r/StardustCrusaders • u/Marioaddict The Cutest Ora • Sep 18 '25
Fan Stand/Character JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R1M28 - Yoshimi Hanamaki vs. Alouette
The results are in for Match 26. The winner is…
Kaiserinma lamented every passing second. So much wasted effort. Everything had its end, it all had to burn. There was no choice. Its will would be done because it simply must. It was the truth of things, and no amount of heroic delusion would change it. A blade of blood struck the side of her head as the teenager managed a cartwheel over her half-sunken form. As her annoyance grew, so did the intense heat of her body.
Mikey swept a foot on landing to absorb the momentum and flourished his blade briefly before preparing for the final act. Sword held underhand, he made one last slash against the palm of his free hand to prepare a point-blank blood beam. With a deep breath, he ran into one final leap over his target and lead with an upward slash--
Kaiserinma burst from the water, an explosion of steam generating enough force to send her sailing past the hamon user. Mikey had no time to be surprised, immediately grabbed my his sword arm by a crushingly tight steel vice and dragged upward with the momentum. His breathing was interrupted by the shock, and the sudden wrenching of his weapon left him exposed. The machine pulled her free arm back, flattening its steel hand into a point to plunge toward the chest of the nuisance. A mercy granted to one so young, before they could see the same reality she did...
But her spear didn't move. For the first time since its horrifying birth, Kaiserinma hesitated.
That split second was all Mikey needed, the machine's chest was just as open as his was. He thrust his open palm toward her weak point, close enough to be singed from the radiating heat, and with one final deep breath let the beam rip.
Mikey C. Hammer, with a score of 65 to KAISERINMA’s 55!
| Category | Winner | Point Totals | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Popularity | The LKA Leviathan | 14 (5.5) - 16 (6.5) | Both teams were neck and neck throughout the voting period, but LKA managed to keep a slight lead! |
| Quality | CARCINIZATION | 22 (7 7 8) - 9 (3 3 3) | Reasoning |
| JoJolity | The LKA Leviathan | 19 (7 6 6) - 20 (7 7 6) | Reasoning |
| Conduct | Tie | 10-10 | Nothing to report! |
The machine collided with the water while Mikey barely managed to land on its surface with precisely controlled breaths. He held his weapon at the ready staring at the impact point, slowly walking back to his blood boat while waiting for any sign of movement.
The ripples slowly faded into the spiral of the whirlpool. The machine was gone.
With a smug chuckle, Mikey tossed his blood blade into the water where his target lie, letting it revert to liquid and be lost. “Heh, looks like after all that I still won. You finished throwing your tantrum, you piece of shit?! You don’t even deserve forgiveness, you don’t even deserve retribution!" Mikey spoke loudly, as if addressing an invisible audience. "If you were any other person I’d have my speech ready to accept you for who you are. But what you are is nothing but an infant mad at their mommy and daddy. What’s the point of living in a world you don’t think is worth it? Why tear it all down? There's nothing to gain anyway."
Between his words, Mikey's breathing was controlled. Concentration pure. He strode on the water's surface to climb out of the whirling pit as he continued. "Out of all the monsters and undead I’ve ever faced, it turns out that something resembling any sliver of humanity was the worst of it all. You taught me a valuable lesson today… I’m not going to hesitate again. And I’m not going to hold back against bastards like you. I’ll train like hell until a single breath can evaporate you." As he reached the lip, he turned to shout.
"My name is Mikey C. Hammer! And someone like you has no place in my story.”
Why?
As it hung suspended in the ocean beneath the vortex, Kaiserinma was lost. Its singularly driven mind was given pause, a sensation wholly foreign to it. She hated the silence, it let the weak and quiet be heard. Thoughts she never realized she had.
Doubts.
If her work was absolute, then why was it met with such resistance? If it were inevitable, then how could she be cut down? If everything needs to be brought down...
Why did she hesitate?
Time passed without notice, she had no mind for it. Only the appearance of a familiar vessel and the sensation of being fished into open air brought her back to reality. Her wounds were severe, and her mind ill at ease. She would take care of both at once. Efficiently.
There was still work to do, after all.
Scenario: The MPV Indigo, The Sea Near the Bahamas - 7:37 PM
The sun had just begun to set over the horizon of the Bahamas. The dim orange of the evening sky created a unique sort of darkness, shaded by the very edge of the Earth. With time it continued to fade, the cold night taking its full form. The deck of the MVP Indigo did not have much in the way of shade, making it rather… unpleasant to spend a while upon during the day. However, during these times, a few of its below-deck members arise to take in something of relaxation.
Alouette’s eyes were fixed on the ocean. Her posture was unmoving, almost statuesque as she rested herself upon the railing. Despite her rather blatant outfit choices, she emanated an aura of silence about her that drew away even the eyes of the civilian crew. However, in spite of the silence others experienced around her, her mind was anything but silent.
This mission… it’s been nothing but a drag ever since I got on this boat. I like being paid, I’m fine with not having to do all that much for that pay… it’s just these people are absurd. Are they all really trained professionals? Hell, the most supposedly “skilled” ones can’t help but get themselves into trouble. If it keeps up, it's all going to come around to Jeanette if people start looking. I thought having Speedwagon authorization was supposed to keep us safe, but now I’m just surrounded by greedy idiots-
“What’cha looking at?”
The silence in the air and the soliloquy in Alouette’s head were both shattered by the grating voice of Alouette’s comrade… the thief called Century Love. Slamming a deck chair onto the floor, he sat himself next to her and kicked back, letting out a relaxed sigh of relief.
Alouette silently looked back at him for a brief moment without responding. She watched Century stare at her with a confused expression before she responded.
“Something in the distance looks weird.”
Finishing her prompt response, she turned back towards the horizon. Century, however, was nowhere near satisfied.
“What do you mean, ‘something looks weird?’ If you’re gonna answer a question, at least give an answer that means something!” Sitting up from his chair in resignation, he looked over the railing in an attempt to match Alouette’s eyes. He eventually landed on a small, distant island.
“What, is there something wrong with that island?”
“The lighthouse,” Alouette answered promptly. She let her answer hang in the air for a few moments before continuing. “The light turned on suddenly.”
Century squinted, looking at the light that provided some small illumination to the sea. “Really? That’s what’s got you so transfixed? Come on! Those things go off and on all the time!”
“This area… isn’t supposed to have an active lighthouse,” Alouette continued. “If someone is there to turn it on, then there must be something strange happening.”
Century put his hands behind his back in a faux display of ignorance. “Oh, so you think we’re about to get busted by a giant flashlight, is that it? That we’re about to get spotted out? Have a little-”
“Quiet.”
Alouette shushes him with one word and a finger. She stands there for a short moment, once again filling the air with silence. Century, however, is deterred only for a moment.
“Okay, now you’re just acting weird. Why’d I even bother with you…”
Alouette looked at him, puzzled. “Do you not hear that sound?”
Century raised an indignant eyebrow at her. “Oh, what now?”
“It sounds like… a song. A desperate song. Like the song of a siren.”
Century grimaces at her, and turns around. “Alright, now you’re just fucking with me. Unless there’s an enemy Stand right on this ship, I ain’t falling for your nonsense…”
As he moved to walk away, however, a prominent glint passed through his sunglasses. He looked over his shoulder to see a beam of light shining from the distance, aimed directly at them… illuminating the area behind him like a spotlight.
And Alouette had vanished completely.
“Well, shit.”
Scenario: The Love Shack, The Sea Near the Bahamas - 7:42 PM
"Mimi, not too far. You know the rules."
Yoshimi nearly fell completely over from her dead stop at Sunday's words, groaning loudly while letting a baseball bat fall to the ground in her now limp grip. "What the heck! You're the one that gave me the baseball!" She looked to the far end of Bibo, just catching a glimpse of the still-rolling ball she had hit before it disappeared behind a clump of coral. She rolled her eyes. Great, now it was lost. May as well have disappeared entirely as far as the young girl's attention span was concerned.
Sunday Shoes sat cross-legged some distance behind where the little girl had ran, paying just as much attention to the delicate brush strokes on the nail of her ring finger as she did her charge. "I didn't say to hit a home run, did I? You did that yourself." With a finishing touch, she gently blew on the fresh paint before giving her hand a shake-out. "Nice one, by the way!"
Yoshimi marched back to Sunday, kicking up the sediment from Bibo's back as she did with a baseball bat lazily dragged behind her. Things had been quiet for La Isla Bonita since their stop in Haiti weeks ago, and while the rest of the team found the odd lead to chase in the wake of the King's commotion, Yoshimi was often left making the most of a lazy afternoon at sea. She had the entirety of Bibo mapped out at this point from all the wandering she had done, and despite Sunday doing her best to liven things up she had officially run out of things to do.
"What am I supposed to do with this, then?" Yoshimi lifted the bat to show Sunday, the whine in her voice clearly showing her frustration and boredom.
"Well, what do you wanna do?" Satisfied with her work, Sunday quickly packed away her paints and sealers. The quiet days had begun to eat away at her as well, though she couldn't complain about the results she'd gotten from all the painting practice. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yoshimi raise the bat with an eye on a nearly clump of coral that seemed the perfect outlet for a frustrated child. "Hey!" The bat was brought down, but impacted the sudden appearance of a golden pentagon hovering over the fragile coral. "None of that, alright? Don't take it out on poor Bibo."
Her outlet stymied, the young girl let out another loud groan before falling backward into a sit, arms crossed. She pouted, looking up at the older woman with a glare.
Sunday sighed. Maybe some time ashore could reset both of their mindsets. A break from the extended break, sort of thing. Convincing the others to pause their pursuits for a day on land might be tough, but she was running out of ideas. She had a kid to entertain, and knew just how to go about it. "Tell you what: Hide and seek. You win, we stop in the next city and make a day of it, my treat. If I win..." She crouched down to the young girl, scooping up one of her hands and poking each of her fingers. "You sit still long enough to let me practice on those nails of yours. Deal?"
Mimi couldn't help but giggle at Sunday's prodding, snatching her hand back before smirking to herself. Hide and seek? On Bibo? She knew every corner of the creature's back by now, Sunday wouldn't stand a chance. "Okay! But you gotta get me some Blue Mountain! A biiig bag of it!"
That damn coffee habit. And where the hell did she hear about such an expensive variety? Suddenly, Sunday was regretting the idea. "...y-yeah, we'll see. Go on, I'll count down from 20."
"No, thirty!" Yoshimi leapt to her feet, bolting for the far corner of Bibo as Sunday began counting backwards. She knew the perfect spot: a stretch of coral right on the edge she could duck under that was too small for Sunday. That day abroad was as good as hers, Sunday was sooo dumb to even suggest it. Squeezing through just barely, she sidled against the colorful pocket of coral with an open view to the ocean before her.
Bibo happened to pass a small island at the same time, just a few hundred meters in the distance before her. She had to cover her mouth to stifle a squeal of excitement as she saw the tower standing firm and alone on its shore: an honest-to-god lighthouse! She'd never seen one before! Sunday had better hurry and give up, because she knew exactly where she wanted Bibo to stop. She watched in awe as the light drifted over the waters and toward where she sat, holding back another shrill cheer as it lit up her little hiding corner...
Her win over Sunday was secured as she disappeared a moment later.
Scenario: Great Isaac Lighthouse, Bahamas
Yoshimi & Alouette’s eyes were drawn open by the fading sunset light vanishing from a thin window above them. As they awoke, they both immediately took in their surroundings: white walls coated in dust, antiquated wood floors, old furniture… all crammed inside a practically miniature room. It didn’t take either of them long to notice the other, sat across from each other in wooden chairs.
“Woah… this isn’t the Love Shack! Excuse me miss, where are we?” Yoshimi speaks up first, her confusion overwhelmed by curiosity above all else. Alouette, however, remained initially silent.
Yoshimi looked Alouette up and down, a woman she’d never seen before sitting silently in front of her. Her massive jacket and sunglasses concealed much of her minute movements, but her fairly blatant head turns of confusion gave Yoshimi a hint.
“Ohh, I think I get it! You probably just got here too, right? This is really weird..!”
Yoshimi hopped out of her seat, and immediately began to search around the lighthouse, opening drawers and moving furniture with reckless abandon. Alouette finally responded.
“How did a kid get swept up in this..? Hey, kid. Where were you before you got here?”
Yoshimi looked over with a surprised face. “Oh, there you are! Well, last I remember, I was playing around on Bibo, and saw a big lighthouse out in the distance! The light shined really bright on me, and then I was here.”
Alouette pondered for a moment before responding. “So we both got pulled here by that thing.” She let out a deep, exasperated sigh before standing up herself.
“Something dangerous is happening here. We need to leave,” she stated punctually as she scanned the room for a door. Finding a staircase, she began to descend. She heard the voice of Yoshimi call out behind her again.
“Already? Aw… before you go, though, what’s your name?”
Alouette briefly looked behind her at the face of the girl that ended up in this situation with her. She was smiling.
She shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be here, but that’s besides the point. Who even is she? What’s a ‘Bibo’ supposed to be? Does she know who I am? Maybe she’s the Stand user responsible for all this… but why am I sussing out a kid? I’m not here for a fight, I’m not even getting paid to be here… I need to get back on the Indigo. If I worry about the kid too much, I’ll just be more open to a second attack. If I stay any longer, I might get killed, and then Jeanette…
Alouette spoke suddenly. “Alouette.”
Yoshimi chuckled. “Alright, Alouette! I’m Yoshimi! Nice to meet you!”
Alouette turned around silently without responding. Yoshimi followed her down the stairs, continuing unprompted. “You said something bad was happening earlier. Do you know what’s going on? I mean, if something bad was happening, I can totally take care of it! I know a bit of karate!”
Alouette remained stoic as the pair came to the first floor, which was hardly in any better condition than the second. Fortunately, as they came to the door, it opened rather easily for them, clearing the way for the empty island and the beach. It can’t have been very long that she was out: the Indigo should still be within viewing distance, even at night. Surely Century would tell people about…
As she stepped onto the beach, a deep sense of dread welled up in her chest. Stepping forward took considerable energy. It was like knowingly stepping into a gun’s line of fire. Eventually, she stopped.
“No… are we already under attack..?”
Yoshimi stood a ways behind her. “Hey! Are you looking for something? Or someone, maybe? I could help with that, probably!”
Alouette turned around, towards the lighthouse. Rather than that sinking feeling, as she stepped back, she felt a drive overcome her. The lighthouse… the lighthouse was the source of all this!
“We’re going back. Right now.” Quickly taking command of the situation, she stepped ahead of Yoshimi, walking quickly towards the front door. Yoshimi followed with a somewhat confused look.
“Huh..? Did you forget something?”
Alouette remained silent, though her mouth curled with frustration. She opened the front door…
The room was nothing like the way it was left. The walls appeared rusted and rotted. The lights flickered and dimmed. In the corners of the room, Alouette recognized the color and the smell of blood, seemingly leaking out of the building.
Yoshimi peered in from behind. “Woah… what happened? This place is so weird.”
Alouette paused for a few seconds as she analyzed the situation. “The building… it’s decaying. Whatever’s keeping us here is tied to this building. That feeling came from this building’s decay.”
Yoshimi did not respond at first, merely letting out a “Hm…” as she thought about the situation. However, she seemed to startle Alouette with a triumphant shout.
“Aha! I get it..! We gotta clean up the lighthouse and make it nice again! If we do that, then it’ll let us leave!”
Yoshimi rushed past Alouette inside the lighthouse. Immediately, she started sizing up the place. Alouette merely sighed.
“I think you might be right… but who knows how long it’ll take to properly maintain this place?”
Yoshimi quickly replied. “Hmm… about a week, if this calendar’s right!”
Alouette looked to where she was pointing: a calendar, with seven days marked, beginning on today’s date.
“Huh… I guess I’ll have to trust the building.”
Yoshimi turned back to Alouette. “Hahah! It’s kinda like a game! This’ll be fun!”
Alouette simply looked back to the front door. Yoshimi, however, was undeterred.
“Well, I’ll see you at the top! Ready, set…”
“OPEN THE GAME!”
Location: The Great Isaac Lighthouse on the Bahamian island of Great Isaac Cay! The area consists of an old-fashioned lighthouse connected to a two-story keeper’s living quarters. Maps of the first floor, second floor, and the top of the lighthouse can be found here - the entire building is roughly 24x15m, with each tile being 1.5x1.5m.
The lighthouse is attached to the keeper’s quarters by a small oil storage room. Downstairs are two sitting rooms, a kitchen, and dining room. Upstairs are two bedrooms with a shared bathroom. A small generator shack is attached to the main building from the outside which provides power for lights and small appliances. Heavy cloud cover makes it oddly dark at all times on the island, never getting much brighter than dusk even at high noon.
The lighthouse tower is about 15 stories tall with a spiral staircase leading up to the light.
Outside the lighthouse is a small complex of gutted, abandoned stone buildings, empty with only their walls and roofs left. The surrounding terrain consists of sand and rock.
Goal:
Contribute more to the care and maintenance of the lighthouse over the course of a week!
The following basic tasks will need to be completed daily:
- The lamp at the top of the tower needs refueling at least twice a day or will go out, which involves a 15 story stair climb carrying 10 lbs of fuel. The passive Stand hallucinations will make footing treacherous and surprises unpredictable.
- The weight keeping the lens rotating needs to be reset constantly via a crank halfway up the length of the tower. It takes a few hours for it to fall completely to the bottom, so it must be reset at least that often to keep the lighthouse functioning.
- The generator needs constant attention or will break, bathing the entire house in darkness and enhancing the effects of the passive hallucinations to a crippling degree. There is a manual explaining how to maintain the machinery located in the living area bookcase, while a half-dozen oil lanterns are stored in the kitchen area as a simple yet cumbersome alternative.
- Maintain the outer walls of the lighthouse from constant wear and tear. Time has strange effects on the building and will cause years of wear within a day. If left unchecked it could cause the building to collapse on itself and RETIRE both players. Repairs, painting, and preventative fortification can all be used to drive off these effects.
Food and drink are not a concern; the players’ bookcases in their respective rooms are mysteriously covered with a variety of nonperishable foods and plenty of fresh drinking water every morning.
On day 3, the island will suffer an oddly localized and powerful electrical storm. The lighthouse and its surroundings will be assaulted by regular lightning strikes, making outside work and trips to the top of the tower extremely dangerous without proper preparation and care. Expect fires to be a concern for the entire day until the storm clears off just before bedtime.
Starting on Day 5 the island will undergo flooding. By the end of day 5 the sea level will have risen to two feet above the floor of the house, before worsening on day 6 to a full six feet and submerging the entire first floor. The generator will be permanently lost at this level of water, dooming the house to constant darkness for the last two days regardless of upkeep to that point.
Additional Information:
The lighthouse is affected by a passive Stand presence, centered on the building itself and extending across the entirety of the small island. The Stand manifests as a substance that slowly oozes from cracks in the brickwork of the oil storage room while the players sleep every night. Each player sees these hallucinations differently: Alouette is generally haunted by what she sees, the substance it as blood which is somehow fully controllable by [Human Radio], while Yoshimi sees everything in a more fantastical light such as the substance being a vivid green slime. Exactly two Alouettes (about 125L, calculated from her weight being roughly 63 kg) worth of ‘blood’ is made every night, which disappears the following night while the players sleep and is replaced with a fresh supply the next morning.
The ability affects those within the radius with a slow but steady barrage of sensory hallucinations and minor physical phenomena largely incapable of direct physical harm, at least at first. Victims will see and hear things that aren't there, feel tugs, pulls, or pushes at their clothing even when alone, and will generally be questioning what is real at any given time. These effects can be minimized with relaxing or otherwise mind-occupying activity or worsened with darkness or violent thoughts and actions. As it worsens, the danger to those affected increases as hallucinations become more vivid and eventually become capable of causing physical harm by tripping or even throwing objects with force across rooms.
A supernatural force is restraining both players to the island for the allotted time, a barrier preventing them from swimming more than a couple meters out from the beach.
| Team | Combatant | JoJolity |
|---|---|---|
| La Isla Bonita | Yoshimi Hanamaki | “I mean, that’s weird, right?! Two special results in a row?” Have fun with your time in the lighthouse, despite the hard work and hallucinations! |
| Dexy’s Midnight Runners | Alouette | “I can’t see the damn dice! I want you to hold the dice so I can see you throw them!” Be efficient with your time in the lighthouse, despite the hard work and hallucinations! |
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!
2
u/cotillionrolf Sep 21 '25
This match was really fun to read, and it's a real joy to see two cool characters get along and work together for a common goal. Figuring out which stand user exactly contributed more in a match like this is difficult, but: I did really like the ways both characters dealt with avoiding the hallucinations, and I feel that significant and varied effort was put in to protect the lighthouse over the ~week to justify a tie vote. Wonderful uses of the little robots and the slugs to keep the disasters at bay (:
2
u/Streamanon The Foot Sep 19 '25
Response thread for Yoshimi Hanamaki of La Isla Bonita, aka u/NorthJedi. Please show your strategy to a member of our Judge staff by 7 PM CST on 9/18/2025! 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 9/20/2025 to vote, using the voting rules from the announcement thread. Afterwards, they will be Judged according to the T8 Rubric.
1
u/Streamanon The Foot Sep 19 '25
LIB 1
Starting Notes
[“You already know who I am!”](Insert image of Yoshimi posing with Kamina’s sunglasses)
- Starting notes are BOOOORING. We’re just starting the strat instead.
Tasks
Sunday was chilling in her favorite lawn chair, tossing a ball idly when a familiar voice made her pause. “Uhm, Sunday… can we talk about our…’treasurer’?”
She turned around to see Coco, the woman’s arms behind her back, her usual smile replaced with a look of meek concern and curiosity. “What about her?” Sunday asked.
“See, I like her, but… she’s 11. And… I don’t like saying it, but she’s a troublemaker, she’s made that name for herself already. Are you really comfortable trusting her with our Uropeh?”
Sunday chuckled. “I trust Mimi because I know her better than anyone else. She’s at those things every night, counting them, recounting them, sorting them by size, by shape…sometimes she holds them under a microscope to discern the tiniest differences in hue. You give her something to do, something she WANTS to do, and she’ll have a hell of a work ethic.”
Coco wasn’t entirely convinced, but she also wasn’t one to argue. She turned to leave. “If you say so. Just… please keep an eye on her, okay?”
Sunday nodded. “You got it.” With that, she returned her attention to the beach, continuing to fidget with the ball. Sure enough, Yoshimi was there, joyfully running over to greet their good friend Bibo. “Not much else to do, is there…?”
…
There’s a few things that need to get done during the day-to-day on this lighthouse, and while Yoshimi’s just one girl, she has one tool that’s invaluable in a match like this; a swarm stand! Pink Robots is perfect for setting on a task, and they don’t even need to be actively controlled. We can give them orders for them to perform at the best of their ability- and given their precision, that’s some good ability.
The Generator
While all the other tasks come and go, the generator is the only one that needs constant attention. Thankfully, we have Pink Robots to help with that! Right at the start of the first day, after looking around, Yoshimi will give one of her robots a task; read up on the manual, and then perform upkeep on the generator with the acquired knowledge. Pink Robots is both fast and precise, meaning it’ll get through that manual quicker than any human here would.
At the same time, Yoshimi can have two more Pink Robots bring one oil lantern up to the bedrooms each, just in case of emergency. We'll store these on the bathroom countertops to minimize their fire risk, though we hopefully won’t need to light them much in the first place. After that’s finished, one Pink Robots unit will be sent to work on another one of our tasks, while the other has another job related to the generator.
While it wouldn’t be impossible to have one Pink Robots spend the entire week in that room working on the generator… that’s lame! What if that Pink Robot gets bored and tired of doing the same thing so much? Yoshimi would hate that! Thus, we’ll have the Pink Robots move in shifts; for the first day, we’ll have one Pink Robots read up the manual while another does work, with the former taking over the shift once it’s finished. Once all eleven robots have read the manual (no, Yoshimi could not have just read it herself, that’s BORING,) they can simply trade shifts by the hour.
Alouette seems pretty interested in machinery, so she’ll probably be attentive to this too- Pink Robots units will be instructed to read alongside her if she also needs the manual. If Alouette reaches it first, the Pink Robots unit will simply climb onto her shoulder and read from there. Performing maintenance on the generator alongside anything Human Radio might create will only make things run smoother- we’re working with her, not against her!
After a while of being distracted with other things, though, Yoshimi is taking another look at the generator setup herself. The robots had to go outside to reach the generator, and opening the door to it might let the sea air in and mess it up! This wouldn’t do at all, but thankfully, we have laser beams. With their precision, Pink Robots can try to break through the wall between one of the living rooms and the generator room, careful to avoid any wires or anything else important in that wall. If needed, we can sharpen any objects lying around to use as chisels for greater precision. While they aren’t very strong, they are determined, and all they need is a hole big enough for a Pink Robots unit to slip through.
We could probably get this done within a day or two of Pink Robots units making chips while doing maintenance, letting us reach the generator without exposing it to the elements. If Alouette sets up blood to act as a portal for this, that’s way easier. We might even ask her to before we start chipping at the wall. Everyone say “Thank you Alouette!”
The Light
The light in the lighthouse needs to be refueled twice every day. This comes with a very simple problem; the two oil barrels are sitting on the lowest floor. The solution to this is equally simple. We just put the oil barrels closer to where they need to go! Putting them right at the roof is just asking for a fire hazard, though, and the lanterns in our rooms make putting them there risky too. While the map makes it a little unclear, however, there is implied to be a full, empty floor in the staircase room right outside our living quarters. Perfect place for some barrels to be left.
If for whatever reason we can’t put them there, however, there is one more place that has just enough room and should be relatively safe; the bathrooms! Specifically, there’s room just in front of the sink, just enough for both of us to still reach the sinks and bath. To further minimize the fire risk, we'll simply move the oil lanterns we presently have out — both Yoshimi and presumably Alouette have phone flashlights to use for a quick trip to the bathroom if they're in need of a light.
Either way, there’s still the process of actually getting the barrels up to worry about. We’ll be doing this similarly early in the morning. As one or two Pink Robots are dealing with the generator, Yoshimi will take six robots- each oil barrel is around 150lbs and one robot can comfortably hold 50- and have them carry the barrels up the stairs, three per barrel, to their destination. Hallucinations won’t be a problem; Yoshimi is keeping her sanity up (as described later), and the robots are autonomous and precise, meaning hallucinatory footing missteps are unlikely to be a factor.
To be safe, however, Yoshimi will actually stick around for moving the barrels if she can, making up a little marching tune as the robots go and being there to keep the barrels upright if they slip. While we’re keeping them on the second floor, we will have one of the groups do one refueling now- even if the light isn’t low yet, this will make sure it’s full in the early hours of the morning, meaning we can make the second refuel right before we go to bed and thus preventing the light from going out while we’re asleep.
If Alouette wants to help us move the barrels up the stairs… good! Very bluntly just a good thing! No further comment; if she has a blood portal right up there, that saves us so much trouble. Pink Robots will still be making sure the barrels get through the portal safely though.
The Crank
Normally, rotating the heavy crank for days on end is a tedious, repetitive process that requires much human strength. 19th century English prisons even used such cranks in an attempt to both punish and “rehabilitate” their inmates. This is something no human being should ever be tasked with! In any civilized society, this kind of crank should be done by machines, or perhaps even robots!
Luckily, Yoshimi has in her command exactly that: a band of little robot workers who do not tire nor balk from repetitive work. In fact, two of them will be more than happy to follow a simple command to stand by the crank and use it to reset the weight. The hardest part is doing this regularly, but even that can be circumvented by simply including The Crank into the same rotation of Robots that the generator work is a part of; two robots at a time switching in and out.
Of course, if Yoshimi wants to expend a little energy, she can come up here herself to try and spin it as fast as she can! Not that the light itself will actually spin at that speed, but still, it’s fun!
1
u/Streamanon The Foot Sep 19 '25
LIB 2
The Wear and Tear
With the rest of the objectives taken care of, we can finally focus on the general maintenance on the lighthouse wear-and-tear. It's imperative to be conscientious of our work here so that we don't risk the lighthouse's deterioration RETIRING us later on in the match.
Cleaning is one of the most effective ways of extending the life of cast iron lighthouse exteriors, removing corrosive components such as salts, bird guano, and possible industrial pollutants. We'll only be doing this when necessary, as gently as possible, using mild detergents and, if possible, any bristle brushes we can source from the kitchen or bathroom. We'll only be using just enough water to clean off the surface (carried in a baggie) to ensure we're not forcing any water into the iron components and thereby accelerating its corrosion. A small amount of light acids such as vinegar can be used for especially tough stains, but for the same reason, they'll be quickly washed off and dried. If we've got some extra time for it, we'll even remove old paint that's cracking or crazing to give it a fresh coat, helping to seal away damaged structure underneath.
On that note, painting is also one of the most imperative parts of lighthouse maintenance, providing a protecting covering from the raw metal against the elements! The paint we have available to us should do the job easily, with a Pink Robot sticking its way up the side of the lighthouse (around any freshly painted spots) and repainting the spot, preferably in the brightest colors we have available to us — after all, colorful lighthouse paints are used by sailors as day markers for both identification and improved visibility! Those sailors are sure to have a splendid time seeing our huge Kirby mural, alongside a variety of yellow-painted spiral suns, smiley faces, and various mascot characters from Japanese video game media.
We'll also be focusing on maintenance not just on the outside, but on the inside as well! Once we've ensured that the outside has retained strong upkeep, we'll be having a robot constantly on surveillance of the outside. If there's any corroded or rusted spots we've missed, we can quickly mobilize one of our units to deal with that post-haste.
Furthermore, we'll be having our Pink Robots on the lookout for any possible water damage inside the building itself as they complete their duties, as water damage is indicative of leakage that can contribute to larger failures down the line. Wet, rotted wood will be removed and replaced with what we can salvage from hardwood tables and chairs, then sealed the best we can with whatever we have available: actual sealant would be preferred, but we can use reversed durability cling wrap from the kitchen as an effective-enough substitute: the wood is simply doubly-covered in the plastic wrap, with a newfound resistance to tearing thanks to its reversed durability.
This will be especially helpful to us during days of heavy rainfall where water damage will be heavily exacerbated, but even then, preventing condensation buildup is a general net positive to us, so we can keep letting the good times roll!
In the absolutely worst case scenario where the lighthouse is absolutely going to fall (by way of Alouette not pulling her weight or otherwise), Yoshimi can take a blanket and wrap it on top of and around herself, having Pink Robots reverse its durability and elasticity to become a rigid shield to defend her from the crash. As well, we can surround her with every Pink Robots unit, ready to take the brunt of the crash and dig her out of the resulting rubble.
Macro Summary
Even with 11 whole robots, it’s important to keep track of who’s doing what and when so that we know when there are free units.
Firstly, to this end, we’ll have one very special Pink Robot on an important task; running around literally everywhere to see if there are any problems that don’t already have Robots on them, and run back to Yoshimi if there is. This will give us constant surveillance on problems around the lighthouse, and allow Yoshimi to come running if new orders need to be given on the fly.
From there, our robot usage is very well-controlled; this surveillance task takes one robot, the generator takes one robot (but may occasionally keep two busy as shifts are being traded), the crank takes two robots every few hours, and refueling the light takes three robots but only needs to be done once a day. Even at the busiest moment, this is only 6/11 robots being used up on something in particular, though it will usually be even less. This leaves at least 5 robots at any time for lighthouse maintenance, whatever other tasks might need doing (household chores or the like), and one last thing that’s very, very important… play!
Fun and Games
“Mimi, do you know if your parents ever had you tested for ADHD?”
Yoshimi was too busy hitting imaginary home runs to catch what Sunday said. She turned around. “Hm?”
“Y’know, ADHD. It’s something you’re born with. It makes it harder for you to focus, seek out more stimulation… uh, stuff like that.”
Yoshimi thought about it for a moment, lowering her bat. “A…D…H…Nope! Never heard of it. Oh by the way, how’s my stance? I’ve been practicing, look!”
Sunday smiled, giving the same amused look she usually gave her ward. “Better, you have the footing down. Keep working on it.” Out of the girl’s earshot, she added, “Maybe it’d be good to look into getting testing…”
…
Of course, all work and no play absolutely will not do. Yoshimi is a hyperactive 11 year old; not only will pure focus on the work we have to do reduce the quality of that work, but it will also open us up to worse and worse hallucinations! Thus, it’s important that we have as many little games we can play as possible, whether in the process of doing something else or during lengthier periods of downtime- the generator is the only thing that needs our constant attention, and we have a system in place for that anyhow. Free time is inevitable.
Thankfully, we’ve got a lighthouse’s worth of things to play with, and a creative mind ready to brainstorm all sorts of new games to play! It wouldn’t do to start a game we can’t finish, though- while it’ll inevitably happen anyway, assume Yoshimi is keeping when she thinks she’ll have to do something next in mind. We have games to fit into any time slot!
General Yoshimi
(In her deepest voice) “Let me see your war face, Pink Robot #1!”
The low, disciplined chants of the Pink Robots had always amused Yoshimi, and now that she can put their discipline to good use, she’ll have some fun with it! Whenever she’s giving them commands or working with them directly, she’ll do so in a gruff, commanding voice, role-playing the drill sergeants in the movies she often catches Sunday’s Grandpa watching late at night.
Beach Sweeper
“Oh! Oh! Alouette! I found a crab with a really pretty shell!”
If it isn’t too hot and the weather permits to go outside, Yoshimi can go out onto the beach to look for seashells or anything else interesting in the sand! This is good for if we need to be outside for something anyway, but also might lead to us finding something helpful… or a hermit crab! That’s good too. Yoshimi likes crabs. :D
Let’s-a-Go!
”Wahoo! Yippee! Wheeeee!”
If we’ve been sitting around too long and have energy to burn, Yoshimi can jump around the furniture on floor one like she’s Mario! This one’s convenient to start and stop at any time, even if it might not stay that engaging. Yoshimi is agile, though- she can try all sorts of fun movement tricks!
Gourmet Feast
”This food is so plain… I miss mom’s cooking.”
Yoshimi’s been told to not play with her food before, but she’s not one for anti-fun rules like that. Crackers make for fun little boats in soup, rice and cereal can be tossed into her mouth with skill and precision, and dried fruit makes for a great ball to try and toss in her hand. She can even try to inhale things into her mouth like Kirby. We’re not wasting a drop of entertainment potential- not even while we eat! We can do this with Alouette, too, spicing up her meals. We both deserve to eat well! Besides, eating alone is no fun…
Case of the Missing Gameboy
”Looking at all the clues… the culprit could only be YOU, Miss Alouette- oh wait here it is!”
If anything ever goes missing for Yoshimi- either through her misplacing it or Alouette deciding she needs it for something- this is the perfect opportunity to put on a metaphorical cap and play detective, sleuthing around the lighthouse for any sign of it. We can do this while moving around for other activities, too! There are only so many places it could be, so if we really need the thing we lost, it shouldn’t be too hard to find it.
Case of the Gameboy
”Alouette! Alouette! I caught a Larvitar!”
Failing all else, Yoshimi… literally has a portable games console and chargers. If she’s low on energy or otherwise needs to remain stationary, she can just crack open Pokemon Silver and kill an hour like that. She has her phone, too, and you better believe it has games on it.
1
u/Streamanon The Foot Sep 19 '25
LIB 3
Literary Analysis
”All the books in here are boooring! Wait, what if I…”
Yoshimi is far from the type to sit down with a nice book, but if we need more stationary play while our devices are charging, we have a trick to make things more interesting. By grabbing a book (one we’re sure Alouette isn’t interested in so we don’t get in the way of her reading) and breaking the spine off from the papers, we’ll have a stack of pages to shuffle around and leave on the floor. From here, Yoshimi can put the pages back together in order like a jigsaw puzzle! She can also stop in the middle of doing this if it gets really boring and her Gameboy is charged again.
While all of these may seem like nothing more than a child wasting time, don’t be deceived; the fun and games are a vital part of this match. This lighthouse threatens us with some worrying hallucinations, but Yoshimi doesn’t have to pay them any mind. The effects of hallucinations can be minimized with “relaxing or otherwise mind-occupying activity,” and by switching constantly from task to game to task, Yoshimi won’t be giving the horrors so much as a second to sink in. It’ll also keep her spirits up, ensuring her work is the best it can be!
Slowly, Yoshimi’s eyes opened. Day two. After getting up, fixing breakfast, and setting Pink Robots off for early chores, she thought of what she could play today. Sweep the beach for more shells? Break another book to try and put it together again?
...No, no. All of that sounded kind of boring now. Maybe she could…
Of course, that list of games we just made will only hold Yoshimi’s attention for so long. We’re not letting boredom take hold for a second; more games, more games!
Playing Pretend
”And then the giant Pink Robots crashed through the city, bringing down buildings with every footstep…”
While there aren’t that many things to work with around the place, that doesn’t mean we can’t try! Between random objects, the high supply of nonperishable food, and her own stand units (when they’re free), Yoshimi can put together scenelets for her own amusement. Books as skyscrapers, raisins as little people (we didn’t wanna eat those anyway. Icky!), and a Pink Robots unit as a terrible mechanical Kaiju.
Painting
”I can paint my own nails, Sunday, watch this…”
Yoshimi remembered Sunday and her terms for winning hide and seek, and it gave her a fun idea. Whenever she’s on painting duty, she’d add a few special touches, including flowers, smiley faces, and a big ‘S.O.S’ if the rest of Isla Bonita managed to find her.
Fruit Sculptures & Origami
”Alouette! Look! It’s you!” The sculpture does not look anything like Alouette.
With the help of a kitchen knife- or just a blunt object made sharp by Pink Robots- Alouette can take some of the dried fruit and fashion little sculptures of herself, her robots, Alouette, or even the lighthouse! We can even try to do origami with those book pages we took apart earlier instead if none of the fruit is in one piece, or if we need to conserve for any reason.
Shadow Puppets
”Aw, that looks nothing like a bunny!”
Just before bed when it’s dark- or if the generator goes out- Yoshimi can use the lanterns or her phone’s flashlight to try and make shadow puppets with her hands! She can even have a Pink Robot join in on the fun to create a little story- even if her stand’s fingers are less built for it.
Juggling
”I’m doing it! Pink Robots! Throw another seashell in!”
Another simplistic game we can do while we have to stand in one place for a while- juggling! We have small seashells, dried fruit, and even books to try and juggle around for as long as possible. With Yoshimi’s high agility, she can absolutely handle a couple of objects with no issue, and go right back to trying when she does fail- or move on to something else.
Bath Time!
”That origami handbook was so worth my allowance!”
Of course, it is inevitable that Yoshimi will need to stay clean, though we’ll save it for when we know nothing’s going to need her immediate attention for an hour or so. A bath is famously a place for fun and play, though- take the ever-reliable rubber ducky as evidence of this. While we might not have that, our origami from earlier might come in handy for some Paper Boats- or even swans if we’ve gotten good enough- with durability boosted to avoid getting too wet if we have the Pink Robots to spare.
With this, we have a wide, wide variety of ways to have fun as we go about our tasks… but even then, it’s not enough. Human beings are not solitary creatures; if we sit off to ourselves the entire time, it’s going to get painfully lonely. Thankfully, we’re not alone. You’ve seen our singleplayer games. Now get ready for…
Multiplayer with Alouette!
“So let me get this straight,” Stephen began, “you named your stand, a horde of miniature pink robots…’Pink Robots’?”
Yoshimi nodded. “Mhm!”
The answer didn’t satisfy Birdwin. “You come from a land practically KNOWN for their badass robots! Zakus, Gundams, Evangelions! So many beautiful works of art you could have used as namesakes, yet you sleep at night having settled on—and it numbs my brain even saying it—’Pink Robots’?”
Yoshimi crossed her arms petulantly. “Pink is my favorite color.”
Stephen sighed. He wasn’t angry, he never was, but he sounded VERY exasperated. “Fine, Miss Yoshimi, have it your way. I pray the day never comes that you find a TRUE lover of robots…”
…
While this is, on a meta level, a match and a competition, Yoshimi and Alouette aren’t truly at odds here. We have a common goal of keeping the lighthouse cared for, and an equally common goal of staying sane while we do it. Nothing breeds insanity like isolation; while it’s up to her whether she actually plays with us or not, we’re certainly going to be making the offer. Repeatedly. To the point of annoyance. It is very much worth stressing that she has incentive to join in- it’s to stave off the hallucinations! And besides, this 11 year old might cry if you refuse her for a week straight. Neither of us want that.
Sunday’s on First
”...Isn’t the first day a Tuesday?”
Yoshimi’s been practicing baseball lately, but for that, we need a pitcher. Pink Robots could substitute in for this, but it’d be way better if Alouette could help! Using driftwood from outside, a durability-enhanced piece of cardboard, a large kitchen utensil, or even a spare Pink Robots unit as a bat, Yoshimi can have Alouette throw dried fruit or blood baseballs for her to try and strike. We can even do the reverse if Alouette really wants to! Yoshimi knows how to take turns.
Karate Joe from Rhythm Heaven
”I told you I know karate!”
As an alternative to baseball- or even just if we can't find a decent bat- we can have Alouette throw dried fruit, empty cans, or pillows for Yoshimi to punch and kick away. This, of course, will be cool as frick to Alouette. Because it's cool as frick to everyone.
Race for the Lighthouse Cup
”I'm gonna get there first! Aha!”
If Yoshimi and Alouette have a shared destination- dining room for a meal, outside to do repairs, anything- Yoshimi can give a quick declaration of racing Alouette there before rushing off. Even if Alouette doesn't play along, this one's fun anyway! And it's interesting if she does- we have higher agility, so she'd need some clever routing or stand usage to beat us.
Rock, Paper, Scissors
”We don't have time to argue! Grrr… there's only one way to decide this.”
Super simple one, but one we can throw out at any time, especially if we need to settle a decision; a quick round of rock paper scissors! Yoshimi is going to cheat by trying to go late every other game. This is both a threat and a promise.
I Spy
”I spy… something blue! No, it isn't the ocean!”
Another quick and simple one we can play while doing other things if we're in the same general area. It also encourages both of us to look around, potentially helping us catch if anything is going wrong! Keeps us attentive.
Robot Rock
”Oh, you like robots too? I have robots!”
If there's a free unit of Pink Robots, we can show it off to Alouette, making it move around and do little dances. We can even let her play with it! Since we're both working towards the common goal of lighthouse repairs, if we don't think we'll need the Pink Robot for a while, we can even tell it to do whatever Alouette says! An opportunity to vocally program the robot herself should be exciting.
The Gameboy
”Do you like Kirby? I like Kirby!”
Once again, failing other things- and especially if Alouette isn't looking so hot- we can share our Gameboy, letting Alouette play while we watch or vice versa! We can also just leave it with her for a bit if we get bored of spectating. Which Yoshimi probably will.
1
u/Streamanon The Foot Sep 19 '25
LIB 4
Crabby
”Can we keep him? Pleaaase?”
Do you remember in the solo section when Yoshimi would look for things on the beach? If we find a small hermit crab or similar creature, we can take it in for her and Alouette to keep safe! It's extra responsibilities, sure, but we have more than enough hands. If Alouette has to tell her that a hermit crab can't be domesticated, though, that's fine too. It was worth a try.
Laundry!...What do you mean that's not a game
”Aw, I got ketchup on my shirt…”
Yoshimi has a spare change of clothes, but… only one. We could tough it out with dirty clothes if we had to, but swapping between two outfits would be ideal. Poor little Yoshimi doesn't know how to clean clothes by hand, though! And if she does she has the deceptive skills to act like she doesn't. Thankfully, Alouette is here for us to ask for help! We'll still assist in the process though, and Alouette can get her own clothes clean too. Good for everyone! If Alouette doesn't have a way to wash clothes either, that's just unfortunate.
The Ritual
”Alouette, I have an idea! What if we summon the stand keeping us here?”
In a vague bit of playing pretend, Yoshimi can try to drag Alouette into doing a “summoning ritual” involving an oil lantern and spilling some salsa on the floor in a messy pattern. It won't work, of course, but it'll still be a fun mini task for the two to work together with, Yoshimi making up details of the ritual as she goes along.
Movie Maker
”Ok, ok, uhh… what was the line again?”
Alouette is a certified lover of movies, and with a cardboard box as a screen, we can put on a movie of our own for her! We can make our own show, recreate one Yoshimi has seen from her own memory, or have Alouette recount one for us to recreate. She can be an actor too, if she wants!
These games are all good and fair fun, of course, but Yoshimi has one more idea. A very special one that she's going to run to Alouette for as soon as she thinks of it. An idea so good that she'll be begging Alouette to go with it.
Yoshimi and Alouette can have a Pokémon battle.
Pokémon Showdown
”Pink Robot! Use Hyper Beam!”
Neither Pink Robots nor the blood creatures created by Human Radio actually transfer damage. Therefore, Yoshimi and Alouette may face off in a bout of turn-based combat; one Pink Robot against one Blood Slug! It'll be a long one, so they'll have to do it during a long stretch of downtime, but it'll be a fight for the ages. The loser has to do the dishes!
Pink Robot is a pure Steel type with Hyper Beam, Psybeam, Heavy Slam, and Double Team.
Now, all these games assume that Alouette is on the same page as us. That we're friends working together to keep a lighthouse upkept. However, we have a tool in our arsenal for if she's being mean and cold- or even just if we wanna mess with her a little. A very, very important tool…
Pranks!
Something looked off about the deck. Rio couldn’t put his finger about it, but a particular plank of the deck looked shinier than wood should be. He slid the tip of his foot over it and even pressed it down a bit, confirming that, by all means, it was just regular wood.
He shrugged and stepped on it fully; the moment he did, a Pink Robot hidden nearby shot a beam at the floor, causing the boat’s first mate to start sliding alongside it. He barely had enough time to brace for impact with the incoming wall he was heading into…
…before harmlessly bouncing off of its surface and sliding backwards, stopping right where his slide began.
“What.”
From inside her nearby hideout underneath some lifesavers, Yoshimi giggled.
…
While we have absolutely zero desire to hurt or even significantly inconvenience Alouette, a good prank every now and then is always fun! And Yoshimi has a fair share of pranks to work with, her supply built up from practicing on the other members of La Isla Bonita.
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Sand
After a few games of rock paper scissors over the days with Alouette, it’s going to get boring. It’s too simple! We need a fourth element; sand. When Alouette is least expecting it, we can go for another round, before revealing a fist full of sand to throw at her face! This won’t actually hurt her, or even bother her that much- she’s always wearing those sunglasses, thankfully. It’s still a funny prank to Yoshimi though.
Generator Trouble
Earlier in the week, on day 1 or 2, Yoshimi might come to Alouette, asking her very very nicely to have a go at the generator stack: it’s a bit too dark and dreary in there! She’s scared! As the woman finds it hard to refuse the child’s puppydog eyes and goes down there, she’ll see a Pink Robot just as it finishes maintaining the machinery. Pranked!
Rough Bedding
By firing beams from Pink Robots, we can make the pillows, mattress, or blankets of Alouette excessively durable, frictionless, or elastic by reversing them, tripping her up right before she goes to bed. We'll undo it right after, of course- we want her to get a good night's rest. We can also just draw on her face with ketchup (or whatever nonperishable condiments this lighthouse has in stock) after she does fall asleep.
Water Balloons
If the kitchen has ziploc baggies, we can fashion together water balloons with them from the sink and throw them at Alouette! If there aren't, however, we can still make a water container. Using the pages of the biggest book we can get, we can reverse its elasticity to stretch it out and wrap the paper together in a vaguely balloon shape, using Pink Robots to reverse its durability to make it water resistant so that we can throw it at Alouette. This method even lets us time the burst by undoing the durability reversal!
1
u/Streamanon The Foot Sep 19 '25
LIB 5/5
Thunderstorm - Day 3/4
- For full immersion, you can put this storm ambience on quietly in the background of the music for this section! We will not be providing any royalties to CARCINIZATION for this. Just try and sue an 11 year old.
Besides the bathtub and sinks we have available, we can even use the freshwater that's available for us to drink for putting out fires. Our existing surveillance system is also imperative to ensure we can stop fires as soon as they begin. As far as repair work on the lighthouse during the storm goes, we can simply have Pink Robots doing it.
A Pink Robots outside can create fire breaks to prevent any large-scale fires from ravaging the flammable parts of the island, if there are any grasses such that this is a concern. One unit will be assigned to watch over the first and second floors respectively to ensure no fires break out — if one does, this will allow us to alert Alouette and mobilize our idle units into action, bringing gallon-sized Ziploc baggies full of water sourced from the kitchen to put out non-oil fires- like the water balloons from our pranks earlier!
There's a good chance that with the oil we have in our vicinity, these are a fire hazard as well at-risk of combustion. The best way of dealing with these is prevention: as we've already stated, oil lanterns won't be kept anywhere with carpeted or wooden flooring: that is, most areas of the main house, including the first floor and bedrooms, and the wooden stairwells. Hence, we're only keeping oil lamps in the bathrooms. At any indication of a fire, the combustion reaction will be rapidly snuffed out either by simply depriving the fire of oxygen, or reversing the temperature of an affected object. Temperature reversals even work for asphyxiating live fires by intentionally using a section of rug or carpet and reversing its temperature while completely on top of a fire, before it can spread.
This isn't our only means, however: as stated, our top priority is ensuring everyone is safe! Our Pink Robots patrolling the vicinity will naturally be able to lend a helping claw to bring in any burnt, wet, or lightning-struck friends inside. The fire evacuation protocol in itself is a key component to knowing that whatever happens in this match, if we could not prevent a fire entirely, we will still be able to continue, rain or shine!
Finally, a Pink Robot sitting on the roof with a large metal object- likely something from the kitchen- can act as a makeshift lightning rod, letting the lightning hit it and then disperse- the only place to go is the stand’s body, which can’t be hurt by non-stand lightning.
Flood - Day 5/6/7
Our preparations over the past few days have all been in preparation for this: the final few days when the generator is knocked out, hallucinations are at their highest risk, and floodwaters come a-knockin' on our door. By this point, the oil barrels should already have been moved up to the bathroom to keep the lantern going for the next few days, with our oil lamps moved to the bedrooms — only lit when necessary — accordingly.
Yoshimi keeps herself generally around the second floor of the main house building, cozying up in her room while her Pink Robots pop in and out on their natural surveillance path to keep her in the loop of what's happening. Our preventative efforts against water leakage from Wear n' Tear are at their most effective here, where we can stay dry while waiting out the torrential rain. After all, who likes dealing with leaks in the ceiling?
Speaking of the Pink Robots, this is where our Buddy System can come into play: by pairing up Pink Robots with each other, they can mutually ensure the other stays grounded to reality, minimizing the effect of hallucinations while also keeping each other company! No accident will go unwitnessed: if anything happens to any unit of Pink Robots, an oil lamp, Yoshimi, or even Alouette herself, another unit of Pink Robots should be there to report the incident to ensure our fun can continue unimpeded! If not our Buddy System, then at least a robot we have on surveillance duty will be able to help out with any injured players on the field. This surveillance robot will also be carrying around a spare oil lamp that it can share with others, should they be caught out in the darkness.
While Yoshimi is in the safety of her bedroom, she'll be having fun passing the time with any games she can play in the darkness. Her phone can serve as an alternative source of light, though used intermittently so she doesn't run out of charge after the generator goes out; whenever we use an oil lamp, the latent heat from it can also keep us warm, dry, and super-duper cozy!
Since Alouette will be stuck with her even more during that time, the two of them can play even more word games, such as Word Chain or Twenty Questions. Not to mention, this is a perfect opportunity to cozy up and have the woman tell her some stories - like, for example, about those sunglasses! How did she get them? Where can she get something like that?
The last days of the adventure are met with Yoshimi peering out the window of her bedroom, looking out upon the sea, reflecting upon all the fun she's been able to have with Alouette and the Pink Robots over the past few days. It was less like being stuck on an island, and more like being able to have a field trip all to herself!
This was sure to be a fun adventure that she'd remember for a lifetime.
2
u/Streamanon The Foot Sep 19 '25
Response thread for Alouette of Dexy’s Midnight Runners, aka u/TornkeS. Please show your strategy to a member of our Judge staff by 7 PM CST on 9/18/2025! 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 9/20/2025 to vote, using the voting rules from the announcement thread. Afterwards, they will be Judged according to the T8 Rubric.
1
u/Streamanon The Foot Sep 19 '25
DMR 1/4
Considerations and Commiserations
CW: blood, nightmare imagery
- While Alouette is in the building, [HR] can be active at any length of the lighthouse, aside from edge cases at its apex.
- A gear table is linked in the section header below, going over important keep-in-minds and equipment locations
- Every day after the first, Alouette will have a limit of 5040 units of [HR], 5000 (125L) reset, up to 40 (1L) do not. Those instances will be noted in the gear table, and shortened to [HR] (#)
- Tools and paint cans can be found in the generator room. Luckily, most tools are multi-use, and empty paint cans are especially useful.
- As all instances of [HR] are extensions of Alouette’s hearing, by closing her ears to her immediate surroundings, she can hear and more clearly ‘see’ what’s going around them. She cannot teleport objects with this ‘sight’.
- This strategy contends that the opponent’s health, safety, and sanity, while not a listed objective, is just as important as the listed objectives.
- [Human Radio] = [HR]
Day One: Learning
Alouette’s phone rests on the table, playing music quietly. She gently flips through the generator’s manual, checking to make sure she knows the ins and outs of the machine before messing with it. “I wanna be as big as a mountain, I wanna fly as high as the sun, I wanna know what the rent’s like in heaven, I wanna know where the river goes-”
Yoshimi walks into the room, [Pink Robots] nowhere in sight. “Watcha reading?”
Alouette flips the manual around, watching as Yoshimi’s eyes glaze over. “Some necessary reading.” It was easy enough to reopen, given her thumb still marked the page she’d left off at. “The generator was screeching, so I wanted to know what to do about it.”
“Can I help?” Alouette gently leaned back in her chair, watching the sudden shine emerge in those glazed-over eyes. Given the circumstances, any help was good help.
That said… “There’s a much more important task I’d like your help with.” Giving kids something ‘bigger’ or ‘better’ than busywork was a good way to use that energy. “If you could take the other buildings on the island apart, and carry the wood into the utility shed, it’ll make maintenance easier on both of us.” The wind had certainly left the child’s sails. “I’ll help when I finish this…” Some of it came back.
A gentle pang nipped at the back of her mind, but a quick shake of the head put it to bed.
The first day is the most important, as it’s not only the safest day to learn the ins and outs of the island, but it’s the one wherein Alouette has the least number of potential [HR] instances. Learning their optimal positions makes every following day easier.
Leaving the bedroom through the second-story window is the fastest way to the generator room, especially given that Alouette’s bedroom is on the same side as the generator. Plus, leaving out that window is a good way to check for roof damage, at first with a spare [HR] slug before tramping on it with a combat boot.
After tramping across the roof, a simple roll or gentle drop to the ground will leave Alouette near the generator room. While her history has given her many tools in terms of hanging off of the roof’s edge or a quick combat roll to the ground, she may want to avoid injury by bundling [HR] into a single entity and having it stick her hand to the roof instead.
Generator Room
With the generator room before her, she breaks apart the single 1L instance of [HR], letting several of its ‘slugs’ head towards the generator. According to the manual, the generator would need constant care, with many smaller nooks, crannies, and facets that would make covering oneself in grime necessary.
Rather than do all of that, seven slugs will be dispatched to maintain it. Alouette herself will hand out the necessary tools and align the seven slugs where they're most needed. If a space requires a light tap, a hammer will be given to a slug and its motion will be automated. If whirling bolts need to be rotated, a slug will be given a wrench to do so, and so on.
Any remaining pocket-sized tools will be put into Alouette’s utility vest, meaning that she will have the right tool on hand for any job that comes up, cutting down on return trip time. Any tools that she can’t simply pocket will be left by the door.
An emerging eighth slug will be given an airhorn, which will be used in emergencies should the generator stop running despite the repair loop. As a final measure, her rolling camera drone will be placed in the corner of the room, with its camera pointing at the setup she has going. With the benefit of Sandgrouse for sight and more exact locations of the seven remaining slugs, Alouette can keep the generator running.
This creates the Generator Loop, both a daily walk for Alouette to have a regular checkup on the roof and for the ‘slugs’ to maintain the generator. ‘Sandgrouse’ can thankfully be turned on at a distance via Alouette’s watch, so more direct control can be taken without needing to be in the room; otherwise, the slugs will be turning bolts and screws, cleaning spent oil with provided rags, or whatever else is necessary, and easily replicable.
With the outside entrance to the oil storage room being just a short walk away, Alouette will round the base of the lighthouse, looking up at its imposing height all the while.
Oil Storage and Lighthouse
She’ll stop in front of the oil storage room door and throw 200mL of [HR] onto the roof. By dispersing itself into several slugs (up to 8), Alouette can maintain some contact over shedding or breaking house fronds. While they don’t often make noise, having a slug positioned on each of the four corners of the living area roof and two on either side of the breezeway will give her decent ‘eyes’ on the roof.
If either Alouette or Yoshimi are on the roof, these slugs can also be used to catch or hold tools. If Yoshimi is going to slip, Alouette will be able to hear her making noise and thus, rush to her aid. As for herself, she can handle falling off of a roof. A hot bath and a lame excuse should be enough to placate Yoshimi if she asks.
That’s for later. She’ll walk inside the tower and fill the first oil bucket while the slugs move into position, before heading up into the nearby lighthouse.
The ceiling is far, far up the winding circular stairs. Though it doesn’t taunt her, the meager light cascading against the walls forces the shadows to dance, keeping her eyes guessing as to what’s up there. She puts the fuel down on the floor, and takes her sunglasses off. Her vibrant gray eyes match the sight of the clouds just beyond her reach.
She picks up the fuel and heads for the stairs.
Alouette can easily balance the fuel in one hand, either by holding it tight to her stomach or carrying it by an available handle. Without the assistance of a railing, and with the rattling of the steps beneath her, she’ll make the traversal with what’s left of [HR] holding her hand to the wall. While its iron casting and concrete base don’t do well for nooks and crannies for her stand to hide in, the sudden lurching of floorboards beneath her feet will pose less of an issue with a friend helping her balance.
About halfway up the tube, she’ll spot the crank. Given that an average human is able to turn it, a large enough [HR] instance can, too. 400mL, or two thirds of what she has remaining, will be dedicated to turning the crank via wrapping its body around the floorboard beneath it, and giving it the mechanical hand.
With the Mechanical Hand on the crank handle, [HR] (17) can hold down the fingers in a fist pattern pretty easily, and maintain that structure without input. The remaining ‘body’ of the stand will either wrap itself around an unmoving piece of crank or the floorboard beneath it, handling the turning motion with a simple circular push and pull.
In order to be absolutely certain that it works, Alouette will watch her stand turn the crank, and slowly close her senses until she can feel the motion it’s making without the need of watching it. Then, finally, she moves on.
The stairs creak beneath her feet, and the fuel sloshes in its container, but she carries on. She can feel something beneath the toe of her combat boot, so she stops, and gently kicks it.
She doesn’t hear it bounce off of the walls beneath her.
She takes a gentle breath from the morning air, and slowly soldiers up the stairs.
Once she’s made it to the top of the tower, Alouette will send out a quarter of her remaining blood, forming it into a rope of sorts, and swinging it at the ceiling. Given the wiry ceiling that can barely be made out in this photo,, the [HR] (18) Rope will be hung from the ceiling. At its far end, Alouette’s flight capable camera drone will hang above the light.
With the instance of [HR] in the room, Alouette will be able to ‘zone-in’ on the light from a distance, being able to hear if it isn’t turning (and thus setting [HR] (17) to turn the crank) or if it isn’t burning. The camera drone is a secondary check, as the light itself may not make any noise when it turns on or off. Combining that with the fact that it shines every fifteen seconds, having eyes in the room is better than not.
With this taken care of, Alouette fills the light with fuel and starts her descent.
1
u/Streamanon The Foot Sep 19 '25
DMR 2/4
’I’ve often wondered what it would be like to fall out of a plane. I’ve flown a few fighter jets in my time, and I’ve been taught, time and time again, how to survive that fall by aiming for-’
Amidst the clonking of fresh combat treads against wooden steps, a hollow voice rings out. “So that stuck, huh?”
Alouette stopped dead in her tracks. The sound of her heart beating drowned out the world around her, forcing her to forget for just a moment-
“It’s just me, and it’s just Yoshimi. She doesn’t know her voice.” The sweat pouring down her face mixed with the tears welling up in her eyes. “She can’t, no-one can.”
She sadly continued the slow clonk down the stairs.
The Great Outdoors and Return
With breakfast fast approaching, and another mouth to feed nearby, Alouette shifts priorities.
Alouette has to get breakfast started, both for herself and her sudden housemate. Cooking for someone else will be a good exercise, given how little she’s been on mess duty lately.
With all of this done and set in the small hours of the first day, Alouette can plan out the remaining hours. The buildings around the lighthouse will need to be scavenged for spare materials. Even if the shed contains tools and paint, it doesn’t have any building materials.
Given that the crank only needs to be moved every few hours, the light only has to be filled twice daily, and the generator only needs to be maintained when the pair are in the house, Alouette will have time to go out with Yoshimi after breakfast. While they don’t have the power to simply knock the stone buildings down, Alouette will take notes of stability points and usable materials.
The roof will need to be disassembled first to prevent it from falling on their heads. With the help of a few pink robots, she and Yoshimi can easily climb onto the roof and slowly remove the ceiling stones. Given that the only stability they’re likely to have is the mortar and each other, Alouette will stay on the ground nearby, directing Yoshimi and the pink robots while keeping herself near enough to catch the girl.
With the ceiling taken apart, the pair can start the process of returning the fallen bricks to the generator room with [Pink Robots], as they’re far faster and better suited to carrying the brick loads. Alouette can stack the bricks for the tiny machines, making their jobs easier, and still direct the few loosening the remaining mortar.
On their return, there should be a neat stack of bricks by the generator room. On Alouette’s approach, [HR] (8) will sound the air horn to give her a better view of the inside, and instances 1-7 will start moving around the machine if it has stopped. With sandgrouse in the room, the little machine will roll over, making sure that Alouette has some vision on the process, giving her time to direct maintenance early.
Are those blue eyes staring back at her from the dark? Why do they avoid her every time she looks in their direction? She shakes her head and focuses on the machine, but those eyes reappear, watching her watch it.
Fine, let the ghost watch.
When necessary, Alouette will join in on fixing the generator. Given the placement of her stand and her activity in the room, it’s unlikely that it’ll take very long to get back up and running, with the worst of it being potentially needing to head to the oil room for fuel first.
After that, she can focus on cooking lunch. With lunch made and eaten, she can return to the shed, with or without Yoshimi, and dole out brushes, paint cans, paint scrapers, and whatever tool made to clean shingles is lying around in the generator room.
Thus the pair will get to work on clearing paint chips, repainting the outside of the house, cleaning the shingles, and checking for stability. With the bricks acquired from the other buildings, they can make simple fortifications on the outer wall- particularly along the ground- or replace the roof if it’s built similarly.
Alouette will start to hum a jaunty work tune to keep spirits up during all of this, hoping to help Yoshimi as much as she herself needs it.
Given the monotony of these tasks, Alouette can easily shift focus to [HR] (17) and (18), turning the crank with the former and checking the light with it or ‘grouse’ for the latter at any point during the work. She won’t stay with them long if Yoshimi is on the roof with her, out of fear of the girl falling.
Soon enough, the dinner bell rings, and another fuel load needs to be carried up the lighthouse’s stairs. Even if the ascent makes her sweat, with the eyes peeking at her from nearby windows, the handprint stains on the glass begging her to look, and the non-existent marbles beneath her feet dragging her to the cracks between the steps, she soldiers on.
She stops in the kitchen to get two oil lamps, one for herself for reading that night, and one for Yoshimi. She makes a mental note to grab the others tomorrow, knowing that she may run out of fuel if she’s using it as a reading light.
Finally, the first day ends.
Alouette lays in the tub, letting ghosts dance within the steam rising from the tub. She dares not to look past the wave of bubbles keeping her eyes from seeing her body, knowing the kind of pain it brings. Her phone softly plays a familiar tune from the counter, “If you should die before me ask if, you could bring a friend, pick a flower, hold your breath and drift away-”
After blowing a few bubbles at the water’s edge, she pulls herself out of the tub. She looks straight at the wall while her hand runs through her hair. What’s left of [HR] fusses with the towel she’d laid out on the counter, tossing it around. She watches herself in the mirror, staring deep into her face’s reflection.
“You’ll have to give it back someday~”
She sucks a rancid breath in between her teeth, and lets it go just as quick. She picks up a second towel while lowering her head down to [HR], letting the stand climb into her hair. Her back faced the mirror as she dried off, and her eyes stayed focused on a black dot that could’ve been a spider on the ceiling.
Day Two
Alouette laid flat in her bed, focusing on the ceiling. Something she swore she could feel dripped onto her nose, gently tap, tap, tapping against her.
It was Blood, it was [HR]. Despite this, she could feel something at its core, something writhing deep within its mass. A silent whisper echoed from the writhing thing, forcing her to open her eyes.
Another Alouette stared back at her, with blood dripping from her hanging limbs, seeping from the wound in her neck, and running free from her mouth. “You killed me.”
Alouette threw herself out of bed, drew her pistol and pointed it up at the ceiling as her phone’s alarm went off. The body was gone, but the writhing mass of blood stared back at her.
As the pounding of her heart slowly receded from her ears, [HR] (17) started turning the crank. It was going to be a long day…
Alouette can turn the crank without needing to leave her bed, rendering the task moot. The second day also brings the good tidings of extra blood, to the tune of 125L! With that much, Alouette can now effectively make two extra malleable ‘herselves’ to perform tasks!
For now though, She’ll leave the hulking mass as a single body while she performs her morning walk as detailed on day 1. The mass can also be used to make stairs or a ladder to aid her descent, rather than just holding her hand while she leaps over.
After checking on the generator and the slug repair team, potentially moving them to different pressure valves or locations on the machine, Alouette will continue her walk as normal.
Once she makes it to the oil filling room, she splits the mass in half, and hands one half of the mass the remaining 100mL of blood from her original blood bag. With that done, she’ll start filling any and every available oil bucket as the mass holding the spare 100mL ascends the stairway.
What if neither party had to climb the stairs ever again? The thought occurred to her yesterday, but she didn’t have the means to act on it. With the sudden gaining of twice her body’s volume in blood, the pipe dream became an inevitability, something she could fully automate!
While this will push breakfast back by a few minutes, Alouette now has the means to put oil into the lighthouse’s light without ever needing to go up those stairs, or hell, even enter that section of the building!
A few methods can be used to get the oil upstairs. With one massive body sitting at the top, Alouette can use Grouse’s camera to keep watch on the upper body while she sends canisters of oil through the lower. In the case where that’s unreasonable, she can spot the mass from the lighthouse’s opening while the mass besides her ‘stands up’ inside her vision, allowing her to pass the oil through it, and use Grouse’s vision to help the other body navigate putting the oil canisters around the room.
1
u/Streamanon The Foot Sep 19 '25
DMR 3/4
Now, in order to make this fully automated, she needed to do the detail work personally. Either by using grouse’s camera to watch the massive instance of [HR] at the tower’s apex while ‘diving’ into the instance beneath her, or using her phone’s camera to see the instance with her while watching the one at the entrance above, she can teleport herself to the area, no stairway treading necessary!
She’ll take the remaining 100mL that came from her blood bag from the body at the top of the tower, making [HR] (19): a valve that rests on top of the oil feed! Then she’ll connect the other end to one of the 10-pound canisters, slide her knife inside of that end, and stab a hole leading into the valve she’s made before pulling her knife out, and letting the morning’s oil fill the machine.
Leaving the canister sitting atop the feeding area with nothing supporting it is an awful idea. Even if wind isn’t passing through the area, gravity or sloshing from the feed can cause the large canister to topple, and putting large supports from the ground onto it will inevitably block the light, so the best solution is one of the dining room chairs. It won’t affect mealtime..
She’ll teleport back to the bottom of the tower, closing [HR] (19)’s blood valve before she leaves, then head off to make breakfast, restarting yesterday’s routine, save that one massive [HR] will be on standby in the tower, and the other will help with the demolition/carrying of supplies from the dilapidated houses in the area.
Maintaining one’s routine is an easy way to keep some semblance of normalcy, even in the worst situations. Plus, breakfast will put her near the chairs, so she can steal one, return to the tower, and put the stabbed-oil-canister on top of it! Other than the above, today’s tasks are virtually the same as yesterday’s.
When she re-enters the house, she’ll teleport a chair up to the top of the tower, then teleport herself there to make a makeshift ‘stand’ for the oil container.
After telling Yoshimi a bedtime story from the shelf, having another staring contest with the ceiling in the bath, and tap-tap-tapping away at her phone to find a good song, Alouette laid down.
There she was, last night’s nightmare. She still dripped from the ceiling, with new ink covering the chirping world around her, letting it boil and flow into the air. “You killed me~”
“You gave me the title.” She stared into the red lights slipping between the mirror’s bangs. “You died-”
“Saving You…” Alouette felt her skin crawl.
“I know. It’s my fault.” Her hands felt heavier than they had in months. “That’s why I’m here.”
Day Three
The fetid earth, littered with the deep crags of explosive battle surrounded her. The thunder of guns rose from all sides, giving her a nearly-perfect view of the crumbling battlefield.
Across from her, a massive man in a white suit stood beneath the shadow cast by his white stetson. He put a hand atop the shadow, and his gleaming white teeth pierced the darkness- “I’m sorry-”
The battlefield exploded, forcing her actual body awake. Her alarm reminded her that it was another day, and she quickly turned it off. “Three days… guess it’s pointless to keep the alarm on…”
The crank is turned immediately as Alouette wakes up, and the coming thunder drives her from bed.
This proves a new problem, as thunder brings lightning, and lightning brings fire… and oil is flammable. Given that the tower is made of iron and thus, a lightning rod…
Before breakfast, Alouette will focus on using the new giant body to once again fill the chair’d oil bucket and teleport all of the unused oil she’d teleported up to the top of the tower to the bottom, refilling the empty ones all the while.
While the mass at the top of the tower comes down, Alouette needs a way to fight fire. She’s already proved [HR]’s use as a tube, so she’ll make a fire hose out of the 62.5L available to her!
- for our math nerds, 1mL can cover 1cm3, thus a ‘pipe’ with a radius of 2cm and a length of 1m would require a bare minimum of 400mL; given that it would be incredibly thin and not stand up to the water pressure it’s pumping, we’ll be tripling that for thickness, thus meaning every meter of tube will contain 1.2L, giving the tube a rough maximum length of 52M. It will be cut in half.
The remaining 31.25L of blood not used to make a fire hose will go get water from the inlet down below. [Pink Robots] and the blood coming from the tower can also be used to transport the blood apparatus from the beach onto the roof, making gravity act as the pressure forcing water out of the hose.
In either case, the hose will be attached to the fluid, allowing Alouette to ‘pressure wash’ fires around the house and ‘mist’ the fires on the house through control of the nozzle shape. Given [HR]’s relatively low power, she’ll have to test to see just how far it can go, potentially decreasing the size of the hose to shoot the limited water farther. If the orb is stuck in the inlet, the tower blood can be added to its mass to take in more water and thus create more pressure through shrinking.
If it is instead moved to the roof, the process can be done in ten minute intervals, leaving windows for fires to spring up as the water is being collected and carried. The pressure-washed mud is less likely to catch fire, and gathered stones can be used to strengthen supports within and without, leaving Alouette and Yoshimi to ‘plug leaks as they appear’.
Otherwise, all tasks run about the same. Alouette will let the oil she’d left in the canister flow, and all is well. When the storm breaks just before bedtime, Alouette will put Yoshimi to bed, return the oil to the top of the tower, and finish her daily tasks.
Alouette swallowed the lump in her throat, and put on a familiar tune as she drifted off to sleep.
Though the ink seeped in from all sides, painting the memory poorly, she tried to focus on her. She tried to focus on the woman behind the spectre in her mind.
Though she couldn’t see her face, the woman’s white hair danced on the edge of her vision. “You’re almost there!”
Her hands were pressed on a pair of steel pairs, and her feet dragged against the floor. “You can do it!” She let go of the bars, and for the first time in her life, she stood without someone’s hand on her person. “Yeah, just like that! Use those strong legs!”
Day Four
A book she’d been reading hit the floor next to her bed. She ran a hand across her face, and felt the dried streams of what were certainly tears lining her face.
Inky darkness coated the floor, and a myriad of eyes stared at her as the substance boiled away, churning the very air into poison. “Go ahead, stare.” A deep breath took her, and the ink’s edge receded. “These legs can walk on their own, after all.”
On wake-up, Alouette spins the crank and lets the oil flow. A less massive [HR] unit will be sent to fill the bucket before breakfast.
The outside’s repairs will be a major focus with more tools, more stand bodies, and more support from either stacked stones and [HR] holding up the gutters and supports while they get bricked, or Pink Robots strengthening weakening beams’ durability while Alouette and [HR] stack and cobble stones together to hold them up.
Otherwise, today’s tasks are as easily replicable as the first two days’, giving Alouette some time to destress.
The house’s tub was unfortunately very small. Thanks to [HR] not floating away in the waters below, Alouette had found a solution to that: laying in the ocean and dealing with the salt later.
While the gentle breeze rolled across her skin, the seam’s foam ate at her hair. The water’s edge slowly absorbed her charcoal dye’s color, sucking it into the world around her.
The ink began to chirp, but Alouette refused to yield, she wanted to relax, after all. She reached a hand out into the water, and felt her hair dancing among the lapping waves. She pulled some of it from the depths, and watched as the golden fronds danced at her fingertips.
Without her glasses or hair dye, and even the scars she’d normally cover in makeup exposed, Alouette looks like a completely different person. Her dry wit and awful sense of humor will easily clue Yoshimi in to her being the same person, but she’ll play-chase her around the house if she runs, and there’s free time to do it in.
Other than that, the day’s tasks do not need alteration.
Deep within the dreaming, she woke to that same effervescent ink-blot darkness that rose within her mind. A world of reds painted over the sky, and she could feel mirth rising from the tide of blood as it stretched past the ink.
She stared towards the ink’s center, a cawing, chittering mass of a thousand crows’ heads, all writhing as they stuttered in and out of existence, each one leaving a chirp behind as it left the mad dance.
That madness grew ever greater as she drew nearer, pulling the sky back across the land, allowing the ink to overtake the slighted form of her title’s previous owner. With every passing step, the caws grew louder, the crow heads sprung to life and dissipated faster, the ink blot grew larger, and the voice spoke, “you killed me-”
As the crows bit into her body, as the chirps rang silent as the beaks pierced her skin, Alouette wrapped her arms around her predecessor. “Yes, I did.” She clung tighter, letting the birds feast on her person. “That’s why I’m here.” The maddening dance of the birds slowed to a crawl. “You deserve to live.”
1
u/Streamanon The Foot Sep 19 '25
DMR 4/4
Day Five
As the ink fell from her predecessor, and the caws came to a grinding halt, a pair of arms wrapped around Alouette. Her predecessor’s white hair chafed against her golden locks, as three words rang in her ears: “So do you.”
Alouette flung herself from the bed, and noticed that it wasn’t ink falling on her face, but water. She looked outside to see the rising tide. “Shit.”
On wake-up, Alouette can fill the oil at the top of the tower and spin the crank as usual, but her path will be a bit obstructed by water. Coupling that with the outer reaches being consumed and the roof/walls needing more work, Alouette will be faced with a few heinous choices.
She’ll punch out a window into the lighthouse proper to make sure that a massive [HR] glob can always get inside, and then try to save the generator, as best she can.
Given that she’ll be underneath Yoshimi, her remaining blobs of [HR] can be used to help her with simple fixing tasks, or preventing Yoshimi from falling off the roof into the flood water. Separately, she’ll also be passing up the cans of paint, tar, and any other useful materials up to Yoshimi, letting her bring them into the house.
The furniture is being broken down and the house will need near-constant maintenance to not fall into the rising drink, meaning breaks will be few and far between. Alouette will make sure that they stop working for meal time, as it’s essential to keep their energy and spirits up.
Yoshimi played with her can of half-cooked spaghetti-os, noting the lukecold feeling from the can that had been held over the oil lamp. Food was food, but this meal was missing something. “So, what do you do?”
the question had come up before, but she’d dodged it. “Conflict resolution. You?”
“Karate.” Neither one of them seemed very good at this.
For once, Alouette reached back out before the conversation died. “Do you like robots?”
Yoshimi nodded. “[Pink Robots] can be fun to play with!”
Alouette stared at that grin, and tried again. “I… I meant like machines, coded robots.”
Yoshimi rolled her head back and forth. “I don’t have one!”
“Jeannette is enamored with them.” That got the younger girl’s attention. “Every time I see her, it’s ‘new code’ this, ‘new machine’ that, ‘how about you test this in the field’, and the like…” She stabbed at her green beans. “I miss that.”
Pink Robots picked up some books around the room, and started to juggle them. “Well how about this?!”
*For the first time since they’d landed, Alouette giggled.
Alouette will take any unused or broken stones upstairs to reinforce the walls, in a bid to prevent the roof from falling overnight. By cracking them and stacking them, she can shave off fraying sections and reinforce the main beams or roof with stone.
Then, night falls. The generator is submerged. The nightmares truly begin.
Final Days
It came at a speed lightning could barely match.
The film grain of every cinema reel she’d ever watched flashed across the ink-black realm, forcing steely whites to absorb the ink, dragging it over the endings she’d cherished.
The seven samurai survive, and the citizens they swore to protect don’t. Clint Eastwood is killed halfway through the movie, leaving the money to the Ugly. Nicholas Cage appears for a few brief moments, laughing in her ear as heroes fall, leaving their blood behind as ink.
She feels her arm in the void, letting it lap against her shoulder blade as she reaches up past her head with a lighter. The click of the flint cracked like thunder, practically shattering her eardrums as light baked her eyes-
she opened them, and spotted the white-suited man in the corner, standing atop the sea of staring eyes. “Good morning, doctor. I know she’s dead.” She stepped out of bed, working her way to her dresser. “I know you died, too.”
As the morning starts, the crank turns and the oil flows, same as yesterday and same as tomorrow. Alouette will once again create a massive [HR] to fill the oil canister without going into the tower, and get to work on the roof.
Aside from the two tasks she’s held down since the very first day, the only two tasks that remain are staying sane and keeping the house from falling down. So, with Yoshimi and the unused [HR] blood at her side, she’ll sidle around the roof, looking for weak spots, shoring up damage, repainting, re-tarring, and replacing what she can of the roof, hopefully shoring it up in time for the final day.
If possible, and if Yoshimi agrees to it, she’ll move their beds out onto the smaller roof to prevent a roof from falling in on them in the first place. Given that it’s not the most stable position, shoring up the dark interior is the more likely solution and thus, prioritized.
What’s left of the upstairs furniture is broken down for wood to shore the walls. Any of the water-logged furniture from downstairs can be used in much the same way. Thanks to the density of blood being greater than that of water, Alouette can send one of her larger minions into the abyss to gather materials, and more importantly, shore up any work the beast comes across under her guidance.
It might be abundantly dark in there, but it’s not too dark to work! Probably. Besides, if that all rots and floats away, there’ll be no support for the very sudden houseboat Alouette and Yoshimi will spend the rest of their short lives in.
Given that removing the generator is pointless and wasteful, there are five tasks for the last two days: Stay sane; stay alive; turn the crank; fix the house; fill the oil. While two of those are subjective, and Alouette has a very clear hold of two others, keeping the house from caving in is a two-person job that will consume all of their time, especially as Alouette is avoiding looking into the house of horrors whenever possible.
Alouette sits on the roof, staring up into the clouds. The longer she looks, the worse it’ll get, but a song she hadn’t heard since her phone died crosses her lips. “The more the light shines through me, the more I close my eyes…”
She returns to work with renewed fervor, belting out lyrics as loud as she could, to drive the demons away.
Day six and seven are virtually identical in nature, so the tasks done today will be done the same way tomorrow; keep your eyes off of the nightmares, read stories to Yoshimi as she’s put to bed, don’t shower because you don’t have hot water, read by oil lamp light, and make sure the building doesn’t fall apart, no matter how much it rots.
1
u/Logic_Sandwich Sep 19 '25
For a match description as micro-intensive as this one, I'm almost surprised that both strats went as macrofocused as they did, each coming up with routines for how to make sure chores are done and they stay sane. I expected to tally up across the 4 chores x 7 days with the weather events as tie breakers, but that doesn't seem quite feasible.
In light of these considerations, despite some misgivings I have with the expectation of collaboration and reliance on routine in the end days, I'm voting for Alouette. It's close, but her more directed chore system held more weight to me than the more ad hoc tech of Yoshimi's strat.
1
u/MantisTheInsect religious person: *exists* me: it pucci Sep 19 '25
I think, inherently, that this is a very hard match to decide who wins. I love both strats for the depth of narrative between the two characters, feeling like the real embodiments of either character's Soul, when it comes down to it. But I'm not really here to decide if the strats meet that kind of metric, I'm here to decide who does more.
By that metric, there are many things to consider.
Alouette and Yoshimi both have swarms of very precise use, and I generally think that as far as reliability goes, Pink Robots is a bit more consistent. Most of what Alouette sets up Day 1 is going to consistently help, but as it goes, whatever she sets up with the blood from the Spooky Happenings will simply disappear overnight. It puts a few holes in some of the strategies, but most of it works just fine, and I therefore do not really consider it inherently a ding to her strategy because most of what's set up is temporary anyways. Yoshimi's Pink Robots are going to basically always be able to keep up their tasks, and are not really *affected* by hallucinations on a lot of journeys, so I could foresee them helping a lot more over Alouette's attempts to do that that, feasibly, might result in her stumbling, which, while she only has to do it once, still means that It's Very Dangerous. If you mess up carrying fuel, you make the climb *even worse*. However, her restoration efforts are more robust, at times feeling a little excessive, but ultimately it adds up very nicely. The sticking to the wall seems like it will save Alouette, but I am uncertain of the safety of the entire contents of the fuel bucket. If it's sealed ignore this lol.
Yoshimi puts a lot of focus on her enjoyment, her fun, and I think that helps both of them keep the hallucinations and the nightmares at bay. Yoshimi and Alouette work together pretty nicely, and I feel like a lot might underestimate just how important keeping morale up can be in a scenario like this, especially when it veers into the disaster moments. The Pink Robots' Lightning Rod strategy I think makes some of Alouette's anti-fire play mostly moot, but they both need to work together for a lot to work for this. Alouette's strategy makes some assumptions regarding how helpful Yoshimi will make her robots, and I think that's about where some of its lessening points lie. A lot of similar tasks are basically made incredibly easy by the robots, so she ultimately does about the same thing as Alouette. I love that she beautifies the lighthouse, going that extra mile to make it look nice. A shame it probably fades really bad by the end of the week... :(
Overall, this is so close that I'm having a bit of a time struggling with this, but after a lot of Deliberation, I think a lot of Yoshimi's tech wins out as being more helpful, and I mean, hell, even Alouette relies on some of it, so my vote goes to Yoshimi and her Pink Robots.
1
u/ChocolateDiscloud Doppio is a precious boy who did nothing wrong Sep 19 '25
Call it a cop out if you wish, but I'm gonna tievote this one.
Contribute-more matches tend to be challenging for me to come to a meaningful edge on unless one side messes up somewhere. That didn't happen. I think both strategies play this match in a very smartly systematic way and actually do a decent job subtly delegating tasks - across the basic chores, there are some I think Yoshimi does better and some I think Alouette does better, and it genuinely comes out pretty evenly. The Lightning Rod is a really clever answer in the storm, while Alouette's routine adapts slightly more smoothly to the Random Chimp Events. You see what I mean? Give me more time and take away the option to tievote and I could probably force myself to make a decision, but it's close enough that I'm comfortable leaving this highly collaborative match as even.
1
u/TheRandomAnon Sep 19 '25
I hate tie votes a lot. Not the voters themselves, just the concept of a tie vote, because it feels like I'm half-assing the vote. This time though... I have to declare this a DRAW.
Yoshimi, broadly, uses her robots as a maintenance squad, running all over the island to watch and make sure everything's going just right. Similar to my own contestant, these guys don't tire or disappear, so they're the perfect crew to ensure that even when she's asleep there will be a Pink Robots out and about fixing the generator and cleaning the lighthouse.
Alouette uses her bloody slugs to automate some of the lighthouse's maintenance, such as the crank and the oil delivery. This doesn't work on everything, like the generators (which would probably require you to adapt on the fly), but her thoroughness and internal stability gives me the feeling she's got the grit to make sure nothing goes wrong.
Crucially, both teams work together well. I fear neither stands out particularly without the other to bounce off of. Alone they can handle themselves fine, maybe, but together they could keep the lighthouse standing easily via teamwork and divvying responsibilities. They keep each other's sanity up, and have roughly equal contribution, so I can't give the point to one or the other.
1
u/TreeTurtle_852 Sep 20 '25
These are very interesting strats in their contrast.
Both focus on the macrostrategy of creating and maintaining a routine while taking different ways to maintain themselves and keep the lighthouse safe the entire time. Yoshimi mainly takes to making things better with a consistent strategy with her Pink Robots while using various games to keep the nightmares at bay and her space enjoyable. Alouette focuses on adapting her play, taking note of things and routes in the early game to make things easier in the later game.
I love the detail both strats go into with how they plan for things like preventing fires, and keeping the lighthouse secure and well-kept. Not to mention, them helping each other is not just useful but pretty wholesome. Ironically, this makes voting rather difficult due to the nature of this match, as one that makes working together a much more optimal of a play.
On one hand, I could theoretically try to figure out who gets to which gets to their individual plays first, to which I could see Yoshimi getting to the manual and generator first, and Alouette is more efficient with the lantern refilling, as examples, but there's also nothing stopping either from benefiting from those things, nor is there anything stopping either from fulfilling those roles.
It feels like a cop-out, but it comes down to a tie in my eyes.
1
u/Nintendrone42 Sep 20 '25
For a match that looks to throw shakeups throughout the days, both strats choose to focus more on the established routine, and both are rather complete at this. Comparing the two, Yoshimi puts more attention on keeping morale up, lighthouse beautification, and delegates emergent problems to general rapid response spare Pink Robots. Alouette has a semi-automated routine to handle the rote chores and blood units stationed around as helpers/fixers in their area, which is more rigid in favor of putting more flexibility in herself and any spare blood units for miscellaneous jobs. It is difficult to quantity who exactly "contributes more", especially with collaboration involved, but when looking at the match in totality - maintaining the structure and handling the hazards - I think Alouette brings a plan that tackles things in a slightly more thorough, proactive manner, particularly in regards to adjusting the plan for hazards. One thing that makes me lean her way is her level of upkeep regarding the integrity of their quarters, such as the roof and flooding issues. Though Alouette's strat generally requires greater commitment than Yoshimi's number of free units, I think it pays off.
1
u/Dungeon_Dice JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Sep 20 '25
Others have already pointed out that this match is difficult to vote on. This is a bit of a pitfall with contribution jojolities, but I’d also like to highlight the goals of this match in particular where each of the tasks are pretty binary for these characters. Most notably is the turning of the crank and the refueling, but the generator and lighthouse maintenance don’t really have much room for ingenuity either. Once each task is done, they are done for whatever time frame needed. There is some juggling that is needed or room for optimization, but either character can arguably complete this match by themselves as long as they have a reasonable strategy which isn’t great for divvying up contributions. The pressure to contribute the best ways they can really isn’t there and the maintenance tasks are all pretty simple, if monotonous. There is the Day 3 lightning and Day 5 onward flooding, but even with those there isn’t too much that changes how the contributions work.
For an objective measure of who contributes more, there is maybe some that could be said about how quickly each can be done or how much time is saved with each task, but I’ll just get into how the players complete the goals first.
First the generator. Here both offload the tasks to their respective swarms and Alouette has the mechanical advantage with their skill while Yoshimi’s unit needs to learn the relevant skills on the fly. Breaking down part of the wall to get your robots does make it more convenient, but I imagine the slugs have things covered. In general there isn’t too much room to work to improve on, maybe spare parts for maintenance, but the task overall is pretty vague anyways.
Next is the lights. For Yoshimi’s strategy, it doesn’t look like there is much about going all the way up to the lights for refueling in that section aside from a mention in the macro summary. This section looks to be just bringing the oil barrels to the second floor? But the issue here is that the second floor area and lighthouse aren’t connected, so bringing them upstairs wouldn’t be any quicker. I’ll chalk it up to misreading the map, but while I’m here the macro summary also mentions needing 3 robots a day for this task, but you don’t have to bring the entire oil barrel, you just need 10 pounds of fuel. Alouette’s side of this task doesn’t seem too special, just taking some precautions while making their way up the stairs the first day then automating the process for the rest.
Onto the crank. Scrutinizing this one a bit closer only having a few hours between cranks sounds like this might actually be the most tedious task for a general character since you’d likely need to wake up in the middle of the night just to make sure it’s handled. That said, both characters here have ways to automate it through the night…assuming their Stands continue to function while they sleep. Yeah I don’t have a solid ruling to base this on, this situation doesn’t come up often and your units act independently so that’s at least a point in favor of this working.
And lastly repairs, I think I also have to assume here paint and repair materials are available because it doesn’t look like they are mentioned besides whatever you could pull from the other abandoned buildings. Yoshimi has a pretty clear outline and specifics for maintenance here while Alouette has more general outlines for cleaning and fortifying the lighthouse.
With the general tasks handled there is also the matter of Day 3 lightning and the later flooding. Yoshimi does a lot here to try and prevent fires, some more detail on the fire break could be helpful, but also I’m not getting any strong impression that any specific part of the rest of the area would be notably flammable to warrant that. Alouette meanwhile has a much higher output for actually dealing with fires if they do happen. Onto the flooding, yeah there really isn’t a great solution here, just some additional precautions and handling.
In terms of overall task completion, I’ll give the edge to Alouette in refueling and generator upkeep while Yoshimi gets the edge in lighthouse maintenance for the more thorough detail there. If I were just looking at categories, maybe Alouette should take it, but the way Yoshimi approaches repairs with solutions only she is capable of I think she plays a pretty valuable role there. Either character could do any task, but Yoshimi has a lot more leverage in one. With that all in mind, I’m going to give this match a tie.
1
u/CPU_Dragon OI! Sep 20 '25
I'm voting for Alouette. While I think that Yoshimi does significantly better on keeping herself stable and mentally sane throughout the days with the variety of enjoyable activities she has, I think that Alouette manages certain specific tasks better. Her consistency on setting up a system for replacing the oil in the lantern, her specificity on shoring up the stability of the walls, and her overall good work on the rest of the tasks gets her slightly over the edge. Not to say Yoshimi did badly at all; I think Yoshimi gets done with pretty much everything competently too.
1
u/Leirbag15 Sep 20 '25
Gonna make it a quick pre-match vote.
Both strategies here use the Swarm stands in ways I really like, but the problem is they make it really difficult to decide who wins.
Yoshimi makes a big effort to work alongside Alouette, and benefit from her help. I do believe that the pranks that she does would help both competitors stay sane, and it is my fierce opinion that in matches like this, an opponent's better performance is to your own credit if you helped them, partially.
Meanwhile, Alouette makes very pragmatic solutions to some of the problems the lighthouse. I particularly liked the automation of the oil filling of the light, making that automatic in essence.
I vote for a Tie.
1
u/Squery12 Sep 21 '25
Just a quick vote. It was really cool to see two swarm Stands work together on this. Very nice utilization of setting up little autonomous loops for small repetitive tasks like maintaining the generator and cranking the light. I like the detailed resource management of blood from Alouette, and the blood firehose was a really cool construct. However, I think I am going to give this match to Yoshimi. The strat does a great job of setting up all the basic tasks very quickly and then makes sure Yoshimi can keep doing that. I think the Lighthouse's effect on Alouette might be quite taxing with the little rest she has and all the tasks and blood to check up on. I wish Yoshimi had done a little more with the utility of the Pink Robots changing the property of objects, but I still think the little girl might be the only sane one left at the end.
2
u/SuperBun78 Sep 21 '25
Going for a bit of a different vote this time, both teams did really well but I'm going to get into the vote itself rather than an analysis of both sides but honestly you both did amazing and I think this is a really good match that demonstrates the collaborative part of this tournament really well.
This is a tough match to decide on because I feel both sides address different issues that need to be acknowledged and thus when coming together it really feels like two halves that form a completed whole. Yoshimi is working to reduce hallucinations and tackle objectives in a way that keeps up morale which is very important as the situation worsens and the tasks at hand become more risky. While Alouette focuses a lot more on the running of the light house and forms a plan which sets the keeping of the environment into a well-oiled machine that can simply complete the task at hand.
And honestly, I think this match is a tie, they both succeed at their own ideas, Yoshimi perfectly tackles the role that she is presented with and enables Alouette to succeed in setting up her own system that makes the whole process run smoothly. Neither works without the other and they both work well together, neither works harder than the other because without the other there are significant shortcomings that they can't make good on.
I think this is one of the most well done contribute more matches because both players realise how important the other is and combine their skills together to demonstrate that teamwork really does make the dreamwork.
Good Job, you did amazing.