The Phrase is 'Duly Noted'/Confessionals

Day 7
"najma"

- I've come to a strategic revelation regarding my physical game - until i need it i should probably try really hard in every third challenge and then proceed to not give a fuck about the next two, it's worked so far, may as well continue to do it !!

"najma"

- Things have been going pretty slow over the last couple of days. I still trust in my alliance of Scott and Malik, although we haven't spoken much recently; I think that's just because we've been slaying the challenges so there's been no need to! This week's reward challenge has been hard and frustrating - I wanted to get in the top 3 scores on my tribe but I feel like I haven't achieved that, which is annoying as now I have no claim to going to the Bazaar should we win. I've also been thinking that if we win and Scott, Malik and Aras go to the Bazaar, if Aras manages to convince them to buy the lamp then that could manoeuvre me out of the alliance! These are all pretty irrelevant and farfetched concerns, but still...!

"zibaq"

- So the other day Anna messaged the chat and it was clear she was pretty out of it and didn't know that Constance practically quit so I immediately decided to swoop in and snatch her up for myself. I had a pretty endearing conversation with her and it sounded to me like she wasn't talking to anybody, and now today I'm hearing about Gevonte wanting an alliance with a bunch of people who aren't me or her so I'm gonna take that tea and do something with it.

And so I took that tea and shot back at Will the proposal of a counter-alliance of me, him, and Anna and he liked the sound of it. We out herrree

"zibaq"

- So really rn Will is in the best position on this tribe as he could be in an alliance with Roodman and Gevonte or he could be in an alliance with me and Anna which MEANS! I need to get my hands on an idol and keep that shit to myself.

"najma"

- I feel terrible--the reward challenge was released and it's a terrible game called "Jack Reacher: Never Stop Punching." There's a web-based version that is relatively easy and a mobile app version that is significantly more difficult. Unfortunately, the game wouldn't load on FOUR computers that I tried it on, so I had to do it via mobile, knowing I would be a major liability in this challenge. It didn't feel good to be a weak spot on the team and I vocalized my frustrations left and right about that (sorry, hosts). Fortunately, Aras blew everyone out of the water with a score of 50 million. No one on either tribe could come close to that. As a result, we won our third straight challenge and 3 people from our tribe got to attend the bazaar. Since I didn't know what the bazaar had, I asked the tribe whether we should send the Top 3 scorers again (Aras, Scott, Whitney) or spread the love to tribe members who haven't visited the bazaar before (Aras, Dalton, Kristen). Ultimately, we decided Top 3 was still fair, but since Scott had been to the bazaar before, Scott very generously gave me his trip to the bazaar for my contributions to the last immunity challenge. Class act. At the bazaar, Whitney and I convinced Aras that we should save our money for later as a tribe advantage is not a guaranteed win and we are a pretty well-oiled machine at this point.

...or so I thought. Kristen's name has been bouncing around for a while as the potential next boot from our tribe if we were to lose immunity again. She's a nice girl that has otherwise been improving steadily, but still is one of the weaker members and someone who requires a lot of explaining things to because she can't seem to figure it out on her own. The only other name I've seen come up as even a remote possibility is Malik, but that's a different matter. Just about everyone has had the conversation with me of "If we were to go to tribal again, who should go?" I've said Kristen's name plenty and just about everyone else has also said Kristen's name. So when Kristen randomly blew up in the main chat about how she "Dually [sic] noted" that someone is trying to run the game, throwing her under the bus when we haven't even had the immunity challenge yet, I knew it could potentially be about me, but I also remembered that literally everyone else has said that Kristen is the most deserving of being axed next and that literally everyone else has their own idea of how this tribe should be ran. If I were to speak up when she hadn't named any names, it would only signify that I identify as a person who could be seen as "trying to run things" and spreading her name around. No thanks. I don't have time for that crazy. Also, the phrase is "duly noted." Dalton and Whitney tried to defuse the situation. Scott talked to her one-on-one about it as well. Kristen never approached me--another reason why I could potentially be the subject of her outburst, but it literally does me no good to engage. I'm not concerned about Kristen's emotions at all because I can't turn back the clock to a time in which she wasn't in such a volatile state. It makes more sense for the tribe to appease Kristen and put her in a state of ease so she doesn't become liable to flipping at an impending swap. I've decided to leave her to her own devices--no prying, no being defensive, no action--until she calms down and chooses to approach me. She might not. I'm a bit more concerned about who felt the need to spread this information Kristen's way. I'm not a big fan of chaos--I'm a neurotic, organized person. Gossip is difficult to contain. I understand why it happens, though. It's the game!

Immediately after this confrontation occurred, I was approached by Dalton for an alliance and he wanted to work with Aras as well. I had made an alliance with Aras just a few days prior, so I felt very good about working with Dalton and bringing him into our fold. Scott and Whitney are two other people I wanted to work with and I ultimately decided Scott was who I wanted as a 4th (naturally we would keep players like Whitney and Malik on the periphery in good faith in case we needed them). Scott shares signs of being hesitant to work with Dalton, but he was very open with me about his concerns and says he's not against working with him, but needs to talk with him a bit more to become comfortable. This worries me a lot, but because Scott is being very transparent, I've chosen to have faith in him doing his own thing. We'll see.

"zibaq"

- I’m not losing sleep over it, but I wonder why Constance voted for me of all people. Oh well, no perfect game for me.

Last night, there was a very interesting development, game-wise. As Will told me, Gevonte wants to build a dominant alliance of himself, Will, Zak, and myself. He plans to make his pitch if and when he takes me and Zak to the bazaar. He told Will in advance because Will wouldn’t be going.

Will and I prefer to remain faithful to Romain and Tate. Betraying them this early in the game is a non-starter, we’ve agreed. But at the same time, we don’t want to make an enemy of Zak with the Gevoot. We knew we had to handle this blindside very carefully, so we put our heads together.

Our plan is to make Zak feel included in the Gevoot. Will has already talked to Zak expressing concerns about aligning with Gevonte. To hear Will say it, Zak was cryptic. Then, after Gevonte talks to me and Zak at the bazaar, I will also privately confide in Zak that I don’t trust Gevonte. I find him way too intense and schemy. Our hope is that Zak will begin to doubt his own trust in Gevonte, since his other two allies have serious doubts about his reliability. I suppose we’re gaslighting Zak.

Then, one of us will suggest a Gevoot. Hopefully, Zak will agree quickly. We could probably force his hand if we wanted to, since we have Tate and Romain waiting in the wings and he simply can’t stand up to us alone. But we want him to feel involved in the decision making process, ideally. We want everyone to be one big happy family.

Finally, Will will ‘rope in’ Romain, and I will ‘talk’ to Tate. Zak will think he played a critical role in assembling this new alliance of five, if everything goes right.

My biggest concern is that Zak and Gevonte are already much closer than they are letting on. They are both experienced ORGers, and I have a hard time believing that both of them have just been sitting on their butts, not making any moves or securing allies until now.

Finally, there's Annabelle. Anna and I only talked privately for the first time yesterday. She had no qualms with the Constance boot because she thought it was just the general majority opinion that Constance should go. Once Zak is on board, I'll try to make Annabelle feel like the tribe has the same mentality with the Gevoot. She’s shown that she’ll vote for whomever as long as everyone else is.

Day 8
"zibaq"

- Well, Gevonte's game is probably done after today.

I've been socializing the fuck out of all these kids and it's paying off. Gevonte has been my target for a while now because he's the most aggressive player (aside from Romain who's just not a threat at all) and he's the most likely to catch that I'm playing a few different sides. He's just an easy strawman, and it's not worth keeping him when he'll eventually catch on to the fact that I'm already in an alliance.

Still, he offered me an alliance today, with Roodman and Zak (he hasn't brought an alliance up with either of them yet). I think I'm his biggest ally at this point. I managed to get him to say he wanted Tate and Anna gone, which gave the perfect opportunity to sacrifice Gevonte's game to earn some trust from Anna and Tate.

After talking it over with Roodman, I blew up Gevonte's plan to Zak who didn't like it because he wants to make an alliance with Anna and I in it. Then I blew up the plan to my alliance, and Tate was a little freaked but also really appreciative for me telling him. I'd bet I'm his #1 at this point as well. He gave me all of his idol guesses which was nice.

Next I went to Anna, who was also freaked out and appreciative.

So here's where we are: Gevonte is the unanimous next boot, basically has no chance of making it through the next tribal. After that, the tribe is 4-2, with Zak and Anna in the minority. That's the tribal that I really need to avoid, because at that point whichever of those two doesn't get voted out is going to know I was fucking with them.

I need a merge or a swap before we hit 2 more tribals, and if I can do that then I'm the #1 or the #2 for every player on Zibaq and I'll be in the center of everything, just like a black hole.

"najma"

- Okay I think I understand now why Whitney doesn't trust Aras very much. He leaked all sorts of stuff about Brett and Dalton and trying to tee them up as targets for us. He's been saying that Brett is targeting Mali, Dalton is targeting me and Whitney, and that the two of Brett and Dalton are super close to one another. I mean, at this point after Kristen I'm fine with any of Aras, Dalton or Brett going out, but moving forward Aras could be a bit of an unnecessary problem causer than a valuable ally, whereas if Dalton and Brett want to join onto a 5 man alliance with the 3 of Malik, Whitney and I as a pair I have less of an issue with that. Still down the road a little ways though, but it's time to start thinking about these things.

"najma"

- I was feeling Aras and kind of feeling Brett up until this point. Aras told Whitney he wants me out so at this point and time, I'm watching him. And as for Brett, I'm starting to not like him as much, but that may change. Dalton hasn't said anything to me so I'll reach the hand out to connect before this ends up like San Marcos ndjdbejd. I just hope we win immunity, or I survive this damn tribal.

"zibaq"

- At this point Gevonte might be playing a little too hard a little too soon. I mean, we just went to our first tribal council and I get that he might not have a lot of faith that we'll win the next immunity but it hasn't even been posted yet and he's initiating alliances and targeting people. Really, on the surface of it, it isn't that bad a plan, he's trying to work a social game, but really he has only spoken to me once and I'm being *told* he wants to "add" me to the alliance - which, as I've learned from my own mistakes in games, is never really a good look. Sooo I'm scooping up Anna again and Tate this time because those are Gevonte's targets and together with Will we probably will just turn everything on them if we end up at tribal council next. It does suck because I do like him, Roodman, and Romain, buuuuuuuuuut they're all tight and Anna, Tate, and Will are not. Would I rather join a threesome or scrape together one? :)

"najma"

- I know Brett is divulging a lot of info to who he's close with, it's allowed people to use it against him a little bit. I still think it's good strategy though, because when it comes down to it I trust Brett and if we're picking between who I'd like to vote out on this tribe, Brett is way down the list. I think it's good social play to be open with people. I'm not there yet myself because I'm highly suspicious and really think there's more than one alliance on this tribe, but I think in the early game openness is good despite the leaky downsides.

"zibaq"

- As it turns out, everyone agrees that Gevonte is playing a scary game soooo it should be him if we end up at tribal council this round. I'm not good at the whole lying thing so this is gonna be fun.

"zibaq"

- Looks like Tate found the idol, and showed the rest of the alliance to build trust. I'm jealous and grumpy but it's good that we know where it is and that Tate feels trusting enough to share it.

Gevonte formally created his shitty fake alliance, but the real news is Zak trying to make an alliance with Rood, Tate and Anna. Rood told me and I was pretty surprised that Zak would leave me on the outs like that (not that he can do anything to me on this tribe).

"zibaq"

- *Sees reward challenge results*

Well, shit? Shit. I’d kill to know what’s at that bazaar.

I just hope and pray that Aras’ inevitable death by Red Bull OD comes before the next immunity challenge.

Either Operation Gaslight was a success, or it was unnecessary. Zak found the idea of a Gevoot agreeable either way. He’s even taken the initiative of inviting Tate, Anna, and Will to vote for Gevonte with us. Bottom line is that he feels involved, and he and Annabelle will still consider the rest of us their allies when the Gevoot is done.

I really am trying my hardest to instill these folks with as much Zibaq zealousness as possible. I want them to bleed blue when cut. When and if the swap comes, I want us to stick together, no matter where we end up. We a brothahood. Zibaq for lyfe!

I love Tate. Dude gets blessed with a lucky idol find, and he decides to spread the wealth. I really think it solidified our core Truman alliance. These are the people with whom I want to go far.

"najma"

- I'm pretty sure Whitney just went ahead and leaked to Kristen that Aras wants to take her out immediately. That is an insane move, and completely wrecks the tribe unity I've been trying to build. I am in a Final 2 with an insane person. Great. Plus, Brett just approached me with an Aras Dalton 4 man alliance which ... will completely blow up in my face if Malik and Whitney become convinced Aras has to go. Okay I need to find a way to reign Whitney in or just accept that she will be a cancer ally and act accordingly.

"zibaq"

- Also, the alliance of Myself, Roodman, Romain and Tate has been named the Harry's Truman Alliance. Idk why but I love it and that's how I'll be referring to it from now on.

"najma"

- Scott approached me and told me that he is ready to work with a core four-person alliance including Dalton and Aras. I'm thrilled. I set up the alliance chat and we got basic ground rules laid between the four of us: keep the other 3 happy until we have to get rid of Kristen--which potentially might not happen for a while. I love talking to Whitney, so that's no problem with me.

The immunity challenge finally rears its head and it's a challenge from Survivor: The Amazon and Survivor: All-Stars, the mixer in which players have a few items and they have to match them with items from other players to score points. Having seen the challenge on TV and having read the rules, I felt completely comfortable and prepared and so did Scott. I had a heavy feeling that we were going to fail, however, because Aras, Dalton, Kristen, Malik, and Whitney were all a bit confused about the concept and how the game works--Malik especially. And I felt terrible that Aras and Whitney were scheduled a live challenge at 4 a.m. their time while I got to be comfortable at 8 p.m. My heart went out to them so much! I explained the game as thoroughly as I could to the others with Scott's help. I even gave them the episode numbers of the show in which the challenge has been featured. Kristen, bless her heart, reached out to me and thanked me for being patient with her and working with her towards understanding the challenge. I thought that was a very nice gesture on her end.

When the challenge began, Aras was nowhere to be found. He slept through the whole thing. I was terrified that would make the difference. Fortunately, one of their players, Will, was absent as well. Zibaq attempted to cheat by assigning code names for their items to tell each other what they had--it was completely ridiculous and I feel like they should have been disqualified because that's still telling people what you have. Just because you don't say the word "hairbrush" doesn't mean you're not telling someone else you have a hairbrush. If I knew Spanish and if Whitney knew Spanish, but no one else did, would it be cheating if we just told each other what we had in Spanish? Absolutely. So that was dumb. They received warnings and we carried on. It was cool to interact with members of the other tribe. I enjoyed Tate and Zakriah, but Jesus Christ was Roodman annoying as hell. He obviously hadn't read the rules, wasn't paying attention, and kept acting like re-dos were owed to him because he didn't have the wherewithal to implement concentration and focus. I found that gross. Romain was all over the place and kept asking people for things they were already asked. Kristen stumbled with that initially as well, but she recovered and I was actually quite proud of her. The real MVP was Scott. He did so immeasurably well with a Google document setup so we knew what people were asking for and who didn't have certain items so we wouldn't be redundant. He's a winner, that one.

Poor Alex was having trouble keeping up with who had what items and so when people were asking for items that they wouldn't have to match, Alex was accidentally giving points to it. He got confused with the scoring a couple of times and literally everyone there, Alex included, was frustrated. I feel bad about this in retrospect because this game is supposed to be fun and I let the tension of competition get the best of me. Fortunately, we won--I managed to score the winning point and Will and Aras showed up just as the challenge ended. It was exhausting and frustrating, but I'm glad it at least had a happy ending.

Day 9
"zibaq"

- So apparently Rood is this math, probability, strategic MASTERMIND! Dude has spent literally spent all day creating this master plan to rock the challenge. I'm so happy to have him on my side, he's doing his absolute darnedest to win this for us. He's good as an alliance member too. Me and Will are mega tight and Rood is probably our number three, but if experience as taught me anything, I gotta be careful about the enthusiastic ones. It's a long game ahead but I think we can keep this fire going for good while!

"zibq"

- "Okay I have been so fucking lazy about confessionals so I'm going to try to catch up.

Okay so basically I have been playing a pretty utr game. I'm very very very far behind socially. I started a new job 2 days before this game started. My work days are about 12 hours long from when I leave my apartment in the morning till I get home from work. So that leaves very little time to interact and make good bonds. But regardless I stumbled into an alliance with Romain, Will and Roodman.

Romain I don't really trust. he seems kinda sketch. But for now I think I hope I can count on him

Will is a super chill dude. Probably the person I talk to the most. I really like him, but something about this alliance tells me it's not going to last. Will is a good player. I can already tell. So I wouldn't be surprised if he is in other alliances, or at least have good connections with everyone.

Roodman is a super super smart and logical person. I creeped his profile and it looks like his dad studied mathematics at Harvard????? Regardless, I like Roodman and I am going to work on strengthening my bond with him.

Oh btw I found an Idol. It was pure luck. I immediately told my alliance about it because there were rumours about Gevonte targeting me. With our tribe on a losing streak lately, I had to show these 3 guys that I trust them with key info. I couldn't risk going into a tribal without any support. So I hope they are on my side.

I am praying for a swap or a twist anytime now. I have 2 friends on the other tribe (Dalton and Malik) from other orgs. Both of them have been super close allies to me in the past, so I really want to get on a tribe with them. "

"najma"

- Today is a day off for Najma. We've won four straight challenges and we get to watch Zibaq vote off their second member. That's really exciting! Aras, Dalton, Scott and I are at ease at the present. I've compared idol notes with Dalton and I'll likely do the same with the others. I'm having trouble finding the damn thing, so I figure I might as well help others with their search. Someone I like should at least get the idol if I'm not getting it.

A swap could be coming on the horizon. The focus of my alliance will be to keep Kristen from stepping out of line so she isn't a potential flipper down the line until it's safe to get rid of her. For now, Najma is enjoying the ride, but it's bound to hit a rough turn really soon.

"zibaq"

- So a few things: Targeting Ge is pretty much the best thing we could do bc it gets someone out who could cause a lot of messes later on down the line. But this second tribal council is leaving me with some tricky thoughts: Will is playing a huge social game early on. He's been talking to me more than anyone else has, and that made me think he's pretty much just talking to everyone. Anna confirmed this to me last night. Now, this seems pretty ordinary for an ORG, but everyone trusts him, everyone is listing him as a close ally. It's good if I keep it that way with him for now, but he's definitely the one I'm looking to get out the most eagerly.

"zibaq"

- In the waning hours of Round 3, I became a real villain, or at least it felt that way. I spoke to Gevonte, and I told him that Romain was gunning for him because he knew Gevonte was voting for him, and you don’t think there’s a secret conspiracy against us, do you, Gevonte? When he began to worry, I told him we were both probably being paranoid. When he began to calm down, I reminded him that someone may have flipped and told Romain our plans.

I wasn’t messing with his emotions to be an asshole. I wanted to know if he had an idol, or anything else. If he had an idol, of course I didn’t want him to play it, but I still wanted him to be paranoid enough that he might give me his idol for safekeeping, on the condition I return it to him immediately after the vote. Alas, no such luck for me. Gevonte was idolless.

Otherwise, everything went down exactly as I planned. It was still painful. Sorry, Gevonte.

LMAOO My favorite part though was when Zak told Gevonte, “Sorry man, you just came into this game way too hard and we got scared.” Gaslit.

I’ve realized that in the week since I first aligned with Romain, our relationship hasn’t turned out like I had hoped. We’re still part of a tight alliance of four, but I was hoping to keep him propped up as our figurehead, and our meatshield. Unfortunately, I’ve gotten my own hands dirtier than I had hoped, and Romain has smartly stayed put in the background.

Really, Romain has diminished utility to me now, strategically speaking. He would not share an idol with our alliance like Tate did, even though he’s looking hard. He’s a snake.