Episode 4 -- F15 (THE SWAP!)

I think the swap has been fairly generous overall. The biggest setback is me losing my closest ally in Regi -- not only that, he's also in the minority in terms of Tribal Lines, so I'm really really hoping he isn't voted off! I was also disappointed not to be in a tribe with Hoopa or Tapu, or at the very least Hoopa and Regi being on the same tribe 'cus I gave him a shout out when we were doing the Codenames challenge. On the upside, I not only have my good bud Uxie in the tribe -- who was basically my 2nd best ally next to Regi -- but we also have a majority in terms of having three Valors, and I know Lugia has expressed interest in protecting me during last TC. If we lose a challenge, or two challenges even, we Valor pals can easily stick together and pick off the Mystics one by one. The question is, is that something I'd actually want to do?

I've talked to Poipole a bit, and he's alright, but nothing extraordinary. But I've talked to Cobalion almost exclusively over these past few hours, and he's just someone that clicks with me very well. It's almost the same energy I've felt when I talked to Regi, but he's not quite there. And I also have to keep in mind that Cobalion is desperate rn -- he's told me that Uxie was under-handing him, and I highly doubt he'd get something going with Lugia. But I mean, it's only been 4 hours and he just sent me a message saying that he wants to spend the rest of the game with me! I feel a lot like Anna from Frozen, and Cobalion is this charming Prince Hans that wants to sweep me off my feet and charm me into voting off one of my own. But like, he's such a good person to talk too! And I'm sure he'd be really grateful if I save him from being booted, grateful enough to never turn on me in the future, pretty please? Or at least for a while, maybe?

But for real, I've been having better convos with Cobalion than I have with Lugia literally this entire game, and that's not something I'm saying lightly. And if Regi's ever voted off, then the only person I'd be comfortable calling my closest ally would be Uxie, and while I like him a lot we're not close-close. Plus, maybe flipping on Lugia if we ever go to TC would give me better cred among the Mystics, if they'd even care about tribal lines that much. But do I really want to play with people who are a lot more experienced than me and will have a much better chance at manipulating me??? It's a lot to think about, but for rn I'm comfortable enough chatting Cobalion up and getting to know him better -- he's great to talk to regardless!

Yeah, some of that was hyperbolic. I don't actually expect Cobalion sticking with me unconditionally if I don't vote him off, but I think it's reasonable to expect some sort of cooperation in the future if we make it to the merge -- unless he's planning to turn on me right at the merge, which is definitely a possibility and something I should keep in consideration. I think I have a good grasp on knowing when someone I like likes me back so far -- me and Regi hit it off really well and it was fairly obvious that we both had mutual respect for each other, and I feel it was the same way with me and Uxie although not as strongly. I feel something similar between me and Cobalion, but there were a few iffy things he's said that I have to keep in mind. I also don't know him personally, so I don't know whether some of his awkwardness or eagerness is just how he's like naturally or if it's just not genuine at all. It feels like both of us are capable of good social games -- I can see him getting along with his tribemates well, though obviously I'd want to consider talking to Poipole to get his take on it. I won't stress about it too much until when/if we actually get to TC, but it's good to let some of my first impressions out now so I won't make any rash decisions down the road. Thanks for the insight, Watt!

Yay, we didn't lose the challenge! And we almost beat Mystic too! I would've been terrified if we had to go to TC right after the swap, haha. I'm glad the Mystics are doing well challenge wise -- since Valor is in the minority over there, it's fairly likely one of them will be booted if they had a TC, and if Regi were booted that would seriously hurt my game. But I actually heard Articuno was a pretty big target in Mystic's last TC, so it's possible they could have flipped if they went to a TC. Instinct going to TC is interesting -- they have a Valor majority over there, but Mewtwo's social game is fairly poor. Hoopa seems to respect Celebi a lot from our talk post-Codenames, so it doesn't seem likely they'd flip on each other. I feel the only way Mewtwo isn't the boot over there is if the tribe decides to remain Valor-strong and vote out one of Hoopa/Celebi, but like, is Mewtwo really worth keeping around that much? Idk, I guess I'll have to wait and see. Actually, going through the Codenames sub-forum again I realized Solgaleo said he could name-drop him with Poipole and I didn't even mention it to him once -- not like it matters since Solgaleo's booted out now anyways, lol.