#but failing to see jc as a victim in the whole mess is just failing to understand him and the plot im sorry

[sonik-kun]

"Jiang Cheng would have been involved in the attack on the Burial Mounds even without the death of sister"

For context, this all takes place AFTER JZX was killed. From JC's pov that was all 100% WWX's fault (bear in mind, WWX does have some culpability with his death. He lost control because of his unrestrained resentment for JZX. Sooo).

Was JC not supposed to do anything? Just sit there and twiddle his thumbs? Object to the siege entirely, perhaps? How do you think that would have looked to the rest of the CW? It would have been very suspicious if he didn't take part in eliminating a potential threat to the CW. Especially when said threat was once a part of his sect and KILLED his brother in law. Wouldn't they think it is strange that he refused to take part and get revenge on behalf of his sister??

If he did object or refused to take part, the rest of the CW would have grown even more suspicious of him. And the Jiang sect would have had a huuuuuuge target on their backs next. Especially giving how power hungry the Jins were becoming.

It was a very difficult situation he was put in. Not one he could easily talk his way out of. We've seen him try to numerous times even before things escalated to vouch for WWX and even once for the Wen siblings. And we all saw how that went down. Do you seriously think he could talk his way out of this one? After a sect heir had been slaughtered by his former SiC? Come on now.

All of this is why we see JC desparing so much because he is watching his brother spiral and spiral, and all he can do is watch on helplessly, for it is beyond his power to save him.

WWX kept so much from JC. He sided with the sect that almost wiped out his own and then goes on to inadvertently kill his brother in law. How do you think that must have looked to JC? How JC must have felt?? Let's be real here and look at things from his pov. Because I feel as though some of yall are failing to do so.

To JC, WWX had become unhinged and out of control. But even after the death of JZX, JC still seemed to desperately hold onto hope for his brother. He exclaims when he's holding his dying sister in his arms, "I thought you said you could control it?!"

That says to me that JC had faith in his brother that he could fix all this up until JYL was caught up in it all.

If you look at things from JC's pov, you'll see how bad things looked for WWX. How culpable he appeared throughout it all. And when you take that into consideration and realise that JC doesn't have all the information we as the reader are privileged to have, we can easily see why he came to such a conclusion.

It was either WWX or the lives of hundreds in his sect. JC chose to protect the many. And that doesn't make him a terrible person. Nor does it make him a terrible brother. He did all he could for WWX. But to him, WWX had made his bed, and so he should lay in it.

[crossdressingdeath]

On the Lan Sect negativity:

1) The Lan Sect’s involvement was only at Discussion Conferences and the like - events they had to attend. No real choice, they had to go. But WWX mentions only the Jin Sect at Qiongqi path, and only the Jin and Jiang Sects at the siege.

WWX only mentions that WN might have hurt Lan Sect members when he went wild at his execution with WQ - and it should be noted that the Lan Sect let LWJ argue on behalf on the Wens. They had the power to stop him, but they didn’t. At the Nightless City, WWX seemed to attack everyone with no mercy or distinction between friend or foe. Of course they’re worried when LWJ disappears with him. But LXC specifically points out that he wanted to do it secretly, so it wasn’t a Lan Sect siding with the Jin Sect thing.

Yeah, there was the Second Siege... but the Jin Sect had “proof” that WWX had killed innocent people and had kidnapped Sect heirs and junior disciples. Not great proof, but ya know. And the Lan Sect was one of the first ones willing to listen to WWX.

2) We don’t know what went on with LWJ’s mother. We don’t know much about who she killed, why she killed them or anything. The fandom likes to paint her as this helpless victim but we don’t know if she was. We don’t even know if she was in love with her husband or not. You can speculate. You can headcanon. But you can’t know. It sucks, but it is what it is.

3) We see in the extras that it’s perfectly normal for Sect members to interact with someone of the opposite biological sex. WWX sees and talks to a female disciple, who was heading to feed the rabbits. And, actually, it seems that the separation only happened recently, as WWX’s parents met at CR. CSSR met JFM at CR. And it seems like a lot of the parents were there as well. It’s probably a tradition for Sect heirs to go. I wonder what could have happened with the past generation that could have caused the Lan Sect to decide “You know what, let’s seperate them”? That sounds like a great idea for a crack fic, honestly...

Anyway, the gossiping rule is only there to discourage the spread of misinformation. Considering that one of the main themes in the novel is the dangers of taking gossip at face value without looking into it, I don’t think that’s a rule we’re meant to find oppressive.

4) Where does it say that the “no talking to WWX” rule is written on the wall? I’ve only seen it in fics. And rereading the extra it was introduced in... hmm, not there... maybe translation differences? Or maybe it’s an exaggeration? Either way, this rule is clearly not taken seriously as WWX is allowed to teach the junior disciples. Without LWJ present even. This is shown in two seperate extras. So, unless we assume that the Lan Sect is too dumb to realize that WWX and the juniors all disappearing at the same time has a connection, we can assume that he’s probably allowed to teach them. And it’s very hard for a teacher to teach without communication with students.

5) Yeah, the Lan Sect has plenty of rules, but the rules are clearly dealt with differently depending on what they are, and the circumstances they are broken in. Like the rule against fighting - that is clearly fine to break if you’re fighting to defend someone or something. The rules against noise and running? Perfectly fine to break if there is an emergency and you need help instantly (or if you want to scold someone for doing something wrong). Someone being unconscious doesn’t violate the sleeping rules either.

It should also be mentioned that they’re even willing to let things slide not only based on serious (we never see WWX punished for running, or sleeping in, for example) but also on knowledge. They don’t punish him for those first four rules he breaks, they just make sure he can’t use not knowing them as an excuse to break more.

6) Yes, “Do not grieve is excess” sounds messed up on its own. But one, I don’t even remember if that’s a canon rule or a fanon rule (this is not as easy to double check as the rules in the extras), but I don’t remember it in any version I’ve seen. Two, there are certain parts of the grieving process that can actually be detrimental to one’s health if preformed for too long. The rule doesn’t put a time limit on grieving, it just says “excess”.

1) I believe it’s mentioned that they were present at the first siege, but it was the Jin and Jiang sects that were leading it and as I’ve mentioned before the fact that they felt the need to hide the bodies suggests to me that the Lans (and Nies) were far enough away from the actual Wen village that they never saw any of the remnants; it’s not like there wouldn’t be a large number of fierce corpses to keep them busy in the Burial Mounds. I think there may have been some Lan cultivators at the ambush? But that may be CQL-only (if it was a thing at all; I may be misremembering), and either way we never get any evidence to suggest their presence was sanctioned by the sect as a whole. And yeah, the Lans at the very least hid LWJ’s involvement from the rest of the sects; it may have just been an attempt to protect their own, but they were prepared to let a connection to WWX slide, at least. (Not to mention I don’t doubt that at least some of them suspected that A-Yuan was connected to WWX in some way, and no one said anything about that; I’ll be the first to admit that I can’t prove that, but it seems like a reasonable assumption.) And as you say, in the second siege they’re quick to stand down when given reason to believe that WWX isn’t an actual threat, not to mention how their sect leader actively sheltered him from the wrath of the sects not long before that point.

2) Yeah, that’s always the thing with the “the Lans locked up the Twin Jades’ mother and forced her to marry against her will” thing. It’s certainly a possibility, but it’s not a guarantee. The only source we get is getting the story second hand from people with a vested interest in making the whole affair look as bad as possible (to lower the risk of their current sect leader and heir doing something similar, which... fails). And if it did happen it doesn’t guarantee they’ll do it again in a very different situation; in fact we know they don’t, since WWX and LWJ’s marriage is accepted, if only grudgingly, and there’s no sign of them locking WWX up.

3) I imagine male and female disciples were always separated during classes, but it doesn’t follow that they’re separated all the time; clearly there are at least co-ed areas, if a female Lan disciple is going to visit the rabbits. Personally I’m thinking maybe the separation is at least stricter during the lessons to avoid distraction (hence why WWX never saw a female disciple as a kid but ran into one by accident while living in the Cloud Recesses) and it was probably a thing while the previous generation was there (CSSR is the exact sort of person to sneak into areas she’s not supposed to be in; I mean, she breaks into LQR’s room). But yeah, if nothing else there’s no reason to believe the male and female disciples don’t share information and a rule against sharing information that isn’t proven true (in a sect with rules against lying) which is generally rather negative towards the target doesn’t exactly seem unreasonable.

4) I think it’s in the ExR translation; is it not a thing in the original Chinese? But yeah, at worst the entire sect turns a blind eye to this rule being broken constantly, and more likely it was just quietly removed (if it was an official, policed rule to begin with, which is debatable). People seem to take that rule way more seriously than it’s ever taken in canon, honestly.

5) Yeah, the Lans are clearly prepared to make allowances in the rules for various reasons; there’s no reason to believe that mental health stuff wouldn’t be considered worthy of a similar allowance. Note that whenever we see a Lan faced with a clear mental health issue their response is to try to help; somewhat clumsily in LWJ’s case, but they do want to help, not shove the person back into some semblance of normalcy. That suggests to me that someone having genuine issues with following the rules would be treated more gently; note that LJY’s rule-breaking is treated mostly with mild exasperation and the usual punishment (which also grants Lan disciples a pretty useful skill, in this case; incredible arm strength is the Lan Thing, after all) and no one really seems to get fed up with him in any serious way.

6) Honestly, of all the sects I think that the Lans quite possibly have the healthiest grief-management stuff? I mean, we don’t see much of the Jins, but the Nies seem to go for “Channel everything into Rage and Fighting” and (while odds are it’s not indicative of the Jiangs as a whole, at least under JFM) every time we see grief in the Jiang sect it involves JC trying to murder WWX, which... is a whole thing. I’ve always taken “Do not grieve excessively” as “Do not let your grief consume you”, which is in fact a healthy way of looking at it; I don’t know if the Lans have grief counselling, but there is a point where grief just becomes incredibly unhealthy and saying “Hey, don’t do that” is at least... something. I do hope they offer some sort of assistance though, because just banning all-consuming grief and offering no help would be a whole mess. Still, if any sect is going to offer some form of counselling it’s going to be the one with the magic music for calming the mind!

[roominthecastle]

Everyone is making a house call to Grissom, where we're y'all when Sara was here lol? And now noone is there to make him soup or shave him apparently :(( *no but srsly, why is everyone sick this episode? Was there some kind of an epidemy on set or sth? *It's Sara calling right? His face just light up)) I'm glad they stay in touch *wait, are those Mythbusters?? Too many nights those crazy dudes kept me company. Fun times... *Where's Sophia? I feel like I haven't seen her in a while... *Warrick 😿

This ep is a goldmine for domestic!Grissom!! cooking, wandering around in pjs and robe, taking care of his dog, and desperately trying but failing to escape visitors & adventures like some reincarnation of Bilbo Baggins.

I guess if a show is on air long enough, it’s almost inevitable to have an episode where the flu or a cold - or a musical event - strikes our faves. I tend to enjoy those eps and this one is no exception. Yes, your eyes weren’t deceiving you, those guest nerds in the lab were Adam and Jamie (CSI has on- and off-screen ties to the Discovery Channel), and oh YES that’s def Sara calling at the end. It’s enough to look at Griss stretch out on the couch after he answers the phone. I think if you lean close, you can hear him purring ;)))) And I kept thinking about it, but rn I honestly cannot recall what happens to Sofia. I think she just… idk… drops out of the story at some point?? and Warrick, yeah… now his departure is something else, like

9x01. How can I even… I AM NOT OKAY!!! Jesus I can’t even formulate anything… They’re all so close… Family… How can I ever be fine after seeing Grissom’s face?? When he just crumbled… Losing someone after allowing them to become that close, I don’t know how to… I’m not ok, with any of this… Glad Sara is there (even more beautiful than before, that’s just not fair) God I’m such a mess. I didn’t even like him all that much but Nicky loved him, and I can’t see him cry! And Gris… JC

What you said, anon. I’m not familiar w/ the specifics of the off-screen events that forced the writers to come up w/ an exit for Warrick/GD, but boy did they manage to make it CRUEL and PAINFUL. but also meaningful, imo. Warrick once called Grissom a robot for never emoting like a “normal” human being, and here we have this “robot” saying the L word out loud and openly breaking down and literally clinging to him in an entirely irrational and desperately emotional, futile human act to keep him alive… yeah, I’m w/ you 1000%: I AM NOT OKAY!!!

9x02. “who are we talking about right now?” A-a-and there is my Sara from first few seasons! God I love that woman. So brave, and strong, standing up for what she believes in, unwilling to talk riddles and play mind games. Just say it straight to her. Kind of understand Grissom too though… This whole thing is so damn sad… Oh and that pillow talk was so tender and quiet, so them…

They’ve been doing this thing ever since they started dating - whenever one makes an observation or drops a remark about a victim or a scene they happen to process, the other is like “okay, is that supposed to be about us?” and it’s never 100% clear. Work and private stuff has been bleeding together w/ them for a while and it is finally starting to make waves in a way that not even Grissom can remain immune to it.

9x05. Why does this show insists on fucking me up this season??! I can’t see them suffer anymore! He’s like a fish out of the water the whole episode… I’m a bit conflicted though. Sara left because she couldn’t take that job anymore and I totally get it, but did she expect him to just follow her? I mean it just doesn’t seem like him at all. Yes he belongs by her side but she moves around, he should have just upended his whole life, without any kind of plan? Perhaps I need to sleep on it tho…

905 is like exhibit A of why I love Lady Heather episodes - she cuts through Griss like no other, and this time there’s a clear overlap btw case and private life. LH’s sugarcoat-free remarks are relevant to both, helping Grissom unpack (or more like rip open) some of his own private mess and climb off the fence he’s been sitting on. I do understand your conflict, I was the same way at first, but then I came to the same conclusion you did below:

9x08. You damn right it’s time to up the ante! This girl is the right girl!! Ugh… 9x09. If Sara was here, she’d help you with that last word… Just saying… *omg is he for real? (I know he is, I’m just really emotional omg) *fly-fishing) his mind is already off of work)) he has been quite distracted lately though. This whole thing is a long time coming. Perhaps all he needed was that push from Sara… *man I love Bill Irwin! Which reminds me, have you watched Legion this year?

(After reading the summary, Legion instantly went on my watchlist, anon, but I haven’t seen it yet.)

Exactly, it’s been a long time coming and that’s why I think Sara was not out of line with her hope - or maybe even reasonable expectation? - that he’d start a brand new chapter with her away from the lab. Most of this relationship happens off-screen, so I can only offer guesswork, but we can find some telltale breadcrumbs leading up to these final episodes.

Grissom already starts displaying burnout signs in S7 + he starts dropping comments about how ppl no longer really need him in the lab anymore. He is not bitter, mind you, he is genuinely proud of the team he’s trained/mentored, but this also means that he becomes - as he tells Warrick - a teacher w/o students who feels increasingly aimless, unfulfilled and even drained after having spent 25+ years wading through the (literal and figurative) cesspools of humanity. I think the combination of developing burnout and unfulfillment is why he grabs at the opportunity to leave for a month and teach a seminar as far away from Vegas as possible, and I don’t think it goes unnoticed by Sara. It is never said out loud (naturally), but she seemed to understand why he just up and left the same way Griss understood why she needed to leave in S8 despite each feeling miserable w/o the other. It’s a constant back-and-forth btw them, a drifting away then back again then away again, as they work through their individual baggage, and this “double pendulum” doesn’t stop until the very last episode of the show.

Uprooting one’s life is a huge ask, esp for someone like Grissom, but in this specific case I think it was a natural progression and would have happened anyway. Sara did not force him out of a pleasant, fulfilling life. He needed - wanted - to move on, he knew it was time, he just needed one more little push, like you said. Then he jumped in w/ both feet

and:

9x10. Oh Lord omfg this is… I… This is like a cinematic experience or something… Oh God his face the very moment he first saw her! Oh my sweet awkward nerdy boy, his eyes!! And that sigh! The smile! And those needy arms!! And Sara omg I just can’t… Yes that’s right just grab her and kiss her, talking’s overrated anyway!! OMG I saw the gifs but I didn’t realize how this scene will be… will make me feel… It’s just so… I’ll get back to you when I’m a bit more coherent, please stand by

[ios-olympusmons]

This is the second of two posts. Enclosed are messages for Connor, Matthias, Chris, Leah, Dom, Jill, Cole and Emily.

Elsa - Havana ohh nana Half of my heart… Sorry, I felt obligated to start my message to you with those iconic lyrics. Your elimination was also premature… surprise BB weeks in Survivor ORGs, and vice-versa, are always a nightmare. It’s just such a shame that you had to be the main victim of that week. I hope listening to Camila’s steady stream of new music has been a source of comfort. xxx

JC - CONNOR AKDJDHD queen u weren’t even supposed to leave sorry for robbing u but I was just tryna save myself gtg be euthanized 

Nicholas - UwU you were robbed!!! I can’t believe we are dead ass never going to get to play a survivor game together where we both make it decently far. U know how I feel about you so no need to say it here ^__^

Ruthie - I was SO NERVOUS when I saw that you, Pippa and Chris were playing in this season.  I felt like you all hated me from season one and that y’all were going to like form something together with the sole purpose of getting me out.  I have NO IDEA if you voted for Jordan during that one tribal that he went or not like you told me you did but either way, thank you for doing so. I wish we would have talked more, you left WAY too soon!

Elsa - Siiiiigh… yet another ally I lost in this game. Unlike with Rafael though, I knew people were voting for you Matthias, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want to worry you!! And I thought there would have been enough votes to keep you… but well, people lie, and the outcome was tragic. Tbh, if people were voting for me, I’d want to know, so I should have just told you. I hope you were told by someone else and it wasn’t a complete blindside. But if it was, I really really am sorry ♥ ♥

JC - Fatthias :(( the first game that I didn’t vote you out/plot ur demise..we were actually gonna work together in this one!! Sad 

Nicholas - You’re crackedt!!!!!! I came into this game thinking of you as like a pre-made in a way but when we finally got to be on a tribe together you started throwing my name around and it got super messy. At merge I think we finally reconnected and were willing to take a risk and do some real damage to Cole/Dom/Leah. Tbh I’m glad that you were one of the few people who had the balls to initially go against them and I think in a way u set the tone for us targeting them in ur absence!! I hope mcdonalds/subway/jenny craig is treating u well!!!

Ruthie - We didn’t talk all game which SUCKED because we always used to talk. It was still fun to see you around this season, you were definitely an All Star and always will be. <3

Elsa - We kind of stopped talking after merge, which was… well, not anyone’s fault really. It’s really hard maintaining conversations with multiple people in a game. Hngh, despite hearing that you wanted me out at one point (completely expected btw cuz we weren’t allies anyway), I’m still sorry you had to go out the way you did.

JC - I’m sorry I know you were trying to make a big move the week you left and it’s kind of my fault that that move failed to happen I’m sorry I hope you can understand why I did what I did though

Nicholas - I feel like we had a whole series of ups and downs in this game. During the Pippa vote I felt like we really connected right before I flipped on y’all and I always felt after that like we were on bad terms even though you were super forgiving and great about it and I think that speaks a lot to your nature as a player and as a person too. Moving onto merge, honestly I’m still angry that the vote went so poorly when you left. For literally the entirety of the time we were together on a tribe or at merge I wanted to work together but I felt like we always had a different perspective on what was going on. I guess I kind of always saw you and emily as cole and dom and leah’s “side hoes” for lack of a better term and that prevented me from really having any substantial conversations about the game with you. It wasn’t until the failed Cole vote that we finally saw eye to eye and I’m glad that me/you/ruthie/emily were able to connect, if only for like ten minutes, and compare notes and make sure that we knew what was going on. Had you stayed in the game I feel like we would have totally dominated as a group, but just know that the 5-5 vote, even though it took your “life” in the game set the tone for the next couple of rounds to come!

Ruthie - I WAS SO SAD to see you go.  I know that our alliance was a new thing but it was just SO CUTE! I wasn’t expecting you to go and it just made my head SPIN!  It was fun getting to play with you again after the craziness that was season one!  You are such a fun person to talk to, thanks for everything!

Elsa - Leah lol, AHHHHHHHHHHH. I’m not entirely sure if I’m supposed to include you in this, but if I am.... AAHHHHHHHHH. Gosh, the night you were removed in the game was extremely painful, but looking back on it, it was just plain amusing. We (the alliance at the time) went from being on top, to being screwed real quick. I hope whatever irl things you have going on are going well, and it would be fun to play with you again!! x

JC - LEAH BINCH WHY DID U HAVE TO BE MEDEVACD AKDJDJD..MESSY. Queen of rocks though.

Nicholas - rip an inactive queen. We did talk once and it was nice and I’ll always have an appreciation for others who have been rocked out of this series !!!

Ruthie - GIRL. This is All Stars, where were you all game?  It was fun playing with you, I don’t think we ever talked either but we played my first game ever together and you are one of my favorite people in the community, you’re such a fun person and I never get tired of seeing what you post on Instagram when you post things!  

Elsa - Still crying tbh… yeah, that night was a real mess. Our time working together in the game was too short!!! ): Idk why we didn’t start working together from earlier on tbh, but oh well. Our alliance was brutally cut short and it sucked big time. You are a great and wonderful person, and I’m glad to have met you through BBGlee and IOS!!! ♥

JC - Dom omg you were so robbed you had such an amazing social game though and could’ve probably won if things went slightly differently

Nicholas - I really don’t know how we ended up on complete opposite sides of this game as one another. It felt like before merge we worked together really well and honestly when we were on Curiosity you were one of the people who I told literally everything about the game. And even into merge when there were like 40 of us and the votes were so unpredictable I felt like we were really close allies still. And then I’m not really sure what happens but pretty soon after that we ended up on opposite sides of the game and it actually really sucked having to write down your name at the Live night because I did feel like there was always a potential for us to smooth things over and maybe low-key work together. you were definitely taken out in a really ugly way and it was honestly kind of sad because I didn’t really think it would come to that in this game. I do know that everyone in the game really did like you and respect you as a player! Hope all is going well ~

Ruthie - This was 100% the hardest vote in the game. I’m really sorry, Dom.  I know that you and I somehow end up on opposite sides and I promise I don’t go into games thinking ‘OH LOOK, THERE’S DOM, LET ME DO HIM DIRTY’ even though I know it might seem like I do.  You are a social king, strategic king, there is no competition that you can’t excel in.  You are just SO EASY to talk to- too easy.  I definitely fought with myself over voting you out this season.  First of all I really liked the alliance that you, Cole and I had but I heard that you guys were in several and that made me think that you and Cole were closer than I was with you or than I was with Cole.  Seeing how close y’all were just made it that more evident that in order to weaken Cole that we would have to get rid of you.  On a personal level I love you so much, you are such a nice and caring person and I hope that you never change and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.  You don’t even want to know how many albums I’ve downloaded JUST BECAUSE you posted a great bop and I had to listen to more. I love you, I’m sorry for doing you so dirty and I’m glad that you didn’t take any of the game moves personally and that we are still good. <3

Elsa - Lol Jill, I love how we’d go from not talking to each other for days at a time, to asking each other wtf was gonna happen at tribal that week. Truly a bizarre partnership, dunno if that’s the right word. I’m sorry you got rocked out when you did, but like with Kaitlyn, much props for taking the risk of going to rocks at that point in the game. I’m also sorry if I annoyed with my whole spiel before tribal; had to do what I could to try and save my allies!! ^^;

JC - JILL!!! Queen of cats! Queen of rocks! Queen of never being voted out of IoS! You were so nice, a fav

Nicholas - okay so honestly i never get sad when people get removed from the game but I was sad after you got removed because I miss talking to you!!!!! You were probably one of the only people on this cast who I didn’t really know or had never heard of before this game and I’m so glad that I not only got to play with you but also be in an alliance and just chat in general. thx for letting me be a freak and do ur stat hw!!! no matter what happens in the rest of this game i hope that we can be friends plz

Ruthie - GIRL.  You are such a freaking ray of sunshine.  You and I didn’t talk much at all until like… pretty close to when you left.  I remember being at Walmart and having to drive and convinced that Emily was secretly aligned with Dom and Cole then messaging you to steal my necklace and the rest was HISTORY! I’m so glad that I got to know you at least a little bit better, you are such a fun person and the alliance that we were in will probably forever be one of my favorite alliances of all time.  I love you, I can’t wait to get to talk to you again… although I hope I won’t see you in jury!!

Elsa - Coleee )))))): Honestly, idk how you managed to… idk, I guess just survive for as long as you did. You had such a huge target on your back for so long, and it really is commendable that you managed to team up with people that were willing to go to extreme lengths to save you, myself included. I’m still thankful that you didn’t go through with voting me out after Chris suggested I be the vote that week… I mean, we weren’t really working together at that point, but you still saved me and that meant a lot. I’m really glad I got to know you through this ORG; you are one of the nicest people I have ever met, and the images you sent to the tribe chat, as well as your drags were the highlights of this entire game for me. If I could have saved you with an extra vote, you know I would have. Love you lots xxxxxxxxxxx ♥ ♥

JC - Coleeee :( we went from being complete enemies to loyal allies, it was really tough voting u out and ur super cool and I hope we can remain friends

Nicholas - I don’t really know what to say because I feel like we quickly went from being allies to rivals in this game. I think no matter what anyone says you definitely were able to stretch out your time in this game by at least 8 days by pulling some really smart tricks and stunts that typically flop if anyone tries it. Your tactics of trying to break some cracks in our alliance really did almost work and it was admirable how after dom and leah were gone you fought for 2 rounds and literally pulled almost every single trick in the book to stay. I know that if you managed to slide your way to the end of the game you definitely would have racked up some votes for constantly dodging votes. Either way, well played and you definitely have a lot to be proud of. Trying to get you out of this game was incredibly difficult and that was mostly because of your social savy and ability to get people to do what you wanted and be extremely loyal to you. So good job on a game well played!

Ruthie - I feel like you hate me now, and I hope you don’t.  I really liked being aligned with you and Dom but I just felt like I was like y’alls pet goat that y’all were getting ready to take to the end. I hope you know that me turning on you was 100% strictly game, I had to do what was best for me because whether you believe me or not I think you would have DESTROYED me at final tribal council.  I love you, and I do have to say that things are much quieter without you.  I totally forgot to work on these until like two hours before they were due, I was fully planning to find a frog and face my fears to hold it to take a picture to add in this to you.  ONE DAY!

Elsa - EMILY HNGGGH. This is the hardest message to write cuz idk. I have a lot to say, but I don’t really know what to say either. Ahh, I’ll do my best. Emily, you are a very likeable person and really sweet, and you are also really cunning too lol. I’ve said this before, but thank you for going to rocks for me earlier on in the game. Like… I didn’t fully expect you to (or Ruthie for that matter), but y’all are crazy and I’m still grateful. I really wanted us to continue working together for the rest of the game, but I guess… idk, I guess that wasn’t meant to be. I’m sad that you thought I wasn’t trustworthy enough after Matthias got out, because I had never lied to you and didn’t have plans on snaking you in any way. BUT OH WELL. The time you got idoled was insane. I’m glad we got to talk at least once more before you got voted out this week. I’m still really glad I met you and that we got to work together at least for a little while during the game. And I’m still lowkey rooting for you in… the other ORG you’re in. Or maybe you won, idk, I left the VL hehe. Much love ♥

JC - emily omg ROBBED ANGEL!! U deserved more but I obviously had to vote you bc you were such a big contender to win

Nicholas - Honestly I owe you an entire book as to why I did why I did last round, but I’m just going to start by apologizing on a personal level because I am so glad that we finally got to play a game together closely and on the same side of things for once. LMSO was honestly such a great alliance but you know that! I definitely owe you an explanation as to why I flipped last night and it’s because you are honestly such a sweet and genuine person and so well spoken that in any FTC setting you would have swept the floor with all of the rest of us. I know this because you just have an aura about you that is so positive and not in a fake way that makes everyone want to see you succeed and do well and I think that would have translated very well for you in this game. I know that it’s probably a shitty way to go with just an hour heads up and no chance to really talk about it, but I felt really guilty all day though I knew that this what was best for my personal game. You are and have always been a force to be reckoned with and I made the mistake of aligning with 3 people who are literally 4000% more likable than me so this was me trying to correct for that. I hope and honestly know that we will be friends after this is all over and I AM GENUINELY SO SORRY!!!! voting you out felt like kicking a child in the face with cleats and I feel so guilty though I know that if I didn’t you would have hands down won this game! I was going to say that I miss talking in our alliance chat about not game related things but honestly I’m the reason why we cant so lkdmskldsmcklmlkdmsds i guess i don’t have the right to say that ! but seriously i hope ur having a good week & i cant wait to catch up on the flip side!

Ruthie - EMILY, I didn’t think that any of these messages were going to be as long as the one I have for Dom but I think yours might be the length winner!  I knew from the moment I saw you were playing that I wanted to work closely with you and I’m SO GLAD that we did! I loved getting all the supportive messages from our Azores family whenever we got through a tribal together.  You were my number one ally through MOST OF THE GAME, but I do want to take this time to go into detail about something.  I REALLY REALLY thought that I had royally screwed up by aligning with you, it was when Chris left?  I was POSITIVE that you were aligned with Cole and Dom and I felt like I couldn’t tell you anything!  I even like unloaded all my feelings about it on ELSA who I think maybe thinks I was faking, I have no idea.  I want to apologize in advance for all the mean confessionals I wrote about you because I thought you flipped when obviously you didn’t!  But okay, once I got over that I was 100% an Emily fan again and wanted us, Nicholas and Jill to make it ALL THE WAY to the end.  This final 4 should have been us!  THEN, last round when Nicholas flipped, it broke my heart and it STILL breaks my heart.  I really wish that the three of us were still all in this together.  I told him that I thought that it was a good move (because you would destroy us at FTC) but I just REALLY wish it didn’t happen and that you were still here.  You are a RAY OF SUNSHINE and you put your all into this game and I’ve noticed that you put your all into everything you do and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that about you!  I miss talking to you SO MUCH, cross your fingers that I’m not the next to join you.  Also, you better win fan favorite! <3

Your final immunity challenge will now be posted. Good luck.