Fashion muse, the hippest of hipsters, the trendiest of trendsetters! A pleasure to meet you.I am very sorry to hear that you were otherwise engaged, but I really think you should call it off. Marriage is really not worth it. Trust me, I would know!
But alas, the engagement was arranged by not my own hand! Unless I can find another suitable suitor, I am surely to spend my days in an unhappy marriage!I shall simply rebel by spending my time on Survivor than on him. How are you finding everyone in our tribe so far? Have your engagements with them gone smoothly?
Gosh darn it! I always hate it when that happens. Your rebellion plan is devious and I love it. It’s all about the small victories, you know.I would say my engagements thus far have not been as smooth as I would have liked, probably due to my own strangeness (and to some degree, absence) more than anything else! But the people and even the critters do seem quite personable so far and I look forward to getting to know them more.What about for you?
I, myself, was absent last night so I can't really fault you for that! It can be frustrating when it is out of your control and it feels like everyone's speeding away, but so far the only really super active player has seemed to be Fox. He is quite the chatterbox and very enthusiastic, which I appreciate. For what it's worth, Peter told me especially liked your opening messages because you made him laugh a lot. So I'd say your engagements may have been going smoother than you thought! Everyone is quite nice. I'd say I've had the most difficulty getting a conversation going with Francis thus far. We had an awkward start and then he just kinda stopped responding, but I will try to restart our engagement!
I think there's definitely a sense of Fear Of Missing Out that is not entirely warranted. There are times when I'm offline for many hours and assuming that, as you say, everyone's speeding away, but then if I have a boring day and am online for most of it, it'll feel like nothing's happening! Oh Survivor.Fox's enthusiasm has come up in a few of my conversations, but like you, I actually appreciate it. I always respect when someone is just putting themselves out there and saying "I want to be the super active one!" Maybe back in my heyday I would have been the same. I just don't have the hips for it anymore sadly.Your mention of Peter is actually much appreciated, and eases my early insecurities somewhat! It also made me realize that I had left him on read, which I have no fixed (oops). Thank you :)(I am not sure I can say that my other engagements have been smooth though. Men are just so fickle! Changing their minds all the time!)I quite liked Francis to begin with but he also hasn't messaged me in a while. Maybe he is also otherwise engaged? I did neglect to message Guinness Stew man for a while (Mr. Fischer?), but I have also remedied that. It's all up from here Margot!Now I just need to work out what to discuss about this challenge. I like fish I guess?
Yeah, I definitely deal with that. At the same time, I'm trying to be healthy with my boundaries around Survivor and not devote every waking free minute to it just because I'm afraid of being left out. It's not really working thus far but oh well.Fox seems a little green but his enthusiasm is still much appreciated. It helps to have someone discussion centers around. He seems willing to work with a lot of people going forward which is good to keep in mind too.Of course! I've been trying to check in with how everyone if feeling about everyone else and Peter's mention of you was something that stuck out in my mind. Unfortunately, with Francis gone, what seemed to be trending towards a consensus boot is no more. On the bright side, I really like his replacement. Although that does make a potential TC messy. I'm hoping we just avoid it completely with this challenge.I wish it was more clear how useful these items are supposed to be.
I do think the early stages are probably the worst. And maybe *fingers crossed* with an immunity win or two we’ll even get some downtime. Wouldn’t that be nice?I do like it how you say Fox seems willing to work with a lot of people. My thoughts were along those lines as well. Hard to know if it will be a problem but so far there’s a real openness about him at least.I also agree regarding Francis’ replacement, and at least from first impressions I doubt that Royal would be someone I would want to vote out either. I definitely would rather someone that I like than dislike, and it sounds like the same for you, but as you say… TC. I think it’ll be a case of talking through options and seeing what there’s least opposition too, but I also don’t think there will be a clear consensus right off the bat.
That would be very nice. The beginning of the game always feels like a desperate dash to get past the opening conversations and having a lull is a good opportunity to really get to know people.Fox has cemented himself as like "the leader" and the people most people are turning to. He knows it too. I think there are some risks associated with that type of play but at least for now I appreciate the transparency from him.Who are you connecting with / enjoying the most so far?
I completely agree regarding the early stages of the game. In some ways it’s remarkable to me how different early stages of the game have been depending on the game. I’ve seen both situations where people barely talk about the game at all for the first few days, and situations where it’s all anyone wants to talk about in the first few hours.In regards to your question, there are people who I feel I would like to get to know more (Max and Royal in particular come to mind), but out of the others, Peter and Buckley are people who I’ve probably enjoyed most? Similar, whilst you and I haven’t had much in the way of quantity of PMs, you have really put me at ease in a way that other people haven’t and that’s really important to me!I have heard generally quite good things about Klaus from others but he hasn’t seemed as responsive to me. Steve I’ve had some difficulty continuing conversations with, and Rat has been a bit abrasive but that could be a personality style and not one that I mind necessarily, just it seems like it’s limited my connection with them a bit.But yeah I think with those last three it’s mostly a case of my own connection with them needing work. I haven’t been the most consistently around this game, and I expect that different people will have their own quite different close connections.
Yeah, that difference is remarkable to me too. Tribe composition has such a massive effect on which direction conversations flow. I usually prefer a healthy mix of both. Game is where the meat is but at the same time I want to get to know the people I’m playing with. Peter and I hit it off instantly so I’m glad there’s a commonality there. I really liked Buckley but he kinda stopped responding to me frequently at all, so I’m left wondering if I said the wrong thing. I’ve probably had trouble connecting to Klaus the most overall, but I’ve heard good things and I think it’s probably just my own absences that have made connecting more difficult.Rat seems to be a self-proclaimed as socially awkward. My own conversation with him has been pleasant enough, but you aren’t the only one to have mentioned a little abrasiveness in interactions with him.I’m really glad! I never like to make people feel like they have to PM me a huge volume just because I know how much of a time sink Survivor already is. That is, I really look for quality in responses over quality for people that I want to keep around.Hopefully, we don’t have to make any hard decisions this round.Do you have any fun weekend plans?
I think to my detriment I can sometimes get frustrated with the "typical" early game-talk. It's probably necessary to actually form those in-game connections, but I suppose I'm still searching for a way to do it that doesn't feel... formulaic to me? Then again, maybe it just isn't worth getting all over-thinky about these things!!I really want to like Rat, because I feel the social awkwardness hard, but they literally told me that I was one of the two less active people in the tribe and that "there's not much else to like really". And on top of that it's often Rat's that's taken longer to reply to me than I have to them? And Rat was telling me that Klaus was one of the active people that they like, while I haven't heard from Klaus for over 24 hours. It was just all a bit strange to me and I guess all I can do is hope that Rat changes their mind? I don't know?And yeah unfortunately it looks like we'll have to be making a decision this round. (A bit baffling the amount of money that was spent bidding on items, but I don't want to labor on that too much, it is what it is).--As for my weekend, not much that's too exciting. But I will be picking up a new laptop which is sorely needed because I've had my current one for about 5 years and it's practically falling apart. What about you?
Yeah, that's totally fair. I get a little sick of the "What's your favorite animal?" type questions. It's not anyone's fault exactly, it's just like, can we skip to the part where we're both talking about what we actually want to talk about? Building repertoire is valuable and all but it's really hard to do from scratch.Yikes. I also have not heard from Klaus in a long time which is a little worrying. Fox has been chomping at the bit to throw out names for the vote here. The first three he threw out were Rat's, yours, and The Royal Tenenbaum. I'm going to be pushing him suggesting him towards the other two names because I'd very much like if you stuck around. I feel like you're among the more level headed people here and I value that a lot. I think Fox is leaning towards the replacement at the moment but I'll let you know if I hear anything else or anything changes.I offered to work with Peter for the vote this around and I'd like to work with you too if you'd be amenable. I think we should be able to swing the vote if we do.I hope the new laptop is nice! I'm always bringing my technological devices to their very limits because I'm stubborn about replacing them. I'm baking a cake for a friend's birthday, possibly carrot cake? And then playing some boardgames with them.
Thanks for letting me know about Fox! I did get the sense that I probably hadn't been active enough for him so it's not a huge surprise to me, but I very much appreciate your help there. I would definitely like to work with you as well, and while I haven't heard from Peter in a little bit, I look forward to the opportunity to talk things through with him too.Fox has only mentioned Royal as a name to me so far. Initially I thought that Royal would be unlikely as a vote because my first impression was very positive (as it sounds like yours was too!) but I haven't heard from him as I would've expected to these last few hours, which is a real shame! I see he's been online though, so who knows what could happen? I'll let you know too if I hear anything unusual. I did say earlier that I probably wouldn't want to vote Royal, but obviously given the circumstances I could see myself doing that. I would prefer not to keep tooo many people here that are likely to want me voted out in the near future, but I'm feeling positive enough for now.I can definitely relate to that sort of stubbornness! I'm like that with things like shoes too. My shoes often need to have at least five holes in them before I buy new ones (well... maybe I'm exaggerating, but not by much!).Cake-baking sounds like a fantastic weekend activity! I would do the same, but I wouldn't have anyone to give the cake to at the moment, and I would just be left with far too much cake! I hope that your friend has a fantastic birthday.I would also love to talk board games, but I am conscious of PM length getting a bit out of hand while we have a tribal to discuss. :P Maybe something to keep in mind for later!
Fox is leaning mostly towards Royal at the moment. I would also not prefer Royal as I share your sentiment that he could be useful in the future. His inactivity will make it a slightly uphill battle but I think there are viable (not you) alternatives. Rat is the main one that I've heard both Fox and Steve mention. A few people had rather abrasive interactions with rat and honestly he strikes me as someone who will probably be going out sooner or later. I'd rather give more time to Royal to prove himself. I'll let you know how the situation unfolds.Thank you! I would love to talk about such things to but lets simply agree to ace the next challenge so we can have a bit of a breather for board game talk ;)
Quick reply and will have more to say later but if there is an alternative to Royal you can count me in as a number for that
Gotcha, I'm trying to push Rat at the moment and see who bitesHonestly I'd probably prefer a Klaus elimination the most but I get the vague feeling he may be more well liked overall
Foxy is suggesting Rat to me now fyi
Yeah that's what I'm hearing as wellI prefer that to Royal, who I feel can be swayed to work with us in the future
Okie dokie!Foxy seems solidly wanting Rat out (at least in his conversations with me) now and is kind of pretending that he never wanted Royal out anyway (which is more amusing than anything else). Oh well!The tricky part is that I still haven't actually heard anything tc-related from Klaus, Buckley, or Royal himself honestly (though Foxy tells me Royal is on board with voting Rat). And Steve was a bit vague with me, not really indicating who he wanted to vote for.You may be a bit more up to date than me, and if Foxy's pushing for Rat to go I expect that's what will happen, but yeah... still a bit of opportunity for things to go pear-shaped maybe.But yeah, I definitely agree that Royal would be better to have around than Rat at this stage. Especially with people still seemingly protecting Klaus (and Rat being one of them) despite going for other people based on "activity". Seems a bit funny to me.
Yeah, it seems like Fox has a bit of a habit of overcommitting to one course of action and pretending that it was always his favorite (the most bestest) course of action. I don't mind in this case though because I think a rat elimination is good for both of us.I spoke to Royal and he seems content with the Rat push. Honestly, since Royal was the alternative to Rat, I think Royal is just happy that there IS a possible alternative. Steve had some abrasive interactions with Rat is on board for sure.I also know that Fox has been trying to form a major alliance group so that he can control the eliminations. I'm pretty sure he has Max and Steve in that group. He's asked me to join with them as well, which I'm a little leery of just because I'm unsure Fox will be able to hide the fact that he's part of a large alliance. Also, I'm not like the closest with Max and Steve, although I like them well enough.I just wanted to let you know this because this is the biggest group I've heard about and since it has Fox organizing it they will probably be spearheading most of the eliminations. I'm on Fox's good side for the most part so I'm gonna try to influence him where I can, but Max and Steve are pretty close too so I think we can count on those three voting as a bloc. Which for this round is good I think, but something to keep in mind for the future.So I see the tribe organized into the following groups:Fox - Max - SteveKlaus - Rat (Buckley maybe?? I haven't heard from Buckley in ages and have no idea where he is honestly)I would like to work with you going forward if you feel the same. I feel like if we keep it on the downlow we can shift the focus of the Fox/Max/Steve trio away from us and towards Rat/Klaus. I also think Royal is a free agent currently we could probably get to work with us in the future
Hah yeah, that's totally it, but I agree with you. I think it's the sort of thing that'll probably annoy people eventually, but I do like Foxy. Definitely happy to work with him in the meantime.Thanks also for letting me know about Foxy's plan to form an alliance group. It seems like you did have at least some influence in regards to the vote plan changing from Royal to Rat, which is a really good sign I think.It has been an absolute pleasure working through this vote with you and it honestly makes me feel great about continuing to do this ongoing, so yes, I would be honored to work with you. :) I'm not aware of any other groups forming at this point, other than what you've just mentioned, but I agree that Royal in particular (and hopefully Peter though he seems to have been a bit busy today) are people who we could potentially also side with.
Yeah, exactly, I feel the same way. I think for now people are content enough to have someone vocal who will make things happen. But eventually some opposition is going to rise against them.Yeah, I was surprised how easy it was to influence them. Fox has basically listed you, Royal, and Rat as potential options at the very beginning of tribal, and I just gently nudged them towards Rat, explaining I thought you and Royal might have had more overall positive interactions and be people good to have around in the future. I wasn't sure how much they were listening at first but it sounds like they went around and campaigned for it after that.Peter has been less active but I do think that would be a fairly good group. I'm pretty sure Fox wasn't selective at all with who he talked to about a rat vote, so it's possible Rat really didn't have many/any allies, or the allies he might have had simply jumped ship when Fox was campaigning
I also thought it was interesting that everyone ended up voting Rat without too much fuss (at least not from what I saw). The people questioning it most appeared to be Max and Steve (they both initially indicated a preference for voting Royal to me and then seemed slightly confused by the Rat vote) but other than that not much opposition.Also nice hit on the bullseye!
Interestingly, Steve was one of the first to suggest Rat as an alternative to Royal, at least to me. I think that behavior could be a case of Steve/Max trying to distance themselves from Fox, who was actively campaigning for Rat to go as far as I could tell. Thanks! I'm hoping the other tribe is struggling as much as we seem to be with this challenge :pPeter just approached me saying that he's getting the vibe a group of him, me, you, and Royal might be able to work together here. I'm probably least sure of Royal here just because I don't know about what other connections he might be forming, but that probably sounds good?
That is very interesting, and makes me think that you must be right. I did indeed find it sort of confusing that Steve and Max were seemingly going along with the Rat vote begrudgingly despite actually being quite close to Fox.I don't think we're doing tooo badly, but any (unintentional) miss is a bit frustrating. I was so scared it would happen to me so I made sure to damage control so that I wouldn't look too much like a goof!Like you, I don't know to what degree Royal is connecting with others, but on a superficial level, I feel like I get along quite well with him. It's actually really nice to hear that Peter suggested having me in a group as we hadn't talked about the game much up to now but he's also someone I like a lot so I think that group would work for me.
