Mid-Range Game 72: A Breath of Fresh Air

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

55 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Me, not really liking this because flashbacks to E!TUN from LG90.

Yeah, but starting with mech discussion is standard for me when the mechanics interest me. 

[|TJ| he/him]

1 hour ago, Kasimir said:

@|TJ| - Sorry bhai, gotta say this. I've seen you be able to get into a game despite being a bit crunched on time. I know you've had busy/low-presence V games like the KR one, and I'm hoping to be able to see something a bit more indicative from you because I may very well feel compelled to switch to you or Polly when I wake up properly in a couple hours, depending on the thread state.

Yeah sorry, had a long 12+ hour shift and needed to unwind after work. Still need to watch the new WoT episode smh. 

I actually disagree with your wrt TUF opening, I village-read his opening...very easily (like there's a particular difference in v-reading strongly versus v-reading easily, idk how to explain). Particularly, "I'm not sure how much that would amount but possibly two, idk" and the next post "successfully talking myself out" part.  Seems quite natural thoughts flowing, not manufactured. 

Which is why also disliked Stick's vote on TUF. "Giving away as many breaths as possible" plan, even though unvillagery, is something would an elim would very rarely say. Latching onto it seems poor to me. Stick does in fact walk it back later, indeed giving TUF village read for it, but gut says it looks like an elim realised the vote was done with poor reasoning rather than a villager reassessing. 

Ngl bro, not feeling good about you either  My village strength is in mid-game and my opening is quite slow and quiet almost always. I know people say 'you don't know your own meta', but like, I'm pretty sure there a noticeable difference in opening activity with my elim and village games (in that I think my opening activity is higher when I'm elim when compared to village). I think I discussed this is with you prior. And pretty sure you know the whole "slack off in the beginning, kill it mid-game, and break your head endgame" part of my game. So this minor push on me feels ehhh, you know how obvillage I can be later in the game. 

Talk to me about Stick, I wanna know if you're e/e with her :P. 

Throwaway read, but very very slightly worried about e/e theatrics wrt Raven/STINK. Impressive if it is :P. 

[BridgeBoi]

Yall im going to abstain from voting this cycle. I’m finishing up LG104 right now and don’t want to make an hasty uninformed vote. I’ve learned my mistake from the last game.

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

15 minutes ago, BridgeBoi said:

Yall im going to abstain from voting this cycle. I’m finishing up LG104 right now and don’t want to make an hasty uninformed vote. I’ve learned my mistake from the last game.

Hey, hasty uninformed votes are what make life worth living!

But also, try to refrain from discussing currently active games.

[Stick. she/her]

38 minutes ago, |TJ| said:

Yeah sorry, had a long 12+ hour shift and needed to unwind after work. Still need to watch the new WoT episode smh. 

I actually disagree with your wrt TUF opening, I village-read his opening...very easily (like there's a particular difference in v-reading strongly versus v-reading easily, idk how to explain). Particularly, "I'm not sure how much that would amount but possibly two, idk" and the next post "successfully talking myself out" part.  Seems quite natural thoughts flowing, not manufactured. 

Which is why also disliked Stick's vote on TUF. "Giving away as many breaths as possible" plan, even though unvillagery, is something would an elim would very rarely say. Latching onto it seems poor to me. Stick does in fact walk it back later, indeed giving TUF village read for it, but gut says it looks like an elim realised the vote was done with poor reasoning rather than a villager reassessing. 

Ngl bro, not feeling good about you either  My village strength is in mid-game and my opening is quite slow and quiet almost always. I know people say 'you don't know your own meta', but like, I'm pretty sure there a noticeable difference in opening activity with my elim and village games (in that I think my opening activity is higher when I'm elim when compared to village). I think I discussed this is with you prior. And pretty sure you know the whole "slack off in the beginning, kill it mid-game, and break your head endgame" part of my game. So this minor push on me feels ehhh, you know how obvillage I can be later in the game. 

Talk to me about Stick, I wanna know if you're e/e with her :P. 

Throwaway read, but very very slightly worried about e/e theatrics wrt Raven/STINK. Impressive if it is :P. 

oh noooooo TJ  u rolled elim

this is so sad

and im not being sarcastic in the least lol, but ur in luck cuz it looks like im eating the D1 exe for yall

 

EDIT:

please don't brand this a reaction test after im dead this is a serious read thank u xD

Edited April 10, 2025 by Stick.

[|TJ| he/him]

12 minutes ago, Stick. said:

oh noooooo TJ  u rolled elim

pftttt, e!me would not have the courage to push you in-thread at all, you'd just eat the kill with probably the least interactions ever :P. 

I actually disagree with hoid slayer's reasoning for your vote, your plan seems perfectly fine to me, in the sense that it could equally come from a villager or elim, not just elim-exclusive pov. 

it's just that i have no one else I suspect other than you. uhhh other than kas smh. 

speaking of, talk to me about kas? iirc speaking with you helped us find e!Kas in that one game i forget which but i think i endgamed with Araris, Aman, someone else. bip was there too i think. 

[Kasimir he/him]

49 minutes ago, |TJ| said:

Talk to me about Stick, I wanna know if you're e/e with her :P. 

Nothing I haven't already spelled out in thread. I think there's something Stick is obviously doing that feels counterintuitive but seems decently Village if you think it through. I'm declining to spell it out for the class if people aren't following until a little later. I also respect Stick enough not to lock her as Village on that basis. 

50 minutes ago, |TJ| said:

Ngl bro, not feeling good about you either  My village strength is in mid-game and my opening is quite slow and quiet almost always. I know people say 'you don't know your own meta', but like, I'm pretty sure there a noticeable difference in opening activity with my elim and village games (in that I think my opening activity is higher when I'm elim when compared to village). I think I discussed this is with you prior. And pretty sure you know the whole "slack off in the beginning, kill it mid-game, and break your head endgame" part of my game. So this minor push on me feels ehhh, you know how obvillage I can be later in the game. 

Are you literally asking me to give you a pass and to refuse to pressure you for being a null read in a 12 player game with so many new players you can throw a rock and hit three at a time?

It's 12 players. In a 3 Elim world, ignoring Starkeeper BS, we hit lylo at four cycles. Midgame is C2/C3. I think it's tight enough that I should damn well be pressuring you from the getgo. I also note you seemed more on the ball early on in the mash you just came off.

22 minutes ago, Stick. said:

oh noooooo TJ  u rolled elim

this is so sad

and im not being sarcastic in the least lol, but ur in luck cuz it looks like im eating the D1 exe for yall

 

EDIT:

please don't brand this a reaction test after im dead this is a serious read thank u xD

Me getting flashbacks to a game that can't be mentioned -.-

I s2g if you both are pulling the same BS again.

[Stick. she/her]

 

1 minute ago, |TJ| said:

pftttt, e!me would not have the courage to push you in-thread at all, you'd just eat the kill with probably the least interactions ever :P. 

I actually disagree with hoid slayer's reasoning for your vote, your plan seems perfectly fine to me, in the sense that it could equally come from a villager or elim, not just elim-exclusive pov. 

it's just that i have no one else I suspect other than you. uhhh other than kas smh. 

speaking of, talk to me about kas? iirc speaking with you helped us find e!Kas in that one game i forget which but i think i endgamed with Araris, Aman, someone else. bip was there too i think. 

hmm no i disagree, i think ignoring the top wagon and not interacting with it at all is one of the textbook elim tells that everyone tries to avoid, so u would def talk about me in this game state as elim

hoid's reasoning is flawed but theyre a villager, yes

 

i dont really think kas is elim, and part of my problem with ur post earlier is that the paranoia on kas seems forced and fake LOL

 

as for the rest of ur post:

the TUF defense seems like white knighting a villager

the take on me is so bad i doubt v!TJ is capable of coming up with it xD

this part in specific:

Quote

Stick does in fact walk it back later, indeed giving TUF village read for it, but gut says it looks like an elim realised the vote was done with poor reasoning rather than a villager reassessing. 

yeah no this is not a real thought 

 

TJ 
owned 

[Kasimir he/him]

4 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Me getting flashbacks to a game that can't be mentioned -.-

I can't really explain why I'm getting the flashbacks. I'll try to sleep on it but it basically involved one Elim and one Villager except the Villager looked Evil af (sorry) and it was a godawful shoving match.

Not sure if it's the valence of TJ or Stick setting me off here.

[Kasimir he/him]

Eh jebiga then.

TJ

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

9 hours ago, Kasimir said:

The latest Hallendren demands had sent a chill through the entire embassy, and it was not the crisp mountain wind. Izmir knew what that chill was. No one had felt at ease when Regent Genda had first announced that the blasphemous Hallendren would be allowed to dispatch one of their soulsucking leeches to Idris to handle the latest round of peace negotiations.

A hard peace to barter, Izmir thought, when they had only a single coin that the Hallendren would accept.

"My negotiations will not fail," Regent Genda said, with more certainty than she'd displayed when talking to the Hallendren. Izmir supposed talking to blasphemers and heretics had that effect on people. "I need you. Idris needs you."

If only she was asking of them anything else other than their souls.

One of the assembled staff, Stick, had started asking for volunteers. Izmir hid a thin smile. He was no stranger to the politicking and gamesmanship, even in the heart of Idris. He was tempted to think a little better of Stick for it, though it wasn't something he would stand by. You didn't make it as one of the top Idrian diplomats without the ability to hide what you were really thinking behind a poisoned smile while offering Hallendren enough they didn't feel offended. [OOC: Probably willing to V!lean Stick a tiny bit, unhappy about this. If you pay attention to what she's doing, the reason is obvious, wouldn't stand by this firmly especially in the long run because Stick is Stick and I'm not gonna ride or die D1 read her.]

He still felt Gandor was probably not trying to sabotage the negotiations, though no one had asked him for his own opinion. There was a certain artlessness to flailing about, accusing Simon in public of trying to—to what, corrupt him into abandoning Austre and betraying Idris by the cunning use of handwritten notes? Izmir snorted, and paged shut his notebook. No. Gandor was inexperienced enough (at least to someone like Izmir, who'd been serving Idris for decades and for all of that, gotten stuck in the same Colours-cursed job for all that time. Mid-level diplomatic attaché, with no real prospects for advancement or promotion. No one gave him the interesting work.) There was a chance that someone like him might struggle to fabricate accusations, might wind up going for something as peculiar as what he eventually had. But Izmir rather thought that Gandor's accusations rang of sincerity. He would probably be happy to rethink Gandor by the third day or so of this impasse. In contrast, Elidyr, who was volunteering at about the same time as Gandor, because damning their souls apparently didn't bother either of them...he had his doubts about Elidyr. Was she too quick, too ready to commit a sin? [OOC: Weak V!read on Raven, I think the whole "why ya tryna PM me, sus" thing reads more sincere Villager suspicion than "inexperienced Elim trying to do fake-arse suspicions", will rethink or presumably get a better read on Raven or whatnot by C3. I'll add that I can see an E!Polly here to Raven's V. I'll need to see more from Polly to make a better assessment, but weak E on Polly.]

There wasn't really much to go off, but he wanted to think Simon was, on the whole, not the sort of guy who would stab one of the Hallendren. Simon just seemed ready to hang out and have a good time, and Izmir tiredly wondered how Simon felt so secure about his career prospects, let alone the ongoing diplomatic incident. Or crisis, depending on your point of view. [OOC: What it says on the tin. Most unsupported V!read on STINK ever, like his vibes, guy's here to chill in the thread, will rethink later but it's C1 y'all I'm not gonna overdo this.]

He wanted to believe that the unknown diplomat was above board, but frankly, suspected he was probably festooned with knives and wondered if anyone else was going to accuse him as well. [OOC: TUN looks Evil af and honestly I'm curious if anyone's gonna join this vote  ]

He wanted to think Evinir was probably fine. Something about the way Evinir was pressuring Stick seemed okay to him, but he'd seen that playbook before and didn't want to over-prognosticate. Sometimes, an overly-enthusiastic young diplomat seeking to climb the ranks and betray Idris while they were at it, they did that, they pushed too hard and too fast, and Izmir wasn't sure which way the knife cut this time. But...no, if they forced him to write the attestation, right here and now, he would probably say he thought Evinir was just on the level. [OOC: See my comments previously about how a certain profile of new Elim likes to make those bold pushes against confident, thread-strong Villagers. I could see this being what's going on with Hoid and don't want to consider him ride or die Village C1, but for the moment I can kind of squint and just ascribe the V read. I sort of actually had a negative reflexive read to Stick initially, and my instinct is this kind of pushback is a bit more likely to come from a V mindset.]

Well, at least with Gandor, Evinir, and Elidyr all jumping to offer their souls for Starkeeper's dinner, Izmir supposed he was safe for the moment. Safe from deciding if a man's soul was worth his career.

Austre, he didn't want to be forced to choose. Damn the Hallendren and their godless ways!

Evinir took a deep breath, then stepped back into the embassy room. It had been a long day, and now, he finally had time to return his attention to the matter of the Returned. His fellow diplomats were mostly in shambles; only a few managed to maintain their composure well. Of course, that was probably due to the fact that some of them were probably traitors.

In one corner, Stick, a longtime rival of Evinir’s, schemed with… Izmir? What an odd surprise. Izmir shared many of Evinir’s anti-Hallandren ideologies( he saw him as something of a mentor, of sorts. The difference between them was that Evinir wasn’t too proud to recognize the subtleties of maintaining stable relations. (OOC: I don’t like how Stick is blindly following Kazimir either… in fact, I have yet to see any convincing arguments from her, but I’m willing to have my mind changed. For now though, sticking with my vote)

Evinir didn’t want to give up his breath; especially not to a Returned, of all things. But he also knew that as vocally anti-Hallandren, he might be blamed for these events. Best to maintain good relations. Giving up his breath would be a show of goodwill, that there were those that were trying to get to the bottom of this.

He took another look around the room, spotting Wiz, Simon, and Elydir. All people with whom he had passed notes regarding this situation. For now, he opted to trust them. He had bigger concerns at the moment.

Evinir took a glass of water from a passing servant, and began to stalk purposefully towards TUF. From a quick read of the room, it seemed most in the room, especially Stick and Izmir, were geared against him. And yet, Evinir wasn’t quite convinced. Yes, TUF could be a little headstrong at times, but Evinir values his opinion. He wanted to hear his side of the story. (OOC: Exactly that. I feel like the attacks against TUF are a little unjustified here…)

Overall, my reads are these (and note it’s my first game, so yeah):

Elims: Stick and Kas (they just keep ganging up, and I don’t like it)

We also gotta consider the people that aren’t really getting involved at all… getting people to forget about you is a good way to not get voted out.

Also, consider my breath confirmed!

[Kasimir he/him]

Ngl Hoid's post kind of makes me wish it were true because just going full out kayana and abusing thread control with Stick would be such a badchull and cool way to win in an Elim game (echoes of Drake in LG103)

But yeah hell no thanks Elim games can go to Braize nice peaceful Village games only thanks.

Please don't curse me distro gods.

Edited April 10, 2025 by Kasimir
Missed the 3

[Stick. she/her]

well I probably will not make the 6 am rollover so good luck!! 

 

@TheRavenHasLanded reminder that you are holstering today since @KelsierApologist and @Hoid Slayer are giving their breaths away today 

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

12 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Ngl Hoid's post kind of makes me wish it were true because just going full out kayana and abusing thread control with Stick would be such a badchull and cool way to win in an Elim game (echoes of Drake in LG103)

But yeah hell no thanks Elim games can go to Braize nice peaceful Village games only thanks.

Please don't curse me distro gods.

You, TJ, and Drake, now that's a elim game I'd love to see  

[BridgeBoi]

1 minute ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

You, TJ, and Drake, now that's a elim game I'd love to see  

That would be terrifying, absolutely terrifying. 

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

17 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Ngl Hoid's post kind of makes me wish it were true because just going full out kayana and abusing thread control with Stick would be such a badchull and cool way to win in an Elim game (echoes of Drake in LG103)

But yeah hell no thanks Elim games can go to Braize nice peaceful Village games only thanks.

Please don't curse me distro gods.

Plz no I'm scared

More thoughts after wrestling practice probably.

[Ashbringer he/him]

Vote Count (again please correct me if I miss something):

• |TJ| (2): Kasimir, Stick.
• Stick. (2): |TJ|, Hoid Slayer
• TwinStorm (1): The Wandering Wizard

[|TJ| he/him]

1 hour ago, Kasimir said:

Are you literally asking me to give you a pass and to refuse to pressure you for being a null read in a 12 player game with so many new players you can throw a rock and hit three at a time?

It's 12 players. In a 3 Elim world, ignoring Starkeeper BS, we hit lylo at four cycles. Midgame is C2/C3. I think it's tight enough that I should damn well be pressuring you from the getgo. I also note you seemed more on the ball early on in the mash you just came off.

Yeah, I think I did expect you to push a cycle later at least. Definitely did not expect it C1. Fair about the part regarding new players. 

Regarding my activity in mash, bro I had to make 10 posts in 12 hours, if not I would get inactivity killed ;-; and despite that I just barely hit above the minimum req post count. 

1 hour ago, Stick. said:

hmm no i disagree, i think ignoring the top wagon and not interacting with it at all is one of the textbook elim tells that everyone tries to avoid, so u would def talk about me in this game state as elim

I donno what the point of this is because you should be asleep and I should probably go to sleep after this post but -I meant like I'd probably stamp a v!read on you and then kill you, that's what I meant by least interactions. Not fully ignoring you but not looking to threadbrawl with you at all by pushing you.

1 hour ago, Stick. said:

i dont really think kas is elim, and part of my problem with ur post earlier is that the paranoia on kas seems forced and fake LOL

there is no paranoia lol, i did not mention it at all. I genuinely do not trust kas atp. 

1 hour ago, Stick. said:

the take on me is so bad i doubt v!TJ is capable of coming up with it xD

if you're actually village, then I'm seriously out of practice ffs...

1 hour ago, Stick. said:

yeah no this is not a real thought 

why not?

1 hour ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

You, TJ, and Drake, now that's a elim game I'd love to see  

Why would you show me something if I can't have itttt? xD

Sidenote: ready to bribe any potential GM to make this happen :P. 

Retaliation voting is not something I would associate with Stick, whether v or e, so this is weird. I would like to think that v!Stick works with me here in regards to the possibility of e!Kas than just falsely state my suspicions as paranoia. 

[Kasimir he/him]

43 minutes ago, |TJ| said:

I donno what the point of this is because you should be asleep and I should probably go to sleep after this post but

Narrator: TJ did not, in fact, hit the GTS

[|TJ| he/him]

4 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Narrator: TJ did not, in fact, hit the GTS

lmaoooooo :P. 

Legacy read if I die: PLEASE DO LOOK AT STICK AND KAS. ALSO POSSIBLE THAT ELIM TEAM COULD BE JUST A TWO- PERSON TEAM. 

@Kasimir v!Kas DO NOT FEEL GUILTY. uhh e!Kas also dont feel guilty

edit if merged: uhhhhhh is the cycle not over >>

edit2: 

*cries in embarrassment* recently finished a game on mu where everything's on ET so I just... thought... this is was on ET too >>  SMH .-.

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

Hmmm lets break this tie and see if anyone wants to tie it  

Stick

Twinstorm

[Kasimir he/him]

1 hour ago, |TJ| said:

@Kasimir v!Kas DO NOT FEEL GUILTY. uhh e!Kas also dont feel guilty

If you believe I'll feel intensely guilty on you flipping V, why is it you also believe E!me would willingly do this to you on your first game back rather than just NKing you on C2 or C3 after a pocket?

[OoklaApologist She/her]

eeuughhh i put off doing reads and now i’m tired

[Kasimir he/him]

13 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

If you believe I'll feel intensely guilty on you flipping V, why is it you also believe E!me would willingly do this to you on your first game back rather than just NKing you on C2 or C3 after a pocket?

Or to make the point more pointed (lol):

Why in the world do you think that you can say E!you wouldn't push V!Stick and would NK V!Stick with mild pocketing and believe this is an argument for V!you but not an argument for V!Stick choosing to push you or me choosing to push you in a tepid game with no real analysis or investment?

(I say, even though I'm pretty sure timezones mean you'll be asleep and won't get back by rollover.)

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

Guys I honestly have no idea what’s going on right now…