Hey it's Austin's Confessional

[Austin Carty]

Looks like the vote's still Charlie. Things seemed to have died down, and Frank reminded me that we gotta be logical about this stuff. If Charlie asks me tomorrow if the votes are on him, I'll probs tell him - maybe a bit before deadline. Or maybe I'll tell him regardless. I just don't want to be known as the, like, Boston Rob of this season, y'know? I care about how I treat these people.

[Austin Carty]

Final 14: Explaining The Charlie Vote

OK, so I should probably explain why I flipped my vote off of Charlie and on to Silas at the last second. Here's the deal.

The whole day, I was busy or asleep or something, so I didn't log on til around 9. A little after I get on, Charlie messages me and asks if the vote is still Silas. I initially say yes, but after talking to Alina and giving her a heads up, I decided to tell Charlie he was going. Knowing who Charlie is, I know how he takes blindsides, and I didn't want ot needlessly burn him, even though I know its the smart vote to just let it be and vote him out. We'd reassured him so much that he was safe, that it felt wrong to leave it at that. Voting out friends in AS is tricky, y'know?

Well, doing that just kinda blew it up. The only three people on were me, Alina, and Charlie, and he starts campaigning. HARD. You think he was campaigning hard yesterday, your wrong. He offered a ton of stuff, wheeling and dealin' like I've never seen him before, and he did make a lot of good points. More than anything else, the idea of appealing to old La Barbara and using him to bridge that connection was solid. The issue me, and Alina as well had, was that he knew we were willing to vote him out, and Charlie being the smart player he is - is he going to even trust us? Like we were thinking, he could very well just be biding his time.

What kinda sealed the deal for me was that PG was also talking to me, and convincing me to go with Charlie. Obviously this means she is tighter with him than me, whatever that's worrying but its a bridge I'll cross when I get to it. I want to keep PG as an ally, and old La Barb in general as well, so I ultimately put my vote on Silas. But I did it last second, and Alina didn't, so Charlie still left 3-2. He had some harsh words for her and JFP when he went out, which I get, but the content seemed too biting. Me voting with him seemed to have mitigated any anger he might've had, especially because I legitimately wanted Silas out over him at the moment.

But, I'm actually thankful Alina didn't change her vote. A lot of that vote was impulse on my part, because Charlie was campaigning to stay so hard, and Silas barely even has internet. But since I was sincere in that, I think I definitely earned at least some trust back with old La Barb, and I'm probably in a  better spot since the power player is gone and he was most likely blowing smoke up my ass. Now, I'm seen as loyal, but easily manipulable - which is to an extent the truth, but is also how I want to be perceived. I think I might've lucked in to the best possible scenario, unless Charlie WAS completely sincere - in which case, c'est la vie. Just blindsiding him 4-1 might've been even smarter, but hey: the game isn't everything, yo. Must be shocking to her me of all people say that, but it's the truth, haha.

Also, not gonna lie - part of the vote was motivated by the fact that it would be entertaining to have a last minute vote switch. Playin' for the people, haha.

Damage control with Alina was not really needed - we were discussing the vote the whole time, after all. JFP, it was simple to say I wasn't actually considering voting Silas out, just wanted to build bridges back up with old La Barb. Silas...eh, he's barely around. I'll tell him the same story, and pray that works, haha.

I feel like I've been playing kinda recklessly so far. I think I've solidified the fact that I don't mean anything personal with my votes at this point, so I'm ultimately gonna go where my head tells me. Make the "smart" move, even if emotional play does endear me to some of the other players - I feel like its too easy to make yourself a goat if you keep doing that, if your too wishy washy. I definitively don't want to be a Sash if by some miracle I get to FTC - someone who was seen as transparently playing both sides. It could even be worse, people callin' me an emotional idiot on top of that, y'know?

I've been kinda bumblefucking around, as per usual, because I'm not playing with a mindset of "game game game," that can end badly for its own host of reasons. But I think now, if I adopt that killer edge, who knows? The Bumblefuck could take it all.

[Austin Carty]

Oh fuck I thought I made a confessional for this round. Welp, I got 12 minutes til ten, as of the time of this writing til, so let's do some Generic Austin Narration (tm) and explain what was a rather chillaxed round for me.

So, the tribe swap happens, and again, I really can't complain. Like seriously - both times, the tribe swap broke really well for me, at least at a glance. The person I threw a vote towards went to the other tribe, and my trusted allies are here with me as well. Also according to Alina, JFP's been talking about us being the Final 3, which is fine for me - regardless of the chances of that actually happening, if it did, I figure I'm the odds on favorite since Alina is the Queen of pissing people off and JFP is...JFP.

Anyway, the ol' Cerberus chat, with me, LJ, and Yul, had actually been picking up the night before the swap. I figure those are two guys who's allegiances aren't overly difficult to get ahold of - LJ and I talk a bunch, and no one seems to really message Yul. I I dedicate more time to trying to talk to Yul, since he's a bit inactive, I think he'd be quick to bump me up in his rankings. I'd be shocked if I was LJ's number one, but if things break my way come merge, he can spin so he's by my side - and especially now that we're on the same tribe. That's, in theory, a vote that's directly with me, once certain people from old La Barbera are out of the picture. Anyway, that's a side thing I'm trying to keep open, so I have options - it also means that, when LJ was on my swapped tribe, I in theory would already have three votes with me. Unless he threw me under the bus with Alex, Ed, and Marcus, not believing that Alina and JFP are with me.

Alex is in that chat with me, Alina, and JFP, so I kinda sorta can rely on him, but we've never talked aside from like, two messages that weren't even really a conversation. I've talked to Edgardo more, but there's no real alliance there - granted he's tight with Alina apparently, so I think it's an angle I could, in theory, work. Marcus is who I would've pushed for if we went to tribal, as much as I'd love to see the Houdini make the merge once more - I like him, but we've never really talked game, and I'm not really working closely with anyone working closely with him, as far as I know.

Really not much happening, which is probably why it didn't occur to me to write this until now, and I can't say I have anything particularly flavorful to add. Just wanted to let you know things I've been up to, in the limited time I spent on AIM this rfound. (Adjusting a sleep schedule is a BITCH.)

[Austin Carty]

FINAL 13




So, Abi went out on the other tribe. 3-2-2. Figured as much would happen - happy Silas stayed over her, though. I kinda hope her being forced to fight so hard against me in the challenge was the nail in the coffin, so to speak, cause I was frustrated I lost that one. I was friggen awake for 26 hours when I passed out for five, and by the time I woke up it was 8, and I'd lost the challenge mathematically. Frustrating, y'know?

Anyway, the challenge comes up, and I do what I can to get us tribal immunity. Because, ideally, Silas is safe (he was cool with the whole stray vote thing, as far as I know, by the way) on the other side, and Dolly goes. Since Dolly talks to EVERYONE apparently, and I'm not one of those people. -_- But, Marcus and LJ both go for it, and Silas sends it early by one second - Marcus wins it, which sucks since he was the person I was planning on trying to get booted. But, c'est la vie, it seems.

Anyway, I've been working my tail off to keep  LJ safe. And, I think he's gonna stay. I campaigned hard to boot Ed, since LJ's a more trustworthy guy, and I think Ed is exactly the kind of guy to sell us down the river mid-merge. LJ might go back to Old La Barb, who knows, but it keeps my Cerberus option open down the road, and keeps someone batting for me in the game. Also, I got JFP to kinda strongarm him, saying he'll lose five votes if he goes in finals if he goes against Greco at merge. And if the alliance is five Greco and two La Barb's, that definitely makes me look better. Not so much a Cochran, since I ot someone else with me - especially if Dolly goes down with La Barb.

Merge is incredibly confusing, and trying to figure out the dynamics, when people like Robb, Dolly, and Coach don't talk to me is fucking hard. I'm doing what I can, because I'm trying not to lose all the La Barb jury votes.... but no one besides LJ, PG, and Yul actually talk to me. Like, if your gonna treat me like I already flipped, because I eliminated two people in a 3-3 situation, with two of the people on the other side good friends of mine - then why should I even entertain the option? It's just confusing, and I'm still trying to weigh my options and figure out how to socially approach this the best.

[Austin Carty]

LJ.

Was.

Safe.

LJ was safe.

But apparently, because he doesn't trust JFP - while not really in a position to choose who you can trust at the moment - he went to Ed and said JFP was targeting him. And now has Ed trying to get JFP out.



Alina was already hesitant to vote him out over Ed, but as long as I had JFP under control, she wouldn't have gone against us. Now? He wants LJ out, she already just wanted support to keep Ed around over LJ, and as much as I try, there's no way either of them are gonna vote with him. Especially since he's adamantly against JFP now, and seems to have Ed leaning that way as well. LJ should still go - Alina got most of this information from Alex, and he's good on LJ. So even if Marcus flips, which apparently he's not, we'd still have majority. So as long as she convinces Ed to vote LJ,it should be 6-1 him - if she doesn't, 5-2, which would kinda hurt for tribe unity.

I'm incredibly frustrated at the moment. If LJ survived this round, there was someone else who was in a similar situation to me, torn between both sides - now that's not the case, and I'll probably take more heat for being with Greco. At least Dolly's with La Barb, to balance things out. But, this game's just a headache, man. LJ caused a Survivor Implosion, haha.

[Austin Carty]

So, Abi sent a bunch of people on Greco (and me - looks like my side's been decided by public opinion, lol) a chat she had with Dolly, where Dolly mentioned that La Barb has been communicating on Skype - hence why Coach, Robb, and Yul are rarely on AIM.

Well, I went and checked my Skype, cause I'm rarely on it. No notifications, nothing. I wasn't included in any alliances, and I'd be shocked if these chats all started AFTER the Kass boot. And even if it was after, I'd been trying to keep up communications - but in their heads I was expendable now. They don't consider me a member, so they don't talk to me. I have absolutely no reason to listen to them at merge. It legitimately bugs me when people aren't on AIM to talk to the game at large, and stick with their inner circle - and when I'm playing, it definitely tells me where I stand. Looks like I know the right bunch to be with, eh?

[Austin Carty]

LJ told me Ed and Marcus want to flip the vote onto JFP. So now I'm the swing.

God. Damnit.

[Austin Carty]

This is the perfect time for Alina to be asleep and JFP to not be on. C'MON PEOPLE, WE NEED TO DEAL WITH THIS.

[Austin Carty]

I don't want to vote out JFP, but I need to know where Alex's vote is. If he's with Ed, Marcus, and LJ, then I have to go with them, and do my darnedest to get Alina as well for a unified vote. From the looks of things it looks like I'm the fourth their counting on, and as much as voting LJ isn't ideal, it's a million times better than voting out JFP. Greco is so fractured, though - keeping us together as a 7 might be more difficult than I thought, regardless of how the vote goes.

[Austin Carty]

OK, JFP came on, I got him to talk Marcus off the ledge. So long as me, and Alina given her social awesomeness, can keep this seven together, as divided as we are, we can keep ourselves in a power spot. LJ's going, 6-1, but you wouldn't think it based on how people see me and JFP as tight, or how Ed feels insecure, or how Marcus didn't talk to JFP until tonight. Merge is gonna be such a pain, haha.

[Austin Carty]

FINAL 12

In which we merge, there's a 6-6 divide because of an idol play, and the winning side will be determined by a luck based challenge, since Jeremy thinks Fiji is obviously a season to be emulated. Fuck. My. Life.

[Austin Carty]

OK, so massive update time. Sorry about the lack of info regarding this round and the idol play, I'm easily distracted by shiny things. Like the cat in this gif I'm offering you as recompense:



OK, so LJ played the idol and voted out JFP. I mean, it wasn't worst case scenario - there were four people he could've successfully voted for, and there's no reason anyone would've voted for Alex. So, y'know, even if JFP was goatier than Alina in the end, having her around for the moment helps keep cohesion - she's kinda like the alliance leader, which is exactly where I want her to be. Let her be the alpha and take the heat when we work together for once. JFP was in my ideal F3, so it sucks to see him go - but at least I'm living to fight another day.

Then the twist and challenge occurs, and it basically comes down to luck. I was asleep all day anyway, because I'm responsible, and there was this plan to not submit, thinking certain La Barbs wouldn't submit, blah blah blah. By the time I got on, it had died down, everyone had submitted, and lady luck had smiled on my side when 4 of us we're sent to tribal against two of theirs. So, it's gonna be a 2-2-2 split between Robb, Yul, and whoever - people are iffy on who we're sending out on the re-vote, but I personally want Robb out between the two.

Why, you ask? Nothing against Robb - I like him, and he was actually really sweet to help me with a hosting thing for Pure a little while ago, but we don't talk. Before he messaged me scrambling for this vote, we hadn't talked since May. Which...says A LOT, haha. Additionally, I have a side thing with Yul and LJ going on, Cerberus. I'm not entirely sure what I plan to do with that, but its sorta like my safety blanket - when a flip happens, so long as I keep those two with me, I'll have control of the numbers. I BS'ed them with talk about playing both sides, which to an extent IS true, but I'm not gonna be flipping as crazy as Tony did - as polarized as these sides are, their also not dumb enough to see people playing the middle. But, after Robb and 1 or 2 of the other side goes, the idea is to have them to flip the game again, with Alina and Silas as well, so I keep a majority on both fronts within that five.

Of course, this will all most likely blow up in my face, especially because I'll have to explain to them why I'm not constantly switching sides, and instead waiting for a singular power shift, which may make them want to blow up my spot. But that's kinda the rudimentary plan going on my head, if I don't feel I can trust Ed, Marcus, and Alex. Which is probably likely, since Marcus is difficult to get a hold of, and most of Ed and Alex's information I get via Alina. She's set up much better than me in this bunch - so if I can convince her to splinter, all the better for me.

Granted, this is all presuming the 2-2-2 split goes off without a hitch. Robb was hinting he'd do whatever to stay, so he might try to put his vote on Yul and make Yul go 3-2-1. I'm not sure if I should interfere, cause I don't know if Robb is actually doing that, and tell Yul to put his vote on Robb, to make it 3--2-1 Robb-Yul-Whoever, or 3-3 and Robb goes on the revote. Yul might be reluctant to do that, since their side is still trying to pitch their case hard to me.

PG, Yul, LJ, and Robb all separately came to me campaigning. Yul and LJ were easy enough to diffuse, so I, y'know, AM working with them, as I described earlier. Robb, I said try to get a read on the room then said I was going to the movies, so I didn't have to keep talking to the person I intend to eliminate. As for PG, I just told her that half of their alliance doesn't talk to me, and she keeps promising me that that ain't the case, that if I flipped this vote I wouldn't be on the bottom, but we both know that isn't true. Also, I'd be burning four jury votes to put myself in a bad position, so I'm not even entertaining the option.

I'm trying to give PG and the others in her 6 a bit of hope that I will flip, since if their coming to me it means odds are they won't put any votes on me and shenanigans won't happen that end up with me as the boot...somehow. Splitting is always incredibly dangerous, in that sense. Also, y'know, keeping those channels open, in case something happens down the line, is always good. Just gotta balance it right - be blunt when its smart to be blunt, so they don't see you as fake or whatever, but give them hope so they don't become disillusioned, all that jazz. Kinda like a carrot tied to a stick, y'know?

Anyway, that's all I have to talk about. God willing, there won't be enough happening to justify some more before the vote tonight, haha.

[Austin Carty]

FINAL 11

I'm kinda shocked to be here, not gonna lie. Like, I don't consider myself fabulous at ORGs by any stretch of the imagination - so to be here, at the merge and in the jury phase, I'm so stoked. I'm not dumb - a lot of lucky breaks went my way to get me here, but I actually think I'm in a position to wreck some shop.

Now that the numbers have settled down a bit, it's a lot easier for me to think about what I can capitalize on, and what people I need to get out ASAP. Cerberus is still going strong - that chat is pretty damn active. And when I was talking to PG, I told her I'd do what I could to keep her in the game as long as possible, even if I don't plan of shifting the paradigm soon. As for the other two in that group - meh. Dolly's still only been giving me small talk, probs a move to appeal to the majority, but there's not really much she can do to appeal to me specifically - we haven't talked, so there's not a base to work off of, y'know? Coach has still been completely MIA - which is a shame, cause the guy's awesome, but I can't remember the last time I saw him post in one of the AIM groups, let alone talk to me one on one. I guess he's doing stuff on Skype, or focusing on Endure, who knows?

So, in my head at least, Dolly and Coach need to go ASAP. It's a little worrying, since there's the whole tendency of the first juror to set the tone of the entire jury, and if Dolly is the first juror, and barely knows me, if I do get to the end it could hamper my chances. But, that is MASSIVELY overthinking things - like, c'mon. Not gonna start worrying about that when we've JUST gotten to the jury phase. So, I'm going to do what I can to make those the first two juror's - I brought it up with Alina, since the two of us have a bit of sway with the 6. I think we're gonna start dropping hints that Dolly is playing super hard to stay, telling lies and stuff, to get the target on her and off the people I want to stay. I heard that Ed wants, or at least wanted, LJ this round, but if I get my way, that ain't happening.

I kinda have a bit of a plan in my head. I've been doing what I can to keep any target off of me, whether it be from PG, LJ, or Yul, but in doing that I do have to do something to help them out. Coincidentally, going to the Final 6 with my 6 gives me a finish somewhere in 4-6, most likely. So, I have Cerberus, I have Alina, and I THINK I have Silas. Alex is also an option, granted not one I love since we don't talk a ton, it's one Alina has the pull on. Anyway, the idea is this - take out Dolly and Coach at 11 and 10, then at 9 shift shit up. Take out Ed, Marcus, PG, and Alex in whatever order - then at Final 5, I could be in a spot to dictate which F3 I want, between me/Alina/Silas and Cerberus. Unless LJ/Yul/Silas teamed up or something, which is certainly a possibility, as is people trying to flip things at 8-6, or someone else making a move to dissemble the six before I can make that power play. I've actually been considering doing it at ten, so LJ/Yul don't lose faith, and just grab Alex as a sixth.

I'm trying not to get too lost in this plan, I'm trying to be hyper-aware of my perception in this game. But having something to work towards kinda invigorates me - seeing a path to the end, even if it relies on a lot of things going precisely according to plan (which they won't) really puts me into - well, Austin mode, haha. It's certainly fun to play from the minority, or by the seat of my pants, but I've always felt a certain appeal in having control, and playing a game to retain that control. 

OK, there you go. Gamebot narration. I have literally nothing else to offer at 630 in the morning, particularly since ,y thoughts have been rather preocupied with figuring out a path, and not with the lunacy of this cast. Cuz yeah, we all kinda belong in the Loony Bin.

[Austin Carty]

So, some quick updates.

I was actually asleep last night, so the alliance had some fun chatting without me. They decided on Coach, which is whatever - I'd prefer Dolly, but I wanted Coach at 10 anyway, so its no big deal to me. But, there's a bit of an issue:

Marcus.

According to Alina, Marcus has been going around trying to form a new alliance of him, her, LJ, Ed, Silas, and Dolly.

...

WHY? That makes like...no sense. I get that your not feeling comfortable, and trying to shift the scales of power, but that's such an odd bunch of people to gather. Also he didn't feel the need to include me in it, which is a glal worth offense, haha. In all seriousness, its such an odd strategy.

But, whatever, if he's not implementing it this round I wouldn't care. What I DO care about is that apparently he leaked the Coach boot to Dolly. DUDE, C'MON. Ugh. If they have an idol, they'll definitely play it on him now, so I need to find a way to shift the vote to Dolly or someone else, so I can keep myself in the catbird seat. Cause if they idol Coach, my name is definitely a possibility - I'd like to think not, but who knows? God, c'mon dude - your supposed to be a doctor, I expect better.

[Austin Carty]

So...

Um...

Edgardo has the idol.

I mean, I've seen what Ed has done with idols in the past, so on one hand its troubling. On the other, I can now safely keep the vote on Coach, and not worry about Marcus being hesitant to vote for Dolly. Of course, Silas is freaking the fuck out about an idol being played on Coach, so me and Alina are trying to calm him down - which is hard, since the only reason I'm not right there with him is because I know where the idol is now.