Yali Tribe

Hey Sierra, let's talk tribe swap.

1. You ended up on Yali with former tribemates Joaquin, Max and Dan. How do you feel about the tribemates you are reunited with?

2. How do you feel about your new tribemates (Dale, Jaclyn, Nadiya, Val)? Any impressions?

3. How do you think the tribe dynamics will change being on a tribe with 4 new members? and how do you feel about your place in this tribe?

4. How do you think your old tribemates will fare over at Asmat? Any guesses on their tribe dynamic?

5. What was your take on the drama that was taking place in that thread?

Jeff Varner wrote:Hey Sierra, let's talk tribe swap. 1. You ended up on Yali with former tribemates Joaquin, Max and Dan. How do you feel about the tribemates you are reunited with?

If I had to handpick my tribe, it would probably look a little different. We all know I haven't gelled with Max, I'm feeling good about my relationships with Dan and Joaquin though.

2. How do you feel about your new tribemates (Dale, Jaclyn, Nadiya, Val)? Any impressions?

Dale is the talkative one like I expected, Nadiya's the overly friendly one like I expected, Jaclyn seems to be pretty short in messages right now at least, like I expected. Val I hadn't had any preconceived feelings about her one way or another coming into it. In fact, to tell you the truth I didn't even know Val was the name of a player in this game until tonight. I like them all though so far, but more importantly I imagine they'll take to my (comparatively) open and talkative style better than they will to Max and maybe even Joaq.

3. How do you think the tribe dynamics will change being on a tribe with 4 new members? and how do you feel about your place in this tribe?

Not great. Jaclyn doled out an idol on night 1 and it's probably still in play, although I'm not going to be so forward at the moment as to outright ask them about it. Maybe I'll tell them So used hers the first night if I can sneak that into a convo organically, and get them to open up that way. I'd put money down she gave it to herself for "fairness reasons" just as So did, and maybe she used it for the same reason, but for whatever reason I'm guessing it's still a factor. I don't think she would send away any of the players who she had given an idol to, which would rule out... I'll have to re-read that thread at some point to figure out.

But anyway, I'm on the search to try to pinpoint who has the thing, and my fear of the idol is making my social game even more important than ever right now, since obviously Jaclyn holds the tiebreaker and I'm not expecting Max's loyalty regardless. I need these Yalis to like me, I don't have a choice. Overall I'm pissed off that I suddenly have to scrap, but it makes the game a lot more exhilarating for me.

4. How do you think your old tribemates will fare over at Asmat? Any guesses on their tribe dynamic?

They'll do well, So, Jenn and Kelly will run a tight ship and are the most protected people in the game right now other than maybe Jaclyn. Those three are gonna fucking coast with minimal effort through the rest of this pre-merge. I took careful note of the fact that So was willing to risk being on a tribe with Max instead of Kelly, just to make sure she wasn't on a tribe with me. So that signals to me that Max had maybe made some legitimate headway with them even beyond So and Kelly's anti-Dan vendetta. Makes me wonder what would have happened had we lost the 2nd immunity challenge. A Max boot (with an outside shot of a Dan boot) would still be my best guess, but I may have come closer than I originally thought. Oh well. There's a thin line between losing and almost losing, I'm still here and that's all that matters to me.

I'm glad to be away from them for awhile because I feel like if I were in say Joe's spot right now, I'd feel kinda obligated to stay loyal to Asmat for game purposes (and because Missy could flip? Maybe?), but I would still feel like the prison bitch. If I were over there right now, they'd have my game by the balls for at least a few rounds. I'd be neutered af and sort of forced to grovel a bit, and given how much I hate groveling it would've come off so unsubtle and cringeworthy. I can't believe cringeworthy is an actual accepted word and I don't get the red line underneath for it. It'd be a lot easier to get to the merge in a strong position though I think, so I would trade places with Joe if I could. For entertainment's sake I'd rather be here though.

I wonder if Joe has the hutzpah to perform an excruciating and savagely bloodcurdling BACKSTAB on Kelly's trio. I mean, you wouldn't suspect him, but maybe he's just gonna pick on the fact that Kelly and So are gonna strong-arm him to do shit and he won't have the say he did when it was the good ol' Amigos days. I wonder if he'll do it tomorrow or maybe even next time they lose. I'm not holding out hope (and honestly, it's probably better for me that he stays loyal), but just as a fan of seeing crazy moves happen I'm highly curious to see if something goes down over there that I'm not expecting.

5. What was your take on the drama that was taking place in that thread?

I barely paid attention to the specifics. It just doesn't even matter to me. I'll take a peek at some of those messages later to see if I can find anything I can use now or later, but I'm not going to let something like that impact the way I view Dale or anyone else for that matter. I mean it sounds like the gist of it was Dale had a three-person alliance with Keith and Drew. And IMHO, I don't think Dale should count on seeing either of those two ever again even if there's truth to it. I think anyone new to Asmat is beyond boned assuming the idol is over on this side of things.

Also I think this will be the final swap, though Dan seems to think we may have another one at some point. I'm not even sure if everyone in the game is aware of what a probable 10 or 11 days away from those old friendships is going to do to those bonds. I went from feeling good about my spot to being pretty concerned and feeling like I could go home at any time.

The fact that I've been removed from what I believe was an influential position at Asmat is something that can be made to help me transition from semi-accidental swing vote into the harmless player I want so badly to be perceived as. I have no choice but to try to turn this into a positive. If I can get in with a couple of these guys and prove I'll go with the flow, it could help me. Of course, they probably suspect we're gonna do things like that. I don't know. I'm hoping Joaquin is distant enough and doesn't put in as much of an effort to persuade them that he's loyal to them as I will.

By the time F13 or so rolls around, I want these guys to feel like my blue Asmat ties are gone, you can't count on linking back up with people you kind of knew back in the Stone Age, all that good stuff. I'm not sure I can outlast all my fellow ex-Asmats, but hopefully I can outlast at least Max to give myself a fighting chance and some more valuable time to cut deals.

Just to store this away:

A place or a person or a thing or a year?
No answer in this first clue to be given, I fear.
But a clue it remains, I'll tell you where to begin.
Ignore Java, overrated, it's the Sunda I'm in.

Hey Sierra! just wanted to say that I think your posts have been pretty insightful and lovely. How do you see the rest of the game panning out? You've said you wanted to completely shed your ties with your original tribe and become a harmless player, do you feel like you'd be more suited to a sort of free-agent role?

Kelly Wigles wrote:Hey Sierra! just wanted to say that I think your posts have been pretty insightful and lovely. How do you see the rest of the game panning out? You've said you wanted to completely shed your ties with your original tribe and become a harmless player, do you feel like you'd be more suited to a sort of free-agent role?

Thanks, confessionals are one of my favorite parts of the game, to have a place to just spill it all.

Yeah probably. I mean, it's pretty much true. Kelly is not someone I can count on, and I really don't have any real alliances with So or Jenn, and my previous ties with all of them are flimsy at best. Part of that was by design, but I wish they were a little more attached to me. My hope is they viewed me as the lesser of evils, but considering I expect to spend the next 4+ rounds on Yali with this group, I have no reason to try to act overly connected with them. I may be upfront about the original Asmat 5 with my new tribe because right now these are the people I have to work with and I can't just count on that changing anytime soon.

I love the free agent role but I think it only works well when no one thinks you're after them and at least a few people want you in their future plans and think they can convince you to be a part of their game. It's very possible that not having a "ride or die" could sink me because maybe there will be a stronger sense of loyalty among at least some of these new-ish players, while others will be more backstab-prone because they're trying to "show" people something. It's hard to predict, so the best way to keep myself afloat is to just make sure I'm never on the voting bubble. Power is great, but wielding/flaunting obvious power in the early stages can be a curse later. Free agent play I think is my bread and butter as a player, but I'm not sure yet exactly how I'll play it.

One step at a time is the plan for me right now, and likely will be until further notice.