Épisode Quatre: A Change of Scenery

[Hercule Poirot]

Zere ees a new tribe! Zis ees most exciting! And I like zat our tribe ees split 3-3-3, zat ees very desirable.

[Hercule Poirot]

Mlle Macer drops ze bomb in PM #2 zat zere were alliances created zat are now split up. I 'ave no idea why she would tell zat to me so soon, mais oui, I will take zis information and try to learn more.

She also does not like Chan, which ees useful to know.

[Hercule Poirot]

Alors, 'ere are my impressions from ze swap.

Overall, I like ze tribe. Chan ees inactive, so 'e will most likely be ze easy boot should we lose once. Should we lose more zan once, eet becomes more compliqué.

I trust Mlle Hopps ze most. I am telling 'er most things I know, but zere 'ave been a few occasions where I 'ave kept information back because while I trust 'er, I do not trust 'er judgment. Toutefois, for now trusting 'er ees more zan enough.

I 'ave enjoyed Mlle Macer quite a bit as well. We 'ave talked about history, which she loves, and she told me zat I am currently 'er favorite on ze tribe, which I appreciate. She mentioned zat she also likes Mlle Hopps, so if zat ees ze case she could be an easy pick-up. She claims to be new, which I am inclined to agree with based on ze way she gave me so much information so easily. Zat does not feel like someone who 'as been in a swap before. And if she truly ees new, oh my goodness I am so 'appy zat she played zis game, and I 'ope to give 'er as good of an experience as I can.

M. Blart ees pleasant and easy to talk to. I'm definitely looking at 'im as a potential alliance because I do enjoy 'im, but I don't know zat 'e stands out zat much in my mind.

M. Briscoe ees delightful, and I love talking to 'im. I am aware zat I am writing more zan 'e ees, but zat ees also because we're talking about Agatha Christie. I'm not sure 'ow much 'e loves me, because I'm kind of talking at 'im about things I can tell 'e doesn't care zat much about, but I've enjoyed ze conversation maybe more zan any other in ze game. He could absolutely be a close ally.

M. Leon I only 'ave a few messages with, but 'e seems really fun and also seems infatuated with my gimmick, which ees good news. 'e lives in an unfortunate timezone and also is a new player apparently, but from ze messages we 'ave exchanged so far, I definitely want to give 'im a chance.

M. Chan 'as not spoken to me.

M. Chase ees alright. Kind of like M. Blart, but slightly lower. Our messages 'ave been fine, but truly nothing special. 'Owever, he ees a better PMer zan...

M. Cheddar. Zis tribe 'as really made me realize zat M. Cheddar ees not ze best at PMing. All of zese people are blowing 'im out of ze water. He sent me an all caps message about 'ow 'appy 'e was to swap together, but zen Mlle Judy revealed zat 'e sent ze same thing to 'er. I don't know, I get ze feeling zat 'e probably does intend to work with me at least for a while, but I do not by any means feel close to M. Cheddar and I don't 'ave a problem if he goes 'ome. Eet ees possible zat 'e does really trust me 'owever and ees just doing a bad job expressing eet, but I would rather work with ze threatening wall PMers, especially newbie wall PMers, zan M. Cheddar at zis point. He ees the sort of relationship zat I could see myself going far with by 'appenstance though, like if we both got betrayed at ze same time we could be forced into each other's arms. Not a target, but not my favorite person on zis tribe by a longshot. I think I'll just keep our relationship about where eet's been at, where we work together because we swapped together and I can ride zat out and not solidify anything further.

[Hercule Poirot]

M. Leon just suggested an alliance to me between me, 'im and M. Briscoe and am I going to accept eet? Bien sûr, of course I will! I will try to make sure zat Mlle Judy does not get left be'ind, 'owever. M. Cheddar, eh, per'aps I will kick 'im to ze curb if zat proves nécessaire.

[Heiji Hattori]

New friends? New enemies? How would you rank your new tribemates in terms of favorability?

[Hercule Poirot]

I'm not ignoring you, I promise. Zis round 'as me mentally and emotionally fatigué. Ze sudden spike in incoming messages combined with zis challenge was not a good combination pour moi, and my confessional ees suffering as a result.

I will update you soon, once I send 5 more wall PMs.

[Hercule Poirot]

We literally lost by three I'm so irritated lol. That's such a pain.

Can you post all of the correct answers?

[Joss Carter]

In the challenge thread.

[Hercule Poirot]

Merci beaucoup!

[Hercule Poirot]

New friends? New enemies? How would you rank your new tribemates in terms of favorability?

1. Mlle Judy
2. M. Briscoe
3. M. Leon
4. Mlle Macer
5. M. Cheddar
6. M. Blart
7. M. Chase
8. M. Chan

Zat ees my rough ranking. I trust everyone from M. Cheddar and above though. I think zat ze vote will be against M. Chan, because everyone agrees zat 'e ees ze least active person and ze worst at messaging, and I am not going to fight zat.

I 'ave an alliance with M. Leon, M. Briscoe, and maybe Mlle Judy zat 'as just formed, with M. Leon wanting to make a chat between ze four of us, so those are my new friends.

M. Chan might be an enemy because I was one of ze last people to speak with 'im, but I don't know. I don't think M. Chase and M. Blart are enemies, ze only obvious vote 'ere ees M. Chan. If we lose twice, things will get messy (and people will push for ze vote for be Mlle Macer which I'm not sure zat I want).

[Hercule Poirot]

Hello, I'll be going to sleep now and will respond to everyone when I wake up.

What ees M. Leon's sleep schedule??? I thought eet was 12-hours different zan EDT, why does 'e keep going to bed at 9am just after ze results are revealed?

[Hercule Poirot]

I mostly just want to be safe, but its nap time

Well you are doing a fantastique job of keeping yourself safe zere.

[Heiji Hattori]

Everyone knows that you can't voted out of Survivor if you're asleep. Only Freddie gets you when you're napping.

[Hercule Poirot]

I've opened up to M. Briscoe about my feeling about Mlle Judy Hopps.

Eet was kind of a impulsive decision, but ze main reason I did was zat I can tell I don't 'ave a close, tight, emotional connection with anyone in ze game other zan M. Grouch. Even with Mlle Judy Hopps, I can tell zat she would vote me out if she thought eet was best. I don't think she ees trustworthy on zat same level.

And I don't think M. Briscoe ees, but I think by opening up, I am far more likely to get 'im zere. I'm not telling 'im zat I dislike Mlle Hopps or even zat I 'ave a plan to backstab Mlle Hopps, both of which are true, I do not. But I do recognize zat she told me I wasn't 'er favorite on ze tribe. I do recognize zat she said M. Blart's name to M. Chan instead of waiting for M. Chan to give 'er a name. I do recognize zat she was probably ze first one to tell M. Chan zat 'e was ze vote and stir up all of zis craziness instead of letting M. Chan go to sleep and all of us relax until tomorrow.

Are zese things enough for me to not work with 'er? No. She ees my strongest emotional bond, and I think she ees loyal to me, at least loyal enough. But I can work with 'er and recognize 'er shortcomings as a player. And she can be loyal to me and still act in ways I don't like and hurt my game. So eet eesn't so much a definite plan, but a feeling zat M. Broscoe's instincts are much closer to my own, and 'e ees a much more stable long-term horse to hitch myself to zan Mlle Judy.

I didn't tell 'im all of zis exactly, but I did tell 'im zat I think Mlle Judy ees honest-to-a-fault. And I really do question 'er judgment at various points, but I trust 'er and want to work with 'er anyway.

I'm putting my leetle grey cells to work 'ere. Mlle Judy ees such an interesting person. M. Broscoe ees boring by comparison, but I need to make sure a boring person really feels good with me in a not obvious way. Zat ees ze kind of connection my game needs right now.

[Hercule Poirot]

Chan, put your efforts in to Chase and Macer, not us.

To answer what you asked in private, I have no qualms with working with you, I just am not going to stick my neck out for someone who has no plan, backing, or (as rough as it) value to me at the moment.

That may be harsh, but come back if you have something to put on the table, the requires you to have a plan with more than us. We aren't allies, I just felt it would be shitty to slam a door in your face.

And this ees exactly what I'm talking about, mesdames et messieurs.

Why couldn't we just lie? Why couldn't we just make eet simple?

Mlle Judy ees a great ally. She ees a 1 in a million ally. I am so excited to play zis game with 'er.

She ees not like me. We do not 'ave ze same instincts. M. Briscoe ees like me. M. Briscoe will also cut me when 'e 'as to if zat ees what eet takes to win, just as I would do to him. I don't know zat I can predict what Mlle Judy will do as well.

But I do know this: I understand zese people. I know zem to zeir core. I 'ave used my leetle grey cells to analyze zem and I know who zey are.

Now I need to proceed with order and method and keep ze plates spinning, and as situations change, I need to be prepared to change with zem. But I know ze characters, at least some of zem. Zere are some like M. Chase and M. Blart I still need to get a read on. And if I know ze characters, if I know what motivates zem, I can predict 'ow zey will act. Watch Hercule Poirot do 'is thing.