Post by Nicole Schaffrich on Dec 3, 2011 16:53:16 GMT -6
I'm in the final four!!! I'm so excited about making it this far and I'm even more excited that my main ally in this game is, by far, the best competitor left in the house. I think I can hold my own in competitions but it definitely doesn't hurt to have Renny around to protect me too. This is where things start to get tricky, though. The plan is to evict Dustin this week. The plan has always been to evict Dustin last. Originally, that would have been in the final six, but after what happened with Jun, that was updated to the final five. But recently, Renny and I have been considering changing our plans and keeping Dustin around.
Renny: So what do you want to do?
Nicole: I think it ultimately comes down to whether or not we think we can keep ourselves and each other safe from here on out.
Renny: Right.
Nicole: If we're confident that we can win the last few comps, there's no reason to betray Sarah.
Renny: And that's why I was thinking Sarah should go.
Renny: I think she'd keep Porsche over either of us if she won POVand one of us was HOH.
Nicole: I agree.
Renny: What do you think of her POV though?
Renny: I was really shocked.
Nicole: It was pretty bad, I know. I was surprised too.
Renny: I guess for me, I'm thinking Dustin sucks...
Renny: Do you think he's faking that?
Nicole: I wouldn't put it past him.
Nicole: Especially because now he's emphasizing how bad he is at comps and he's never said anything like that before.
Renny: It could be his strategy to say, “Keep me, I'm weak.”
Renny: But his ass was on the line so I would think he would have tried.
Nicole: Maybe he tried and just had a hard time, so he decided to play it up to his advantage?
Renny: I could see him taking a long time on the word search and then just figuring he lost, so he should submit an incomplete score to emphasize how he isn’t strong.
Nicole: Exactly.
...
Nicole: I would want to keep Sarah because it's been our plan all along. I think there's something to be said about playing a loyal game and actually succeeding in doing that would be a really amazing thing. Also, I think that the two of us can beat Sarah and Porsche in the last competitions. You've won the most (five), Sarah and I have won the second-most (three), but some of Sarah's have been luck-based, whereas none of mine have been luck-based. So I think we have the competitive edge heading into the final four. Also, keeping Sarah eliminates Dustin, who is a proven threat in live competitions, whereas Sarah and Porsche aren't.
Nicole: On the other hand...
Nicole: Dustin isn't a good competitor at anything else, so keeping him around could possibly benefit us as long as the competitions aren't live. Also, we can use his push for me to backdoor Porsche to prevent them from working together in case either of them wins the final POV. Those are the only real benefits to keeping Dustin, though. If we evict Sarah, we both lose her jury vote (which, arguably, may not even belong to us to begin with), Porsche will be upset with us and we have no leg to stand on as far as playing a loyal game goes.
Renny: Okay.
Renny: I see your points for both.
Renny: What if Porsche was on board with keeping him? We don't know for sure if she hasn't thought the same thing.
Renny: I know she talks to both of them but she talks to everyone.
Nicole: Maybe I should just ask her straight up.
Renny: I agree we could probably win out, especially you.
Renny: But getting rid of Sarah could help that along.
Nicole: Exactly.
Renny: So if we got rid of Sarah, we should get Porsche to vote her out too.
I'm feeling a real sense of guilt for even considering evicting Sarah, but I can't deny that it's the better strategic move at this point. I was worried about broaching the subject with Porsche because, if we ended up keeping Sarah, I'd ultimately burn my bridge with her and lose her vote, both as a juror and in the case that she won the final POV. But I knew that Porsche wouldn't bring up the subject to me, which meant I had to be the one to ask her first.
Nicole: I just want to ask you straight up, to throw it out there, and I trust that you won't take it the wrong way. Has it been crossing your mind at all to keep Dustin?
Porsche: Okay, honest answer—and it has nothing at all to do with Dustin as he's a fucktard…
Porsche: We have 2 options. I love Sarah to death and would hate to evict her.
Porsche: But if we were playing for a real half million, it would be the smarter game move.
Porsche: So play for loyalty or play to win.
Nicole: I agree with you. I'm going through the same discussion in my head.
Porsche: So of course it has crossed my mind. :-P
Nicole: I love Sarah too and that's the hard part. I can acknowledge that the smart thing to do here would be evict her, but there's a personal attachment to Sarah and to our alliance.
Porsche: I agree.
Porsche: I am very torn.
Porsche: We know Dustin won't win next week. If Sarah won, which of us do you think would go?
Nicole: Well, probably me, which is why it's weighing so heavily on my mind.
Nicole: It's hard because we always tell ourselves to play strategically instead of personally, but i totally underestimated how strong the personal side can be.
Porsche: Yes, the personal connections I have made are very strong.
Porsche: Well, on the other hand, it's a game that we joined to win.
Nicole: That's right, and we can't lose sight of that either.
Porsche: So if we don't, then we might regret it. What is funny is we think so alike.
Nicole: I know.
Nicole: I want to be on the same page as you; I think it would suck either way if this went to a tie-breaker.
Porsche: Yes
Porsche: We should agree, and Renny actually feels torn too.
Porsche: We came this far it's a game we should play to win
Nicole: So if I voted to evict Sarah, you'd be on the same page?
Porsche: Nic, if we do this, he goes next week.
Nicole: That's a given.
Porsche: I would love to win but not take someone like him all the damn way.
Nicole: I agree; if we evict Sarah this week, it's to ensure that Dustin goes next time.
Nicole: Because Sarah has a way higher chance of winning HoH or PoV next week.
Porsche: Yes. You, me, Renny: final three.
Porsche: This will ensure we get there.
Porsche: We were thinking the same thing at the same time. I'm glad you asked, I was worried.
Nicole: I didn't know how to bring it up, and I felt bad about it.
Nicole: It's like i said: it's the smart thing to do, but it's also hard to do.
Porsche: Yeah, I know, but it's really the only way to guarantee final three for us.
Porsche: Next week, if she won HoH, we would regret it.
Nicole: Exactly.
So I guess my mind is made up. I feel wholly responsible for getting Sarah evicted from this game, and what's worse is that I knew that's what I wanted and I chose my language so carefully when I spoke to Porsche. I emphasized the tension between playing strategically and personally and waited for her to come to the conclusion that Sarah is the one that needs to go. I'm serious when I say that I underestimated the weight of personal relationships in this game. But it's something that has to be done.
Renny: So what do you want to do?
Nicole: I think it ultimately comes down to whether or not we think we can keep ourselves and each other safe from here on out.
Renny: Right.
Nicole: If we're confident that we can win the last few comps, there's no reason to betray Sarah.
Renny: And that's why I was thinking Sarah should go.
Renny: I think she'd keep Porsche over either of us if she won POVand one of us was HOH.
Nicole: I agree.
Renny: What do you think of her POV though?
Renny: I was really shocked.
Nicole: It was pretty bad, I know. I was surprised too.
Renny: I guess for me, I'm thinking Dustin sucks...
Renny: Do you think he's faking that?
Nicole: I wouldn't put it past him.
Nicole: Especially because now he's emphasizing how bad he is at comps and he's never said anything like that before.
Renny: It could be his strategy to say, “Keep me, I'm weak.”
Renny: But his ass was on the line so I would think he would have tried.
Nicole: Maybe he tried and just had a hard time, so he decided to play it up to his advantage?
Renny: I could see him taking a long time on the word search and then just figuring he lost, so he should submit an incomplete score to emphasize how he isn’t strong.
Nicole: Exactly.
...
Nicole: I would want to keep Sarah because it's been our plan all along. I think there's something to be said about playing a loyal game and actually succeeding in doing that would be a really amazing thing. Also, I think that the two of us can beat Sarah and Porsche in the last competitions. You've won the most (five), Sarah and I have won the second-most (three), but some of Sarah's have been luck-based, whereas none of mine have been luck-based. So I think we have the competitive edge heading into the final four. Also, keeping Sarah eliminates Dustin, who is a proven threat in live competitions, whereas Sarah and Porsche aren't.
Nicole: On the other hand...
Nicole: Dustin isn't a good competitor at anything else, so keeping him around could possibly benefit us as long as the competitions aren't live. Also, we can use his push for me to backdoor Porsche to prevent them from working together in case either of them wins the final POV. Those are the only real benefits to keeping Dustin, though. If we evict Sarah, we both lose her jury vote (which, arguably, may not even belong to us to begin with), Porsche will be upset with us and we have no leg to stand on as far as playing a loyal game goes.
Renny: Okay.
Renny: I see your points for both.
Renny: What if Porsche was on board with keeping him? We don't know for sure if she hasn't thought the same thing.
Renny: I know she talks to both of them but she talks to everyone.
Nicole: Maybe I should just ask her straight up.
Renny: I agree we could probably win out, especially you.
Renny: But getting rid of Sarah could help that along.
Nicole: Exactly.
Renny: So if we got rid of Sarah, we should get Porsche to vote her out too.
I'm feeling a real sense of guilt for even considering evicting Sarah, but I can't deny that it's the better strategic move at this point. I was worried about broaching the subject with Porsche because, if we ended up keeping Sarah, I'd ultimately burn my bridge with her and lose her vote, both as a juror and in the case that she won the final POV. But I knew that Porsche wouldn't bring up the subject to me, which meant I had to be the one to ask her first.
Nicole: I just want to ask you straight up, to throw it out there, and I trust that you won't take it the wrong way. Has it been crossing your mind at all to keep Dustin?
Porsche: Okay, honest answer—and it has nothing at all to do with Dustin as he's a fucktard…
Porsche: We have 2 options. I love Sarah to death and would hate to evict her.
Porsche: But if we were playing for a real half million, it would be the smarter game move.
Porsche: So play for loyalty or play to win.
Nicole: I agree with you. I'm going through the same discussion in my head.
Porsche: So of course it has crossed my mind. :-P
Nicole: I love Sarah too and that's the hard part. I can acknowledge that the smart thing to do here would be evict her, but there's a personal attachment to Sarah and to our alliance.
Porsche: I agree.
Porsche: I am very torn.
Porsche: We know Dustin won't win next week. If Sarah won, which of us do you think would go?
Nicole: Well, probably me, which is why it's weighing so heavily on my mind.
Nicole: It's hard because we always tell ourselves to play strategically instead of personally, but i totally underestimated how strong the personal side can be.
Porsche: Yes, the personal connections I have made are very strong.
Porsche: Well, on the other hand, it's a game that we joined to win.
Nicole: That's right, and we can't lose sight of that either.
Porsche: So if we don't, then we might regret it. What is funny is we think so alike.
Nicole: I know.
Nicole: I want to be on the same page as you; I think it would suck either way if this went to a tie-breaker.
Porsche: Yes
Porsche: We should agree, and Renny actually feels torn too.
Porsche: We came this far it's a game we should play to win
Nicole: So if I voted to evict Sarah, you'd be on the same page?
Porsche: Nic, if we do this, he goes next week.
Nicole: That's a given.
Porsche: I would love to win but not take someone like him all the damn way.
Nicole: I agree; if we evict Sarah this week, it's to ensure that Dustin goes next time.
Nicole: Because Sarah has a way higher chance of winning HoH or PoV next week.
Porsche: Yes. You, me, Renny: final three.
Porsche: This will ensure we get there.
Porsche: We were thinking the same thing at the same time. I'm glad you asked, I was worried.
Nicole: I didn't know how to bring it up, and I felt bad about it.
Nicole: It's like i said: it's the smart thing to do, but it's also hard to do.
Porsche: Yeah, I know, but it's really the only way to guarantee final three for us.
Porsche: Next week, if she won HoH, we would regret it.
Nicole: Exactly.
So I guess my mind is made up. I feel wholly responsible for getting Sarah evicted from this game, and what's worse is that I knew that's what I wanted and I chose my language so carefully when I spoke to Porsche. I emphasized the tension between playing strategically and personally and waited for her to come to the conclusion that Sarah is the one that needs to go. I'm serious when I say that I underestimated the weight of personal relationships in this game. But it's something that has to be done.