Episode #1: A-Rock

[Anthony Robinson]

Oh yeah, so that's that. Done the challenge, and... it went pretty good. It could have gone a little better. I did it in 8 minutes, whereas I believe that I could have done it in 7. It's in no way going to be a bad score though, I believe. I'm not THE fastest with puzzles, and I must say I panicked in the middle (that's where I could have saved a minute), but I think I did alright.

After the challenge I talked to Shawna on AIM and we made a deal about the planks (I mean I already assumed she'd give me one when I did the challenge lol). Our conversation was somewhat more relaxed now, I like that we can talk about the game and she's a nice person. We talked about how it would suck if this was a tribe selection similar to the Palau one. That would indeed suck, but it may in fact be the case. Except that there's this Deception Valley that may play a role after two people are left out. Finally I dropped Yau-Smurfie a PM letting him know I gave him a plank. That's all I could have done for this challenge.


Now I'll have to wait and see how many penalties I got. I expect that some people, like Chelsea and Michael, who were social enough to PM, may be like "If I hand everyone a plank, they will like me for it." Then, what can I say? Like, a more villainous person would probably call them out and say that they could have told you (like for real though, I'd actually be really mad if someone gave me a bridge just to appear as a good/nice person)), but I don't think I'm gonna bother one bit. If this challenge is really just for tribe selections, then I'm not really that much interested in winning. Just in doing well and in having some connections already. Not that I held back in the challenge though, I neverrr do that.

[Anthony Robinson]

My goodness! I am one of the two winners in this challenge! I'm like wow, no, please, oh my, was that my plan? Huge target on me right from the start. Hey guys, here I am, Anthony, heavily out of shape, nerdy, but somehow good at challenges?

Does it concern me? Not really. I can sit here, relax, while everyone is looking at my hat and asking me what I'm thinking for this vote. It's cool you know. Plus, if we do end up on tribes, first priority is immunity. They're hopefully going to value me. Then merge comes and that's all way too far. That's why I'm saying, I neverrr hold back in challenges, ever. I shouldn't think ahead at all. This round I'm immune, can't be voted out, and I accomplished what I wanted to achieve.

I'm happy that Jenn is the other winner as she is someone I've talked to two days in a row. Not much, nothing spectacular, but it's good to have things in common. I'm happy for her

In the short time that I've been on today a few things happened. Michael dropped me a PM about the vote and what my thoughts are. My initial thoughts are Sash as who would want him on their tribe anyway? I am thinking too far ahead, but yeah if you ask me, Sash is gone. Then I've talked to Brenda for the first time. She's very nice, we just had a quick chat, nothing big, we talked about the vote and stuff. She was thinking of voting the two inactives, but then, if another opportunity arises she would be up for it. I'm thinking the same, though I don't really see that much other opportunities, nor am someone who's likely to be calling any shots. Not even when I'm in this sort of more powerful position, which, I feel, is a tad uncomfortable. Finally I talked to Penner. He's showing me that he's my buddy. He congratulated me, and then immediately asked what this deception valley is about. It's just showing me that he trusts me and that he wants me to trust him with that information. We've had enough many conversations for him to ask such things and I don't mind it at all. He'll be on a road trip for a while and communication will be a lot harder, but I'm gonna make sure I will do what I can to stay close to him and to keep him and I in the game.

Other options for the vote, in my book, would be Colton (this is this guy who doesn't get Java to work and he's just not my favorite player) or Crystal. I tried to talk to Crystal yesterday, but it went like:
Hey Crystal
- Hi
Hey how are you doing today?
SILENCE
So I don't know what's up with this girl.

Anyway, so far things seem to be going alright. I'm really happy here and this vote is probably gonna end in a unanimous Angie/Sash vote. Wouldn't surprise me at all. I haven't seen Angie on because otherwise I would have talked to her, but she probably just doesn't have the time for this game.

[Anthony Robinson]

So right now I'm having a really awesome conversation with Jen. The talking gets easier and easier. Here's the most interesting part:

Jen Lyon
Not sure if you got your secret box yet, this twist is interesting

Anthony Robinson
yes definitely interesting, I hope I got something good; don't know what's in it yet, do you?

Jen Lyon
I have a double vote but I need to pass it to someone....dang:-!
yeah you don't get to keep what u get

Anthony Robinson
oh lol that's interesting
can we maybe exchange or is that not allowed?

Jen Lyon
I don't see why not, the other part to the twist is, you can pass a real item or a fake one that does the opposite

Anthony Robinson
lol oh wow
that's super interesting
I'm really curious what's in mine now

Jen Lyon
yeah thats the deception part I guess

Anthony Robinson
yeah
so if u would give a fake one that would mean it's a voided vote instead of a double vote?

Jen Lyon
yeah but u wouldnt know until u use it">"

Anthony Robinson
ouch lol

Jen Lyon
I'm not going to do that though, we get to choose if we want to pass a real or fake

Anthony Robinson
ah good, yeah it's not really necessary to make enemies that way I guess

Jen Lyon
yeah, we are going to have enough attention already right? lol
i so didnt exopect it

Anthony Robinson
haha indeed

Jen Lyon
wow, typing all messed up, i must be tired

Anthony Robinson
oh have you been up for so long?

Jen Lyon
exopect i must be very edocated

Jen Lyon
yeah, i work at a 24 hour diner, i got the night shift tonight lol

Anthony Robinson
so depending on what I have we could maybe exchange what we have, or give it to someone else so that the target is not completely on us lol
ah alright

Jen Lyon
its nice though, cause its not a lot of customers and its relaxed
and i have this regular, he is a police officer

Anthony Robinson
yeah that's a little more relaxed then

Jen Lyon
he tips real good:-X

Anthony Robinson
hahaha NICE :-)

Jen Lyon
lol

Anthony Robinson
so once I know what's in mine I'll get back to you; I hope it's something nice too

Jen Lyon
cool, i like that idea, so we both get to have something

Anthony Robinson
yes indeed
I just hope it doesn't get us a bigger target on our backs xD

Jen Lyon
i know what u mean haha

Anthony Robinson
on the other hand, it will help, and at least we've shown we are valuable in challenges :-)

Jen Lyon
yup, i wonder how the tribes will be split

Anthony Robinson
yeah me too!
and if it's gonna be tribes, but I hope so actually

Jen Lyon
oh no, imagine the whole game we are one big tribe? lol

Anthony Robinson
yeah I've seen it before
but that would just be way stressful, and then it's not good to have won a challenge I guess ><

Jen Lyon
yeah i really hope we are going to be 2 tribes

Anthony Robinson
yeah same, that'll be much better

Jen Lyon
I'm going to get some sleep, talk to you later!

Anthony Robinson
ok have a good night, ttyl :-)

Jen Lyon
and congrats again

Anthony Robinson
thanks u2!

There's some personal talk about her job as well. I value that. I really like getting to know all these things because it tells something about the person I'm talking to. For me it's a little harder to be open about these things as I'm like this quasi-alias; not that people will figure via what I do, but you know it's just harder to give much details especially if one of the players is a host who's read your confessionals in a game you've been playing *coughMichaelcough*.

So, in the box there's something we must give away. We can give a real item or a fake item. We both are planning to give a real item to each other. That way we'll both benefit. I'm thinking: okay this will put a bigger target on our backs because people will figure. On the other hand, it's some real serious bonding I'm doing with Jen and that's really good. So yeah there are some good and some bad sides about this, but we'll just have to deal with the target on our backs. I will probably just be open with people about what it is. I don't want to go into this shady business where I'd have to lie or do like this "oh I got nothing" stuff and then have people who go to Deception Valley figure out I'm a lying nutjob. That's not me you know. I'll tell Penner what's up with these things, and I may tell others that I have a real connection with once it's the right time for that.

[Anthony Robinson]

Right now I'm talking to Angie. She's a total sweetheart, like, seriously. She's showing way more initiative in her conversation than anyone else I've talked to so far. I guess it's gonna come to a point where we start talking about the vote. Based on my conversation with her and knowing her time zone, I'd really LOVE to keep her. It's gonna be so tough to make that happen though, and I don't really feel like making big power moves, especially this early.

Now Michael is on and he started talking to me. Michael and Angie know each other, but they aren't friends or anything. Angie played in Michael's game (same game that I was in, neither of them know that). So maybe this way I can somehow make it happen.

As far as I know people seem to want Sashew and Angie out though so not sure what I can do.

[Anthony Robinson]

We're getting somewhere. Michael said he wanted to keep Angie, which I totally agree with. Then I let him suggest someone else, being.... Crystal. How convenient

I'm totally up for this.

Talking to Michael is so weird. It's like I don't know what to say really. I'm just not like starting chit chat because I already know him and it feels like he knows me. After all of this we may even end up aligning. That'd be really really crazy.

I must be very careful with the bonds that I create with people, because this may get so messy. Suppose Yau-Man is totally against voting Crystal, then what do I do? We sorta bonded on day one. I'm close to Penner. I hope he will be on board. Then I have Jenn, another person I bonded with. It's potentially going to be messy as at some point I will have to choose who I really want to work with and who I'd like to stick with in the long term.

[Anthony Robinson]

I am starting to be way too much at the source of the vote against Crystal. I really don't like that. I don't want to be calling any shots, I just need some bad ass player who will carry me and let me do my thing while they call the shots. This is Michael, but now it seems like everything is coming from the two of us. That's really not good.

We told Ace about the Crystal vote. I had a feeling that he wasn't very enthusiastic about it since him and Crystal had talked, but what can I do. Something is up with Ace, but right now I can't really tell. He's another person that I'm sort of close to, and really this is getting messy.

Hatch talking to me now, let's see how that will go.

I'm really just worried now that people will see me as a power player this early in the game. It's not me, but it's how I may be perceived. I don't like it too much hey.

It's also hard to believe that Michael hasn't figured who I am. I try not to type how I usually type, but it's almost impossible. When I compare this to my regular conversations with him it's pretty much identical.
I'm his right-hand PW and co-host

[Anthony Robinson]

Talking to even more people now. Chelsea, very nice girl. She was in on the Crystal vote already. Brenda (talked to her before). Shady. She seemed very hesitant about voting Crystal even though she already knew there were people voting Crystal.

Then I started the conversation with Ken, finally. He's quite talkative, way more talkative than I expected. He's quite enthusiastic, types extremely fast, and is just really nice to talk to. I like it when I don't have to do any effort to keep the conversation going.

I'm still very afraid of coming off as a power player and a control freak, and in fact by trying to check what everyone is voting and by changing Kenny's vote (I did that) I am actually way too much in control. I gotta be careful.