So, now that D1 has ACTUALLY begun, I think it's worth considering (again) a null today. To be clear, I don't suggest we do this as part of any of the arguments referenced in the megathread, but, specifically because of the meme rules, and a few things I've noted in my character message.
1. Ice-cream flavors exist and are 'equally enforced' as other rules. Now, I noticed my ice-cream flavor has colored text, much the same way roles have colored text. These are similar to the way factions are colored. This might be a nothing. It might be a core game mechanic.
2. Or rather, it's possible that factions are permeable. It's possible you might start scummy and be saved by your ice-cream as the game moves on. It's possible the reverse might happen, it's possible that everyone's ice-cream color actually mostly just matches their role color. It's possible it's all a red herring and it is just a weird joke, but I doubt that.
3. We do know that the original incarnation of this setup was a Bastard game, but that this has been "as thoroughly de-Bastarded as I could manage.", which doesn't suggest that the game doesn't have any tricks left in its set-up, only as few as were necessary to make the set-up work.
4. The rules note: "-All information I provide will be accurate and true. However, I will not provide any information that is not outright required by either your role abilities or the smooth running of the game." From this, we can gather that there IS information which might usually be supplied that has not been supplied.
This is similar to the language used in IJW's last game, albeit more condensed and less explicit. I'm not seeing similar wording in the generic rules used in many other games though. This rule being present suggests there are important things that wouldn't be obvious about the set-up.
5. We know something will trigger if we hit null. It might just mean that null can take a plurality vote. It might be something changes in the game fundamentally if we lynch null. The best time to verify is when the cost of skipping a lynch is the lowest, i.e., when we have the least information to go on and the most time left in the game.
6. This is extremely circumstantial, but a major theme in social psychological experiments (similar to what the fluff seems to invoke) has been inducing group conflict and factionalization (e.g., Robbers Cave, Stanford Prison Experiment, the minimal group paradigm). The underlying mechanisms might be to do so here. Pushing against the conceit then, might actually be an ideal move for everyone.
That said, I'm not entirely convinced on this. I think it's worth keeping in the back of our minds, but any real decision that way should likely be made toward the end of the day, when we've at least discussed through other possible lynches to some serious extent; however, it may make sense if anyone has things to share in this direction to hold a conversation that way in parallel.
Anyway.
[x] Lynch Ondine