OK THEN
So like I said I do owe a bit of an apology. One of the reasons why I wasn't being quite as active here initially about 2 weeks or so ago was because another AS game started (Arcana) and I wanted to dedicate some time to getting a good start there. I never forgot about this game obviously as I was still talking to people in both, but I feel like there was a noticeable decrease in my activity game wise and especially in confessionals. I was eliminated fairly early in that game tho last week and rather than making me want to pour literally all my time into here like I thought it would do; it actually made me take a bit of a step back ORG wise for a variety of reasons but mostly out of salt tbh. I know this rly isn't the place for excuses, but I still want to say this anyway just to explain the last while.
At the same time, it probably helped me being forced away from this game to get me in a better place for longevity purposes. Like I said when I was on the block (which feels like years ago), I need to take a step back and kinda let everyone else do their thing as I slide away out of the limelight. I did literally exactly that, given these last few rounds I've been in a spot where I think vast majority of the game has no desire to target me because they feel like I'm potentially either useful for them or for an ally of theirs. Now that it's been a few rounds I think I'm in the clear about as much as I can be after everything blew up with the alliance stuff (for me, twice).
Having the Jun-Ika-Natalie-Howard alliance blow up was absolutely incredible for me because of how much it shifted dynamics to my favor. I got to play up the whole "feeling alone" thing thanks to Natalie being a part of that alliance and Arlie voting against me, meaning I was able to attempt to solidify Jackie as someone who wouldn't target me; someone who I had little relationship with.
The whole alone thing helped out with Cody too. I essentially straight up ratted out Jackie to him and told him about the conversation we had about how he went to her saying I was trying to get her on the block. Not like I thought Jackie was lying, and Cody didn't seem to exactly deny it all either, but I knew that I needed to air that out in order to create some minute level of trust between the two of us so he wouldn't nom me if he wins HoH. He's good at comps and USUALLY I am too so we both talked about that too and how we kinda need to stick together and avoid going after the other. I highly doubt this is going to be a bond I can exactly rely on, but for now I don't need that I just need him to not be after me.
This last round or so was kinda weird for me because I really don't think THAT much happened? Every other round seems to see this huge shift of game dynamics, and I don't feel like that was as much of a thing here. Kelsey won HoH and put up Erika and Arlie, alrighty I mean makes sense for her given both of them put her up as their eventual target. She said she was between Arlie and Ika for the 2nd nom and wanted Erika as her target which I felt kinda meh about.
I've actually had a relationship with Erika for the majority of the game, a generally positive one. I don't think she was ever gonna go out of her way to save me, but I think that I can at least somewhat trust her to save me over a vast majority of people in the game. Ika I could never be sure about given she says one thing to me and then something else to someone else and then just blows up whenever something doesn't remotely go her way. That kind of unpredictability and drama is probably great from a HC perspective which is why I understand why she's so liked, but from a game perspective it can get rough. I was hoping Ika would get to be the target instead but I didn't get much of a say given this is Kelsey's HoH and I wasn't going to risk everything to get Ika up.
I had a feeling this whole vote to stay thing was going to make the round tricky, but I was just trying not to think about it. When the MVP nominated Porsche I can't say I was mega surprised, given I hadn't heard who the MVP was and if it was someone on Kelsey's side I probably would have heard something. Not like Porsche was realistically in any danger tho and I have a feeling deep down she knew that and was just worried by nature of being on the block. Jackie said that both Erika and ika told her they weren't the MVP but since then she apparently told Kelsey that Ika was MVP and nommed Porsche. I feel like it'd be funny if Jackie was MVP and did that and is using Ika as a scapegoat now that she's gone, but not like it's a huge deal regardless.
Anyway, I was getting a bit ahead of myself there chronologically because I didn't even get to talk about PoV! Erika winning it seemed to come out of nowhere for me and I'LL BE HONEST, Cody posting all the time about wanting to compete in veto is getting annoying lol. The last few rounds have literally been all about speed posting. Idk if anyone remembers this, but I kinda blew the cast away in the 2nd HoH comp with speed posting and if they want someone to win veto I feel like that's my best chance of not getting 2nd. Tbh it's probably a GOOD thing they have forgotten about it, and tbf week 2 feels like 21 years ago. Anyway, not competing in veto is boring and I feel like I could have done well haha.
Although ALSO ALSO, Erika winning was probably way better for me than if she stayed on the block lol. This means that Kelsey puts up Ika anyway and she likely becomes the target. I was worried that Howard and Erika would vote to keep her but Jackie apparently told Porsche about wanting to keep Arlie so it didn't look like there was gonna be a problem. As long as Ika only got 2 votes then she was going because Kelsey would break the tie.
I told both Arlie and Porsche that I was going to vote for him to stay. To Porsche, I said this was because I knew she was safe anyway and that she didn't need my vote while we wanted to make sure Ika went. To Arlie, I said that it was because I wanted to have his back and stuff. Tbh I see Arlie as an excellent opportunity given how alone he is. The big reason I was given to keep Ika was that her targets were clear and that she wasn't going after me. But like, Arlie isn't going after me either and I feel like he can go either way between the sides as far as targeting them which would be perfect for me if I stay out of the crossfire.
I began getting worried when Jackie told me she wanted to keep Ika. I didn't want to show my cards too early as far as wanting her out and basically working with Kelsey because at that moment I felt like it was probably ambiguous as far as to where I stood, putting me as close to the "middle" as possible. I don't plan on making the same mistake as Jun and Ika and being too obvious about it, so I just didn't want to put my foot down and pick a side when next round anything could happen. Also, if Jackie was keeping Ika, then I assumed Arlie was toast cuz I'd be the only vote to keep him. I tried to tell her about what Kelsey said about how Ika told he she would have nommed Jackie and I had she won HoH, but she didn't believe Kelsey (don't remotely blame her even I'm skeptical tbh). Kelsey also said something about how Ika deleted the log so she couldn't send it to us. Not like I personally took any of that as a big deal given Ika wasn't gonna tell the HoH she was after her, but it's never great being the name someone else uses as a potential target cuz it's not long until it goes from potential to kinetic (hehe, physics joke).
Luckily we have Howard. When he came back from his time away we had a quick chat before DL about keeping Arlie. He said he didn't want to be the vote that sent Ika home, which was awkward given that's exactly what he was going to be. I just tried to make it clear that i think we're both in similar spots and that Arlie is probably more reliable for us both than Ika. Eventually he ofc decided to keep Arlie, probably also because of some pressure on Kelsey's part and a talking to with Natalie. I haven't forgotten that Howard and Natalie are tight so I'm thinking that was actually the conversation that changed his stance about Ika, rather than anything I said or that Kelsey could have said.
Kelsey is obviously in a very powerful position this game. I feel like that's obvious tho and that she'll have people go against her eventually, heck they already have with Ika and Erika and stuff. However for now I'm not sure who will vote her or when which means I eventually am going to need to take control of my own desitny. I am gonna talk to Howard about this tonight and about long term plan stuff with how to deal with Kelsey and Co (who I associate as Porsche, Corey, and Kelsey). Natalie is also kinda part of that but I don't think it's to the point where it's anything to be super worried about given she's admitted to not having much of a bond with Corey or Porsche.
Hoping for the best though! Got a lotta game left.
