FTC Prep
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 6:52:03 pmHello everybody! First, a big thanks to everyone for being so dedicated to this game: players and hosts. It's been a whole lot of fun to be a part of. When Jeff asked me to return to Stranded (a true act of Allah) it was a big YES because I knew it'd be more than worth it and it really was. Thanks to all of you. No matter what, it's been an honor playing with such talented people. My fate is in your hands tonight, and I hope my performance is worthy of winning your vote. (And I hope you read all of this 
but I bolded some parts)
but I bolded some parts)Stranded in Costa Rica
Some of you may or may not be familiar with the season I was originally on. I'll take a second to tell you about that, because it has a major impact on me as a Stranded player. Stranded in Costa Rica was Season 17 (5 seasons ago) and it was my first ORG game. The cast was filled with All-Stars and it was a cut-throat competition the whole way through. There were a lot of ups and downs for me, but mostly downs. Things started looking up for me when I won back-to-back immunity challenges at the Final 8 and Final 7, guaranteeing myself a spot in the Final 6. The Final 6 vote tied 3-3. Because of my strict loyalty, I made the grave mistake of not flipping on an ally, Kim. I ended up drawing the first ever purple rock in Stranded history. Kim went on to win the game and it wasn't until the game was over that I realized if I had flipped -- I actually had a great chance at winning. Sometimes I think about the game and my decision and I can't help but feel massive regret. It's truly haunting, wishing you could take it back.
This is what second chances are all about.
Stranded in Portugal
PRE-MERGE
I actually had something going on the day the game started and I was the last one to arrive on Limici. I was really ecstatic to see Caryn here, because we played together last time. I was glad to be able to talk to Becky and Coby, who I knew a bit prior to this game. The newer favorites (Semhar, Ralph) wanted to get to know me personally, which was super enjoyable for me and I take those personal bonds more seriously than anything. When it comes to friendships, you would be hard-pressed to find someone more genuine and sacrificial than me (as evidenced by my last time playing).
This time around I had to make the distinction between my friendships and winning the game. This is a huge growth and shift in my personality and my character, which shows how much I've learned from my past mistakes.
We all had great chemistry on Limici and it showed in our challenge performances. My objective was to make sure that I was positioned well on the tribe and I found myself easily in a majority of 6. That majority alliance was very temporary because of the early swap and with Kim's elimination I knew it had fallen to shambles.
TAPOLI
All of a sudden we swapped and there was the introduction of a new, third tribe. I was the first person chosen in the swap, and I was lucky enough to be on the new tribe. Positioning myself again became my main objective, and I did great here. I formed bonds with my new tribe and wanted to connect with everyone on an individual level. I had Caryn on that tribe, as well as my friend in the game, Rachel (who I picked in the swap). I jumped into a leader role, which is something I normally don't do and we won first a few times in the challenges. Just keeping it real: myself and Semhar did a lot of the work in challenges, it was just how things worked out with Rachel on mobile and puzzles frequently being used in challenges -- which are Caryn's kryptonite. The first time we lost, I actively pushed the vote onto Hayden because the other target was Rachel and I got my way. Two important things happened during my time on Tapoli.
#1: For winning first in one of the challenges I was brought over to Bracari tribe to break the tie between Vytas and P-P-Peter.
#2: I discovered the Tapoli Hidden Immunity Idol.
Cochran voted in the wrong thread, so the vote tied and it left his friend in the game in a lot of trouble. When I broke the tie, I had to think about a few things: Helping out my BvW partner, Marissa <3, and saving the necks of the Bracari majority due to Cochran's fuck up in order to have more allies in the merge. It was a solid opportunity for me. Also Vytas promised to get me the next clue to the idol, so strategically there were more pros keeping Vytas. And I did find the idol, which I smartly used to gain trust. Tapoli tribe lost one final time before the merge and I wanted to vote out Laura, not Semhar.
POST-MERGE
The merge was the culmination of all of the dynamics in this game: Partners, friends, early alliances, new alliances, idols, talismans and more. Plus all of us were together for the first time, and it started with a bang. Katie was sadly removed from the game. The popular opinion of the tribe was that Caryn was digging herself a hole deeper and deeper. Personally, she had lied to me on more than one occasion about who her friend was, even though I had been 100% honest with Caryn. It was still really heartbreaking for me to witness her being the merge boot for a second time.
Going into the game I had no plan for what I would do with a hidden immunity idol if I got one. Admittedly, this was a strategy that formed during the game. I decided to simply throw away the idol, it was more of a hindrance to my game and I stand by that statement. Also, I just don't like idols in general. I prefer to play more evenly with trust. The knowledge I 100% didn't have an idol anymore made me appear to be less threatening and less of a priority to be voted for.
It was a risk getting rid of the idol, definitely, but I felt confident about it. I was a little worried at the vote, but really everybody was.
It was clear at this point the NuLimici side was voting together as a strong foursome. This is exactly where my relationship with Marissa, Vytas, Cochran + Rachel, Semhar comes into play. I didn't want to vote out Ralph or Shawn yet to prolong the talisman use. Becky had a great social standing, and is a player I like a lot, but at this point in the game that was worrying to my own chances of winning and I believed my chances were best elsewhere.
After Becky's elimination the sides were out in the open for everyone to see. Like I said, my conversations with Ralph were always personal and a lot of fun, so to vote against him made things unfortunately awkward. Coby won the next immunity, leaving 2 choices for me: Ralph and Shawn. Voting either one would secure talismans for myself and Marissa. At this time I was very cautious that Shawn was being highly underestimated as a player (foreshadowing), but Ralph was the decided target. I received a talisman for being a part of the last in tact Blood vs. Water pair.
I won individual immunity at the Final 8. Which was very needed, as I got to hold on to my talisman for another round. I was really sad for Rachel, and sad that I didn't use my talisman on her like she wanted me to.
My gut said to keep it to use for next round, so I did. Rachel's elimination was the first and only time in the game I didn't vote for who was eliminated that round. I voted for Coby. Cochran voted with Vytas here, and Vytas chose to eliminate Rachel and not Coby ... which wasn't smart in the least bit. I'm glad Vytas admitted that. So, at this time I was forced to adapt to playing without my friend in the game.
Coby was so hot this game and I felt that he was my biggest endgame threat left in the game at Final 7: physically in challenges and socially at camp + his friendships on the Jury. Although I have a ton of love for Coby, the way sides worked in this game didn't work for us, which was extremely sad and I mean that tenfold. I played my talisman at this Tribal Council like I said I would.
The Final 6 was one of my weirdest rounds. Because of the weekend off there weren't a lot of meaningful conversations going on. Prior to the vote, I had been told Shawn was definitely voting for me and that Cochran and Vytas were as well. I had also heard something about Marissa voting for me. Semhar wasn't really around to talk much, and wasn't talking to me. I was paranoid because from my perspective I had no reason to think it wouldn't be me, and partially due to the fact this was the time in the game I was eliminated the last time I played. Marissa is a great player and our partnership since the very beginning meant a lot to me, but all this and her being a goddess in general made her an endgame threat for me as well. Vytas' idol play negated the votes Cochran was going to get anyway and Marissa left.
The Final 5 vote was messy. The whole idea of "female Stranded winners" was at the center point around this time and I honestly agreed, almost every girl in this game delivered wonderfully. Shawn and Semhar voted 2 different ways for Cochran and for Vytas, so even if I had voted with them the vote would have tied 2-2-1... Semhar I love and is extremely likable and like Marissa, was an endgame threat. This vote was hard to make. I want to stress that though I broke promises, I did not do so with any sort of malicious intent.
I was very confident heading into the Final 4 challenge, but unfortunately I forgot a number and that set me back. Cochran scored 163 in this challenge. Even though I was set back to 1412, I had counted up to 2815, about double what my final score ended up being. That's a difference of 2500+. I had managed to never receive a single vote until the Final 4 Tribal Council where I received 2 votes, the only votes I received all game. I'd been convincing Cochran we were on bottom together for the past few rounds even though I don't believe that so he would keep me in if the situation to vote me out ever arose. He actually flipped on Vytas, his friend in the game and the guy who did all the strategic work, just to give me a chance to stay. I fought hard and won the tie-breaker, then when we were told this game would have a Final 2, I dominated the final immunity challenge and won a crucial individual immunity, showcasing my all-around challenge abilities. I chose to eliminate Shawn because his under the radar game was one of the best I've ever seen. He was voted as a goat in the survey challenge and I completely disagree. Would Shawn have taken me to the end if he won the last challenge? No, of course not.
IN CONCLUSION
I had a clear, precise path that was well-coordinated and I followed that path the best I could. It wasn't an easy road getting here. When something didn't go my way I adapted to position myself in a safe spot. I balanced all of the crazy dynamics this game had to offer, achieved so much and seriously brought it in every phase of this game. It's up to you all if I'm worthy of being the winner of this game, but I'm hoping I get your votes tonight. I'll respect your decision, whatever you decide. Thank you.
Some of you may or may not be familiar with the season I was originally on. I'll take a second to tell you about that, because it has a major impact on me as a Stranded player. Stranded in Costa Rica was Season 17 (5 seasons ago) and it was my first ORG game. The cast was filled with All-Stars and it was a cut-throat competition the whole way through. There were a lot of ups and downs for me, but mostly downs. Things started looking up for me when I won back-to-back immunity challenges at the Final 8 and Final 7, guaranteeing myself a spot in the Final 6. The Final 6 vote tied 3-3. Because of my strict loyalty, I made the grave mistake of not flipping on an ally, Kim. I ended up drawing the first ever purple rock in Stranded history. Kim went on to win the game and it wasn't until the game was over that I realized if I had flipped -- I actually had a great chance at winning. Sometimes I think about the game and my decision and I can't help but feel massive regret. It's truly haunting, wishing you could take it back.
This is what second chances are all about.
Stranded in Portugal
PRE-MERGE
I actually had something going on the day the game started and I was the last one to arrive on Limici. I was really ecstatic to see Caryn here, because we played together last time. I was glad to be able to talk to Becky and Coby, who I knew a bit prior to this game. The newer favorites (Semhar, Ralph) wanted to get to know me personally, which was super enjoyable for me and I take those personal bonds more seriously than anything. When it comes to friendships, you would be hard-pressed to find someone more genuine and sacrificial than me (as evidenced by my last time playing).
This time around I had to make the distinction between my friendships and winning the game. This is a huge growth and shift in my personality and my character, which shows how much I've learned from my past mistakes.
We all had great chemistry on Limici and it showed in our challenge performances. My objective was to make sure that I was positioned well on the tribe and I found myself easily in a majority of 6. That majority alliance was very temporary because of the early swap and with Kim's elimination I knew it had fallen to shambles.
TAPOLI
All of a sudden we swapped and there was the introduction of a new, third tribe. I was the first person chosen in the swap, and I was lucky enough to be on the new tribe. Positioning myself again became my main objective, and I did great here. I formed bonds with my new tribe and wanted to connect with everyone on an individual level. I had Caryn on that tribe, as well as my friend in the game, Rachel (who I picked in the swap). I jumped into a leader role, which is something I normally don't do and we won first a few times in the challenges. Just keeping it real: myself and Semhar did a lot of the work in challenges, it was just how things worked out with Rachel on mobile and puzzles frequently being used in challenges -- which are Caryn's kryptonite. The first time we lost, I actively pushed the vote onto Hayden because the other target was Rachel and I got my way. Two important things happened during my time on Tapoli.
#1: For winning first in one of the challenges I was brought over to Bracari tribe to break the tie between Vytas and P-P-Peter.
#2: I discovered the Tapoli Hidden Immunity Idol.
Cochran voted in the wrong thread, so the vote tied and it left his friend in the game in a lot of trouble. When I broke the tie, I had to think about a few things: Helping out my BvW partner, Marissa <3, and saving the necks of the Bracari majority due to Cochran's fuck up in order to have more allies in the merge. It was a solid opportunity for me. Also Vytas promised to get me the next clue to the idol, so strategically there were more pros keeping Vytas. And I did find the idol, which I smartly used to gain trust. Tapoli tribe lost one final time before the merge and I wanted to vote out Laura, not Semhar.
POST-MERGE
The merge was the culmination of all of the dynamics in this game: Partners, friends, early alliances, new alliances, idols, talismans and more. Plus all of us were together for the first time, and it started with a bang. Katie was sadly removed from the game. The popular opinion of the tribe was that Caryn was digging herself a hole deeper and deeper. Personally, she had lied to me on more than one occasion about who her friend was, even though I had been 100% honest with Caryn. It was still really heartbreaking for me to witness her being the merge boot for a second time.
Going into the game I had no plan for what I would do with a hidden immunity idol if I got one. Admittedly, this was a strategy that formed during the game. I decided to simply throw away the idol, it was more of a hindrance to my game and I stand by that statement. Also, I just don't like idols in general. I prefer to play more evenly with trust. The knowledge I 100% didn't have an idol anymore made me appear to be less threatening and less of a priority to be voted for.
It was a risk getting rid of the idol, definitely, but I felt confident about it. I was a little worried at the vote, but really everybody was.It was clear at this point the NuLimici side was voting together as a strong foursome. This is exactly where my relationship with Marissa, Vytas, Cochran + Rachel, Semhar comes into play. I didn't want to vote out Ralph or Shawn yet to prolong the talisman use. Becky had a great social standing, and is a player I like a lot, but at this point in the game that was worrying to my own chances of winning and I believed my chances were best elsewhere.
After Becky's elimination the sides were out in the open for everyone to see. Like I said, my conversations with Ralph were always personal and a lot of fun, so to vote against him made things unfortunately awkward. Coby won the next immunity, leaving 2 choices for me: Ralph and Shawn. Voting either one would secure talismans for myself and Marissa. At this time I was very cautious that Shawn was being highly underestimated as a player (foreshadowing), but Ralph was the decided target. I received a talisman for being a part of the last in tact Blood vs. Water pair.
I won individual immunity at the Final 8. Which was very needed, as I got to hold on to my talisman for another round. I was really sad for Rachel, and sad that I didn't use my talisman on her like she wanted me to.
My gut said to keep it to use for next round, so I did. Rachel's elimination was the first and only time in the game I didn't vote for who was eliminated that round. I voted for Coby. Cochran voted with Vytas here, and Vytas chose to eliminate Rachel and not Coby ... which wasn't smart in the least bit. I'm glad Vytas admitted that. So, at this time I was forced to adapt to playing without my friend in the game.Coby was so hot this game and I felt that he was my biggest endgame threat left in the game at Final 7: physically in challenges and socially at camp + his friendships on the Jury. Although I have a ton of love for Coby, the way sides worked in this game didn't work for us, which was extremely sad and I mean that tenfold. I played my talisman at this Tribal Council like I said I would.
The Final 6 was one of my weirdest rounds. Because of the weekend off there weren't a lot of meaningful conversations going on. Prior to the vote, I had been told Shawn was definitely voting for me and that Cochran and Vytas were as well. I had also heard something about Marissa voting for me. Semhar wasn't really around to talk much, and wasn't talking to me. I was paranoid because from my perspective I had no reason to think it wouldn't be me, and partially due to the fact this was the time in the game I was eliminated the last time I played. Marissa is a great player and our partnership since the very beginning meant a lot to me, but all this and her being a goddess in general made her an endgame threat for me as well. Vytas' idol play negated the votes Cochran was going to get anyway and Marissa left.
The Final 5 vote was messy. The whole idea of "female Stranded winners" was at the center point around this time and I honestly agreed, almost every girl in this game delivered wonderfully. Shawn and Semhar voted 2 different ways for Cochran and for Vytas, so even if I had voted with them the vote would have tied 2-2-1... Semhar I love and is extremely likable and like Marissa, was an endgame threat. This vote was hard to make. I want to stress that though I broke promises, I did not do so with any sort of malicious intent.
I was very confident heading into the Final 4 challenge, but unfortunately I forgot a number and that set me back. Cochran scored 163 in this challenge. Even though I was set back to 1412, I had counted up to 2815, about double what my final score ended up being. That's a difference of 2500+. I had managed to never receive a single vote until the Final 4 Tribal Council where I received 2 votes, the only votes I received all game. I'd been convincing Cochran we were on bottom together for the past few rounds even though I don't believe that so he would keep me in if the situation to vote me out ever arose. He actually flipped on Vytas, his friend in the game and the guy who did all the strategic work, just to give me a chance to stay. I fought hard and won the tie-breaker, then when we were told this game would have a Final 2, I dominated the final immunity challenge and won a crucial individual immunity, showcasing my all-around challenge abilities. I chose to eliminate Shawn because his under the radar game was one of the best I've ever seen. He was voted as a goat in the survey challenge and I completely disagree. Would Shawn have taken me to the end if he won the last challenge? No, of course not.
IN CONCLUSION
I had a clear, precise path that was well-coordinated and I followed that path the best I could. It wasn't an easy road getting here. When something didn't go my way I adapted to position myself in a safe spot. I balanced all of the crazy dynamics this game had to offer, achieved so much and seriously brought it in every phase of this game. It's up to you all if I'm worthy of being the winner of this game, but I'm hoping I get your votes tonight. I'll respect your decision, whatever you decide. Thank you.