Post by Sydney Wheeler on Aug 13, 2013 10:06:05 GMT -5
Jinkies ~ a word that sums up my feelings on making it to this point in the game. My first confessional in the game was "that it would be a miracle for anyone to make the merge" - and for those who made Final Tribal Council - "it would be like winning the lottery." So looking back at my first expectations from two months ago, and looking to where I am now, I am very happy with the way I played my game. A way that has allowed me to reach Final Tribal Council with no poignant regrets.
I had a big reputation coming into the game, that had both a positive and negative reception. Both as an orger and a former Sausage finalist. Most of the original Allstars from my season opted not to play, and I felt like I was coming into a game where so many relationships existed in this series that would negate any chance of me surviving. I was afraid to play, and I was afraid I'd get 35th place. My first goal when I walked in was to make it to the final 34 - I was that worried. So I decided to play on a whim and I am really glad I did.
This was a very long and grueling game and I put a lot of time into it socially. I can't even count the number of times my loyalties shifted due to game circumstances. Aside from the first three Jurors (Ted/Alexis/Wanda), I was "with" each and everyone one else at one point or another due to the game's dynamic at different points of time. From Danielle/Shawna/Kourtney to Vee/Miki/Kim to Judd/Alex/Sean and even to Chase. I've met a lot of new friends and reacquainted myself with some people, like Kim & Vee, who I did not have great history with. I found that my worries from Pre-Game faded rather quickly as people were opening up to me. I came in with the mindset that I would be willing to work with literally anyone who wanted to play with me. I believed myself to be flexible. If someone presented an offer to me, and their proposal was strong - I was open to it.
I called myself "Lady Luck" as an Allstar title opposed to "The Siren." Because let's face it, it took a lot of luck to make it to this point in the game. There were so many tribal shifts and the Pre-Merge of the game was absolutely nuts. The first time I was vulnerable to go home was the round Rob C was voted out of the game, at "Final 18". I considered myself very lucky to have been immune for the first 17 boots of the game, but my dominance in challenges was a contributing factor. Surviving the Kraken phase of the game was one of my favorite times throughout. When I stepped on the Kraken beach, it was the first time I felt hopeless on a newly swapped tribe. I had been adapting to each tribe prior, but this one looked especially troublesome. Nonetheless, I gave it my all and tried to find cracks to prolong my longevity. I aligned to and helped flip Candice to my side, allowing me to take an unexpected power position on a tribe I once had little hope for.
My strategy when the merge came was to take it vote by vote, round by round. I really needed to downplay relationships and make it seem as though I was willing to vote out certain individuals to some people and certain individuals to other people. My strategy was to to align my agenda with the agenda's I believed other people had. Whenever I spoke with someone about the game I was careful to consider what was going on in their heads. Important to consider what they may be thinking and about what they wanted to see happen next in the game. I had to think how I can make it look like I share similar goals. By doing so, I felt people would want to keep me around, figuring they could use my help to get specific things done. Some examples of this strategy would be sharing my concerns about Kim with Candice, as I knew she'd be pleased if I wanted her out soon. Another example would be recognizing relationships and seeing that Sean would not want to vote Alexis, so I needed to act like Alexis was okay to keep around. The longer people felt we wanted the same things accomplished, the longer I could stay in the game.
The beginning stage of the merge was all over the place. I was in with a group of people that were looked at as holding the power. (Kim & Danielle) There were murmurs from some of my allies (Judd) about some of my other "allies" wanting to blindside me relatively soon. I had a feeling people wouldn't want to take me to the end (especially after the Majority Rules competition), so I was getting pretty nervous about it. But when the Judd & Kourtney blindside came, it confirmed the murmurs I heard about my "allies" and I saw the opportunity to join up with a solid group of people and fight back. Miki & Vee, two people I kept up a good relationship since the first rock swap, became my sudden priority alliance. I knew that Alex, Candice, and Sean would also feel burnt by the vote and that we would need to band together to move forward. With a secret idol in my pocket and a new majority, we were able to make it to the end of the game. Though it got fuzzy at times with Miki and Vee, with them having different agendas than I, we still came together in the final stretch.
I will go into further details in the questioning. I hope to be asked about certain game moves and about what was going on in my head throughout the course of the game, because there is plenty more I wish to share. I put a lot of effort into this game both socially and physically. (Winning 9 or "10" immunities which I am really proud about as a challenge enthusiast ;p) I also feel like I kept true to myself and played a decently clean game to where I was honest as possible. It took me until the final five to receive my only vote cast against me, being the last of all 35 players to get a vote. Obviously I went 41 hours in the endurance to get the chance to share with you why I want and think I should win. So I hope you'll give me that opportunity.
Lawd I hope this wasn't tl;dr! ~ Sydney