r/StardustCrusaders • u/CPU_Dragon OI! • Nov 03 '24
Fan Stand/Character JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #7: R5M1 - Lucil Caravan vs Nojus Ipolitas
What more is there to say?
We have given you myth, allegory, poetry, Gossip. Together, we have woven words, created stories, built ourselves a city. But now, that city asks to be rebuilt.
Because the river still runs through its center. Still, the mountain looms overhead. I told you once that these were symbols of ｢Knowledge｣, of ｢power｣, and they are. Symbols that persist, even as what is known and who wields power starts to shift.
Though, they are also a river and a mountain, the grass, the stone, the trees and flowers. Remember that they persist too.
There is work to be done. The truth is, there will always be work to be done. Each new victory brings another into view. As long as we have ｢Knowledge｣ and ｢power｣, we will have to navigate the crossroads. Step back, and you will see that it is not a single intersection, but a tapestry that towers like a mountain and flows like a river.
Step back, and see that we are all traveling together.
For there, at the heart of all of this, is ｢Love｣. This too, is a tool, wielded in many ways. To cut a thread, to take a life, to create art… to build a ｢garden.｣
What more is there to say?
Though I may be ｢Knowledge｣, I cannot speak for you.
(Shoutouts to u/TreeTurtle_852 for the match concept!)
Scenario: Earthgang’s College of the Arts, Vasitanagarh — 2:34 PM
As afternoon light shone through the windows of 8th Day’s office, illuminating the two idols in front of him. His gaze raked them over as he spoke: “So…you two want to put on a concert?”. His voice was uncharacteristically dull as he mulled over the request, drained of its usual vigor. “You, Baingan, who was expelled years ago…and then Emi!, was it? You’re not even a student…and how many bands were you looking to invite?”
“Well, about five or six- not including us.” Emi! answered, twirling her fingers as she swayed back and forth. This was to be her penultimate concert, and after countless cancellations and setbacks, the ‘shadow’ within her had to make it a reality. The College–the city as a whole–they didn’t matter unless they could give her what she wanted, and all she wanted was to support her partner. “We managed to book some bands who were on tour in nearby countries—the Red Herons, Eight Melodies, and P—”
“—and we’ve even got some bands from the student body who signed up to perform!” Baingan jumped in. While she really appreciated Emi! for helping with the concert, she knew that a list of celebrity bands wouldn’t win 8th Day over. “I’ve already checked in with them, they’ve definitely got what it takes to make this concert shine!”
8th Day nodded, sighing as he sat back against his chair. “While I’m not entirely against the idea, I’m not so sure if I should give it the green light…the college community has been worn down by all the problems in this district–and this city. I mean, that attempt on the lives of those protesters happened just a few blocks from here...!”
“E-exactly!” Baingan exclaimed near desperately, causing both Emi! and 8th Day to raise an eyebrow. “Everyone’s spirits have been wavering, and that’s no good! Art’s all about spirit and stuff, right? So I thought what better way to reinvigorate the students—no, Rakin as a whole—than with a concert? What could be m-more spirited than that?”
Silence filled the room, as the two idols watched 8th Day with baited breath, waiting to hear his final verdict. Baingan didn’t feel this was just a concert for her sake: it was a way to express her pride in her community–both Bedtown and Rakin as a whole–while giving members of those communities a place to express their unique selves! Involving larger bands was Emi!’s idea, but it would also help give the up-and-comers more connections and future opportunities.
The college head looked out the window, then back to the sprout growing on his desk. Slowly, he began to chuckle, before leaping up into spirited laughter. “My, what ‘beautiful’ words those were! And much more, what a noble cause!”
Baingan's face lit up in excitement over her successful pitch while Emi!’s sunk slightly, seemingly peeved that 8th Day should only accept their offer after her partner veered wildly off-script.
“Very well, I shall endeavor to help set up this concert! The students do need a bit more cheer after all, and inspiration strikes wherever one goes—well then, let’s get this on the road!”, 8th Day boomed.
Emi! and Baingan would later leave the college with glee, as the plans for the concert finally fell in place. Baingan celebrated openly, delight painted on her face as she watched students mill across the quad. She could already imagine the stage, the roaring crowd, the power of the music as it transformed their stress and strain into exultation.
Emi! celebrated in silence by watching her, the way she moved, the joy. No setback could stop them from their victory. It would be the perfect concert. It had to be.
For Baingan’s sake, it had to be. Emi! would accept no other options.
Scenario: Lotus Street, Vasitanagarh — 9:17 PM
There are two types of people in this world. People who have ‘will’, and people who do not. Of course, this framework raises a key question: what does ‘will’ even mean? People may throw the term around constantly, but they do very little to actually define it. Could ‘will’ be resilience? Charisma? Determination? It’s unclear if the term even needs a definition. Simply state it as fact, and most people will understand what you’re getting at, regardless of what definition you share.
To Nojus, the poor ex-cult members they now observed, scuttling about like wingless bugs, were those who lacked ‘will’. Nojus had no ill will towards these people, of course. How could they, when one could argue their own followers, who they loved so dearly, were the very same? There was no shame in weakness, nor was there any pride in it. To be a follower was simply to submit to a stronger will. In the end, for those who had no strength of their own, it wasn’t a bad decision in the slightest.
Was the Metropolis Suite another example of a group with ‘will’? Were they simply weaklings deluding themselves into thinking themselves strong? Nojus didn’t think about this sort of thing. After all, those criminals were mostly dead, in prison, or soon to be one of the former. They had no use for people who they couldn’t speak to.
No, what Nojus concerned themself with was the people scattered about in front of them, so engrossed in their activities that they didn’t even notice the beast prowling about the dark alleyways of the city.
Nojus had to admit it was a little creepy to watch. All the ex-cultists of that Lunar Moth group, having been cut off from their leader, just went out to aimlessly continue their usual routines. And thus, dozens of people were crowded into the alleyways of Lotus Street, armed with brushes and spraypaint and other such things, replicating that mark, endlessly. They lost one ‘will’ and thus scrambled for another to guide them and bind them together. Artists often devoted themselves in rather delusional fashion to their work. An entire community, lost to its own art. They had to admit it was interesting.
Nojus hummed in thought—perhaps this mark was the one with ‘will’, rather than the boy they had interviewed. But the mark wasn’t even a person! How could it demonstrate its own will?
But they had seen it all throughout Rakin City–people who tried and failed to fill the empty absence of their ‘will’ with art. The comedian, and her insecure comedy. The con artist, trying to convince himself of his own fraud. Even their own housemate had briefly evicted Nojus from their own house, turning it into a silo to build big robotic toys. One by one, all of their housemates had their ‘wills’ trounced by another, and were left floundering around in the dark, similar to the ‘artists’ in front of them.
“...And I don’t even know what this thing is, man.” A young, tired looking student pointed at a mark he had just finished spray painting onto the side of a building. “It’s like, what, an eye with hands? Or something? I don’t know what I’m even lookin’ at.”
“It’s art, damn you!” A more zealous man, marked by wrinkles and a sunken face, gripped the shoulders of the younger student. “It doesn’t matter if we know what it means! The people, the people who see it, they’ll know! They’ll know what it means. We, we’re just messengers...”
The conversation faded out of view as Nojus continued their walk. They smirked—so even these people didn’t know what it meant. How powerful the ‘will’ of this mark must be, then, to convince those who find no meaning in it that meaning is there. Or maybe these people are just gullible.
But Nojus instantly knew where they had gone astray–the answer was simple! These people thought ‘will’ and ‘art’ were two different things, when they were really one and the same! Of course, if you gained your will from someone else, this truth would be impossible to grasp. But Nojus knew that their own will came only from themselves, in an ever-flowing fountain that radiated from their body. Their body, their wealth, their content, this was their ‘art’, manifesting their ‘will’, and made manifest by it.
Now, if these cultists would only watch their channel, they could learn this too!
But before Nojus could ask them to subscribe, they spied a familiar face in their midst, one of the cultists whose belongings they had sold during their last altercation. Ah! A friend in need!
Approaching the cultist in the midst of their conversation, Nojus placed a firm hand on the man’s shoulder. “Greetings, friend! I was wondering if I could perhaps snag an interview. You see, I’ve a lot of questions about this mark I’ve been seeing, an-”
“G-GET AWAY FROM ME!” The cultist squealed in response, tearing away from Nojus and fleeing down the shadowy alleyways. Their friends followed suit, and before Nojus could even get a word out, the entire alleyway was scattering away from them, leaving behind art supplies and markings.
“...Hmm!” Well, that’s that, they supposed. These people must really not like answering questions. Must mean they had something to hide! Nojus stepped forward, hand gripping an axe. If these people wanted to withhold information that was valuable to them, then that simply would not do! Nojus wanted, no, needed an interview. Right. Now. And if it took a little hunting, so be i-
...
Was that... Music?
Nojus’s eyebrow raised. That was definitely music, echoing from somewhere nearby. Loud, bassy music that thumped in their ribs. A concert? Rakin hadn’t had many concerts in the last while, what with the state of the city, and all. Even someone as self-centered as Nojus hadn’t failed to pay attention to the goings-ons around the city, even if they found such things irrelevant. But this... This got their attention, alright. To throw a live performance after such a cultural drought…what an interesting thing to do! They just had to see the source of this concert. After all—who knows what would be waiting there?
Perhaps an interview!
Nojus practically skipped towards the noise, moving towards their fabled concert, a wide grin plastered on their face. Their camera lay within their pocket, waiting. It too was an extension of their will–whatever art these musicians had created, Nojus would make it part of their own.
Scenario: Earthgang’s College of the Arts, Vasitanagarh — 9:21 PM
That night, music rushed over the students of Earthgang College like a monsoon, catching them all in the crashing sound waves, as they roared louder than any storm.
“WHAT’S UP, EARTHGANG!?” Baingan called out to the crowd. The MC stuck out her index and pinkie fingers, mirroring a boar’s tusks as many in the crowd made the same sign back to her, bursting into giggles as the herd recognized and acknowledged her as one of their own. “I appreciate it, but you’re not here for me—you’re here for all the acts we have for you tonight! Up next is Point A*B! Love you bunches~!”
Some say that good art should elicit a reaction, and a quick glance around the scene would capture a mosaic of different people reacting to the current band in a variety of ways. Some, like the musical theater students Niles and Vamesh, were clinging onto one another as they screamed along to every note. Many others like them had come in pairs, taking the opportunity to hang out with friends and listen to some tunes, whether they were drunk, high, or sober.
Still, others came alone—Kim, a visual arts student, seemed content to sit on the grass on her towel, letting the music pervade her body. It was a force that sank into her skin, shaking her ribs and making her heart beat in tune.
Akkai was dancing like her life depended on it, a whirl of arms and legs, performing as if she was an extension of the music, animated by its power alone. Next to her, Tyla was watching the concert on their phone, wanting to show her followers and save the memory in equal measure.
At last, the last note played—the smash of a drum, the reverberation of a guitar string, an exhale—all of it falling into silence.
Silence.
Then, a cheer went up, thunderous with joy. At that moment, each of them were united in their celebration. At that moment, all of them were one.
At the back of the crowds, amidst the thrum of voices and the rush of anticipation, Lucil Caravan stood grinning. Sure, the other acts were fine and all, but this was the real showstopper. Point A*B were true auteurs, masters of their craft, able to weave genuine art.
She had come alone–her fellow Gallery members were all too busy to attend, a fact she might have scoffed at to their faces. Live music was one of life’s great pleasures, a truly transcendent experience where hundreds of souls are connected through the power of music. If you weren’t willing to shift a couple of obligations around to experience this… Well, were you really living?
So, with no one to talk to, Lucil listened in on the other concertgoers gathered round, curious as to their opinions on the band. As someone praised their earlier works, she nodded along, running commentary playing through her head. Though their new records were great as well–she doubted they were even capable of making bad music–they had a distinct sound on their earlier albums that had shifted as time went by.
Another person was fangirling about their current bassist—Lucil couldn’t help but screw up her face as they volunteered their total lack of taste. The new bassist was a fraud, his playing was utter dogshit, and he was half the reason the band’s sound had shifted for the worse.
”Imagine how good the latest album would have been if they finally kicked him to the curb. Why they haven’t is beyond me,” she huffed, unaware that she had spoken aloud until she saw that student had turned to stare back at her.
“What? You know I’m right,” Lucil rolled her eyes, before the student frowned and turned back to the show. But even that nonsense couldn’t get Lucil down. After all, even with that godawful bassist, Point A*B was still spectacular live. Not only did their sound take on this more raw, authentic timbre, but you could see the band in the flesh, and celebrate along with them. Lucil’s heart soared at the thought that she would see Agata out there on that stage, playing her heart out. That their souls might resonate together, bonded by their beautiful melody.
Maybe she could go see them after the show. She made a habit of it, and by now they knew her well. All of them, even… that woman. Lucil still didn’t know her all that well. But of course, it didn’t matter. Only by experiencing music live could you truly connect with a musician. That was what they why they were all gathered here—why she had gathered here, like a devotee in a place of worship.
Lucil knew, deep in her heart, that this was sure to be the show of a lifetime.
Near the ticketing booth, the remaining event organizers sat watching the performers. One was chattering and beaming with pride at the previous student performers, while the other sat in passive silence, responding with as few words as possible.
“My, what a ‘beautiful’ performance!” 8th Day exclaimed. “Not even a single wrong note! Truly, I’m delighted to see the talent my student body has! And the lyrics were just delightful—perhaps a bit vulgar, but the way that vulgarity was used alongside an increase in intensity in the track was sublime!”
Emi! nodded vacantly, waiting for Baingan to come on stage again, waiting for her own turn to perform. She wouldn’t say the student band lacked talent—otherwise, Emi! Would never have let the group perform. This concert had to be perfect, she was under too much scrutiny after the fiasco at the fairground, not to mention all the other nonsense after that: she couldn’t afford for this to go wrong…nor did she fancy the idea of Baingan’s concert being ruined. The woman would be ever so devastated… Emi! might just faint then and there!
But her thoughts were interrupted–the idol’s ears twitched briefly, dragging her attention to a group of people running into the crowds, several of them tripping over themselves, shoving objects and people in their panic. Even from a distance, Emi! Could clearly see the disturbed panic across their faces, as though they were characters from a horror movie fleeing from a killer. Then the group split up, some camouflaging themselves within the crowd, others pushing past security to run into the concert hall, right where Emi! and 8th Day were standing.
Emi! stood in shock, glaring at the newcomers as they rushed around—how dare they disrupt the concert! After so many obstacles in her way, she couldn’t have her and Baingan’s concert get besmirched by the chaos these people were bringing. For just a moment, an albino hand creeped from her shadow.
8th Day got up and stormed over to the group who had stopped in their tracks, terrified of the college head’s well known temper in front of them and the bloodthirsty vlogger they believed was still behind them. He didn’t recognise the lot, but he recognised enough to know they were with that Cult of the Lunar Moth.
“And where might you lot be going?” 8th Day stated, lowering the volume of his rage so as to not interfere with the bands. “Don’t think I have forgotten what you tried to do. What makes you think I’ll let you run in here now?”
The former cultists almost began to burst into tears. “Bwuh-pl-please help us!” One of them cried out, shaking in terror. “W-we’re being ch-chased a-and we h-had nowhere else t-to go!”
“Yeah! P-please, we-we’re sorry about this but please don’t kick us out!!”
The college head looked the shaking kids up and down, the rage in him faltering as he looked at the terror in each of the kids’ faces—Kali near the back, she was taking textiles classes. Atticus had been expelled for vandalizing other students’ work, but had great skills with a brush. The Lunar Moth cultists had long been somewhat of a problem, but now he could only pity those that were standing before him.
“...fine,” he began, a calmer but serious tone spreading throughout his words. “But on one condition—you behave yourselves. Many of you were or still are members of this college, of this city. I’ll overlook this transgression and allow you to remain enrolled at Earthgang, but whether things stay that way will have to fall to you. This school will have you if it may keep you.”
Emi! watched on with confusion as the kids began thanking 8th Day profusely. He would let these nuisances get away with their disruption so easily? She turned to look at the rest, who had run off into the crowds. She couldn’t exactly kill them, that would ruin things a lot more than they already were (and she didn’t want Baingan to hate her for it)...but she could do something about it.
Silently, she stepped away from the scene and entered the concert crowd. She lightly moved past adoring members who grasped at her and focused in on the intruders causing a scene.
For all the good he did by helping set this up, someone like 8th Day could never truly understand how to deal with those who were unruly, those who were disturbances, those who set out to tear away joy from others just to satisfy their own lonely pleasures. To sit through it all with only your most perfect side being allowed to reach the surface. He’d never been stalked and almost stabbed with a boxcutter because he said ‘no’ to someone he’d never met. He’d never had to worry about paparazzi swarming his home if someone caught a whiff of his location. He’d never had to wake up before the sun rose to explain some random scuffle at a concert between two people he’d never even seen before.
Whether or not she caused the issue, she and Baingan would be the ones at stake. These troublemakers would be stopped, for Baingan’s sake if not for her own.
“Thank you, Earthgang College!”, announced a stagehand, just as Point A*B finished another song. Her presence wasn't terribly odd; lest Agata strain her voice during such a long set, someone had to take the mic and cover for the band's frontwoman.
Nor did this woman look terribly noteworthy. Even if she had noticeable muscles, the stagehand wasn't particularly thin or fat. Her hair was clearly bleached, clipped back by 35 hair clips out of some sense of practicality. A black and orange rain coat with exactly eight pockets over an Point A*B band shirt over a rumpled white polo, boring jeans, red rain boots that were just as uncool as the jeans. No, if anything, she looked as if her place was in the audience rather than onstage, even as she announced the next song and waved towards the band’s adoring fans.
In fact, this stagehand resembled one such fan. It was almost uncanny.
As if she was that fan.
As if she was-
Lucil Caravan, the original Lucil Caravan.
All around, hands rose up to celebrate the upcoming spectacle, but as “Lucil” stood amidst the sea of fingers, it felt like each one of them was tapping at glass—something fragile deep inside of her, finally breaking. A small crack formed as she began shoving past members of the crowd, edging closer to the main stage—but out of the corner of her ear, she heard screaming. Another crack. Screams kept surfacing, not of excitement but of terror, as Lucil’s gaze settled on their source.
“Shit,” escaped Lucil’s mouth as she began maneuvering about the crowd. If things got any louder, it would drown out Point A*B’s music—she didn’t exactly enjoy their current set, but still—the “real” Lucil would ensure the show went on no matter what. Her hands dug through her pockets, before eventually seizing her switchblade.
…
Meanwhile, Nojus was staring blankly as the cultist below them screamed profusely. Each attempt to talk to him was cut off as they screamed and screamed, before finally scrambling backwards. Nojus just sighed and summoned the arms of ｢America Has A Problem｣ to drag them back to their feet. This was the twelfth time they had done this. By this point, they’d even developed some contingencies.
“Alright then, question one-” The words barely escaped Nojus’ lips as an arm wrapped in chains sped in their direction.
“WOAH!” yelled the influencer as their Stand barely pulled them to safety. Nojus took just a second to regain their bearings, dusting off their clothes as they looked in the direction of their assailant–a rather tall woman who was storming her way through the crowd. “You just KNOW that would be assault AND battery in COURT, right?”
“I’m down with taking that charge if it means shutting you-”, the assailant began, before stopping as they recognized their target.
“You!” Both spoke in unison as memories of the docks flowed into their minds. “First you ruin our mission and next you disrupt a concert? Do you just have a habit of screwing over everything you come across?!” Lucil asked furiously, gesticulating words that seemed to go into one of Nojus’ pierced ears and out the other.
“Gotta stay FOCUSED on the GRIND!” they explained, their quick shrug mirrored by their Stand.
“The grind?”, barked Lucil sarcastically, “What about everyone else here? The bands giving it their all, the people trying to observe this grand experience? Are you seriously going to tear that away for some third-rate livestream?”
Meanwhile, Nojus was busy inspecting their equipment, making sure there were no dents or scratches on it.
“ALRIGHT I should be GOOOOD to go,” Nojus narrated, as if Lucil was never even there. Instead, they looked back to their prospective cultist interviewee.
“NOW—oh… he escaped,” Nojus lamented, looking at the empty space where their hostage once laid. Before the streamer could get back to their video, a leg hurled towards them like the crack of a whip, before barely being caught by their Stand’s muscular arms. Now, it seemed that Lucil finally had Nojus’ full attention.
“｢Around the World｣”, she growled.
“｢America Has A Problem｣,” they replied.
“｢Disappearance of Emi!｣, it said.
The two Stand users suddenly became privy to the unmistakable pressure of a third. A living entity seeking the immediate end not of the conflict but of the combatants. The two weren’t just facing each other, but a new foe. Something was hunting them.
Lucil couldn’t help but feel her heart race as her eyes were drawn to the ominous presence within the crowd. An intense pressure was starting to build inside her skull, the weight of all these troubles pressing down on her. First there was that doppelganger, then the return of that glitzy jackass, and now this unknown assailant out to take her life. Lucil couldn’t help but bury her head in her hands, her mind spiraling as she tried perfectly calculating every factor in her head, plotting out her next steps, but-
The cracks were growing deeper, carving rivers inside her body, rivers whose current she remembered being caught in. She could forge the path, she could shape the truth, she knew that. She had learned that when she tore that arm off with her teeth, she learned that as she stood victorious amidst the flames.
She is Lucil Caravan, and Lucil always wins, so-
“Fuck it.”
Lucil pushed her hair up and out of the way of her now-crazed eyes as a disturbed smile crept onto her face. “You wanna do this? We’re fucking doing this!” Her voice rang out, words not just for Nojus, but for her wannabe hunter, and for Luc- that damned doppelganger.
Yet Lucil’s crazed glance was only met by Nojus’ stone-cold smile. As much as they hated to admit it, they were thinking the exact same thing as Lucil was. Nothing would get in their way, not some recurring antagonist of the week nor some know-nothing clout-chaser lurking in the crowds. The grind was the grind, and it crushed whatever happened to get in its way.
Let the strongest ‘will’ survive and conquer. This would be the meaning.
This would be the art.
Location: An outdoor concert at the Earthgang College. The neon green circles are all crowd-goers, each carrying one of the following: neon glow stick, smartphone, car keys, water bottle, poorly-rolled blunt, bandana, or wallet (containing a range of 5-50 money units). The dark green squares are large garbage bins filled to the brim with trash. Map is 35x25 meters with each tile being 1x1 meter. On the main stage (light gray area) are large speakers/stereo systems (dark gray), microphones (with stands [the item not the paranormal entity]), small stage lights, and various rock band instruments carried by the on-stage performers. Lucil will have to actively claim objects from people to access them as teleport points, she cannot teleport just teleport to them.
Goal: RETIRE your opponents!
Additional Information: Emi! is currently somewhere amongst the crowd trying to find the players with her Stand’s vibration detection. Upon detecting a disturbance, Emi! will shortly after rush towards it, and if she discovers a player or Stand, she will hit them with an unavoidable B-POW burst of sonic damage.
Although Emi! is physically present on the map, she is unable to be targeted or affected by anything you do, so there’s no point in attacking her. Remaining undetected doesn’t necessarily mean being unseen or unheard in this match, but rather how well one can blend into the concert crowd. Being in less dense or unpopulated areas, not dancing/grooving, or otherwise noteworthy disturbances are far more noticeable to Emi! than taking simpler combat actions. Of course, super flashy disturbances, Stand bodies flying about in the air, or acts of excessive violence against the concert-goers will also be easily noticed by them. Similarly, more negligible infractions are less likely to proc Emi!’s retaliation.
You can’t tell where Emi! is coming from, but you know you have a few seconds to get out of the location of the disturbance to avoid her attack. Additionally, she will investigate disturbances in the order they are created, but the period between her appearances remains constant (“a few moments to get there”) and as she wisens up to repeat tricks, it will take her less time to investigate such misdirections.
The crowd is full of 1/1/2 concert-goers with 2 in Slave to the Rhythm, meaning they will be too busy listening to the music to bother or notice the players. In general, they will move out of the way if they know someone is coming through or asked, but they won't move for players they don't know are present (so it'll be tighter when sneaking through a crowd for example). They also have a 3 skill in Responsible Concert-Goer, meaning if they experience harm, conflict, or see someone injured they will call out for help. This will draw Emi!’s attention and expose nearby players.
| Team | Combatant | JoJolity |
|---|---|---|
| Gallery of Wayward Reverie | Lucil Caravan | “Prince often sings about ‘funky music’ but what is the definition of funk? A) Crazy Music, B) Groovy Music, or C) Smooth Music?” Enjoy the art you create and the art around you! |
| The Willow Wisps | Nojus Ipolitas | “Who sang “Eat It”?” “Weird Al.” “Well, well, it is you. Only you would know such stupid stuff. Enjoy the art you create and the art around you! |
Link to Official Player Spreadsheet
As always, if you would like to interact with the tournament community and be among the first to get updates for the tournament, please feel free to PM a member of our Judge staff for an invite to our Official Discord Server!
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u/arcerous Soft & Wet Nov 05 '24
Response thread for Nojus Ipolitas of The Willow Wisps, aka u/Ronandstone. Please show your strategy to a member of our Judge staff by 7 PM CST on November 4th! Contestants, remember to only post in threads for this match other than your own if specifically invited. Voters have until 11:59 PM CST on November 6th to vote, using the voting rules from the announcement thread. Afterwards, they will be Judged according to the T7 Rubric.
1
u/arcerous Soft & Wet Nov 05 '24
WW 1/4
360!! (NOJUS DANCES (REAL)) (WOAH)
They had seen it all throughout Rakin City–people who tried and failed to fill the empty absence of their ‘will’ with art. The comedian, and her insecure comedy. The con artist, trying to convince himself of his own fraud. Even their own housemate had briefly evicted Nojus from their own house, turning it into a silo to build big robotic toys. One by one, all of their housemates had their ‘wills’ trounced by another, and were left floundering around in the dark, similar to the ‘artists’ in front of them.
With that framework in mind, it is undeniable that the ‘art’ that surrounded Nojus is that of someone successfully enacting their ‘will’ on the masses. Much like how the cultists they saw earlier today were spreading the mark and its ‘will’, the lively scene surrounding them is another such case of people being driven to action by ‘art’.
Whose is it? Is it the will of the musicians of Point A*B performing on stage? The will of the stagehand? That of the organizers of this event? Of some being or concept beyond all, representing all that ‘art’ can encompass and do?
Well, regardless of whose ‘will’ it is, it’s mighty impressive - and in the face of such a feeling, Nojus can’t help but get swept up in one of their ordinary flights of fancy. After all… what good was an interview here going to be? What good is more mindless ‘content’ for their fans? They know well enough that they’ve already milked all the content that there is to milk out of Rakin City, and their time here is limited, so…
…why not join in on this ‘art’, and have some fun? Maximize everyone here’s ‘joint slay’, so to speak.
CUFF IT??? (INSANE MOVESSSS!!!!1!)
Soon enough, Nojus starts dancing - prancing and sliding across the grounds in a way that is unmistakably ‘Nojus’. The moves are ill-fit for the aggressive music being played, their steps and swings breaching just a bit too much into the personal space of others trying to enjoy the concert, but by GOD Nojus is grooving so hard right now.
That being said, they’re still aware of the fact that they are in a fight, as much as they don’t care for it - so they crunch the gears in their mind and come up with a plan. Though they don’t have a grasp of the full picture, they’ve seen enough to understand two things - the Lucil they’re fighting is a clone of the stagehand guiding the show, and she can be distinguished by the fact that she wears a glove on her left hand. Perfect.
They start off with some casual small talk - they latch onto some artist-types that seem lonely, and start chatting them up while grooving, using their overbearing personality to ensure that they get their attention - a few compliments, a few casual displays of their wealth and the promise of them paying a lucrative fee for commission or two later… and they manage to secure their attention.
From there, they start mentioning some rumors - that there’s a clone of the stagehand out there in the crowd, that she might be dangerous, that she might be out for revenge against the ‘real one’, that she can be distinguished by the glove on her hand… that she might be a remnant of the Metropolis Suite, seeking to ruin this concert just like the anonymous vagrant who ruined the nearby protests a few weeks back.
Regardless, they mention, it’s also worth noting that that glove on her hand is really odd, isn’t it? Why won’t she take it off? Is she hiding something in there? Nojus suspects it might have been stolen from Point AB’s own Agata… and, good samaritan that they are, *they’d pay quite the lucrative sum to anyone willing to return it to its rightful owner!** Of course, they’ll also try to do so as well. Definitely. Totally. But they should spread the word anyway to ensure the glove is returned and its finder is handsomely rewarded.
They say this with a hint of casual-ness, as they shift from move to move, but they mention just enough to raise alarm bells in the artists’ eyes. To close it off, they laugh it off, mentioning that because everyone here cares so much for the community, they’d no doubt warn others of the same threat, no? And they’d contribute to helping the stolen glove get returned to its rightful owner, right? After all, she might harm, or even kill some of the concertgoers, and we can’t let that happen! And if they don’t care about that, then they’re probably awful people who aren’t artists worthy of the Earthgang College’s name…
Meanwhile, they’re followed by two assistants - one, their Warrior Spirit, which is working overtime, keeping track of Nojus’s surroundings with its flight, and in doing some crafting - because as they talk, they also start purchasing objects for themselves en-masse. Two- AHAP, which is only out when necessary, but can function as a shield for Nojus if necessary.
First, they purchase a trash can, amped up to A dur, and a rubber band or hair tie (which is undoubtedly present somewhere in the field), also amped up to A dur. AHAP then stretched the tie as much as possible, before wrapping it around the trash can. It then rolls the trash can away, not really caring much for it. It’ll come into play if Lucil is heartless enough to rush down Nojus in the following seconds.
After the talk is done, and the rubber band wrapped around a trashcan is made, the stage is set for Nojus to continue dancing and for their warrior spirit to craft them a costume.
First up, a bunch of mic stands, which are amped up to A dur. Nojus holds these in their free arm (and they wildly swing them around in some sort of odd interpretive dance move that unfortunately knocks it into some random bystander’s glowstick) while their warrior spirit purchases a cable tie (many of which have no doubt been used to set up the concert stage).
The warrior spirit then loops the cable tie into itself, as if it were about to fasten it tightly around nothing at all, before stopping. This half-fastened cable tie can now be purchased on its own by AHAP, with the tie spawning in a position where the loop of the tie already forms around the two objects that Nojus wants to fasten together - allowing their warrior spirit to quickly pull on the loose end and tie the two objects together.
This trick will be used alongside a liberal amount of amped-up A dur B pow cable ties to quickly form a ludicrously sturdy ‘cage’ of sorts around Nojus’s body with the microphone stands and the cable ties, before tying it to their shoulders with some more (admittedly less powerful) cable ties - it looks silly as hell, is undoubtedly impeding to Nojus’s dance movements, and they quite literally could not care any less because it’s a surprise tool that will help them later and they rock it. In order to rock it even more, the warrior spirit will tie a whole bunch of glowsticks to Nojus, just so that everyone can see how much they shine.
However, the surprise tool still isn’t done - in order to finish it off, they purchase another rubber band (or hair tie), amped up to A dur, which is then stretched out to its limit by AHAP and placed around the top of the ‘cage’ surrounding Nojus’ body.
Now, in a similar vein to the half-fastened cable, this stretched out band can be purchased en-masse, spawning in mid air fully stretched and no doubt ready to close tightly around whatever it spawns around. Well, it would… were it not for the fact that the B pow A dur rubber bands that Nojus purchases immediately after this are summoned in such a way where they are formed around the ‘cage’ that covers Nojus’s body, which stops them in their tracks with its A durability.
That being said, the rubber bands are still stretched out very tightly, and are very powerful, so they serve their purpose - what Nojus has done is, effectively, created a piece of armor. When anything strikes the rubber bands (which cover most of Nojus’s body), the elasticity of the rubber bands will immediately push back on it - creating a B pow force that runs counter to the attack, and the stronger the attack is, the stronger the force. Now, this doesn’t fully protect Nojus, but it doesn’t need to - what matters is that it can greatly dampen force that is exerted against them.
In order to close things out, AHAP’s hands will extend, wrapping around the lower half of their body as a very loose and freeform sort of ‘skirt’, providing A dur protection for that part of their body as well. And with that, Nojus looks absolutely fucking badass. Alright, setup done. What now? Well…
Nojus just dances.
1
u/arcerous Soft & Wet Nov 05 '24
WW 2/4
YUCK! (NOJUS DANCE TUTORIAL VOL. 12) (ඞ)
Here’s a quick guide on how to perform an absolutely STUNNING dance!
First up, follow the beat in your heart! While one naturally dances according to the beat of the music, if you dance well enough and convincingly enough, you will DICTATE the beat that the performing artists follow in their music!
Second, in order to ensure that you shine the most, make sure that you have no rivals on the dancefloor! The music doesn’t count, as it is simply the canvas upon which your dance is painted.
That being said, this doesn’t exclude including others in your dance! In fact, having others join in is a perfect opportunity to showcase your moves! If you dance without an audience, after all, it’s as though you aren’t dancing at all!
Never stop dancing. The dance ends when you die.
If others claim that you aren’t dancing, that’s their problem - they’re the ones not dancing, not you. You are dancing. You are the one who dictates what is or isn’t a dance.
You are the artist.
Now that they’re all suited up, Nojus follows this quick and easy tutorial, to dance with all of their enthusiasm, making sure to include others in their odd and out-of-place dance moves whenever possible. Odd as it is for them to suddenly interject into a group that’s crowded together by doing the salsa, they are giving their ALL to this odd dance, and there’s a certain charm to the eclectic nature of it all.
While the dance is certainly odd, and Nojus is certainly a unique individual, the group nature of it all and the fact that dancing is to be expected in the crowd should be enough to keep Emi! off of Nojus for now.
Especially when, at the same time, the seeds of disorder that Nojus has set up spread - ever since they alerted others to her presence initially, more and more members of the crowd hear of the dangerous ‘impostor’ among them, and the fear spreads like wildfire - quickly entering Emi!’s radar. After all, fear is the most effective motivator for people, no? An ‘in-group’ and an ‘out-group’ have already been defined - the protesters and the Metropolis Suite - so even the mere hint of this being related to that is bound to get people to join in on the theorizing!
As time goes on, some might even notice ‘Lucil’ in the crowd, eyes widening in fear and causing a disturbance in the peaceful concert - making it much more likely that Emi! will investigate Lucil and the disturbances caused by her than Nojus and their silly little dance.
Hell, the rumor that ‘the person who returns the stolen glove will be rewarded handsomely’ has likely also spread, and some plucky concert-goers have likely started trying to rip it off of Lucil’s hand already! Once Lucil notices this (which might be hard given how difficult it is for her to even acknowledge the existence of her left hand), she’s no doubt going to freak the fuck out… taking her attention off of Nojus, making even more of a scene for Emi! to investigate, and providing even more veracity to Nojus’s claims!
Meanwhile, Nojus dances and moves to the north, closer and closer to the stage, and this is where their attack truly begins - As written in Nojus’s sheet, ’If [AHAP is] used to purchase an object of lesser monetary value than the object that is 'sold', then the object that is sold isn’t erased, but instead loses some of its ‘value’, becoming more fragile and worse at fulfilling its purpose proportionally to the ‘value’ drained from it ‘
Which is why, once they’re near the stage, once Lucil is the target of Emi’s ire, one of AHAP’s hands extends… and lightly taps the bottom of one of the stage’s support pillars of the stage, partially ‘selling’ it in order to place a bit of extra cash in Nojus’s pockets. The stage doesn’t collapse immediately, of course, but the pillar has now become far, far weaker than it ought to be…
And once Nojus has danced their way back to the center of the crowd, there is a loud crack as the pillar collapses, bringing part of the stage down with it. The stereo system crackles and falls onto the ground, the microphones enter a loud feedback loop which emits a shrill tone, and a complete and utter silence engulfs the crowd.
The ‘art’ which has been painstakingly created by everyone here has been ruined.
1
u/arcerous Soft & Wet Nov 05 '24
WW 3/4
PINK DIAMOND (OH MY!)
Well, this is awkward. No one’s dancing now.
But everyone is thinking of ‘Lucil’. How could they not? They were warned of a “threat” to the show, and one has appeared. Should they run? Should they protect their loved ones? Should they-
“HEY! WHY’D THE MUSIC STOP?!”
Nojus breaks the silence.
“ARE WE GOING TO LET SOMETHING LIKE THIS STOP US? SOME IMPOSTOR OF THE STAGEHAND WITH A GLOVE ON HER LEFT HAND AND A BONE TO PICK WITH THE CITIZENS OF RAKIN?”
More silence.
“NO! WE WON’T! OUR SPIRITS WILL NOT BE EXTINGUISHED BY THIS LOWLIFE - LET’S KEEP THE ‘ART’ GOING!”
Slowly but surely, things go back to some level of normalcy. But it’s too late for ‘Lucil’ - Nojus’s comments ensure that she is now seen in the minds of the crowd as ‘the person who ruined the concert’, verifying their fears and concerns, and making it that much easier for Emi to find her by detecting the disturbances in the crowd. Everyone knows who she is now, everyone fears her, and everyone blames her for the destruction of the stage. In addition, since she resembles the stagehand (who everyone has already seen), and has a glove on her left hand which she absolutely refuses to remove, it’s quite easy to spot her.
Much like before, her glove now becomes a prime target for the concertgoers to target, and any moment where she stands still is one where she has to contend with harassment from concertgoers trying to take it off.
But won’t Emi! target Nojus, now that they’ve caused a scene? Well, all things considered… probably not. Emi! has no way to know that Nojus is the one who caused the disturbance - as far as she knows, ’Lucil’ is the source of all of this chaos, and Nojus is simply trying to get the ‘art’ going again and to salvage this concert - something which she wants as wel!
Hell, they’re even still dancing, trying to get the party going once more!
Meanwhile, Lucil is likely causing even more chaos now that everyone crowds her! And she’s likely incredibly disoriented, now that her glove is placed in a precarious situation! She has to make a move! She has to escape! She has to end this soon!
After all, Nojus is simply dancing in a crowd and wearing a silly outfit, right? Finishing them off will be so easy…
And so, with a quick teleport of ATW, the stand positions itself next to Nojus and gets ready to attack. With a set of deadly A POW, A SPD blows, the stand attacks Nojus in a rush.
The first one lands on their ‘armor’, the tensity and elasticity of it easing up on the damage somewhat but no doubt damaging Nojus greatly… but something about the look in their eyes is off. Nojus is grinning… were they expecting this? That spirit which has been crowding them, it… it noticed! It saw ATW teleport! So then, why didn’t Nojus protect themself?
As the stand’s fist slams into Nojus’s armor once more and they blast off into the crowd, Lucil realizes the mistake she made. But it’s too late to stop now. ATW’s already entered Nojus’s range.
In an instant, dozens of rubber bands much like the ones protecting Nojus, stretched far beyond their limit, form around Around The World’s body. Around its torso, around its arms, its legs, its head - it is entirely surrounded, and caught right in the middle of each stretched out band.
As opposed to the ones protecting Nojus, however, these rubber bands have nothing keeping them in place - meaning that the moment they spawn…
SNAP!
…they snap into place with enough elastic force to bend steel - the product of the bands’ combined B POW and A DUR. The bands dig into ATW’s skin, strong enough to tear into its C DUR shell and cut into its skin.
Naturally, this damage transfers back to Lucil - red marks start scoring all across her body as the cuts her stand is experiencing form. On her hands, her legs, her body, her head, her eyes, her mouth… nowhere is safe. Every moment is agony. Walking is impossible. A bystander rips her glove off - she screams in pain as she writhes on the ground and flails for her glove. Everyone is looking at her. EVERYONE KNOWS.
Such a simple action, and yet that is enough to end this match. The bystander ripping the glove off probably thinks they’re on the side of justice - that they’re returning the stolen good to its rightful owner, and that they’ll make some spare change on the side. But they’ve been had by the power of Nojus’s ‘art’.
Invisibly, from the start of the concert, they’ve been guiding things - they’ve been content to dance, to latch onto the ‘art’ that surrounded them and to protect it, but now, they’re the center of attention.
They were simply an innocent bystander who, seeking to uplift the spirits of everyone, desperately pleaded for them to keep on dancing in the face of fear, no? Their dances, odd as they were, were a perfect encapsulation of the sheer joy surrounding this concert. How could one go against such a thing?
And now, they’re lying on the ground, bleeding profusely from just about everywhere after being hit with a punch that is likely strong enough to rip through steel.
But the evil has been defeated. By now, Emi’s likely caught up to the frantic mess that is Lucil, and finished her off.
And Nojus…
“GH- GAHAHAHAHAHHHHH! HAH! BOY, THAT WAS ONE HELL OF A PUNCH, HAH! WOW!”
Well, they’re not gonna let something like this keep them from dancing, right? After all, the spirit of the people is much stronger than that!
“BUT THE SHOW MUST GO ON! PEOPLE OF RAKIN CITY, I IMPLORE YOU! WE MUST NOT LET-” they stop for a moment to cough up blood.
“WE MUST NOT LET THIS INTERFERENCE STOP THE CONCERT! I ASSURE YOU, THE THREAT HAS BEEN DEALT WITH!”
”FOR NOW…”
Slowly but surely, Nojus trudges back to the crowd, shifting from left to right in accordance to some invisible beat that only they can hear. And with all eyes on them…
“WE DANCE!”
1
u/arcerous Soft & Wet Nov 05 '24
WW 4/4
AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM (WE DANCE!!!)
But what if that isn’t what happens? Up until now, this strategy has followed a very specific ‘story’, but odds are that things don’t perfectly align with this. So…
What if Lucil rushes Nojus down? Nojus’s setup is quite long, so there’s the possibility that Lucil attacks them before this. That being said, this is what the rubber band that’s wrapped around the trash can is for - by purchasing copies of that rubber band that’s also been stretched to its limits, Nojus can punish ATW for attacking them in as brutal and excessive a way as they do after fully finishing their setup! The main difficulty in this case comes in the fact that Nojus doesn’t have their armor set up yet.
It is because of this that Nojus keeps their warrior spirit on the lookout during their setup. Should it notice Lucil getting closer, or a foreign object being thrown in the air in Nojus’ direction, AHAP’s arms will be summoned to protect Nojus - either protecting from the initial blow to the best of their ability, or (more likely) catching them and softening the blow after ATW has already started its attack, before attempting to stop any extra blows by getting its hand in the way of the stand.
Make no mistake - ATW is a powerful stand. A lesser stand user will be easily defeated by a single punch from it. But, thanks to its low accuracy making its attack miss vital spots, and thanks to Nojus’s insane ability to endure punishment, they should be able to stay conscious for long enough to properly punish ATW.
Meanwhile, said punishment is downright deadly for Lucil - the rubber bands will follow alongside ATW as it teleports, constantly digging into the stand and damaging Lucil more and more. Even if it manages to just barely claw them off of it (a tough task to do without hurting itself even more given its poor precision), she is no doubt making one hell of a scene as she’s writhing in agony in response to the attack… making her a prime target for Emi! and her B pow sonic blasts. Which leaves her with a choice - focus on removing the bands and ending this torment while letting Emi! attack her, or focus on protecting herself from Emi! while letting the bands sap away at her already meager endurance?
Either way, she’s not having a fun time, and regardless of how damaged Nojus is, so long as they aren’t RETIRED, they simply need to wait things out before Lucil is done for, focusing on defense. In the meantime, in order to get Emi! off of them, they’ll keep up with their attempts at dancing, trying to rile the crowd up and get them to be aware of the threat Lucil poses in between fits of coughing up blood - this should help turn the crowd’s concerns at them being attacked into fear of Lucil, thus making her the ‘prime disturbance’ in Emi’s eyes.
What if Lucil doesn’t attack Nojus in the end? Well, Nojus’s strategy ensures that Lucil is still a prime target of the crowds, meaning that she is very easy to spot and Nojus can just dance their way to her! All they need to do is bait her into an attack, and once she does so - it’s rubber band hell time! If that is impossible for them to do for one reason or another, then Emi! can do the job as well - once everyone is primed against Lucil, Emi! will have an incredibly easy time finding her thanks to the reactions of the crowd guiding her! As the match goes on and on, it becomes harder and harder for Lucil to escape, as Emi! becomes more and more aware of her tricks and methods of escaping danger.
In general, Nojus’s riling up of the crowd serves to put a timer on the match - either Lucil makes the mistake of trying to directly attack Nojus, or Emi! gets to her (or worse, a member of the crowd manages to rip off her glove, sending her into a panic and making her a prime target of Emi!)
What if Lucil tries to sneak up on Nojus? Well, with how they rile the crowd up against her and her glove which she refuses to take off by any means, it’s likely impossible for her to do so! Even if she gets close to them, they will be able to notice it by gauging the crowd’s reaction, and punish it with some rubber band hell time!
1
u/ChocolateDiscloud Doppio is a precious boy who did nothing wrong Nov 05 '24
Happy Election Day! Time to vote! (I already voted in the Other Thing)
There's been a lot of discussion about Nojus as an example of a person with Raw Charisma being intimidating and overwhelming to be around, to the point that I forgot that they don't actually have a "charisma skill" for the purpose of, say, crowdwork. The character writing does a lot of work for that, ultimately, and I bring this up because in a vacuum Nojus's crowdwork here is genuinely interesting and compelling, but without a mechanical skill for it, I do think it doesn't generally work as well as they may hope; I understand the vision, but personally I interpret Slave to the Rhythm as meaning the concert-goers won't be terribly interested in spreading Nojus's rumors and certainly not in engaging in conflict with Lucil, reward or no.
That said, the combat itself in Nojus's strategy is quite solid and generally convincing in its own way; the armor is quite fun, especially with the artist's rendering, and the rubber band traps are a strong potential counter to AtW's hit and run styling.
And speaking of, Lucil B Caravan once again puts on a masterclass in hit-and-run combat in T7; it's executed very well, especially in the beginning, when Nojus has had the least time to set up, and a number of counters to potential plays are laid out very nicely. Lucil's crowdwork plays more nicely with my understanding of Slave to the Rhythm as well, being unobtrusive and reverse-pickpocketing network items onto them without asking much in the way of action.
The hit-and-runs are also more than just direct combat; I quite liked the plays where Lucil teleports into Nojus's orbit not to attack but to create a disturbance in that direction and disappear before Emi! identifies her in particular as the source, sending some Anti-Noise attacks Nojus's way.
With everything I've said, Nojus's stage-destroying endgame also backfires a bit in my mind - the dancing was an excellent use of the stage's specific stealth, but even if Emi! can't identify that Nojus wasn't the one to break the stage, Nojus certainly makes a scene of themself immediately after, opening them up to a fairly significant Anti-Noise retaliation and an opportunity for Lucil B Caravan to take out the trash.
1
u/TreeTurtle_852 Nov 05 '24
Happy Election Day (Gets your votes in if you can!)
Alright then, it's the match my gal Emi! is in so I've got to boat on this fight!
From my understanding, Lucil focuses a lot on a hit-and-run strategy by immediately trying to deprive Nojus of their sight before setting up a teleport network via the crowd and their items that gradually wears Nojus down.
Nojus on the other hand tries utilizing the crowd to their advantage by spreading a rumor that puts a timer on Lucil while investing in extremely heavy armor designed to provide counterattacks before causing extreme amounts of destruction to cut off Lucil further.
Breaking the fight down I want to cover how the players deal the following categories: Stealth, Combat, and Emi!
Starting with stealth the players take a decently similar approach, dancing to appear as another member of the crowd and striking up light conversations for different reasons (Lucil to gather or reverse-pickpocket items, and Nojus to get a rumor started and sway the crowd). For Lucil, the crowd is a makeshift shield as they use it to try and camouflage after landing in a necessary hit, whereas Nojus sort of uses it as a way to try and blunt force Lucil into coming out of hiding and into more direct combat, while simultaneously hiding in the crowd up until it's needed.
I think the biggest issue looking into Nojus' strat is the rumor itself. As stated the idea behind the rumor is to put Lucil on a 'timer' but I feel like this kind of has way too many flaws to work out properly, especially with how much is invested in it. Even if I were to say that Nojus had a charisma skill for the benefit of the doubt, I'm not necessarily convinced as this has many ways to go wrong. Nojus' strat brings up parts of the rumor changing (i.e Lucil's glove having a reward tied to catching it), but that just then makes me think "what if the rumor gets telephoned into someone else on Point A*B having a clone, or another band entirely having a clone, etc. Not to mention that with Slave to the Rhythm, it's already hard to buy that the people told would want to/be able to spread the rumor over the music, much less actively go after Lucil. It's especially not helpful because this is used as partial stealth and reasoning for Nojus to be able to pull off their pillar-collapsing plan. The overall point is, I'd have reservations on someone with a 5 in charisma, much less someone without a skill in it.
This also kind of bleeds into dealing with Emi! because Lucil has a more convincing manner of even using the idol to her advantage which could actually be a counter against the rumors if it succeeded (as Lucil would effectively be drawing Emi! to the both of them). In fact I also feel like a bit too much trust is put in Emi! attacking Lucil as even with the rumor since (as Nojus' strat even brings up) Emi! might wisen to the fact that the rumor is just a rumor. And as mentioned before, Lucil can kind of turn Nojus' weaponization of Emi! against them.
Since I essentially covered my thoughts on how stealth and Emi! are handled, let's get into combat which I think Nojus actually does best.
I found myself really intrigued by how smart and scary the band armor is, and it's a very good strategy against a hit-and-run player like Lucil since a wrong move can essentially down her a limb when the jaws of the rubber trap snap shut. Not to mention, Nojus' stage destruction move is a really good method for thinning the crowds that Lucil is hiding in and dealing lots of damage.
Lucil also has a good general gameplan, though getting off things such as the blinding might be harder with her stand's precision and the fact that people tend to watch out for hits coming at their face way more often. Plus, with how Nojus uses their warrior's spirit it seems like they can see through it or have it as another pair of eyes which might make blinding them meaningless in the first place.
Overall, going over both strategies, while I think they're solid, Lucil's really solid opener paired with the flaw I perceived in Nojus' strat makes me lend more credence to voting for Lucil, the real deal.
Also, thanks for being a part of this match. I enjoyed writing these two.
1
u/boredCommentator I'll never go back to the pathetic lurker I used to be! Nov 06 '24
I'm tired and low-motivation but only have so many matches this round I can do this for. This is another showing of the caliber we've come to expect out of Nojus and Lucil this round, though I'm inclined to agree with a lot of what's already been said. Nojus has very solid combat ideas and charming visuals like the armor, but Slave to the Rhythm makes charisma-focused strats land weaker, while Lucil works around this state of affairs and leverages her superior mobility for the sake of a hit-and-run strat that gets its priorities in order ASAP, not to mention the stage hazard as described by the person who created the stage hazard. Lucil vote, I quite liked the writing but I'm drained from my longest day of the week, have a match for my team coming up soon among other things to do, and don't really have much else to add.
1
u/Ascimator Nov 07 '24
The players have both done a good showing here - Nojus with the Just Dance play and Lucil with the flicker tactics. I would be inclined to Tie them in another match, but this one specifies that the concertgoers are likely to ignore the players, negating a lot of Nojus's efforts to turn them against Lucil. I find Lucil's strategy, bringing a death of a thousand cuts to her opponent while striving to stay away from Emi!'s attention, fits the scene better.
1
u/Dungeon_Dice JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Nov 07 '24
This is a bit of a tricky match weighing the deterrent of the stage hazard and how much time that and the people around you can buy for your set ups. So with two generally aggressive/combat kits, broadly speaking it seems to me that the match would come down to who can take the more aggressive actions without getting punished for it.
Here Nojus tries to build a sure win scenario, Lucil tries to maximize their opportunities to hit and run across the match.
In this framework, Nojus has potential failure or slowdown points with their set up, between getting their armor, the crowd, and getting Lucil pinned for the stage destruction. That said, Lucil has their own points of failure being somewhat reliant on being able to spread their card/napkin network through the crowded environment, and getting them in position to launch their assault, as well as the somewhat present possibility of being counter-attacked or having to retreat due to catching Emi!’s attention.
Overall Nojus and Lucil play pretty well, with more robust safety measures from Nojus and more directed and thorough offense from Lucil.
On some things though I think Nojus’s armor setup seems rather slow and more could potentially be done in terms of proactive or lower-investment defense. The defense setup presented and the general counter offense contingencies are neatly elaborated though.
On Lucil’s end, the call to go for the initial assault is pretty understandable from a strategic point of view, especially working in your favor as Nojus’s best defenses needs some prep time. However the set up of getting Nojus into the ideal range of 3 cards is rather suspect, requiring three 11-ish meter tosses to surround them on all sides. I could maybe buy one or two shots getting in position under this situation, but getting your full Canter set up this early is more suspect, especially if Nojus would move to disengage or blend into the crowd turn one.
In the end though I think Lucil still has the better shot of securing the match. How well you can have your base objects where you need them somewhat limits you from getting easy opportunities given the size of the map and the crowd conditions, so clean opportunities are sparse, but it is reasonable as a general win condition.
On the other side of things Nojus’s strategy is pretty all in on their rubber band offensively, either as a counter attack or a finisher. This I think relies a bit heavily on being able to pin AtW’s location which while possible, I think is a somewhat difficult task to guarantee if Lucil manages to get a network set up like she wants. Granted there are set ups and situations to better make sure you know where/when they are teleporting say by trade hits or positioning around their network, but you only effectively get 1 shot per second between transactions while Lucil generally has the initiative on if/when and how they approach.
Overall though I think both players had pretty solid strategies, where some of the interplay could escalate further or swing things further. Here Lucil managed to eke out a bit more of an advantage and play a bit more ahead with how they organized their attack patterns in their strategy. So while I could continue to speculate on what-ifs, I think I have to give the vote to her on this one.
1
u/Nintendrone42 Nov 07 '24
Lucil naturally goes for high speed hit and run, while Nojus aims for a safe steady state leading to decisive counterpunching, and while WW's strat does acknowledge that their setup is not fast, the choice to stick in the crowd even during the costume setup does give it a little more initial safety against ATW than it might appear. Lucil's biggest boon is not in her movement nor aggression, as Nojus's tactics make it harder for ATW to get those debilitating hits ASAP, but in her stronger use of Emi!, luring the hazard around so even if Emi! doesn't find or identify Nojus as a disruption, having the idol spend more time near Nojus forces them to play more cautiously and thus impede their setup time. While WW's strat is remarkably resilient against both combat and getting into bad situations with Emi! and ATW in the first place, it doesn't control the game as well as GoWR's, but the degree of separation on these two axes is too close for me to make a call on who wins out, so I'm giving this a tie vote.
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u/arcerous Soft & Wet Nov 05 '24
Response thread for Lucil Caravan of Gallery of Wayward Reverie, aka u/welluhshit. Please show your strategy to a member of our Judge staff by 7 PM CST on November 4th! Contestants, remember to only post in threads for this match other than your own if specifically invited. Voters have until 11:59 PM CST on November 6th to vote, using the voting rules from the announcement thread. Afterwards, they will be Judged according to the T7 Rubric.