Getting thrown into the tribe on day 1, I immediately knew this season was going to be a chaotic battle for me. I saw iTy990 on my tribe and knew that it was either going to be him or me as the first boot and I needed to put in groundwork. I spent that first day talking to everyone on my tribe, making sure people liked me enough to hear me out and keep me safe over him. That set me up really well for the starting tribe portion of the game.... which obviously didn't matter because the whole cast quit. I realized quickly the activity level in this game wasn't going to be crazy high, and I didn't want to be the odd one out talking to everyone all the time because that would've led me to a very early merge boot. This ended up being what I did for the majority of the game, because I knew enough people felt good enough about me to keep me safe. I might not have been much of anyone's number 1 until the end-game, but I was able to constantly make sure I would be long-term safe.

The merge hit and I felt very comfortable. A lot of people were having beef with a lot of others and I was sitting comfortably. As a result, I decided I was going to throw votes as much as possible just to cause chaos and stir up drama. I knew I was going to be able to fly under-the-radar. Touchy Subjects was a great example of me being able to fly under-the-radar, not receiving any superlative. This could've been seen as a negative because I wasn't that present in everyone's mind, but I knew it meant my strategy was working. People didn't need to look at me as this major threat. I kept throwing votes every merge tribal until the first Joey boot where I was in trouble. This tribal was the main one of the game and, I'm sure, going to be the highlight of all three of our speeches.

I had a feeling that I was about to be targeted as a floater who had some pre-game connections. When I had gotten wind that the vote was Kevin and my name was out there too, I messaged Kevin immediately. I figured he was planning on voting me, and could've very well had something to do with it, but I was more concerned about the connection between Michael and Keith. They were both really strong socially and physically, so I thought finally forming something would be my best path forward. Stoner and Jacob were votes I knew I could get, and if I went to Kevin and figured out who he could bring with him, I knew I would be golden long-term.... so the group formed and Stoner decided he wanted to do Joey before Keith/Michael and I was fine with letting him call that shot.

At this point, I began eyeing a final 3 of Jacob and Stoner. Jacob was obviously inactive and Stoner had been a little all over the place, causing people to get upset with him and backstabbing Keith. I wasn't sure I would win, but Callia and Kevin felt like clear, obvious contenders so this made the most sense in my head. I was constantly ready to make a move, but Stoner wouldn't budge on going with them as far as we could, so my efforts were futile and I made it clear to the people going out that I was trying to keep them. This was both jury management and me trying to build a resume. Especially at 4 and 5, I was pushing for something, anything to happen to spice up the order of events.

Ultimately, though, these moves didn't come through and I sit here with a shorter resume than most. I wasn't the most social, I didn't make every strategic decision, and I only won the final 4 immunity challenge. Does this mean I shouldn't win? I don't think so. I think I played the most adaptable and aware game that I could, not being too far ahead socially and making sure people who I could trust or felt indebted to me stayed around. I was always willing to make the big move, and avoided the target so long while causing paranoia and small amounts of chaos with my thrown votes. I think it's clear that I fought to get here, and successfully survived. I've never believed in a "biggest-flashiest-game-should-win" type of person.

Thank you for taking the time to read this if you did. Sorry if it's excessive I just feel strongly about my game and wanna do what I can to clear up as much as I can. I know I didn't play a perfect, incredible, extra game, but I think the decisions I made were subtle, smart, and consistent. I welcome any criticism or questions with open arms and hope I can prove to you I'm someone who earned my spot here.

Jury!! I apologize but I have two assignments due at midnight.  I will get to working on my speech shortly after then :)

FIRST OF ALL
I apologize for it being long.  I'm not very good at writing these and don't know what to include and what not to so I just wrote a whole bunch.

Ok.  I guess I’ll start by saying congratulations to Austin and Callia! It’s been an interesting journey in this game for sure.

When the game started my main strategy from the very beginning was to have a strong social game.  Getting thrown into a vote from the opening speech, I was glad to see some familiar faces on my tribe and immediately started getting to know any unfamiliar ones.  (For what it ended up being worth) I think I had a very solid position in my original tribe.  I had established good relationships with almost everyone, and the cracks between certain people allowed me to stay under the radar and it kept a target off my back.

I feel as if I had the same strategy come tribe swap (as we all know the game was kinda bland during that too).  At the tribal right before the merge, I sent Boston Tris home in an attempt to set myself up best at the merge.  Tris’ counter-vote was Stoner, who I knew would be a good strong player to have as an ally, so I voted to keep Stoner as I thought he was someone whom I could move much further into the game with.

Although the beginning of the merge didn’t have many waves, the first merge vote did. Getting Freezeout was beneficial to my game for a few reasons.  For starters, since the beginning of the game, we hadn’t talked as much and I didn’t know where I stood with him.  Also, I knew he was already in some alliance chats when by that point in the game, I hadn’t been in any.  Thanks to George, I already knew of the Flair Stoner Freeze alliance that got blown up when Freeze was blindsided.

For the next three votes, I tried to stay very under the radar, which was kinda helped by how the votes were more simple votes than anything.  With no one insanely strategizing, I wasn’t gonna start showing my cards yet.  This was when my social connections started to come in handy.  I was friendly with the majority of the cast and I think because of that, my name never came up, and I was almost always included in the voting plans. 

I would say the final 9 is where my game began to turn around.  I’ll start at the Touchy subjects immunity challenge.  My strategy was working very well and I managed to lay very low.  I didn’t get any bad or insulting superlatives but I also didn’t get any that put a target on my back.  While paranoia about some other players in the game might have set into some people's minds, my name stayed clear from their minds.  Now onto the vote.  For the first time, people seemed to disagree on whom to eliminate.  While George had been a useful ally feeding me information from different people while he was in the game, I wasn’t too destroyed when I saw him go as I thought the 4 way split at 9 cracked open the game.  I also would like to comment on how half of the non-immune people received votes at that tribal council and I wasn’t one of them.  My strategy of staying under the radar was working and I was glad because I knew the timing was right and it was time to make a move to switch the game.

While final 8 is where I started looking at how to switch up the game, it was also the time I started trying to imagine a path to the end.  By this point, many people had begun to realize where power lay.  The night before tribal I had like two or three conversations with people about how Micheal and Keith held the power.  This vote was the most important in the game because had the trajectory not changed, I don’t know if I would have had a chance of making it here.  Very quickly Austin's name came up, as well as my own.  It only took comparing notes with some other players that they were trying to pit us against each other, leading to the creation of the five-person alliance chat.  However, I will admit this vote had a slight hiccup for me.  Stoner didn’t want to keep the target on Keith.  Keith was a big threat in this game who I thought had the connections to go far (displayed perfectly with Stoner fighting to keep him).  I was okay with going along with Joey as he was a number for the other side of the island.  However, as I did feel loyal to Stoner because of the good connection we had, from this vote forward he became one of the biggest threats in my eyes as he was the biggest driving force behind the move that flipped the game.

After the Joey blindside went through, I felt very happy with my position in the game.  I had strong allegiances to Austin Stoner and Callia, and I felt as if we all had the mutual target still set on Micheal and Keith.  By this point in the game, I was completely relying on my social and strategic games as I knew I couldn’t count on my physical game, and I played to my strengths very well.  For every tribal council from this point until the end of the game, I had a target on my back and received votes at the last four tribals, yet I was able to escape the vote for every tribal.

At the Final 7, I had to work the alliance of 5 of me Callia Austin Jacob and Stoner.  I was once again being targeted by the opposing alliance and had to make sure to split the votes to not be doled out then and there.  This is when the connections I had with the alliance and my strategic game came out to help because it would have been simple for any one person in my alliance to flip and boom it went.  However, although I was in danger, the tribal ran perfectly for me as I flushed the idol from whom I felt to be my biggest opponent and took away their closest ally (whom I will also say was a huge threat). 

F6:  After two tribals of setting it up, Keith was lined up perfectly to be taken out.  Once again I was the countervote but managed to remain in the game AND finally land my shot on Keith.

At the second final 5, I had myself in a position with some wiggle room and some loyal allies.  By this point in the game I was in an alliance chat with Austin, I was in two with Chris, and I was in three with Callia.  I had proved my loyalty to people and had in return been granted their loyalty which I needed coming out of two back-to-back tribals receiving a couple of votes.  By the beginning of finale night, I had my eyes set on the final 3 and had my eyes set on getting me and Callia here.  When Joey re-entered the game he sent a message to the main chat saying “I’m on the bottom but I could help so reach out to me” I made sure I did.  However, it also made me realize that I didn’t want to sit in the final 3 with him, as I thought he had a hell of a good case to win if he was able to win his way back into the game and work his way to the final 3 by cracking apart a voting block of four people that had voted together at the past 3 tribals.

I realized I could work with Joey when he said he saw the biggest threats to be Callia and Chris.  I knew I could use his vote as well as Callias to take out Chris, whom I perceived to be the biggest target from our alliance due to his influential part in the original Joey vote.  I also knew the loyalty I had with Callia would give me a great chance in the final 4.  This vote went the way I want it, and I even think it goes to show how strong my connections are that while I flipped on Stoner, he kept strong to the Joey plan and I didn’t even receive his vote.

At the final tribal, I once again received two votes yet was able to survive AGAIN.  Not only was I able to burn through my rope and take my step into the final 3, but I was also able to eliminate Joey in the process who I felt could have given a great case to the jury.

I am very proud of the game I played.  I stayed very silent and under the radar until just the right time to strike.  After I had made my move, I became a target and received votes at every tribal remaining but was able to use my social and strategic game to survive.  Whether it was splitting votes to avoid being doled out or competing in a fire-making challenge against a dominant player in this game, I was able to do what I had to do to survive.

First of all, I would like to say a HUGE shoutout to a former legend in this series, @CocoVanderbilt for begging me countless times in my pms to apply to this season 💖💖💖 If it weren't for you, I would not have applied nor been in this season. If you know me, you know that group games aren't necessarily my thing. I do enjoy them once in a while but play them pretty sparingly as they take a lot of my mental energy and this game was no different despite ridiculous amount of quits, inacts, and seemingly easy pre-merge.

My gameplay this season was fairly simple. I relied on @mbarnish1's lack of faith in me (and calling me a flop always) as a motivation for me to play hard and get far in the game.
I'm joking obviously.
(𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘴 🙄)

anyways,

I started off this game on the Samarkand tribe, where Kevin and I immediately connected as soon the cast was revealed. We had each other's backs entirely throughout the game and he was my final 2. This led to us creating a 3-person alliance with Flair at the initial start of the game.

During the early stages, I tried to remain low to keep the target off my back while building relationships with the cast members to help keep me safe. Alongside the 3-person alliance I had, I also had one with Burster, Austin, and Joey (ngl, this alliance didn't really get anywhere as the tribe swap happened immediately after, but it still enabled me to build some trust with these people).

Then, the tribe swapped happened and I was swapped away from my allies, Kevin and Flair. Even though I still had people from my old tribe, I still needed to create and form new bonds in this game to keep me safe which I did with Keith and Michael. We soon formed a 4-person alliance between us and Joey. At this time, I also kept Burster on my side as an ally who was from my original tribe, and who was someone I formed an alliance with right before the tribe swap.

We lose the first immunity challenge after the swap. Keith, Michael, and Buttercup wanted to vote for Burster while Burster and Dan were doing Buttercup. This tribal was very difficult for Joey and I as we were left in the middle and were placed in a very uncomfortable predicament. While sticking and voting with our original tribe (Burster & Dan) would be the safest, we were still open to working with our newly formed alliance with Keith and Michael. What ultimately made us come to our decision of voting for Buttercup instead of Burster was we thought that it would be better to cut Buttercup in case she had strong ties with Keith and Michael (which would be dangerous if we now had an alliance with them) and by doing this, we would still be able to remain loyal to our original tribe members.

Following that tribal, Joey and I continued to work with our alliance with Keith and Michael for the next few tribals. Once we merged, I got to reuinte with my original alliance of Kevin and Flair as well as work with my newer alliance. I kept this lowkey and didn't give anyone from either alliance any sort of idea that I was also in another alliance and working multiple angles. I used both of these alliances to keep me safe from votes as at this time, no one would mention my name being the vote since they needed me as part of their alliance. I also kept people on my side like Dan, Austin, and Stoner who I would make aware of what was going on and what the votes were. During the beginning of the merge, my alliance with Keith, Michael, and Joey were the ones who initiated the votes, which I would later then, inform other people in the cast I was secretly working with (which explains why so many votes were near-unanimous).

After Flair got voted out, I spent more time envisioning my path for the rest of the game and how I would be able to navigate to the end especially while being part of multiple alliances. Obviously, I knew I couldn't play with 2 opposing alliances for the rest of the game, nor could I carry them all to the end. I took time to think about who exactly were the biggest threats, who I would likely lose to if I sat next to in the finals, while considering the fact that I had a final 2 deal with Kevin. Unfortunately, I knew the only way I could stick to my deal and make F2 with Kevin was if I turned on the alliance with Keith, Michael, and Joey. It was something that was going to happen eventually and I thought now would be the time especially when I still had the numbers. I also thought about the fact that if I stuck with this 4-person alliance to the final 4, not all of us could make it to the final 3 so I would be risking my game for 4th when I did not come here to play for 4th place. Another reason was because Keith and Michael were perceived as the "biggest targets" to many of the remaining people in the game, hence why they were both voted as "the overall biggest threat to win" in the "Touchy Subjects" immunity challenge. Technically, I was one of those "threats" too as I had a say in the vote every tribal, but I managed to keep the target off my back due to my social game where I aligned with other people so they could trust me, and instead have only Keith and Michael as the "perceived" threats. But with Keith and Michael as the perceived biggest threats, I knew that if I sat next to them, I would lose to both of them as most people believed they were playing the best game.

This move was by far the most difficult I have had to do all season. While turning on your alliance is never a good feeling, nor is it ever personal, it was strictly strategic and gamemove. I was here to play my own game, for myself, so I can win. Not playing Keith and Michael's game for them and handing them the win on a silver platter.

I started off with going to Kevin who I trusted the most and began to initiate the plan of getting rid of the said "targets." I explained to him how Michael and Keith were the top 2 most dangerous in the game and suggested we could create some sort of alliance between the 2 of us along with Stoner and maybe Austin or Jacob. We all collectively agreed that at that time, those 2 were playing the best game and would win above us all. Soon enough, a new alliance was formed between myself, Kevin, Stoner, and Austin where we managed to vote out Joey, Michael, and Keith.

As the game went on and I was winning multiple individual immunities, I knew that I was likely seen as the next biggest "threat" in the game and that people are likely going to want to target me soon. When it was just Kevin, Stoner, Austin, Jacob, and myself left, I feared about myself and Kevin being in a 3-2 minority. This was where I really had to work on others to help keep myself safe. I went to Stoner and convinced him that Austin and Jacob are a close duo and that they need to be split up (even though in reality, Kevin and I are ALSO a close duo). From what I heard, Stoner supposedly had a final 3 with Austin and Jacob but Kevin and I managed to steer him in the direction of going after Austin and Jacob rather than to go after us and we formed a trio alliance.

Once we got to the finale, it was myself, Kevin, Stoner, Austin, and Joey (who returned from RI). After hearing that Joey said he saw myself and Stoner as the biggest targets remaining, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to do Stoner since myself, Kevin, and Joey were already a 3-2 majority and it worked. Then it came down to the final 4. I knew I was DEFINITELY the biggest target remaining and in serious possible danger. This is especially with the fact that Joey has already mentioned my name at the final 5 and Austin has talked about the possibility of voting for me at the final 4 (all of which I heard from Kevin.) As we were in the middle of the final 4 voting process, I knew I had just MINUTES to turn the votes around from people writing down my name. I somehow managed to convince Austin that even though I may have played a strategic, and social game with 4 total immunity wins, I am not the biggest threat to sit next to in the finals. Somehow it worked, and he wrote down Kevin's name instead. This led me to sitting in the final 3 where I am now.

In summary,

I used my social game to keep me safe and prevent myself from being seen as a threat during the early stages of the game. I formed alliances when I needed to and always formed the right ones to keep me safe. (I had a total of 5 alliances throughout + a final 2)
I strategized my way to the end. I made big moves when I needed to. I got rid of big threats in the game when the opportunity arose, and always thought about who I would like to sit next to in the end. I was also able to successfully manipulate people into doing things in my favor.
I have attended every single immunity challenge since the start. I always gave it my ALL in challenges which allowed me to win a total of 4 individual immunities.
I may have had the "Fuck Matt Barnish" idol which I played at tribal #3 but what none of you knew, was that I also had the re-hidden merge idol which I ended up not having to use.
In the end, I always believed in myself, I played with determination, and NEVER gave up no matter what. I did everything I needed to do to get to the end and I am happy to say that I did.

Thank you for reading my essay and I am open to any questions you may have
🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

gl this is an incredibly easy vote

lol I feel less bad I lost considering the amount of pregame alliances

Sorry for the late post, been wicked busy.

I really want to congratulate you 3 on making it here. This is such a badass F3, I couldn’t tell you who’s going to win. You’ve all played different games. You’ve all played incredibly strong games, I really believe you all deserve this.

I’m so happy to see all of you here too. My goal was to get us to final 4, ultimately I failed and took 5th but that’s alright. It was in my best interest to get all of us to 4, it wasn’t in your best interest and I respect the move on me completely!

1) Please do a rites of passage for the eliminated castaways. Start with Jimmy and end with Joey. NO ASS KISSING, NO BUTTERING US UP. Just be straight up give us your genuine thoughts on us as people or as players.

2) Please tell me why the OTHER 2 finalists deserve to win. Don’t give me a half assed answer or a lame reason which isn’t really a reason. I want you to SELL me their games. If you can’t you will NOT get my vote. I want to see if you have social awareness and can see how others outplayed you in some aspects even if you played the best game overall. I want you to really pitch to me why the others should win. If you are confident in YOUR game, then pointing out the pros in other peoples games shouldn’t be a worry to you.

3) What was your biggest regret in the game? What nearly went wrong and ruined your game?

4) What was your biggest move? What was your turning point in the game where you thought “Damn, I might be able to win this.”

5) Tell me why you SHOULD NOT win. Again if you’re confident in your game and you’re deserving, then you shouldn’t have to worry about where you went wrong and your negatives to your game.

STONER:
1) here's my rites of passage
Jimmy - don't know you bud but that was a LOT
Tayvie - we didn't get to talk but i was excited to see you because it's been a while since we've seen each other around i feel
Kelly - kelly0412 is every woman
Splozo - bestie why'd you quit
Bryan T. - lol i knew when i saw you in this cast it was going to be hellish to start and you made me work for it
Buttercup - i feel like we'd be good friends but you also yeeted yourself
Burster - robbed i wanted to play with this bitch so bad but y'all had to pull out an idol
Boston Tris - someday we'll work together. today was not that day
Freeze - you were really kind and brought an endearing energy to the game. i could've done more to save you but i didn't. i felt like if i did i wouldn't be here
Dan - i wish we would've talked after the first day. i still wonder about that thrown vote on splozo at the day 1 tribal and what was the thought process
Flair - brought drama and entertainment. i really like talking to ms. flair early on but i don't think we were going to see eye-to-eye on strategy in the late game so i was happy when he became one of the early merge casualties
Michael - i had some REALLY genuine conversations with michael... really liked getting to know him and am sad we ended up on opposite side - good guy and player
Jacob - rip my useless furniture king
Bryan J. - i don't think we talked once this game but we never see eye-to-eye. was certainly scared of him coming back from redemption again
Keith - UGHHHH this was fucked up. i didn't wanna go to the end with you but it was nice to connect and get to chat. super kind human and i'm glad we had an excuse to chat
Stoner - i wasn't sure if we were going to work together or not but when we started talking it became clear our visions would be able to line up long-term. i wish things had worked out differently and you would've listened to me and made a move to potentially have you here as well, but it is what it is. glad we got to chat even if you didn't listen to me when i knew i was right !
Joey - LOL i liked talking to you a lot early on and have seen you around this site for a bit. i think you would've had better odds at 4 if you and stoner had listened to me, but it is what it is and i respect the way you played. your first vote defined the game and i liked getting to chat more

2) Kevin was one of the smartest players in this game. I sent him to fire because I genuinely think he played an incredibly strong game. He may not have single-handedly put my name out there at 8, but he would've been totally fine if I went. The fact that I went to him to save him, knowing I was the next most-likely boot spoke to how he was doing strategically in the game.

Callia is a really badass and social person. She won a shit ton of comps and was always getting people to give her information even when it didn't benefit them. I don't think it's a stretch to say she had the best social game this season just based off the people who left upset at her because she was able to come off as so genuine. She was able to truly blindside and play the game.

3) I would say a move not being made at 6, 5, or 4, but that wasn't really because of me, rather because other people wouldn't flip or make the move. I regret not being more proactive in the early-merge part of this game. If I was more social and had more of an impact on the first few votes of the merge, I'd probably have a lot easier time earning votes here.

4) After Flair went home and the votes were so all over the place, I realized my constant throwing of votes was doing a good job of keeping the game chaotic, and it opened up the door for me to really figure out what the dynamic was. The first Joey vote was all of our biggest moves, but it made me feel confident I was going to get to the end game and that's when I realized I had a shot at winning the game. I truly think it benefit me so uniquely because Michael/Keith couldn't be mad at me - they just voted for me! And now I had this loyal group, including what was becoming a clear pair in Kevin & Callia, and a shield in Stoner.

5) My game wasn't as flashy as the other finalists. I was not always in the know and I played passive for the first half of the merge. I didn't get what I want in the end game and had to rely on a good amount of luck to get here. The other finalists had much more control over their fate than I did and that's why I should not win.

Thank you Austin!

Chris question
1. Rite of passage:
Jimmy- Never met
Tayvie- Never met
Kelly- Never met
Splozo- Never met
iTy- the only interaction I had with Bryan T was the argument he had on day one of the game with the rest of the tribe.  Didn’t like him all too well as a person, wasn’t mad to see him go.
Buttercup-  Barely met her but I won’t lie I have to Stan.  During the blind bidding challenge, I had to laugh when she was trying to trick me into losing the challenge for my tribe.
Burster- explosive
Boston Tris- messy
Freeze-  I liked the conversations I had with Freeze and thought he was nice.
Dan-  I think Dan is a very good player.  He seemed very well-liked on the original Samarkand and had himself in a solid position.
Flair-  Um Flair Idk how I feel about.  Coming into this season we were good friends and I even had him on snap, but after he got voted out he unadded me on discord and snap LOL.  So I guess I’ll say messy with a hint of toxic for flair.
Micheal-  Very solid player.  Had a great strategic game which put him in control for a good portion of merge, and he was able to also get a few of the immunity challenges under his belt
Jacob-  Me and Jacob didn’t speak much personal stuff OR game so I don’t really know what to say for this one.  I liked him on a basic level, but we had ultimately no connection.
Bryan-  Didn’t speak much game but I was very impressed how far into redemption island Bryan made.  I didn’t manage to win a single challenge all season but Bryan pulled out like 5/6 so kudos to him.
Keith-  I think it's apparent I think Keith is a solid player.  Hence stated by the fact that it wasn’t until a third tribal that he was able to be voted out, and only after all his allies were gone.  Also, I really like Keith as a person.  I thought some of our conversations flowed very well and he was fun to talk to.
Stoner-  I’ve known Stoner for a bit now and would consider him one of my friends on this site, I think he's very down to earth compared to so many people on tengaged.  Also a solid player.  I’ve seen him dominate in some other games and I wouldn’t have done what I did at 5 if I didn’t think he wasn’t dominating this game as well.
Joey-  I think Joey is a solid player.  He can win challenges and he has a good social game.  I don’t know him much on an extremely personal level though.

2. Austin-  Austin started his game on a very good foot.  Immediately he was placed on a tribe with someone he didn’t like, and immediately they were gone.  Within like, 10 minutes of the cast reveal Austin had the numbers to get rid of Bryan and respect for that.  Austin had a very good under-the-radar game.  Throughout this whole game I think I only really heard his name once that I can remember, and that was at the f8 tribal.  Austin managed to barely collect any votes on his way here and seemed to honestly never be in serious danger late game, which isn’t something neither of the other two finalists can say.

        Callia-  Absolute legend.  For starters, Callia didn’t receive a single vote all game (if I recall correctly) and there are some solid reasonings behind that.  First, her Physical game was on point.  Part of the reason I don’t think anyone ever tried to take a shot at her was because she made sure to see that they couldn’t.  Callia also had a very good social game which helped her to pull off this feat.  Come mid merge, Callia was aligned with almost everyone.  She had a lot of options and really had the power to make moves to shift the game in the direction she wanted to go, which she made sure to do and jump on all opportunities when she saw them.  Lastly, I’ll say her strategic game and her power with words also helped her to make it through the game of survivor with 0 votes.  At the final 4, it was almost her sent to fire.  It was almost her game on the line, however, she was able to convince two people to give her a free spot in the final 3

3. My biggest regret is probably not ever really looking for the idol, even when I was given clues from Callia.  I’ve never gotten an idol in a survivor game so I usually just play knowing I won’t ever get one and will have to work around it but I wish I hadn’t done so this time around as well.  For example, the idol almost fucked me over at the final 7.  I was a hair away from going home due to the idol and was only able to stay due to a split vote and tiebreaker.  Also, had someone I had voted for at 5 or 6 had the idol, I could have easily been idoled out as I was getting votes every tribal.

4. Although it might seem as if my biggest move was the first Joey vote, I feel as if that was more of the biggest move of the game, not MY game.  I would say the biggest move of my game, and the turning point was the Micheal game.  After this vote, I had the loyalty of many other people in the game and was in a good spot where I could imagine more than one path to the end.  This also was when I got a fire lit under my ass the most.  After being able to pull off a split vote plan to keep an idol from taking me out, I realized I really might be able to do it and make it all the way to the end.

5. Survivor is about a mix of social, strategic, and physical games.  I shouldn’t win because I just straight up did not have a physical game.  I was not able to win a single individual immunity, nor was I ever very close, and because of the lack of physical game, I was put in danger multiple times.  If I had a physical game maybe I wouldn’t have received votes at the last four tribal councils but alas, I was never able to pull out a win in a challenge and put myself in danger way too many times because of it.

Thank you Kevin!

@Stoner

Thank you and congratulations to yourself as well for making it to the final 5. I'm sorry we had to eliminate you when we did, but you played a great game as well <3

Onto the questions,

1)

Jimmy: I was really looking forward to us working together here especially since you joined my tengaged survivor tribe just days before this season began (for reference: https://tengaged.com/game/217117 ) and mailed me saying you joined because you saw me but unfortunately you got swapped to the OT and we both didn't merge :( I was hoping we could work together in this game to make up for it and I wasn't expecting to see you quit :(

Tayvie: I don't think we've ever interacted in the past so I can't really give an opinion

Kelly: Same with Tayvie, I don't think we've interacted much although I think you used to be in me and Matt's discord server but I can't remember I'm sorry

Splozo: Also someone I've never interacted with so I can't really give my thoughts on someone I don't know

Bryan T: Unfortunately, you were the vote on Day 1 and that's what most people on my tribe wanted so I just went with that. Although, I'm sorry for being a bitch and calling you out with Isla (systrix) when my vote was revealed. I just felt like doing that and needed to bring some entertainment in this game in the midst of this boring pre-merge LOLOL
Plus, everyone knows Isla is my sister and best friend and ngl voting you out first felt like the perfect revenge to get back at the kind of shit you've put her through 😘 I always look out for my besties <3

Buttercup: Congrats on saving yourself with an idol that tribal when you could've gone home. Although like many others, I felt for Burster from a personal point of view when you quit the tribal right after idoling him out and I felt like it wasn't really that fair to him. Oh well

Burster: Early on, I did want to work with you and I tried to work with you, but it was difficult with how messy you were playing for no reason like sending a bunch of screenshots while spreading false information. You kind of just dug your own hole and I did want to save you at first but realized you were just a mess to play with. No hard feelings tho

Tris: I don't think we've ever worked together before in the past, but whenever I see you in games, I always see you as a victim and someone who people see as an easy vote. I hope one day, this can be turned around as I see someone who just wanted to play but unfortunately people seem to want to vote you out for whatever reason

Freeze: One of the people I tried to work with in the beginning. I enjoyed talking to you and strategizing with you even if it wasn't much. I was looking forward to working with you when we merged after being swapped onto different tribes after the tribe swap, but unfortunately people wanted you out first :(

Dan: I tried to work with you early on and enjoyed the bit of interaction that we had but I felt like we didn't talk a lot, or that you weren't always around which made it difficult for me to strategize and get you involved with plans which is unfortunate, but it's all good

Flair: I enjoyed that trio alliance we had with Kevin and I felt like we had potential if it weren't for the many other alliances in this game. Unfortunately, people saw you as a threat due to your immunity wins (which should be a compliment because you really slayed). But I'm glad we were able to move past everything that happened in past games (like you voting me 5-6 times in a row in Coco's fast survivor which I still think is pretty funny) and that we were able to work together here as I never held anything against you from past games. No hard feelings there, and no hard feelings here <3

Michael: I'm really sorry that you had to see this game from a personal point of view, I hope one day you really will understand that every move I made in this game was strictly for strategic reasons as this is a game to vote people out which is what we all signed up for. In no way was it EVER my intention to make you feel any sort of betrayal, even though I'm sure that is exactly what you felt and I'm sorry. No matter what gamemoves I make, I still care about how people feel on a personal level. I thought you were a really cool person outside of this game and enjoyed every conversation we had that was non-game related (I hope you know that Matt adores you too and still says great things about you). I'm sorry, I never wanted you to take it personal this way as it was obviously NEVER personal. GL with life outside of tengaged <3

Jacob: We never really spoke, I felt like for the most part, you were inactive and didn't see you do anything significant in the game

Bryan J: I think we know where we stand

Keith: Played an amazing game. The alliance we had was truly a powerhouse and I felt like we were all really strong players but unfortunately, we were each other's biggest competition in the game and admitted that we would lose sitting next to each other <3 Just like what I said to Michael, everything I did was only for the game. Outside of the game, you were also a really cool person and I enjoyed every interaction that we had. Consider it a compliment that I even had the thought of going after you because you were just too good for my game <3 I'm still so glad we got to meet tho

Stoner: Also a really cool person outside of this game. Thank you for being part of our final 4 and final 3 alliance even though we couldn't bring you to either of those placements. You played an incredible game overall and I think if you made it to the end, you would be able to put together a really good, in-depth speech. I had to take you out at final 5 after hearing that the two of us were seen as the biggest threats remaining so if it weren't me, I had to make sure it was you <3 It was still really nice playing with you tho and I'm glad we did!

Joey: Just like Michael and Keith, I loved the alliance we had but unfortunately each of us were too dangerous for each other's games or to be in the finals together. I hope you understand every move I made in this game and it isn't personal from my part. I enjoyed working with you during the time that we did

2)

Austin's strategy of throwing random votes out was unique, unlike mine in which I always voted according to how I said I would vote so people could see I was trustworthy. Austin's strategy of throwing votes definitely worked and made us question who the random votes were from, especially the time when Keith went out 4-2 and we wondered who cast the second vote for Kevin and thought it was Jacob. He was also able to remain under the radar throughout which is definitely a great strategy to get to the end as you don't want to make yourself look like a target or people will want you out and that's exactly what he did and it worked for him. He was not looked at as a threat the entire time which helped him survive tribals and not give anyone (including me) any thoughts of writing his name down at tribal. He also won immunity when he needed to (at the final 4) to ensure his spot in the final 3.

Kevin played a strategic and social game, wasn't afraid to make bold moves (like voting Joey out, and later, voting out Stoner at the final 5 who he saw as threats to his game). He was always aware of who his threats were and always thought about who he could sit next to in the end and strategized accordingly. Just like Austin, he also played under the radar which has also worked for him, and was able to avoid receiving votes until the Keith tribal. Although his name was brought up at the tribal when Flair went home, people chose to do Flair over him because of his immunity wins. He used his social game to keep him safe and always knew who to align with (for example, me, Stoner, Austin, Flair) to help him move further in the game.

For both Austin and Kevin, I think playing under the radar is very underestimated in games like these because to most of the jury, it appears as if you haven't made moves or done anything significant but I believe this isn't true. You are able to make moves, just not publicly in front of everyone's eyes so that you still seem non-threatening. For example, Austin and Kevin have still made moves like messaging each other when both of their names were out there and being one of the people to turn this game around and vote for Joey.

3)

The moment when I really thought my game was screwed was after tribal #3. I regret not taking into more consideration about the idol when placing my vote.
As I said in my speech, the original Samarkand members (Burster & Dan) were voting for Buttercup while the original Chagatai members (Michael, Keith, Buttercup) were voting for Burster. Joey and I contemplated all day not knowing which way to go, weighing all the pros and cons of which side we should vote with. Should we stick with our original tribe of Samarkand and vote out Buttercup since this is the safest thing to do? But run into the risk of losing trust with our newly-formed alliance with Keith and Michael? OR, do we flip against our original tribe and go with our new alliance and do what they want and vote out Burster? But if we do so, we run into the possibility of our original tribe no longer trusting us.
A few more questions came into our decision making,
Were Keith and Michael just using Joey and I for votes knowing their original Chagatai tribe was in a 4-3 minority since the swap? Do they really want to form an alliance with us 4 for the long-term game or is it just to keep them safe for this vote? Do they have any sort of close connections with Buttercup/or are secretly working with her behind our back? If I voted for Burster, how would he feel (since at this point, I was lowkey working with him)? But if I voted Buttercup, how would Keith and Michael feel?
It was definitely A LOT to consider and Joey and I didn't finalize our voting decision (which was to ultimately vote for Buttercup) until 10 minutes before the vote. What we did not consider however, was the chances of Buttercup pulling out an idol, which she did.
When Buttercup's idol negated 4 votes and Burster went home with 3, I was like, ok, this is the worst possible scenario. I worried about whether or not, Joey and I still had Keith and Michael's trust since we voted Buttercup and if we didn't and my tribe loses immunity again, we run into the likelihood of a 3-3 tie and going to rocks.
What happened after ofc, was my tribe lost immunity again. I truly thought mine and Joey's game were screwed but what happened next is Buttercup quitting. If she didn't quit, Joey and I could've been left in a really shitty position depending on whether Keith and Michael still wanted to work with us.

So I would say, not paying enough attention to the possibility of Buttercup having an idol is definitely my biggest regret. But I later used this regret to benefit me and learned from it when I suggested we split the votes between Keith and Michael thinking that one of them could have the idol, which they did.

4)

I feel like all of us will say the tribal where we voted out Joey the first time was the biggest move. While it was definitely a turning point in the game as a whole and played a significant role in getting me here, I wouldn't say it was my ONLY move where I knew for sure I would make it to the end. But with this move, I definitely saw the possibility of making it to the end, but I knew I could not rely on this move alone knowing that I was seen as a threat especially with my social/strategic game and immunity wins so I could have very easily been taken out anytime between Joey's vote to now.

However, I will still address the said tribal.
For me, this move was significant in a way unlike how it was for the other 2 finalists sitting next to me.
Michael and Keith were seen as the "threats" who had been controlling each and every vote with major potential to win. I myself, was ALSO one of the "threats" who had been controlling the votes with them. But people didn't see that I was also "one of them." Why? Because I tried to remain low and give the illusion to everyone that it was just Michael and Keith running the votes. In fact, during the game I was told by BOTH Michael and Keith on seperate occasions that they thought I would win over them if they sat next to me at the end. The feeling between us was mutual. However, the difference between us was that I was the one who decided to take a shot at them before they came for me. I also knew information about Keith and Michael's game and was able to use it to get them out because I was in an alliance with them. I was the one who told you guys that Joey was with them. How did I know that Joey was with them? Because I was with them too lol. That is why Joey was one of the people we considered voting for during that tribal because even with just getting rid of Joey, Michael and Keith were losing a number on their side.

However, the significant move where I KNEW I was getting to the end was during the finale. I went into the finale thinking that I could very well get 4th. (I knew I wasn't getting 5th because I had the idol, but I knew people could still likely want to target me for 5th). Turns out, I was right because during the final 5, I hear from Kevin saying that Joey thinks Stoner and I are the biggest threats remaining. I used the loyalty that I had with Kevin to stick to my side, and Joey who has already said Stoner's name to vote Stoner out 3-2.

Now to the most significant turning point for me,
Austin has also told me in the middle of the final 4 voting process, quote on quote "i think you're the biggest threat to win." I knew right from there, I had MINUTES to turn things around (as Will gave us 10 minutes to vote). This is when I began convincing Austin that although I "seemingly" might've played a strong game in everyone's eyes, I don't have certain votes from the jury. While most of these were facts, some of them were also just pure exaggeration. This actually WORKED in my favor as he ended up voting Kevin when he would've likely written my name down just minutes ago. I consider this to be a big move as it was done in such a short amount of time but still effective. I would have gotten 4th place very easily had I not used my manipulative skills to shift this around.

5)

I do not deserve to win because the other 2 finalists have played great games that are deserving of the win, while I have made big mistakes in the game. Those two played very differently than me, as they both played under the radar throughout and remained seemingly non-threatening. I as well, have tried to play under the radar during the beginning until I began winning multiple individual immunities and also when it became clear to everyone's eyes that I was playing a social, strategic, and physical game. Even though I did not receive votes at tribal, my name was still brought up beforehand because people saw me as threatening to sit next to in the end. I will also say that I do not deserve to win because my game is far from perfect and have made mistakes in this game. For example, what I mentioned in question 3 about not thinking about Buttercup having an idol is a MAJOR flop on my end and my entire game could've been screwed if she had not quit. Another major flop was me not reading immunity challenge instructions properly LMAO which I consider pretty unprofessional (the challenge that Stoner won). Lastly I will say that I did not have the perfect jury management especially when I turned against my alliance and voted for Joey. I think that turning on your alliance is something that can go either way. While it can gain you major respect from the jury for making a big move, it can also cause the people you turned against to take it personal even if you knew it was a move you needed to make to get further. It all depends on how people take it and unfortunately, not everyone took it well.

Thank you 💖

Thank you Calia!

Great answers to all of you. I am still very torn, I think you all played very great unique games. Going to take the day at work to think about everything and re read these answers. Good luck!