[ embedding icons is the bane of my existence. anyway ]
It won't hurt to take a look, if you don't mind. As for what he's shown us... It's worrying, but I think you all can handle it. I just want you to be careful about it.
[ i understand this pain entirely. but he pulls out his phone to show phoenix pictures of two notes. a piece of paper:
It would be anticlimactic if the curtains were to fall before the main act could begin. The moon has its cycles, it waxes and wanes but never truly goes away. A clash may blanket the moon with darkness for a spell, but the light of the moon shall return brighter than ever. The show must go on, and it will be foolish of the heroes to believe otherwise.
and then a news clipping:
Yesterday was the deadly attack from the moon. The moon has shown its destructive power. The reason why has not been explored. The past month it was slowly lowering day by day. The night began with the full moon dropping from the night sky, quickly transitioning into attacking everything within its area with lasers and earthquakes.
A white haired man was spotted at the scene, but there have been no reports of him since yesterday night. The heroes of the city were able to force the moon to retreat, at the cost of several of their lives. We take this moment to thank them for their sacrifice. At the moment, it is unknown if this was something that will repeat every full moon. Dread hangs heavy in the air as the city remains uncertain about what is to come.
The damages from the battle are extensive. It will take several months before everything is repaired. The prinnies are being used as part of the labor force in order to restore the city to its former prime. Repairs are set to begin at the town center.
i know you guys wrote these, these are for reference. but once that's done...yeah, he's just swiveling his eyes up from the phone and back to phoenix. ]
Dude, absolutely not. How are we even sure this has to be the answer?
I've been getting that impression. [ he says, exasperatedly. but he pockets his phone and he's still frowning at the idea. ]
And in the meantime our answer is we plan on killing someone? [ ... ] The other three aren't going to be happy to hear that. What would I even say to them?
No, they won't. But is it fair to hold it back from them when it could affect their chances of going home just as much as it does yours?
Tell me, Nico di Angelo: would you take it well if this were hidden from you by a teammate? And do you think it's better to act as if this is true, or wait to see if it's not, while other teams could take it as fact and follow the instructions given to us?
[ he's been thinking about this for a couple of days since will had mentioned it to him, so it's not like he didn't expect this question. all the same, he stares at phoenix for a moment longer than usual. ]
Depends. Do you really think anyone's going to react well to the idea that we have to take away someone else's chance just to keep ours and possibly lose ours if we get caught? That's the problem, Phoenix. That's...asking too much of some people.
I did the math, you know. After tomorrow there'll be twenty-four of us left. Ranked from first to last, currently, there's three Mice, four Foxes, four Phoenixes, three Snakes, two Tigers, three Goats, two Oxes and three Rabbits. Strategically, in order to avoid killing off an entire team and dooming them, the safest route would be...Phoenix and Foxes next. When I originally figured it out before, I was able to safely include snakes and oxes, but now that's less of an option. Especially if we have another few weeks leading to the festival.
If we assume that Mouse, Snake, Tiger and Ox are the only teams who have killed so far since we have no leads on Satan's killer or Janeways, that still leaves us with a problem of four "safe" teams and one outlier, assuming Satan and Janeways killers aren't on one of the teams who've already killed someone. It leaves us, Foxes, Goats and Rabbits. Goats and Rabbits are down to three each, and I think it's in pretty poor taste to have a Fox take out a Phoenix or vice versa when the idea is to get both of those teams to win. Regardless of what we do, we're...at the risk of bringing a lot of teams down to two because they'd lose a member via killing or a member via execution, or both. Especially since people seem determined to make every weekend a two-body kill. And if you have a situation where Rabbits or Goats kill, and someone kills one of their members the same weekend, and we catch them, that's an entire teamwipe.
I know it isn't wise to act as if it isn't true. But I don't know if it's wise to accept it as fact when we really don't know where this information came from. How can we be sure it's not someone just trying to cause even more problems?
Edited (is and isn't change the context entirely wowee) 2023-10-16 07:47 (UTC)
Do you think they're going to react any better when they learn you chose not to share, if it does turn out there's no way around it?
[ just for the sake of argument. it'll never be good, he thinks, but you can't do anything if you know nothing in the first place.
in fact, there's a faint smile on izuminokami's face. not one of humor, of course, but he does seem to be a little proud of nico for thinking so hard about it already. as if he'd expect anything less. ]
The numbers aren't good. [ he agrees. ] Chances are, it was designed that way. As for whether it's true or not, I can't say for certain. But I can say that the handwriting on that first note matches the one that warned us of this competition in the first place, and I don't think that's an insignificant detail.
[ he spreads his hands, palm up, like "well?" ]
So what do you think would be the best move, then? How this competition ends up... it's up to what you all choose to do, after all.
[ ...uggggh this succccckkkkksss. his only response is to turn and smack a training dummy out of annoyance. he's definitely been thinking about this since will told him, and he's not really running into any great answers. ]
It wouldn't surprise me if this was all designed just to make sure we did wipe someone's team and doom them to an eternity here. [ that's a detail he didn't really know though and it causes him to pause. ]
...I don't know. If I abide by this, I have to do it in a way where I actually won't get caught. I can't do that to Will. [ he says, as if he's the one who's going to have to do this. ] So you can kind of see where I'm sort of stuck. And telling the others...I guess I don't really know what to say is the thing.
[ valid of him. honestly, izuminokami could probably go for another round against the training dummy, too. ]
If that's the case, we're all stuck in this together.
[ not that he's happy about it! ]
...I won't be able to help. Our power as leaders doesn't go that far. [ frustrating. ] But... you do have a team. It is possible that you could work together, if you decide to act on it. At the very least, you could all help each other choose what to do about it - whether it's taking on the role of "villain" or ignoring it.
[ ssgm is always gonna advocate for teamwork woohoo ]
...can I ask what your roles are as our leaders in all of this, Izuminokami? [ this isn't a rude question like "WHAT GOOD ARE YOU", this is genuine because he's getting the idea the leaders really cannot do much here. also this is nico "working with people cramps my style" di angelo. he's better about it now, but even so. ]
I do have a team, I guess. And maybe we can make a choice, it's just that every single choice we can make sucks. Everything I think of that I could maybe do to try to help turns out to be stuff I actually can't do here, at least in terms of getting other answers before we act.
[ ....ugh. ]
We have another few weeks until that festival, right?
[ with a sigh, he calls back upon the sword of light to transition into a restless slash in one fluid movement. ]
We are meant to "guide" you. With what is anyone's guess - maybe to remind you to work together, or to convince you to go ahead and follow the "villain" rule. Anything it takes to win would be my guess, because we win if you win, and we lose if you lose.
But we already had our fight, and as far as we knew, we'd won. Making us leaders could just as easily have been a way to force us into passive roles.
[ following the light slash like a cat follows a laser pointer with its eyes. cool...
wait, fuck, focus. ]
So that means in terms of our numbers you also don't actually count as a part of the team. Leaders can't act as villains, and if a whole team's erased the leader doesn't count toward that team. What happens to them if a team is erased though? Have your higher ups said? I guess that makes sense, but...[ he frowns. ]
You mean when the moon came down the first time, right? By putting you into the leader roles, you started the cycle all over again without having to go through the same channels. [ he hates that actually. ] What do you think would happen if we met the criteria early? Let's say all eight teams did act as villains like...by next week or the week after. Would we then be able to find a way to stop it from happening in the rest of the weeks leading to the festival or even just skipping over that wait period?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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but then again...so are papers, and he frowns a little when phoenix mentions pages. ]
...I'm sure you've heard about the latest already then. Both from the last adventures, and from earlier this week.
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[ nada. it's annoying. ]
Will's shown us some things, but nothing from this week's groups, assuming they found anything.
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but oh. he nods a little and he's just...pausing. ]
I have copies of those if you want to actually see them. But I guess the other question is if you want to talk about the information Will gave you.
[ i.e. "hi phoenix i've heard we may have to have every team kill??? help???" ]
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It won't hurt to take a look, if you don't mind. As for what he's shown us... It's worrying, but I think you all can handle it. I just want you to be careful about it.
Have you shared with the rest of the team?
no subject
It would be anticlimactic if the curtains were to fall before the main act could begin. The moon has its cycles, it waxes and wanes but never truly goes away. A clash may blanket the moon with darkness for a spell, but the light of the moon shall return brighter than ever. The show must go on, and it will be foolish of the heroes to believe otherwise.
and then a news clipping:
Yesterday was the deadly attack from the moon. The moon has shown its destructive power. The reason why has not been explored. The past month it was slowly lowering day by day. The night began with the full moon dropping from the night sky, quickly transitioning into attacking everything within its area with lasers and earthquakes.
A white haired man was spotted at the scene, but there have been no reports of him since yesterday night. The heroes of the city were able to force the moon to retreat, at the cost of several of their lives. We take this moment to thank them for their sacrifice. At the moment, it is unknown if this was something that will repeat every full moon. Dread hangs heavy in the air as the city remains uncertain about what is to come.
The damages from the battle are extensive. It will take several months before everything is repaired. The prinnies are being used as part of the labor force in order to restore the city to its former prime. Repairs are set to begin at the town center.
i know you guys wrote these, these are for reference. but once that's done...yeah, he's just swiveling his eyes up from the phone and back to phoenix. ]
Dude, absolutely not. How are we even sure this has to be the answer?
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[ he doesn't seem to react to the newspaper at all before returning it to nico. he was there, it's not news to him. ]
We can't. But we only have so long to figure out what the answer really is.
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And in the meantime our answer is we plan on killing someone? [ ... ] The other three aren't going to be happy to hear that. What would I even say to them?
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Tell me, Nico di Angelo: would you take it well if this were hidden from you by a teammate? And do you think it's better to act as if this is true, or wait to see if it's not, while other teams could take it as fact and follow the instructions given to us?
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Depends. Do you really think anyone's going to react well to the idea that we have to take away someone else's chance just to keep ours and possibly lose ours if we get caught? That's the problem, Phoenix. That's...asking too much of some people.
I did the math, you know. After tomorrow there'll be twenty-four of us left. Ranked from first to last, currently, there's three Mice, four Foxes, four Phoenixes, three Snakes, two Tigers, three Goats, two Oxes and three Rabbits. Strategically, in order to avoid killing off an entire team and dooming them, the safest route would be...Phoenix and Foxes next. When I originally figured it out before, I was able to safely include snakes and oxes, but now that's less of an option. Especially if we have another few weeks leading to the festival.
If we assume that Mouse, Snake, Tiger and Ox are the only teams who have killed so far since we have no leads on Satan's killer or Janeways, that still leaves us with a problem of four "safe" teams and one outlier, assuming Satan and Janeways killers aren't on one of the teams who've already killed someone. It leaves us, Foxes, Goats and Rabbits. Goats and Rabbits are down to three each, and I think it's in pretty poor taste to have a Fox take out a Phoenix or vice versa when the idea is to get both of those teams to win. Regardless of what we do, we're...at the risk of bringing a lot of teams down to two because they'd lose a member via killing or a member via execution, or both. Especially since people seem determined to make every weekend a two-body kill. And if you have a situation where Rabbits or Goats kill, and someone kills one of their members the same weekend, and we catch them, that's an entire teamwipe.
I know it isn't wise to act as if it isn't true. But I don't know if it's wise to accept it as fact when we really don't know where this information came from. How can we be sure it's not someone just trying to cause even more problems?
no subject
[ just for the sake of argument. it'll never be good, he thinks, but you can't do anything if you know nothing in the first place.
in fact, there's a faint smile on izuminokami's face. not one of humor, of course, but he does seem to be a little proud of nico for thinking so hard about it already. as if he'd expect anything less. ]
The numbers aren't good. [ he agrees. ] Chances are, it was designed that way. As for whether it's true or not, I can't say for certain. But I can say that the handwriting on that first note matches the one that warned us of this competition in the first place, and I don't think that's an insignificant detail.
[ he spreads his hands, palm up, like "well?" ]
So what do you think would be the best move, then? How this competition ends up... it's up to what you all choose to do, after all.
no subject
It wouldn't surprise me if this was all designed just to make sure we did wipe someone's team and doom them to an eternity here. [ that's a detail he didn't really know though and it causes him to pause. ]
...I don't know. If I abide by this, I have to do it in a way where I actually won't get caught. I can't do that to Will. [ he says, as if he's the one who's going to have to do this. ] So you can kind of see where I'm sort of stuck. And telling the others...I guess I don't really know what to say is the thing.
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If that's the case, we're all stuck in this together.
[ not that he's happy about it! ]
...I won't be able to help. Our power as leaders doesn't go that far. [ frustrating. ] But... you do have a team. It is possible that you could work together, if you decide to act on it. At the very least, you could all help each other choose what to do about it - whether it's taking on the role of "villain" or ignoring it.
[ ssgm is always gonna advocate for teamwork woohoo ]
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...can I ask what your roles are as our leaders in all of this, Izuminokami? [ this isn't a rude question like "WHAT GOOD ARE YOU", this is genuine because he's getting the idea the leaders really cannot do much here. also this is nico "working with people cramps my style" di angelo. he's better about it now, but even so. ]
I do have a team, I guess. And maybe we can make a choice, it's just that every single choice we can make sucks. Everything I think of that I could maybe do to try to help turns out to be stuff I actually can't do here, at least in terms of getting other answers before we act.
[ ....ugh. ]
We have another few weeks until that festival, right?
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We are meant to "guide" you. With what is anyone's guess - maybe to remind you to work together, or to convince you to go ahead and follow the "villain" rule. Anything it takes to win would be my guess, because we win if you win, and we lose if you lose.
But we already had our fight, and as far as we knew, we'd won. Making us leaders could just as easily have been a way to force us into passive roles.
[ he swings the blade again, slicing the air. ]
A few more weeks, yes.
no subject
wait, fuck, focus. ]
So that means in terms of our numbers you also don't actually count as a part of the team. Leaders can't act as villains, and if a whole team's erased the leader doesn't count toward that team. What happens to them if a team is erased though? Have your higher ups said? I guess that makes sense, but...[ he frowns. ]
You mean when the moon came down the first time, right? By putting you into the leader roles, you started the cycle all over again without having to go through the same channels. [ he hates that actually. ] What do you think would happen if we met the criteria early? Let's say all eight teams did act as villains like...by next week or the week after. Would we then be able to find a way to stop it from happening in the rest of the weeks leading to the festival or even just skipping over that wait period?