Post by alexeh on May 24, 2017 20:35:06 GMT 1
I never really know how to start writing these types of things, and I've rewritten an introduction and things of that sort so many times I have lost count, but here's hoping this one sticks. Probably going to be cheesy and cringy, but writing these kind of things isn't really something I'm hugely comfortable or competent in, so here goes...
So before I begin, I would like to thank everybody who has participated in this game for making it as fun as it was, and as exciting as it was - and a special thank goes to Bronson for running it.
And also, congratulations and good luck to Kenajabam who would definitely be a deserving winner. I know that whatever happens I'm very happy with the way I've played and I have no regrets. 
Going into this final tribal council, I believe I know how 6 of the jurors are going to vote. And I think this demonstrates something very clearly - I knew a lot more about what was going on in this game than most. There were no tribal councils I participated in where I was surprised about the outcome (a potential exception being Julian's blindside, but I'll go into that in a bit more detail later on), and for the most part, I knew where the majority of players stood alliance-wise.
Some may, and will, say that this is due to me being a "snake", but please take a moment to think about the situation I was put in, from the very opening moments of the game. One person offers an alliance, you agree, thinking "great, someone on my side". Then another person, on the other side of the tribe, offers you the exact same thing. Would it not be a bad move to say no? To unnecessarily make yourself a target, when you don't necessarily have to make an immediate decision? Call me a snake all you like, but to say that the better and smarter move would be to reject that second alliance, so early in the game, with so little knowledge about how the game will unfold, is ridiculous. Please do enlighten me if there is some other option I could've done in this situation.
Things alliance-wise happened to unfold very similarly from there. Upon the first tribe swap, I found myself on both sides of the tribe again. And the second tribe swap, the same thing. Honestly for a while I questioned to myself if there was another way to go about things. I did not, and still do not, enjoy betraying and backstabbing people who believed I was their ally. But what could I do? With each second alliance offer came a great level of risk - saying no would lead to a target on my back more dangerous than a potential reputation of a "snake" later on. Maybe, in different circumstances, things would've been different, but I know that the way in which I did "backstab" people, and the people I "backstabbed" were right, and I do not regret the effect they had on my game.
There were perks to playing both sides - one of which being that, with every backstab, my true alliance, the one I was with from the very beginning of the game, trusted me more, and with this, I felt more secure in the fact that I wouldn't be backstabbed. It built a strong and stable foundation for my game in which, despite being potentially one of the least trustworthy players, I was trusted by many. And as I said before, I knew exactly what was going on. I knew how one side would vote, and I knew how the other would vote. In a similar way, I knew if either side had an idol. The game went this way for around 30 days, until things changed with the blindside of Julian. However, considering the events that played out before this through private conversations, I would be lying if I said I was completely surprised by this turn of events.
This turn of events, however, did cause a huge shift in power. Kenajabam, who now sits with me in the final two, and those he was aligned with, had got one of the "other side" eliminated without having to do much, if any, persuasion. This put me and my closest allies, those I had been with from the beginning of the game, in danger. It was followed by the blindside of Blandine, and suddenly it was 3 vs 3. A stalemate, with allies who had gone behind my back and orchestrated a big move before (sorry to you, but that's how it was).
I will admit I got very lucky with the circumstances in which we gained our advantage, but did my competitor not get similarly lucky with previous circumstances - an opponent of his being eliminated without having to do much work to make it happen? The majority of players in this game will have had their fair share of good luck in the game, and it's joined by their fair share of bad luck. That's how the game goes, it's unfair to criticise and penalise a person's gameplay due to their luck. An advantage falls into your hands, you use it, or you could end up being the one crashing out at tribal council.
I was quiet in both gameplay and challenges, but I was always there. Quietly, but I knew what I was doing every step of the way through the game and yes, I did not have an obvious impact on the game. But to deny that me doing the things I did (for example, voting out two huge strategic threats in Lef and Callum) had no impact on the game and how it could've gone is incorrect. I knew exactly what I was doing, and despite various criticism of how I have played, I kept my cool, kept doing what I was doing, and it's how I survived. It's how I never received a single vote in the game. I fought, lost more often than I won in terms of challenges, but I bounced back and never gave up. And that is why I think I deserve to be crowned Sole Survivor.
So before I begin, I would like to thank everybody who has participated in this game for making it as fun as it was, and as exciting as it was - and a special thank goes to Bronson for running it.
And also, congratulations and good luck to Kenajabam who would definitely be a deserving winner. I know that whatever happens I'm very happy with the way I've played and I have no regrets. 
Going into this final tribal council, I believe I know how 6 of the jurors are going to vote. And I think this demonstrates something very clearly - I knew a lot more about what was going on in this game than most. There were no tribal councils I participated in where I was surprised about the outcome (a potential exception being Julian's blindside, but I'll go into that in a bit more detail later on), and for the most part, I knew where the majority of players stood alliance-wise.
Some may, and will, say that this is due to me being a "snake", but please take a moment to think about the situation I was put in, from the very opening moments of the game. One person offers an alliance, you agree, thinking "great, someone on my side". Then another person, on the other side of the tribe, offers you the exact same thing. Would it not be a bad move to say no? To unnecessarily make yourself a target, when you don't necessarily have to make an immediate decision? Call me a snake all you like, but to say that the better and smarter move would be to reject that second alliance, so early in the game, with so little knowledge about how the game will unfold, is ridiculous. Please do enlighten me if there is some other option I could've done in this situation.
Things alliance-wise happened to unfold very similarly from there. Upon the first tribe swap, I found myself on both sides of the tribe again. And the second tribe swap, the same thing. Honestly for a while I questioned to myself if there was another way to go about things. I did not, and still do not, enjoy betraying and backstabbing people who believed I was their ally. But what could I do? With each second alliance offer came a great level of risk - saying no would lead to a target on my back more dangerous than a potential reputation of a "snake" later on. Maybe, in different circumstances, things would've been different, but I know that the way in which I did "backstab" people, and the people I "backstabbed" were right, and I do not regret the effect they had on my game.
There were perks to playing both sides - one of which being that, with every backstab, my true alliance, the one I was with from the very beginning of the game, trusted me more, and with this, I felt more secure in the fact that I wouldn't be backstabbed. It built a strong and stable foundation for my game in which, despite being potentially one of the least trustworthy players, I was trusted by many. And as I said before, I knew exactly what was going on. I knew how one side would vote, and I knew how the other would vote. In a similar way, I knew if either side had an idol. The game went this way for around 30 days, until things changed with the blindside of Julian. However, considering the events that played out before this through private conversations, I would be lying if I said I was completely surprised by this turn of events.
This turn of events, however, did cause a huge shift in power. Kenajabam, who now sits with me in the final two, and those he was aligned with, had got one of the "other side" eliminated without having to do much, if any, persuasion. This put me and my closest allies, those I had been with from the beginning of the game, in danger. It was followed by the blindside of Blandine, and suddenly it was 3 vs 3. A stalemate, with allies who had gone behind my back and orchestrated a big move before (sorry to you, but that's how it was).
I will admit I got very lucky with the circumstances in which we gained our advantage, but did my competitor not get similarly lucky with previous circumstances - an opponent of his being eliminated without having to do much work to make it happen? The majority of players in this game will have had their fair share of good luck in the game, and it's joined by their fair share of bad luck. That's how the game goes, it's unfair to criticise and penalise a person's gameplay due to their luck. An advantage falls into your hands, you use it, or you could end up being the one crashing out at tribal council.
I was quiet in both gameplay and challenges, but I was always there. Quietly, but I knew what I was doing every step of the way through the game and yes, I did not have an obvious impact on the game. But to deny that me doing the things I did (for example, voting out two huge strategic threats in Lef and Callum) had no impact on the game and how it could've gone is incorrect. I knew exactly what I was doing, and despite various criticism of how I have played, I kept my cool, kept doing what I was doing, and it's how I survived. It's how I never received a single vote in the game. I fought, lost more often than I won in terms of challenges, but I bounced back and never gave up. And that is why I think I deserve to be crowned Sole Survivor.
