by Kristina » Sat Mar 29, 2014 12:39:49 pm
well, things are progressing all right!
i knew as soon as we merged that i wanted to get int contact with ashley. based on what grant has said from his time on nama, ashley seemingly wanted to flip. she din't trust papa bear herself and was open to conversation. so as soon as we merged i did what i've done with everyone in this game. i approached them as a friend, not talking about the game, but rather just trying to get to know someone, as has been my strategy the entire game. of course, inevitably, the conversations turned towards the game, but there was at least some foundation of friendship there to begin with. this is a necessary component in building trust that some people forget to do, i feel.
this has now started to pay out.
ashley has come forward to myself and grant saying that she truly doesn't trust papa bear, and is wanting to flip. now, i'll say here that the votes still don't add up from last tribal. it should have been 7-5 to get rid of cochran, but ended up being 6-5. the natural assumption is to think one of the ex-ovambos simply didn't vote. which should make me wary of ashley. but ashley is adamant that she was the non-vote. not trusting papa and not wanting to help him, but not knowing who grant and i were voting for because we didn't fully trust her enough to confide that information in her, she claims she simply didn't vote. this would mean then that an ovambo switched to papa bear's side. i don't know exactly who i believe in regards to this vote. ashley, or the ovambos. people seem suspicious of ralph becasue of his decisions as of late. confiding so much in papa bear. telling him i somehow had an idol when i don't. being fairly inactive on the boards, yet when he his here me just simply make short, non-sensical messages and leaves without giving in depth thought to why he's doing what he's doing. some people are thinking he might've flipped. i've heard it from ashley, grant, and i feel there was another, but i don't remember.
moving forward though, i feel like ashley is with us. she seems to genuinely want to work with grant and myself and truly never fully trusted papa based on things he has said and done, not just to her, but others as well.
feeling that her back is against the ropes, sophie has now come forward to me too out of desperation. and lets not get confused here, i recognize that this is out of desperation. she realizes she's in trouble and is scratching the grab ahold of something. like ashley, i spent the time to get to know sophie a bit and be her friend, and like ashley, i feel that it's paying off. i'm still iffy on soph, this next vote should really tell me where she is at, but for now i'm willing to work with her a little. i know i'm going to need her to get rid of some ovambos down the road here, so i need her to trust me to a degree here.
i'm going to try and get ashley to do some of my work for me. get ashley to make sophie betray papa bear and vote him out this week. i can't suggest it myself, but if ashley does it i feel that she would be more receptive. i also still plan on trying to split the votes because this would be the perfect chance to get rid of me or someone i'm trying to work with with an idol. with sophie getting a little bit more into my inner circle on where my head is at, knowing a little more on some of the moves i want to make, it'll be easier for her to play an idol and ruin everything i've been building for.
the pieces are starting to come together. i don't think anyone knows still how close i am to stephanie, so that's a plus. ashley, grant and i are starting to pull together which is a big part of my endgame, so i'm getting in a better place there. others, not just me, are starting to feel that ralph is acting shady, so flipping on him won't be as hard as it could've been. and sophie has been backed into enough of a corner that she is willing to do almost anything at this point to save her skin. the things i need to happen, are happening.
again, as i've been saying. i know there are very smart people in this game. i'm aware that people could easily be playing me. for all i know, i could be gone tomorrow night. but, from where i'm sitting, right now, things look like they're starting to go my way in a huge way.