Episode 01

[Stephanie Valencia]

Hello, I'm Stephanie Valencia! The winner of Stranded in Namibia!

Welcome to Stranded in Portugal!

You'll be seeing a lot of me here, but you'll also see some of the other hosts, Jeff, Sophie, Ashley, Frank, Brenda, Mia, Sarah and Holly around as well! My main focus here will be on the Bracari Tribe, so talk to me! Most of us hosts are all-stars of the series who have been through it all, so if you have any questions about how the game is played, feel free to PM us and we'll do our best to answer - that's why we are here. Other than that, our duties will basically be to interview you in your confessional here, trying to get into your head and get some insight as to why you may be making certain moves. We will also be handling challenges, tribal council, and tribal council questioning.

Each round, we'll start by asking some introductory questions, and I just want to ask that you answer in complete statements. Oftentimes, we'll turn the seasons into fanfics using these stories, and we will be actively blogging on each episode, and it's easier to do so if we have real quotes and complete thoughts as opposed to simple yes or no answers. We hope you keep up with your confessionals daily during the week as a way to vent and discuss the events of that day. Just try your best to give us insight into what you're thinking or planning as the game progresses, and right now, as we're about to embark. You'll appreciate being able to go back after the show and really see where your head was at certain points in the game, and so will your fellow cast mates!

So here we go......

How confident are you going into this game that you will win?

What are your opinions of your fellow tribemates?

What is your strategy and approach to the game?

How do you feel the rep of John fits you? Will you adjust your game to fit the rep, or just play as you would regardless?

What are your thoughts on the partners twist? Are you disappointed you're not partnered with your friend you came into the game with? Do you plan on working with your friend should you end up on the same tribe?

Do you feel the returning players could have an advantage over you given they've been through this all before?

Good luck! As the winner of last season, I can promise you that you'll want to give this game everything you have. Anything less won't get the job done. This is my winner's advice. I only get to hand over my crown to one of you! There's nineteen other players who are determined to beat you to it. So play your hardest, and make sure you don't walk out of this game with regrets. In four weeks time, you may just be crowned as the winner of Stranded in Portugal!

[Brenda Lowe]

Hey John hey <3

Good luck in this!

[John]

Sorry I'm late! I wanted to take some time to evaluate the others and further develop my thoughts on all this before I tried answering any of this. I think I'm ready to go now, so let's get this started!

I'm sad to say that I'm not a very confident person. I was worried right away that people would dislike me, and had a hard time even messaging a single member of my tribe. However, I even if I am a tad concerned, I'm still an optimist. I think that as long as I stay true to myself and build strong bonds with those I can trust, I have a shot at making it far in the game!

I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty scared of my tribe at first. Not because they seemed like intimidating people, but because I'm a fairly timid person who doesn't speak unless spoken to. Nevertheless, after being approached by a few of them, I realized just how friendly and supportive the people on my tribe are, and I have worked up the confidence to talk to more of them. I think they're all lovely people, and I believe that we'll all work well together in this game!

My strategy is a pretty simple one, really. I'm simply going to be myself and try my absolute hardest at the game. I've been told I'm a pretty likable person, so if I can find my way into the right crowd and slowly weed out all the undesirables while growing close to the ones I trust, I think I just might go the distance here.

I think I can see John and I sharing a few traits. I do believe that I can be very intellectual and professional when I need to be, though towards other lines of work than his. I don't think I have quite as many pet peeves as he does, or at the very least, I don't express them openly. I think I'm going to play the way I want to, though I might try to adapt some of his traits into my own.

The whole partner twist was really cool, and I'm glad they added it in! I am a little disappointed that my friend isn't my partner, though the partner I do have seems like a nice guy so far, and I'm hoping we can end up getting those talismans.

As for the returning players, I was horrified of them at first. I thought their level of experience would allow them to swat us newbies away like insects, and that I wouldn't stand a ghost of a chance against their previously formulated strategies. However, after learning how enthusiastic and connected my tribe members are, I've started to put my faith in them, and in myself. Even if we may not have much experience, we all trust each other and are open to doing new things. We're all prepared to get our heads in the game, and I'm not going to allow myself to get cold feet just because of a few returning players!

So, I think that's just about it! I hope my answers were satisfactory, and I appreciate you wishing me luck. You can be sure I'm going to do my best to win this thing!

[Brenda Lowe]

Questions in a minute, but first, I just wanna make sure you know how to post an image. I noticed in main you did it by attaching the image to a post.

It's better & quicker & easier to instead copy an image's URL and post it between a pair of IMG tags.

For example you would do this;

Code: Select all

[img]http://strandedgaming.com/portugal/images/avatars/gallery/Brenda.jpg[/img]

to produce this;





You can actually type out the [ img ] [ /img ] parts (without the spaces) then paste the image URL in between, or you can click this IMG button at the top of the posting box in the reply screen for the same thing;


This is something that will definitely appear in more than one challenge as the game goes on, so make sure you are familiar with it. There is a how-to guide in main that ought to answer any further questions, but any problems just ask!

[Brenda Lowe]

This is so cute already. Try hard and good things come to good people <3 This is your very first game right? I will just offer a general tip; Don't be too shy! Make sure to always keep up PMs with everyone you're allowed to PM, even enemies :P Communication is everything. Never drop PMs with anyone or ignore them, nothing good will come of that!

Also just for in here, don't feel like you need to wait till we prompt you to make a post. Just jot down any thoughts you have as they occur to you as Survivors would on the show. Usually the unprompted insights are juicier. Plus the hosts are more likely to come ask you questions about an update than to come asking questions to prompt you into updating. We read all the PMs so we have a good idea what's going on, but the players never will unless you post them in here. Once the game ends, all confessionals will get opened up and part of the fun of the game is seeing where people's heads were at compared to your own at different points of the game. So that's what this place is for most of all. Make sure you leave good stuff for them to find later and I'll get them to do the same for you to read in theirs.


Anyway, what questions I have are mostly based around first impressions of your tribemates. Who are you feeling closest to after the opening day? Who are you feeling least close to and who would you see be the first boot if you had free reign? I guess maybe a little rankdown of your tribe by closeness with a line or two on each would fit the bill here.

[John]

Oh wow, thanks so much for explaining it to me! I was quite embarrassed when it came out the way it did, and I was hoping everyone would just ignore it and not think ill of me. I really appreciate you taking the time to tell me how it works. I'll be sure to jot down whatever random thoughts I have down here, and I'll be sure to continue to message everyone I can! It would be rude to leave any of them hanging.

The people I feel the closest to are Vytas, Katie, and Marissa, mostly because they're the three I've communicated with most often. Vytas and Marissa took the initiative to message me first, which I really appreciated, and Katie was one of the first people I decided to message once I started feeling more comfortable approaching the others here. They've all been really sweet, and all the others are lovely people as well! The ones I feel the most distant from right now are Ciera and Brad, but only because I just messaged Ciera for the first time earlier, and Brad hasn't responded to me in quite some time. For now, I'm going to just assume he's busy with life, since I heard he hasn't been all that talkative with the others, either. However, if this lack of communication continues over important parts of the game, I would probably have to go with voting him out. Nothing personal, it's just that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. I do hope he'll become a bit more active so we can all keep in touch with him.

[Brenda Lowe]

lol, no worries. We are here to help you make the most of this experience and just make it easy so you are free to play then. Srsly if you have any questions just ask. Nothing is too stupid. A season or two back, Tarzan never found his way to the tribe board So you could hardly be worse.

We can give general gameplay tips, but nothing to specific to this Season ofc. but you're proving my point :P The people you name as most trusted ae the same ones you say you've talked with the most. Ergo; keep up with all your PMs to make the best impression Srsly, after 30 of these games (nothing quite like Stranded), that is still the best advice I can give.

What we do as hosts most of all is prod you into confessing. Just to keep you on the ball here. But like I say, you posting attracts hosts instead of the other way round. Treat this like your diary, or your liveblog. Either lots of quick thoughts or a few lengthy essays. Whatever keeps your thoughts on the page. Also, it kinda helps yourself to think it through and actually write your stuff out in front of you. Am quite interested to see where your story goes.

[John]

Ugh... I was hoping we could get an early lead by winning the first immunity challenge, but it looks like we couldn't match up with their experience after all. I feel a little bad. Even though I got my portion of the picture done, I probably could have completed it earlier if I wasn't panicking at first. I let my nervousness get the best of me, and now I can't help but feel at least partially responsible for our loss... Hopefully, the others will not think too poorly of me because of this.

[Stephanie Valencia]

So after losing the first immunity challenge, what are your plans to ensure your safety this early in the game?

You seem nervous you could potentially be on the chopping block due to your challenge performance. Did any conversations with your tribemates since the challenge reinforce this, or do you feel safe at this point?

[John]

Well, it turned out that my team mate didn't even give me all the pieces to the puzzle, so any guilt I once had has been washed away. No matter how quickly I finished, it wouldn't have been completed. I doubt anyone will shift the blame onto me, especially since I seem to be fairly liked at this point.

Now, I am simply trying to figure out who I believe should be booted from our little group. A few of my teammates have suggested Brad and Cierra, and I can't help but agree with them. They seem like nice people, but they've been the most inactive of us all. Unless they start showing they can be around when we need them, we'll have no choice but to cut them off.

[Ashley Underwood]

Both of you were actually missing a piece that the other used in their own attempt so close </3