Royal

* Hallownest
* The Elysian Fields
* Norway
* Macedonia

## *Survivor* Career

**Royal** is the first three( and four)-time returning contestant, playing in *Natvivor: Macedonia*, *Natvivor: Norway*, *Natvivor: The Elysian Fields*, and *Natvivor: Hallownest*. He would later return again as a production member for *Natvivor: 2055* and *Natvivor: Journey Through the Universe*.

## Profile

* Macedonia
* Norway
* The Elysian Fields
* Hallownest

*Full interview can be found here.*

**Name:** Royal

**Tribe Designation:** Tetovo

**Why did you want to play this ORG?** I’ve been a part of the ORG community for a while now, and I love to play in all of these Survivor/Big Brother/ other ORGs. It’s like being on Survivor without actually having to be on Survivor! I was actually playing in a Big Brother ORG and Natalie pointed out that “I might be good in a Survivor.” And voila, here I am! (Also if you cast me I promise I will be good in a Survivor).

**What is *Survivor* all about to you?** *Survivor* is about perseverance. Even if nobody wants to align with you, and you’re on the very bottom, you have to find a way to persevere. Find new allies. Find an idol. You’re not out in Survivor until your torch is snuffed (and sometimes not even then, cough cough Edge of Extinction), and through perseverance you can come out on top and win the game so your torch never needs to get snuffed.

**Who is your favorite *Survivor* player, and what is your favorite season?** I would say Todd Herzog from Survivor: China is my favorite player. He’s a great manipulator and does it in such a masterful way that even when people figured out how amazing of a manipulator he is, they still didn’t eliminate him! I want to be the Todd of this season if I get casted. Also, this is most likely due to recency bias, but I’d say my favorite season is David vs. Goliath. Amazing cast, great tribals, and a great FTC/winner.

**How would you describe your overall gameplay in *Survivor* ORG’s?** In the past when I have played survivor, I like to be a social player at first then shift to a more strategic game. I want to become allies with as many ppl as possible at first, and form a solid alliance in order to remain safe. From there, I like to play a behind the scenes strategic game, where I feed people ideas for who to vote and other stuff but let them think it’s their ideas. Hopefully, once people realize how much of a strategic threat I am, it’ll be too late to stop me. Oh also I want to find an idol or two hehe.

*Full interview can be found here.*

**Previous Seasons & Finishes:** *Macedonia*: 14th

**Tell us about yourself. What makes you, *YOU*?** I’m 16. I just turned 16 recently and also got my license! So now I can Discord and drive. Also, I like to watch TV, ride my bike, and hang out with friends. I’m currently working as a camp counselor, but I doubt that my job should interfere much with my activity. Maybe just at certain points in the day, but if some important game stuff is going down, I’ll sure as heck be there.

**Between Mind and Heart, which group do you personally think you fit into better?** Mind. As I discussed a bit in the previous question, my style of gameplay in ORGs has reshaped itself over time. I used to be a heart-driven player, and would act with my emotions when deciding who to vote/nominate/evict/etc. As I have become more accustomed to ORGs, however, I have become a more mind-driven player, and I believe that is necessary in order to win the game. Let me give two examples of how my gameplay has evolved, and how I have, in a way, tribe-swapped from Heart to Mind over time. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, to Royal’s first ever Big Brother ORG. I was just a wee lad then, with my Jesse Pinkman pfp and uncontrollable teenage hormones. At one point in the game, I was the deciding eviction vote. The two nominees were A. a guy who had been floating all game but was also a huge dick and B. a guy who was super nice and fun to talk to but also a known threat. Guess which one I decided to vote out? That’s right, guy A. Guy B ultimately went on to not only be responsible for my elimination, but win the entire game. This was a prime example of how my Heart led me astray. Now jump forward to my most recent Big Brother ORG. (IIRC Natalie was actually spectating this one!) I had one ally who was a super huge threat, someone I had been friends with the whole game. But my Mind was focused, determined, dead-set on getting him out, so I decided to backstab him without a shred of remorse. I backdoored him, and you know what happened? My plan failed. He stayed in the game. He then proceeded to win the next HOH, and understandably, put me up. He also won veto. I knew I was screwed, I just knew it. But I went and talked to him. We talked things over, I apologized profusely, and somehow, he was nice enough to save me, and he convinced enough people to keep me around! Even after I tried to backdoor my closest ally in the game and failed, he still was generous enough to save my life. The only condition was that I had to promise I wouldn’t betray him again...Which of course I did. A couple rounds later I won HOH. The game was dwindling down to its last few players. I knew something had to be done now or it never would be. I still remember the moment I announced the renom in #living-room. He was online, waiting. Watching me type. Watching me betray him once again. By the time I hit “send” on the message announced that he would be the renom, I was physically shaking irl. I had to remind myself that it was just a game. This was someone who I had built such a close and personal relationship with through the course of the game, then tried to backstab, and after all of that they still forgave me. And now I had to backstab them again. My Heart was screaming “stop you fucking monster” but my Mind was laser-focused on getting him out. I knew in my mind that it had to be done, but my heart couldn’t believe that I would actually do it. Ultimately, I know I made the right decision. It was very immoral and I felt sick for doing it, but it helped me get closer to the win and that was what mattered in the long run.

**Explain how your last time playing went for you:** Well I have a very bad memory so I don’t remember everything about Macedonia. I’d say my high points were teaming up with Posk to flip on Jamaniac, and also manipulating Will into trusting me so I could more easily get him out (that made me feel better about my gameplay before getting unanimously voted out at the next tribal lol). Obviously my low point was when I got unanimously voted out. My downfall was mainly trying to overplay at the tribal I got out at, and also because I just didn’t put in enough time and effort into communicating with the other players and forming stronger connections. If I get casted for this season, I will not make that same mistake.

**What was your biggest takeaway from your last time playing?** Easy: Social game is EVERYTHING. I can easily attribute my downfall in Macedonia to not making strong enough connections. If I get into this season, social game is even more important than it already was because I’m already an outcast for being a returnee (that’s under the assumption that there’ll be more newbies than returnees, but that might not be the case). I know that in this season I need to spend every moment I can get on Discord talking to people, building connections, and playing the longterm game that will put me in the position I need to win.

**What do you hope to accomplish with this second chance?** Well, I hope to win, just like everyone else who applied for this season. But more than that I also want to prove to spectators and myself that I’m a better player than I was in Macedonia. I want to prove to myself that I can improve on my gameplay, that I can make jury, that I can control the game, and most importantly that I can win. I know I haven’t peaked in my season where I ended up 14th. This is my chance to prove it.

**How would you describe the game you play in ORG's?** When I first joined the ORG community, I was a more.... let’s say “outspoken” player. I wasn’t afraid to speak my mind and call people out for lying and whatnot. This strategy really didn’t get me very far in ORGs. As I collected experience from different ORGs, I began to reshape my strategy and turn towards more calm, collected, and calculating gameplay. This has greatly improved my placements in the ORGs I’ve played in. Still, I tend to get a bit excited and overplay sometimes, and my old self did sort of seep through towards the end of my run in Macedonia. I am by no means a perfect player, but I believe that I get better with every ORG I participate in, I truly feel confident in my ability to win this one.

*Full interview can be found here.*

**Tribe Designation:** Aeneas

**Previous Seasons & Finishes:** *Macedonia*: 14th; *Norway*: 8th Place, 4th Juror

**Tell us a bit about yourself:** I am 16 years old, live in the Midwestern USA, and some of my hobbies are writing and watching TV. I love to write short stories and I’ve entered many writing contests. While I’ve never won or gotten anything published, I have gotten an honorable mention in a very big writing contest. On TV I like to watch a lot of drama/suspense and comedy series. Breaking Bad is one of my favorites, and so is Bojack Horseman (in case that wasn’t abundantly clear). One day I want to write/produce a TV series.

**How would you describe your gameplay in your original season(s)?** My previous two season were Macedonia and Norway. While I *attempted* to play a strong social game in both my seasons, I ended up failing in both, but in drastically different ways. In Macedonia, I wasn’t social *enough*. I didn’t talk to the other castaways enough to make true allies that trusted me, and that kept me in a bad position until my eventual elimination. In Norway, I was *too* social. I managed to successfully play both sides for a little while, but eventually pressed my luck too much and my attempt to take out one of my allies led to my elimination. This leads to the next question.

**How do you plan on improving on your game?** In my two past seasons my gameplay was totally opposite from each other, in terms of how social I was. In this season I hope to find that perfect balance that will allow me to hold strong bonds with other players while also not highlighting me as a social threat, which were both things I failed to do in my first two seasons. This season I know I can master my gameplay, and there’s no more iconic way for that to happen than against a bunch of all stars.

**Why do you want to come back and play again?** Sure, I’m not perfect. Not even close. I’m decent at competitions but not great enough to win many immunity challenges, and my social/strategic game which I would argue is the best aspect of my gameplay has been flawed at one point or another in both my previous seasons. But what I have that most other players don’t is the dedication and ability to improve. My social game strengthened from Macedonia to Norway, and in turn my placement drastically increased. I was able to recognize my flaws and I can do that again with my Norway gameplay and improve upon it for All Stars. Many of the other people that may be considered for this season have played amazing games that allowed them to get far in the game, maybe even farther than I have ever gotten. However, we’ve seen those players at their best. We know how they play and know how to work around it and defeat them in All Stars. As for me, nobody knows my true potential and nobody will be able to recognize how great of a player I can be. I can become a power player in All Stars, and nobody will be able to stop me because they underestimated my gameplay and my ability to improve it. And that’s the whole reason I desperately want to play Natvivor again. I want to prove to myself and everyone else that I can improve. I want to show I can beat the odds, beat all the other fantastic players, and come out on top (Also, I want to play again because it would be iconic for me to play 3 seasons in a row).

**If you were any greek god, who would you be and why?** I would be Eros, the god of love and fertility. Cuz I’m just lookin for some love in my life.

**How will you become the Sole Survivor of The Elysian Fields?** If I am lucky enough to be casted for All Stars, I will be an underdog. I would argue that my gameplay has been strong enough in my original seasons to be considered an all star, but not nearly at the level that some of the other players are bound to be. So how on earth will I manage to become the sole survivor of the Elysian Fields? By overcoming odds. I’m not new to overcoming odds in this ORG. In Macedonia, I was at the bottom of my tribe, but I managed to form a close enough bond with Posk that he was inclined to include me on his plan to flip, and together we were able to situate ourselves in a majority position. In Norway, I was one of four returnees in a season full of mostly newbies, so I was at a disadvantage right off the bat. Also, I was not part a part of the original majority alliance on my tribe (the one with everyone from brainstorm except for me) but I managed to form a close enough bond with David that he trusted me enough to add me to the majority alliance. I ultimately ended up not only beating my original placement from Macedonia, but also being the last returnee standing. I 100% attribute this to my social game, and the strong bonds I created with other players which, as I described, helped me to overcome the odds in my first two seasons. It definitely won’t be easy, but I truly believe that I can overcome the odds once more in All Stars and reign victorious as the sole survivor. Besides, everyone loves an underdog story! Lastly, throughout the entire interview I have been stating that I will improve and overcome the odds. But I’ve never actually stated how I plan to do those things. Obviously, I plan to form as close a bond as I can with every single player. I want to have as many allies as human possible to better ensure my safety in the game. However, having too many allies is dangerous, as my Norway run proved, especially if they are on separate sides of the tribe. I will be very careful about what I say and to who. (I learned this lesson in Norway, after thinking I could trust Haydn to flip, which ultimately resulted in my elimination. I can more easily determine who to trust in any given situation by examining the players’ previous gameplay and predicting what move they would think would be best for them to make.) I’ll implant ideas into others’ heads and let them do the dirty work. I’ll be the puppet master while appearing to everyone like a floater. Then, at FTC, I can explain how amazing of a game I’ve been playing behind the scenes, and get that epic victory Royal(e). Thank you so much, hosts and production, for taking the time to read through this whole interview. I know it’s really long and I’m sorry! I just really want to play in All Stars and show I can win. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this amazing community. My first two seasons have been surreal and amazing, and that’s all thanks to you guys.

**Tribe Designation:** Hidden Dreams

**Previous Seasons & Finishes:** *Macedonia*: 14th; *Norway*: 8th Place, 4th Juror; *The Elysian Fields*: 16th

## Trivia

* Royal won the award for *Most Robbed Pre-Juror* in *Macedonia*. He would later win this award again in *The Elysian Fields*.
* Royal is the first castaway to play in three seasons in a row. He would be followed by Xerop, in *Blackjack*, *Ghibli*, and *Hallownest*.
* He is the first returning player to place higher on his second attempt than his first.
* Royal received 1 vote in the *Fan Favorite Poll* in *Norway*.
* Despite playing for four times, Royal has only made it to the jury-phase once.