[Lara Álvarez]

Jajajaja, were you expecting the MERGE tonight?! I bet we caught you off guard – even giving you an unexpected day away from tribal! But now you have 13 other tribemates and an entire mess of connections to detangle and work through.


1. Your simple challenge ended up deciding your partner for the immunity challenge this round…but also your bounty for the next five. How do you feel about your partner? Do you plan to stay loyal and work together? Or are you itching to find out what’s in one of those mystery boxes?

2. As Jonathan said, all of the previous boots have been returning players. How does that news make you feel?

3. You have the weekend to reconnect with old tribemates and build connections with new ones. Right off the bat, who are your most trusted allies and primary targets? Any time this shifts – update us! Let us know how you plan to keep yourself safe at the beginning of this merge...and all the way through 'til the end.

4. Spill the tea! What’s the best piece of goss you’ve heard since merging? And who are your sources?


As always, you may submit guesses for the aliases of your tribemates, and the new player to gain coins! Due date at challenge results time, per usual.

[Baden]

Hey there bestie! So happy to make the merge this time!! I'm thankful for the weekend to take it relatively easy, but I'm still trying to keep that social game playing even through all the crazy hours at work.

1 - You really think I'm gonna vote out Daisy? My original best friend of the season? I'm a fan of good TV as much as the next guy, but you're gonna have to look elsewhere for your ratings boosters, sorry. My current plan is to see if we can't get people to vote out matching pairs of people I'm not close to, like Jericho/Jarrad, or vote out a threat to my game like Nova to give an ally like Kylie a boost. I'm super curious to open a box, but not if the cost is my closest ally in the game!

2 - Given the fact we only had six real chances to snipe them since the inactives were all returnees, I wasn't too hopeful about it. All I can do now is hope that they're on my side and willing to use the power in a way that isn't detrimental to my game.

3 - Daisy, Tegan, David, Sharn, Tessa, Kylie. In that order. That's my ideal majority based on who I've connected with the most. But obviously I'm a man who likes options, so I'm trying to keep things going with Michelle, Mat, Sarah, Ben, and Nova to see who else I can trust. Jarrad and Jericho are the only ones who've barely bothered trying to talk with me, and Jericho got caught targeting me, so obviously that won't fly! I'll be sure to update you on any new tea as the numbers dwindle and the hitlist changes.

4 - Dude, I've been hearing a lot. David and Sharn of course told me and Tessa that Jericho wasn't including us in his plans for a majority on Papunya 3.0, so oops, should've been sneakier with people who would compare notes. Someone found Daisy's identity out, and it wasn't me, so I'm not sure who it is or if they're worth targeting. Ideally, I get to go back on the hunt for an idol with Tegan and hold some more power in this game above just surrounding myself with allies.

As far as my newbie guess this time, I'll go for Nova. Wish me luck! My odds are increasing!