Does it feel pretty damn good Munin has the 8-6 numbers advantage over Fenrir to start off the merge? Sure, in Namibia, Ovambo merged with numbers over Nama and while there was some back and forth, ultimately we had the edge and I got all purple to the end. I'd love to do the same here. But there are a
lot of ways it could go wrong. I can't even keep up with how many idols are in the game at this point, and Jeff winning immunity certainly increases their odds of playing one on the right person. Honestly, I almost feel like I'm putting just as much work in with the Fenrir to make sure they
don't target me, and if they're going to pull off a big move and successfully eliminate a Munin, I'm someone they should keep around as I'm a viable option to work with moving forward. Cassandra, Jeff and Yve are all panicky but I'm trying to keep them feeling at ease with
me. There's speculation Cassandra has an idol, she's being really aggressive in trying to get Munin to flip on each other but given she keeps getting sold out I don't think she's having much luck this round at least. Penner's not showing any urgency although I don't think he feels entirely comfortable either. He's a tricky one to gauge, but we had a fun chat just earlier while everyone else was asleep.
In terms of Munin, I love Catalie, obviously, she's far and wide my closest ally at this point and she's been so good to me here. I'm pretty sure Courtney considered Catalie her closest ally, but Catalie sold her out and killed her to get me to the merge instead. She's done more than proven to me I can trust her at this point. It's really full circle because the first game Bz and I ever played together, was like seven years ago, where I was Stephanie and we were mortal enemies. So it's cool we're getting to rewrite some history here and be so close. Pretty much we're working some cross-tribal shit with Kim/Tammy, because we all know each other a bit from ORGY (although I've never really been that close with either of them in a game but whatever, milking it for what it's worth) and Catalie and I want to make sure we're protected from the Fenrir side of things in case moves are made, idols are played and whatnot, Kim/Tammy will be able to keep our names out of the firing line. We'll do the same obviously from our end. Tammy also talked about bringing in Cristina/Russell to make it some 2-2-2 deal with swapped tribes, as Cristina/Kim are close and Tammy's close with Russell. Although I don't know if Cristina/Russell are at all close? I don't think this group is official yet, but the one with just the four of us is and is what I'm focusing on at the moment.
Val's my girl too. I've never played with her before but chatting to her we found out we have some mutual friends outside of this which is always cool! I think she probably feels like third wheel to me and Catalie and maybe that's true. Idk, I just trust her a bit less because she told me about her idol way later than she did Catalie/Courtney and I had to hear about it from Catalie first, and I feel like she probably was fine with going along with Courtney's plan to boot me before Catalie strongarmed her? Plus her wasting her idol for no fucking reason was really dumb and shows she didn't fully trust us but whatever. I love her too much to really give a damn but there are just a few things about her which make me take pause and then in turn she probably realizes she's coming off as sketchy to me and therefore she doesn't fully trust me. I do think she's closer with Joaquin than she is me, and Joaquin's never one I felt super great about even though I do like him in general. I can just tell he's going to be coming after me when he gets the chance and I want to make sure I get the first strike.
Courtney leaving sucked because I wanted her to get to the merge with us and she really should've lasted longer but honestly she was extremely shady, always thirsting to take out big players and clearly she was going out of her way to stab me in the back, so maybe it wasn't the worst thing to lose her before the merge as I don't doubt she would've been trouble later down the road.
Russell is kind of a wildcard because him blowing his idol on a 9-1 vote on Kim Spradlin was really weird (seriously, wtf is with people in this game using idols for no reason?) but I know Justin outside of this because I won his game literally just last week, although he probably sees me as a threat because of that, idk. We've never really had the chance to play together before so I'd love to get the opportunity here, and I think he's pretty close with Catalie? And I know he's in good with Joaquin after everything that happened on Jormungand with the Cochran blindside.
Cristina/Loveita/Melinda I guess I'll just lump together because they just spent that tribe together. I really dig all these girls, although I'm sure they've gotten closer to each other with the extra time together. Melinda is always a bit paranoid and needy but whatever, I think she means well and always talks about working with me and Catalie. Cristina and I always clicked really well, although I haven't gotten ahold of her as much as I would've liked since the merge. Apparently she's gotten close with Kim and they had some deal on that awkward tribe where it was 3-3, that one would flip the first vote and the other would flip the second? Loveita's obviously a huge threat but probably a shield for me because she topped the Munin ranking way back when, with me just below. It makes sense for us to be close and work together, and I guess after Kim Spradlin called me, her and Melinda out for being "sleeper threats" on her way out the door, the three of us joked that we should look out for each other, although I guess it can be a serious agreement too.
There could be some Munin flipping despite everyone talking about sticking together and taking advantage of the lead we've worked ourselves into, but I'm doing everything I can to prevent that from happening. It's Fenrir playing the idols that could really mess things up tonight because they're feeling the heat. I'm just trying to sell my soul to all of them that I'm willing to play with anyone who wants to play with me, that I'm putting a lot of stock in my cross-tribal relationships as I'm not entering the merge with any, whispering sweet nothings in their ears, all that jazz so they
don't idol me out. It's my biggest fear at this point. I just want them to put their votes on someone other than me rather than make them feel I'm seeing this as a clearcut tribe vs tribe dynamic.
Basically the two options I need to weigh up are whether we just pile our eight votes on a Fenrir and keep it air tight, hoping they don't guess correctly, or I guess we try to get Kim/Tammy involved for a split on two of Cassandra, Penner and Yve. It's a risk either way, because while Tammy did already flip in a sense by taking out Cochran and siding with Joaquin/Penner on Jormungand, it's not like she's going to cut ties with her former tribe completely. At least I wouldn't in her shoes. I know she and Kim both felt mishandled with the Ziggy vote and being told about it very last minute, but they're not going to want to jump in with a group full of Munin if they have a better avenue.
I've already had to play hard to get here, already voting off five previous winners in Mookie, Kim Spradlin, Alex, Aubry and Courtney, but I'm going to need to play even harder to get to the end. This merge is legit. A tribe of four was tight, but there's so much more to keep up with here with fourteen of us. A season of all-winners. Everyone's already proven they have what it takes to taste victory, they've all come here to play, but I have too and I'm ready to prove myself yet again amongst the best of the best.
