Screw Mafia - Let's Play Monster Squad! You know, for Grown Ups!

"You're right. Perhaps that comment was made in haste. We all lose our tempers sometime."

She turns to the group. "However. Doesn't it seem odd that he wouldn't even try to defend himself? That he wouldn't even speak up for himself when faced with the possibility of a dagger in his back?." She pauses, for effect. "After all, it's what any human would do. We have a survival instinct, do we not? Do our inherent natures not tell us to live? Now, why would a human ignore this instinct, why would he not even attempt to explain himself when he knew he might die? And not only that, but to be masochistic enough to WANT me to lynch him? To prefer dying at my hand than for no one to die?" She narrows her eyes. "Unless, of course, he wasn't human. Unless he knew who his allies were, and was relying on them to defend him. Unless he was a monster, attempting to turn us against each other for his own gain."

"Now, doesn't that seem just a bit suspicious to you?"

Jacquelle sits back down.

Strange, I thought the thing that made me human was the ability to put the community above myself. It would be a monster that would let the group die just so he could have a few more days of life.

"But if you are a human-- and I assume you claim you are-- how would us killing you help the community at all? You dying would be hurting us, because then we'd be even more outnumbered by the monsters! Not to mention it would mean losing a chance to kill an actual monster instead of one of our allies." She narrows her eyes at him. "Unless you are trying to trick us into killing those who could help us."

[OOC: That's very true, but at the same time, people who aren't posting are also not helping to scumhunt. We vote for one of the quiet ones, we get rid of either (1) a lurking monster, or (2) somebody who's not contributing to town. Though I guess it's a bit early for that since people ARE busy with their lives and we're all in different timezones after all.]

[OOC: I do agree on general principle, but I feel like some of that is also because the game had just started and people were trying to have fun RPing without getting down to business yet. Right now we're probably the only ones posting relevant stuff because we're the only ones who are currently awake and have the time to post.]

Ana snaps, as if she's been hit by a sudden realization.

"Someone should go drag the sleeping ones out of their beds! Perhaps we'll catch one of them washing Harry's blood off their claws!"

[OOC: That's actually not suspicious at all, IMHO, because this game is not a game about personal survival. If our faction wins, we all win, regardless of whether as individuals we're dead or not. This may just be a matter of personal taste, but I think that getting angry or offended when somebody accuses you, or if you get lynched, is just... I don't see the point of that? This is a team game - your individual survival is irrelevant. That's just the way I personally approach these games though.]
Ana snorts at the conclusion of Jacquelle's speech.
"Who cares if the idiot wants to die or not? All we need to do is plunge this knife into him. If he turns out to be a monster, great! If not, we just stab somebody else. Easy!"

[OOC: It helps because on Day 1, we have no idea who the monsters are. Anybody could be scum. Lynching somebody, anybody, at worst, helps us narrow down the list of potential suspects (that's one less innocent that the monsters can hide themselves amongst), and at best gives us a shot of actually hitting a monster. Not lynching on Day 1 is essentially giving the monster squad a free pass. Furthermore, looking at voting patterns, who accused who, who bandwagoned, and people's reactions to being accused, is one of the few ways you can help scumhunt without being a information-gathering role.]

[[Headed to sleep. Have fun trying to suss out the baddies. I'll give an update on the lynch vote in the morning/afternoon.]]

You appear to be missing the point. I would prefer not to die, but if my lynching gives the town information it can use then that is a net positive.

If I am doing a good job the monsters will be attempting to kill me tonight in the hope that the town settles down and everyone votes not to lynch people while waiting for a Monster Hunter to do all the hard work. Assuming the monster hunter survives, and is not misled by a Vampire! Or impersonated by a monster. So we need to work it out ourselves, which requires information. Information that is more valuable than my life.

Personally though, I am thinking we would get more information with your lynching than mine.

[OOC: I have no idea how different timezones are for you guys, so I'll just assume morning means in 6-8 hours]

[[OOC: ...I'm not getting angry or offended, am I? The point I was making is that I was asked to defend my position, and that is the best in-character defense I can think of.]]

[[Still OOC: This is true. But if you're human, then your presence automatically contributes to the victory condition. Let too many humans kill other humans, and the monsters win by default. Not the most applicable strategy on day 1, but I still think it makes sense to at least try to defend yourself.]]

"My point still stands. If he wants to die, then..." She shrugs her shoulders. "Why not give him what he wants?"

[[OOC: Oh gosh, no, you're not! I've just played a lot of these games and I usually see people getting pissed off when they get lynched or die. That wasn't directed at you specifically, sorry if it came off that way.]]

[[OOC: Well, not a lot. A few. Also I'm not very good at them. I played a lot of real life mafia back in secondary school after finals were over and we had nothing more to do than just faff about in the classrooms playing stupid party games all day, which is actually probably why I love this game so much. Reminds me of my happy school days <3]]

[OOC: My happy memories of this game are people doing hilariously bad things. Like when two townies ended up canceling each other out with their actions for two nights in a row, this made them dead certain the other was a mafia. At the end, they both facepalmed XD ]

"Excellent, what I want is discussion. Lets start with why you are not a monster."

Gryff starts counting off his fingers,
"One. You have been very resistant to a lynching on day 1."
"Two. You changed your vote from me after I commented on watching for distractions and bandwagons, yet gave no reason why you now thought I was safe."
"Three. You gave a subtle threat about re-lynching me after my vote, rather than basing it on information or even under the pretext of getting information."
"Four. You revoted me because I 'Had something to hide', but nothing more"

"And because I still have a finger, you betrayed the fact that you are not looking for a monster, but only looking for a safe lynch with 'And this time I'm not changing my mind.'

And in other matters, why has Jordon not spoken up on his Lynch voting? Keeping a low profile, hoping to avoid more votes?

"I figured one person paranoid about me was nothing big since we've all been pointing fingers at each other. I just want to make sure we don't stab anyone innocent. If I think the facts gravitate towards anyone being a monster, then I'll consider it. But Gryff, I have to ask. Are you really and completely okay with us lynching you on the chance that it helps us find the monsters?"

Jacquelle sighs. "Honestly. Honestly? Where have I ever been resistant to a day one vote? Was it when I placed the second vote for a killing? Was it when I mentioned, multiple time, that I still thought we should kill someone today? Was it when I spent multiple posts arguing why we SHOULD kill someone on day 1-- namely, you?"

"I changed my vote because I brought up the fact that it would make more sense to kill someone who had not yet come to the scene of the crime. Would it not look hypocritical to say that we should kill a silent person when my vote still stood for someone who had not been silent?"

"As for your other points: I have now detailed the reasons why I think you are a suspicious personage, and why I think you have something to hide. I'm not going to keep secrets from you: I think your behavior points to you being a monster. And why should I change my mind, by your logic? Lynching anyone will help us in our cause, so why should I pick anyone but you? You who do not seem to mind death?"

Ana starts bashing her face into the nearby blood-covered wall.

"That." Bash. "Is." Bash. "Not." Bash. "The." Bash. "Point." BASH.

She looks up at the rest of the group, her face covered with blood - whether it is Harry's of her own, nobody can tell.

"WHO CARES IF HE'S OKAY WITH BEING LYNCHED OR NOT?! GIVE ME THE DAGGER! AT THIS RATE I'M JUST GOING TO STAB MYSELF AND BE DONE WITH THIS SHIT!"

[OOC: I think Gryff made a very satisfactory post that has already answered any concerns you may have about the stance he's taking.

This makes sense to me. I don't see why you need further elaboration of these points. Jordan, to me it looks like you're just bandwagoning on what Jacquelle has been saying instead of coming up with your own arguments, which does not make you any less lynch-worthy in my book.]

Actually I am hoping that someone will give themselves away sufficiently that I won't need to die. I do know however, that of the townies, my ability is currently the least useful (or at least among the least). This means if I need to die to avoid a watcher, doctor or van helsing biting the big one then I will. I also feel that this discussion I am trying to force is likely to get the monsters to kill me tonight anyway.

Jacquelle currently is only using story to justify lynches or non lynches, giving us nothing to use. She is also not trying to provoke information. I am pretty happy with my Lynch vote as it stands, which is a little suprising as I originally did it to provoke discussion.

[OOC: Okay, here's my point. If he's willing to be lynched that may say something about his role. If he was the doctor or watcher, I'd assume he'd defend himself stronger. If he was the innocent child or lucky bastard, he probably considers getting lynched to be not a big deal. In hindsight, I realise this doesn't matter because if he was say, the Dark Acolyte, he'd still want to avoid getting lynched, so hey, first day mistake on my part.]

"I am kinda off-put by this. It's clear in my eyes at least that Gryff does want us stake out the monsters. You people really think lynching someone is the way to go? Alright. I won't disagree. I wanna see where this argument is going first, the day is still young after all."

[OOC: Well I guess Gryff answered my question]]

[OOC:

Ever heard about different time zones :P]

A large and brutish man with an expression of severe self induced alcohol poisoning stumbles into the room
Waaatchama 'ave to make sooooo mach noise foooor? Imma traing to srleep mah...
-notices the corps, the blood, the anabanana and the dagger, and seems to sobber up momentairly.
...Blooody 'ell! You've seems to haves gotten you selves into a damn fine mess when old Kat was away. Hookay, so who done did it? t's time to fes up so that we can make sure that no one else gets hert *hick*.

A tall, fastidiously-dressed man enters the room. His bearing is one of a person that would wear a monocle, if he could but afford one.

"Hello, Ladies and Gentleman. You're up awfully early. (sniffs) Or late, as the case may be. What are we doing in Harry's room?" He inspects the dagger, picks it up and looks at it closely, then puts it back down. "Interesting piece. Is that...Polynesian? No matter, I'd love to stay and chat but I'd promised Harry I'd straighten up after his repair job on the sink in the empty studio. Have to earn my keep around here somewhere." He winks and heads off.

You hear the door open "Oh my stars and garters...HARRY!" He runs back into the room. "Gentleman, Ladies, we have to do something...Harry is..." Gryff stops him and shows him the journal entry and the note. "I...see. Well." He is shaken. "There must be someone here who knows something. I'm sure we've already made a mess of things, haven't we? No one quite trusts anyone, do they?" He looks around. "No, I expect not."

"This is a hard question, asking us who to kill. But we should kill someone, that is true. The math just works out that way, sadly enough. And asking for volunteers is a little...redundant. What have we found out so far?" Anabana and jordantigers fill him in, with jacquelle and Gryff heavily editorializing.

"Hmm...this is a puzzle. I think I'm partial to Gryff's line of thinking. Using logic and what little information we are able to muster, we should be able to suss out the monsters, and the quickest way to get absolutely solid information is to see how people react to the dagger."

He looks hardly at Jacquelle. "With that in mind, I'll vote Gryff's way as well. His reasoning is sound. Vote Jacquelle. However, I would like to hear how other people are thinking, as well."

Tome has been leaning quietly against the wall throughout this argument. After pausing to consider every option, she finally moves towards the group.

Gryff you seem to have very intense opinions about zis situation. I do not enjoy ze notion of one so hot-tempered, be he friend or foe. I vote zat ve dispatch Gryff before his sharp vords lower a fog over our powers of reason.

[OOC: If that wasn't clear sorry! Vote Gryff ]

[OOC: Dammit. Now I feel like I should have added some gimmick to my dialouge :c Kat, it would be amazing if you stayed drunk for the entirety of this game]

Ah ave always fand that the best possible solution to all a horrid puzzle is at the button of the bottle. Obviously our dear Henry... Hector... nay HaRRY had the sssssame idea. Monsters? All a bunch o' humbug if ya askh me!
No mah friends, theres a killeers amonst us! An we better get im before e gets us!

[OOC; thats the plan ;)]

[OOC: I love how you describe me as part of the scenery here. And I'm so happy you're going to stay drunk for the rest of the game this is going to be AMAZING. It'll be like having our own mini-drunk thread!]

Ana bursts out into short gasps that may or may not be derisive laughter.

"To mah mind, Gryff is the only person - except me-self, of course - who's actually using their 'powers of reason'," Ana snorts. Her face twists into a vaguely excited grimace. "Not that I particularly care - I'll be happy as long as somebody's blood is shed tonight."

[OOC: I don't particularly care for killing Gryff just because he's against Day 1 no-lynch and being confrontational. Getting debates started is an important part of the game. For all I know though, he COULD be trying to appear innocent by being so proactive in scumhunting, but that road leads straight to WIFOM-dom so I'll stop right here.]

Let me get this straight. You don't care whether you dispatch a Friend, or a Foe..?

Could it be that you know that all the current Lynch candidates are not on your side? I find it interesting that you are quick to choose me because I am not the calm sheep, and completely neglect to discuss the other people with votes.

Any what do you have to say about this? No good waiting for others to find the killer. Give us your thoughts on who we should get.

Oh dear me, this is a pickle!

Having to stab each other with that horrible thing in order to save the rest of us? It's almost too much to bear!

But I suppose we must. I think we should focus on someone who hasn't been here trying to help. That way, we either kill a monster or at worst, someone who isn't contributing.

Of course, they may just still be asleep. As the day goes on, though, that's likely who I will vote for.

[OOC: If someone really has to be lynched, the quote-unquote safest option THAT EXPRESSION DOESN'T WORK IN TEXT FORM AT ALL would be to lynch Gryff. If he is a townie, he already said that his role is not that important, if he's a monster... cool. I say this because right now, as I see it, Jacquelle... or anyone else for that matter, could be anything from the Vampire to the Doctor. I'm gonna wait until before I go to bed to see if I want to change my No Lynch vote]

Oh my, what have I missed? You would not believe how hard it is to clean up a dead body! I'm not sure what Harry would have wanted, but in order to avoid any police involvement I burned his body. I hope he's alright with that.

Manis places Harry's ashes in one of his antique urns on the bookshelf with a sigh.

[[I just got up, whew. My timezone is US Eastern, for reference.]]

I am surprised that noone else responded to this. In what way does sitting back and seeing what happens is helping the town? That option is safest because it might only take out a low power townie? Why not poke and prod and try to get some information on a better target? Why not look into the reasons that existing votes have been placed, and either agree, disagree or offer insight?

Waiting until the last minute to follow the group is bandwagon behaviour. And apparently you know what that means.

[OOC: I was going to respond but then I realized that I've been harping on and on about how voting no-lynch is scummy for quite a while and it doesn't seem to have sunk in, so decided not to bother because I'd only be repeating myself. Voting you does seem like the "safest" option, just because we can minimize our losses that way if you're innocent, but I'm reluctant to vote for somebody who's actively participating and scum-hunting as opposed to one of the quiet, non-contributing ones, or somebody who insists on no-lynching on Day 1. The quiet ones can be excused by time-zone shenanigans for now though, which is why my vote is still on jordantigers. I'll still sway to you or Jacquelle if it's a difference between that and a no-lynch, no offense.]

I can understand people being passive at the moment, because they might have important roles and so they don't want to get on anyone's bad side. With that said, not killing anyone would be a bad move for our first night, and so it's a risk we have to take.

Jacquelle, your defense has been quite wordy and verbose so far. It's almost like you're trying to use smoke and mirrors, like a lawyer.

I don't trust lawyers.

Vote Jacquelle

Yeah, timezones are going to make things awkward. I am not looking forward to the fact I am always going to be asleep for the 3-4 hours before a lynching. All the best stuff happens then, and I won't be able to respond to it.

[OOC: Obviously, the answer is to re-synch your sleep-wake cycle to Pacific time! Forum mafia is serious business, after all. ;)]

Indeed, the trick is to re-synch the Wife and kids to the same :)

[OOC: This. Got something resembling a full night's sleep for the first time in over a week. Seeing how long the discussions went on, seems like the right choice.]

"Ugh, why are we jumping on Jacquelle? Gryff's been rooting around helpfully, and I won't vote for him. But is that enough to vote for Jacquelle?"

Ryutaro sighs, massaging the back of his neck with his free hand.

"All I want to do is just go upstairs and drink..."

I'm sure some people are also quiet because there is nothing to go on yet. Usually this day 1 back and forth stuff ends up being between 2 villagers anyway. Which is why I like going after one of the really quiet ones on day 1.