Week 3 - A Strategic Whirlwind

[Roddy Mancu$o]

Leaving week 2

So after week 2, I felt about ready to take a bow. My PM to Jeff changed his mind and convinced him to use the veto on Renny (who would have left against Alex). Lydia ended up on the block beside Alex which basically made him a dead man walking. Best of all, Lydia kinda freaked out and ran to me for help because she had no idea that it was I who shook things up. I think it won me major points with her. Because even though I knew she was staying before the plan even started, I made it look like I had to work but that I pulled it off without a hitch. The pieces that I felt would move on their own (Holly and Chiara) did exactly as I predicted, and I checked in with every other vote we were counting on (Jordan, Jase and Kevin). Hell even Russ joined the cause.

To make things even better, I find out that Holly quit. Now I know, its super lame that she quit and all, but that did a LOT for the numbers situation. It means that there is no dominant majority anymore. Oh and I have to say I am super glad that if anyone was going to quit that it would be her... she was such a dumb bitch. But not even the entertaining type of dumb bitch... she was bizarrely self-righteous.

HOH

So anyways, I am kind of in a mood to celebrate my victories, but then I get sucker punched by the next HoH. Here is a list of reasons why I hated that HoH.

1. It favored larger cliques. Directly after I vote to evict a member of The Airforce, cliques play a large role in the challenges. That's karma for you.
2. I couldn't fucking beat Monica at getting that flamethrower after the first time. Ugh that was aggravating.
3. It allowed the WORST POSSIBLE HOH for me to win the challenge.
4. Monica is a bitch and totally fucked me over but would not own up to it. I got your number bitch. KNOW THAT!
5. There was basically no way I could win because everyone was gonna team up on me no matter what. All my allies were gone by the time I started playing.
6. I was a dumbass and missed the opportunity to use my hp restore.

So, as we all know, good ol' Lorenza won HoH.

Nominations

OK, so I know its super cliche, I just KNEW I was gonna be nominated. I did not know that Jordan would be nominated. I thought that Jeff would be, but then again, Renny is a wildcard. Jeff might have made a deal or something, but I do not care. I am just super thrilled that we are not on the block together.

So I was nominated beside Jordan and I was heartbroken because I <3 her. I mean I was not shocked, because we had both expressed concern this might happen. But it still sucked.

Yet at the same time, I was so relieved not to be beside Jeff. I don't think he would want to ruin my game, but he has the resources with the PM I sent to him. That would be pretty bad if he leaked that to the wrong people. Even still though, I kinda doubt he would do that.

So all in all, I am not happy because Jordan is the second worst person for me to be nominated beside. But it could be worse.

[Roddy Mancu$o]

Nomination Speech

So I decided it would be worthwhile to tell people what I thought about the speech Renny wrote - I wrote up a post to point out the blatant hypocrisy that was written into it. This is what I wrote.

So I will start by saying that I don't really mind that you nominated me because I saw it coming. But @ that speech, which is clearly a lot of bullshit.

First off, what makes you think that I am in any way 'not playing the game'? If you remember correctly I came second in the first HoH, captured The Quitter's flag in HoH week 2, and I was up til like 1 in the morning for the last HOH at which point I was eliminated. Maybe I am not winning, but that doesn't mean I'm not playing. Or maybe you were commenting on activity... which would also be inaccurate because I am on every day. I am playing this game harder than a lot of people.

Its also bullshit that you criticize us for voting to keep an inactive person week 1 (Libra), when you gave Chima (a person who didn't write a confessional last week) her key FOURTH overall. I don't give a shit about whether or not you nominate Chima, that is obviously up to you. But It is ridiculous that you would still complain about the Libra thing in the same nomination speech where you turn a blind eye to Chima's no-confessional week.

You could have just said 'Roddy and Jordan, you have expressed zero desire to have me here after three weeks in the game' (the only reason that you posted that makes any sense) and left it at that instead of bullshitting things. [/size]

It was completely true, and it was very much how I felt about the situation. I didn't mind the nomination, but I did mind the speech.

Veto Competition

So OMG I was SO nervous that I was going to miss the competition because of my stupid job, but I ended up making it back in time. I got home at like 10:04. I saw that I had missed a few messages from Jeff, but when I immediately messaged him. The thing is, as much as I wanted that shiny veto win for myself, I really wanted Jeff to have it more because I trust that he would use it. Basically him winning would ensure that we can advance to the final 11 in tact as a pair.

Anyways, we worked pretty hard on that challenge for about an hour. I actually consulted some online sources about grammar rules. The moment I was most proud of was figuring out that 'Marcellas and I' should have been 'Marcellas and me'.

I think it really helped us having two pairs of eyes look over it instead of one. I mean, we literally caught every mistake.

So about 30 min after Jeff submits it, he messages me and says that Jordan won. I was so disappointed, because I knew that if that were the case, Jeff would end up beside me. But then I check the website and he was just messing with me, lol.

Anyways, all went according to plan. Jeff used the veto. I am off the block, and we are avidly anticipating Renny's replacement nomination.

Renny's Replacement Nominee

On the note of Renny, it appears that her and Jeff actually have a decent relationship somewhat. Jeff was able to talk himself out of being nominated, and I don't think I could have pulled that off with her. I think that Renny wants a decent relationship with Jeff because clearly he is gonna be a decision maker in this game.

Anyways, at first I was thinking conservatively. I was just assuming that Renny was gonna put up one of Kev/Jase/Chima. But Jeff thought differently and more boldly. He thought that we should get Lydia put up on the block. After we talked about it for a bit, he asked me if I would write a persuasive PM to her. He said he knew that I could write them because of the prior message I had sent to him. He said my message to him was phenomenal .

So I decided to go for it. I mean, why not? I have already hedged my bets with him anyways, and he listened to my suggestion last week - I figured being in an alliance is a two way street so I listened to him this time. I would write it from Jeff's perspective because not only would it be more effective (Renny and him at least have a base relationship), but if it fails I still might be able to remain under the radar with the other side. Jeff said he had no problem attaching his name to what I wrote. This is what I came up with:

Hey Renny,

I am just messaging you right now because I know that you have a big decision on your hands. I know that you and I have had our differences so far in the game, but I hope you can take this seriously. Clearly we are playing characters that clash, but I am writing to you because I think that we are in a pretty similar predicament strategically.

Something just feels kind of off about how things are developing in this game. It seems like there are certain people who are actually playing the game (i.e. you and I) but that a lot of players have been sitting in the background afraid to really make bold moves.

The thing is, players that are really getting into the game are now sticking out a lot more. You and I both have a lot of people after us, and people have jumped to conclusions on us entirely. But I think that if we work together we might have a shot at overcoming the odds. Clearly both of us have the ability to pull out a challenge win – a skill which literally every other person still in the competition has failed to do.

Sure, I am the target now. But who will take my position of public enemy number one after I leave? Unfortunately, with most of these players I think that they will go for the threats in the next period of time, and you would probably be included on that list.

So basically what I am concerned about is the dull players mobilizing. I think that we can entirely ensure that it does not happen, but only if we act wisely over the next few weeks.

Personally I think that it is a lot less likely to happen without strong social players in the game. Now, I will admit that it going after a social threat requires you to make bold nominations – but it also has huge payoffs down the line if it succeeds. In addition, you would be ensuring that you are not nominated if I win an HoH. And I could get Roddy to commit to that deal too because I just used the veto on him and he has acknowledged to me that he owes me right now.

If you are looking for the best social game in the house, it’s clearly Lydia. She knows exactly how to make people want to keep her in the game, I mean hell she stayed over Alex 8-3, and Alex would have been a huge asset to people like Chiara and Russell because he could win challenges. And just as important is the fact that she is very smart – she helped me during the Week 2 veto by sending me the answer to some of the cryptograms. At the time I didn’t know why, but in hindsight it was clearly because she did not want the veto to be used because that is what everyone thought I would do at the time. She knew that one of her girl alliance would have ended up on the block, so she planned ahead. Unfortunately for her I caught on to what happened.

She also clearly has Russ wrapped around her finger if he broke his word to Alex and voted him off after promising he would campaign to keep him. And Chiara has been with her since day 1.

But there are some people who are nervous about her right now, and the numbers are definitely possible. Message me back your thoughts, but I know for sure that we could get five votes.


Jeff was thrilled with the message and sent it to Renny. Then he and Renny started talking, but it became clear that Renny was very wary of me. And I don't blame her for that - she had every right to be. I had never given her a chance in the game because I decided she would be one of my first targets in the game, and I can't bring myself to get to know targets I am going to evict right away. Maybe that is a kink in my game but who cares.

So her and I talked, and I was actually pretty honest with her. I told her about the five person alliance in the beginning of the game, and how we came to a decision together on Alex/Renny.

I think we did make quite an impression on Renny. Although she is not considering putting up Lydia right now, she is thinking about the option of putting up Russ. And as much as I like the guy, it would be his time to go if he was up there this week. This game is not about keeping only who you like. And providing Lydia with Russ as a loyal ally is not something I want to be doing right now.

Renny also proposed a deal to Jeff. A Renny/Jeff/James/Roddy alliance. I am not sure what to think of this, but I figure we might as well accept it for now. I would really like to have a final four of Jordan/Jeff/Renny and I, so accepting James into an alliance would not be a problem, but we are gonna have to figure out some way to ensure his eviction without looking guilty sometime down the line.


Overall Assessment of the game so far[/b]

It is clear to me that within this 15 person cast there are four distinctly strong players at this game (I am not including myself - clearly I am the strongest ).

The first was Alex. But he is gone. Alex could win challenges and was clearly a very strong contender in the social element on the game. Had he survived week 2, he would have been a big force in this game. I am glad I got rid of him because he would have been a big thorn in my side.

The second is Lydia. This girl is smart and knows exactly how to maneuver in the game. She has people lining up to take bullets for her, and these people are not even aware. I think right now she assumes that I am one of those people, but I'm not taking a bullet for anyone.

The third is Jeff. Although he is my best ally, I think that Jeff is also the person most likely to take take win away from me. But those are endgame thoughts and are irrelevant now. At the moment he does feel like a buffer week for me in a lot of ways - kind of like a shield. But I dunno, he is a very strong player and who knows maybe he would be able to outmaneuver me. He has a lot of access to dirt on me if he wishes to use it. But I don't think that will happen for a very long time.

And the fourth is Renny. I dunno that is mostly my gut talking. But I still feel she will play a large role in this game.