[Dean Kowalski]

Welcome to the second week!!! Hope you had a nice, calming weekend, because it's back to the meat grinder. As numbers get smaller and smaller, the pace will be quicker and the stability will start to collapse.

1. This challenge showed what your fellow castaways thought about who is here on the tribe with you. How did you feel about the results of who was picked for each question? Which ones were a surprise, and which ones were predictable? Were you happy or irked by any of the results?
2. Although it's a short season so it may not feel like it, we're in the middle of the season now. Does your strategy and the way you vote or ally with other people change compared to the first week?
3. This was a tie vote which was split 4-4 evenly, but the revote on Rodney was unanimous. Why did the vote turn out like this?
4. What is the best path forward for you to get to the finale? Who has to go out sooner than later, and who needs to be beside you? Could we get a rough boot order from you?

[Paul]

I'll do a more detailed answer later but just know the answer to number 3 is: Because that's what I wanted, worked for and got. They might vote me as not really in control, but from what I'm seeing, my boot order is falling just the say it needs too..hmmm

[Paul]

Okay here we go.

1. Honestly the results all made sense to me. At the time I was the only one with two wins so being the challenge threat made sense. Being the answer with Mike about "mistakenly thinking we are in control" was in a way not unexpected. But it is funny to me. I mean listen am I playing the big headed-ness up for entertainment? Yes. Do I think it's possible I'm being lied to by everyone? Of course. But my gut tells me that I've played a great social game and I have people working with me to decide who is out of this game. 

2. The first week I was ready to be a vicious dude. But throughout the game I found that I have a group of people who appreciate goofy honesty. Now don't get me wrong push comes to shove I'll choose me. For instance telling Mike about Michelle's idol so that when it gets to f4 they choose me over her. But for the most part, I'm just being straight up with people. And it's funny honestly because this is how I tried to be last season and I got destroyed. So I come into this season ready to bite heads off and it turns out everyone is actually willing to talk to me. So now, I just really try and butter everyone up and tell little white lies about other people that makes everyone super suspicious of everyone but me. I'll start the fight, but while they finish I'll walk to the top. 

3. As I said last night, it turned out like that because that is how we planned for it to turn out. *mic drop*

4. Okay. I'm of two minds with this Dean: Objectively I know that people are like, "PAUL WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" by just continuing to side with Mike and Hali and Michelle. The four of us are powerful but we also aren't very separate. And if anything, michelle and I are lower than they are due to challenge performance and social game. 

So, I could try and get syd then steph out and unify voce and michelle to go after hali or Mike. Then take michelle and voce to the end. But that still leaves me michelle. At this point it's too late to not go to the end with at least one of the four. 

So because of that, my goal is to get hali and mike to choose me over michelle. That way I can point to them and say they wouldn't have gotten here without each other, and while I used my relationship with michelle to my benefit, I won more comps and I made sure my social game would put me at the end and not her. 

That's my only way of winning this I think. As of right now. And that's just if everything is the way I think it is. 

So to sum up, preferred boot order: 
Syd
Steph
Voce
Michelle
and then either Hali, Mike and I in the final. Or somehow I can convince one of them to not choose the other because of how it looks and then it is a f2. 

Of course, I'm sure this post won't age well. 
 

[Paul]

Of course, I'm sure this post won't age well. 

WHAT DID I SAY