Round 08

[Ethan]

This is the most nerve wracking round yet for me. I have 5 gems, which is great, but it's still mathematically possible and not highly unlikely that I could be auto-eliminated at the end of the round for having the least gems.

I'm trying to align myself as best as I can with the challenge threats. Silas is my primary ally, but I'm trying to get Marcus to think that the two of us are the two running the game. I also have a slight bond with Rocky that may or may not be beneficial later, but hopefully it saves me if he wins the events and I'm potentially vulnerable. Brett and Russell are potential challenge winners, and I'm trying to talk to them and get close, but they're not online a whole lot and we haven't been able to chat and bond as much as I've liked. Tracy? I have nothing with her. But she'll probably try to get Silas out over me if she wins, hopefully, since they greatly dislike each other. So with that said, I'm potentially vulnerable this round, but I also feel like I'm in one of the best positions here.

Some interesting developments are that Silas wants Marcus out, and he thinks that Brett and Russell with stick with him. However, I know that Marcus is very close to Brett and Russell, so they may actually side with Marcus if it comes down to Marcus versus Silas. I'm planning on ultimately sticking with Silas over Marcus because I want Silas in the finals with me and have a tentative finals speech planned if I make it there against Silas. I don't think that I could beat Marcus because Marcus is playing a much better social game than I previously gave him credit for. Rocky and Tracy would be the wildcards these next few rounds, but I'm trying to keep things calm between Marcus and Silas as long as I can so that I don't get stuck on one side and put in danger that way. I hope Silas doesn't get overconfident and make a move for Marcus too early because Marcus has so many allies in this game. They may be waiting for us to turn and then make a big move against us.

Marcus and Rocky are the biggest challenge threats, so I think that the best move would be to get the two of them out as soon as possible and still do it in a way not to cause any concerns. Once they're gone, Russell's the biggest challenge threat, but hopefully we can contain him and keep him working with me and Silas. I'm playing a tricky game right now trying to keep things together and in a positive direction, but if it works out, it should position myself to go long-term in this game AND have a chance to win if I make it to the finals. Silas is ideal to go up against. It would be close, but I think that I could beat him by revealing everything that I've been doing and how I've been doing it also pointing out the way that Silas insults and attacks people without provocation. I'm not just Silas' boring follower who is great at the challenges, which will be what people are going to try to attack me with if I make it.

...or I could end up 8th. That's why I love this game. It's so unpredictable.

I also keep forgetting that Ace is here. Hopefully he stays at 2 gems and is the cushion if something bad ever happens, but someone may give him gems to cause someone else to be auto-eliminated.

I'll take advantage of this break to refresh myself mentally and come back the strongest that I've been in this game. I also am making a spreadsheet with all the challenge results, votes, gem distributions, etc. just because I have a feeling it will be beneficial to know them later. I noticed that Marcus and I have 5 challenge wins while no one else has more than 1.

[Ethan]

I'm still here! Looking forward to this challenge tonight. I could really use the protection to lock myself in the final 7. It's one round at a time right now.

I still think that Russell is going to win this game. He's good at the challenges and everyone seems to like him. Perfect position to win this game.

[Ethan]

I want Silas to win tonight, and I'm gonna do everything in power to do that. I think we can justify it to Marcus by saying that Russell's not around, Brett's not around, and Silas winning makes sense since he has 4 gems as opposed to our 5. Assuming Brett's not around. And then Silas gives himself a 5th gem, protects me, and gives either Brett or Russell a 5th them and protects them. I'm not concerned about Ace and doubt he'll show. Tracy hasn't shown anything yet, but who knows what could happen. Rocky's the concern, though, if he wins. But if Silas wins, then either Marcus or Rocky would go this round. Which needs to happen.

Silas probably thinks I'm a pawn and that he set me up against Marcus. But what he doesn't realize is that I'm sticking with him until the end because I like my chances against him in the finals. Marcus, Rocky, Stephenie, and Tracy would hopefully distribute most of their gems to me while Ace, Brett, and Russell would hopefully do even distributions or maybe distributions slightly in Silas's favor. And even if I lost to Silas in the finals, I would be okay with it because Silas worked hard in this game and even though he treated the people against him without a lot of respect and maybe tried a little too hard to do certain things along with acting based on his emotions alone, I'd still consider him a satisfactory winner.

[Ethan]

I've seen plenty of movies, but I just don't retain key information into easily accessible parts of my memory that I can recall in less than five seconds. So, I did terrible in the challenge and was eliminated first. Silas and Marcus were next.

But then I talked to Rocky, and we had a good conversation. He realizes my priorities are Marcus and Silas and that the best way we can work together is if they go. I also told him I didn't want to do anything to hurt either of them. Which was all true. But if he wins this challenge, he's probably taking one of them out. And I think it would still make sense for that to be Marcus. But do I want that to happen, or do I want someone else to go home. It may all depend on who Rocky protects and so forth, and it's quite possible (although probably only with Ace or Tracy) that I'll go home this round. Hopefully Ace and Tracy would take out Silas if they won.

So, I'm sitting here with good relationships with Marcus, Rocky, and Silas, decent relationships with Brett and Russell, and hardly any relationship with Ace or Tracy and have no idea what specific move to make next. Do I want Marcus or Silas gone? Or do I want to keep them since they're strong and seem to like me whereas Ace and Tracy have no relationship with me? Or what about getting rid of Brett and Russell who are closer to Marcus and Silas than they are to me? I'm in a fairly good position because I'm not in huge danger and have options, but it's almost too many options. The one thing that I really want to do is to talk to Tracy, but I really can't do that without fear that she'll broadcast our conversation to everyone just to irritate Silas. So that would be an advantage of him going home this round.

I also need to make sure this information about me is contained in a way to not make everyone irritated. Which means keeping Rocky contained in a way. But I'm nervous about that long-term, and I'm really not sure what to do next. Just wait and see what the challenge is and come up with a plan then I guess.

[Ethan]

I could end up going after this challenge, but hopefully it works out. I'm not sure what I'm doing, but I have 3 strong potential allies in Marcus, Rocky, and Silas who are likely to win and shouldn't take me out...

[Ethan]

Ha, well I helped my primary group and we won. Near the end, there was about a fifteen minute gap where I was disconnected, but supposedly Marcus made a move that irritated Brett and Silas. Total drama. But no one wants to shake anything up, so we're just auto-eliminating Ace. I'd prefer a bigger move personally, but whatever.

Now Rocky's probably going to try to turn everyone against me or something. Fortunately, I withheld the crucial, non-obvious information from him such as the fact that Marcus, Silas, and I aren't final 3 bound. He has no idea about our conflict. So if he starts calling me out, I can probably contain him. Hopefully. His personality seemed completely different last night when I talked to him. I was slightly busy and couldn't focus completely on our conversation, but I basically just think he was warning me I made a mistake for talking to him and that it will bite me in the end. Which scares me a little, but I'm confident in myself to contain it unless he makes a huge move like posting a print screen of our chat to the public.

I really like just about all of these people, but I hope that they understand it's all good fun and I'm still playing the game.