Post by Penny on Dec 7, 2015 15:24:56 GMT
To begin, I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to this season, players, staff, and alumni alike. I've had a blast playing Rise and Fall 12, but this couldn't have happened without all of you, so you deserve some recognition.
The name of this game is Rise and Fall, and I think that is very appropriate to how the game of Big Brother is played. Power is constantly shifting within the house. Each competition marks one player's rise and another player's fall, and at some point in the game, we all experienced both of these highs and lows. At the end of the day, our fate in this game comes down to how we can navigate these power shifts. It is often the case that players who rise very quickly within the ranks will soon find themselves falling hard, and players who stumble in the early weeks can bounce back to make a deep run. I think that a night spent hitting the bars provides a really appropriate metaphor for how this all works out: if you take too many shots at the first bar you go to (aka the early rounds of the game), it will hit you like a ton of bricks, and your night will end with you puking into a bush. But if you space out your drinks, don't let your BAC rise too quickly, and simply let the good times roll without going too crazy, you're in for a long, memorable night.
Though I made a lot of jokes about drinking in this house, some of them funny, some of them not, I do not drink nearly as much as I made myself out to seem. I'm a responsible drinker, and I played this game much like I would hit the bars in real life. Early rounds of Big Brother tend to go something like this: players who are perceived as inactive are targetted while a large alliance or two are formed. These alliances go after the inactives while solidifying bonds with each other until, inevitably, they get snuffed out. People who are not part of these alliances then group up in a sort of counter-alliance to take out the group that is threatening them, and then the power shifts. I knew that this would happen here, so I spent the early rounds in preparation. I established myself as the "party girl," someone who people would not feel threatened by, someone who people even may wish to take to the end of the game as a goat. I was active, and participated wholeheartedly in everything that was going on, but by no means did anyone consider me a ~major player~. As I strengthened individual bonds with various members of the house, it became clear that alliances were being formed without me in them, with the exception of the one that emerged within my clique with Aisha and Michael.
This is exactly where I wanted to be. As is par for the course, soon news of the Frozen Five was discovered, and those who were not a part of it began to organize in response to that. By placing myself as someone who was not tied to the concentrated bloc of power, I became an asset to be utilized by the counter-alliance. Pilar approached me, telling me what she had learned about Jackie and crew, and asked me to join up with her and others. Suddenly, I was in a very strong position. I had good individual relationships with players on both sides of the house and was at the core of neither alliance, allowing me to avoid getting caught in the crossfire - this is very clearly evidenced by the round Adam left, where I received zero votes for eviction and became the tiebreaker vote.
From then on, my game became one of playing two sides against each other. The line in the sand had already been drawn, and I worked to keep my toes in both sides of the beach while making sure that I was not in danger. During my first HoH, I was even able to very clearly nominate players from both alliances without catching heat for it. I used my position in the middle to make sure that threats were evicted. I was the tiebreaker vote to evict Adam and my nomination of Vanessa after Zach's veto made it clear that she would be the one leaving the house that week. I worked with Pilar while maintaining a stronger position with Pilar's enemies than she had, making sure that when the time came for us to be voted on, I would be safe. I was the HoH that evicted Aisha, and the perception of Penny as a goat (thank you Michael for so loudly helping to perpetuate that) put me in a very favorable final four, making sure that Michael would evict Kevin over myself and causing Zach, Mr. Nice Guy himself, to turn on his friend Michael at the end.
I do not think that I have played a perfect game. There were certainly blunders throughout my time here, such as vetoing Pilar in hopes that Godfrey would come back and not anticipating that Pilar and Kevin would turn on each other. I know that many of you may be thinking that I am the goat who has gotten dragged to the end, and I am here right now to dispel that rumor. My game here has been very intentional, and I have been able to follow the path I set out for myself in the early rounds to get to this Final Two - I aim to prove that in my answers to your questions.
That being said, don't hold back! I am more than happy to answer to anything I have or have not done in this house. Best of luck to Zach, and I look forward to hearing the questions that you have all come up with!
The name of this game is Rise and Fall, and I think that is very appropriate to how the game of Big Brother is played. Power is constantly shifting within the house. Each competition marks one player's rise and another player's fall, and at some point in the game, we all experienced both of these highs and lows. At the end of the day, our fate in this game comes down to how we can navigate these power shifts. It is often the case that players who rise very quickly within the ranks will soon find themselves falling hard, and players who stumble in the early weeks can bounce back to make a deep run. I think that a night spent hitting the bars provides a really appropriate metaphor for how this all works out: if you take too many shots at the first bar you go to (aka the early rounds of the game), it will hit you like a ton of bricks, and your night will end with you puking into a bush. But if you space out your drinks, don't let your BAC rise too quickly, and simply let the good times roll without going too crazy, you're in for a long, memorable night.
Though I made a lot of jokes about drinking in this house, some of them funny, some of them not, I do not drink nearly as much as I made myself out to seem. I'm a responsible drinker, and I played this game much like I would hit the bars in real life. Early rounds of Big Brother tend to go something like this: players who are perceived as inactive are targetted while a large alliance or two are formed. These alliances go after the inactives while solidifying bonds with each other until, inevitably, they get snuffed out. People who are not part of these alliances then group up in a sort of counter-alliance to take out the group that is threatening them, and then the power shifts. I knew that this would happen here, so I spent the early rounds in preparation. I established myself as the "party girl," someone who people would not feel threatened by, someone who people even may wish to take to the end of the game as a goat. I was active, and participated wholeheartedly in everything that was going on, but by no means did anyone consider me a ~major player~. As I strengthened individual bonds with various members of the house, it became clear that alliances were being formed without me in them, with the exception of the one that emerged within my clique with Aisha and Michael.
This is exactly where I wanted to be. As is par for the course, soon news of the Frozen Five was discovered, and those who were not a part of it began to organize in response to that. By placing myself as someone who was not tied to the concentrated bloc of power, I became an asset to be utilized by the counter-alliance. Pilar approached me, telling me what she had learned about Jackie and crew, and asked me to join up with her and others. Suddenly, I was in a very strong position. I had good individual relationships with players on both sides of the house and was at the core of neither alliance, allowing me to avoid getting caught in the crossfire - this is very clearly evidenced by the round Adam left, where I received zero votes for eviction and became the tiebreaker vote.
From then on, my game became one of playing two sides against each other. The line in the sand had already been drawn, and I worked to keep my toes in both sides of the beach while making sure that I was not in danger. During my first HoH, I was even able to very clearly nominate players from both alliances without catching heat for it. I used my position in the middle to make sure that threats were evicted. I was the tiebreaker vote to evict Adam and my nomination of Vanessa after Zach's veto made it clear that she would be the one leaving the house that week. I worked with Pilar while maintaining a stronger position with Pilar's enemies than she had, making sure that when the time came for us to be voted on, I would be safe. I was the HoH that evicted Aisha, and the perception of Penny as a goat (thank you Michael for so loudly helping to perpetuate that) put me in a very favorable final four, making sure that Michael would evict Kevin over myself and causing Zach, Mr. Nice Guy himself, to turn on his friend Michael at the end.
I do not think that I have played a perfect game. There were certainly blunders throughout my time here, such as vetoing Pilar in hopes that Godfrey would come back and not anticipating that Pilar and Kevin would turn on each other. I know that many of you may be thinking that I am the goat who has gotten dragged to the end, and I am here right now to dispel that rumor. My game here has been very intentional, and I have been able to follow the path I set out for myself in the early rounds to get to this Final Two - I aim to prove that in my answers to your questions.
That being said, don't hold back! I am more than happy to answer to anything I have or have not done in this house. Best of luck to Zach, and I look forward to hearing the questions that you have all come up with!