#Anywho more pages coming hopefully soon this is one in a series

[softichill]

This will be a full comic later but for now I wanna show off the first page :]

[agirlandherquill]

Written In Smoke - The Letter By The Lake

As you can probably tell, a large part of this letter comes to you from the side of a lake, well, a very tiny one - I'm not good at naming bodies of water but it's close enough, here's a photo for you dear reader,

Anywho, moving on to the rest of this letter!

A Glimpse Through Time - little bits about me and what I’ve been up to this week

So, at the start of this week I thought I'd take a walk to what's known as the pocket park, essentially a little bit of forest with paths to walk around, and in the heart of it is the spot pictured above - it's one of my favourite places to read, incredibly quiet (excluding the sheep, and baby lambs, more of that later) and very beautiful at the height of summer - Given the fact that the majority of this week had very high temperatures I thought what better way to spend my time than sit out here on a lovely little bench and read? And so I did!

I felt like diving back in to a series I had only read during lockdown and it felt like a fever-dream, and it was so worth getting back in to because I adore this series and the author's writing - the picture on the left is my view under a ginormous tree because it was hot, very, very hot, and it was the best place for shade, so for a couple hours I sat in the woods, on a fallen log, and read my way through the worst of a hot day

Another few snaps of my little walk - this here's the lane leading to said pocket park, and pivoting just so slightly to the left is the sky, it was very, very pretty and of course photo-worthy

Do you ever feel as though you're sitting in a fairy-tale? Well, maybe it's the woods, the gorgeous albeit exhausting weather, but this week at least it's certainly felt as though it's true - just take a look at the water in the (not-quite) lake

Doesn't quite seem real does it?

Now, what else have I been up to this week?

Heatwave/Summer arrival demanded a drink of heaven, aka Strawberries and Cream Frappe from Costa, a little trip to Waterstones where I was lucky enough to nab the only copy of Lightlark they had (after searching for weeks), and I bought my first ever film camera! Perfect for little trips and things over the summer, so I'm super excited!

Books - As mentioned previously, I started reading Red Queen, I'm about 90 pages in, Wheel of Time I unfortunately wasn't able to read much of this week, but I'll make up for it next week! I'm also starting The Love Hypothesis which I've been excited about for years, I caved and finally bought it on kindle, so I've got that to look forward to over this weekend

Shows/Movies - I started watching American Horror Story this week, I'm 10 episodes in and I'm in awe, it's so much more than I expected and so, so good; I watched Solo and A New Hope this week as part of my Star Wars bet with a friend, I'm not a Star Wars newbie by any means but seeing them for the first time in years brings a whole new perspective, and they're even better than I remember, so I'm looking forward to watching the others, I finished Dexter Season 4 and I'm hoping to start Season 5 very, very soon - tonight hopefully, if time and sleep is on my side

Music - Being outdoors a lot this week hasn't left me with much time for listening to music, but here's a few of the tracks I've had on this week: Cornerstone by Arctic Monkeys (one of my favourites of theirs), One Day from POTC World's End (insta reels dragged me in, I'm in love, even though I'm a very big Pirates of The Caribbean fan to begin with), Blood // Water by Grandson (years after years of stumbling across this song again, and it's just as good every time)

To end this section I thought I'd include a little snap of the sheep that kept me company in the neighbouring field to the pocket park,

Many lambs, many sheep, the joys of the countryside

And since I'm feeling even more in the mood to write, I thought I'd slip in a couple of facts about myself, since this is the Glimpse Through Time section after all,

I'm a countryside girlie, so to speak - well I've lived in a lovely village in England since I was Two Years Old, and it's surrounded by fields - which means every year I get the joys of seeing the baby lambs, cows, and of course older sheep - it might be a little out of the way from the rest of civilisation, but I like it, it's my permanent escape I suppose

I love to draw, and paint (it's been a couple years but hopefully this summer I can get back to it)

I once wrote fanfic - only one, but christ it was shocking (and by that I mean the fact people liked it, last time I checked and it's about four maybe five years old now, it had 95k views on Wattpad, now that is a freaky number), and for any of you curious readers, it was a TMR/Teen Wolf fandom fanfic, so, take from that what you will - I have long since abandoned Wattpad, I avoid it like the plague, not that there's anything wrong with it, it's just not my thing I suppose, so that's an interesting little fact about me!

As usual this letter's been composed over a few days, and as it's the end of the week the cold's slowly creeping in, the wind whispers a little louder beneath the clouds, but it's still lovely, and just perfect weather for writing, which leads me on to the next part of this letter!

Spills From The Ink-Pot - writing, writing, and more writing

Friday and Saturday prove more often than most to be my most productive writing days of the week, I thought I'd take the time to give you dear readers a little tour of my writing process (if there is such a thing), and to kick off the tour let me show you exactly what I see when I open Scrivener!

p.s also a little sneak peek into my desktop (if that's applicable for a laptop, I'm not too sure)

The first thing you'll probably notice is the blue colour scheme, now this changes every few months when I decide to switch things up - but usually I write in page view, so this is what I see - sometimes my Scrivener themes have actual backgrounds to them, but I prefer to just see the words when I need to really, really get in the zone

Secondly, the split screen - I work from the left, and consult the same page on my right, because I'm in the edits stage so I need to reference my original draft and re-write bits and bobs as and when I decide - that's why the text is predominantly in red, because that's my editing colour (handy scrivener feature, I do love this program) and the original text is in white - I find it easier for my eyes and it's just aesthetically pleasing to me, not that I mind black and white I just love having the freedom to customise my workspace!

Next stop on the tour is another program that I rely on very, very heavily - Trello

I use Trello to plot, come up with writing snippets to save until later and slip them in like pieces of a puzzle when I find the right place for them in the story

Since the board for Ruin's Reprisal is incredibly old and less used now that I'm in edits, it's in a state of chaos but it's still nice to see old ideas, unused snippets and the like as I'm going through my draft again - so, here it is,

On each board, you can make lists, and I've used them for each Part of the novel so to speak, among other random little things, and in each list you add cards - I've written many, many a scene in the cards, often in the form of bullet points as you can tell by the number of "checklists" on each card, and I check them off if they're in the story; it's super helpful to have some sort of order for the chaos that is my thoughts, and when inspiration strikes at any time I just jot down the line on a card for later - It's super helpful And whenever I come up with a WIP, I make a board (until I hit the free limit, then I just create lists in a designated board for random, not fully fleshed-out WIPS, so everything has a place in this chaos)

That's about it for the tour! I'd show you my playlists, but there's many, almost too many, just for a small section of this letter (perhaps I'll make that a future post, who knows?)

Here comes the exciting part - writing itself

I actually have something to show you this week dear reader, even if it's only a few hours of work, but I've compiled a little collection of some of my favourite lines, and here they are!

Edeva touched his arm before he could pull away, he went rigid, eyes watching her with a gaze as sharp as the blade his fingers were a hairsbreadth from touching - for a heartbeat, she thought he would pull it on her, but he remained still.  “What is it?” Her words had deserted her. Her breath burned in her lungs, not only from the ash, she pressed her fingers harder into his arm. His eyes darted from her eyes to her fingers, his lips pressed into a thin line. “What is it?” Fenley repeated, a hint of alarm growing in the storm of his eyes. Words came and washed her away, leaving her speaking breathless,“You’ve come a long way from the heartless man I met in the woods.” “I saved you, then. Was that heartless?” “You tried to make it seem that way.” Edeva drew back, guiltily noticing the marks her nails had left on his arm, she hadn’t realised her touch had been so fierce. Her hands settled in her lap but she continued to hold his stare. “There’s very little point living without a heart Fenley, then you might as well just give up.” The smirk he gave her then meant more than most. More than words.  “Now that, Edeva, is something I’ll never do.”

“On those nights,” Edeva asked, tentative, but encouraged by the freeness of their conversation so far, “What troubles you most?" Fenley flexed his fingers, studying the invisible markings where scars should have been, where he knew damage had been done, only to see a smooth plain of unmarred flesh. He could see the scars, in his mind, if he concentrated enough, just as he could see the moments that had caused him injury, the moments he had committed unspeakable things - his scars were etched in history if not flesh, and in a way, that immortality hurt him worse than any injury. “I am worse than any other monster, because I am real.”

“Then why are we stopping, here, of all places?” “Because,” Fenley nudged her good leg with his knee, “You’ve been limping for the past mile and I’m sick of seeing it. We’re taking some time to rest, the night stretches on and there’s plenty of it yet for what we need.” “I don’t want to rest.” She was firm, but even her voice faltered. Edeva leaned more heavily against the mass of trees than she intended to and Fenley raised his brows at her.  “Either you admit it or I’m carrying you to a reasonable perch away from whatever may be skulking around here.” “Where might that be?” “Right.” Fenley’s quiet sigh lowered her guard, making it more of a shock when he threw her over his shoulder and began to scale the mass of tree. She stayed quiet until he set her down on a branch that was strong enough to bear their weight, and smacked him on the head - albeit accidentally, his face was her target, but she was disoriented from being uprighted. Fenley grunted, rubbing his head. “I gave you your options, no need to give me a concussion.” “You took advantage of my weakened state!” She hissed, minding his words and restraining her voice, if not her temper.  “So you admit it, you’re not fit for this.” “I-No!”

And that's it for this week! The second letter of Written In Smoke is all typed up and heading your way - this week's been a good one, and I hope you've all had a lovely week too! I'll see you next week dear reader for another letter!

~ A Girl and Her Quill

Tag List! (if you want to be notified when a WIS post comes out, interact with this post :) )

@lead-to-code @catwingsathena @nothoughtsjustmhaandotherthings @thestorywitch @lunaeuphternal

@theaistired @frostedlemonwriter

[survivormetaverse]

Episode 2 - "Fuck I’m on the cursed tribe" ~Moth

a lil sad to see my girl, Bri, go, but that just makes us one person closer to the goal >:3

dennis is very sneaky. we all had a tribe call and he said he'd come later but he was actually doing the hunt challenge. like that's totally fair, it's just even afterward he acted as if he was not really focusing on it either. im going to play the game assuming he has something, just in case.

GAME AND GAME SHOW ARE DIFFERENT DSJKLFHASJDJFH no but this was hella fun pls let's do it again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX3Fs7lDDQk&list=PLrsCGcojtF16jvLW49C4855pUlLWI9pnn

Dhsjdjsjskksks. First tribal done. We just finished the taboo challenge ... A good bonding experience with my tribe. However, I have a feeling we lost. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 The fact that I was the guesser. Rip. 

I filmed confessionals but my internet got disconnected hahaha so that's neat. Hopefully there will be youtube videos here soon, but new update Jodi and I are in alliances with Dennis and brayden separately which I think would be hilarious if they were also in am alliance together. And it will be funny it my internet is still out for the challenge tomorrow since I'm the guesser 😆 whoops

So this is the beginning of round 2 and here are my thoughts. Might purposely not be helpful in the taboo challenge lol but i have to do it in a way that doesn't show im throwing it? tbh i say this now but when i start playing the urge to win comes in ugh but i just wanna vote one of these people out. I also took a stroll through the wiki page for this org and i love that some of these people (esp brayden and amy) have played before and their stats are there like yassss give me ammunition yassss!!!! anywho i dont care if we win or lose tomorrow i think i set myself up nicely within the tribe and i still really dont think any of these people won the hunt challenge on my tribe but again who knowssss. if we lose the logic would probably be go for josh or ginny aka the least active people buttt i dont think so like i don't wanna go the boring route. i need to keep josh close to get to merge with him we have friends on the other tribeeeeeee so i need them to survive and i need him and i to survive till we swap or merge to link up. im also trying to win a hunt challenge but my god y'all have me fucked up!!!!!!!!! i guess we shall see what happens tomorrowwwwww

It was nice sitting the challenge out, I'm busy tomorrow and the fact that they could complete it is good for me. Also, if we lose, nobody can blame me for the loss. Only drawback is it appears to me some people can be getting close by bonding over funny things in a game. I have to go back and see who may be close, I don't think I'm next on the chopping block, but I'm definitely not in control. To me, I do not need to be number one on this tribe, I just need to survive the next tribal and hopefully make it to the swap at 14 or 15.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm_dmPuwzzI&list=PLrsCGcojtF16jvLW49C4855pUlLWI9pnn&index=2 anotha one dj khaled

HEY SO KIND OF A LOT OF DEVELOPMENTS TO MY GAME we didn't lose first challenge!! thats great. whatever. no tribal. I've been trying to connect with fellow tribemates but overall we're all pretty quiet. I did have a small 30 minute call with Jay where we kinda connected on somewhat of a game level. I kinda get the vibe that he may not fully trust me or he might see my as a threat, but I want to work with him. I also really like Anastasia and Elle, I think I can connect with them more on a more genuine level. Perfect scenario for me would be setting up a trio alliance of Me + Elle + Anastasia, and then having Jay on the side as my actual #1. idk if I can pull that off, but that was my plan heading into round 2 BUT. AS ROUND 2 STARTED, MY GAY ASS WON THE HUNT CHALLENGE. AMAZING. idk HOW I managed it because like?? I finished and found the hidden link within like 20 minutes? Statistically very unlikely BUT I'm so glad I did it. I WON A SAFETY WITHOUT POWER. It's kinda like a hidden immunity idol, except slightly worse because I can't actually partake in tribal at all. we went ahead and competed in the Taboo challenge last night and boy it was kinda rough. We lost a LOTTA points because we kept accidentally saying forbidden words (I lost us 2 points, woops). But we ended up with a semi decent score. Elle did an amazing job guessing. I really hope we can pull this out. SO YEAH SORRY THATS KIND OF A LOT. OVERALL I FEEL LIKE IM IN A DECENT POSITION, WAY BETTER NOW THAT I HAVE A SWP. I wanna further my position in the game with some allies now. That's my next biggest goal. toodles!!!

So I've figured out that Amy is a comp beast based on us discussing our old seasons and how she did in those: she always talks down her abilities because she's worried she's being painted as a big challenge threat, but I don't think she realizes that doesn't matter to me at all. Ultimately, I think she needed to be at tonight's challenge more than me, so I decided it's ok to sit out since I'm sitting out only because somebody has to, not because I don't want to play. In tribal challenges, it means she'll help keep us winning tribal immunity, and further down the line, if anything, I'll be using her as my "Ken" and if she wins everything, it'll keep immunity away from people I want out. 

I think I did much better in Taboo than I did in endurance, so I'm happy about that. Hopefully my performance this round can help me redeem myself with my tribemates.

Today in the fools tribe: no one is talking 

Holy crap we won yet again this is such a great feeling just like last season :)

Fuck I’m on the cursed tribe this round This time I think I’m on the majority alliance, which is a great place to be. So hopefully everything goes as planned tomorrow 

https://youtu.be/fszNKUHjB_8

So! We did the Taboo challenge and got second place, probs wouldve got first if we didnt get deductions but also we did so good so whatever 😂. I definitely kinda pushed for us to do the challenge last night bc it's Dylan's birthday and I didn't want to have to like, be anywhere specifically today 😅. But yeah we did super good and now I'm gonna go talk to ppl bc I've been gone all day lol

Bye I hate it here. 

~

SO. Here’s the rundown: We lost. Again. Pushing for Shaad to go. Moth, Jared, and Danny all agree with him going. So far I’m getting good vibes with everyone. Danny says he gets along with Jared well and doesn’t talk to Moth that much. Plus, Jared, Moth and I have that little alliance. Jared and I also get along well. Worried for Moth as she doesn’t seem to message a lot. This tribal... I’m feeling safe. I might even make an alliance with Jared, Danny and I. Worst case scenario for next challenge we lose and Moth goes. 

Yay we won again! Anyways, Dennis messaged me tonight talking about how everybody else knows each other from playing Stings games before. He said he checked the series wiki and got freaked out and told me that we're two newbies amongst vets. While he's telling the truth, I'm actually not too panicked because 1) I actually checked out the wiki before he told me about it and 2) I have pretty decent relationship with Amy to incentivize her to keep me around. I worked tightly with Amy for the specific reason that I knew she'll have others to work with, and for her to keep me as a loyal number. I also know that she was runner up of another series and she already recognizes the target on her, so I doubt she wants to risk me putting a bigger one. WOW FOR ONCE I'M NOT THE FLAMING TARGET I LIKE THIS 

Round 1 updates: https://youtu.be/5nhSsLNcnZ0 https://youtu.be/S5-0Yw93wc0

~

Round two rambles: https://youtu.be/CuwgF9IVmUM

So, tbh I've done some research about some previous seasons and I noticed Moth and Jessica have played together before. Moth still has not talked to me but Jessica has been overly friendly. I know they have a group message with Jared and I know he can be the split vote between what happens in our tribal tomorrow. Jared claims he has voted for Moth but we will truly see tomorrow. But honestly, if he chooses us, then Jessica is next unless the tribe swap or merge has happened.

~

Also with that research, I've peeped there's other connections in other tribes from previous games so this is gonna be interesting.

~

I chose Jared to work with mostly because I see he can play strategy.

Fools tribe is bad at playing games. And its perfect for me because I am safe but i am wishing for drama bcs its fun. rn we are doing small talk and being so nice to each other. I think we will form an alliance officially soon but i am too awkward or like i dont know how to say it or bring it up.

WHY! DOES! MY! TRIBE! KEEP! WINNING!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am trying to go the fuck to tribal council but noooo we have to beast all the other tribes yet again. Like a swap is probably coming soon and with my fuckin luck I am gonna get swap screwed like they are gonna look at me from the phantoms and be like yeahhhh theyve been winning lets get his ass out. i would love to lose this next one so the sees look stronger. if phantoms go to tribal I know I''m safe (anything can happen but I set myself up well), and thats all I care about. Jodi and I started to really talk about the vets who are playing this season, and we just realized that we're the only newbies on our tribe. like wow. The fantasy would be to get to merge and have a numbers advantage of newbies against these vets, or make the vets eat their own idk. Lots of thinkin lots of thinkinnnnn. I have been strolling through the wiki page some more and mapping out potential connections from previous seasons. The casting directors work hard but i work harder

https://youtu.be/gsDJIiGiqHE

https://youtu.be/V1ku4_-w0SY

Roses are red We’re on day six Fools tribe worse at challenges than a bag of dead bricks

That im one of the strongest competitors on my tribe, Dennis feels like he is on the outs, but that connects us so i can pull him in as an ally.

It’s been a tricky round 

~~~

Edgic:

Power Rankings:

Phantom

Jodi: Jodi remains at the top of the tribe for much of the same reason as last round. Now, she is even in two alliances with no one wanting to come for her nor do they see her as playing both alliances. Hopefully Jodi’s quick alliance making and constant worrying will help strengthen her defenses in the later rounds to come when people will be looking at her more closely.

Amy: Amy is still playing that stellar UTR game. No one seems to register her as a threat despite their access to the wiki and her performance in the challenge. Her social game is just too strong. Additionally, her greater willingness to work with Dennis than Jodi’s willingness to work with him may provide some good allies for Amy if she ever wants to distance herself from Jodi.

Brayden: Brayden rises in the rankings from last round as he has become more closely aligned with Amy and Jodi. The trio seem to see themselves as the only “active” ones on their tribe and are very quick to bond. Additionally, unlike Dennis, Brayden is not viewed with suspicion by either Jodi or Amy. They definitely feel more like a core alliance than they did with Dennis. Furthermore, Brayden is poised to get the people he wants gone out of this game. He is targeting Josh and Dennis which are good targets, especially the latter. All it takes is for Brayden to push a little for Dennis and I am sure the two girls will take the bait. Finally, Brayden’s connection with Ginnifer is very beneficial since he seems to be the only one willing to work with her at the moment. This gives him a very easy ally and Ginnifer doesn’t have much of a choice besides working closely with him. It is certainly an easy number for Brayden if he ever wanted to backstab Jodi or Amy in the future.

Josh: What lands Josh here is that he performed well in the challenge and is easy to like. Interacting with Josh on calls is always a pleasure. However, by not being part of that main trio, he is in danger of being voted out on a whim. Despite that, he seems to be, in my eyes, the least likely out of the bottom 3 to be voted out. Additionally, there is paranoia around people’s “experience” with ORGs surrounding these bottom 3 from others (despite the fact that the top 3 is composed of 2 people with ORG experience). Josh gets this heat the least.

Dennis: Dennis is in real danger if this tribe goes to tribal council. If Brayden pushes hard enough, Jodi can be easily swayed into turning on Dennis. He needs to back off with the strategy talk and just be more social. What saves him from last is that he is in that alliance with Jodi and Amy. This might make Jodi hesitant about targeting Dennis so soon as she may see him as a number. Additionally, Amy does seem keen on keeping Dennis around for a little while which would help his longevity. Hopefully Dennis can realize people’s perceptions of him before it is too late considering that he gives great confessionals and is one of my favorite players this season.

Ginnifer: Ginnifer may be on the bottom, but she definitely has a chance at avoiding being voted out. Most talk around Ginny is about how she is hard to socialize with, but I am sure, when the strategic game starts becoming more important, she can navigate out of this position. After all, she does have Brayden advocating for her which can definitely help. She would need to push for Dennis if she wants to survive until the swap at this point.

Fools

Jared: He takes the number 1 spot on this tribe as he is working with both ��sides.” He is serving as the perfect double agent for Danny and Shaad. Additionally, he is making the smart move of getting rid of an obvious duo wherein he was the third wheel of that alliance. He has a great strategic mind on his shoulders, but is it too early for him to show that off? Regardless, he has earned this top spot by avoiding the target cleanly and betraying his allies perfectly. Jared is definitely a contender for the winner spot as he has shown some excellent gameplay these past two rounds.

Danny: Danny has done well in avoiding the target this round as well. He seems to be more sociable and active than Shaad which is the main reason that he is not the one getting Jessica’s and Moth’s vote. Additionally, he was the one that brought Jessica’s and Moth’s pre-existing relationship to Jared’s attention which caused this flip to happen in the first place. Finally, Danny made an excellent move by pairing himself with Jared as this duo could be something fearsome to go up against in the future. The cards are being laid out for a force to be reckoned with and I am excited to see what Danny will do in the future.

Shaad: It is hard to tell if Shaad did anything himself to avoid being voted out, but, regardless, he did something right by aligning with Danny and Jared instead of ratting to Jessica and Moth. In fact, even if he does rat, he will still land himself at number 3. He is not going to get voted out here, and has an established alliance moving forward. And now that he is putting more focus on the game, I am happily anticipating what he can accomplish now.

Jessica: Jessica is being blindsided tonight. However, at the very least, she is not the one going. Her performance in challenges have helped her avoid the target for the time being. Here we can see that the boys weren’t inactive, they were just inactive with her which spells doom for Jessica if this tribe goes to tribal council again. Unfortunately, the boys found out about her prior connection with Moth. The only thing Jessica could have done was to distance herself from Moth at the beginning of the game, but that seemed unlikely since people were inactive with her. I hope Jessica is able to survive until a swap because it would be devastating to see her go so early.

Moth: There is nothing Moth did that landed them here. It was just an unfortunate circumstance wherein they are targeted because of a prior connection. Additionally, I doubt Moth is going to see this coming.

S.E.E.S.

Colin: With an advantage in his hands and him being the most popular bachelor on his tribe, Colin is quick to make allies and his allies like it that way. It feels as if everyone wants to ally with Colin. His activity in the earlier stages of the game have definitely born fruit.

Elle: Similar to Colin, everyone wants to work with Elle. Her social game is just that strong. Nothing much else to say besides what I said before, but the challenge definitely helped raise Elle’s standings in the tribe.

Anastasia: Similar to last round. Nothing much to say.

Jay: He is keeping out of the spotlight which is good.

Babs: No developments. Still viewed in the same way though has noticeably been less unhinged in the tribe chat.

Jennifer: Still the same as last time: seemingly inactive and might be targeted for it.

[survivoremathia]

Rites of Passage

Ali: We never got to play together, but I hope we can do so in the future and align, or more appropriately align-us :)

Trevor: My robbed child. I was really hoping I would get to play with you.  

Lydia: It's a bummer you were the first boot, I'd heard a lot about you

Owen:  MY FRIEND. Coming into this game after having recently hosted you I really did want to work together. Unfortunately you weren't really around the first few days and that didn't work out. I hope we get a second chance soon!!

Ali: I never got to talk to you that much about why you quit and I was sad when you did! I hope someday in the future, you’ll have more time to commit to a game, and will be able to experience the wild and wonderful ride that I never expected to experience, as a GB Survivor fan. Trust me, it’s worth it.

Lydia: It's a shame you didn't have time to play, you should come back when you have more.

Owen:  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Ali: The mysterious quiet person in the Odysseus tribe. I hope everything is okay, and that whatever the personal reasons were that were preventing you from being able to play have subsided. You were the only person alphabetically before me on the wiki, and when you left, you gave me such consistent anxiety, as I’d open the wiki and on the cast list with placements, I’d always be right underneath the previous boot and thought I’d gone home :)

Lydia: I hope that everything worked out for you, and life is going a bit easier now. 

Owen:  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Ali: Whew. We probably jumped the gun in voting you out, you were the scary mix of quiet but strategically intimidating. I was keeping up with ‘Great Lakes’ and was SO proud to see you kill it all the way to F6! If you had to be taken out by a 3-2-1 vote, it shows the threat you’d become. I’d love to play with you again and I hope to fulfill the prophecy you said in your last message, that a ‘newb will bring it home’.

Trevor: You already have a reputation even though you had barely started your first game when this one started.  You were too much of a threat to have around so we took you out while we had your fate within our grasp. 

Lydia: Our few short conversations were pretty fun.  You're certainly a kid with an abundance of character. 

Owen - Good job in Great Lakes you're in the sixth place fam now :')

Ali: I never got to play with you either, would’ve loved to though. All I can think of is some joke to do with ‘c-hole-in-one’, but I don’t how to put a golf joke into this? How can I put it… Or rather, PUTT it. Problem? Solved.

Trevor: Colin!! I really loved getting to meet you. I felt we connected well on our original tribes and I'm sorry to have abandoned you.  I was shocked when you were voted out but it was a HUGE sign to me and helped me know how to play later in the game. 

Lydia: We never really got to play together, which is a bummer because I'm still dying to know what a Space Gay is.  Also you had a+ taste in survivors. Maybe next time. 

Owen:  YOU WERE ACTUALLY ROBBED IM SORRY THEY DID YOU DIRTY LIKE THAT!?!? Another angel fallen TOO SOON wow. Bring Colin back for all stars.

Ali: Eddie, I still feel so guilty for what I did to you! You need a Survivor Athena r-ed(die)-emption. That was a stretch, I apologise for that lmao! :) Thank you for being apart of one of the craziest tribals of my whole experience (and arguably my favourite). Please don’t hate me, you seemed super nice :)

Trevor: You're A scary player.  Our talk before the mutiny was a big part of what led me to leave the tribe. I could tell you weren't being completely honest and I knew after that I may be in trouble on that tribe.  Glad the game didn't harm our repaired friendship though. 

Lydia: My only regret in this game is that I didn't get to vote you out myself.  Sucks to suck. 

Owen - I was never on a tribe with you but I hope you have a nice day. 

Ali: Welp. We never got to speak all that much, but you seemed super nice. You may not’ve won the Pictionary you were playing with your family, but you won a place in my heart :)

Trevor: I still don't understand why you didn't talk to people.  You doomed yourself.  #TheLastEasyVote

Lydia: I wish we could have talked more! I never seemed to be able to catch you at a good time. 

Owen -  I WAS on a tribe with you but it never felt like it!!!!! Thank you for being an easy vote for us and I hope everything is alright.

Ali: I never got to play with you either, and it sucks that you went premerge as a former winner, but it’s indicative of the threat you were. If an All Stars series happens, I’d love to see your third chance, or really second chance, as your second game wasn’t a second chance, seeming as you won the first time , but your third game would be your second chance on your second game whew. That explanation? Pretty unnecessary, but anywho :P

Trevor: Coming into this season as a former winner you had a huge target on your back.  I did enjoy getting to play with you and I think we could have actually worked together for a while.  But knowing the merge was coming I did not think it would be good if you and Duncan were able to team back up. 

Lydia: I was excited to get to play with you! Which is ironic because I know I voted you out, but you felt incredibly well connected at the time which made you an unquestionably dangerous, but also speaks to you as a player. 

Owen: Wowowowowowowow I think you were the only former winner on this cast and that should've made you an instant target but you survived for a while. I think that and your relationship with Duncan probably did you in. I'm glad we are hosting together tho and we are still pals! 

Ali: Like I say, you were rob-bed. I am so sorry you went home premerge, one of my few regrets in my game. I’m pleased you made jury, and really good luck with hosting ‘Death Valley’. I’ll CERTAINLY be watching :)

Trevor: Coming in from only knowing each other as Lake and Geo I didn't know how we would work in this game. Ultimately we didn't really get to play together at all but I was glad to see you go before the merge because I saw you as a huge threat to my game. 

Lydia: We were never on the same tribe and don't think we ever had a conversation, but I hope you're having an excellent day!

Owen:  I don't think I ever met you either that was all the sketchy idol and stuff I don't know but Rest In Peace.

Ali: I was in exile when you quit the game, and was really sad to hear that you quit when I came back :( I think after I played Guess Who with you and Sam at like 3am my time, I was bonded to you forever! Your memes will be in my memeory forever! :)

Trevor: I was probably most pleasantly surprised by you in this game. I loved getting to work with you and I'm glad I was able to convince you to mutiny with me.  When I saw you left the game I knew I was losing a true ally but I hope everything in your personal life is going better now.  

Lydia: Whatever reason had you leave this game I really do hope it's all sorted out now.  I know you were overall a really loyal but risk taking player and I gotta say I appreciate that. 

Owen:  I don't know the terms surrounding your quit, but if something happened I hope it is better now and if you were just busy I hope you're finding time to relax real life is important!!!!!! Cool.

Ali: My second British comrade! We didn’t talk that much either, but you should be super proud of surviving the two swap tribals you attended, when you were seemingly an obvious target! I hope, like George, you’ll be able to play another game, where you can dedicate more time! I will try and represent Team GB, but hopefully not like in the Beijing 2008 Olympics, where GB came fourth medals wise. I don’t wanna curse myself like that!

Trevor: Ooooo scott. Wow.  It took about three rounds of being on the same tribe before you finally talked to me lol. I knew no one else was talking to you so I used that to my advantage to steer your vote where I wanted for the next two rounds. Then at merge you disappeared again ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.  With the amount of strikes you got I hope you're not a baseball player. 

Lydia: You were honestly a really likable person, I think if you had been able to really get your focus here you could have been a force to be reckoned with.

Owen:  HSJSHSJSJS WHAT AN ICON?????? I think we all knew you'd be removed and the strategy actually became like....working around your inevitable med evac rather than working around/with you as an actual player. Thanks for writing my name down at that one tribal :') rock on

Ali: Whew, Matt. One of the major tribals of this season was your vote out. You came into this game with such (m)att-ack and fire, that you were quite scary! Even though you went first post-merge, your impact on the merge game certainly never died out! Even now, people are talking about what you said and the things you told the players about who are threats, come F3. Holey ‘Moly’ (too soon?), you certainly left your mark! 

Trevor: Coming to the merge I really didn't know if you being there would be a good thing or a bad thing. I felt like our friendship would be something that would bring us together but I wasn't sure where your head was at game wise.  After talking a little I felt like we were on the same page and that we could maneuver the votes as a pair at least for a few rounds. once I heard you were coming for me, the head of the snake had to be cut.

Lydia: This is going to sound so fake but I swear I really mean it.  Deciding I wanted to vote you out was actually very difficult for me.  You were one of the first friends I made outside of my first season in this community and I had wanted to play a game with you for awhile.  But then All Stars happened and that was rough, and this just really felt too soon afterwards to really build trust or play well together.  Maybe that was a misjudgment on my part, and believe me, I'm really sorry if it was.  It's not your fault you scare the shit out of me in games, but you play with such ferocity and unpredictability that I feel like you are always a serious threat to me. 

Owen:  I'm not sure why we never seem to click in games but I've known you/known of you for a long time and you're a legend!! Sorry we ended up on different sides of the battle once again. 

Ali: Welp, we really spoke all that much, except for me giving you the number for that password challenge, when I said what rhymes with four hundred and eighty knee. Well, what rhymes with purer slumber door shoe gauze mobbed and that’s my thoughts :)

Trevor: I'm looking forward to confessionals to see if you really were playing under the radar or if you had a lot more going on. I felt like after lying to you about the Jay vote that you just would not trust me again.  Plus you tried to vote me out :P. Your connection to Ryan was scary and that is a main factor in your ultimate downfall. 

Lydia: Remember when I was so siked to finally officially meet you and play a game together?  I really didn't take advantage of that.  Unfortunately if I didn't have people target you, they would have targeted Ryan and I was captain of #TeamSaveRyan at that point.  I know we didn't talk very much but I still feel like we had some good moments.

Owen:  I enjoyed working with you in the beginning and actually getting to talk and play together for once!! I'm forever mad at Trevor for declining TAR All Stars bc you're a cool host and a cool dude. I think our trajectory was similar to mine and Matt's where we ultimately ended up separated. But I liked the few conversations we were able to have!

Ali: It was tragic that you went home. You bequeathed me an idol, that I fudged up with (sowwy!)! You’re one of the people I really hope to be friends with postseason. Like I said to Isaac, playing ‘Guess Who’ at that ungodly time bonded me to y’all forever. I hope the tribe’s overall prophecy is correct, and you do play on the real Survivor some day! :) 

Trevor: I'm writing this one last because it is definetly the hardest.  When the game started you were the only person on my tribe that I felt good about.  I knew we had a little rocky history but you were still one of my friends and I just had a feeling I could trust you.  I always pick one person in these games that I tell everything to, and since I didn't know if I would ever meet up with owen or Lydia, that person became you. I was relieved when we still ended up on the same tribe after the mutiny and you were still the person I told everything to, even with picking up Lydia on the new tribe.  When I found my idol you were the first to know because I was giddy and so excited to tell you.  I feel like this game repaired any cracks that there may have been in our friendship and I don't see anything changing after the game.  You're an amazing person and I want to say thank you for giving me a chance to prove I'm not an asshole.  Voting you out sucked and I hope you'll understand why it was necessary. Talk to you soon.

Lydia -  I had heard so much about that I was so excited to see you cast! And holy shit did you leave you mark on this game.  I really thought that you and me were going to be teaming up but it just didn't seem to be working out that way.  I think we both were fighting for the same allies and that put us in opposition.  I really did like talking to you though the few times we were really on together. You've got a very magnetic personality and if our roles were switched I would have enjoyed watching the rest if your game play out. If I see you playing in anything else you know you've got a stan in me.

Owen -  MY OTHER CHILD DHDJDJ WOWOWOWOW I wanted to work with you more than anybody else in this game and I told you that as soon as we merged. I don't think you ever fully trusted me though because whenever we talked game you gave zero information except for the one time we were both being fake af lol. I imagined us going further together than we actually did. Still, you're a great player and a great friend and I can't wait for our band to become famous and we can leave all these survivor nerds behind. Looking forward to seeing you on tv in the fall for Survivor 35!!! Xoxoxo 

Ali: Whew. I’m really sorry you didn’t make F3 this time :( You were a major power player this season though, and I really feel like if it wasn’t for the live tribal craziness, you would’ve gone all the way once again. I really appreciate all the advice you gave me during the season, and I’ll make sure to apply it, for when I play again!

Trevor: If I had to pick one word to describe our game together it would be: awkward.  It started when you said you would only align with me for Owens sake. And went on to you saying things like when I thanked you for not voting for me and you said "I didn't do it for you" lol. I always found it laughable because it seemed like things you were thinking but shouldn't have said aloud. I knew I was never really part of your plans and eventually the fact that I knew everything you were doing through owen wasn't valuable enough for you to stay. 

Lydia -  God it was so great meeting you for the first time in this game.  Getting to know you was like reuniting with an old friend from this past summer who I hadn't talked to since.  Strange. Anyways, it's always really unfortunate when someone gets voted off simply because they were friends with a threat. Honestly, I really didn't want to be a part of this vote but logically it was the most reasonable thing to do besides voting out Owen, which believe me, I tried to sell that.  It's safe to say that in both games we played together you ended up being one of my favorite people, you are a really enjoyable energy to have around.  I hope we gave a third chance and can really team up for once.

Owen -  I dreaded the day that I would have to either side with you or side with Trevor. I hope I proved to you through my actions at the final nine that I really did put everything I had into keeping you here as long as I could. Even though you kick my ass at 8 ball on the daily :'( I'm sorry that it was you and not me that became the causality of our alliance. Thanks for having my back again this time around and know that one day we WILL make a final two together. <3 

Ali: After ‘Tea Time with Ryan’, I thought I’d never EVER want to play or even talk to you again. Having said that, by the time you went at F7, I’d had a complete 180 with you. That’s sorta why you had to go though, that’d happened with lots of people! Your gameplay and the underdog narrative you would’ve had at F3 were super scary! I hope to experience another ‘Tea Time with Ryan’ in the future but hopefully I’m not on the receiving end this time :)

Trevor: I admire you. I've always looked up to you a lot as a leader outside the game and try and emulate a lot of your dedication to the community.  For the last little while I always felt like perhaps maybe I bothered you and I had trouble knowing if you actually liked me or maybe I just misinterpreted things you said.  When the game started and we were swapped to the same tribe I was excited to work with you.  And I felt a nice change from our conversations outside the game.  We talked more and I truly felt like you were excited to talk to me.  When I found out you were working with matt to plot my demise I was slightly hurt because I REALLY wanted to trust you.  After that all went down I didn't know if you would even want to talk to me anymore. I'm glad we had that talk we did at final 9.  And it was also nice when we brought the fam back together.  Your vote off was a really low point in this game.  I hope we can still be friends when this is over. 

Lydia - Ryan Titty Palmer- I'm still SO MAD.  No one believes me when I say this but you actually were my closest ally in this game and the one I had the most fun working with.  We should be here together rn, this is a fucking tragedy.  Our few calls were probably the highlight of this game for me (just in terms of enjoyment, not really success because...obviously).  Anyways I'm glad we finally got to play together, I know you've played like 100 but since this is probably the last one for both of us for awhile, I just feel blessed. I know you already know it, but you're the best Ryan. You have the best attitude about games and kept me laughing every round even when you tried to fuck me over.  You're a fighter. Honestly, lets be best friends????

Owen -  Wow my dad!!! You're another person I wanted to play with since we have been friends for a while and we haven't gotten to be together in Survivor. It was truly a wild ride :') From siding together through premerge to making the fam to your going rogue and then back to the fam and then ultimately the round we went different ways, I'm glad we had our own SURVIVOR STORY to share and I hope we can keep talking in our draft chat after the season is over.

Ali: You went on such a journey this season. Be that with your gender identity, that you beat your Survivor record and that you lasted 7 more rounds, after all the other attendees at the 4 person Olympus tribal had gone home. I’ve learnt SO much from you about gender identity and I wish you luck at school and in your future. I have LOVED meeting you, I think you’re truly so inspiring. To end with a tennis analogy, you served it up this season! :)

Trevor: We came into this game with a rough history.  But I wanted to get to know Logan.  After leaving our starting tribe and then not meeting up again until merge, we never really got to start talking until merge time.  I was mildly surprised when we worked well together and weren't actually targetting each other.  After a certain point in the game I really thought we would go to the final 3 together but that all ended at final 7.  It still kind of saddens me that you never even answered my messages after that vote. Hope you're doing well, bro. 

Lydia -  I am really sorry you got caught in the middle the way you did.  It's not what you deserved or what I wanted to happen.  Unfortunately, it was my idea and my push to go that direction because I believed it was the safest decision, so I am truly sorry for that. I feel like you are one of those rare people that cares more about making friends and relationships in these games than winning, and there's nothing wrong with that.  In fact you deserve credit for it, it's not always easy.  You are just honestly a kind and good person.  I feel like that might be why we have some communication hiccups because I'm a disaster of a human and in general an asshole.  Anyways, people like you are rare and we should protect you.

Owen - I think coming into the season we both maybe had some pre-existing misconceptions about each other based on what we had heard in the past or our different relationships with Trevor. I'm really surprised at how quickly we were able to find a place with one another and rock it out for a few rounds. I got to see a side of you in this game that I don't think a lot of people realized. You strategized just as much as others, you had a plan and helped make decisions and carried out things you had in mind. We constantly bounced ideas off of each other and I don't think either of us couldn't have gotten as far as we did without the help of the other. Thanks for being my main dude the last few rounds! We did that :')

Ali: My F2, my ride or die. I was so crushed to see you go last tribal. We’ve had quite the bumpy newbie ride this season. You were the one I trusted most, that I talked all about strategy with, that I would joke with and I almost wish you were here at F4 instead of me. It’s been a distinct pleasure to play with you this season and I hope we can stay friends in this game and beyond.

Trevor: My Canadian buddy!  You welcomed me with open arms when I mutinied to your tribe and I am still very thankful for that.  Our alliance is still my favorite of the game and it was a shame when I realized that it was falling apart.  I was honest with you until that point, always was, because I didn't want to lose your trust. I'm glad we were able to mend fences before you left.  Good luck in your future games :)

Lydia -  Well...we had a roller coaster of a relationship didn't we?  I know it probably felt like it was easy for me to do what I did but it wasn't.  I did take my role as your mentor really seriously for the first half of this game and I loved watching you and Ali take my advice, and grow.  Maybe I just hated watching you two making moves for yourself.  I know that we fundamentally disagree about a few things, and I believe there is some legit miscommunication between us in terms of what happened and who made who feel what.  But I never lost respect for you, and I never wanted to make you feel disposable as an alliance  member.  I'm grateful that I got put on your tribe and got to meet you, and really do hope that we can be friends after this game.

Owen -  Both you and Ali were a breath of fresh air in this game!! To me, a lot of Survivor is about creating bonds with new people and actually getting to make friends and relationships. There's no prize money so what else is there to get out of it?? We didn't talk much until the end but like I said, I appreciated our last minute twenty questions session and I'd like to do it again some time. Thank you for being there for me when things got a little rough.