- Tonight's challenge was a ranking-based one. Were you shocked or surprised at where the averages were? How do you feel about your place on the overall social ranking, do you agree with it? How about your reaction for the other tribe's ranking?
So first of all, being randomized to not be a part of the ranking is such a blessing, and sitting from the challenge is also an advantage. I tried to sit out pretending I don't care but then accidentally offered to do it again when Ricard wasn't there. Honestly it's not a HUGE deal and it's a bit cowardly to bow out of it so like I'm fine with having done it, I just feel like making everybody do it and averaging the scores or something wouldn't let people be lame and not do it!
So I don't know my place, I would estimate probably in the 5th or 6th spot? People were obviously interpreting 'important' a little bit different because they put Jacob second and he's basically negligible here on his own, at least on like a connections basis? It feels like there was some mix of social ability, challenge ability, and power on the tribe that went in when I was treating it more as a social hierarchy. Jacob is just too high nonetheless and I think Genie is the most powerful member of the tribe by far. I think some strategy might have went into their votes to try and not alert Dom that others weren't super invested in him.
The other tribe is basically what I expected with Crete trending towards the top. The only surprise I guess is seeing Tyler so far toward the bottom, I would have expected him to end up somewhere more around where Erika was but it lends credit to the theory that it was a tie the other night and Erika jumped ship either then or around then. Within Crete on that side itself it's pretty well what I'd expect as well.
What is the best moment of your game so far? Whether it be a move, a strategy, a bond, etc.
So I think my game has been pretty free from major moments so far so this is tough to answer. I think being alerted about the Dom vote tonight is a pretty big thing THOUGH I'll talk a bit more on this later. It's definitely better than it could have been but I still could have played the whole situation a lot better. Beyond this I think surviving OG Crete and particularly the Michaela vote was something I can credit to myself. Obviously I don't think I DESERVED to be in trouble there in the first place but to be outcast like that right away and be able to survive another 3 TCs, even when I was the only one left of that group shows a level of tenacity that I am happy with.
Most people look at 3 main pillars for Survivor: Strategic, Physical, and Social game. As of right now, which one is your strongest and which one is your weakest, and why?
Social game will always be what props my Survivor game up and completely carries it and it's absolutely the case here as well. My building connections with Genie and Lindsey is why I'm not in the same spot that somebody like Jay is now and am likely safe from the boot tomorrow and have a passage into merge. I don't think my social game has been at it's absolute best during this game, I've been a little tired and distracted by other things so I've let some relationships slip more than I should but in GENERAL it's easily the strongest point of my game.
My physical game is usually really good! It's... not as much here. I've been like serviceable in the group challenges for the most part though I flubbed one or two quite a bit. I'm also usually MUCH better about idol hunting to the point where it's like my defining characteristic as a player. I think both of these will see a return to mean come the merge, I will starting showing my challenge strength more than I have and if there is an idol that I can get any clues for I intend to find it. I don't even like having idols really I just... like finding them...
And my strategic game is honestly the bane of my Survivor existence I just don't have much patience for strategy in this kind of setting, I think from pure experience and also being a not stupid person my strategy is good enough to not be an issue in most cases, but it's never the point of distinction for sure. That said, I do think that social and strategic games are just so incredibly intertwined it's really hard to truly distinguish between them, a good strategic game cannot be had with a good social basis unless everybody has come in with the mindset to play it robotically which is never really the case.
Who has overstayed their welcome the most in this game? Who do you think went home too early?
Jacob. I mean I doubt it's a surprise that I will say that and like I don't want to be too hard on the guy because obviously some people are just less inclined to general small talk and... not so small talk. BUT it's clearly a part of Survivor and I still think he should be held to be a god awful conversationalist. He messages me like every other day saying "we don't talk much" and no SHIT because the guy is basically allergic to talking. Every time I try to start any line of conversation he must actively think about the least entertaining answer he could possibly give. If you want to talk more THEN YOU TRY STARTING SOMETHING because any question if I ask him what he's up to it's 'nothing' if I ask what his opinion on something is 'i don't care' and if I say anything about the game he just goes 'yeah' so give me a BREAK.
On the equally distant end of the spectrum Michelle leaving first is an absolute travesty and something you need to amend in another season. I've honestly probably built her up to be better than she is in my head through the bitterness towards all the others but she was just so much livelier, funnier, and more charismatic than any other person on Crete and they're all fucking psychos for killing her. I'll preach it until I DIE.
How does tonight's boot affect you and your game going forward?
Okay so I've talked about this a lot over the past few days, it obviously affects it a TON.
On the positive end, it really opens up who I can work with and who will chat strategy to me. I really do believe people were scared to tell me things earlier because they were worried I would run it back to Domenick and like I don't even blame them for it because it obviously would look like that based on our history. It lets me be seen more as a player in my own right and not a number of his, which was going to need to happen for me to have any respect in the merge and more specifically if I am able to reach endgame. It saves me sanity because he stressed me the hell out and especially going into merge it'll be nice to not have to contend with his paranoias and strange ideas and TELLING ME HOW MORGAN AND JAMES WANTED ME OUT EVERY DAY. It provides me a pretty free next round I think because Jay and Jacob will obviously be the targets over me, and if they do idol I don't think I'd be the target of them because why would I? It's good that he left before jury so there are no hard feelings of his bringing down the jury perspective of me from the start.
On the negative end, I think it would have benefited me a bit to have him around a bit longer. He could have been a pretty valuable shield in the early merge rounds when things are busy and potentially crazy. He offered a bridge of connection to Wendell again and I really don't think he would have come after me. I think I would be somewhat safer with him around. Beyond Dom himself, I think the vote is a little bit rough because of how I handled Lindsey a few days ago and I wish I could have done that differently. I was really trying to be careful with her and show interest in taking Dom out while trying to keep Bradley going first as I still think this would have been better for me, but I think the plan in this stage was already further along than I was aware and if I had harder committed I would have been able to build a stronger bond with her and potentially Will from several days ago. This isn't necessarily a HUGE deal, but it could be. It's more those 5 + me versus the US 6 it could have been at this point if I had committed to the idea earlier and that was a bad call on my end.
In the end I think things turned out okay, I am very glad that I was brought into what happened obviously and I'm not unhappy with the outcome. I think already tonight I have started the road to forming better bonds with Genie and Lindsey and have been doing my best to repair things a bit with Bradley which IS going to be a point of trouble that I'll need to patch up and fill with love over the next little while. I've been trying to distance myself from them a bit to Jacob and Jay, I don't want to look like a firm member of their group because I don't think I AM and if they are going to idol or otherwise grab power in the merge I don't want to be one of their primary targets. And I don't think I will be really, I think it makes far more sense to target people like Genie or Lindsey who have more ties on the other side and will likely never be a number for them. I don't really think I'll be voted out... anytime soon? Just because I think I offer some hope to both sides as somebody they could have in the future, I just need to make sure to leverage this position correctly over the next week or so because it will be important.
