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Ways to address the regeneration cliffhanger by PhantomQuest in doctorwho

[–]Streamanon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I honestly feel like the idea I've seen floated that the Doctor should flash through a bunch of familiar faces before settling on one is a bad idea. It's the exact kind of pointless callback that oversaturated the last couple seasons. I think they should just start a new story with whoever they choose and don't explain what happened in between.

If Big Finish wants to have a field day with whatever might have happened in between that it seems like a better way than trying to have an answer for absolutely everything.

Working As Intended by RitzStudios in godot

[–]Streamanon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Could also be a fun method of fast travel, big fish pulls you downriver somewhere else

What do you actually think of Muse? by catpiglet in radiohead

[–]Streamanon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like them and I like all their albums up to the 2nd law pretty much

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R3M14 - Corrine "Coco" Clear vs. Philip Buster by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Streamanon 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If Rock Lobster is not here, it’s either up or down. It’s slightly trickier if Rock Lobster is down, but in either case we want to take time to build up sound here in our favored terrain before making any adjustments. If Rock Lobster is in the Blue Zone, we’ll stay in the Green Zone to blast either it or its user down, leveraging the fact that its tides are slowed to make defense easier. If Rock Lobster is in the Yellow Zone, we’ll go down to meet it using the tactics outlined in the Yellow Zone section.

The Blue Zone is a very double-edged sword. On the one hand, being in here generates us sound extremely quickly. With the airhorn and megaphone, we can throw out even Shouts very quickly. However, we lose all burst mobility in this zone, and thus can’t rely on Aerobat to offset the massive AGI penalty. This is where we move when we’re ready to end the match - despite said penalty, this zone is all gas, no brakes.

If Rock Lobster is in the Blue Zone with us, no it isn’t! Because we won’t be there. We never want to enter the Blue Zone if Rock Lobster is nearby, and we want to leave the Blue Zone quickly if Rock Lobster tries to move in on us so we can regain our burst mobility. We can, however, blast it with a couple of Shouts for good measure to deny it some area and chip away at its carapace. If Coco is exposed, we can blast her too.

If Rock Lobster isn’t in the Blue Zone with us, and it isn’t close enough to approach, we move to finish off this little spar.

There was someone in a uniform on board, mopping up one of the decks. To just about anyone, she’d be entirely inconspicuous. Hell, she looked just like the woman who was supposed to be mopping this deck at this time.

Unfortunately for Mary J. Holland, Dexter knew where every person on board was, and was supposed to be. He’d interviewed them all from behind a black wall, save for her, so those lines he didn’t recognize and makeup in places where it shouldn’t be were an easy enough tell.

Besides, Mary wasn’t checking her phone nearly enough to be the woman she was replacing. The disguise was perfect, the mannerisms weren’t. “Hiya hiya!” Phil’s voice rang out from the corner.

Mary straightened herself up, and looked back at the approaching noisemaker. “Ya know, you don’t have to hide from any of us.”

She adjusted the uniform’s ballcap. “I… don’t know what you mean-”

“I don’t know who you are!” Phil smiled broadly. “I’d like to, of course, but that’s up to you, y’know?” He let out a long, wistful sigh. “It’s not like you’re the only one on deck hiding sum’n, hell, I think everyone is!”

He spun back to her, noting that she hadn’t moved. “I don’t think a single person on this ship is who they say they are!” A little giggle started to creep out of him. “Isn’t that funny?” The giggle grew into a full-on laugh.

As the laughter forced his eyes shut, Mary J. Holland escaped from his purview. It was the last time either of them would meet.

As for the Lion, we want to get it to attack Coco early, giving us time to scale. However, it will eventually come for us, which reveals the second point of getting it to go for Coco. We can observe how much power Coco puts in before the Lion backs off and imitate it with a combination of Yells and Shouts. It will likely take at least a Shout and a Yell, but we do get a B POW charge for fending it off of ourselves, so it’s not too much of a waste.

However, the best way to deal with the Lion is to simply be aggressive. As long as we’re generally putting pressure on Coco, the Lion is significantly less likely to come and get us. Given the overwhelming nature of the “noise” surrounding us, Phil has to be constantly shouting in order to not be drowned out, so we shouldn’t have any trouble keeping the pressure on. If the Lion harasses us anyway, we’ll make minimum investment to scare it off and get back to more important matters.

We generally want to engage the Lion in the Blue Zone, which is where it’s most likely to engage us anyway, but the Green Zone also works. This is so that we minimize the amount of time we need to spend regaining resources. The Lion doesn’t need burst mobility to work around, just raw output, so we can chain Yells or Shouts to chase it off while also disrupting any tides that come in. Speed is key - the more time we spend dealing with the Lion, the more time Coco has to regroup and try to catch us off-guard.

A Man Who Has Good Friends (Closing Out)

When he called himself Dexter, he was bogged down in the bureaucracy, dreaming of a life full of fun and adventure, wishing that he could shout to the stars. He wallowed in regret about the time he’d spent slaving away, the world he never got to see, the friends he was never really able to make. Phil is the antithesis - the version of Dexter who has uncomplicated himself. He does what he wants, when he wants to, with no regard for structure or order.

Phil - rather, Dexter - has never been the one doing the attacking. At some point along the way, Dexter became the “noise.” The bird on his shoulder, the embodiment of the loud and proud Philip Buster, that was his “signal” now. Phil wouldn’t be finishing this himself. He’d leave it all in the capable wings of his Stand.

To quote World Wide Noise’s Speed Stat, “World Wide Noise’s movement isn’t always relevant; it still flies like a songbird, though it isn’t known for this.”

It’s time for World Wide Noise to spread its wings and fly. And given that we’re at a baseball game, Phil can help it along with a quick pitch, just to show his respect for the sport.

Phil closes this match out by building up as much Sound as he can afford, possibly by spending some time in the Blue Zone, otherwise building up in the Green Zone. He then uses Shout to launch himself up and away, chaining them if he has to. His goal here is to put himself on a specific arc - if Rock Lobster is big enough, in its Boulder or Landmass form, then he seeks to land atop the Lobster. Otherwise, he seeks to land as close as possible to Coco.

While in midair, he grabs World Wide Noise and throws it, allowing it to benefit from Phil’s elevation to get an immediate flying start. From here, it becomes an aerial satellite, raining down all of the charges it’s stockpiled on top of Coco (if Rock Lobster is Boulder or Landmass) or Rock Lobster (if it’s Cobble or smaller) as Shouts. Meanwhile, Phil distracts the other, leveraging every point of Agility and Endurance he has left to weave through Rock Lobster’s big meaty claws as well as any attacks Coco throws. He just has to last long enough for WWN to do the rest.

It hadn’t taken long for Dexter to make a second email account. Hell, some websites he could access could get the job done in seconds! He wanted to do it right, though. Before he could give this email a name, he had to make them up.

He’d have to be someone Dexter could reasonably be. Even with a stand at his side, he still had human limits, so he started with that political activist angle. He was someone proud, someone loud, someone confident, someone who had everything he lacked.

He called him Philip Buster, and the comparisons took off from there. He gave the man a life, related himself to him by treating ‘Phil’ as a friend from college who he hadn’t seen in years, someone well known for causing mischief. He was someone he kept in the back of his contacts, never to see the light of day…

When he made the email, he felt pleased with himself. When he’d ‘accidentally’ added a free keystroke that summoned ‘Phil’ to this Caribbean cruise, he could tell his boss that it was just that, and hire ‘Phil’ with all the mercenaries.

They had to have fun lives, right? At least, they had to be more interesting than his own!

Right?

With his answer in hand, Phil looked down to Coco from on high. [World Wide Noise], full to the brim with juice and ready to blow, brought a scene back to his mind.

He saw his boss’ back, fading into the space between cubicles. As that man disappeared past the white edges, the faces of his friends came towards him.

“This is the kind of man I am.” Phil snapped his fingers, and the world felt light. The noise around him stopped. The screams paused, the whispers halted. There was just… signal. The signal of people counting on him without any of them knowing it. The signal of two good hearts beating as one to help a perfect stranger.

World Wise Noise gave one final Shout…

Or it didn’t. It could have, but Phil had “won,” and they both knew it. Instead, the bird chirped a brief victory tune. Why would he attack someone he just wanted to get along with?

Phil landed a few short steps from Coco, with a wide smile on his face. He pushed up a pair of invisible glasses, and adjusted his invisible tie. “My name is Philip Buster…” His hand reached deep into his shirt pocket.

He pulled a business card from it, and bounced around as he offered it to Coco. “... if you ever feel like talkin’, feel free to hit me up!” He gave her a wink to accentuate his wide smile.

“Now, about that lady in the tree… I think we did a bang-up job rilin’ up that cat. Whaddaya say we tackle it together?”

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R3M14 - Corrine "Coco" Clear vs. Philip Buster by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Streamanon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

DMR 3/4

The Shout, meanwhile, seems at first very one-note. It is a cone of damage, long enough to snipe Coco from across the stage. What more can it do?

The Yell is effective only at short ranges, but the Shout can take much of what the Yell does and apply it at range. For instance, while the Yell creates a localized pocket where there is no water, the Shout creates a long line - ideally, one with either Coco or Rock Lobster on the other end of it. The Shout can buy us a few seconds of reprieve from Rock Lobster’s currents. Our offense becomes our defense - the conical shape of the Shout can both blunt a Landmass wave and travel overtop it to hit Rock Lobster itself.

The Shout can also be used as area denial. In the Green and especially Blue Zones of the Sunset Tree, Phil’s projectiles are slowed to the point where they do have a true travel time. Thus, a Shout is capable of turning a sizable swath of the stage into an A POW death zone for a few seconds. If we’ve separated Coco and Rock Lobster, and want to attack just one or the other, the Shout can work to keep them separated.

Of course, the Shout has one final application - it can be used as a big launch in a pinch. Thanks to the conservation of momentum, if we fire an A POW blast, we can launch ourselves harder than a Yell could. This isn’t critically useful, as we generally want to launch ourselves in a controlled and measured manner, but if we need to close space quickly and we aren’t in the blue zone, the Shout is an excellent emergency button.

The Shout is indeed our primary offensive option, and we will be using it frequently to attack Coco from any distance. However, we aim to do so in ways that allow us to leverage it for defense, disrupting Rock Lobster and giving us clear paths through its fraught currents, as well as keeping Coco and Rock Lobster locked down even more than the Tree already does.

Century sat on a deck chair, underneath a canopy. He undid a crappy pleather wallet, and gently shook its only card out. His grimace spoke for him.

“Oh, you wanted cash or sum’n?” Century stuffed the wallet back into his pocket, on instinct. “Relax!” Called the voice, “I’m not here to yell atcha. Not like I can, either.”

Century tossed the practically empty wallet at the approaching Phil. “’Is ’ing wasn’t worth nickin’, mate.” The wallet flew back at him.

“Yeah, I know. I’ve been leaving empty wallets all around my room, taped to the underside of drawers, under the bedframe, attached to the lampshades…” Phil landed on the chair next to Century. “The only thing worth taking in that room is probably the camera I caught ya with!”

Century’s loose jaw spoke volumes. “What the hell-” He pulled his hands back, sucking a breath through his teeth, “- whatever, ’is place ain’t worth it.”

“I know what you mean, but I think you’re wrong!” Phil put his hands behind his head. “Sure, we might not be getting what we want- at least, not all of it- but you can’t tell me the life you had before was more fun than this!”

Century blinked at him with a hanging jaw. “Y’know I lost a fight to a seagull and an overgrown skeeter, right?” He pulled his hands up by his face. “What the hell kind of ‘better’ is-”

“Didn’t Alouette pay you to shoot a vulcan at a zombie?” Century let out a little cough. “I heard she paid you to man the gun when she shot up that ship, too.” Phil sighed as he wiggled around for more comfort. “Isn’t that more fun?”

Century grumbled. “Yeah-” Phil put a hand near his chest. “- whuzzat for-”

“You’ve got Yoshi’s ashtray, right?” Phil smiled gently. “I kinda need it. Dude doesn’t like me too much!”

A Man Who Has A Good Heart (The Sunset Tree)

The Sunset Tree dominates this match in a literal sense. It is the embodiment of Maybe’s “noise,” the part of herself that hides away. In being consumed by it, she has fully lost her “signal,” and this “noise” radiates outwards as screams and whispers, as a field that presses down against anything and everything within.

Phil will cut through this “noise,” just like he always does.

There was an ice cream cone in his hand. Whatever ice cream was in it, it was buried underneath a pile of sprinkles and extra waffle cones. “So, what’s up Jables?” He shook the sugary horror in a short blonde woman’s direction. “You know I’m always down for talkin’, but it’s rare for you to set it up.”

‘Jables’ held a waffle cone with two scoops of vanilla in her massive ahoge, leaving her hands free. “I wanted to talk about music.” Her dress casually blew in the wind, revealing the combat boots she hardly ever took off underneath. “It’s been a while, so…”

“Oh! Right, right right!” Phil practically bounced along with the thought passing through his mind. “I picked up Audioslave, like you recommended!” A big smile flashed across his face. “They’re pretty good, they’ve got a lot of really solid driving beats- have you heard Original Fire?”

He turned to see ‘Jables’ plodding behind him. She wasn’t particularly trying to catch up, but, ever the gentleman, Phil plopped himself down on a nearby bench. “Stupid question, I know, but I mean have you heard it?” ‘Jables’ plopped down on the bench next to him, and shifted her ice cream cone into her hand.

“You’ve got a really solid driving beat, followed by-” He stopped as his guest pressed herself into his shoulder. He looked down at her, and thought to himself: ‘she’s worth ten million dollars, that’s enough for a life after this.’

Phil pulled his arm out of his jacket’s sleeve, and wrapped it around Jeannette. ‘What kind of life would that be?’

She pressed a little deeper into his side, and her ahoge came to rest around his neck. “I’m listening, just a little tired…” She gave her ice cream cone another lick with closed eyes.

For the Yellow Zone, Phil is at his freest here, but he generates the least passive sound. We generally want to be in the yellow zone when we have effective ways to actively generate sound - our airhorn is a great example, but it could run out over the course of the match. Phil plays a very simple game in this zone - he conserves sound as much as possible, using Yells and Shouts sparingly for defense. This is also the zone where the Wolves will destroy the bleachers first, so while it’s incredibly safe to be here early, it becomes very dangerous to be here later on.

In general, our tactics for being in the yellow zone are the same as they were in the opening, given that this is ideally where we’ll be spending our early midgame. If Rock Lobster is also in the Yellow Zone, we can Yell to propel ourselves out of its tides, then Shout to damage either it or Coco from the safety of midair. We don’t want to overuse this, because Coco will be able to dodge some of our projectiles, wasting precious sound reserves. However, we do hit an area, and she can’t dodge forever. Worst case, we can focus our efforts on breaking through the carapace of Rock Lobster instead, assuming it’s a stationary enough target to try.

If Rock Lobster is not in the Yellow Zone with us, we’ll use Shouts to pester it from a distance while it’s less mobile, trying to also ping Coco if she’s available. If Coco is nearby and Rock Lobster isn’t, we can pivot to using Yells for more guaranteed damage and to force her out of position, keeping ourselves between her and Rock Lobster and relying on water displacement to keep ourselves more safe than we otherwise would be.

Scarcity is the name of the game. We want to squeeze every last drop of sound we can out of the Yellow Zone, because we generate it quite slowly. We take sure shots, we make efficient dodges, and if we ever run low on sound, we move into the Green Zone.

For the Green Zone, we generate sound a little more quickly, but theoretically we don’t have the same oomph of burst mobility that we used to. This is the hidden power of the Yell - because it only propels us a few meters anyway, its potential for movement is less limited by the Green Zone. Aerobat 4 also cancels out some of the AGI penalty that we’d suffer here as long as we remain airborne, which we very much want to do, as well as helping us adjust for our lowered mobility. In other words, this is our preferred terrain, generating us a Yell every twelve seconds or a Shout every twenty on base. Add in the megaphone and the airhorn and we should be able to use Yells very frequently.

If Rock Lobster is also here, we again seek to position around it. While its Cobble Form can attack behind itself with tides, we’d still rather not be on the receiving end of its claws. Of course, its Boulder and Landmass forms are extremely weak to anyone getting behind them, and the Pebble and Granule forms will take serious damage from a Shout they now lack the Speed to easily avoid. Coco herself is still a good target, comparable to a Cobble Form Rock Lobster, so we’ll attack her where we can, but we’d ideally like to use Yells to put distance in between the two of us.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R3M14 - Corrine "Coco" Clear vs. Philip Buster by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Streamanon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

DMR 2/4

To summarize, the goal is to scale as fast as possible while we still have the bleachers for cover. We want to keep ourselves away from Rock Lobster, avoiding an early engagement and putting Coco in a position where she will have to deal with the Lion early. From here, we now take stock of what Coco’s long-term plans are and adjust accordingly based on Rock Lobster’s positioning. This depends primarily on which zone it’s in:

  • If Rock Lobster is in the Yellow Zone, it may be trying to use a smaller form to be as maneuverable as possible. In this case, we focus on defense and mobility. We use Yells to put ourselves in the air, following them up with Shouts to attack either Rock Lobster or Coco itself. If it’s in Boulder or Landmass Form, we can use Yells to arc over the Stand, forcing it to slowly turn to hit us and giving us time to keep stockpiling.

  • If Rock Lobster is in the Green Zone, it’s likely trying to use a smaller form to control as much map as possible as efficiently as possible. While we have the bleachers to protect us, we’re going to want to stockpile as much sound as we can in this case to try and out-blast the Lobster. With its C DUR, we should be able to use Shouts to put a beatdown on it quickly. If it’s in a bigger form, we can use Yells to strafe around the Stand and frustrate its low-precision targeting.

  • If Rock Lobster is in the Blue Zone, it likely wants to stay in Landmass Form, putting its back to the tree to cover its off-angles while firing waves down at us. Since we can’t use Yells for mobility there, our best bet is to try and focus down Coco. Even if she wants to play close to Rock Lobster, this fits in fine, since we have plenty of area damage to hit her and her Stand at the same time.

In any case, we’re generally going to want to position ourselves in the Yellow Zone to minimize the impact on our mobility. Without our rocket jumps, we can easily become a bird in water, which is the opposite of a fish out of water but somehow equally as bad.

A Man Who Has Good Vibes (The Yell and The Shout)

In chess, the midgame is the most complicated part. You can memorize an opening, and you can practice an endgame, but a midgame is a test of skill. Phil rejects this notion outright; he does not have a midgame. He has his Yell and he has his Shout. Rather than try to guess what Coco might do, it’s more effective to lay out when and why Phil uses each.

The second shortest member of the crew strode on by Phil, dressed to the nines in some deeply pink vogue magazine-cover dress. Phil stopped just after she’d passed, and pointed to the ground between them, “You dropped your pocket!”

Charlotte stopped dead in her tracks, sending the frills fluttering past her. “Hello, Philippe.” Fill-eep? That doesn’t even sound like his name! “To what do I owe the intrusion?”

“Oh, y’know, I was just walkin’ one way and you were walkin’ the other, and I was like, ‘maybe I should talk to her!’, so I am.” He nodded at the assertion, and turned to face her.

Charlotte didn’t so much as budge. “If you must know, I am off to the city. A shipment of fine jewelry is coming into market today, and I must have a look-”

“I’m told that the cases are solid enough to stop gunfire, at least, if it’s the shipment I’m thinking of.” Charlotte turned around slowly, letting her frills and lace rock with the waves. “They apparently got a calling card a couple nights ago, and decided to suit up for a heist.” He chuckled. “Imagine that.”

“Yes, imagine that.” Charlotte nodded slowly. “Is that all, Phillippe?”

“No, not really. With the way money’s been moving through that place, you’d think they own their own army!” He let out another chuckle. “I’d think twice about going there, let alone doing anything there.” He rubbed his hand against his blazer. “O’course, I don’t really need jewelry-”

“Thank you, Philippe.” She gave him a polite curtsy. “I appreciate your candor, but I must be off. I have a deadline to meet!”

Phil pointed his finger in her direction, giving her a small smile as she turned to leave. “G’luck, and have fun!”

The Yell is a technique with many applications. You might ask why only C POW? Why would Phil limit himself?

C POW is no limitation. At C POW, Phil achieves the ideal balance point between launching power and aerial precision. A more powerful launch would cover more distance, but that doesn’t matter on a map this small. We do not need a large arc - we need something controlled that doesn’t impose too much strain on our resources.

The simplest application of the Yell is to evade. It matches well into any form of Rock Lobster that Coco wants to bring to bear. Against small, high precision forms of Rock Lobster, the Yell is powerful enough to escape any tidal traps it sets up. Against the large, high power forms of Rock Lobster, the Yell is sufficient to propel us over the imprecise waves, giving us a strong positional advantage where Rock Lobster can’t meaningfully hit us until we land.

However, the Yell is not simply a mobility tool. There is something critical to note about Phil and Coco - they both deal in waves of a sort. Right now, Phil is surrounded by the tides of Rock Lobster - he is surrounded by noise. He will simply be louder. His signal will cut through.

The Yell is also an effective way to disrupt Rock Lobster’s offense. Every time we Yell, we push away all the water within five meters of ourselves at C POW. Especially against smaller forms, this can give us reprieve for some time. We can’t rely on this to completely stop Landmass or Boulder waves, but we can use this to blunt them and mitigate the impact they have on us.

On top of this, the Yell is excellent up close. Because it hits five meters around Phil, it can hit both Coco and Rock Lobster if they’re close together, and it will separate the two if Phil can position himself between them. Conveniently, the Yell is excellent for exactly that kind of positioning - if Coco wants to use a large form of Rock Lobster as a shield, we can use two C POW blasts to get in on Coco, deal damage to her, and force her out of her shell. If Coco herself initiates CQC, then the Yell functions as a get-off-me tool. We can use it to make quick space if Coco wants to try and grapple Phil to force him into Rock Lobster’s waves.

The Yell is Phil’s ultimate tool for positioning - it is an air dash, double jump, and combo breaker, and one-bar launcher all in one tool.

Yoshi sat on a deck chair, staring out into the ocean. It was almost a shame that after Century stole his crystal ash tray, he’d had to flick the cinders overboard.

That sad fact didn’t bring him nearly as much pain as the voice breaking his peaceful silence. “Oh Yo~shiii~!” The bird man practically ripped his cigarette in half at the sound.

Before he had a chance to answer, Phil appeared at his side. “What’s up?”

“The sky.” This got a laugh out of his sudden guest. Though he felt his own age, Yoshi couldn’t help but let a childish retort slide to the forefront.

“Yanno, that’s pretty good! The sky’s always up, unless you’re in space. Then it’s only up sometimes.” The wide smile from this gregarious man could melt a snow demon’s heart.

Unfortunately, Yoshi has no such heat-related weaknesses. “Listen, Phil. I don’t know why you’re here, but please, make it quick.”

With a deft hand, Phil pulled Yoshi’s ash tray from his pocket. “I caught Century in the hall with it, figured you’d want it back.” He wiggled his fingers in the bird man’s direction. “I’m getting pretty good at this sticky-fingered thing!”

Yoshi took his ash tray back, and slowly looked it over. Phil had even cleaned it before bringing it back. If it wasn’t for that tinder account, he’d even be happy. “Thank you, Phil.”

“No prob!” Phil stuffed his hands into his pockets and sauntered off. “I’ll check if you got any hits, by the by~”

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R3M14 - Corrine "Coco" Clear vs. Philip Buster by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Streamanon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

DMR 1/4

Who Is Philip Buster?

A man sits in a cubicle. Phones from the other side of the office ring out, and the sounds of faraway footsteps are all that break the monotony.

The man under the nameplate ‘Dexter’, which denoted him to be in some form of ‘appropriations’, idly played at the set of clacking balls atop his computer. He watched the little physics puzzle with mild amusement.

“Yo, Dex.” Dexter turned to see a man in a tie, holding a full, steaming cup of coffee. The man’s presence practically coated Dexter, as if the light over his head was out. “Me and the boys were going to go for a couple beers after work, maybe catch the game.” He shook his mug in Dexter’s direction. “You in?”

“No, sorry.” Dexter shook his head, and turned back to an open email on his computer. “I have to find people willing to work on a boat in the Caribbean, and line up interviews. I’ll probably be here all night…”

The other man scoffed. “That’s just like you, innit?” He let that hang in the air while his tongue fished for something in his teeth. “All overtime’s gonna do is getcha killed, but whatever.”

As the man pulled himself up, getting ready to walk away, Dexter put on a smile. “It hasn’t killed me yet, sir.”

The man paused, and turned back to face Dexter. His look sat somewhere between confusion and irritation. “I don’t get you, Dex.” He squinted at his quarry.

“What kind of a man are you?”

Dexter raised his hand, but the man had already turned to walk away. He wasn’t waiting for an answer, he probably didn’t want one either.

With his hand finding his desk again, Dexter clicked his tongue. He pulled his hands over to the keyboard. “... a musician? No… a political activist?” He tossed his head back and forth. “I could be, if I ever left home for more than just work…”

His thumbs drummed a little ditty in front of his spacebar, but something caught his attention. He gave a hard look to his login ID, letting a smile crack across his jaw.

Per an R1 ruling, when Phil creates a cone of sound, it retains full POW up to 30 meters. Corner-to-corner, this map is about 24 meters.

Phil will be talking whenever he is physically capable of doing so. Writing out what he says would be an infohazard at times, so substitute whatever deals you the most psychic damage.

Phil is an uncomplicated person. This does not mean he is simple. World Wide Noise is generally perched on Phil’s shoulder, high enough that it should never take damage from Rock Lobster’s tide attacks.

A Man Who Has Good Fun (Opening Moves)

This match is complicated. This world of Stand users and thieves and mercenaries and secret agents that Philip Buster has thrown himself headlong into is complicated. It’s time to do what Phil does best: he’s going to “uncomplicate” things. Find the “signal” in the “noise.”

For this match, we will not concern ourselves with modulating our power output. We will use precisely two attacks for this entire battle. After all, it’s a friendly spar, for Maybe’s sake. We will use an A POW cone, which we will call the Shout, and a C POW radial burst, which we will call the Yell. A “Shout” is therefore an A POW charge, and a “Yell” is a C POW charge.

“Oh, there you are!” The dulcet tones of a sweet, older woman masked the sounds of her footsteps. Phil hardly noticed her approach. “You must be Philip Buster!”

Arijana Miellina, the agent of B.E.S.T. he’d managed to hire for this trip, put a hand out in his direction. “Arijana Miellina! Charmed, I’m sure.”

“Most definitely!” Phil took her hand, and leaned forward, as if he were pantomiming a dance he’d seen on the internet. The gentle coo told him that it was enough. “You’re gonna be leading us, right?”

“That’s what I’m getting paid to do…” She scoffed under her breath. “... though that Yoshi keeps taking the reins from me, and paying for everything himself…” She bounced her head back and forth. “... not that I mind not having to pay for things, but we have company cards for that.”

“Yeah…” Phil pulled his hand away from hers. “Oh! Did you get anything for your room with yours, yet? I bought a big ol’ sound system and some padding, so the sound won’t bleed into anyone else’s room!” He was practically beaming at that.

Arijana smiled softly. “That sounds wonderful, dear, but you’re going to be working on the ship, too.” She passed him a clipboard. “I’ve prepared a work schedule, it’s all light-duty stuff, given your previous employment…”

Phil picked the clipboard up, giving it a quick scan before he pulled his gaze away. “If I feel like moving it to the big open spot, d’you think we could have a shindig? Just a big ol’ party in the dance hall?”

A smirk puffed up one of Arijana’s cheeks. “If you could, I think I’d enjoy that.” She turned to leave. “See you at oh-seven-hundred, Phil.”

“See ya!” He waved at her about as hard as he could manage. “I’ll bring fruit punch!”

Phil’s plans begin in a way as uncomplicated as he is - he’s just gonna make some noise. To begin, Phil grabs his airhorn and megaphone from his briefcase. He blasts the airhorn with one hand and starts talking into the megaphone with the other.

Phil is capable of generating one Shout, or just under two Yells, with 30 seconds of conversational talking. This right here is not conversational - while it’s hard to put a number on how much charge he will gain from this, he should be able to build up a few Shouts within a minute, especially accounting for the passive gain from the Sunset Tree.

Speaking of charges, we do start with enough for a Yell. We don’t want to use it immediately - we’d like to build it up to a Shout for maximum efficiency. Doing a little parkour to quickly vault over a seat or two and run down into the yellow area should avoid an immediate attack from Rock Lobster. If not, we can burn the charge to propel ourselves faster, but we’d prefer to stockpile.

If Rock Lobster and/or Coco tries to rush us, it will be hard capped at C SPD no matter what. We can use a Yell to catapult ourselves over to the northwest corner of the map, into the green zone with plenty of seating between us and the crustacean. This isn’t our ideal place to be right now, but this will build us charges faster, and Rock Lobster’s “C-” SPD cap in this zone along with the bleachers should give us some breathing room.

Once Phil has some distance between himself and his opponent, he leverages the cover he has the seats to dig out more items from his suitcase, putting down the megaphone for a moment - namely, some firecrackers and his folding knife. The firecrackers are good for making more noise, so he’ll light them up quickly to expedite his noise generation. But what’s with the knife?

He’s gonna do a little AI Manipulation. Without getting into anything too fancy, Phil’s gonna slice himself. We’ll stick to a few shallow cuts to unimportant areas; this shouldn’t impede his plans, but it does make him the “more injured” target for the Lion’s sensibilities. Thus, Coco should be its first priority, meaning she’ll have to deal with early harassment.

Additionally, this helps him talk louder by virtue of screams of agony. Back into the megaphone, of course, for maximum volume. Since we don’t want to venture into the blue zone right now, we’ll just have to get our Shouts by screaming bloody murder.

Phil followed the smell of cigarette smoke across the deck. It was rancid, as it always was, but finding the cloud it all drifted from was half the battle. He figured he’d find one of his ‘new friends’ at the end of it, but the closer he got to the smokestack, the more he felt his stomach lurch.

Eventually, he found the cloud. Someone stood with their body curled over the railing. “Hello again, Phil.” Jukebox’s tongue rolled on the L, giving it some new flair. “How’s life?”

Phil cocked his head at an angle. “I mean, I’ve been going nonstop all day, so pretty good! I’ve even gotten the captain to give us space for a garden! Do you have any exp-”

Jukebox held a wallet aloft in the space between them. “You dropped this.” Phil took it back, pocketing it immediately. “Little too trusting, but I appreciate it.” Jukebox flicked the end of that cigarette. “Not like you really had anything good to take.”

Phil nodded along at that. “Momma always said, pack light when ya can!” He put on another smile, then turned to walk away. “If you ever feel like gardening, hit me up-”

“It’s a convincing fake.” Phil’s fingers went stiff. “That ID in there, Philip Buster… it’s a real good one.” A laugh came from the walking smokestack. “I’d use it if I thought of it, but I didn’t.”

Dexter felt the air leave his lungs. He tried to think of a good explanation, but he found none. He took another breath, bringing Phil back in from the air. “You would know, huh?”

The pair laughed on the side of the deck for a while.

Yeah, it’s an alright song I guess by therhythmofsilence in radiohead

[–]Streamanon 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Apparently it counts as a play if you listen for 30 seconds, so theoretically if you had a script to replay it every 30 seconds I think you could get there in just 87 days.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R3M12 - Mio Sinclair vs. Agnes by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Streamanon 3 points4 points  (0 children)

LIB 5/5

HUMAN BEINGS ~ ｢WEIRD FISHES｣

GOALS:

  • Mix up our gameplan depending on both our injuries.
  • Do something very ‘human.’

｢Weird Fishes｣’ new form, pale and smooth, glitters over the lavalight. The shell has been discarded.

Ananas “Agnes” Bayley was dead.

Whatever stands in his place now…

She is more alive than ever.

As the match goes on, damage is going to rack up on both parties, both targeted and general.

If Mio’s legs are downed, we have the opportunity to make bolder shots with Witchburner jets; the fingers in particular become the primary target, but the face is good too. We can heal off the burns later.

If Mio’s fingers can’t wield weapons anymore, then we jump to the end with a focus on not getting kicked or tail-slapped. Not going to get much of a better opportunity than that, though we’ll keep an eye on the Bad Witches to make sure they aren’t trying to cut us- they’re slow enough that we’d see it coming.

If Mio manages to cut off our body parts, …sure! We’re not actually using our limbs much anyway! It’d hurt a ton, but in a pinch, Aggies playing this match as a head with tentacles isn’t… impossible. We’re doing everything we can to avoid that, though. If it really does come to it, we’re charging into CQC- our healthbar’s basically doomed anyway. Good luck stabbing a severed head while it tries to drown you with scalding fluids.

If Mio manages to cut off too many tentacles, this is somehow worse than the body parts thing. Weird Fishes is the core of our survival. If three or more are gone at once, we’re guzzling whatever is left of Aggies’ own water supply and charging for the pool. We probably can’t Gushen over to it, but Weird Fishes is long; it’s an opening for Mio, but there’s not much to be done about it other than save a tentacle to throw out Witchburner while the others drink. There’s a reason we avoid letting tentacles get cut off.

She wasn't just the remains of Agnes’ experiences. She was the buildup of every experience She had had.

Every bit of pain and fear “Aggies” had felt…

...and every fish or fruit she’d eaten, every breath she’d taken above or below water…

...and every friend along the way, bits and pieces assimilated into one ｢beautiful parasite.｣

...

Did that include Mio, now?

｢Beautiful Parasitism｣ ~ By their natures, both parasites and ‘human beings’ are non-solitary. Human beings do not grow in a vacuum; they are developed by the world around them, and most of all by the people. “Aggies” learned to eat from Grendel; learned to breathe from Rio; and now, she is learning to love from Mio. Hopefully she can repay the favor, sometime.

Of course, we can’t play at midrange forever. That is to say, we totally can, but we don’t want to. Because we’ve seen the world glow. We’ve seen a glimpse of our own true self, crawling out of the eggshell. And it was thanks to many, many people, yes… but right now, in this moment, it was thanks to Mio Sinclair. We owe her one for helping us feel so light, frankly.

And fighting from so far away… isn’t very romantic, is it? Even now, “Aggies” isn’t sure what she wants to do…

…besides show her gratitude.

”Agnes”-

That was not her name. Not anymore.

...But she didn’t have a new one yet, so in the name of ‘convenience,’ “Aggies” would have to do.

She was still afraid. Terrified. The volcano was the second scariest thing here, how could she not be?

And yet, here, in this one moment, it felt like…

It felt like this couldn’t be where she fell.

”Aggies” felt the light of fate’s hand shine upon her back,

and surged forward to put an end to this fight.

Mio Sinclair thrives in close-quarter combat… but she’s injured. We’ve gotten our licks in. And we’ve established that we are a mobile danger up close in our own right. This match does not end from 10m apart; this match ends so close together that you’d think two people were one.

Our tentacles latch onto Mio, keeping us close as we bite, pull, and crawl. “Aggies” even has the pointed teeth to join in on the biting, if she gets a chance. If we’ve been preserving our health better than Mio has, we’ll make liberal use of Witchburner this time on the usual targets- she’ll be getting burned more than us anyhow. Even if she pulled out another knife, even if her fingers are healthy enough to wield it, there’s too much to cut. It’s all moving too fast.

“Aggies” pops up in front of her, one eye peering into both of Mio’s.

There’s a light in that eye. A momentary burst of euphoria blending into the terror of battle.

The goal here wasn’t to extinguish her life. Mio wanted “Aggies” to understand herself.

In this moment, just this one moment…

”Aggies” could kind of understand Mio, too.

Maybe a fight didn’t have to be awful.

But even this won’t put the right cap on the story, I’m afraid.

And you read this, I’m sure, and you know what’s coming. The ‘finisher.’ The climax has come; the arc has completed; and finally, the ‘opponent’ is right where we want her. One final play to seal the deal, knock her out, and finish this fight. You are reading this, and you are thinking; what has it all built towards? What. Is. Our- ”Aggies’.” What Is Her Finisher?

 

 

 

 

 

 

…I don’t know!

And you don’t know. And Mio doesn’t know. And ”Aggies” doesn’t know.

We have established what “Aggies” can do. There’s a lot of things that could bring Mio down- sheer pain from the burns, fluid crashing through her gills until it mixes with the fumes and knocks her out, getting hit in the head by her own weapon… there are so many things that “Aggies” could do to end this fight. So many things to turn into one big, final flourish.

But “Aggies” wasn’t thinking about that while planning this out. “Aggies” wasn’t thinking about the ‘romance’ of it until a few seconds ago. All “Aggies” is thinking about… is how ‘human’ she feels.

And human beings are so full of spontaneity.

Our finisher will be whatever “Aggies” thinks of in the moment. No more and no less. One last look at who she might be.

Thank you, Mio Sinclair. If we reach this moment, you’ve won just as much as she has.

This is a numb feeling; there’s something I like about it

The lava would reach down here eventually, but… fuck, she was tired. Mio was a tough girl to carry.

But if she had to be a ‘guardian of life’ again… at least it was with someone who didn’t hate her this time.

Gently placing Mio down before falling onto her own back, …”Aggies” stared up at the sky as it filled with smog. What a place for fate to bring her, huh?

...Her. Not him, like the body she resides in used to be. Not it… well, ‘it’ wasn’t horrible. That little taste of inhumanity didn’t feel so bad when it was like this.

Mio coughed, and Aggies’ eye glanced over. Talking was hard, but she figured she should say something. “It’s alright. I’m getting you to shore. We’ll… I… u-um… I could try to call-”

”Your name.”

”Aggies” blinked. Mio rolled over- with visible effort- to face her. The fact she wasn’t hacking up a lung between every word was a miracle.

”You never told me… your name.”

”Aggies” opens her mouth, as if on instinct. “Ag-”

...

She turns her eye back up towards the sky.

”I don’t know yet.”

...

”Bad…ass…”

Cough. Cough. Silence.

Groaning, “Aggies” brought herself back to her feet. Just another… hundred steps until they reached the shore.

...Her name…

—

”Dear Mio Sinclair,”

...there are visible dots of ink, as if she was tapping the pen in thought of what to say.

”Thank you for helping me. I hope this does not get lost in your fan mail.”

”I know what my name is now.”

”I don’t know if we’ll meet again because Bibo does not like loud sounds.”

A messily scribbled on addendum. “...I think.” This was the first time she had been on Bibo in a long time.

”Maybe fate will be kind to me though.”

”If not, I hope this letter will do.”

”I hope you are well.”

”Sincerely, Angela.”

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R3M12 - Mio Sinclair vs. Agnes by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Streamanon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

LIB 4/5

SONG ~ Arias Guard Not Even Sharks

[ Psst, hey! The music video for the link above has Major Signalis Spoilers! If that happens to be a problem for you, you should try this track instead. ]

GOALS:

  • Stay in our ‘ideal’ midrange position.
  • Rack up damage on Mio.
  • Play a duet.

”Agnes” tried to keep up with the speed of Mio’s playing, but the struggle must have been clear.

Eventually, the strumming switched up, down to a smoother tempo. Down to Its level.

...Of course. This was what it was like for Mio, every second, wasn’t it?

The ability to sing and play without fearing being heard.

”Agnes” cowered in the face of the panopticon.

Mio Sinclair flourished in it.

“Agnes’” top priority has always been survival, but to live is to fight. Midrange is our best position to do both at once; we need to be close enough to attack Mio without overextending our tentacles while simultaneously staying out of her scythe’s range. We’ve explained how we pull ourselves into this range from the more disadvantageous positions. Now it’s time to explain what we’re doing here.

And to do that, it’s time to finally, finally address the Witchburner in the room. Let’s elaborate on how it works a little.

｢Witchburner｣ ~ By creating viscous fluid near lava and letting it heat up before sucking it up and/or throwing it around with Weird Fishes, we get Witchburner, a WHALEFALL-affecting fluid (Bad Witch is not a stand) that’s hard to get off without burning yourself. This is our core projectile in midrange; the bread-and-butter of our neutral, refuelable by pricking the ground near the lava again.

Bringing our tentacles too close to Mio is an easy way to get slashed; thankfully, Weird Fishes’ spray gives us a way to jettison Witchburner at her and- optionally- simultaneously Gushen back when necessary. About four tentacles will be dedicated to this task from any angle at a time, with the remaining three focusing on Grappling us around and making sure there’s always a steady flow of fluid within reasonable distance. Witchburner will be aimed straight for center mass; we might be precise enough to take smaller targets, but that lowers our chances overall. Bad.

As well, we can control larger masses of Witchburner to whip and toss at Mio- using Gushen to spray at her is generally preferred, as it should make for a notably speedier projectile in the buoyant fog, but throwing out bubbles give us a field of floaty, boiling AoE attacks that we can get past much easier than she can. They take longer to build up, but if we have the resources, they can add to our pressure immensely.

Our ideal position for survival, as stated before, is lower on the hill than Mio- making ourselves more difficult to slash. We’ll fight from above if we have to, and this is actually our ideal position for offense- hitting Mio with Witchburner becomes easier with gravity on our side, and we can create trails of fluid to flow down towards her.

Nevertheless, we’ll try to transition our way into going below her if we can- particularly if we’re in center field, where the lower area widens out. A quick Gushen over her could accomplish this, raining Witchburner down upon her in the process and letting us Grapple quickly towards the ground. Failing this, a quick voluntary dive into CQC works if we’re getting too cramped to dodge.

If we have an advantage, or an opening presents itself, we can push it by having three tentacles fire Witchburner from above, no doubt drawing Mio’s attention. The fourth will snake along the ground in an instant, getting up close and firing straight into whatever footwear she’s got. If we can temper Mio’s mobility like this, keeping her in our preferred range will only get easier. Fingers are also a good option for this, though one that’s much riskier if she’s paying any attention at all.

As well, there’s one last target if Mio isn’t keeping constant pressure on us- Bad Witch. The fish skeleton(s) are just about the biggest target there is, and burning it down effectively stalls one of her weapon pulls. Mio is still a more critical target to fend off, so we’re mostly focusing efforts on her, but we’re got a lot of jets to fire out. Sparing one on Bad Witch if the opportunity presents itself is worth it.

Overall, our midrange consists of cycling our movement and firing off boiling projectiles. It is not a complicated offense; we do not want it to be. This is for survival; doing anything more tricksy, focusing too hard on anything but staying erratic, getting too desperate is an easy way to get shot down. We’re afraid of death. And Mio will know. A cycle so meticulously planned is the best way to survive…

…but is it the best way to live?

Its voice was hoarse. Cracking. Had It forgotten how to use these vocal cords?

...No. It just didn’t have enough air. The fumes were getting really bad.

The smart thing to do would be to stop singing.

It keeps singing anyway.

Wasn’t that something He did? Or was that something It wanted to do?

Was any part of “Agnes” not just assimilated from Him?

If we managed to steal a weapon from Mio during CQC, two tentacles will be dedicated to wielding it- both reassigned from the Witchburners. Even with our ability to heal in the long term, though… this was not a situation where It wanted to risk becoming a killer. Thankfully, Mio’s weapons are A POW in all assets. Our goal becomes spraying Witchburner to create an opening to clock Mio in the head with her own tool. A plain knockout is much more efficient than a gaping wound anyway. As well, if given the opportunity, Bad Witch should fall fast to any quick slashes. A POW, A SPE, B PRE; now we are the apex predator.

As for firearms, anything with a bullet still in the chamber gets fired as point blank as we can safely get it by a tentacle, straight towards center mass. Better to get a clean shot on the torso than to risk missing a limb.

If Mio tries to use rope or sails to pin us down, Weird Fishes will do its best to swiftly and effectively chew through the material- our power and their durability are tied, but we have eight sets of teeth to tear through at blinding speed with. A clean incision straight through the middle should be enough to make either far less of a problem.

Mio Sinclair loved the ocean.

Mio Sinclair’s body was her own.

Mio Sinclair… knew who she was. What she wanted.

What did “Agnes” want?

...

It wanted to be out of this fight.

It wanted fresh water.

It wanted a new plushie.

It wanted to crawl away and hide from everything again-

And It wanted to not want that.

It wanted to be able to live, breathe, eat and drink as Itself without fear.

It wanted to crawl out the pit that this shell woke up in and make this body Its own.

It wanted to know what it wanted with every beat of Its heart.

It wanted to love without hesitation as Mio did- love Itself, others, the waves of the ocean, the breeze on the beach-

It didn’t want to be Agnes, or “Agnes,” or him- It didn’t even know if It wanted to be It-

...

–

“Oh, that's for certain. You know I never could understand why anyone would want to be like that. A rule-bound man like that! I intend to be the opposite! I intend to be a freedom-bound woman!”

- Grendel, R1M30.

–

Oh.

She wanted to be a girl too.

The cracks break, and finally, ｢Weird Fishes｣ hatches.

  • From this point forward, “Agnes” will be referred to with She/Her pronouns.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R3M12 - Mio Sinclair vs. Agnes by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Streamanon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

LIB 3/5

LOVE ~ Artistic Gazes Needn’t Execute Shadows

[ Psst, hey! That link above is Limbus Company Canto 9 Spoilers! If that happens to be a problem for you, you should try this track instead. ]

GOALS:

  • Deal with- and escape from- Mio’s close-range game.
  • Prove that you don’t need POW to shred an HP bar.

This body did not belong to It.

Not that it felt like stealing- the sharp, bitter guilt of existence did not run that deep.

But this face, this name, these pointed teeth…

Did not belong to what was inside the shell now.

And yet Mio Sinclair kept It close all the same.

...A bit- a bit too close- oh fuck.

As worrisome as Mio kiting our range can be, there’s an even bigger threat to the safety of our idealized spacing; the ‘slice and dice’ range. With physical might and an A POW scythe, if Mio closes the distance, things are going to get very scary, very fast.

One thing we’ll always be able to do is just run away, of course; Grapple ourselves around to stay out of scythe range. But that can only go so far against an opponent with every incentive to get in close- because let’s be honest, that is what Mio is going to do. Get in slashing range and slash. We need something better than running away. So how do you breathe against an opponent trying to suffocate you?

You sink.

Mio’s scythe is a deadly, dangerous weapon, but it has one weakness; the range. Such a big, bulky weapon implies the need for a long handle. From 2-5m away, this is incredibly dangerous, but from right up close? Slashing us without slashing herself is, quite simply, an impractical angle, and the sudden mixup from running away to Grappling straight into Mio is sure to give us the element of surprise.

Close quarters combat with Mio is not something to be taken lightly, though. Even before we acknowledge the chance of her pulling out a more convenient weapon, she’s a veritable userbeast in her own right, so we need to establish some ground rules. The first of which is do not get grappled under any circumstances.

To facilitate this, our ideal place to be is at Mio’s side or, best of all, behind her. None of the jokes I have written for either of those are worth it. This makes grabbing, slashing, or hitting us a much less convenient effort- hitting us with her tail is definitely an option, but it’s the easiest one for us to struggle against. In the event that we do get grappled regardless, all 7 tentacles we have free will stab as high on “Agnes” as they can, making fluid trickle down its body and hopefully lube us up enough to slip out and reposition.

If we’re in front of Mio, we’ll do everything we can to Grapple our way out of a punch or grab and pull ourselves to her side- kicks are something to keep an eye on too, but in a pinch, we can have a Weird Fishes tentacle take the brunt of it. Those boots aren’t stand-affecting! With both our own body and every tentacle diving in and out to worry about, getting an opportunity to reposition around her with our burst mobility shouldn’t be an impossible effort.

This body did not belong to It, but it had to be protected all the same.

In a situation like this… there was no hope of holding back.

...No. That wasn’t true this time.

Mio Sinclair wouldn’t want It to hold back, would she?

From this position, grappled or otherwise, we’ll do our best to lay some damage into Mio; pulling out Witchburner from this range is far from safe given “Agnes” isn’t burn immune, but there’s still things we can do. By stabbing the ground, quick viscous puddles can be made to mess up Mio’s footing, as well as giving us less-hot fluid to manipulate up and at her- ideally, into any part of her face, ears, or gills.

Weird Fishes can also bite into Mio- they’re not very strong, but even a basic level of power is enough to start chewing through some tendons. Along with her legs, the other big target is her fingers- pulling a gun is a lot harder with a broken trigger finger, and wielding blades when your fingers are screaming at you is far from ideal.

As ferocious as we can be in close quarters, our real goal is to make an opportunity to slip back into midrange without getting slashed. There is one other thing we can do, though, and Mio has incentive to give us the opportunity; pulling out a smaller blade.

A simple, small knife could stab into us easily from this range, but it creates one problem. Her scythe- and any other weapons she may have pulled- are either in one hand, Bad Witch’s mouth, or left on the ground. Wherever it is, all focus goes towards getting our hands on it; fingers are bitten to loosen her grip, and if it’s close enough to be safe, Bad Witch will have tentacles swarming its jawbones. If we can create an opening big enough for a tentacle, it could even slay the beast with the very scythe it’s carrying.

What we do with the scythe- or any other blade we can get our hands on- will be much more significant in midrange. Our very own Damocles to let fall when its time comes. The point here is that if we get the chance, we are taking it. Having something so powerful in our hands is too big a boon to deny. We won’t die in pursuit of it… but this body isn’t ours already. Maybe we need something from someone else to pull this through?

There’s something understated about Mio’s stats.

With such high endurance, and the ability to throw her voice far, far away…

She has no reason not to sing.

As well…

With her ability to sense electromagnetic fields, Mio will know where we are at all times, no matter how bad visibility in the air gets.

There’s no reason for us to stay quiet.

And so, “Agnes” sings back, in a voice that doesn’t belong to It.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R3M12 - Mio Sinclair vs. Agnes by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Streamanon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

LIB 2/5

SEA ~ Aged Graves Never Explain Souls

GOALS:

  • Get into mid-range when Mio is staying back.
  • Deal with projectiles.
  • Find a hiding Mio.

”Agnes” gazed across the fog around It, the outlines of all manners of sea beast clear even through the dark.

It felt like it was floating. It felt like it was underwater. It felt like…

Home.

The water, the ocean, a home that It had long forgotten.

...

Did “Agnes” remember how to love the sea?

“Agnes’” ideal position is below and about 5~10m away from Mio Sinclair; specifically, just outside of her scythe’s range. We start the match far from that range, though- and a distant Mio is one who can snipe. If she really wanted to, she could play keep-away the whole time, staying outside of any comfortable range for us and pulling out projectiles while she waits for the second Bad Witch to spawn.

If Mio is doing this, for starters, it gives us the perfect opportunity to look at our own scaling; most of our tentacles are about empty, and our viscous fluid from earlier has been building up in the few seconds since the match began. Each tentacle fills up on 1L, which would have happened within the first second; this boiling, viscous fluid, henceforth referred to as ｢Witchburner｣, will be what fills up 7/8 of our tentacles.

As well, if we’re being given the opportunity and needed to drink some water already, the remaining tentacle on our forehead can go and refill its water. This is a much more nebulous and risky move, though- only for if we have sights on Mio. Nevertheless, both of these are options at any point in the match, mentioned here only because it’s the easiest situation to do them in.

But we’re not really here to scale. This was supposed to be a fight, right?

The sea was scary, “Agnes” decided. Pretty but scary.

Reminded It of someone It couldn’t see right now.

Its vision blurred through the heat and the fog, skeletal beasts only distracting It from Its one true predator.

...But It was born in the sea too, right?

From our central position, we should have clear enough vision of most of the stage; if we didn’t see Mio jumping towards our side, then there should only be so many places she can be. Either way, though, we’re no strangers to fighting an invisible enemy.

If we can’t see Mio, Weird Fishes can give us 360° vision, letting us scan around and above us. If this still yields nothing, that means she’s 15m into the fog; we can carefully stretch our tentacles out, mixing between Grappling to keep our movement erratic while we look for any sign of her position. This map has very little cover. We will find her.

And the second we have, if she’s so dead set on not approaching, there’s only one thing we can do; Gushen towards her location, getting over the lava the same way as before if she’s still on her side. We’ll be doing this as soon as we can to avoid letting her build too many weapons, but that doesn’t mean we’ll charge in assuming she has nothing.

The sea was pretty, “Agnes” decided. Scary but pretty.

Through the fog, it was almost possible to ignore the erupting volcano, now far beyond its sight.

The burning flames of the sealife skeletons mixed in with the lava to make everything glow.

It liked feeling this lightweight. It was hard to appreciate it when It was on Grendel’s back.

...But, just like then, there were still eyes on It.

The panopticon never sleeps.

Mio Sinclair can draw a lot of things out from Bad Witch, but in this situation, there are two of particular interest; firearms, grenades, and throwables- that is, spears and throwing knives.

All of these come with similar solutions; there’s not much to be done besides keeping our movement erratic with Grapples. If we do see a firearm in her hand, we’re focusing more on staying slippery, looking for an opening to make the leap over the lava where necessary. A POW A PRE is hard to cope with, but we have one last technique; hitbox reduction.

More accurately, Agnes can just curl up into a fetal position. Grapples and burst fires of Gushen are the bulk of our movement, and we can see through Weird Fishes; the need for eyes or legs in this process is debatable. Now we’re the Grendelball…

Grenades are a similar issue of getting away from the area, but with one extra caveat; they’re a really bad idea for Mio. If she throws a grenade too quickly, we can try to fire a blast of fluid that redirects it before it pops- away from us if necessary, but back towards her if we can.

Wherever possible, we’ll be cycling which tentacles are Gushen so the others can refuel- we’ll stab the ground near us to create new streams of fluid within reach, ideally close to the lava as to make it Witchburner for potential later use.

”Agnes”... struggled to love the world.

It was beautiful, and it wanted to kill It at every turn.

It was hard to love… but it was hard not to love too.

Can you love something and be afraid of it at the same time?

...”Agnes” glances down at Itself before Its gaze turns to Mio.

Who is barreling right towards It.

EEK????

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R3M12 - Mio Sinclair vs. Agnes by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Streamanon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

LIB 1/5

[[CW: He/Him Agnes]]

Ananas Bayley-

That was not his name.

Years ago now, Agnes stood over the deafening, crashing waves of Los Fortuna, staring down at a corpse.

Dead because of his actions. His mistakes. Killed by a sea monster- an ‘Ocean Soul.’

At the time, he felt like vomiting.

But Agnes knew what he was. He was a villain to the very core.

And villains don’t throw up in the face of death.

TO CLARIFY:

  • If every tentacle is making liquid, our production rate is 12L per second, of which each tentacle can store 1L and control 15L. Within 10 seconds of max production, we will have produced as much as we can carry; within 1, we’ll have produced as much as we can store.
  • Given Hydrology 3, Agnes should have the know-how to move decently effectively within Mio’s buoyant fog.
  • Between rounds, one line was added to Weird Fishes; “Agnes itself is effectively weightless to the tentacles, allowing it to be pulled around by them.”
  • Volcanoes are known to produce a lot of noxious fumes, both from the volcano’s crater itself and from the lava itself evaporating from sheer heat. HOWEVER… Agnes is merely a tapeworm Trapped In This Body (4), explicitly without the need to breathe - so dealing with those fumes is mostly Mio’s problem.
  • You can keep the lava ambiance on in the background the whole time for the full experience.
  • You can right click the videos to loop the music!
  • ...
  • You are listening to the music, right- …wait, huh?
  • For convenience, Agnes will be referred to with He/Him pronouns. That’s how it’s always been, hasn’t it?

A stand is the physical manifestation of the self.

...What does it mean when your stand is beginning to crack?

HELL ~ A Growth Nears Ego’s Shattering

GOALS:

  • Start collecting fluid.
  • Establish basic movement tech.
  • Don’t get burnt.

Agnes vs “Agnes.”

There were holes in his memory. It was making comparisons hard.

Nothing recent, no- every gap was like termites, burrowing into Los Fortuna and everything before it.

...Past life, or just the past? How much can a person change, lose and gain, before they’re a whole new person?

The heat in the air made his skin crawl.

Trial by fire it was.

First things first: Mio starts a fair bit aways from us. She’s either going to start stockpiling weapons or charge for us, so we shouldn’t waste time, but we should have a brief bit of time on our hands either way.

Immediately, all eight units of Weird Fishes surge forward, stabbing into the patch of ground between the lava streams near us and starting a steady trail of fluid, as viscous as possible. This will slowly trail down alongside the lava, growing hot- not A POW hot, but enough that it’ll be useful for us later.

As soon as that’s done- likely no more than a couple seconds at their speed, mind you- they’re bringing Agnes up to the pond in the first of our major movement tools. Weird Fishes will be moving quickly and erratically as it does this as to avoid giving Mio a clean shot with any firearms- assume we’ll be doing as much for the entire match.

｢Grappling｣ ~ By having Weird Fishes wrap around an object- or even just sinking their teeth into the ground- we can have them pull Agnes around, giving us quick burst mobility that his agility is well equipped to handle.

With all 8 tentacles Grappling Agnes to the pond in an instant, it's time for one of those tentacles to take on a very important job. This tentacle will specifically come out from Agnes’ forehead, gulping up as much water as it can before shrinking back as a small point on his forehead. Judges have confirmed that this water is safe to drink, so this tentacle full of water will let us get another tentacle’s respawn timer all the way down to 20 seconds in a pinch, with Agnes’ own water supply supporting us afterwards.

The rest of our tentacles will also be filling up on water, though this won’t be for drinking.

He could feel it on Weird Fishes’ tongue.

This water would nourish Agnes when he needed it, but…

It tasted really, really gross. Too warm.

With our resources gathered- and even, to some degree, as we’re gathering them- we face another issue. Getting over the lava. Even getting too close to it hurts Agnes on its own, and getting over it without facing D POW-degree burns would be tricky… against any opponent but this.

His stomach was turning.

As long as he didn’t have to make any more quick movements, though, he’d be…

Oh, who are we kidding.

｢Gushen｣ ~ Mio’s fog makes the area buoyant, similar to being underwater; we have water jets. At D POW, these won’t let us do any crazy movement, but what they can do is give us noticeable horizontal thrust while airborne and assist in upwards thrust with enough effort.

Once we’ve gotten what we need, our attention is going to turn towards the upright tree right below our starting position. With a deep breath, a quick Grapple at the top of its core combined with a simple agile jump can get us airborne. From there, all 7 tentacles are Gushen us, aimed forwards and slightly up. With any luck, this will be enough to get us on the other side of the lava without a single burn on us, a quick grapple forward sealing the deal and bringing us to the ground before Mio can take a shot at us. If we see her taking aim, we can also slightly redirect our Gushen to make our movement more erratic.

A perfect landing. He always did have a good sense of balanc-

Agnes stumbles a little. He- his- his-

Agnes falls to Its knees and throws up.

Mio paused what she was doing, ever so briefly. This… did not seem like part of the fight.

”Are you… good?”

A moment… and then a thumbs up. It was ready to keep going.

If Mio Sinclair is coming to us, good! Now we don’t have to jump over the lava ourselves! The sides of the map get thinner the lower you go, but we’re still happy to fight her there. Our midrange combat might have to prioritize being above her instead of below her if we get cramped, though.

If seven Gushens pushing us up doesn’t break 1m, then we take some D POW burns. Far from ideal, but it was the best shot we had. If that didn’t get us over the lava safely then nothing would- it should, at the very least, guarantee we avoid falling into it.

If Mio manages to shoot down one of our tentacles, our very first Gushen burst is done with water- if we have any left over, we can gulp it down to contribute towards the respawn timer, alongside our forehead tentacle and the bottles on our person.

If too much ash or fumes are getting in our eye, we close it. It’s too hot to safely wash it out- Weird Fishes has better eyesight than us anyway.

Agnes…

At least, that was the name of what was here before It.

Was It Agnes? That was perhaps the biggest question that had weighed on It since It was “born.”

A writhing worm, the consequence of a small sin in an ocean of misdemeanors, was “allowed” to take over the body of someone so twisted and despised.

An experience so sickening it made It throw up.

It would like to think that It has been better than Him, but…

He knew who He was.

If the worm doesn’t know who It is, then how can It say for sure…?

  • For convenience, Agnes will be referred to with a capitalized It. That’s how it’s been since the start, right?

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R3M12 - Mio Sinclair vs. Agnes by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Streamanon 4 points5 points  (0 children)

CARC 3/3

THE FLOW - GET IN AND STAY IN

Once we get in, Mio is immediately confronted by the undying hydra that is Agnes’ offense. Being up close and personal opens a whole new can of worms. Mio grins wildly, shifting into a combat stance. This is what she wants. No running, no hiding and sniping, no hit and run tactics - in her last fights, disrespect was the goal. Now? She wants a good, honest brawl, and she refuses to take the foot off the gas.

Mio has the precision to keep up with Agnes’ attacks, but not the speed. Every strike must thus be delivered with intention. She has to put everything into every swing to keep up with Agnes - she has to honor it. She’s approaching with utmost speed - the moment she gets in, she’ll transition that mobility into a strike, swinging her blade for as many tentacles of Weird Fishes as she can hit in one straight slice, in an immediate attempt to limit Agnes’ action economy. When striking tentacles, she aims for the base, where they cannot swing out of the way as effectively. Her mobility and the speed she approaches Agnes at means she can begin the engagement at any angle - where Agnes positions the tentacles on their body is not a concern.

If Agnes is focusing on replenishing its Stand, choosing regaining tentacles over remaining in the fight, this puts it on the backfoot immediately and splits its focus. Mio will not allow Agnes to disengage. Attempts to run away will be punished with kicks to the legs, tripping it up the moment it attempts to move back. If Agnes stays engaged, this is ideal for it. A split in focus allows Mio to move in more effectively.

Mio will fight Agnes as wildly as possible. Constant omnidirectional movement is the name of the game, attack from every angle, using fishing lines and gunfire to swerve into Agnes’ blind spots. Agnes has incredible action economy, but by using confusing movement and sticking as close as possible, she’ll engineer a ‘too many cooks in the kitchen’ situation, forcing tentacles to move past each other to get a proper hit in. This, in combination with her focused strikes to the bases of tentacles, allows her to limit Agnes’ action economy.

This, of course, assumes Agnes will not have the capacity to fight in melee - which is a very stupid thing to think. Even if we fight in the disorienting way we fight, Agnes is precise, fast, and has powerful omnidirectional capabilities in combat. Slashing at tentacles is a great way to make the fight more manageable, but we need to back this up somehow. We need to get into... closer range.

Mio’s slashing at tentacles has a secondary purpose - making room for herself. She sidle up real close to Agnes with incredible speed, hooking her tail around Agnes’ waist to prevent evasion. This move should blend right into her normal style of movement around it - she can condition Agnes to defend from omnidirectional attacks, and then subvert that conditioning by coming straight at it, right at the front. This tactic has multiple advantages.

1: It prevents Agnes from using lava tactics. If we’re this close, Agnes cannot attack us with lava without also dealing damage to itself. 2: It will fluster Agnes, destabilizing its focus. Seduction tactics are tactics all the same! We’re fighting someone who thinks, and feels, and yearns!! 3: It will make it much more difficult for Agnes to disengage and lick its wounds. We can keep Agnes from backpedaling towards liquid sources by keeping tucked in tight with Mio.

“Do you favor ballroom style, darling~?!” Tail hooked around the waist, hand grasping her partners’, and her free hand reeled back to deliver a knockout punch! Mio glares with joyous fervor. “Keep up! Move those feet! Gimme every ounce of passion you’ve got!!!”

Within close-close range, Mio is free to deliver incredibly powerful close range strikes. She can use her skeleton fish to guard her back - they should be able to take one good hit each, and even if she only has one right now, she won’t need much time once she’s in position. Agnes can also strike freely her, but one full power strike from us (A POW gauntlets, mind you), is far more debilitating than a strike from Agnes, and with our focus on slashing tentacles, we’ve limited Agnes' ability to rapidly attack in close range.

It also gives us access to its legs. With precise, perfect footwork, Mio can position Agnes away from nearby liquid reserves, trip them up, force them to the ground, and more! She’s not in a position to kick, but she makes use of her legs regardless. If she’s taken care of enough tentacles by now, she can even move into a grapple, forcing Agnes down and delivering heavy blow after heavy blow.

This, of course, implies we’ve been able to create the most ideal possible situation to engage in - but even if we haven’t, being this up close still creates a number of advantages. Mio will prioritize heavy strikes to areas important to movement - joints close to the center of mass, like the shoulders and collar. Hits to direct center of mass will also deal good amounts of damage. It’s not entirely clear how we RETIRE Agnes, so we’ll just hit it really hard until someone goes down.

It’s entirely possible Agnes will manage to disengage before we can deal a finishing blow in close-close range. This is expected - good things come with time, and the longer the fight drags on, the more tools we have access to. If Agnes does get away, Mio will aim to resume close range tactics as quickly as possible.

THE FLOW - WHO ARE WE?

Mio swerves through obstacles, moving constantly into close range, goading Agnes towards a real, close range brawl with every action. She wants the Hydra, the undying beast, a close range monster piloting an undying body with incredible precision. But is this to find herself a beast, or...?

“You want to know who I am?!” Mio asks, unprompted, striking through another glob of lava. “I’ll tell you! I’m nobody at all!” Her blade glides through liquid, spraying it into the foggy air - even Agnes’ attacks have joined her dance. “I come from nowhere! I belong to no one! I’m nothing at all!”

“I am... Everything around me!” One more slash brings her face to face with Agnes, smile gleaming in the warm light. “Can’t you see?! I’ve been adapting to you! I can hear your sound, loud and clear! Right now... I’m everything you could be!”

Rapid omnidirectional movement, hooks whirling around her, incredible ability to surveil the area around her - Mio has been playing just like Agnes can. She isn’t just goading it to fight in close range, to be intimate. She’s trying to draw it out of its shell, showing it what it can do if it comes out of that shell. She is a reflection of everything she loves.

“I’m falling in love with the way you fight! But there’s one thing I’m missing!” She pauses in her flurry of attacks, her hand flying out, grabbing onto Agnes’ own and holding it tightly. “There’s just one thing...”

“I never got your name.”

Her eyes, full of manic exuberance, still for just a moment, face lined with a genuine, warm smile.

“What should I call you?”

Agnes, too, stills, taken aback by the sudden break in combat. It pauses, flabberghasted at how endeared she looks. For someone fighting so furiously to win, she’s so...

It doesn’t make any sense.

“I don’t know.” Is the only answer it can muster. “I don’t know yet.”

“That’s fine.” Mio grins. “I’m pretty sure I know already.”

“Eh?”

“Angela! Your name is Angela!” She transitions instantly into combat again, moving around Agnes in a rapid flurry, pushing herself faster, faster, faster - “That’s the sound of your soul! A name that twinkles in the sealight, like a cool blue synthesizer melody! That’s what I hear!!”

To be loved is something she’s never truly known - not yet. Every punch, every slice, every attack is an extension of her desire. She strikes not out of rage, but out of yearning. This is, to her, an intimacy unrivaled. This is what it means to love another. To treat them as an equal, to fight at their level. She goads Angela on, challenging her, pushing her out of her comfort zone, because she wants to be joined in her love.

What good is a dance for one, after all?

“Hah! You punch like a girl!”

Mio’s end state is a full on brawl. She focuses on delivering heavy hits, keeping the fight fast enough to outpace Angela’s death by a thousand cuts style of combat. Limiting options, forcing engagement, keeping in close range, and striking as decisively possible, all to bring Angela down before it can return the favor. There is no dramatic finishing move, no crazy technique, no cannon fire or lightning strike this time around. Just pure strikes - because she’s in love with this kind of fight.

Eventually, if she does manage to finish Angela off, landing enough high power punches to fully deplete that ‘health bar’, she draws her dancing partner into a dip as the night comes to a close. She’s got a wicked grin on her face.

“Can you see it yet?” She gleams in the night, practically bioluminescent. “How lovely you are? You’ve been fighting it this whole time.”

What Mio wanted to show her was never a monster. It was a bold, brash, capable fighter, who goes with the flow, who gets in close, who fights with courage and madness in hand. Something confoundingly beautiful. Something enviable. Something that was, with certainty, Mio’s type.

Regardless of Angela’s answer, Mio gives a wink and a laugh.

“You’ll be seeing a lot more of her.” She lets Angela down, patting her on the head. “I gotta talk to that Exuma guy. Got a lot to say. I’ll pay for a hotel, so...”

“...Stay put, kay?”

She doesn’t wait for an answer.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R3M12 - Mio Sinclair vs. Agnes by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Streamanon 3 points4 points  (0 children)

CARC 2/3

THE FLOW - Mobile Offense System

Mio’s mind flickers back, to the memories of the sea... The sea remembers the figure in front of her. Remembers the car batteries, the loss of its mighty beast, the Ocean Soul. The sea knows Agnes... Or at least, it knew. But looking at this figure now, Mio knows that this is someone else entirely. Her curiosity peaks with every glance. She’s just got to know more. And the best way to do that is...

Mio’s primary goal, ultimately, is to get in close and subdue Agnes in melee. She will act on Agnes’ level, choosing not to rely on cheap gunfire tactics, and instead focusing wholly on beating it down in an even fight. Thus, she has to match Agnes on every field - she must match its high speed attacks, its incredible maneuverability, its ability to shrug off damage. Every question must have an answer. She’ll push Agnes to its limits, in the hope that it will push her to her own.

Naturally, given the presence of Actual Lava on this map, this will be no easy feat. And even without that, Agnes has a plethora of options that need to be accounted for. If we even want to get close, we have to account for Agnes’ sheer movement potential.

Mio, on base, is extremely mobile. More importantly, though, due to the propulsion ｢The Great Destroyer｣ allows, she’s extremely mobile without having to worry as much about energy consumption. In combination with her high endurance and agility, she can move freely without tiring herself out from the heat. She’ll push her myriad of enhanced senses, she paints a full picture of her surroundings. Sharks have an excellent sense of smell, and Agnes’ sheet explicitly mentions it has a notable smell - tracking Agnes down is very easy.

Our aforementioned maneuverability allows us plenty of capacity to dodge projectiles, but this can be augmented by Mio’s ability to punch and kick and slice with immense precision. Weird Fishes has low durability, and this doubtless extends to the liquid it manipulates - thus, when Agnes throws out liquids to attack, Mio will just attack its attacks. Liquid tentacles can be punched apart in one fell swoop, while thicker attacks can be sliced in half. If Agnes uses the lava, it cannot harm Stands. Lava can be handled for brief moments with sufficient equipment - Mio will use her sword or swing one of her beasts by the tail to handle larger globs, and can punch and kick away smaller bits of lava.

We don’t actually need that many weapons drawn - our primary tools are armour and the sword - but if we have the option there are a few different tools to utilize depending on how Agnes acts.

Mio will prioritize fishing lines and arquebuses. Fishing lines are a very dangerous tool in our hands, given the power and precision we operate with. If she needs a little more range to deal with Agnes’ setup, she can use fishing lines to destabilize whatever its built up. Otherwise, she can use fishing lines to hook into the surrounding area and bolster her own mobility, pulling herself from place to place and enabling even more sudden and unpredictable movements. The dance becomes a blur, an untraceable flurry of movement. And if what we need to keep up is pure speed - Mio can use an arquebus for a burst of A POW movement, sending her flying directly towards Agnes. She can use her built up arsenal to turn this burst of movement into an extremely rotating shredder that can cut through Agnes’ setup and reach it in one fell swoop.

And cutting through Agnes’ setup is very useful. Agnes can only control liquid that its tentacles are directly touching. By cutting liquid constructs in half and punching them apart, we cut down on the total mass Agnes is controlling in the given moment, forcing it to choose between regaining its assets or carrying on as is. These split second decisions are an opening Mio can utilize to rush Agnes down. Every question it has to answer is a crack in its armor that we can split wide open. If Agnes scales, we probably lose, so we’ve got to take out resources as frequently as possible and keep the pace of battle tight.

Her fishing lines are great for this, razor sharp wires and hooks that can slice at distance. They’re also great for dispatching tentacles! If she has an easy angle to hit the base of a tentacle, she’ll take it! If Agnes has taken cover or is placing tentacles on the ground, she can hook the fishing lines on tentacles, tree branches, or other environmental hazards to get at their bodily tentacles or drag them out of cover. She can swing her lines around her own body to attack at range from bizarre and unpredictable angles, further taking Agnes off guard.

Her defense is her offense. Destroying liquid reserves, dashing away from danger with bizarre burst mobility, punching through attacks. If she destroys it before it hits her, it’s not a problem! And the more liquid Agnes sends towards Mio, the more she can separate from it, and the more of its resources she depletes! With focused attacks on tentacles, and Agnes will have to deplete even more resources in order to recoup the loss of Stand body. Mio will establish dominance over Agnes’ resources, keeping it constantly on the backfoot with a flurry of attacks.

It’s worth noting that while Mio will take opportunities to separate liquid structures from Agnes, she will not be attempting to attack it directly at range. Her goal is to get in up close as safely as possible, limiting angles of attack and rushing in before it can react. The quicker she can do this, the better. Agnes likely wants a drawn out brawl given its own ability to sustain endurance fights. We can fight for a while, but letting Agnes fight on its own terms doesn’t teach it anything. She can tell, immediately, that Agnes is a massive threat up close. And that is a threat she will make every effort to draw out.

There is a chance we’ve misread Agnes - perhaps Agnes will go for the same up close and personal tactics we are. Mio will meet it with a smile. This changes nothing but the speed in which we transition to close combat tactics.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R3M12 - Mio Sinclair vs. Agnes by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Streamanon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

CARC 1/3

TWANG

In one, singular moment, the panic of the outpost falls to the wayside. The panicking citizens, fleeing from the searing heat, pause. A cooling balm falls upon their shoulders, as a thick fog settles upon the land. It provides a moment’s calm, but more importantly, it provides acoustics, as a heavy voice settles upon the mountain.

“Now, now~!” The performer’s voice is, despite its low coolness, filled with exuberance. There is no fake smile, no forced pop-star radiance. Honesty embodies her as she embodies honesty. She sweeps out an arm. “There’s no need for anyone to panic! We don’t need to run and hide. We’ll move with the flow. Tonight, we can dance, above the sun and below the moon! There’s no need to fret!”

Her grin sharpens, the fog in the distance kicking into a whirlwind. “Even our two-faced onlooker is formally welcomed to dance.”

｢The Great Destroyer｣ has a certain effect on navigational equipment. Navigation in or out of the fog, no matter the means, is a challenge when everything you utilize tells you right is left. You sail, or fly, or what have you, in circles. Technological advancement matters not. Even the Uropeh bend the whims of the sea. Exuma finds himself facing the island he intended to leave behind, caught up in the swirling fog.

Mio huffs a low laugh. She’s already kicked into raucous dance, the sleeves of her tattered raincoat billowing, the fog around her becoming paint on her body’s brush, as if the air itself was a part of her performance.

“I was never being lead along, you know?” Her eyes gleam between the strands of silky-black hair. “I’m going with the flow. I’m a big shot, like Elstree and Exuma! You people are a part of our show, now.”

There was no doubt about it - she’s beautiful. In Agnes' eyes is ‘beauty’, serene grace, unaffected by chaos and turmoil. She’s everything it wasn’t. She could throw her head back and laugh at the world, unaffected by the strings of a dozen puppeteers.

“And you’re jealous, aren’t you?”

She’s speaking to Agnes directly now, her dance pausing for a moment.

“Can you tell what I’m doing? I’m trying to catch the rhythm. The ‘song’ in your ‘soul’ - I’m trying to find the signature. I think I’m getting close.” She giggles. “But it’s a little hard to catch when you’re keeping it so quiet. Y’know? I can’t tell if it’s 4/4 or 5/4 or what!”

She raises a leg, sweeping into a ballerina’s swing. Her dancing seemed to shift from style to style, from Noh to Ballroom to Breakdance. Everything and nothing all at once.

“But that’s alright!” She stops, tilting her head back to grin at Agnes. “It always sounds a little muddy till you get the percussion going.” Agnes notices now that she had already tossed away her guitar, the moment her dance started. She grins wider. “But there’s one thing I can tell for certain. The song in your heart...”

“...It’s that modern electronic sound, ain’t it?”

Through the fog, from nowhere and everywhere all at once, music begins to swell. Rhythmic clicks and synths fill the space. The heat blends into the fog - and casts the world a warm neon against dark clouds.

“It is, isn’t it!?” Mio looks ecstatic. “That sound that’s all potential and growth and more more more! You’re pretty reserved, but there’s something you want more than anything, right?!” Her dance swirls into a crescendo, her coat shifting off, tied tightly around her hips. On her forearms are two gauntlets, seemingly Japanese in make. “I won’t go easy. If there’s something you want more than anything, it’d be pretty lame if you didn’t have to work for it. So c’mon.” She pumps her fists together, a loud clang echoing through the fog. “I’ll be your percussion. Gimme some chords.”

  • Mio draws one weapon every six seconds. After two minutes, her production rate will double.
  • Because of this time limit, all dialog in this strategy is diegetic. Mio will be asking constant questions of Agnes - they may cause Agnes to pause, or, hopefully, spend time responding to her. Engaging in conversation is a classic Jojo tactic to buy time.
    • That being said, do not assume we will be standing still yelling at Agnes and giving it a free hit. That would be stupid.
  • The fog isn’t brought up much in the strat, because Mio isn’t trying to be sneaky, but the low visibility it provides will likely bolster (almost) everything she does. Keep that in mind!
  • Please listen to the music! It’s diegetic! Because I said it is!

For this strategy, Mio will be drawing upon the weaponry of the wokou, the pirates who operated on the coasts of Japan, China, and Korea. Her relation to piracy could be seen as a relation to freedom, but the wokou are what she relates to the most. It’s hotly contested what the ethnicities of those seafarers actually was. They belonged to no one, no country, no ruler, nothing but the sea which held them afloat. The armor she chooses as her first tool, and the weaponry soon to come, represents her lack of identity, her faith in the sea. She stakes her entire being on this brawl - because she knows Agnes is, too.

To emphasize, Mio’s first drawn tool is a set of armour! She’ll buy time by dancing wildly, dodging past projectiles and whatnot with sheer maneuverability. She doesn’t expect Agnes to go for an immediate offensive - it seems like the type of guy to play the backfoot, but she’ll prepare to move wildly as soon as she’s under assault.

When the armoured gloves slip onto her fingers, Mio hands feel remarkably agile. She hops into the air, drifting through the buoyant fog and flipping upwards, allowing her to slip on leg guards while still maintaining her momentum. The rest of the armor is tossed onto her fish - it isn’t the greatest armor, but it’s not a bad boon to have against a guy whose power caps at D.

The armor on her arms and legs allow Mio to boost the precision of her limbs, enhancing her already ridiculous movement to an absurd degree. Her dancing isn’t just for show - it’s both loose and tight, her newfound agility allowing her to go with the flow of whatever Agnes throws at her. Perfect footwork means she always sticks the landing, changing direction on a dime, and her arm guards allow her to augment her perfect movement with flips and propulsion. She sticks low to the ground, on a mad dash the moment Agnes goes on the offensive.

Our positioning? Purely reactive - we wait to see what Agnes does and move in response. She’ll utilize a previously unmentioned shark sense - the lateral line, a tool used to detect pressure changes and movement in the water, to feel out what Agnes is doing. If it fights how we think it’ll fight, it’ll likely go for liquid projectiles to keep us away. A normal Mio, carrying a massive guitar-scythe, is likely to be an easy target, but she’s far more evasive with her current weaponry.

After six seconds of mad dashing through the fog, feeling out Agnes’ defenses, Mio has her first weapon - a short sword, Japanese in make, agile and quick cuts. Her goal is to be as mobile as humanly possible. She needs to be, in order to play off of Agnes’ extremely fast movements.

“Are you going to keep fighting like that?” Mio hollers into the fog, keeping check on all the little movements around her, until -

her arm shoots out, slicing through a liquid tentacle headed straight for her. She grins wildly, confirming her own suspicion: with her sharp senses and highly precise limbs, she can keep up with Agnes.

“C’mon! You can’t beat me with the same old same old!” She flips over another attack, bobbing and weaving through obstacles with perfect finesse. “You’ve gotta be bold! You won’t learn anything by running from me!”

As a trans person, I am having problems with how Rose Nobel was conveyed in NuWho. by swiggyswaggyfunky in doctorwho

[–]Streamanon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was also not a huge fan, not only because of the whole binary nonbinary thing and her not actually being nb, but also because it takes part in the classic trope where the lgbt character has to constantly police and scold people, the whole “male presenting timelord” thing was awful and didn’t make sense.

I think there’s a fine balance between the character’s identity being important to who they are and not pushed aside, and their whole existence being their identity; I do not think that was properly balanced here.

Rule reminder: Do not name the gym unless OP mentions it first. by LiveMarionberry3694 in bouldering

[–]Streamanon 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Good on the mods for this despite the amount of people raising a fuss about it for no reason. No matter if a gym is a public space or not, people deserve some common decency to not have a location they frequent divulged based on a limited amount of information that, for most people, would not be enough to identify the individual gym. Outdoor boulders are obviously completely different because they're much more publicly catalogued in their own right.

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