User blog comment:Tanglefrost/Survivor: Con Dao- Character Applications/@comment-32574574-20200121015611



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Name: Dr. Michael Matchett (61)

Current Residence: Reno, Nevada

Occupation: High School Teacher

Claim to Fame: At my age, I’m glad to have been able to spent over half of my life working as an educator. Seeing how my mother raised me, I decided I wanted to become a teacher to help struggling students and today, I’m a high school math teacher with a doctorate in psychology. It puts a smile on my face whenever I know I helped a kid out with even the smallest situation they may be going through.

Hobbies: Reading a new book, listening to music (unless it’s country), cardio, swimming.

Pet Peeves: I’d like to consider myself fairly tolerant. With that being said, one thing that will infuriate me is whenever people choose to kick other people while they’re down. There’s no use in causing further trouble to somebody who is already in pain, and we’re going to have problems if that happens.

If You Could Have Three Things on the Island, What Would They Be and Why: 1) A book, because there are going to be days at camp where tension is high, and I’d just want to steer clear from it. 2) A hat, to provide some shade for my Humpty Dumpty-like head. 3) Toilet Paper, for obvious reasons (chuckling)

SURVIVOR Contestant You Are Most Like (can be my fanon or canon): Tom Westman. He was my all-time favorite Survivor player because he’s an older guy like myself, and he helped remove this stereotype of older people being timid and weak. I’m not saying I’m gonna win five immunities, but I’d hope people viewed me as likeable and as much of a provider as Tom was.

Reason for Being on SURVIVOR: I’m here for two reasons: one of them is because I’m a superfan of the show, and I’ve been dreaming of being here for the last twenty years. I’ve never applied before this, but I’ve decided to take a stab at it because I want to be a part of the game. The second reason is because Neal, the man whom I was planning to marry, was an even bigger fan of Survivor, and he has applied from 2001 to 2017. I want to make him proud and I want to play in his memory as well.

Why You Will “Survive” SURVIVOR: I spent seven years in the military working as a hostage negotiator overseas. I have the ability to provide for my tribe because I’ve been in survival situations before. I have the ability to resolve conflicts when I need to. I’m someone who is very approachable when someone needs help or when they need someone to talk to. Out of all the things concerning me about Survivor, I think I can adapt pretty quickly to the environment.

Why You Will Be the Sole SURVIVOR: Like I said, I can adapt quickly to whatever environment I’m in. I’m fairly good at hiding my emotions, and I think that has to do with experience and age. I don’t believe my tribemates will view me specifically as a huge threat, and I also don’t believe I’ll be viewed as the weakest link either. Survivor is a social game, and if I can solidify myself as a reliable ally but also a respectable game player, I’ll be good to go.

'''Rate your castaway’s strategic, physical, and social game out of 10, 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. Provide a reason why you chose the numbers.'''

Strategic: 4 – Michael is not going the best the most strategic player out there, as much as he would prefer to think of himself as a strategist. Michael tends to be too trusting of other people, and in a game where reliance can both help and hurt you, Michael’s kind-hearted nature may turn out to bite him in the long-run.

Social: 10 – Michael is an incredibly likable person who, while not necessarily the most strategic, can definitely get his tribemates to like him and respect him. Given he works as a high school teacher, he knows how to deal with the most impatient and arguably immature people on the planet. Additionally, due to his experience as a hostage negotiator and due to his psychology doctorate, Michael is not going to crack when under pressure.

Physical: 7 – At age 61, Michael maintains a fairly good physical lifestyle. He isn’t strong to the extent that he’ll be considered the biggest “challenge beast”, but he can hold his own with many of those who are one-third of his age. Puzzles or swimming challenges are not going to be a huge problem for him, however, endurance competitions are where you will see him struggle the most.

What could cause your castaway to win? His social game. Michael’s strategy is to coast by the first few pre-merge votes as the “lovable older guy”, proceeding to display his physical, social, and strategic gameplay as the game progresses so that the jury recognizes the game he’s playing. He hopes that at the Final Tribal Council that he’ll be in a Final 3, instead of a Final 2 considering he thinks it would be easier for him to pitch his case to the jury against two people than just one.

What could cause your castaway to lose? The same thing that could cause him to win: his social game. As much as his strategy could pay off in the long run, there’s also the same likelihood his plan will blow up in his face because he’s too trusting of other people.

What kind of castaways would your castaway align with? He would hope to align with a combination of physically stronger and weaker members of his tribe so that it would shield him from other castaways who may be going after either the weakest or most threatening members of the tribe.

What kind of characters would your castaways avoid or be enemies with? Michael is open to being friends with anybody, however, he most likely would not align with somebody who has betrayed him in the past. He may be trusting, but if he catches wind of anyone trying to manipulate him, he’s got no qualms with strategically cutting ties.

Please provide a small paragraph of backstory: (this is gonna be a few paragraphs, but I like character backstories, sorry...)

Michael was born on May 8, 1959 in Reno, Nevada. Both of his parents are still alive – Doris at 91, Edward Matchett Sr. at 94 – and he has a 63-year old brother, Ted, nicknamed “Junior”; should Michael make it far enough to see the Loved Ones challenge, his brother will be the relative he sees. It is his father who inspired Michael to join the military, as his father served in World War II. Michael served as a hostage negotiator during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-81, which put his social capabilities to the test. Michael is openly bisexual.

After serving in Iran, Michael went to Los Angeles where he went to school to become an educator. It is his brother who inspired Michael to pursue a career in education after leaving the military. From the 1990s, Michael moved around the state several times, first working as a preschool teacher, then a middle school history teacher, a middle school special education teacher, a high school special ed. teacher, and finally a high school math teacher, a job he has had since 2011. In 2015, Michael went on an educational sabbatical to earn his doctorate in psychology.

In 2011, Michael met an older gentleman named Neal Ryan, a co-worker of his who suffered from PTSD as a result of serving in the Vietnam War. According to Michael, “[Neal] didn’t tolerate bullshit terribly well… Neal had a short temper, and there were very few people whom he actually liked”. Despite their differences socially, they both bonded very well, and later dated for a few years before moving in together. At the time, Michael was 52, but it was his first “serious” relationship, given that he never took the time in his life to settle down with someone. In 2015, Michael decided to propose to Neal on the islands of Fiji during a summer trip. The two never got married however, as Neal died before the wedding could take place.

While in his relationship with Neal, whom Michael cites as his inspiration in life, Michael states that he has learned a lot about himself. “I’m a patient person, and Neal was not. I’m someone who had to balance out all of the idiosyncrasies he had, and he had to be someone who would lay down the hammer whenever I was too worried to do so. My tolerant side balanced out with his orderly side”. He also learned a lot about Neal’s personal life in the large gap between the time they first met each other in college, and the time they reunited. Neal had HIV/AIDS, and as a result, the two of them were never intimately active. In 2017, Neal, who opted to no longer take his medication, passed away at the age of 67. The loss greatly impacted Michael’s outlook on life. Michael is competing on Survivor on behalf of both his former fiancé (who was a massive Survivor fan), and on behalf of those who have ever struggled significantly in life. He hopes to not only be a voice for them, but prove that "you can have a good heart and still win the game of Survivor".