Episode One

[Rory Freeman]

So here I am, stranded in the middle of China, with 17 other personalities. My strategy coming into the game is to be the nice guy people can relate to. I don't want to come across as a negative personality, which is often what happens to me in games so my goal this time is to just be likable. I am often misunderstood as being an over the top caricature, and thus get voted off very quickly, so I want to prove that I can actually play a game with linear thinking and not throw it all away because of my emotions. That being said, I still plan to keep my old self into this game. The last thing I would want to do is become a strategy bot. No one likes that. So I will try to keep my emotions in, but I'm not going to let them TAKE OVER my whole game. That often happens and probably WILL happen regardless but c'est la vie.

Now onto the game. So I started talking to some people yesterday, essentially just feeling them out. Na'Onka and I hit it off right at the get go. I think it was because we were the two black people in this game, we bonded because of it. I think we were just skeptical of being on the outs because of the race. I don't expect to be voted out because of it, but if there was a "young hot person" alliance, I don't think they would include US in that. It's just how I feel. Sadly, Na'Onka and I weren't put on the same tribe so I think we're pretty much done there. I hope we can reconnect later, but I don't know if I would be willing to stick my neck out for her if I'm secure. Knowing me, I probably would though.

I spoke with Parvati and Chad too, both who are not on my tribe. It just seems like I'm experiencing some bad luck here already. Oh well, it's not the end of the world. Parvati seems nice and I could tell while talking with her that she seemed genuine, same with Chad. We didn't really talk about anything of relevance to the game, but it was nice to open up the bonds there.

So I was put on the Gnas Ri tribe, which is the grey tribe. Initially, I didn't like my tribe, only because I had so many blossoming relationships with people who ended up on Babs Chu but I'm over that. It's part of the game and I've been getting along with people on my own tribe just fine. I've talked to Adam, Burton and Chase the most on my tribe. They're all nice people who I would like to get to know better.

With our tribe going to tribal council so early, I think everyone is definitley nervous of being the first one voted off. I know I am. I hope I can get to know my tribe better so I can work myself into a good position. I don't want to be no scapegoat.

[Rory Freeman]

So last night Kelly Bruno and I hit it off! She was the first person on this tribe who I actually felt a connection with. Everyone else... they seem like nice people but I wasn't getting any vibes from them with regards to people I can trust. I feel like I can trust Kelly and hopefully she can trust me. We agreed to look out for each other because we only have each other in the game. As long as we make it through the first tribal council, I think we'll be fine.

I feel like I will survive this first tribal because, here's the thing, at least one third of our tribe never goes on AIM. I haven't seen Andrea, Julie or Dolly on AIM since the game started, and they may blame it on a bad internet connection, but I don't care. If you make yourself an easy target, I will vote for you. I'm not in a place where I feel secure enough to keep people who I don't know. Regardless, if I have 3 easy vote offs, that will allow me time to find my footing in this tribe.

[Rory Freeman]

Last night was weird. Someone on our tribe, started a group chat and all of our tribe was in there. Well most of them anyways. It was just awkward there was so many gaps of silence. I don't know if it was because I was there but there we didn't really discuss anything. It was just a waste of time.

Seeing the results of the challenge, I was SHOCKED. I got so many flowers that I wasn't expecting. Maybe I'm just being a little bit paranoid but I never really felt like I fit in with this tribe. I don't know. The two winners, Misty and Burton were no shocks. Burton talks with EVERYONE. He's always online and memorizes the times in which people are available () and have been online. Burton is... weird. I don't know. Talking to him, he seems like he's CONSTANTLY nervous about something. We literally had this exchange:

Me: Yeah, you totally won the challenge. You're always online.
Burton: WHAT? WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT :shifty eyes:
Me: Uh... you just catch everyone online.
Burton: DO YOU REALLY THINK PEOPLE WILL GIVE ME FLOWERS FOR THAT? >_<
Me: ..........................well I mean it's the first challenge so, yeah, probably.

Something isn't right about that boy. I don't know if he can't handle compliments. Maybe he thinks he'll be targeted for being nice to everyone? Dude, it's the first round. It would be stupid to vote you out because you talk to everyone.

I definitely would like to see Burton go, but not because he's social. I just... can't trust him. I have NO idea if what he tells me is true. I think he'll be a valuable asset to the tribe, but once he's not needed, I need him out of here.

Misty winning the challenge is no surprise. She literally went around to everyone and was like "GIVE ME FLOWERS NOW" and immediately ended the conversation after the exchange was over. I don't know if that's how she's like as a PERSON but she definitely strikes me as a gamebot and gamebots NEED to leave now.

The only people that I havent spoken with are Coach and Julie. I'm not usually one to go up and chat with people, it's just who I am, but yeah, I want either Coach or Julie to go first just because there is no relationship there. A lot of people discussed Julie as the first to go, just because she wasn't around much and I agreed because it's an easy vote. The situation that we're in right now is weird because people haven't really been able to prove themselves as competitors so we just have to go off what we know and what I know is that Julie isn't around much. Julie has to go.

I'm anxious over the vote because NO ONE (NO ONE) will discuss the vote. I've discussed it with Burton and Kelly and that's it. Maybe it's because the vote is SO easy that no one needs to mention it or maybe I'm just so PARANOID but I feel uneasy. No one in this tribe will discuss the game, really. It's just small talk. Thank god I have Kelly B because if I didn't, I'd go INSANE and probably have an angry meltdown and get myself booted. I'm not here to play that way. Not this time. I'm here to WIN.

I hope to god Julie's gone because I have a feeling it might be... ME? I don't know, just a gut feeling. When no one really discusses the vote with you, you get uneasy. I hope it's not me. I have a lot more I want to offer into this game.