Werewolf XLVIII: When Virtual Becomes Reality

[Mithalwen]

Good afternoon, Dr Mithalwen, here. Not so many..err .. case notes as there might be given the size of the therapy group but it is still early and I expect there will be a lot more going on later when I return after this afternoon's case load. Does mean at least I have been able to read through. My conclusions? Excellent humour but as I am sure we all know humour is often used as a facade to cover childhood trauma, insecurity, low self esteem maybe even hacker/lycanthropy?

Maybe we need a group therapy session - perhaps some people have things they would like to share? No?

I think one or two of us could benefit from one on one sessions.

Eomer is clearly an HSP which could result in anger management issues.

Nerwen is clearly profoundly dyslexic (I am too old to cope easily with chat speak - Shasta, I may need your help).

Then we have the battle of the egos - Formy, Noggin Boro and probably others.

Nilp and Durelin are well .... to use a layman's term, away with the fairies.

Enough material for an entire conference from half a village!!!.

But not a lot to go on for the task in hand - well I will be back in a few hours a will try to make a more significant contribution.

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Then we have the battle of the egos - Formy, Noggin Boro and probably others.

While there is clearly ego in play, I wish it to stand for the record that my vigorous defence is solely motivated by a desire to see Tolkien's works as Tolkien's work--not as some fanfictionated, Hollywoodised, Dungeons-and-Dragons, Dwarf-belching crap.

Originally Posted by Nilpaurion Felagund

It has been foresung that I should do what I have done. Dare you take arms against fate, Master Canonist? Know you then what befell Túrin, who in his ignorance called himself Turambar, but was caught in the fate he thought he had mastered?

.....

Why have we been called here together? Are we not all here to take the selfsame journey to Orodruin, using to the utmost all the strength of our wits and intuition, and trusting Eru that he will step into the resounding theme of evil and repay our estel?

Surely you, of all people, Master Felagund, have forgotten the Doom of Men? Just because the Ainulindalë says only that the Third Theme (the Children of Ilúvatar) were conceived in the mind of Eru alone does not mean you could not step outside of your most favoured book and realise that the Doom of Men means both that:

Men are not bound to fate.

And, I'm afraid, escaping the circles of Arda is looking entirely too easy at the moment.

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Now please Form and Nilp, even if the situation is grave we shouldn't forget the basic principles the B-W has established. So no flaming or personal vendetta's here. They are not only against good manners but also tend to confuse our preliminary task of finding out the villains.

You'll clearly never be made moderator if you can't distinguish between flaming and a serious discussion. Nilp and I may differ on several key points, but at least we can dialogue, which is more than can be said for certain members.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Surely you, of all people, Master Felagund, have forgotten the Doom of Men? Just because the Ainulindalë says only that the Third Theme (the Children of Ilúvatar) were conceived in the mind of Eru alone does not mean you could not step outside of your most favoured book and realise that the Doom of Men means both that:

Men are not bound to fate. (FormenDAGA)

How then, Milord of the North, do you explain the woe that Túrin betided? Surely it was not by Morgoth wrought, most puissant though he may be of all creation. Was it not the weavings of fate enmeshed in the lives of him and of those that he loved?

Nilp, I still have no idea what that list of yours was all about, so can you please explain? (Nerwen)

It was a jest involving our locations in the real world, where I present myself as the only one from 'evil lands' (i.e., Rhûn)--unless you count the desolate wastes of Araman as evil. (FormenDAGA and Boromir88, at the least, would beg to differ.)

[Kitanna]

I was hoping someone would post before I have to go to work. But since no one has I will just present my list of what I think thus far. The list is based on those who have posted and the impression their post(s) made on me.

Moderately Suspicious-
Agan, Nilp, & Form- Their back and forth posts together suggests a hacker among them. Maybe even two, but I am more inclined to believe there is just one. Though I am not so sure as to which one yet. Form is the only one to have voted thus far, but I feel no malice with his vote or reasoning toward early voting.
Nerwen- Her short, IC posts obviously say little, but her more serious posts give little to go on as well. I'd like to see what she has to say about the Agan/Nilp/Form brawl she mentioned in her last post.
The Elf-warrior- A few yes or no questions, but hasn't said anything since. I put moderately suspicious because even though the two posts were in character Elf-warrior was quick to jump to his own defense.

Originally Posted by Elf-Warrior

For the record, I am not a party to the murder of the Barrow-Wight.

I find it suspicious because no one had put out any lists or anything yet. It always unsettles me for early defenses/ for the record statements so early.
The Sixth Wizard- Quick to advocate a vote for Nerwen. It seems in character, but I'll label this as a gut feeling because I don't get much from his post.
Unsure-
Kath- She said she wouldn't be around much today, so for right now I have no concern for her. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Boromir 88- I really just want to see more from him before forming more than a joke suspicion from my first post.
satansaloser2005- Nothing much can be gathered from her first post.
Eonwe- Same as many of the others here in my unsure bin.
Durelin, Eomer, Mith & Shasta- ^ Same

I have no suspicions that absolutely scream out to me as "Hacker!" which is why I have two categories here. Right now there's no one person I feel too strongly about in regards to guilt or innocence. So my vote (whcih will be in the next twenty minutes) will be selected from my moderately suspicious list. I can hope and dream there's an influx of posts between then and now, but I doubt that. So we shall see, eh?

[Eönwë]

There's not much to work with, but...

Originally Posted by Kitanna

Agan, Nilp, & Form- Their back and forth posts together suggests a hacker among them. Maybe even two, but I am more inclined to believe there is just one. Though I am not so sure as to which one yet. Form is the only one to have voted thus far, but I feel no malice with his vote or reasoning toward early voting.?

This is true. One of them might very well be a hacker. But we haven't seen enough of anyone to really be certain.

Nerwen is doing anything useful. She's just randomly posting stuff. Spamming the thread, methinks. In fact, maybe she's our spammer. Or is that Nilp. He's not making much sense or anything of his posts. I'd better ponder this further...

edit: to bolden names.

[Durelin]

Originally Posted by Agan

But we're not exactly in Middle-earth now. We're in the Barrow-Downs meeting.

From the RPG proposal on the discussion thread:

Starting Location: Rivendell, Middle-earth (for the council)
Likely Destination: Mt. Doom, Mordor, Middle-earth

-------------

The game takes place in the Seventh Age around the year 2008.

Anyway.

Eomer amuses me. He feels frighteningly familiar... Boro amuses me. A lot. There's something about Formendacil's attitude I like. Kitanna is boring, and her vote is even more boring. The Sixth Wizard amuses me. Nogrod's role is just too Nogrod. I want to see how long Nilp keeps his role up. Elf-warrior's first post amuses me.

I guffaw at this:

Originally Posted by Eonwe

Wow, I can't believe the Barrow-Wight is dead. How will we survive without him? How will this forum survive without him? What are we going to do?

I say we get these hackers!

Everyone I have not mentioned yet...don't feel too bad.

[THE Ka]

Originally Posted by Eomer

This pshycology class basicaly says that, like, people, will show themselves if ur clever enough to see inside their souls. So because I've been taking these classes I think I could really help us find the hackers.

Souls and psychology? You mean a freudian method?

I need Mith to translate this, if you please.

Originally Posted by Nerwen

WARE R U GUYS??!!!111!!!!!

'ware' the whether the weather of what? I think I was sleeping, because that is what normal people do in my timezone at 5 am.

Nerwen seems thoroughly drenched in the art of chatspeak, maybe she knows how to translate hacker. Or Boro's dictionary does.
Either way, I find her amusing. We should keep her around and see what happens. That or, some of the hackers are taking full advantage of our complete attention to try and translate her posts. Hmmm, conflict.

Form reminds me of an eagle scout. Which, if he is conspiring with the hackers, that could be a bit dangerous.

Sorry that I don't have much to say, but it's a bit of a busy day. More than likely I am going to have to vote randomly toDay, unfortunately. So much for sleeping in.

~ Ka

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by THE Ka

Souls and psychology? You mean a freudian method?

I need Mith to translate this, if you please.




~ Ka

Well Ka, as an atheist, Freud means the innermost being. We certainly could interpret today's events as being caused by the Ids of the hackers getting the upper hand, a conflict of libido and thanatos. Of course psychoanalysis is not a quick fix and the interpretation of dreams is probably not appropriate at this stage. We could try some free association? Or maybe Jung and see what the collective unconscious can provide lets not go with Laing - that could cause all sorts of problems.

Aiee I got distracted again. I have had a look at the posting numbers and Nerwen is certainly noisiest by a long way but then others have been sooo quiet. Over posting can be significant but so can quietness. I can stay about an hour but I do hope things will pick up. It seems a bit ironic that two "talkers" are the only ones voted for so far. I thought this would be a super noisy game but it seems to be being played by a lot of trappists so far.

[Aganzir]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

–It's starting to look to me like there's a wolf somewhere in this Agan/Nilp/Form brawl that's just started up. Not sure who it is.

This is not a rhetorical question, I want an answer. Why does it look like that? Is there some special way wolves can make people around them talk like they do? We three have just caught your attention, but is there something that should really suggest that at least one of us is a wolf?
I could ask the same from Kitanna. Just how do back and forth posts together suggest that there's a hacker or two?

Originally Posted by Kitanna

I'd say don't encourage or discourage IC posts, some may be more useful tomorrow or some may remain simple rubbish and mean nothing.

And also some OOC posts may be more useful tomorrow while some remain simple rubbish. The question is whether I rather read posts written in chat speak or proper English.

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Form backs it twice: saying it's a random one and using IC reasons (I know he used to be the most staunch Day1-hater there was but still that is pretty much downgrading the whole Day 1). Kitanna feels like she tries and tries to find anything even remotely called a reason for her vote... just read her votepost and you may see what I mean. There is something forced in there to my eye.

I agree. Otherwise at least Kitanna feels somewhat innocentish, though, and I wouldn't vote for either of them now based only on that.

Originally Posted by Eönwë

This is true. One of them might very well be a hacker. But we haven't seen enough of anyone to really be certain.

Nerwen is doing anything useful.

Yet it was Nerwen who first brought up the A/N/F thing you just agreed on.

Ka, you're a hacker! Defend yourself!

**

Guilty
Elf-Warrior. Nothing's changed since my first post.
Sixth. Nothing's changed since my first post.
Durelin. This is my most random suspicion this far, and I don't know a certain reason for it but her post(s) brought the word 'cobbler' into my mind.
Nerwen. She makes me uncomfortable and looks both guilty and innocent so I rather label her guilty. I don't know - there's something in the way she suspects people.
sally. I feel uneasy about her for a reason I don't know.

Innocent
Mith
Kitanna
Nogrod
Eönwë

Neither
Kath
Shasta
Ka
Nilp
Boro
Eomer
Form
Rikae
McC

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

Men are not bound to fate.
.

Well at the Tolkien society seminar I attended last Saturday that was with Free Will one of the major themes and without preempting the reports I shall write over the weekend both for the Downs and possibly Amon Hen, I can say that it isn't that simple. Oops that will no doubt to incur the wrath of the canonicist & the one upper and doesn't really get us any further on.

Kitanna speaks wisely. Though noone has yet (that I have noticed)expressed a hatred of Day Ones - though that was quite a common condition, it tended to be followed by a failure to see Night one so I believe it has a latent form! This is a big group and it may make it easier for people to keep a low profile so I would rather people spoke (even in eyeplitting chatspeak) than not. It is possible to make useful points in an amusing way and those games where noone says anything or merely repeats others' words without adding any insight or useful comment are tedious. Only danger is that the amusement can become a distraction....

OK I am going to read through and see if there is any substance in some of the more complex posts I only skimmed before, then I need to get something to eat and will be back for a long spell but not to the end... hopefully I will have a better idea of who to vote for by then rather than just choosing the most annoying!!!

[Kitanna]

++ Nerwen

She jumps forth because though she has been mostly in character, I had seen something that raises my eyebrow.

Originally Posted by Nerwen

ppl who do lots of loNg posts sayng nUthing & then maek liSts taht dont maek sence r up 2 sumthing IMHO.

Nerwen jumps out because she posts often and says little. Granted most of her posts were in character jargon and her most recent ones are serious and moving away from IC, but she makes a note to say those who make long lists, but say nothing are suspicious. I find people who make frequent short posts that say nothing equally suspicious. Which is why I now vote for Nerwen. Though she is only moderately suspicious in my eyes she stands out from the others on my list.

[Nogrod]

Early votes may be a bit harder to justify in general - I mean to give credible grounds for them - but I do not like the way either Form or Kit give their votes.

Form backs it twice: saying it's a random one and using IC reasons (I know he used to be the most staunch Day1-hater there was but still that is pretty much downgrading the whole Day 1). Kitanna feels like she tries and tries to find anything even remotely called a reason for her vote... just read her votepost and you may see what I mean. There is something forced in there to my eye.

That's not much I must say. If I'd need to guess I'd say Form is the hacker from the two, but the thing that I disagree with him so heavily over the usefulness of Day1's may cloud my vision here - and the fact that "just randomly" he voted for me...

I will be around later toDay a bit more and try to do something more constructive then. Gah. This has been pathetic from me (but sorry no time now).

[Mithalwen]

Well Nogrod you have participated more than many already.

As for the votes - I found Nerwen annoying but I don't know if that is just the first day banter or something more sinister. It is such a change from her usual calm, almost calculating style that I find it hard to judge. Maybe she is just having fun.

Formys vote was ... interesting .. I know day one can produce random votes but this seemed to have more to it ... is there some vendetta that I haven't noticed? I do remember Formy used to hate Day ones - I was thinking of him in my previous post.

And there are still a lot of people who I haven't even looked at really..... and it is a bit quieter than I expected - even from those who aren't mourning their separation from my fair homeland . I hope there might be a bit more to look at before I too have to vote and go....

[Kitanna]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Kitanna feels like she tries and tries to find anything even remotely called a reason for her vote... just read her votepost and you may see what I mean. There is something forced in there to my eye.

Forced? If you believe so. But I would rather vote for one who raised my suspicions for even a remote reason on Day 1, then randomly pick a name from a hat.