"Childhood is over, my girls. Put aside fears, reservations, and petty things. Kick ass tomorrow."
-Cordelia Goode, Current Reigning Supreme
Greetings to all of my fallen sister witches and brother warlocks.
I'm not going to be fake and say sorry you all lost and kiss your asses, because that's not my style. And if you guys made it to Final Tribal, then there's a good chance I wouldn't have. But I will say that it's unfortunate there were only two spots available for this final phase of the game. I know everyone here worked extremely hard and played to the best of their abilities.
Cheers to you all! I am looking forward to reading all of your questions and answering them all with deep thought and complete truth.
Before we get to all of that,
There are certain tests a witch must go through before truly rising to Supremacy.
We call these tests... "The Seven Wonders."
Seven different spells that a witch must be able to master to be considered the new Supreme.
I would like to wish my opponent Bobby good luck, as he also attempts the seven trials.
Now, let's get to it, shall we?
"Usually we move from easiest to hardest. But since we're breaking the tradition this year, let's begin with my personal favorite.... telekinesis."
-Myrtle Snow, Witch
My first spell that I must master is Telekinesis, the ability to move objects with one's own mind.
I did attempt and successfully cast this spell during the course of the game.
I'm sure you all know by now, that Miami and myself became very close over the course of the game. Part of it was because of necessity, part of it was because of shared frustrations, and part of it was just because we really enjoyed each other's company. Not only did we have a close personal bond, but we also had a close strategic bond as well. We were constantly thinking and bouncing ideas off of each other.
Because of having both a strong personal relationship and a strong strategic relationship, we held nothing back from each other... including Miami's idol, in which she found during the pre-merge phase of the game.
During the course of the merge, we were able to talk things through each round and decide the best course of action for us. Obviously the Final 6 vote was a fumble on our parts, but I will get to that more later.
In any case, I don't want to bash my sister Miami, but the girl was very paranoid. But this is why we balanced each other out so well. I took a more calm approach to the game, whereas she was very bold and wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. There were times when getting her hands dirty wasn't necessary though, and after talking it out with me, she would cool it and calm down.
The paranoia coming from my dear sister would constantly make her wonder if she needed to play her idol or not, and almost every time we would come to the conclusion that she didn't need to. But because of our close relationship, she would always make sure to transfer her idol to me during almost every single tribal, just in case. If she stayed in the game as planned, I would pass it back. If by the off chance she was blindsided, I would have her idol and be able to use it unexpectedly at the expense of someone I needed to be out of the game.
Of course we all know what happened to Miami's idol, but the fact remains that I was able to form such a strong relationship with someone to where they were trusting of me with their own idol.
"Concilium... commonly only known to the public as mind control. It's a tricky little craft when properly exercised can bend the strongest of wills to your desire."
-Myrtle Snow, Witch
Mind control.... everyone's favorite spell if they can execute it properly.
I do think I executed it well in this game at a couple of key points.
First of all, detaching myself from Miami.
It became clear after just a couple of rounds into the merge that Miami and myself were close. I brought up the fact to Miami that we needed to think of a way to burn that stigma that had become ingrained in people's brains.
It was also clear to me that Bobby was close with Lauren, and Dean was close with Maxwell.
So the two people I wanted to "slip" some information to the most were Bobby and Dean.
This was during the Final 7 and into the Final 6.
I went to Bobby and came up with a "plan" to get Miami to flush her idol because "I didn't want two idols still in play going into the Final 6." Well while I was coming up with this plan, I was discussing it with Miami.
During the Final 6, I did the same thing, but with Dean.
Not only did this build some trust and build a strategic foundation with two key people (Bobby & Dean), it also helped destroy some of that reputation that Miami and I were close and would never turn on each other.
Secondly, the Maxwell vote.
There was a lot of paranoia this round. It was right after the rock draw and although Bobby had just went to rocks with us, there was still talk of him being tight with Lauren and it wasn't 100% certain that he would continue to vote with us.
After I had talked to Bobby and we came up with our "plan" to flush Miami's idol, I really believed he wasn't going to try anything crazy this vote, and I had to assure Miami, who was becoming increasingly paranoid, that Bobby was voting the way we intended.
But Maxwell, being the charmer he is, was sweet talking Miami on the side and sis was eating it up!
I knew voting with Maxwell wasn't best for my game, because 1. we didn't have any strategic relationship at that point in time (which isn't necessarily Maxwell's fault, it just kind of happened that way), and 2. he was very close with Dean, someone I wanted to have in my pocket.. a pocket I did NOT want to share.
So, I ensured Miami that voting with Bobby for this round was the better path, and she eventually agreed.
"You want to be burned at the stake? Again?"
-Cordelia Goode, Current Reigning Supreme
This one is a bit more self explanatory.
So coming into this game, I knew I needed to take a different approach from my usual self (which tends to be more loud, aggressive, and bold). If I ever wanted to win a game, I needed to learn how to hold back when necessary, and when the right time to be aggressive was.
For this spell, we will be taking a closer look at my challenge performances.
For most of the pre-merge, I felt perfectly fine. This gave me time to just coast for a few rounds and not worry about too much. The fire under my ass was pretty dim.
Once Ausenia was put onto our tribe after Troy became HBIC, the fire got a bit brighter. I knew that Ausenia having the idol from Otra was a real possibility, and if we just piled our votes onto her if we lost, she would be able to idol one of us out. And I didn't feel like I had a particularly strong relationship with her at that point so me being her idol target wasn't out of the realm of possibilities. So I worked my ass off in those challenges to ensure we wouldn't have to find out who her target was.
The first couple rounds of merge? I felt safe. Lauren came to me and told me of Dean's betrayal and I didn't think she did that just because. So I felt confident that I would be safe during the Final 10 and Final 9. So I went ahead and dimmed the fire under my ass a bit and let everyone else do the heavy thinking those rounds.
HOWEVER, after Wendy was voted out due to Bobby's "accident", I didn't feel safe at all. I was convinced both Bobby and Lauren were plotting and playing the middle as much as they could. So even though the challenge became luck-based, I knew it was imperative that I won immunity. And luckily I did, since the vote ended up becoming a luck of the draw!
Final 7 and Final 6 are where I really started becoming more aggressive and applying myself strategically. My relationship with Dean, my relationship with Bobby, and detaching myself from Miami.
After the Final 6 tribal, my fire was brighter than ever. It became clear that Miami was public enemy #1 and if she won immunity, there's no telling what would have happened. So during game night, I gave it my all and came out on top. I did subtly try to get Miami to stay but I knew it wouldn't be possible. So I had to let my girl go.
After that, it was my MISSION to end Lauren and make it to the end. Unfortunately, Lauren won Final 4 immunity and Santi had to suffer.
During the Final 3, it was do or die. Obviously Bobby and Lauren were close so winning immunity was crucial. Bobby had computer issues and Lauren couldn't grasp the challenge (for once), so I really made sure to take my time and read over the rules to make sure I understood. I came up with a solid strategy and it worked out for me! I successfully won immunity and completed my goal of defeating Lauren.
So in conclusion of Pyrokinesis, I ALWAYS had a fiery passion for this game from start to the finish, and I knew when I needed to turn it off and on.
"Hidden in this house are items belonging to former supremes."
-Myrtle Snow, Witch
For this spell, I will be highlighting my gut instincts and awareness.
First of all, after Wendy was voted out due to Bobby's "accidental" vote, I thought it was pretty obvious that he and Lauren had planned that together. However, Miami seemed to be on the fence of whether or not he was being honest, and I brought up the fact that he and Lauren probably did it together to get rid of a big threat, and the two of them are not to be trusted moving forward. This was now at the forefront of Miami's mind, which gave her that extra push to tip off Santi for the next vote, ultimately leading to the rock draw and Ausenia's demise.
Also, my gut for the Final 6 vote was right as well. But I will talk about that later.
"The next task before our candidates is transmutation."
-Myrtle Snow, Witch
This one is also self explanatory, much like Pyrokinesis.
To put it simply, I was able to move from round to round without ever really being a prime target.
The fact that I attached myself to someone SO bold and SO aggressive, it made me look less and less worthy of being public enemy #1. And the fact that Miami and I were able to make it so far together, allowed me to keep my target small all the way to the Final 5! And even in the Final 4, where I should have realistically been in my most vulnerable state, I was still tempting enough to keep over the ONE person who a majority of the people would have been HAPPY to go up against in the Final 2. No offense to Santi, it's just how he was viewed.
The only votes I got? 1 from Lauren during the Final 7 where she admitted to doing it only because I hadn't gotten a vote yet. And 1 from Santi during the Final 4.
I would consider that a success!
"The hallmark of any rising supreme is glowing, radiant health."
-Cordelia Goode, Current Reigning Supreme
Here I will be highlighting my social game.
First of all, and probably my most successful "social move."
Restoring my relationship with Dean.
After the Troy blindside, it was clear that the cat was out of the bag. Dean was torn to shreds by Miami/Wendy, but I decided to approach it a different way. Where Miami/Wendy saw a betrayal, I saw a potential future ally. So I made sure to reach out to Dean and let him know that I didn't hate him and I would 100% still be willing to work with him if the opportunity rose.
I could really tell he appreciated not being yelled at and rather was talked to respectfully.
Then after Ausenia was rocked out, I once again went to Dean and further cemented a deal with him. The only person standing in my way of Dean's full trust was Maxwell, which is why he was my target at Final 7.
At Final 6, it was pretty clear to me that Dean was putting a great deal of trust in me. And I didn't want to toss that away, but shit happened.
The point being, after my relationship with Dean was seemingly dead after his betrayal, I gave it life again and nursed it back to health, something that is hard to do after a betrayal like that.
"The descent into the netherworld will be your next test. Getting to hell will be simple for girls of your talents. It's the getting back, darlings, that is the challenge."
-Myrtle Snow, Witch
And so this brings us to our final test.... descending into my own personal hell.
.....The Final 6 vote.
Of course, it's rare for someone's game to be completely perfect. Shit happens. But I think it's important to own your mistakes and learn from them.
So going into the Final 6 tribal, I knew that this was going to be the most crucial vote. It was clear. We had Myself/Miami vs. Bobby/Lauren vs. Dean vs. Santi. The plan was for myself, Miami, Bobby, and Santi to split on Dean/Lauren.
But after discussion, Miami and I realized that Lauren could easily just vote Dean to keep her idol one more round.
And I thought about it and concluded that she HAD to do that. Like, why wouldn't she?
During this fiasco, I also got information from Dean that he and Lauren would be voting Santi and I agreed to it.
My gut was telling me to throw a vote on Santi. I usually listen to my gut with everything, but... my loyalty blinded me.
Miami had listened to my judgment up until that point, and I felt like it was only fair for me to listen to hers this time. Her judgment being it would probably be safest to stay the course and vote Dean.
So with two minutes left to vote..... I submitted a vote for Dean.
Once the votes began to be revealed and Lauren didn't play her idol, I knew I made the worst mistake I could have possibly made.
Miami idoled when she didn't need to as well, so my two closest allies were voted out back to back.
I'm not blaming Miami by any means. Ultimately the mistake was mine and mine alone. I will own it.
However, I came out of it alive, and like our dear Myrtle Snow said, "It's the getting back, darlings, that is the challenge."
And I definitely got back from the hell, and fought my absolute HARDEST to make up for my mistakes.
And putting the final nail in Lauren's coffin after she should have been gone at Final 6, makes up for that terrible mistake. Whether you agree or not... that's up to you. But I felt like a weight had been lifted off of me and that's what matters here.
AND THERE YOU HAVE IT.
I completed The Seven Wonders.
Whether I was successful or not, that's up to you all as the jurors.
I look forward to hearing your questions and feedback!
