Naughty Natalie's Nitpicking's

[Natalie White]

Well, congratulations to all of you guys. You definitely played the game very well to get where you are, and I commend you on that. However, you all had some pretty glaring flaws in your journey here. Despite that, I truly believe that 2 of you sitting here played the best strategic game, and I'm sure we can all guess which two of you that is. Before I go any further, Mike, I will not be voting for you. You are a nice guy, and there was a portion in the middle of the game where we talked quite a bit, but you disappeared entirely for large portions of the late game. Unfortunately, out of respect for the time and effort most of us put into the game, I just don't feel it's fair for you to win. Hopefully there are no hard feelings, had you of put more effort in, my jaded feelings could have easily persuaded me to vote for you. But anyway, let's move on to the people who have a chance at my vote.


Andrea, let's start this off with another apology. I sent you a private one, but I still do feel sorry for what I said to you. I don't know your family, and I don't know you on a very personal level. I was upset about getting vote off (which those feelings run much deeper than losing an online game, but we will get to that with Rodney), and wanted to make one last jab at you because you were one of the biggest reasons I got voted off. It wasn't right and if you want to hate me, I completely understand, even though I hope you don't. But, let's switch to your game play. I am not as impressed as the other jurors are by your use of powers or immunity wins. I don't consider guessing passwords or winning things really that impressive. You used them to bully certain people into going along with your plans, but I don't really admire that either.

However, the one thing I DO admire you for is something I doubt any other juror will notice, and that is your loyalty. Certainly not your loyalty to everyone, you have burned quite a few bridges, but your loyalty to Rodney is commendable. I had the same loyalty to him, and I know how difficult it is to have people trash talk him to you, only to defend his actions. During my last round in the game, you also refused to rat out Rodney to me. You could have easily done that and poisoned me against him to secure my jury vote, but you didn't. You took all the bullets for him, and that could quite possibly be the human side of you I needed to see in order for me to vote for you. Now, it's quite possible that you did that because you figured you didn't have a shot at my vote, but I don't think that's the case.

My question to you is this. If you had known Rodney was as big of a threat to win as he is, would you have still taken him to the end with you?



Now, to Rodney. What you did to me really does upset me. With the Erik blindside, I was left in the dark and it really opened up some scars I had with trust issues. I do not play these games often, and when I do, I am always out early, before I have the chance to build bonds with people. That wasn't the case with you. We had an alliance from the start and I gained so much trust in you. Now, obviously this bond wasn't mutual since you had such strong deals with every single person in the game, hence the reason people feel personally hurt by you. But as embarrassing as it to me, you were my #1 ally since the start of the game and it really sucks that it wasn't mutual. But my embarrassment aside, I don't really fault myself with that. You're the type of person who builds bonds with people really easily. I created some bonds as well, but they were different bonds, where the people didn't feel personally hurt by me voting them off. I thought our bond was closer than it was, because you perhaps give more into this than anyone else in the game, which is maybe something you should think about.

When you lied to me, it really brought those trust issues into the foreground and I opened up to you about it. You could have easily of just told me, "I'm sorry Natalie, I won't lie to you again." Instead, you made a spectacle out of it. The little issue that I had, you turned into a massive ordeal, promising me that you would NEVER let anything happen to me, how sorry you were for me, and how horrible you felt about yourself for doing that to you. You made it into this gigantic firework show, that it made me gain even more trust in you. It made me feel like you actually cared about my feelings, and that you actually did consider me as a friend. Your actions took a much deeper affect than just this game.

I may be a bitch at times, I may say hurtful things, but you used something personal against me. You purposely tried to gain all my trust back, to make me feel this false sense of security. It was not only a bad game move, since you knew I would always be on your side, before any of this happened I flat out told you I was still with you, but it was a really disgusting thing to do to someone on a personal level.

You could have easily had my vote. I would have still been upset with you, but ALL you had to do was tell me I was going that round. I had no power, I had absolutely no way to save myself, and instead you lied to me over and over throughout the day. You sat there and talked to me about my real life, the first time I had felt comfortable opening up to someone in this game about things like that, and just continued to lie to my face. I just don't understand why you did that. If you lie to me in this thread, you won't be getting my vote, so this is your chance to secure it by answering my question honestly. Keep in mind that I WANT to vote for you. Whether you hate me or not for what I said to Andrea (which is our business that I tried to handle), I was a good friend and ally to you, you do not have any sincere reason to dislike me.

You knew about the double vote, you knew about it's power, Andrea strong armed you into doing it. But why did you lie to me into feeling safe and getting my hopes up that I could actually make finals? What did you gain from that?



And a final question to all. I'd like you to rank the jurors based on who you feel played the game from best, to worst. You can put a reasoning if you want, but I suppose that's not needed.


Best of luck guys, I'm not going to say "no hard feelings" because, to be honest, my feelings are still a little hurt, but I'm a grown up. I can learn to build a bridge, get over it, and eventually not care about it anymore.

[Rodney]

Natalie,

To be honest, even after Andrea told me she forgave you, I still didn't want to answer your question. I know you apologized but I hope you know how much you hurt her. I am doing this not to beg for your vote but to undo some of the damage that I am responsible for. I'm referring to what happened between you and I.

You are only seeing what happened on the surface but it was never my intent to make you feel that way. I dragged you along into some things you weren't comfortable with. I admit to that, but I never wanted to do this to you. When I told you all I wanted out of FTC was for it to be competitive and fun I meant it, and when I told you that meant a final 3 of you, me, and Andrea, I meant that too. Maybe it was my ego getting in the way but up until that last hour I really did think I could change Andrea's mind. I thought I could sway her into following my logic but while we were allies, we were different players and we had different interests. She held the cards and I was stupid enough to make promises I couldn't keep. When it was looking like I couldn't do it, I did what worked every other step of this game, I doubled down and I tried to force my will. I didn't want to waver about it in front of you because I thought I could save you. I felt honestly kind of embarrassed that I told you everything would be alright then I watched as it slowly became otherwise. I was just an optimist fighting for it til it was too late and I see how you can see that as me playing you. I'm not here to point fingers at Andrea, she was only playing her game and she was able to do what I struggled with, she was honest about it with you, but you don't know what happened behind the scenes. Andrea and I became very good friends over this game and we had our up's and downs but that round was the lowest down we had, I argued for you until I actually broke her spirit. I took it too far because I made too many promises. Andrea is a power player much like myself. She gets what she wants. when it came to her own parchment, I didn't have the power to change it, My relationship with her, in game, and out, was more important. I admit that the path I took for us was for me, not for us like I tried to tell you. I know you weren't as close with Andrea and Mike as we planned to get, but when it gets that far in the game you need to make moves for yourself. I'm sorry I hurt you. I never meant to make you feel that way or to dig up old skeletons. Everything personal we talked about was all real and all me. I really don't want hard feelings and I hope I can fix that, even if it's after this is all over.

As for your juror question:

#1. Courtney- she was batman. I tried round after round to defeat her and I just couldn't. I had to dance around all her allies and all her powers before I was able to take her out. It was insane. She was by far the most feared as far as I was concerned

#2  Erik- Andrea saw what I didn't want to think about, and that was the fact that if he was sitting here, he would win. He didn't have to work hard like we did because he played a nearly flawless social game. Everyone loved him including myself. If I was a better friend he would have easily had the connections to save him too. Erik did everything right.

#3 Natalie- you put yourself comfortably in the middle and you cruised into the final 5 without a single vote if I recall correctly. There were a few people in this game that were inactive, you were the real deal, you were UTR in the truest sense of the term and you played it well.

#4 Parviti- I don't know about anyone else but I was scared to death of the potential here. I think she had some flaws with not making the right connections but if you're talking about a triple threat. Social/ Strategic/ and strength. There was a reason she was a target. Maybe she should have played more under the radar but I'm not sure what else she could have done with the brawns and brains joining up when they did. She was a great player killed off by circumstances

#5 Alex- He was playing a good social game but I was playing a better one and this was his downfall. I think he was on such a high level that he underestimated me. I am proud to say I orchestrated his entire demise and it wasn't because he was a slouch. He was another Parviti-esqe player. A grizzled veteran that I did not want to have to see go deep into the game.

#6 Shirin-  She wasn't around much but she made a risky move that came very close to paying off. I respect her for that

#7 Angie- being a beauty, I think she was in the same boat as Parviti where she was in trouble but she managed to hook herself onto Courtney and it gave her new life in this game. She was severely lacking in the social aspect and that is why she is so low

#8- Ciera- She was not around very much. She was smart enough to stick with her voting block and that carried her as far as that went but this kind of activity level is no way to play a game

#9- Colby- He had a good think going but after I betrayed him he completely gave up and just kind of floated. I have a problem with that. If you didn't get voted out you are still in the game. fight for yourself, you know?

[Natalie White]

So your answer to my question is that you "thought you could change her mind"? You sincerely believed that stringing me along the entire round, leading me into a false sense of security was the best thing to do? Instead of saying, "Listen I fucked up, the double vote does count in the tie as well, you are going to leave", you didn't inform me until last minute, which shows you had very little respect for me. And I know I upset Andrea, but that is OUR problem, not a problem between me and you. I know she is your friend, but constantly bringing that up doesn't change what you did to me. I'm glad that you at least own up to being selfish, but I just can't fathom why you would go about the round the way you did, knowing how I felt about our alliance, and about my feelings.

[Rodney]

I don't know what else you want me to tell you. That is my honest, heart poured out, explanation of it. I really did think I could save you because I really did want to. If you think I was stringing you along for my own sick amusement you are mistaken. I probably should have handled it differently when I realized it was too late but I was pushing to take you all the way. If it's the apology you want to hear, please listen because I am laying it all out there to give it to you.

I'm sorry.

Believe me, Natalie

[Natalie White]

I'm not searching for an apology. I'm just trying to make sense of your reasoning. I guess I just want the situation to make sense more, I just wish I could change how you treated me that round. Your intentions might have been pure, but you knew that if you didn't succeed, then the results would be much more hurtful towards me. Andrea had you by the balls the entire time, and you saw how your actions affected me before, I just figured you'd have known that things could have ended very badly.

[Rodney]

Sept 13, 2015 23:58:33 GMT Natalie White said:

I'm not searching for an apology. I'm just trying to make sense of your reasoning. I guess I just want the situation to make sense more, I just wish I could change how you treated me that round. Your intentions might have been pure, but you knew that if you didn't succeed, then the results would be much more hurtful towards me. Andrea had you by the balls the entire time, and you saw how your actions affected me before, I just figured you'd have known that things could have ended very badly.

I never did think of that. I should have taken you feelings into account. I really didn't know how personally people took these games and I'm really seeing that now. My words from my statement still ring true, nothing was meant to be personal but I am starting to get it. With how upset so many of you are with me, I really do get it. I'm willing to bet we're all dealing with demons in our lives and maybe more for some than others but a lot of us use this as a distraction from real life problems so even if it's not meant that way, my actions still threw some of you back into that realm and if what I did echoed what you're running from then it makes it that much worse. What I did wasn't cool and you're right, I should have owned up sooner.

[andrea]

Natalie I accepted your apology the day you wrote it. I understand you were mad, and you had every right to be because I was the main person wanting you gone. I just want to move on from that situation.  To answer your question if I was ever going to take out Rodney. I know people saw him has the mastermind, but Rodney was my #1 in this game. I know I burned some of you guys and wasn't loyal to you, but I never had any intention of voting him out. Losing to Rodney is something I am totally fine with. I think he played a great game too. I think I played a better one of course, but I know he played great. I never planned on going against Mike or Rodney, they were the two people in this game who had my back no matter what. I just hope you guys can appreciate the loyalty I had to my main alliance. 


Ranking the Jury
#1 would be Erik. Erik was loved by every single person in the game. Nobody wanted to make a move against him. If I didn't have an idol there is no doubt in my mind that he would be sitting here tonight. 


#2 Natalie because she was always in a good spot up until the final 6. She was in the majority alliance the entire time, she was liked for the most part on the jury, and could have came in tonight and swayed a jury to vote her to win


#3 Courtney because Courtney has the most passion in this game. She never stopped fighting even after I told her I had to vote her out. If Courtney could have gained majority by getting Rodney out on the tie vote I think she would be sitting here tonight. 


#4 Ciera because like Natalie she was in a good spot. If I didn't have any powers I'm almost certain people would have wanted her in the end. 


#5 Parvati was really smart, and if she didn't get out early she would be a lot higher on my list. She was very aware of what was going on, if she could have survived the vote I think she would have done a lot of damage in the game


#6 Alex was very popular among his brawn alliance. Courtney and him were a duo once the merge hit. It comes down to if he survived him and Courtney would have been in control, and he would have made it further


#7 Angie always said what was on her mind even if it was bad and that is why she is so low. Sometimes her mouth can get her in trouble. I like her being in the game for a few rounds because she kept the target off of me. 


#8 Shirin turned on an alliance that wanted to work with her. I think Shirin got bored, and if she would have waited a few rounds she could have gotten the results she wanted


#9 Colby because you got left out on a lot of plans. I don't know if it is entirely your fault but it happened. He had a vendetta against Rodney that made it impossible to get him to work with him. 

[Natalie White]

Alright, thank you both. I am still uncertain as to who I want to vote for, so I'll be keeping an eye on your answers to the other questions. I feel Andrea played the more well rounded game, but I feel that Rodney's journey was much more compelling, so it's a hard decision. You both deserve to win though, best of luck!

[Rodney]

Feel free to keep asking away. This is what I did it for. I'm not bothered by endless questions, it just might take some time to get to them. This goes for everyone