Welcome back!

So good to see you in Stranded again, how are you feeling being back? Your thoughts on the cast?

What did you think about the pick'em, did it reveal anything? Your thoughts on the Refuge twist and how to play it?

Lots on all this and more.. in the morning :P It's already 3:30 am and I have some hardcore PMing to do.

I gotta presume since I am able to PM Paloma, it's allowed? Please tell me if not.. since I've sent her two now and all.

the current refugees: Paloma and Shannon are allowed to speak to any current player of the game until they retire to Refuge.

I was going to be cheeky last night an darrive with, "Here I am, ty for the introduction NayNay", but I am already a threat apparently, so I am toning myself down. just a touch.

It's great to be back! Look at this killer smile!



(Srsly, still not found how to add centre-alignment tags on here?)



I will start with this, since it's a nice to start out with the Season theme Stranded: With Refuge. Let me just point out it was not for nothing I wanted Paloma on this tribe, and it wasn't for first boot fodder/goat material as you would assume. A of all) We have a bond built from last time out (that is; the Aus/US game not Malaysia), in fact she is the only person from my ORGing circles that I have added on fb . And B of all) she would hopefully be the bridge I need between myself and the Zambian contingent. Now I must resort to trusting TajMinaj we'll see how that pans out, but I'd feel a lot more solid with Pal here.

So I have PMd her lots (more than anyone? idk) and it seems she only really has power the very first round. That's too soon for me to become a refugee. I need to fully understand/predict the twist before I can start planning around it.

I did however, plant the seed of Yul being a possible choice if the other tribe won. Take away their challenge powerhouse. leading us to a few wins, then they could assemble a challenge-whore refugee/merge tribe or however the hell it will work. That would make for a killer endgame.

It's a tricky balancing act I guess. Get one of your numbers safe in refuge and you lose a number for now. Get an upper hand in numbers now by having one of theirs sent, and he survives for later in the game.






Yul > Lisi > Penny > Parvati > Christina > Natalie (at Parv's request). Daniel > Ian > Katie > Mike
Catalie > Brenda > Alina > Monica > Taj (at Alina's request) > Ty > Corinne > Erinn > Coach. Na'Onka

Wow at their tribe for a start. I am glad I am over here where the dynamics are at least semi-predictable. Biggest point of interest over there is that Parv is quite the HBICey type, and not against getting together some sort of fem-alliance plus a few others. I will laugh so hard if they boot Yul first, but it's not beyond the realms of possibility the way the pre-bonds are set up. More likely though, I forsee bad things in Daniel's future.

Over here though, every pick just reinforced my per-conceived notions, being;
Catalie lurves Brenda <3 (and everybody knows it :/ )
Brenda is still trying to cod people rather unsuccessfully
Alina likes options
Monica will passively UTR her way all the way to the end
Taj will do anything for the dramz.
NayNay is gonna be trouble.

I'm not gonna read any more into it than that. I will just end up chasing my tail and missing out on the real bond-building.

Now I know you don't want to hear about other games, but sometimes they are important to the relationships I have with these players. So it's gotta be done. That's the peril of Open-ID & All-Stars. I'll keep it to a minimum where possible.



For example, if Stranded was the only ORG in existence, me & Whorelina would be mortal enemies after the scapegoating back in Malaysia. But it's not, and outside the franchise we have a very good relationship. I have taught him how to use Gimp, and helped him plan and host his first game. we talk regularly on AIM, moreso than anyone else in the cast.

Dip into the PMs, her first one to me was, "btw we're allies." I had just assumed as much, and not even mentioned it Anyone who knows us outside the game will be aware of this, but there's no harm letting on to Tyson et al that perhaps there is a rift worth exploiting there. They would be foolish to believe it though. Out of 18 choices, I still picked her ffs! But ofc we are so very obviously close, we're trying to not lay it on too thick, and are taking a "No, we totally over it" approach. Just enough to leave a glimmer of hope of a fraction, and hide our supertight bond somewhat.



Catalie is my other love in this game. Our last game together ended in Shakespearean Tragedy.

God help me if I ever have to choose between these two angels to add to the confusion, these two are at best, mutual friends. Not quite frenemies - they will be willing to work together - but it's never gonna be an easy-threesy.

The biggest benefit & biggest trouble with Catalie is that she is so well-connected. Make no bones about it, she is my #1 and I hers, but I'm sure Nay feels the same way, and maybe Monica.. and Coach.. and.. and... The Con to this is obvious, but the Pro is at least it keeps the likes of Nay from coming straight for my jugular. *fingers crossed*

I'll keep this short, as there'll be much praising of Catalie in future Journals no doubt.

Monica is a sweetheart, and super cute. unfortunately I know who real Monica is, and I've seen her play before. When she is on form she is incredibly hard to play against.

There are only two ways to beat Monica;
1) Have Paloma pick her now, this very round. It runs the risk of her getting her goddamned social epicness on with the entire cast but hopefully this early would overwhelm her. Cross fingers and hope that by the time the merge/outcast/refuge whatever happens, she has lost interest. But this is Stranded and she is keen to play, and unlikely to lose interest like I've seen in other games.
2) Just ally as closely to her as possible. Go as far together as we can, and around F6 have the cast realise there is no way anyone in their right mind should go to the end with her. She's awful at challenges iirc, so I think this is the path to take. Also she is a critical number if we are to nip a Zambian takeover in the bud.

Ironically I spent that game with Catalie always wondering whether Monica or myself was her true #1. I can see that pattern repeating itself here.




Coach I like. I like his schtick, and I know underneath it there is a solid strategically sound player, who is not afraid of big moves. My plan with him is not to jump into bed with him straight off the bat, just to keep communications open, and see how it pans out for now. I'm a little wary of his Zambian connections, but not overly so.





NayNay is such a flight risk. I don't think she knows that I know she was trying to flip the script on me as Malaysia drew to a close for her.. but I do Already she is mouthing off about how I am some kind of big threat to others. That might be enough to make me first boot Saving grace, she too is extremely close to Catalie and that is what I need to rely on here - her to keep her on a leash. I'm hoping she won't want to alienate herself or jump into bed with strangers too early, and that will give me a little more time. I will of course play happy families for the time being.





I wish I could fully trust Mama Bison, I really do. She is great to talk to for starters, and just my type of devious strategist. She likes to flip the script sometimes just to keep the game interesting. I love this. Unfortunately, I wouldn't love it if it resulted in my ouster, and the way she is set up straddling Malaysia to Zambia that is where it will happen if it happens :/ I am hung between getting so close to her, that we stir up a crazy round or two together, or cutting her out early, so she doesn't get a chance to pull something against me.
Her/Nay & the Zambians booting me this very round?? Not that far-fetched.

IDK what to do with Corinne. I sent her what I thought was a well constructed PM poking fun at myself and at opening PMs in general, and she sent back four words. Four. None of which belong in manages to become a 4th place boot? If she's awful, why didn't she make the end? If she was a threat, why is she awful now?

I don't even care. First boot please. Prolly not gonna happen unless I organise it, which kinda goes against my stay social, keep your head down strategically tactic.




I have admittedly also talked very little to Erinn so far. But she seems fun & friendly, and still a little bitter at Coach maybe? They at least voted opposing ways several times during their season, so that's a rumor I could get behind.




Of the players I didn't know coming into the game, Tyson is by far the easiest to talk to. Buut, he's also the easiest name to push out as first boot, to keep Taj onboard if nothing else. idk idk, I don't want to be seen as too schemey and power-hungry too soon. That can wait till later.

This bitch <3

I love playing as her. More than any other character I've done.

Paloma hinted she might pick me tonight. I didn't jump into it, or shy away either.

I want her to pick me if that's what she feels is best. Or to pick someone else so I know where I stand, at least.