My metric for townreading Zenon in (I think) every game since Helluva Boss has essentially boiled down to the following integrants, which I’ve found she almost always demonstrates the same in every game we’ve played together. Namely, she posts on a dime, forms initial reads and uses those to springboard her way into midgame, and she usually cares more about being correct than what people think of her slot.
Zenon’s last wolfgame on this site was last year, and she expressed discontent with her play after that game, saying that she has, could’ve done, and will do so much better. Therefore I might not the most qualified person to read her off meta.
A while ago Leafia and I were discussing the significance of Zenon’s absence from the thread. A conclusion was reached that w!Zenon would’ve made a point to join the thread as early as possible to assert her presence, which didn’t happen. However, v!Zenon likely would’ve also joined the thread by then, and this was speculation founded on no prior experiences so it might be NAI. ([**#399** — #405)
This seemed to summon Zenon a few minutes later, only she didn’t seem particularly thrilled to be here (#407). She seemed dispirited, but she didn’t hide this fact. Her following posts are all catch up related (until #462), so her initial response comes across as something she needed to say, something scripted as if she was overly cautious about her entrance.
(#478) Zenon’s snap townreads on Jaiden and YBW resemble the sort of behaviour that she would exhibit as a villager. However, according to the search function this is the second time she has ever talked about ‘forming’ a masonry, locking in her early game reads for the meantime, on either this or her previous account. (For anyone who’s curious, the first time was (Tales of the Abyss’ #371).) The way she’s overly assertive about it indicates that she either wants to gather reactions about it, which doesn’t line up with the image of a player who joined the thread late expressing discontent, or else she only wants to be seen as town. (#480)
This is supported by the apparent doubt that both Jaiden and YBW have in regards to each other, which I think is plausibly V/V through my current lens. (#479) (484)
(Following up on the masonry talk from the future, Zenon kept pushing the masonry talk, like down here with Min (#516), which I think supports my point that she’s being weird about it. She then added about five people to it later, which is interesting but I don’t really disagree with her townreads.)
(#497) goes to show that Zenon isn’t operating with as much information as some of us have, or believe we have, given that Gorta is a comfortable townread at the moment. (#502) suggests that she’s still trying to find her place in the thread given that she wasn’t initially the most confident in her vote, although she didn’t backtrack her vote immediately which might’ve looked worse. Even when other players continue to speak up, Zenon keeps her vote on Gorta (#506), and even tries to convince other people to do so rather than backing down (#520).
This reads to me as though Zenon made an error with reading the room and rather than amending it she tried to completely own it. This explains why she would take the opportunity to jump onto a wagon she said she wasn’t confident on not long after. (#542)
I generally think that Zenon comedically self-voting at (#653) is worth an inspection. Her wagon actually gains traction, by her proclaimed mason buddies no less, but Guava doesn’t vote here. (#680 implies there’s a benefit to Zenon being voted, but it feels odd to press the people she townreads to do so.
(682) (691) Zenon requested to be actively voted, but I think it’s more likely she wanted to just mess around and appear gregarious. Upon reflection though, I recalled that Zenon performed in a similar way with wacky voting patterns during (Nightmare Woods), although I think this would be at odds with the sleep wagon she apparently supports. This could still be the least suspicious point here, given that Zenon has demonstrated similar behaviour in a past game as a villager, but it’s worth being thorough even if nobody reads this dissection in-depth.
I’m pretty sure that fluffposting and attempting to top-post is not alignment indicative for Zenon or else I would’ve drawn attention to those earlier. Zenon has rapidly posted in every game that I can remember.
In conclusion, Zenon has been acting in ways that are certainly not like what I’d expect from my past experiences with her thus far; her opener seems scripted, her insistence on the masonry talk far outstrips her use of it from any other game, her vote on Gorta and subsequent jumping off that wagon looked as though she made an error and tried to own it, her self-vote started as a joke and became something more.
