Austranded: Red Centre

Oh hey there!

So full disclosure, I barely know who Troye Sivan is but I will play the part! I was googling Australian celebrities and then I recognized him because I've heard some of his songs, and he's famous for being a twink pop icon or something like that. And you know what? From what I remember I do like his music so here we go! I think I also remember Whoopi Goldberg mispronouncing his name on The View once and then she apologized at the end of the segment.

Anyway! I'm glad to be here. And not nearly as late as I thought I was, because I guess we've had not one, not three, but four inactives bite the bullet thus far? I'll get into this in a moment, but some of them are big disappointments. Regardless I'm glad that the game is just beginning still!

So who is gone thus far... Henry, Locky, El, Janine.

IDK who the men there are. Sorry! Maybe they played recently or maybe they didn't, but I checked the list and I can't comment on what I expected for them! Oh well! But Janine.... well, so it's obviously a disappointment she didn't show. But a part of me isn't surprised either. No offense! Nothing against Mia and we've always gotten along, she was basically responsible for me ever being cast in Stranded in the first place and she hosted my very first ORG ever.... but I haven't seen her around online in ages! Yknow? Like I can't remember the last time I've seen her mulling around, so I guess maybe she's really busy IRL or something. And that's fine! I just wish she had been a force here like we know she could have been.

Oh and El! That's another disappointment because I was heavily considering her for my draft pick. QL is a great player and 2020 was a great year for her especially, I know she has what it takes to do really well and I wouldn't have been surprised if she won this. But also I know she can get overwhelmed when there's a ton of twists, etc., to get used to and maybe the board with the layout and live chat was daunting. Well, I guess we don't know for sure because I don't see posts in her confessional, but yeah. I think she could have done very well here but she's out, so oh well. :(

This opener was not as substantial as I would have liked, but I'm just getting to the board and caught up now. I haven't read any confessionals or live chats yet! Which, again, it's a relief that nobody has been legit voted out yet because I hope to stay up-to-date and blog along! (watch this be the only post in this thread by the end of the game, lul).

It won't be! Positive thinking! This blog WILL keep up with the game. Let's go read some confessionals when we have the time!

I caught up! Mostly. I still have to read all of the Green tribe's confessionals, but I know many of the icons are there so we have all game for that.

I have a meeting very shortly and then a lot of other stuff this afternoon so I don't have time for a huge update, but let's see...

Starting with the blue tribe, I love Tessa. She is a social force already, but not in a domineering sense from what I've gathered at least from her confessional. She's just positive, likeable, and she's owning as a social force naturally! Everyone loves her. I will say her gif usage can be a bit all over the place at times but it's working for her! And I can't finish discussing this tribe without praising Kristie... ICON. LEGEND. She is amazing and I love how some think she's doing a "noob shtick" with the Liking of the posts, not understanding challenges, etc. I really hope that team doesn't lose because she NEEDS to survive and go on a run if she can. Or maybe she could randomly survive anyway if they got rid of someone like Tegan instead? Who I also really like so that would suck too... and is she even on the bottom anymore? Idk I need to be more tuned in. Either way, this tribe cannot lose tonight! Oh and I love Ben since Flicka and I go way back as allies, and I'm so proud of him for finding that idol. He's still got that edge after all these years!

As for the purple tribe, obviously Daisy is the standout as we knew she would be. Socially great thus far, and the clear star of that tribe imo. I really like Baden too, and I feel like they would be good together long-term because their energies kind of contrast and they're both likeable. I will say I feel like Michelle is serving a lot, but how much of it is hitting? Hmm... idk idk! She has the enthusiasm and the energy but for me there's still a disconnect in the confessional to fully get behind her ~journey~ at least for now. And I feel like some of the tribemates were feeling similar in terms of avoiding certain questions, etc.? Did she find an idol though? I think she did in which case good for her! I think she could do well but I also feel like she may get got sooner than she thinks.

And then the yellow tribe, I really like. Or moreso... I really love Mat and Kylie. They are both absolute standouts, and for different reasons. Anyway. I'll be disappointed if Mat doesn't go on an HBIC run here because he has what it takes to do so, and I love those excel screenshots. Kylie also has what it takes to dominate and maybe even win!? And then the rest of this tribe is good too, but those two are game-wide standouts.

Finally we get to the green tribe, which I mentioned I still have to catch up on. So I feel like I'm missing a lot of the dynamics here, but I will say Jericho's whining is hilarious and I'll be disappointed if he doesn't make the merge. Plus, I know the player ID too and we've had conversations and gotten along just in the past just talking, etc. So I'm rooting for him. And obviously I'm rooting for my winner pick, Casey, whose confessional I still need to catch up on but I'm sure she's been doing just fine thus far. The rest I will be watching closely and I will catch up on their confessionals tonight! I just wanted to post this update before I'm busy for a good chunk of the afternoon.

That's it for now! <3

Alright! So before assessing what's actually happened and who's said what since last night, let's do a quick initial assessment of these tribes.

Ben | Casey | Jarrad | Jericho | Kristie | Michelle

So a lot of folks who may have been in trouble all ended up here! Which is amazing for all of them, lol. I hadn't realized that Casey's position on Green wasn't as good as I thought it was, so I'm hoping now that she's free from Nova she can get some better footing. And then Jericho and Kristie I feel were both slated to go? And Michelle was left out of the vote lol? So this tribe is a bit of a mess at first glance.... also they have two idols, no? Don't Ben and Michelle both have idols or did I make up Michelle finding one? *I check* Okay she does. So yeah.

Yknow... initially I was fully on board with "Yas Queen"ing Jericho's journey here, but I caught up on confessionals last night and, like, while the whining is hilarious it's also a bit ridiculous and it's almost like he's performing mental gymnastics to find an issue and a complaint with, like, everything for some reason. I still like the player and the ID and I'm rooting for him for that, but he also needs to snap out of this and just play the game, as iconic as some of his posts have been. But if he doesn't and if he goes when/if this team loses, I feel like... that's the ~correct~ outcome. Especially if it keeps Kristie safe and allows her to gain some footing. Omg. Imagine the two of them meeting? Lol. I am excited to catch up on chats.

Daisy Mark | Mat | Nova | Sarah | Mark

So. Stacked tribes are a normal part of any game, and I'm a firm believer in the philosophy that nobody is ever fully fucked based on a swap alone, and you can & should always be able to think up a solution to save your ass on any tribe if you're creative. resourceful, and social. Well, of course, exceptions to that have and will always exist. But by and large, yeah, though... I'm rambling and getting away from the point.

This IS a stacked tribe, but the tangent above more meant that I wouldn't say any one person is DOA based on the makeup itself. And that's good and fair. Even though a lot (all) of the "targets" are elsewhere. Lol. But that's part of the game! And it's good! Because it's giving those people we love like Kristie a chance instead of just getting onto a tribe & status quo'd out of the game.

But all of that will make it harder for these folks for a while. Because from what I gathered in those early confessionals.... Daisy, Mat, and Tessa were each of the social standouts on their initial tribes lol. And while I think Sharn was doing the best on Green, like, Sarah was right up there with her doing very well and Nova can clearly hold her own too.

I'm not sure what's going to happen here. I have some thoughts about what I would do and how I would approach this. But I'm not playing. So let's see! I'm rooting for Daisy the most here, so let's see what she does.

Baden | David | Kylie | Ross | Sharn | Tegan

I have the least to say about this tribe, not for anything against the players because some of my favorites are here, but there's no crazies and it doesn't seem as chaotic as the middle team might be either. Or maybe nuPapunya will surprise us with what they do. Anyway, that's not the tribe we're talking about.

Baden is in a really good spot in the sense that he has Ross, who he just saved, and you're always going to feel connected to someone after a flip. Especially if it was you who got saved, lol. But then Baden has more leverage because he's the one that did the saving, so he has more power in the situation because if he so chooses, he could just let Ross go if that's the path of least-resistance. Since he was fine doing it before. I will say that would be throwing away a good ally, but also you can only help someone so much too if they're targeted. Not to say Ross will be targeted but he was almost voted out last night so maybe he'll be in trouble again here, idk yet.

And Kylie and David are together, I think David really likes her? Or I need to brush up on their relationship. Anyway. Sharn is alone but she's been such a powerhouse socially thus far, I have no worries she'll be just fine. Then with Tegan we'll see. She was near the bottom of Blue at least at one point, and I'm not sure whether it was because she showed up later, maybe didn't connect with the specific tribemates, etc. but she'll definitely have work to do here too being alone and I really like her from the confessionals I've read so I hope she can establish some allies here!

Yeah, this third tribe does feel the least chaotic, just in the sense that I can see a lot of potential outcomes depending on who puts in the work socially, who is loyal to who, etc. They don't have a scapegoat like Jericho or Kristie to throw under the bus, so it should be a very fair tribe too and again, I'm really happy with how that first tribe worked out because of that.

More thoughts later... I haven't commented on last night's flip yet but I may if I have time because I did have some thoughts on it, and it was sad to see Harry gone so soon.