Kitty's Speech (Reunion)

This is definitely a really cliché line for a jury speech, but I did not expect to make it this far when this season kicked off. I joined because it seemed fun and I wanted an excuse to get to know all of you. I thought I would be an early out, perhaps make it to the halfway point. It didn’t help that I was a debutant who didn’t know anyone, and didn’t know the format of the game. Since I’ve never seen Big Brother, I had no idea how the format worked. **I quickly got the hang of the game, thanks to my quick thinking skills, as well as the help of all of you.** It’s been an absolute joy to get to know each and every one of you and become friends with a lot of you throughout CYOR: Reunion. From my perspective, all of you were strong competitors, and I would’ve been honored to reach the finale with any of you. **Each of you taught me something different, whether it was about the game or not.**

Zoey, you were part of the first alliance I ever had, with you, Harold, me and Scarlett. Unfortunately, that alliance didn’t last too long. In Episode 1, I was still learning the ropes and trying to survive the challenge, when our alliance formed and I felt safer in the game. In Episode 2, disaster struck when Dakota nominated Zoey and Scarlett, due to Harold informing others about the existence of this alliance. That’s when **Scarlett, Zoey and I formed a separate alliance, knowing what Harold had done.** This could’ve been the end of Scarlett’s game, but I won my first POV in this challenge. I used the POV to save Scarlett, due to her contributions in the challenge. Her intelligence seemed like it would be a valuable asset to me in the game, and I knew I’d get to ally with her further and maintain some loyalty for the remainder of the season. I had to set a foundation for allyship, which unfortunately meant cutting Zoey. Know that I would have kept you both in if I could have.

Following Episode 2 where I won POV, I won my first HOH. This was the “Shawn of the Dead” episode. I came in second in the first part, with Alejandro winning first. I actually answered this one completely in-character, wanting to maintain that realism and immersion to the game as I continued throughout the season. **I ended up winning the challenge and claiming my first HOH**, something I did not think I could accomplish at the time. Everyone seemed so skilled at the challenges, so I just did my best and hoped for the best. Picking my first nominations was a pretty difficult ordeal, considering I barely knew anything about anyone and had barely solidified any allies. I ended up nominating Lightning and Dave. **This challenge is when I realized I had the power to pick up some more allies, and that’s exactly what I did**. Several people came to me, and I came to several people to decide who I should nominate after Lindsay removed Dave from the chopping block. That’s when I began to establish my social game alongside my challenge game and overall strategy.

Having won HOH in Episode 3, I couldn’t compete in Episode 4, so I used that time to organize my strategy and make some allies within the game. At this point, I only had Scarlett as an ally. I reached out to Dakota to ally with her as well, and Dakota ended up being a vital part of my course to the finale. Fun fact, I didn’t even realize when the Episode 5 challenge started, since I didn’t compete in the Episode 4 one and wasn’t paying attention. Not my brightest moment! I totally paid the price for it, though – My nomination of Dave came back to bite me pretty hard, since Dave ended up nominating Scarlett and myself. This is when I finally threw my social game into action. **I convinced Harold, who won the POV, to save me**. This forced Dave to nominate Gwen instead, who later got evicted in Scarlett’s place – **if you’re counting, that’s two evictions I’ve influenced so far**.

Episode 6 rolls around, and my ally, Dakota, wins HOH. By this point, I’m starting to pick up how the game works and finding it easier to navigate. **Thank you to everyone who ever answered a trivial question of mine, clarified something I got wrong, or steered me in the right direction when something could’ve gone awfully wrong for me at the worst times**. I joined an alliance of Geoff, Courtney, Dawn, and myself. I quickly picked up on the fact that Courtney was more loyal to Dave’s alliance than Geoff’s, so I influenced her eviction. Dakota had the brilliant idea of making a powerful alliance of previous finalists – Dakota, Scarlett, Alejandro – and myself, being one of the front-runners of the season so far. We’ll skip over Episodes 7, 8, and 9, because those are the ones where the winners were randomized and the inactives were evicted. Besides, after this point is where my game starts to get really interesting.

Come Episode 10, my main objective was to get Dave evicted. Dave nominated me in the past, and was one of the few people who never reached out to me, nor I ever reached out to. To accomplish this, I enlisted the help of my two main alliances: A powerful alliance between myself, Alejandro, Dakota and Scarlett, and the second alliance of myself, Geoff, and Owen – who by this point we had added to make up for our lost numbers. In this episode, I became **the first and only contestant to win both HOH and POV in the same episode.** Dave, I really need to credit you with being the person that made me start taking the game more seriously. Your brilliant strategies and alliances made me reconsider my own strategy and up my game. **Had your gameplay not been such a difficult obstacle to overcome during my time in the season, I may not have gotten as far as I did**. You definitely made me work harder, and I respect you immensely for that.

By Episode 11, my main “rival” had been evicted. **During this point in the game, I was allied with every player except for B**. I had a powerful alliance with Alejandro, Dakota and Scarlett, and another powerful one with Geoff and Owen. Geoff, Owen and I discussed bringing in a fourth person into the alliance, and I recommended Alejandro. Geoff, Dakota and Scarlett had been my allies for a long time, but I had a flimsy, newer allyship with Alejandro, and I wanted to work on it. For that reason, I had Alejandro brought over to Geoff’s Alliance. Till this point, I was the only person to be on both alliances, but now I had Alejandro on both as well. This ended up being a very beneficial move to me. Episode 11 threw a fairly large curveball in my direction: B winning immunity. B ended up nominating myself and Dakota. **I managed to win POV for a third time this season to save myself**, which ended up getting Dakota evicted. Dakota, your eviction was a huge loss to me. I had a great time playing the game with you, and I learned a lot about how important challenge gameplay, as well as aligning yourself with the right people, is. You paved a path for me to reach the finale through the alliance you led me into.

I wanted to target B next after the nominations. The most direct path to doing so would be winning HOH, obviously, but that wasn’t really going to happen with how the challenge was going. **I made the strategic decision of letting Alejandro, who I had in both of my alliances, win HOH and discuss the nominations with him**. It was at this point that Alejandro and I formed a final two pact, deciding it was best that we stick together and make it to the end together. Thanks to my quick thinking, Alejandro won his first HOH of the season. This later resulted in B's eviction. That was the end of anyone who wasn’t my ally.

By Episode 13, Alejandro, Scarlett and I were plotting to get rid of Owen next. Alejandro and I had determined that Geoff and Owen were a pair that were loyal to each other just as much as Alejandro and I were loyal to each other. For that reason, **if we wanted a clean progression into the final four, we would need to get rid of Owen**. On the other side, Geoff’s Alliance planned to evict Scarlett. While the outcome of Owen getting evicted was most favorable, we decided Scarlett’s eviction wouldn’t be a bad second option. Alejandro, Scarlett and I put all of our effort into nominating Owen in order to employ this strategy we’d come up with. Owen, however, ended up winning HOH – and things went south for Alejandro and myself when Scarlett used an Idol to stop herself from being nominated. This means it came down to Owen being forced to nominate two people within the alliance. **I made the bold move of suggesting that Owen nominate myself and Geoff**, because I knew that Geoff could be outvoted in that situation. Owen, however, ended up nominating Alejandro and me, and Alejandro was voted out. This ended our final two pact before it could come to fruition. **Alejandro, you taught me the importance of thinking over my moves, rather than making impulsive decisions**. I almost blew our whole secret strategy to Geoff and Owen that one time, but you convinced me to calm down and think it through. That’s something I won’t forget any time soon.

In Episode 14, **I won my third HOH of the season**. I had an important strategic move to make here. I was sticking to my original plot of evicting Owen, who was most likely Geoff’s best ally. **I convinced Scarlett to vote off Owen, because this meant Geoff would have me as his main ally moving forward**, and there would be no chance of him choosing anyone over me in a situation where the final decision came down to him. I covered my bases this way. I nominated Geoff and Owen, intending for Owen to face eviction, and had Scarlett choose Owen for eviction. This not only secured my spot in the final 3, but gave me additional insurance. If I lost the final 3 challenge, but Geoff won, I was still very likely to progress. Scarlett was a wild card, but I decided I would deal with that if it came down to it. I noticed Scarlett tended to have weaker performance in challenges, so I used that to my advantage. **Owen, you helped me learn to look at the finer details of strategy and closely analyze what people do**, which helped me make the decision that I believe to have been the best for me.

Episode 15, the final three episode, is where my gameplay reached its peak. Being allied with both Geoff and Scarlett wasn’t easy, and I had to use some of my smoothest playing in order to convince both sides I was working with both of them and trying to help both of us reach the finale. **In reality, I was using the information that both Geoff and Scarlett were giving me in order to ensure my own victory**. The infamous Nine-Bomb Alley challenge could’ve entirely relied on my luck. I directed Geoff and Scarlett separately to place their bombs in specific locations that I wasn’t going to go anywhere near. This meant both of them got bombed repeatedly, while I had a clean route through the area and won the final three challenge by a longshot. This way, I successfully managed to play both sides and **be the only person this season to win two consecutive HOHs**.

Geoff and Scarlett, both of you were excellent allies to have throughout the game. There are several reasons, though, why I opted to choose Geoff to take to the finale with me over Scarlett. The biggest reason is that **I admire Geoff’s gameplay**. I watched Geoff play a clean game, with me even having to convince him to help me evict Owen, his ally, in the final four. Geoff is a very classy player that played a clean game, and I respect him a lot for that. On the other hand, I witnessed Scarlett pull multiple shady moves throughout the game, including having an alliance with B that we didn’t hear about until B was nearly evicted, and having an Idol that I did not hear about until Scarlett played it in the final five. **I often got the feeling that Scarlett saw me as a puppet to bring along with her until it was no longer convenient for her, which is ironic because I see myself as a strong, independent player for the majority of the game**. Another reason I chose Geoff is because I genuinely believe he played a stronger game than Scarlett, winning more challenges and keeping stronger bonds with his allies. I firmly believe that Scarlett wouldn’t have held up her end of the final two deal either. For these reasons, I opted to take Geoff to the finale with me. **I hope the best player is chosen as the winner of CYOR: Reunion, whoever the jury may decide that to be**.

Many of you may believe that I spent the season being Scarlett’s underling, but I believe this to be untrue – I played my own, independent game. There were many points where I quickly adapted to whatever new situation was being presented to me, and oftentimes prevented Scarlett’s nomination or eviction. **I racked up a total of seven challenge wins, never having a single vote cast against me throughout, as well as being aligned with nearly the entire game**. I believe I mastered the three most important elements of a CYOR game: Strategy, challenges, and social game. I started off as a clueless debutant without a single ally, and slowly worked my way up to playing a perfect game. My backup plans had backup plans, but my skill, communication, and power of persuasion helped me reach the endings I desired. **I learned as much as I could from everyone around me, taking the best of everyone’s positive points, and synthesizing them into a gameplay that worked best for me**. I hope you all consider me for your vote, because I truly believe I put my heart and soul into reaching this far and have earned your votes.

Won? **Yes (1st)**