Cassie's Corner

[Cassie Goldsmith]

Well, hi, guys! Congratulations on making it to the final 3. I'm usually a pretty tough juror, and that is just because I really respect the game. My critiques here are only about your game and not about you guys as individuals outside of this game. So please try to remember that.



~KNOX~



I'm sorry, but I was rolling my eyes through most of your opening statement. I just couldn't help it. You referred to yourself as selfless, and you even went as far as to say that you have never lied in this game. People in the jury house have already started pointing out lies you have told in this game, and I will let them tell you that at yourself. My point of view on the whole matter is, anyone who thinks they haven't lied in this game is delusional. And if they truly believe that, then they weren't playing this game. If you really didn't have to lie or manipulate at all, then I don't want to vote for you. I can't. Because that's lame. And you say you were a rock to people in this game, and maybe you were, but you had your emotional moments too. One major criticism I have about you is the fact that you almost begged AJ not to play the idol on you in the final 10. You wanted to pull a rock. That was a DEFINING moment in the game. Had AJ listened to you, we would not have lasted that round. And anyone who calls himself "selfless" is just a load of bullshit too, to be honest. This is a selfish game. We're playing Survivor here. The jury is not here to vote for the most honest person or the person who hurt people's feelings the least. This is All-Stars. So instead of trying to portray yourself as the best person in the final 3, try to portray yourself as the best PLAYER. That's what I want to see from you. I'm here to crown the best of the best. The winner of this game will be a figurehead for the entire Good vs Evil Series, and we the jury are not taking that responsibility lightly.

So, it has been mentioned that people thought you rode coattails. To be honest, no one ever thought of you as a threat. People referred to you as "AJ's puppet", and even though I know that statement is wrong, people still perceived you as being a "puppet." And you're sitting in the end with two very strong players. Yeah, they ruffled some feathers, but they played the game, and they played hard. So what I want to know from you is: Explain to me how you played the game hard. How are you worthy of the title "the best of the best"? And why should you be considered to be crowned as the figurehead of the Good vs Evil series? Because, really, I'm not looking for an Amber Brkich winner at the end of this. Sorry.





~THIAGO~




You were ruthless. You utilized some strategies that were rather out of the box. You ruffled feathers when it was unnecessary. But I respect this of you. Why? Because you came into this game with a HUGE target on your back. My eyes were very much so fixed on you, and I wanted you out EARLY. I think you used these "sides" to the advantage, and I think you added some fuel to the fire at sometimes. It was brilliant. Fucking brilliant. The "AJ vs Ellen" nonsense was a huge red herring, and it kept everyone running around like chickens off to the slaughter. But it worked. And look where you're sitting. I do want to know though....did you have an investment in this division that occurred between the two sides? Did you intentionally instigate things?

One thing I like about you is that you were playing from the beginning. And you weren't necessarily playing as in calling the shots or controlling the votes...but you were manipulating people, causing people to change their perceptions of you. Yeah, people always thought you were slimy. But you slid through right to the end. And people thought you were playing stupid, and they began to forget about the mastermind Thiago that we watched win season 5. I always ran to AJ and said, "Thiago is up to something. I think he's doing these things as strategy. He's too brilliant to be making these errors." She shrugged me off, said you wouldn't do that, that you were just playing sloppy. So it did work. Your act really did work. And I like that. But you have to be willing to take credit for the dirty things you did in this game. You can't back down from them and you can't victimize yourself for anything. Own it. Own your inner villain. Then you'll have my vote. And I think other jurors will respect it a lot more as well. I know how much we relied on you to make decisions about idols and the votes during the critical rounds of the merge. I know that it was you calling those shots, and I tried to warn people of that. But you did too well at getting people to forget about you. Well done.




~AJ~



....




...






.....







I hope it was worth it to you.


I think you probably made the right move, but at the wrong time. I think you wanted to vote out the biggest jury threat while also trying to separate yourself from me a little bit. The fact of the matter is, you still worked alongside me for the entirety of the game. Voting me off at the final 4 does not separate yourself from me. It's a little too little too late for that. I calmed you down, and I helped you a LOT during this game. I talked to you and you went from saying you'd campaign for people to vote you out at the final 5 to voting me out at the final 4. You said you wanted Henry to win the game. I'm sorry...but I don't know if I can respect that. You were SO emotional during this game. You were the Dawn Meehan of this game. We all had our emotional downfalls, but I felt like our alliance had to constantly be comforting you and running to your aid.

With that being said...

You still played a pretty good game. You made it to the end, and you made a lot of allies that helped you get there. I know that you had a lot of relationships before the game started, but that's All-Stars I guess. I still think some of the things against Ellen were a tad personal, but I understand it was just perpetuated into a whole mess. I just know that you are somewhat easily persuaded, and I don't think you always make decisions for yourself. If it weren't for the people working alongside you in this game, I think you would've made several strategic errors. So you did have to rely heavily on others to get to this point.

My question to you is:

How can you preach that you played 100% strategically and not personally, when you did take a lot of the game personally and made decisions and moves against Ellen that were personal? Why did you lead me to believe that you would go to the end with me no matter what for so long if I was such a threat to you? When did you really decide to vote me off? And do you think that your inadequacy in challenges and finding idols caused you to have to ride the coattails of your alliance a little more than you'd like to admit? Oh, and how would you defend yourself against the "Dawn Meehan" comparison that everyone in the jury seems to be agreeing with?







~ALL~


Thank you guys! And good luck!

[/i]

[Cassie Goldsmith]

Oh, and Knox, I'd like you to also address the situation that happened with Dominic at the merge...where you told him things Thiago and I said in a Google Hangout call. You took some of my words out of context and it caused Dominic to confront me about them and ask me to not tell people to not be friends with him. So I want to know the truth about what you did in that situation, and Dominic can probably help clear it up if what you say is inaccurate. Because if you really were running around and blaming things and throwing other people in your alliance under the bus, that isn't being "selfless". So please just explain to me what happened so maybe I can understand a little bit better. Because to me, it just seemed like you wanted to be the innocent one without any blood on your hands so you could just blame everyone else for what was going on in the game. So clear it up for me.

[knox]

Aug 2, 2013 14:32:10 GMT -5 Cassie Goldsmith said:

~KNOX~



I'm sorry, but I was rolling my eyes through most of your opening statement. I just couldn't help it. You referred to yourself as selfless, and you even went as far as to say that you have never lied in this game. People in the jury house have already started pointing out lies you have told in this game, and I will let them tell you that at yourself. My point of view on the whole matter is, anyone who thinks they haven't lied in this game is delusional. And if they truly believe that, then they weren't playing this game. If you really didn't have to lie or manipulate at all, then I don't want to vote for you. I can't. Because that's lame. And you say you were a rock to people in this game, and maybe you were, but you had your emotional moments too. One major criticism I have about you is the fact that you almost begged AJ not to play the idol on you in the final 10. You wanted to pull a rock. That was a DEFINING moment in the game. Had AJ listened to you, we would not have lasted that round. And anyone who calls himself "selfless" is just a load of bullshit too, to be honest. This is a selfish game. We're playing Survivor here. The jury is not here to vote for the most honest person or the person who hurt people's feelings the least. This is All-Stars. So instead of trying to portray yourself as the best person in the final 3, try to portray yourself as the best PLAYER. That's what I want to see from you. I'm here to crown the best of the best. The winner of this game will be a figurehead for the entire Good vs Evil Series, and we the jury are not taking that responsibility lightly.

So, it has been mentioned that people thought you rode coattails. To be honest, no one ever thought of you as a threat. People referred to you as "AJ's puppet", and even though I know that statement is wrong, people still perceived you as being a "puppet." And you're sitting in the end with two very strong players. Yeah, they ruffled some feathers, but they played the game, and they played hard. So what I want to know from you is: Explain to me how you played the game hard. How are you worthy of the title "the best of the best"? And why should you be considered to be crowned as the figurehead of the Good vs Evil series? Because, really, I'm not looking for an Amber Brkich winner at the end of this. Sorry.

[/i][/quote]

Hi Cassie... I have to say I was terrified to hear what you had to say, and I guess I was right to be concerned. Anyways, about the lying... I am sure that I lied during this game, like you said it is impossible to go through this game without lying. However, I really don't recall any situations where I did lie purposely. I would absolutely love to hear when I lied so that I can either counter those arguments or I can realize it for purpose of self-growth.

I do know I had my emotional moments, I believe I kind of mentioned them in passing. I played a very emotional game, that is because I am a very emotional person. You guys were a rock for me when I had those moments, but when other people were having those, I was there for you guys. So I do believe I was able to be a rock for people, even those not in my alliance when they felt defeated.

I don't think I went as far as to beg for AJ to not play the idol on me. I did ask that it was not played on me, true, but I didn't like beg for it. Ultimately it was a team decision and it was her idol. A few reasons why I didn't her to play the idol:
1. People already assumed me and AJ were super tight, I thought that with her playing an idol on me she would have shown that we were a lot tighter than we really were and people would have shut me down from talking strategy.
2. I was not scared of pulling rocks, I knew all of you were nervous about that possibility so I was trying to take one for the team.
3. I genuinely did not think they were going to vote for me because Dominic had promised me he would do everything in his power to make sure I wasn't the vote. Which in retrospect should have alerted me I would have been the vote.
So, yes, I did not want the idol played on me but it was not because I didn't want to play or anything along those lines. It was luck that you guys guessed who they were voting for. I don't really think that not making a lucky decision makes me an awful player, especially considering my reasoning behind why I didn't want that idol played on me.

I am not trying to portray myself as the best person out of the Final 3, in reality I genuinely believe that both AJ and Thiago outside of this game are not only amazing human beings but maybe even better. I am not trying to portray anything, I'm trying to be honest and just say what I feel. I'm sorry if you feel that I'm trying to make myself look like this grandiose martyr-esque person but I can assure you that is not the case.

Anyways, on to your actual question. I think that I played hard too. I think that the fact that I don't have a huge reputation prior to this game makes it easy for people to tag me as a puppet, people don't know a lot about me in this series. They don't know that I can play hard or my game-style, I was never going to be a threat because I was not a mastermind like Thiago or I was not this huge sweetheart character like AJ. My first season I was just a douchebag who tried to change the game, then chickened out and got owned. So, why would anyone view me as a threat coming in?

But this is EXACTLY why I had to play hard from the get-go. I could not rely on my past friendships like the majority of the cast, or my challenge strength like others. I genuinely came into the game with very few connections [Mark, Gloria and maaaaaaybe AJ and Chase] everyone else had either a lot of people or very influential people on their side. I didn't. I missed the very first challenge of the season and I was an immediate target, no one knew who I was at all. I had to start playing from the get-go, unlike a lot of people I didn't just smile and got to seat next to my friends-now-allies. I had none of my connections on my tribe, so I had to use my social game to my advantage. I managed to grow really close to everyone in my tribe [besides Perry] and I was able to feel more secure with my place in the game.

Then came the Hannah vote. At that point in time I had made myself to be someone who everyone wanted to work with. I was never a target that round [as far as I know]. My alliance was tight with Hannah, at first since Selena kinda blew the challenge and my relationship with her was the weakest I wanted her gone. I kinda touched base about it with Ellen but she never compromised. At the same time, I was considering doing something else like maybe voting out Luca so we could avoid a tie if we were to lose again. I talked about it briefly with Hannah and with Chase since I was conflicted. Chase and a bunch of other people got involved and even though he promised not to tell anyone he ended telling AJ who told Selena. In reality, I was never intending to vote for Luca but I would have been a fool not to consider it, however once Chase/AJ/Gloria got involved it seemed like I had started something that I did not want to finish. Selena approached me and Hannah and we made a chat where we all decided we would vote Luca, I expressed my concern about this to Hannah because of my tight relationship with Luca at that point, and the fact I thought Selena was shady. However, the next day Selena promised me she was fine with it and we would be fools if we didn't do it. So I went ahead and voted. When I came back to the forum not only did I have a PM from Luca telling me to vote for Hannah but she was gone, and Luca had survived. This started my one-sided feud with Selena.

After that, I knew I was screwed. I never said I would vote for Hannah, but I had kind of led Luca/Ellen to think I was more with them than anything else. My two main allies were gone [Hannah/Gloria] and I was in a world of absolute distress. I felt alone and completely cornered. I tried talking to Luca and he told me he was really hurt and didn't want to talk to me at the time. Which clearly meant I was in trouble.I got lucky when not only was there a swap but I was paired with Mark. At that point is when the game division started to hit me, there were three rumored sides: "Ellen's Army", "AJ's Army" and then the people in the middle which I was part of. It became pretty clear that if you were not in either side you would be an easier target. So I had to adapt, seeing how Ellen/Luca were angry at me after the Hannah vote I had no other choice but to stick with AJ's side.

As numbers started to dwindle until there was no way anyone could switch and the sides were pretty much cemented. The only person who was kind of in the middle was Wendy, which is why we took her out. That whole round, as you may be aware, I called the shots and I told everyone what to do. Of course they had to agree with it, but I was the one who came up with the plan. I remember everyone complimenting me on it and saying how smart I was, I think that's when I finally realized that people had been underestimating me all along; no one really realized that I knew how to play the game and it came as a surprise to many of them. I think up until that point I was too focused on surviving than on actually seeing what people could think of me. But I was willing to use that, after that I continued playing this silly, dumb, frat-ish kind of guy to make people think I was less of a threat and to keep the target off my back.

During the vote divisions when you, and Chase decided to divide votes. I was one of the most vocal people [as you may remember] telling you guys NOT to do it. I tried to warn you guys not to divide votes and to remind you that Selena/Dominic were not going to vote with you guys. Of course, since people thought I was this ditz no one really took me seriously and the numbers started to dwindle. I think that the fact I was so aware of the positions while more connected players like you or Chase did not seem as aware shows that I had my head on the game and I was trying to think of my future as well as playing hard.

The vote that Luca left, I can't say I did too much because in reality we got lucky that Luca/Dom/Selena changed their vote last second to Thiago. It was pure luck. At the merge, I knew that there were two sides but I tried to keep relationships going with the people from the other side just in case we were to lose at the tie. I honestly didn't expect them to vote for me because all of you kept saying they didn't talk to you guys, so I figured they would want me around. Obviously I was wrong. The merge was a really hard to point for everyone to "play hard" since the division was so huge, we kinda just all followed. But I was still playing the game, cementing my relationship with other people in and outside the alliance and trying to think of alternatives if at any point we were outnumbered. Those plans would not have worked simply because I was the vote from the other side almost every round, so I had to adapt.

I kept having conversations with the other side even when you guys told me I shouldn't, and especially after I accidentally let some stuff slip. I've always been really blunt, and when someone asks me a question I normally answer. I believe at some point someone said that I should try lying to Ellen and them about how tight we all were, and I said I didn't feel comfortable doing that. Mostly because I always thought lying unnecessarily it's dumb, we all knew the sides were strong so we didn't need to further that by starting rumors. At least in my mind. Can I manipulate people? Absolutely, you have seen me do it in other games before actually. But there was no need for that at the merge, because everything was pretty much set in stone.

I played hard by beating Dominic at that idol. You can ask him, that thing was intense and I beat HIM, the person who was deemed as the bigger competition threat. I beat him fair and square. I think everyone was shocked I did that because like you said no one saw me as a threat and everyone thought I was dumb.

I played hard by not believing rumors and confronting people. It would have been really easy for me to just take what others were saying and run with it, but instead I decided I wanted to be able to forge my own opinions so I talked to Dominic and Ellen, and when people told me they called me dumb or that they didn't like me then I confronted them and asked them about it. Because I did not allow myself to be brainwashed by the people who were trying to play puppet-master and take advantage of my own naivety.

Also, at Final Four. I made a deal with Thiago, who I thought was less threatening [not because he kept saying that he was, as I am well aware what a huge threat is. But because of the fact he had pissed off some jurors and I knew others were turned off by his antics, so I figured he was my best shot if I had any shot at all] in case he won immunity. In which whoever won immunity would help the other tie it up in case you guys were to vote together, at that point I told him I wanted you gone over AJ and he agreed. I was the one who approached others to vote you out, like I told you. Maybe both Thiago and AJ were already thinking about it but I was the one who approached them about the vote. I was able to recognize that you were by far the biggest jury threat, which was proven with the reaction of the jury to your vote off. I talked to AJ extensively about voting you out, I am not pretentious enough to say that I single-handedly convinced her to do so but I would like to think that my arguments helped her make a decision that she was dreading because of your close relationship to her. I also am not going to say I convinced Thiago since I am certain he was already thinking about it, but he didn't convince me either. That was my own decision.

Perhaps I did not spread rumors, or chose to use friends for my own gain, or even further cemented the lines between the sides. But that is because I never felt the need to do such a things, I could have easily been scummy and done all those things, but in my mind it was always clear that I didn't need to do those things. Because I had my own story to tell, where I survived and I overcame a lot of odds. Yes, I was not a huge threat, but I was forced to play hard from the second I stepped foot in the game because I did not have anyone to attach myself to or a reputation to make people intimidated of me with. All I had was my charisma, my brain and my ability to sell myself. And I used all of those to play the game hard, maybe not as scummy and full of lies as others, but I played hard regardless.

I hope that not only does this giant essay answer your question, but it helps you see that I was never an Amber Bkrich and that I actually played the game. I hope you can respect the game I played and you consider voting for me.

[thiago]

Hey Cassie. Thanks for your kind words. After Selena's confusing speech it was sure nice to read. I know that we both shared that fear of being a winner in this game, so I liked that I had someone in this game who I knew could feel the way I did.

So, onto your questions.

I do want to know though....did you have an investment in this division that occurred between the two sides? Did you intentionally instigate things?

Yes and no.

I'm not sure what exactly you mean by investment, but on a personal level, I didn't like seeing what was happening because I felt that both Ellen and AJ could have nipped it all in the bud and have just spoken to one another about all the he said-she said. The solution was so simple but it reminded me of high school when two girls were against one another because of other people, so on a personal level it was rather painful to see. It was clear that both assumed the other hated them, so they didn't bother trying to make nice, when in reality, they both (in my opinion) could be very good friends if they put their guards down and let it all go. I think a gaming environment probably isn't the place to do this, and hopefully after the game ends they can both freely address the situation. However, I never intended to facilitate any sort of make up because it did serve a strategic purpose for my game, as selfish as that is to say. I don't deny that I played a selfish game. Knox may see this as a negative but--to me--it was my biggest strength as a player. I took care of myself and myself only; I didn't expect anyone to take care of me. We've all played before and we know the drill.

On a strategic level, I do admit that I did invest some of my time in fueling the fire. I do recall early on going back and forth between AJ and Ellen. I was always truthful to Ellen about what AJ was saying about her because early on, I felt that AJ was in a better position than Ellen. I wanted to encourage an anti-AJ/Cassie army at the beginning, mainly because I felt that on my original tribe I needed Colleen, Henry, and Quincy to all join me since I knew Chase/AJ/you would stick together. I did know that by having a division, I would be positioned where I felt most comfortable: in the middle. Looking back at all star games where I have placed well, there was always a division and I was always left in the middle, so I wanted to exercise a strategy that has worked well for me in the past.

Here is a little image I made by Round 3 just to showcase where my head was at early on:

But you have to be willing to take credit for the dirty things you did in this game. You can't back down from them and you can't victimize yourself for anything. Own it. Own your inner villain.

I have to say that I don't know where this "playing victim" thing comes from. Perhaps my acting worked so well during the game that people really do believe that I have felt like I'm a victim of something in this game. Of course I don't believe that I'm a victim. I take full responsibility for anything that I have done which has resulted in animosity, and accept whatever consequences those actions will have on me at the Final Judgment. I don't feel sorry for myself and I am certainly not one to put personal feelings ahead of strategy, although I cannot say I am a total robot who never plays with my heart, because I am a human just like the rest of you at the end of the day

I knew that I had to go balls to the wall again this season and that certainly incorporated some slimy behaviour, but 'tis to be expected in an all stars game. That's what we all signed up for. Hunt before you become the hunted. I just took a less aggressive route, but just because it wasn't done in-your-face sure doesn't exclude me from having played a bit villainously at times, particularly at the end. I'm aware of that and don't view myself as an innocent party whatsoever. One could argue that in the last few rounds of the game I preyed on those who viewed themselves as innocent...

If you have any other questions please let me know! Thanks again and talk to you soon.

[thiago]

I was the one who approached others to vote you out, like I told you. Maybe both Thiago and AJ were already thinking about it but I was the one who approached them about the vote.

Just to clarify things for Knox, and for you too, Cassie, my plan was to have Knox and AJ in the F3 after the round Colleen left, so I didn't need any convincing. I knew I needed AJ to fully make that move happen, so I spent more time working on her than I did Knox, which turned out to be the right choice given Knox came to me after we all finished our "Remember the Fallen" to vote Cassie out. In my opinion, Knox thought my "Remembering the Fallen" was the complete opposite of yours, Cassie, which to some extent is true, and I think it may have been a mistake on your part to write so highly of the jury. Of course, this may hurt me at this point, but it did help me get to this point. I would like to clarify that this is my opinion of what happened, but of course only Knox can verify this The timing, however, seems to match up very well with what I've assumed...

[knox]

Aug 2, 2013 16:19:24 GMT -5 thiago said:

I was the one who approached others to vote you out, like I told you. Maybe both Thiago and AJ were already thinking about it but I was the one who approached them about the vote.

Just to clarify things for Knox, and for you too, Cassie, my plan was to have Knox and AJ in the F3 after the round Colleen left, so I didn't need any convincing. I knew I needed AJ to fully make that move happen, so I spent more time working on her than I did Knox, which turned out to be the right choice given Knox came to me after we all finished our "Remember the Fallen" to vote Cassie out. In my opinion, Knox thought my "Remembering the Fallen" was the complete opposite of yours, Cassie, which to some extent is true, and I think it may have been a mistake on your part to write so highly of the jury. Of course, this may hurt me at this point, but it did help me get to this point. I would like to clarify that this is my opinion of what happened, but of course only Knox can verify this The timing, however, seems to match up very well with what I've assumed...

Um, no. Like we talked yesterday, I thought the Remembering the Fallen were genuine and I didn't think there should be any strategy behind them. We argued about this yesterday so I don't see why you bring it up. Regardless, YOU tried to tell me you were nervous about her RTF but I had already made up my mind about it and I told you you didn't have to convince me. My decision was made before that.

If you had read a little more into my speech I said I am certain you were already planning on voting her out. Regardless, you did not convince me of it. Nor did I convince you of it. It had nothing to do with RTF, as I had told you before that that I wanted her out, if I remember correctly.

Regardless, you know what they say about assuming. So I would stop making assumptions that you know anything about my game.

[Dominic]

I played hard by beating Dominic at that idol. You can ask him, that thing was intense and I beat HIM, the person who was deemed as the bigger competition threat. I beat him fair and square. I think everyone was shocked I did that because like you said no one saw me as a threat and everyone thought I was dumb.

Seeing as you've brought this up quite a few times, I think this "moment" of your game needs to be explained. To clarify for those not involved in the tie breaker, Knox and I basically sent the right idol answer during the same minute. We were both online so Morgan gave us three clues and unlimited guess. The first three clues were something along the lines of "black, fire, salamander." The frenzy began and I'm sure we both sent a million incorrect guesses. After five minutes, we received and fourth clue (exile), and then eventually a fifth (exile). Seeing as all these idols have required a considerable deal of deep thought, I was beginning to think critically about the clues, and my immediate concern was not to just type them all into google, which apparently you did. The answer was Fahrenheit 451 and it was the first result on Google whenever you typed all those words in.

Typing words into google faster than me does not account to playing hard in any aspect of the game, nor does it make you the David to my Goliath. Just clarifying for the other jurors because you seem to be very quick to say you beat me at an idol, but also very vague about the details surrounding it.

[henry]

Are we supposed to be talking in other people's jury threads? I feel this could get out of hand quickly.

[knox]

Aug 2, 2013 16:30:43 GMT -5 Dominic said:

I played hard by beating Dominic at that idol. You can ask him, that thing was intense and I beat HIM, the person who was deemed as the bigger competition threat. I beat him fair and square. I think everyone was shocked I did that because like you said no one saw me as a threat and everyone thought I was dumb.

Seeing as you've brought this up quite a few times, I think this "moment" of your game needs to be explained. To clarify for those not involved in the tie breaker, Knox and I basically sent the right idol answer during the same minute. We were both online so Morgan gave us three clues and unlimited guess. The first three clues were something along the lines of "black, fire, salamander." The frenzy began and I'm sure we both sent a million incorrect guesses. After five minutes, we received and fourth clue (exile), and then eventually a fifth (exile). Seeing as all these idols have required a considerable deal of deep thought, I was beginning to think critically about the clues, and my immediate concern was not to just type them all into google, which apparently you did. The answer was Fahrenheit 451 and it was the first result on Google whenever you typed all those words in.

Typing words into google faster than me does not account to playing hard in any aspect of the game, nor does it make you the David to my Goliath. Just clarifying for the other jurors because you seem to be very quick to say you beat me at an idol, but also very vague about the details surrounding it.

No one asked for details. I am proud of being able to beat you when I considered you the strongest both mentally and challenge-wise. I don't think that makes me horrible or shady. I mentioned it because in my mind it makes sense to mention it.

If it really bothers people, I will stop unless it's brought up again. I suppose.

[Dominic]

Aug 2, 2013 16:33:05 GMT -5 henry said:

Are we supposed to be talking in other people's jury threads? I feel this could get out of hand quickly.

Stop. It was a respectful post for clarification. I'm in the middle of a move so I'm mobile and unable to make a thread right now. Regardless, the point of a jury is for discussion of the game, and I don't think I'm overstepping any boundaries or messing with Cassie's thread in any way. If I am, I apologize but I doubt Cassie will be fuming at me posting here.

[thiago]

So I would stop making assumptions that you know anything about my game.

That's fair enough, but I would like to point out that I did make it a point to clarify this this was my opinion (which it still is) and not fact. My apologies if my opinion upset you.

[knox]

Aug 2, 2013 14:35:22 GMT -5 Cassie Goldsmith said:

Oh, and Knox, I'd like you to also address the situation that happened with Dominic at the merge...where you told him things Thiago and I said in a Google Hangout call. You took some of my words out of context and it caused Dominic to confront me about them and ask me to not tell people to not be friends with him. So I want to know the truth about what you did in that situation, and Dominic can probably help clear it up if what you say is inaccurate. Because if you really were running around and blaming things and throwing other people in your alliance under the bus, that isn't being "selfless". So please just explain to me what happened so maybe I can understand a little bit better. Because to me, it just seemed like you wanted to be the innocent one without any blood on your hands so you could just blame everyone else for what was going on in the game. So clear it up for me.

Alright. I have to admit my memory is really foggy about the whole situation but I hope that Dominic can fill in the blanks, or correct me.

First of all, I was not trying to be innocent about anything. I did not do what I did trying to hurt people or ruin friendships. Nor was it really a game-heavy conversation from what I can remember.

I honestly do not remember why me and Dominic got to that topic of conversation at all. Me and Dominic always had a very open relationship, in which I naively thought that when we talked we kept it amongst ourselves. I really do not remember why it came up, but I think we might have been arguing or something similar though I am sure he would correct me if that is not the case.

I tried looking for it in my confessional and I can't find it...

But anyways, I feel really stupid because I am completely blanking out. Which sounds phony and shady and I know it. But I am being super sincere. I don't remember why exactly I said it and I don't think I said names either, I believe I said people had told me he wasn't genuine with me and I shouldn't trust him so much, which got him really mad. Because he felt he was being villainized, and I felt bad cause that was not my intention because I don't think he is a villain at all. He asked me who it was and started naming names and I said it wasn't AJ, and I guess he figured the rest out?

I honestly don't remember and I feel really stupid cause I'm getting really riled up about it. I honestly had so many conversations [and arguments] with Dominic throughout this game that it is hard for me to like remember specifics. That paired up with the fact that I have really bad memory in general...

I do know it was never with any intention to hurt your personal game, or Thiago's though. Maybe if Dominic puts like the background and stuff I can fill in the blanks, if not I'd be happy to address this after the game because I feel like I should know this.

Sorry, I know this did not help at all and it's probably the stupidest answer ever. But I can't for the life of me remember and I can't find it in my confessional either. If I remember though, I will absolutely come back. Sorry

[Dominic]

If Henry will allow it, I'll work on typing this up on my phone, but again, I'm busy with a move so I'll be in and out.

[aj]

Hey Cassie, I appreciate your honesty.

How can you preach that you played 100% strategically and not personally, when you did take a lot of the game personally and made decisions and moves against Ellen that were personal?

To be completely honest, Cassie, things were not personal, and I don’t know what it is I did that leads you to believe it was. Coming out of season 3, I felt like Ellen and I had a very positive relationship. She was without a doubt one of my favorite people during season 3, and after the game, I loved her all the same. Everything I did against Ellen in this game was due to the fact that she played a flawless game in season 3, and she was clearly one of the top competitors that gvse had ever seen. The fact of the matter is, I was scared of her. Every reason I wanted her gone was gvse-related. Did I go about this in a petty way? Absolutely. I immensely enjoy talking to Ellen on a personal level, and I wish I didn’t overreact to everything she said before this season started, because then maybe I would have had a closer relationship with her in this game.

You make a point that I did take a lot of the things in this game personally. And this is true, particularly during the premerge. But to be honest, I think this was a paranoid misconception on my part. There might be people here who don’t care for me as a person, however I don’t think that they would target me or lie to me solely because of that. I’m clearly not the biggest threat in this game, however people might see social strengths in me that could be dangerous, and target me because of those. Because I’m so sensitive, I think I overreacted to a lot of things. However, I can say now that I don’t take anything anyone did in this game personally, and I hope that’s an accurate assessment on my part.

Why did you lead me to believe that you would go to the end with me no matter what for so long if I was such a threat to you? When did you really decide to vote me off?

Honestly, I really was just taking things a round at a time, and maybe this was a mistake. There was not a lot of wiggle room in this game. You and I talked at length about what would happen if we went to the final four with Dominic and Ben instead of with our alliance, but we realized that it wouldn’t be smart in order for one of us to win. Other than that, we didn’t have many options, and so I had every intention on taking you to the end of the game, especially considering that Knox and Henry were such a tight pair.

I pretty much decided to vote you out right after Henry went home, and because I knew Knox was going to win the endurance. I did think about it that entire day and I went back and forth a few times, but after Henry left was the first time that I said "I'm going to have to vote Cassie out at final 4." You would always tell me things like “I’m going to get 0 votes” but I really didn’t believe that at all. I know how effortlessly persuasive you are, and I didn’t think I stood a chance against you in this questioning. You’re right, voting you out might have been too late. But even if I wanted to, there was no other time I could have done it. This was my last chance, and truthfully, I thought it would earn some respect. I realize now that maybe the way I viewed that move is not the same way the jury is viewing it. However, I did what I thought was the best move at the time, and I can’t regret it.

And do you think that your inadequacy in challenges and finding idols caused you to have to ride the coattails of your alliance a little more than you'd like to admit?

Oh, absolutely. Like I’ve said, I’m not the smartest or the strongest by ANY means. But I mean it’s not like I can randomly raise my IQ. This is how I am, and as much as I’d love to say that I’m actually this complete genius pretending to be this silly nutcase, I’m not. If it wasn’t for you, Thiago and Knox finding idols and you and Thiago winning the final 6 and final 5 challenges, I most likely would not be here right now. We all helped each other make it as far as we did, but challenges and idols were something that I did not bring to the table. I would like to hope I made up for this by helping our alliance move forward in other ways.

Oh, and how would you defend yourself against the "Dawn Meehan" comparison that everyone in the jury seems to be agreeing with?

Throughout the game, I would say aside from me being emotional, my gameplay wasn’t like Dawn’s at all. People put a lot of faith in the hands of Dawn, and she backstabbed them. When Ben and Dominic wanted to work with me at final 7, I straight up told them I wasn’t voting with them. On a strategic level, I don’t see how anything I did was Dawn-like up until final 4.

Was voting you out the ultimate Dawn to Brenda move? Perhaps, yes, which is slightly frustrating for me since this wasn’t my intention at all. Obviously I knew that you weren’t going to take this lightly, but I think you kind of underestimated my ability to think for myself, which is maybe why you were so genuinely shocked that I would do something like that at the last minute. I don’t believe Dawn is a heartless person, but neither am I, but I am fully aware why I am being compared to her after voting you out. In my opinion, Dawn played a great game. So I don't take it as a full-on insult to be compared to her.

Thanks Cassie, I hope this covers everything for you.

[aj]

Aug 2, 2013 16:29:20 GMT -5 knox said:

I said I am certain you were already planning on voting her out. Regardless, you did not convince me of it. Nor did I convince you of it. It had nothing to do with RTF, as I had told you before that that I wanted her out, if I remember correctly.

This is how I feel too. Thiago I know you spent a long time writing out a PM for me about all the reasons I should vote out Cassie. But the truth is that my decision was made before I even opened it. The PM did open my eyes to some things I was unaware of, but it didn't affect my decision. I had a feeling that Knox would realize that Cassie is a bigger jury threat than I was, and sure enough, he was the first one to come to me saying that he had decided that he would definitely vote for her, and that I shouldn't stress about an endurance challenge when I had a final exam the next day.