Round 15

[Stephanie Valencia]

I need to win Immunity this round. If there was ever a round to win, this is it. Boo is gone, we're in the final six, and Natalie is public enemy number one. This Storyteller challenge is absolutely the kind of thing that Natalie will excel at…and exactly the kind of thing that Rob, Morgan, Gina, and Pete won't. So preventing Natalie from winning Immunity this round is basically up to me.

Natalie:[/color] So I want to talk to you about this before results, just so you don't think I'm talking about it because I'm not immune or anything. What do you think about the girls teaming up and taking out Rob?
Stephanie:[/color] I promised him day one that I wouldn't vote against him.
Natalie:[/color] Seems like he made that promise with a lot of people.
Stephanie:[/color] Well, that's definitely possible. But, personally, I don't see how it would benefit me in the game. I’d be playing for fourth place. And I'm here to play for first.
Natalie:[/color] You won't beat Rob in the finals. Pete and Rob are probably the biggest threats to win at this point.
Stephanie:[/color] I understand your point but if I switch gears completely and join this all-girls alliance, I won't even make it to the finals.
Natalie:[/color] I understand why you think that, but you never know for sure. Morgan probably still hates my guts. I rarely talk to Gina…I'd probably be fourth in that case, to be honest. You have to make big moves in this game to win.
Stephanie:[/color] I'm not doing it, I’m sorry. I'm not going to let myself be used to get Rob out of the game this round so that you can turn around and vote me out the following round.
Natalie:[/color] That's why you won't win this game. I'm honestly trying to help you.
Stephanie:[/color] What on earth would motivate you to honestly try to help me?
Natalie:[/color] Because I don't like Pete and Rob and have been saying for like four rounds now that I don't want people having a negative opinion on you because of them.
Stephanie:[/color] I don't care about other people's opinions. If ill will towards Pete and Rob has rubbed off on me, oh well. I don't need help to win the game, I don't need lessons or advice; I've never told you how to play your game, so there's no need for you to tell me how to play mine. You have to see how there's an element to what you're saying that's insulting, right?
Natalie:[/color] I'm not telling you to do anything. I asked if you would be up for it. How is it insulting? Would it be insulting if I was on the jury telling you this during the final Tribal Council?
Stephanie:[/color] No, it wouldn't; but this isn't the final Tribal Council. We're both still in the game. And you repeatedly telling me that I'm not going to win the game because I'm not making big moves, yes, is insulting.
Natalie:[/color] I'm being honest with you! You've been reluctant to go against Rob and Rob is the clear favorite to win right now.
Stephanie:[/color] My style in this game is different. I don't make "big moves" just for the sake of making big moves and being memorable. I make smart moves and I calculate what I'm doing. Turning on Rob? Huge move, absolutely. Coming in fifth place as a result? Not my goal.
Natalie:[/color] No one makes big moves just for the sake of making big moves. Big moves are needed to win the game. Have you ever seen someone who doesn't make a big move win the game? From everything I've gathered and what other people have said, people view you as Rob's goat. I'm not telling you this to insult you at all, and sorry if it’s coming off that way. Last round when I talked to you, you said you appreciated the honesty.
Stephanie:[/color] I do appreciate the honesty, yes. So I'm sorry if I'm making it seem otherwise. I hope that jurors aren't giving you that information, because that's against the rules, and I haven't spoken a word of game to anyone on the jury.
Natalie:[/color] No, jurors aren't giving me that information. When they were in the game they thought so, though. Boo told me last round he thought the same thing, and he was still in the game
Stephanie:[/color] I'm doing what I have to do to get to the finals. That's priority number one. Once I'm there, I'll worry about how I'll win. If people think I'm Rob's puppet, that's perfectly fine. My side of the story, which I'll explain when I'm in the finals, will be quite different.
Natalie:[/color] Well, I'm sorry if you took it as an insult. That wasn't my intention at all. And I'm sorry that you don't think I would ever want to help you. I already told you that I like you more than anyone left in the game, you're one of my favorite people in the whole cast...
Stephanie:[/color] I'm putting the personal completely aside. There's no possible way I can work with you. As much as I like you too, I have no reason to trust you. I'd be an idiot to trust you again, let's be straight up.
Natalie:[/color] Okay.

Natalie is working hard this round; I'll give her credit for that. But I'm the last person on earth that she's going to convince, even if she's aiming for the jugular with her assertion that I won't be able to win over a jury. I'm not suggesting that her claim is unfounded—going to the end with Pete and Rob will be an uphill battle in terms of winning the votes—but it's Natalie's time to go, no matter how hard she tries to stay this round.

[Stephanie Valencia]

I'M IN THE FINAL 4!!!!!

What did I tell you? If there was ever a round to win Immunity, this was it. Not only did I wrest Immunity away from Natalie—and it was a close one!—I also secured myself a spot in the final four! That means after this second consecutive Tribal Council, there's only one Immunity Challenge…and one Tribal Council…standing between me and the finals.

Now that Natalie is finally gone, I need to think about what's going to happen during the next vote. And I'm predicting that, once again, things are going to get messy, so I'm just relieved I have Immunity. There are two desired outcomes of this upcoming Tribal Council, and they might sound a bit surprising, but if my plans work out, I just may have secured myself not only a spot in the finals but possibly the win. I'm going to push for Pete to be voted out this round. Rob wants Gina gone hard and he gave me all of his reasons—she has the jury votes on lock, she still has sway over Pete, etc.—but I've been slowly getting him to consider the possibility of getting rid of Pete instead. Now, I love Pete, don't get me wrong, and campaigning against him isn't easy. But the reality is that Pete will take votes away from both me and Rob if we all went to the finals together. So I proposed my plan to Rob:

I'll tell Morgan at some point tomorrow that I have a way to get her and me to the final three, but she has to trust me. I'll explain to her that the plan is to vote her out this week and everyone is on board. But, if she's willing to vote out Pete, I'm sure I can get a third vote against him to save her. But she has to keep it a complete secret or else the plan will fail and I'll have to vote her out.

Rob's response was…lukewarm. But I kept explaining the obvious merits of eliminating Pete at this point in the game. Rob was worried about Morgan's trustworthiness (or clear lack thereof) and he should be worried about it. But I'll get to that in a second. He eventually came around and agreed to back my plan and vote for Pete. So this is officially in motion. Whether or not it pans out remains to be seen, but the groundwork is done and I'll talk to Morgan about it tomorrow.

That said, it gets a little more interesting. The reason Rob is so concerned about Morgan not keeping her mouth shut is that if my plan backfires, the person who will take the brunt of the fallout…is Rob. If Morgan reports to Pete (which is a very likely possibility) that Rob and I are moving to vote him out, then Pete, Gina, and Morgan will vote together and eliminate Rob from the game. It will be extremely difficult for me to bounce back from that because then I'll be in the final four with three people that are decidedly against me; I'll have to win the final Immunity Challenge if I want any chance of making it to the end. But maybe that's not the worst thing in the world. I could always explain to Pete that my conversation with Morgan was intentional so that she'd leak the information and Rob would be voted out without me having to get any of his blood on my hands. Would he buy it? Maybe, maybe not. But there's absolutely a kernel of truth in that statement. If this all backfires and Rob is voted off, I'll have kept my word to never vote against him…but he won't be in the game any longer to compromise my chances of winning. It's a risky move, definitely, but I'm confident that I can protect myself either way. This next Tribal Council is going to end with one boy leaving: either Pete or Rob.

Let's see who's the goat now.

[Stephanie Valencia]

I'm flying solo right now.

I pitched my plan to Morgan and she told me that she, Pete, and Gina were all planning to vote out Rob, confirming my suspicions that Pete was attempting a blindside. I hadn't received a PM from him (and he PMs me literally multiple times a day) and he made no effort to talk to me about the vote…which means he's intentionally avoiding me. That was the only cue I needed. Once I knew that Pete already had Morgan convinced, I moved on to Plan B. I fed her my plan to get rid of Pete this round to see if she would leak it to Pete…and of course she did. Pete tried to play dumb with me, which just pissed me off. But, alas, I had to swallow the ego and play along. Rob's fate is sealed this round. I need to worry about myself.

Stephanie:[/color] So I'm assuming you're voting Rob?
Pete:[/color] Why are you assuming I vote Rob?
Stephanie:[/color] Because you're invisible and haven't PM'd me about the vote. If I'm just being crazy, then I'm sorry. But if I'm right (and I'm pretty sure I am), you can at least tell me about it.
Pete:[/color] Well, I have yet to hear the vote from Rob. He didn't even want to tell me who he wanted next. I've been crazy for the last two rounds and thought I was going to get backstabbed. I have a feeling I'm getting voted out tonight, though.

Confirmation that Morgan leaked the info I gave her. Check.

Stephanie:[/color] I know about the plan. And no, I haven't told him.
Pete:[/color] Told him what? You're confusing me. I thought you were voting Gina?
Stephanie:[/color] I'm not voting Gina. When did I ever say I was voting Gina?
Pete:[/color] Well, I assumed because of what Rob said.
Stephanie:[/color] I don't know what Rob said. But Rob doesn't speak for me. I never said I was voting out Gina.
Pete:[/color] Well, I'm gone anyways.
Stephanie:[/color] When did you stop trusting me?
Pete:[/color] I never said I lost complete trust in you.
Stephanie:[/color] Can we be 100% honest with each other right now? Can we just be straight up?
Pete:[/color] Yes...I'm probably gonna vote Rob if it keeps going this way.
Stephanie:[/color] I know that you, Morgan, and Gina are already voting for Rob.
Pete:[/color] I was thinking you, Rob, and Morgan were voting me.
Stephanie:[/color] No, you only thought that right now because Morgan leaked it to you. I told her that on purpose to see if you'd confront me about it. I suspected since yesterday that you were planning to blindside Rob so I told Morgan a lie to see if she would tell you. I'm not voting against you, Pete. I wanted to go to the final three with you. But now, I'm worried that you don't want me in your final three anymore.
Pete:[/color] Do you have a final two with Rob?
Stephanie:[/color] No!
Pete:[/color] Because you told that to plenty of people. And then I asked Rob about it and he skipped me.
Stephanie:[/color] How many times do I have to say this? I've never said to anyone that I have a final two deal with Rob. I've told people the truth: Rob and I made a deal to not vote against each other. That was the deal. There's a difference, Pete. Final two is one thing, not voting against each other is another.
Pete:[/color] Right. I just wish you didn't tell Morgan that, though. It doesn't help at all. And last night, just before deadline, I asked Rob what he thought of the next vote, and he said: "idk man." He never says that.
Stephanie:[/color] I wanted to get information out of Morgan and she told me everything. I'm telling you this, knowing that you can go back and rat me out to Morgan, but I'm choosing to be honest to show you that I still trust you and want to work with you.
Pete:[/color] I don't know what I'm planning, seriously. I just want to survive and avoid getting voted out. I thought you would get very mad if I decided to vote Rob.
Stephanie:[/color] I'm not going to get mad. Rob and I are not the same. If you're planning to vote Rob, I understand. But just be straight up with me about, don't pretend to be confused. I don't want to be your target in the final four. I want to go to the finals with you, regardless of whether or not Rob is there.
Pete:[/color] Well, when I was doing that, I thought you would go hardcore against me in final four.
Stephanie:[/color] So your plan was to take me out next round?
Pete:[/color] If you were going to hate me...But now, I'm not so sure about that.
Stephanie:[/color] I don't take this game personally. I don't hate anyone; it's just a game. I'm not going to hate you if you vote out Rob. The reality is: Rob is a threat to both of us if the three of us went to the end together.
Pete:[/color] So you were thinking of voting him too? Just tell me.
Stephanie:[/color] What I'm about to say is completely secret. Can I trust you?
Pete:[/color] Yesss.
Stephanie:[/color] I wasn't think of voting Rob this round. I was thinking of…letting Rob be voted off.
Pete:[/color] Ohhh. You are amazing.
Stephanie:[/color] The real reason I said that to Morgan was because I knew she'd tell you, and it would turn you against Rob and you'd get Morgan and Gina to vote him off. That way, he'd be eliminated and I could keep my promise to not vote against himself myself. It's the only way I can get Rob out without breaking my promise.
Pete:[/color] You just took a huge fear out of me!
Stephanie:[/color] Am I mean for coming up with a plan like that?
Pete:[/color] Well, we're both in the same boat. I feel mean too, you know.
Stephanie:[/color] I just want to know if you plan on targetting me in the final four.
Pete:[/color] No, not if you're not voting me. I know I told them, "Yeah, yeah, final three," but that's what Morgan was saying, not me.

Ah, a final three deal between Pete, Morgan, and Gina. Thanks, Pete; good to know.

Stephanie:[/color] So what's your plan, then?
Pete:[/color] Do you have the intention of going to the end with me if Rob is out?
Stephanie:[/color] Well, I did. But if you're just playing me, then no.
Pete:[/color] If you do, then we just vote out either Morgan or Gina and we go to the final three. I did have the intention but I wasn't too sure what would happen if I voted Rob. Hopefully, you really do want Rob to go and weren't just trying to get me to talk.
Stephanie:[/color] I'm not going to say a word of this to Rob. That's a promise. But you can't say a word to him about it either.
Pete:[/color] I'm not. 100% sure.
Stephanie:[/color] So are we going to final two then? Me and you?
Pete:[/color] As long as you're not gunning for me and as long as you don't become the queen that all jurors would vote for. Does that sound fair?
Stephanie:[/color] I'm not gunning for you, that's a promise. And I think I'm far from being a jury threat. It's a pretty safe assumption that most of them dislike me.
Pete:[/color] We're the two people the jury dislikes most.

What a load of crap.

Pete:[/color] But I'm not targetting you next round.
Stephanie:[/color] I won't target you next round either. You have my word.
Pete:[/color] You have mine too.

Realistically, all my trust in Pete is gone. I have to fend for myself from now until the end of the game. Every person that's made a promise to me has faltered at some point. The only exception is Rob, and he's being voted out in a few hours. Morgan promised me that, despite voting Rob this round, she won't vote against me in the final four, and Pete promised me the same. I desperately want to believe them, and maybe Pete's telling the truth. But he's so shady and reticent about everything now that I confronted him with his poorly hidden plot that I can't put any real stock in what he has to say. I need to win Immunity next round. I need to protect myself because these people aren't looking out for me anymore. A final three deal between Morgan, Pete, and Gina? That's bad news for me. I have to put as many cracks in that alliance as possible before the next Tribal Council and pray that I can either a) count on Pete and Morgan to keep me safe and vote out Gina or b) rally Gina and Morgan together to vote out Pete. Option b) seems a lot less likely—Pete seems to have both girls wrapped around his finger—but they have to see that they don't stand a chance against Pete in the end. If I can convince them to vote him out, I'm confident I can beat both Gina and Morgan in the finals.

It's going to be an adjustment playing this game without Rob. But it's time I stepped out of his shadow. I said from the very beginning that my strategy was to groom a man into being my protector and taking all the heat. And I did just that. Rob kept me safe for a very long period in this game and used an Idol on me when I was in danger of being voted out. But, like I said, the risk of that kind of strategy is being perceived as weak, something that Natalie has already brought up. With Rob being voted out tonight, I'm playing the rest of this game full throttle and not relying on anyone to take me farther. I'll make it happen myself.

[Amanda Kimmel]

I like reading every word you write. For real. So much detail that I don't have any questions for you <3

[Ted Rogers]

Me too, this is getting very intense, I could feel the tension in that conversation.

[Stephanie Valencia]

Thanks, guys. <3
And yeah, definitely an ugly conversation. I'm not fooled at all. I know it's going to be an uphill climb from here on out but I'm going to have to wedge myself somewhere into that final three deal. If I can get Pete voted out next round, the win just might be in the bag…but that's a very big "if." It's a bumpy road that lies ahead.