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[Boop Dessert]: spills tea everywhere.
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MANY THINGS HAPPENED. MUCH DIPLOMACY. EXTRA DRAMA. W O W
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Have I talked about the alliance we were in? Maybe like a little but oh my god. Look at that sentence. Past tense. Thank fuck
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Okay so
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WE WERE in this alliance that we'll call Stellar and I was not running the show
papermint tiger
hooo boy
papermint tiger
i love boop dessert tea
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I can let it steep a bit, if you'd like hehe
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^ I am in a mood. Forgive
papermint tiger
it'
papermint tiger
it's all good, friendo
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So Stellar alliance was composed of 3 guilds. Heave (who had "lead"), Glade (yours truly) and Guess (smol, chill we like most of them).
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Heave is... like. We like the members. We really get along with most of them. They had one overtly toxic asshole called Bear but if you blocked his chat, they were great.
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Guess was mostly quiet, not a lot of interaction but showed up for wars when it counted
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SO WHAT HAPPENED
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Well.
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Heave has one massive setback. It's a well known thing. Like server-wide well known. I thought "it'll be different for us. I have saint levels of patience."
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papermint tiger
oh boy
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We love their members. We are all good friends. But their Guild Leader is a trashfire of a human being.
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We will call her Illa
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Illa has the biggest ego fuelling superiority complex I have ever seen
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And 0 chill.
papermint tiger
well that sounds like a winning combination
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TRULY.
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If you ask any questions. If you suggest any issues or opinions other than her own she feels personally attacked or certainly acts that way
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We noticed some weren't listening to the Shotcaller. Who, as name suggests, calls the shots in war. If he says "dive into the fort" you dive. If he says "back the fuck up" you get your ass back asap
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It's imperative you listen and you react quickly to commands made. That's how Node War choreography works
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So we noticed a few were not reacting or doing something opposite of the calls made. Some more blatantly than others
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So we bring it up to the officers amongst all 3 in the alliance "how do we fix this? Can we talk to them directly?"
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And Illa goes "Are you saying I don't know how to discipline my members?"
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............................... 
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no...?
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"Maybe it's the shotcaller's fault."
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So this shotcaller was from the Glade. He's also the military guy I've mentioned before
papermint tiger
excuse you if you're in a square dance you don't blame the person calling the steps out if you step out of line
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He is harsh in his calls sometimes. He will say mean things in the heat of the moment if people are failing to listen and it causes us to fail an attack
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LOL I KNOW RIGHT aaaaaaaH
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So he left the guild.
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He apologized and said "I'm not dealing with her anymore, good bye"
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REEEEEEEEEEEEEE
papermint tiger
oh man that's so upsetting, i'm sorry
papermint tiger
it must be hard to find a good Shotcaller
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IT OKAY the story goes on
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Oh my god it's impossible
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They make all of the calls so they often take all of the blame
papermint tiger
oof that's a really rough gig
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Which is like. Cultural no-no. But it still happens
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Okay so Heave suddenly says a few weeks later "HEY WE HAVE A NEW SHOTCALLER"
papermint tiger
......oh no
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To his credit, this shotcaller wasn't bad
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But the difference is
papermint tiger
oh okay whew i thought they'd somehow sweettalked your shotcaller into joining them
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Military guy says simple commands and simple executions for those commands. "Back up" or "dive in"
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LOL NEVER
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So this shotcaller is like
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Playing the Sims on Short Lifespan with us
papermint tiger
oh no
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He has this laundry list of things to do and we are split into these small groups and specific task forces and it's just confusing af
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Typically you have: Main ball (main forces), Flex (focus forces) and Defense
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And this guy had "Main ball", "Siege platoon", "Strike Team", "Swim Team", "Back-up Defense", "Main Defense", "Elephant Troupe"
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It's like....... bruh. Calm the fuck down. We sound like Barnum & Bailey
papermint tiger
elephant troupe...
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There were more, I just don't recall them. I was just busy on the 3 teams I was assigned to
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YES. ELEPHANT
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So you can summon a massive elephant to ride and throw spears from
papermint tiger
oh neat!
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The elephant is amazing for taking down gates and demolishes barricades
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And also makes terrifying elephant noises lmao
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Anyway, so that was fine. His shotcalls confused but it was okay
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THEN. Drama
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We have a 3-way fight.
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One guild is a good friend. They agree to ceasefire while we fight the other opponent
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We were on the defense, good friend guild was just looking for a good time, not for another win. They were chill with sitting back until we sorted the real competition
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So we have some key members missing this war. Including complicated Shotcaller. Another is filling in, he'll just be known as the Aussie lol
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Aussie was sick. Running a fever. He still did his best to shotcall. It's yelling sometimes. It's rough. He was losing his voice
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Illa was also present. As were some of my members. I was not. I heard this all as aftermath
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So they finish the competition. There is still time for war so we initially debated on taking the fight to good friend guild
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But Aussie is just not okay. He says Sorry guys, need to call it here for me. Not well
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He logs out
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Fair.
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Illa also suddenly logs out
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No word, just logs out
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So the main ball is confused. Do we still fight? Do we call it there?
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They attack the good friend fort. There's still time in war. And some of them are still hanging around. It looks like it could be a fight
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Why not?
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So apparently. This was not okay. No one told good friend guild any plans or that the other fight was finished
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So Illa gets messaged by good friend guild leader (or I assume that's what happened)
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Asking what happened and why was there a miscommunication
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I know both people involved. I didn't see the conversation. But good friend guild leader is so chill. He's polite, never a qualm with him. But Illa
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Well. She felt dishonored by the members' attacks
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She logs back in
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And for the next hour+ she types in the alliance chat in game that all of us share
papermint tiger
oh no
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"Screaming" that we have dishonored her and our name
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We have lost value. Her word is no longer trustworthy. We are no longer trustworthy
papermint tiger
good god
papermint tiger
it was just a damn misunderstanding
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She calls out SPECIFIC names though no one from her own guild
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yes..
papermint tiger
naturally not, of course her guild isn't the problem
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She's calling people out. Belittling them. Lecturing them about their behavior
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I lose another member to this
papermint tiger
maybe if she hadn't logged out during the fight that could have been avoided
papermint tiger
good lord
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Lol you know that Bear I mentioned earlier
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He calls her out just like that
papermint tiger
good
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RADIO SILENCE and we are all like Ohhhh shiiiiiiiiiit did he just say that
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She just ignores him and continues
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I hate Bear. He literally trolls people for the sake of angering them. He's actual trash lol but he did right in that moment
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So here I've lost 2 members. Well liked, key members. I talk with my other members "We want out".
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Okay so that's tricky...
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If we left then and there, Illa will know why.
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This could be really bad. If she takes it personally, the wrong way, it can cause a massive rift and unrepairable relations. Even if we are out of the alliance, we need good relations. We want ceasefires possible in the future when war planning
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Also some obvious conflict. The other members are our friends
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We play other games with them
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So it's a frustrating pickle
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Also
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While she was ranting, we were cracking memes in our own guild chat
papermint tiger
oof i do not envy you that pickle
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"DISHONOR ON YOUR FAMILY" "DISHONOR ON YOUR COW"
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Oh it was a good time.
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We made the most out of her bullshit
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So we have another 2 weeks of war.
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When this alliance started, I had 15 participants in wars. One night, I had 18. Out of 25 available slots
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We overpowered them in our interest
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By the last week, I had 6
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THEN. Holiday season 
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"Hey guys, with the holidays, let's take a 2-week break"
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OH OH OH HERE'S MY CHANCE~~~~~~~
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Actually, we'll be stepping out of the alliance. Thank you all for the good times uwu Let's stay allies <3
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Something something of that nature
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Oh thank goodness an opening to leave
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While they were debating on whether to take a break, I had a poll posted and urged members to vote on whether to stay or go
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Unanimous to leave
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I wish the timing wasn't 2 weeks in between.
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The member who left due to Illa's rant, he joined a guild we have a long-history with in competition
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I wouldn't call them a rival. But they are ... yeah. Actually. Basically our rival lmao
papermint tiger
oh boy
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HE JOINED OUR RIVAL ohhhhhh that cut me deep
papermint tiger
that is very upsetting, oof
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His roommate was still in the guild
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So I'm telling the roommate. YOU TELL HIM HE'S MEAN AND I AM UPSET AND HE HAS DISAPPOINTED ME.
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Lol it's all jokes
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These kids call me mom, I'll play into it when I wanna
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So we are free from the alliance. We get to leave quietly and at a gentle enough time that they can't pinpoint blame on any particular event
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So "we are just ready to move on" is as good a reason as any
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Not a week after, military guy is back.
papermint tiger
yay!
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Two days later, the roommate messages me "Hey. Um. I made a mistake. Can I come home?"
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my heartstrings
my heartstrings
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So I get both my kids back into the guild. Whole again. Patched up
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Forward to this week.
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Knock, knock. Who's there? Would you like an alliance?
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oh no
oh no
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DIFFERENT GUILDS. DIFFERENT PEOPLE.
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But we are looking at the recent experiences like that was a bad breakup and we aren't sure if we're ready for another relationship
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So we've now done a few wars SOLO
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Which is crazy
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Participants for war are 20-35 depending on the node and day you plant a fort
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We are a guild of 65 people. I have 7 on hiatus. We managed 24 participants last war
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That's 1/3rd the entire guild in one voice channel lol
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So we can max our guild size at 100 people
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And now we are at a crossroads.
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Do we take this new alliance offer? Or do we continue to recruit and keep to ourselves
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Being self-reliant means we have more freedom to war when we want, make adjustments to plans quickly, ensure communication is followed through from our own channels and quickly deal with issues that come up both with our own and with outside relations
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But it cuts us out of larger wars and content. Some wars require 100 participants. Siege war is also 100 and a lot more at stake. It's a gamble to participate
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We can't ever get 100/100. We're not a war-centric guild so we can't require war activity.
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We have some concerns with the guild offering an alliance as well. We don't know them well. We fought them once and we demolished them. What we do know of them is that they have a history of housing toxic players.
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When speaking with their... second-in-command they assured me "we've had a reformation" and "we're hybrid now, we don't seek war declarations/conflicts with other guilds" and "I've cleaned out the toxic players"
papermint tiger
hmm
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What I wanted to say but didn't was So you mean, you've run out of friends and now you have no choice but to play nice
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lol I resisted! But geez...
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We had another offer for an alliance with good friend guild! However, they are 100 members strong and all active. We would need to go from 65 to 50 members to do an alliance since alliances are 150 total divided between all involved guilds
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I can't cut 15 people
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So ultimately, we had to turn them down. It just didn't fit, literally
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I counter offered them a split 70/80 but they would also have to cut out active players so alas
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It was not meant to be. But damn we would have been unstoppable
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So we have the ex-toxic guild as our current option. Rival also requested an alliance. I did everything in my power not to laugh at their faces 
it was challenging.
it was challenging.
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Rival has such........ underhanded and dirty tactics
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I can't stand it
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They do literally anything to win and it sucks the fun out of it
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I'm waiting for a few more war-assistants to chime in about the upcoming alliance offer but honestly
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I think it's gonna be a no. I think they want us to be in charge of our own and not rely or work with another
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Even if it means we aren't going to hit max participants for now
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oop this plurk long so I will calm
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STAY TUNED FOR me breaking bad news soon lmao.......
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caaaan't wait
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Omg there's other stuff as well but goooooood already nearing 200 messages so maybe another time hahaha
papermint tiger
oh boy. i keep saying that, but. Oh boy
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LOL I'm glad it entertains
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There's so much other shit that flies by. Like
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That solo war we had 24 people
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WE FOUGHT STELLAR
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WITH THEIR NEW us
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OUR REPLACEMENTS
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Illa was NOWHERE TO BE SEEN. Aussie was their point of contact
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Okay more story time I LIED FORGIVE ME
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War starts. We see 4 competitors + Glade (us)
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I get whispers from Stellar "Ceasefire?"
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"Ceasefire"
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Oh thank goodness we left on good terms
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More whispers from another competitor "Ceasefire?"
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"Ceasefire"
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We can't find 1. But we found another. We charge them and they charge us
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We will call the one we fought Kiddo
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So we fight Kiddo
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Kiddo fights us. No idea what Stellar is doing. NO IDEA what the other competitor with ceasefire with us is doing
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Apparently Stellar was kicking their butt
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Good for them
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Stellar downs them. I get another message "Ceasefire still on?"
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"YEP. WE'RE BUSY. TY"
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We were in the middle of Kiddo slamming us with their elephant and I'm in a iron flametower trying to roast elephant
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Not great lol
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So Stellar tracks down the one guild we couldn't find
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Takes care of them quickly, it was a snipe anyway
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"Snipe" meaning trying to not fight, just planting for basic rewards
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So now it's us, Stellar, and Kiddo
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20 min left
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Stellar messages a third time "We want to charge"
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So this is another pickle
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They want to charge Kiddo. This would make it a Zerg
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Meaning 1v2
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My people, especially my shotcaller is like "LET ME AT 'EM"
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I tell Aussie from Stellar "Be my guest" and ask my shotcaller to help me rebuild our own fort from the damages. They can 1v1 while we recover
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But shotcaller was avid we keep at Kiddo. He doesn't trust Stellar. So they sit nearby and only a small group return to assist in repairs
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Time ticks. 10 min to go
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Everyone is getting antsy
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I message Aussie "Fuck it. Not enough time. Free for all. Come at us"
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As in. 10 min left, no one can win. Let's just skirmish pvp.
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My people can get stabbing out of their systems. And we can avoid a zerg
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Which is another no-no. Or it's seen as cowardly
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But apparently. Aussie didn't get my message. Makes sense. It's chaos in war and chat messages go missing in big frays with tons of notifs
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So WE do Free for all
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But NO ONE else got the memo
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So Kiddo now thinks we ARE Zerging because we were trying to attack Stellar, while they were at Kiddo's base
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5 min left.
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Aussie messages back "Shit. I missed your message earlier"
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I replied but then radio silence
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We finish the war, no winners here.
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I get whispers from Kiddo "Nice 1v2"
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"So you guys zerg now??"
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I message Aussie on discord because he logs out instantly
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SO ARE WE GOOD???"
papermint tiger
what
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He just says "yeah, I'll talk to Kiddo, don't worry. I'll clear things up"
papermint tiger
the fuck