JJOCT7 R6M3 Jojolity

Judge Godzilla (Logic)

Both strats made their Kaiju buddies the centrepiece of their strats, with protecting and working alongside them being a core mechanical and narrative focus. The Integration of both strats is thus robustly met by the amount, variety, and diffusion of Jojolity plays, and my detailing of these plays follows readily from my Quality analysis and from a skim of the strats. Both strats readily earn themselves at least 7s. While I am more conservative in awarding Jojolity points for Narrative than other Judges, on second read, I find that the narrative is found in more than just prose, but also the game actions taken. Vasant's raising of Ananda is more than the conversations between the two (which are very endearing, mind), but also reflect Vasant's increasing trust in his monster son's ability to act on his own. Rather than the story existing in parallel to the mechanics, the two develop in concert and reflect each other.

Which leads me to Lucil. I’ve often used Creativity as the factor that pushes Strats, and Lucil’s decision to raise both Kaiju strikes me as sufficiently so. My comments on the ludonarrative of the strat not only apply to Lucil's strat, but where stealing Vasant’s Baby to immediately RETIRE it could have win the match quickly, instead looking to /raise/ him as your own and framing interference as a custody battle is the kind of “suboptimal” play for Jojolity's sake that Judges look to reward. It is a very close difference, but Lucil gets a low [9] to Vasant's high [8].

Judge Mothra (Alpha)

Now, onto the writing side! We’ve got a wonderful JoJolity for you today, folks, and it’s: Be a Good Parent!

We’ll start with Vasant and his ‘dad stories’. If you’ve ever sat down with your dad and had a long chat about life, you’ve heard the kind of story Vasant is here to tell. It’s not going to be identical, of course, but it’s going to have that same spirit as sitting down next to your dad while he tells you about that time he and a buddy broke open a fire hydrant and put out a forest fire themselves, letting the firefighters gawk and scream at them. Hell, your dad might even admit to starting it…

That aside, Vasant keeps himself abreast of the baby and its influences, like Lucil. Lucil is an influence that Vasant tries to keep as ‘over there’ as humanly possible, not because he’s not willing to co-parent, but because he understands that she can beat the fuck out of him and his child if left to her own devices.

Vasant’s movements and motions have an almost ‘buddy cop’ feel to them, where Vasant is the tired old man on the force, and Ananda is the fire-breathing new guy who’s gonna settle the end of the movie by saving Vasant’s life or avenging him after he admits he’s three days from retirement.

I don’t really have much to say past this besides other feelings, so this’n gets a **7** outta me.

Moving onto Lucil, we have Implementation, Implementation, Implementation!

Raising two kids as a single monster-mom is tiring work, especially when Deadbeat Motorcycle Dad Extraordinaire Vasant Bulsara is hot on your trail- potentially, if he ever finishes fixing that bike- looking for the Alimony money… and his stolen child from the first marriage.

Lucil makes sure to care for and feed the children, but not too much! She doesn’t want them to leave the nest just yet! She’ll be doing all the heavy lifting while her belts do the same, keeping the babies strapped to her person at all times! She does force-feed them both rocks at some point, making it easy to teleport to them if something happens. It’s… it’s also, yanno. Well, I’m not gonna tell you how to parent, mine sucked.

Lucil spends most of her time doting on the kids and dodging the Alimony Snatcher, right up until it’s time for the kids to grow up and leave the nest… so she feeds them both until they’re adults, then sides with the favorite to ground the unfavorite. Yeah, that sounds like my cousins’ home life.

There’s a lot of good work in implementation and throughput here, and I don’t have too much to say outside of that. I can rest easy giving this an **8**.

Judge Jet Jaguar (Arch)

As for Jojolities, I’ll be brief. Both parties brought their own flavors of parenting into this match. Vasant went with a nurturing angle, following the steps his own father took in raising him, continuing the cycle of learning and fostering growth. There are some sweet moments between Vasant and Ananda, showing that a bond that transcends human and kaiju has been formed. Thus, I’m giving this Jojolity an 8. Well done!

As for Lucil, the baby-nabbing is an unconventional approach to parenthood, but from her perspective, this is what’s best for both kaijus. After all, why shouldn’t monsters be raised by a monster? Despite the violence in the retrieval stage, Lucil cares for both kaijus as if they were her own children. And for all intents and purposes, they were. She raised them, fed them, and sacrificed herself as a mother to provide for these kids, following them all the way through their growing pains. The bold maneuver at the beginning of the match serves the narrative incredibly well, and the integration of this parental journey throughout the strat was a joy to read, even in a twisted sort of way. Thus, I’m giving this strategy a 9. Well done!