Episode 12 - have to pick a side.

[jordan]

Wow.

[jordan]

So that was a ridiculous tribal council. Ashley got 4 votes, Hooker got 4 votes, and Stephen got 1 vote. But Jeffrey gave Hooker the idol at the very very last minute. So even though it would have been a tie, Ashley got voted out. I am happy with my decision to vote for Ashley because I keep in the trust radar on Jeffrey and Hooker now. But I'm not sure how much longer I want to keep that up.

Basically, at this point I'm aligned with everyone. Every single person that's left in this game. I'm in three separate F6 deals. I just want to get there somehow, but I want to make sure I can spin it so that everyone on the jury still likes me. I'm out to win this thing.

So I'm not sure what the next move is. But I'm not gonna think about it really until after this immunity challenge. Can't make any decisions until then.

[jordan]

I'm going to need to pick a side here. And this is an ideal time to do it, with Tucker on the other side. I have a feeling he would send a vote towards the "backstab the Heroes" plan, and I'm leaning the other way right now. I know 95% what Stephen, Erin, Morgan, and Tom are going to do. I know 98% what Hooker is going to do. I'm a little more wary of what Juice and Jeffrey are going to do.

Jeffrey told me again that he found the immunity idol. I have to try and keep making it seem like he can trust me while he's still in the game so that he keeps telling me stuff like this. So if there's a way I can convince the Heroes that voting against one of them is actually a good move, then both sides will continue to trust me.

Right now everyone trusts me. That's a great position to be in. But soon enough somebody's going to catch on. I just hope that they catch on too late.

What I'm going to do depends completely on who wins Immunity. If Juice and Hooker with immunity and Jeff has the idol, we're either going to have to pull off a Jeff blindside, or at least get the idol out of his hands in some way. I don't know how that would plan out, I'm speaking in general terms for now. Hooker absolutely thinks I'm aligned with him and that's kind of true. What he doesn't know is that I'm aligned with everyone.

That can't last forever. But I'm going to try and make it last for as long as I possibly can.

[jordan]

I just made another F3 alliance with Tom. That's my third-ish one. Maybe fourth? I'm starting to feel a little bit like Russel, where I play a brilliant regular season game and then blow it in the playoffs. Call me the Lebron of iSurv1vor?

Maybe I can assume that everyone else is playing the game this way too. Then I should be able to spin things my way if I actually make it to the F3. Got a long way to go though.

[jordan]

Here's what's up.

Tucker is exiled.
Erin / Morgan / Tom are going to be voting for someone. A villain.
Jeffrey / Hooker / Juice are going to be voting for someone. A hero. Probably Erin.

Stephen and I are planning to tell the Villains we are voting with them.
Stephen is not going to be voting with them
I am still on the fence about this.
Only because of the presence of the idol. Well, partially because of the idol. I also want to try and stay on good terms with Hooker and those guys for the next two rounds and especially for the end. I want to be able to continue to control everything, but I also don't want to burn any bridges for the finals. This is when the game gets really hard. I'm playing to win this thing, and playing to ensure a victory is just not easy.

My gut is telling me to try and blindside Jeffrey. But I can't blindside him without letting the other Heroes know he has the idol. If I'm going to sell him out I'm going to sell him out completely.

Hooker has been telling me every single thought he's had about everything, and I want that to continue. Even if I don't necessarily plan on going to the end with him, I want to keep playing as if I am planning on going to the end with him for as long as I possibly can. He has a wealth of information and is telling my literally everything that's going on on the Villains side. It's kind of insane.

A Jeffrey blindside would be very difficult, but would have the highest reward. Voting out Hooker or Juice after telling them I was with them would make Jeffrey not trust me any more, and not telling me everything he's going ot do with the idol. That's what makes this so tricky, it's a question of do I want information in the next few rounds, or do I want to sew this up nicely, flush out the idol, and go to the end with the Heroes will making a lot of enemies on the way. I'm totally stuck in the middle between those two options right now.

Getting Jeffrey to give the idol to someone else would be another option, but I think he thinks Stephen and I are both voting with them this time. He's a little bit weary of Stephen though, so maybe I can use that to my advantage afterwards. Maybe I can say I thought Stephen was with us and then "oh no!" he changed his vote at the last second. Sorry I couldn't tell you, I didn't know about it myself.

Maybe I should just worry about spinning what happens after the TC is over. That's what I did in Peru and it seemed to work out okay I guess. But not okay enough because I didn't win. I want to try and play the perfect game this time. Keep everything in my control for the entirety of the game. So far it's happened, but I feel like the decision I'm stuck trying to make right now is really going to determine whether or not I remain in control of all of this.

[jordan]

This is going to be the move of the game if we pull it off. If it doesn't work I'm in semi-major trouble. This really could the risk that makes or breaks my game.

We're going to try and blindside Jeffrey. They all think the Heroes are going after Hooker, and that me and Stephen are on their side voting out Erin. They are doubly sure this is going to go as planned. We just HAVE to make sure jeffrey doesn't use the idol and then vote for him. I can totally see him playing it for himself at the last minute, but this might be a risk we have to take in order to get him/the idol out. He'll either play it and Erin goes home, give it to Hooker and he goes home, or go home idol in hand. The first option would be bad, clearly, because he wouldn't trust me with idol information or really anything anymore. But then we'd still have 5-3 advantage when Tucker gets back from Exile. That's overcome-able.

I could still stick with Jeffrey and the Villains and vote out Erin .. then I'll be in a solid alliance of 4 (5 when Tucker returns) on the other side, with an idol in hand. But then the Heroes will really be gunning for me and I'll lose allies that I really feel like I can fully trust at this point.

..that outcome doesn't sound too bad. Uh oh.

Now I'm stuck again.

I'm gonna sleep on this and see how I feel tomorrow. Until then...

[jordan]

So apparently the girls are going for Juice now. That's just great. Just effing great. Because now if I lie to Jeffrey and backstab Juice, they are totally not going to trust me anymore.

This was a chance to make a big move and they just couldn't pull it off. Now it puts me in an even more horrible situation where I'm probably going to have to blame someone I'm close to in order to give this any kind of spin.

What would happen if I forced the tie?

[jordan]

Not a good move, Tom:

"Tom" (4:21:04 PM): heyyy...you around?
pinkertonantics (4:23:41 PM): hey man!
pinkertonantics (4:23:43 PM): hows is goin
pinkertonantics (4:24:00 PM): ha didnt realize that autoresponse was up
"Tom" (4:24:22 PM): it's going fantastically
"Tom" (4:24:35 PM): kinda ready for this vote and the next 3-4 to be over and done with already
pinkertonantics (4:24:42 PM): uh yeah for sure
"Tom" (4:26:10 PM): basically Erin's uber-paranoid about Jeff playing the idol and wants to vote Juice...Morgan randomly came on late last night and felt the same way
"Tom" (4:26:47 PM): as far as I know that's how Morgan's voted, if she doesn't come online in the next couple hours
pinkertonantics (4:28:47 PM): oh man really?
pinkertonantics (4:28:58 PM): yeah i saw a chat invite when i woke up this morning from morgan
"Tom" (4:29:23 PM): haha, you just missed us then
pinkertonantics (4:29:40 PM): has anyone talked to jeffrey today? i havent seen him on at all
pinkertonantics (4:29:44 PM): and he hasnt responded to the TC yet
"Tom" (4:29:54 PM): he and Stephen were chatting earlier
"Tom" (4:30:06 PM): I messaged him and we talked for about 15 seconds before the convo died
pinkertonantics (4:30:20 PM): man i wish i had seen him on to gauge his thoughts on the idol
"Tom" (4:30:25 PM): he thinks I'm voting Hooker and he's already said he's not gonna do that...so there's really not much to talk about
pinkertonantics (4:30:29 PM): yeah
"Tom" (4:30:52 PM): our thoughts are basically that he either gives the idol to Hooker or plays it for himself knowing he can find another one either way
"Tom" (4:30:58 PM): and that there's no logical reason he'd give it to Juice
pinkertonantics (4:31:02 PM): yeah that is true.
pinkertonantics (4:31:07 PM): my issue personally with voting juice is that if im lying to jeffrey, which im doing, and then he doesnt go .. hes going to be really pissy at me
pinkertonantics (4:31:16 PM): and then he's going to go after me like he is with erin.
"Tom" (4:31:20 PM): right...but he'd be pissy at me and Stephen too
"Tom" (4:31:38 PM): and ultimately, it won't matter...because with only 2 of them left after this, we have them
pinkertonantics (4:31:45 PM): not if jeffrey has an idol..
"Tom" (4:31:54 PM): we can split votes between him and Hooker
pinkertonantics (4:32:34 PM): so itd be 3-3-2
pinkertonantics (4:32:48 PM): and then the only way they survive is if one of em wins immunity
"Tom" (4:33:13 PM): right...that's the lone concern...we'd have to keep one of them from winning the next challenge
"Tom" (4:33:56 PM): and one of us would have to find the next idol if he does indeed play it in some form this round
pinkertonantics (4:34:14 PM): yeah .. he'd get the first clue though
pinkertonantics (4:34:26 PM): and we already know hes really good at finding them, even without clues
"Tom" (4:34:40 PM): I have a feeling it'll be hidden in the general thread on our forum though...we could have 5 of us scouring those posts all at once
"Tom" (4:34:45 PM): surely one of us would hit before him
"Tom" (4:36:02 PM): I don't know, there's pros and cons to each scenario...I've always maintained to do whatever the group wants
"Tom" (4:36:13 PM): the ladies are for Juice, and I get the feeling you and Stephen are more for Jeffrey
"Tom" (4:36:16 PM): so...fantastic
pinkertonantics (4:37:38 PM): haha i mean we have to all go the same way or this is a disaster
pinkertonantics (4:37:47 PM): and if morgan already voted for juice then thats that i guess
"Tom" (4:38:08 PM): ugh...I wish she'd get online to confirm that
"Tom" (4:38:22 PM): usually she's good at messaging and stuff
"Tom" (4:40:16 PM): man...Tucksy is missing out on all this fun
pinkertonantics (4:40:27 PM): yeah, i wish she wouldve sent us a PM or something last night
pinkertonantics (4:40:31 PM): haha seriously
"Tom" (4:40:42 PM): wonder what his thoughts would be on all this
pinkertonantics (4:41:05 PM): he we could split it 3-3-3 if he were here!
pinkertonantics (4:41:11 PM): haha
"Tom" (4:41:19 PM): *mind explodes*
pinkertonantics (4:47:53 PM): hahaa
"Tom" (4:53:57 PM): well I need to take off for a bit...might be back around the deadline...but is voting Juice cool with you?
pinkertonantics (4:54:58 PM): i mean it's not my first choice, but seems to be our only one at this point
pinkertonantics (4:55:03 PM): haha as long as we're all still around im ok
"Tom" (4:55:54 PM): yeah...and if all this works out and Jeffrey gives you a hard time, you could possibly spin it that you kept him in the game over Juice rather than blindside him straight-out
"Tom" (4:56:19 PM): but meh...he'll be ticked at all the heroes, no doubt
"Tom" (4:56:20 PM): =/
pinkertonantics (4:57:19 PM): yeah, we wont know what hes gonna do with the idol now .. not that we know now really though
pinkertonantics (4:57:19 PM): haha
"Tom" (4:58:22 PM): yeah seriously
"Tom" (4:58:29 PM): can't wait to move on from this
"Tom" (4:58:43 PM): well I'm off to dinner...talk to you soon friend
pinkertonantics (4:59:09 PM): alright see ya dude

[jordan]

Let's break this down like last time. That helped didn't it?

Definitely voting for Juice:
Erin
Morgan
Tom

Most Likely Voting for Erin:
Hooker
Juice
Jeffrey

It appears as if the idol is not in play this time. I've told the girls/Tom that and they don't seem to believe me. This is really really frustrating. I'm actually kind of pissed about it.

Breaking it down didn't help. Stephen just signed on. Let's see what he says.

[jordan]

This is a mess.

Jeffrey is not using the idol. This is such a stupid move by Morgan and Erin. I'm really considering just forcing a tie so that Jeffrey keeps trusting me.

I can maybe spin it to the Heroes that Jeffrey told me he was going to use the idol on Juice and lied about it. If I vote Juice out with them then Jeffrey is going to come after me and Hooker isn't going to trust me anymore.

Wait..does anyone have past votes? Is that how tiebreakers are done? Ughghghghgh

[jordan]

have to pick a side. have to pick a side. go big or go home, right?

[jordan]

If I vote Juice. Here's what I tell everyone.

Erin - you owe me.
Morgan - you really owe me.
Tom - they owe me.
Stephen - yeesh.

Tucker - i voted Juice out because i knew we weren't going to have the numbers to do it and i knew juice had past votes. i didn't want to take the chance of going to a tie, i wanted it to be a sure shot and this was the only way that could happen.

Jeffrey - I voted Juice because Stephen told me at the very last minute that he was switching to Juice. I knew we wouldn't have the numbers and thought it was based on past votes, so I wanted a sure shot to make sure I didn't have 5 people gunning for me.

Hooker - I voted Juice because Stephen told me at the very last minute that he was switching to Juice. I wanted to keep you in, but they said they'd only move to Juice if they knew they could trust me. I wanted to keep you out of a tiebreaker.
OR - I know that I'm a solid member of the Heroes 5 alliance, I'm not sure that I would have lasted past the Final 4 if I teamed up with you guys this time. But I'd still like to look out for each other in the future..?

I have no problem throwing Stephen under the bus, clearly, but I don't think it's going to matter. Time to pick a side. Way less stress this way at least...? Then we split the votes next time 3-3-2 and one of them goes home, even with the idol played. We just have to MAKE SURE that one them doesn't win immunity, or else it could be me. They're going to be out for me now.

Here goes nothing...