@SARdoghandler was working on her end of things ahead of time and is actually ready to go with them already, so the thread will be locking momentarily, unlike other days where the thread has remained open for a bit while that stuff is in the works.
THERE IS NO GAME-RELATED SIGNIFICANCE TO THE TIMING OF THIS THREAD LOCK.
The sun broke across Gruffendale like a lazy yawn, golden light slipping through hazy clouds and low-hanging tensions. It was Day 4 at Goatapalooza, but the energy—normally electric—felt warped. Off. Heavy.
Goats staggered from their tents bleary-eyed, not from partying, but from shouting matches and sleepless suspicion that had dragged through the night. Blame was passed like moldy rye, and tempers frayed into full-on skirmishes over everything from hay allocations to whose tail had knocked over the hydration bucket.
One goat, eyes blazing and hooves shaking, finally snapped.
"I can't stay here. Not with this energy. I'll come back when someone like Hay-Z or Sigur Hoof plays. If ever."
They trotted off past the merch booth without a backward glance.
Still, the rumors didn’t stop. Goat after goat muttered to themselves in anxious spirals. Some fell down rabbit holes looking for information they already possessed. "I don't feel so good," one whimpered to herself in a private conversation. "I wish I had some Tums for my tums."
Even the grand announcement of Sean Paul as the musical guest - a moment that should’ve brought euphoric unity - landed like a poorly-aimed salt lick.
Then the beat dropped.
“Goat don’t lie, when they chew that rye,
Got eyes so wide, they don’t blink or cry,
No time to graze when it’s do or die—
Watch your back in this goat supply.”
The herd shifted uneasily. A few danced, sure. But most watched. Waited. Wondered.
At the edge of the festival, near the wilting sunflowers and a crooked sign for “Meditation Manger,” Chauncey von Splattersnort stood motionless. His cloak, faded burgundy and stitched with old arcane patches, barely stirred in the breeze. His monocle sat low on his face, shadowing the weight in his eyes.
Well, in the one it was covering.
Chauncey hadn’t smiled once that day. In fact, he hadn't smiled for several days, after votes had sealed the fates of goats past.
And they had been wrong.
Every bleat since then sounded like another eulogy, veiled in festival noise. Chauncey tried to enjoy the music—he’d come to Goatapalooza for joy, to lose himself in beats.
But the choices made … the alliances …the influence of Bad Nooz, unseen but he thought he felt in every corner of Goatmere Hollow... it rotted in his gut.
He hadn’t even known the lost goats that well - or them, him. But he knew injustice when he saw it. And he was sure he knew manipulation even better.
"Truths get grazed when the herd complies
Spin that tail like alibis
Bad Nooz wins while the good goats die,
And they call it a festival high
Sean Paul’s beat pulsed through the grass like a heartbeat. But for Chauncey, it only synced with anger.
The day twisted on. A new vote approached. Only 2 names floated. Chauncey, reluctantly, but undeniably. And another goat, whose presence since Day 1 had unnerved some. Their behavior was erratic. Their motivations? Unclear.
A murmur spread.
But Chauncey didn’t engage. He didn’t even look the goat’s way. His eyes stayed fixed on the makeshift memorial built out of glow sticks and crushed grass in the southwest corner of the field. He’d left a clover crown there the night before.
The whispers grew louder, swirled into something dangerous.
"Chauncey's being emotional, he's letting grief decide!"
"I don't trust that other goat either, though. They're all over the place! Do you think they need a map?"
"I feel like I'm going to be sick."
Votes were cast under the shimmer of dusk, hooves trembling as goats chose between mystery and mourning. Sean Paul kept playing, but the goats had stopped listening, lost in the sounds of their own arguments and internal monologues.
Goats don't lie, but sometimes they might
Lost in fog, or in plain daylight
Watch them all, watch what they write
Bad Nooz wins when you lose sight...
The goats looked around - at each other, at the pastures of those long gone, at the sky. And in that moment, when even the music couldn't drown the paranoia, they realized something terrifying.
They could trust no one.
Not the system. Not the silence. Not their tickets purchased from Hoofmaster.
You are Chauncey von Splattersnort, former goat magician, banned from six petting zoos for turning hay into confetti during feeding time. You wear a monocle despite having perfect vision. You are a vanilla villager.
Alright @Zenge142 we need to talk about why you pushed vampy for "soft defending" PSV during day 2, said you believed lissa and that PSV needed to die regardless so we'd know if the mechanic she was claiming existed, and yet never voted for PSV and then conveniently decided to have a meltdown about mkg right at that time.
You sure you weren't trying to avoid voting for a packmate?
Well I obviously can’t agree when all I saw was her using your “spitballing” idea, as if it was gospel to put her wackadoodle theory on equal footing as my legitimate defense for why I’m unpaired with PSV
Well I obviously can’t agree when all I saw was her using your “spitballing” idea, as if it was gospel to put her wackadoodle theory on equal footing as my legitimate defense for why I’m unpaired with PSV
And your defense was that you had her orange in a reads list that was posted after genny said she saw her visiting the nightkill, right? Was there more?
That was not all she talked about today actually, we had some good conversation about some other things. Including her (correct) village read on Greedy.
And your defense was that you had her orange in a reads list that was posted after genny said she saw her visiting the nightkill, right? Was there more?
And MKG is manufacturing mechanics that don’t exist to try and claim I was a wolf here and some how magically a few hours later PSV was converted, killed KJQ and I had no idea any of it was going to happen somehow
So MKG’s theory is that somehow between the last few hours of D1 and start of day 2, I was a wolf, had no idea PSV was about to be converted, wolf read her hard because she was going to be my misyeet, then completely by surprise to me, PSV was converted, did the night kill on KJQ all at the same time, and I was going to do a 180 and village read PSV the next day.
And MKG is manufacturing mechanics that don’t exist to try and claim I was a wolf here and some how magically a few hours later PSV was converted, killed KJQ and I had no idea any of it was going to happen somehow
i’m at applebees but i have a PR item tonight, i dont want to out the item but i will if it means you guys can stop thinking i’m scum when i’m literally not
So MKG’s theory is that somehow between the last few hours of D1 and start of day 2, I was a wolf, had no idea PSV was about to be converted, wolf read her hard because she was going to be my misyeet, then completely by surprise to me, PSV was converted, did the night kill on KJQ all at the same time, and I was going to do a 180 and village read PSV the next day.
Gonna be honest that this part isn't really all that relevant for me because I'm more trying to evaluate if your statements towards PSV before genny outted her are as strong as you're making them out to be. Just to save you time and energy on making an argument that I'm not really thinking about.
zenge, I'm going to need more explanation from you about this held item. What is the item, what does it do, why would you still be able to use it tonight.
At this point, considering that both AM and greedy didn't trust you and they are now both dead villagers, I'm running out of options here.
Of course it's rather hard to imagine Zenge is paired with pretty much anyone here, I feel like everyone has wanted to kill him at one point or another
