StrikerEZ

I really think I'm still alive because I'm like a sponge for valuable discussion. Or maybe a magnet is a better metaphor. I am a vocal player, I've done some suspicious things, and people will always tend to come back and look at me and try and grinch me. I'm the perfect candidate to keep alive as a possible grinch candidate so the elims can increase the chalklings' strength and avoid a grinch for a cycle. As for me being a threat to the elims...I feel like I have demonstrably proven that I am not much of a threat when it comes to actually finding elims. Which is why I'm wildly throwing around suspicions in an attempt to find something that sticks. Obviously, this relies on the fact that I know that I am village. And I am making assumptions about what the elims are thinking. So...I could be completely off base for why the elims are still keeping me alive. I mean, to start, it's because I have no idea who I'm suspicious of because all of my ideas throughout this game have been completely off so far. But, as for why exactly, I'm suspicious of Rando because they keep showing up only when people mention that they're suspicious of Rando. And they were involved with TUO and the map situation and the fact that they didn't want to use it at night, which is better for the village. And Reading has been mostly off to the side, generating little in terms of reads or getting people to read them (which is suspicious in and of itself later in the game), plus they did vote on Lotus (who I think is village) in response to Gears being up for the shrek. Not saying I think you're an elim necessarily, but if Reading is an elim, I would take a deeper look at you again. But again, I need to emphasize: I really don't know what I think of anyone at this point. I guess my strongest trusts are Kas (their analysis feels like it always does when they're village) and Lotus (mostly because their acid claim makes most sense as a villager, because claiming a fake acid would lead to her getting exed if we got overrun). Oh, and Archer, though he might end up getting converted, so that's not a permanent trust, especially since the Shadowblaze is now in play. Got ninja'd a bunch while I was typing this. Kas has stated a lot of the same reasons for being suspicious of Rando and Reading as I have thus far.

@Kasimir I know you've suspected Rando for awhile (and I've flip flopped on them in the past in our PM), but would you be willing to vote Araris or Reading with me? I think Araris's position in coming up with the defense plan early in the game and his sudden flip on me and Gears (what was that about?) is enough for me to vote on him. Plus, he's become the last known player with a lantern. All they have to do is take out the last player with the lantern before Araris can say whatever he wants about what the defense was each night (at least for a time). As for Reading, I do think their voting patterns have been odd and they have been keeping at the edge of the game, which is where I think most of the elim team probably is so far. And as I'm typing this I'm realizing that I really am basically suspicious of almost everyone. And, ironically, talking myself out of being suspicious of Gears. The only player I actually trust is Archer, and he'll probably end up getting converted eventually. I guess I should list everyone I'm suspicious of. Araris, Devo, Reading, Rando, Ventyl. I think that's it. And obviously not at all of them can be elims. So I don't know who I suspect more. I wish more people would talk. We're just running out of leads, or the leads we do have a very thin. We should have more information by now.

I honestly don't. Gears. Why am I suspicious of Devo? Because her voting has felt opportunistic to me and I think she would fit the kill pattern we've seen so far. You haven't had a chance to play with elim!me before. When a teammate is under fire, I almost always go for defending them, no matter the cost. Obviously I can't prove that this is the case for this game, but you can ask Lotus or really anyone from QF50. Also, @Gears most of your points are things I addressed in response to Kas. I...really don't think there's much more point in me trying to defend myself anymore. I've got a stressful day coming up and very little time to devote to this. Grinch me if you guys want I guess.

I wasn't trying to say that TUO was trying to kamikaze and take me down with him. I just think that it makes far more sense for an elim to sheep a villager than an elim. If you're just sheeping an elim and then that elim flips, you automatically look worse. And I don't think the elims think I'm indispensable or anything. I think they think I serve a good job of getting people to focus on me and draw attention away from them, which would eventually lead to my death rather than one of theirs. I don't know if TUO's move was an attempt to implicate me by association in case they died, but it's the one thing that makes the most sense to me. And I wish I had been less busy over the course of D4 because I do remember finding his sheeping vote on me odd, but didn't comment on it because I was just trying to keep up with the posts and forgot about it. Plus I was tunneling on Gears and probably still am. I know I can't convince you on this point, but I do know that I was just going too hard on those players in the early cycles. I was way too overconfident in my own abilities, and I've been far more wishy-washy with my reads since then. Again, my tunneling on Mat and insistence on staying there was due to the aggressiveness I was playing with in the early cycles. As for the players who were voting for Mat, I would be down for voting for Devo. I've been suspicious of her all game so far. Going to comment more specifically on this later, but yeah, I understand this. Connie did keep slipping in and out of my radar, though there are reasons (which I will get into in a later quote). If I wanted to protect Connie...wouldn't I just have voted for Lotus? But I didn't see any reason to vote her, so I voted for someone else that I was suspicious of that I saw someone else was willing to possibly grinch as well. And when the Ventyl train isn't even leaving the station, my vote isn't doing anything there, so no point keeping it there. I forgot my early suspicions of Connie at first. Illwei reminded me of them. And as for asking for people to persuade me: I was insanely busy over the course of D3. I shouldn't have even been able to get on to vote for Connie in the first place, but I managed to squeeze some time in. I was asking people to persuade me because I knew that I wouldn't really have the time I'd like to deeply look over things. And of course my vote on Connie, after seeing the arguments for each of the players, would be at the end of the turn, because that's when I was actually free. And I know that my suspicions haven't shifted much. I haven't had time to go reread anything and most of the time I'm just reading things as they happen. Making plans and reads on the fly, letting what I can remember plus what I'm currently reading affect how I think of a player. Which is how you get me saying I thought I sussed Connie earlier on, or come up with the plan to help Stink get his bribes (which was highly inefficient, though effective), or end up sussing Quinn/Mat/Illwei for a very long time. If I manage to survive today, I hope to try and do a readthrough of the thread at some point, though I can't promise much activity this weekend as it's Valentine's Day on Sunday and I will be spending most of this weekend with my girlfriend. So, maybe it would be a good thing if I die this turn. I did think that Gears was more suspicious, yes. I still do think he's suspicious. That doesn't mean I didn't think that TUO wasn't suspicious at all. I can respect this. I do hope that maybe you might change your mind, but I understand if you don't.

I meant that I think the actions the elims have taken in terms of who they've chosen to kill were done in a way to make me an easy grinch target. They may not necessarily be voting on me themselves, but they are doing things behind the scenes to make me look more suspicious. And I'm pretty sure other players have expressed suspicion of me. Ventyl, for one.

I just want to say: I think it’s highly likely that I could be the elims’ scapegoat right now. They killed/shrekked the three players I was so certain were elims, making me look worse in comparison. I’m still alive by now (a feat in and of itself ). Plus I’ve been a very talkative player and have (most likely) interacted little with the elims in terms of suspicions (besides for Connie, who I did in fact express suspicion of way back on D1/D2, at a time when there was no reason to draw attention to her). As for TUO: I think it makes far more sense to follow a villager with suspicions than an elim. If either of you flip elim, that makes the other look bad. Later I’m going to make a longer post both for the case against killing me and the case for killing one of Gears (though I’m leaning less on him now), Devo, Araris, or Ventyl.

@Kasimir ....I hope that was a joke RP vote. I wasn’t intending to actually go for the gun. I didn’t the other time it showed up, why would I now? As for my vote: Ventyl. I’ve stated my suspicions of him before, and I still think we should shrek him now. If no one is willing to vote him out with me, I would be down to go for any of Gears, Devo, or Araris.

@Kasimir Would you want to try and go for the gun with me? We could go out as RP brothers.

I read through all of the rest of your post but don’t know what you mean by this.

....you know, I would feel confident about that if I actually knew who I trusted. My reads have been so incredibly off this whole game. And I was trying to help Stink out.

Well, the plan was to do all this so that Stink wouldn’t take the clock from me, but I guess there was no point since Ventyl got it first try. And Stink trying to steal from me to get the bribe now could end up with him getting so many other of my other items before he finally gets the bribe. I may as well just pass it to him to save my items and him the trouble.

I'm saying that I think you are an elim and would pass it to an elim to keep it out of village hands. I think you shouldn't tell us who you're passing it to until right at rollover, so the elims try and roleblock you if you're about to pass it to a villager.

There is literally no reason for you to use it tonight. Lotus already used an acid last turn and the chalkling horde is at only 1 strength right now. Can someone please scan Ventyl with a crab to see if he still has it by the end of the night? I can't use mine tonight because I'm passing that bribe to Stink. If Ventyl doesn't have the crab anymore after tonight, then someone should come forward and say they got it. If not, I say we grinch Ventyl because he almost certainly used it or passed it to an elim.

@Ashbringer I’d recommend using that map tonight. We need more items. I will be passing the bribe I grabbed last cycle to Stink. I’d recommend @Mist do so as well. As for TUO...well, I’m not surprised they were an elim. I was suspicious of them. I voted and kept my vote on Gears because they were my strongest elim read at the time. Maybe my reads are just completely off this game. If I survive the night, I will most likely scrap all of my reads and look at anyone else who’s still alive that I haven’t already suspected. Besides Ventyl. He’s the only player that could’ve taken the clock from me, (confirmed with Archer that no one who received his Specializations could’ve stolen from me) and I think that is extremely sus, on top of his already sus behavior all game so far. I will be voting him next turn (assuming he’s still alive, because I wouldn’t be surprised if the elims kill him tonight just to mess with me).

Someone took the clock from me. We know it’s not Stink or Ash. @Ventyl care to explain why you used your Revocation Specialization to take the clock from me? This assumes neither of Devo or Araris or whoever ended up with Archer’s Specialization N3 got Revocation.

This has been a surprisingly quiet Day. Does make me wonder if TUO is actually an elim, with how easily everyone hopped on their shrek.

Thank you! They're supposed to be more straightforward. I DM'd them to you on discord, when you have a chance to look over them.

@Amanuensis, @STINK, @Sart, @Fifth Scholar, @Straw, @Haelbarde, and @Young Bard. I’ve got two rulesets done for some of my MR spots. One of them is a blackout anonymous game, so just let me know if you’d be willing to not play and/or co-GM. Here are the rules for the non-blackout MR I’ve been working on. Probably won’t run this game until May, but figured I may as well get the rules approved now, since they’re done.

Okay, so, I was trying to claim that I hadn't got the clock so that the elims wouldn't know who to go after to get the clock from someone. I figured that it would by me some time to have them try and figure out who got it before I decide I need to use it. But, that's not going to happen now. What about my vote is safe though? I've given reasoning for suspecting Gears before, and I gave reasoning this time.

Okay, so, I'm going to make some reads right now. Ignoring the fact that I'm being voted on right now because it's D4 and I'm just glad I've lasted this long to begin with. (Keep in mind I haven't done any deep reads of the thread or anything, so this is what I can remember from vibes while I've been reading throughout the game, both in thread and in PMs) Gears: Okay, so, I haven't liked how much they've been like "oh, here's what the elims probably did," with regards to whether they did the N1 kill or double tapped Quinn. It honestly feels like he's trying to not lie about the fact that he knows why the elims did what they did. And now, this play with the clock. I grabbed the clock last night after no one grabbed it D3. I was originally going to grab it D3, but ended up deciding against it because I figured other people would be going for it as well. Once it was still around, I decided to go for it again. I feel like I must've said that in thread, but if I didn't, please call me out on that. As for what Gears himself did, I think it makes the most sense as an elim play. If he was a villager, he'd have to be very confident that I'm an elim for him to come out and call me on the lie. If he's a villager, he should've realized that if I was also a villager, calling me out on this would let the elims know that I have the clock. If he's an elim, it doesn't matter if he lets everyone know as the elims already know and he can use the fact I lied (reasonably so, I would say) to get people to try and shrek me. As of right now, he is my strongest elim read. Ashbringer: So, I don't have much of a read on him honestly. Like me and Ventyl, he tunneled on Illwei quite a bit. I know from personal experience that it is easy for a villager to tunnel on someone and have trouble getting out of the tunnel. Honestly just ask Fifth about him and tunneling if you're even more curious; there's a reason he often has the title of Honorary Elim. As for Ash himself, he hasn't done much that's stuck in my memory besides claiming that he was stolen from. Which is NAI in my opinion. It benefits both the village and elims to know that the Thief wasn't taking items from the supply D1. Overall, slight village, but subject to further review if my other elim suspects turn up village. Lotus: Honestly remember nothing she has done so far. Which, at this point in the game, is starting to worry me. Null/elim because I feel like at least one elim is hiding in the inactive/low activity player group, as per usual. Flyingbooks: Once again another player that I don't remember much on, so falling into the null/elim pile for the same reasons as Lotus. And if there are major villager actions that they have done, feel free to let me know about them (same for anyone that goes into null/elim for these reasons). Archer: I am absolutely certain that they are the NR. I see no reason why the true NR, in a situation where Archer and Devo and Araris are all actually elims together, wouldn't have come forward at this point. Unless the current NR has decided they want to just throw their lot in with the elims already, but I find that unlikely for most players who are playing this game. Strongest village read, though obviously that will have to be revised if/when the Shadowblaze shows up. Burnt Spaghetti: Once again, null/elim because she hasn't done much and has been lying low (though I will give her the benefit of the doubt for now since she seems busy IRL) and I could see a world in where she makes the kill choices that have happened so far. @Ventyl: First, I'm going to explain what happened in our PM. As several of you out there are aware by now, I spent the first few cycles dedicating a significant amount of time figuring out who the thief might be. This ultimately winded up being a waste as Stink was apparently claiming Thief pretty openly, according to the late Illwei (in a PM) and Stink himself. At some point, I told Ventyl that I had narrowed down the Thief to one of a few candidates, which wasn't too hard. All I had to do was look at who took items from the camp supply on Days when we knew the Thief had stolen from someone. By the end of D2, I'd narrowed the Thief down to SoR, Burnt, or Stink. A little after I told Ventyl I'd narrowed the Thief down to one of three people (not telling him who they were), he asked me if Connie was one of them, and I told him no. He asked if I could tell him more, and I said it really wasn't that hard to figure out who the Thief possibly was. Now, I'm going to talk about why he is one of my strong elim reads. The fact he's just been mostly following other people's reads, his immediate backing down if someone points that out, his wishy-washy voting patterns, and the fact that he seems to be trying his best not to vote on Gears right now, my strongest elim read. The Unknown Order: So, I'm conflicted on TUO. On the one hand, I can understand forgetting to put in actions. And I can understand wanting to keep grabbing maps to help the village out. But at the same time, he's just been giving me really odd vibes, and it took him awhile to really get convinced that using the maps during the Night is the best time to use them, as it lets us see who grabs the new items during the Day. Plus his vote sheeping me reads as really odd to me. I always try to at least add some reasoning of my own if I'm following someone else's vote as a villager. Slight elim. Araris Valerian: So, I trusted Araris for a very long time because his plans on how to protect the camp seemed very village to me. But one of his latest posts, the one where he ends up voting on me, has really thrown me off. He spent most of that post basically just talking about Gears then voting on me. And I disagree with him that elims prefer to hide rather than be out there. One just needs to look at Aman or even myself to know that elim players don't always hide. Speaking of which, even if elim players do tend to want to hide, how has anything I've been doing this game been me hiding? Slight elim Alvron: I haven't really played enough with Alv to be able to accurately guess his alignment based on past behavior. But, looking purely at what he's done this game, I think I'm leaning slight village on him. Seems perfectly in character for him to end up deciding to go for the gun, and I like his reasoning about when to use the map. We talked a bit in PMs about this, and he was really reasonable about it and helped me realize that elims would want to use the maps during the Day and would want to make us wait to use them as well. Shard of Reading: Like I've said with other players that I don't remember much of and/or are low activity, I'm putting SoR as null/elim. Look at the null/elim players later in the game. The longer you've gone without giving much, if any, AI information, the more sus that is. Random Bystander: They've been speaking somewhat more sporadically, but I have noticed that they, too, seemed wary of using the maps during the Night, though it does seem like they might've been the one to use the map N3. At the same time, they seem to come out most when they're being suspected, and seem to be really concerned about people suspecting them. Slight elim for those two things combined, though I think either one of them alone would not be enough to convince me of their elimy-ness. TJ Shade: So, I've grown less and less sure of TJ as the game's gone on, but I do think he is still more likely village than not. I just don't have many thoughts on him so far, which is surprising. But what I do remember from D1-D2 vibes is a slight village lean, though I will gladly relook him over if it's near the end and we haven't caught a whole lot of elims and he's still alive. Devotary of Spontaneity: So, in terms of activity levels, they're acting like their normal self. But I do think their voting patterns have been odd, plus they've been voting earlier than they normally do. Plus, I think the idea of a Gears/Devo team (meaning a team containing those two plus Connie and at least one other player) makes a lot of sense. I think both Gears and Devo are pragmatic enough to decide to go for not killing on N1, if that is indeed what happened that Night. Slight elim. Kasimir: My RP buddy! (Sorry I haven't been doing much RP; I should do more ) So, I trust him so far. He has demonstrably defended the camp multiple times when he didn't really have to. Plus he gives me very village!Kas vibes in our PMs. I guess the one thing going against him is that he hasn't switched into analysis!Kas mode yet, though I do hope he doesn't have to. Strong village. STINK: The Thief. I don't see a world in which Stink isn't actually the Thief at this point. And, from what I've heard, it seems like he's pretty close to completing his wincon. So, if anyone wanted to, they could pass bribes Stink's way to help him out. Mist: I have not been able to get a read on Mist at all this game. The fact that they're doing everything by RNG is really fun, but I can't quite get any reads out of it. So, into the null/elim pile. That...took me so long. Granted, I did take a break to go eat dinner at one point. Anyway, this is probably close to 2000 words. And with that, I will probably be done for a bit. If you need me, tag me. EDIT: Realized I didn't change something after switching around the categories I used.

I said anything at all because I’d already said that I was going to go for the clock. I did say that I was going to in thread N3, right? I thought I mentioned that I was going to actually go for it after D3 I changed my mind, which led to no one getting it. The reason I claimed my action like that at all was to obfuscate the fact that I got the clock so the elims couldn’t just take it from me. It’d be the same if I was doing a LoW and instead claimed that someone else was doing a LoW to make it harder for the elims to RB me. Lying != elim behavior.

....bro. I said I knew she wasn’t the thief because I knew who the thief couldn’t be by looking at who was taking items from the camp supply on the day turns when people lost items. It wasn’t hard to look at that and figure out that Connie wasn’t the Thief. EDIT: correct tense, because Connie is dead.

....huh? Also, I’m still not exactly sure why you’re voting me. Is it because I lied about the clock? I did that because I wanted to keep who had it a secret, so the elims wouldn’t even know where to begin with trying to get it from someone. Now Gears has outed me to the entire thread, so, regardless of Gears’ alignment, the elims know I have the clock. If there is another time you think I was dishonest, I’d appreciate it if you told me so because I don’t remember lying besides about the clock.

Frederick hated the way his brother looked at him sometimes. He only really knew inklings of what Duncan had been through before he’d arrived at the frontlines. And he did know about Duncan’s nightmares and his alcoholism and, well, his overall current state of mind. But that didn’t make the distrustful stares any less hurtful. Did Duncan...did Duncan really think Frederick could be a Forgotten? What else could those sharp stares during Duncan’s moments of lucidity mean? The moments when Duncan didn’t think Frederick knew Duncan was watching him. The moments when Duncan would completely ignore Frederick. But Frederick would be strong. He had to. For his brother. It was the least he could do. So he tried to figure out who the Forgotten really were. He suspected that lunatic who called himself the Servant of the Mad God or something was a Forsaken. Plus there was the odd mannerisms of Kaniae and the things that they had said. Beyond that, Frederick wasn’t sure anymore. All of the people he’d suspected of being Forgotten had ended up dead. ~ @Kasimir I am confused why you’re more suspicious of TUO than Gears.

Okay, to make something clear that should’ve been pretty obvious: I grabbed the clock. I was trying to keep it a secret so that the elims (and Thief) wouldn’t know to try and take it from me. Given that I suspect Gears of being an elim, trying to hide it is pointless now. I’ve suspected him for awhile now (primarily because he fits the profile for the events of N1-both for if there was no kill and if they hit Quinn and decided to go again N2), and this is a very odd move to me. Why out me to literally everyone without consulting me first? If he was a villager, he just painted a target on my back for no reason. If he’s an elim, he’s already got a target on me himself and would be looking for a way to take me out. So, he sees I lied and takes an opportunity.