Episode 11 - And Then There's Me

[jordan]

So RB went on with a whimper. Two people on our side switched their votes to Hooker without telling the group, which is a little disconcerting. Really only because I didn't know it was going to happen. And I like to try and know who everyone's voting for at all times. Mostly because I want to be sure it's not me, but partially because I'm a control freak.

But that's all okay. I already know that Erin was one of the changes and Ashley or someone was probably the other. It was probably a good move even, just in case RB somehow ended up with the immunity idol. It doesn't really matter at this point .. the only point who has tried to go after me at all is gone, and that's a good thing. Now it gets a little tricky.

[jordan]

Man, I wish I was able to participate in that immunity challenge last night! I really enjoy live challenges like that. Maybe we'll have a few more

So Jeffrey won, which is cool. I'm just a little nervous about Jeffrey right now. I was thinking about this this morning .. he kind of owns the game right now. He's got the idol for himself of course, but if he wanted to pass it off to someone else he could do so at any time. I think someone is going to have to bring up the idea of blindsiding him soon, maybe even next round. At least find a way to flush out the idol. Because if it gets down to seven heroes and him, he is definitely going to want to use it and then one of the Heroes will go before him.

Nothing we can do about that this time though, since he has the non-hidden immunity necklace too. So it would appear that Hooker is in major danger. I will do what I can to gauge what the other Heroes are thinking and maybe try to get them to think about someone else. But having Juice on Exile makes that difficult. Maybe Ashley?

I'm not going to stick my neck out for Hooker, but he's a good guy and more importantly, he'd be a good person to keep around for me .. since he seems completely committed to our alliance and wouldn't go after me. I'll get the temperature of the room and decide what to do.

[jordan]

So apparently Tom knows about Jeffrey having the idol too. Ok .. Jeffrey has way too much power right now. He wants to team up with me and Tom apparently .. and bring Juice along for the ride. I'm not too down with that.

"Tom" (2:19:29 PM): heyy Jordan
pinkertonantics (2:25:10 PM): hey man - hows it goin
"Tom" (2:26:01 PM): pretty good, how about yourself?
pinkertonantics (2:28:26 PM): not too bad - real busy week at work this week but i'm hanging in there
pinkertonantics (2:28:31 PM): how was the challenge last night
pinkertonantics (2:28:37 PM): im mad i missed it! love those live ones
"Tom" (2:28:42 PM): apparently I missed it by like 2 min
"Tom" (2:28:43 PM): blast
pinkertonantics (2:28:46 PM): oh lame
"Tom" (2:29:00 PM): yeah I rushed home from work and got in around 9:15
"Tom" (2:29:10 PM): and I think they waited till like 9:10 or so before starting
"Tom" (2:29:47 PM): oh well, it was another social/political type challenge, so maybe it's good I just missed out
"Tom" (2:29:51 PM): even I though I love live challenges as well
pinkertonantics (2:30:32 PM): oh yeah? i thought it was just like minigames and stuff
"Tom" (2:31:11 PM): yeah, I think if you won the game or solved the puzzle, you got to select one person to move on to the next phase
"Tom" (2:31:20 PM): and then they'd pick someone, and they'd pick someone, until someone was left out
pinkertonantics (2:31:24 PM): ohh man
pinkertonantics (2:31:26 PM): no thank you
"Tom" (2:31:38 PM): yeah haha
pinkertonantics (2:32:17 PM): so have you talked to anyone about this vote?
"Tom" (2:32:40 PM): only a couple last night, very briefly
"Tom" (2:32:51 PM): I mean, I guess it's sorta understood...Hooker?
pinkertonantics (2:32:58 PM): yeah that's what I was thinking
pinkertonantics (2:33:17 PM): was interesting that jeffrey sent juice back to exile
"Tom" (2:33:27 PM): but TC questions haven't even been posted yet, so who knows how long we'll have to mull this over
pinkertonantics (2:33:33 PM): oh yeah haha thats true
"Tom" (2:33:51 PM): yeah, Erin said Jeffrey hesitated trying to decide who to send
"Tom" (2:33:56 PM): and then he finally sent Juice again
"Tom" (2:34:28 PM): to protect him, I assume
"Tom" (2:34:43 PM): I'm totally not voting for any hero, so that only leaves Hooker
pinkertonantics (2:36:12 PM): yup i totally agree
pinkertonantics (2:36:31 PM): only concern as usual is the idol .. but i feel like if RB had found it he would have known to play it
"Tom" (2:38:13 PM): ok...so I've sorta been wanting to talk to you about this whole idol business
"Tom" (2:38:38 PM): since the person who has it told me they have it and that they told you as well
pinkertonantics (2:40:00 PM): hahaha - well he told me not to tell anyone, so i wanted to keep it DL in case he found out .. did he tell you the same thing?
"Tom" (2:40:11 PM): yeah, basically
"Tom" (2:40:13 PM): haha
"Tom" (2:40:20 PM): but he did tell me he'd told you and Juice
"Tom" (2:40:37 PM): so, that makes me think they want to team up with us
pinkertonantics (2:41:46 PM): haha i was clearly planning on telling people eventually. and yeah that does make it seem like they're thinking in those terms
pinkertonantics (2:41:52 PM): what do you think about that?
"Tom" (2:42:09 PM): I mean...I really do love Jeffrey
"Tom" (2:42:19 PM): he's easily my favorite villain
"Tom" (2:42:28 PM): but basically he'd be asking us to stab 5 heroes in the back
pinkertonantics (2:42:28 PM): oh same here. i dont even see him as a villain really
pinkertonantics (2:42:32 PM): right
"Tom" (2:43:10 PM): Jeffrey was totally trying to push some buttons with me last night...wondering how the votes would go after Hooker leaves
"Tom" (2:43:27 PM): and I didn't really know what to say to him
"Tom" (2:43:56 PM): he'd mentioned how much he despises Ashley, and eh, Ashley's kinda been a floater to this point, so I think he thinks she'd be next
"Tom" (2:44:01 PM): but...ugh, I don't know
pinkertonantics (2:44:15 PM): what about Juice though? he'd want to keep him around you think
"Tom" (2:44:23 PM): yeah for sure
"Tom" (2:44:33 PM): that's why he sent him to exile, to keep him safe another round
pinkertonantics (2:44:45 PM): right .. that makes sense
pinkertonantics (2:44:53 PM): those two + the idol could be fairly dangerous
"Tom" (2:45:06 PM): yeah...tell me about it
"Tom" (2:45:19 PM): haha I'm so glad I can talk to you about this, because I didn't want to have to tell someone else just eyt
"Tom" (2:45:20 PM): yet
"Tom" (2:45:38 PM): as far as I know we're the only 2 heroes who know he has it
pinkertonantics (2:48:21 PM): ha yeah i'm really glad you brought it up .. he made it seem like i was the only one that knew
pinkertonantics (2:48:24 PM): but i figured that wasnt the case
pinkertonantics (2:48:24 PM): haha
"Tom" (2:48:37 PM): yeah, just don't tell him I told you
pinkertonantics (2:48:52 PM): oh definitely not
pinkertonantics (2:52:48 PM): hooker is scrambling
"Tom" (2:53:01 PM): he won't talk to me
pinkertonantics (2:53:02 PM): jeffrey wouldn't give him the idol, would he?
pinkertonantics (2:53:07 PM): haha wtf
"Tom" (2:53:14 PM): what's he saying?
"Tom" (2:53:31 PM): and I don't think Jeffrey would give it to him
"Tom" (2:53:38 PM): although...he did give it to you once upon a time
pinkertonantics (2:54:14 PM): yes he did indeed
pinkertonantics (2:54:20 PM): that was such a bizarre TC
pinkertonantics (2:54:34 PM): maybe he was trying to plant the seeds for this team up we're talking about
"Tom" (2:55:18 PM): yeah I'm really sure he wants to team up with us, like I said
"Tom" (2:55:26 PM): he just hasn't flat-out said that just yet
"Tom" (2:56:03 PM): if he did give Hooker the idol, who do you think they'd idol out of this game?
pinkertonantics (3:17:34 PM): ack sorry back
pinkertonantics (3:18:00 PM): well hooker has been made to think that morgan is leading the charge after him
pinkertonantics (3:18:15 PM): i dont know where he got that idea from .. if he came up with it himself or if someone told him that
"Tom" (3:18:38 PM): haha, how random
"Tom" (3:18:45 PM): considering Morgan's like never around
"Tom" (3:19:01 PM): but if he wants to think that...I won't stop him
pinkertonantics (3:19:40 PM): yeah my thoughts exactly
pinkertonantics (3:19:48 PM): when he told me that i was just like "huh.. yeah i could see that"
"Tom" (3:19:55 PM): haha
"Tom" (3:26:18 PM): well I'm gonna head out now but I'll be back tonight at some point
pinkertonantics (3:26:34 PM): sounds good man talk to ya later
"Tom" (3:26:39 PM): yup, see ya

[jordan]

And the scrambling begins. Jeffrey has way too much power .. I want to blindside him first chance we get. This is not that time.

I think we might scatter the votes for Hooker and Ashley. That way it doesn't look like we were lying to Hooker and also keep everyone safe in case Jeffrey gives him the idol. Dangerous but should just end up with Hooker leaving.

This is a very tricky tribal council and probably one that's going to determine a lot for the rest of this game. Definitely should have tried to be immune for this one instead of the last one. Oy.

[jordan]

I am lost right now.

Allow me to think out loud for a second about who's voting for who:

Definites:
HOOKER - Ashley
JEFFREY - Ashley
TUCKER - Ashley
MORGAN - Hooker
ASHLEY - Hooker
STEPHEN - Hooker

Probablys:
TOM - Hooker
ERIN - Hooker

And then there's me.

[jordan]

If Tom and are Erin are both going for Hooker, then the numbers are already there for Hooker to exit stage right tonight. And I don't want to piss off the other Heroes too much. On the other hand I don't want to piss Jeffrey off too much either. So this vote that I'm having such trouble making is really just about me, isn't it? It looks like Hooker might be going regardless.

And if Jeffrey gives the idol to Hooker, then at least it's only Ashley leaving AND the idol has been played.

This is interesting. Unlike last time I know exactly who everyone is probably going to vote for. That's the way I like it. I like to be in control of my own fate and this time I absolutely am. So much so that it looks like my vote may not even matter! So it's kind of a question of people's reactions. What am I going to stay to each person after each vote? Who's going to be more pissed off? Who do I not want to be pissed off at me?

Can't also forget that Juice is coming back. So that's going to be a vote with the Jeffrey/Hooker faction.

Jeffrey still has a lot of power, but it's looking like he may not have been able to pull this off yet. And the fact that Tucker dove into his plan is a little bit disconcerting. But that's ok I think. I want to get rid of Jeffrey and soon. But not too soon, or else it'll hurt me.

I think if I vote for Ashley this time I'll still be ok.

Stephen will be ok with the last minute vote switch if I tell him I wanted to keep the Villains + Idol happy.
I'll tell Tom I was afraid about Hooker having the idol and wanted to split the votes.
I'll tell Erin it wasn't me.
I'll tell Morgan ... I probably won't tell Morgan anything.
And Ashley will be gone.

Two of those statements are true. Man do I really want to start spinning lies like that at this point. I'm telling too many lies already. Not because I'm morally opposed to them but because they're too difficult to keep track of. I'm too old for this shit.

[jordan]

Tom and Erin are definitely voting Hooker. Jeff's not giving him the idol. His fate is sealed. Now it's all about what I wanna do:

pinkertonantics (3:16:32 PM): hi hi im here!!
"Tom" (3:16:48 PM): phew, I'm glad
pinkertonantics (3:16:49 PM): sorry my computer absolutely flipped out before
"Tom" (3:17:34 PM): no worries
"Tom" (3:17:49 PM): I'm home for the next hour or so...so some time to still chew on this
pinkertonantics (3:18:32 PM): yeah for sure
pinkertonantics (3:18:42 PM): so i know that its definitely between hooker and ashley
pinkertonantics (3:18:58 PM): and i dont think that hooker would be scrambling this much if he had an idol coming his way
"Tom" (3:19:11 PM): yeah, I would think the same
"Tom" (3:19:18 PM): does he know Jeffrey has it though?
pinkertonantics (3:19:22 PM): he does
pinkertonantics (3:19:28 PM): jeffrey told him last night apparently
"Tom" (3:19:34 PM): blast
"Tom" (3:19:52 PM): I mean, if Ashley gets idol'd out, it's not the worst tragedy in the world
pinkertonantics (3:20:04 PM): yeah i agree .. and then the idol is back in play too
"Tom" (3:20:07 PM): but if we vote for Hooker, I worry that Jeffrey will be on the offensive against us or something
pinkertonantics (3:20:26 PM): yes
pinkertonantics (3:20:34 PM): i talked to tucker this morning and he was thinking along the same lines
"Tom" (3:20:51 PM): yeah, and if Ashley gets to hand off an idol clue, I could see her giving it to Erin since they've become real buddy-buddy lately...so it'd be back in hero hands
pinkertonantics (3:21:15 PM): definitely
pinkertonantics (3:21:25 PM): i talked to erin briefly before on her phone and she's voting hooker
"Tom" (3:23:03 PM): yeah she messaged me and said she'd probably do that...and Stephen was wondering what was up two days ago but back then Ashley wasn't even in the equation
"Tom" (3:23:07 PM): haha, so I'm sure he's voted Hooker too
pinkertonantics (3:23:28 PM): haha yeah i agree
"Tom" (3:23:35 PM): you hear from Morgan lately?
pinkertonantics (3:23:43 PM): yup talked to her about 2 hours ago .. all hooker
"Tom" (3:24:14 PM): yeah, I figured
pinkertonantics (3:24:20 PM): i kind of want to try and make this a 5-4 Hooker vote
"Tom" (3:24:29 PM): why is that?
pinkertonantics (3:24:42 PM): well so that we get what we want, but then jeffrey wont be as peeved
pinkertonantics (3:24:56 PM): at least we "tried"..? haha
pinkertonantics (3:25:01 PM): or is my math totally off
"Tom" (3:25:07 PM): haha, yeah I think I see what you're saying
"Tom" (3:25:16 PM): so you think Tucker voted Ashley, or do you not know for sure?
pinkertonantics (3:25:39 PM): i dont know for sure - he was leaning that way when he left this morning though
"Tom" (3:25:57 PM): yeah, and he PM'd me and I sorta got that vibe, then freaked out because I had no context behind it
"Tom" (3:26:31 PM): so if he/Jeff/Hook are for Ashley, we'd need 1 more to make it 4 for her
pinkertonantics (3:26:59 PM): right .. do you think that's a good move? to get hooker out but make it close?
"Tom" (3:27:36 PM): yeah, could be
pinkertonantics (3:27:48 PM): like you said, if something gets effed up ashley getting idol'd or math'd out wouldn't be the worst thing .. but id rather keep the heroes together in the end i think
pinkertonantics (3:28:00 PM): jeffrey's got a lot of power with this idol now
"Tom" (3:28:49 PM): yes, he does
"Tom" (3:29:07 PM): you talking to him right now?
pinkertonantics (3:29:55 PM): nah hasn't IMed me yet - are you?
"Tom" (3:30:02 PM): nope
"Tom" (3:30:08 PM): I don't know what I'd say to him honestly
"Tom" (3:30:25 PM): ugh, I wish he'd started out as a hero because I really do love the guy
"Tom" (3:30:32 PM): but I just don't see how I can work with him, you know?
pinkertonantics (3:30:41 PM): I agree 100%
pinkertonantics (3:30:51 PM): including about not rushing to IM him because i have no idea what to say to him
"Tom" (3:31:01 PM): riiight
"Tom" (3:31:09 PM): I'm so glad I'm not alone in this situation
pinkertonantics (3:33:22 PM): yeah man same here
pinkertonantics (3:33:43 PM): the idol looms over all of this .. not really for this vote but for the future
"Tom" (3:34:01 PM): yeah it really does
"Tom" (3:34:31 PM): in some ways I think I actually want Jeffrey to hand it to Hooker just so that it gets out of his hands
"Tom" (3:35:12 PM): but of course then we have to deal with why Hooker got those votes
pinkertonantics (3:36:31 PM): yeah .. i mean theyre expecting erin/morgan/stephen/ash to vote for him
pinkertonantics (3:36:44 PM): its me you and tucker in the middle of this .. and not even tucker really
"Tom" (3:37:02 PM): yeah, so the onus is basically on us
"Tom" (3:37:04 PM): fantastic
pinkertonantics (3:39:13 PM): ha yup
pinkertonantics (3:39:23 PM): lets vote for juice
"Tom" (3:39:46 PM): haha ok!
"Tom" (3:39:47 PM): let's do it
pinkertonantics (3:44:17 PM): i wonder if jeffrey/hooker know that tucker's voting ashley
"Tom" (3:44:55 PM): well Jeffrey PM'd me this morning and said he was 'pretty sure' you and Tucker were voting Ashley
"Tom" (3:45:00 PM): and that I could be the 5th
pinkertonantics (3:45:18 PM): huh. i was very non committal with him .. less so talking to hooker
pinkertonantics (3:45:21 PM): so i guess they chatted
"Tom" (3:45:26 PM): yeah
pinkertonantics (3:53:28 PM): so here's the thing. if we both vote out ashley, then jeff/juice/hooker are basically not even going to look in our direction for the next few rounds
pinkertonantics (3:53:36 PM): and hopefully we'll be able to get them out before that
pinkertonantics (3:54:04 PM): the only one who might be a little pissed about it is Erin
"Tom" (3:55:23 PM): yeah, I worry about that
pinkertonantics (3:56:05 PM): on the other side, if we vote hooker out .. then Jeff and Juice and the Idol would all be angry
pinkertonantics (3:56:29 PM): not angry but .. not trusting of us anymore
pinkertonantics (3:56:30 PM): haha
"Tom" (3:57:01 PM): right...but then we heroes could always split our votes against Jeff/Juice so the idol can't hurt us
"Tom" (3:57:10 PM): since there's so many of us <3
pinkertonantics (3:57:42 PM): haha very true
"Tom" (4:02:45 PM): well I've gotta go in like 10 minutes and eh, I'm still leaning toward Hooker...trying to get Jeffrey convinced that Ashley would just be next then
pinkertonantics (4:05:23 PM): yeah that's probably a good move
pinkertonantics (4:05:42 PM): still on the fence over here
"Tom" (4:06:27 PM): well hey dude, do you just wanna leave this at you and I voting however we feel comfortable, and then joining up again no matter what happens? I wish I could talk more with you/jeff, but alas I cannot
pinkertonantics (4:07:09 PM): yeah for sure man .. i mean clearly the endgame here is the same .. heroes at the end
pinkertonantics (4:07:22 PM): the way we get there is getting a little tricky cause of this blasted idol
"Tom" (4:07:24 PM): totally
pinkertonantics (4:11:30 PM): i wanna see if i can get in touch with tucker too .. just to see
pinkertonantics (4:11:35 PM): i dunno if hes comin back tho
"Tom" (4:11:51 PM): well he gave us his British # a long time ago...haha, call him up
"Tom" (4:11:52 PM):
"Tom" (4:12:03 PM): he told me he was going with his fiancee somewhere this weekend
pinkertonantics (4:12:15 PM): haha oh yeah! +442495724968439634986
pinkertonantics (4:12:20 PM): aw thats cute
"Tom" (4:12:29 PM): hahahaha at the number
"Tom" (4:12:34 PM): and the random + sign
pinkertonantics (4:12:39 PM): hahah
"Tom" (4:12:46 PM): aw, such fun times
"Tom" (4:12:49 PM): I miss those days
"Tom" (4:13:28 PM): but anyway I'm off
"Tom" (4:13:32 PM): talk to ya later!
pinkertonantics (4:14:01 PM): have a good one dude!
pinkertonantics (4:14:11 PM): we'll get those days back in like 4 rounds
"Tom" (4:14:24 PM): <3333

[jordan]

SO now Jeffrey tells me Erin is switching her vote to Ashley.

Well ok then. Not the end of the world, right? That means if Ashley goes home, and I can just tell everyone on the Heroes side that I didn't know Erin was switching.

If Jeffrey or Erin are lying to me about Erin voting Ashley, then Hooker will go (sucks, but oh well). If people question me about why I voted for Ashley I'll tell them that Jeffrey has the idol and was threatening to give it to Hooker. I think I'll be able to spin this either way. Neither outcome is really perfect but that's ok in this case.

I'll vote for Ashley. Maybe just to create as much confusion is possible.