Ladies, Gentlemen, and bears of the court. Yesterday was a tragedy. I come in front of you with a troubled heart and confusion regarding our direction onward. A few things stuck out to me as off kilter, whether by design or chance, and I believe if it were by design then we might have the machinators within our midst. I present to you my first person of interest, Fantomas.
Now I'm sure we all know the ever lovable 'Far out' Chloe stan Fantomas, but don't judge him on his
bad taste in characters or what he wrongly chose in the final episode, judge him on the actions he took yesterday. Let us take a journey through D1 Fantomas.
He opens with his usual round of questions which don't exactly get the expected response. Fantomas is unperturbed. D1 leisure? Perhaps.
Awwwwww yeah! It's game time!
Ok, let's see.
SkyOdin Xbro Reki - Since I have not played with any of you before, I must ask, have any of you ever played Life is Strange?
Ty4on please also answer this question, as you did not answer when I asked you it in the last game, presumably because you were Scum.
We then have some friendly conversation and tic tac toe amusement. Very Max.
This tic tac toe game is killing me lmao
Moving on, it's finally time to Mafia. He runs out the gate pointing fingers at a one Dr. Monkey, former mentor, friend and confidant turned frenemy after a slew of betrayals. Nothing unusual from his content yet, and it's expected that he would be paying attention to the good Dr given their history. Once he picks up steam, Dr. Stuart can't get back up after a series of post slaps from Fantomas, which appear genuine. There's good posts, follow up questions and rebuttals. In regards to his pursuit of Monkey, I give him a nod because that's dedication.
Monkey seems scummy to me.
This is all weak. Meme vote for Sorian, asks B-Dubs a pointless question that she doesn't care about, turns around on Kits and pretends to scum hunt for bit, then reiterates that she wants B-Dubs to answer her pointless question.
Vote: Dr. Monkey
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To everyone talking about Not Voting today: You all just got caught in Rac's bit, congratulations lol.
So you're role fishing B-Dubs?
This doesn't make me feel any better lol.
I'm sure he'll be playing some Mafia.
Do you actually find anything Sorian has done so far to be scummy? Genuine question.
So then in the spirit of justice, let us keep a running tally for Fantomas' thoughts.
Monkey--scummy /Stu-- Unsure
Following up on Fran, he says that he's been feeling good about him or at least his posts. Fran--Feels good. He also seems to talk about Sorian a lot which is...odd. Not AI, just odd.
What has pinged you about Fran if you don't mind me asking? I've actually felt kind of good about his posts so far just from what I can recall.
What do you make of Sorian's thought on them both being Scum?
He then writes up a reads list of a few people:
For the first two, there are slight meta feels here and there that made me feel good enough to not throw them in the "to-do" pile with everyone else.
I've felt good about posts coming from both Kyan and Donna so far, mainly meta-based stuff. I've only seen Donna as Town, but her being a bit tentative about her early reads seems about right to me, and Kyan has had some pretty good townish posts in my eyes as well. I'd like to hear more from Donna, but in my experience she isn't the strongest on D1, so I don't really feel the need to pressure her too much yet.
Pirate Bae, honestly I'm just hoping she's Town this time lol. There is a bit of weird WIFOM stuff that only applies to me where I don't think she would try to pick apart my read on Monkey like that if she was Scum, but that's nothing. Malus I could use some more from. This is probably one that should be examined more thoroughly though, I need more from both of them.
As for Frando, Fran is probably one of my top town leans right now, I really like his engagement with the game and he's definitely scum hunting around. Fandorin too, even though he hasn't had as much, but I still like what he has brought so far from what I can remember.
Which is, alright? It kind of does get me confused on how little he's working with to get these impressions which he honestly acknowledges when called out. Afterwards he talks mechanics and meta for a while. It does seem innocuous enough...however I can't help thinking...
He asks questions towards Zbeat and Fluxil but he seems to be focusing more on putting out questions than putting in thoughts ever since that read list.
The pairs that I would want to hear more from today when they get the chance are:
TyBro
BrawaveZ
Rincent
TheSkyChugger
Rexbro
Kyonna
There isn't a whole lot coming to my mind from this crew yet.
I especially want to hear more from BrawaveZ because those two are usually pretty active posters in my experience who can bring a lot of thoughts to the table, and I'm interested in what they are thinking so far.
What's up, BrawaveZ?
I feel like there's some more going on now. Any thoughts on anyone in the pairs of Dr. Stuart, Katsune, S-Dubs, Frando, and/or Natforce? Go ahead and add myself and Zipped in there too if you'd like.
Stu is still an unsure element, so consistent.
Not sure what to make of Stu here. He is being a bit, I don't know if "passive" is the right word which is what everyone in the thread is saying, but I do think he has been giving some short replies and being a bit dismissive at times, which is what people are picking up on I think.
That being said, I do agree that I'd like to see some scum hunting from Stu here.
I am willing to admit that I feel like I don't quite have my footing here since this is the largest roster that I have played in so far, and I haven't been doing a ton of scum hunting yet either, but I plan to start digging in to some things more soon.
He then seems to be coming around with a more in depth reads list, which is pretty good for D1. Hm, he also sets ground for his Natiko suspicion, for when he votes for the Natforce pair later while making a case against them. He made an okay case.
I'd agree there, yeah.
Any thoughts on Natiko and Terraforce? I feel like they're both getting in on things, Terra has put in some decent work and I usually do seem to lean town on him, but I'm not sure where I stand on Nat right now.
I'll start by getting some more thoughts down about the people I had some townish thoughts on here so far:
Frando - I expanded a bit when Stu asked earlier, but just to reiterate, I've really liked Fran's scum hunting and level of engagement, and nothing from Fandorin changes my thoughts on that pair.
Verollo - Vere is also one of my top town leans as well, I like that he's pointing things out and can put words to some things I'm feeling about posts that I don't quite know how to say. I know agreeing with someone doesn't make them Town, but I wouldn't want Vere gone today. Apollo, I like the effort she put into that scum read on Chuggs just now, so nothing from her changes my thoughts on Vere.
Rexbro - Others have pointed to Reki's big post as town read material, but I actually liked the few Xbro posts that were out before that too, I felt like he was asking some good questions and making good points even without being super talkative. I just don't really sense any deception from either of them yet I guess.
BraWaveZ - Neither are posting as much as I would have expected, but I'm still seeing some quality posts from both of them so far.
TheSkyChugger - Chugg isn't quite posting as much as I expect, and SkyOdin isn't around very often, so I would classify this as a spot where I need to go back and reread. Initial thoughts were that Chugg seems normal enough so probably Town again, but I actually expect him to comment on things a bit more than he is, even if it is just D1 noise.
Pirate Malus - Not much from Malus. Pirate Bae seemed fine with giving some early reads at first and I figured she would keep up with that, but now is calling it all jibber jabber. I see she has given some reads now. She would kill me on D1? Really?
Then regarding Monkey and Stu:
I'm liking Monkey's posts more now, Stu's behavior isn't really something I would scum read him for, and I've scum read Stu for a lot of things on D1. I'm thinking more suspect thoughts about people voting for one of these two than I am about them at this point of the day.
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So, the people I had in my "Everyone Else" pile were:
Katsune
Tybro
S-Dubs
Rincent
Funky Dude Geno
CoolestBeat
Natforce
FlatearthStans
Right now, I would sort them like this, but of course things may change as we get closer to EoD.
Not Today:
Tybro - More for AB than for Ty. I liked AB's read list that he put out, and in my experience he is a great Town player to have around even though he isn't the most talkative, wouldn't want him gone on D1.
S-Dubs - Sorian is a tough nut to crack for me. I want to get some more engagement from B-Dubs here since that might be a better way for me to get a read on that pair than trying to figure out what the fuck Sorian's up to.
Rincent - I love Rac, so I wouldn't want to just throw him out a window on D1 lol. Also with Vincent being sick, I expect we'll get a lot more from him once he's feeling better, he usually posts a bit more often than he is.
CoolestBeat - Coolest actually made one of the most coherent posts I've ever seen him make earlier, which shouldn't worry me but it did lol. Z-Beat, as I said earlier, is playing within normal parameters for what I expect from him on D1.
Perhaps Today:
Katsune - Kalor I can never really get a read on, Kits I can see some scumminess there, and a lot of people have talked about her. I wouldn't necessarily be opposed here, but there are others I would vote first.
Funky Dude Geno - Looking back, I actually got the sense that Geno seemed maybe a bit opportunistic when jumping on the Dr. Stuart vote. His read on B-Dubs also seemed a bit played up, I'm not sure if he really buys that read, which seems a bit scummy to me. Sparks is fucking wild.
Natforce - I have suspicions, mainly about Natiko as I've said before. Some of his play here is reminding me of how he was in MafiEra, but it's also one of the only reference points I have for him. I'd have to do a deep dive to really figure my thoughts out there.
Flatearthstans - I expect more from FEPs, and having actually seen a Scum Stan recently, he can pull off his normal routine pretty well, so I wouldn't say there has been anything that makes me think townish thoughts about either of them yet.
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So with that being said, I'll go here for now:
Vote: flatearthpandas
Ok, let's shake things up a bit here.
Vote: Natiko
I've mentioned feeling a bit off about Natiko, so I'm going to try to explain some of that.
His first post this morning, shuts down the Monkey argument, fair, but casts some shade towards Stu at least in the same breath.
Looks at the vote leaders and decides on CoolestBeat. If we look at the votes on them, it was a small meta read from Donna, and a joke vote from Terra that were on them at the time. He calls out Z-Beat for not sharing pertinent thoughts on D1, and called it unusual, which it really isn't in my experience.
Here he sums up Z-Beat's reads for him to make them look bad, which is something I recall Nat doing as Scum in MafiEra.
Then after I commented on Z-Beat, he seems to ease off a bit. This is something I've seen from multiple Scum players in the past, so it pinged my radar.
Now he's responding to Stu at a time when, in my opinion, it felt like Stu was being ganged up on a bit for his attitude. I didn't directly engage, but Natiko did, and it maybe felt to me like he was just stoking those flames on the current vote leader.
Vere commented on this post too I think, but something about it felt off to me even though I did agree with the take in general, I guess it felt like a strange pockety kind of way to throw out a random town read on someone.
Monkey questions why Nat has his vote on CoolestBeat, he explains and then decides to also announce that he will vote for Pirate Bae if she says something he doesn't like. She didn't say something he liked, so he voted for her, then when she came back with reads:
I'll admit I'm not impressed with Bae's reads, since she's scum reading me and she's wrong, but Natiko doesn't know this, or shouldn't know this, but he sure is coming to my defense, though I don't think he had mentioned me much at all prior to this, other than interacting with me a couple of times maybe.
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Overall, that's why I'm feeling off about Natiko here. For Terraforce, before anyone comes knocking, I will say that there have been some instances where I felt like he was making some really easy observations or just jumping in on topics that I just wasn't super impressed with, so there isn't any major feeling there to change how I feel about Natiko.
But then a new day rises, and here comes the turn around. On everything. Except Chloe I guess because whatever.
Good morning everyone!
Unvote
Don't think I'll be keeping my vote on Natiko here, felt better after talking to him last night and not many others seem interested in that sick read.
That being said, I'm also not interested in voting out either Dr. Stuart or Pirate Malus today, so not really into these vote leaders.
I'll gather my thoughts a bit more with some coffee and get a new vote down.
Great?
So~ Monkey/Stuart= Alright
Natforce= Also alright
So who looks good to Fantomas?
So, looking through the list of teams, I think my vote is fine with settling on any of the following:
Tybro - This would be based almost solely on Ty4on, as I don't really have any bad thoughts about AB but he hasn't given us a whole lot either. For Ty, similar thoughts to his behavior in HoH, not a whole lot of talk about his reads, kind of entered into a Shadow Lurker status again now.
S-Dubs - I actually have worse feelings about Sorian in this game than I have in any other game I've played with him, which troubles me because I haven't seen him as Scum before. Normally I do feel I would be able to point to things about his play that I've liked on D1 and that seem townish to me, but not so much this time. As for Dubs, there's just not a whole lot to go on, so my feelings on Sorian aren't changed by anything Dubs has said or done.
Funky Dude Geno - I explained a bit earlier on my thoughts on Geno, and I understand if that is normal parameters for what people expect from him, but the way he went in on the Dr. Stuart vote still looks a bit opportunistic to me, and I don't fully buy it.
CoolestBeat - Coolest hasn't been much of a presence in the back half of the day and hasn't been of much help. Z-Beat seems a bit lost at times, and I can't quite tell if it's real or an act, but it gives me bad vibes.
FlatearthStans - Somewhat based on activity levels, but also not really getting too much from them when they are around, along with paranoia about how they could play as Scum.
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I'm surprised at how little about you has stuck out to me so far tbh, why am I having trouble thinking of you as Town?
Comprehensive.
I mean, I'm here and I'm fine with where things are going?
I voted for Ty because I thought he was Scum, now others are voting here too. I'm fine if Kits/Kalor goes too I guess. I don't know, I don't have much to say.
What is this sudden attack on my coolness!?
But why though?
And it would be great...if he didn't flip flop at day end because of Uncle Sorian shouting to jump in the deep end with him.
Vote: Kitsunelaine
Here, fine, let's have some COOL FUN and move some votes with 10 minutes to go.
So a habitual backstepper was born. Every decision made these past few days slowly came undone once day end began to roll around. Was it coincidence that Sorian was the impetus? Did it matter to Fantomas who was kicked off the island since he voted with a cavalier attitude? Did he, perhaps, already know Kitslor's alignment and therefore wanted to show a noncomittal attitude to seem townie? By saying he had no interest in the lynch, he can make the case that he wouldn't have been directing a town lynch. All good questions. But first, let us ask this.
Who is the person covertly present throughout Fantos' day and therefore interactions?
Is it Monkey? No. Even though he flip flopped on her, he was always blatantly involved with her.
Is it Stuart? No. Being continuously unsure means that you're continuously drawing attention to them.
Is it Natiko? No. An odd turn of events, but easily analyzable and therefore high profile.
Is it Chuggs? No, they have had surprisingly little interaction.
Is it Sorian? Why yes, yes it is.
Look back to the beginning of Fantomas' day of Mafia, and see what he's concerned about. He's concerned about how Monkey is attacking Sorian, concerned about how Stu is framing Sorian's breadcrumb comment, and concerned about those who began doubting Sorian. At the end of the day it's no one but Sorian who convinces Fanto to switch over to Kits based on an abject 'Be cool' comment. I can safely say, being a Butz who just says yes is never cool.
So what's going on here? Is it something more than just coincidence, something clandestine, scummy and sinister?
The verdict is out. There is a relation!
We'll see just what kind as the day goes on.
Next on the list is person of interest #2 Flux, formerly called FluxWaveZ.