Stranded in Aegean Sea

1. That tribal council was nuts! Can you walk us through what went down? Are there any new consequences because of anything that was said? Did you yourself learn anything new?
2. Talk of idols and idol clues have been a thing for a couple days now. Do you see yourself getting close to the answer yet? Do you think it's been found already or not? Who, besides yourself, would you be okay with finding the idol, and who do you NOT want to get the idol?
3. We are now at F17. How much has the game changed for you since F17 in Stranded in the Aegean Sea, versus your place at F17 in Stranded in Crete/Rhodes?
4. Let's talk alliances. Are you in any right now? If you're part of multiple, how loyal are you to them? Are you worried about anyone else being part of an alliance? What do you hope to gain by being in them?
5. Who on your tribe right now is likely safe from the next tribal council or two? Who do you think is in hot water and likely to be voted out? What about your own danger level?

Dean Kowalski" wrote: ↑Mon Mar 28, 2022 10:01:38 pm

 

1. That tribal council was nuts! Can you walk us through what went down? Are there any new consequences because of anything that was said? Did you yourself learn anything new?

Well let me just start by saying that if I feel inclined to leave a long confessional about how great my game is going again I should probably check myself. I walked away from last night feeling waaay too cocky and let that be a lesson to me. 

Basically what went down, is yesterday there was a group formed in the Apples group chat (so now that is the alliance name) between Hali-Shirin-Taylor-Jessica-and myself. This group of 5 chatted about voting either Stephanie or Erika and I suggested voting Steph tonight and Erika tomorrow. Everyone seemed to be in agreement so when Stephanie was voted out I more or less thought Erika was a done deal today.

So today when I was talking with Bret and Wendell my plan was to keep things non-game until we saw what happened at the challenge. And, when I *saw* what happened at the challenge, with Erika more or less being responsible for our tribe going to council, I figured all of the stars were aligning. On the one hand, yes, Erika did try her best and was kind of put in a nightmare scenario, but on the other, easy excuse. So when Wendell and Bret asked what I was thinking tonight, I told them both the truth--that I was leaning Erika. Shirin and Hali and Carolyn were all on board of course. Taylor was voicing a contrary opinion for Carolyn. Jessica wasn't saying anything. I messaged Jessica directly and asked if she was good with voting Erika and she said yes! She said she was on her way to make that vote so I thought she was locked in. 

Of course that's when the chats shut off and TC started so I was like-fuck! Which way is this going? I counted the votes though and if Jessica was voting the way she said she was voting, that should be a majority, even without Taylor. I waited until almost the last minute to see if anything in the TC chat would illuminate which way to go. If Jess was leaning Carolyn publicly, for example, I might have to jump ship in order to save my game. She didn't say anything, and to make things trickier, the chats turned back on! Which was weird, because I almost messaged Jess myself. I was just about to more or less when I saw Jeff's message in TC to Wendell about doing it. Thankfully I didn't fuck that one up. And YES, I saw Wendell's whisper to Jessica and I thought for sure his whisper was telling her to change her vote to Carolyn. So I *almost* changed mine to Carolyn, but I *really* didn't want to. So I stuck to trusting Jessica and when TC was posted I was just crossing my fingers she had done what she fucking said she would! 

But she didn't.

The vote came in as a tie. Mother fucker. 

Of course, that's when Erika went all out. She said a lot of stuff about a Rhodes alliance. Everyone pretty much jumped on the fact that both she and Carolyn were *both* from Rhodes. She probably meant to highlight the Mauso 4 and after rereading the thread for the third time I finally saw where she did just that. And she's not wrong either. We *DID* want to keep the 4 Mausos together. Obviously. 

She tried to make it seem like our alliance was targeting Wendell. Hali said over and over again that Wendell was not the target and just something she told Erika and I chimed in here to try to reassure Wendell that he was indeed *not* the target and fortunately Shirin and Carolyn backed me up. It didn't change his vote of course. 

AND She tried to put a target on me--she said I had the best chance to win the game of anyone here. I know she doesn't believe that. I actually don't think anyone else here believes that either. But she is *trying* to making me look like some big threat on her way out the door. 

There was no way I could change my vote.

I thought about it. I wavered like crazy. I wasn't sure if anyone else was going to flip or be convinced to change their vote. I asked myself, do I want to go to rocks for Carolyn?? 

But there was still the mystery of Jessica and would she break the tie and which way would she break it? I should have assumed it would be for Carolyn. I should have assumed that she was going to go with whatever Taylor wanted or whatever the whim was. I don't think this means that she is an Erika fan. I don't think this means that either of them are. 

Buuut when all was said and done and it became clear that Jessica had decided to flip her vote to Carolyn, the writing was on the wall:

I'm in big trouble now.


2. Talk of idols and idol clues have been a thing for a couple days now. Do you see yourself getting close to the answer yet? Do you think it's been found already or not? Who, besides yourself, would you be okay with finding the idol, and who do you NOT want to get the idol?

I, myself, am not close to the answer yet. I'm not sure what there is to go off of from just the one clue. Maybe with a second clue I would have a better idea of what the password might be, but right now I am stumped.

I would not be surprised if someone who *does* have two clue, like Genie, might be able to find it. I would be very happy with Genie having the idol honestly because I think she would tell me and we could potentially use it together, if we happen to be on a tribe again together obviously.

Wendell is someone who is definitely looking for an idol. A lot more than I am. I'm not sure how I would feel about Wendell having an idol. Right now I would be nervous, ngl. I like and want to trust Wendell so much in this game like I keep getting the urge to offer him an alliance. Just straight up. A secret alliance or whatever but I want to work with Wendell in this game so for now I am just going to put it out into the universe. TRUST ME WENDELL.

I don't think Wendell does trust me though.

Actually, I'll rephrase that. I *think* that Wendell *does* trust me but only if I don't have too many other options. This round could be a different start for Wendell and I. Or, it could be him having the upper hand over me. Either way I am hopeful that *I* am not the target next round. But I have to be realistic. I could be. 

 Who do I not want to get the idol? Fucking everyone. I don't want anyone to have an idol. :P

3. We are now at F17. How much has the game changed for you since F17 in Stranded in the Aegean Sea, versus your place at F17 in Stranded in Crete/Rhodes?
  
Ha! This is another great question! 

Let's see the final 17 on Rhodes was right after we voted out Mike...

Man it seems like so long ago, and honestly, thinking back on it, I kinda wish Mike was still in the game. I had great conversations with Mike and was just getting to know him when the tribe and I turned on him. I mean, that's probably a stupid thing to say since Mike probably hates my guts, but fwiw I thought Mike was a cool guy and maybe in another game or another reality we could have been friends. 

I will say that I thought my position in the game rose tremendously after Mike was eliminated. Being a part of the 5-some that voted against him formed a bond on the tribe that was significant at the time. Me-Shirin-Will-Carolyn-Nina were that 5. Me-Will-Shirin were already a tight threesome by then and forming Voltron with Nina and Carolyn cemented the 5 of us as the power group on the tribe. I have no doubt that if we had been forced to attend TC after that formation that we would have remained solidly loyal for every vote. But we never did. 

Nina got swapped to Kameiros 2.0 with Will and had to be med-evaced from the game, and obviously Carolyn was just eliminated so that Oddballs power-alliance on OG Mausolus is basically dead now. Lord knows I wanted to keep Carolyn in this game as long as possible. I liked her, and even though she wasn't very active, I trusted her, as much as I could of course. I hope my desire to keep Carolyn in the game as long as possible wasn't completely detrimental to my game at this point though.

Obviously the other players are paying enough attention to the OG tribes to see the threat of OG Mausolus for what it is--or I guess was now. Or maybe is still. Idk. It feels like there is a magnifying glass on anyone who's avatar is from Worlds Apart. Maybe I am paranoid. Maybe not.

My place in the F17 at this point in the game feels *way* more precarious at this point. I am in the riskiest position of my game right now which is crazy because I was feeling *so* confident last night. 

If the other players wanted to, they could easily take me out next vote. I am, at this point in my game, humbly relying on my actual *relationships* in this game to get me through this next round.




4. Let's talk alliances. Are you in any right now? If you're part of multiple, how loyal are you to them? Are you worried about anyone else being part of an alliance? What do you hope to gain by being in them?

Yes, me + Shirin = #1
Me-Shirin-Hali = OG Mauso
Me-Shirin-Hali-Taylor-Jessica = Apples - I have no idea if this alliance is real or not. It was last round, but not this round.

Before he went to bed tonight I tried to reiterate to Taylor that I think he and I have a real connection in this game and I want to keep working with him whether it is with the Apples alliance or something else... hinting at the possibility that I might be willing to form some other kind of group outside of the Rhodes group. He seemed very on my page, ngl, so I am feeling positive about this relationship. But it is still growing. 

I am also trying to keep the possibility of something with Wendell and/or Bret alive as well. I like to think they still think of me as an option in this game too. I could be wrong.

I just had an idea. I think this idea has been trying to come to me all night but I am starting wonder if this is what needs to happen. Hear me out:

There seems to be a lot of fear around OG tribe alliances, from both games. So what if there was an alliance that combined someone from every OG tribe? From my perspective, this would have to include Wendell and Erika, and with myself that would leave room for a 4th from MVGX. Maybe Bret? 

Me-Wendell-Erika-Bret. I need to mull this over a bit more, but this could be the answer. It could be the way for me--hell, all 4 of us--to make it to the next swap. If that means voting Hali out next TC, I would consider doing that to move ahead in the game. I don't *want* to to be clear. I like Hali. More now than ever. But I also want to survive. I have concerns that this grouping may not entirely trust me, but to go into it with the argument that we are literally all 4 from a different tribe from both games *could* possibly make the grouping more theoretically loyal. Suggesting something like this could also *totally* blow up in my face. I don't trust Erika for one. She's proven she'll say anything to stay or on her way out to damage anyone's game. BUT, she's also potentially looking for friends and she has also put it out there that she is not mad about the vote. Idk. This is one of those ideas that could sound better on paper--like wouldn't it be cool if this unlikely group formed a thing? But what reason do any of these people have to be loyal to me?

The dilemma I am always facing is whether or not to play *hard* or play *safe* and I always default to *safe* which I know can also be boring--and maybe not even all that safe! But I am also a strategist that is trying to think of how to move the pieces given the info I have. There is something in it for everyone to be loyal to a grouping of reps from all tribes. I just don't want optimism to replace practicality. Because I could see suggesting anything to Erika blowing up in my face. Like why am I even considering working with her right now? 

Idk, maybe I can float this idea to Wendell tomorrow before the challenge and see what he thinks. If he jumps on it, maybe he would be willing to wrangle Erika and Bret into it. Wendell seems like someone who is inclined to give serious thought to this idea because it make sense in theory. Idk if it would be possible to get the vote on Jess, but this also might make sense to Wendell if he is at all concerned with the Taylor and Jess connection. I would hate to undermine Taylor in this way when we are potentially establishing trust in this game... But I just feel like I know where I stand and I can either sit her waiting for other people to decide my fate...or I can try to form something new. Of course *trying to form something new* could blow up in my face as well. Am I being too scheme-y? 

Just to be clear I *would* tell Shirin about this group if somehow this 4some-of-tribe-reps idea came to fruition. It would probably freak her out to not be a part of the group, but there is a part of me that thinks this idea only works if it is one person from each OG tribe. Idk, I have to think about this some more... Maybe it would make more sense if Shirin was in this group instead of me? That's a scary idea. Not because of Shirin, just not being in control of this idea I guess lol. I just don't think this idea sounds best coming from me. My gut is saying Wendell would have to drive this ship so I will keep thinking on it and consider floating the idea to him tomorrow. 


5. Who on your tribe right now is likely safe from the next tribal council or two? Who do you think is in hot water and likely to be voted out? What about your own danger level?

Another great question! I would love to see the answers to this. I bet they are all over the board.

I think that Taylor and Jessica are in the drivers seat at the moment--I think Taylor is safer than Jessica at the moment. They could keep flipping back and forth picking different people off.

I think an argument could be made for Wendell being in the drivers seat as well. It seems like he pulled this group together tonight. Didn't expect that.

Bret could be safe or he could become someone people target because he's not somebody else, you know? 

Oh man this is stressful not being in the majority for sure! I've been relatively safe for so long that I don't think I have yet experienced the dread of knowing I could so easily be the target tomorrow. I am going to feel that dread all day tomorrow aren't I? *THIS* is why I think I want to form some other group though. I am so torn. If I felt like Taylor and Jessica could truly be trusted I would not be thinking of forming something else, but them flipping tonight has me seriously re-thinking this Apples group. I just don't know if trying to form something new will make me look like *more* of a target, especially to people like Jess and Taylor. 

The survivor gods really wanted to keep me on my toes in this tribe. I really don't want tomorrow to be my last day but I also don't want to be overly paranoid. Too late.

PLEASE LET THE ANSWER COME TO ME IN A DREAM.