Board Thread:Season 53 - Galápagos/@comment-38878628-20190613054826

Hello,

I wanted to first start off by saying thank you to the hosts for allowing me the opportunity to have joined this season. I took a shot at attempting to try out for a season for the first time and here I am…not to shabby if you ask me.

Let’s get straight into this. This season’s main theme was focused “Evolution.” The evolution of advantages, idols, strategy, and players themselves. That’s where I come in. As a first time participant of any ORG, I came in ready to play hard and have fun doing so. Little did I know at the time that I was coming in way too hard, which resulted in many downfalls and costing a lot of my friend’s games to end. Eventually I found common ground with Kat, who fortunately remained on my tribe for the swap. Kat broke down the game for me and taught me so much about how these work, so I took her advice and made some changes to my personal game. Due to Lynn’s strategic advantage play pre-merge elimination, my closest ally at the time, Kat, got sent packing. I was heartbroken and truly alone in the game. I had just been betrayed and lied to by Dwayne, but I understood the move because Kat was a smart and strategical player. It’s a game and there’s only one winner, so I respected the move, but that left me in a difficult position. I lost a lot of trust in Dwayne and when the first vote at merge came and everyone wanted to take out Nora, I followed. Only because I wasn’t in a position to make any moves then. However, due to Jasmine quitting, the tribal council was cancelled and Nora stayed. This allowed me to take advantage of this failed vote and make some new, stronger relationships.

The first “real” vote of the merge came along and everyone was worried about the Michael and Anthony duo, but I saw this as an opportunity to make a move. I had been approached by Jake that he wanted to establish a final three between Lynn, himself, and I. I knew had we all made it together in the end, I wouldn’t stand a chance beating either of them, so I bounced at the opportunity to save Michael at the first “real” merge vote. I informed Anthony and Michael of the vote and they trusted me, which allowed me to bring in a few others for the vote as well. This allowed us to blindside Dwayne and bring in a solid “majority” group of Anthony, Michael, Lynn, Jake, and I. Following this vote, Jake led charge at us taking out Laura, as he felt she would potentially take his spot in the finale since he said she’d be the easiest player to beat. Regardless, I had just led a vote and needed to sit back and let others stick their necks out. I followed this vote and we stayed strong. During this entire time, I had been rekindling my relationship with Nora. On our visit to the Islands of Genesis together early on, I made it clear that I wanted to work with her later in the game, but we had conflicting interests and goals, but in the end, we managed to build something back together and this helped me gather A LOT of information from what other players were saying. Specifically about Dani, Thomas, Lynn, and Jake. Michael and Anthony were my closest allies at this point and I genuinely wanted us three to reach the end together. I would have been happy with whatever outcome, simply because they respected my opinions, trusted me, and communicated well with me throughout our time together in the game.

Then came the vote to take out Michael and Anthony, back to back. I didn’t want either of them gone, but the rest of the castaways were afraid of them, when in reality, Jake and Lynn were the biggest threats. During this vote, I tried my hardest to flip the vote onto Jake and make a big move, but Nora was conflicted with the Anthony and Michael duo, leading to Michael’s departure. Anthony became the next victim of the castaways and when he blew up in the chat, he called out a lot of facts and I respect his move and choice of words. I really knew I was alone at this point again, as I had already lost Kat and now Michale and Anthony back to back. I knew I would follow next if I didn’t start spreading information I was hearing from both sides. Nora was potentially throwing out my name, but Jake was also apparently throwing out my name…whatever it was, I used that to target Nora since Jake was safe with immunity and I knew Lynn, Thomas, and Dani were stuck between Nora or I as the vote. I had to focus on myself and blow up Nora’s game to keep myself self. So I do want to apologize to Nora, yet I still don’t know the whole truth about what was being said about me that vote.

We move onto the Final 5, where I know I’m suck between the duo of Thomas & Dani and Lynn & Jake, the two people I knew I’d be screwed against at Final 3. Lynn became the clear target after all the idols got played at the previous tribal, allowing us to take out one of the biggest threats. Now we’re at the Final Immunity Challenge…I knew going into this challenge that I wanted to win and make it clear that I was a force to be reckoned with. Although I hadn’t won any Individual Immunity challenges, I wanted to take this one home. Well…I clearly fucked it up and did the fourth trial challenge incorrectly by mistakingly forgetting to add a “.” at the end of each of my sentences and messing up the correct posting order times. I knew I was in deep trouble and that Dani and Thomas would be voting me. I had to convince Jake to keep me, mainly by stating that had I been voted out, I would be voting for Thomas at the FTC because I believe he played a very great game and deserved it. Jake was adamant about keeping Thomas, but clearly something clicked. We end up in a deadlock tie and go into the Fire Making Challenge. I figured I’d be screwed going up against Thomas, since this guy had been a beast in previous challenges. Once the challenge started, something just clicked and I managed to put together my work and guesses and solve the entire challenge, back to back. I couldn’t believe it! I had just earned my spot at the FTC, but the excitement went away quickly, as I knew who I’d have to face in the end.

Jake and Dani, two players I had complete opposite relationships with. Dani, I used my advantage on you since I HAD to use it at the following tribal council. I figured you’d be in danger for messing up in the challenge and wanted to offer you safety. You and I never clicked afterwards, as we couldn’t seem to tell one another the truth, yet here we are. Congrats on final 3 and best of luck. Jake, you and I didn’t take much early on about game. Better yet, you wouldn’t talk any game with me. You were smart enough not to, because like you said, I was the kryptonite to Damien, Tania, and Kat’s games. I played extremely hard and put a lot of trust in people I had just met. You and I began to click during the merge and I trusted you, for a bit. But knew you’d be one of the hardest players to beat in the end. And yet, here we are too. You’ve played a great game and I respect you.

Again, the theme focused on “Evolution,” which is where I come in. I feel as though I represented to theme throughout the entire season, growing and learning how to adapt to this game day by day and week by week. I took advice from strictly Kat and allowed her to mentor me, but after she left I knew it was time to put her advice into action. I formed solid and genuine relationships with Jake, Dwayne, Nora, Anthony, Michael, Lynn, and Thomas. Laura, we just never had the opportunity to talk deeply and get to know one another, so maybe we can after this season wraps. I was genuine with each of you and open about who I was and what I love. I wanted to build real relationships with everyone I could and I hope my moves in this game don’t affect any of our connections because it’s simply a game and I respect you all too. These connections allowed me to obtain information from every angle and use it to my advantage by sharing pieces of it here and there to take the target off my back. I heard my name countless times early in the merge and even pre-merge, but the only votes I ever received came from Lynn at F5 and Thomas and Dani and F4. I think I managed to slip away into the shadows for a bit and let others take shots at one another, even while I was aggressively pushing my own agenda for each vote. Although it didn’t always work, I was trying my hardest and succeeded a few times. Of the final castaways, I believe I have evolved the most as a first time player. I went from full noob to understanding how to manipulate, socialize throughout the game, and strategically take the target off my own back. I’ve gone through so much socially compared to Dani and Jake. Dani always had Thomas by her side and Jake bounced between Lynn to Thomas and Dani. All of my allies were eliminated and I managed to survive and earn my way here.

Let me wrap this opening statement up with one thing. Jury, please vote for whoever you feel played the best game. For whoever you feel represented the season the best. For whoever you feel deserves the title the most. However you decide to vote, I respect your choices and I am honored to have played with each and every single one of you this season. Thanks for making this an exciting few weeks in my busy life and I cannot wait to catch up with many of you after this season! As well, please feel free to ask me anything and I’ll be as open as I can about my gameplay. And with that, I conclude my opening statement. 