Jesse:

Confessional: Id just like to go on record to say in the touchy questions game I answered solely on who I thought others would say

Confessional: while they’re all calling me a non-entity I’m busy rising to the top because of it 😂🤦🏻‍♂️

[Hosts's Note]: JB has also sent a half-dozen audio message confessionals that I don't know how to copy and paste or translate to a format that I can put here, but for posterity he is sending confessionals and not being inactive.

Brandon:

I think if I had to use one word to describe my feelings for this cast it would be... frustration.

Jabbar really made an idiot move and told me that he could play his idol for Kyle. In that case, we would be able to send JB home in a 3-3*-2 vote and break up the power foursome. But five minutes before, Jabbar tells me that he didn’t read the fine print and that he can’t play it on someone else AND that he would have to play it before 10am the day of tribal anyways. Girl are you serious? It took you until right before to say that? The only reason I even stuck my neck out for Jabbar and Kyle was because I was under the assumption that Jabbar had a normal idol, not an old-fashioned one. So I had to switch my vote to Kyle to save Jabbar and keep him as a target, making me look shady to Kyle AND the people who told me to vote Jabbar. Great.

I had to move forward from that saying that I switched my vote because Jabbar told me he would play his idol. I needed a valid excuse to look like I’m still malleable to these people. I also have been planting seeds of doubt in Absol and Julian’s minds about one another. The only way I can survive in this game is if I get these people to start turning on one another; and I think that I’ve started to successfully do just that.

People in this game have started to treat me and see me as a pawn, and I’m tired of it. Jabbar and Absol called me last night and told me they wanted to vote Raul, and I told them straight up that I wouldn’t do that and that we should be voting Julian. I told them that I didn’t appreciate being kept out of conversations and that I would not help them if they didn’t give me respect. I honestly think that they were a little bit shaken by me saying that. And I know that this may not be best for my social game, but I have literally no chances of winning if people don’t respect me as a strategic mind. And that’s not going to just happen naturally, so I have to make that change for myself.

Tonight, I’m taking a stand against the biggest player in this game with no fear. I came into this game with the sole goal of winning this game, and, even though I’m going to have a tough road getting there, I will do anything in my power to achieve it.

Jesse:

Confessional: I gave Absol my idol because Rn it would be a big move if he played it for himself and JB went home. Everyone would think he made a big move and send him home later anyway, little would they know I was behind it all and two people would be out of my way to the end. If he doesn’t play it correctly then that’s his fault and he goes home anyway.

Confessional: as well as all this it ensures I stay in the good books with everyone. For example if I had played my idol for Absol and not let them play it for themselves, I wouldn’t get JB's Jury vote

Absol:

god, this season is so fucking funny. i don't even know how to describe what the hell has gone on in the past 24 hours but it definitely made the game much more interesting.

basically- me and julian got into a fight over i don't even know- i leaked something to rabbaj for my OWN reasons, it got back to julian, and julian tried to confront me on it and i'm just kinda done with both people trying to leak things to make me look bad, but i'm even more done with people expecting me to answer to it. i wanna play my game and i also wanted to give away info if i felt it would help me. obviously it hasn't given my image any help in this game, but everyone else is doing the same thing if it benefits them, so why am i the villain for it?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

anyways, i left that chat and gave julian an ultimatum- it's you or me next. why? no reason, i just wanted to cause drama and if i look like the pissy bitch (that i admittedly am) i can hopefully flex that as a power point to take me to the end- nobody likes me, so you can beat me, even if i played well. the immunity challenge REALLY solidified that so that will be nice.

moving on from that- i made a completely off-handed decision to tell jesse to make an idol guess for ashley trainer. kind of hilarious that it both panned out correctly and jabbar also made the idol guess after he won immunity. that eventually came back to me and it took EVERYTHING i had not to just reveal that i told jesse for no reason other than i thought it'd be funny. that being said, raul is scapegoating me as having it and being a liar- but i've tried to explain it in a more "idk wtf is happening" kind of way, saying i only gave raul the idol clues, therefore he either lied or told someone else about it. it's definitely a case of my word against his- but i think people would assume that i bluff about the idol and say i have it instead of keeping it between me and jesse. maybe. i don't really know, but i think it's worth the risk.

the goal for this tribal is hoping people consider jb/julian/raul more threatening than little old me, and we can 4-3 them out. none of them have any advantages to play, and i don't even think they would expect it. i have jesse's idol currently as a bargaining piece, so i am pretty sure he is loyal, but rab/brandon don't technically owe me anything- i'm just banking on the fact that they are smart enough to realize it's better for them to side with me. if it doesn't work out, or i'm not feeling confident, i can discuss playing the idol with jesse. we can only pray.

--- Raul gets 7th---

Jesse:

Confessional: Raul tried to flip the votes on me, and I wasn’t gonna have that. I knew I was getting votes so I was considering playing my idol but I didn’t because I trusted my alliance and I didn’t waste my idol.

Jabbar:

Brandon:

Last vote went beautifully. I was able to blindside Raul and leave Julian shocked in the process. Just a few rounds ago I was someone that people looked over and thought they could use. And now I really feel like I’ve put myself in a position that could not only get me to the end, but could win me this game. I have truly gone from pawn to queen, and I’m not sure if anyone else has caught onto that yet.

Moving forward, I really feel like I have a shot to beat anyone. I mean, I have good relationships with everyone on the jury, I haven’t really done anything to piss people off, and I’ve played hard enough to garner respect without coming across as a threat. But for some reason, I still think people are overlooking me. I still think I’m being underestimated. And that might be a fatal mistake for these people if they don’t pick up on it soon enough.

This round is very tricky because two people are safe. That only leaves myself, Julian, Jesse and JB as people that can be voted for. I haven’t received a vote yet, but tonight could definitely be the night for that if I’m not careful. I think the best thing for my game is for Julian to leave. I really need to put myself in a position where I am the closest person to everyone left, and Julian is perhaps the biggest obstacle to that due to his relationships with Jabbar, Absol and JB. With him gone, I feel like everyone left is looking at me as someone to bring with them to the end. But just in case, I’m getting Julian to vote for Jesse. I’ve been convincing him and the others that Jesse is actually someone who has a good chance of winning if the jury is bitter, and, to my surprise, I think it’s been working. If Julian plays an idol tonight, Jesse will go and he, Absol and Jabbar will be left vulnerable next round and start looking at each other as a target. If he doesn’t, then he goes and I’m able to turn Jesse and JB ok Jabbar and Absol with myself in the middle.

This game for me has been a rollercoaster. I’ve had to play very passively at times, which is not like me at all. I love being in control, and I love getting my way. But at the same time, I knew that wasn’t best for me long-term. So I adapted. And look where it’s gotten me: final six with no votes cast against me. I really think I might be the dark horse of this competition, and I’m hoping that tonight will put me in a position to be able to prove why I deserve to be the Sole Survivor.

— Julian gets 6th —

Brandon:

I’ll keep this short because I don’t have a lot of time yah yeeeet

Tonight I’ll be voting for Jesse along with Jabbar and JB. I know he Absol has an idol, but that’s okay. I know he and Jesse are likely voting for JB. If Absol plays his idol on Jesse, I won’t have any blood on my hands for JB going home. If he doesn’t play it, I’ll be in a position where everyone left in the final four has to take me to the end. I thought about risking the Absol vote in case he plays the idol on Jesse or just doesn’t have one, but it’s a super high risk move with little payoff. If he idols himself and I vote him, JB goes home and leaves Jesse in the game. With this happening, I’m in a position where I have to win immunity I’m most likely getting voted out over Jesse. And while I am confident I could potentially get out of that hole, I don’t really want to put myself in a position where I have to. Jesse leaving all but ensures me a place in the final two, and with a chance to finally show how good I am in challenges, I’m hoping these last two rounds will give me the opportunity to show how big of a player I’ve really been.

Praying that everything works out the way I plan it to. I’m definitely taking a huge gamble with this move, but I think it’s the thing I need to do to make it to the end and complete the only goal I’ve had this entire game: winning.

Absol:

back with another update, and this MIGHT be my last? if i'm going home at any point, it's probably tonight. anyways, as i said yesterday, i felt like last tribal was rlly boring. we just voted julian and i have no problem with that. i did try talking to him to see if he was willing to make a move, because it was really easy to scapegoat him as having the idol at f5, but he immediately leaked it so he played himself. if only he trusted me at all in this game... how sad.

so for today- this vote is technically supposed to be really complicated, but i don't think ANYONE else knows that. i've given rab the info that i have the idol, and i lowkey expect him to leak it if anyone approaches him about voting me. i think jesse will do the same, so even tho im not lying when i go to brandon saying that i dont have the idol, i'm hopefully gonna have my bases covered if they actually do wanna blindside me.

regardless, everyone kind of has different plans for this vote- jb/brandon want jesse, jesse wants one of them, and rabbaj is voting me (thinking im idoling myself) so he can be in good favor with whoever actually goes. that being said, it puts me in a VERY weird spot, because i sorta wanted to make myself look like the nice guy, vote with jb and brandon, and pretend i had no idea jesse had the idol. at least for the rest of the game lol. now that rabbaj thinks i have the idol and admits to voting me, my plan is to vote with jesse so the vote doesn't tie between me and jb. when jesse plays the idol, it'll be a 2-1-*2 vote (hopefully please let this happen it will be so perfect and will be the best move of this season unironically) and jb will go, with me getting one vote from rab.

god, i really REALLY hope this whole "telling jesse about the idol but bluffing that i have it to certain people so i don't get votes but end up getting votes because rab is a lil bitch" thing works out, because it will reflect SO well on my game and ideally i can still move forward from there, whether i have to win immunities or just continue working with brandon (even tho i think after i wrong him a second time its gonna be VERY hard to convince him we're still cool. maybe i can play like jesse told me about the idol last minute because i told him rab was voting me and he wanted to make sure jb went? or something? or maybe just be honest about it and say that i knew, but if i gave too much away, i thought i would be the target? ugh. idk. rab made this difficult by saying he was gonna throw his vote. that shit isn't gonna help him in a jury, cuz he won't be in f2 if i get my way. period.

anyways, assuming this tribal goes according to plan and i'm still here tomorrow, my goal is probably to go to the f2 with brandon. hopefully i win f4 immunity and go with brandon/jesse or brandon/rab, and i think even if i lose f3 immunity, people will take me because they think they can beat me. maybe it'll work, maybe it won't, but every good play comes with a measured amount of risk, too.

jesus fuck this season is stressful. i regret my all-stars invite cuz my brain is not ready for two seasons of this bullshit in a row. pray i get premerged and get a nice vacation instead of wasting my time and effort putting work into confessionals for a corrupt host.

--- JB gets 5th ---

Brandon:

One. Step. Closer.



Your boy has just secured himself a spot in the final three (with still no votes cast against me)! I am so excited to have accomplished this. Honestly, after the Jared vote-out, I had no expectations of actually making it to this point. But here I am, immune at the final four with just one more challenge standing between me and making it to the end. This is the final countdown, and I can just taste the win I'm so close. And it tastes pretty damn good, I must say.

This whole experience has been a very demanding journey for me. I'm used to playing a very aggressive, domineering game—that's usually how I'm able to do well. But that wasn't the case in this season, especially with all of the big personalities and egos around me. I knew after Jared went home that me trying to dictate things was not going to be a possibility, so I had to adapt. And damnit, I think I did a pretty good job at it. Where I succeeded in this game was making sure that there was always a bigger target than me. I had strong relationships with almost everyone and was able to use these to plant seeds of doubt about one another. After that first merged vote, I always knew what was going on and how to vote. I was able to lay extremely low and subtly suggest names to be voted out, and it worked. Raul, Julian, JB, and the person we're voting out tonight were all people I suggested. Not that I am trying to take total credit for all of these, but I did play a big part in making them happen.

I've also been playing a game against myself. One of the things I worry most about is jury management, and that's something I think I've been able to manage well this season, especially with the vote against JB last tribal council. I was able to tell Absol and Jesse to vote with JB while also voting WITH JB, keeping JB from having any ill will toward me for his blindside. I mean, how could he? I proved with my vote that I was loyal to him. Another thing that I've done is hold my ground. During the first two votes of the merge, people were trying to tell me who I could and couldn't talk to and how I was to vote. And while me sticking up for myself and telling people that my voice matters might be seen as a move that increases the target on my back, I think it was worth it. It allowed for people to start recognizing me as a legitimate player and added to my social currency—what I had to say started to become influential. And that's why I've been able to position myself in the Final Three in a spot where I have a strong chance to make it to the end regardless of what happens in the immunity challenge while also having what I believe to be good relationships with the jury and a strong case to win if I make it there.

I told you all that people were going to regret not taking me as seriously. And I think that I've been able to put my words into action. Through this game I've shown that I have what it takes to be the Sole Survivor. I have adapted more than anyone else. I've played a strong social game that kept me from getting any votes. I've won two challenges. I've orchestrated blindsides. My Survivor bucketlist is all but complete, and I have just one more thing to do: win this shit.

Jesse:

Confessional: Sorry I have to do this to you Absol but there’s no way I can beat you at the end. I guess that’s why you always wanted to take me this far.