[Dean Kowalski]

Welcome to your first confessional!

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

So, unlike in the actual game where you only communicate via text, your voice and video confessionals are welcome here! Please keep your videos and audio recordings to a reasonable length, but feel free to express yourselves here with whichever medium you prefer.

Only hosts and alumni, the lurkers, can view this space. Talk in these threads anytime to ask the hosts questions, let us know about alliances you have and which ones are fake or real, who you are vibing with and who you want out, or just nonsensical venting or goofing off. We love a good and active confessional and we want to see your arc evolve! We hosts and lurkers are excited to have you here.

After every Tribal Council, there will be a new confessional thread given by hosts to you with new questions to ask. But remember, this is YOUR personal sub-forum. Use it how you see fit, and make whatever topics or posts or replies you wish at anytime.

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

This particular challenge is a 4x4 16-piece puzzle. You must correctly unscramble the puzzle using the ORIGINAL image links. Meaning, you can't simply rearrange them in a photo editing program. You must use the original images by using the IMG tag. Fortunately, you are now able to just copy and paste the images direction from the challenge by highlighting them and selecting copy, and then pasting into the post editor. From there you can drag and drop them to rearrange your puzzle.

Good luck, please don't be afraid to ask us for any help or further instructions.

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

[Dean Kowalski]

Here are some starting questions to get into the swing of things:

1. How excited are you to be playing Stranded in The Andes?
2. Look around your camp. What are some initial thoughts about who is on this season of Stranded with you?
3. Tell the lurkers a bit about yourself. Who are you? What are you all about? Why should they root for you?
4. Talk about your past ORG experience, if any. Many of you have never played an ORG. What are your thoughts going into this new experience?
5. Does anyone in your household know you’re playing? Do any of your friends? What do they make of it?
6. What do you think your initial strategy will be going into this?

Good luck and best wishes to you. You’ve joined the Stranded family; we’re so happy to watch you play! Have fun!

[Xander]

1) Hey everybody! I'm so excited to be here! I literally discovered Stranded like 2 weeks ago and now the stars aligned for me to be here playing. Ive wanted to play Survivor ever since I watched Borneo. When I was a kid, I would pretend to play the game with my dogs and cats. The cats and I were always in an alliance (Obvi!) and always ended up voting out the dog. I'm pumped to give it a shot. I'm here to have a fun time and hopefully make it to at least the jury. 2)The first thing I noticed when I logged on pre game was that Abraham, Deshawn and I were the first ones logged in from our tribe. That tells me that they are just as eager as I am going into this game. I think I should try and work with one of them but I'll decide that once I end up chatting with the dudes. 

The rest of the tribe however are nothing more than little pictures to me until we chat. I haven't seen Survivor 41 so most of these faces are new to me.  Curious to meet Evvie. 

3) I work in Human Resources for a Cannabis company with multiple locations all over the state. HR is gnarly, I am quite literally paid to be heartless. You have to walk a tightrope and avoid showing your true emotions, even to those you trust. The tiniest emotional slip can lead to a lawsuit.  I have to collect scraps of information and behavior and paint a portrait. I can exonerate someone if I focus on the positive, or make even the most perfect employee look like a liability. I think my day job has prepared me for this game with the ability to turn off how I feel about someone for the greater good of the tribe. 

Let me just say to all of you, never trust HR. We are always watching 



5) My Husband knows I am playing the game. I have made him sit thru so many seasons of survivor. He pretends he's not into it but then ends up getting invested. He thinks that the ORG is hilarious and clever and jokes that I'm preparing for the real thing. My best friend, who is a major Survivor fan, also knows. We milk the living shit out of any gossip we hear. Hopefully I can get her to come play.  She would be a Stranded Kween,4) I have never played an Org so I'm super stoked to be here. I feel like I chose the premium best of the best for my first go around.  I'm gonna have to be learning the format of the game on the fly but I've been listening to a bunch of the pre season and opening weekend podcasts y'all made from the last three seasons to gauge what to expect. Biggest lesson I learned was don't be an inactive bitch. 

I'm really excited to write confessionals but I won't get to write any juicy ones if I'm the first boot. My biggest goal in this game is to make it at least to the merge and write some crazy commentary about my tribemates. I'm literally brimming with excitement to be given the permission to talk shit. The English language is vast and has many words that can cut people down to their knees. My mind is sharp and ive got my bong ready to go, let me at em. 



6) My initial strategy is to play it cool for the first few days and assess how the flow of the game goes and pace myself to avoid playing too hard too quickly. I'm super eager and want to stay as long as I can so I can't come swinging out the gate. I'm gonna be chatty and find someone to weasel my way in with as my ride or die.  Then cozy up to the seemingly strongest/ flashiest player to keep track of the pulse of the game but stick with my ride or die. Since there will be folks who have played ORGs before, I'm gonna let them be flashy and threatening until I feel I'm in a good position. 

Also, Dean, Are you the one who plays as Danni Boatwright sometimes? 
Ive always been high key jealous, She is the Survivor version of Cher. a true gay icon. 

[James Lim]

Good luck Xander! King James is keeping a close eye on your game

[Xander]

[Xander]

Im also going to work on my spacing now that i know the text editor a bit better. It looks all outta whack and i want you all to read my musings without a headache. 

[Dean Kowalski]

Also, Dean, Are you the one who plays as Danni Boatwright sometimes?

DEAD at this, you have no idea what this did to me. I need Danni to see this.

Im also going to work on my spacing now that i know the text editor a bit better. It looks all outta whack and i want you all to read my musings without a headache.

 

Also your confessional is already pretty good and readable! Trust me, there've been magnitudes worse before; literal walls of text, a couple sentences or less, paragraphs of just emojis, or worse: nothing at all.