Welcome to Gaia! ::

Optimist nodded back at Wintershadow and looked out toward the strangely silent crowd. Why was no one else speaking? Did they think her reasoning came from nowhere? She watched some people waver and took note of it, but of course the most interesting event was when Kiss of Death spoke up.

"I...suppose I understand why you didn't want to not vote for anyone, then," she said, with some confusion. Although the idea that avoiding being killed was Kiss of Death's primary motivation was a little disappointing. In a game like this, you could win even if you were dead. The best strategy was to simply seek out the most suspicious players, or the ones who skirted by without having people examine them by saying things without content. "But why not for Sun Sinks Down? Why not for someone who hadn't been speaking? Why did you choose Fire Made Flesh, without understanding why As the Sun Burns picked him?" She nodded at both of the named bucks as she spoke. This was largely so bewildering because Kiss of Death had been advocating asking for reasons earlier in the day. "And um - maybe I misunderstood it but I thought The Once and Future King had been killed because she voted explicitly not to kill people on the first day, rather than because she didn't vote." Personally Optimist held those who talked without voting at higher regard than those who voted without talking. "M-maybe I'm wrong, though - I think that was when I zoned out the most!" It'd be nice if someone who'd participated could articulate the reasoning better.

"I do agree that if you're innocent, then you've made it easy for the wolves to target you - but I think it would've just made a lot more sense to switch to Sun Sinks Down." Unless she was a predator, in which case she wouldn't want to look like she was killing someone who was...increasingly likely to have actually been misspeaking prey.

"No, you’re right. The Once and Future King was chosen because she asked us not to vote at all. That would have been unhelpful start to a game when we need to make choices," Peep interjected briefly when Optimist asked for assistance.

She watched Kiss with a curious tilt to her head, weighing up her words. When she did speak again, it was hesitantly. "You couldn’t remember any other names but Optimist or Apathy? So you’re voting on who you remember, rather than who you think might be a predator." She frowned. "Or you think both are a predator and you're just unwilling to vote for them because you don't think anyone else will do so?"

Peep sighed softly. "We discussed the others yesterday and it exactly where I put my vote. The wolves could very well be one of those who stand in silence. However, we can’t ignore suspicious actions when we see them. You've put yourself in a bad situation by changing your vote."

"I definitely think wolves are hiding by not speaking," Optimist said. "I think wolves are more likely to be not talking than not voting, though - it's easy to vote without a reason and slide by, but if you're contributing to the discussion then it shows at least an intention to vote, and that you're actively contributing to the preys' efforts. Days are pretty short in this game - it's easy to get distracted!"

But she nodded her head as Peep spoke up, too. "I do agree with Peep though - I don't think you should vote for people based on the names you remember." That'd be silly, and also...it stank a little of voting for people just because they talked. Which was silly. The concept behind voting for people who didn't talk much was that they were either innocent prey who weren't willing or able to help out for one reason or another (and therefore not a bad loss, if not an ideal loss), or that they were predators in disguise. The same wasn't true for people who talked: there were certain things they might slip up and say, for example.

This sure was an interesting game! "Anyway, I'd be happy to go back to searching for those who don't talk, but I think voting for someone who's acting suspicious is more likely to mean I'm voting for a predator, than voting for someone who's simply not talking. But those people are preferable to picking arbitrarily among the kin whose names I remember!"

Oh - she'd spoken too quickly, it seemed. But when no one spoke for a few moments she continued. "S-sorry for interrupting!" she said, and thought for a bit before speaking up again. "But...are you equally suspicious of everyone here? Why is it specifically As the Sun Burns that you want information from?" Optimist felt a little lost at the quick turns in Kiss of Death's reasoning - but as it became increasingly likely that Kiss of Death was at least one of the predators, she wanted more information from the doe. Sure, Kiss could lie, but at least she'd have those words as a form of information. "And...I don't really know what you mean by target."

The way Kiss was speaking implied she wasn't associated with either the predators or the prey - or was she just trying to confuse everyone? "E-either way, I think I'm going to vote for Kiss of Death." She nodded decisively. "I know there might be other suspicious people, and I think it's important to gain more information. But I find it hard to believe now that Kiss is innocent. I'll still keep answering questions, if anyone has them for me, though!"

Kiss could sense that these two does are already not trusting her no matter what she said. Saying that she was wrong for her actions will only throw her further down into the grave she dug. She just wanted to scream out that she's innocent but even doing so would raise more suspicion.

"I am not voting for those who simply talked or have not talked," she reassured them, "I have been watching everyone since the game started. I give my reasons why I wanted to vote for a certain kin every time."

She looked at Optimist as she voted for her. "I told you why I wanted information from him. He said Fire Made Flesh was tied to night killings. I want to hear his explanation!" See there it is. She's not trusting her own kind.

"Sure, if that's what you believe. You've just made it much easier for the wolves to not doing anything but enjoy seeing us kill each other off in the daytime. What do I have to do to make you trust me?" She gave a sad sigh again. "Talking and reasoning obviously isn't working."

The voting had started and she did not like the fact that there were already two votes on her. "Well, the odds seems not to be in my favour. I am aware that you guys have doubts about me and finding me too suspicious. I was never good at talking to begin with anyway."

She looked at all the players left in the game and gave up. "I was not going to reveal this until much later in the game, since the predators are still out there in high numbers, but, I have a feeling I'm going to be voted out today or tomorrow. If not, I'd probably be killed at night by the predators."

Taking in another deep breath, she did not plan on stopping with what she had to say until it was all out of her chest. If Optimist and whoever else wanted information out of her, this is it. "I have spend/spent every night saving a kin who I think is innocent and gets to live to play the game with us. So yes, I am still suspicious of everyone. And while I am still speaking, for I dread it's my last day to speak, I vote for As the Sun Burns for the same reason the first time that I've voted for him."


(( okay i have wasted too much time on gaia playing this game today. i am peacing out. voting now since idk if i can make it back in time to post tomorrow. ))

“What do you mean?” Peep asked Kiss. “You’ll have to explain a bit more. How have you been trying to save kin?” Her ears flicked forward curiously. Two votes to your name wasn’t the end and while Peep was considering putting her vote there, it wasn’t set in stone. Either the doe was telling the truth or spinning a lie to save herself.