty to. I have to consider how I will maneuver that argument, as I know both women are emotional thinkers.

[tess]

Teresa <333

[thiago]

Bree's idea of voting for Mark and letting him use the idol is useless now that I won immunity.

YAY BY THE WAY.

I didn't want to follow her plan anyway; it was a sure way to cause problems for me in a jury vote situation.

I think that we should split the votes. Ben/Liam should vote for Mark, so it will likely be 2-2, and in a revote we will take out Ben.

I don't think they have an idol, but if they play one, then whoever of the two isn't idoled will go 2-0-0. How fun would that be?

Anyway, I know that it's always a risk for Bree to change up her vote in a 2-2-2 situation, but I hope she wouldn't be so stupid. I also feel great about being immune. Ben absolutely needs to leave in a revote over Liam. Ben for some reason is viewed as a hero, which is odd given he's in this position due to his own stupidity as a player. I don't find anything heroic about his fake ways. First he tried to save Mark but votes him anyway, then feels bad that he voted Mark, then decides to vote off Mark again! What a hero...

Anyway, I don't see the point in hiding the way we are voting from the boys. I'd rather be honest now than lie like I did last week with Gloria. I have to start thinking jury votes now.

[thiago]

For some reason I'm nervous. My nerves have been shot thanks to this game. I'm always worried when things are quiet. The last time things were so quiet, Starr was idoled out...

I'm not sure if Ben has given up or has an idol and doesn't want to play. He hasn't been online AT ALL since Gloria left, or at least he isn't talking to me.

I told Liam last night that the plan was to split the vote and I would vote off Ben, but that I didn't know how Mark/Zac/Bree would vote in a revote situation. I know that they want Ben out also, but if it appears like I have his back regardless of how the others vote, I think it will appear to him that I at least like him. Again, trying to manage the jury a bit here.

I do hope that Gloria's "mutiny" apple wasn't a fake, and that they have some extra vote apple plus an idol. I know they would have used it previously if this were the case, but I can't help but me paranoid. I do really think that only one power will get played, that being Mark's idol, and that it will be 2-2-0 with a revote between both Liam and Ben. Predictable, I know, but they are both massive jury threats. Ben is particularly insane in challenges. Again, look at how little he sleeps to win competitions...

I've decided that I'm going to tell Bree everything that happened on Reliquum at the Final 4 before I vote her off. I know that dropping the bomb on her at FTC will maybe surprise her, and Starr also, about my double-dealing with Mark/Zac/Gabe behind her/Starr/Julian's backs, so if I get a chance to explain myself before I send her to the jury, I may have a better shot at earning her respect and her vote, as it's difficult to smooth talk a juror in public posts. Of course, I may not even make the Final 4 so who knows, but if I'm being completely honest, ever since Gloria left I have felt that I will be in the Final 3. However, I'm always cautiously optimistic. Expect the unexpected.

[thiago]

I'm beginning to wonder if Gloria passed Ben her idol when she left...

[thiago]

I sent this PM to Liam. I'm buttering him up for a jury vote situation, but also trying to guarantee that Ben leaves if he doesn't have an idol.

Hey Liam,

Not sure if you'll be online before the vote, but I wanted to throw out a suggestion, and you can take it or leave it.

I know that Gloria found the idol. She showed me the image and everything.

However, I'm not sure if she passed it off to Ben before she left, since he was immune and would have been the safest person to pass it to.

If Ben has the idol, and plays it on himself, you will be leaving and there isn't any way around it.

I would much rather Ben go and have you in the Final 5.

Ben is aware of the plan to split the votes.

If you and Ben vote together and make it 2-2-2 and no idol is played, Ben will leave in a revote.

If Ben plays an idol, it will be 2-2-0 and you will leave in a revote.

If no one plays an idol, and Ben votes for you to save himself, much like Alex did when voting for Mookie in Fiji, you will leave.

It's a guarantee at this point that Ben and you will not both be in the Final 5.

If you want to increase your odds, I would suggest that you vote for Ben. If he has an idol, there's no way to stay, but if he doesn't have one, this would guarantee your safety.

It's up to you. Hope to see you soon.