Parker's Pondering

[Parker Somerville]

Congrats to the both of you.

Sheila and Nathan, I think it's safe to say that it is a surprise to nobody that you two are in the finals. Which defnitely goes a long way in showing how well the two of you played.



Sheila
I guess first off I should state that I really don't know what, if any, factor the whole account sharing thing will play in my decision. It is what it is and I dont think I really need to ask you about it. But the way you handled that, and the way you seem to handle a lot of things during the course of this game exposed your weakness in the social side of this game. When I look back at the 3 convo's we ever had, they were all initiated by me. I am one of the easiest people to get along with so I didn't know why you seemed to have a hard time talking to me.

Do you just have a hard time talking to just me, or do you have a hard time talking to people in general? Why do you think that is?

While I have never met someone who dominated challenges like you did, whether it be by luck, skill or hard work, my interest also lies in how you did strategically. I see you and Nathan as having been a team and I would like to be able to differentiate between what were your ideas and what were his.

So I also ask you this:

Explain to me what moves that were made were your ideas, and what was your role in making them happen?



Nathan

Coming into this Q+A stuff, you definitely had a big advantage over Sheila. But the more I sit and think about how this game played out, the more questions I have about your role in it.

You have told us about the relationships you made and the deals you made and broke through the course of this game. But from what I can tell, with you reaping the benefits of Sheila's challenge run, your relationships and deals with people became a rather moot point.

I'd like to know what were all of the relationships and deals you made, when they were made, why they were broken and what impact they really had on the game.

And like Sheila I'd want you to answer this:

Explain to me what moves that were made were your ideas, and what was your role in making them happen?




Thanks and good luck to ya both.

[Nathan Marlow]

A Novel
By Nathan Marlow

Nathan

Coming into this Q+A stuff, you definitely had a big advantage over Sheila. But the more I sit and think about how this game played out, the more questions I have about your role in it.

You have told us about the relationships you made and the deals you made and broke through the course of this game. But from what I can tell, with you reaping the benefits of Sheila's challenge run, your relationships and deals with people became a rather moot point.

That's a good point and something Will kind of brought up as well. Having Sheila winning all those challenges did make a lot of things in my game a moot point, I agree. It made a lot of those weeks really easy for me to sit through, knowing I was safe. I was never banking on her winning all those though. I always had my stuff in line and was preparing for something else to happen. I didn't just sit there with my thumb up my ass the whole time. I knew things could drastically change at any second and I wanted to be able to survive it. There was obviously the few times there at the end when I was in danger. I knew Natalie couldn't win that veto, and I had to work for Sarah's vote to keep me as well. It was a help that Sheila won all of those HoH's, but what was I to do about that? I don't think you can really say that I wasn't still playing the game.

I'd like to know what were all of the relationships and deals you made, when they were made, why they were broken and what impact they really had on the game.

Early on in the game, I was on the same page with Lori immediately due to past games, that ended because she was voted out, but I regrouped. This never had too much of an impact, but the one positive was that it took someone out who people were automatically pegging me with.

Natalie came to me very early, like week one, and wanted a solid alliance. I wasn't going to say know, but I knew Natalie and I wasn't sure how far I would want that to go. She can be a liability and I didn't know if I could trust her. I was pretty sure she was making deals with a lot of people. We went back and forth a few times in the game, but ultimately we just didn't click well enough to stay loyal. Keesha was kind of involved with this as well. When Keesha won HoH I warmed up to her real fast to keep my ass off the block and I did think she was a funny person. I also didn't approve of how she played the game though and then her association with Natalie, all kind of forced me against the both of them. Later I mended the relationship with Natalie since I knew if I were going to stick with Big She, that we would need her, it deteriorated quickly again though and wanted her to leave right about when she did. Natalie was obviously a huge player throughout the season, and it definitely was important to be on her good side in that first week.

In the Andraste house alone, my first real alliance was with you and Eric. I didn't know what to think about this. I was looking forward to playing with more than we had in the past, but I was unsure about the future. There were some things about Eric that sketched me out. I kind of just let it simmer on the back burner though.

Then Sheila came over to the house, and she got into all the secret basement business. Then she came to me and told me literally everything, and essentially handed me a secret power and entrusted me with the secret and the power. She was someone who was similar to you, someone I liked but never really had worked with that well before. After she did this though, I could not go against her and I knew then that she would be my tightest ally, and at that time, along with Sarah although I seemed to be closer with Sheila. Sarah and I had agreed to work together, but I don't think we had totally clicked yet, and I was worried about the two of them being too close actually.The night when I learned about all of that was definitely one of the key moments in the whole game. Then, Jun grew in tight with all of us too and I started to consider her a good ally.

It became really tough to juggle this alliance with yours and Eric's and I knew I wasn't doing a good job of it. I really did want Eric to stick around for a while though and then BAM, he was out and Natalie stayed and everything changed for the first time in the game. I was stunned by Sarah and felt like I didn't know who she was. This probably drew me in even closer to Sheila, and Jun as well. I thought I was done with Sarah at this time.

I was HoH then and wanted any of Sarah, Howie, or Natalie to leave the game. They seemed to be the other side of the game, and then once again a huge shift came when Jun voted to keep Sarah. Natalie and Jun were on opposite sides then and I was more in the middle that ever.

In Jun's question I talked a lot about how our relationship deteriorated. As HoH I felt like I needed to pick a side, and I went with my heart and my gut and stuck with Big She, and effectively fixed things with Natalie. This pushed Jun and yourself away obviously since I put you both up. Jun's relationship was key for a while in my game, yours not quite so much, but they both were good possibilities for me. They ended mostly because I had to pick someone's side and I had to distance myself from certain people. There just wasn't any way around it, and this was the way I chose.

Around this time, Sarah and I started talking more and more, and I was upfront with her about how I didn't know if I could trust her again after what happened before. I think that honesty was really key in getting us so close though. My relationship with Sarah had a big impact, because I would have been 4th place without it. All throughout the latter half of the game she was a big part of everything I did.

Sheila and I continued to be tight allies all throughout all of this right up until the end. This was probably the most impactful relationship of the game. She had the most challenge wins, and I had the second most and we controlled a lot of the game, particularly her of course since she won 5 HoH's in a row. I knew she was someone I wanted on my side and it came up big.

Another relationship I had was with Will. I talked to Will before we got split into 2 house and we started off well. When we then got reunited I didn't nominate him because he was someone I liked and wanted to work with. Then we got split up again for a long time, but when the merge hit he was still someone I wanted to work with. He was real up front with me and said he wanted to pay me back for watching out for him a couple times and I appreciated that immensely. Ultimately, at the end, I had my loyalties to other people and he knew I needed to leave for his sake and so we did end up against each other. It never had too much impact on the flow of the game, but it was always something I was thinking about.

Then there was Daniele, who I talked with more at the beginning of the game when she was active. I am good friends with her, but unfortunately, this relationship had no impact really on the game and it ended when I really couldn't stand to see her inactive in the game anymore.

I think that about covers it all... that was quite a lot of stuff there, so I hope I hit everything I needed to. Tell me if you want me to elaborate on any of that.

And like Sheila I'd want you to answer this:

Explain to me what moves that were made were your ideas, and what was your role in making them happen?

We really mostly did whatever we wanted. We barely consulted with each other when making our nominations. We would tell each other what we were thinking of doing, maybe throw some suggestions out there, but I would just let her do what she wanted, and she did the same with me.

The whole secret basement thing, was entirely her ideas, and maybe Sarah's some, I don't really know. But yeah, I knew nothing of it until she told me about it. Then she sent me over and I got access and I got the power all by myself.

With the whole discharging thing, it was kind of just an obvious mutual understanding between the 4 of us that originally went that we would send each other so that we could keep the knowledge of the basement to a minimum.

I won HoH my first week over in the Brigantia house, and I don't recall talking to Sheila much about what happened that weeks. It was really kind of obvious to me about what to do.

The week we tried to get Natalie out, we had both been fed up with her and it worked out perfectly that we could control who got HoH in the other house. We both worked to make sure Jun was the last one standing. I think Sheila made a bigger charge with that, because I thought we were out of it until she whipped out her long-range taser and did some serious damage.

Then the next week was the week Sarah took Sheila as POW. Everything was in my hands that week and I won HoH and was able to keep Sheila safe. I had a lot of logic behind my nominations that week. I put up Natalie and Sarah because I though Howie might have to work and miss veto. I didn't want whoever stayed off to win because Jun would have had to go up. The other reason I wanted Howie up was so that if Jun did had to go up, it would be against Natalie, and I would have been able to throw my power to the other house and spared Jun. This was entirely my thinking and execution. I then went on to basically win that veto for Natalie to ensure that Howie wouldn't win it. I think if found 5 of the 7 passwords for her.

The next week Sheila won HoH in the other house, and Daniele ended up on the block against Diane, and I did make sure to convince Jun to keep Daniele. I don't know what she was really thinking, but she seemed like she was really going to vote her out until I talked to her, and then you voted along with her.

Final 8, I won HoH, and I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do, and ultimately I did what I wanted and I came up with the nominations on my own. I told Sheila about them, but she basically let me do my thing. I knew Jun needed to go at that point, and it seemed like I had more hope to work with Will and Sarah, so I needed to nominate you.

Then Sheila went on a run. All of her nominations were her decisions. The only one I really wasn't happy about was when she nominated Sarah and Will at the final 5. I really wanted Natalie up because I knew she could win the veto and force me on the block. I brought that up to Sheila, but she thought it would work out. Luckily it did.

All of my votes were my choice. I voted for week one because I didn't want to go against Lori. I voted for Keesha because she was getting annoying and was not someone who I wanted to work with in the game. The next time I voted was the week you did leave, and I do believe Sheila did want you out, but I made the choice on my own, it was just strategy because you seemed to be a bigger threat. I voted for Daniele because she just needed to go. I voted for Natalie because I knew we weren't on the same page anymore and she could have definitely gotten me out in the future. I also wanted to do that to set up my ideal final 4 better. Sheila and I had talked a lot about that vote. We talked about tying it up so that she could vote Natalie out in the tie-breaker vote just like on the real show. In the end, I decided I needed to go against that. For my own pleasure, and to just make sure it would happen. I'm glad I did, because Sheila has now said she would have wanted Natalie to stay.

Other random moves... all of the secret box business. I don't know if that really had any effect on anything. I played it up to Natalie that I could screw her over if she messed with me, but it still kind of sounds like she would have tried to, and I knew Sheila herself was paranoid about it too. It was actually completely harmless, but it was something I thought might help. The final 4 veto business was all my idea, but it took some help from Sarah. I knew I didn't have that much time and would have to submit it early, so I talked to Sarah and told her about it. If no one found the last piece I would win the veto, and if we did find it she could win. Then I thought of asking her to convince Will to do the same, which would effectively take him out of the challenge. He was the last person I wanted to win. The plan ended up not being flawless though because Sarah did almost vote me out.

But yeah overall, Sheila and I did click very well together, but we really didn't play the game as like one head. I know it seemed that way, but we really just did our own thing and then we just dealt with it and stood by each other. I had my own plans and ideas and preferences aside from Sheila, and vice versa. Even both of us repairing our relationship with Sarah was done completely separately and then it was like, "hey... we both want go to the final three with her."

I hope that covered everything once again. When you write so much it can be hard to know what all exactly you said. And I also hope you were in the mood for a long read!

[Sheila Kennedy]

I guess first off I should state that I really don't know what, if any, factor the whole account sharing thing will play in my decision. It is what it is and I dont think I really need to ask you about it. But the way you handled that, and the way you seem to handle a lot of things during the course of this game exposed your weakness in the social side of this game. When I look back at the 3 convo's we ever had, they were all initiated by me. I am one of the easiest people to get along with so I didn't know why you seemed to have a hard time talking to me.

Do you just have a hard time talking to just me, or do you have a hard time talking to people in general? Why do you think that is?

This is actually a really good question. I wouldn't really say I have a hard time talking to people, I'm just super picky on who I like and for some reason I can rule out some people before I even talk to them just based on what other people have said or first impressions or who knows what. I know that sounds horrible of me and it actually really is. There have been times where I didn't think I would like someone and I ended up liking them but I still can't learn from that and talk to others I think I wouldn't like. Then in games I have this HORRIBLE habit of not talking to people I know I want out and don't want to work with. I don't know why but I just find it pointless to talk to someone when I know I don't want to work with them. It's something I've noticed for awhile now but I still haven't been able to try and break that habit because to be honest it really hasn't come back and bit me in the ass. So as far you as go, I knew I wanted you out ASAP pretty much because I was nervous about your relationship with Jun. And you were also someone I just saw as not having anything in common with, despite never talking to you. I admit that it really is stupid of me and something I definitely need to work on.

I hope that answers your question.

While I have never met someone who dominated challenges like you did, whether it be by luck, skill or hard work, my interest also lies in how you did strategically. I see you and Nathan as having been a team and I would like to be able to differentiate between what were your ideas and what were his.

Explain to me what moves that were made were your ideas, and what was your role in making them happen?

Well Nathan and I really weren't like, mastermind partners in crime. I just felt a loyalty to him which caused me to keep him safe whenever possible.

Since you want to know what I did strategically, I'll just go through each round and sorta sum up what I did, and then I'll just say what role Nathan had, if any.

Week 1: I was annoyed with the whole Keesha/Natalie obvious connection and just how cocky they were both coming off, so I basically wanted to screw them over as much as possible. I won the veto so I could take Daniele off, and then I helped Jun win so she could take Sarah off. Then Will approached me for an alliance and I offered the idea that we pull in Daniele/Karen as well if Will didn't go up as a replacement so we'd have numbers. But then he just went and told Natalie and voted Karen out and fucked everything up.

Week 2: I won HOH and put up Keesha and Eric. I might have just told Nathan what I was doing, but we never discussed it really. Other than that, Sarah and I got in the basement and helped each other find the powers. Natalie did the best on the winning team so she also got access to the basement, but I came up with the idea that Sarah and I lied to her so she wouldn't get the last power. So Sarah said she picked a safe that we really didn't, which caused Natalie to pick one we already found. Then I had to decide who I did want to get the last power, so I decided on Nathan for a number of reasons. I figured it would be in my best interest to get him to trust me, and I wanted someone that I don't think would tell too many people, and I wanted someone that would be able to figure it out fast since I knew Natalie was getting discharged and she'd be able to pick another safe. So I told Nathan all about the basement and the powers and told him exactly which safe to pick, and I also gave him the 6 keys I found which I figured he would need in order to get the power. So the plan to let him have the last power was basically all my idea.

Week 3: I didn't really do much since my side had immunity. Nathan had HOH and as much as I hate April and would love to take credit for her leaving, I didn't play any part in Nathan's nominations. He did want he wanted to do. I did do the best on the winning team though, so Chelsbot announced that I would get something for doing the best. At this point Jun and I had an alliance/f2 whatever and I did feel some loyalty to her. But I didn't want her to find out about the basement because I knew she'd just tell you about it so in attempts to keep her close to me I came up with a lie about what I got as a prize. Then later Eric and I discussed the possibility of alligning since I had just nominated him and people probably wouldn't have suspected it and he wanted said he wanted two people from the original houses in the alliance. With us being two of the people and then we'd choose the others. I agreed to it mainly because I wanted to see who he chose to bring into the alliance to see who he was close to, but we never got that far lol.

Week 4: This was a really uneventful week for me. I thought my team was screwed at first since two of our members weren't even able to compete in the HOH, but Nathan got the A-bomb and I figured out the best way to use the taser, and we ended up winning. We also decided to give Jun the win because we both wanted Natalie out. I really don't know who's idea it was exactly lol. I think we both had similar interests and it was just obvious what we wanted to happen.

Week 5: The week I was taken as POW. Thankfully, Nathan won HOH and I just prayed he wouldn't put me up since I wasn't able to participate in competitions. Again, he nominated who he wanted to, I didn't play a role in them. Only thing I could do really was help Natalie win veto, which I tried but I sucked hardcore, even though I did give her one password which ended up giving her the win. Other than that, I couldn't vote or do anything lol.

Week 6: The week I went on Nat's account and I was in deep shit. Natalie and I knew we needed to win the HOH, so we worked together which ended up getting me the win. I couldn't nominate Jun, so I put up Parker and Diane because I obviously was closer to Daniele. Then Jun beat me at the veto which didn't leave me with much else to do. I only had one option for a replacement and the vote was completely out of my hands as the two people that hated me the most were in control.

Week 7: Nathan won HOH and again did whatever the hell he wanted to. This was the round though that I think solidified my thought of wanting him in the F2 with me. At first I was skeptical if he was even really loyal to me since he has backstabbed me in the past, but then when everyone wanted Nat and I up and he refused to put us up it sorta showed where his loyalties were. Oh I guess the POW was another week since he had the perfect chance to get rid of me but he didn't so yeah I don't know. Anyways, this was also the week where I sort of started being civil with Sarah again and the thought of working with her again crossed my mind. Then I did the best at the puzzles. Nathan and I tried really hard to get Sarah to not take the POV but she did anyway. Then I was forced to take it because I didn't want the noms to change. If she hadn't taken it then I would have taken Nat's immunity. Jun and Parker were the final noms and I wanted Jun gone so bad so I just sort of talked to her as much as possible until she slipped up and didn't swear so she'd get a penalty vote. And she did.

Week 8: The week I got super lucky and won battleship. Still going off of the idea to try and work with Sarah again, I promised I wouldn't put her up in hopes she would trust me. Then if either of my noms came down, I was just going to put up Daniele to try and please the house. I won veto again and was considering using it, but the fact that neither of the noms came to me and attempted to strike up a deal just made me think they wanted me gone that bad, so I left the noms the same. Nathan really wasn't a factor this week.

Week 9: HOH again. At this point I definitely knew I wanted Daniele gone this week, I just wasn't sure how I wanted it to be done. In the end I put up Sarah because I was nervous that if I didn't and she won veto, then she'd veto Will and then I'd put up Natalie, who Sarah was dying to get rid of. I did end up winning veto and taking Sarah off the block and putting up Daniele. I think this move ended up sort of putting me in Will's good graces, and he even approached me for a deal saying if I could get him to the F4 then I'd get his jury vote. I was very iffy about it and didn't commit to anything because the truth was I didn't want him in the F4, so I just said "I'd see what I could do."

Week 10: It was the redo HOH, which part of it was attacking the other players. At first I was thought I was going to get picked off right away because I didn't think anyone would want to see me again, but then to my surprise, like no one attacked me. Will was attacking Nathan so Nathan asked me if I had some sort of deal with Will, which I just said no, although there was that deal I half-made with Will the previous week, which I wasn't sure was affecting who Will was attacking. I got Natalie to attack Nathan because I knew Nathan needed as little points as possible in that part of the HOH since he had already gotten the passwords. So Natalie hit Nathan while I pretended my internet cut out and what not so I wouldn't have to do it and piss Nathan off. Then I started hitting Sarah, which made Sarah mad, so I just told her Natalie and I were working together on it which I guess made Sarah mad since Natalie told Sarah they were working together? I don't know. But Sarah basically took out Natalie for me and I figured I had that part wrapped up since I had more points than Sarah, but then I fell asleep. So I had to get in the passwords which I ended up doing, and I won HOH again. Nathan and Sarah were desperate for Natalie to go up, but I just came up with a reason that I didn't want to put her up in case she won veto and she would have been mad at me in the coming weeks. So I kept Natalie off the block, and then I was planning on trying to do my best on the POV and give it to Natalie. But I also told Nathan and Sarah I'd help them out. It turns out the POV was something I was bad at, and Nathan was finding answers a lot quicker than I was so I really didn't have much of a chance so I just helped Nathan out to look like I was still with them. Sarah won veto and took herself off, which put me in a tough position. I ended up putting Natalie up because if I didn't, Sarah and Nathan would have both been furious at me and I probably would have destroyed any chance of Nathan taking me to the F2 if I put him up. After I put Nat up, I admit that I did play with emotions and voted to keep her despite knowing it would piss off Sarah and Nathan if they did tie it just for me to keep Natalie. I told them it would have been hilarious if Natalie went out by Sheila's hands just like in the real show and she would have been so surprised, so I said I wanted to be the vote to send her out but they didn't trust me enough to do it I guess. So as far as Nathan and I working together this round, I didn't do what he wanted for original noms but I did end up putting Nat up as a replacement mainly because I thought it was in my best interest at the time.

Week 11: I won HOH then left for the weekend so I wasn't able to really do anything. I just came back to Nathan attempting to save himself, and he did.

Week 12: I won HOH and took Nathan.

So yeah, Nathan and I really didn't full out strategize much. We both did what we both wanted to do as far as voting, nominations, etc. And most of the time we had common interests, in which I was able to put them into action since I was HOH more times.

[Parker Somerville]

Thank you Sheila and thank you Nathan for your honest answers.

I think I have heard everything I needed and wanted to hear. Good luck to both of you and I'll see ya's at the reunion.