Board Thread:Season 23 - Greece/@comment-24553600-20150116231116

Hello everyone, I just start off by saying thank you to all the cast regardless if you're on the jury or not, for playing so hard and so great, you made this season so enjoyable for not only me, but for everyone- the hosts, the cast, and ultimately the fans too - and thank you to the hosts for doing your job so amazing. I'm glad this season was so fun to play and probably equally as fun to watch, so I'm happy it worked out so well. You guys have no idea how grateful I am to be here.

Coming into this game, I knew no one. I had no safety net, no one I could really talk to or confide in, I had to protect myself, because I knew no one else would. I knew my physical game was lacking, and my strategic could have potentially swayed people away from me, so I relied on my social game. And with that social game, it was able to put me in positions that no one else in the game could be in. I was always positioned in a place where I was never the target, not once in this game was I ever in danger of being voted off, I only ever was voted once in this game. Even when I would vote in minority, I would still not be a target for people, because of that social game.

So on the old Attica, I met and talked to the people who would be my closest allies in the game, and with that we formed a majority alliance day 1. And I wasn't one of the people in the backseat of the alliance, I was one of the heads and a major part of it. I was in a total safe position on the original tribes, but then the swap happened. In my eyes I could see me about to die in the game. The girls had a 4-3 majority, they could take out whoever they want. But MJ I knew was close with Hanne and Marty I had heard was close with Tata, so that meant they were coming after me first chance. So I did what I had to do to protect myself, I knew MJ could talk to Hanne, so I proposed a plan and a new alliance called the Laconia 4, which was myself MJ Hanne and Erica. We could play up to them and takeout whoever they wanted. But I also had another option, side with Tata Marty and Shannon and take out Hanne after they found out about Hanne targeting them. It was the first moment of the game where I became a swing vote and a huge power player. I ultimately stuck with the original plan because they were the people who talked to me and I felt safer with, and that alliance was able to lead me to the merge. With the merge happening, I wanted to possibly get with my old alliances and friends, but Will was taken out right before merge and Jace was eliminated right off the bat and I realized I had to take care of myself in this game no matter what.

As the game continued I began to see what was going on in a bigger picture. I had thought in the early stages of the merge that my alliance could just get to the final 4 easily, but that Hanne and MJ were a Jon/Jaclyn duo that needed to be broken up. But then I learned the bigger picture, we were just a side alliance for them in the alliance that ran the merge of them Amelia and Jesscia. They were able to bond over all being on Tumblr and were on a pathway to the final 4. As soon as I found out about it or at least suspected it I tried my hardest to play big and make sure that they weren't the final 4. Ever since the final 8 I tried to get one of them out, I would just think about "how can I get people to see whats going on here" and try to get them to vote with me.

Ever since the earliest rounds of this merge I tried to help people and warn them that they were in danger, but no one would listen to me. I spent so long trying to convince people that they needed to make a move with me, because I couldn't make one on my own, I needed people to help me breakup the majority alliance that was dragging me along. I told Eoin the votes were not there for Erica and we needed to vote someone else, but it didn't work out. I told Renz along with Erica we needed to make a move, because that alliance was dragging her along too, but it didn't work out. The next round I decided to just go for it and try and break up the alliance from the inside with Amelia and Jessica. My plan was to split the vote on MJ and Hanne, but secretly blindside Amelia or just get out MJ. I told Hanne to save herself and vote Amelia with me, but she didn't listen either, but the alliance was broken up, just not how I intended it to be. Renz was the only other outsider left besides myself, and I tried to save him as well, but after the immunity, Jessica told me that idols would be played and Amelia was safe, and the whole alliance knew about it. Regardless I still voted with Renz just in case something were to happen, but it didn't work out. And then the last round, Jessica was someone I wanted to keep in the game, because if someone's loyal to me and has my back then I have theirs. I did everything to keep her too, it just didn't work out. The moves I made and the way I voted in this game wasn't always the way I wanted to play, but it was the move I knew I had to make to get myself further in this game. I tried to save many of you, but if the votes weren't there and I knew it, it was effortless.

In this game, you weren't playing with one Sora, you were playing with two. The  Sora that was at camp, who was silly and crazy who used terms like "rip, tbh, !!!" etc. to make myself seem more likable and less threatening. And then the other Sora, who was in my confessionals, and came out sometimes when I would talk to some of you individually, who was methodical and strategic and thought ten steps ahead in the game even with the smallest conversations being held with people. Every step of getting here I thought of five different outcomes and possibilities all the time, and always wanted to have a backup plan regardless. I adapted to whatever situation was in front of me and was able to always get out unscathed, never targeted, which ultimately is what survivor is. Being able to adapt and survive no matter what. (may add more to this)

If there was one single word in the entire English dictionary to describe my gameplay it would be underestimated. Many people in the game didn't think I was capable of much, people outside the game might think I'm some kind of flop, even I didn't think I was gonna amount to much in the game. But I did what I had to do in this game on my own terms. I protected myself in this game with no one else to help me, I never had any type of advantage or reward in this game, I never won a reward or got taken to the temple, I never had a big alliance have my back as an equal, never being safe from it until I knew the time came where if I didn't win immunity, I'd be in trouble. So I worked my ass off and won that last challenge, the only challenge I needed to win and the most important one. The whole reason other then me being liked that I was brought so far, was because everyone underestimated me and thought I'd be an easy win. No one ever expected me to win that immunity, my sole purpose for me being there was someone who couldn't win. I wanted to be someone in this game people could think is a good player, so that's what I tried to be. I played as honest a game as I could, I was never malicious to a single person in this game, not for one second. I treated people with the utmost respect never compromised who I was or what I stood for, or what I fell for either. Thank you. 