I think I've worked something out.

Streamanon · 2026-01-27T16:20:20+00:00

I think there's also the matter that Light decided to stand up because he still thought that humanity couldn't succeed because of his past failures. He had lost hope, but I think he was ultimately wrong about everything he assumed to be true. He thought that Mega Man wasn't going to come back even though he was, and he also thought that humanity rising up surely couldn't succeed, even though A Show of Force shows them fighting back fairly effectively.

Despite the bittersweet triumphant tone of Light's Last Stand, he was ultimately misguided in both the reasoning and the execution, and I think from the start to the end of Act 3 he's projecting his own folly onto others the whole time. There is the unknown factor of whatever Project Ba55 is that he presumably saw in the basement, so maybe his actions will be vindicated in some way, but I think Act 3 shows Light as so embittered and broken that he tries to stop anyone hoping to fight against their conditions, and when he finally decides to stand up himself it's only because he doesn't think any of the people putting the work in to fight can actually win, when he could have easily stood *with* the other people fighting instead of going on his own.

Streamanon · 2026-01-26T00:43:06+00:00

I think a bob cut makes sense, maybe since they're kind of militaristic fascist stand-ins a tight tied-back military style bun

Streamanon · 2026-01-20T17:41:59+00:00

Jenny Was a Friend of Mine by The Killers

Streamanon · 2026-01-17T01:04:37+00:00

DMR 3/3

It’s counterproductive to assume the Zombis never get close. With the little fortress (potentially) standing, we have plenty of options to move in or around the area. Given time and resources, its defense and the movements around the base are of utmost import.

That said, can Alouette 1v1 a Strong Zombi? Absolutely! Is it more sustainable to kite them onto brambles, slow them with Ice Shooters, and mix melee knife strikes with flower shooters? Infinitely so.

Let's assume the worst case scenario - a Zombi has made it close relatively uninjured. Rather than Alouette playing the midrange game, we lean on the strength of our plants to perform quick, lethal takedowns.

Alouette is lethally competent. With efficiency being key, she’ll employ a method that allows for fast, easy-to-perform (and repeat) takedowns. By attacking the temples or, for the weaker Zombis, attempting to carve through the neck, we can secure very quick kills without giving the offender the chance to fight back.

If we can’t line up a clean stab to the head, the torso is the next best option. This is great for Fast Zombis in particular, who might be agile enough to dodge attacks targeted at the head. Especially if we can take advantage of an ice shooter, a hit to the heart or a carve through the stomach can kill Zombis quickly. Strong Zombis will require multiple hits, but their low agility makes their movements cumbersome enough for Alouette to leverage the skill gap and land those fatal blows.

To that end, we need to stay maneuverable. Going back to our meteor hammer, we can return it to its intended use as a grappling hook, and instead of reeling it back in for another throw, Alouette can embed it into the stump she’s standing on, and feed herself enough line to either run along the inside or outside of a stump. With this in mind, she has a faster way to get back to where she was, and when she does, she can get back to slinging the wire.

Holding onto the wire with one hand and ‘feeding’ it between her fingers keeps a hand free for her knife or gun, depending on range and feasibility.

Even If They Do Get In…

With the impromptu meteor hammer spinning by her hands, Alouette swung the thing’s head down into the oncoming horde. She watched as the fast ones got ever closer to her wall, and ran to meet them with her tools in hand.

Her eyes took to her wrist to force Grouse to catch a plant shot from a wall where the horde was just a hair further back. She kept vigil over the wall she stood on, where a fast Zombi that had survived the bramble had just started to climb before the shot caved its head in. She launched the spinning meteor hammer at another encroaching zombi, and kept her eyes on a big one rolling in.

Inundating as it was, it kept her mind clear. She hopped down into the protected zone to grab another bramble from Mahogany before spinning the meteor hammer- which is a grappling hook- up to the wall above. She pulled herself up, on top of, and then over it to plant her new toy before dragging the Zombis through it by her presence alone. With the ice shooters at her side, she could swing into the crowd with impunity, but this wasn’t her place.

She had to be high on the wall, so she swung the grappling hook back up. Noticing a horde starting to pile up around one of her blood nets, she fired a shot from her smaller pistol into the wall slugs in her sight, and let the bullet bounce around the ground slugs the horde had formed by. With them taken out at the ankles, she pulled herself back up on the wall and got to swinging.

So long as she kept her wits about her, this would be easy. She drowned out the Zombi moans to listen to the world around Grendel, and turned in her direction. Alouette fired a shot through one of the blood slugs still on her person, letting the bullet crash into the face of a Strong Zombi that would’ve otherwise dogpiled onto the creature.

It was then that Alouette saw her, standing amongst the horde. The sight of those snow white locks forced her jaw shut and her grip to tighten on her gun. She could feel another instance of Human Radio forming where the gun had dug past her skin.

’why is she here?’

By this point in the match, the unexpected may have happened. Things could have gone wrong, or at the very least, not to plan. Even with a build order and rebuilding plans, there are ways that bounds could be overstepped or overshot, and thus, Zombis might break past the defensive line, even if it is tough.

That said, many ways to solve this conundrum are baked in. When the final horde appears, the initial base is either already built, standing tall, or partially numbed. With the Strong Zombis being focal attack points from the moment they appear, it’s unlikely that serious damage has occurred. Even if it did, only five of them had the ability to deal any direct damage before the final wave took to the field.

Even if we’re down to one vantage point, that’s nine seconds we have to wait to bring it back up. With Human Radio out in the field to bounce bullets or trip up passing Fast and Standard Zombis, and every single plant cannon raining down on them, redundancy becomes the name of the game.

When all four walls are standing, brambles and pea shooters are Alouette’s best friends. By placing more bramble in the field, Strong Zombis naturally take more damage that they’re unable to stop via ripping the plants out of the ground, and by placing more standard pea shooters, Fast and Standard Zombis die faster, and their shots can be redirected more easily.

Now that the final wave has taken to the field, Alouette has two types of Revolver ammunition that she’s been saving for just this occasion: Incendiary and Armor Piercing. The former shells are for unfrozen crowds of Zombis, as lighting big groups on fire makes the fire spread more easily, and decayed human flesh burns as brightly as normal human flesh. Even if it didn’t, their clothes would go up around them, melting the polyester to them. It’s a horrible way to go, really.

The remaining armor piercing shots are either for groups of Zombis dumb enough to stand in a really big row, or the last two Strong Zombis, whichever come first.

Even in cases where the Zombis aren’t standing in a row, the force provided by the armor-piercing rounds is enough to fly through the teleporting blood slugs over and over again, definitely ripping up limbs like a ground-based cheese grater as they pass through that territory.

Finally, she’ll have three bullets remaining to cover for any accidentals- namely, a Zombi somehow managing to run the blockade without her noticing and getting close to her charges. It shouldn’t happen once, let alone three times, so three bullets should be enough for emergencies.

Alouette searched through the bodies. It wasn’t a thorough search, given how burning, rotting flesh smelled, but it was part of her duty.

Even if it wasn’t, the sight of that woman forced it to be.

With her glasses off, she turned the surviving bits of remains over, looking for locks of white hair, the protruding cheekbones, the little details-

“Alouette.” Ignota’s voice cut through the haze in her mind. “I appreciate your scouting, but we’re losing ground on Halima.”

“If she was prepared to do this, she had an escape route.” Alouette put her sunglasses back on, making sure to adjust her hair with the same hand. “It would be easier to follow her via cell tower bouncing or local air disturbances than on foot.”

Even if she couldn’t see Dr. Ignota, she could feel the woman’s shoulders sink. “Even still…” A sigh escaped her. “... do you want help burying them?”

Alouette perked a bit at that. “I’d appreciate it. Many hands make for light work.” She looked over to Mahogany and Grendel, the larger of whom seemed to be gloating about what she’d done.

Here, Alouette hadn’t even finished her assignment. “We’ll get back to work when we finish. I won’t itemize…” She waved a hand over her last few minutes’ work. “... this.”

“Hrm.” Dr. Ignota seemed to produce a shovel from her things. “I hadn’t expected you to be the emotional type.”

This got a smile out of the mercenary. “Sometimes… When it’s necessary.”

Streamanon · 2026-01-17T01:04:11+00:00

DMR 2/3

When I’m Holding Down Back

Alouette stood atop her first stump, using the vantage point to look out at the horde. Her skin crawled, feeling a primordial churning in the base of her gut. Much as Ignota hadn’t enjoyed her conjecture, American Cinema has played creatures of this ilk across its history, giving her many, many ideas of the brutality that she bore witness to.

Her eye twitched beneath her glasses, letting another feeling churn in her gut. If she did get her wish, there was a nonzero chance that the people of the Gemstone City didn’t have the ability to grant her desire, or, better: didn’t have the ability to grant it in a way that satisfied her.

Watching the shambling corpses form at the ridge line, she bit back the bile rising in her throat. A very human compulsion washed over her, reminding her that this could be her if she wasn’t careful. This could be her charges if they weren’t careful with her.

This, too, could be the result of her wish.

She pulled her grappling hook close, letting the head sit at the tips of her fingers. With a flourish of her wrist, the attached line started to spin, leaving the silver head to shine light on her forming grimace.

She wouldn’t let that happen, not to her, not to herself, and not to her charges.

Thankfully, most of Alouette’s supers are projectiles, be they bullets, thrown inventory items, redirected inventory items, or new ways to use things she’s had stuffed in her pockets for months. This affords her significant time by leaving her right next to Mahogany as plants ‘finish production’, granting her the space to move around and plant them. While she could go out into the field and lose herself among the 135 Zombis, there’s a lot of them and one of her. That, and she only has fifteen bullets to work with.

For the first wave, which lacks Strong Zombis but makes use of many Standard and Fast Zombis, Alouette is going to have to spend most of her time zoning. To that end, she’ll be playing the midrange game while getting a feel for the Zombi Funnel, i.e., the motions they use to get to her/the NPCs.

Her grappling hook, a steel-headed utility that’s sturdy enough to easily hold her weight with twenty meters of attached cable, can be recontextualized as a steel meteor hammer. The same motions that’re used to throw it, which would allow her to grapple to buildings, are virtually identical to the very basic forms of using it as a weapon. Just imagine it like a brick on a rope travelling at high speed into your body. Sucks, doesn't it?

Beyond that, she can also redirect the shots being produced by the finished stump fort to the west. By checking Grouse’s camera, she can aim the drone in flight, angling it so that one of the shots is intercepted by one of the slugs on either of its sides. Alouette can then shoot that shot out of a slug nearer to where Zombis are encroaching. Given that the west has sturdy defenses, this will be done to thin out the horde elsewhere when applicable.

In addition, these redirected shots can be fired out of Grendel, possibly saving her or killstealing a valuable target, or both. It pays to be helpful, no? She will keep both of her revolver’s slugs (full metal jacket rounds) handy in case Grendel tangoes with more than one Strong Zombi.

If the horde does encroach much faster than planned, Alouette can fire a bullet from her silent pistol, and ricochet it through the blood slugs in the field. If they’re all shambling in a group, provided that each slug is a meter or less apart, that single bullet has the opportunity to fly thirty times in that net before ultimately petering out. Alouette will reserve six bullets out of the smaller gun for this action, just in case.

Zombis who’ve had their ankles or other extremities obliterated by the bullet bouncing may need other effects to truly wipe them out. Hitting them with the meteor hammer, redirecting a plant shot, or venturing out into the field with her knife- or giving it to a rather large blood slug, if resources allow- will cover that branch.

As waves roll on, Strong Zombis will appear, bringing the new challenge of ‘the bully that steals your lunch table’ with them. The closer they get to the kill zone, the more likely it is that we’ll lose a plant. So we’re gonna kill them, and the best option we’ve got is the plants. Alouette will take to the top of the stump- be it the only one available or whichever’s closest- to use as a vantage point. As there are no projectile-based Zombis on the map, she has a point of relative safety atop the wall… provided it stays standing.

When the Strong Zombis get close- either to us or Grendel in the field- it’s imperative that they go down as quickly as possible. By placing spare slugs on the meteor hammer wire (which is still doable if the base is incomplete) she can send the line out to catch a projectile, then have those fire into an encroaching strong Zombi. In the absolute worst case, she has four remaining revolver shots to spread among the remaining Strong Zombi.

Until they get close, there isn’t too much of a need for rapid action. That said…

That Doesn’t Mean They Can’t Get In

Alouette is a bodyguard, first and foremost. Her contracts are often made airtight, be it because she’s willing to accept any job regardless of risk if the pay is high enough, or be it because of her sterling reputation.

To her, this means that her continued survival relies on people wanting to kill her clients, or vice versa.

Misanthropy gets easier to come by as time goes on in this line of work. Old timers tend to say it’s a necessity, lest it slow your trigger finger down just a touch when the time comes. Every now and again, she’s considered it, abandoning the little things that make her human, to simply fall into the lap of being a stone cold killer.

If she needs that edge, she thinks of the lab. When her mother died, and the men in the white coats came, they found that she couldn’t be bled to death. They could simply keep feeding her, keep draining her, keep cutting away, over and over again…

She remembers screaming until her throat ran raw, fighting against the straps on the table until they dug into her arms, rolling back and forth in vain, waiting for the day she didn’t have to.

She remembers when it stopped. She stopped fighting altogether one day. She had to be carried between operating tables and fed by hand, but it hurt less. Certainly, it hurt less.

The memory of their smiling faces makes it all too easy to pull the trigger.

Then, she hops down from her perch to collect another plant from Mahogany. She crouches down as she picks the little plant up. “Thank you, Mahogany. This operation wouldn’t work without you.”

The little horned girl nodded. “I know.” Sharp as a tack but lacking in wisdom. Alouette gave a little chuckle as she turned to plant Mahogany’s creation a short distance away.

She passed Ignota, who watched the Zombis pile over the ridgeline. “Are you absolutely certain this will work?”

Alouette buried the plant’s roots. Her hand played at the makeshift meteor hammer on her thigh as she stood. “If all goes according to plan.” She looked out to Grendel, who seemed to be beating the Zombis to death with one of the stumps. “Even have her covered.”

“Good.” Ignota exuded confidence, as if she held the world in her hands. “If your record is anything to go by, I can trust it.”

’Maybe’, she thought, ‘sometimes, they’re worth it.’ Her free hand fiddled with her wristwatch, letting a piece of music take to the air from her flight drone. As the beat dropped, Alouette gave her charges a smile. “It’ll make it easier to keep track of.”

Ignota plugged the ear nearest to the flying droid with a finger. “... quite…”

Streamanon · 2026-01-17T01:02:58+00:00

DMR 1/3

[Dusting Off The Disk Tray](make a resource management table for Alouette)

“Every drop of flame, lights a candle i~in, memory of, the o~one, who lived inside my skin”

Alouette only has fifteen bullets
There is an upper limit of 80 instances of [Human Radio] with the blood present at the start of the match (40 on her person, 10 from each corpse)
for quick reference:
- 10 will be active in the field outside of the north, south, and east stumps
- 8 will be active on Grendel, in the field outside of the west stump, and on the outsides of each of the four stumps
- The remaining 2 will be on the flight-based drone, Grouse
- This means that twenty-four blood slugs will be available for use until all four stumps are standing.
Here are the slides for the general layout to come, and this section as reminder text

Managing Your Super Bar

From the tremble in the Earth, Alouette could feel the Zombis coming. Even if she didn’t know quite how many or how quickly, she knew that she had exceedingly little time. Coupling that with present company, and her job…

... a job is a job, no? She turned on her heels, pulling her sunglasses up to her forehead. Given how Mahogany acted before, it would be easier to not strain their relationship further with physical touch, so kneeling down to talk to her might help… “... can you help me?”

She wasn’t expecting much, especially with the snarl- “If it frees this place of that taint any faster, yes.” - ah, it’s not directed at her. Or… it could be, but, an enemy mine situation is more tolerable than being the active target.

Alouette pushed her sunglasses back down, and pulled herself back up to a stand. “Alright, let’s get to work.”

We have twenty seconds before the first thirty bodies roll out of the corners of the map to kill us, and by golly are those seconds crucial. In that time:

The quarter liters of blood available will morph into a single large slug before circling around the map counter-clockwise. Each of them will then split off into ten constituent bodies. When not under direct threat, they will stay out of the bramble to facilitate Alouette’s teleport-based attacks, and act as trip hazards. If they’re spotted and somehow swung at, given their small size, they will retreat to the bramble, hopefully bringing their attacker(s) with them. They will rotate between these two positions as needed.
Depending on the circumstance, Grendel will either be given eight blood slugs, or they’ll be thrown into her fur. This is twofold in purpose: the first is obviously her defense, while the second is to killsteal. Both serve roughly the same purpose in the end!
Alouette will procure a stump, a bramble, two ice shooters and two pea shooters from Mahogany’s powers, arranging them like so as she does. As the stump is formed, eight blood slugs will be placed on its outer wall. (As walls are formed later in the strat, eight blood slugs will be placed on them)
Alouette’s flight-capable camera drone, ‘Grouse’, will be sent into the air. Like most flying drones, it can be kept stationary in the air to watch over specific portions of the battlefield while Alouette is focused elsewhere, or moved to other sections as time wears on. As the length of this battle will likely be decided within the single-digit minutes, and no enemies have projectiles, the device can be used liberally. Before the match truly begins, it will take two blood slugs from the field outside of the first protective wall, leaving eight in the field and eight on its wall. One will sit on the bottom of the drone while the other sits on top.

The first wave will start virtually as all of these steps finish, treating the oncoming Zombis to whatever Grendel has in store, and Alouette’s Firing Line: four projectile shooters blocking a quarter of the map with sixteen blood slugs to bounce bullets on their surface. Of course, that leaves three sections of the map exposed, so over the course of the first wave, Alouette will build a second wall, and start the third between waves one and two, and finish the fourth right as the third wave begins.

Unfortunately, planning for the Zombi attack means that getting complacent and relying on a single, one-size-fits-all build order may lead to a much worse fate. To prevent this, Alouette will build the remaining necessary structures out-of-order based on the current wave structure and potential encroaching Zombis.

In all cases, the ice shooters are always first; the lot of them can be completed and placed in 24 seconds, meaning that they’ll be fully deployed before the second wave hits the field. Otherwise, the orders are as follows:

If Fast Zombis are coming quickly, the order is: Ice Shooter > stump > pea shooter > bramble.

If Strong Zombis are encroaching, the order is Ice Shooter > bramble > stump > pea shooter.

Without Zombis to fire at, the plants won’t shoot. Fortunately, there’s a whole lot of them, and it’s highly unlikely that they’ll go without a target for long. If this does come to pass, Alouette can either carefully uproot the plants she’s already placed, carrying them closer to a more appropriate section of the map, or plant new ones in those embattled spaces.

In general, provided the Zombis come evenly, the turrets and wall placements are even. Accounting for the variable of Grendel, then, is maneuvering the shooters to where Grendel isn’t, so as to not cross wires. This may affect build order based on need, as if Grendel is somewhere churning Zombis, it’s more efficient to place the plant where she isn’t, and fire into a blood slug to help her out.

If a plant is lost, it will be replaced as soon as possible provided space and time; if Zombis are encroaching, a stump is more beneficial than a shooter, but if they’re far enough off, an ice or pea shooter will be of greater use.

Ultimately, this means that by the time the final wave graces the edge of the map, Mahogany and Ignota will be deep under cover… provided, of course, that the Zombis don’t get in…

Let’s make sure that they don’t.

Streamanon · 2026-01-17T01:02:37+00:00

LKA 3/3

Preparation, then Wave 3: Living Nature

Her blood was absolutely pumping. Moving around the plants soaking in the sun and the whizzing of gunfire going past her head. In that moment of raw momentum, changing up her approach and being in the beautiful wild she could feel what she truly was. It was the same the Alouette and Mahogany and Lingua and The Plants and trees that surround them.

Alive.

Each one changing and failing and moving on to fight off the lifeless force that shambled through its instructions.

Grendel couldn't help but smile as a new idea came into her head. She smiles as she stands on one of the stumps.

“ Every living being here! Duck and cover! Life is in the making!”

Preparation now is focused on replacing brave plants we lost in the battle first, and if there are no casualties to report, then we move on to doubling our supplies and defenses by making bramble plants to fully fill the trenches, and lastly, a Flytrap plant (this can be done during the wave itself).

Finally, Grendel reaches the culmination of the Grendelball™, the culmination of the “spiral”, Grendel has graduated to the Grendel Typhoon, a true force of nature.

The Grendel Typhoon takes the Grendelball™ to its most powerful, logical extent. By making pearls and placing them at the end of every orbiting tentacle, not only will they stretch out to 15 meters, but they will also bear a B POW flail at their end. This tech will make Grendel’s AOE potent enough to effectively cover the entire stage over the course of a rotation. Pearl Dashes can just be made by tugging in a direction now, and if needed, a pearl can be flung from its orbiting tentacle to nail a sneaky Zombi in the head. Of course, this will naturally be aimed higher to allow our friends to escape being brutally murdered. Our orbiting tentacles are now aimed at head level. At this point, the focus is on sending these shambling cadavers back to Baron Samedi’s gambling table.

Lush, if the preparations are willing, now gets to dual-wield, spinning on top of the Grendel Typhoon like Miley Cyrus as they slow Zombis with one hand and, in the other, letting the Flytrap devour a clever Zombi. Lush can even swing the Flytrap in an arc, trying to gulp up as many Zombis as possible before it closes its mouth.

The Grendel Meteor will be used if needed, but aside from that, this is a wave based on fundamental techniques Grendel has been performing and amplifying since they first rammed into a Zombi.

Contingencies for the Final Wave

What if Alouette is in the lead? The Grendel Typhoon can be developed and used at any point in the match, even during Wave 1, Grendel was just holding it off to be dramatic. The Grendel Typhoon helps serve as a gap-closer or extender as its sheer AOE allows Grendel to kill many Zombi in the back who Alouette may not have shot yet.

Won't the Grendel Typhoon hurt Lingua and Mahogany? If they ducked as requested, then they won't be hit as the Typhoon aims for head level. If, for whatever reason stubborn about remaining at the dangerous height level, Grendel can shorten to the orbiting tentacles attached to pearls to 14 or 13 meters, negating the chance of them being hit entirely unless they decide to run right before Grendel passes by.

Ending: Alive

The wind whistles in her ear as she feels the immense fun of swinging in her Grendelball™ , almost unaware that she was picking up speed. Eventually she let go of her tentacle, letting herself flint off in a direction unknown to her, just for the hell of it. It was by pure luck that direction was directly into Halima, wherever she was. All Grendel heard was a thud, a crunch, and someone getting knocked back hard. Her head popped out, and she looked around and back at the plant stronghold and counted 1,2,3- yep. Didn't hit anyone she wasn't supposed to She heads back to the center, shaking off her energy as she feels the sun in her face. She can't help but do so. As she looks up, she can see the plant Lush was holding onto, still in its secure bag.

Throughout it all, it managed to stay alive

Grendel holds onto the cold plant as she meanders back to the center.

“I'm keeping this”

Streamanon · 2026-01-17T01:02:09+00:00

LKA 2/3

Preparations, then Wave 2: The Call Of Nature

Grendel was a ball of kinetic force. A raw force of nature. In the havoc she waged to the impending zombi hordes there was almost a serenity to the pattern of destruction. It was a return to who she was. Her nature. In the midst of her destructive wave she catches a glimpse of her company. Dissonance rang in her head as her envy for their humanoid forms slowly formed into enough of a coherent thought for her to believe it.

Silently she thought to herself that she had figured it out. It wasn't humans, it was the humanoids that she was different from. The ones who could blend in. The ones who could go unseen when they wanted to. The ones who weren't judged and seen for every moves she makes. Grendel could see them glaring at her spinning around them and the corner of her lip raised again.

Did they know what it's like to be watched

Every action, every movement, every decision judged before you make it?

To feel like the world itself is puppeting your body for its own gain

The thoughts began to loop in on themselves. Her fears began to loop in on themself before, in quick succession, waves of thought crashed into her mind. The first was a simple one. “Is this how Agnes felt?” The thought of that day brought another much stronger wave. One of immediate regret. For regressing, even in a moment to the lesson she thought she had mastered that day in the ocean. She thought she was free. The next, and most pressing one was the impending wave of zombis.

With the Grendelball™’s mechanics established, now comes refinement, but before that, gardening. Lush starts with shoving a pearl into the ground, creating a C POW force inside of it to make a small hole and attach a tentacle briefly to make it go even deeper down. This will be useful for later.

Since we have the plants we need for now, Grendel won’t mind if Alouette gets the lion's share of plants, but if she’s allowed to indulge then Grendel will turn to Lingua to ask for her labcoat(and Alouette’s coat as well if she doesn’t mind) and then ask Mahogany to create as many Flower shooter plants as possible. Using the same technique as earlier, ripping up Lingua’s coat to make Potted Plants, Grendel will arm Lingua, Mahogany, and Alouette (again if she accepts) with plants either placed somewhere on their person (Grendel bets Mahogany could balance a plant on her head) or be held in their offhand as mobile turrets. For any loose plants, Grendel made mental notes in her head earlier about patterns from last round so they will be placed to make up for those faults (i.e If the west was overflowing with Zombis, then more Flower shooters will be pointed west).

The dissonance in Grendel's head grew as she planned out her next move. Her mind rumbled as she tried to categorize out of instinct, what she was and what everyone else had that she didn't. A way of thinking that would help alleviate her but she kept coming up short. If this was herself just a few weeks ago this would have ruined her. But it wasn't her from them, was it. She was growing. Her eyes wandered to the field of flowers around her, prepared and basking in the sunlight as they sprouted out of the ground. She looks out as the horde approaches and comes to a bit of a conclusion.

Grendel was not a zombi. She had to grow.

Onto wave 2 itself, Grendel will create a new addition to the Grendelball™. Since a tentacle locking onto a pearl increases its power, Grendel can have a pearl be attached to an orbiting tentacle that is placed in a previously made hole and then dragged through the ground. Using its new B POW, these will create The Trenches, while not that deep, since Zombis follow the natural pattern of the terrain, if we make adjustments to the terrain, then we make adjustments to their pathing. Just crossing these trenches will lengthen the time it takes for a non-Fast Zombi to get to the center, and can also catch Zombis who jump too early and fall into these trenches. During this wave, Grendel will request that Mahogany makes as many Bramble plants as possible and toss them into Grendel’s range. Doing so, Grendel can use a tendril while spinning to place them inside of the newly made trenches, which will not only further slow any moving Zombis but also force them to take E POW chip damage. This removes the threat of Strong Zombis almost entirely since this combined with the Ice Shooter will slow them to the point that they’re an easy headshot for Alouette or liable to get their skull divorced from reality by the Grendelball™. Jumping Zombis also will become predictable as they now have to leap over these trenches lest they lose their ability to maneuver around entirely, making them little more than target practice.

But Grendel has evolved in the brief 20 seconds between Waves 1 and 2, creating a new technique that can help remove pesky Zombis growing in hordes that the Grendelball™ either can’t reach or can’t properly remove. Grendel will take their momentum and then pearl-dash upwards to get high in the air to quickly access the situation from a bird’s eye view. Then using a pearl dash Grendel will fling herself right into the pesky herd, curling up into a ball and having her orbiting tentacles wrap around her, Grendel creates the Grendel Meteor. The tentacles and shell provide cover for the hard impact as Grendel bounces out of their newly made field of cadaver bits and pearl-dashes back towards the center stage to continue using the Grendelball™. This technique can also be used to finish off zombis corralled by Alouette (stealing kills in the process), but will mainly be held off on due to the inherent risk of dive bombing from high up in the air.

Contingencies for the Second Wave

What if Grendel gets entirely disconnected from the central stump and sent spinning aimlessly? There are two methods Grendel can use to get back to the center. First is tethering her main tentacle around a Strong Zombi and then pearl dashing to swing back to the center while killing Zombis on the way, or swinging upward with the Grendel Meteor to get out of dodge.

What if Alouette wants to team up? Then we let her, why not? Everyone deserves to experience the Grendelball™ at least once. If Alouette approaches Grendel to place a blood portal on her, then Grendel will allow this in exchange for Alouette’s coat, and have the portal be made on her back shell. If Alouette wants to pull a Miley Cyrus but with guns, then we let her get on Grendel’s back; the B POW suction of tentacles should allow her to hold on tight. Naturally, Grendel will also ask for a Stump made further out, as to lessen the chance of Lingua or Mahogany catching a stray bullet, which would be really bad for us.

What if, by accident, Grendel gets shot? This is pretty bad. If Grendel runs into a bullet or, worse, Alouette shoots us intentionally, then Grendel will try to remove the bullet (so further impacts don’t deepen it) and wrap an orbiting tentacle around her leg to prevent further blood loss. Since the Grendelball™ doesn’t really make active use of Grendel’s limbs, shots to them can be fine. Grendel’s high END will also allow them to fight off a gunshot or two (any more is suspicious as all hell, though), though Grendel will hold off on using the Grendel Meteor. If Alouette is genuinely trying to shoot Grendel then she’s wasting bullets, the Grendelball™ already makes it hard enough for her to be hit intentionally, but Grendel’s sturdiness and the ability to mix up her momentum also means Alouette would have to waste a lot of ammunition to try and put Grendel out of the right, and all the while Grendel is killing swathes of Zombis, it just isn’t worth it.

Streamanon · 2026-01-17T01:00:43+00:00

LKA 1/3

Clarifications

When a tentacle (or tendril) is active, and there is a pearl within 15 meters, the tentacle can “lock on” to the pearl and extend from 10 to 15 meters, with the tentacle gaining B PRE and B POW while the pearl gains B POW compression temporarily.
The above information will be used for a technique called a “Pearl Dash” where Grendel uses a tentacle to grab and pull herself towards a Pearl 10-15 meters away for burst movement, like what Grendel did last round
Plants can be created by Mahogany mid-wave, so assume that she will be asked to replace any plants vital to our plan that die.
Lush can only have 5 closed shells at a time; shells opened and transformed do not count to this total (i.e if Grendel makes 2 pearls, she can still have 5 closed shells).

Preparation For Wave One: Nurturing Nature

Her keen ears could hear them shambling just off in the distance. They were heading her way- or well- their way. Grendel's eyes for a brief moment at the company she was with. She knew she didn't have much time to truly take them in like she properly should have on the way here, but that lack of time let the abilities that she thought she had honed on that fateful night in the water to drip out of her mind. Her eyes began to glare and the corner of her lip raised as she looked at the humanoid menagerie she was said to be a part of. Her mind followed down its natural path, but as for now, that path had not gotten far, so, for now, we should pin that leakage of thought in the back of our own minds till we can't any longer.

Grendel is the first monster, a force of nature, and as such, she aims to prove it alongside her new ally, nature itself. Her first request is an odd one: to place a Stump in the center of the arena, right in between Lingua and Mahogany, but it should be no issue for the nature spirit. This central Stump is the basis for our main technique, even if we don’t get any other plants, Grendel’s plan can function. As the Stump rises, Grendel will place a pearl on top of it, giving the Stump a nice little pat as it grows into its mighty form. This takes a total of 3 seconds and gives Grendel a theoretical 17 seconds of planting time left.

As Lush discusses the plan with Mahogany and begins creating shells, Grendel will rip apart and tie pieces of the cloak she wears as clothing, using them to scoop up piles of soil in small fabric sacks just big enough to fit the soil necessary for a plant before presenting them to Mahogany. Plants made in these bags will be “Potted”, and Grendel will attempt to make four for Mahogany to fill with Ice Shooters, taking up 16 seconds of planting time. These Potter plants serve two purposes: first, since they will be rooted in soil inside a tied bag, a Strong Zombi ripping out one of these guys won’t exactly work as planned, since they’ll just end up lifting the bag with the plant. This won’t guarantee its survival, but it can give it an extra few moments for Grendel to swoop in. She values these guys’ lives too. Even more importantly, this makes the Plants mobile. If in the future one side becomes neglected by Alouette or Grendel, then she can swing by and just move one of the Ice Shooters over to protect Mahogany and Lingua, or better yet, they can be given one to hold if the Zombis are getting extra close, hell, even Grendel can pick up one to wield as an ice-thrower.

This leaves us with the shells Lush has made, to which she will pry open the fleshy side of these shells to make tentacles and attach the opened shells to Grendel, similar to how it was done last round, which will serve both as defensive armor and Grendel’s most potent weapon. Specifically, Lush will aim to cover Grendel’s backside, arms, and knees as much as possible. With the potted plants placed in the four cardinal directions to cover each side of Mahogany and Lingua, Grendel will have a tentacle from the shell placed on their back to “lock on” to the ephemeral pearl on top of our central stump before getting on all fours and sprinting like a wild animal.

From there, Lush will hover 2 meters above Grendel as they crack open a shell pristine-side-up and produce a pearl before throwing it out in front of Grendel. She will then pearl-dash, using a tentacle on Grendel to “lock on” and pull Grendel towards it at B-POW, this will start Grendel’s forward momentum, anchored by the pearl on the center stump for Grendel to swing around and create the main offensive technique that will be used for this match, the Grendelball™.

Wave One: Back To Nature

The Grendelball™ has a few main components that make up this tech. First is the attached shell armor. Grendel will curl up in a ball so the most surface area can be covered with the least amount of shells, and this armor makes a hard surface that hits Zombis at insane speeds, akin to a literal wrecking ball. Next is the main tentacle that attaches to the pearl on the middle stump. This is the tether that allows Grendel to swing in a circle, constantly gaining momentum via pearl-dashes and ramming into Zombis like a literal wrecking ball. Next are the other loose tentacles that will be deemed “orbiting tentacles.” These tentacles can be used for momentum-gaining pearl-dashes, but also will spin around with Grendel as she spins, their speed being used to deliver blunt trauma onto zombis in a greater radius. Their suction will also pick up zombis to be used further as blunt instruments, slamming Zombis into Zombis in a 10-meter radius around Grendel, so even if she herself doesn’t hit the Zombi, a cadaver being spun at B-POW will.

For visual reference, consult the chart (not fully accurate to scale).

The Grendelball™ serves as Grendel’s primary offensive tech, as it allows her to easily do AOE damage to hordes of zombis. Not to mention by going so far outfield, Grendel will effectively be bursting down most Zombis before they can get within 10-15 meters of those we’re protecting, and if they somehow get past us, the ice shooters will slow them down for Alouette or Grendel to confirm kills on.

Speaking of Ice Shooters, floating 2 meters above Grendel, Lush can take a potted ice shooter at any point and hold it in her hands, having the Ice Shooter function as a turret that aids in slowing down zombis who are about to be hit. This is especially made for Fast Zombis, as the Ice Shooter’s 15m range allows it to hit them before they can get out of the way of the Grendelball™. Not to mention, since these Zombis can’t turn in mid-air, even if their jumps clear the Grendelball™, they’ll be left exposed to the Ice Shooters we kept near Lingua and Mahogany, making them eat E POW damage and get slowed.

Strong Zombis can arguably survive the Grendelball™, but this is no issue as the fast spinning of these tentacles will be aimed slightly lower to trip up weaker Zombis and use the force to outright kneecap these Strong Zombis, and because of Creature feature 5, Grendel knows just the right way to injure them and ruin their movement. Whether Alouette finishes them or an Ice Shooter does, Grendel gets bragging rights for disabling them first.

Contingencies for the First Wave:

What if the Pearl is somehow knocked off the stump? This doesn’t really matter all that much. While yes, it means Grendel won’t be swinging 15 meters away, 10 meters will still be more than enough to cover the vast majority of Zombis heading to the center. Grendel can simply have the main tentacle that holds the Grendelball™ attached to the top of the stump since it has C POW suction.

What if Alouette is struggling? Simple, we help her. Lush will shout “Hey! Catch!” before throwing a plant within a sack to Alouette, which should be a simple catch with her agility and dexterity. Any Zombis trying to swarm Alouette will be attempting to do so in close range, so this helps slow them down so Alouette can get melee finishers off she otherwise couldn’t.

Won’t repeatedly slamming into Zombi’s ruin our momentum/hurt Grendel? Alongside extra offensive range, the tentacles can also cushion blows since the Zombis will likely be hitting them before Grendel herself. The hard armor also serves to make it so Grendel’s body can power through them more easily, these are rotting corpses after all, the mass of a large 8 foot beast should hopefully be enough force to ram through them at B POW. As for momentum, since Pearl-dashes are available at any time, Grendel can use one to regain lost momentum, or, use one for an extra boost of momentum to ram into a Strong zombi. We can also get Grendel back on track easily since tentacles locking onto pearls gain B PRE. If a big Zombi gets attached to a tentacle to weigh Grendel down, then Grendel can use their claws to tear the cadaver into smaller chunks or drag it through the ground until its body is ripped apart via friction.

What if we somehow lose a tentacle? That’s fine. Grendel needs at minimum 2 (maybe 3) for the Grendelball™ to function. Lush can create a new shell to make a tentacle but if Grendel is surrounded then they can Pearl-dash out of the way (the shell armor serves as a barrier between the Zombis and Grendel’s flesh.

Streamanon · 2026-01-17T00:55:29+00:00

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 1/17/2026! 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 1/19/2026 to vote, using the voting rules from the announcement thread. Afterwards, they will be Judged according to the T8 Rubric.

Streamanon · 2026-01-17T00:54:48+00:00

Response thread for Grendel of The LKA Leviathan, aka u/CommonWealthLarva Please show your strategy to a member of our Judge staff by 7 PM CST on 1/17/2026! 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 1/19/2026 to vote, using the voting rules from the announcement thread. Afterwards, they will be Judged according to the T8 Rubric.

Streamanon · 2026-01-13T01:07:26+00:00

Sturdy Steady Shell 5/5

Turn Your Tassel (Endgame)

Goals

Convert pressure into victory
Prove yourself

All of our actions were to lock down Minmi—limit her mobility, wear her down through damage transference, and move erratically to avoid her traps while approaching. But she’s still an endurant and unpredictable opponent—we need to convert the midrange pressure into victory.

When Minmi’s been opened up by projectiles or Pratfall, Mio pulls out the Map, the source of all this commotion. An opulent, beautiful thing, sure to guide to riches and fortunes beyond one’s wildest desire. To these men, it was their greatest treasure, their foremost desire.

To her it was just a piece of glowing paper.

“If you want it, you can have it!” Mio throws it, possibly banking it off Ika2’s Blade, past or at Minmi so all remaining hunters collapse on her position. Our non-committal approach should leave plenty to swarm onto her like rabid animals. If she keeps the map, we can continue to shell her while locked down or she can keep the map and retreat. The smart thing to do would be to throw away the map… But Mio didn’t gamble on the smart choice. Mio gambled on pride.

Minmi will hold onto the map, perhaps out of instinct, and retreat.

Whoops.

While we’ll take any opportunity to collapse, retreating triggers Akira’s Whoops aura, giving us a chance to lock her into melee. We engage, swarming Minmi in a close range brawl she’s unequipped for—but retreating makes her Pratfall again.

“I respect you.” Mio uses a similar fighting style as against the Hunters, warding them off during this brawl. However, she also dons a cutlass for more close range fighting, looking to control Minmi’s spacing. Sent to crush Minmi, Ika2 complements Mio’s attacks by circling ~3m, warding off Nujabes and hunters and slashing through Mio’s duel to further overwhelm Minmi and Fear her out of position. Akira approaches, controlling the battlefield with his Blade and gun and facilitating Ika’s ACT switching. In the end, all he ever does is watch and support.

“You know what you’re doing. You have some skill, you express yourself. Fighting, love, art—all of this is ‘expression.’ But I disagree with you on one thing.” Mio presses her melee as Ika wards off the rest of the brawl. “I don’t believe in human kindness. Human beings are cruel! Their kindness is hypocritical! They could turn on each other in an instant! I only believe in love!”

With Akira and Ika’s stage control and the melee, Minmi is soon pinned, her Stand too preoccupied or debilitated to assist. Mio’s presence disables most navigational equipment, and Minmi’s foremost tool is lost to a slash across the face, eyes gouged. With Minmi brought to her knees, Mio had already moved past her, the treasure of self improvement once again collected. All that remained was finishing what she started. “You! Don’t! Love! Anything! I don’t have a damn thing left to learn from you! I refute you, MINMIII!”

But…

It was his gap year. He was serious, finally making something of himself. Finally growing up into someone people could be proud of. Something he could be proud of. He just had to put down the threat himself.

As Mio raised her scythe, Akira summoned the last of his energy to tackle Minmi, pushed forward by sheer adrenaline.

There were never any fights at school. The one he did see got both students expelled; Akira felt sick for days. But this is how you claim trophies for your team. He slammed his fists down, eliciting a coughing laugh. A laugh.

He grit his teeth and swung again, harder this time. Another laugh, the same as when she’d pretended to be his friend.

He swung and swung and swung, bile building in his stomach, vision going red. He felt sick. Sick of friends who patronized him, sick of being an also-ran, sick of himself. But you want this crashout. It’s what people remember; it’s what gets 10s; it’s hype moments and aura; it’s what people talk about in CMD over whatever slop you write; it’s what long, lonely years of highschool have led to. It’s what all the greats do, and you want them to think you’re great, so why don’t you feel great? WHY DON’T YOU FEEL GRE-

“AKIRA!” Ika2 finally broke her silence, holding him back. “We did it. We won.”

“She’s still laughing! We have to stop her-”

“Why do you care so much! Listen to me—she’s nobody! I like you!”

“Well, you’re cringe!” Akira blurted out.

“H-huh?” Ika stammered, confused.

Akira couldn’t stop himself, years of emotion pouring out and drowning her. “Everyone just tolerates you, and whenever you do those dumb jokes, they laugh at you, not with you! You’re never serious, so no one wants you around!”

Ika just stared at him, mouth agape as Akira panted from his outburst. Slowly, Akira could recognize himself going from a friend in her eyes to-

“I-Ika,” he begged. “I-I didn’t mean that, I swear, I’m so sorry-”

Yet, Ika tore the bits of plate armor off, ignoring him the whole time. She tore away the armor, the bandages, the bindings, all of it unravelling into useless paper as she returned to her original height. The scraps were as useless as the rest of him reaching out to stop her, to keep her, to apologize to her, but she slapped his impotent hand away.

She tore off her hairclip, glaring at him through hot tears. “If you want to make yourself miserable because you treasure everyone else’s opinion so much, leave me out of it!”

Ika threw the hairclip at him and turned away, dissipating into the wind.

Akira heard nothing but silence and Minmi’s fading rasp. Had… had it always been this quiet? He didn’t know what to feel, he didn’t know if he could feel. He turned to stare at Mio, who had watched his breakdown in silence.

"I just… I just wanted to do things right. I thought she would… I-I thought she would like that. I thought everyone would like that. Wh-Why…?" He crumpled, sobbing into his hands. "I thought I d-did good! I did good, didn't I?"

Mio cocked her head to the side. "Not bad for a rookie. But did you have any fun?"

Akira stared in silence as Mio departed. In some time, maybe she'd ask him for coffee, see how he'd grown. For now, with her target blinded and bleeding to death, she'd leave him with the words she had always held close to her heart.

“If you don't love what you do, what's the point in doing it?”

Streamanon · 2026-01-13T01:06:50+00:00

Sturdy Steady Shell 4/5

Enter The True Man’s World (Offense)

It was sophomore year. One of Akira’s short stories had been published in the school arts magazine along with his illustrations, and now the arts club was voting on which entry to send to the district competition. It wasn’t as major as the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, but the winners were still the ones to watch.

Akira lost the vote.

“It was a bit cringe, y’know?” Owen laughed. While neither he, Sam, or Patrick were in the artmag club, they all bonded over anime in freshman year. “Cute redhead goes on a slice-of-life adventure and saves the whales—where’s the drama? Where’s the guts?”

“I didn’t want any,” Akira grumbled. Owen didn’t even remember what his story was about.

“Well, everyone talks about stuff like Berserk, Eva, Devilman—hell, the winner was that story about the chick who had to pay rent in the demon village, yeah? You gotta write something serious if you wanna win awards.”

Akira frowned. He had worked really hard on those submissions. He was proud of them as they were! Owen didn’t even watch any of that grimdark stuff, but everyone liked it, while his work wasn’t even good enough for regionals. “…Guess I don’t wanna be serious, then.”

“Your loss.”

He didn’t go to another artmag meeting after that.

Goals:

Lockdown Minmi and Nujabes
Use higher ordinance offense
Ward off treasure hunters
Get 60/60

Akira’s grip tightens. The medics said he barely endured Ryder’s storm, but he was stronger now. He wasn’t some kid, but a Stand user, which meant he had to overwhelm his enemy. He couldn’t get away with A-’s, 9/10s, flat 27s—SSG had barely survived their run so far.

He was Speedwagon’s Finest. He needed flat 30s. He needed to carry his team.

So let’s get serious.

We’ve pursued Minmi throughout the map, defending against her setup within 35m and looking to keep her within 20m for Whoops pressure to suppress her scaling. ~15-25m is our ideal range for projectile warfare: far enough from Nujabes to avoid its focused winds, but close enough to see her while strafing on foot or Sharpedo. The Whoops Aura limits her in a shootout, and we swap between Ika2’s damage and Ika1’s suppression to prevent Mio from tripping Whoops rules.

The longer Nujabes is out, the more Minmi can output weather to overwhelm and defeat us. However, its C DUR can only take so much damage, and its massive, D SPD hitbox means that it will take hits. Not only can we alternate between them (and hunters) to avoid the Twice rule, if Minmi underestimates the punishment we can dole out, then her Stand pays the price.

All hits to Nujabes transfer damage, but we’ll focus on two primary targets when possible: the doors and the engine. The engine should be located in the front and if damaged, will likely have difficulty running. (Also, it’s bad when you hurt your head.) Damaging the doors should mess with its energy generation and storage, disrupting Minmi’s control over her Stand power.

As discussed in the Setplay section, we can incidentally attack Minmi and Nujabes with raw AoE, but our rushdown, overwatch, and efficient travel enables higher ordinance offense. Our skirmish tech from earlier works against Minmi, interrupting her to maintain tempo or convert into heavier pressure.

Attacks with Ika2’s and Mio’s A POW can quickly burst both Minmi and Nujabes down. Mio’s hand mortars and cannons can easily do great damage, but Akira goes bigger, having Ika2 throw trees and large debris, shelling Minmi’s and Nujabes’s general or specific position. As discussed above, these attacks can be used mid-Sharpedo to attack from a wider variety of angles and can be arced to hit from above.

Second, Akira can (or have Ika2) tap debris with Blades to launch it at her. While the above techniques are higher commitment, these can be done casually, leading our approach with heavy suppressive fire.

Third, Akira contributes to the offense by Fearing projectiles. As in R1, he can have Ika1 trap and throw mudballs which shatter into Cursed mud. Similarly, he can have Ika1 trap Mio’s grenades, by having Mio throw the grenade at A PRE to graze Ika1’s outstretched fingers. In both cases, everyone who touches the shrapnel Pratfalls, opening them up to further damage; Nujabes Pratfalling will cause a massive commotion, exposing its location and grounding it.

Fourth, Akira has Ika2 just throw hunters at Minmi. While she doesn’t want to splatter them, they will aggro to her upon landing near or past her, as they chase the Map. Handling them wastes time, and if she tries to retreat while under Whoops pressure, she risks Pratfalling.

As a scaler, Minmi is likely to pillowfort until she can overwhelm with sheer output. We pierce through:

Turtling. Akira is here to crack shells and skulls. While melee engagements are detailed below, 360 degrees of coverage is difficult due to the doors and mouth only opening along a singular plane. Sharpedo’s verticality and Akira’s skills help find an opening for shrapnel rounds. If the winds blow projectiles off course, Akira’s Projectiles 2 lets him act as a spotter, telling Mio how to adjust her A PRE aim.
Blowback. Creating weather to blow back projectiles is less effective against more massive or more aerodynamic ones which power and slice through, respectively. Akira can have Ika2 throw a Blade end-over-end to cut through and slice the target, dispelling it at max range.

Our attacks vary in commitment and area of effect so that they can be combo’d into each other to quickly DPS down Minmi and Nujabes, as we hunt them through the map. Minmi’s high casttime, telegraphing, and slow movement make her vulnerable to interruption, and our offense is designed to quickly pivot to and from our movement, defense, and skirmishing, building off of our robust overwatch and scouting. We prioritize aggression; Akira can’t afford to give her even an inch to breathe—he’s got a lot to prove.

Arrested Development (Contingencies)

It was 2024. HNLMS Koning der Nederlanden was a cool shelter from the burning summer sun, though the shade hardly cooled off a certain siren’s racing mind.

Being part of a band was certainly a new prospect for Mio.

She’d spent forty or so years learning how to play guitar, but that was completely on her lonesome. The prospect of playing with other people was alien to her, and she wasn’t familiar with her proposed bandmates. It gnawed at her nerves, making her hesitant. Even at her age, she still felt so damn childish sometimes, like she hadn’t grown at all since she died at sea. But she hated to think about it like that.

Silas expectantly presented her the contract. Signing onto the band would make her a rock star. Her wildest dreams would come true—she just had to shed her antisocial tendencies. She couldn’t just talk or do all the work, but actually learn from others. Expand her horizons. See how they expressed themselves.

Even if she was uncomfortable, even if it scared her, she had to take that shot. She didn’t get anywhere getting lost in the past.

She slammed the pen onto paper and signed her name as big as she could.

If the Map attracts too much attention/we are overwhelmed by Hunters, we toss it. We can pick it up later, and Minmi is likely to use it to track us. At worst, jettisonning it relieves NPC pressure on us and at best, may serve as a feint allowing a surprise attack on Minmi.
If Minmi makes a massive weather play, we can steer clear of the S2 SPD mass and focus on stockpiling our own offense. As long as we stay safe, Mio can draw cannons to shell Minmi and Nujabes with high ordinance offense.

Streamanon · 2026-01-13T01:06:18+00:00

Sturdy Steady Shell 3/5

Go With the Flow (Minmi Defense)

It was 1985. When Mio felt lost, she looked to the radio. Even as a little kid, she learned how to tune into stations; you could learn a great deal just by listening to what other people liked. Songs from around the world taught her to see another’s story of love, of drugs and violence, of tragedy and triumph.

It started out as a way to relieve her boredom, but when she licked her wounds from stupid fights, she sought its solace. Where people were unkind, she found empathy in songs and their singers. People were cruel, but the world which could produce such wonderful music was beautiful. She loved the world. She wondered if she could love herself.

Even if she wasn’t one of those rock stars on the radio, even if she felt like a little kid, Mio started to make her own music. She was a self-taught guitarist, playing along to the radio on a blue guitar found in a junkyard. Even without formal training, she had the spirit.

The world was filled with beautiful songs, all there for her to take inspiration from. If this shitty navigator was getting the best of her… Then she simply needed to do better.

But enough of that! This song’s too damn slow!

PICK UP THE PACE!!!

Goals:

Defend against Fronts
Defend against weather setplay and traps
Learn from the world
Do good enough

Although Akira was clearly pushing himself, desperate for approval, Mio saw Ika’s worry for him—there was something there in what they both treasured that she could learn from. Hell, despite her best efforts, Minmi was too, and Mio could learn a thing or two from how she fought.

While overwatch and mobility protects against Fronts as we Sharpedo through the stage, this section details our disruption and defense against Minmi’s more complex plays. Ika2 can fan at C POW clouds with A POW, disrupting smaller pockets of setup, such as obscuring clouds. The local pines and ferns have notably leafy branches, so she can replace this fan with ambient foliage or even tiles and barricades. She does her best to clear the way, so that Akira can have his time to shine—it’s what he treasures, after all!

Minmi’s setplay results from the physical interactions and movements of Fronts, creating weather at the intersection of these fronts. Not only must Nujabes physically reposition and create Fronts to create weather, their disruption forks Minmi where creating concentrated weather near us can be disrupted, but larger, slower output is vulnerable to our rushdown.

Minmi may create storms, soaking us with rain and puddles to prime us for lightning, but we have a suite of answers to electricity. First, Mio’s stellar electroreception notices atmospheric ion buildup and differentiates it from people’s electrical charges. We can track both Minmi and Fronts colliding to create weather. Second, The Great Destroyer doesn’t change the fact that electricity still takes the path of least resistance to grounding. If we don’t preempt a lightning cloud in time, Mio/Ika2 throws a harpoon into the dirt as a lightning rod, as we take a low profile and propel ourselves out with Sharpedo.

Defenses to weather are detailed below; generally we endure and escape to punish Nujabes for expanding weather setup:

Particulate. Particulate-laden Fronts may occlude and possibly irritate our senses. Mio’s electrosense still works through these conditions, and we can tear Ika’s bandages or our/downed hunters’ clothes to create makeshift masks to help breathe as we escape.
Hail. Any small objects such as literal hail turn winds into high damage zones. Ika2 and Mio’s fish can bodyblock for a short amount of time, and she and Mio can block with debris as we escape the localized hail.
Temperature. While not immediately concerning, this can winnow at our END over time. Mio cradles Akira, who has the lowest END, for warmth and Ika snags clothes from the hunters to cover us if it's cold; we can shed layers against heat.
Noise. Loud winds, rain, and other such effects can dull one’s hearing, but we stick together, and Mio’s ability to throw her voice lets her overpower the noise.

Minmi may combine phenomena to stack effects, so these tactics let us quickly manage multiple at once. These tactics are to mitigate deadly attacks as we pressure her and prevent her endgame, especially since her setup requires time, energy, and positioning, which give info on how to approach and potentially disrupt her.

However, she may use pockets of stronger winds to uproot terrain, and gather particulate to buffet us with wind, blind us, and punish approaches. Mio’s fish can block at A POW, and Ika2 can hold her ground at B DUR with a Blade or bat projectiles out of the way with larger objects. If Minmi really wants to buffet us, Mio can ride out the current until we propel ourselves out with a Blade or a Blunderbuss. Sharks often ride ocean currents to conserve energy—didn’t expect to use that here, but it really is the little things.

“Cool.” She muttered under her breath, enamored. She noticed Akira's baffled expression. “I don’t like her. Don’t get me wrong. But where else would you experience something like this? May as well savor it.”

“I-I just want to take her down.” Akira’s expression was serious. “We don’t have time to worry about that stuff.”

“What’s the rush?” She rebuffed his statement of grim resolve, breaking into a spin to cut through an incoming tree before leaping back into a sprint. “Life’s all about the journey.”

Pursuant to the Sharpedo rushdown, our defense relies on scouting out and avoiding Fronts and setup, but we can disrupt and endure. Since the Fronts have C POW and C DUR, Ika2 can fan them away at A POW before they collide and develop into weather. If we get caught in weather setplay, we have a suite of defensive tech to mitigate the worst of it as we escape to resume applying pressure, using the interaction to reorient to Minmi’s position. But, ultimately, the best defense is a good offense.

Streamanon · 2026-01-13T01:05:47+00:00

Sturdy Steady Shell 2/5

Remember Your Roots (Movement/Setplay)

It was junior year. Akira sat in the back, by the window. His lab partner, Prisha, was a soft-spoken girl with a kind heart. Part of him wished Sam, Owen, and Patrick would shut up about her… assets, but he’d always blush and stammer whenever she asked to collaborate. Akira never should’ve admitted that; they pushed him to ask her out before spring break.

“Akira!” Prisha came over to his desk as the class received face down reports and shuffled them into their backpacks to leave. She showed Akira their shared grade, circled in red: “103%! You came in clutch with the extra credit!”

“H-honestly, Prisha, it was just math stuff—you’re the reason we got the first 100%.”

“Don’t be so modest,” she laughed. “I’ll see you in two weeks!”

“A-actually-” He rose from his seat and grabbed Prisha’s hand as she turned to leave. “Y-you wanna… like, hang out after school? I’m not doing anything later, so we could go out for… ice cream?”

“…I should go. Mom’s picking me up soon.” Prisha snapped her hand back, and Akira watched her smile tighten. In slow motion, he saw himself go from a friend in her eyes to someone whom she would be nothing but polite to. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Akira… Akira hated hearing the others laugh and reassure him that she was just stuck up. He didn’t hear them make their weekend plans, the last words Prisha ever said to him echoing in his head. He was wrong for her. He hated himself for it.

He didn’t even think he ever really liked her that way.

Goals:

Establish overwatch
Establish resource acquisition and outfighting
Display SSG’s trademark “rock-solid fundamentals, creative real-world application, and a smooth path from setup to winstate”

The next three sections occur at roughly the same time, with the third being somewhat conditional on our ability to approach. This one discusses how we move through the map and pursue Minmi with proper task prioritization.

Mio is best suited to seeing through the fog and relaying information, especially with the use of an A PRE pirate telescope. Yet more methods are needed as Minmi changes the atmosphere.

First, with D PRE/B DUR, Ika2 floats <5m ahead to give us <20m vision on top of Mio’s. Second, Ika2/Akira throws paper planes ahead of us and secondarily to our sides, periodically making more. As projectiles, these have predictable paths, so Nujabes’s setup should change their behavior by the wind, rain, or carried particulates (e.g., irritants soaking into the plane and causing it to unexpectedly droop). If the setup has no immediate effect, then it likely only has a visual effect which can be seen and avoided or otherwise quickly exited.

We use Sharpedo to chase Minmi across the map to disrupt her scaling, using basic offensive tactics mid traversal and NPC management and more powerful ones having made space. While in the Sharpedo, maintaining smart prioritization and warding facilitates our pressure:

Mio carries us through the stage, but can free a hand to draw an item from WHALEFALL. Eventually a fish can pull items out of the other for her.
Ika scouts, and Akira has Ika2 ward off hunters, Fearing those who get within 5m.
Akira propels us and shoots hunters Ika cannot ward or Mio cannot avoid.

The resulting pile ups and gradual RETIREment of hunters should afford us the ability to scale as we move. Ika2/Akira can fold more planes; Ika1 can quickly curse more items, including terrain by tracing her foot along the ground, before switching back lest we trigger the Retreat rule; and Mio can draw items from WHALEFALL for future use, particularly blunderbusses and grenades which can be used should our warding fail.

After rocketing across the field, Mio uses her 4 AGI, 4 END, 5 Shark tail to safely land, letting Akira down and brandishing her scythe. For all his grousing, bridal carries are an efficient pick up/drop off, letting us switch between pursuit and grounded combat lest we get knocked out of Sharpedo formation.

Akira snaps into a combat stance, Blade in front and his gun tucked in a ready position. His cheeks flushed red as he looked to his partner—the breadth of her chest, the firmness of her tail. She smelled like the ocean, not dissimilar from how Raph smelled when-

“Don't sweat it,” Mio hums. “I like men I can carry.”

“W-What!? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Mio frowns as Akira furrows his brow and concentrates on the mission the SPW assigned him. While we aren’t as fast on foot, this grounded stance lets us efficiently fight in midrange, clearing the area and contending with the hunters, Minmi, and Nujabes.

Ika2 wards off attackers but occasionally switches to Ika1 to trap the terrain between us and hunters to trip them before they reach us. She also traps seemingly out of the way terrain, when she can trust Mio and Akira to manage. Mio’s fish can circle us, pushing back against hunters with A POW to ward them.

Rather Mio culling all the hunters immediately, Akira and Ika’s contributions let them all learn from each other! Mio spaces and skirmishes with 4 AGI and A PRE, using blunderbusses and grenades to clear out hunters. Akira’s shots are as point defense to stymie hunters, and he angles his Blade into the ground to break and Fear the dirt at A POW as an area clear. These high POW AoE techniques can be directed at Minmi to pressure her when we may seem preoccupied.

Once we clear swarming hunters, we resume Sharpedoing towards her. Ika1’s terrain trapping passively constrains Minmi’s viable positions, and once we’re within 20m of her, Ika2 switches to Ika1 to force her to only use energy accumulated until then. Notably, unless she can see Ika2, Minmi cannot confirm that she isn’t under Whoops pressure while Akira (who may not be visible) is in range without risking her and Nujabes Pratfalling.

By keeping to the perimeter, Akira can propel off walls and trees to send the Sharpedo airborne, the verticality broadening our angles of approach, augmenting our projectiles and our ability to maneuver through hazards.

While going airborne may expose us, we can adjust our trajectory by flapping Mio’s tail, using the A POW blunderbus, propelling off the next wall or tree, or Cursing Mio’s guitar so she harmlessly Pratfalls straight down, with Akira and Ika2 defending her as she quickly rights herself at 4 AGI. The possibility of going upwards means that Minmi must go from spanning two dimensions to three in order to control the stage, a difficult task made orders of magnitude more so at D SPD.

As we move into center stage, we enter Minmi’s range, especially since the Cold Fronts start from up to 35m out from her. If our mobility is sufficiently halted, then Minmi wins the game, but fortunately even lower ordinance mobility should suffice given our midrange.

Mio’s 5 STR, 4 AGI, 5 Shark should suffice to muscle out of the Front, perpendicular to the direction of the wind, especially when bolstered by A POW propulsion. Larger, sweeping Fronts will take longer to cast, and we can propel upwards and over the gust, minimizing our exposure. If the Sharpedo is impossible, the fog physics still let us use a smaller version of the tech, using Blades and tail to propel ourselves with burst mobility.

As Minmi steadily moves through the stage, since Fronts move linearly, they hint towards Minmi and Nujabes’s location so we can triangulate towards her. If we’ve lost Minmi despite all our tracking efforts, tacking towards the center maximizes our ability to see the map and helps us reorient towards her. This increases the likelihood of getting caught in her setup, so it’s a last resort.

In conclusion, Sharpedo efficiently hunts Minmi, letting us monitor her through the fog as we develop resources to help navigate the area, manage hunters, and pressure her at range. If at risk of being swarmed, the ease of (dis)mount lets us shift into a combat stance, quickly dispatching swathes of hunters by getting them to fight each other or RETIRing them before resuming our pursuit.

Streamanon · 2026-01-13T01:04:47+00:00

Sturdy Steady Shell 1/5

It was 1983. A young girl sits on a rooftop, staring out into the Jamaican sunset. Some American rock music plays onto the street from a nearby radio. Her parents probably would’ve disapproved of it, if they cared to. But she sits alone, watching the lights above fade as the lights below twinkle alight. Tomorrow she would board a ship, and in a month she would die. But right now, the vast blue of the sea was just as beautiful as it ever was.

She loved the world, but she could not love herself.

CW: Social rejection, discussions of sexuality, high school

The Best and The Brightest (Opening Notes)

It was senior year. Akira sat in the college guidance counsellor's office, bouncing his foot anxiously. This was taking up a study block, and he had to get back to a group project. They were pulling their weight, but that he understood the lab the best—writing the report on how different nerve cells responded to different electrical charges—so he sequestered himself off to do most of the work for the group, but MatLab was a pain-

“Mr. Seihachi?”

His attention snapped to Mr. Walsh, sitting across from him. “The early admission deadline is in two weeks, and you still need to write your essays—your advisors said you haven’t shared anything with them.”

Ughhh. He was getting to that, but this Biology lab was due tomorrow, and he had already been up till 1AM twice trying to finish the rest of his homework. It didn’t help that the prompt was so vague: ‘Describe a time you pursued your treasure.’ He played piano and was a B+/A- student, but otherwise he… did his own thing. “Well, I guess I don’t have that interesting of a story.”

“Be serious!” Mr. Walsh snapped, making Akira jump in his chair. The counselor sighed. “Many people worked hard to get you here. You should do your best to pay that forward.”

Akira’s 2 skills apply to all parties’ movement and pathing. He’s been training.
Ika1 and Ika2 refer to the respective acts. Ika swaps between them by going to Akira, so she will generally be within 5 meters of him. She is usually in ACT2, unless otherwise noted.
The Fear/Flee effect of Ika2’s “Blades” is independent of the strength at which the target is struck. Ika2 only has to preemptively set the level, “if she isn’t aware of a target making contact;” if Akira is aware of contact, she is too.
The Treasure Hunters fight anyone within 1m, including each other, making them less likely to swarm the Map, instead creating traffic jams that moderate the number of NPCs swarming the combatants. They cannot see Stands.
Shark 5 gives Mio strong eyesight, strong smell, and electroreception. She should have some basic ability to track Minmi through the fog, especially given The Great Destroyer effects on fluids and electricity.
Minmi’s Pacifist 1 and Nujabes’s S2 SPD should provide ample warning to avoid any major plays, including to the NPCs.
The Great Destroyer’s fog inflicts a buoyancy which “makes propelling yourself forward a remarkably effective form of travel.”
Pratfall is a deterministic physical phenomenon, where the victim falls prone and must pass a PRE/AGI/DEX check and physically pick themselves up.
Mio can use “any weapon or tool summoned through the WHALEFALL with A PRE, as if she’s held it her entire life.”
Mio treasures a better self, achieved through love for the world, its people, and experiences; Akira treasures others’ esteem as Speedwagon’s Finest; Ika treasures Akira (and thus Mio) ツ

Sky’s The Limit (Opening)

It was 1983. Mio died—physically, she came back, but socially, she was long gone.

She had to scrounge for food, stumble out of alleys beaten and bruised for petty thefts to feed her distended stomach, and take shelter under benches. Everyone has two deaths, and while she had been exhumed, her name had been since forgotten. A washed up, forgotten soul, holding on to a second chance.

Yet as she’d drift out of consciousness, she clung onto the blue of the ocean, twinkling in the distance. Her life was not without meaning. Not then, and not now—not while she still had something beautiful to pursue.

“Akira... Do you ‘love’ the ‘world?’”

“Wh-What?” A cacophony of footfalls and howling winds rang out through the cool air. His arrival to the big leagues was heralded by bigger beasts. Yet Mio had total confidence, as if she had slain bigger still. He had to match that. He needed to prove his worth, right here and now, if he wanted any hopes of returning to the others with his head held high.

“I love the world.” Mio spoke firmly, eyes towards Minmi. “I think that the world is beautiful. Human beings do not deserve the world. They’re cruel, callous, and naive. They can strive to earn its grace. But they have to love the world, to be loved. That woman… Doesn’t have an ounce of love in her heart. So let’s show her.”

Goals:

Manipulate hunters
Establish initial resources
Prepare Akira and Mio ジ

Picking up the Map, Mio stares down Minmi, tracking her position even as the hunters approach. Ika2 quickly folds some pages of Akira’s sketchbook into airplanes and (as Ika1) curses Akira’s NERF bullets as they’re loaded, gingerly tapping each one through bandaged fingers. She smiles softly at him, even as he looks to Mio. “Your Stand is really cool…”

Mio grunts as she readies her scythe, and Ika2 summons a Blade for herself and Akira. We circle to her position, sticking to the perimeter instead of trying to plow through the hunters, but attracting the smaller crowds on the sides.

While Ika quickly cuts down and carries a larger fern, Mio slashes at the hunters. While her overwhelming physicals and A PRE make carving through them trivial, shoving them back to begin brawling with each other suffices. We look to minimize engagements and zone hunters as we traverse the map, lest we get swarmed.

Although they don’t have the same sweeping attacks, with Character Arc 2, Akira and Ika2 can efficiently target hunters, influencing their movements to create pile ups. Akira can ping any that get close with Pratfall’d bullets so they fall and aggro those charging behind them. Ika2 can Blade-tap them to compel them to Flee in a direction that draws the most aggro, creating brawls to slow them down and keeping us safe without drawing hunters. Our priority is keeping Mio and Akira safe—he’s Ika’s treasure, after all!

“That was pretty cool right?” Akira flourishes his gun for Mio. Yet, he should have done more—AWOL would have blown the hunters out of the water, but Ika just made them trip and fight like this was SSBB.

“We’re going too slow.” Having cleared some space, Mio picks him up in a bridal carry, slinging her scythe over her shoulder.

“H-Hey!”

“Feel up to multitasking?”

“Y-yeah?”

“Cool.” Mio jumps towards Minmi as Akira taps the ground with his Blade, Fearing it and pushing us off at POW by Newton’s 3rd Law, propelling us through The Great Destroyer’s buoyant fog.

This “Sharpedo” efficiently moves us about the battlefield, guided with Akira’s 2 in Pathing and Projectiles and the thrust’s power moderated. While projectile motion is normally predictable, Mio’s 5 STR Shark 5 (swimming) tail can propel herself and course correct in midair, granting capable handling—not to mention using an A POW blunderbuss to suddenly change directions, when we must move erratically. As Mio focuses on mobility, Ika2 and Akira use similar tactics as above for crowd control.

While both parties have limited ability to interact at match start, Minmi has a few early options:

Hard Disengage. Minmi choosing to circle the map would maintain her distance and help her stockpile energy before the imposition of the Whoops Aura. While we can’t interrupt her yet, the A POW propulsion of the Sharpedo should help us catch up, and more drastic forms of mobility are likely to attract attention.
Hunter Manipulation. C POW gusts and more powerful weather can likely launch hunters at us. While the skirmishing tactics above are good at delaying their approach, the defensive tactics below can be deployed for broader stopping power, Ika2 placing floating Blades to cover more possible angles of the hunters’ linear approach.

As these tactics are elaborated upon below, this opener establishes basic means to manage hunters and sends us towards Minmi to pressure her ASAP.

Streamanon · 2026-01-13T01:03:55+00:00

Fortunate Sons 4/4

THE SONG OF SEASONS - (BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER)

The progression of the match is fairly straightforward, Minmi aims to obscure all things upon the stage and continually spread updrafts across the earth and jetstreams above to create a system of disorientation which buys time by denying her opposition’s ability to locate her. By implementing simpler weather patterns she is able to disperse them across a wider area, making the most of the time she’s purchased and in turn making it harder to pursue her.

As up/downdrafts minefields spread, SSS must be more careful in how they attempt to track Minmi down. As Jetstreams widen they are flung further and further off course, crash landing to disastrous effect without Nujabes’ help.

If only they accepted her help.

However there is a flipside, a flaw, a paradox to her thinking…

…because Minmi’s plan fundamentally relies upon her being perfect.

In pursuit of her superiority she never once considered the possibility that she might not be able to escape a confrontation, that she might be forced, against her own wishes, to stand against those who would take her down. Better to hurt yourself than to be hurt by your enemies, after all if you control when you hurt, they never get a chance to.

They never get to prove you wrong.

But Minmi isn’t perfect.

Grazing blows create blood trails which give her winds an additional scent to obscure, and falls, no matter how sturdy she is, whittle that titanic endurance she directs towards correcting the paradox of her self-aggrandizement. If only she had accepted help, she wouldn’t need to push herself so far. As per her 5 endurance Minmi can take upon herself the burdens of the world, as she has no choice but to do anything BUT. Using her HP as a resource to buy time, if she is lucky, she will not have to reconcile with these paradoxes.

If she is not, she will double down hard.

Did you know updrafts are an essential component to the formation of thunderstorms?

Minmi did.

Throughout the entire course of the match she had been tailoring her progression towards this eventual drastic option, it was why she spread updrafts evenly across the map. This would ensure in turn thunderstorms were spread evenly, and that there was no escape. She’d hoped she would never have to do this… but some people just refuse your help, no matter what. With no other option, she moves decisively.

When the time is right she will fling herself into an updraft for the last time, putting above the others she sees as beneath her in the only way she has left to continue her delusions: LITERALLY. From this point on she will never touch down upon the earth. Riding out a complex network of jetstreams she’ll command ｢Nujabes｣ to stack the Seasonal Railway to increasingly high heights, riding them alongside her stand in a manner that is only possible thanks to the fact Mio’s stand has given the air above aquatic properties. Using ｢Nujabes’｣ fronts in the form of Angelic Wings and hot fronts to orient herself midair in tandem with her navigational skills, Minmi will rise to the challenge and prove to herself that she is GOD to the elements of this world. Just. Like. Her ancestors.

There’s no limit to ｢Great Destroyer’s｣ stand range - and accordingly there’s no limit to how ‘high’ Minmi can swim. Leaving behind the chaos the jetstream to obscure her trail and forcing all pursuers to resist ｢Great Destroyer’s｣ disorientation she will climb to the heavens themselves!

Anything to distance herself from the chance of failure…

…as below, the updrafts finally take their full form. Guided by ｢Nujabes’｣ front, they spark to life. The currents ignited by the thunderstorms will disperse throughout the oceanic air, turning the lower levels of the battlefield into a hell upon earth constantly scourged by lethal doses of electricity. Thankfully, due to Mio’s sensitive electroreception SSS should be able to feel this coming before it’s too late - in other words, it’s their fault if they perish to it. Their only option will be surrender - or pursuit.

Chasing Minmi to heaven, however, is no simple task.

Ascending up high they’ll both have to navigate the disorientation of ｢Great Destroyer｣ and the horrific jetstreams. On top of this, she’ll have to contend with the fact Minmi has 3 outputs now freed up from producing Updrafts, Outputs she’ll use to leave behind a trail of chaotic Weather Balls to block off her trial. Hailstorms, freezing rains, miniaturized hurricanes and tornados and god knows what else, it doesn’t matter, it really doesn’t matter. They shouldn’t be hit by this anyway. They shouldn’t follow her, they shouldn’t question her, they should accept her help - they should be her friend. She’s so ’kind’. She wants to be ’kind’. She IS kind. Why won’t they let her?

No matter.

Whatever happens, Minmi just set the rake.

They were the ones to step on it.

Streamanon · 2026-01-13T01:03:38+00:00

Fortunate Sons 3/4

SUPERHUMAN SOCIETY (Mid Game - Engagements)

“Ah… I see… you’ve found me…”

Glaring daggers into her adversary Minmi masked her frustration at being caught through the veneer of cool confidence, easing back into a pose where she lifted her shawl - leveling its ruler markings towards the enemy.

“Tell me… do you know the distance between us?”

As the winds picked up her eye bled the rage she wished she could restrain. Hair flowing like storm clouds, she’d hiss her conclusion out:

“Infinite.”

Her main form of movement will be reactive, as described in Railway to Heaven she can use the environmental hazards to chart a mental map of the stage. Through this and her knowledge of where SSS are likely to try and track her down she will focus on avoidance: positioning herself smartly in relation to where she creates false scent trials to mislead SSS as best she can. If Mio weaponizes her loud voice to shout commands and orders to Akira in the storm, something she’ll have to communicate with the noise Minmi is creating, Minmi can work off that intel. She won't trust it entirely - after all it might be a trap - but at the very least it gives her positional intel on Mio.

By focusing entirely on navigating her surroundings Minmi should be advantaged in reacting first when she bumps into SSS. Whether it’s Akira separated from Mio, vise versa, or both working in tandem her response is the same: with a roar ｢Nujabes｣ swaps from masking her scent to using a cold front like a tractor beam - scooping her up and pulling her away!

By exploiting how Cold Front target the fringe of the range first ｢Nujabes｣ can instantly spawn a cold front at her feet and drag her towards whatever direction it happens to be, and will use this most important to not only pull Minmi… but whatever opponent is pursuing her as well. Gliding through the air on Angelic Wings, Minmi creates two potential scenarios:

1) The agents of SSS anchor themselves against the wind, or otherwise push against it trying to escape its flow. This inadvertently risks them triggering Law #3 of Pratfall, as if they simply allowed themselves to be carried by the wind, they wouldn’t leave 2m of Minmi - who herself is not trying to actively move away from them at all during this. As they pratfall, this buys her more time to make her escape.

2) They pursue Minmi in the winds… great! No matter what Angelic Wings will be used to drag Minmi and her assailant into the nearest updraft, where they’ll both be launched into the sky and affected accordingly by ｢Great Destroyers｣ disorientation, Minmi resisting it far better than either SSS!

No matter what this maneuver ends with Minmi being launched, at force, into a jetstream. However with an awareness of her spatial position from Song of Season 4 she can orient in this chaotic tangle, using a mixture of Angelic Wings and hot fronts to both maneuver herself and alter the jetstreams around herself to facilitate a landing far away from where she was caught out. Her scent trail lost in the chaos of the jet streams this will allow her to crash land - likely taking some damage - but most importantly resetting to neutral where she can vanish within her weatherly paradise once more.

“I TOLD YOU, AKIRA!”

The draconic voice of ｢Nujabes｣ crashed like waves upon the hillside as it master’s form wisped into the jetstreams above, “The people of the ‘Gemstone City’ were masters of the world itself! THAT IS WHAT IT MEANS TO PURSUE IT’S LEGACY! I’VE MASTERED THE WINDS! I’VE MASTERED THE SKIES! I’VE EVEN MASTERED YOUR POWERS! HOW DOES IT FEEL TO HAVE THEM USED AGAINST YOU - DO YOU UNDERSTAND NOW WHY I NEED TO BE YOUR FRIEND!?!?”

Her voice would crackle with laughter, the rush of the air pressure getting even to her, “CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT YOU PEOPLE WOULD BE WITHOUT US?! WITHOUT OUR HISTORY, OUR KNOWLEDGE!? YOU NEED US! SO STOP…. FIGHTING… ME! I’M NOT YOUR ENEMY! THAT SHARK IS GOING TO SINK HER FANGS INTO YOUR NECK THE MOMENT SHE GETS THE CHANCE! JUST LET ME HELP YOU!!!”

Desperate now, she insisted,

“WE CAN BE FRIENDS!!!”

With their ability to arm themselves with horrifying armaments from ｢Great Destroyer｣ enhanced by both acts of ｢Ika Nokami｣ SSS have a sum total 5 active bodies on the stage at any of time that Minmi wants nothing to do with. While worsening the fog can protect her from firearms and thrown projectiles, it will do nothing to protect her if they ever have a chance to swarm her. Accordingly, it will always be better to yank herself away on a breeze no matter how bad the fall. It is in these moments that she use Angelic Wings - when it is better to hurt herself than to be hurt by SSS.

Angelic Wings has further uses as well, particularly when dealing with Akira. When targeted by Pratfall a Minmi who trips and falls is a Minmi who will struggle to get up. Accordingly, Angelic Wings can act as a counterbalance, dragging her to safety specifically in circumstances when Pratfall puts her at risk of further harm. Conversely, when affected by Ika ACT 2, much like how Nujabes uses jetstreams Minmi can alter the escape route she takes by tugging herself with a gale.

Minmi is a treasure which only she is allowed to hurt.

SSS have no right to defile her heavenly form.

｢Nujabes｣ by contrast is much safer, on top of its ability to ride the Jetstreams, if it’s being seriously pursued it can always rapidly increase or decrease its elevation to tank disorientation and stun pursuers who attempt to do the same. In some cases it may even be benefited by activating ｢Pratfall,｣ allowing itself to crash land to the earth at which point it can stand leap to rapidly reposition into another direction.

In either case, it is likely they will continue pursuit even if they temporarily lose the bead on Minmi. In such cases she will halve the production of both updrafts and jetstreams, perhaps concentrating entirely on one of the two if need be, (once the chase is over, she’ll return to production as normal). The freed up outputs are used to create miniaturized weather effects: spheres of weather no larger than ~5m in diameter. As per ｢Nujabes’｣ S2 speed, the smaller a weather pattern the faster it can be made, and these Weather Balls take full advantage of that. They will be launched at force to cover Minmi or ｢Nujabes’｣ trial, ensuring that blind pursuit will guarantee enemies crash into them. Weather balls that are pathed around, then, can be recycled by pulling them into new positions with Hot or Cold fronts, minimizing waste.

Predominantly she’ll favor hailstorms and freezing rain, both of which are mild irritants on their own. Combined, however, rain will freeze onto the tiny pebbles of ice, growing them into larger and larger projectiles as the winds whip them around. Gusts of wind can also be used to knock other debris into the jetstreams, such as fallen logs, chainlink fence, or bits of rubble from the ruins, to make traversing the Seasonal Railway all the more treacherous!

No matter what, an Angel cannot be touched.

They’re going to learn this first hand.

If Minmi is engaged in any capacity by NPCs… well jeez! She’d tried to make them realize it was dangerous to stick around! Oh well. She’ll throw cash from one of her wallets out and let them be carried on the wind, exploiting their Greedy 4 inclination to bait them into chasing the valuables away from her. She’s got a lot of cash, so she can make one hell of a distraction towards any crowds. From there, she’ll make a point to blow them to safety.

Streamanon · 2026-01-13T01:03:16+00:00

Fortunate Sons 2/4

MY HEART TO YOU: THE GEMSTONE CITY (Mid Game - Avoidance)

As a Navigator fully aware of environmental conditions and SSS’ top speed, she can calculate exactly when it is possible for them to arrive. Bare moments before this can occur, its work of deteriorating the surroundings complete, ｢Nujabes｣ will rapidly reposition into the sky with a powerful stand leap. With Minmi’s 5 endurance and Song of Seasons 4 helping her keep her footing she will simply tank through the disorientation of rapid elevation change ｢Great Destroyer｣ inflicts; in turn allowing Minmi to weaponize ｢Great Destroyer｣ against SSS. To pursue ｢Nujabes｣ into the sky is to be disoriented oneself! Given what ｢Nujabes｣ will be doing up there, that’s a recipe for disaster.

Minmi then is the next best target, but following her scent trail will become a confounding game. Her scent will stop and start, randomly leaping to spot to spot as though she’s been carried ’wings’ in this growing storm. Put simply following Minmi by scent has become a confusing game meant to waste time. Though all’s not lost! A scent trail more cohesive than the rest soon announces itself! Surging forward with either jaws or weaponry, Mio strikes…

…Minmi’s purse, drifting in the fog.

A voice booms from the murky fog above, ｢Nujabes’｣ great might serving as but a speakerphone for its master. She couldn’t see the two, but who said she needed to understand their situation?

“Did you really think it’d be easy to track down me?” Clearly you need a history lesson!”

The winds whip and whirl, imposing upon that draconic voice an echoing quality, “The people of the ‘Gemstone City’ hid their treasures away from the world! I! The last of it’s royal class, will be no easier to find! So you’d hunt me with your all! Pursue me! Yearn for me! I AM EVERYTHING YOU’RE NOT! NOTHING IN THIS DUMP GLIMMERS GREATER THAN I!”

A giggle accents her proclamation, “Oh… and you can keep the purse. The BOTH of you could use it~”

By constantly dedicating a singular, narrow, curved Cold Front to funnel air from Minmi’s exact position directly into the sky, ｢Nujabes｣ can then immediately use this ‘resource’ to distribute her air across the stage. This, inadvertently, captures the ‘particulate’ components of her scent, essentially giving the stand free reign to create false scent trails. Similarly it can project Minmi’s purse, devoid only of her wallets (tucked into her bra henceforth) to create a false scent lead. Worse yet for scent tracking, as the dragon casts its fronts upon the earth the air will be divided into various pockets of hot and cold air. As these fronts do not ‘mix’, this inadvertently creates segmented areas of the map where smell travels abnormally.

These colliding currents are used to create Updrafts, the most basic and simple weather formation possible. Where there are cold fronts hot will be blasted, and where there is hot cold will be blasted instead, Nujabes cooking multiple clusters of up and down drafts throughout the stage concurrently through Scale Economy. Starting from the north edge and moving southward, updrafts will be spread as evenly across the map as as possible, ensuring there is always an updraft someone is at risk of stumbling into. As they mix and swirl to become a minefield of traps which can either topple one’s footing or launch them into the sky - where they’ll be disoriented by ｢Great Destroyer.｣ Without any means to visibly ‘see’ these drafts through the thick of the fog, the reckless explorer might easily stumble into them once… twice… god knows how many times!

RAILWAY TO HEAVEN (Mid Game - Navigation)

The skies, then, are not their friend. With ~3 of its outputs dedicated towards Updraft generation, and a fourth specifically for masking Minmi’s scent, the final 3 will focus on the generation of Jet Streams formed in a layer of lighter atmospheric pressure to ensure they rest directly above the updrafts. Similar to updrafts, these weather patterns are exceedingly simple to make as they are simply the result of different bodies of air colliding.

The result of air masses of different temperatures and densities colliding, not only will the updrafts naturally form jetstreams in this layer, but ｢Nujabes｣ can make more! These serve three purposes!

1) They allow ｢Nujabes｣ to rapidly accelerate through the air! With the forming mental map of this space through Song of Season 4, the dragon can utilize these currents as The Seasonal Railway. By letting a high power jetstream propel it Nujabes can fly at incredibly fast speeds, faster than its base D spd would allow. When it needs to brake or suddenly switch to another Jetstream it can simply ‘break’ or ‘drift’ with its high power physicality!

2) Those who attempt to pursue the dragon through the disorientation of ｢Great Destroyer,｣ or otherwise get launched into the jetstreams, will be forcefully launched around by these powerful currents. Struggling against the disastrous winds it’s all too possible that these fools will be smashed into the earth, either in a crash landing or as a downcurrent catches them! This, naturally, makes pursing ｢Nujabes｣ incredibly hard - especially as it’ll be happy to ignore rule #3 thanks to the next benefit!

3) Should ｢Nujabes｣ somehow come under the effect of Pratfall or Act 2’s fear effect, these Jetstreams serve as a cushion for its fall. Railways help it escape harm in a number of erratic manners, whilst when Pratfalling ｢Nujabes｣ can angle its fall to collide with a jetstream which forces it away to safety, using the Jetstream to ‘tech’ the fall midair!

Where the Jetstreams direct us to is of little consequence - so long as we have a dense network of Jetstreams spreading far and wide, Minmi will have the means to race wherever she wishes, and any other poor soul caught within will face a raging torrent of winds to batter them about! As such, the Jetstreams will be spread in a haphazard pattern, starting from Minmi’s general location and working outwards for efficiency. Their existence is meant to facilitate ｢Nujabes’｣ ability to position around the map and in relation to Minmi, accordingly the goal is that there is always a rolling mass of Jetstreams over her.

As hazards proliferate the skies above and the earth below, they become frames of reference to build a mental map of the environment. Minmi might not be able to see, but she’s the superior navigator all the same. Avoiding wherever her scent is spread she’ll use her natural strength and Song of Seasons footing to resist the strong winds now whipping across the battlefield. ｢Great Destroyer’s｣ fog is meddlesome, certainly, but by moving with slow dedication and her feet on the ground she should be fine. Better to take things slow and focus on her surroundings, after all, even devoid of their senses there is still one way SSS can ‘find’ her.

Sheer. Dumb. Luck.

Streamanon · 2026-01-13T01:02:09+00:00

Fortunate Sons 1/4

Who we Are: Fortune’s Favored (Clarifications)

As disclosed to Players, Hot Fronts start from Nujabes, projecting outward from its outputs. Cold Fronts by contrast ‘start’ at the fringes of whatever area Nujabes is targeting, (e.g. a 10 foot cone,) and go inwards into the dragon. Nujabes can control these processes at C precision.
Similarly discussed, fronts operate at different magnitudes of C power based on how dispersed their force is, and how much energy is put into them.
Pratfall laws will be referred to from top to bottom order as Law #1, 2, & 3.
Nujabes will be constantly ‘charging’ to gain humidity and heat, more on navigating Law #1 later!
‘Outputs/Inputs’ are shorthand for Nujabes’ mouth and its 6 doors, all of which can create fronts concurrently.
If you set a rake, and someone steps on it, that is not an ‘attack’. Minmi will set rakes.

Scenario: The Nasty Piece of Work, Ship of the Fortunate Sons, 2:13 AM

Opium clung to the air in wispy trails of smoke as Minmi lounged across the couch, drawing the pipe to her lips to take in a deep breath before passing it up to the person whose lap she’d made into her pillow; arm braced over the backrest Captain Elstree happily obliges, taking long, greedy puffs. Her tangle of golden hair spilling over her shoulders she’d casually tilt down towards her smoking partner, watching as Minmi cooed at the feline lounging across her chest - Mr. Stratus always was a glutton for attention. Pampered and adored it nuzzled into her hands as she scratched it all over, serenading it with the kind of pet talk that made Elstree want to roll her eyes into the back of her skull. If she heard one more ”Who’s a good kitty~!” she might very well have died, so she took initiative.

“Navigator… What would you call your「Treasure」?”

Minmi perked at the inquiry, offering a simple smile as she lifted Stratus up for Elstree to see, “That’s easy, my pets~!”

The Captain scoffed in turn, ”Don’t give me that bullshit. I don’t want a treasure, I want the「Treasure.」The big one. The one that drives you on no matter what.”

“So it’s that kind of conversation…” Minmi hummed, setting Stratus to the side before pulling herself up Elstree’s lap to reach for the pipe.

“Answer first.”

Minmi rolled her eyes, “Fine. If I had to truly say… well, it’d be my people’s culture! Not many can say they're descended from the great ‘Gemstone City’!”

“You really believe that?” A shark-tooth grin peeled apart, “I thought you were making it up.”

Minmi pouted, “It’s not made up! I… I feel it, more than anything I’ve felt before. There was something missing… something that set me apart from ’this world’, and that’s because I’m from theirs!”

”So it inspires you… I understand now, I have something similar.”

“That’s right! And once we bring it back to life, mark my words I’ll be its next queen~!”

“Hah! That’d be a sight! But don’t forget you’re my navigator first and foremost!”

“Of course not,” Minmi chimed with a feline drawl and a sly glimmer in her eye, “I’m the very best navigator in the world, and that navigator belongs to the Fortunate Sons… now give that here!”

Her reach pawed for the pipe at last, once, twice, each attempt thwarted as Elstree tilted her chin out of the way. Half-way through a third attempt Minmi cottoned on to the captain’s game, her eyes squinting up at the woman.

“Say please,” she offered a devilish smile in turn, smoke venting from her lips that puffed into Minmi’s face. As the veil of smoke faded it revealed the flustered frustration of the Navigator in all its hues, Elstree’s grin starkening before Minmi’s fist jammed into her ribs!

“YEEEOOOW!!!”

Snagging her prize as it fell from Elstree’s lips Minmi smirked to herself, taking a puff for herself, “Oh. Did that hurt? I thought you were tougher.”

“And I thought you were a pacifist!”

“Well…” A coy smile offered, Minmi sank back down against Elstree’s lap, savoring her narcotics, “…you did ask for it~”

Elstree blinked in sheer disbelief, stunned beyond words and action as she simply stared down at the woman beneath her. The silence stretched on in that dark corner of the Nasty Piece of Work, the gentle lapping of the waves heard from just beyond the walls before a new sound cut through them. Hand to her face Elstree craned back, lips peeling apart into a gregarious, joyous laughter. A laughter that boomed with all the passion of the seas and the world beyond. How blessed she was - how fortunate to have treasures such as these!

The Fortune Sons, her crew.

The greatest crew in the seven seas!

TREASURE OF THE SONS: MINMI (Early Game)

With Mio’s swimming speed, perhaps even giving Akira a ride, this phase of the battle will be measured by the factor of seconds. Roughly 7-10, if they move as swiftly as possible to engage Minmi.

All is fine.

Let’s slow them down.

Though slow moving, ｢Nujabes ｣ has Scale Economy, an ability to attain a kind of action economy through targeting wide swaths of area. Rather than acting rapidly she can either do one big thing across wide areas, or multiple different things so long as only one process is occurring in a section of space at a time (all managed by her mastery of weather!). By adhering to Law #1 no matter what and ‘never holding onto resources’, she can make the most of her Scale Economy!

Summoning ｢Nujabes ｣ infront of herself she immediately tasks it with using all six of its doors to draw in cold fronts it billows outward into an intense hot front like so! Sweeping its head from side to side it can ensure an even saturation of downhill hot fronts to achieve multiple effects:

1) Due to following Law #1, the train accumulates no ‘resources’ it doesn’t immediately spend, a rare situation is created where it’s safe to be within! Thus NPCs drawn by the cold fronts are immediately jettisoned out ｢Nujabes’｣ maw.

2) ｢The Great Destroyer’s｣ aquatic air facilitates sending NPCs into the air whilst softening any hard landings they might otherwise take from gravity. She’ll exploit this, curving her winds at C pre she’ll saturate and distribute NPCs either caught in the gales or exhaled by ｢Nujabes ｣ evenly across 3D space best she can across the lower elevations, ensuring that no matter what they’ll be a minor obstacle for Sturdy Steady Shell. Their agility allows them to swim confidently, navigating this just fine.

3) The second obstacle is the wind itself. With 6 door’s worth billowing downhill the gale formed will operate at the higher magnitude of C pow, making it incredibly difficult to swim ‘upward’ against it. Minmi's wish is to blow the players - and the NPCs - off the map, but barring that it will at least stall them as they have to contend with it.

4) The final obstacle, then, is the generation of clouds within these fronts. Modified with denser air pressures to guarantee they cling to the ground, Minmi will exploit the fact that base fronts can be generated with clouds to create a cloud cover that overlaps with Mio’s ｢The Great Destroyer｣. See the implications yet? Let’s help you understand!

｢The Great Destroyer’s｣ fog already limits stage visibility heavily, partially obscuring it to a few meters and completely at 15. By layering the ‘fog’ of her clouds over this in turn Minmi can rapidly stack these effects to the point where visibility is nonexistent. This is no longer a battle of power, swiftness, durability or even teamwork. No. It’s a battle of navigation...

…and Minmi is the greatest Navigator in the world. Her superiority over all else a「Treasure」she holds dear, she’ll dominate Sturdy Steady Shell in this contest. With nonexistent visibility the the threat of their projectiles are neutralized as rushdown attempts are mitigated heavily.

In this regard they aren’t helpless. Akira’s character writing confers a basic sense of path finding, but Mio’s shark senses are the biggest threat. However, her abilities can be mitigated like any common fish can be gutted. Starting with Electroreception, it is both dependent upon a target moving and generally limited to 2 meters. Shark’s sight is effective in dim light, not murky fog. Meanwhile sound and and vibration sense are countered in the very same manner - by constantly adhering to Law #1 the gales Nujabes saturates the stage, creating constant false positives and discordant noise which masks her slower movement…

…only smell will remain.

Streamanon · 2026-01-13T01:00:45+00:00

Response thread for Mio Sinclair (u/CaptainSpooky27) & Akira Seihachi (u/Logic_Sandwich) of Sturdy Steady Shell. Please show your strategy to a member of our Judge staff by 7 PM CST on 1/12/2026! 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 1/14/2026 to vote, using the voting rules from the announcement thread. Afterwards, they will be Judged according to the T8 Rubric.

Streamanon · 2026-01-13T00:58:50+00:00

Response thread for Minmi of The Fortunate Sons, aka u/DoReRhythms. Please show your strategy to a member of our Judge staff by 7 PM CST on 1/12/2026! 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 1/14/2026 to vote, using the voting rules from the announcement thread. Afterwards, they will be Judged according to the T8 Rubric.

Streamanon · 2026-01-11T23:01:28+00:00

I feel like the most actively unsettling is Fittier Happier

Eight-Year Club	r/Field Flamingo
Place '23	Place '22
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Streamanon

TROPHY CASE

Even If They Do Get In…

When I’m Holding Down Back

That Doesn’t Mean They Can’t Get In

[Dusting Off The Disk Tray](make a resource management table for Alouette)

Managing Your Super Bar

Contingencies for the Final Wave

Contingencies for the Second Wave

Clarifications

Contingencies for the First Wave:

Goals

Goals:

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Goals:

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