User blog comment:Sambarnes/Survivor: BSSS Q&A 1/@comment-24526522-20200210184433/@comment-26098956-20200211164226

Everyone was received (more or less) the way I had hoped. The ones I knew people would root for were supported, and the ones I didn't vibe with were ignored. The biggest standout for me was Bernice. I was very excited when I saw everyone (especially your reaction) deal with her. Bernice was meant to be a pre-swap flameout, but she has become somewhat of a legend on this season. I didn't expect people to vehemently hate her so much, and I also was surprised people enjoyed her antics. She was fun to write. I was also surprised with Carrie's reception. I had to modify her character and personality, so I can see why some people might not be rooting for her as she went from generic intense female gamebot to the girl that always ended up on the rewards for some reason (I randomized reward teams... didn't catch on that she went on all of them). I thought people would've liked her more, but oh well. Oh, and this isn't really someone who I was surprised with, but I liked Tamesha's reception. I liked her and I thought that I had written her to be too OTT, but I was very pleasantly surprised to see that everyone loved her. She was just meant to be robbed, not THE robbed goddess of the Survivor Fanon Awards (but I'm still so grateful anyways hihi)

When I made the Book Smart tribe, I purposely split my four favorites on one side, the four I hated on another, and left the dynamic duo of Joy and Mei in the middle. I'm glad you enjoyed seeing the fall of all four of them, as I wanted their exits to be as satisfying as possible.