Opple Interview

#Rainshaft: Welcome to our latest installment of Survivor Staff Interviews! Today, we are joined by esteemed room driver Opple 😛Anything you're dying to say right off the bat?

%Opple: Absolutely not! I'm rearing to go!

#Rainshaft: Excellent, then let's begin! 

#Rainshaft: marillvibes here starts us off with the classic question: what is your favorite Survivor theme?

%Opple: I have to admit, my favourite has to be Hide and Seek Tag. I know it sometimes takes time, but the creativity users and staff alike have with it is unparalled! It's always fun to see what our collective twisted minds can come up with for hiding spots! Always a theme that attracts attention!

#Rainshaft: I absolutely agree, it's my favorite theme as well! Great minds think alike 😛

#Rainshaft: pants now wants to know, how did you get into Survivor into the first place?

%Opple: I was coaxed in by some regulars... Namely marillvibes and Le'Depression. I had a summer off work and needed something to do! Survivor fit the bill! I never thought I'd stick around and I did. I think of that summer quite often and remember how close I was to topping the leaderboard. My busy schedule stops that, so summer 2024 expect my comeback! I'm glad I did stumble across it!

#Rainshaft: Ooh Opple rejoining the thousand point competition... that will be quite something 😮

#Rainshaft: pants has more questions! They're wondering... what is your favorite non-Survivor community on PS, and what is your favorite thing about Survivor?

%Opple: Is that not two questions? Crafty! Quite possibly the Library, though I am part of so many communities it is hard to put a pin in one. I would say "entertainment" covers me. My favourite thing about Survivor itself is the community that comes along with it. It's nice because it genuinely feels like a family, especially all the banter... Defo a brother and sister vibe going with all...

#Rainshaft: The community seems to be what everyone likes best XD Come for the games, stay for the people

%Opple: Truly! You got that right!

#Rainshaft: Now Meltan808 wants to make you think this interview. Do you have any ideas for good themes right now?

%Opple: Me and Marillvibes have always spoken about crafting a Pokemon contests style theme. It has never materialised but I have got a working document for it. I just haven't had the time nor the will to share it! It feels like it is in its infancy, maybe one day we'll see it reach the light!

#Rainshaft: Epic... perhaps we will have an outlet for your theme soon (cough)

#Rainshaft: Now get ready because next question is from EOTH

#Rainshaft: I'm going to give you one chance to guess what question they asked

%Opple: I bet they've asked me something about being british or being bad in general

#Rainshaft: No actually 😛 They want to know.....

#Rainshaft: Would you rather have unlimited bacon, but no more video games, or would you rather have games, unlimited games, but no more games.

%Opple: EOTH pulling in the hard guns! I mean this is quite a hard question to answer - the last part I am stumped on! However, I feel I would take the unlimited games? I know EOTH is going to say this answer was wrong

#Rainshaft: So you want games, and no games, simultaneously. Makes sense

%Opple: Yep I guess so!

#Rainshaft: Here's an interesting question! WooperFan3/ArloXoXo asks, what is your favorite book?

%Opple: Okay so I have two answers for this!

%Opple: Sentimentally a book called Street Child by Berlie Doherty. It was the first book I brought with my own money and it holds a special place in my heart as being what got me into literature. It really is a true classic of children's literature and one I still think about when I think back to my career as a youth worker and then into teaching.

%Opple: The second book is always harder because it changes all the bloody time! Right now its Elisabeth Sladen's Autobiography. She was an actor in the 70/80s who died in 2011 and was a hard hitting death for me as she made up a lot of my childhood in a show called The Sarah Jane Adventures. She was a remarkable actress and woman and the book touched me. She did not finish writing it before she died of cancer in that year. Very touching, very moving, lots of sentimental value.

#Rainshaft: That's very unfortunate... unfinished works that won't ever get completed in the way the author intended 😦

%Opple: Sorry! Quite a somber pick!

#Rainshaft: Hey sad things are all fair game 😛

#Rainshaft: PenQuin is curious... what's your favorite part of being a teacher?

%Opple: This is always a hard question, depends on the day you catch me. You caught me on a good day! I enjoy the relationships you make with children - especially those who you meet one day and think 'oh dear, this is going to be trouble'. Watching them then grow into these humans with empathy and care for the world around them is wonderful. Young people have no filter and they see the world so differently to adults. If anything, I think teaching keeps me young! What I love more I reckon on that note is that I am not much older than the teenagers at this point in my life. So it is nice I can relate to their experiences etc - I think that helps. I think being a teacher the most important bit is the relationship building for sure.

#Rainshaft: Hmm... tough yet rewarding 🤔

#Rainshaft: We're going to swerve away from the difficult questions now with some fun ones! Death of Mimikyu wants to know why Opple is your username 😛

%Opple: Haha! This question is always funny. Genuinely? I just placed an O in front of Apple. Americans especially seem to think it is pronounced OPAL like the gemstone? However I pronounce it Op-ple. Like apple, but with the O? I just needed a new username and was lucky this one existed! Its lasted 10 years so I must love it!

#Rainshaft: I can say I've always thought of it as apple with the O XD

%Opple: It genuinely is hotly debated. So I'm glad I have a forum to stop that now! ||

#Rainshaft: We definitely need documentation of proper name pronunciation

#Rainshaft: Feraligators is curious... what is your favorite Pokemon?

%Opple: Also a tough question. I've always had an allure towards Froslass. Ice types are my favourite. However, for all of gen 9's flaws, I happen to fall in love with Orthworm and Flamigo. Applin is also a close favourite, being a bit of a mascot for me as Opple.

#Rainshaft: No Flapple? 😮

%Opple: No flapple! 😦

#Rainshaft: Shocking. Quite a bombshell to drop before the last question!

%Opple: Last one already? Shame!

#Rainshaft: Well actually it's two questions! MyanMario and Yoshman8 ask: how has Survivor impacted you, and what improvements would you like to see in Survivor going forward?

%Opple: Survivor has made me less likely to gamble in real life? I'm only joking! I used to play the lottery now and then now I don't have that itch. However it has brought me close to friends and people from across the world! That's a huge impact. I mean - nothing is perfect and I think Survivor has room for new and engaging and exciting content. It comes with time. We're all volunteers and I am super proud of everything everyone in the room does. As much as it may seem like we are brutal etc, we genuienly care and you can't put a price on that. I would like to see my rolls improve if anything though.

#Rainshaft: Many of our staff could use roll improvements, yeah...

#Rainshaft: Well that concludes today's interview!

%Opple: Thank you for having me and to everyone who has asked me questions!

#Rainshaft: Certainly! :3