Well, hi everyone. This has been quite a rollercoaster
Let's get started.
First I want to touch upon premerge, but only just a bit because I think most of you are more concerned with the post-merge. Pre-merge, I was in a fantastic position and was playing a damn good game. I had Nay and Monica very very tight to me, and Corinne was with us completely. I had good relationships with the people getting sent off to Refuge, even if I did not work with them on Chaang. We still bonded and they showed interest in wanting to work with me. And then on Seuaa I had some iffy relationships. Ik Dan wasn't a big fan and I'm not sure about Yul and Katie, but it was there that Lisi and I really clicked and bonded. We got really tight (as I think Monica figured out) and she told me about her first idol the same day we aligned. We were tight.
The reason I want to touch up on this is because it was these pre-merge relationships that helped me get to the final three.
I'm not going to argue that I dominated or controlled this game. That'd be stupid. I was in the minority vote from Sekou to Brenda when at least there I was tied. I am going to argue that I was able to put myself in a position where I was never in real danger despite being a viable jury threat, despite being good at challenges, and despite acting mentally unstable for fun (until people told me that it was getting annoying lol) And while being in control is a good strategy, it means shit if you get taken out (Brenda, Katie) and the main reason to be in control is to make sure that someone else isn't and that they don't take you out.
So the first merge boot, it was pretty obvious that Cat was going home. The alliance of 7, at least from my perspective, was strong. That's another point I want to argue: I was the most honest and loyal person in this game come merge. I think every person could guess my vote every round because I wasn't being sneaky and because I told people the truth. But anyways, once Erinn gave Cat her immunity because someone told her about the plan, we voted Sekou.
Then the Paloma boot. I wasn't told about this because of my relationship with Paloma. But I told Nay this, this boot was a mistake. I think that the Paloma boot was the downfall for a lot of people on the jury actually. The 7 of us had a plan to take out the stronger members, and instead it came to take out Paloma. Whatever.
When the original Seuaa members minus Lisi went to turn on the Chaang members, I wasn't a target. A lot of people say "Oh watch out for Brenda/Cat/Erinn, they have connections" and I would smile and nod. Because while everyone knew that they did, no one really knew that I had very strong connections to a lot of people as well. And this helped me. I wasn't a target while my allies all were targeted. Monica and Nay were sent home over me.
That's not the only reason though. The other reason why it was them over me was because I was actually being honest and loyal to people. I never went against the 7, not until Monica left and then I had no choice.
The Daniel and Katie boots were idol boots. It sucks to be idoled out but honestly it's part of the game. You could make a very convincing argument that without idols I wouldn't be in the final three. Few notes about that. 1) The targets on the idol boots were Lisi and Nay, never me. So I would have survived. 2) Brenda wanted an all-Chaang F4, I am like 80% sure about that. So once Monica/Nay/Lisi were gone, they would have used me to flip. Yes this is a hypothetical, but think about it. Would those three really just make it 3-3 come F6? No, I would have been used as a swing at the F7. 3) If you're gonna say that luck played into a factor for me, what about Lisi and Cat? Cat was immune all premerge and if not for that twist there would have been a very very strong possibility that she goes after Taj. And Lisi would have been voted out if not for the idols, since the votes were sent towards her.
When Katie was booted, she announced that I was a jury threat. I tried to downplay it, but she was totally right. Paloma and I are friends, Nay and Monica were my allies. That's 3 potential votes and at that stage, that's a lot. Yet, I was still not a target. My relationships with everyone and my honesty with everyone kept me safe.
At the F6, Brenda had to go. I tried to get Cat on board and I think if she wasn't immune she votes Brenda, at least that's what she told me. Brenda was not playing for me to get to the end. I love you, but your last few PMs to me were laughable. I've been there though, so it's ok.
Come F5, it seemed that everyone just wanted Erinn gone because she was a goat, and by everyone I mean Lisi and Yul. Cat/Erinn were voting Lisi, and I was never ever going to vote out Lisi at that point. She was really my rock this game, so that was out of the question.
Come F4, I was still a huge jury threat, but because of my loyalty and relationship with Lisi, we made a block so I was safe once again. Plus my relationship with Cat and Yul meant that they weren't going to go after me unless they were forced to, which in the case of Yul he was. I told Yul I was voting for him the day before the vote, assuming Cat won immunity, and I explained why. I know you felt hard feelings about the vote, but I hope you appreciate my honesty.
So that's my game. It's a fucking weird one, but it's what I did. I remained safe the whole game despite being a threat. I was never immune come merge, I never had an idol played on me. And I was never a target. I didn't float nor was I dragged because I wasn't in a huge alliance and was just voting with them while they took out bigger threats, nor were people thinking "oh we can take Alina to the finals, she's a goat." My allies are mostly on the jury, and despite that, I still remained safe. I didn't need immunity challenge wins like Cat, nor did I need idols like Lisi.
This entire game, I received 3 votes. The first was from Coach. It was a warning saying that I would be the first boot come merge.
The second was from Katie because she didn't want to accidentally tie it, so she voted for the person she knew would get no votes. The third was from Yul because he felt tighter with Lisi, which is understandable since they were from the same tribe and since I told him I was voting for him flat out. Considering everything this game, how fucking nuts it was, that's really impressive.
I really hope you all decide to vote for me. I have been waiting to play this game since I was DQed last summer. It would really mean a lot to me. Thank you.
Also I want to thank Jeff for hosting this insane game. This has been....something. And despite my emotions, I did love it, even if it did drive me mad a few times.
Anyways, ask away jurors. I'm ready for you.
