Obviously these will have tons of game spoilers.
Cephrir- I find you super cool and I love your sense of humor. When we had downtime of just chatting in a group I really enjoyed listening to you, and I hope eventually I run into you in a game and can get to know you a little better. You are too good at Smash (at least for me!!) I thought your on the fly idol clues were well done, and it provided entertainment when players couldn't even find them. A memorable crew moment for me was right before the legend/story challenge where we pretty much discussed that we probably had no hope of creating a coherent with 2 cameras but determined the 2 most important locations to have. I'm really thankful for you helping out on crew in general. It's surprisingly exhausting and it's hard imagining trying to have gotten through the weekend down 1 of us.
DV- Post Survivormeet, the immediate association I have with the word charming is literally you, due to how often it was said about you. I loved your non-answers at tribal councils and your social game overall, but especially your relationships with Radja and Monty. I'd have loved to see you immunity run to the end. I appreciated your gratefulness toward the people running the game; you're so kind and great to talk to. You going out of your way to talk to me at times when I felt exhausted and stressed meant a lot to me. It was fun to have Blue Star donuts and nerd out about GTKAS, life and site history. It's a treat when I see you pop into general chat once in a while.
entreri- We need a fist bump montage of you! In your first swap TC I hope and expect you'll be getting a sweet CP type edit. I also am super looking forward to seeing your post-merge interactions with DV and the challenge where you were super, uh, popular. I enjoyed getting to hang out quite a bit postgame, including our long talk on life, survivor and video games! Plus of course Smash stuff and the arcade (with that super weird RPG you were nostalgic for, your skills at the tank game, etc.) We had some decent conversations over the roar of my car on the way to the airport, too; the one about your music taste as related to your love life was gold.
Fen- You brought a lot of comic relief and kindness to the game. I'm most looking forward to seeing you at your first TC as the summaries of it have been hilarious. I loved your alliance proposal. There was a funny moment at the first merge TC where you and one other person were kind of wandering and wondering aloud about where everyone else was (I didn't know either!!) Your endurance challenge win was so impressive! And it was entertaining how everyone was queued to talk to you about the vote afterward while you were kinda distracted by trying to recuperate from the challenge. Your integrity regarding your first idol find is very appreciated. You gave me not one, but two very sweet goodbyes and your kind words are super appreciated.
Haschel- Thank you so much for your financial and other investments into making this experience happen. Thank you for being willing to go out of your comfort zone for certain requests of your extended family that were helpful. And, of course, thank you for committing to the work of memorializing it into episodes too. I remember feeling so relieved when you first declared that you thought things were going well - that felt like a victory. Throughout the meet, I managed some quality time with each of your family members. Kathryn gave me a personal tour of the outside of the airbnb, and we had a good time skipping rocks and playing chase. Your wife gave me some good insight into my job situation. And your son was the first/only baby I've ever held. I even got some quality time with the ancient van that shifts like a bus!! It'd be great to hang out and reminisce some weekend.
LLD- You were obviously a huge force in the game that was looked to as a leader, as well as a very passionate juror. In the first episode we got some great moments of you eloquently giving voice to the common sentiment about how hard it was to vote out anyone. You were a very compelling player to watch, so while you're a very classic merge boot, it meant a loss in some entertainment value. I really hope your famous quote about algae water makes the edit. Another impact you left was with the legendary curry! You were a great leader/contributor in the escape room, and your conversations while I was driving were fascinating. I appreciated what you talked to me about when I was scrubbing the sidewalk chalk; I'm at least trying to apply that advice.
Malkon- Your contributions to this were so amazing and important. I hope you're really proud of your part in this because you absolutely deserve to be. Dealing with the food from a financial and organizational standpoint wad a huge one. I've told you before, but I absolutely loved your show-inspired challenge designs. Some of them led to some lasting memes! You're so great to work with because you're passionate and a fantastic communicator. Considering we barely knew each other going into this I feel like we became close pretty quickly. I loved getting to work on torch walks and the FTC voting booth with you. Much love for the times I ended up venting to you, and for the offer of career-related help.
Meme- You were a fantastic character in the game and I am so hyped to see the edit in episode 3. Your shenanigans were largely what had me detailing a 600 word write-up to spec chat at 5am the next morning. It was interesting to me that you came off as so confident and comfortable in-game, because your off camera baseline seems more reserved! I have fond memories of impersonating you in Smash, working with you on the final escape room puzzle, the cultural experience of you and the bread bowl, and narrowly losing to you at whatever that species board game was. It seemed to me that you had a great time experiencing the meet and visiting the US in general, which I'm very glad for!
Menno- My most vivid memory of you, unsurprisingly, is the second Redemption challenge. Def one of the most emotionally impactful game moments because it was hard to watch it go on that long. Your perseverance and creativity were inspirational! The ep2 immunity challenge as well as your first TC are both things I really look forward to getting to see you featured in; I didn't get to see enough of your game live. Thanks for offering us foreign snacks! Even though we didn't talk much, I appreciate that I feel like I "get" you more from having met you when I see you around online.
Mina- We've hung out in, what, five different U.S. states now? Thanks for destroying your schedule to come fly out to my corner on a whim! Getting you to the airbnb in secret is a fun thing to have been part of. I know you were a bit bummed you didn't end up getting to be a player, and I know you'll forever insist your camera work was amateur/bad. But I was really thankful to have you there, both as a friend and a crew person. I'm glad I was able to help you sightsee a little even though it wasn't exactly as planned/hoped for. Your enthusiasm for Portland's Favorite Tree and conversations about your experiences in RtC are memorable to me. <3
Monty- I was definitely rooting for you in the game, starting from the rationale you gave for wanting to go to rocks. You had a lot of clever confessionals! It was entertaining to me that you tended to change your approach depending on who was also in the room and/or lie more than other people seemed to. The immunity challenge you won was one of my favorites to watch, and in spite of you losing the Ikea challenge I still was impressed with you in it. I was really glad to get to talk to you for a while early one morning when you weren't idol hunting. Saying goodbye to you actually sucked, probably because you're so loveable and uplifting.
panthaleon- You had a very iconic episode 1! One of the things that stuck out to me in the video was sheer joy and relief on your face that your tribe was safe. It definitely would've been interesting to see how your game plays out if a different person comes back from redemption! I remember that you were my favorite juror; your contributions to FTC were concise and thought-provoking. It was pretty funny how much the finalists sought to get credit specifically for your demise. I think you're an insightful conversationalist in general but "VeggieTales is gay Christian culture" was your most memorable quip for me!
peg- You were such a great character!! People's summary of what went on in round 1 did not fully prepare me for how fully you put yourself out there. I knew going into this that we have pretty different temperaments, but I found that I really appreciated your presence/dynamic when I was out with you in small groups. I also found your perspective on emotions super fascinating. If I get around to watching Big Brother it'll be mostly because of you. I'm inspired by how you manage to be frugal and that that supports your ability to travel! You were ace with the GPS help when I was driving, so thanks for that too.
Piggygal- Given you were probably the least targeted person on Tualatin 1.0, it doesn't feel like much would have had to change for you to make it way deeper in the game! I'm sad we were robbed of that. Hope to see your duo with Skelda be more prevalent in the edit going forward - I was rooting for you two. I find you enjoyable to be around; you give off good energy, varying from chill to more upbeat. I had a great time playing board games with you throughout the weekend. I was a bit worried when you power slept for what seemed like an entire day, but I enjoyed the time I did have with you.
racefan12- Everyone talked you up as the challenge beast of Clackamas, and I definitely look forward to seeing more of that in the upcoming episodes. It'll be a while before we see it, but your former tribemates' torchwalk for you was really nice. Partly because I am approximately as reserved as you are and it would have been out of my comfort zone to be a player, I rooted for you and appreciated getting to watch you! I remember you as being helpful to crew after you were voted out, including by helping move furniture for FTC. It's fun that you are no longer a "stranger" to me and that I know the face behind the poetry anthology winner and prolific flash gamer. (:
Radja- It's hard to even sum up your great moments in the game without writing a novel, you masterful slingshotter and survivor player. It was so special filming you open the idol super early in the morning. Loved seeing you charm everyone and lie so smoothly throughout the game. Your strategic game seemed really on point; sending Skelda's "sketchy ass" home, eliminating xof as a "necessary sacrifice" and having DV out at 6 set you up really well. It's amazing how fitting everything peg said about you in the first episode was. I was honestly a bit intimidated by you at first, you have a different presence to you than a lot of this group of Survivor nerds. But I grew to be totally comfortable around you and realize how nice you are. You were so hilarious to have for the game CC bought at Target - no regrets with the monkey.
Shirt- You had such a great growth arc in this game and had some awesome challenge performances! I'm not totally sure what expectations you had of us or the game going in, but I imagine you probably outdid whatever expectations you had for yourself. From what I knew of, you had a good shot at winning. I had some fun moments of filming you where you ended up kinda going off topic from the game; those conversations were pretty cool. In general, I think you're very kind and generally great to have around. I find it so funny that we went to high school together and had no idea. Someday we should actually figure out what teachers and friends we had in common!
Skelda- I really need a bye bitches montage! ("Bye bitch" is now sometimes my reaction when a car passes me while I'm driving and I feel petty, aha.) You're engaging to watch play because you're expressive both verbally and with gestures! You definitely were an underdog almost from the get-go, though now finally having the context of actually seeing the first TC I at least better understand how that played out. You had some great alliances that were fun to watch, though you/Piggy was def my fave one. We got to experience the most intense Hanabi game ever! Sushi Go Party was fun, as well as hanging out at Powell's and at Haschel's. You saved us in the escape room by finding that stupid thing underneath the counter or wherever it was!!
Tanis- I remember how nervous you were on the drive there to be meeting so many new people!! And I'm so glad you faced those fears and seem so happy to have been a crucial part of this community bonding experience. Even though we didn't go through with your live stream or drone related plans, you had plenty of great ideas and contributions that did stick, including storing the footage. Some of our most memorable moments (imo) include the shopping trip where we got the immunity fish, getting great Thai food and then stuffing ourselves into my car after cramming it with supplies, and you putting together the group picture with faces to names. I am glad I got to support you and your lovely wife at her graduate school graduation ceremony. You two are extremely adorable!
Vash- I'm so excited to see exile wood chopping!! And a few challenge things that I missed, and any other surprises. There was plenty I'm glad I did get to see though: the love for Nomlas, your nonsensical anagram phrases, talks of sweater vests, torchwalks, and obviously you convincing someone to play an idol for you and then crushing final immunity. I had a good time with you postgame at the airbnb and at Powell's. You seemed to catch on really quickly in the escape room and were basically always right in the game CC bought at Target aha. The reasons I always have admired you carry over, and in person you come off as very warm and just very comfortable to be around.
xof- I still love that your confessional with me in episode 1 was the title quote!! And I of course remember fondly the postmerge TC where I was pretty much your personal camera attendant (hopefully my footage doesn't suck aha). I enjoyed seeing your social gameplay, which seemed to have more of a "who am I and aren't I willing to vote this round" approach than strictly an alliance focus. I'm really looking forward to seeing you rock certain challenges that I didn't get to see live. I'm happy for you that you improved your live survivor gameplay and achieved a lot of specific goals you had! It was nice to relax with you postgame. Why'd you have to wreck me at Betrayal?? You are a delight and also my tilt a whirl buddy!!