Banana Reunion!
The bond that we created on Imanpa was special. I am not sure if I said it in confessional, or just in passing to someone here, but that night and day when we were down to 4 was one of the most real feeling experiences I have ever had in an online game. It is obviously so different than Survivor in real life, but the emotional exhaustion and determination was very real. The Bananas made this experience more fun than it ever could have possibly been otherwise.
I read how you feel, and it was powerful. I think it is most appropriate for us to speak in more depth about all of the feeling about it if you would like to after tonight. I hope that my actions never created an idea that I held no fondness in my heart for you. I had a special relationship with you, one that impacted me well beyond the confines of this game. I don't want to pander though. I want to give you an answer.
David
During one of our very first conversations, and frequently after that, you mentioned that you were studying Australian Survivor and how they do things. Please explain your thought processes, from F6 to F2, for the boot order. Did it go as you’d planned? How did your research factor into your decision-making?
Kylie. You are absolutely correct. While I didn't watch full seasons back to back, I watched episodes, clips, read the wiki, and did whatever else I felt would be beneficial to try and familiarize myself with the format. I know Stranded is often ahead of the curve when it comes to the decisions it makes about the structure and format of the season. But it is not unheard of for real life events being similar to what the production team here decided to incorporate.
Firstly, seeing the tribal where players swapped places gave credence to the fact that inspiration was being drawn from the show. I believe the twist on the show was a bit different, but still had a member being voted to swap to the other tribe, instead of being voted out. A significant amount of the Australian format seems to be similar to the American one, but knowing that the hosts were inspired by the Australian format made it seem rather logical to try and correlate similarities between the show and this game.
I think the main factor where my research impacted my decision making was the F2. It is risky to play expecting a F2 or a F3, but it is also risky to try and play as if both scenarios were possible. I can be fully honest, my game was being played in a way that would be more beneficial to have a F2. I didn't think this was unfounded though. I used my logic, research and a bit of gut intuition to try and plan around what I figured to be the most likely format outcome. At F6, it might have seemed illogical to want to keep Mat in the game to most people. I felt strongly though that I was able to be the better challenge competitor if the time came, and he would continue to be public enemy number 1 even at F5. Could he have won out and beat me in the end? It's always possible. But knowing that multiple strong challenge competitors still existed diminished that worry to an extent. I don't think I was going to get my way at F6. But looking back on my confessionals, I think I would have gone for Daisy during that tribal I didn't attend.
There is a bit of a disconnect for me, because through 5-2 I set into motion my end game plan that had evolved in part from my experience the previous round when Mat left. It's hard to speculate what I might have felt or thought if the outcome had been different at the time. But the honest truth is that my goal for the boot order from 5-2 was to maintain myself in a position where I was the least likely to be voted out, with as much control over the outcome as possible.
I'll try and be as blunt as possible here to outline my thought process. Voting Daisy out was to put me in a position where I was protected no matter which of the 4 of us won immunity. I gave myself the opportunity to pull the trigger on some very difficult end game decisions, instead of relying on the outcomes of other people's actions to contribute to the decisions that I needed to make.
To answer your follow up, I can't say that the F6-2 went as I had planned or envisioned from the get go. If my foresight was stronger, I would have purchased the Bounty that Sharn had, and attempted to leverage it in a way that would have connected my initial plans with the outcomes that ended up occurring during the last 4 tribals. With that being said, I am very confident that my ability to pivot at F5 altered the trajectory of the season for me. Not every single plan is going to work, but if you can maintain strong adaptability and outside-of-the-box thinking, opportunity will be there for the taking.
This was my interpretation of what you asked me. If you meant something a bit different, feel free to let me know and I can make a more accurate response to what you were looking for.
Bonus question: Did you ever make that blackberry ice cream?
This is going to sound beyond over dramatic, but it is exactly what happened:
The day that you got voted out, I had literally just gone to the grocery store hours prior to buy frozen fruit. I was eating your desert on the deck not 30 minutes after you were eliminated. It's hard for me to really put into words the thoughts that were going through my mind at that moment. I felt a lot of emotion. I felt guilty about how it all went down, even though I wasn't a part of it. It's something Mat and I discussed a fair bit at the time. But it's something we continued to discuss as well. I wished so much that we could have gotten to enjoy more of this game and the experiences that were had together.
But at least I was sad with a nice sunset, and a delicious treat that I very much enjoyed. I'll never look at frozen blackberries the same again because of you Kylie
I am very excited to get to reconnect with you. I respect the decision that you make here, regardless of which of us get your vote.
I want to share a confessional quote from the very first day of this game, that in retrospect is so much more impactful than I could have ever known:
"I may have started an avalanche of banana dialogue with my picture, but i did not expect it to be a focal point. "
