Ethan makes a move and the alliance holds its first meeting

After the Gladiator Gauntlet is over, the houseguests all head back inside the house. It's now early afternoon, and the house settles back into a somewhat ordinary routine. The new Have-Nots (Alina, Julian, Marcus and Roxy) start moving their things into their new room. As you're putting some of your laundry in the washing machine, Ethan comes up to you with a nervous energy you've never seen from him before.

ETHAN - "Hey, John. Uh, can I ask your help with something?"
John - "Sure, what do you need?"
ETHAN - "Um, so...heh heh...I, uh, want to ask Raquel on a date."

You've known that Ethan was attracted to Raquel for some time. You've caught him staring at her more times than you can count, but as far as you know they've never held an actual conversation. You doubt Raquel has any interest in him, but Ethan coming to you about this presents a unique opportunity. You've had plenty of experience in your life courting and wooing beautiful women, and here you have the chance to pay it forward. Even if nothing comes of this with him and Raquel, perhaps you can help Ethan build his confidence to use in his life back home.

John - "Well, it's about time. I was wondering when you'd buck up the courage."
ETHAN - "Was I that obvious?"
John - "I just have an eye for these things. So how can I help you?"
ETHAN - "Well, I don't have much experience with talking to girls. Could you, I dunno, give me some pointers?"
John - "Alright, sure, I can do that. But the first thing you need to know is that there is no special trick or shortcut. If you want to win a woman over, you've got to put in some work. Can you handle that?"

Ethan agrees and you spend some time training him. You help him practice approaching Raquel and asking her out. You share suggestions for conversation topics so he doesn't get stuck with nothing to say. You advise Ethan on connecting with women, using open body language and eye contact to communicate confidence, as well as asking good questions and using reflective listening to show your interest in them. Most of all, though, you teach him your golden rule.

John - "When you put yourself and your feelings out there, it can be scary. It opens you up to rejection, which will probably happen more often than not. Just remember the most important thing is to always respect a woman's decision. If she says 'no', that's it. Don't try to push the issue. Don't lash out. Even though it hurts in the moment, it will get easier. Do you understand?"

Ethan nods in agreement, then hugs you in thanks for the advice. You send him back off into the house with a bit more strut in his step, at least until he stumbles on the pavement. He's certainly no Casanova, but he's a good kid.

Later that afternoon, all nine members of the alliance from week one meet together in the HOH bedroom. This is the first time all nine of you (Daisy Mae, Roxy, Ellie, Isabel, Chirag, Danielle, Marcus, Liam and you) have been able to talk openly with each other since the alliance formed, so you have a few orders of business to take care of. First item on the agenda is nominations, which Daisy Mae will need to make that evening.

DAISY MAE - "So, are we all still in agreement that Julian is the target this week?"

The group all chime in with agreement.

ROXY - "We should definitely try to get him out while we have the chance."
DAISY MAE - "My only concern is the Veto. Julian has a great track record in these competitions. If he plays, he could easily win, and then I'll be his target next week."
DANIELLE - "So then you backdoor him. Put up two pawns initially then, if the Veto gets used, name Julian as the replacement."
ISABEL - "I don't know. What happens if the person who wins doesn't use it? We could miss our opportunity."
John - "It's a risk either way, but we can potentially work out a deal with the Veto winner if we need them to use it for the backdoor. If we put up Julian and he wins, there's no way to salvage that."
MARCUS - "So, if that's the plan, then Daisy Mae needs to nominate two other people."
DAISY MAE - "I won't put up anyone in this room, so that leaves Victoria, Raquel, Eugene, Ethan, or Alina. Does anyone have any strong opinions about who should be the ones?"

The group goes around and names who they'd like to see nominated. There's one name that comes up more than any other: Alina. Her combative nature, poor competition performance and lack of strong connections in the house all make her a clear choice for this plan. Choosing a second name proves to be harder, however. The two names that are brought up the most are Victoria and Eugene.

CHIRAG - "We want someone in the Veto competition who can win, right? Victoria's already won the Veto once, so we should send her."
LIAM - "Yeah, but then Victoria will be against us. Eugene is already in Alina's corner, so nominating him next to her won't get any more blood on our hands."
ELLIE - "Do we really have to nominate him two weeks in a row, though? He hasn't done anything to deserve it."

The discussion continues on like this for a short while, but no clear consensus is reached. You're all being mindful of how much time you spend together as you don't want the other houseguests to suspect you're all aligned with each other. You agree to end the conversation for now and let Daisy Mae have some time to figure out what she wants to do on her own. Before you wrap up, though, there's one more important order of business to attend to.

DAISY MAE - "We need to come up with an alliance name."
ISABEL - "Could we do something with Roman numerals? Like, IX, since there's nine of us?"
DANIELLE - "What about The RemIX? That's got the IX in."
CHIRAG - "Or MatrIX!"
ROXY - "But we can't be called The Matrix! That's already a thing!"
MARCUS - "I was thinking something like The Senate. The Romans were one of the first civilizations to have elected officials make decisions on behalf of the masses. We're the ones making decisions on who goes home in this house."
ELLIE - "Does it have to be Roman themed? We could just have a regular name like Squibble Squad!"
LIAM - "What is a squibble?"
ELLIE - "I don't know. It just sounds cool!"

After a few minutes of discussion, the group eventually settles on a name. As you draw the meeting to a close, you all get up and put your hands together to solidify the alliance.