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Here Comes the Sun; Eric versus Nora
Topic Started: Jan 23 2014, 09:00 PM (2,357 Views)
Roman
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Well, well, well.

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Two Chancellors making the end?

I suppose I should congratulate you, or not. You know what is at stake here. You may or may not be addressed by 8 jurors tonight. This is your moment, so take it. One will win, the other will meet the sun.

Post your opening statements now. I'll give the jury a few minutes after that to digest them before unleashing them on you. Good luck![/align]
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Eric
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[align=center]Well I think it's safe to say that none of us expected me to win that last challenge. It's no secret that I could never win one to save my life, which is why I needed it so badly and I fought much, much harder to get it.

My strategy in this was quite simple, and that was to be a powerful player, but not a threat, and I think I accomplished that quite well. On the opening weekend I got myself in a very tight alliance of 4 between Steve, Pam, Russell and I, and for the moment we remained nameless. But I knew that was not enough. 4 players is nice, but 5 is better, so I vouched for my sister Nora to be included into that alliance, who I had a very strong connection with. There was some friction between her and Pam/Russell, but ultimately they accepted her as one of us and The True Authority was born. I did not make any particularly big, flashy moves, because I was more concerned with putting myself in the position where I did not have to do that. We managed to keep this alliance hidden quite well, and so that allowed me to infiltrate the minority alliance and essentially be a double agent. Our dearest, beloved Nan trusted me a lot, and that was a very big mistake for her. Everything she told me that she was planning, I almost always immediately brought it to The True Authority as a display of loyalty, and then the bombshell hit that she was trying to possibly form a massive alliance between 2 blood bank groups at the merge, and I couldn't have that. Nan was going to get voted out soon anyway, but exposing that alliance was important so that it could possibly cause an upset over at Merlotte's as well. I told Steve, Pam and Russell all of what had been going on, and I guess my precious Sookie caused a little bit of a shit storm over on Merlotte's once she got a hold of this information. There is not much else to say about my pre merge game. That basically sums it up. Fangtasia had it easy pre merge.

When we finally did merge, I was the best positioned player in the entire game, and the only round where I would have been in any danger was the final 3. I managed to set myself up with several safety nets that I could fall back onto should anything go horribly wrong and the people I aligned with went on a losing streak in challenges. I was never going to be the first target from Fangtasia, and I knew it. I had a buffer in Pam and Russell. So me not being able to win challenges was in a way my advantage. I also has my Photokineic Blast to keep me safe should the worst happen. And of course I got myself into an alliance that has since been dubbed The Ungrateful Cunts alliance. Call it being an ungrateful cunt if you must. I call it not being a fucking moron. I knew the odds of Pam and Russell winning everything were slim, so I tried to always find ways where I could be safe. There was simply no way anyone with half a brain was going to just allow those 2 to waltz into final 2 together. I also tried to keep up my friendship with Maryann, because I knew full well she was going to be the last of the Merlotte tribe standing, and so if she had managed to pull off a random win, I wanted to be in close with her so that she would not go after me. I may not have had the best of relationships with the other Merlotte members since I came into the merge with one rule for myself, and that was I was not going to build up false hope for people I saw as being on the outside. I was just straight with all of you as to what my intentions were. I knew that working together was going to get nowhere. I would have been stupid to think that any human would allow me to get to the end with them. It was obvious to me that Merlotte's was a tight group, or more or less Andy and Maryann. My best chances of survival were with Fangtasia, so I was just flat out told you guys that any strategic conversations we have will get nowhere since I had no genuine intentions of working with you. Perhaps at times it came off as being a little dickish, but if it were me I would not want to be filled with false hope and shallow promises, so I never attempted to bullshit you guys.

I didn't concern myself with being the one in control who was calling all the shots, because that just makes you a target, and my strategy was to keep myself from being a target for as long as possible. Typically the person I wanted gone usually left, with the exception of that one night were Steve chose his man candy over his alliance, but we had a nice chat about that afterwards
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I killed him with kindness. While Pam and Russell were both chewing him out over it, I decided to be much more opportunistic about the situation. As angry as I was at him, I decided to be kind to him about it in the hopes that he would gradually grow more distant from Pam and Russell and become closer to me instead. I think it worked, and that was the start of the Ungrateful Cunts alliance which also included Nora. After Russell had left, the 3 of us had planned on finding a way to get Pam out as soon as we felt it would be safe for us to do so. The Ungrateful Cunts was always an ideal final 3 for me because when you're pitiful in challenges, it's best to go there with people who are equally pitiful as well.

But the biggest key to my success here was absolutely my relationship with Nora. I pulled her under my wing since the start, and I never let her go. I pulled her in tightly and we worked extremely well together. I got her involved with the power alliance of the game. I always did what I could to make sure that Nora was always going to remain entirely loyal to me, and only to me. Around final 6 Pam had come to me with a plan she had. Her plan was to promise Nora a spot in the final 3 if she helped us take out Steve at final 4. So what did I do? I took it to Nora, told her everything Pam was planning, and made sure she knew that she could trust me 100%. Going to Nora with something like that was huge, because Pam had asked me not to talk with Nora about it. But I didn't care. I highly doubted Pam was actually going to take me to final 2 because I am fairly certain she thought Nora was her best shot at winning. Which is probably true. Keeping Nora on my side ultimately paid off where in the final 4 she voted out Pam over me, and in my opinion I think that she actually should have voted me out over Pam. I was someone constantly being played up as the biggest social threat of the game, and there was no way in hell Pam would ever take Steve to the end, if only for her complete and utter contempt for him. Nora was probably getting to final 2 no matter what happened within that final 4. I love her and appreciate her for her loyalty, but the reason I point this out is to make it very clear why I think my game was stronger than hers. I was much more of a selfish player and was always going to do what is best for myself, personal connections be damned, and Nora played more with her heart.

tl;dr version:

From the start I was always the best positioned player. I have a tight alliance with the power players but also several safety nets to catch myself on when they inevitably had their downfalls so that I could remain safe and remain in the game. To rely exclusively on Pam and Russell would have been very foolish. The only round in this game I needed to win a challenge was right at final 3, and there was a fire under my ass, and I got it done. I fought hard to get where I am right now, and I never let my heart cloud my better judgement. I always made the moves I thought were best for me, and only for me. I played entirely selfishly, and I own that. I know that some of you might be less than pleased with me being here, but I don't give a fuck. I am not really going to suck up and apologize for anything, since everything I did was to get myself here, and it fucking worked. Love me or hate me, I feel objectively I played the stronger game out of Nora and I.

I look forward to whatever you have for me tonight. Be it obnoxious bitterness or obsequious ass kissing. I welcome both.

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Nora
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Oh hey.

First of all, I just want to say thank you all of the hosts and players in this game. I am so glad I participated in this, it was quite the adventure.

I also want to say that I'm honored to be here with my brother, Eric, who one of my closest allies and a friend throughout the course of the game. I know I have an uphill battle tonight against him, but I'm prepared for it. Bring whatever you want, I will stand firm on my decisions in this game and defend my choices. Sure, I made a mistake or two, we all did, but I believe I worked incredibly hard to get where I am now.

***

Despite lying and manipulating at times, there are a few things I stayed true to:

I was never complacent.
I always spoke to everyone even if they didn't serve a particular purpose to me at the time. I maintained strong relationships with people who were not of any use to me in the event that they became important. You never know who might win a challenge and control your fate. Thus, I was never in a spot where I would be voted out in this game as a result.

I took advantage of opportunities.
This format lends itself to this. I cannot recall who but someone once used the word "opportunistic" with me as if it was a bad thing. I disagree. When you are given chances to make moves, you have to do it. But you also cannot be too anxious and strike too early. For instance, when I won Sheriff, sure I wanted to split up Russell and Pam, but I knew that it was too early and Jason needed to go first since we hadn't built the same trust that I had with members of the True Authority.

I made decisions that benefited me.
You have to be selfish in this game and you cannot go without pissing people off. I did what I needed to do to ensure that I got here. Sorry if you don't like it, but that's what tonight is for, explaining why I made the choices I made.

I was always secure.
I left no room for error. Nobody was out to get me and if they were I had the votes to cover my ass. There's not a single night in this game when I needed to worry about potentially going home, though as I said before I never expressed complacency despite feeling secure.

***

So now, a brief rundown of my journey in this game, so I don't have to bore you all with it later. I'm sure more important details will be discussed further:

As those of you on Fangtasia originally know, I was sort of in a pivotal spot early in the game. Two sides to the tribe were forming, Nan/Jessica/Warlow and Steve/Russell/Pam. I felt close to Eric only at this point and though I knew he wanted to go with Steve/Russell/Pam, though I was not entirely sure what was best for me. I knew going with that group would be the more difficult ride as it was stacked with strong players both socially and physically, but it was the decision I made because it was the stronger group with which to eventually go against the other tribe.

I knew I was starting from the bottom in this group and needed to work harder than anyone to make my place within this alliance, which became the True Authority, firmer. I needed my allies to value me and through my conversations with everyone I was able to eventually form close bonds with this group despite kind of rocky starts with both Pam and Russell.

While the True Authority was forming and during its continued dominance within Fangtasia and Moon Goddess Emporium, I was maintaining strong bonds with everyone. There are very few players if any I came into contact with that can say I didn't make an effort with them, despite their positioning within the game.

Very early on the game, I saw the writing on the wall within the True Authority alliance. Eric made no secret of how close he was with Pam. I was aware that Steve and Russell were close early on in the game, and that Pam and Russell were close as well. Essentially, I was the least connected within our alliance from the beginning. So I worked at a relationship with Steve and he eventually became my strongest ally in the game. (Sorry, Eric.) I intended to go to the finals with him but obviously that didn't pan out. I was able to eventually work myself into a spot where I was valued and others needed me here.

Eliminating Russell was the moment I felt I took control of my own destiny, made my own decision and was able to really break up the strong bonds within the True Authority. As a result, I was able to put myself in a spot where almost everyone remaining in the game had planned to take me with them to the finals. I knew from that moment on that I had a great chance to get to the end. During that vote Eric was wavering but ultimately thought keeping Russell was best for us. It wasn't. It was best for Pam, and I knew that it was only best for her. I made my choice and never looked back.

This move foiled Pam's initial plans of going to the finals with Russell, and when this was made clear to me, I told Eric to get him to distrust Pam and weaken that relationship. Even though I was the one to send Pam home, Eric was prepared to do so if put in that position. And I had suspicions earlier in the game that Eric would take Pam to the finals if given that opportunity, so I needed to sever that bond at all costs to assure my spot in the finals.

I already know what to expect in terms of the statements and arguments that may come my way. I will not state that Eric played a weak game because it simply isn't true. If I am asked to point out his weaknesses, I will, he did make mistakes. But the main purpose of this for me is to defend my own game and I'm prepared for whatever you've got.

Thank you. :<3

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Roman
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[align=center]Let's get this started. First released from his cage...

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Jason
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[align=center]Oh hey, I get to see my mug again!

Good evenin' final two! Good job on reachin' the finals or somethin'. I been outta this game for what feel like a lifetime so I'm sure what I gotta say ain't mean much to you so imma keep this short n' sweet.

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I been cryin' for quite a while if you ain't notice and that's cause this game ain't go down the way I like to see it unfold for some time n' y'all two are like the cherry on top of that nasty ass sundae nobody ordered. No offense fangers, but your fuckin' incest duo was pretty much the final two I least wanted to see happen so of course its the finale we get.

I ain't ever had a secret group who gave less of a shit 'bout me. I know y'all set up real nice in your fanger 'lliance especially sittin' back with those blasts lettin' the others do most of the legwork for ya only so y'all can take out the ones people actually wanted to see win one at a time so good on bein' predictable. Sad part is y'all two ain't even interestin' 'nough to hate. But they say indifference is worse than hate n' that is 'xactly how I feel for y'all. So much for B Positive. Let's B done with it.

I really ain't give a shit which one of you wins so don't either of you think you ain't got a shot of my vote if that make you feel better or what not. Y'all two have been lovey dovey for so long but its time to bring out the fangs tonight n' entertain the jury a little bit. What I wanna ask is, why ain't your opponent deserving of the win? If you can think of multiple reasons, then list 'em all. Whoever answers this best will probably get my vote. No promises though ;)

Good luck or bad luck, by the time you read this imma be too drunk to care.

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I just wanted to say somethin' real stupid before I sit down. Alright, bye.

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Eric
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Jason if it makes you feel any better, I didn't give a shit about you because I felt the feeling was mutual :<3

As for why Nora is not deserving, I covered this a little in my own opening statement, and hell, she covered it a bit in hers as well.

She could have taken me out at 4, putting herself with Pam, who was probably someone she would have had a much better shot at winning against, and I think that was a bad game move on her part. We had no idea what the jury was going to be like, so she chose me, someone who had been talked about for a long time as being a big threat, over Pam, we a lot of us assumed might not have been so strong socially.

As for her own opening statement, she just admitted to wanting to go to the finals with Steve. Steve was arguably the biggest threat to win the entire game, so I do not think she is deserving because she put more value on sentiment than actually going up against a beatable opponent.
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Eric
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Roman can we put this on hold for like 10 minutes? I just got an emergency phone call but it should not take long. I can't ignore this. I will be quick, I promise.
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Roman
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Take your call. Otherwise this will be done in about 45 minutes tops.
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Nora
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Hi Jason. First of all, sorry you feel that way. I was kind of disappointed that our group wasn't more either, and when we finally got the chance to talk one-on-one I did mention to you that I was interested in you. Eric never really trusted you because of things he had heard and I just kind of played along like I didn't care for you either. But honestly, we had a good thing going when we got to the merge and you were probably the biggest threat to that, so you had to go before you could do real damage to my long term plans.

And you can see it as other people doing our dirty work, but hey, if they saw this coming, they should have done something to stop it. I cannot change being mediocre in challenges, but I can control my social game and insulating myself like I was able to.

Anyways, to get to your question:

I think Eric despite having a perception about him as being the biggest threat did have his flaws.

First of all, I think Pam kind of had him under her thumb for a very long time in this game. I don't know what he truly wanted but for a while I had thought maybe he'd take her to the end over me, until I forced a wedge between them. The instance of this that really rang true was when I had him almost convinced to vote out Russell over Steve, but after a talk with Pam, he changed his mind and asked me to trust him that this was the better decision. The fuck it wasn't. Not for me, and not for him either. Pam was pushing her agenda and I saw it, he was too blinded for the love of his progeny or whatever.

He also sometimes lacked awareness. Apparently he thought Pam's grand plan was to go to the finals with Russell and Eric (and later with Eric and I) and then let me win the challenge so she wouldn't get the blood on her hands. That's an insult to Pam's intelligence if that's true. Who the fuck throws a challenge at final three? She'd be a moron to do so and I have to believe it wasn't the case. He played a great game but sometimes Steve and I would remark that he wasn't thinking logically. Another instance of this would be the fact that I was tighter with Steve than him and would have taken him along to the finals over Eric. Eric's opening statement seems to state that I was blindly loyal to him while that wasn't true. I loved Eric but was not dumb enough to think he was my best chance to make it to the end. Sure maybe voting Pam out over him was a mistake, but I wasn't banking on him winning the final challenge after not winning a single one prior to that.

Finally, and I know this might be a dumb argument, but he had it much easier than I did. As we both referred to, I was not in the fold when the game started, I had to climb my way in and secure a spot, plant seeds, water them and watch them grow. He was set from the get go with Pam and the boys.
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Nora
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I still don't think Pam was an easy victory by any means, and don't see how Steve was the biggest threat, but that's just my perspective on the situation.
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Roman
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Stackhouse, that work for you?
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Jason
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Whoops sorry, sure does. Thanks.
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Roman
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Ok. Back to your cage then.
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Roman
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[align=center]The King has said he would be late, but to go ahead and post for him.

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Roman
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Does THIS help you decide, America?
Do NOT. TURN OFF. THE CAMERA.
You've seen how quickly I can kill.
Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Russell Edgington, and I have been a vampire for nearly three thousand years.

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Now, the American Vampire League wishes to perpetrate that we are JUST like you. And I suppose, in a few small ways we are. We're narcissists, we care only about getting what we want, no matter what the cost. Global warming? Perpetual war? Toxic waste, child labor, torture, genocide? It's a small price to pay for your SUV's and your flat screen TV's, your blood diamonds, your designer jeans, your ABSURD garish McMansions. Futile symbols to quell your quivering, spineless souls.

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But no. In the end, we are NOTHING like you. We are...immortal, because we drink the true blood. Blood that is living, organic and human.

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Mmm. That, is the truth the AVL wishes to conceal from you. Because, let's face it, eating people is a tough sell these days, so they put on their friendly faces to pass their beloved VRA, but make NO mistake.

MINE IS THE TRUE FACE OF VAMPIRES.

Why...would we ever seek equal rights? You are not our equals.

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