Doc12

Okay, so what exactly is the plan here? Is the PM thing happening tonight or in the day tomorrow? Who's sending them? How are we keeping track and how is this going to be revealed without the Postmaster revealing themself? Is the plan still exeing Burnt tomorrow while having a second train as a fallback? Is the plan still for Mist and I to receive one vote each to show we can be voted on? Or is this a N2 thing since now apparently the Stone mask can still receive PMs in the day if equipped in day? Also yeah Mist I don't understand why you're so convinced I must have it and Burnt can't when, if you're village, she's already lied once.

Ap is also a she Thistle should have noticed the rope being cut. And a part of them did, and was annoyed, but they were too busy looking back. Watching. Waiting. They were mostly looking at the moon, or back at Clock Town, which was beginning to smoke. It was odd, not being there among the chaos, the fire, the screams. They'd left so quickly, so cleanly. But where was Amora? Last loop, Thistle had been with Cindra, Amora, and Ap, at the Mayor's, when it had blown up. Amora would have remembered that, right? She wouldn't have gotten herself blown up... It was so close to midnight. How long did it take to warn a commander and leave the city? At this point, they should have seen a lone figure running to catch up... Something squeezed tight at their heart. The last two loops, they'd never been separated from Amora. Where was she? The way Amora had looked at her before she left... Could Thistle dare to hope? Goddess, where was she? "Goddess, Zymni! Stay close to me!" Almost to distract themself, they marched towards the itinerant Twili. Midnight drew ever closer. Didn't we discuss using votes also to show that we didn't have Stone?

My thoughts are that it HAS to be one of Burnt or Mist. I don't think Hael or twin were active enough to earn 50. Both burnt and mist claimed a 20 rupee mask that made them both ineligible for d1 purchase. But purchased it has been. the fact that Burnt wanted Mist exed makes me think Burnt, obviously. The only thing I do know is that I don't have it, therefore it must be one of you.

Didn't you just say you were going for Keaton? And I still don't see how circus helps when Stone is explicitly untargetable once put on. Well, I apologize? It does unfortunately come with the territory of being hard cleared. I understand being the only other person who by every count had enough money to go for Stone, I'm under the the most scrutiny for buying/not buying Stone. All I can say is that I wanted it in the hands of confirmed village, not mine. And yeah either one of me, burnt, or mist, or someone else not in the conversation could be lying, but I know this is something I can prove through if not PMs, the presence of actual vote tomortow.

I didnt think the other purples were going to be helpful - circus can't steal stone, gibdo wasn't useful for solve, Keaton was the only one thst might be useful but wasn't interested. So I decided to save. Would you have preferred a smaller chance you got it? I understand there was back and forth about whether other village who could afford stone should get stone, and I decided that I would stay out of it to give you a better chance of getting it. I don't know. Ultimately I didn't want stone because it was better with ash and getting it just came with baggage I didn't want. Hey! I sort of solved archers Again, very happy to pm or vote or whatever to prove I don't have it. I'm glad there's a mechanical way to test it because I wouldn't believe me either.

Because 1) if i had Stone, I'd claim it so there's no confusion and 2) it would be stupid for me to try for Stone in the first place? Given that I'm unconfirmed village and we want the confirmed villager to have stone. I wanted Ash to have it so I didn't ask for Stone. I'm happy you guys actually worked out a way to test for Stone so i don't have to get you to trust me at my word

I'm so popular! I don't have Stone, obviously. The reason there's a lack of two purchases is simply that I didn't put in a purchase in the day. Not that I expect you to trust me at my word, happy to try the PM thing to prove it. If Ash doesn't have it, best guess is that we've all been played, where Burnt did lie about how many rupees she had and snatched it while we were all voting Coco.

-------- Interesting, I didn't see a point in shifting my vote end of cycle. Last minute distancing?

"Amora?" Thistle asked, as the woman started heading for the door. "Amora, where are you going?" Amora smiled, said something about going to warn the captain of the guard. "Oh. Can I come with you?" Oh wait, they were still tied to Zymni, who really wanted to stay with Ap. "Come back soon, alright? it's not going to be safe for much longer."

They found Kieran shouting outside the Happy Mask Shop. Thistle waved. "Is the door locked?" Trying the door, they opened it and let themselves in. "What's our goal here?" Should probably be the first question. "Are you alright?" would have also been good. But Thistle's first question was, "Why is the Happy Mask Salesm - your grandad - why is he wearing nothing but swim trunks?" Ap held out a suitcase. Said something about going to the Great Bay. Alright. Again. "Ap... what's our goal here?" And then, before she had a chance to answer, "How many times are we going to loop?" and then, spilling out uncontrollably, "What's the point of this when that child killed so many of us the last two times? You barely had enough time to play your flute before we all died, and is that going to happen again? Do you actually know what you're doing or are we just going to keep looping and dying?" Oh. Everyone was staring at Thistle. Thistle flushed. "Sorry, sorry. I'm just... stressed." They looked back at Ap, who was so, so young. "I'm sorry... I just... Why is this happening? Why does it have to be you? Us?" -------------- Mistfallen how do you have 38 posts this cycle you're kind of insane. also TJ with 30 - really making up for the first loop Don't really have any real thoughts right now. Just realized I still have my vote on Burnt, but really don't think it makes a difference if I switch. Coco/Burnt seems like a pretty firm exe this loop. Kinda surreal that we have a revealed elim but we're voting someone else, but it makes solid mechanical sense. If we win this loop, we've pretty much guaranteed the next as well. I'm pretty confident in TJ. I like Mist. Drake and Dive have good energy. Wonko is here. Stick is here - @Stick. remind me what the reaction testing was? I remember seeing Ash bring it up last loop but I missed the outcome, if any of it. Less solid reads on Archer, Araris, Hael. Twin is here. I think out of everyone most happy to exe Archer D3.

I know you had more nuanced team thoughts after this but this made me laugh. @coco.pudding Good or evil, I just want to say you're playing an excellent game. I can feel your frustration, and I get that it feels like everyone is against you. I'm having so much fun RPing with you, and again, good or evil, you're doing a great job of following along, responding, arguing, and all the different parts of the game. It's hard to believe it's only your second? game because you fit in so well. At the end of the day, everyone's just looking for connectives, and for me the way you and Archer were on the last hour changing who got exed the last few days - Burnt/Dive, TJ/Araris/You, Stick/You, just stands out. If you're village, apologies, and if you're elim, I still want to say well done for dodging the exe til today. Noted, though not sure how that would work - I'd still have to spend N1 equipping Circus to use N2 by which time it is unusable?

Zymni's story is so cool --- "Right. The musician." Thistle mumbled. "Wasn't Cindra, you weren't interested in her at all." "Do you have any description of this...musician?" Realization came slowly. "The musician...who plays a song...to control time? That's Ap, obviously? She was with us when we left the city last time! She has the magic ocarina that she plays each time we almost all die?" Zymni shrieked in several languages, throwing up their little arms. "Oh, that's right... you weren't there both times she played the song." Thistle smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, Amora and I are probably going to find Ap anyways, come on." They made their way downstairs, trying desperately not to notice Amora running her fingers through their plants. "We're going to find Ap.", Thistle declares to the space beside Amora. "And Cindra. And Wahi, and Coliver, and Kieran, and... all the others. I don't know where everyone is, but I'm going to assume we all will have the same idea and head to Ap." (I know @Burnt Spaghetti and @Wahrheitswächter were heading to Thistle's, going to assume we meet up on the way whenever you guys come back) --- "Zymni...?" They ask of their shadow, quietly, as they walked. "You... last loop, did you... were you..." A deep breath. "You know... Coliver said she was... I was afraid you were..." "... did it hurt? are you alright? I wouldn't be alright... I don't know how I'm walking." They sigh. "Just... stay close to me, alright? I can't handle losing you again." Next game I'll romance you

Their heart somehow still skipped a beat when they saw Amora. Images of Amora diving into a fight, sword flashing bright; of her slowing down her run in the tunnels to make sure no one was lagging behind; of her face, grim, determined, holding onto a flower that Thistle had given her. Images of Amora smiling at them as they walked, touching their shoulder and offering words of encouragement, of their strong arms holding them back when they'd almost pitched themselves into a gorge. Goddess... Zymni tugged pointedly on the rope connecting them, bringing Thistle back to reality. They were staring. Flushing red as a tomato, Thistle realized that they hadn't heard a thing Amora had said. Amora was also staring at the rope between Thistle and Zymni. Idly, Thistle wondered if Amora would consent to also tying herself to Thistle this loop. No... they would be holding her back, especially if Amora needed to run and fight. ...Because that's the weirdest thing about asking to tie someone to you with gardening rope. Thistle flushed an even deeper red, let out a little wail and ran back upstairs, yanking Zymni like a kite behind them. ...was it possible to get Ap to rewind time right now? -------- (Ah yes the one thing that overrides existential despair - a disaster crush) (also sorry @Wonko the Sane I'm literally going to pull Zymni around the entire loop if I have to)

So, assuming a Burnt/Coco team, there's at least one more alive elim. Obviously Archer makes sense, they've strongly v!read Coco multiple times, and explicitly said they were voting on Burnt over Coco. I do think from this cycle that TJ is strong village - they were the one that pointed out that Burnt/Mist could be a distraction and was the first to vote on Coco, which makes no sense if that is the actual elim play. Additionally, i remember Coco and TJ being in a close tie and Coco saving herself by voting TJ. So that helps. As for Mist, if we're assuming e!Burnt, then mist should be v. Twin and Hael are also sort of here, Hael more than Twin. @TwinStorm, buddy, you signed up to pinch hit the latest, and I'm sorry for you let us know you're alive and here, maybe? I am considering that Hael or Twin might be people who were hoping to contribute a little but otherwise be able to stay under the radar. We know we have at least one elim. That's really good. And I think Coco is a safe exe. I think before Hael or Twin, Archer would be my D3 exe.

Slowly, the sobs ran out. Ragged gasps turned into heavy breathing, evening out into an exhausted sigh. Thistle got up, slowly, feeling the weight of their blankets, the softness of their pillow, the feel of a body that hadn't spent three (six) days running away from things. Zymni had stopped knocking, but was still outside (I presume. @Wonko the Sane) They crossed the floorboards of their bedroom and opened the door. Before Zymni could say anything, they wrapped her in a big hug again. Zymni might have been talking to them, but Thistle could not hear. Not letting go, not saying a word, Thistle took Zymni into their shop, where they found a sturdy piece of gardening twine. One loop knotted around Thistle's wrist, one around Zymni's, with about two or three lengths of give. Zymni looked indignant, but Thistle stared her down with steely grey eyes. "You're not getting separated from me again, do you hear? We're staying together, and I'm never going to lose sight of you again." ...Cindra. Amora. Kieran. Wahi. Coliver. Thistle did not get the shop ready this morning. They pulled out the biggest satchel they had, and emotionlessly began shoving herbs into it. Their entire stock of bomb flowers, especially. It was tricky with one hand essentially tied, but Zymni helped. Zymni wasn't saying anything else, perhaps sensing Thistle was unable to process anything. Then, they walked to the front of their shop and threw open the door. @Burnt Spaghetti @Wahrheitswächter @Ashbringer @coco.pudding

Okay, so from what I can see, the discussion boils down to a few things. 1. Mist and Burnt have the whole he said/she said thing going on. they're both willing to be exed if it means we get one elim, but we can't exe them both because its wasting an exe. 2. We're tabling that discussion because we want to focus on Coco who can ostensibly get a purple this cycle, and we're worried that she'll get the stone mask and become unvotable. Fair. Is this what the play was? To make us focus on Burnt and Mist, who can't get Stone, so Coco could? I can buy that. The Burnt/Mist accusation seemed too obvious too early in the cycle, that they were trying to cover for a team member who was already under heavy suspicion last cycle makes sense. Why did the elims essentially give the village a free purple? There wouldn't have been a confirmed villager able to grab a purple if they hadn't killed Ash last cycle, so the whole 'anyone other than Ash getting Stone is instantly sus' wouldn't have been a thing.

Apologies, I came on as soon as I got home, but rl responsibilities call, back in another hour or so.

I got mentioned a lot today. I have a lot to catch up on, but it seems everyone was asking about my mask. I can confirm that I grabbed bunny and have been trying to maximize post count. Be back after I do a whole bunch of reading.

Well this was a lot to wake up to. So we lost the loop, and now Burnt is accusing Mistfallen? That's funny. Burnts been so comfortably in the background I wouldn't have expected her to out herself like this if she wasn't utterly confident. Mist is also an interesting target, being village read by most. Why did the Elims win the loop? It makes no sense to have so many deaths last loop and still try to win, unless they were absolutely confident that they could force at least 2 misexes. The accusation makes sense within that playbook, as my initial thought was also "exe them both". it just seems so... Reckless? They're either desperate or very confident, which makes me think there's something we're not seeing. I don't have time for real analysis yet, but I'd also like to try and map out teams later. The burnt/mist discussion makes sense, and I'm happy to vote Burnt. I will say I can afford a purple this cycle. Hoping for PMs to be available this loop. --- Thistle groaned at the pounding on their door. Pounding, like metal hooves. They stuffed their head under their pillow. Did they have to get up ? "Zymni, it's a holiday. Shop doesn't open til 11!" Realization hit. Explosions. The bull. Ap. The skull kid. Zymni dead or missing. They jerk upright. Their store. Their bedroom. Sunlight streaming through the violets on the windowsill , Zymni still at the door. Time rewound again. Without the blessing of forgetting. Goddess. Goddess... Thistle fell back into bed and just started sobbing.

Last post of the day, because I'm having a lot of fun drawing Thistle. @coco.pudding hope you don't mind me using Amora in this

Thistle scrambled through their bag. "Uh... two - no, three?" They look sheepish, "I wanted to pack more but they take up a lot of space." They turn to Kieran in shock. "You want us to let it catch up to us? And somehow get behind it?" They blink. Shoving their hand into their pack, they pull out an unlit brightbloom seed. "Throw this as far forward as you can," they tell Kieran. To everyone else, Thistle yelled "Shut your eyes!" Upon impact, the brightbloom burst into brilliant light. Anyone whose eyes had been open would have been dazzled. But suddenly the walls of the tunnel were thrown into stark relief, in all its crags and alcoves, and... there! Thistle pointed, still gasping, at an upcoming section where the walls dipped in a way that it could be possible to squeeze into as something really large - a mechanical bull, perhaps - charged past. "I don't know," gasp, "if this is a good idea, but there!" gasp, "if you squeeze into those it might just run past you!"

"Is there," Thistle gasps, "a plan at all?" another gasp, "besides just running?" Kieran in front, Amora at the back, noncombatants Cindra and Mumbo and themself sandwiched in between. Wahi had injured his arm again. No time to bind it up, he still seemed capable of running. No sign of the others. Thistle had to hope they'd meet up with Heroshi or Link again. As it is they only had Kieran and Amora to fight. The last time, there had been Clock Wards helping... now it seemed like just them. Thistle handed Amora another bomb flower, trying to see what else they had that could give them an edge. Swift violet and fleet lotus. Brightbloom seeds. Puffshrooms. Healing herbs. Nothing as immediately helpful as the bomb flowers. Would an icefruit cause the bull to slip? Would a shockfruit be more effective against its iron hide? No fighters. Just Kieran and Amora... Thistle had gardening shears and a pruning knife... would they have to use those? The light didn't seem any closer. "Ap!" They shout again, "What's" gasp, "the plan?" ----- more fanart!

"Run" Thistle said, to no one in particular. And so everyone did. They fumbled at their pouch, bringing out a handful of fleet-lotus seeds, spilling some onto the ground. Shoved them into their mouth and chewed quickly, feeling an electrifying burst of strength surge across their body. And so they ran, suddenly the fastest of the group, catching up to and even keeping pace with Amora. As they ran, Thistle tried to keep an eye out for stragglers. Wahi was flagging. They pressed more fleet-lotus seeds into his palm. But running forever wasn't an option, not if the Monster was faster and they had nowhere to turn. Their breath coming in huge pants, Thistle reached into their pack once more for a bomb flower, handing it to Amora to toss behind them. It's funny, the way death hadn't seemed to matter anymore moments ago, and now they were running for dear life. It shouldn't matter, not if Ap still had her magic instrument. Thistle still wasn't scared. Well... they were scared, that their friends would fall behind, but they weren't... terrified like they would have been. Maybe it was the lingering numbness. Maybe it's the thought that if they died, they'd just wake up in bed again, with Zymni. For that to happen, though, Thistle would have to do their best to make sure Ap survived... and so that is what they would do.

I really need discussion posts I was basically absent yesterday... This really has been an explosion heavy loop xD nice job Archer. Interesting that Archer switched to Stick immediately before blowing up, even when Burnt had already voted on Stick. Wonder why he felt the need to confirm the kill at the last minute before rollover. Yesterday felt almost exactly like the Hael/TUM vote on L1D3, where there was just a tie for the majority of the day. I explicitly wanted a tie to see if it would be broken, and it was, so it is interesting that even though Coco was a topic of discussion two days in a row it was still Stick that went over. Mist's thing makes sense in theory, that elims would want to preserve their rupees, but also so far elims seem to consistently try to do the opposite of what village tries to predict them doing. I am surprised that Burnt, me, Mist, and Coco are still alive when we're probably the most prolific posters so far. It's almost certain that there's at least one high poster that they're keeping us alive to hide among. --------- Thistle's world was filled with explosions. The explosion from this morning. Explosions behind them. Explosions below. They didn't even startle at the sounds, they seem to have lost their ability to...react to anything anymore. They just absorbed what was happening with glassy eyes, and followed directions. Thistle fell into the hole first. Which surprised everyone, including themselves. The falling took longer than they thought it would. Some part of them kept count of the seconds. Another part tried to think about what they were doing. If they were going to die. If they would come back if they died. The last part just stared at the walls and tried not to think. Then the winds caught them and they were at the bottom of the tunnel, Ap smiling at them in Deku form. Thistle couldn't help but smile. Before Ap could react, they pulled her into a strong hug. "I'm glad you're alive," Thistle whispered, trying not to cry.

I think I'm going to switch from coco to stick. Coco's been unopposed for a bit and I feel like something's off with Stick's tunneling. Mainly I just want to see what happens if an alternate option presents itself.