Malcolm's Thoughts

[malcolm]

CONGRATULATIONS FINALISTS!

Can you imagine if I came here and was some super positive juror. Well that won't be the case, haha. Try not to act too surprised. I am by no means a bitter juror, I prefer the title critical. 

I'm going to start of right away by narrowing you down to just two finalists that I care about. Mikayla, I think your opening statement and game was a complete joke. Was your alias reveal supposed to tell me something? I didn't play in or follow past seasons in this series, was Monica a good player, and if so why did you suck so bad this game? That's a rhetorical question, I don't care about what you have to say. You really have no shot at winning this, so I guess you can use the time to practice your creative writing to come up with a strategy you used during this game other than being Phillip's puppet. I just don't want you to take up space in my thread.

And now will the REAL FINALISTS please step up.

      VS      

In my opinion we have a Final 2 here. The decision for who will win CYS 11 will be between "Sherea in the Shadows" and "Shaking Life a Leaf LJ", or I guess Monica is a third option now, but lets all keep it real.

Sherea I know from working with you directly that you did a lot behind the scenes, my problem with your game though is that you never left the shadows. You never made that move to bring yourself  into that spotlight. So a lot of people think that you have done absolutely nothing this whole game. You've got to show them that grit that I know you have, and reveal all the subtle things we did in this game. It doesn't take big moves to win Survivor, it takes smart moves. I know you made them, you just gotta take this one last opportunity to become the centre of attention. Fight for the spotlight, it's never too late.


Mr. McKanas, we have had our ups and downs in this game, and without a doubt you have made the bigger moves compared to the other finalists, but I feel as though for every big move you made there's two terrible moves that you made. You were all over the place in this game, and I can only describe my interactions with you as frenetic. Personally, I can't imagine someone who wasted an idol in such an embarrassing fashion as you did and then self-voted at the Final 5 being the ambassador of this season as the winner, but given who you're up against, you have a real fighting chance to win. 


Personally, my vote is already decided, but I want to give both Sherea and LJ a bit of a mulligan here. In my opinion, in opening statements, Sherea had the best, but neither of your were very impressive. I didn't see any fight going on, I understand its your opportunity to say what you did, but come on guys, nut up and show your stuff. I WANT PASSION! I want to know why YOU'RE the best and your opponents don't even compare. None of this Kumbaya crap, I want to see you both fight to win. Own your faults, but own your strengths even more. This may not effect my vote personally, but I'm sure this will effect how others see you.

So take this opportunity in this thread, redo your opening statements, cut out all the bullshit about how great the season has been and how awesome Brandon is (no offence intended) and pitch why you're the best with passion. And then take this passion and drive with you while answering other questions. Be bold, don't just get people's votes, TAKE THEM, make them vote for you. And you shouldn't  just do this because I'm telling you too, do it because you want to be the Sole Survivor of CYS Transylvania. My vote is already decided, this is just going to help you win other votes. Don't pander to what the jurors want to hear, make them want to hear what you have to say!


I look forward to reading your new opening statements and further answers. Good luck!

[mikayla]

I'm going to go ahead and post here because it's not like I can lose your vote even harder than I already have.

I don't understand why you're willing to accept that Sherea was doing things behind the scenes and not me. If nobody saw what Sherea was up to, why is it so far-fetched to believe that I was doing the same thing, and you just didn't see it? It seems a little unfair to ask the other jurors to be open-minded when you won't extend the same courtesy.

[malcolm]

I'm willing to accept that Sherea was doing things behind the scenes because I was working directly with her doing them. Sure you may have been doing things behind the scenes to, but you relied on a pre-game alliance with Phillip to do them. You were extremely difficult to get in touch with because you were hardly ever on your alias account, which was so blatantly an alias account. Sure you may have been doing things behind the scenes, but you were so behind the scenes then that you weren't even there. 

I'm not trying to be mean, but let's be real Mikayla/Monica, you can't turn on your game at the very end, then try to make it seem like you were playing the game behind the scenes when everyone including yourself know you weren't. You played behind Phillip and used that alliance to get to the end then won the last Immunity challenge. That's your game summed up. I played with you for as long as I played with Sherea, so I can wholeheartedly say that you were not playing the same as Sherea, and she had much more impact on the game then you.

[Sherea Lloyd]

Thank you for your statements and questions, Malcolm. 

In regards to rewriting my opening statement, I will gladly show some more fight. However, I will not cut out the mentioned "Kumbayah" bullshit because, frankly, it's not bullshit. The game would not be what it was if it weren't for all parties involved, and this is my opportunity to thank everyone for that.

As for gameplay, I did not emerge from the "shadows" because it was never necessary for me to do so. I was always aware of what was going on, I knew who was lying to me, who was making several alliances, and who needed to go when. My biggest hurdle that I had to overcome was how damn hard headed and stubborn every single player in this game was. There is always a time and a place to make a big move in Survivor without it backfiring on you, and that time and place never happened for me. Quite frankly, I think that's pretty damn smart. If I suggested that we vote out LJ to oust his idol, and my allies aren't on the same page as me, why in the hell would I go rally up some folks I don't trust to boot his ass, just to risk getting voted out the next round? Everyone can call it what they will, you can say I rode coattails, you can say I floated, honestly say whatever the hell you want about me but I know the kind of game I played and I am quite confident in it. My relationships with others allowed me to have a sense of what was going on in the game at all times. I knew when it was time to cut ties with LJ and Jeremiah because their loyalties had changed to Allie and Phillip. I knew when I needed to chat up Morgan because I needed her vote to get me through that round. I didn't WANT to be seen as a mastermind, because masterminds always become targets and eventually get voted out. 

The other two finalists who sit here with me are on two very different spectrums from myself. LJ TRIED to be a mastermind. He TRIED to make these big moves, and that made him a target nearly every round. Thankfully for him, he pulled through in the challenges he needed most and he had a damn idol that everyone was terrified. LJ wore his heart and his game on his sleeve, and there were no secrets to what he was planning next. LJ and I began the game as a pretty tight duo, but as soon as his name was in everyone's mouths, I knew I had to disassociate from him and cut ties. 

Mikayla, on the other hand, rested in the shadows with me. I know Mikayla's smart, and I know Mikayla's a good player because I've played with her in the past. However, I also know that this game was not up to her standards. She did not make as many moves or play as hard as she has in the past. While she may have been in the shadows with me, I do feel like I stood out in comparison to her. I was gathering and contributing information where needed pretty consistently, ensuring that everyone trusted me and, in turn, would feed me information that would benefit my game. 

Again, you can call my gameplay what you will, but the reality of it is that I sit here in the Final 3 while others don't. Again, best of luck in your decisions everyone.

[mikayla]

May 19, 2014 12:47:01 GMT -5 malcolm said:

I'm willing to accept that Sherea was doing things behind the scenes because I was working directly with her doing them. Sure you may have been doing things behind the scenes to, but you relied on a pre-game alliance with Phillip to do them. You were extremely difficult to get in touch with because you were hardly ever on your alias account, which was so blatantly an alias account. Sure you may have been doing things behind the scenes, but you were so behind the scenes then that you weren't even there. 

I'm not trying to be mean, but let's be real Mikayla/Monica, you can't turn on your game at the very end, then try to make it seem like you were playing the game behind the scenes when everyone including yourself know you weren't. You played behind Phillip and used that alliance to get to the end then won the last Immunity challenge. That's your game summed up. I played with you for as long as I played with Sherea, so I can wholeheartedly say that you were not playing the same as Sherea, and she had much more impact on the game then you.

I think you missed the entire point of what I was saying. You're telling all of the jurors that even though they didn't see the moves Sherea was making, they should still be willing to listen to what she had to say. I'm saying that even though you didn't see the moves that I was making, you should still listen to what I have to say. It's the exact same argument on both sides, but you just assume that because I didn't communicate with you directly that I didn't do anything, and you're not willing to listen to anything I have to say to disprove that. And, fine, that's your prerogative as a juror, but I'm not going to sit here and let you bash me and talk down to me based on your opinion and how you think I played without trying to defend myself.

[malcolm]

That's fine, you have every right to defend yourself, just like I have every right to my opinion. I have no idea who you are, or who Monica was in other games, so I'm solely judging you off my interactions with you in this game, and interactions with others in the game talking about you. And there's not much to work with from either case, because in both cases you were a non-entity.


You won't change my opinion of you in this game, you most certainly won't be getting my vote, so I suggest you spend your time trying to get the votes of others, rather then wasting it in this thread. 

[LJ McKanas]

Hey Malcolm.

I'm going to address you as if I have a chance to get your vote because I really do believe if you were not bitter and you were critical you would understand at the end that i'm the one who deserves your vote and who deserves winning. 

For starters, I think your statement about Sherea is complete bull because you know you were the one who made the moves when you two were together. You just tried to shake her up and the only thing she said was that she was going to stay undercover because she didn't wanted to be voted off. 

I need you to understand: that IS NOT MAKING MOVES. If I were to compare with someone in this game, it would be with you. You and I played the most similar game. I don't mean to offend you, you were probably more clear headed and less emotional but you were always thinking 3 steps ahead of other people, you were always thinking about your game individually and you were always manipulating people your way.

If you didn't make it to the end it was because luck, and strategic moves made it that way. But let's be honest. If you didn't make it to the end it was because in some capacity I played a better game than you. And if that's the case... Why wouldn't you give your vote to the one person, besides you, that played a game as respectable as yours? It doesn't make sense Malcolm. You should stop being bitter about what happened and realise if I were the one going at that 8th place and you were making it to the end I would have voted for you, because I played with you, I thought you excelled at every aspect of the game, and you are more deserving than two people that absolutely did nothing throughout the game. NOTHING.

Sherea did not do a lot behind the scenes. She was clearly not here. And If you're going to be a bitch about me self-voting (I will explain that later), you should be a bitch about her not being around AT ALL. She barely talked to us, barely even was there to shake her head and she also missed a challenge which is A VERY IMPORTANT THING in this game. Not to mention, the challenges she attempted were a disgrace.

You tell me you think for every big move I made two terrible moves. I'm going to have to disagree with you right there. I think the amount of moves I made in this game were about 3 or 4 every round. And I think my mistake was only one. My only mistake in this game was playing that idol. But I still want to explain my mistake. I had 4 and a half different alliances going on when the auction came. 

1. Penner & Bob
2. Malcolm & Sherea
3. Jeremiah
4. Allie
1/2. Phillip (Kind of. It wasn't as established as the other four).

At that time I had to decide who to go with and who to leave. There was no point of me hiding behind lies anymore because it was time to vote someone out. I decided to vote Penner out because I believe he was a bigger target. That's the main reason. Everyone agreed but you and Sherea. You and Sherea were scared about my alliance with Allie because I clearly tried to safe her twice. I did. Because she voted with us. Because she was trustworthy and because I really really liked her. I made that move for my game, but at no point it interfered with your game to be honest. I was 100% loyal to you and sherea despite being also loyal to Allie. I hadn't been forced to choose between alliances to that point, so I was not going to make a decision there. Especially because my plan was to get to the end with an alliance with everyone so that no matter how big of a target I was, and no matter how bad someone wanted me out I had all of my fronts covered.

At that point you and Sherea decided I was shady and I was not trustworthy. I want to remind you the original plan was to vote Penner out. So me trying to safe Allie was just a strategic move for us to get out the one person we wanted out. Allie was with us and didn't represent any harm to us. And we could've dealt with that later.

I was thinking of using the idol nonetheless because the idol's sole purpose was to use it at a point where there were two big groups and we needed numbers. It was a communal idol since the beginning. And its purpose was not there anymore as soon as we got rid of Bob.

I freaked out. Because I literally was with you and Sherea since day one and I really thought it would've been that way til the end. So as soon as I saw it wasn't that way and you guys were not trusting me after about 20 moves I had made with you and for you, I felt alone. This was fuelled by Bob's sending me of a screenshot of Sherea telling him I was with everyone in the game and telling him she wanted me out. That made me open my eyes and realise you guys would be taking me out as soon as you could. I used my idol because when it all hit me because I thought you would've tried to vote for me. And to be honest, I had not trust of what Phillip and Mikayla could do if that proposition came to them.

It was premeditated, it was rushed and it was a mistake because I could've used that idol to safe Allie the next round or to safe Jeremiah the round after that. And I'm sorry about that guys because you Allie and you Jeremiah were the two people that trusted me from the beginning to the end. I'm sorry I fucked up your games but I want you guys to know that given the fact that you two never went against me (Like Malcolm and Sherea did) I always told you the truth and I always played for us to get to the end. Not only my end but yours. I know you guys know that. Allie even when I wasn't in your tribal I did my best to keep you out of there making a proposition to Morgan that if she had taken, it would've meant she would still be here. Jeremiah my man, again, I tried my best to keep you and vote Mikayla out but it didn't turned out.

MALCOLM, I considered you the strongest player in this game. Especially because even though I knew if I got to the end with you I would've probably lost, voting you out never crossed my mind until you showed you didn't trusted me. I believed we were friends, I believed in you and I would've gone through hell and fire to keep you safe. I was blinded by your hair and your nice talks and your sway. You were the one to beat. And I thank god because if you hadn't cross me I would've gotten to the end with you. THAT'S WHY I USED MY IDOL. Because I was freaking scared of you and everything hit me so fast. Yes I was frenetic THAT ONE TIME. Not every conversation was frenetic. I made you trust me too or you would've gotten ridden of me way earlier in the game. I was a target since day one... So that's not true. And that last conversation we had where I went crazy was real at some point because I considered you my friend but was also calculated for me to see if you would've gone and tell people I was going crazy. I needed to know if our alliance was off. Which was proven when Phillip told me everything you told him about that fight. It was also not as bad as you think it was. I wanted to look a bit manic and off-balance so that the huge target that was on my back would at least diminish for me seeming not in control and crazy.

As for the SELF-VOTE. It was a STRATEGIC MOVE. At that point I was pretty much doomed by every side. I tried to get Phillip with me because I thought the three girls were together. Phillip, because of his pre-game alliance, knew that was not true. Screwed me over and voted for Jeremiah. Morgan, on the other side was not able to commit to me and didn't planned to. At that point if I voted Phillip i was pissing off Phillip and Mikayla and if I voted off Morgan I was pissing off Morgan and Sherea. If there was a chance for me to get to the end, the real move to do was to not piss anyone and plead my case at the final 4. That move. As stupid as you think it is. IS THE MOVE THAT GOT ME TO THE END. I told Morgan if she had an idol she should use it (I knew she had to have it and I never told Phillip or anyone about it, so that they didn't consider other vote) and I told Phillip I was sad he didn't kept me but Morgan was going to win if we didn't get rid of her. That way I covered all my fronts, even though I made my speech clear about wanting Phillip out. I self-voted so that nobody knew who I was with. That was what allowed me to get Mikayla and Sherea to vote for me at the end. They were not holding grudges about their two main allies being targeted at the F5. Because I didn't hurt neither.

I'm here to win this game. i was here to win this game since day one. My game was not perfect. There were moves that you solely made and I just followed, there were moves I made that were crazy wrong, and there were emotions all around me I couldn't keep controlled. But the day we took Chicken, Bob, Penner, Malcolm, Phillip and then Morgan out was the day I beat the six other people that played an amazing game and tried to beat me to it. And I had a big hand in every one of those eliminations. And if you think of what Sherea and Mikayla did about those eliminations, they just posted a vote and that was all. If I got to beat all of you guys, and play all of you guys like I did, GODDAMNED!!! I DESERVE TO WIN THIS. There were so many candidates to win this game and I don't even know how I managed to pull it through but I got here on my own giving you guys no chance at winning. And for that I DESERVE YOUR VOTE.

[malcolm]

Not gonna lie, that was long as fuck and I only skimmed through parts, but THAT'S THE FIGHT I'M TALKING ABOUT! I could spend hours nitpicking everything you said and blah blah blah, but I won't. As I said I'm being critical, not bitter. I had said my vote was decided, but now it's a little more up in the air. It's definitely leaning one way now though, so I look forward to seeing what you answer with others. 

Also just a note that I'm sure everyone will appreciate, please when you're going to post long answers, use a bigger font, haha.

LJ, Sherea and Monica, I wish you guys the best of luck dealing with the other jurors and may the best player win. It was a pleasure playing this season with all of you and the other jurors. Kudos on a great one Brandon!