COOKING SHOW - 5PM PST - avante en garde

[idolpro]

[ Your unit-colored kitchen has all the basic necessities for cooking, but strangely, there's no refrigerator. There's just a table full of pebble-sized crystals. . . There are candies available in bins next to the crystals as well.

Though you can technically turn the stove on, you can't actually hurt yourself on it. It's like the flames are illusions. Huh.

Upon entering your unit-colored kitchen, you'll find that you can't see or hear anyone from any other kitchen. You're aware that this whole area is magically sight- and sound-proofed; no other unit will hear or see any conversation you have. ]

Comments

INSTRUCTIONS & RECIPE

[idolpro]

Today, you are making Mozzarella & Basil Gnocchi! You will need the following ingredients:

• Gnocchi (1 sweet, 1 salty, 1 savory)
  
• Marinara sauce (1 sweet, 1 sour, 1 savory)
  
• Basil (1 sweet, 1 bitter, 1 savory)
  
• Mozzarella (1 sweet, 1 sour, 1 salty)
  
• OPTIONAL: Garlic salt (2 salty, 1 bitter)

(Optional ingredients are there in case people show up late—they will otherwise not affect your score.)

Total Required (not including optional):

• 4 Sweet (happiness/excitement)
  
• 1 Sour (embarrassment/shame)
  
• 2 Salty (sadness/regret)
  
• 1 Bitter (anger/bitterness)
  
• 3 Savory (adrenaline/fear)

On the tables are pebble-sized crystals. Hold a handful of the crystals and share your memory (through talking or memoryshare candies) and the crystals will turn into that food!

Characters are aware that the cooking process will be done with guidance, so all they need to worry about are the ingredients. Tasteless ingredients such as flour and cornstarch will be provided for them, so those ingredients are not listed.

There are no rounds, nor any discussion headers. Please make a toplevel with every new memory/memory discussion. At 4 hours, please turn into the comment below.

TURN-IN

[idolpro]

For every shared memory, please give a 1-4 for how open they were about it, with 1 being cagey as fuck and 4 being as open as they could be:

# of candies consumed:

For every unitmate, please give a 1-3 for how much they learned about them/how much they were affected by this new knowledge, with 1 being a little/unsurprising and 3 being a lot/shocking:

<b>For every shared memory, please give a 1-4 for how open they were about it, with 1 being cagey as fuck and 4 being as open as they could be:</b> HERE <b># of candies consumed:</b> HERE <b>For every unitmate, please give a 1-3 for how much they learned about them/how much they were affected by this new knowledge, with 1 being a little/unsurprising and 3 being a lot/shocking:</b> HERE

Cardinal

[deicider]

For every shared memory, please give a 1-4 for how open they were about it, with 1 being cagey as fuck and 4 being as open as they could be:
Savory memory - 4
Bitter memory - 3

# of candies consumed:
4

For every unitmate, please give a 1-3 for how much they learned about them/how much they were affected by this new knowledge, with 1 being a little/unsurprising and 3 being a lot/shocking:
Hiroto - 3
Gold - 1
Nemesis - 2
Tsukasa - 2
Amaranth - 1

Tsukasa

[heavyliesthecrown]

For every shared memory, please give a 1-4 for how open they were about it, with 1 being cagey as fuck and 4 being as open as they could be:
First memory:

# of candies consumed:
Sweet: 3
Savory: 4

For every unitmate, please give a 1-3 for how much they learned about them/how much they were affected by this new knowledge, with 1 being a little/unsurprising and 3 being a lot/shocking:

Cardinal: 3
Hiroto: 1
Nemesis: 3
Gold: 1
Amaranth: 3

Gold

[calmthefoxdown]

For every shared memory, please give a 1-4 for how open they were about it, with 1 being cagey as fuck and 4 being as open as they could be:
sweet - 4
salty - 4

# of candies consumed:
0

For every unitmate, please give a 1-3 for how much they learned about them/how much they were affected by this new knowledge, with 1 being a little/unsurprising and 3 being a lot/shocking:
Hades: 2
Cardinal: 1
Nemesis: 2
Tsukasa: 3
Amaranth: 2

[calmthefoxdown]

... I was promised cooking.

[ This is not cooking. ]

[worthathousand]

[ a light fondness / anxiety / desire for approval ]

It's... approximately cooking?

[deicider]

[Cardinal's baseline feelings are effervescent, a harmonious blend of confidence and curiosity.]

That's twelve total.

[worthathousand]

[ There's a hovering anxiety in her—concern mixed with a sense of responsibility—and a kind of tautness that eases when she nears them. ]

Not much of a burden, with all of us here.

[ She blinks a few times, though, at the feeling of their emotions brushing up against hers. ]

[daios]

Wait.

We are sharing...??? Memories?

[deicider]

[Cardinal's baseline feelings are effervescent, a harmonious blend of confidence and curiosity.]

How many have you even taken so far?

[heavyliesthecrown]

Should we come up with a strategy...?

That is... perhaps it would be easier for those of us who have not... struggled through actual war or loss, that we know of, tackle some of the more heavy ingredients? That isn't to make light of any one person's past memories or experiences here. But would volunteering help?

Otherwise... I suppose we could all simply...draw? And make sure that no one person gets stuck with two of the same if it falls in a troublesome category.

[deicider]

[Cardinal is calm and confident, and there is approval and appreciation.]

That's sweet, but not necessary for me. I can do bitter and savory.

[worthathousand]

[ She's tense, still half-focused on their audience, feeling... protective of them, almost.
Anxiety in her too, and a desire for approval, absolutely none of which is reflected in her casual, confident posture. ]

Well, this ought to be an interesting change of pace!

[unbr8kable]

[Her arms are folded in typical unimpressed teen fashion, though there's a strong and poorly hidden thrum of apprehension beneath]

Always new flavors of privacy to violate, it's true. Plus now we know where all our food comes from, so that's a bonus.

Sweet!

[daios]

[So, Hades will start by sharing a memory through talking about it??? Grabbing a few pebbles and clearing his throat.]

Ah, so the first memory I took, and all I know of my life so far... I was playing 'hide-and-seek' with a very young girl, and when I found her, she called me 'Papa'.

[His emotions are pretty proud and happy! There is a little bit of unease in the end, but he isn't addressing it.]

Re: Sweet!

[unbr8kable]

...That's it?

MEMORY - Savory

[deicider]

[Cardinal makes that memory candy and gestures avante to help themselves.]

It's a fight I had with a former member of BARiTONES.

[The memory is indeed a tense, fast-paced conflict between Cardinal and Doll during the first and only rendition of the Tokyo-F Hunger games. In the memory, Cardinal is tense and frustrated - they're in a hurry - but channeled into laser focus. When Doll puppets Cardinal, there is a bolt of genuine, nauseating fear and discomfort that lingers after the battle has ended.]

Re: MEMORY - Savory

[worthathousand]

[ No hesitation taking the candy, but there's an immediate pang of disgust once she sees who else it features.

As the remembered fight goes on, she lets herself ride the adrenaline of it—and the sudden drop of nausea at being puppeted. ]


....You handled her very well. [ voice a little quiet ]

Savory

[unbr8kable]

[Lips pursed, Nemesis lays out a handful of candy herself]

This should work.

[Beneath the bravado there's a bit of pride-apprehension-defensiveness that peeps through the cracks, as well as a tired ache as the memory ends]

[calmthefoxdown]

... That was a really intense moment.

Sweet

[calmthefoxdown]

For a sweet memory...

There's one that I can remember, where Silver and I were maybe ten or so. We were playing video games when our granny called us over into the kitchen to help prepare dinner. We made her take a seat while we did all the work, and I don't think Silver enjoyed it quite as much as me, but I really liked following Granny's instructions and asking her questions about what food and flavors were doing. She's always been real great at answering my questions.

We also each got some homemade pudding for dessert, which was our favorite. The happiness from both the cooking and getting to eat one of my favorite foods is one I like holdin' onto.

Re: Sweet

[worthathousand]

What a domestic grandmother...

[ warm, and a kind of vicarious nostalgia ]

Is she the one who taught you to love cooking?

Savory

[heavyliesthecrown]

[ It's his turn to take one of the candies. And the memory that plays is a familiar one...

To be honest, it covers a wide range of emotions and feelings. But he supposes... since it started out with his terror at being lost, it works.

He feels a little embarrassed while it plays. But he keeps his head raised. While he might not have started out strong, he has grown. And this event helped shape that for him. ]

Re: Savory

[deicider]

That's a very intense memory... You were a very intelligent kid.

Sour

[daios]

[Talking about it seems better than showing it, honestly......]

Ah, well... I saw a beauty on the beach not long ago and... ugh... I ah. I fell into the sand... It was mortifying...

[calmthefoxdown]

[ Cuuuurious. ]

A beauty... here in Imeeji?

Bitter

[deicider]

[Cardinal ponders for a moment and just decides to talk about it instead of the whole dramatic memory.]

One of my siblings hated me and betrayed our bash'. We shared the same work our whole lives, but they resented being bound to their work and blamed me for not giving them any choice.

[There is indeed a ripple of hurt and acid-bitter anger, a fleeting impression.]

Re: Bitter

[worthathousand]

[ quiet ] I remember that one.

It still stings, I imagine.

Salty

[calmthefoxdown]

I've got a salty memory.

My volleyball team, Inarizaki, had made it to Nationals, which was where we would face off against teams from all across the country. We... lost in the first match we played. Me an' Silver got too cocky and into it during the last play, so it was definitely on us.

In addition, our captain was a 3rd year, which meant he wouldn't be able to play in anymore games this season before he graduated. An' him and Aran, another 3rd year and player, were two guys we really respected.

We tried ta apologize to our captain, but he said only to apologize when we do something wrong. But he did say he wished he could brag about us being amazing teammates for a while longer.

We promised him then and there we'd be the kinda teammates he'd be able ta brag to his great grandkids about. But... I still regret not bein' able to take him all the way to finals. He was a really great captain.

Re: Salty

[worthathousand]

That's absolutely incredible that you made it that far in the competition.

[ earnest, though there's some puzzlement there too, because it is hitting her now how little she knows about volleyball ]

A nation is such a vast place.

And, you know... someone who was able to earn your respect like that... Well, I have to think his faith in your worth was really genuine.

Sweet

[heavyliesthecrown]

[ At least with THIS memory, he beams, excited to share! ]

While my cousin Kei-kun was here, after convincing him that I was not some strange man who had taken an unusual interest in him, I managed to get him to model some clothing for me! ♪

Fufufufufufu ☆

[ Pulling out his camera ]

For the small price of dressing up in something he wanted me to wear- [ Leaving what that was out ahem- ] He dressed up like us on our noble unit.

Please take a look. I took a number of pictures.

[ PULLING OUT HIS PHONE NOW. LOOK AT HIS BEAUTIFUL WONDERFUL PINK-HAIRED COUSIN. Among the pictures of him posing as a knight are also pictures of him looking exasperated while bound with zipties and also shrunk to about the size of a fairy and angry. ]

There is no one quite like him. ♪

Re: Sweet

[worthathousand]

Ah... [ CONCERN??? ]

Tsukasa, those last images are a little...

Sweet

[daios]

[Hades this time will share a memory with the candies!

It is a memory of a fight! He is very excitable during it, even when he gets his butt kicked.]

It was a lot of fun sparring with Sakura!

[Happy dog energy!!!]

[calmthefoxdown]

[ Impressed! ]

Wow, that looked really cool.

Salty

[worthathousand]

We're... still missing enough salt, aren't we.

[ Amaranth cups some of the pebbles in her hands, already a touch sorrowful as she anticipates her options. ]

I remember my wife's illness. It began... only a little after I gave birth to Persephone. Maybe... all those nights staying up with me weakened her? I don't know, even now.

When spirits infest someone like that... poultices and prayer can only help so much, without an Essence-user to strengthen them. And medicine... it was not the power of the god who chose me. Perhaps, if I had been willing to go back to the Domain Lord—abandon my stubborn pride, and beg for her aid...

But even then, the Realm would have been the ones with the Chosen of the Dragons who might have helped, not Lord Kaoru. Perhaps that is why I remained forsworn.

I remember falling asleep beside her every night, as her cheeks grew hollow and her hands thin.

[ a weak smile ]

From my later memories, I know she did not survive.

Re: Salty

[deicider]

[Cardinal squeezes her shoulder, pain flashing across their own emotionscape.]

Bitter

[worthathousand]

Perhaps... I'll try one of the candies this time.
I just need it to be... something bitter?

Whatever this is, it's... bound to be rather violent. I apologize in advance.

[ She pops one of the candies in her mouth. And, well. It is. ]

Re: Bitter

[unbr8kable]

[Violence, whatever, compared to this place, but--]

[Oh-]

[Oh]

[Empathy-surprise-dull realisation that maybe her story isn't all that different after all (and yet still, uncomfortable, surely this was not meant for her,)]

...

salty

[unbr8kable]

[She frowns, considering...then grabs some crystals]

...Okay. I got some good salt. Once I fell off the game tower... Hurricane lectured me for a week. Having to be fussed at by him of all people was a pretty big regret if you ask me.

[From the slight churn of emotions there was probably more to it than that, but eh whatever]

Re: salty

[worthathousand]

[ kneejerk shock and worry, though she reals it in a bit, trying not to let it show overmuch ]

Why did you... fall off the Game Tower?

salty, redux

[unbr8kable]

[Easy peasy, that should count. Unthinking, she reaches for a candy since it's been a while, why not have a snack]

[In fact, there was a reason,]

Re: salty, redux

[worthathousand]

[ soft, mournful— ]

Did you know... they called the time in which I lived the "Age of Sorrows."
But perhaps that kind of devastation... really isn't so unique.

RESULTS

[idolpro]

[ You made a Mozarella & Basil Gnocchi! You even managed to conjure up some garlic salt (albeit incomplete—it's saltier than it is bitter) for it. While it isn't 10000% perfect, it's also full of heart and emotion; ultimately, it's a little on the bitter side (so maybe it's better that the garlic salt was more salty than bitter)—maybe a little more sour would have helped—but more importantly, it gets you a 55/10 score!

. . . That's not how scores work but whatever!

You can head to endgame, though maybe some of you might be coming back for an encore. You can take some of your food with you as you go! ]