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Post by Dolores Umbridge on May 3, 2022 21:51:35 GMT 10
A think A just jizzed ma kilt!
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Post by Peter Pettigrew on May 3, 2022 22:14:06 GMT 10
Remember back when I originally pitched the concept of this game, and it was 18 players with no repeats for my last Game, and three regular rounds before the swap? Well here we are Seems those Cursed Rings from The ORG of the Rings stuck once more, with the only two players who had been involved in that now out of the picture. Just as we stopped borrowing Challenge concepts from it, too. A few ep2 notes, even though I'm not at all filled in yet on the last few hours of ep1: - Lucius has assembled all four parts of the clue, and is currently on the final posting task to get the Item for himeslf... or for Crouch. - I'm really happy that Diggle/Yaxley got the House Points for the first Challenge, given they were the only ones who even tried to follow the prompts in the Day 0 thread by naming a pet. Yaxley's super proud of himself for that attention to detail, and so he should be. Don't think anyone will catch it but there's some more blatant foreshadowing in the video posted with Quidditch, which is probably the difference between finding or missing one of the images in the Final Six Challenge. - We've offered to link up Regulus/Mundungus as partners with a shared Fireplace and House Points scoreboard, but Regulus isn't interested. He's been super conservative in approaching the PBvO concept generally so it isn't super surprising. I guess we'll see whether the sympathy/flexibility of being a single so early will outweigh the eventual benefits of still having a partner... though with Mundungus in a fair amount of danger right now I'm not sure they'd have ever reaped those benefits. - Oliver has his Quidditch Challenge ![:fan](https://i.imgur.com/074wyXd.gif) I'm sure the other Order players are simply delighted ![:lol](https://i.imgur.com/X4ixXao.gif)
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Post by Peter Pettigrew on May 4, 2022 4:23:15 GMT 10
From the last 15ish hours, from the announcement of the quits until late night in Round 2: - Fleur used her hosting experience (and experience of the hosting team) to quickly tell everyone that there wouldn't be a vote happening after the quits, and things calmed down substantially. Killer tried to do the same but things only sped up; he doesn't hold quite as much sway and the Side has enough overthinking crazies that I don't think anything could stop the PMs from continuing to mount especially while everyone was still trying to puzzle out who was in Lucius' mega alliance. - Wood finally made the group chat he'd been promising with what is now the power alliance at Grimald Place: Wood/Fleur/Tonks/Lily. The girls have a trio, but all of them seem to like one another well enough. Even though they doubted there'd be a vote they finished their discussion of targets which was between Mundungus and Kingsley. I think it was Tonks who made the call that then filtered out for Mundungus to be the boot if they voted, but Moody was pushing it quietly all day first without ever coming on too strong so I think he gets credit too. Kingsley wasn't really around during the key times, but now the whole Side has more or less convinced themselves that Mundungus isn't trying as hard to connect with people, even though objectively I'm not sure that's true. Mundungus knows he was spared by Figg's quit too, so should have an interesting day tomorrow. - When he saw the Challenge, Wood gleefully posted to his group chat "WE GET T' PLAY QUIDDITCH!!!"... and everyone else continued the conversation as though he hadn't spoken ![:lol](https://i.imgur.com/X4ixXao.gif) - The group of 4 is trying to coordinate their Owl Post recipients to all link up with one another's partners. This plan started with Fleur and then went through the women with recipient allocations before Wood caught wind and questioned the wisdom of depriving their partners of clues. There's a bit of uncertainty around that here because they think most of them go letters, Lily hasn't been forthright with her clue to the whole group, there's some suspicion that a Death Eater designed the clue Fleur shared, and Tonks received no clue despite also receiving no letter (which we know is because she didn't send Post herself, but it's muddled their idea of the mechanics). Not sure what they'll do in the end, but they'll do it together. - Lily and Killer are both wonderfully perplexed by the wands they've received. Neither has checked yet to see whether it's gained them House Points, but Crouch has (after Yaxley urged him to see whether points were scored for owl Post) and he's now wondering what the wands are too. - With Alecto gone, Lucius wasted no time in making his group chat of 5, now a majority: Lucius/Crouch/Yaxley/Rodolphus/Regulus. It has been fairly quiet since. He's not-at-all-transparently pushed for Travers to be the target, believing there would be a vote despite the quit, and claiming he'd heard Yaxley's name from 'plenty of people both in and out of the alliance'... which everybody saw through easily, but ran with. Because everyone (both in and out of the alliance) was in 'so long as it isn't me'-mode. I suspect there'd have been real pushback from those who enjoy Yaxleyss, had the others known for certain there would be a vote rather than generally presuming there would not be. And there are enough of these numbers, and enough love for Travers and disrespect for other names that the target could feasibly shift by tomorrow night, if a few of them are willing to stick their necks out some. Killer seems very eager to stoke all the discontent, too. - Karkaroff and Rodolphus tried to bring Killer into a group chat. And Killer lampshaded the entire thing, down to calling them both out for putting on a show and asking him separately, when he'd have to be foolish to say no to any suggestion ![:lol](https://i.imgur.com/X4ixXao.gif) Killer tipped off Travers that we was the likely boot once it was clear to him there wouldn't be a vote, and they're now building something nice together. Travers has shared his clue and I think that makes HK the only one who received post who also knows about the clues. - I've had fun following Lucius through to the wee hours of the morning hunting his Item - he hustled for it, and found the treasure. I do think he'll live to regret going after it so hard and so fast, though. He messaged the whole Side asking to exchange clues if they'd received any, didn't tell anyone about his progress on connecting other pieces, suffered through finding the password... only to discover he needed to confide in somebody to get the thing. And that was Crouch who seems to have no issue with letting Lucius take the lead, and the Item. (There was a hilarious moment where Crouch reluctantly conceded that he'd stay late at night helping Lucius... even though it's not night for him. Also Lucius didn't fully explain what/why they were doing until halfway through, and very nearly had them waste all those hours on the wrong list of things to post ![:lol](https://i.imgur.com/X4ixXao.gif) And Lucius had a mini-breakdown when Crouch was offline for a moment toward the end of the task, suspecting Crouch had sniped the Item from him.) - Once others piece together the clues it'll be very obvious that Lucius beat them to it and actively chose to leave them out of the loop - they'll just be wondering who he did recruit to help. He's already seen as the guy in charge and there's speculation that he could be a good power move right before the Side swaps, and this certainly won't lower his threat level. - Karkaroff also has a group chat with Crouch and Lucius and bot consider him fairly loyal at this point... though he's really resenting Lucius' influence - and can't even see the half of it yet. He's essentially urged Lucius to calm the f down, though not in those words. It's had no effect. - I don't think I've given Travers his due yet in the blogs? His shticking is incredible and hilarious even after dozens of new paragraphs and angles. But it's all shtick with little strategy which is unfortunate for two reasons - first, I have so many PMs to look over that I kind of have to skim his rather than savouring each subtle joke as I'd like to, and second, it's put him on the outs with the same overplayers who are trying to organise an absurd tribal structure before getting to know everyone involved properly. I can understand why Travers wouldn't shun that kind of approach, but unfortunately those who take it are more numerous and influential right now. - I love Yaxley's breakdown of Owl Post in confessional. He's seen right to the heart of what we're trying to do with the clue distribution, and where we expect it to be going. And he's enjoying just how cruel we've made it too ![:)](http://images.proboards.com/new/smiley.png) Definitely worth a read if you haven't been there already. - After staying up late with Crouch adding some 5 pages to their chat, Lucius is sending Lily Owl Post explaining exactly how to find the Item. I'd say Lily/Oliver is the weakest of all the bonds between pairs inside the GP foursome, but this is the most blatant attempt to alight partners' interests across Sides, so should be an interesting thread to follow tomorrow. - I should probably stop pretending these posts will be bullet points rather than paragraphs.
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Post by Severus Snape on May 4, 2022 5:02:25 GMT 10
Second, waking up to more PMs then I have people on my team has, for the first time in an ORG, actually shown me why some people get sick of them. Fuuuuuck LOL and only on Episode 2 - but totally know that feeling! In general, so many confessionals to read, but great to see so much activity in this cast so early on!
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Post by Peter Pettigrew on May 4, 2022 5:23:56 GMT 10
Minerva watches Quidditch, a Discord Saga:
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Post by Peter Pettigrew on May 4, 2022 5:31:14 GMT 10
The shortest Owl Post is the greatest Owl Post. Exhibit A: Date: Day 3, Tuesday 3 May To: Arabella Figg From: Hedwig's Killer Dear Ms Figg, We have been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty. Also your partner is in good hands, he is 100% safe and you definitely do not need to worry about him at all. I must send this letter before I kill the bird sending it so this will be short, but seeing as you are a powerless mugblood I see no reason to put in any extra effort anyway. When the time comes, obey me, Hedwig's Killer (Crouch congratulated HK for killing Figg with this, just FYI ![:lol](https://i.imgur.com/X4ixXao.gif) ) Exhibit B: Date: Day 4, Tuesday 4 May To: Aberforth Dumbledore From: Pyrites How's that blood of yours doing, Mister Dumbledore? I just wanted to know because I will soon be bathed in it. Until then, Tata.
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Post by Dolores Umbridge on May 4, 2022 13:04:39 GMT 10
The Dearly Departed![](https://i.imgur.com/u3toRvy.png) ![](https://i.imgur.com/G0pHdkd.png) Our first two boots. The best games need a good first boot, and we got two. It's a shame to see of them go, but both of them had very understandable reasons and I'm glad we got the taste of them that we did. It's an odd scenario for sure, but doesn't necessarily feel like an end-of-premiere whimper in the same way an inactive cull would (or even a single quit tbh, there's something almost fitting about the symmetrical team quits). They both had an impact in their short time and their departures are felt for sure. Figg brought her signature odd humour and charm, Alecto so casually wormed her way into everyone's good graces after only a few short messages. Bon voyage, queens!
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Post by Dolores Umbridge on May 4, 2022 13:21:05 GMT 10
The HWIC's![](https://i.imgur.com/4zkfnLT.png) ![](https://i.imgur.com/MqNlhQj.png) The Head Witch In Charge of the Order and Head Wizard In Charge of the Purebloods. Fleur has so naturally floated to the top of the pecking order, she makes it look easy. I mean, just look at Rololphus getting sent 3 letters on the back of Order members wanting to impress Fleur. I like seeing ED in this position, so cleanly at the top, Fleur is the perfect rep for it and it's a natural fit for her. It's ironic she mentions Zeniba, who floated to the bottom of a Side of 10, but ended up winning the entire game- because while Fleur is better positioned now, she is going to wear a target for the remainder of the game I suspect. Several players have already identified her as the nexus of Order, even Yaxley on the other team has noted it. Swap will be vital for her in securing allies across the pond, and she'll have to keep her head down at merge to shake the target. But I kinda don't want that to happen? I like seeing her in a figurehead position and I'm interested to see how she handles it moving forward. Lucius has been such a huge surprise, he has been working his ass off to get himself to the top and it's similarly perfectly fitting for this rep. But he's doing it in an incredible unsubtle way, and near everyone has pegged him as a huge power player and somebody to be taken down at some point. I love his enthusiasm though, and I'm glad he's being so aggressive because it's fun to watch. The Purebloods have like a dozen group threads/webs of alliances, and he's included in every one of them. He's snagged the idol for himself already. He's perched himself atop the throne and is bending the Side to his will. The king will be dethroned at some point, but I'm so far I'm loving the reign.
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Post by Dolores Umbridge on May 4, 2022 13:26:32 GMT 10
Also, intermittently: Crouch accidentally revealed to HK that he was in a group message with Lucius and Yaxley, and now Yaxley seems to be working himself up into a paranoid frenzy about it. HK seems to be sitting on that info for now but a tribal implosion is not off the table.
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Post by Minerva McGonagall on May 4, 2022 16:28:54 GMT 10
Minerva watches Quidditch, a Discord Saga: W O W @ this invasion of privacy ![:smh](//storage.proboards.com/7252598/images/qNnigqDBRwmLStksufWc.gif) Let it be known that not only did I beat Lucius afterall, but I'm also ahead of the nine players who have been tallied so far ![:fan](https://i.imgur.com/074wyXd.gif)
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Post by Dolores Umbridge on May 4, 2022 19:08:36 GMT 10
The Social Climbers![](https://i.imgur.com/GVS5guH.png) ![](https://i.imgur.com/bIfH9af.png) The social butterflies of their respective Sides, to varying degrees of success. Wood is probably my number one fave of the game right now. ![:<3](http://i.imgur.com/L3NpwEv.gif) I'm just obsessed. Not only do you have that incredible Day 0 performance, but the nonsensical and totally inaccurate Scottish accent just sends me every time I see it. Plus the Quidditch angle, he really is trying to werk it and I respect him for that. He came into this game determined to make better connections, and it's working and it's not. By sheer insistence he's managed to get himself into a core group, but many outside of that group aren't getting the best vibes from him and so his position is not guaranteed. But he's also on the way to an idol as I type this, so whatever happens he's gonna be a key figure and I'm so here for the journey. Crouch on the other hand is probably the most popular person on his Side, but nobody has cottoned on to that including him? He is charming and endearing, and he reads as very genuine, and so pretty much everyone likes him and wants to work with him in some capacity. He fumbled today with revealing his group thread to HK, but if that blows up it won't be on him. I think he's quite underestimated as well. A really promising start, I believe this is Martynas' second ORG so it's very impressive.
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Post by Dolores Umbridge on May 4, 2022 19:29:47 GMT 10
The Perfectly Positioned![](https://i.imgur.com/xsdLNsp.png)
Not too hot, not too cold, just right. Both of them have fairly limited experience, but they're both in excellent positions right now. Lily has been even-keeled and social, presenting herself as a reliable ally to somebody like Fleur, but not unapproachable to the outsiders either. Sh's easy to get along with and pretty much sailing through here, which is exactly what she wants to be doing right now. I'm not sure of Rockardy's usual play style, and whether she'll start overthinking things later and going crazy (which I'd love, don't get me wrong). But right now she is set up to have a very deep run. Yaxley is in a similar boat, his schtick seemed a bit odd at first but it's amusing, and allows the other players to guide the relationship which is pretty smart imo. It's an easy way to make friends, and that's something he's done well. He's in the core of the Purebloods, and has mostly good relationships with those outside of it. Similar to Lily in that way, hence them being paired here. I only wish he'd have some more confidence in himself and his game, he's still early to ORG's so that's something that will happen with time- but he's doing great and has all the tools to go far. Hoping he can crack endgame this time around.
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Post by Dolores Umbridge on May 4, 2022 19:30:23 GMT 10
The Well Positioned![](https://i.imgur.com/AtkZN9r.png)
A good start, but not quite sure what the future holds. Tonks continues to impress me, considering she is such a green player. She's been fun to watch, she's cute and sweet and has gotten herself into a solid position amongst the Order. She came off pretty strong, she and Wood formed the majority alliance very quickly after the tribes were divided, but it's held strong and kept her safe to be fair. However, I'm not sure that approach is gonna work as the game progresses. Great for Day 1, not so much Day 10. I'm also pretty intrigued to see how her relationship with Killer turns out. They are not a natural match and don't really vibe, but are kinda chained to each other for better or worse. Rodolphus is kind of enigmatic to me, he is the person I have the least read on of the entire game. His reception has been somewhat mixed, he clicks well with some, but others like Yaxley don't have the best rapport with him. Probably the most UTR person in the game at this point? I really just don't know where he stands or what his plans are. He has a strong pairing with Fleur, and I expect when those two meet things will get interesting. She has a lot of relationships going on, and I don't know how Rodolphus will fit into that. Still love the rep though, Lawls has carved out a niche playing eccentric wizards with waist-length red here and I'm here for it.
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Post by Dolores Umbridge on May 4, 2022 19:30:30 GMT 10
The Outsider Insiders![](https://i.imgur.com/8q8L4gf.png)
On the bubble, hoping it won't burst. Diggle is an interesting one for me. Integreat in Ghibli II was the strategic and social centre of a Side with 5 other ORG mammoths each with multiple wins under their belts. Here, he seems slightly on the back foot and not quite on in the same way he was there? Maybe it is the larger Side, but on paper the Order has a lot of newer players and seems far less intensive than Great Forest was. I think it's a confidence thing- he underestimates how good he can be at these things, and maybe felt a bit overwhelmed at first. I think slightly lower activity has caused him to slip after what was a good first impression, but his natural charming self will see him through. Still find all his missives and banter hilarious though. Regulus I am rooting for so much, Gerard is naturally quirky and endearing and fun to watch. Of the loose 6 formed amongst the Purebloods, he seems the most disposable on paper. For him, the switch will be paramount in making new connections, which I'm hoping he manages to do. Right now he is kind of a lone wolf- he's in a position of safety but I'm not sure that anybody views him as a close ally (I probably need to do some better Missive digging though, to be fair). I also love him rejecting Mundungus as his partner for no reason. ![:<3](http://i.imgur.com/L3NpwEv.gif) It's a shame he lost Figg so early, Tarz would have been a good connection/supporter for him, but I'm hopeful he'll find a path through to merge.
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Post by Dolores Umbridge on May 4, 2022 19:30:57 GMT 10
The Drain Circlers![](https://i.imgur.com/8sxJ21d.png)
Our next two boots? Unfortunately Mundungus has not really been living up to his potential here, partially due to Gundham probably being a bit burnt out. He's played a lot of ORG's recently, and I know the last one was a bit rough on him, so I sympathise. But at this stage he's missed the boat entirely, and if the Order loses he'll be following Alecto out the door and we can all laugh at my pre-game predictions. I do enjoy his schtick and persona but we need more of it. Travers has been fun and his messages are landing with people, but he as well hasn't managed to get into the core of things due to his activity. And if his message to Crouch is any indication, he's ready to just cut himself loose and save the trouble. I understand feeling like you're struggling to keep your head above water in a game, it sucks, but if I knew how easily he could survive over Pyrites with just a tiny push, he might not be so defeated. It's a shame really.
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Post by Dolores Umbridge on May 4, 2022 19:35:32 GMT 10
Anyways... why the fuck are they voting out Pyrites? ![:cry](http://imgur.com/Gh2UmYT.gif) It's very disheartening because Pyrites is taking his argument with HK for the fun that it is, and trying to pivot into banter/a connection. But HK is just taking it completely at face value and targeting him for some reason? Like idgi. He is doing such an ott/aggressive shtick, surely he'd expect that kind of reaction from some? Ofc they don't know that Travers seems to be struggling to keep his head above water and lowkey gave Crouch permission to vote him off. Which is a shame in itself, but maybe a Switch would give Travers new life, and Kingsley new life as well, who is near the bottom of Order and could fit in well with the Purebloods.
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Post by Dolores Umbridge on May 4, 2022 23:01:39 GMT 10
Just wanna say I love the Lord of the Flies energy of the Manor. Just 8 messy men and all the chaos that comes with that.
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Post by Peter Pettigrew on May 5, 2022 2:03:40 GMT 10
Busy night so I'm catching up slowly. Here are some thoughts on things from before the Challenge results reveal
Not too much action from the Order today, at least compared to MM. Lily and Oliver were bonding over the Item hunt and keeping all that between them only. Tonks started noticing that Mundungus was putting in more effort than Aberforth and started shifting the target accordingly. Mundungus was targeting Kingsley until hearing from Tonks that it was between him and Aberforth, and now most people are agreeing with Mundungus that Aberforth is the weakest link to let go of here. I hadn't quite foreseen this, but it seems the Owl Post is being used as a thing to talk about when you don't want to talk about Side strategy, so there's lots of notes on who sent/received what from whom between those in the core and those outside of it.
Tonks tried to push the vote onto Aberforth right before the results came out, but the other women pushed back as they've had enough of Mundungus being the presumptive boot and knowing it. Aberforth hasn't been responding to some of them for more than a day, which is a factor too. In the end the alliance of four stayed on Mundungus and the winning argument that settled everything down was that flipping a vote so late might reveal their bond... which I don't think is necessarily true, and which Lily at least isn't very happy about.
Death Eaters are a mess as always. I can answer Dolore's question about Pyrites: HK found out about the group chat he created yesterday which didn't include him, and sees that as good enough cause to target somebody. He's also impatient with the Side spiralling round one another without throwing out names, frustrated that the name to gain momentum last round was Travers based solely upon Lucius' insistence, and chose to kind of brute force his way into the power core rather than trying to dismantle it - by throwing out Pyrite's name and seeing who would bite. And of course they're all paranoid and uncertain and eager to bite anyone else, so even Lucius conceded it wasn't worth fighting HK's will once it became the groupthink consensus, even while he and Crouch considered precipitating a move upon HK instead before shelving it for later.
But the revolution is brewing. Rodolphus clocking that he and Regulus were out of the Lucius/Yaxley/Crouch even before Crouch's message leak confirmed them as a trio (though that was almost a coincidence, not just because of the accidental copy/paste in preparation for angry bears, but also because the names Crouch gave for participants in the group chat he'd quoted from were only Malfoy/Yaxley due to them being online at the time and thus the simplest excuse). Karkaroff is dumping his every thought to HK stream-of-conscience style but also still trying to work with Lucius, while Lucius runs everyone along separate tracks toward connecting the Item clues. Honestly I admire that Lucius can keep track of who he's told what while they're all working through the tasks at different paces, all ostensibly with him.
Last thing for now: a common theme right now on both Sides seems to be the people in power not being at all confident that they hold it. Fleur supposes that half the Side dislikes her and doubts the intentions of her core, Oliver is determined to believe that he's doomed and unlikable while really he's at the center of everything bar Moody. Lily thinks her night shifts have obliterated her social game. Lucius presumes that every other player is scheming circles around him just like he's trying to do to them, Crouch and Yaxley are too wholesome to have seen the amount of influence they've amassed just by being sociable. And just when HK accepts that he's outside of the sphere of influence, the Side flips to his will. It's quite fascinating, especially because most of these players are better known for over-estimating their own Games. Maybe just a consequence of large, active Sides? Or something in the air here, emanating from the magical flames?
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Post by Peter Pettigrew on May 5, 2022 3:33:28 GMT 10
Quidditch results! ![](https://i.gyazo.com/ecea91b8c07e073af5c0a7f4aece485b.png) Aberforth joined the group at the last moment but didn't have time to actually play, once again. Karkaroff is even more annoyed about his partner now, and is making it widely known - he's even volunteered to be Prefect next round under the assumption that Aberforth won't even try. Last thing before I move on to the next thread, just want to summarise what I can make of the turn back from Pyrites to Travers. Karkaroff was first to push for it as soon as the results came in, and Travers not having joined the Member Group made it obvious he'd not tried the Challenge. Lucius was on board quickly, those floating in the middle saw no reason to oppose it and even HK and Rodolphus gave it up rather than tank their own games, especially after Travers more or less asked to leave in the Side board. I do think Travers could have had a future in this, knowing that he had a few busy days ahead but eager to continue otherwise - certainly he wouldn't have bowed out had the Side won immunity. It's particularly bittersweet because he would have Switched with Kingsley and likely done them both a strong favour with fresh starts, had he only submitted a Charm of his own - but instead he took the bullet willingly and despite being online didn't even place a vote. It's a shame because even from a different timezone to most, so many of them were loving his messages. And if he'd just had a day of Immunity at Grimauld Place he'd probably have had half of them in stitches (in more than one sense) over the weekend and then faded into the background after the Swap, giving Kingsley better connections too. Alas, 'twas not to be.
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Post by Lily Potter on May 31, 2022 2:46:15 GMT 10
Not that this had any impact on any of the results, but I totally scored 220* ![8-)](http://images.proboards.com/new/cool.png)
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