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[TOWN WIN] Fourth Anniversary Vanilla Mafia

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
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  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora

Dragonfree

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Staff
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Iceland
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she/her/hers
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  1. butterfree
  2. mightyena
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It was hard to believe there was another morph here, one who wasn't one of them. He wasn't quite the same - none of their heads just looked like the head of the Pokémon - but he was human-shaped and wore clothes, except for parts of him looking like an Absol. What else could you call him? And an Absol morph? So cool!

But he was also weirdly scary. The way he spoke and his cold gaze - Jean fidgeted anxiously. "Mr. Whiskey?" she asked. "Are you a Pokémorph, too?"
 

Flyg0n

Flygon connoisseur
Pronouns
She/her
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. swampert
  3. ho-oh
  4. crobat
  5. orbeetle
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  7. salandit
  8. tyrantrum
Loaf huffed. Lovers sounded like the worst. He wasn't sure why, but he just knew he hated the idea.

(lovers :unquag::mewlulz:


But it seems dreadfully possible, or even the bodyguard theory posited? Though if the bodyguard blocked one shot... We could have multiple things be true.
A vigilante, a bodyguard, and lovers. Just because two died doesn't mean they were lovers, it could be for another reason, which means the lovers need to be careful... also it sucks if we lost our bodyguard already.)
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
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they/she
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  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
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  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
Jean fidgeted anxiously. "Mr. Whiskey?" she asked. "Are you a Pokémorph, too?"

He nodded, wondering once again if this was Mew's misbegotten doing, or if there were stranger works of genetic science than he yet knew of in the waking world.

"I am. And I take it that you are, too... Young miss, what may I call you? And might I ask how you came to be a hybrid, at that?"

also it sucks if we lost our bodyguard already.)

"Not at all, Dachshund. The bodyguard is perhaps our most disposable role besides ordinary Town. If they prevented the death of another power role, then that is entirely to our benefit."
 

Dragonfree

Moderator
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Location
Iceland
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she/her/hers
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  1. butterfree
  2. mightyena
  3. charizard
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He nodded, wondering once again if this was Mew's misbegotten doing, or if there were stranger works of genetic science than he yet knew of in the waking world.

"I am. And I take it that you are, too... Young miss, what may I call you? And might I ask how you came to be a hybrid, at that?"
Jean blinked. Came to be?

"Um, I'm Jean. I was born like this because we're genetically modified. Weren't you?" Her dad always said that books like Sarah Hooter where a regular human got turned into a Pokémorph were nonsense, that you couldn't do that. But...?

But it seems dreadfully possible, or even the bodyguard theory posited? Though if the bodyguard blocked one shot... We could have multiple things be true.
A vigilante, a bodyguard, and lovers. Just because two died doesn't mean they were lovers, it could be for another reason, which means the lovers need to be careful... also it sucks if we lost our bodyguard already.)
She wasn't sure what the strange voice that seemed to be coming from vaguely in the direction of that adorable puppy was (he smelled so good, like freshly-baked pastry) - but it seemed to be part of the game, at least. She shook her head. "If two people get killed, there are only three ways that can happen. One's if they're lovers! If they were then they weren't bodyguards, so the mafia must have really gone for one of them. But there also could have been a serial killer, and then one of them could've been a bodyguard and either the mafia or the serial killer really targeted somebody else, but the bodyguard died instead, and the other one hit whoever they were trying to. But also maybe they just went for people who wouldn't get healed! So it's not that weird if they're people you wouldn't target." She paused. "Or there could have been a vigilante who took a shot. But that'd be weird! Why would the vigilante just shoot somebody when they don't know anything about them? So that's probably not what happened."

"Not at all, Dachshund. The bodyguard is perhaps our most disposable role besides ordinary Town. If they prevented the death of another power role, then that is entirely to our benefit."
Jean frowned again. "But nobody knew anything last night. So there's no reason to think the bodyguard would've been protecting somebody important. Maybe the bodyguard died to protect somebody who couldn't do anything. Maybe the bodyguard died to protect one of the mafia." That would be cool! Throwing themselves in front of the bullet for somebody only to realize that person would betray them! It would be sad, but it was cool.
 

Flyg0n

Flygon connoisseur
Pronouns
She/her
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. swampert
  3. ho-oh
  4. crobat
  5. orbeetle
  6. joltik
  7. salandit
  8. tyrantrum
She wasn't sure what the strange voice that seemed to be coming from vaguely in the direction of that adorable puppy was (he smelled so good, like freshly-baked pastry) - but it seemed to be part of the game, at least. She shook her head. "If two people get killed, there are only three ways that can happen. One's if they're lovers! If they were then they weren't bodyguards, so the mafia must have really gone for one of them. But there also could have been a serial killer, and then one of them could've been a bodyguard and either the mafia or the serial killer really targeted somebody else, but the bodyguard died instead, and the other one hit whoever they were trying to. But also maybe they just went for people who wouldn't get healed! So it's not that weird if they're people you wouldn't target." She paused. "Or there could have been a vigilante who took a shot. But that'd be weird! Why would the vigilante just shoot somebody when they don't know anything about them? So that's probably not what happened."
Loaf sat down and frowned, considering her words. She was right. Or rather, she wasn't wrong. But this was a game of unknowns as much as knowns. It seemed possible that if they had a 'vigilante' trying to enact their own twisted justice, perhaps they were inexperienced. Marcel had said as much before, that inexperience was more dangerous than people realized.

"Is it also possible, though unlikely, that one of the ones killed was a vigilante themself? Could they not have killed someone and been killed?" He paced in a circle, his nose wrinkling. "Or perhaps it truly was just one of the ones called 'lovers...'".

[[Oh yeah, I don't think the point you're making is ingruous with my thoughtline (which was maybe unclear). Basicaally I'm just musing that there are are various ways two people could die. let me try to make a list of possibilities...

Option 1: SK + Mafia
-We have a SK
-Mafia killed one
-SK killed the other.

Option 2: Mafia only, Lovers (windy + seren)
- Windy and Seren were lovers, and mafia killing one killed the other?

Option 3: Mafia+Vigilante
-We have a vigilante who shot blind and hit town :(
-Mafia killed the other

Option 4: Vig/SK kill, mafia kill?
-mafia kills seren/windy
-seren/windy, who is a vig or SK, killed the other.
Mafia>seren>windy
Mafia>windy>seren

(I was going to add an absurd fifth theory involving lovers, bodyguards and SK's/Vigs before realizing yeah, its pointless.

in the end there is only a few proper reasons we can surmise about why two people died it looks like.)

TL;DR
Either windy and seren were unfortunate lovers or we have another killing element...

The scariest possibility is that there's an SK in our midst which makes it twice as hard for us to win... we definitely don't want one around...)
The other is simply some kind of vigilante but if we have one we can leave it at that and hope no more accidents happen?

Hnnngghh]]
 

Sinderella

Angy Tumbleweed
Staff
Location
In Guzma's Closet
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. sylveon-shiny
  2. gothitelle
  3. froslass
  4. chandelure
  5. mimikyu
Noel didn't mean to start so late, but he'd spent the night having a dream about some girl getting white-girl wasted and it was quite a riveting sequence. Upon making it back out to the square, he discovered not one, but TWO townies had been iced. That was...unfortunate.

He took a moment to listen to the theories going around, even watching the dachsbun scribble things in the dirt. All possible, he felt like, but he had an intrusive thought he felt like throwing out.

"Hypothetically speaking, is there a chance we might be dealing with two doctors and a mechanic where if both doctors somehow target the same person, the person dies? It seems...like the absolute complete opposite of 'vanilla,', especially in a group this small, but I suppose it can't hurt to talk out all the possibilities..."

[I can't imagine it's likely in this situation but I might as well throw it into the hat rn. I would sooner believe lovers or an SK before I believed there's a multi-doctor target kill, but. Just a thought. I think I lean closer to assuming lovers tbh because having an SK in a group of ten seems like an easy way to speed up the game (lol) but it's definitely not totally and completely out of the question. Again, heaps more likely than the doc scenario.]
 

Starlight Aurate

Ad Jesum per Mariam | pfp by kintsugi
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Route 123
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  1. mightyena
  2. psyduck
"This game is called 'vanilla' which means most of us won't have abilities. 'Redirection' should not exist here. Whatever the reason, those two were chosen. The Absol-experiment is correct--there is most likely a 'serial killer'."
Maressa looked back at the list of roles that the Mew laid out for them.

"You're right... Redirectors aren't on here." She grimaced. "I still think that a serial killer is unlikely when there are so few of us."

"Ooh, or, or they were lovers!" she suggested excitedly. "Then maybe they only shot one of them, and then bam, the other one died too!"
Her eyes widened. "That is an idea. I guess the only way we can know this for sure is to see if there are more deaths in the following nights. But that strategy won't do much use for us. Waiting for more people to die..." She clutched her stomach as it did flips out of nausea.

Whisky raised an eyebrow. "My assumpton would be that any Strongman role would modify the nightly Mafia elimination, not provide an additional, second action available from the first night."

He chuckled, a little nastily.

"Even if that were so, performing it on the first night would be a truly incompetent use of a powerful ability. They'd no longer be able to penetrate protective measures to eliminate a confirmed Cop player."
"Some variations of this... event give one member of the other side an ability to kill once, don't they? And isn't it sometimes in addition to the person who normally performs kills? I don't think it's out of the question that there were two killers on their side. Though you're right; it wouldn't make much sense to use it on a night when we didn't know anything about anybody."


[[Nevermind, I was thinking of Vigilante, not strongman. My bad!]]
My human-given name is said like 'Blackest River', but..." She frowned. There didn't seem to be any separation of human or Pokemon speech here. There was merely speech.

"The humans would say it as Stygian," she added, unsure if her words would convey the sound.
Maressa bent down to be eye-level with the Absol. She was fascinated--she could perfectly understand the Pokemon's speech, but unlike with her own Pokemon, it wasn't from deducing meaning from mannerisms and vocalizations. It was truly as if the Absol was speaking modern English.

"That's a beautiful name," she said with a gentle smile. "Was it given to you by a human, or by other Pokemon?"

At the sound of the word, Maressa felt a shift in the atmosphere--that of a dozen people, in a far-off universe, shrieking with frustration and anxiety.

But it seems dreadfully possible, or even the bodyguard theory posited? Though if the bodyguard blocked one shot... We could have multiple things be true.
Maressa smiled at the Dachsbund as she inhaled the scent of freshly-baked bread.

"That's another possibility! If we lost our Bodyguard on Night 1... It could be good, if people like the cop or doctor are still around. Or it could be bad--we don't know that Anti-Bravo-Man and Kari were ordinary townsfolk."

Maybe the bodyguard died to protect one of the mafia." That would be cool! Throwing themselves in front of the bullet for somebody only to realize that person would betray them! It would be sad, but it was cool.
"Oh, man, I hope not!" Maressa clenched her eyes and shook her head as memories flashed before her eyes. "I've had... experiences with that. I really, really, hope that's not the case."

"Hypothetically speaking, is there a chance we might be dealing with two doctors and a mechanic where if both doctors somehow target the same person, the person dies? It seems...like the absolute complete opposite of 'vanilla,', especially in a group this small, but I suppose it can't hurt to talk out all the possibilities..."
"I don't think so." Maressa shook her head. "This game only has ten players in total. Two doctors would be a lot, wouldn't it? There's probably two, maybe three, people on the killing side? If we're not counting a serial killer, at least. That would leave six to seven people on the non-killing side. One cop, maybe a role cop, and a doctor, and possibly two lovers would already make five roles. One or two powerless players isn't out of the question, but I think that two doctors is unlikely."

"But everyone's supposed to try to figure out who the bad guys are. If you just sit back and try to make everyone else figure it out, you're not helping. Maybe you're working for the bad guys."
Maressa watched the two human-Pokemon-hybrids argue with each other.

Bad guys...

How many times had she heard that label applied to Team Aqua? How many more times had she ardently defended it, believing that they weren't bad guys at all? Was it the same for this game--did everyone genuinely believe that they were good, and that it was just different points of view and ways of working?

She looked back at where the two humans had vanished from the night before, listening to others constantly talk about death. She clenched her lips.

No. If people or Pokemon around here were killing others, then they were the enemy. There could be no justification for taking human life.
 

Chibi Pika

Stay positive
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Location
somewhere in spacetime
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they/them
Partners
  1. pikachu-chibi
  2. lugia
  3. palkia
  4. lucario-shiny
  5. incineroar-starr
But it seems dreadfully possible, or even the bodyguard theory posited? Though if the bodyguard blocked one shot... We could have multiple things be true.
A vigilante, a bodyguard, and lovers. Just because two died doesn't mean they were lovers, it could be for another reason, which means the lovers need to be careful... also it sucks if we lost our bodyguard already.)
Stygian looked impatient. "There are two options. Either one kill was performed, and two died because they were 'lovers.' Or two kills were performed. We have no sign for or against a Bodyguard either way. It is exactly as likely as it was when the list of possible abilities was given." Yes, it was possible that the group had lost a bodyguard, but there was no evidence of it yet.

"And," Stygian added, "if those two who died were lovers, then that means there are no more lovers, so we don't need to worry about them." There would not be two sets of lovers. The Voice in her head seemed quite sure of this.

[[Alright so I guess teeeechnically it's possible that we had two shots--the mafia and an SK--and also the game has lovers (who would therefore still be alive.) But, uh. I don't think that's too likely. That's a lot of things for such a small vanilla game.]]

"Hypothetically speaking, is there a chance we might be dealing with two doctors and a mechanic where if both doctors somehow target the same person, the person dies? It seems...like the absolute complete opposite of 'vanilla,', especially in a group this small, but I suppose it can't hurt to talk out all the possibilities..."
Stygian appeared disturbed by this notion. "A protector managing to get their ward killed. Of all the incompetence..."

[[Given Yellow's experience as the only person in the TR meta who has actually had the misfortune to have performed a heal clash, I think it's pretty safe to say that she would never put that in her vanilla game lol.]]

"That's a beautiful name," she said with a gentle smile. "Was it given to you by a human, or by other Pokemon?"
Stygian paused, glancing up at the human who smelled of the sea. "As I said, it is a human-given name. I have lived among humans all my life." Perhaps someday, she'd find her own path, separate from humans. Someday.
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
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they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
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  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
"Um, I'm Jean. I was born like this because we're genetically modified. Weren't you?"

Whiskey's mouth pulled to one side and he rocked his head a little in a noncommital gesture. "Genetically modified, yes. Born, no."

He motioned with one hand towards Stygian.

"I was once an absol only. Now I am both absol, and human. By choice."

"But nobody knew anything last night. So there's no reason to think the bodyguard would've been protecting somebody important."

Whiskey nodded approvingly. There was little point speculating about the targets at this early juncture. Any use of protective power roles would have been essentially random.


Whiskey snorted derisively. "Why should we believe that either of the eliminated players performed a killing action? It's no more likely that either of them were a vigilante than any surviving member of Town. This conjecture is..." He made a face. "Unsubstantiated; unnecessary; unimportant."

is there a chance we might be dealing with two doctors

Whiskey looked askance at the overdressed human.

"I very much doubt it."

"I still think that a serial killer is unlikely when there are so few of us."

Whiskey turned his doubtful eye on the... buccaneer? The human girl.

"I wouldn't be the least bit surprised – provided they were limited to odd nights. It's more likely than a vigilante, two Doctors wiith 'heal clash', a Mafia team of three with no Third Party, or a Mafia team of two with no Third Party. My intuition tells me that two Mafia and one Serial Killer would be a perfectly reasonable composition."

Stygian looked impatient. "There are two options. Either one kill was performed, and two died because they were 'lovers.' Or two kills were performed. We have no sign for or against a Bodyguard either way. It is exactly as likely as it was when the list of possible abilities was given." Yes, it was possible that the group had lost a bodyguard, but there was no evidence of it yet.

Whiskey's thin, bitter smile returned for a moment. Whether she turned out to be an ally or an enemy, the absol called Blackest River was among the most astute participants. He nodded slightly towards her to indicate his agreement.

"Exactly."
 

Sinderella

Angy Tumbleweed
Staff
Location
In Guzma's Closet
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. sylveon-shiny
  2. gothitelle
  3. froslass
  4. chandelure
  5. mimikyu
The word "lovers" already made Noel shiver (because fuck commitment, right? Boring), but for some reason, here, in this trippy Mew park, it carried even more of a sour taste. Maybe his senses were just a little heightened here.

As expected, his heal clash suggestion was disagreed with. No harm done; better to talk it over than keep it to himself.

"I don't think so." Maressa shook her head. "This game only has ten players in total. Two doctors would be a lot, wouldn't it? There's probably two, maybe three, people on the killing side? If we're not counting a serial killer, at least. That would leave six to seven people on the non-killing side. One cop, maybe a role cop, and a doctor, and possibly two lovers would already make five roles. One or two powerless players isn't out of the question, but I think that two doctors is unlikely."
"That's a fair assumption," he agreed. "Just trying to exhaust all the possibilities, but I'm definitely more in the realm of it being lovers if I'm being real."

Stygian appeared disturbed by this notion. "A protector managing to get their ward killed. Of all the incompetence..."
"And listen, you'd be surprised at how stupid people can be," he added with a shrug.

[[Given Yellow's experience as the only person in the TR meta who has actually had the misfortune to have performed a heal clash, I think it's pretty safe to say that she would never put that in her vanilla game lol.]]
[Omg I somehow didn't know that happened lmao???????? I'm so sorry Yellow 😂 ]

Whiskey looked askance at the overdressed human.

"I very much doubt it."
That other absol, however, was suddenly looking over like he'd smelled a really potent fart. Why was this guy acting so snippy? I guess there was room to be suspicious and maybe a little curt considering two people had DIED and nobody knew who did it, but acting so blatantly like you had your dick tip chewed on by a shitty fling probably wasn't helping anything.

"Sure thing, man. Just an observation," he replied nonchalantly, adjusting the collar of his tracksuit.

"I wouldn't be the least bit surprised – provided they were limited to odd nights. It's more likely than a vigilante, two Doctors wiith 'heal clash', a Mafia team of three with no Third Party, or a Mafia team of two with no Third Party. My intuition tells me that two Mafia and one Serial Killer would be a perfectly reasonable composition."
Still, he had to engage. "I mean, but what are the real odds there's a night-specific killer in a game like this, though? Over a set of lovers? I don't know, I'd be more surprised about the former, for sure."

[I think I'm a lil' uh......more used to crazier games, so I might be overanalyzing everything here but odd/even night killers feel strangely un-vanilla :copyka: Or I'm, again, just overthinking it.]
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
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they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
Still, he had to engage. "I mean, but what are the real odds there's a night-specific killer in a game like this, though? Over a set of lovers? I don't know, I'd be more surprised about the former, for sure."

[I think I'm a lil' uh......more used to crazier games, so I might be overanalyzing everything here but odd/even night killers feel strangely un-vanilla :copyka: Or I'm, again, just overthinking it.]

Whiskey shrugged. "I think a pair of Lovers are an entirely plausible aspect of the game. It's even possible that we have both a pair of Lovers and a Serial Killer in the game, though I don't think it's as likely as having only one and not the other. In a Mafia game configuration, both Lovers and Serial Killers are both a means of increasing the difficulty of the game for Town without making the Mafia larger. Note, of course, that Lovers can be Tragic Lovers, but I doubt that's true of this game."

He sighed, and examined his claws. "Odd Night – or Even Night for that matter – are not especially unusal modifiers to apply to Serial Killers or Vigilantes. I honestly couldn't say whether our local Mew considers that 'vanilla' or not. I wouldn't bat an eye at it, though."

He coughed lightly, and made a conclusive gesture with his palms up. "The fact of the matter is that we have very little concrete evidence of any one explanation for the loss of two players over any other, but simpler explanations are more reasonable to assume than complicated and unusual ones. We can debate what constitutes 'complicated and unusual', but speaking for myself, I think it's vanishingly unlikely that a Vigilante eliminated anyone last night, or that the Mafia performed two kills. I think it could have been that the Mafia eliminated a Lover, or that both the Mafia and a Serial Killer each performed an elimination. And that's that."
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
"Hmm."

Whiskey frowned, and ran a claw along his horn.

"We are rapidly approaching the halfway point of Day One, and we have no accusations. No votes. Given that we are ostensibly in a low-power vanilla configuration with no-role Town players present, I'm comfortable playing aggressively. Let's see..."

Flyg0n: Loaf [Dachsbun, Male]

Sinderella: Noel Massè [Human, Male]

Dragonfree: Jean Ambrose [Vulpix Pokémorph, Female]

Chibi Pika: Stygian [Absol,Female]

windskull: Anti-Bravoman [Human...ish, Male] ELIMINATED—TOWN

FauxFox:
Theodore [Zorua, Male]

SparklingEspeon: Espurr [Espurr, Female]

Seren: Kari [Human, Female] ELIMINATED—TOWN

unrepentantAuthor:
Whiskey [Absol Pokémorph, Male]

Starlight Aurate: Maressa [Human, Female]

"It seems only one of us has yet to comment on the state of play. I intend to force them to. I vote for @FauxFox."
 

Chibi Pika

Stay positive
Staff
Location
somewhere in spacetime
Pronouns
they/them
Partners
  1. pikachu-chibi
  2. lugia
  3. palkia
  4. lucario-shiny
  5. incineroar-starr
Stygian cast a glance over the crowd, considering everyone. "The Espurr hasn't spoken yet, either. We need to hear from her." The Voice in her head was saying that this Espurr's allegiances very often came into question from saying very little. The sooner they could get that out of the way, the sooner they could know if it was a waste of time to deal with her.

"Espurr, what are your thoughts?" Stygian asked, ruby-red eyes fixed on the psychic cat.

@SparklingEspeon
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
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they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
Whiskey blinked. "Oh, yes. That one too."

Why hadn't he noticed her, as well?

[[Probably because it's normal for Espy to end up not posting and it didn't register to me as aberrant.]]

He frowned.

"Stygian is right. Regardless of allegiance, silence is unhelpful." He growled softly, in thought. "Although, if they fail to speak up, I believe Mew will banish them for us. Let us not waste our daily elimination on anyone who will be eliminated automatically – we should prepare to choose another participant for elimination."
 

SparklingEspeon

Back on Her Bullshit
Staff
Location
a Terrace of Indeterminate Location in Snowbelle
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. espurr
  2. fennekin
  3. zoroark
[[meant to join in last night and then it slipped my mind among everything else. Doing it first thing today]]

Espurr, who had been quietly observing up to that point, realised she was out of time to think.

"If it was a strongman, then..." she trailed off. "...Why? No-one would have any special information on the first night, so why use it on a random target? That seems like it'd be a waste.

"But on the other hand... If the mafia were really two people, in a ten-person game wouldn't that be a bit hard? They'd have to eliminate six players to bring the game to parity, all without losing any of their own. And if there was a neutral killing element, there's no guarantee that would work out for them. Both vigilantes and serial killers would happily kill mafia too. So doesn't it stand to reason that there's likely to be three mafia? And maybe they did get lucky and hit lovers, or were dumb and used a strongman kill up-front. But killing two people a day regularly feels like it would throw the game out of balance."
 

Dragonfree

Moderator
Staff
Location
Iceland
Pronouns
she/her/hers
Partners
  1. butterfree
  2. mightyena
  3. charizard
  4. scyther-mia
  5. vulpix
  6. slugma
Whiskey's mouth pulled to one side and he rocked his head a little in a noncommital gesture. "Genetically modified, yes. Born, no."

He motioned with one hand towards Stygian.

"I was once an absol only. Now I am both absol, and human. By choice."
Jean blinked. Oh! So he was an Absol who'd turned into a Pokémorph. Her dad had said you couldn't just do that to a human, but maybe you could with a Pokémon...? "So you got a scientist to change you?"

Option 1: SK + Mafia
-We have a SK
-Mafia killed one
-SK killed the other.

Option 2: Mafia only, Lovers (windy + seren)
- Windy and Seren were lovers, and mafia killing one killed the other?

Option 3: Mafia+Vigilante
-We have a vigilante who shot blind and hit town :(
-Mafia killed the other

Option 4: Vig/SK kill, mafia kill?
-mafia kills seren/windy
-seren/windy, who is a vig or SK, killed the other.
Mafia>seren>windy
Mafia>windy>seren
Jean's head hurt. There was so much thinking in this game and not enough action. "But isn't option four just the same as options one and three? Nothing's different if the one who killed one of them was the other one." She paused. "Although... Mew told us they were both innocent, didn't she? So I don't think one of them can have been the serial killer."

"Hypothetically speaking, is there a chance we might be dealing with two doctors and a mechanic where if both doctors somehow target the same person, the person dies? It seems...like the absolute complete opposite of 'vanilla,', especially in a group this small, but I suppose it can't hurt to talk out all the possibilities..."

[I can't imagine it's likely in this situation but I might as well throw it into the hat rn. I would sooner believe lovers or an SK before I believed there's a multi-doctor target kill, but. Just a thought. I think I lean closer to assuming lovers tbh because having an SK in a group of ten seems like an easy way to speed up the game (lol) but it's definitely not totally and completely out of the question. Again, heaps more likely than the doc scenario.]
She scrunched up her face in concentration. "The doctor thing seems weird. It said everything was supposed to be vanilla and pointed to descriptions that didn't mention it." But maybe it was possible?

"But on the other hand... If the mafia were really two people, in a ten-person game wouldn't that be a bit hard? They'd have to eliminate six players to bring the game to parity, all without losing any of their own. And if there was a neutral killing element, there's no guarantee that would work out for them. Both vigilantes and serial killers would happily kill mafia too. So doesn't it stand to reason that there's likely to be three mafia? And maybe they did get lucky and hit lovers, or were dumb and used a strongman kill up-front. But killing two people a day regularly feels like it would throw the game out of balance."
"If there's a serial killer they probably can't kill every night," Jean said. "Like Mr. Whiskey said. But..." She furrowed her brow. "I think if they can kill every other night, Mew should've make the game so the first night is one of the ones where they can't. It's not fair if two people don't get to play properly."

The two Absol were prodding for the people who hadn't said much to do so. That was good. They should hear from everyone. But...

"It seems only one of us has yet to comment on the state of play. I intend to force them to. I vote for @FauxFox."
Jean took a deep breath, heart pounding. "No! We shouldn't vote for them. Because..." She pointed decisively at Stygian. "You! You're the strongman killer! I saw it last night!"
 

Starlight Aurate

Ad Jesum per Mariam | pfp by kintsugi
Location
Route 123
Partners
  1. mightyena
  2. psyduck
Stygian paused, glancing up at the human who smelled of the sea. "As I said, it is a human-given name. I have lived among humans all my life." Perhaps someday, she'd find her own path, separate from humans. Someday.
"So you've never been in the wild? Do you want to be?" Maressa frowned. All of her Pokemon had come from the wild, except for Seaking. "If you don't want to live among people anymore, then I hope you can find your own way in the wilderness. I don't think it's fair for trainers to force their Pokemon to stay with them."

Whiskey turned his doubtful eye on the... buccaneer? The human girl.

"I wouldn't be the least bit surprised – provided they were limited to odd nights. It's more likely than a vigilante, two Doctors wiith 'heal clash', a Mafia team of three with no Third Party, or a Mafia team of two with no Third Party. My intuition tells me that two Mafia and one Serial Killer would be a perfectly reasonable composition."
Maressa looked at her outfit--she was still wearing her Team Aqua uniform. Even though she left them, she somehow got transported here wearing that damned outfit. What was this Mew on about?

She eyed the Absol-human skeptically.

"You seem pretty convinced about there being two killers. I admit, I Don't think that the vigilante theory I had is holding any water. But why are you in favor of two killers over Lovers?"

[I think I'm a lil' uh......more used to crazier games, so I might be overanalyzing everything here but odd/even night killers feel strangely un-vanilla :copyka: Or I'm, again, just overthinking it.]
"Have you had experiences like that? A game like this, but with even crazier powers?"

Maressa paused--Courtney had once disappeared and came back ranting about being trapped in a space like this, but everyone was vastly more paranoid and more powerful, from the sound of it. But that was Courtney making those claims. She would make anything sound insane.

"Note, of course, that Lovers can be Tragic Lovers, but I doubt that's true of this game."
"If Kari and Anti-Bravo-Man were lovers, then they definitely weren't Tragic, since they both were considered innocent."

Jean took a deep breath, heart pounding. "No! We shouldn't vote for them. Because..." She pointed decisively at Stygian. "You! You're the strongman killer! I saw it last night!"
Maressa's skin crawled--at the sight of the Vulpix-human pointing at the Absol-human, her heart raced.

"What do you mean?" She asked hollowly. "If you're going to make a claim, you need to describe what happened. You saw him? Jean, did you see Stygian target either Kari or Anti-Bravo-Man? And... you're a Watcher?!"
 

Sinderella

Angy Tumbleweed
Staff
Location
In Guzma's Closet
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. sylveon-shiny
  2. gothitelle
  3. froslass
  4. chandelure
  5. mimikyu
[Was coming back after my nap to poke espy and Faux Fox myself but……..now we have THAT]

Noel had been chewing a lot on the conversation he’d had with the human-esque Absol, when the vulpix girl shouted a very damning sounding accusation. He lowered his brows, eyes darting back and forth between her and the full absol. “Oh, that’s…a lot to unpack!” he said in a grimace. But it was something to focus on, because they sure as fuck hadn’t had that yet!

Clapping his hands together, he settled to sit on on the fountain. “Welp. Care to elaborate more on that?”

"Have you had experiences like that? A game like this, but with even crazier powers?"
He looked at the normal human. It was nice to actually see another normal human.
 

Sinderella

Angy Tumbleweed
Staff
Location
In Guzma's Closet
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. sylveon-shiny
  2. gothitelle
  3. froslass
  4. chandelure
  5. mimikyu
[i pushed post too early, fucking mobile man]

“Not me personally, but I know some people who have.”
 
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