The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Werewolf Four and Thirty: Bloodbath in the Anduin Vale

Mithalwen · 06-12-2007, 12:27 PM

- Mith's eccentric Day 4 performance and her wonderful trickery, following her confession - I think that you might have survived the Day Mith, but it did look to be either you or Nogrod before you 'fessed up.

As referred to in my pre-confession post, I knew the writing was on the wall. Too many people suspected me too much - and though I had been right about Menel - and about Nogrod!!!! I felt my chances of talking my way out of it were slim even if there had been anyone to talk to! I knew you were all lurking.....

Although as one of my otherwise complimentary correspondents pointed out , I am a bit rubbish when I am not an innocent, this was only my third outing as a wolf. The first was my brief Fenris wolf outing, the second was in a small Junior game - though many of the newcomers then are outstanding players now - where we were very lucky in manyways and I was lucky that I was playing with Roa on her first werewolf outing. So I didn't have the experience to deal with the situation and with the new job taking more of my energy I didn't have the time to work out some cunning plan - even if I had the wit.

I wish I had gone after Nogrod harder when I ended up voting for TGWBS - can't think why I backed off .. I think I had just had enough of him at that point... Certainly I already felt in a corner. I should have done an Ang and sacrificed Isabell but I worried that would be too obvious and it seemed folly to lose anyone before we had to... especially since I was sure there was another pack even before Menel died. Who killed Menel was more of a puzzle....

So having gone into she-wolf "maternal guarding" mode, and defended the vulnerable cub, and so made myself vulnerable, the kills were chosen in Aganzir's interest since she had the best chance of surviving. Confessing before anyone had voted was to minimise the risk of Aganzir being seen as guilty by association - voting too early or too late. I had considered claiming to be a ranger as a reason for my "not seeming right", but Boromir's declaration put the kybosh on that.

I don't think I used trickery. Obeying "Phantom's Law" everything I said was true or potentially true - we did think that there would be a set of circumstances in which the packs would unite - possibly choosing the same kill.

However another reason for choosing to confess apart from prefering to go out with style rather than cursing like a Tourette's sufferer with frustration, was to ensure a victory for the dark side. Though no one acted on this or even noticed (apart from Boro ), I hoped that the other pack would go for Boromir and Agan would go for another. That would have (to my theory) , unless they had been very unlucky, meant that there would have been still two functioning packs the next day. I was very sorry that only Aganzir was dead the next day and suprised and presumed that the other pack had killed her guessing that she was my packmate. I still wasn't at all sure that that Boromir was telling the truth.

So apart from forgetting to use various catchphrases and kicking myself later - (so wanted to have said "Wolf dear? Me dear? No Dear, How very dare you!, You, I shouldn't be at all surprised!" to Nogrod on Day 2 but feared that it would be taken as a confession.

So we lost.... but am I bovvered ?

Oh and a linguistician is someone pickier about language than a lawyer...

Actually it is a theoretical linguist - someone who has studied linguistics - linguist is generally understood to mean a polyglot. Many linguisticians do speak other languages but their expertise is in knowing the mechanics rather than as an executant. It is a similar to the distinction between musician and musicologist.

AndTGWBS at least will appreciate this:

A Modern Linguistician

Lyrics by Frederic Cassidy, to the tune of “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General”

I am the very model of a Modern Linguistician —
An out-and-out Descriptivist, an Anti-historician;
I like to catch a language in an attitude synchronic:
The fact that it's impossible I only find ironic.
I have the utmost passion for the sport terminological.
My urge to name another -eme is more than biological.
I yearn to count the phoneme as some people count their riches;
I count it forward, count it back, till I don't know which which is;
I put it all in formulas — with X and Y I'm prodigal —
Because it all contributes to my purity methodical.
Indeed in all the wisdoms of the scholar and technician,
I am the very model of a Modern Linguistician.
I am the very model of a Modern Linguistician:

Just furnish me a nucleus and I'll perform a fission.
I like to cut a segment from a living speech continuum
And write it up so no one knows it's only my opinuum.
To starkest objectivity I have a moral leaning,
For what I do is meaningful though I've no use for meaning.
I'm scientist and artist too — my constructs are symmetrical,
Though what I do with languages may seem to some obstetrical.
I look upon the petty world from point of view Olympian
And think of other trades than mine as altogether shrimpian.
Indeed from every angle I'm the scholarly Patrician,
For I'm the very model of a Modern Linguistician.
I am the very model of a Modern Linguistician —

I'm dedicated to my work — I'm conscious of a mission.
All language teachers hitherto have lacked my fine perception.
They think that they are scientists? The rankest self-deception!
For methods quite traditional they show a vile proclivity
Receiving my discoveries with bland insensitivity.
Sometimes they fail to comprehend the point of my experiment
And leave me laughing to myself in undisguisèd merriment.
But now I've shown ’em how the phone and how the morph are
captured,
It must be through opacity that they are enraptured.
They're all completely baffled by my lucid exposition,
For I'm the very model of a Modern Linguistician.
I am the very model of a Modern Linguistician —

A sort of combination of the Seer and the Magician.
I'm simply indefatigable — never never we-o-ry
Of building up a theory on the theory of a the-o-ry.
I strive to find the unity that lies behind dichotomy
In lingoes esoteric such as Cree and Potawatomi.
I love to make a postulate of no substantiality
And rush it into print before it loses topicality.
When I must change my point of view I always do it haughtily
And beat the opposition sown in publications quarterly.
In fact, in all the universe and all of man's condition,
I am the very model of a Modern Linguistician.

OK so maybe a linguistician is someone who needs to get a life quite urgently...

06-12-2007, 12:27 PM	#529
Mithalwen Pilgrim Soul Join Date: May 2004 Location: watching the wonga-wonga birds circle... Posts: 9,460	The violence inherent in the system... - Mith's eccentric Day 4 performance and her wonderful trickery, following her confession - I think that you might have survived the Day Mith, but it did look to be either you or Nogrod before you 'fessed up. As referred to in my pre-confession post, I knew the writing was on the wall. Too many people suspected me too much - and though I had been right about Menel - and about Nogrod!!!! I felt my chances of talking my way out of it were slim even if there had been anyone to talk to! I knew you were all lurking..... Although as one of my otherwise complimentary correspondents pointed out , I am a bit rubbish when I am not an innocent, this was only my third outing as a wolf. The first was my brief Fenris wolf outing, the second was in a small Junior game - though many of the newcomers then are outstanding players now - where we were very lucky in manyways and I was lucky that I was playing with Roa on her first werewolf outing. So I didn't have the experience to deal with the situation and with the new job taking more of my energy I didn't have the time to work out some cunning plan - even if I had the wit. I wish I had gone after Nogrod harder when I ended up voting for TGWBS - can't think why I backed off .. I think I had just had enough of him at that point... Certainly I already felt in a corner. I should have done an Ang and sacrificed Isabell but I worried that would be too obvious and it seemed folly to lose anyone before we had to... especially since I was sure there was another pack even before Menel died. Who killed Menel was more of a puzzle.... So having gone into she-wolf "maternal guarding" mode, and defended the vulnerable cub, and so made myself vulnerable, the kills were chosen in Aganzir's interest since she had the best chance of surviving. Confessing before anyone had voted was to minimise the risk of Aganzir being seen as guilty by association - voting too early or too late. I had considered claiming to be a ranger as a reason for my "not seeming right", but Boromir's declaration put the kybosh on that. I don't think I used trickery. Obeying "Phantom's Law" everything I said was true or potentially true - we did think that there would be a set of circumstances in which the packs would unite - possibly choosing the same kill. However another reason for choosing to confess apart from prefering to go out with style rather than cursing like a Tourette's sufferer with frustration, was to ensure a victory for the dark side. Though no one acted on this or even noticed (apart from Boro ), I hoped that the other pack would go for Boromir and Agan would go for another. That would have (to my theory) , unless they had been very unlucky, meant that there would have been still two functioning packs the next day. I was very sorry that only Aganzir was dead the next day and suprised and presumed that the other pack had killed her guessing that she was my packmate. I still wasn't at all sure that that Boromir was telling the truth. So apart from forgetting to use various catchphrases and kicking myself later - (so wanted to have said "Wolf dear? Me dear? No Dear, How very dare you!, You, I shouldn't be at all surprised!" to Nogrod on Day 2 but feared that it would be taken as a confession. So we lost.... but am I bovvered ? Oh and a linguistician is someone pickier about language than a lawyer... Actually it is a theoretical linguist - someone who has studied linguistics - linguist is generally understood to mean a polyglot. Many linguisticians do speak other languages but their expertise is in knowing the mechanics rather than as an executant. It is a similar to the distinction between musician and musicologist. AndTGWBS at least will appreciate this: A Modern Linguistician Lyrics by Frederic Cassidy, to the tune of “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General” I am the very model of a Modern Linguistician — An out-and-out Descriptivist, an Anti-historician; I like to catch a language in an attitude synchronic: The fact that it's impossible I only find ironic. I have the utmost passion for the sport terminological. My urge to name another -eme is more than biological. I yearn to count the phoneme as some people count their riches; I count it forward, count it back, till I don't know which which is; I put it all in formulas — with X and Y I'm prodigal — Because it all contributes to my purity methodical. Indeed in all the wisdoms of the scholar and technician, I am the very model of a Modern Linguistician. I am the very model of a Modern Linguistician: Just furnish me a nucleus and I'll perform a fission. I like to cut a segment from a living speech continuum And write it up so no one knows it's only my opinuum. To starkest objectivity I have a moral leaning, For what I do is meaningful though I've no use for meaning. I'm scientist and artist too — my constructs are symmetrical, Though what I do with languages may seem to some obstetrical. I look upon the petty world from point of view Olympian And think of other trades than mine as altogether shrimpian. Indeed from every angle I'm the scholarly Patrician, For I'm the very model of a Modern Linguistician. I am the very model of a Modern Linguistician — I'm dedicated to my work — I'm conscious of a mission. All language teachers hitherto have lacked my fine perception. They think that they are scientists? The rankest self-deception! For methods quite traditional they show a vile proclivity Receiving my discoveries with bland insensitivity. Sometimes they fail to comprehend the point of my experiment And leave me laughing to myself in undisguisèd merriment. But now I've shown ’em how the phone and how the morph are captured, It must be through opacity that they are enraptured. They're all completely baffled by my lucid exposition, For I'm the very model of a Modern Linguistician. I am the very model of a Modern Linguistician — A sort of combination of the Seer and the Magician. I'm simply indefatigable — never never we-o-ry Of building up a theory on the theory of a the-o-ry. I strive to find the unity that lies behind dichotomy In lingoes esoteric such as Cree and Potawatomi. I love to make a postulate of no substantiality And rush it into print before it loses topicality. When I must change my point of view I always do it haughtily And beat the opposition sown in publications quarterly. In fact, in all the universe and all of man's condition, I am the very model of a Modern Linguistician. OK so maybe a linguistician is someone who needs to get a life quite urgently... __________________ “But Finrod walks with Finarfin his father beneath the trees in Eldamar.” Christopher Tolkien, Requiescat in pace Last edited by Mithalwen; 06-12-2007 at 02:17 PM.