LSE

## LSE (Elle)

* Mercury
* Sol

## Survivor Career

**LSE** played on Survivor: Mercury, where she placed 2nd. She received 3 votes in the Final Tribal Council, beating out Nuge and losing to Potato.

She returned to play on Survivor: Sol, placing 9th after a 6-3 vote.

## Mercury Player Profile

Hi! I'm LSE but you can call me Elle, or if you're my friend you might call me Ellen, Eldritch or Eleftheria (none of these are my full real name but my friends on here think they're funny) I am 30, and I live in Sydney Australia. I was born in Coimbra, Portugal and grew up in Lyon, France! I've lived in 7 different countries in the world. My timezone is GMT +11 and right now that means I'm 16 hours ahead of EST. Timezone woes are worse in my summer because my clock goes forward and the US sets their clocks back, it's all very messy. I work a corporate job but I travel frequently. I've had some respite from work travel because I just got married, but it's back to the grind next week, I'm going Melbourne > Hong Kong for a week before my husband and I go to Japan in 3 weeks for our honeymoon!

**2. Have you played any orgs before? If yes, how many and what did you play most recently? Are you playing any others at the same time as Mercury?**

What is an ORG?

Hmm, so I've played 11 - my last ORG was Alice's Survivor Cyprus (it's also the entire reason I'm here probably!) where I finished 7th. ~~I went out with an idol~~ I had a lot of fun and met some really great people. Honestly, I used to be a lot more competitive about ORGs but I'm really not anymore. I want to have a good experience, have some fun, play with cool people.

**3. What was the first season of Survivor you ever watched, and why?**

It was BORNEO and I watched it AS IT AIRED.

Insane, right?

I was 11 and my e-mail pen pal from the US told me about it. I remember how immediately intrigued by it I was, and I even spoiled myself the very first season because Borneo's airing was delayed in France (duh). I was still using freaking Outlook Like this was before the transition to Hotmail even. As a teen I'll admit that I was way more into TAR than Survivor, travel is everything to me and I was HOOKED when it came to TAR, but over time Survivor has held my interest way more. I really loved the adventure aspect and the social politics, and I remember really loving Wiglesworth (a distant memory, Wiglesworth 2.0 annoyed the living fuck out of me).

**4. What is your most mediocre achievement?**

I've always been a bit of a competitor, like if I care about something and I'm not good at it I'll do what it takes until I am good at it. I guess the one thing that comes to mind - so I really suck at drawing. I wish I were good at art, I'm just not. That's not modesty or self-deprecation, I am a genuinely atrocious drawer/sketcher/painter. Anyway, in high school I had a mandatory art class until my IB years. My art grade was always a blot on my report card. I used to grind art history so I could ace that section and then I'd still be brought down by my practical grade. ANYWAY, one of my last terms in art there was a project where you had to produce 20 pieces around a theme. Mine was conflict and I decided to optimise for my strengths and made 20 small sculptures that had half-and-half faces of people who had conflict. The sculptures were basic and my face painting was like... satisfactory at best. But my art teacher was so proud of me he put it up in the yearly art exhibit as a piece that showed the rewards of diligence and effort. Like LOL, basically a participation trophy. So that's be like a pretty mediocre achievement.

**5. Give us your most unpopular Survivor opinion**

First, let's look at the list of beloved US Survivor characters that I find completely unfunny. James from Palau is a good one. Chicken. Jonny Fairplay. Sandy B. Shambo. In general, there are a lot of these like memey side characters that get deified and the whole narrative of it just annoys me. Cook Islands gets too much hate, and despite the Tyler Perry idol, I like it. Also, Redemption Island is a guilty pleasure of mine. I also think DvG is overrated and I have MvGX in my bottom 10.

I also love Nicaragua unironically, but I can't stand Jane. (Obviously there's no competition for the worst castaway on that season, it's Shannon, but I can't deal with Jane).

**6. Anything can be a weapon if you’re holding it right. What unconventional weapon would you like to pack to bring to Mercury with you? You know. Just in case.**

The best weapon is pity. My killer move would be curling up in the foetal position and crying. No one would dare hurt me after that.

On a serious note, I've always been partial to either something incendiary or something long and sharp. A long needle would work for me!

**7. The music player is busted on the spaceship and we don’t get Spotify out here. You may pack one (1) CD to bring with you on this journey. What are you bringing?**

Firstly - I hate this, if there's a place to play CDs why can't I just bring my iPad with music on it. But if I had to, hmmm...

I'd probably take Blonde by Frank Ocean or Back to Black by Amy Winehouse. This is tough because there are so many different things I love about my favourite albums. I wanna say Continuum by John Mayer too but ugh.

**8. If you were asked to give a presentation on something random that you are an expert in, what would you talk about?**

FONTS. I have a weird obsession with typography and how it fits into design! I also recently learned to stop bashing Comic Sans because it's a dyslexic friendly font!

**9. Of the three tenets of Survivor, which one do you think you’re the best at: Outwitting, Outplaying, or Outlasting**

All, duh.

LOL no. I dunno, maybe none? Like I'm not a master of any but I'm decent at all 3.

Gun to my head - probably outwit.

## Sol Player Profile

'***Why do you think you were asked to return'***

I think I was asked to return because I was one of the central characters of my season! I wasn't the best at any aspect, but more than any other person I shaped the direction of the endgame, where I proceeded to sabotage myself by doing needless things instead of telling my closest ally why the decisions I made were helpful for both of us weeeeee. I think it also probably helps a little that I boost the girl representation, although Cosmic Odyssey obviously has a ton of amazing women alum and no shortage of choice there.

*If you could take a vacation anywhere, where would you go and why*
I love travel, it is one of the definitive loves of my life - I've lived in 7 different countries and been to over 50 and it's shaped a lot of who I am and what I believe in as a person! The next country I'm eyeing that I've never been to before is Peru! I've travelled to a few South American countries, but never there - I love visiting South America and I'm constantly dazzled by how diverse the landscapes and cities are from country to country. I also really want to go back to Eastern Europe sometime soon and visit countries there I've never been to, I love travelling through that region a lot, it's so vast and beautiful compared to most of Western Europe and there are so many hidden cultural/historical gems to see that you don't really hear about in most tourist literature. I should actually be in Hong Kong right now, but uh that isn't happening thanks to Coronavirus, and I also had to cancel a trip home for the same reason, because the Australian Border Force is overzealous and advised me there was a high risk of me not being allowed to return until everything was back to normal (as I am not an Australian citizen). My company is currently on a travel freeze and the official Australian advisory at the moment is not to travel unless you have to. Wow, this was not what the question was asking but anyway, there you have it.

'***What is your favorite thing about ORGs? Least favorite thing?'***
My favourite thing about ORGs is seeing and interacting with all the different perspectives of life and playing a game like this. I don't always love the social grind but I love those lightning in a bottle moments where you meet really great people and spend time on a tribe with great vibes. I love the feeling of winning as a tribe, I think it brings back my days of playing football and that awesome feeling when you clinch a game. I love the ups and downs and riding them out. Sometimes, in the moment, they aren't fun and it feels miserable, like when I landed on Mirni, was iced out and no one had to talk to me if they didn't want to and they all held my fate completely in their hands. But looking back at those times is actually pretty funny, and it feels good to tap into resilience and tenacity to survive those tough spots! It'd be boring if things were always easy! My least favourite part of ORGs is that I think they can bring out dark aspects of people's character and decision making abilities. I had several moments of intense anxiety post-Mercury just remembering how awful I felt with what I did at F5 of Mercury and I can honestly say that was a life lesson. I KNOW I can be a manipulative person, but it doesn't mean I should be. And sadly I think there are a few people who welcome the ability to hurt people, who are emotionally manipulative sometimes without remorse, or who make mistakes like I did that end up hurting people, and that's honestly never fun to go through. I think sometimes the spectre of "this is just a game" can numb people's sensitivity to humanity and legitimise treating people in a way that would never be okay in the world.

**Who do you think is the biggest threat in this game**

I think the popular or most connected people in this community are probably the biggest threats but also they're the most connected for a reason so they'll also be the most protected! People like Austin or Marina or Lex I could see being HUGE threats and having great social relationships right off the bat. I also think recency bias is going to matter. I think JM's a massive threat coming into this game on the high of a win. I think people like Chief or Brock, who didn't win, are going to be bigger brighter targets than winners like Kate or Potato.

**Name 3 things that make you smile/laugh**

Okay so I am often mocked for this, but I hate stupid humour. Sometimes people post memes that are like entirely reliant on laughing at the stupid and I die on the inside a little. I love humour that's subtle and wry. Arrested Development makes me laugh a lot!

I love mockumentaries in general, I'll say that's one of the things that makes me laugh!

The second not-a-thing but very important person who makes me laugh is my husband. Sometimes it's because he's silly but most of the time it's just how deadpan he'll be and it kills me, like I can't even tell you a joke or anything that he says specifically that's funny because it's all contextual, but he's easily the person in my life who makes me laugh most!

The third thing which is just something that makes me smile a lot is really good art, just that moment when you come across an illustration or painting or something and it's really beautiful or unexpected, I love that. Art makes me really happy and without it I would not survive, even though my OWN art skills are absolutely awful.

**What did you learn from your last game in this series, and how will you use it to succeed this time**

Okay before I go into the lessons learned from the bad I'm going to go into the lessons learned from the good:

1. I can survive tough situations in a game. My game awareness is pretty good. I am not bad at reading people's intentions. Those were the good things I learned! What I'll learn is, don't give up if I find myself in a situation that seems hopeless, and trust my instincts.

Now the bad.
2. I learned that without meaning to I use manipulation to get out of a corner, we won't be doing that. Game manipulation, okay. Emotional manipulation, no okay. I also learned that although I more than anyone recognise the necessity and value for needing to lie at times in this game, there are also moments where honesty will benefit me far more and I don't appreciate or capitalise on those opportunities and I should.

**What is your favorite family vacation memory as a kid**
I think my favourite has to be when I was like 5 and went back to Coimbra in Portugal (which is where I was born) to visit my grandmother. I had been before as a toddler, but like... who remembers anything significant about that. I just remember loving the differences between Lyon and Coimbra, really loving my grandmother's house and enjoying seeing my Portuguese family all at once (mostly my grandmother would come and stay with us in Lyon where she would be taken care of).
Also, Coimbra is really beautiful just in general and I love going back there, it has a really lovely spirit and the vibe is like not that rushed but still vibrant and colourful.

**Is there a person on the cast you would love to work with but never have yet? What draws you to them?**

Austin and Marina! I'd name Kate here too but I've played with Kate before (and love her, I'd love to meet her in game), it just wasn't here. I'm wise to Marina being a lot sneakier than people might suspect and I bet she'd happily slit my throat but I love her spirit and her honesty and how ballsy she can be, and I'd love to play with her - I do well with people who are slightly more aggressive than I am where I can kind of act as a grounding point. I love Austin a lot just because I think he has a really good heart and positive energy and those are the best people, not just in Survivor, but in life, and having that kind of warmth on a returnee season is a comfort I'd love to experience.

Honorable mention: Theo, and that's just a kind of instinct thing where I think we'd get along great, and also Lex who I just think is a kickass player and I'd love to play with her.

## Stats

 Days Played
 Votes Against
 Individual Immunity Wins
 Idols Found
 Votes Negated
 Advantages

## Trivia

* I am big fan of her work
* LSE is one of two people to be on four tribes during one season, alongside Lex