A Game of Gods Season 3: Renaissance

Scott, Judging

"They already shared a world in the comics. Sometimes even with the X-Men as well." Scott felt the need to say as Tucker spoke, interrupting him for a moment before continuing to listen. By that point the next performance had started, the two hot women from the van that he was sure were together, and he turned his attention entirely towards them; Mentally noting to ask the people doing this adventure if they could get him those movies. The Canadian watched them sway and shake, maybe drooling a little.

Sadly, the performance eventually came to an end, and the two were replaced by a woman he hadn't seen before; Who weirdly enough had a bandage wrapped all the way up her arm. She was... well, she was pathetically awkward, really. Scott couldn't help by wince in something that could have almost been sympathy as she stumbled her way through her words. Also, cooking? It was different, but this was a bikini and beauty contest! You didn't cook in those!

Needless to say, the monochromatic man spent the entire time looking unimpressed, even as he noted she was decent enough at cooking. Totally not getting good points for it, though. When the quiche was placed in front of him, he quickly devoured it before glancing at the others; Grinning. "Well that was stupid. I mean, who enters a bikini contest to cook? That should get, like, negative points."

Little did Scott know, the stupidity was going to get even worse. The next contestant to step out was a cute girl with oddly-coloured hair, something that was starting to become more and more common it seemed. And then she started using words. He recognized Einstein, but not much else. He stared blankly as she started to write... something, and instead turned his attention to her butt as she wrote. It was the only thing interesting on the stage currently anyway. She walked off, and the Canadian was silent for a moment. "Ok, I was wrong. That should get negative points."

The next contestant out had Scott grinning, as he spotted the familiar bunny-girl. "Hey, it's Lucina." He waved at her briefly, though he frowned just slightly when he noticed she was still wearing that old-fashioned swimsuit. And wow, he hadn't really realized how flat the woman was until he'd seen all the other girls parading around first. Poor girl. Her performance was... well not quite disappointing since it was kind of cool, but it wasn't really a bikini contest type thing. At least it did fun things to her body as she moved, and a girl that could fight was always cool. He waved again when she finished.

The next girl's performance started off hopeful, her words making him sit forward slightly. He was very curious what the silver-haired woman was about to do. When cement blocks started to be brought out, it turned to slight confusion. He waited. The sudden roar and movement made him jump slightly, as she shattered the bricks with her head. His hopes shattered along with them, and Scott pouted. Besides a brief urge to jump up and fight her when she threatened him, the Canadian just sat there looking mildly frustrated.

And then, there came a light. Some actual hope. A red-haired woman he'd seen in the van stepped out onto the stage, wearing an actual bikini and not one of those one-piece things the last few wore. She also filled it out very well Scott noticed, his eyes taking the time to confirm it. And then do it again. The mention of yoga definitely peaked his interest, and when she started he was enraptured. The woman was very flexible, and the longer it went the wider Scott's eyes grew. His jaw dropped, and might have even drooled slightly as he watched the woman just... bend. Yet, somewhere in him something flickered and twisted.

When the performance ended, Scott hadn't heard a single word Jack-O had said. He just followed her off stage with his eyes, his face actually tinged a slightly darker gray around the cheeks. He swallowed to try and wet his mouth, and said, "Whoa... She has my vote."

Tessa - Backstage Belle of the Beach Bikini Competition

"Ha thanks," Tessa said to Lucina as she made her way back. "I have a preeeeeetty good feeling about my act, though," she said to the other women there.

"I got distracted...." She pouted at Velvet's rather pointed question. Sure, it was probably easy for her to walk without tripping. Some dummy girl who couldn't do anything except punch stuff and cook food. In fact, her head was probably so nice and empty that she could spend all her time thinking about dumb stuff like what was in front of her feet. Yeah. It wasn't her fault she was so much more important that she was always distracted thinking about equally-important stuff. Except she had her arm covered in bandages, so maybe she was a little clumsier than average.

"Do you um, do you teach Yoga?" she asked Jack-O. "That was really detailed and stuff, you were a real pro up there! I bet you could teach us all sorts of things."

Agnes - Audience

"Vampires?" Agnes asked Max and the lady, who seemed to know quite a bit about their apparent traveling companions.

"I believe the one calling herself Ragna will win this battle for certain," she added. "She plowed her head through a yard of concrete blocks with no complaints and a great deal of speed. That is no small feat for most humans, so clearly she has some degree of talent and training. It's obvious the judges will rule in her favor for her bravery and strength."

edited 16th Jul '17 1:37:04 AM by nman

Lady (Audience)-Bad news

Lady turned to Anges, scratching the back of her neck as she realized Anges had no idea what the point of this really was.

"Well, if this was a karate contest, then sure, she'd win hands down. But....well, this is a bikini contest. Sure, they have them do other stuff to give off the illusion there's some higher meaning, but....well just look at the judges table, 4 of the 5 judges are men, and in my experience, when men are presented with this sort of thing, they always go for picks based on looks, not strength."

Lady took a second to sigh. "Well if the one person I already mentioned doesn't win, I guess I'd at least prefer Jack-O to win over the vampires. At least she did the Yoga correctly, from what I could tell, and.....I guess she tried to be deep with whatever she was saying? Pretty sure half of the guys didn't even hear it, and if I'm being honest, I have no idea what she was even talking about myself.

Max, I'm Too Old For This Shit

"Because I have no idea." He replied as to why would Tessa trip. "Maybe she was trying to be funny. Maybe her cybernetics are faulty, or perhaps she's so used to it that it just happens."

The girl named Ragna decided to go for something else entirely and smash a handful of bricks with her head. "Jesus Christ, these poor bricks." Then Jack-O showed up and, for the first time on this contest, Max felt vaguely uncomfortable. A display of rather tongue-in-cheek philosophy given the circumstances eased it somewhat, but still... "Well, she is a serious contender." He grunted, glancing over to the scene. "Whoever is left still, they'll have a hell of a time trying to top that. Also, that was Plato."

"Undead bloodsuckers." He explained to Agnes. "Pale, normally harmed by sunlight, usually have some fabulous powers. I haven't really read Dracula in a long while, so I can't tell."

---

Griffith, Discerning Judge, Part 3

This Ragna was something else, and quite reminding him of Guts as well. Funny how fate worked sometimes. "Do consider" He addressed Scott when Jack-O made her entrance and began doing wonders with her body that would shame any circus performer. "that most of the contestants are likely not familiar with the concept itself, and just doing what they think is impressive."

"Personally, I do enjoy the creativity." He concluded, the faintest blush of embarrassment present even on his face as Jack-O finished her gymnastics.

edited 16th Jul '17 12:27:39 PM by FergardStratoavis

How do lizards fly?

Ranma in t he Audience

"Yeah, that's more like it!" Letting out a whoop, the redhead pumped her arm up and down as she cheered on the more sympathetic people such as the cooking woman and the white-haired girl that smashed those bricks with her head. The whole mathematics thing flew over her head but the sheer muscle control needed to write those maths were something else. Same for the yoga and the parade drill. Being a physically oriented fighter that emphasized flexibility, speed, and strength, it was no wonder that the martial artist in question quite liked those physical performances.

Just about the only thing the redhead hadn't liked were the blatant sex appeal (for obvious reasons) and the magic (because it was done by a cat themed person and she hated magic in general). Tempted as she was to go up there and show off herself, the Jusenkyo victim sat idle cause there was no way in hell she was getting into a more risque swimsuit at this point in time.

---

Astolfo Time

Oh boy, it was finally his turn! The people that came up before him were something else, all sorts of interesting even! The boy didn't even know it was possible to pull off some of those feats without either being a magus or a Servant but it happened, especially that level of 'yoga'. This simply pumped the effeminate youth even further until the stage was cleared and it was his turn to go up. All but skipping out from curtains and hopping on one leg so that he was placed smack dab in center stage, the trap cheerfully waved to everyone.

"Greetings and salutations, ladies and gentlemen! I am the Rider of Black and I shall now entertain you, dear audience!~" Said with the voice of the sweetest choir maiden, the paladin twirled about and danced a little jig to warm himself up, hands held girlishly to his chest while his legs pitterpattered about like a little girl getting pretty excited. A sense of innocent charm pervaded out, true good cheer blossoming like a flower in a way that was entirely natural and not manufactured. "Okays! Let's do this!" Doing another twirl to show off his red swimsuit◊, the knight materialized his sword and scabbard once more to hold.

Affecting a more composed silence that greatly contrasted his earlier pep, the knight then drew weapon from sheathe and began to swing about the slender and ornate blade via silver swathes in the air. The being called Rider was known to be 'weak' but that was only in comparison with the other Paladins or Servants in general. He was certainly not the best at swordsmanship or lancing, but his skills were enough to be put head and shoulders above most knights. After all, one couldn't become a Paladin by being regular, not even the Weakest.

Swordsmanship continued to flow out, painting a pretty picture as it strung together into a smooth chain of movements that was flourishing and dazzling, imaginary enemies slain via the backhand, overhead chop, thrust, diagonal slice, parry and hilt smash, and so on. The sword forms were standard and simple, but the ways in which they were put together almost seamlessly meant it was both dazzling and confusing to see what would come next, fitting exactly the chaotic being's style in general.

Ending with a skyward thrust, Asolfo then did a flourishing sword salute akin to a musketeer towards the audience before giving them a thumbs up. "Thank you for your time! Dear audience members and judges, it was a delight!~" Rather pleased that he could entertain people with a show even if it wasn't what they were used to, the pink-haired boy trotted off the stage with a cheery wave so as to let whoever was up next to have their moment in the sun.

Samus - Gymnastic-off?

Logbook has been updated.

After having studied the others displays of various talents, several of which necessitated an update to their logbook files, it was Samus' turn. It would be hard doing what she'd planned after Jack-O's impressive display, but she hadn't come up with anything better.

And so it was that a small orange metal sphere rolled out on the stage.

Moving out into the middle of the stage, it stopped for a moment, as the audience wondered what was going on. Then it jumped a decent height into the air, bouncing into the air on its own accord, before settling back down. It jumped a second time, then left what seemed to be an blueish sphere of energy in mid-air. Then the ball jumped for the third time, into the sphere of energy, which carried the ball even high in a miniature explosion.

And at the apex of the jump, Samus transformed out of the Morph Ball and landed elegantly on the stage. She took a bow, then swept back her long white-blonde hair and prepared for the main show.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she said with a smile. "My name is Samus Aran, and I am here to show you some intergalactic gymnastics."

With that, Samus moved over to one end of the stage, where she placed down a single sloped block, and started her display. On her first pass across the stage, she started building up speed, and finished with a high jump into a forward salto with a twist, landing confidently. On her second pass, she performed a roundoff into a backwards vault, twisting three-hundred-and-sixty degrees to land turned the same direction as she started.

So far it had all been ordinary gymnastics, though the augmented jumps were outside of what a human athlete could do. Now it was time to show off.

Samus dashed forward, running forward as fast as she could to the other end of the stage, building up energy for her speed boost. Thankfully, the stage was just long enough, and when Samus reached the opposite edge, her body was glowing a muted blue with stored energy. Crouching, Samus turned around...then discharged all the energy to blast back across the stage at high speed.

Normally, the charge would have continued until she crashed into something, but Samus managed to stop the boost by letting the momentum run out on the ramp she had prepared in advance. It was a close thing, but she'd shinesparked enough times to know how it worked by now. Then it was time for the final display.

Getting a running start, Samus jumped into a forward somersault...and never landed. Instead, by activating the Space Jump systems, she gained height as she somersaulted, and she kept on going. Climbing and climbing through the air, she engaged the Screw Attack powerfield when she was high enough, and enveloped herself in energy to make her light up in the sky. Then, when she was high enough, she went back into Morph Ball mode, which completely stopped her momentum and made her plummet to the ground. Just before hitting the ground, she transformed out of the ball form again, landing gracefully on her own two feet. Samus calmly took a bow, brushed her hair back and exited the stage.

---

Reimu - Jury's still out

And so the contest had started!

First out was Blair, the purple-haired girl with the odd sense in clothes and unfortunate speech impediment. Certainly very pretty, carried herself with confidence and apparently had some kind of...magical...powers. Well now, not something you saw every day. Levitation, transformation and minimizing...all very impressive.

Next were Carmilla and Sypha, the two pale beauties. Like Blair, they were among the favourites before the contest, and they'd chosen to switch to more daring swimsuits, which really paid off. The choice of talent was also very smart, and really helped show off their beauty. Reimu couldn't help but think it was slightly unfair to the others that they got to perform as a couple, however.

Then it was Velvet's turn, one of the relatively new members of the group. Certainly pretty, but between the stage fright and the unfortunate choice of talent to display it wasn't a full score. Cooking in a swimsuit struck Reimu as a bad idea, and it meant she was behind a stove for most of the time. The quiche was good, though, which was a plus.

Up next was Tessa. She was a cutie, and managed to do her routine without tripping. However, while the show of advanced physics certainly showed that she was more than a pretty face, it all went entirely over Reimu's head. Not exactly the best reading of the audience.

Lucina walked on stage, and performed some kind of spear drill. Reimu could appreciate a show of martial skill, and it did help show off her agility and physical prowess. Where Lucina fell short of the others was in the beauty department, unfortunately. She had a certain boyish charm, but was much closer to handsome than pretty.

Ragna was the next contestant, and while she was certainly had the right curves in the right places, she was something of an...exotic beauty with her heterochromia and long silver hair. The raw martial skill and strength she exhibited was impressive, but really didn't show off her beauty in the best way possible. Reimu couldn't help but think that she'd been better off showing off a practise drill like Lucina...

So, it was a somewhat disappointed Reimu who was filling a glass of water when Jack-O took the stage. A pretty woman, with legs that seemed to go on forever. Then she started her yoga display, and it wasn't until Jack-O walked off the stage that Reimu realized she'd been sitting with her glass halfway to her mouth the entire time. Jack-O's agility did indeed show off her body very well, but...Reimu couldn't help but feel a bit queasy from the whole thing. And the combination with the philosophical stuff was kinda bizarre, really.

Next up was Astolfo. Definitely a cutie, and the show of swordmanship was excellent. However, while it showed off skill and elegance, it also pronounced even more Astolfo's more boyish sides. And the swimsuit competition was not really an excellent match for her kind of charm either; it was not the kind of outfit that really played to her strong sides.

Then it was Samus. Reimu was a bit surprised when she introduced herself; Reimu had no idea that was how the armour-clad bounty hunter looked like underneath. It was just a pity that such a beautiful woman was marred by that unfortunate skin condition. The gymnastics display was impressive (though Reimu couldn't help but think that using technology from the future was kinda cheating), but with all the flips and spins, it didn't show off her beauty in the best way possible.

As the bounty hunter walked off the stage, Reimu leaned back in her seat, an expression of deep thought on her face.

"This is a more close-run thing than I'd expected," she commented to the others, lighting a cigarette.

edited 16th Jul '17 1:08:23 PM by Lemurian

Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!

The Fox Kid and her Unofficial Review of The Acapulco Orphan's Charity Bikini Beauty Contest 2017 (Sponsored by Red Bull) These two men, Grey-on-Grey and a knight that looked like he was welded into a steam-engine, they decided to start talkin' about some dumb stories. Figures that nothing she knew was gonna be popular around their time, she always doubted people would be thinking about some old thing like Uncle Tom's Cabin a decade from now. They've probably never even heard of it.

Yet, among all these talks of Ecksmen, there was a modern burlesque show to watch. Even if she wasn't judging, The Fox was certainly judging.

Purple haired woman mildly annoyed her, as for some reason "Pun-pumpkin-pumpkin~" was more aggravating than it had any right to be. Still, transforming into a cat and all these other things did leave a better-than-neutral impression on the fox. She'd give her a 54.5%.

The two folk up next were, first of all, two folk. Everything she'd been told so far was that this was a way to show off one's talents, and "one's" being literal. Ain't any point if you're gonna shove two sets of breasts on stage at once. To top it off, it was a largely non-talented act. They earned a combined score of 72%, which would have put them in the lead...if this was a doubles competition. 36% for both.

Unfortunately, The Fox could not properly judge the nature of the demon-armed girl's talent. Only five plates, after all. Still, it smelled nice, and she seemed to be far more focused on the talent portion than making herself look like an ass. She got a positive nod in her direction.

Now, undoubtedly, there was one person in this competition that must've thought that she was one of the judges. There couldn't have been a more perfect show of talent from Tessa, the woman from Japan. All of the equations, from what she could gather from her own comparatively primitive point of view, seemed to be wholly correct! She was jotting them down with precision, not even taking a moment to check her work, but everything still seemed to be verifiable! This whole branch of mathematics was something that The Fox herself was only beginning to scratch the surface of, and it opened her eyes anew. She took a mental snapshot of what was on the board, and almost forgot to score it. 100%, marvelous.

The Fox stood up, probably one of the only people clapping out of earnest appreciation instead of politeness.

Blue-haired rabbit was up next, and unfortunately for her, The Fox was still left in the afterglow of the last one, and barely paid attention. 63%, that seemed right, sure. She wasn't out there for sex appeal, obviously.

The other bandaged girl came out. Now that she was done analyzing maths, her attention was fully in place. It was actually rather impressive, but The Fox wondered what the point of doing things that break the conventions of human physicality when one might not even be human. It'd be pointless to rate her own lifespan against a humans, for example. A tentative score of 71.425%, subject to further review.

Up next, someone that was smarter than the duo from before. While it was obvious she was aiming for the same demographic, she at least attempted to bring forth some air of intellectualism to the proceedings...if it weren't for the Platonic Cave being one of the most basic thought experiments out there. Presuming that everyone else was properly educated here, they must've heard a more in-depth explanation years ago, and this would be nothing new. Still, 68.75% for effort.

...That was a man. Either she had the most unfortunate body ever, or he was doing all of this in the same state of undress as the rest of the women. Did he even—YEP, that was a man. The Fox was left a single shade pinker than before he began. No score...no, that would be unfair...a neutral 55%.

Next up, an unusually dead-looking woman. Out of all the displays of physicality, hers was the most outwardly impressive, but The Fox was unsure if she was a ghost, a spirit, a lich, or any other combination of unlife that she hadn't heard about in her travels. A similar issue to Ragna presented itself, so she was left with a tentative score of 75%.

There were only a few left, now. The Fox added "Yeah...a close run fer second," to Reimu's remark. Surely, she had understood that, even if she couldn't comprehend it, the level of genius on display was nothing short of astounding!

---

Susan, In The Audience "Vampires are...pretty much undead bloodsuckers, yeah. They're immortal, pale people who do a lot of things depending on who's writing the story," Susan remarked to Agnes. "I haven't reaaaallyyy gotten to know them all that well. I've got no idea what those two can do."

edited 16th Jul '17 3:29:45 PM by wikkit

Elesis (Stage, Front And Center) - Live Action Fruit Ninja

It was only a matter of time before Elesis was told she was next. With a determined look and her sword in hand, she strode onto the stage and took some time to look at the audience, while the announcer explained to them that they were expected to... pull out the fruit that some of them had been handed and... throw it all at her as hard as they could...

"Wait, what?!"

Unfortunately there was not much room for surprise, since she almost immediately had to slice an incoming apple, heralding the beginning of the ensuing rain of miscellaneous fruits and ocassional vegetables.

Apples, bananas, pears, coconuts, pineapples, peaches, oranges, lemons, and even a watermelon thrown by a particularly muscular individual, fiercely assaulted the former knight captain for roughly three and a half minutes. While quite a few managed to survive the encounter, an overwhelming majority were sliced, split, skewered or smashed into each other by the red-haired woman and her unnecessarily long weapon. Her sword style was not as graceful and unpredictable as Astolfo's, but her movements were very well coordinated and quick, leaving in evidence the strength, speed and fast reflexes that characterized her fighting style. Both pieces of cloth adorning her, as well as the one tying her hair, flew out at various points during the demonstration, leaving her wearing only her white bikini and her hair loose.

By the time the last pieces of kiwi fell to the floor, Elesis was panting heavily and covered in fruit juice from head to toe. She leant on her sword to support herself while the assistants headed in to clear the fruit from the stage. She was exhausted, wet and sticky; but she was pleased, and that much was very evident by the very rare sight of a smile on her face. Thanks to that impromptu training session, the Crimson Avenger already felt victorious, and not even the result of the contest would be able to change that.

For a brief moment, a part of her that had been missing for a long time was briefly brought back to the surface when she waved to the crowd.

"Great workout, guys. Thanks for everything."

And with that, she headed out backstage, but not before she paused briefly to look for something: the torn piece of cloth that had held her hair tied together before the demonstration had begun. She did not even bother picking up either of the other two before she left.

---

Next Up: Polly Pastries (On Stage) - My Baby Shot Me Down

Polly seemed particularly calm when she was called on stage. In fact, it seemed as if the otherwise cheerful and bubbly girl had decided to adopt a far more polite and elegant persona for the talent show.

"Hello, my name is Polly Pastries," the girl introduced herself with a bow, after which she... pulled out what seemed to be an ordinary modern handgun. "Now who wants to see me shoot things?!"

The graceful and elegant Polly lasted all of nine seconds before it was replaced by the usual bubbly and enthusiastic Polly.

Throughout her show, Polly proceeded to perform various amusing trick shots, including one that involved shooting at a target beyond the audience, at the three corners of a triangle, at a drawing of a donkey while blindfolded, from behind herself, after twirling her arm, and even while being held from the ankles by two assistants. Eventually, however, she wanted to try something else.

"And now, for my final trick, something really special!" the girl exclaimed, putting her handgun on a nearby table and picking up a flintlock musket. "This was gifted to me by my grandfather Paul Pastries. It's a very old musket, and today I will fire it at a moving target using only one hand!"

"Now, due to the way muskets work... and the fact that I sort of ran out of gunpowder, I can only shoot it once," she explained, while an assistant brought a clay pigeon launcher and prepared it. "So I only get one chance to do this. If I miss, I won't be able to take a second shot. Now, ready?" She raised the musket with her right hand, with her left held neatly to the side to maintain a proper balance. "Pull!"

The clay disc was flung out of the mechanism and soared in the air, well above the audience. Polly followed its trajectory with the muzzle of the gun, until it was no longer directly above the audience, and then...

BANG

The flying object shattered into pieces and fell down on the sand below.

"There we go!" the baker exclaimed cheerfully, waving towards the crowd and giving them a neat bow before she left. "I'm Polly Pastries! Thank you, everybody!"

And with that, the girl picked up the handgun from the table, and headed backstage.

Tali'Zorah - The Extranet Rots Your Brain

It took a fair amount of time for Tali to wrap her mind around Tucker's story. But not as much time as some others. After all, her own experiences were just about as impossible to believe. But other things took precedence, although judging from the view from her camera drones, the biggest attraction was the beauty contest and that was something she had next to no interest in. But it might tell her something about her companions, so she set one drone to hover in place and keyed up a view of the show.

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. -Lao Tzu

Tucker - Surprisingly Taking This Seriously; Judges Table

By the time Velvet came out with the cooking equipment, Tucker knew he was out of his depth. If he was judging these chicks on beauty alone, then... honestly, he probably couldn't vote for all of them, could he?

Actually, could he?

No, you cannot.

Delta? Hey, can you help me out?

The equipment we have fabricated does not include a camera. You will have to rely on your memories.

No, not that! Help me judge!

Judging beauty and talent is a function of personal opinion. I cannot decide for you.

Yeah, but can you help me decide? Pros and cons and stuff?

So, as the performances went on, a list began scrolling past on Tucker's sunglasses as he weighed the pros and cons of each contestant.

"That list does NOT look right." Tucker muttered to himself as Polly walked off the stage.

They do have medals for almost, and they're called silver!

Carmilla & Sypha, Backstage at the Bikini Battle.

The two vampiresses watched the rest of the contestants walk up on stage. Oh boy, this was such a disaster even Carmilla and Sypha couldn't believe it. It seemed like the only ones who actually understood the point of a talent contest in a beauty contest other than the two of them were Blair, Samus, Jack-'O, and Elesis. As for the others, they were full of military drills, esoteric equations, and lots of violence and threats of violence. A number of them including Samus weren't in bikinis and one of them was a man. This was embarrassing all around.

"I'm willing to admit you have this in the bag, Jack-'O," Carmilla noted to the Valentine, admitting her own defeat. "You've got both the talent and the assets to win this thing."

"Good touch with the Plato though, even if it was unneeded," Carmilla added as an aside.

Wizard Needs Food Badly

Lucina - Backstage

Sighing with profound relief, Lucina had set her spear to one side and rubbed one hand over her face and through her hair. While it had not been the ordeal she had feared, all said and done, she was still glad to be off of that stage.

Now all there was left to do was to sit back and watch the other contestants. Her comrades all received an enthusiastic round of applause and a congratulatory smile as they came back off-stage. Ragna's display had elicited a concerned gasp from the princess, and she laid a concerned hand on the white-haired woman's shoulder as her admirable stoicism crumbled once she was out of view of the audience. "A remarkable display of fortitude, Ragna.... but perhaps you should sit down for a moment? Just in case?"

Jack-O's performance was similarly eye-opening. Lucina had never seen the human body contort so - rightly, it seemed like it should have been impossible. The taguel's face really lit up, however, when her fellow swordsman stepped onto the stage with a dazzling display of bladework and co-ordination.

"Outstanding, Astolfo!" She called out, clapping her hands and smiling brightly as she met the paladin at the backstage stairs. "Ah, long has it been since I witnessed such technique - when we have time to spare once again, I would be honoured if you would spar with me."

While unorthodox in execution, Elesis's display of swordsmanship was also impressive, and Lucina told her as such when she handed her a towel she had taken from a passing stage-hand. "I did not expect to find so many master swordsmen in our company... oh, what we could learn from eachother!"

edited 18th Jul '17 7:20:42 PM by LittleMako

Kira - Handy Dandy

Kira watched on as the contest progressed. His interest was piqued at certain contestants such as Velvet's cooking with one hand bandaged but still usable, and Lucina's masterful twirling of her spear. Yet, some like Ragna's brutish style, Samus' skin condition, and Tessa's refusal to use her hands had turned him off. Still, he applauded because he felt like being a good sport.

Toriel - Goatsong

Toriel gave her compliments and concerns to the previous contestants. She was nervous at the thought of performing in her swimwear but now she can't let it get to her. As soon as her name was called, she had stepped up to the stage and faced the audience. She had waved to the audience, "Hello. I am Toriel Dreemurr. I am glad to be in this contest. I have decided to serenade you with a song I have found to be quite powerful and emotional. I hope you enjoy!"

She had cleared her throat as she began her song as it played through the speakers

As the music had intensified, she had used her fire magic to create a visual effect. She needed to impress the crowd after all. Yet, it did not scorch down a thing, due to her restraining the heat as not to burn the stage to the ground.

She sighed as she finished her song, the fire magic disappating. She said to the microphone "Thank you", curtseyed, and walked backstage. She had recieved this song from some musical disc that was found inside one of the mountain entrances past the Barrier. She could not tell when she found this specifically, but she figured it would be shortly after she had taken the throne. A life without being able to age can lead to foggy memories.

edited 18th Jul '17 11:05:49 PM by Ore-O

"I treasure every day with you, darling." "No need to be so sappy, love." "You know that's how she is, Nia." - AU!Pyra, Nia, Mythra

Jack-O', Backstage

As Jack lay in the floor to perform some cool-down exercises, she took the time to smile at Carmilla agreeing with her confident assessment.

"Why, thank you Miss Carmilla. Plato was just something I tacked on at the last minute, I just wanted to be talking about something while I did my thing."

Tessa's inquiry caught Jack's interest next, and in response she sat up to proceed with the next step of her cool-down, with her arms wrapped round her calves and her knees to her chest.

"I'd love to teach you guys! Flexibility helps in combat too, so I bet it'd really help you out."

And while performing the rest of her exercises, she silently enjoyed Toriel's serenading voice.

Ragna, Backstage

Lucina's concern was met with a reassuring smirk, though a hiss of pain still escaped her.

"Y'know what, that sounds like a good idea. I'll just..."

And with that, she slumped down a wall into a seated position, hand still on her reddish forehead.

She had proceeded to watch the next few performances, and like Lucina, Ragna was impressed with the bouts of swordplay that ensued.

Somewhat sheepishly, she added to Lucina's excitement with her own query to Astolfo and Elesis.

"I'm with her, that was pretty damn good you two."

When it came to swinging a sword, Ragna knew good technique and form when she saw it. While the paladin Astolfo's intricate sword dance captured her eye, Elesis' more frantic, but very much deliberate, sword swings in the face of a hailstorm of fruits reminded her of her master's speed and technique. Elesis wasn't quite at that level, but Jubei was often called the strongest being in the world for a reason.

"Shake the dust." - Anis Mojgani

Backstage

"Flexibility helps out in lots of ways, yes!" Cheerfully putting his own two cents into the discussion, the paladin looked quite a bit more back up to speed than before, a combination of the thrill of performing in front of a huge audience combined with the fellow Alternate's accolades reviving the youth's wilted spirits. The moon may have cast its influence, but the base of the being called Astolfo is one who would always look for the positive side after venting out his negative feelings. "II am pretty good... but that's only by normal standards. 'm just barely passable for a Paladin sadly. Also the weakest of the Twelve Paladins of Charlemagne too."

"My skill with sword and lance are not at the level of those monsters, especially my dear cousin Roland. He has the worth of a hundred men alone, the strongest and bravest of our fellowship." Coming from most anyone else, it would be considered false humility, but the knight in question was one who was honest (sometimes as blunt as a speeding eighteen wheeler) as could be (except when he wasn't for the good of others). "I'll be more than happy to spar with you guys though! I would not be an adherent of the chivalrous oaths if I didn't help my good comrades after all! And watching the growth of others is always something nice to see.~"

Velvet (Backstage)-Unimpressed

"Are you all really that impressed?"

Once again returned to her usual mood, Velvet approached the group of sword and spear wielders, giving her usual glare.

"Sure, all that fancy twirling and stuff looked impressive, but that was a staged performance with no actual enemies to speak of challenging any of them. In an actual fight, you won't have the chance to do much of any of that. If you're all going to sit here and pat each other on the back, can you at least save it for after we get into a real fight?"

Lady (Audience)-An unexpected find

For the next few performances, Lady sat mostly blanked faced as people with blades showed off. Due to her personal view of the wisdom of using swords, Lady remained as unimpressed as Velvet in the back. It was not until Polly began to showcase an unexpected talent that she perked back up, and by the time she was done, Lady was on her feet, clapping.

"That was an amazing show of marksmanship from someone her age! I have to ask her later where she learned to shoot like that. Forget what I said before, she has my vote to win!"

Bikini Contest - How do you contest

Throughout the entirety of the team's prep time, Lapis continued to look completely clueless.

She'd seen a handful of these sorts of contests before, something that came with the territory of living just outside a beach town, but she never did figure out what decided who won or lost. Beyond the obvious "wear a bikini", what decided who won or lost always seemed completely arbitrary, though admittedly part of that may have been that she'd never paid the closest attention to these sorts of things until relatively recent times. And with everyone else scrambling around to get the setups for their talents in order, the ocean gem was left yet still without an explanation.

Curse her and her teammates' past distance from the humans. Maybe agreeing to this wasn't the brightest idea, but she was here, and it'd be weird to leave now. Maybe not for her, but for everyone else.

Well, guess it was time to learn by observation.

She watched the crowd and especially the judges, trying to gauge their reactions to each act and see what made them tick. Better last-minute than never, right? It was hard to tell from where she was, but there was a certain look in a few of the viewers' eyes in response to a couple acts which emphasized specific assets of the performers' bodies. At the same time, she tried to think of a routine. If Blair used her magic, she could use her hydrokinesis, but she needed something more specific...well, it wasn't like she'd never danced before. She just needed to draw it out, right?

As Toriel returned backstage and the announcer called her name, Lapis quietly and subtly shapeshifted herself a less modest figure.

The gem took the stage, walking somewhat uncertainly to the front thereof, and after a moment of seeming nerves, bowed, lifting the edge of her sarong.

While it would be hard to notice from the back of the audience, those close enough and observant enough would notice a reflective sheen of water flowing toward and onto the stage to form the shape of a simple spirograph around her still-bowed figure. From its edges, a small barrier with a wavy top edge emerged, spinning in a circle, increasing in speed as the walls grew into a column taller than Lapis herself. Finally, they became a sphere cocooning the gem's figure, which could be seen curling up within for a moment before Lapis burst from it with her wings spread out behind her, visibly wet, water flying away from her.

She landed with her feet on the stage again, and raised and clenched one hand as said water coalesced into a figure that was her exact mirror. It stepped behind her, and took her hands as she extended one to her side and hanged another above her shoulder.

The two of them then glided across the stage, wings out, resembling a pair of figure skaters, with about the grace that'd imply. At times a few streaks of water would follow them, matching their movements. A series of deft movements thus occupied the following two minutes, body and moisture acting as instrument, with the odd eyeful available for the observing parties, though if you were paying enough attention you could probably tell she was somewhat uncomfortably improvising.

And as the show came to an end, Lapis and her double, from opposite ends of the stage, glided to meet once again at its center. They circled each other at first, before joining hands. The double stopped, lifted its arm, and Lapis twirled and twirled, faster and faster. The streaks of water span likewise around her, and the double dissolved to join them, Lapis's raised hand lowering as she descended into a crouch.

She pushed off the ground and shot up far above the ground, the water leaving a trail underneath her, until she came to a stop. Then she drew a rapier from her back, and thrust it down toward the stage, cutting through the water, coming to a sudden stop the moment the point made contact.

Lapis returned herself to a standing position and the water to the sea, then blinked at the audience for a bit.

"...That's all. Bye now."

She walked backstage once more, looking like she thought she was trying too hard even as she casually stored the sword in her gem again.

"Okay, that was the longest dance I've ever done. Did I do it right?"

i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess

Max, Easy There, Lady

"I'm pretty sure it's just judges over there." He gently quenched Lady's excitement with a gesture towards the five jurors. "Unless the public gets a sixth voice, but that's just kicking the rest of the contestants while Jack-O wins."

Despite his words, he definitely enjoyed the following displays. Astolfo, Elesis and Polly had some considerable skills - even though guns weren't much of his forte - Samus was pretty flexible herself, Toriel's voice was certainly pleasant to listen to and Lapis' magic was no less impressive than Blair's. Truth be told, he was a little grateful he didn't have to choose in the end.

---

Griffith, Discerning Judge Part 4

The following spectacles were not half bad either. Lucina, he still thought, was the best of the parade drills, but neither Astolfo nor Elesis were disappointing, even if their styles were obviously a little more playful and messy respectively than the taguel's measured performance.

The ball woman Samus had impressive feats to her name too, though Griffith couldn't help but notice her performance was more than just physical display.

Then came the goatwoman. Not necessarily Griffith's type, but she definitely could sing well, so he was willing to give her a positive point measurement; plus she was proficient in magic as well. After her came Lapis with her own magical display combined together with a dance to make it more visually pleasing for the public. Something seemed odd however; he did not recall her having that kind of figure.

"If Las Divinas wish to even be in the top five they really need to show something impressive." He hummed idly to the rest of the judges. "Winning is most likely out of the question."

How do lizards fly?

Bored, but with Nuttin' better ta do—(Audience)

Having dealt with the rave situation earlier, the Scotsman had decided to join the row of audience for the talent show. He'd liked Lucina's skill with the lance, though it still felt like a weapon for wussies in his eyes with its long range. Most of the other performances had been lackluster for him at best, and he mostly just yawned at them. However he did do his best to restrain from commentary, for he knew if he started on one of 'em, they'd have ta throw him outta the audience.

'If you fall seven times, stand up eight.' The cry of the Undead.

Elesis & Polly (Backstage) - Team Spirit

"Likewise," Elesis returned the compliments received with a nod while she tried to tie her hair back together. "It's good to know there are so many reliable swordsmen among us. It's been a while since I had a proper spar with anyone, so I wouldn't mind one when we get the chance."

"Awww, come on!" Polly pouted in the meantime, clinging to Velvet's unbandaged arm like a spoiled child. "Can you stop being so uptight and try to get along better with people already and maybe relax a little? We're in a holiday resort on the beach! I'm sure there are criminals and monsters out here that are having a much better time than you are! Besides, what kind of fight could we even-"

However, she was abruptly interrupted by the loud arrival of someone.

---

Las Divinas (Backstage) - Crass Vs. Class

"Hey, you. Come here."

The sudden command and snap of fingers announced that Antonella had entered the backstage area, wearing a particularly glittery silver bikini, and the assistant said command was addressing immediately rushed to meet her.

"Please, no more last-minute requests, miss," he pleaded. "You and your friends are up next and we barely managed to secure what you asked for ten minutes ago."

"Isn't it your job to make sure the contestants have everything they need for their performance?" the leader of Las Divinas asked, suddenly starting to walk in a different direction, with the assistant following closely behind. "Also, is everything ready yet? The special lights, the music, the fireworks? What about the cameras? And the posters? Have you done the mic checks yet?"

"Yes, that-yes, yes," the assistant assured, trying his best to keep up with Antonella's constant and sudden changes of pace and direction. "Yes, everything's ready. We even have the food you requested, and the dancers. Is all that for the contest?"

"What? No! That food's for the party after we win," she exclaimed, after which she turned to face the already fatigued young man. "So what are you waiting for? I'm the only one here, don't you see? Go fetch everyone else already!" She watched the man rush away and let out a deep sigh. "Ugh, why do I always have to do everything?"

It was at that point that she noticed the other competitors in the contest. She took a second or two to observe them, and a noticeably fake smile appeared on her face.

"Wow, look at you lot! Those swimsuits almost make you all look less hideous than you were when we first met... although some of you could a little make up... or a bath... or a miracle. Either way, thanks for warming up the crowd for us... sort of. At least now they're probably tired of appetizers and want to feast their eyes upon the main course... which is us, of course."

It was at that point that the rest of Antonella's clique arrived and stood in formation behind her, all of them wearing the same swimsuit as their leader. This did not change her attitude in the slightest, and she acted as if they had always been there in the first place.

"Either way, we gotta go, so we'll see you after we win, 'kay?." With that, she signaled her followers to follow her, and they all headed to the stage for their performance. "Come on, girls. We've gotta show all these neophytes what real talent is."

---

Seconds later, on the stage...

A curtain closed from the sides of the stage, concealing what was happening on stage. This did not change for a few seconds, until suddenly a song started, and the curtains quickly opened to reveal what Las Divinas had planned for their contest.

Their moves were swift and precise, their voices synchronized and on-key, and while the lyrics about how they were the best and ugly people were more than welcome to stay as far away from them and their stage as humanly possible (to put it mildly) were not particularly...positive, the melody was somewhat catchy. The bikinis fulfilled their role in highlighting the girls' physiques, and the pyrotechnics on the finale boosted the finale a little. Overall, the kind of performance one would expect from trained singers and dancers during a concert. Once the music and the cheering finally started to fade away, all girls stood in line and bowed to the audience, not unlike actors in a play, while Antonella gave them a loud "Thank you! You're the best!"

And after that, they too headed out backstage.

edited 20th Jul '17 12:24:48 PM by Katarsus

Reimu - Judging part 2

Before Reimu had a chance to ask The Fox who'd caught her eye for first, the next entrant entered the stage. Elesis' display of fruit bisectioning was impressive and certainly did...something for displaying her natural beauty. The use of targets did more for her than the previous martial displays, and while the execution was chaotic, it was the kind of fun and lighthearted thing Reimu had expected going in. All in all, Elesis made high marks on Reimu's scoreboard.

Next up was Polly. Reimu could appreciate a woman who knew how to handle firearms, and there was no doubting her shooting abilities. But some of the tricks were decidedly unsafe, to the point that Reimu considered stopping the show, and for all her drama and showmanship...it really wasn't a display that brought forth her natural beauty. Truly a shame; it had been a nice musket shot.

Then it was Toriel. Leaning back and lighting a second cigarette, Reimu pondered how to even consider this. Did she go by personal feel or try to guess at what her...species found attractive? Well, it seemed Toriel was going to sing, which honestly surprised Reimu that no one had tried earlier. It started out slow and dark, and Reimu was going to give Toriel the bottom score...then the show exploded. By the time Reimu had recovered, her cigarette had gone out on its own, and Reimu didn't even relight it before writing Toriel a positive score. It was almost too bad this wasn't only a talent show, or Reimu'd be tempted to place her first.

Next contestant was Lapis. Cute enough girl, nothing special, but her show was brilliant. Judging by how the displays were ramping up towards the end, it was clear that the latter contestants been watching backstage and considering the previous acts before coming out on stage. For Lapis, it showed clearly in the moments of improvisation, but overall it was a magnificent display and got to show off her grace and elegance in a positive way. Medium-high marks.

And the last entrants were Las Divinas. Well, it was finally time to see if they'd put their money where their mouths were. Finally remembering to light her cigarette, Reimu leaned back in her seat to enjoy the show. She was doubtful if they'd manage to top some of the performances so far, but then they were the professionals. And they did deliver. They were pretty and their show was overall well done well choreographed. Sure, the song text wasn't entirely appropriate, but then Toriel's hadn't been either. There was just one problem...there were six of them, which meant that they got some detractions for taking advantage of what that entailed.

Reimu stamped out her cigarette. All the participants had done their job, it was time for Reimu and the other judges to do theirs. Leaning over the table, she talked with the other judges about the relative pros and cons of the various participants, but her favourite was Elesis.

Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!

Griffith, Discerning Judge Part Final

Finally was the turn of Las Divinas. Their earlier boasts prepared Griffith for a show of epic proportions. Much to his surprise and disappointment, they delivered. The dance was much more different than the one of Carmilla and Sypha, but he could tell the certainty of movements, the deliberation, the synchronization between all members of the group. The lyrics of the song could definitely use work, but that would also mean grading Toriel lower, so he was willing to let that part slip.

All in all, it was a very solid, measured performance; one that they were likely pre-prepared for. It was obvious that other Vanriders were for the most part improvising, which made most of their performances that much more impressive in hindsight. On the other hand, the sheer amount of accessories attached to Las Divinas' performance made up for a more artificial impression. After discussing the matters with other judges - Reimu notably chose to grade just the top performance - he composed a list graded from 1 to 10 of all contestants:

• Blair - 7
• Carmilla & Sypha - 6
• Velvet - 7
• Tessa - 5
• Lucina - 8
• Ragna - 6
• Jack-O - 9
• Astolfo - 7
• Samus - 8
• Elesis - 7
• Polly - 6
• Toriel - 6
• Lapis - 7
• Las Divinas - 7 (for a moment he entertained giving them 8 points, but too many accessories to their performance was a definite factor)

edited 21st Jul '17 12:49:10 PM by FergardStratoavis

How do lizards fly?

Scott, Judging 2: Electric Boogaloo

Scott sent the girly-boy next to him a look, like he'd heard something really stupid. "Why the heck would you join a competition you had no idea was about? That sounds really stupid."

And then it was time to watch again. Next out was the small girl with the red hair he hadn't had a chance to talk to you. He grinned as she bounced out onto stage looking excited. There wasn't much to actually bounce on her, but the weird skirt bikini she was wearing made up for it and gave the Canadian something extra to look at as it bounced around instead. She was definitely pretty cute, and her happiness was almost contagious. But then she pulled out a sword and shield and Scott's interest waned a little. So it was going to another one of those. Boo. He sighed and rested his cheek on a hand, watching the sword drill. It was good, and again it gave him something to look at to a degree, but not bikini contest stuff. She scored a little below Lucina. Definitely needed to say hey afterwards, though. Maybe even fight her, since she was good with a sword. He grinned at the idea.

Something at the back of Scott's head niggled again, like he was forgetting something, when an orange orb rolled out onto the stage. But mostly he just felt confusion. He practically sighed in relief when the ball turned into a woman. Why would a ball have wanted to be in a bikini contest anyway? This made much more sense. He looked the woman up and down, taking in her odd appearance. She had some kind of skin condition, but one of those cool ones where it changed the colour of the skin. Though, grey and blue were weird colours for skin to turn. Bit weird, but it didn't stop her from being hot. Similar to Jack-O's, Scott found himself watching the woman's performance with a decent amount of interest, and her tricks with the weird ball thing were cool. But, there wasn't as much stretching and bending over, so ultimately she scored less.

The Canadian froze when he noticed the next person to step out, and for a brief moment he was about to leap to his feet and shout. It was Envy! She was here as well! Thankfully for everyone involved, and what little of Scott's sense of shame left, he was distracted by the fact she was carrying a sword. He audibly groaned and slumped back in his seat. "More swords? I mean, swords are awesome but this is a bikini contest! And she's not even in a bikini!"

And then the fruit apocalypse descended on the stage. He could only stare in confusion and awe as countless bits of fruit and stuff was flung at the woman, forcing her to start slicing at it. A mixture of surprise, joy, amusement and surprise filled him as he watched his ex assaulted by waves of fruit. That slowly turned to mixed feelings as the minutes passed, and not only did she lose everything she was wearing but a bikini, she became coated in more and more bits of fruit and their juices; Leaving her skin glistening and wet. He glanced around awkwardly, not wanting to look at Envy looking so... hot. Damn it, it pissed him off. He was going to rank her badly for sure, no matter how stupidly hot cutting fruit turned out to be.

The next girl used guns, which was terrible. Scott spent most of the performance peering over the edge of the table and expecting someone to get shot. So far his experience with people with guns was largely the other gun-users of the group, and if that's what most people with guns were like he was happy Canada had very few of them.

When the goat turned out to be the next contestant up, he stuck his tongue out and shuddered. Here was one person he hoped did something stupid like headbutt bricks and not something like yoga. Please. When she mentioned singing, Scott's worries were only faintly alleviated. He was very well expecting a series of bleats, baas and other goat-y sounds. It turned out to be not bad, but not his kind of thing. Not enough bass and distortion and other cool stuff. And such weird lyrics too. The fire was cool, though, but in the end he wasn't very impressed. And just the goat in general was ugly.

Lapis was the next out, and Scott immediately noticed the change in her figure. There was a brief moment of confusion, since he was sure she had been flatter and thinner, until he remembered she mentioned she could shapeshift. He chuckled, his mental score of her already going up. That was smart, and really cool. And hot. The performance itself wasn't bad, and the dancing showed off her new body pretty well at some points. But, it seemed more accidental than anything. But still, blue skinned shapeshifting babe. And she had water powers on top of that. It hit so many points for him, that she was definitely close running to the yoga girl, if not tied. Damn, this was hard.

Scott spent the time until the next performance struggling with which girl he thought was best, until sudden music jolted him back to the present. It was the group of girls from before, all performing at the same time. He frowned in confusion, glancing at the other judges. "Wait, you can do group stuff? Do we judge them by themselves or as a group?"

Regardless of what the rules might have been, the Canadian's reaction to the performance was... average. They'd been nice to him, yeah, and while they were pretty and their dancing in bikinis very fun to watch, it wasn't anything special. Especially not with the image of that yoga girl's butt burned firmly into his mind alongside other images, such as Lapis' butt. And Lucina's. And Blair's chest. And man this was a really hard decision. With the performance done, Scott sat and thought hard; Face twisted up to show the intensity of his dilemma.

Griffith, Discerning Judge Part Final+

"You might not be aware of that, but some of the contestants are here because of the prize." Griffith reminded Scott, a pleasant imitation of a smile on his face. "Earlier they have been approached by a representative of an orphanage and apparently the first prize for the pageant is enough money to support it."

"As for Las Divinas, you are welcome to rate them separately." This time the smile grew thinner, but somehow more genuine. "They are already hopelessly outmatched, so kicking them while they are down can be mildly entertaining." There was a brief pause. "Especially since, if I recall, they were courting you all afternoon."

How do lizards fly?

Tucker - The Final Decision; Judges Table

Well, there were three more acts to judge, and judge Tucker did.

"I'm judging them all separately, but it doesn't really matter." Tucker commented. "Las Divinas are all tied for me. Carmilla did better than Sypha, though."

"So, should we talk about who we think was best? And do you think we can give out runner-up prizes too? Like the best of the fighting acts, best dancing act, best singing act? Because there were some really talented stuff in there besides the bikinis."

They do have medals for almost, and they're called silver!