[Danni Boatwright]

Welcome to your confessional Dean!

This may be the most important place in the game. It's where you will vote and more importantly, talk to us! Feel free to divulge your darkest secrets, current strategies, alliances, and hell... just pure hatred for other players. You are the only player that can view this forum. Outside of Alumni and Hosts, it is completely private. We love getting the dirt and there are plenty of us here to ask you questions. As you can see, this thread is labelled "Episode 00". Each round (meaning challenge + council) we will start a new thread with the title of each episode. After every Tribal Council, a host will start a new thread asking you more questions. Again, this is your forum and you can feel free to start whatever topics or make whatever posts you like. We will be here to help you out, make you think, get you to talk and really just lend an ear.

We take confessionals seriously because we're genuinely interested in your story. We want to know everything you're thinking and more importantly, what you're feeling. Think of it as free therapy. We will be guiding you along the way and asking you questions, provoking thought and helping you think about things you otherwise might not have. We find that just talking through your situation can help you get a fresh perspective on things.

Beyond that, it's just fun. What's more fun is having a record of what you were thinking at different stages of the game, and being able to look back on that is priceless so take advantage of it!

---

Here is a practice mini-challenge for you to work on. It is a challenge that might appear once or twice throughout the season in a different form. While it will be easier to do in the actual challenge using a puzzle-builder, this will help you practice reposting images. Image posting is something that will pop up in multiple challenges and is a skill that you should perfect. Please refer to the guide in the Camp forum for detailed instruction on how to post images.

This particular challenge is a 4x4 16-piece puzzle. You must correctly unscramble the puzzle using the ORIGINAL image links. Meaning, you can't simply rearrange them in a photo editing program. You must use the original images by using the IMG tag. (more information on this in the camp how-to threads.

Good luck, please ask us for any help or further instructions :)


You will need to reply to this thread ahead of the season and sign the rules in order to avoid being replaced.

[Dean]

Oh man here we go. So after signing the rules I come here. I gotta say, this forum, with the different tags that are needed to be used, and the smilies (more so how they're not called emojis), etc. really take me back to forums back in the 2000's. That's a nostalgic compliment, I'm not saying this site is old haha. I had a good Invisionfree board back in the day you know. I miss that. Anyway... as for this, well, here's the reply you wanted, don't take my spot away!

I have no idea what I'm doing here, I'm sure there are gamebots eager to play, and I haven't seen Survivor in ages so this'll be an interesting journey. I swear if you put me on here with Stranded vets though I'm gonna knock some heads over, how could I compete with legends. Well I'll find a way to try and use em.

Again, this is your forum and you can feel free to start whatever topics or make whatever posts you like.

Cool, does this means I can actually make whole threads and stuff here, and not just only reply to the Episode threads you guys make? Oh, I already know I'm gonna have a dedicated thread for long angry vents about other players getting on my nerves. For my sanity though I hope I'm not with a bunch of scoundrels in my tribe. If so, then do an early merge please, thanks~

So I talk too much lol. I'll hit submit now to show I've replied, and then after that, I'll reply again with this practice puzzle. Looks fun, can't wait to do actual puzzles and challenges later on.

[Dean]

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT holy shit I did

[Loveita Adams]

I gotta say, this forum, with the different tags that are needed to be used, and the smilies (more so how they're not called emojis), etc. really take me back to forums back in the 2000's.

Est. 2007! The forum is tried and true.

Again, this is your forum and you can feel free to start whatever topics or make whatever posts you like.

Cool, does this means I can actually make whole threads and stuff here, and not just only reply to the Episode threads you guys make?

Yes - in your confessional you CAN choose to make separate threads than the Episode threads if you want. But we always like a little bit of organization. Jeff doesn't like a messy beach.

And once the game formally begins (Thurs, 6c/7e) , you may post public topics in your camp that all your tribe mates can see and reply to!


Great job getting that challenge done. Best of luck to ya!

[Dean]

Yes - in your confessional you CAN choose to make separate threads than the Episode threads if you want. But we always like a little bit of organization. Jeff doesn't like a messy beach.

And once the game formally begins (Thurs, 6c/7e) , you may post public topics in your camp that all your tribe mates can see and reply to!


Great job getting that challenge done. Best of luck to ya!

Thanks for answering. I agree, organization is always nice. I'll keep most things as such. Thursday is going to be such a wild night, in a good way hopefully. And thanks for the good luck! Guess for now I'll just keep talking here before game starts if anything comes up in my mind.

[Danni Boatwright]

I, for one, love a messy beach

Stan a trash talk thread

[Dean]

I, for one, love a messy beach

Stan a trash talk thread

A trash talk thread is def gonna happen, otherwise ban me now.

Speaking of banning tho, if anyone can answer, I can't reveal my real name or usernames I use on the internet (and just anyway to contact me outside this forum), but I can still talk about me, right? Like, would I be able to say my age, talk about personal details of my life, occupations, what city and country I'm from, etc. or is some of that off the table too? Just gotta be extra sure before Thursday.

There's a lot going on in my mind now about the game, just some thoughts. I might word vomit later on.

[Reem Daly]

A trash talk thread is def gonna happen, otherwise ban me now.

Speaking of banning tho, if anyone can answer, I can't reveal my real name or usernames I use on the internet (and just anyway to contact me outside this forum), but I can still talk about me, right? Like, would I be able to say my age, talk about personal details of my life, occupations, what city and country I'm from, etc. or is some of that off the table too? Just gotta be extra sure before Thursday.

There's a lot going on in my mind now about the game, just some thoughts. I might word vomit later on.

Hello, Dean! Can't wait to see you play this season

As for your question, you can absolutely talk about yourself, just nothing that could identify you outside of the game. Age, occupation, country, etc....all good stuff. Your name, social media handles, contact information - no go. You all will have opportunities after the season concludes to dox yourselves all you want, but doing so in the game will result in disqualification.

Hope that clarifies for you, and have fun!

[Dean]

Hello, Dean! Can't wait to see you play this season

Can't believe I was just about to write "thanks, can't wait to see you play too"

As for your question, you can absolutely talk about yourself, just nothing that could identify you outside of the game. Age, occupation, country, etc....all good stuff. Your name, social media handles, contact information - no go. You all will have opportunities after the season concludes to dox yourselves all you want, but doing so in the game will result in disqualification.

Hope that clarifies for you, and have fun!

That does clarify things up, much thanks! That allows for more kinds of convos with people. I'm pregaming hard in my head now, brainstorming all kinds of conversations and strategy. I wonder how much is too much. As long as it doesn't become overbearing I suppose it's better. Certainly more so than doing nothing at all.

[Dean]

I promised word vomit, here's the puke. Warning, there's a lot of it, it goes on forever. Just random stuff about Stranded going thru my head that aren't questions per se. And toalso give further exposition on me and maybe what can be expected from me going forward. (also gives me an excuse to safely test out some coding and words and stuff here) <- like that emoji is : rofl : ahh what a relic when ROFL and LMAO were once used together, and now I hardly see anyone use rofl anymore. Don't think I ever even seen a zoomer use rofl before. Maybe the internet one day thought "why just roll on the floor laughing when you could laugh so hard your ass falls off". Anyway enough about internet abbreviations ffs let's get to some Stranded rambling:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• It's true, I haven't seen Survivor in ages. I was an OG casual fan, from Borneo to China, and bits of Tocantins. And I watched those live long ago, no rewatches. So my knowledge on strategy might be a bit dry right now, and while it might be interesting to have me, who is essentially a recruit on Stranded, I just hope I can keep up. I know Stranded isn't a 1:1 ratio of being exactly like Survivor but I'd assume the main similarities that carry over are things like the strategy. The obvious disadvantage is not knowing how the meta has advanced since the first dozen or so seasons, though I know hidden idols and such are important. Luckily my dad still watches Survivor, and I've seen tiny bits of a few episodes with him over various seasons. Kaoh Rong I consider an honourary season I watched as well, since I saw more there than any other of the new seasons. Maybe I'll do a Season 1-40 Survivor marathon when this is all over. That'd be fun to react to, no? Plus I can't wait to rag on Caleb whenever his season is I still can't believe CBS rewarded Beast Mode Stalker with a fucking ticket to Survivor.

• The not so obvious disadvantage I think, is not being able to bond about Survivor with my tribemates. If I'm with a bunch of big modern Survivor fans, let alone big fans of these online game things, I wager they'll want to talk a lot about Survivor and geek out. Or even simple things like using Survivor terminology (both official and fan terms) that'll throw me off. I'll know as much about all that as EA does about making good video games. Luckily I did do a bit of research quickly after being assigned Dean. He was a runner up on his season, Season 39. Now, we are all just some avatars, but I hope that him being a 2nd placer doesn't put a target on my back, with people thinking I'll be like him and make it to the end. Maybe that could be an advantage too though, with people thinking that the person who got assigned Dean must be very good to play with. We'll see once social dynamics start forming in the tribe.

• Additionally idk if not knowing much of modern Survivor will put a target on my back, because maybe they think I won't know how the game works and they can pull a fast one on me. I'll just have to avoid convos that are deep about Survivor and give them enough fluff info so that they'll believe I'm not a 100% recruit. I do know Survivor lol just I'm definitely not in the category of a superfan (for now). Botox-sama, when you host the challenges and Tribal Council, you better go over all the rules in vigorous detail for people like me, but especially for me

• Having said that, I'm muuuuuuch more into Big Brother (especially BBCAN!! ) than I am Survivor. Might be a shocker to some, not sure. I'm saying that because most BB fans I see online also watch Survivor, but definitely not the other way around. This goes for the alumni even. I pretty much guarantee most strategy in this game that I'll do, at least at the beginning, will derive from more of a BB school of strategy, adapted into the Survivor/Stranded format, but who knows. As much of a BB superfan as I am, maybe I'll have to be calm about how much I geek about Big Brother if I find a player who is into it as well, because it might be suspicious to spill all this BB stuff, but then get super quiet and vague about Survivor. Who am I kidding, people won't give a toss about me not knowing much Survivor and I'm being too paranoid rn. If I'm paranoid I can just come here in my safe space and get rid of the paranoia before I leap back into the fray. The confessionals are like a written diary for me during the game. If forums were rooms, you could say this is like a diary room or something.

• I was informed once that many Americans have won Stranded, as well as an Australian and a Malaysian and others. Yet mentioned nothing about a Canadian winning. Well, that's just more motivation to win this thing. Gotta be a first for everything right? Just sign my name on the cheque already. Pour le Canada!

• I realized that in my application I wrote 25 (which I was) but then I had my birthday at the end of August so I'm 26 now, and I hope that won't be an issue. Small things like that really grind my gears. I know it's not a big deal but it's one of those things where I interpret it as such. I just really love correct and proper details for everything and swift changes to show the truth wherever necessary.

• I'm super curious as to how people perceive me once this is all over. Whether I become a fan favourite or someone people hate (either love to hate or just hate hate), I'm wondering how I'll be viewed as by everyone. That's to alumni who are watching, the hosts, and fellow castaways this season.

• Crown Tundra DLC for Pokémon Sword and Shield drops on October 22nd. Bitch better not interfere with my plans then, assuming I make it late game on Stranded and I really need to focus on the endgame. I'll learn to multitask. Arceus guide me.

• Not gonna lie, I keep going back and forth to myself on whether I'll confront someone right away if I feel the need to speak up, or bottle it up and keep it to myself and be two-faced. One of those things where it just changes depending on the day and my mood I guess. It'll be a case-by-case basis. And whether I confront them or not, I will always vent in here with my true emotion. Confessionals are probably gonna be my favourite place to hang out in out of the whole forum lmao.

• You might ask me "why didn't you try and watch some Survivor seasons to get a grip on the gameplay and better your chances before you played Stranded?" Well first off I'm lazy so understand that, and secondly, I crave a challenge. Imagine, a winner of Stranded who hasn't sat down and watched a full season of Survivor in forever.

• I can talk about anything with anyone, it's a gift of being a great listener and someone with lots of patience. Having said that, sweet jesus I hope there is someone in my initial tribe who shares at least one of my big interests that I do. For example, if I find someone who is into Nintendo (especially Pokémon and Splatoon), or enjoys history, or can engage in political discussions for hours on end, etc., then we will get along swimmingly. Not just for my sake but it does make it much easier to befriend people. Friendship is powerful. Plus, I'd enjoy having more friends who have mutual interests with me to talk with post-season.

• I don't think in Stranded I can solely rely on challenge wins and winning idols. It adds to your final jury resume for sure, but understand as a fan, I come from the world of Big Brother. The modern seasons of that show seem to focus more on comp wins as something very legitimate. Social game and strategy I value much more than comp wins. I mean, you can win comps and you can sprinkle some of that on your resume, but I'm talking about rewarding players who use comp wins as about 90% of their mantra and final plea to the jury. Using comp wins in your final plea... ugh. To me, saying you were a comp beast should be an accent, not the main colour, you know? Now, this is what I'll do. I'll play with strategy and a big social game, and win by my own mind and the path that I chose and the friendships and drama I created on my own, and not because I just happened to complete puzzles faster than everyone else (though I do plan on winning those as well. Again, accents~). If I don't win and get voted off post-merge, then my jury vote will likely go to who I think played the best strategically and maybe best manipulative game. Simply finding 4 hidden idols or more isn't enough to make me in awe. So what, you can figure out clues and navigate Wikipedia, cheers to you. That means nothing to me in the long run, unless you actually use those idols at the right moments and are smart with how you use them. That is what will win your case with me.

• I hope that all people in my tribe log in soon and don’t leave it to the last minute. I hope there aren’t inactive people, those just aren’t fun for anyone. Plus, I need more meatshields. Being a tribe of only 6 or whatever people before merge means there’s a 1 in 6 chance I could go home, and I’ll be dammed if I go out pre-merge. At the time of writing there's I think 5 people total who haven't logged in yet? According to who signed on the rules at least. And 4/5 of those are late Miombo bitches. The Miombitches. Whatever. Miombo got a crocodile icon, the losers got a lion. So basic.

• Okay but WHAT ARE THE COINS FOR that's been bugging me for a while. I damm well know there isn't a bank in Survivor unless that's something that appeared in the last few seasons. So this must be a unique Stranded thing. Just what the heck are they? I wonder if this financial part of the game has to do with Tanzania, since the Zanzibar coast was always a trade hub in the Medieval and Early Colonial period, and that'd match up with themes fitting the location of this season's Stranded. If it is anything like real life, I'm hoarding coins. I don't like spending lot of money quickly. Even in video games I seldom spend money as soon as I get it.

[Jeff Probst]

[Danni Boatwright]

• Crown Tundra DLC for Pokémon Sword and Shield drops on October 22nd. Bitch better not interfere with my plans then, assuming I make it late game on Stranded and I really need to focus on the endgame. I'll learn to multitask. Arceus guide me.

[Dean]

The fuck I don't remember asking you to find me a gif of Ass Ketchum jiggling those rear end tits.



... I think I'm gonna like having you around here.

[Dean]

About less than 5 hours now until game time. Can't wait.

But I need a second to say THEY ADDED STEVE FROM MINECRAFT INTO SMASH BROS!???? FUCK I'M WET but then also Sakurai is presenting something on Oct 3rd so fuck me again since that cuts into Stranded time, and if he drops a bomb saying "he'll be playable later today" or something... ugh the urge will be strong to play for hours on end. He looks like a lot of fun to play. But also, I really don't want to miss anything in the first week of Stranded. I'm a strong believer in first impressions matter (cuz they fucking do, don't they) and I need to show my tribe that I'm here, I'm active, I'm reliable, and you can depend on me.

Anyway, now this brings me to more speculation. Well, observations at least. So from what I can see (again just based on the public Rules thread), only Elaine on my tribe hasn't signed in, and Lyrsa (wtf is that name) on the other team's. That's good. But then I noticed something after stalking everybody's profiles: A lot of people on the other tribe don't really have much posts, probably just their sign in posts for the rules and their confessional, and maybe the puzzle. I say this because on average, that tribe just has 1-3 posts per person, with some exceptions like Alison or Kara. And almost everyone on that tribe hardly have any likes, if any at all.

Whereas when you look at my tribe, a good portion of us have 3 or more posts, with a ton of likes! And it's been like that since the past day too. I've been checking this phenomenon for a while but I haven't commented on it until I had a bit more concrete evidence. Missy in particular has always had a high post count, and at the time of writing this, this will be my 9th post, which will tie me with her unless she writes something else today. She also had an impressive amount of likes too. 7 right now I think.

But then I look at others, like Aaron and Chelsea, who have little posts but quite a few likes, and then there's people like Vince and Tommy, who joined very recently, and have 3 posts each. Tommy has 3 likes already, but Vince has 6!! One of his posts is in the rules, which shows no likes so far. That means that his two posts he made in his confessionals, either has a like ratio of 0:6, 1:5, 2:4, or 3:3. That's quite the impression that Vince has made on everyone. And the rest of my tribe for that matter, you all seem to enjoy what they have to say.

What I'm getting at is, something seems a bit different here. There's themes and twists involved, so one of the many things I'm wondering is if there is a personality divide between the tribes, maybe? Like, I also noticed in the rules registration, almost everyone on the opposing tribe simply wrote "John Smith" as their sign in, whereas almost everyone else on my tribe wrote it differently. It might seem like a little difference, but it's there: People who left out the surname, people who used emojis with their sign in, people who wrote in all caps (I'm looking at you, "HatTip" Aaron). Haha I feel like a crazy person, who is thinking there is something bigger to all of this. And maybe it is just one big coincidence. But regardless, statistically, it seems like the hosts and alumni seem to "like" our tribespeople way more than on the other side.

What you all "like", however, remains to be seen. Is it because they are being social? Are they funny? Do they seem promising for the game, entertainment or strategy-wise? Did they write out their strategies already and people are agreeing with them? It's super fucking weird IMO more for people like Vince and Chelsea and Aaron etc. instead of Missy, since she at least has lots of posts, whereas some of these other people have just 2 posts and 3 likes. That means 3 people liked their first confessional. What the fuck are these people bringing to the table that you lot find so interesting? I intend to find the answer to this once the game starts, by judging their personalities and strengths right away. Maybe ask them about Episode 00 and the couple days before today. Nothing super direct though.

And it also makes me think: Friend or foe? At first, someone who appears to be very active in posts, like Missy, might be someone I could get on with and align myself with since she would be in the know. But at the same time, what if she's a rival instead, who could fill the same niche that I do? Again, it'll all be based on our first hours of interacting with each other. It is crucial that I do overtime the first night for socializing. Not meaning I'm making an alliance in the first 30 minutes lol. Even for Big Brother that's ridiculous. I just need to grab everyone and just chat and hang out with them. But I do want to find a ride or die. I will actually go fucking mental in the confessionals if I don't have at least 1 person I can trust and bounce ideas off of and talk about the game with; If you think now I'm a bit too cautious or even crazy with all this speculation, you ain't seen nothing yet.

[Dean]

(only writing this cuz I don't think you can edit posts)

When I said Tommy had 3 posts, I meant to say Jack. My bad

[Shonee Fairfax]

Hello, it's me! Shonee Fairfax! I have a few questions.

First, introduce yourself. Tell us who you are, what you do, and why you're here. Take this opportunity to really show your personality.

What is your strategy for winning here? How are you going to get to the end and convince the jury that you're the one who should win.

Does anyone stand out to you solely based on first impressions? (Answer after talking to people.)

Thank you so much, I'm going to use these answers for a secret project. :)

[Dean]

Hello, it's me! Shonee Fairfax! I have a few questions.

Season's greetings

First, introduce yourself. Tell us who you are, what you do, and why you're here. Take this opportunity to really show your personality.

I think I've introduced myself quite a bit in this thread, but if you want a summarized version I'll do my best. I'm Dean (dunno if real names can be in my confessional or not), a 26 year old Canadian and proud to be one. I'm at the moment not working nor studying due to... life. I can explain more later (tl;dr a sudden rare condition and medical stuff). But a couple years ago, I was a history student at the University of Toronto. I love everything about history and wish I could study every part of it. I wish I could say my job was a museum curator, but that isn't the case at the moment obviously. Why am I here? I keep asking myself that. I was being a sinner on r/bigbrother on Reddit and then Poody messaged me outta nowhere for this. It seemed fun, so I went ahead and applied. This seems like a one-of-a-kind experience and I want in! This is also going to be a bit wild for me, since I know next to nothing about modern Survivor. The closest I'll have is what strategy I know from Big Brother, which I'm a big fan of. However not all strategies can be applicable in both formats, so I'll have to adapt. Ultimately, if I can summarize my life in one word, as well as how I'll probably play the game, it is Adapt.

There are some interesting and odd things about me. So much so that I could play 2 truths and 1 lie, and I'll always win. One tiny example:
- I've never had a hamburger before.
- I've never gone out of the city before.
- I've never had a relationship before.

Which is it?

What is your strategy for winning here? How are you going to get to the end and convince the jury that you're the one who should win.

I don't think one can truly think of this before the season begins, especially when you don't know the dynamics of your tribe and what potential twists will come along and change the game. But for the most part, start off with a good social game is likely my safest bet to go far. But I have to do moves as well to stand out and not just be a goat to bring to the end. If I can come big on the social game, I can try and manipulate people. I don't mind blood on my hands but I don't want enough to stain my hands for good, you know?

As for convinving the jury... Well, one thing I don't believe in is smear campaigning. I'll do literally everything (that doesn't break rules) to try and win, no matter who's feelings have to be hurt. But I'm also cocky, I'm awesome. Getting jury votes mean I'm proving to people that I'm good and deserve the win; I'm not proving to them that the other person sucks. I absolutely hate when someone's platform is only ragging on their opponent. So, with that said, I gotta get moving and play the fuck out of this game and let the jury know everything I did. But the jury usually have their mind made up already by the time we say our final plea to them. So I have to make it known. Also, having a plant in the jury is something I'd like to implement but I think that would be super tough to pull. At least on Big Brother, having advocates for you in jury is always best case scenario. I'd assume that is how it would work here too. I plan to keep track of my strategy for the whole game, and I'll unleash all of my notes and research on the jury when the time comes, especially if any doubt me.

Does anyone stand out to you solely based on first impressions? (Answer after talking to people.)

I will answer later when applicable. Hopefully in just a few hours, if most people are online then.

Thank you so much, I'm going to use these answers for a secret project. :)

Projects are always nice, don't have too much fun with it!

[Dean]

There's so much GOING ON OMG

Lot of personalities already

[Dean]

Oh no, the guys are talking sports. My actual nightmare *upside down smiling face emoji*

[Dean]

Everyone is talking about Big Brother now and I couldn't be happier that there is no Survivor going on right now or else they'd be talking about that instead, and I couldn't contribute to the convo.

But yeah fuck dani and nicole tbh, Elizabeth has it right