Épisode Sept: Trapped in zis 'Ell'ole

[Hercule Poirot]

Rust is cool, a little less active due to being busy but still pretty active.
Nick is very social and outgoing, he's friendly. If you see him, tell him I haven't watched Hot Fuzz yet.
Detective Pikachu is pretty cool, he's a little harder to carry a convo with. Ask him about legos.
Penelope is alright, I like her well enough but she was also among the least active of the red tribe, not sure if her activity has picked up or not.

M. Cheddar's descriptions of ze Red tribe.

Now M. Cheddar's pitch for why I should keep 'im (which eet absolutely ees within my power to do, thanks to zat PM from M. Kennedy) ees zat 'e 'as connections to ze Red tribe, which I generally agree with. Eet ees generally speaking not a good move to vote out ze people you swap with who 'ave connections to ze other tribe, especially if zey are going to 'ave more numbers zan you. For example, in RPG ze "Red" swap tribe did exactly zis, voting out Oren, and eet made zem much easier to pagong come merge.

On ze other 'and, I think M. Chase ees closer to other people zan to me, and honestly, reading zis list, does zis seem like people I would want as allies at zis point? Or does eet sound like M. Kennedy's "social threats" of M. McGruff and M. Peralta make better allies?

M. Pikachu and Mlle Penelope do not seem like my typical allies from zis. Not writing zem off, 'owever.

M. Nick...maybe. And M. Rust maybe also, but I am more active zan M. Chase, so if M. Rust is less active zan im...I'm not sure.

Eet ees possible M. Chase ees downplaying 'is relationships, but I'm not sure. Right now zat doesn't really make sense given 'is pitch.

But I also remember 'ow M. Chase and Mlle Macer were resistant to vote off M. Chan even though 'e was not active at all. Zat to me makes me question zem. Because as much as 'e ees preaching loyalty now, I need to 'ave someone to vote off.

M. Grouch and M. Lucifer should be possible for me to pick back up. I think I can repair my relationship with M. Chase, I'm usually good at zat, as long as I 'ave good arguments.

Eet's a tough spot to be in losing zis many times, but I think voting out M. Chase might be ze best path. And zen 'opefully no one targets me for my relationships with Mlle Hopps and M. Cheddar until one of zem dies first.

[Hercule Poirot]

When I mentioned Leons name was out to Lennie, he doesn’t seem like he’ll be pissed pissed about it.

He definitely prefers Chase going, but he was essentially like if it’s gotta happen it’s gotta

Grrrr M. Briscoe. Why would you react like zat? Why are you so spineless?

I know you think 'e 'as no actual chance of going so you don't care, but eet's 'ard not to feel like I'm being left out to dry since I'm expected to lie to any ally.

I don't think I will lie to M. Cheddar. I'll tell 'im ze truth tomorrow. I'm not damaging my relationship with 'im unnecessarily for no reason.

[Hercule Poirot]

Maybe I do get rid of M. Kennedy. I could totally do it. He gave me all of the ammunition I need.

Eet's 'ard because I do trust 'im and I do think 'e wants to work with me and 'e 'as a level a loyalty zat I don't think comes easily. Like zat's so fucking precious when you get it. And I think zis message shows zat 'e would include me in plans.

On ze other 'and...'e ees potentially more loyal to people on ze other tribe, people who I might need to vote out. And 'e also might not love getting voted out later in ze game if I 'ave to backstab 'im zen. 'e also ees goaty in a way zat ees probably problematic in terms of my odds of making eet to ze end, even if 'e ees loyal to me.

Part of me thinks I should just rip the bandaid off and do eet now. Eet would solve ze problems with M. Chase and M. Cheddar. Eet would solve a lot of my problems actually. Eet would not solve ze problem of 'ow Mlle Judy, M. Cheddar and I are viewed though, which ze vote on M. Chase somewhat does, at ze expense of some relationship with M. Cheddar, but I'm a good enough player zat I can earn zat back.

Zis ees such a tough choice. M. Briscoe gave me permission to suggest alternative votes to 'im just now. I might sleep on eet and decide in ze morning.

I'm thinking everything through with order and method. I'm keeping my cards close my chest until I decide whether or not to play zem. My leetle grey cells may not be great at Mafia, but zey're not bad at Survivor.

[Hercule Poirot]

Keeping zis internal rather zan externalizing eet ees incredibly difficile as well.

Eet's strange because if I do zis, eet ees a move, but I don't think eet even looks like a move to anyone but M. Briscoe and Mlle Judy. In fact ze non-move, keeping ze status quo and voting M. Chase, looks like more of a move.

I told myself I'd be more willing to backstab zis game. Maybe zis ees a good opportunity.

[Hercule Poirot]

On ze other 'and, voting out M. Kennedy ees kind of 'anding away my cards, non?

If I keep zis relationship close to my chest, zen at some point, M. Kennedy will presumably try to do something and I will be in ze know about eet.

Additionally, zis move does require revealing zat M. Kennedy trusts me more zan M. Briscoe, which while not a problem if we're voting me out, could be a problem for 'im taking me to ze end. But I don't really see 'im taking me to ze end in either universe. 'E ees too cautious and careful. Eet would not be dans son caractère.

Would M. Kennedy take me to ze end? Maybe, but I 'ave to think 'e would realize zat 'e would 'ave difficulty beating me. My best 'ope ees someone like Mlle Judy, who does erratic things like zat sometimes, or I just need to structure ze endgame so zat things are constantly changing and never able to settle enough to vote me out.

I know I'm way ahead of myself, but I could be choosing ze people I 'ave in ze end with me right now. I'll be stuck with zese people for potentially a long time.

Voting out M. Chase makes our path forward much more clear. We link up Blue and Green, vote off the less active Reds and M. Lance, and zen see where things are at and if someone tries to make a move.

If M. Chase ees in ze mix, 'e ees going to want to keep some of ze Reds, maybe even ze less active ones, like 'e did with M. Chan. Even if 'e ees loyal to me, if 'e doesn't want to target ze same people as me, what good ees zat?

I need to stop thinking and go to sleep. I can think myself in circles all day.

I 'ope some of you spectateurs 'ave enjoyed zese stream of consciousness glimpses into my psyche. I try to give you a good confessional.

Eesn't eet crazy to think zat some people 'ave not even attended tribal yet and I'm in a position where no matter what, I 'ave to betray a close ally who might 'ave gone deep with me?

[Hercule Poirot]

I just typed in 'ere zat I would tell M. Briscoe what M. Kennedy said, but zen I deleted eet. But every time I go to respond to 'is latest PM, eet ees so 'ard not to!

Yeah, exactly, and like you said, I'm kinda leaning into it. I'm still doing the "well it's difficult and we're down to brass tacks" but still making it clear that I would rather not vote Leon.

Yeah, I mean, if I were in your position I'd gradually move it towards "look, I think the others are most comfortable voting Chase, and that's not hugely likely to change" and maybe "with so few people and a likely swap coming, we probably should mostly be thankful we're not in the mix"

So serious question, would you rather vote Cheddar here? If you wanted to push for that, I wouldn't object. I think my slight preference is for Chase but I don't want you to feel reluctant to voice a preference counter to that. Similarly, if you had thoughts on Judy or Leon, I'd be open to hearing them. We've said it many times but you're far and away my closest ally so I'm open to whatever you're thinking. I suspect we're on the same page that it wouldn't make sense to do that, but anything you say to me is between us, so please feel free.

Haha, yes, I definitely was thinking of that particular swap, though in that case, they swapped from 2 tribes to three, so all it did was reduce their options and guarantee one of them goes if they lose.

Eet's like 'e knows I know something and 'e ees trying to get eet out of me! Such good intuition, because I do 'ave valuable information for you, M. Briscoe, but I'm not sure if eet makes sense to share eet or not.

[Hercule Poirot]

I'm just going to tell 'im. I don't think I'm going to ze end with 'im unless I win my way zere, but I don't think I 'ave a realistic path to ze end with M. Kennedy either. 'E would be guaranteed to take up one of zose seats.

I'm not going to quote eet though, I'm just going to say zat M. Kennedy revealed to me zat 'e ees closer to M. Jake and M. McGruff zan to M. Briscoe.

[Hercule Poirot]

Zat ees probably smart. M. Cheddar's last message to me ees zat you seem to be open to a M. Kennedy vote, though, when my whole argument to 'im ees zat voting M. Kennedy alienates you, so zat kind of makes eet 'ard. But honestly I've already decided I'm not lying to 'im about eet. Eet ees not worth eet to damage zat relationship zat much, so I'll just be honest about my reasons why (not mentioning our alliance). I'll do eet tomorrow eventually, assuming zat 'e ees around.

I don't think we should vote M. Cheddar. I think eet would just drive M. Chase away from us and into ze arms of ze reds on ze other tribe. M. Cheddar I think 'as a much 'igher chance of still wanting to work with us zan M. Chase 'as in zat situation. I at least feel emotionally closer to M. Cheddar, and eet seems like you do too. But thank you for checking in, I appreciate zat. <3 Eet's nice to know zat you care so much about what I think. You're my closest ally too, by a mile, and when I find zat person in ze game, I will be 100% honest with zem.

I actually do 'ave something to tell you about M. Kennedy, 'owever. Zis ees a new development as of 'is last PM to me, and I don't think eet necessarily 'as to change zis vote, but eet does make me open to ze idea of moving ze votes on to 'im. M. Kennedy does not want you to know zis, and 'e specifically told me to keep eet from you.

So apparently M. Kennedy ees incredibly close to M. Peralta and M. McGruff, as in I am basically assuming ze three of zem were in an alliance on your original tribe. So basically, the implication of 'is message was zat 'e ees okay with you and Mlle Judy for now, but long-term 'e wants to work with M. Peralta, M. McGruff and me. I 'ad no idea 'e felt zis close to me, I assumed zat 'e was closer to you. I did not mean to give 'im zat impression.

So yeah. I just think zat ees important information for you to know. Does zis mean we need to immediately vote M. Kennedy out? Absolutely not, though if zat ees something you feel more comfortable with zen I would understand and we could do eet very easily. But 'e ees not 100% in with zis tribe nor ees 'e 100% loyal to you, and zat ees incredibly important information to 'ave at our disposal as we plan ze next stage of ze game.

Ze fact zat 'e ees including me does give me faith zat 'e would do zat whenever 'e tries something though, and zen as long as I know what ees going on, we can plan around eet. Obviously I don't want any of zis getting back to 'im. Maybe ze right path ees to vote 'im off now instead though, and if you think zat, we could definitely make eet 'appen.

So yeah. I'm about to go to sleep now, but please keep zis to yourself. We can decide if eet's ze right call to act on eet or to sit on eet until we need eet later in ze game. Regardless, you are my partner in zis game, and I can't wait to make eet all ze way together. I don't care 'ow much ze odds are against us. We are going to overcome.

Zis ees ze PM I just sent M. Briscoe. I 'ope I don't regret eet.

[Hercule Poirot]

I do not regret eet. M. Briscoe still wants to keep M. Kennedy, 'owever, and honestly I do too. I think I could 'ave framed eet in a way where eet sent M. Kennedy 'ome, but my individual relationship with M. Chase ees not good enough to justify zat. M. Chase ees with me in an amorphous sense, but 'e ees not with me in particular ze way everyone else on zis tribe ees.

I'm glad I was honest with M. Briscoe though. I think zis ees good information for me to 'ave, and 'e gave me a lot of information in return and promised to take me to ze end, which I don't know zat I believe but I 'am 'appy to 'ear eet regardless.

[Hercule Poirot]

I'm also going to tell M. Cheddar ze truth about ze plan. I 'ave never told M. Cheddar a lie zis round technically, and I never said zat I would vote for M. Kennedy to 'im, but for my game, I cannot 'ave 'im blindsided. Eet makes no sense.

[Hercule Poirot]

I've just filled M. Cheddar in, at least as much as I can.

'Opefully eet does not blow up in my face

[Hercule Poirot]

Also I 'ave ze most time online of any player, which honestly ees because of 'ow many times I 'ave been to tribal and ze fact zat I refresh ze page so often, but still. I should really try to be online less.

I'm not 'elping zat at all right now though, am I?

[Hercule Poirot]

M. Cheddar asked me if zere was an alliance 'e was left out of, which ees a question eet makes sense to ask with 'ow messily zis round was 'andled.

I kind of evaded ze question, which 'e probably noticed, but truthfully my loyalty to 'im ees on ze rise. Mlle Hopps ees such an unpredictable element. 'E told me zat she said to 'im zat she definitely did not want to vote M. Chase, but she told me she was trying to work 'im to zat point. Eet ees just so messy for no reason.

I do think I salvaged my relationship with M. Cheddar though, which ees good. And I will play up ze fact zat ze relationship ees damaged to ze new people I meet in ze swap.

Ultimately zat ees probably ze best I can 'ope for. Mlle Hopps drove 'im away 'erself.

[Hercule Poirot]

At ze suggestion of M. Cheddar, I deleted a message to Mlle Hopps telling 'er zat I was going to fill M. Cheddar in. 'E wants to see if she fills 'im in on 'er own. I doubt zat she will.

I don't know if zis means I'm choosing to throw my lot in with M. Cheddar or not, but I do know zat 'e ees a more reliable person zan 'er, and ze way she handled zis round proves eet. Zere was no reason to leave M. Cheddar out and show our 'ands like zat.

[Hercule Poirot]

I 'ave zat kind of sick feeling in my stomach. So nervous for zis reveal and for ze swap, assuming zat I live to see eet.