Round 15

I am now final 2 and feel really positive about my game. I made peace with Cam and Kenya and feel like I rectified my relationships with Cam and Kenya that were hurt because I had too effectively convinced them previously that I would take both of them to final 2 but could only take one. That was a fault of mine. Final tribal council has started, and I typed the best introduction that I feel like I'm possible of making. I want to win this so much, but I'm not going to try to predict anything because I don't want to be disappointed. I mean, I think I deserve to win and CAN win, but if Kenya beats me, I'll be happy for her and satisfied with 2nd.

It's been a fun ride, and the only thing that I can do this tribal council is try my best.

Kenya clearly assumes she played the better game, which I disagree with and hope to convince the jury. We shall see, but I couldn't be happier with my strategy and feel like my social game was also fairly strong.

I'm so mad that I just posted a conversation on the site. Like, seriously, that's not even completely fair and if I lose, I deserve it. Ugh.

It also goes against my principles, but whatever.

I feel like my response and Kenya may have isolated Sadie from me. So now for the first time, I think I could lose this game, and that makes me really sad. We'll see though. I hope Bryan and Cory post soon so we can just end this.

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Wow, this is it.

Based on all of your questions and comments, there are four potential misconceptions in the following paragraphs that I'd like to clear up before concluding.

The first is that I don't feel like I used challenges to get to the end of the game. I was there for every challenge and worked VERY hard, mainly with Cam, but as long as the winner of the challenge was favorable and an ally ended up in the glass elevator, that's all that I cared about. I wanted the main emphasis to be on Cam as the primary challenge threat anyway just to stay more under the radar from a challenge perspective. There was one challenge at final 5 I needed to make sure that Sadie didn't win or I could have been in danger, and I won it for the safety net. I don't think me being vulnerable there and having to win that challenge is any different or more of a weakness in my game than Kenya needing to win the challenge at the tribe swap and winning it with Deetster's help. Would we have gone home if we weren't immune? Who knows, but we had backup plans for if we weren't. I won the final 3 challenge for security, but I had a plan to be safe with or without it along with the other challenges that I won. I just don't think it's fair to say my game mainly had to do with winning challenges or winning challenges is the reason I got here. I think it was mainly the strategic/social aspects of my game that got me here. Putting effort into the challenges was something that I did, but it's not what I consider the main strength of my game.

The second misconception is that I feel like it's unfair to say that Kenya obliterated me with the social aspect of the game because there were multiple people who she didn't talk to much who I more frequently talked to, which I think is evident from these jury comments. I didn't talk to Kyle at all for the one round we were together, but everyone else, I tried to talk to when I saw them around, even if I didn't plan on working with them. I didn't just neglect anyone, even had some really interesting non-game related chats that will hopefully help me form friendships after the game, and tried not to lie more than I needed to because lies just create negative perception. And while I put strategy ahead of everything, I did keep in mind from the time I got my Golden Ticket that not just making it to the final 2 was enough for the chocolately prize that I kept referring to in my tribal council comments...you also have to keep your perception from the jury in mind for final tribal council if you don't want all your work to be for 2nd place, so it's just really important to talk to everyone every round.

The third is that I want to emphasize that despite not having multiple alliances with most of the cast, I didn't feel like that lack of alliances made me any more vulnerable than Cam and Kenya were. Aligning with most of the cast to achieve that perfect safety net isn't necessary if you don't have to do it, which was the case for me. That strategy is completely dependent on having the jurors forgive you and put their bitterness aside. Plus if there is some kind of glass elevator prize that results in someone you betray staying in the game or coming back into the game, it just makes you even more vulnerable and creates large amounts of negative energy towards you. There could have easily been glass elevator or outcast twists that put Kenya in danger. Or if Cam had won the final 3 challenge, which he was 1 point away from achieving, then she was in danger to go home. The rounds I was vulnerable and Cam and Kenya had the option to oust me, I made sure that I got closer to them so that they did not. There are plenty of "I could have taken you out when..." or other "What if..." scenarios, but the fact is, we both made it to the end, and we only had a single vote apiece that we got from each other or our allies at final 5 and final 4 that were not even intended to take each other out.

And lastly, did I make the most decisions and completely control the game? No, no one can control a game. I do feel like I'm underrated because by talking to Cam and Kenya and the rest of the cast, I was in a position where I was getting the most information and could provide feedback to influence the votes if I needed to. I'd tell Cam what Kenya was saying, tell Kenya what Cam was saying and slightly over-emphasize or under-emphasize points of discussion for my benefit. With the exception of Pete going home who I couldn't save based on the unique situation, all of the votes went towards the targets who I wanted gone the most anyway, so there was no reason for me to try to change them and just stick out more. It allowed me to appear more under the radar as a type of floater when in essence, I was a very secure, centered player for the whole game. And I liked it that way.

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So with that, I'll just say that I'm content with the way that I played this game and balanced strategy, social skills, and challenges. I feel like I've thought the game through, worked very hard, and believe that I'm deserving to win that unlimited supply of chocolate. I would VERY MUCH like you to vote for me to win But I'm not going to try to influence you to vote based on some criteria favorable to me because every juror has the right to vote however they want based on whatever criteria that they choose, and I'll give you that respect.

Hopefully all of you got some fun out of this game. Thank you, and have a chocolatey day.

I'm happy with my closing and ready to post it. When are we allowed to do that? I'm ready for this to end.

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Wow, this is it. My last chance to fill in final details and argue why I deserve this.

Based on all of your questions and comments, there are two potential misconceptions in the following paragraphs that I'd like to clear up before concluding.

First, I want to dispute the claim that I got here through winning challenges and not because of a social/strategic game. I strongly disagree with that. Primarily, I got here by coming up with a strategy to get to the final 2, and I made an effort to talk to the other players, except for Kyle who I was only with a single round. I talked to people whether I wanted to work with them or not, quite frequently with most. I also genuinely enjoyed talking to some people and would randomly talk non-game with them for hours. Sure, I won a lot of challenges, but my main emphasis for the challenges was just making sure that an ally won and the glass elevator prize was controlled. The only challenge where I didn't have 100% safety was final 5 if Sadie won since Bryan and Cam had glass-elevator prizes and Kenya didn't have any past-votes, so I invested my day in it and won it. If not, I had a backup plan that may have worked. But if my potential vulnerability and dependency on a challenge there is considered a weakness, I feel like the same thing applies to Kenya who said she needed that first tribe swap immunity to help her game (which I also won to get Bryan in the glass elevator), and she needed to make sure Cam didn't win final immunity to make the final 2. Ultimately, I just worked hard in the challenges, but that wasn't the reason why I got to the end of the game.

Did I make the key decisions and completely control the game? No, I definitely did not. No one can completely control a game. I do feel like I'm underrated because by talking to Cam and Kenya and comparing what they said with what rest of the cast told me, I was in a position where I was getting the most information and could provide feedback to influence the votes or strategy if I needed to, sometimes even over-emphasizing or under-emphasizing points to Cam and Kenya to get certain opinions and reactions. I did this without making "final #" deals with everyone, factoring into effect that there was no reason for me to do that and it would just make me look bad later. Besides Pete, who I wasn't able to save due to not having enough members of Snozzwanger around to come up with a different plan, all of the votes/strategic plans were favorable to me, so I didn't see any reason to change them and unnecessarily stick out. If stories weren't matching and I sensed Cam and Kenya had other plans, I could use what Cam and Kenya were telling me to influence Cory and Deet and convince them that they were being played, and I was in a good spot because if there was an outcast twist or surprise glass elevator twist, outcasts/blindsided players would be upset with them and not me. It allowed me to appear more under the radar as a type of floater when in essence, I was a very secure, centered player for the whole game. And I liked it that way. The rounds I was vulnerable and Cam and Kenya had the option to oust me, I made sure that I got closer to them so that they did not. There are plenty of "I could have taken you out when..." or other "What if..." scenarios, but the fact is, we both made it to the end, and we only had a single vote apiece that we got from each other or our allies at final 5 and final 4 that were not even intended to take each other out.

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So with that, I'll just say that I'm content with the way that I played this game and balanced strategy, social skills, and challenges. I feel like I've thought the game through, worked very hard to execute the best strategy I could think of to get my original alliance to the final 4 and then get to the final 2 by convincing Cam it was in his best interest to help me split Bryan/Kenya and also splitting the duo of Cam/Kenya. I believe that I'm deserving to win that unlimited supply of chocolate, and I would VERY MUCH like you to vote for me to win. But I'm not going to try to influence you to vote based on some criteria favorable to me because every juror has the right to vote however they want based on whatever criteria that they choose, and I'll give you that respect.

Hopefully all of you got some fun out of this game. Thank you, and may your days be filled with chocolate.

I like this closing better.

Interesting observation: In 4 of the 7 jury question/comments, Kenya mentions loving someone in the final 9. If that's not suckup, I don't what is.

I think Sadie's probably most disappointed in me after the questioning, and I'm most likely to lose her vote, but hopefully not. I think Bryan will likely vote for Kenya, but who knows. Everyone else however, I think I've got a fair shot at. I'm maybe more confident than I should be, but I do think I've done well and have a shot at winning an ORG Planet game.

If Kenya wins, I'll be a little disappointed, but it's still cool.

--- Oh, one other note: This was my favorite final tribal council EVER. There was nothing that I just rolled my eyes at, like compare each contestant to a Survivor or color of the rainbow or anything that was just flat-out frustrating and, in my eyes, a waste of time. "Make a poem, make a picture, rank..." That kind of thing. Thank you, Board of Trustees. I <3 you all!

I'm all done with this game. Episodes? I'm excited because I should get plenty of exposure, although that just prolongs the wait to see if I won. But it's not something I haven't experienced before.

And naturally, I've already edited my closing like 20 times. This is why I wanted to just get this done already. I'm such a perfectionist that I can't stop thinking about it and how it's going to be perceived. I probably should've just thanked the jury and shut up, but nah. I want my opinion to be clear and just hope that closing doesn't hurt me.

Can pre-jury see final tribal council or something? I'm confused about why Travis IMed me congratulating me and how other pre-juries have known what was going on?