BCTheEntity

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Verum Autem Ex

@Old Amsterdam
Once he’d received the cards back, the comedian stood stock still for several seconds, glancing between the woman who was showing him genuine kindness and the laughing man his Stand had gently slapped earlier. It was almost comical, the way his gaze switched between the two like a rabbit caught in headlights as he put the pieces together. Not so much the fact that the laughing man was by now beginning to collapse on the ground with laughter or whatever had afflicted him, a whooping laugh that indicated he was probably starting to exhale more than he inhaled.

But the whole time, the funnyman’s expression gradually turned to an annoyed frown, and eventually he muttered ‘Sure, you can be the cliff, or you can be the rocks. But say you’ve been trying to become a cliff?’ he explained. ‘Trying to build yourself up, achieve your life’s goal, but then whenever you give it your all, those rocks just start pummelling you in the head, knocking you back down...’ There seemed to be a very personal component to what he was saying, and it didn’t take much thought to consider that maybe it had something to do with his work as a comedian.

‘What do you do about that, then?’ he asked, petulant and almost whining a little. ‘You don’t know what that’s like, do you, being pummelled with rocks all your life for doing what you love... what right do people like him have to crap on that sort of dedication?’ Apparently, he’d at least partly convinced himself that he was still in the right here. Even that seemed to waver quite a bit, though; a little more persuasion could well be enough to ensure he did what Laurie wanted him to. Soon would probably be preferable, considering what was going on in the background.

---

@ProPro
There wasn’t much else to consider. The woman’s speech continued in the background as Leonard jogged away from the gathering, drawing cheers from the other bystanders. It wouldn’t take him especially long to return to the entrance he and Mieke had come in by, and if she returned in due course, they could be off within a few minutes.

---

@knifeman
As Mieke fell to the ground in shock, the smaller of the two performers glanced in her direction, only for his eyes to widen with apparent shock behind his sunglasses, followed shortly by his larger partner. Immediately, the tone and pace of their conversation changed, becoming much more rapid and concerned, yet even more incomprehensible than before, though at least one gesture was made in Mieke’s direction.

Abruptly, the leader leapt into the pool, apparently to retrieve his fallen comrade, whilst the bigger individual climbed down ponderously from the top of the van and began walking into the crowd, staring intently at everybody he passed, especially as he drew closer to Mieke’s form.

‘Excuse me, miss?’ he uttered politely with the same thick accent as his partner in a deeper tone, looking down at Mieke with a not unkind, but quite focused expression. ‘Whilst I appreciate that what you’ve just seen might be upsetting, I assure you, it’s all part of the act. That said, I do need you to stop crying. You’re, uh... you might get somebody injured...’

As he trailed off, he tried his best to draw Mieke’s attention discreetly to what was happening around her. It seemed that her Stand had manifested of its own accord, and was now crying in tandem with her - leaving floating crystals in its wake around the girl, sharp as razors, or so it would seem. And who knew what they’d do if they touched anybody? If one paid attention, one might also hear the buzz of her phone, indicating a couple of messages received.

---

@LemonZest1337@Lugubrious
As the man observed the one-sided dialogue between Arthur and Hogan, his expression slowly turned from concern to interest, and even showed hints of being quite impressed at Arthur’s last line.

‘Huh. An animal show, eh?’ he asked. ‘That’s pretty cool, yeah... an’ this guy Hogan, he’s gonna be part of it? Honestly, animals have never been my thing too much, but I guess a ‘gator would need to be trained for a show, no matter its size. I won’t keep ya, then,’ he obliged, turning to walk away, the rest of the crowd following suit once they realised nothing fun was happening. ‘I hope this show a yours is a good’un!’

The World Unravelled: A God RP

Copying this over for posterity's sake. I think I just need to get the anathema and relationships sorted out before the sheet is completed.

The God-Emperor of Mankind

Name: Legio
Gender: Male
Appearance:

Legio is roughly thirteen feet tall under normal circumstances, and aside from his primary form, it seems he prefers to subtly alter his appearance to look just about however he likes to any given observer, though this will very rarely veer from any appearance other than human.

Core Appearance:

The Globus Aquila, a heavily bejewelled orb of gold, glowing a similar colour, with the symbol of a double-headed eagle mounted atop it.

Major Domains: Humans/Humanity
Minor Domains: Truth, Bravery, Progress
Opposing Domains: N/A

Personality: With the race of humanity specifically as his domain, the Emperor of Man is naturally very inclined toward keeping his charges safe, to an almost obsessive degree. Whilst not actively aggressive toward most mortal races, he firmly believes that humanity is destined to become the dominant race over all others, mortals and immortals alike, and a lot of his morality is based around the notion of paving the way for humanity to achieve this fate, and in particular finding a way for them to outlive the Roil as the gods do in order to ensure their infinite potential for progress goes unbroken. That said, Legio has an honourable streak about him that he insists the humans who worship him emulate, being brave in the face of harsh odds, and honest in the face of lies and deception; though his own plans sometimes necessitate omitting information, he is for the most part not needlessly cruel in any sense, and he can be very friendly, at least to those who don't oppose him.

Relationships: Those who assist humanity's destiny are beloved, those who hinder it are despised. The nuance depends on what degree of assistance or hindrance is offered, though as a general rule, active interference by either the deity or their subjects will bring about more powerful feelings than passive interactions either way.

Allegiances: Whilst Legio did actively support Sandrimor in past cycles just to ensure he wasn't ousted by a less favourable deity, he is currently gunning for the empty throne himself, and whilst the Emperor of Mankind has no intent to be needlessly selfish about his leadership - after all, some insight from other perspectives could always be appreciated - he would be hard put-upon to accept a situation where he is not King of the Gods in some sense, as this would be what he feels is best for Mankind.

Domain: The Divine City of Emanule - A massive, glorious city where the streets are literally paved with gold, or rather glow gold with something immanent and much more valuable than mere metal. Humans in this place often bear a great deal of magical potential, and have a tendency to live several times longer than those beyond its borders; additionally, humanity's best aspects are somehow encouraged, facilitating peace and loyalty to one another without its citizens losing mind of Emanule's defense when it is required. Indeed, to that end, the barracks of the Eternal Wardens is situated here, the superhuman troops training constantly when they aren't out at Legio's bidding in an effort to perfect their prowess in all areas, and Legio's central palace is situated here too, the central room throneless as he seeks to serve his people as best he can, though that typically takes the form of ongoing testing and experimentation in order to achieve his primary goal.

Peoples: Legio's main, and technically only, people are humans - a quirk of evolution from the first cycle who as a species prayed to singular all-powerful beings that didn't exist yet, and so forged Legio from their residual, generalised belief in "the one true god" as a spawn of the second cycle. Whilst somewhat unique in their adaptability and development, not to mention their plentiful nature, the vast majority of humans are not typically exceptional relative to a lot of other races, and whilst each cycle has its epic human heroes as well as its totally average civilians, it is all too frequent for them to be considered the weakest of mortal races without their deity's backing. The exception to this, a development from just last cycle, lies in the form of those humans who Legio has seen fit to, in essence, uplift.

Eternal Wardens

Occasionally, a human will arise with strength, skill, magic, or any combination of these, far beyond what is usual for mankind in its current state, who sets forth to achieve great things and exceeds all expectations. It is to these heroes that Legio descends, and through use of his power over mortal, specifically human souls, he strengthens their very essence, not only enhancing their own being to near-bursting but imbuing them with a tiny portion of his own divine strength.
The result is an Eternal Warden: human in form, yet far beyond human in all other aspects, they are unaging, incredibly difficult to kill for all manner of reasons, and by some human societies considered angels or even minor demigods in their own right. After their ascension, they are inducted into Legio's personal army, gifted with even greater training in all fields of combat, science and philosophy, and ultimately bestowed weapons and armour forged from the finest magic-imbued materials to fight with. Those rare few who are exceptional even among these paragons lead their number and the charge, armed with Anathema weapons when plausible just in case the occasion arises that a god needs slaying by an immortal.
Most tellingly of the Master of Mankind's worldview, even the Eternal Wardens are considered by Legio to be mere shadows of what the human race shall eventually accomplish, as they too are inevitably destroyed by the Roil: though treated well, he expects that they will eventually be eclipsed, and hopes they will not hold themselves back when the time comes to move onward.

Avatar and Anathema:

The Colossus

An immense living statue made of solid metal and imbued with Legio's divine essence, the Colossus takes the form of the humans it is designed to protect sans the vital organs that it would otherwise require, and has been armed with a giant round shield, and an equally massive sizeshifting blade. Easily as large as or larger than any living Avatar of the other gods, the Colossus' construction makes it nearly immune to defeat by most means short of decapitation or the removal of all four limbs due to a lack of organic weak points, and consequently relatively easy to "resurrect" through simple reforging, not to mention capable of taking or avoiding heavy hits just as well as it doles them out.

Anathema - To Be Modified

The Golden Aegis - A suit of well-decorated golden armour, as seen above. The armour itself is unencumbering despite its bulk, and extraordinarily hard and tough, very difficult to penetrate or crush even with high-quality Godsbane weapons; what makes it truly powerful, however, is the fact that it shields its wearer from negative mental effects such as fear or mind control, as well as projecting an aura of bravery and stamina that imbues those fighting for Legio to keep up pressure against a foe no matter how much they would otherwise be flagging - very useful for avoiding a rout, but it could also work against them if a retreat would in fact be the most pertinent option.
The Blade Imperium - A weapon forged for Legio back in the time when he aspired for Boletia's ascendancy as the sole human empire, this is not only an incredibly well-crafted Godsbane sword in its own right, as seen above, but a strong focus for Legio's own magical abilities. By imbuing his power into it, he can generate a telekinetic effect far more extreme than usual that manifests as incorporeal flames around the sword, allowing it to cut through most substances like water, launch slashes of force as long-distance strikes, produce makeshift barriers to guard against enemy attacks, or even generate a sort of psychic whip to strike his enemies with.
The Claw of Man's Mastery - An immensely large Godsbane gauntlet with blades for fingers, as seen above. Much like the Blade Imperium, the Emperor can focus his power into the blades to let them safely hold or sharply cut through most materials, though with nothing like as much strength or control as the Blade Imperium. Instead, the Claw's effects are intended to enhance the best aspects of humanity, emitting an aura that substantially amplifies the capabilities of most humans in its range to better push them toward their perceived destiny - their strength and speed are boosted beyond normal human limits, they acquire a healing factor that can stitch together light to moderate wounds in relatively short order, and their minds enter a state of thought that is improved both quantatively and qualitively compared to usual, letting the average soldier fight with greater effectiveness, and allowing their leaders to develop complex and brilliant tactics and strategies on the fly.

Misc:

Capes of Denver: A Worm RP

Alessa Heather: PRT HQ

Alessa exhaled as, it seemed, the matter was resolved peaceably enough. Thank goodness. The reminder that they had school tomorrow was a bit of a downer, but the fact they’d avoided a fight between one another...

...huh. Why did she still feel as though the situation was still quite... negative? Well, Evelyn had set terms, which had been accepted by Director Kens. But, if she saw fit to be so upset about a matter like this again... who knew what might happen later on? Alessa had been so concerned about making sure Margrave was doing decently, and yet it seemed wherever she turned, she was neglecting the needs of all her-

‘Oh, yeah, of course,’ she nodded, a tad surprised by the sudden question, but reminding herself that she and Lillian were partners now. Romantic partners. Gosh. She honestly hadn’t thought she’d get a boyfriend or a girlfriend any time soon, and yet here she was, agreeing to her second date in as many days of their relationship. And that sparked a thought: was she playing favourites? Hell, she hoped not.

Whilst Lillian made her request of the Director and Decoy, Alessa sidled over to Evelyn before she could take her leave, and quietly uttered ‘Listen, Lyn, uh... I feel like this situation might not have come about if there weren’t some issues with... management, I guess. If there’s anything you want to talk to me about in the future,’ she continued, a touch of concern leaking into her statement, ‘like if there’s anything you think I could be doing better or just any concerns of your own that you have, please do come and talk to me whenever you want, okay?’ She did want things to go as smoothly for the Wards as possible, of course she did. If that meant providing for her allies something that wasn’t being provided already, then why shouldn’t she offer herself as a resource for their use?

Warhammer 40k: Enemy Without, Enemy Within - an 'Ecclesiarchal' RP [Mature][High Casual/Low Advanced]

The intense, holy fury that both Sister Lisbeth and Crusader Therebus fought with in that combat was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Though much of her focus was set upon ensuring Sister Vitruvia lived to fight another day- and she had, by the time the combat was over, or at least done the absolute best job she could have- Alexa saw enough to be very impressed... or at least very concerned for just how vicious Sister Dominica was being. She'd thrown up over the man even as she kept fighting, pummeling him to a bloody pulp with her fists almost before Therebus could finish the job with his own weapon. Suffice to say, when Sister-Celestian Victorine requested that she take care of their respective injuries, Alexa simply nodded, and did her job.

---

Thankfully, none of the wounds either Lisbeth or Therebus had sustained were too unresolvable on the field. Therebus in particular was far from lethally wounded, whilst Lisbeth's wounds were ultimately easily fixed within a few minutes or so of work. That was important, because it gave her three days to work on the much more gruesome injuries of some of her compatriots, most notably the facial burn received by the Confessor earlier that fight - and that needed a lot of time to properly mend, strained further by his own orders to counsel Sister Lisbeth over her outburst.

Still, she fulfilled her work as best she could. She healed the sick and the wounded, and ingrained into her mind the short memory of their fallen comrade; as nobody could have saved Sister Caroline in the timespan they were given, and she would indeed have gone to the Emperor's side in death, Alexa only flagellated herself for a few minutes each evening in recompense, making a mental note as well to place a new bead on her Chaplet-Ecclesiasticus when she was able to. She'd not known Sister Caroline for very long, but she imagined she might have wished to, under more fortunate circumstances.

To then be told the Adepta Sororitas were required to wear formal dresses, after such a fierce and tragic battle, seemed to Alexa to be a bit of an insult, not only to Caroline personally, but to the Order of Our Thrice-Pierced Martyr and its sister Orders as a whole. Indeed, in acknowledgement of her own great height, Alexa was presented with the very longest dress available, and yet the dark blue slip still only reached down to her knees. She felt nudified just staring at herself in the mirror, and even with a scarf wrapped round her shoulders - a fine silky grey item of the sort a high-class woman might wear for fashion - she didn't think it hid how the straps of the dress wouldn't quite connect, and how it was thus only held up by her own frame filling it out a bit too much.

Her only comfort would be that she would be allowed to retain her chirurgeon's tool glove, medical in nature as that was, thus technically not a weapon - not to be put on unless absolutely necessary, of course. If they were caught in a trap, as she and she imagined every other Sister on board strongly suspected they might, it'd be the only thing resembling a weapon she had access to. Further still, even if she weren't already exceptionally tall, she would easily stand out the most among her peers for her ill-fitting garments, and the thought concerned her beyond belief, a sort of embarrassment she didn't recognise as such burning her cheeks red until she mastered herself, drawing out her religious dataslate and reading from it, praying to the Emperor for strength until all that remained in her mind was resolve. The sooner this business was concluded adequately, the sooner they could all return to the power armour they were most comfortable with; they just needed to have faith in the God-Emperor until then, as they always did. As she always did. After all, wasn't faith what shielded the Sisters Repentia from otherwise-certain death?

Nonetheless, as she too made her way to the meeting point with her fellow Sisters - paragons of well-dressed culture, at least compared to her - and the chuckling Confessor, Alexa decided that perhaps it'd be best if she didn't draw any more attention to herself than necessary. Thus, she remained utterly silent, looking down at her clasped hands without really realising that her face was betraying her struggle to supplant further embarrassment with loyalty to the Emperor.

The World Unravelled- A God RP

The God-Emperor of Mankind

Name: Legio
Gender: Male
Appearance:

Legio is roughly thirteen feet tall under normal circumstances, and aside from his primary form, it seems he prefers to subtly alter his appearance to look just about however he likes to any given observer, though this will very rarely veer from any appearance other than human.

Core Appearance:

The Globus Aquila, a heavily bejewelled orb of gold, glowing a similar colour, with the symbol of a double-headed eagle mounted atop it.

Major Domains: Humans/Humanity
Minor Domains: Truth, Bravery, Progress
Opposing Domains: N/A

Personality: With the race of humanity specifically as his domain, the Emperor of Man is naturally very inclined toward keeping his charges safe, to an almost obsessive degree. Whilst not actively aggressive toward most mortal races, he firmly believes that humanity is destined to become the dominant race over all others, mortals and immortals alike, and a lot of his morality is based around the notion of paving the way for humanity to achieve this fate, and in particular finding a way for them to outlive the Roil as the gods do in order to ensure their infinite potential for progress goes unbroken. That said, Legio has an honourable streak about him that he insists the humans who worship him emulate, being brave in the face of harsh odds, and honest in the face of lies and deception; though his own plans sometimes necessitate omitting information, he is for the most part not needlessly cruel in any sense, and he can be very friendly, at least to those who don't oppose him.

Relationships: Those who assist humanity's destiny are beloved, those who hinder it are despised. The nuance depends on what degree of assistance or hindrance is offered, though as a general rule, active interference by either the deity or their subjects will bring about more powerful feelings than passive interactions either way.

Allegiances: Whilst Legio did actively support Sandrimor in past cycles just to ensure he wasn't ousted by a less favourable deity, he is currently gunning for the empty throne himself, and whilst the Emperor of Mankind has no intent to be needlessly selfish about his leadership - after all, some insight from other perspectives could always be appreciated - he would be hard put-upon to accept a situation where he is not King of the Gods in some sense, as this would be what he feels is best for Mankind.

Domain: The Divine City of Emanule - A massive, glorious city where the streets are literally paved with gold, or rather glow gold with something immanent and much more valuable than mere metal. Humans in this place often bear a great deal of magical potential, and have a tendency to live several times longer than those beyond its borders; additionally, humanity's best aspects are somehow encouraged, facilitating peace and loyalty to one another without its citizens losing mind of Emanule's defense when it is required. Indeed, to that end, the barracks of the Eternal Wardens is situated here, the superhuman troops training constantly when they aren't out at Legio's bidding in an effort to perfect their prowess in all areas, and Legio's central palace is situated here too, the central room throneless as he seeks to serve his people as best he can, though that typically takes the form of ongoing testing and experimentation in order to achieve his primary goal.

Peoples: Legio's main, and technically only, people are humans - a quirk of evolution from the first cycle who as a species prayed to singular all-powerful beings that didn't exist yet, and so forged Legio from their residual, generalised belief in "the one true god" as a spawn of the second cycle. Whilst somewhat unique in their adaptability and development, not to mention their plentiful nature, the vast majority of humans are not typically exceptional relative to a lot of other races, and whilst each cycle has its epic human heroes as well as its totally average civilians, it is all too frequent for them to be considered the weakest of mortal races without their deity's backing. The exception to this, a development from just last cycle, lies in the form of those humans who Legio has seen fit to, in essence, uplift.

Eternal Wardens

Occasionally, a human will arise with strength, skill, magic, or any combination of these, far beyond what is usual for mankind in its current state, who sets forth to achieve great things and exceeds all expectations. It is to these heroes that Legio descends, and through use of his power over mortal, specifically human souls, he strengthens their very essence, not only enhancing their own being to near-bursting but imbuing them with a tiny portion of his own divine strength.
The result is an Eternal Warden: human in form, yet far beyond human in all other aspects, they are unaging, incredibly difficult to kill for all manner of reasons, and by some human societies considered angels or even minor demigods in their own right. After their ascension, they are inducted into Legio's personal army, gifted with even greater training in all fields of combat, science and philosophy, and ultimately bestowed weapons and armour forged from the finest magic-imbued materials to fight with. Those rare few who are exceptional even among these paragons lead their number and the charge, armed with Anathema weapons when plausible just in case the occasion arises that a god needs slaying by an immortal.
Most tellingly of the Master of Mankind's worldview, even the Eternal Wardens are considered by Legio to be mere shadows of what the human race shall eventually accomplish, as they too are inevitably destroyed by the Roil: though treated well, he expects that they will eventually be eclipsed, and hopes they will not hold themselves back when the time comes to move onward.

Avatar and Anathema:

The Colossus

An immense living statue made of solid metal and imbued with Legio's divine essence, the Colossus takes the form of the humans it is designed to protect sans the vital organs that it would otherwise require, and has been armed with a giant round shield, and an equally massive sizeshifting blade. Easily as large as or larger than any living Avatar of the other gods, the Colossus' construction makes it nearly immune to defeat by most means short of decapitation or the removal of all four limbs due to a lack of organic weak points, and consequently relatively easy to "resurrect" through simple reforging, not to mention capable of taking or avoiding heavy hits just as well as it doles them out.

Anathema - To Be Modified

The Golden Aegis - A suit of well-decorated golden armour, as seen above. The armour itself is unencumbering despite its bulk, and extraordinarily hard and tough, very difficult to penetrate or crush even with high-quality Godsbane weapons; what makes it truly powerful, however, is the fact that it shields its wearer from negative mental effects such as fear or mind control, as well as projecting an aura of bravery and stamina that imbues those fighting for Legio to keep up pressure against a foe no matter how much they would otherwise be flagging - very useful for avoiding a rout, but it could also work against them if a retreat would in fact be the most pertinent option.
The Blade Imperium - A weapon forged for Legio back in the time when he aspired for Boletia's ascendancy as the sole human empire, this is not only an incredibly well-crafted Godsbane sword in its own right, as seen above, but a strong focus for Legio's own magical abilities. By imbuing his power into it, he can generate a telekinetic effect far more extreme than usual that manifests as incorporeal flames around the sword, allowing it to cut through most substances like water, launch slashes of force as long-distance strikes, produce makeshift barriers to guard against enemy attacks, or even generate a sort of psychic whip to strike his enemies with.
The Claw of Man's Mastery - An immensely large Godsbane gauntlet with blades for fingers, as seen above. Much like the Blade Imperium, the Emperor can focus his power into the blades to let them safely hold or sharply cut through most materials, though with nothing like as much strength or control as the Blade Imperium. Instead, the Claw's effects are intended to enhance the best aspects of humanity, emitting an aura that substantially amplifies the capabilities of most humans in its range to better push them toward their perceived destiny - their strength and speed are boosted beyond normal human limits, they acquire a healing factor that can stitch together light to moderate wounds in relatively short order, and their minds enter a state of thought that is improved both quantatively and qualitively compared to usual, letting the average soldier fight with greater effectiveness, and allowing their leaders to develop complex and brilliant tactics and strategies on the fly.

Misc:

The World Unravelled- A God RP

I am present, and I know what I am doing in it. Legiooooooooooooooooo!

The Sputtering Sun

I too am interested.

Uncharted Isle. (A Monster Hunter RP)

Yurel - Jaggi

Oh man. A herd of Duramboros was the last thing they needed to come across - since he knew Sauron was great at hunting, Yurel reckoned he could probably take one on if he was careful, but an entire herd would easily kill them all if they tried to take one out recklessly. Or at least he and Scrap. That said, Yurel immediately took refuge behind a somewhat larger rock, only glancing round once he was sure the Duramboros were avoiding the rock patch. Old habits died hard, after all - he had to stick an eye out a little ways to scan the herd for any weaker members, a member of the herd with a less well-developed tail perhaps, or preferably a juvenile. If they could isolate one or two of those and scare off the rest, they'd be able to take them out fairly handily with plenty of meat to spare, if Sauron wanted to take the risk.

'What's the plan, sir?' Yurel whispered, trying to read the herd as best he could. 'Do we want to try and hunt these guys, or should we find something else?'

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Verum Autem Ex

@Old Amsterdam
As Laurie sent her text, her innate awareness as an assassin came into play, and she spied an odd sight indeed - a figure emerged from the grounded man's body, white from what she could see, with segmented rings like blown-up balloons making up its arm, and flat, papery fingers, almost as if it had confetti for hands. Then, it sprang forth at immense speed, charging right to the side of the unaware, chuckling bystander's side and... gently swiping its fingers across his face before it vanished entirely. It was an incredibly anticlimactic sight, almost pathetic in its own way, enough to question whether the Stand had even done anything at all.

Nonetheless, the moment Blue told the man he had promise, his eyes snapped to her, widening with disbelief at first, and then with genuine appreciation. Was he tearing up from just her statement, too? Or maybe that was from the humiliation he’d suffered before.

‘R-really?’ he murmured, apparently unsure how to respond. Even when he spoke, he seemed a bit pathetic, despite his smile. ‘You’re giving me a real compliment for my work? Tha-tha-thank you! Finally, people are starting to appreciate what I do!’ Despite everything, he was smiling, and nearly weeping in fact, only to catch himself as he realised the woman before him had asked a question after all. ‘Some, uh, help with the cards, please, could be... yes...’ He finally managed to make it up to his feet, wincing at the pain in his groin, before realising he’d have to pick up some cards himself and nearly toppling over to try and grab them again, failing at the first swipe and only scattering them further.

As this class act went on, Laurie might have noticed a noise coming from the bystander who had chuckled just a moment ago and been lightly slapped for his contribution. He was, in fact, still chuckling - and the longer it went on, the louder he became until he hit full-blown laughter, loud enough even that he was beginning to draw attention to himself. It was, however, unclear why he was laughing - he didn’t even seem to be noticing the comedian anymore, and as he went to his knees, he was sort of spasming away from nothing, and brushing at himself as if trying to remove something from his body, perhaps to stop something from touching him.

---

@ProPro
Disturbed from her ranting speech, the woman frowned down at Leonard as he made his statement, clearly a little bit concerned, but brushed it off after a moment. ‘Er, sure, buddy. I’m pre’y sure I can take care of myself, but thanks anyway,’ she uttered, taking a breath before continuing with the main content of what she had to say.

‘Now as I was saying, these government schmucks think they can rip us off? They wanna go ahead and try to keep taking our money, our money that we earned?! How dare they?!’ This was met with a fairly loud cheer from the crowd, and apparently no awareness of how taxes were applied. Once the cheers died down, the speaker continued forcefully ‘I’ve always thought that a person’s work is their own, so why should we be forced to hand off the frui’s of our hard labour to a bunch of rich schmoes who already earn way too much to begin with? You know how much the average Sena’or makes in a year? One hundred seven’y four THOUSAND dollars a year - THREE TIMES MORE than the average American, and that’s just the job i’self! Most US politicians are already filthy stinking rich from their “external enterprises” or wha’ever they wanna call them, and the epi’ome of that is of course the president of the coun’ry!’ There was clear disdain and contempt for the president in question, a sentiment echoed by very nearly everybody in the crowd; there were one or two “boos”, barely audible over the rest of the cacophony, but one would have to be paying attention to catch them.

---

@knifeman
At the front of the crowd, Mieke was in prime position to observe as the stunt was performed. There was indeed a pool in place - wide, certainly, but clearly only as deep as the announcer had suggested, with perhaps an extra foot or two of clearance on top, either to hold the designated amount of water or to hold extra for the performer to dive into.

The crowd’s excitement was palpable from how they chattered, but everything died down to a susurration as Lee made his way to the edge of the diving board. With an excited yell, he leapt, twisting and turning in a series of rapid, athletic somersaults on his way down, clearly practiced to perfection.

But, the arc at which he fell was a little too large. Before anyone could react coherently, calamity struck: the man slammed back-first on to the edge of the pool, his entire body folding in half with a disturbing, gory CRUNCH, the force of impact even bending the material of the pool a little before it rebounded him backward into the water, thankfully out of sight. Still, the effect was dramatic, and everybody present was shocked beyond belief, audibly or otherwise. What had just happened? Had they really just witnessed a man die? No, surely not, they’d never have allowed it.

If anybody was paying attention, they’d see the shorter presenter frown at the display, twiddling his moustache before beckoning the bigger man to lean down to him, the duo beginning to chatter quietly to one another in a language that nobody present would be able to decipher, and only those near the front of the crowd would be capable of hearing to begin with.

---

@LemonZest1337@Lugubrious
As the van pulled up to the edge of the water, people took some notice of it, and in short order of the oversized croc dragging itself out. Most, naturally, were rather scared to go anywhere near an unleashed crocodilian, and so the duo received surprisingly little interference, save one man in his late middle age who stamped up to them a minute later, clearly angry, but even more clearly scared of the giant reptile. If he felt it was a good idea to confront these two, he clearly didn't have a good reason to come any closer.

'Uh, listen, buddy,' he started saying to Arthur, as annoyed and nervous as his body language suggested, 'I don't mind if a big guy like you comes wanderin' through the place, but that thing is a giant problem.' He pointed in Hogan's direction to clearly indicate what "thing" he meant, with absolutely no awareness of how intelligent the crocodile was. 'Uh, literally. You've gotta get rid of it, pal, or at least keep it in your truck!'

Uncharted Isle. (A Monster Hunter RP)

Yurel - Jaggi

Yurel screeched to a halt as Sauron roared out at the crowd of his minions, unable to make any counterpoint about who did or did not like crunchy bits. Over the mass of others, he could very clearly see how little meat was left on the aptanoth, and he found himself unduly upset by this notion. Oh, he could just hear Tik and Tak laughing at him once he got back.

Then again, since Sauron had just called Yurel and Scrap to take off with him at all, that was an opportunity. An opportunity for awesomeness! Maybe. 'Coming, sir!' Yurel barked, glancing briefly yet longingly at the aptanoth's skeleton before following on after Scrap and Sauron. And as they headed out of the nest, he thought about how Tik and Tak would surely be made to eat their words once the trio came back from their hunting trip. Speaking of which...

'Sir, are we hunting for anything specific this time?' Yurel asked, suitably submissive as to be respectful, but not so much as to appear weak. This particular tone of voice was tough to pull off properly, at times, but he'd practiced it many times before, and he was pretty sure Sauron was in a decent mood right now. Else, why would he want to go out on a second hunt today?