Morning Update: Veto Ceremony Day. The House Still Won't Pick One Name.

It's Monday morning, July 13, and it's veto ceremony day. Mallory holds the Power of Veto, she's still technically on the block until she uses it, and the one thing the house needed to do overnight — settle on a renom name — is the one thing it didn't do. If anything, the feeds after Sunday night show the opposite: more names, more side deals, more people whispering different targets to different rooms. Ashley is still the loud public answer. She is also, per the overnight feeds, not the only answer.

The board, unchanged

• HOH: Dee Valladares 🔑
• Veto: Mallory Aurichio 🏅 — ceremony today
• Nominees (until ceremony): Mallory, Taylor Brown, Yash Patel 🎯
• Renom: not locked

If you're just waking up, last night's note covered Sunday evening: Ashley's pitch to Dee, Dee floating Yash as the target, and Barrett saying different things to different people. Everything below happened after that, from roughly 8:30 PM Sunday into Monday morning house time.

Kamu says campaign; the vote talk already split

The "Ashley is easy" read is now explicit. At 9:11 PM, Kamu told Haley that Angela will vote however he and Chuk vote, that he wants Ashley on the block, and that she'd be an easy vote-out. That's the cool-kids position stated plainly: Ashley up, Ashley out, no drama.

Except the house isn't reading it that cleanly. At 9:14 PM, Mallory told Melody it looks like Ashley is going home — and Melody said she thinks it's Taylor. Fifteen minutes later, at 9:29 PM, Kamu went to Taylor directly and told her to start campaigning because the house votes are split between Taylor and Ashley. When the guy pushing "Ashley is easy" is also telling Taylor to hustle, the vote is not settled, whatever anyone says in the kitchen.

Meanwhile the cool kids' own volume became a problem inside the group. At 9:33 PM, Devens told Chuk, Haley, and Kamu to chill out — it's week one and he's scared they've already painted a target on themselves. By 9:55 PM, Chuk and Haley were agreeing to protect each other while Angela urged everyone to slow down, adding she's "really good with" Haley. Devens' worry, as you'll see below, was not paranoia.

Mallory and Barrett unpack the block — and the Melody wrinkle

The most substantive overnight conversation ran from about 10:20 to 10:46 PM: Mallory and Barrett, first-block feelings, and a genuinely interesting piece of veto fallout.

Mallory said it's hard not to take being nominated first personally, and that she doesn't trust Drew given how much time he's spending with Dee. She trusts Jason. She thinks the trio rumor floating around about her is Haley and the cool kids stirring the pot.

Then the veto detail: Mallory said she asked Melody to throw the veto to her — and Melody declined, saying she came here to play. Mallory's read is that Melody might not have used the POV on her even if Melody had won it, and that she was effectively competing against her own friend. Barrett's dry response: "I guess y'all weren't in a trio." Barrett also admitted he practically threw the comp himself.

The renom math got the honest treatment too. The two high-fived over the fact that if Barrett isn't the renom, there are three people up who aren't them. Barrett said three or four people have told him Ashley is the renom; Mallory countered that Dee plays her cards tight and this house is a telephone game. Angela, for her part, said she asked Dee directly if she was going up and Dee said no — and Angela doesn't want Barrett up either. They assumed the meeting was "tomorrow" — which is today.

Barrett, alone with the cameras

If you want Barrett's actual game, skip his conversations and watch his cam talk at 1:02 AM. Alone, he laid it out: he wants Ashley to go. He wants to work with Mallory and Taylor. He wants Dee to see him as easy to control — the flirtmance is a tool. He wants Kamu out. He sees Devens as his number one, notes he keeps waking up near Angela, and wants to use the vets as shields while keeping Dee safe if possible.

Hold that against his 10:30 PM hangout with Mallory, where he was commiserating about the block and high-fiving over renom scenarios. It's coherent — Mallory and Taylor as partners, Ashley as the exit — but it's also the same double-talk pattern from Sunday night, now with a stated "make Dee think I'm controllable" layer on top.

The counter-threads: two named alliances, one shared target

Two self-named groups formed or firmed up on the overnight feeds — feed talk, not anything board-certified — and both are pointing away from Ashley-as-the-week's-story.

Court Jesters (Drew/Jason/Melody, ~12:02–1:03 AM): hand signals, a "court dismissed" sign-off, the whole bit. Substantively — Jason wants to keep Taylor, Melody wants Ashley to stay, Drew mostly listens. And Jason named a target: Haley, who he says is running around too much.

Love Triangle (Rome/Jason/Lyric, ~1:19–1:52 AM): Lyric was paranoid about being the renom; Jason and Rome talked her down and said if she somehow went up they'd vote out Yash. Rome wants Haley on the block, said he's planted seeds with Dee that Haley is the fourth wheel of the Haley/Kamu/Chuk group, and there was open blindside-Haley talk. Rome also wants Ashley gone (1:29 AM, saying she doesn't like him), while Jason's read is that Ashley doesn't play the game, she just hangs. Rome, notably, has been calling himself a "lone wolf" to Melody and Mallory — so take the Triangle's cohesion with salt.

Two threads, one overlap: Jason is in both, and both have Haley's name in their mouths. At 1:28 AM, Rome said Dee told him Haley wanted LaLa on the block. Devens told his group to chill for exactly this reason.

Softer texture worth a line: at 9:16 PM a birthday package arrived for LaTrice's 58th (Tuesday), LaLa got emotional, Mallory hugged her. And Ashley remained visibly nervy all night — 10:07 PM hoping the Blockbuster isn't a puzzle to a room of noncommittal answers, noting nobody's approached her about an alliance; Melody at 12:40 AM said Ashley isn't doing well in her talks; Rome at 12:17 AM flatly called her nervous. Also messy: Jason said at 12:05 AM that Yash told him Barrett was a target — Yash is still a nominee and still stirring.

What's open today

The ceremony is today. Mallory pulls herself down, Dee names a replacement, and every conversation above gets stress-tested at once. Ashley is the consensus guess — three or four people told Barrett as much — but Dee plays it tight, Angela says Dee told her no, and two named alliances spent the overnight pushing Haley's name instead. Once the renom is locked, the split Taylor-vs-Ashley vote talk becomes real, and the Blockbuster path starts mattering. Ashley's already praying it's not a puzzle.

Receipts

• 9:11 PM — Kamu to Haley: Angela votes with him and Chuk; wants Ashley up; calls her an easy vote-out
• 9:14 PM — Mallory to Melody: looks like Ashley going home; Melody thinks it's Taylor
• 9:16 PM — Birthday package for LaTrice's 58th (Tuesday); LaLa emotional; Mallory hugs her
• 9:29 PM — Kamu tells Taylor to start campaigning; house split between Taylor and Ashley
• 9:33–9:34 PM — Devens to Chuk/Haley/Kamu: chill out, it's week one; scared they've made themselves a target
• 9:55–10:03 PM — Chuk/Haley agree to protect each other; Angela says slow down, "really good with" Haley
• 10:07–10:11 PM — Ashley hopes Blockbuster isn't a puzzle; room noncommittal; says no one's approached her for an alliance
• 10:20–10:46 PM — Mallory/Barrett: first-block feelings; doesn't trust Drew; trusts Jason; Melody declined to throw veto ("came to play"); Barrett: "I guess y'all weren't in a trio"; Barrett practically threw the comp; high five over not-us renom math; Angela says Dee told her she's safe; 3–4 people told Barrett Ashley is renom; Mallory: Dee plays cards tight
• 12:02–1:03 AM — Court Jesters (Drew/Jason/Melody) named; hand signals; Jason: keep Taylor, Haley is the target; Melody wants Ashley to stay
• 12:05 AM — Jason: Yash told him Barrett was a target
• 12:17 AM — Rome: Ashley is really nervous
• 12:40 AM — Melody: Ashley not doing well in her talks
• 1:02–1:05 AM — Barrett cam talk: Ashley out; work with Mallory/Taylor; be "easy to control" for Dee; Kamu out; Devens #1; vets as shields; keep Dee safe if possible
• 1:19–1:52 AM — Love Triangle (Rome/Jason/Lyric); Lyric renom paranoia talked down; would vote Yash if Lyric up; Rome wants Haley on block, seeded Dee on Haley as fourth wheel; blindside-Haley talk; Rome "lone wolf" to Melody/Mallory
• 1:28 AM — Rome: Dee told him Haley wanted LaLa on the block
• 1:29 AM — Rome wants Ashley gone (says she doesn't like him); Jason: Ashley doesn't play, just hangs