u/Effective-Front389

Season Link: https://brantsteele.com/survivor/31/r.php?c=X3MOGpDJ

Season Edgic and Character Comments: 
>!20) The Click: Middle of the Road Mixed. An early five person voting block formed that The Click unfortunately wasn’t part of. To make things worse, he gets into a disagreement with Julia, one of the figureheads of said voting block. We see him successfully pull 2 people into voting with him (MeandJTV and Lamar) but it’s not enough and The Click is out first 7-3.  !<
>!19) Dakota: Middle of the Road Negative. She’s targeted at both of the first two tribal councils, but actually would have survived here if not for an idol play by Lamar that results in her going home with only 3 votes. I thought she was working with the majority alliance (Ishowspeed, Julia, LaurenZside, Philomena, and Taylor) but they seemed to (correctly) throw votes on her case of an idol play. !<
>!18) Julia: Complex Personality Mixed. Strong strategic presence at the first two tribals. She also has moments of both bonding and fighting with peers. Within the five person voting block, she also had a partnership with Ishowspeed. Swapped with 4 people from the other tribe and Lamar (who survived after playing an idol last tribal) so definitely a horrible swap for her with little wiggle room. !<
>!17) MeandJTV: Under the Radar Negative. Left out of the vote at his first tribal and the only person excluded from a new 5 person alliance that forms on his swapped tribe…aka they made an alliance to get him out. We get some insight about how he has trouble connecting with his tribemates, but he doesn’t have any social moments or join any alliances to up his visibility.  !<
>!16) Khloe: Middle of the Road Neutral. Able to get into the “exclusive” alliance that formed last episode, but when her tribe loses again, there’s no options outside of the alliance. She tries to rally original Ta Keo to take out Philomena but is unsuccessful as Philomena had developed stronger bonds.!<
>!15) Inquisitormaster: Under the Radar Positive. We don’t get to see much from Inquisitormaster as she’s removed from any alliances and this is her first tribal council. She ends up being the last connected person socially when her tribe loses, making it easy for the now tight 3-person alliance of Ishowspeed, LauzenZside, and Taylor to push the target on her. !<
>!14) Mr. Beast: Complex Personality Neutral. Post swap #1, we see him bonding with Eliza, John, and Lamar; eventually forming a 3-person alliance with Lamar and Eliza. He’s in an okay position post swap #2 but an idol play by Painis results in Mr. Beast going home with just 2 votes. Notably, Mr. Beast did try to protect himself here by throwing a vote on Jamie, but Jamie and Kim threw their votes on Mr. Beast for a big blindside before the merge!!<
>!13) WolfeyVGG: Middle of the Road Neutral. Socially and strategically he’s close with Weeby Newz; close enough and savvy enough that they are able to work around the larger voting blocks within the tribes to survive their 2 premerge tribal councils. His 7-5-1 boot is the result of 2 longstanding groups (Group 1:Ishowspeed, LaurenZside, Taylor, Group 2: Jamie, Kim, and Philomena) and 2 free agents (Painis and Lamar) coming together. !<
>!12) Taylor: Middle of the Road Negative. Fairly involved strategically and well-positioned for much of the game. He ends up getting pushed out of his 3-person alliance and replaced by Weeby Newz this episode, leaving him quickly powerless though and he is voted out 9-2-1. I assume the quick change in position related to being caught double dealing. !<
>!11) LilSimsie: Under the Radar Positive. Friendly presence, but she only attends 1 premerge tribal (where the boot is unanimous) and doesn’t get involved in any alliances so it doesn’t give the edit much to work with. Her vote was close though (5-3-3) and involved another player using a vote steal that very likely decided her fate in going home - she probably goes further without this. !<
>!10) Weeby: Complex Personality Positive. She makes a huge move when she replaces Taylor in his alliance (after losing her number 1), something she laid the groundwork for over multiple episodes, and then gets the target on him. Unfortunately, this makes her a huge target and most of the tribe turns on her, and Weeby is out 7-3. !<
>!9) IshowSpeed: Complex Personality Mixed. Big player with a lot of power until Weeby’s vote out last episode. I thought he was going to recover when he found an idol this episode, but he ended up going home with it in his pocket (vote was 5-3-1). Big downfall sort of edit. !<
>!8) Jamie: Complex Player Neutral. Loved his close relationship with Kim and Philomena! The Kim relationship gets a lot of focus and his move where the two of them voted for Mr. Breast in case of an idol play was 10/10. He was insulated after the merge and maintained a majority position, but LaurenZside plays an idol (rehid after Ishowspeed’s boot) and he’s taken out by Eliza and John’s votes (who basically did what he did earlier in the season). !<
>!7) John: Under the Radar Mixed. John is taken out in a plurality 3-2-1-1 vote. He was very close with Eliza throughout the game. Kim and Philomena (along with Painis) take him out here as revenge for taking out Jamie last episode. He ends up being a little UTR for being secondary to Eliza in their partnership and to make room in the edit for the other endgamers. !<
>!6) Philomena: Middle of the Road Positive. Poor Philomena is taken out with only 1 vote when both LaurenZside and Lamar play idols. Her switch from her original alliance to working closely with Kim and Jamie post swap helped set the tone post merge. Could have been a contender if not for the two idols played here! !<
>!5) Kim: Middle of the Road Netural. Fun character throughout her time. She got comfortable with her alliances and ended up being blindsided in a 3-2 vote when Painis flips on her to save his other ally, Eliza. !<
>!4) Eliza: Middle of the Road Negative. She seemed to have her finger on the pulse outside of the merge vote and when she wasted an idol. She’s frequently the target at tribal, but works with different groups to help secure her safety. She’s out after losing firemaking following a 2-2 deadlock. !<
>!3) Painis: Complex Player Negative. Great strategically, voting correctly 100% of the time post merge. This also involved burning many people which hurt his social bonds. He also had his correct idol play and won 2 immunities, but it’s not enough to get him more than 1 vote. I think he played a very strong game but especially in the last few rounds and would have liked the vote count to reflect that. !<
>!2) LaurenZside: Complex Play Positive. Power player in the premerge and early merge to scrappy underdog in the mid merge to end game. Her ability to go back under the radar and infiltrate the new majority after her idol play at the final 8 was very impressive. She saved herself with an idol a second time at the final 6 (needed after Lamar played his idol on himself) before avoiding the target again at 5 and 4. Her game garners her 3 votes which is impressive but not enough for the win. !<
>!1) Lamar: Complex Personality Mixed. He plays an idol to save himself in episode 2 then works with  Eliza, John, and Mr. Beast for the rest of the premerge, but swings against them at the merge vote. He swings back to them for a bit, but he and Eliza are at odds by the end of the game. After his earlier idol play, he saved himself a second time with one at the final 6. At the final 11 he used a vote steal to direct a close vote that probably wouldn’t have happened otherwise (LilSimsie’s boot). He won his way here in fire after the 2-2 tie last round. Very active player with a resume that wins him the game with 6 votes - well deserved! !<

All Stars: 
>!We have so many great players and storylines that would make for strong returning players. Due to that and the fact that the final selection will depend on many factors (maximizing Reddit players, theme, archetypes, pulling from different seasons, etc.), I’ve decided I’m only going to name a player if they’re 99% locked in. Again, so many great choices and expect to see multiple people back from this season at some point. With that said, no one rises above the others so much that they lock down a 99% spot. !<

Overall Thoughts:
>!I loved the season. All the seasons since the hiatus (15-19) have been peak Themed Survivor (similar to the real Survivor). !<

Thanks for playing and/or reading. As always, I'd love any feedback or thoughts that you have. 99% sure next season is going to be returning players. Theme TBD but I'm thinking the parallels between Themed Survivor and CBS Survivor may continue....

I have a lot of characters I want back already (some non-negotiables for this season) but if you have a character that did relatively well and you really want to see return, comment to let me know so I can consider them for one of the few slots or shortlist them for a future return. 

Calling all YouTubers, TikTokers, meme characters, and other folks who’ve achieved some sort of internet notoriety. For season 19, please submit 1-2 characters related to internet culture.

Optional: You can choose your character’s skill ranking (1-5) for one of the following categories: Physical, Endurance, Mental, Social, Temperament, or Strategic. If you do this, one of the other stats (chosen at random by me) will be given the opposite ranking. All other stats will remain a 3.

Casting Update: full (overfilled tbh. Sorry to those that missed out!

Season Link: https://brantsteele.com/survivor/36/r.php?c=40sDzAEh

Edgic and Contestant Comments: 
>!20) Shaq: Middle of the Road Neutral. The stimulator doesn’t give much insight into Shaq and he never got a chance to show off his physicality. At least he wasn’t a total outcast as Toy Freddy voted with him at tribal council. !<
>!19) Samus: Middle of the Road Mixed. Samus bonds with Camilla, Penny, and Hugh, and they go to bat for her but it doesn’t matter. She randomly threw her vote at tribal, as well, though it didn’t matter anyway as the vote was 5-3-1. !<
>!18) Hat Kid: Under the Radar Positive. Hat Kid brings general positivity but ends up underedited due to a lot going on during her short stay (multiple idol finds, ghost island trips, the swap) and being removed from the alliances and scheming. Although she voted with the majority at her first tribal, she was mostly separated from them at the swap and was voted out unanimously. !<
>!17) Toy Freddy: Middle of the Road Negative. On the outs the two times he attended tribal council and, although his original tribe had the post swap numbers, most of his OG tribemates turned on him here. !<
>!16) Hacker: Middle of the Road Mixed. Gets sent to Ghost Island earlier in the season but he sadly doesn’t even get a shot at an advantage as one could have helped him here. He was one of two people not included in an alliance that formed this episode. The alliance was split though as some trusted Hacker while others though he could have an advantage, resulting in a 5-3 vote. !<
>!15) GIFany: Complex Personality Positive. Preswap, we see GIFany aligning with Cinderella, Nick, and Paratchet. Post swap, she earns an extra vote on GI and uses it to help set the flip on Toy Freddy in motion. After the second swap, she ended up on a tribe of 5 without anyone she’d been working with and was an easy target in a 4-1 vote. !<
>!14) Hugh: Under the Radar Negative. On the wrong side of the vote at 2 of the 3 tribals he attended prior to his boot. The stimulator shows a few negative interactions and “resting” at camp during his time in the game. It was a 2-2 vote at first, but his past interactions and vote for Penny caused her to flip on him in the re-vote. !<
>!13) Kenny: Complex Player Negative. Kenny was a big player post swap #1 when he helped form the 6-person cross tribe alliance (Kenny, Eve, and Nick joining with Camilla, Cluster, and Jett). He gets his way when the alliance can’t decide between targeting Hacker or Cinderella. The negativity comes from multiple meltdowns and a fight with Nick that alienate Nick from the 6-person alliance. One vote would have really helped Kenny here as he goes out 6-5-1 (yes, Nick voted for him). !<
>!12) Camilla: Middle of the Road Mixed. Camilla’s social game kept her in the know and contributed to her being invited to the 6-person alliance that ran the premerge. Once this group was targeted at the merge, she tried to separate herself from them this episode but it didn’t work and she’s voted out 8-3-1.!<
>!11) Josh: Under the Radar Neutral. Josh is aware enough to have a fairly decent voting record but doesn’t directly involve himself in alliances or drama for most of the season. He gets good visibility during his boot episode when he forms an alliance with Penny, Roberta, and Sonar (also all unattached until now). This group was almost able to force a tie a tribal council but an idol play by Cinderella on Eve results in Josh going out 4-3 (4 cancelled votes). !<
>!10) Roberta: Under the Radar Positive. She also maintains a fairly decent voting record but doesn’t get into any alliances until last episode (the Josh, Roberta, Penny, and Sonar alliance). She’s in a split tribe without them though and is easily voted out 4-1 at split tribal A. !<
>!9) Sonar: Middle of the Road Mixed. Oh man the recent Josh-Roberta-Penny-Sonar alliance is cursed - shoulda stayed as free agents apparently. Sonar’s visibility gets upped due to being the alt merge boot (and somewhat last episode too). He also didn’t stand a chance at his split tribal as the only other vulnerable people were a day one, three-person alliance. !<
>!8) Penny: Middle of the Road Mixed. Wow RIP that alliance. She finds herself targeted a few times throughout the game so she does well to survive this far. I was hoping to see her survive longer! !<
>!7) Paratchet: Under the Radar Positive. She closely aligned with Cinderella and Eve early on, and was loyal to that group. However, after Cinderella loses her vote at GI, there’s not much this group can do. Paratchet is voted out 4-1 (1 vote cancelled by an idol) !<
>!6) Kaboodle: Middle of the Road Neutral. Post swap #2, he aligns with Cluster and Jett, which connects him to their larger alliance. He also gets 2 strong immunity wins. I figured his group was about to take over the end game, but Jett (smartly) isn’t willing to go to rocks for Kaboodle. !<
>!5) Nick: Complex Player Mixed. He gets a lot of focus when joining then ditching the 6-person alliance, and is the deciding vote against them at the merge. He continues to vote with the majority after that and is part of the flip to tie the vote to prevent Kaboodle, Cluster, and Jett from running the endgame. Even though his group got the upper hand at the last tribal, he’s taken out unanimously here for being an end game threat. !<
>!4) Jett: Middle of the Road Neutral. We check in with Jett frequently throughout the game, but it’s more surface level as she remains drama and advantage free throughout the game. Her biggest moment comes in the final when she wins final immunity, but gives it up and loses fire to Eve! !<
>!3) Eve: Complex Personality Positive. She aligns with different (at times conflicting) groups throughout the game to keep herself safe. She has a somewhat tumultuous relationship with Cinderella that is highlighted in a growth sort of way that culminates in her forcing the tie to save Cinderella and take out her other ally, Kaboodle, at the final 6. I thought she did well but she was clearly not the end game threat Jett thought as Eve gets third place with two votes. !<
>!2) Cinderella: Complex Personality Mixed. Cinderella seemed to have both highs and lows throughout the game. She was an active player early on; forming one alliance with Paratchet and Eve, and another one with Nick, GIFany, and Paratchet. She also controls 3 idols (2 found and 1 from GI), but fails to do anything effective with them which decreases her stock. She still earned 3 votes which was close but not enough to clinch her the win. !<
>!1) Cluster: Complex Personality Mixed. Cluster finds an idol on his original tribe and then immediately after the swap, but also ends up wasting both of them. Even without idols though, he survives the downfall of his 6-person alliance at the merge long enough to regain some power by the end game. He was a fun character to watch who had a rollercoaster of win equity. !<

All Stars: >!Eve>Nick>Cinderella>>>>Jett (amazing fit for second chance though)>>Cluster, Kaboodle, Kenny>>>>the rest of the merge tribe!<

Overall Thoughts: >!Unpredictable for sure and I wasn’t sure who would win until the votes were read at the final tribal council. Lots of fun parallels to last season as well. !<

Thanks for playing and/or reading. I always love to hear your thoughts, as well, so feel free to share! Hope to see you next season (:

For season 18, please submit 1-2 characters related to video games. It can be a character, a gaming system, etc. 

Optional: You can choose your character’s skill ranking (1-5) for one of the following categories: Physical, Endurance, Mental, Social, Temperament, or Strategic. If you do this, one of the other stats (chosen at random by me) will be given the opposite ranking. All other stats will remain a 3.

Casting Update: full! season should be up later

Season Link: https://brantsteele.com/survivor/43/r.php?c=0iPqnSNt

Player Edits and Comment:

>!18) Kyoko - Middle of the Road Neutral. Although she’s first boot, she has solid reads on the other players and enough insight to know she needs to play her SITD. Perhaps it hits in another timeline, Kyoko!!<
>!17) Cody - Under the Radar Mixed. He has a meltdown shortly after the immunity challenge that makes him an easy boot for the tribe. The Coco tribe has had multiple disagreements, meltdowns, and SITDs wasted here so he still leans a little UTR compared to the rest of his tribe.!<
>!16) Pencil - Complex Personality Negative. Pencil was in a majority alliance (with Harry, Mr. Mackey, and Sayori) but decided to exit it before tribal council for some reason. The move works okay at first, but after an idol (and SITD) play by Kaede results in 0 votes, Pencil is the easy target in the re-vote after ditching her alliance. !<
>!15) Alphys - Under the Radar Neutral. Alphys is the only person on her tribe not involved in any alliance, so she is an easy target. Well maybe not easy because we still see a useless SITD and (temporary) idol play at tribal. !<
>!14) Silverstream - Middle of the Road Positive. Active player who was in a majority alliance with Greg, Nicole, and Bun Bun, but got unlucky when the former 2 made a side deal with Snape and chose him over her. Tribe makes it clear it’s because she’s too likeable and Silver is perceptive enough to play her SITD. !<
>!13) Mr. Mackey - Under the Radar Positive. Only sees tribal once (where others are more important characters) and is the unfortunate victim of a rock draw situation. Solidly insulated within and well-liked by his alliance before his unfortunate ouster. !<
>!12) Nemona - Complex Player Negative. Nemona’s need to be the leader and disagreements with Alice and Claude lead to her being isolated. After realizing her error, she attempts to win back Claude by giving him her SITD (never seen the stimulator do that) but it doesn’t work. She was one of the targets in the tie last round and voted out unanimously here so definitely getting negativity from her tribemates. Premerge Nemona was the one to raid the other camp and went on a journey too. !<
>!11) Greg - Complex Personality Mixed. Greg (along with Nicole) was a power player on his original tribe. His move to save Snape over Silverstream looks like a mistake in hindsight since Snape ditched him for greener pastures and voted against him here. !<
>!10) Nicole - Complex Personality Mixed. The other power player on pre-merge Baka. She’s actually able to recover during the split tribal, but a well-timed idol play by Baldi sends her home with 2 votes. She ended up going home with an idol in her pocket unfortunately so she definitely got a little cocky not playing it after Baldi’s move. !<
>!9) Harry - Middle of the Road Positive. Comfortably in the majority pre-merge and very close with Sayori, he even protects her with his idol at the merge vote (very helpful when it came down to the 4 person rock draw). Has a SITD hit when not needed (but did get some votes). His boot was largely the result of a bad tribe draw for the split tribal. !<
>!8) Baldi - Under the Radar Positive (premerge) then Complex Personality Neutral (merge): More go with the flow pre-merge, but uses his vote steal to make the tie at the merge possible and his idol to take out Nicole (a big player who also had an idol). Doesn’t involve himself in alliances or the strategy, and more-so seems to take cues from his more active OG tribemates. !<
>!7) Sayori - Complex Personality (premerge) to Under the Radar (merge). Consistently stayed with the numbers at tribal, but became less active at the merge and missed out on the new alliances forming. She makes a case for herself but is taken out unanimously. !<
>!6) Teacher Bun Bun - Middle of the Road. Aware enough to go with Greg and Nicole when they flip on Silverstream, and then aware enough again to flip against them and get into a cross tribe alliance at the first change at the merge. He could have survived at least one more round if not for a key immunity win by John (the only person not in the core part of the alliance) !<
>!5) John - Middle of the Road Positive. Was in a cross tribe alliance at one point (not the main one but a smaller subsection with Claude, Alice, and Snape) but ended up leaving it. Wins a few key immunity challenges to keep himself in it and almost had a shot to make fire. !<
>!4) Kaede - Complex Personality Positive. I loved our fallen angel last season and Kaede somehow managed to be even better. Playing her SITD before playing her idol (similar to Rachel) and saving herself at her first tribal was a 10/10 move. She’s immediately working against all of her former tribemates come the merge and helps form the cross tribe alliance of people who were more on the bottom of their tribes (Kaede, Alice, Claude, Snape and Bun Bun at the core) - a group that formed in episode 7 and quietly directed the game from there. She found a second idol that she was able to hold on to until it was going to expire, and since she was immune she played it on an ally to try and curry favor. !<
>!2&3) Alice - Middle of the Road Mixed. Big content early with a journey in episode 1 and playing her SITD episode 2. Shown bonding with Kaede right before the merge alliance forms so I think that relationship was key. She received 16 votes throughout the season and was on the other end of the tie vote that went to rocks - which you could call a positive or negative of her game. Both runner ups played games that I think could get more votes (and maybe even the win) in a different season (or if the winner wasn’t in the finals with them). !<
>!2&3) Claude - Middle of the Road Positive. Consistently on the right side of the vote and won 2 immunities, including the final challenge. Being part of the sub-alliance within the merge alliance helped him reach the end with little resistance, evidenced by his 0 votes all season. Both runner ups played games that I think could get more votes (and maybe even the win) in a different season (or if the winner wasn’t in the finals with them). !<
>!1) Snape - Complex Personality Mixed (Started negative and got much more positive as the game progressed - ala David in MvGX). A 10/10 journey and the jury respected it by giving him the widest margin win in the series. I thought he was done for when he was left out of the Greg, Nicole, Silverstream, and Bun Bun alliance, but he convinced Greg and Nicole to save him…only to immediately ditch them at the merge (rightfully so) and take Bun Bun with him. Successfully avoided being targeted post merge and is given the most credit as a figure head of the cross tribe alliance. !<

All Stars: >!Everyone that made the merge has a good case tbh so picking people from here will definitely come to other factors (maximizing reddit players and seasons represented, archetypes, etc.). Specific rankings nothing else considered though Kaede>>>>>>Alice, Snape, Claude, Nicole, Greg, Nemona>>>>Harry, John, Baldi>>>>Bun Bun>>Sayori>>Mr. Mackey!<

Overall Thoughts: >!Loved this season! The underdog alliance coming together and the eventual winner is a producer storyline dream. !<

Thanks for playing and/or reading. I'd love to hear your thoughts and hope to see you next season (:

Themed Survivor wants to let characters associated with schools have some fun before school starts up again! For season 17, please submit 1-2 characters related to school. It can be a character from a show where their school/education is important, a mascot, a school supply, etc.

Optional: You can choose your character’s skill ranking (1-5) for one of the following categories: Physical, Endurance, Mental, Social, Temperament, or Strategic. If you do this, one of the other stats (chosen at random by me) will be given the opposite ranking. All other stats will remain a 3.

Season Link: https://brantsteele.com/survivor/30/r.php?c=EoCZHeUj

An edgic rating and a bit about each player. The descriptions are meant to be fun and realistic so please don’t be offended. Feel free restimulate and come up with your own story if you’re unhappy with your submission’s story (:

>!18) Coco - Middle of the Road Positive. An idol play (cancelled 3 of 6 votes) at the first tribal is exciting but I was sad to see Coco as the victim. She gives some insight into working with Michael S. and Brian after they made the decision to take the idol clue earlier in the episode and some general positivity. Not too positive or too visible that viewers will be overly upset when she’s gone first.!< 

>!17) Dominic - Middle of the Road Mixed. Taking the idol clue (along with Zlatan) in episode 1 makes his tribemates suspicious of him. He has a nice moment in episode 2 where he bonds with Kicks, but otherwise has trouble connecting with this tribemates after the first impression and is voted out unanimously. !<

>!16) Daisy - Over the Top Negative. She individually fights with both Monica and Stephen in episode 1 (causing them to align after “finding something in common”...aka hating her lol). Then she has a breakdown in episode 2 before fighting with Michael P. in episode 3. The tribe (aka the dominant alliance of Monica, Stephen, Katniss, and Michael P.) split the votes between Daisy and Will, but everyone piles on her in the re-vote. !<

>!15) Golfball - Under the Radar Neutral. As another premerger that’s idoled out, Golfball gets a subdued edit. She’s very caught off caught by Zlatan’s idol play in Kicks, resulting in her going home with 2 votes. !<

>!14) Brian - Complex Personality Neutral/Leaning Positive. Playing a fairly solid social game on his original tribe, evidenced by scenes of him bonding with Twister and Miho, who he viewed as stronger players he could hide behind. When swapped without them, he attempts to jump in with Zlatan’s plan to turn on his OG tribemate, Jockington, but he’s the only one and is voted out 5-2. !<

>!13) Basketball - Under the Radar Neutral. Catches heat in episode 1, but has a strong enough relationship with Miho that she saves her with the idol. She falls to the background behind the stronger personalities on her tribe after that. She was playing well enough to get into a majority alliance after the swap, but a well-timed idol play by Monica on Stephen negates the overall importance of that and results in her going home. !<

>!12) Rainbow Dash - Complex Personality Mixed. Merge boot who sees tribal in 3 of 6 premerge tribal councils ups her visibility by a decent amount. Her and Jockington are very close and work together throughout the game so that’s a relationship that gets a lot of focus. Her and Zlatan also have a bit of an antagonistic relationship after Zlat’s idol play. She was in the majority consistently throughout the pre-merge (though idols messed up her voting record) and went home in the re-vote following a tie here. !<

>!11) Jockington - Complex Personality Mixed/Leaning Negative.He’s ALMOST able to flip things around after losing his number 1 but goes out in the re-vote after a 4-4-3 tie. Probably goes on to be an end game threat if his side pulled out the numbers at the merge tribal council!!<

>!10) Will - Middle of the Road Neutral. Will was a constant target throughout the game and I was constantly hoping he’d find his footing. He did well enough on his swapped tribe but was then targeted at both merge tribal councils so far. More passive of a player but narrowly surviving multiple times ups his visibility. An idol play by Michael S. (negating 5 votes) results in Will going home 5-0. !<

>!9) Kicks - Under the Radar Positive. The stimulator doesn’t give a ton of insight into their early game and the edit highlights Zlat in the idol play that saves Kicks early on. Kicks does well on their own post swap when they get into a majority alliance, but as it’s with bigger characters who go further, Kicks takes a back seat to them. Kicks’ allies are loyal to them but it’s not enough when they’re voted out 5-2-2.!<

>!8) Miho - Complex Personality Mixed. Makes a huge impact with their episode 1 idol play. Her tribe doesn’t see tribal again, but it’s clear that her and Twister are independently at the center of the action, and then these 2 come together after the swap. Along with Kicks and Katniss, this alliance holds strong but is outnumbered. Miho is also tricked into switching her vote which results in her going home 4-3-1. !<

>!7) Michael S - Under the Radar Neutral. Michael remains removed from any major alliances and the stimulator doesn’t give me too much insight into him. I was excited when he found the idol, hoping he’d break up one of the longstanding alliances, but the way things worked out he wasn’t able to do that; still great that he saved himself with it! He’s seen as the most likeable and smartest person outside the majority alliance which his way he was taken out here. !<

>!6) Zlatan - Complex Personality Negative. Villainous (in a great way) all the way through: takes the idol clue in episode 1 then throws Dominic under the bus for it and votes him out in episode 2. Holds a vendetta against Rainbow and Jockington (even though they didn’t betray him) from the swap until their boot episodes. His aggressive gameplay got him in some trouble early on, but he recovered at the merge and was blending in very well. He got an extra vote at the auction that I was excited to see him do something with, but it ended up not impacting anything. The minority actually pulled off an impressive 3-2-1 vote split that would have worked here, but an idol play by Monica on Stephen (again!) foiled plan. !<

>!5) Twister - Middle of the Road Positive. An early idol find and his ability to form positive relationships with everyone resulted in Twister getting a lot of early attention. The cross tribe alliance he was part of at the swap (Twister, Miho, Katniss, and Kicks) also looked promising. Twister wasted his idol though and his alliance waited too long to strike at the only other strong alliance, original Masaya (aka our final 4). !<

>!4) Katniss - Complex Personality Mixed. Very well-positioned throughout the game. She was part of the original Masaya alliance and then joined the cross tribe alliance after the swap. At first it was unclear where her loyalties really lied as did things to benefit/hurt both alliances, but in the end she clearly chose to attempt to flip against original Masaya. The disloyalty and strong bonds she has on the jury makes her the biggest threat at final tribal. !<

>!3) Stephen - Middle of the Road Mixed. Always present strategically, but formed weaker social bonds than his opponents. Gets flak for being saved by Monica’s idols twice. Stephen has a big moment where he reveals that he had his own idol at both of their points though! It sways 2 votes his way and he almost cliches the win with his strong final tribal council performance! !<

>!2) Michael P. - Complex Personality Neutral. Stimulator shows him intentionally going out of his way to try connecting with all members of the tribe. There’s a lot of debate about whether it was genuine or a tactic though. He played a strong, but static, game. He comes as close as you can to winning without doing it though when he ties it at the final tribal council! !<

>!1) Monica - Complex  Personality Positive. Like the boys, Monica made her early alliances and was loyal to them. Her boost comes from being seen as the leader and figurehead of the alliance with her 2 key idol plays and 3 immunity wins (the most of the season). Her idol play at the final 6 that prevented the minority from breaking up original Masaya is also a defining moment for her. Monica wins when her #1 throughout the whole game, Stephen, breaks the tie in her favor. !<

All Stars: >!Katniss>Zlat>>>Miho>>>Monica/Michael P./Jockington/Rainbow/Stephen>>>>>other merge contestants!<

Overall Thoughts: >!Fun season. 5 successful idol plays were fun to watch. Even though original Masaya went out to make up the entire final 4, it was a fun ride to get there and that group still lacked a stronghold over the endgame. !<

Thanks for reading and/or playing. If you have any thoughts or qs about your characters, the change in write up format, etc., feel free to share! Hope to see you next season (:

Themed Survivor is looking for players ready to move the goal posts of strategy. Players ready to shoot their shot and who can cover their bases while doing so. Have the puns gotten you there yet? 

For season 16, please submit 1-2 characters related to sports. It can be a real-life player, a character from a sports movie, a piece of sports equipment, etc. 

Optional: You can choose your character’s skill ranking (1-5) for one of the following categories: Physical, Endurance, Mental, Social, Temperament, or Strategic. If you do this, one of the other stats (chosen at random by me) will be given the opposite ranking. All other stats will remain a 3.

Casting Update (as of 10 comments): 1 open male, 1 open female spots

Season Link: >!<

Major Storylines, Themes, and Shoutouts: 
>!An Advantage in Name Only - First, the journeys fail to produce any advantages for the castaways (due to everyone being greedy twice and everyone being conservative twice). Second, no idols are played correctly throughout the whole season. This peaks when 3 idols are misplayed in episode 8; 1 negates 3 votes and the other 2 negate 0 votes. Orange’s early boot plays into this theme too as he becomes an easy target when he finds the beware advantage while his tribe is debating who to send home. The person who wins the late game challenge advantage doesn’t even go on to win that challenge. !<

>!Cursed Journey - Alcremie, Delicious, and Mia all lose their votes on the opening journey, and wind up being targeted because of it. Alcremie is nearly booted when the vote ties 2-2 (Christine played her SITD), but Grimace takes the ultimate fall and is rocked out when it deadlocks. Delicious is targeted but does ultimately shift the target to Driplin, who is taken out 4-1. Mia is an easy target when her tribe loses in episode 2 and is voted out. !<

>!Shot in the Dark Fails - Related to, but distinct from, the first theme is the multiple SITD failures. Many players use them seemingly randomly when they’re in no danger. Christine almost gets herself sent home when she plays her’s. The only one that hits negates 1 vote. Alcremie also could have at least tied it when she was voted out if she saved her’s, but probably felt that it was a better chance of it hitting than Christine going to rocks for her or Chef flipping on Colonel. !<

>!Master Chef - Ua attends tribal in 3 tribals in the first 5 episodes, giving them most screen time and strategic insight. A Chef and Colonel duo emerges early. Fearing the girls may work against them though, Chef forms a side deal with Christine and Alcremie in episode 4. Even though Chef doesn’t have a vote, he directs his allies to take out Little Debbie (the only person he’s not aligned with) and she’s voted out unanimously. Chef’s alliances allow him to avoid being targeted when Ua loses again, as well. Chef AND Colonel convincing Alcemie to use her SITD here instead of voting was a big move! !<

>!Merge Episodes - Like any logical person, Birdie does break the hourglass so we see a reversal of the challenge results. The tribe is split in terms of voting. Wendy, Burger King, and Lollipop have a tight alliance from OG Luvu. They convince Taco to stick with them, and Christine bonds with them quickly as well. Chef and Colonel, however, prefer the more fractured Yase and flip to them. Wendy’s lack of a vote gives Yase and the duo the advantage here and Lollipop is taken out. Delicious made an interesting move by using their SITD. Therefore they didn’t flip against Lollipop (or the rest of their OG tribe) and they didn’t make an enemy in Chef. !<

>!Don’t Trust the Chef and Don’t Eat the Chicken - The Colonel and Chef duo masterfully flips in the next episode to take out Tonio to prevent OG Yase from consolidating power. They continue to hold power at the split tribal when they successfully take out their former tribe mate Christine by tricking her into targeting Apple but then working with Apple to take her out. These 2 are definitely getting fun but villainous edits (my favorite kind TBH)!<

>!Wendy and Burger King Duo - These 2 persevere on after losing Lollipop at the merge. Taco is still with them as well, but these 2 are highlighted as a heroic duo to contract Chef and Colonel. !<

>!Do or Die - Forgot about this twist when I picked this season and UGHHHH. It’s an epic fail when it ends up taking out Chef! This tribal was also supposed to be the culmination of our heroic and villainous duos facing off to gain power! Taco was firmly with Wendy and Burger King while Apple was with Chef and Colonel. Beef was set up to be the deciding vote. !<

>!Anybody’s (End) Game - After the Do or Die fail, I expected the Wendy, Burger, and Taco alliance to just hold strong to the end but that wasn’t the case! Colonel and Apply successfully flip both Taco and Beef to vote with them to break up the Wendy-BK duo. The duo was completely snowed as Wendy misplays her idol for Taco and almost goes home! In the end, Burger King is taken out 3-2-1. Wendy seems like the obvious target at the next tribal, but she flips it around on Apple by convincing Taco and Beef that Apple and Colonel need to be split up. !<

>!Wendy the Warrior - Wendy’s received a positive edit all season, but it ramps up at the previously described tribal and her move at the final 4, with her idol misplay and loss of BK giving her fuel. After winning immunity, she gives it up and takes on Colonel in firemaking as she feels he’d beat the other 2 in fire and win if he makes the finals. Her gamble pays off and she wins the challenge! !<

>!Final Tribal Council - We get a close 4-2-2 vote so we continue to get an exciting end game. Taco was loyal to her group and got along well with everyone, but seems to have had the least amount of agency with her group. Beef was largely a loner throughout the game but still managed to keep his finger on the pulse and stayed in a quiet position of power. Perhaps too quiet for some. Wendy was the most visible player throughout the game, but misused 2 idols including one at at time when her #1 Burger King was sent out. In the end, the highs of Wendy’s game are seen as outweighing the lows and she wins the game 4-2-2. !<

All Stars/Returning Players 
>!Chef - strategic force who was cut down by a twist. Locked! !<
>!Christine - early target who finds an idol and survives the “disaster tribe” to make the merge. I thought she’d find her footing and make a big move at the merge but she didn’t. Still likely gets a big hero/underdog edit to contract Chef and Colonel. !<
>!Wendy - still 50/50 on how many winners will come back outside of WAW but she's a definite there and even a potential for other themes, as well. !<
>!Colonel - Fallen angel.!<
>!Beef, Taco, Lollipop, and Birdie are the people I’d be looking at after these folks. !<

>!(as always, picks could change to maximize seasons, reddit players, etc. represented when an All Stars season happens). !<

Thanks for reading and/or playing. Hope to see you next season (:

The first 14 seasons of Themed Survivor produced epic characters, unpredictable seasons, and saw great participation from the Brant Steele subreddit (thanks!!). Season 15 had trouble getting off the ground (sorry you guys hate streaming??) so the series was paused. But it’s back!

For season 15, please submit 1-2 characters related to food. It could be a brand’s mascot, a character known for a certain food, or just a food you enjoy (or hate and want to see voted out first…IDK your life..) 

Optional: You can choose your character’s skill ranking (1-5) for one of the following categories: Physical, Endurance, Mental, Social, Temperament, or Strategic. If you do this, one of the other stats (chosen at random by me) will be given the opposite ranking. All other stats will remain a 3.

Casting Update: Full - Thanks! Hope to see you next season if I missed you here (:

While the next batch of contestants can be found on television screens, they are not unfamiliar to finding themselves on computer and phone screens. They’re also familiar with conflict given the ongoing streaming wars. 

Please submit 1-2 characters who come from a streaming network (e.g., Hulu, Netflix, Max, etc) original show (e.g., Stranger Things, Pen15, Heated Rivalry, etc.). 

Optional: You can choose your character’s skill ranking (1-5) for one of the following categories: Physical, Endurance, Mental, Social, Temperament, or Strategic. If you do this, one of the other stats (chosen at random by me) will be given the opposite ranking. All other stats will remain a 3.

Casting Update (as of 4 comments): 6 open female slots, 4 open male

Season Link: https://brantsteele.com/survivor/28/r.php?c=KcsdQWsy

Major Storylines, Themes, and Shoutouts
>!Kyoka v Daphne: Kyoka selects Daphne as the weakest member of the tribe in the opening twist. Later in the first episode, the two target one another after Luzon loses the challenge. Daphne wins out when Kyoka is voted out 4-2. A short but fun rivalry. !<

>!The Rise and Fall of Lotus: Although they never see tribal, Lotus is the social and strategic center of her original tribe, forming multiple group and 1-1 alliances. The edit shows her playing the middle in a budding Sayid and Bruno rivalry. Post swap, Solani tribe members are targeted as the only tribe to never see tribal council, but Lotus and Bruno successfully flip the target onto Hercule. Although he voted with them to get the numbers last round, Lotus flips on Indiana at the next tribal council. She still has the numbers when her tribe loses again, but Amane’s successful idol play negates 4 votes and sends Lotus home with 1 vote. !<

>!Amane the Idol Queen: After her previously mentioned successful idol play, Amane finds the super idol shortly after the merge! This idol saves her at the final 7 tribal council (after another idol play by a different player - see below). Both of her idols take out major players in the opposing alliances, as well (although her vote was negated by a second idol at the final 7 tribal so she gets less credit there). !<

>!Bruno’s Revenge: Bruno does not forget Amane idoling out his number #1 ally Lotus. After finding himself largely on the outs and on the wrong side of the votes in the early merge, Amane extends an olive branch to him and reveals her super idol to him (what’s the harm?). Bruno reveals this to Daphne and Dipper under the guise of a split vote plan that still benefits them (flushing the idol, Shaggy going home). But it’s a double (triple?) bluff when Bruno plays his idol on Shaggy and negates 3 votes for him. The 3 votes for Amane are negated by the super idol. That leaves 1 vote. Bruno’s vote for Daphne. !<

>!Daphne: Major player throughout the season and controlled the early merge. She formed a strong alliance (her, Dipper, Miss Scarlet, and Sayid) post swap that could have taken her to the end game if not for the super idol situation. She also got Sayid to play his idol on her at the merge even though she had her own idol! !<

>!Bruno the Idol King: Amane leaves the throne vacant and Bruno takes it over. He finds an idol at the final 9 (the one he uses on Shaggy to take out Daphne), but then later finds TWO more within a day of each other in the very late game. This results in him having 2 idols and immunity at the final 5. He uses them to protect both his allies (Shaggy and Amane), resulting in Dipper going out with 2 votes. !<

>!Shaggy Loveable and Loyal: Shaggy’s social game results in him being included in different alliances throughout the game. It also makes him a target but different more strategic players save him at different points. In a big return of loyalty, he ties the vote for Bruno at the final 4. Ultimately though, Bruno loses fire and Shaggy is voted off 3rd when Amane (now getting a cockroach edit) wins final immunity. !<

>!Sayid the Soldier: Sayid avoids tribal for the entire premerge. He then makes a huge play at his first tribal when he correctly plays an idol on Daphne. After getting into a strong alliance, he sacrifices his original tribemates (Sun, Amy) and swapped tribe mates (Carmen) to minimize his target and make inroads with his new allies. After Bruno bests him with the idol play at 5, Sayid bests Bruno the final 4 fire making challenge. His strong resume gives Sayid the win 6-3 over Amane. !<

Season Thoughts and All Stars
>!Another season where I was very entertained. Power was up for grabs throughout the endgame and I wasn’t sure how it would play out even at final tribal. !<

>!Bruno jumps out as one of the stronger strategic players of this era. Daphne also played a great game and seems like someone who would have a great growth arc. Both of them definitely need to come back. !<

>!Amane and Shaggy have strong potential too. Lotus went out a little too early for All Stars but makes sense for a second chance situation. !<

>!Sayid played a strong game but it wasn’t super dynamic. I’d give him a 50/50 for an all winners season.!< 

Thanks for playing and/or reading. Hope to see you next season (: 

Calling all characters associated with mystery! Perhaps your character is known for solving crimes or mysterious happenings. Maybe they had a mysterious background or they come from a media where larger mysteries is a main theme. Really any character that relates to the mystery genre! 

Please submit 1-2 characters who are related to mysteries in some way. 

Optional: You can choose your character’s skill ranking (1-5) for one of the following categories: Physical, Endurance, Mental, Social, Temperament, or Strategic. If you do this, one of the other stats (chosen at random by me) will be given the opposite ranking. All other stats will remain a 3.

Casting Update (As of 11 comments): 1 open male slot

Season Link: https://brantsteele.com/survivor/24/r.php?c=fZH9AAbk

Storylines and Highlights
>!Beetlejuice The Idol Finder: He finds two idols by the start of episode 3! Due to the One World twist, he’s forced to give the first idol to Lucy Loud so it makes for a fun storyline when he finds his own second. He makes a big play with his idol in episode 4 when he uses it on himself and idols Bob out of the game. Bob was becoming a strong player so this was definitely a good move beyond just saving himself. !<

>!CatNap and Bedlam Relationship: Despite being on opposite tribes, they align on day 1 due to the One World twist. They end up the same tribe post swap and end up working together to take out Aunt Gladys (Lily, Beetlejuice, and Red also get credit for this move). They take control of the first merge vote as well, but CatNap’s blindside at the tribal council after that is the end of this relationship. !<

>!Lucy, William, Death, and Aunt Gladys Relationship/Alliance: Another cross alliance that forms due to the One World twist. Although Aunt Gladys is taken out after the swap, Death does stick with her. Lucy and William have more luck in their swapped tribe as they work with Vanny and Toy Chica to successfully blindside Kano (partly for his loyalty to Beetlejuice). When the Lucy, William, and Death trio reunite at the merge they pull some big blindsides (CatNap and Beetlejuice) and make it to the final 8 in-tact. They look poised to go to the end together, but after William is blindsided at the final 8 Lucy later turns on Death to work with the girls. !<

>!Post Merge Power Struggle: It’s Lucy, William, and Death (a tight 3, “side A”) versus Bedlam, CatNap, Red, and Beetlejuice (a looser alliance of convenience, “side B”). Michael and Pamela are pretty firmly with the alliance A, while Lily leans towards alliance B. Toy Chica is a true neutral. Failed split votes, lying, and attempts to grab power (and 1 idol play) results in neither side gaining true control when we see a boot order of CatNap (side B), Michael (side A), Beetlejuice (side B), William (side A), and Red (side B)!<

>!Death Defying Idol Play: Death makes a great idol play at the final 7 to save his only ally left in the game, Pamela. Brave move to play it on her instead of himself!!<

>!Gender Battle: Since the tribes are divided by gender, this is an easy theme to incorporate and show through the characters' interactions and such. It ends up being an important theme as the alliance the ends up running the end game ends up consisting of four female characters (from different sides). This group takes it to the final 4!!<

>!Lily the Chameleon: Lily used her chameleon skills to mimic others in social conversations, allowing her to form strong relationships and keep her finger on the pulse in the early game. She then used her powers to blend in with her surroundings at the merge, allowing her to survive the battle for power even though she ended up being on the wrong side of the votes for a few tribals in row. Her best use of her chameleon gameplay comes late in the game when she separately convinces Lucy, Beldam, and Toy Chica that they need her due to the similarities in their games, and ultimately brings this group together as the 4 person alliance that runs that end game. !<

>!Lucy the Idol Waster: When you play 2 idols that end up negating a grand total of 0 votes, the edit has to clown on you in some way. It also helps explain their eventual loss despite their consistent gameplay outside the idol plays. !<

Season Thoughts and All Stars
>!A very strong season from start to finish! I genuinely had no idea who would take the win until the very end. Great characters and blindsides were plentiful. !<

>!Our winner is a social gamer who found their strategic footing in the end game and then won their way to the finals in the fire making challenge after a tie vote. Lily is a solid addition to the winners circle. !<

>!Both Beetlejuice and William were playing strong games until their blindsides so they come to mind first. Lucy, Beldam, and Death all have strong potential too. Red and Pamela behind them. !<

>!Lily for sure for an all winners season. !<

Thanks for playing and/or reading. Hope to see you next season (:

In celebration of the 13th season, Themed Survivor is seeking final girls and first kills alike. Horror mascots and urban legend monsters are also welcome. Really any fictional character that relates to the horror genre in some way will do! 

Please submit 1-2 characters who are related to the horror genre. 

Optional: You can choose your character’s skill ranking (1-5) for one of the following categories: Physical, Endurance, Mental, Social, Temperament, or Strategic. If you do this, one of the other stats (chosen at random by me) will be given the opposite ranking. All other stats will remain a 3.

Casting Update (as of 9 comments): 1 male slot open, female slots full

Season Link: https://brantsteele.com/survivor/26/r.php?c=xNHkyOCA
Super entertaining season with a strong winner. An early alliance ended up making it to the end game, but they were never in a majority and the alliance was not stable so it was entertaining to watch. 

Pre-Swap Thoughts and Highlights
>!The Fans tribe sees a lot of smaller fractions and alliances: 1) Coach and Victoria, 2) Kendal (he was with previous but flipped), Lenny, and Lucina, and 3) Lucina, Rosie, Janelle, and Captain Falcon. Cleveland and Valentino are easy consensus boots as no one wants to take a shot at someone with better connections in the two tribals they attend. !<
>!As a big player who got 5th after being medically evacuated last season, Squidward’s target is too big and he’s the first target for the Favorites. Sad for this ending for him after the way last season played out!!<

>!The Favorites see an early alliance of Vanellope, Rick, and Nathan form. Rick and Nathan are pushing for a Mickey boot next and pulling in Ani-Nami to do so. Vanellope dislikes this though and flips on her alliance to get out her own target (sound familiar?). Her target? Ani-Nami. Vanellope goes an extra step - convincing Ani-Nami to misplay her idol on Rick (who received 0 votes). Another sad ending for a favorite when Ani-Nami is out 5-4, but this was at least great from an entertainment perspective. !<

>!After the previous betrayal, Vanellope’s relationship with Rick and Nathan is strained, but they all want to stay safe. They work together to keep the targets elsewhere and Chomper ends up the victim of the truce. He almost flipped things on Sadness as the vote was 5-3 so he definitely went down swinging. !<

>!In the next episode, Vanellope realigns with Rick and Nathan. Sadness sees sticking with the bigger threats/personalities in this groups as more beneficial for her, as well. Without Sadness, Danielle doesn’t stand a chance of pulling the other votes and is out 6-1. Big player in her OG season who just wasn’t able to find her footing her. Reminds me of Ami in the real FvF in that way. !<

Post Swap Thoughts and Highlights 
>!On the new Favorites tribe, the original Fans (Captain Falcon, Kendal, Lucina, and Janelle) have the numbers. Janelle attempts to flip, but Nathan wants his revenge on Vanellope. He doesn’t take a direct shot but takes out someone who’d become a close ally of hers - Mickey. He’s out 4-3. !<

>!On the new Fans tribe, the original Favorite fare better as the original Fans factions are ready to go for each other. Lenny is successful is getting Rick and Sadness to vote with her to take out Victoria in a 4-2-1 vote (Coach also voted against his ally here for some reason lol)!<

Merge Thoughts and Highlights
>!After her move at the last tribal, Lenny is seen as a flip flopper. With 12 people fighting to stay alive at the merge, this makes her an easy target. Her original allies (Kendal and Lucina), along with Sadness, stay loyal to her but it’s not enough. Lenny’s out 8-4. Lucina also misplays an idol here. !<

>!After being largely unaligned with other throughout the game, Shiver is the next easy target for a big group. Shiver is out 8-3.!<

>!At the next vote a group of Rick and Nathan are looking to pull in Captain Falcon and Janelle (these 2 have aligned despite being on opposite sides earlier) to target Kendall. Kendall, Lucina, ,Sadness, and Coach are together, however, and targeting Janelle. Vanellope has a third target in mind though (sound familiar?). However, Vanellope’s plan fails in the first vote and in the revote she flips her vote to take out Kendal. He was one of the more stand out fan characters for sure! !<

>!The Rick-Nathan and Falcon-Janelle duos, however, can’t agree on the target at the next vote. The former want to target Rosie while the later want to target Rosie. The voteS are very close. The first one is 3-3-2-1 and the second one is 4-3. Ultimately, the Rick-Nathan duo win out as their original ally Vanellope and Coach join them. !<

>!This new 4some sees the value in sticking together and breaking up the Falcon, Janelle, and Lucina voting block that’s formed in recent rounds. This results in Falcon going home in a 4-3-1 vote. The 4some alliance told Sadness a fake plan in case she was going to leak their real plan. !<

>!Sadness feels betrayed by the other favorites but knows she needs them. She argues they need her too as letting 3 fans get to the final 6 is dangerous. Her argument works and the 4 remaining favorite vote Coach out 4-3. Turning on his allies was fruitless for him in the end!!<

>!Sadness is not able to make inroads beyond this round though. Although Rick flips to vote with her, she’s out 4-2 next. OG Sadness remains the best character of this entire series, and although her gameplay wasn’t as strong here and she was a little more muted as a character, she still has great moments and was one of my favs. Strong chance for Sadness 3.0, especially if this series does Heroes vs Villains as she’s a huge hero. !<

>!At the final 5, Lucina has the most allies on the jury and has an underdog story. This makes them an easy 4-1 vote. !<

>!At final 4, Nathan, Vanellope, and Janelle agree that Rick is the biggest jury threat. Nathan actually leads the charge against his (former) biggest ally. Janelle does something to annoy Vanellope though and Vanellope decides to leave the alliance. Janelle is the final jury member after she loses the fire making challenge (Nathan and Janelle actually flipped to voting to Vanellope instead of Rick, making the Nathan-Janelle-Vanellope alliance that formed especialaly ineffective lol) !<

Final Tribal Council 
>!Vanellope - An absolute menace to the season and her tribemates (in the best way possible). She cemented her legacy as a villain in this series. In addition to her other moments mentioned, she also denied the tribe rice at the auction when she chose to instead keep an item for herself. She didn’t always get her way (Kendal) but she did end the season with a 100% voting record which may be a series first. This queen also gets 0 votes though which may also be a series first if I’m recalling right. !<

>!Nathan - Second place two seasons in a row also cements Nathan’s legacy, but also probably feels devastating for him. Last time he lost by 1 vote (4-3-3) and this time he lost when Vanellope casts a tiebreaker vote for Rick. His game here was also very strong; pre-merge his post swap flip was excellently times and post merge he consistently remained on the right side of the vote without being targeted. He would have been a great winner here but his loss this season doesn’t sting as hard. !<

>!Rick - Our winner definitely adds to his legacy, as well! Great to see him win as he was also so close in his original season. Survived after the swap even though he was down in numbers then played well after the merge. He wins the game after receiving 0 votes against him all game. !<

Returning Players
>!Definitely a chance to see some legacy returning players, Vanellope, Nathan, and Sadness in particular feel like they have unfinished business. Rick would also be great to see again but I’m not sure how many winners I’ll be looking for and there are 1 time winners I’ld like to see still. As for the fans, Janelle gets a great edit and almost pulled out a win. Coach was a big character. Kendal fits the big player taken out earlier in the merge archetype, as well. !<

Fun season. Hope you think so too! Thanks for playing and/or reading (:

The contestants in this era of Themed Survivor have upped the lying, manipulation, and blindsides [shots include Vanellope (season 8, u/Lanky-While-4715**) blindsiding her alliance when she votes out one of her original tribe members, Danielle (season 9,** u/Leo2024YES**) coordinating her alliances moves over several votes, and Chomper (season 11,** u/Fanfic_Battle_2004**) flipping on his original tribe after the swap then surviving until the merge]** 

Some players have perfected the art of using well-timed hidden immunity idol [clips of Ani-Nami (season 10, u/GrimheartPines**) and Shiver (season 7,** u/Grand_Moose2024**) playing idols to save themselves]** 

Some players stole the hearts of both their tribemates and the viewers [montage showing Sadness (season 8, u/Imonthenextlevel**) evolving from early target to end game threat followed by shots of Mickey (season 7,** u/SurvivorNerdTTV**) making his tribemates laugh and him saying it’s his strategy]**

Some players made it to final tribal council but just barely missed out on winning the game [we see Rick (season 9, u/Life-Application7744**) and Nathan (season 11,** u/Leo2024YES**) both receiving votes at tribal council, but ultimately losing]** 

Missing out on the crown and money haunts them all but some of them feel it in a different way [footage showing Squidward (season 11, u/Lanky-While-4715**) calling taking control of a live tribal then being medically evacuated the next day]** 

However their last game played out, these 10 favorites are back for a second chance at the prize. Will one of them come out on top or will a new castaway exploit their knowledge of the favorites’ games? Find out on Themed Survivor Season 12: Fans versus Favorites

Since Fans versus Favorites is a theme in and of itself, we’ll do open character submissions for the 10 favorites! Submit any character that has not played in the series to be one of the 10 fans. If you have a favorite in the game already, you can submit 1 character. If you do not have a character already competing as a favorite, you can submit 1-2 characters. 

Optional: You can choose your character’s skill ranking (1-5) for one of the following categories: Physical, Endurance, Mental, Social, Temperament, or Strategic. If you do this, one of the other stats (chosen at random by me) will be given the opposite ranking. All other stats will remain a 3.

(Note: Some changes were made to casting to maximize the amount of Reddit players represented. Characters not brought back here may still be eligible to come back. I also did not select winners and several of them are definitely on the short list for next returning player season! Sorry for any hurt feelings over omissions - it was tough to choose 10!) 

Season Link: https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/r.php?c=Lu6l1uFZ

Pre-Swap Thoughts and Comments
>!-On Takali, Squidward is targeted for being a physical liability, but his superior social game saved him and Mr. Frog ends up being the first boot. Although there’s 2 episodes in between, Squidward is the target again when his tribe loses and just barely survives another close vote (5-4) that flips on Sena Aoi. A Miranda and Ruby alliance seemed to pull off this move by using Squidward (the other target), and Violet and Maggey (2 people in the minority vote at the first tribal).!<
>!-On Vanau, Princess Luna is almost voted out with the idol in her pocket when the vote ties, but everyone flips on Grammy Norma in the revote. Princess Luna doesn’t mess around at the next tribal and smartly plays the idol on herself; negating 5 votes and sending home Jethro. Princess Luna’s close allies in Gum and Chomper remain loyal to her, and Haymitch joins the trio in the vote as well. Haymitch is for sure hedging his bets as he aligns with all the other folks on the tribe in the next episode. !<

Post Swap Thoughts and Comments
>!-On New Vanau, Marcy, Daring Do, and Chomper have the numbers over Ruby and Miranda. Chomper doesn’t feel loyalty to his old tribe though. He joins the Ruby and Miranda alliance, and then votes out Daring Do. This tribe loses again in the next episode, resulting in Marcy being an easy target and voted out 3-1. They lose AGAIN in the next episode which results in an interesting situation. Miranda thought she was correctly playing the middle, but Ruby senses something is up and uses the idol to save herself, sending home Miranda (her OG ally!) in the process - good intuition and move here by Ruby! !<

Merge Thoughts and Comments
>!-The Chomper, Gum, and Princess Luna alliance are looking to reunite as the trio have been spread across different tribes. Ruby seems likely to join them due to connection with Chomper. Nathan and Thad are looking to reunite with Vinny. Dr. Whooves and Mrs. Puff remain allied despite being on different tribes, as well. Haymitch’s early flipping between alliances and failure to make new connections after the swap makes him an easy target for everyone else. He’s voted out 11-2 (Maggey votes with him for some odd reason as the 2 were never on a tribe together before now)!<
>!-In a devastating loss, Ruby experiences an injury and is medically evacuated from the game. She had been a major player so far so this is a tough loss after I purposefully didn’t turn that option off this time. Second chance theme on lock!!<
>!-Chomper finds himself targeted by the Thad, Nathan, and Vinny alliance. His people - Princess Luna and Gum - remain loyal to him (and Maggey is on the wrong side of the vote again lol), but it’s not enough and he’s out 7-4!<
>!-Princess Luna follows him out next. Gum had immunity so she was an easy target. In an interesting move, Nathan and Vinny branch out from Thad when they align with Violet, Dr. Whooves, and Squidward. Probably a good move as Thad has an idol and a side alliance with Squidward and Mrs. Puff. Interested to see where this goes!!<
>!-Maggey is unaligned and another easy target in the next tribal. She goes out 7-1-1 (Thad on the wrong side is interesting). Squidward misplays an idol here which could end up being a key error for him. !<
>!-Squidward reflects on that which motivated him to find another idol at the start of the next episode! Redemption is short lived when he plays it at tribal and he receives 0 votes again. Nathan and Vinny hatch a plan that also results in Thad wasting his idol on Nathan when they act nervous that someone has flipped. Lots of idols wasted just for Gum (the last member of his alliance) to be voted out 5-1-1-1!<
>!-Despite being in somewhat of a cold war, Nathan, Thad, and Vinny all remain loyal to another and vote Mrs. Puff out at the next tribal. Nathan and Vinny definitely pushed for this as Mrs. Puff was more of Thad’s number (although she did vote for him here)!<
>!-Final 6 tribal is crazy! Thad is immune. Dr. Whooves is finally able to use the legacy advantage he’s been holding on to since episode 1! Violet also just found an immunity idol! When both are played, all the votes are negated. With only Vinny, Nathan, and Squidward eligible in the next vote, Squidward exposes to Thad that Vinny and Nathan have been plotting against him! We get another 2-2-2 tie after that, but Vinny is sent home 2-1 in the third revote. !<
>!-Knowing his back is against the wall, Nathan wins the next immunity challenge. UGHH we have another medical evacuation in Squidward! He was playing a great game and had a legit chance to win this thing! The stimulator really be messing with me for not turning it off this time. !<
>!-Thad felt the heat before Squidward’s untimely demise, and this motivates him to win the final immunity! Nathan appeals to Thad on the basis of their strong relationship and the fact that he technically never actually went against him. It works. Both Thad and Violet join Nathan in voting out Dr. Whooves. !<

Final Tribal 
>!As with most other final tribal councils in the Themed Survivor universe, the vote is extremely close; 4-3-3 to be exact! Violet’s idol play at the key moment and surviving despite being more of an outsider early in the merge earns her the votes of her allies (Dr. Hooves and Squidward) and another outsider (Haymitch). Nathan points to the fact that he directly duped Thad into misplaying his idol and that Thad potentially got lucky with Squidward’s evacuation. This earns his close ally Vinny’s votes, along with Mrs. Puff and Chomper who respect his strategic game. Thad points to the relationships he formed with the minority members which is key as Gum, Ruby, Maggey, and Princess Luna vote for him to win. !<

>!Thad was a good player and I was actually hoping he’d come out on top in the cold war he had with Nathan and Vinny. I feel he got very lucky with Squidward’s evacuation though so I actually switched to rooting for Nathan at the final tribal. Still a good winner so no disrespect to the user who submitted him, but I do feel Nathan was kinda “robbed” in the end. !<

All Stars 
>!First calls are to Squidward (borderline lock), Nathan, and Chomper. Thad is a definite for Winners at War but not sure about outside of that unless I bring all winners back again for next season (not sure how people feel on that??). Vinny, Gum, and Dr. Hooves have All Stars potential, as well. Princess Luna too but female spots have filled up fast for the next All Stars already. !<

Thanks for reading and/or playing. Hope to see you next season (:

We all deserve a chance to sign and Themed Survivor Season 11 is ready to give some side characters a chance to do just that! Perhaps your character showed up every couple episodes and got to make a few funny remarks. Maybe they’re the superhero’s best friend or lesser known sidekick. Your character’s line is definitely shorter at conventions. 

Please submit 1-2 characters who are considered a side character in a story, television show, movie, etc. Note, they can still be important to the story, popular, etc. - just secondary to some main character. 

Optional: You can choose your character’s skill ranking (1-5) for one of the following categories: Physical, Endurance, Mental, Social, Temperament, or Strategic. If you do this, one of the other stats (chosen at random by me) will be given the opposite ranking. All other stats will remain a 3.

Season Link: https://brantsteele.com/survivor/27/r.php?c=71sKmMPf

Pre-Merge Major Moments and Shoutouts: 
>!- Ugh, hate the day 1 elimination twist but this stimulator made sense for the theme of the season. Still sucks to lose Show Carol and Pony Mac to it!!<
>!-Galang is a mess tbh, losing the first 5 immunity challenges. An alliance between Classic Scarecrow, Classic Amy, Comic Carol, and Bat-Affleck allows the four of the them to be the last ones standing. Stage Elphaba was in with this group as well, but played an idol unnecessarily which made it seem like she did not trust her allies, and she became a target for it later.!<
>!-When Tadhana finally loses, Human Mac is an easy consensus vote and he’s taken out 8-1. Movie Elphaba randomly plays an idol on Boom Amy showing she can misplay idols just as well as her Broadway version! !<
>!-Stage Elphaba sees herself voted out twice in the pre-merge after Movie Elphaba swaps out with her at one point. She’s voted out the largely the same people post tribe swap - ouch. !<
>!-Redemption Duels in general provide some good entertainment. In addition to the Elphaba swap, we also see Human Bean and Game Bea swap with their patterns at different points. Comic Bean and and Show Bea at least go on to make the merge after their partners swap. No body survives more than a couple episodes, and Comic Carol eventually wins her way back into the game (right after she was voted out so she only competed in this one duel)!<

Post Merge Major Moments and Shoutouts: 
>!- Both Batmans, Bat-Affleck and Bat-Bale, are early targets at the merge for being competition threats. A Classic Scarecrow, New Wonka, and Amy Boom alliance seems to be taking control of the early merge after these two votes. !<
>!-Anime Nami (Ani-Nami) has a big idol play at the next tribal that cancels 7 votes against her. Comic Carol finds herself voted out for the second time as a result. !<
>!-The power trio that’s emerged wants to go for Ani-Nami again next round. We see a big power move though and Classic Wonka is taken out 4-3-1 vote, breaking up the power trio. Shoutout to Cartoon Scarecrow, Amy Classic, Show Bea, and Ani-Nami for this move!!<
>!-Amy Classic and Cartoon Scarecrow are quick to turn on Show Bea in the next round. The two of them along with Comic Bean pull off a wild 3-2-1-1 vote. !<
>!-People are noticing the power Cartoon Scarecrow and Amy Classic are starting to amass. The rest of the tribe turns on the duo and Cartoon Scarecrow is voted out. Amy Classic sadly misplayed an idol a few rounds ago that would have come in handy for them now. !<
>!-Ani-Nami is an easy target at five as Classic Scarecrow and Amy Boom have pulled Comic Bean in with them to now control the tribe again. !<
>!-Classic Scarecrow makes a crazy move to swap with Cartoon Scarecrow at the final redemption challenge! He’s promptly eliminated. Ani-Nami wins her way back to the game. !<
>!-It’s Ani-Nami versus Scarecrow for next boot. In a big move, the two Amys come together to take out Ani-Nami as they see her as a big end game threat. !<
>!-Amy Boom is the target at final 4 when Comic Bean wins final immunity. She’s won many post merge challenges and has a lot of allies on the jury. !<

Final Tribal Council
>!- In classic Themed Survivor fashion we have a very close final vote. Really it couldn’t be closer as it’s 3-3-2. Classic Amy pulls out the win. She definitely deserved the win as a great player in her own right, but definitely when you consider that she was the only person in the final not voted out at some point (also neither Cartoon Scarecrow or Comic Bean won their way back - their partners swapped). !<

All Stars
>!Classic Amy, Cartoon Scarecrow, and Ani-Nami have the most potential. I would definitely want to pull at least one of the Amy Boom, Classic Scarecrow, and New Wonka alliance folks, as well. This series seems to be getting a lot of great pairs so that could be a potential future returning player theme! !<

Thanks for playing and/or reading. Hope to see you next season (: