I don't know. I just wish that whatever vote wins, I'd like to know what are the expected positive outcomes of that vote and the reasons we can consider that probable. Sometimes we do, and I don't mind if my preferred vote loses. But too often it seems like there's a lot of hand-waving but at the end of it nobody really knows what we voted for. If C wins I hope it's for more than "hey, those guys, they're powerful, I guess we'll talk to them."
I definitely feel you on that one, man, with twenty guys all voting at the same time, it's pretty damn easy to get on the bandwagon and roll with it, and once it takes off there's no changing the course. I suppose the times of our dramatic deadlocks and deep update-chenging debates are over, this shit's gone mainstream now.
Anyway, I totally agree with your points and I sincerely doubt we'll be able to sway anyone to A, but I might as well give it one last try.
Because honestly, what do you guys expect from C? That the Masters will work with us, Zhang Jue's apprentice that has been acting like a total jackass and humiliating their sects this whole tournament (yes, our stund with Nie Mudan was extremely disgraceful and humiliating, and it really doesn't reflect well on us honor-wise; choices and consequences),
on equal grounds? Why would they do that, when they have all the cards on their side: Zhang's "apprentice" is running around the city attacking innocent bystanders and pugilists, we personally have absolutely zero standing in the world at large, our stunt at Songfeng can be spun two ways, the villain or the hero, but in the end we killed Junior on unsupported allegations of poisoning. They have all they need to strong-arm us into following with their agenda and taking the fall, with very little compensation. The Abbess can't really cover for us even if she wants to, because then she reveals to them the truth about Quingcheng and how exactly she abused her powers for Yao, Yifang and Cao'er's safety. Not a smart move in front of your rivals. I mean, really, what do you expect from Zhang Jue's sworn nemeses, free goodies and the benefit of the doubt? Our past history speaks for itself, and it's none too stellar.
On the other hand, if we don't attend at all, they can have fun putting the face to the name and picking us out from the crowd. They know Man Tiger Pig, sure, but our merchant persona is a complete unknown to all of them except the Abbess, Yifang and Cao'er. And even then, they'll have no proof to pin the blame on the crowd's favorite. And in exchange for helping Quiling, we'll get the potential to either expose the Persians as WiB collaborators or open friendly contact with them, depending on what the truth is, and act from there. It's much more difficult to use people as your pawns if they're aware they're being played, as well as earning brownie points with her (and hopefully avoiding another date-rape).
I suppose that if there are any upsides to C, it will show us exactly where we stand with the sectarians on a personal level, how willing are they to work with us on a respectful level and what they really are like behind close doors. Also, doing their dirty work for them gives us a lot of opportunities to gather blackmail on them personally, which can be extremely useful in the future, "Planning a coup, are we? Might want to rethink that,
noble masters."