[Nate Gonzalez]

This is the final 4. One of you is going to win and three of you are going to lose. You have one tribal council and one jury vote that’s going to determine that. So your questions are:

1. There are currently seven people on that jury. Go through them one-by-one and talk about who you think they’re going to vote for in the Final 3. Who’s the biggest threat? Whose votes do you have in the bag? Who do you need to take out to be able to win?

2. There are four people currently in the game. How do you plan on surviving this round? Who is your target? What is your backup plan if your target wins immunity?

3. Now – for the montage at the end of the season. Reflect on your experience in the game and think about what you’ve done, what you’ve learned, and what you’ve accomplished. What are you the proudest of and do you think the jury will award you for that?

[Aaron]

I'll reflect in a later confessional, but for now, fuck i'm happy. I made it from what was supposed to be nothing...I didn't win an immunity or find an idol to keep me safe....i did what i had to do. Im so close to getting there and making my dreams a reality. This almost seems surreal.

[Aaron]

I'm in legit tears at me calling winning Stranded my "dream come true" in my prior confessional. Don't drink alcohol on a Tuesday kids.

[Aaron]

So Jack messaged me this morning with a lot of compelling information regarding not taking him to the Final 3.

It is really brutal, because game wise I know he's right. I know it will hurt me to take Jack to the end, and I will get the brunt of that blame. This jury have proven not to respect the play of carrying Jack to the end, and I can understand that.

It just is unfortunate, because Jack is a good man. He has a big heart. He didn't deserve to be drug like this.

It's gutting, it truly is.

[Aaron]

I think regardless of what happens tonight with the immunity challenge, I will be going to the final tribal council. Jack essentially offering to throw his game away for my benefit all but confirms that. He will vote with me no matter what, which means at the very least a tie will be forced in the case someone tries to get cute and flip this on me.

I do not think there is a worst case scenario for me tonight. Because of Jack's vote, I believe I should be positioned well. I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but hell, I think i've done a pretty damn good job at putting myself in a position to win.

[Aaron]

Well, tonight is the night.

After my stellar performance in the challenge last night, I am at risk of going home tonight and all the work i've put in to be meaningless. I feel confident with Jack in the drivers seat, as since Dean left he's been a pocket vote for me. I feel that I have two options- option 1, go with the flow and let jack vote out Kara- option 2, vote out Tommy and give myself the best chance to win.

I think you all know which route I'm leaning toward. It's going to be hard though because Jack really, really really HATES Kara and doesn't want to see her in the end. Which is understandable. But I feel if I can explain to him the value of having her there instead of Tommy, he'll come around. He absolutely started turning a bit last night, almost to the point where I was convinced he was ready to flip, but I still think he needs a bit more pushing. Hopefully Kara can just stay offline and keep her mouth shut so the fucking don can go to work and get this shit done.

Tommy will be going home tonight if I have anything to say about it.

[Aaron]

Well, tonight is the night.

After my stellar performance in the challenge last night, I am at risk of going home tonight and all the work i've put in to be meaningless. I feel confident with Jack in the drivers seat, as since Dean left he's been a pocket vote for me. I feel that I have two options- option 1, go with the flow and let jack vote out Kara- option 2, vote out Tommy and give myself the best chance to win.

I think you all know which route I'm leaning toward. It's going to be hard though because Jack really, really really HATES Kara and doesn't want to see her in the end. Which is understandable. But I feel if I can explain to him the value of having her there instead of Tommy, he'll come around. He absolutely started turning a bit last night, almost to the point where I was convinced he was ready to flip, but I still think he needs a bit more pushing. Hopefully Kara can just stay offline and keep her mouth shut so the fucking don can go to work and get this shit done.

Tommy will be going home tonight if I have anything to say about it.

[Aaron]

Today has been a bit...too quiet.

Tommy doesn't seem to have that same energy and neither does Jack...am I being paranoid, or is something happening behind my back?

I'm going to put some pressure on Jack later on to make sure this is just me being paranoid and nothing more.

[Aaron]

Kara now following suit with that same lack of energy. I feel completely paranoid at this point. Knowing Jack though, even if there is something going on, I can pressure him into at least telling me the truth. Motherfucker.

[Aaron]

Jack has given me verbal confirmation that he's okay voting Tommy out tonight.

If this happens, this will be absolutely massive for me. I don't want to jynx it, so I almost don't even want to talk about it anymore. My stomach is upside down.

[Aaron]

It is 4:30 pm EST, and I have already locked in my vote.

No matter what happens tonight, and what happens going into this weekend, I am proud of the way I played this game. I did what I needed to do to advance, and I took control of what I could control. I have done everything I could to give myself a chance to win, and I hope I can relay that to the jury. A few thank you's:

Poody- Thank you for taking time to create such a fantastic, and realistic experience. I never in my life thought I'd do one of these, let alone enjoy it as much as I have. You are a one of a kind talent, and I look forward to hopefully being a big part of the Stranded/Isolated community following this game.

Nofo- Thank you for taking a chance on the guy that stalked the automatic response email you get from applying to this fucking game to find you on Discord and beg you to give me an interview. I hope I didn't let you down.

Stephanie- Thank you for the words of encouragement during this game. Your messages always gave me that little bit of fire to keep pushing, even when I didn't want to.

Garrett- Thank you for telling me to pick it up with my vote confessionals. They were pretty fucking bad prior to you scaring the shit out of me and appearing in my voting thread.

This will be my last confessional prior to the vote tonight. Hopefully it isn't my last. But if it is; aur revoir and goodbye

[Gary Hogeboom]

Stranded FTC is intense and overwhelming. Congrats on sticking it out and fighting your absolute hardest.

In this final day before crowning a winner, give us a thought about what you saw from the jury. Whose vote do you think you have and who else are you hoping for?

If you have any other reflections about the game, feel free to give us an update on your feelings during finale. We look forward to seeing the whole cast together later tonight!

[Aaron]

At this point, I doubt people are still doing confessionals, but for my own sanity I think i'll just write one more reflecting on this weekends events.

Boy, was it stressful. Going into the Final Tribal, I felt good. I felt that due to the style of game I played, and the people that I was playing with, I had a very good chance to win. I felt great about the reception I got from my opening statement. Going into the questions, I felt as if things were really moving in my favor.

Two things happened though that began to slightly derail the train from the tracks. 1) Because of Jack's lack of ownership of his game, and Kara's almost bully like- intense energy, I made the decision of "over owning my game", but also trying not to make it personal. So getting to a point of near arrogance, while trying to cushion that with kind words. 2) Dean taking HEAVY shots at my game.

The arrogance/kind play was something that I really went back and forth on. Jack was going to go in overly kind, and humble. Kara was going to go in like a wrecking ball. So, my thought was if I could own my game completely while also playing nice, I could ride some sort of middle wave. I think I missed the mark. I also respect Dean's integrity to the game asking everyone difficult questions, but he was the one vote going into this tribal I fully counted on. If he was taking shots at the level he was taking them, I knew the jury must have been chatting- and not in a good way.

Going into the Live Final Tribal (Which that format simply has to be changed), my ultimate fears were realized. Being pegged with questions and comments alike all taking digs at my answers, I knew I was in trouble. Due to the format, you really couldn't take too much time on any one question and I learned that the hard way as I was called out for taking too much time to answer Carl's question (Is Aaron gone?). I was also called out by Nick for my political answers, with Dean co-signing. Tommy also made it very clear his agenda throughout that tribal was to poke holes in my answers, and my game. I suppose I can't blame the guy, I did screw him over pretty badly at the end- but the transparency of his actions did hurt none the less.

In the moment, although I felt the answers I was giving were decent, the tide absolutely began to shift. John & Alison began co-signing Kara's answers and Tommy & Alison essentially cast their vote publicly for Kara. Kara was recognizing the shift, and capitalized on it with her thank you's. If I had to take a guess on how the votes were going to shake out, I'd guess the following-

Kara- Tommy, Alison, John, Nick
Aaron- Dean, Carl, Lauren
Jack- Dan

This would net me a second place finish, and frankly- I can't be upset about that based on my performance at the live final tribal. As much as I really don't feel Kara deserved it with her game play, she stepped up to the plate when it mattered the most. If I could re-do the whole weekend, I would.

So if everything shakes out as I think it might, I will have come up a dollar short. Emotionally, it is fucking gutting putting everything you have into something and getting so close just to fail- but, I can at least sleep knowing that I truly gave all of my effort and then some to try and win this game. This was truly an experience like no other, and for anyone who has ever wanted to apply to Survivor or Big Brother I highly recommend giving this shit a rip.