Stranded with Allies

Hey Heidi! Here are some questions to kick off your 13th Round of Stranded with Allies:

1)What do you think that Val/Rocky fight at tribal was about? Why is there so much drama surrounding Val?

2)With Drew, Dan and now Rocky gone, is your alliance of 6 just going to steamroll over the remaining member's of Dan's team?

3) Also with Rocky gone, your bootlist is still in effect which means Hayden is up next, is that still the case? What will you do to make sure that that happens?

mom <3

Well things have taken a shocking and, quite frankly, disappointing turn.

My main goal for tonight was to get rid of Nate. I think that Nate, Penner, and Ozzy are a pretty tight trio. Sure, we've all trusted one another for the last few rounds as we've taken out a good chunk of the opposition, but that trio is full of challenge threats, strategy threats, and jury threats - hence me wanting one of them out tonight. Nate's the obvious choice to leave for my game because he's the one I am least connected to. Penner, despite being shady, is someone I have a mediocre level of trust in - we've been playing together since the beginning of the game, and he has expressed interest in going to the end of the game with Tammy and I. Ozzy saved me a few nights ago with his idol, and is part of a foursome with Tammy, Val, and I so I feel like I have a good working relationship with him

That leaves Nate, who has always just been a number as far as I'm concerned. We don't really talk one on one, and he's sort of bland. Whatever - we needed him as a number. In order to sort of defang that trio, I wanted him out tonight with the help of Sierra, Hayden, and Sugar. Sugar and I don't have any relationship, literally, but I think that those three would be willing to do anything to save their asses when they are clearly and direly on the bottom of the tribe. However, Tammy warns me that Nate is close to Sierra, so she isn't going to want to boot him. So I walk over to Sierra and talk to her - "let's save you," I said - "okay - my trio and I are voting for Val to go because we don't trust her. By the by, Penner came to me about flipping the game," Sierra explained. I kept pushing back on Sierra, explaining to her that if we are going to flip it on Penner, Nate, and Ozzy, who probably have an idol, it makes the most sense to take out one of them tonight while they aren't expecting it and when they probably won't play an idol.

Val isn't a threat. She has no real allies and doesn't have the gravitas to pull off anything, as far as I can tell. Sierra keeps explaining, in the most circular and unsatisfying logic ever, that Val needs to go because she's a flip-flopper and she won't talk to Sierra and we're all better off without her. She keeps explaining why Val needs to go, so I called her out on the fact that her reasons were basically bullshit. She copped to it and said she was working out of her own self-interests, which is would I would expect her to do, but Val leaving tonight is not favorable to my game. I don't think Val has anywhere to go if she flips against me, and I don't see her flipping against me in a situation where I'm the target. Why would I send Val home?

I leave it with Sierra, Hayden, and Sugar that Tammy and I are going to vote out Val tonight. Sierra is apparently trying to get the whole tribe to do it, but I'd think that Penner, Ozzy, and Nate would mention it to me. See, I think Sierra's bullshit about Penner flipping on me might not be true. I don't see what Penner would gain by me or Tammy leaving, and I don't know why he would waste his breath talking about an endgame with Tammy and I if he was just going to turn around and bone us out of the game. I said this to Tammy, but I think it's just as simple as Sierra trying to get Tammy and I to turn on our allies. And she's good at presenting arguments, but unfortunately the arguments she's making aren't back by a lot of logic for my game. She didn't convince me why Val leaving was good for my game.

So, I think the safest route for Tammy and I to take tonight is to play our immunity necklaces, just in case their is an effort against us planned, and then stick with our original plan to vote out Sugar. There's going to be one of two outcomes with this, and it comes down to how truthful Ozzy, Penner, and Nate are being. If Ozzy, Penner, and Nate are really with Tammy and I, they'll vote Sugar out and Sugar will leave. If they aren't really with us, they'll vote out Val. Tammy and I sticking to original word that we gave to the six person alliance we've been voting with is going to force their hand. Val leaving isn't the end of mine and Tammy's games, I don't think, but it's going to cut out a person I think would have prioritized us over a lot of other people. With Val out, I think that Tammy and I stand a good chance next round as the swing votes between the two trios: Sierra/Hayden/Sugar and Penner/Ozzy/Nate. Again, I don't see why it would benefit either side to team up and boot Tammy and I but they might.

If Sugar leaves, I still think Tammy and I have a choice as to what we can do at the final 8, hopefully bringing Val along for a ride. Ideally we'd team up with Sierra and Hayden to take out one of the boys, but if Sierra is as close with Nate as we think she is, she might not go along with it. She needs to see how big of threats those boys are though. I'd love to win immunity tonight, give it to Val, and force the trios to try and eat one another, but I think that might be overplaying my hand here. Tammy and I just need to position ourselves going forward making sure there is always a bigger unit than us to be targeted.