tex

I'm Innocent, I Swear! {Sincerely x tex}

Left in the dust thinking over an impossible situation. Yeah, this was a Monday, alright. The man tipped over and slid over his neatly piled stack of papers, stopping himself hard on one hand. There she went, and with her, his payout. Was this seriously happening?

So many of his jobs went off without a hitch. He was sure that the cops had never even heard of him. For this to be how he fails after weeks of prep work? No way. He's just have to track her down. It couldn't be that hard to find somebody so high profile. He pulled out his phone, cracked into a private network, and made his way towards the back entrance of the bank. It would take a while, but this wasn't the last she'd seen of Leopold Diola.

At least, it wouldn't have been, if he could manage to tap into the security cameras before the system was reset...

* * *

The streets were packed with the usual afternoon crowd, from civilians going about their daily routine, to street performers and tech demos looking to catch eyes. Samantha passed several police cars on her way to the subway, but not a single one paid her a passing glance as she made her way through the crowd. Motion-sensitive street cameras whirred throughout the crowd at random, but unless somebody was actively trying to pick her out, they were about as useful as a 1990's CCTV system. It seemed like she'd gotten away with it, but there was never telling when somebody's plans could go south.

The subway entrance was just beyond the crowd's horizon. It's 'Terabyte Sized Travel' sign poked out just above the row of hats as a beacon of safety. Unbeknownst to Samantha though, several men and women were waiting underground for a particular thief that'd been on their radar for months.

Captain Kevin Gutierrez was on the scene. His attire didn't match that of a captain actively working for a government mandated task force. On the contrary, Kevin blended in with the civilians quite effectively, as did the seven agents who accompanied him. He though so, anyways. Man didn't exactly have an eye for fashion. His red sports coat and khaki pants made him stand out like a sore thumb.

Kevin's group was here on express orders to capture a particular criminal. Someone who'd eluded their efforts since the beginning of May. It was all based on an anonymous tip, but they were going all out. This task force was just one of three dispatched to the city. Two other teams were also on standby near other major escape routes, but based on their information, it seemed like their target was already inbound.

One of the female agents slid up against the edge of the subway line and gently clicked a bud in her ear. "You sure he'll dive right into the subway, Captain?"

Kevin stood near the bottom of the stairwell that lead into the subway from above ground. He pulled out his phone and peeked at his with a smile while rubbing a hand across the length of his smoothed chin. "He won't get far on foot. I'm sure he'll come." He put his phone away and pulled out a pair of squared glasses. "Ready your specs. Keep an eye out for the beacon's signal. He isn't getting away again."

Where have Original RPs gone!? [Death of Originality]

I never minded fandom RPs, except for when players just make a carbon copy of a major protagonist and call it oRiGiNaL.

Where have Original RPs gone!? [Death of Originality]

Nobody RPs anymore. They're too busy being killing Gorillas and setting off flags that will inevitably lead to the human race's extinction.

One Piece - Here We Are

"Tasted? Tasted!?" The woman picked Shane right off the ground and stood up straight. "You ate it? You ate the Freeze Freeze fruit?!" She pulled him close to her face. "You must be joking. Tell me you're joking, little boy. I like to think myself above murdering children, but if you've truly eaten the fruit..."

I'm Innocent, I Swear! {Sincerely x tex}

Throughout the bank, the woman's screaming alerted everyone to her presence. Bookkeepers, people on break, and even a technician who was hard at work re-booting the security system for the night. The panic that polluted the front lobby quickly spread throughout the building, but out of all the staff, one man was unaffected. It wasn't bravery or anything heroic like that. He was just the type to work with his headphones cranked to maximum at the risk of losing his job. An intern with little to no interest and saving face, condemned to mountains of paperwork on a daily basis. By the time the woman was at the safe, he was casually strolling through the halls while his wireless earbuds pumped out over 150 decibels of techno music.

He didn't spot the gun in the robber's hand when they crossed paths. The man had his eyes half closed and bobbed his head to the beat with a stack of papers in his hands. When he noticed the black mask though, his stroll slowed to a stop, and he started backing away quietly until he was behind the nearest corner. Maybe she hadn't noticed him. Maybe the rustling of his papers were overshadowed by the rustling of the banknotes. Maybe everything could still be cool.

"Of all the rotten..."

Of course it wouldn't be cool. This was a disaster. Two o'clock, only four more hours before the bank would close for the night. Just four more hours of this humiliating gruntwork, and everything would have been fine. The security system would be easy picking with what he lifted from the technician, everyone else would have gone home for the night, and the safe would have been left totally unguarded. But no. Nothing was ever that easy. Instead a quiet job, everything was bound to go to shit, all because some amateur was eager to get the attention of every cop in the city.

The man knelt down and placed his documents on the floor. She had her right hand pointed forward. Probably a gun. Worst case scenario, something even more dangerous. He wasn't equipped for this sort of asinine contingency. Who the hell could prepare for the one-in-a-million chance that some other asshole would decide to rob your mark on the same day?

Without the tools necessary, the man knelt in place and racked his brain for an answer - any answer at all - for this terribly backwards afternoon.

Rise of the Shield Hero - From Another World

The book was gone. A cold breeze whistled through the chamber and rustled Marco's bathrobe, sending vibrant chills throughout his body. Being thrust from the warm comfort of his home threw his senses for a spin. It was like being forcefully tossed downstream, only to end up stranded upon an unfamiliar shore.

Marcus reached for his head, but scraped the edge of his cheek with something hard and pointed. "What." His voice was gentle and came out as a whisper. The morning light glinted off some mysterious instrument that clung to his arm like some kind of bracer. It was too fast. Lightheaded and nauseous, Marcus stumbled backwards as the people around him started to speak. His left leg gave way, leaving him on one knee behind the line of summoned heroes, looking far less heroic than the priest made them out to be.

From his crouched position, the mysterious atmosphere floated above him like eerie fog. Marcus struggled to catch his bearings, but couldn't rise to his feet. To his left, a silver haired boy immediately took to the offer that Marcus could barely comprehend. The blonde boy on his right didn't seem as ready to accept Hans' preposterous announcement, but didn't look staggered by the transport at all. This was a little too much to take it all at once. Too much for thirty-something politician who just wanted to read a book.

One Piece: Grand Cruise - A High Sea Adventure

It was certainly something.

How are we doing in terms of set-up, by the way?

One Piece - Here We Are

The lady captain walked over to Shane and grabbed him by the hair until he was eye level with her.

"Where's the Devil fruit!?"

One Piece: Grand Cruise - A High Sea Adventure

Richter "Skeleton Judge" Laralias

_{"Richter is an overbearing skeleton of a man, with very long, lanky limbs, and an overbearing presence at nearly eight feet tall. He's often found wearing a full body suit combo, with black dress pants, and a dark blue suit that's dotted with white circles. He has short brown hair, about ear-length, but almost always wears a purple top-hat to cover it up. If it wasn't clear by the constantly crazed expression in his dark brown eyes, he's a little off his rocker."}

"Appointment met, Augustus! Who's my lucky defendant on this fine day?"

~Name~
Richter "Skeleton Judge" Laralias
~Age~
34
~Gender~
Male
~Race~
Human
~Height & Weight~
7'10'' - 199 lbs
~Personality~
Short Attention Span
Richter's mind wanders all the time. He might sound like he's paying attention, but more often than not, there's a good chance that his focus is elsewhere. If it's not fun, then why not do something else?

Whimsically Violent
Plain and simple, Richter loves to hit things. Especially people. Whether it's with a gentle tap, or a resounding THWACK, the sensation of knocking stuff around or pestering his allies is second to none. The most satisfying hit is one that incites a pleasant reaction. If a hit knocks somebody out cold, where's the fun in that? It's gotten him into plenty of trouble in the past, but he's never thought to change his bad habits.

Nosy, Annoying, and Downright Silly
The last time Richter took anything seriously, it ended poorly for everyone involved. On a normal day, Richter often shoves his nose into other people's business by asking intrusive questions, offering a flagrant and unwanted opinion, or making fun of anything and everything he can think of.

Strict Adherence to Justice
As a former Marine, Richter still upholds some sense of Justice on how to deal with any given situation. Although he's a fan of violence, he'd never stoop so low as to murder somebody. If an action isn't justified by his own rulings, he would go out of his way to prevent it, even if his own Captain was the one making the choice!

Judgemental
Was your first impression poor? Did he think of you as a clown just because you made a single bad joke to try and lighten tension with some levity? Congratulations, Richter has judged you at face value, and there's a good chance his opinion of you won't change any time soon! Richter is quick to judge others based on first impressions, and too stubborn to let his opinion of another person change without a great deal of reason.
~Bounty~
33'000'000
~Origin Story~
Growing up as the son of a marine Admiral didn't provide as cushy a life as it might have sounded. What would you expect? As a man who practically drowned in his own sense of justice, Admiral Laralias wasn't the type to treat his son like a precious treasure that needed constantly protection. For a kid like Richter who only wanted to laugh and play, the overbearing expectations of a man who spent the majority of his time finding new and exciting ways to crush pirates was a constant tax on his mood.

As a kid, Richter's daily tasks were numerous, and monotonous. For every hour on the clock, Richter's father had task for him to complete.

Eight AM, study law. Nine AM, study geography. Ten AM, study navigation. Eleven AM, study politics. Noon, muscle training. One PM, practice etiquette. Two PM, practice cooking. Three PM, study navigation. Four PM. Five PM. Six. Seven. It never ended, all the way down to his strict bedtime of 8 PM sharp. The only free time he was granted could only be spent indoors, or at work with his father. The only friends he was allowed to make were new trainees working to become marines, all of whom were much older than him. As far as his father was concerned, Richter's life wouldn't officially start until he was a fully groomed marine capable of one day taking his place as an admiral at Marineford.

Richter couldn't find a way to escape this vicious cycle, but he wasn't the rebellious type to begin with. Despite being forced to spend nearly every waking moment with his nose in a book or his body close to breaking, Richter did want to make his father proud, even if it was at the expense of his own happiness. At the command of good old dad, he persisted, day in and day out, until he was finally the type of man who could make strides in the worlds oceans as a force of Justice. At least, that's what his father thought. In reality, things never go as smoothly as you'd like them to.

It turned out that upholding justice was right up Richter's alley. He quickly made a name for himself and rose to the rank of Captain without much trouble, playing a part in the capture of several pirates with relatively high bounties, and the satisfaction that followed allowed him a brief respite from the years of hardened training that absorbed his childhood. Something was wrong though. It seemed that, as his rank rose higher and higher, he saw less engagement with the pirates that he sought to bring to justice. By the time he was granted the title of captain, Richter was hardly ever allowed to directly confront any criminals at all. His duties were reduced to desk work, and as the years rolled on, his newly found passion quickly burned out.

By the age of 25, he'd had enough. Rising through the ranks so quickly, Richter was appalled to have been stuck with the title of 'Captain' for more than half a decade. This wasn't what his father wanted for him, and it sure as hell wasn't what he wanted either. The responsibilities. The pressure. The boredom. Things were looking abysmal. He wanted a way out, but to disappoint his father and throw away everything he'd worked for would have been a terrible waste. So he persisted, determined to keep true.

Eventually his mood reached the point of tipping. He'd worked with so many recruits over the years, that he'd resorted to branding every new face with quick an immediate judgement. Listening to the constant slew of questions and orders from those under his command to those who orders him around became a tedious slog. It became harder to pay attention, or even care about the missions he was tasked with overseeing. Richter developed poor habits in teasing people, just to keep himself from snapping from the pressure. He would start prying into their personal lives to entertain himself. He would punish poor behavior and simple mistakes with ridicule and mockery. Soon enough, Richter started to hate staring at the same uniformed puppets enter his office one after another with the same old inquiries. He developed a seething hatred for his profession, and his anger festered.

His last years as a marine were tense. Peers would be terrified to enter his office. People spoke of the terrifying Captain who treated his soldiers like dogs. The man with a scary look who slammed his desk with a creepy smile, like it was the last pleasure he had left. Richter started to disassociate his own sense of justice from that of the World Government. With the pressure mounting, Richter decided to divert his efforts to investigating the history of Marineford with hopes of discovering something to light his passion for justice once again. In the following months, his discoveries lead him to speaking with his own father, the other Admirals, and the Fleet admiral himself. Although he was unable to find out anything of value, his investigation roused suspicion from the authorities in charge.

A week before he left the Navy, Richter received notice from the fleet admiral that his father had been killed in action.

Richter wasn't sure why it happened. He wasn't even sure how, but he was certain that the story spun by his superiors was absolute nonsense. The records of his father's responsibilities were completely inconsistent with those that followed his death. Several documents had been changed, high ranking marines refused to speak about it, and worst of all, Richter was notified that he would be discharged on paid leave the day after.

It wasn't that he knew better, or that he was scared to be anywhere near the marines, but Richter made a split second decision on the day that his father was killed. Without anything tying him to the corrupt government that he'd supported for the past 10 years, he decided to make a break for it, stealing as much as he could from the Navy in the process, just as they stole his father from him. Richter managed to get his hands on a Devil fruit that was reserved for a high ranking officer, and take off in the first unoccupied ship he could find. Within the span of a day, he left his peers in shock as he sailed away with one of their most expensive ships, and a precious Devil fruit in tow.

To this day, Richter suspects that the Fleet admiral was responsible for his father's murder, and that the Navy itself was a corrupt system of injustice. Although he's only been a power user for little under a year, he's vowed to fight for the morals that his father held dear. The irony that he'd have to become a pirate to do so?

Well, that tickled his fancy just fine.

~Position~
Helmsman
~Goal~
To purge the Navy of it's corrupt Fleet Admiral and cleanse the world government of injustice.
~Abilities~
-Gavel Gavel No Mi-
Richter consumed the Gavel Gavel fruit, making him a Judge-man, and granting him the ability to conjure and manipulate gavels on a whim. His Conjured Gavels weigh less to those who are righteous, but when interacting with people who harbor evil intent, their weight and power increase dramatically. As a righteous man, Richter is capable of swinging them around as if they were practically weightless. When using them against righteous targets, they're about as effective as balloon weapons, but against a person whose heart is brimming with evil? Richter's Gavels pack one hell of a punch. Essentially, his Gavels are weak against the innocent, and strong against the guilty.

Unfortunately, Richter can't actually judge somebody's righteousness by his own methods. The scale of whether or not somebody is 'righteous' is unknown, making his devil fruit powers inconsistent against unknown enemies. There seems to be a single golden rule though. The more people a person has killed, the more powerful Richter's abilities become.

The gavels that Richter can create are limited by three rules. One, they must be perfectly cylindrical and circular in shape, regardless of size. He cannot conjure triangular, square, or even oval shaped gavels. Two, His gavels must have a handle, and that handle must be touching Richter's hand for the gavels to exist. The moment his grip is freed from a gavel, it will instantly pop out of existence like a balloon. Where this handle can be however is entirely up to him, and the handle can move along the surface of the gavel at his command. Finally, three, he cannot conjure gavels larger than his own body mass. Although technically possible, creating gavels larger than his body inflict enough fatigue to knock him out cold in a manner of seconds. No matter how hard he's trained or practiced, it seems like this rule is impossible to overcome.

-All Rise-
Richter Conjures a mallet. Its shape can vary, but it must follow the aforementioned rules. He may conjure as many as he can physically hold at once, which at start, would be two

-Guilty!-
Richter's Signature move, a giant Gavel that he swings overhead to judge his opponent. Naturally, the guiltier an opponent, the more devastating this move becomes.

-Innocent!-
Richter extends his gavel into a giant pillar. He can use them in different ways afterwards; Defensive barriers, objects to propel himself off the ground, etc.

-Overruled!-
Richter uses his Gavel almost like a paddle to deflect ranged attacks. Inaccurate, but if the attack is conjured by a guilty devil fruit user, it can be incredibly effective.

-Court Adjourned!-
Richter conjures a massive mallet for a giant attack that covers a huge distance. Incredibly fast and powerful, but guaranteed to knock him out cold right afterwards.

~Inventory~
Richter does not carry anything significant enough to note.
~Character Progression~
My main goal is for Richter to overcome his bad habits, and eventually return to the man he was in his early 20's. Also, to confront the Fleet admiral at some point.
~Arc Suggestions~
Something akin to storming Marineford. Toned down significantly, of course.

Wants and Needs: an Inquiry on the Nature of Roleplaying

@stone

I completely get that. When another player comes up with something that resonates with you unexpectedly, it's inspiring, and just downright entertaining to be involved with. I've taken many breaks from role playing, and stuck with writing stories on my own, but the sensation just isn't the same. There's nothing quite like being part of something with somebody else, and it's not the same feeling as simply collaborating in writing a story. That unexpected flair that comes with actually interacting with other players is unmatched.