Crypt (Cryptspartan) Confessional EP:1

The plan is in motion. I think most (if not all) of the tribe agrees with me when I said that whoever wasn't active should go first. Alf looks like he's putting the least effort into the game. Most of our tribe either showed up for captain's challenge or immunity, but he's been MIA so we just gotta vote him out.

Crypt (Cryptspartan) Confessional EP:1

So my first goal in this game is to at least make it to the merge. How am I gonna do that? Forming bonds with the entirety of my tribe. I want to get in close with them so that later on they know they can rely on me. I know Erik and Kolby from old group games, but I don't know how close we are at the moment. I think that right now those two and Spark are the ones I trust the most. Erik and Kolby wanna work with me and Skyler as a group of four, which I'm ready for, but I also need to be ready to flip if something goes wrong. I think tomorrow I'll talk to Spark to see who he wants to work with. Right now I've discussed stuff with literally everyone on my tribe except for Alf, so my plan going forward is to form tight bonds and try influencing the vote as much as possible while being as subtle as possible. For this vote I just spread the word around the tribe that "everyone" was wanting to vote Alf, and literally everyone on the tribe agreed. We'll see tomorrow if everyone really stays true or if someone is persuaded differently. I think when the votes are read I'll get to see how much influence I really have this early in the game.

Spark (Spark_) Confessional EP:1

Well stuff has gone down. A lot of stuff. At the beginning Erik revealed to me that he was invited into an alliance of Crypt/Kolby/Skyler who are a tight trio that are apparently friends outside this game. Well they're going to regret telling Erik. He somehow managed to FLIP THE VOTE ON KOLBY. Pretty much he decided that it should be Kolby because Tris is going to join them and Kolby wasn't active at the challenge. So he let me, Eric, and Craig in on the plan. I talked to Brandan and he got on board and we made a chat to basically deliberate between doing Kolby and Alf. After much deliberation we decided that Kolby was the right move. A side note is that Erik was REALLY determined to get out Kolby and he mentioned something about them having a past experience together that he didn't like. He has legitimate reason to go after him but I think it must definitely be a bit personal. Too late to do anything now. As of right now Me/Erik/Eric/Tyler/Alf/Brandan/Craig should be voting for Kolby which is a majority. I feel like Erik is overplaying a bit and isn't going to be the kingpin forever, but for now I'm content to be a good little "ally" and let him be the head of this operation. I probably like Brandan the most right now and I would like us to be on the same page moving forward. I think I'm in a good position right now. I feel like I can do damage control with Crypt and make sure that he's still willing to work with me. I think my social game is good and I don't think anyone would have a reason to target me. Talking to people is a bit of a skill of mine and I think I've curried good favor with everyone. I've talked with Tyler and I like him. I've reached out to Alf but haven't heard a reply yet. If we lose again, I will push for Tris going and I think I might be able to make a swap. So cheers to that.

Tyler (TMac_Elite) Confessional EP:1

Confessional #2  This game is moving faster than I first anticipated. Yesterday we were put into our tribes following the captains challenge in which Brandan and Alex won. During the schoolyard pick my strategy was to not pick Skyler and not be picked by Skyler and still end up on the same tribe. Lucky enough for us that exact thing happened.  What’s good about this is the only people I’ve talked to before separating into tribes was bamold, alf, skyler, and craig. I ended up on a tribe with 3/4 so that was good for me. The challenge didn’t go so great because it was pass the torch and Craig, Kolby, and Alf were all absent for the challenge.   This immediately put names like Alf oh the chopping block. He had overall been inactive and the initial feeling following the challenge was to vote Alf, but then comes along Erik. He told me he knew Kolby, but didn’t trust him. He started campaigning hard to get him out and Kolby has been just as inactive as Alf, if not more. Erik is making this big pitch as to why Kolby might become a threat and should be taken out at this tribal. I don’t care either way, I hardly know Alf or Kolby.   As things progressed I’m starting to notice a few things. One, Erik is very aggressive and vocal about what he wants. Two, he trusts Spark, Craig, Eric m, Brandan, and myself. That’s what I gathered based on conversations with each of them. Everyone is fully aware that Erik is pushing strongly for Kolby to go. I can let Erik think he’s fully in charge and let this vote go through because it doesn’t effect me. I just need the remaining people to trust me.   Skyler and Crypt are being lumped in as allies of Kolby by Erik, but I know Skyler just thinks Kolby would vote with him. It isn’t a long term alliance type of deal. Skyler is worried about not being clued in by anyone else other than me. I convinced Eric m to trust skyler and made him think he’s in the middle too. This gave us 3 an alliance in which we called last night to discuss the vote. Our options were put on the table and the possibility of flipping the script wasn’t completely out of the blue, but we are trying to create less waves. In order for us to play the middle effectively we need to build solid trust with most people on the tribe. We are currently working on a potential 4 person alliance between us 3 and Brandan. I want to have a solid group to move forward with early on in this game.   Craig has already offered me a final two. Now it’s early and I just met him so i’m not sure how serious he is, but if we can continue to work together and build that trust then he might be willing to go deep in this game with me.  I’ve heard the other tribe might be a giant premade which is always fun, but I guess we will wait and find out.

Brandan (Maladus1) Confessional EP:1

So our tribe lost... which in my personal opinion only HALF sucks from my point of view. I won the captain's challenge so I know that I have absolutely no reason to be voted off tonight, so there's no paranoia in my mind surrounding that. On the other hand, the vote seems to have changed not once but twice as it is.

Originally once we lost Crypt was going around right away telling everyone that one of the "inactive" people need to go and that person should be Alf which I mean... fair. The way Crypt went about it though initially threw me for a loop because he was just so blunt and lied about some stuff which I was like "RED FLAG. RED FLAG." So initially I was completely fine with seeing him go.

BUT THEN Erik comes up with a plan to vote off Kolby, saying that he was approached by Crypt for an alliance between him/Kolby/Skyler/Crypt that he felt off-put by. Which in retrospect doesn't make any sense whatsoever but people ate that up like BUDDER. So there was a discussion to get Kolby out of the game because he's a threat and Tris is supposedly up his ass and we need to weaken him which I mean... fair. I haven't been on this website in months so I personally don't really know about that stuff.

Then Tyler mentioned that he thought me/him/Skyler/Eric were the swing votes in this matter and we all made a group chat. And I was mentioning that it felt very weird and Skyler was talking about how he was feeling left out and then I had a massive brain blast.

Why don't we vote for Crypt instead?

Obviously, Erik is not gonna stray away from voting Kolby, and it seems to only benefit him and any personal grudge that he may have. Crypt has proven to be without any reasonable social skills whatsoever and seems willing to vote for Alf. As in willing I mean he was dead ass campaigning for it to happen. And his hard gameplay has resulted in Kolby getting put in the hot seat, so if we get Kolby on our side? 5-4-1 vote at worst with Crypt going, we keep Kolby/Erik in the game against each other, and I'm sitting pretty in the middle sort of.

Let's see how this goes :P

Ryan (KidA) Confessional EP:1

I'm starting to get back in the swing of things, and I'm playing a more social game than I think I ever have before. I'm focusing on building genuine relationships that don't revolve around the game itself -- asking people where they're from, getting a feel for their interests, you know, normal human stuff.

But I'll cover the tribe pick 'em first, since that seemed pretty telling. Joe and I are tight at this point, and he picked me to come over. Joe told me earlier that he'd been talking to Brendon -- I wanted to pick Craig at the time, but since Craig and I hadn't talked game at all, I defected to Joe and picked Brendon, who then picked Brian as a 'first boot'? It seems like he was joking, and that him and Brian are tight, but then Joe starts telling me that Brendon is being sketchy towards him. Not good. I probably shouldn't have picked him in the first place, never having talked to him, but I didn't want Joe to get sketched out if I picked Craig instead.

Oh, also, Spark picked Crypt over me in the pick 'em, so I know where I stand with him -- not his number one ally, which I figured, we didn't really have much of a "spark" when we talked (sorry). In hindsight, I'm glad he didn't pick me, but if we ever end up on a tribe together I'm going to be wary of him. I think he has a complex about being so new to group games, and he might be playing too hard right out of the gate.

So, in any case, I'm keeping my eyes on Brian and Brendon. I had a long conversation with Tyler (bamold) where we got to know each other, talked about some mutual friends, etc. We're working together now. Also, before the tribe swap, I messaged Josh about the quotes on his profile. I mean, Emerson? Tolstoy? I'm a sucker for being pretentious, so I struck up a conversation, and now I'm glad he's on this tribe. Lastly, Chase reached out to me, and we chatted a little bit -- I had to go to bed, so I'm hoping to pick up that conversation again and see where he's at.

At this point, Joe is my first solid alliance and I'm sticking to that. But if he thinks the situation with Brendon and Brian is sketchy, I have to make my own relationships and give myself options -- I don't want to go down on a potentially sinking ship -- so that's where Tyler, Chase, and Josh could maybe come in.

Things are still early, and I'm not sure where everyone stands, but I like this tribe. I think we'll have the stronger challenge competitors, and I'm hoping we can kind of steamroll our way to a swap and keep ourselves in the numbers for as long as possible. I'm liking this game so far, too -- I came in not knowing anyone, not playing with any "Brovivors" who made some of my past games pretty cushy. I feel like I'm testing myself to play a different way, being as social as possible. I think I'm less trigger happy than I've been in the past, and that could bode well for me in this game.

Skyler (Sweez) Confessional EP:1

This was actually a chaotic first vote. While I was under the impression that it would be a nice and easy 9-1 against Alf, Erik had other plans and pushed for Kolby. Kolby is my ally and I worked my ass off to save him. Hopefully what I did was enough because I know he is getting votes this round. If I vote in majority tonight then I feel confident that I’ll make merge. I’m heading into next round with my targets set on Spark.

Crypt (Cryptspartan) Confessional EP:1

I guess the only thing I've learned is that being nice does not work at all. The past only two group games I've competed in this year I was trying to be nice and talk to everyone, and nothing's gone well. I guess I need to learn how to not trust anyone again.

Eric (awwsum11) Confessional EP:1

Hi this'll be a quickie right before the vote. These are my thoughts on everyone on my tribe in 20 words or less:

Alf: I keep forgetting he's on this tribe even though his name pops up all the time.
Brandan: I hate that he's in every group I'm in. I want to play SOLO, not DUO. Love him though
Craig: Seems pretty loyal...to Erik. I don't know, maybe he'll be cool.
Crypt: Aggressive
Erik: I hate not voting with him because I love working with him
Kolby: Crypt, but less active and more crackhead
Skyler: Cool dude, like that I'm working with him this vote
Spark: Seems paranoid more often than not
Tyler: Playing hard...threat? I don't know

**CRYPT GETS VOTED OUT**

Alex (Gotham) Confessional EP:2
Hi Ben!

Well, even though we're at tribal - I've had a good start to this game. I knew that I would be on the outs as I did not come into this game with any prior connections.

Because of my captain status, I have found myself in a "majority voting block" consisting of myself, Joe, Tyler, Ryan, and Brian.

I can definitely see myself aligning with these people in the tribe, but I don't want everybody getting too comfortable about their other relationships that may lay outside this voting block. Nobody wants to appear on the outs - and today I'm going to make sure someone does.
Josh (Joshbb17) Confessional EP:2
Welp theres a premade Bamold, Eli, Cfff, and Kingb24 maybe more

well im just going to go idol hunting, i know theyll probably vote me.

Time to look :(

Eric (awwsum11) Confessional EP:2

Sooooo I'm kinda stirring stuff up.  I kind of feel like I'm being babysat rn.  Both Brandan and Tyler came to me at about the same time asking how I felt about the vote, making sure I was good with it.  And idk, at this point I could go either way on voting Kolby or Crypt out.  Erik and Craig aren't talking which makes me nervous but oh whale.  Even if they decide to go against the YDD squad, I know now that Erik has an idol and they wouldn't have the votes to do anything (unless Kolby and Tris flip).  I'm kind of begging and pleading Erik and Craig to take me back at this point and I'm okay with that. If I look like a dumb idiot who made a bad move, I'm okay with that.

Eric (awwsum11) Confessional EP:2

I'll be honest, I feel like we needed that win.  So we could cool down from last vote.  So that works for me.  "I'll ss it for yall because I was sincere making this alliance with you both day 1" sounds so weird to me and idk why.  me when SPARK of all people is getting the heat for this vote.  I'm getting the exact same feelings I was getting back in Clash of Clans when I was convincing everyone I didn't have a vote.  Like just that nervous anxiety of trying not to get caught and then somehow not getting caught.  I guess if that's how I'm playing this game, I just gotta keep my secrets to my chest instead of telling everyone my biggest vulnerability.  Wait omg is this how Sophie, Yul, Wendell, and Nick felt on Dakal?

Spark (Spark_) Confessional EP:2

Crypt was blindsided in a 5-4-1 vote. And Kolby didn't go. And I lied to Kolby all afternoon telling him it was going to be Alf. And now Tris is Kolby's loyal sheep. Goddamnit. The first thing I do is talk to Kolby after the vote. He's mad at me. Initially. And I told him what I knew. That I had lied to him. How the target changed. And together we put together the pieces that were staring me in the face all along. It was Erik. That son of a bitch. There never was an alliance that he was invited to. He stirred up all this shit just because he didn't like Kolby. And so I lament having listened to the loudest voice in the room. I go on an apology tour, explaining to Kolby, Tyler, Skyler, and Eric what I knew, and what I didn't. Some were understanding. Some were mad. But you know what? I think they're willing to give me another chance. Which is all I need. All of them said at the end that I wasn't completely to blame, Erik was. I might've just bought myself a round or two. Which is all I need to get to a swap and then it's a new game. I can't believe I pulled that off. Randy Bailey may not have won the game, but he got one thing right. People will trust predictability. Kolby the kingpin knows I'm desperate and will hopefully spare me enough to get somewhere. And I'm going to be as predictable as possible... for now. ALSO LET'S GO CRAIG WE WON THE CHALLENGE
So after our challenge victory I decided to take the idol clue since a vote stealer probably wouldn't help the situation I'm in. The clue is pretty vague so I try the same thing Natasha did last season. Go to that top 700 list and work my way from the bottom up to try and find the idol. And you know what? It failed completely I found no idol from this season. I found everything else. An idol from last season. Something from Ian's game. Mearl claimed a few advantages hidden in the blogs. And there were a shit ton of easter eggs. But I *did* accidentally find the other thing. I have one more vote stealer than anyone else on this tribe. Ha. Imagine that. I take the idol clue, and fall ass backwards into the vote stealer. Well for now as an advantage it's completely useless. There are no numbers to try and regroup and I would just waste it. You know when it is helpful? A swap. And a certain kingpin might be awake at night if his power is gone and he gets swap-fucked. But I have the golden ticket that might work to save him. I'm debating whether or not to tell him as a show of trust/threat. It could backfire though and he'll blindside me to flush it. But he's smart. He hopefully knows I'm willing to work with him and may just let him use my advantage. We'll see though. Also cheers for first group game challenge win. Woo.

Ryan (KidA) Confessional EP:2

confessional: how is the vote messy already i hate it here