Battle Fantasia MUSH - User contributions [en]

Mokona

2020-06-08T03:38:03Z

Shachihoko: Updating with the MGS TP use of Mokona's Special Ability

{| class="toccolours" style="width: 80%; float: center; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''Mokona'''
|-
! colspan="4" align="center" | [[File:Mokona.jpg]]
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''IC Information'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Mascot Name:
| colspan="3" | Mokona
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Magical Girl Partners:
| colspan="3" | Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuuzaki, [[Fuu Hououji]] (the Magic Knights)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Class:
| colspan="3" | Fairy
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:
| colspan="3" | Unclear
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Behavioral Age:
| colspan="3" | Enigmatic Child
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Weight:
| colspan="3" | 10 lbs
|-
! style="text-align:left" colspan="1" | Favorite Food:
| colspan="3" | Doesn't eat
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''Stats'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Cuteness:
! | 4
! style="text-align:left" | Roughness:
! | 1
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Quickness:
! | 5
! style="text-align:left" | Smartness:
! style="padding-right:70px" | 3 (2 + 1)
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''Traits'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Innocent Marshmallow
| colspan="3" | Mokona is frequently happy-go-lucky, without a care in the world, prone to following its curiosity into all manner of havoc and blithely unconcerned with whatever anger this may provoke.
|-
! style="text-align:left" | No Respect
| colspan="3" | Mokona is cheerfully uncaring of personal boundaries, lavishing playful affection or friendly trolling as its whim strikes, particularly with regards to good people.
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''Special Ability'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Storage Gem
| colspan="3" | The jewel on Mokona's forehead allows it to store and produce an even wider range of supplies, equipment, etc. than the Magic Knights' glove-jewels, from a cutesy cottage-like "tent" to food and travel supplies. What it *can't* (or won't) store is weapons. Mokona's jewel can also project a beam of light to help point the way for its companions, or act as a medium for Clef to address the Magic Knights. ''(Fortunately, when the group encountered the dark fairy-cat Siren on their way out of the mansion, Mokona happened to have a cat toy tucked away in inventory. It was a small price to pay for the group's success; just don't ask why Mokona had that in the first place ...)''
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''OOC Information'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Source:
| [[Magic Knight Rayearth]] (FC)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Player:
| [[User:Shachihoko|Shachihoko]]
|-
|}
'''Mokona''' is stupendous in every respect!

Here's a brief summary of who they are and what their deal is.

====Logs and Cutscenes====
{{#dpl: |category = logs
|linksto = {{PAGENAME}}
|notcategory = News Files
|notcategory = cutscenes
|ordermethod = title
|columns = 1
|rowcolformat=width=50%
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no logs on this wiki that {{PAGENAME}} participated in.
}}

{{#dpl: |category = cutscenes
|linksto = {{PAGENAME}}
|notcategory = News Files
|notcategory = logs
|ordermethod = title
|columns = 1
|rowcolformat=width=50%
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no cutscenes on this wiki that {{PAGENAME}} participated in.
}}

[[Category:Mascots]]

Mascot Gear Solid

2020-06-05T04:29:24Z

Shachihoko: Creating a link to Mokona's page.

===The Plot===
The magical girls have been rendered helpless and unable to transform due to a dastardly scheme, and must rely on their mascots to retrieve their henshin items from a dark fortress so that they can save the day. Thus begins the legendary tale of...

'''''MASCOT GEAR SOLID'''''

__TOC__

===The Details===
* Players will be primarily roleplaying their characters' mascots instead of their actual characters.
* If your character doesn't really have a mascot, or your theme doesn't have enough to go around for all the PCs, or you're otherwise confused or concerned about who you're going to play, please contact Pink Moon Stick IN ADVANCE OF THIS EVENT so we can hook you up (take a look at the list at the bottom of this page, ideally approach us with a preference). Mascots from unplayed themes/characters are on the table in order to fill out the roster and allow more people to participate.
* We will not be using the csys. We may be using some silly dice rolls with an open mind and a joyous heart, but wholly in the service of wacky hijinks.
* We are using [[Mascot Sheet Template|a mascot page template]] to record mascots' marginally-structured character sheets, so please make a page for the mascot you'll be playing prior to the event!

===Vaguely-Official MASCOT GEAR SOLID Character Generation===
''Ed. Note: Examples are provided, but are very non-binding. Any players of these mascots are encouraged to follow their own hearts when filling out their character sheets.''

====Stats====

Stat values range from 1-5. All mascots get up to 12 total points to distribute across all stats. You can spend fewer points if you want. Minmaxing is fine as long as you're ready to enjoy some really epic fails. There are no safe 'dump stats'.

'''Cuteness:''' How cute a mascot is, and how effectively a mascot can leverage its cuteness to accomplish its goals.

Most mascots are cute, but some are cuter than others, and not all mascots use their cuteness to get the job done, preferring other strategies.

Even in a dark fortress full of enemies, being extraordinarily cute can be a powerful asset. Not every youma and lieutenant is as immune to cuteness as they'd like to think. Sometimes, cuteness can open doors or create opportunities that no other stat can...

'''Roughness:''' How rough a mascot is, and how effectively a mascot can leverage its roughness to accomplish its goals.

Some mascots are surprisingly rough, while some aren't rough at all. 'Roughness' includes both actual combat capability as well as degree of badass attitude, including resistance to fear (almost as though how well you can defend yourself from harm, and how afraid you are of the big world... are... connected). Not incompatible with cuteness; a mascot can be both cute and rough at need, and use the best tool at hand for the task...

Even a Roughness 5 mascot isn't rough enough to huff, puff, and blow down all the doors (and enemies) between the group and their objective, but it can be extremely useful to have decent self-defense (and the ability to defend your friends!) in a piinchi. A fearless mascot who lacks the roughness to back it up can justify this discontinuity (and its inevitably unfortunate consequences) with a Trait (see below).

'''Quickness:''' How quick a mascot is, and how effectively a mascot can leverage its quickness to accomplish its goals.

Some mascots are faster runners (...fleers...) than others; some mascots are stealthier than others; some mascots are clumsier than others; these traits correlate well (if sometimes inversely) so they are all shared by the same stat.

Mascot Gear Solid has a fair amount of stealth in it, so if your mascot has low Quickness, you'll be telling some amusing stories about the other mascots covering for your incompetence.

'''Smartness:''' How smart a mascot is, and how effectively a mascot can leverage its smartness to accomplish its goals.

Some mascots are brilliant, some are brick-dumb... and some are highly intelligent but in totally useless ways. Smartness covers most mental abilities, including being usefully knowledgeable, witty, and clever, as well as thinking fast in a tight spot. Smartness does not, however, confer resistance to fear (which is normally handled by the Roughness stat), because mascots with high Smartness are exactly smart enough to know how very, very vulnerable they really are...

=====Example Stats=====

* '''Luna:''' Cuteness 2, Roughness 2, Quickness 4, Smartness 4
* '''Kyuubey:''' Cuteness 4, Roughness 1, Quickness 2, Smartness 5
* '''Kero-chan:''' Cuteness 1, Roughness 5, Quickness 3, Smartness 3
* '''Hummy:''' Cuteness 5, Roughness 3, Quickness 3, Smartness 1

====Traits====
All mascots have two traits; notable aspects of themselves that they can call upon to accomplish extraordinary feats, but that fate can call upon to force them to behave according to their nature.

=====Example Traits=====
* '''Hummy's Incredible Naivete:''' Hummy can be suckered by anyone about anything at any time, but her belief in the essential goodness of all beings can also inspire that goodness in surprising places.
* '''Kero-chan's Insatiable Hunger:''' Kero-chan will go to extraordinary lengths and can accomplish six impossible things TO GET breakfast, but he can't resist going after food if he sees it, no matter how unwise.

====Special Ability====
All mascots have one iconic magic power or other extraordinary ability that they can use usefully up to once per plot. (They can use it uselessly more often for comedic value.)

=====Example Special Abilities=====
* '''Luna's Dimensional Pocket:''' Luna can leap up, do a little midair dance, and summon a useful, even (single-use) magical item, though if it's a thing that requires opposable thumbs to operate, she'll need someone else to actually use it.
* '''Kyuubey's Compost Program:''' Kyuubey's body can be totally destroyed once per plot and he'll just show right back up in another body (after using it to consume the leftovers of the first). After that it will take too long to replace himself; he only has one copy in useful range.

====Classes====
Every mascot has a class. The three base classes are:
* '''Animal''': +1 Quickness (max 6). An animal of a type natural to Earth (whatever its actual origin may be). Can pass in public as a mundane beast, but secretly possesses magical powers. Luna and Hummy are both Animals, so they would modify their Quickness by +1.
* '''Fairy''': +1 Smartness (max 6). A supernatural, mythical, or alien mascot. Usually either native to another realm of existence, or created by magic. Kero-chan and Kyuubey are both Fairies, so they would modify their Smartness by +1.
* '''Baby''': +1 Cuteness (max 6), -4 stat total, +1 Special Ability. An immature, helpless mascot often possessed of extraordinary potential. Cannot care for themselves, yet they may hold the key to dark plots or bright futures. Chiffon is a Baby, and not going on this adventure.

====Character Sheet====
The Mascot Gear Solid character sheet is available [[Mascot Sheet Template|here]]. Please fill it out, and link to it in the list below, to show that you've reserved a playable mascot! If your character doesn't have a mascot and you aren't sure who else's to play, please contact '''Pink Moon Stick''' and she'll find you a match. If you feel that an option is missing entirely, by all means please inquire.

===Playable Mascot List===
* Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: [[Luna]], Artemis, Luna-P, Phobos, [[Deimos]]
* Cardcaptor Sakura: Kero-chan
* Kaitou Saint Tail: Ruby
* Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne: Finn Fish
* Knights of the Round Table Reborn: Merlin
* Little Witch Academia: Lotte's skull spirit
* Lost Inheritor Yumi: Tama-chan
* Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: [[Yuuno Scrya|Yuuno]], Arf, Zafira (all three stuck in cute animal form and largely sans spellcasting), [[Citadel]], [[Fallen Stern]], [[Souverain Heraut]], Intelligent Devices^
* Magic Knight Rayearth: [[Mokona]]
* Miraculous Ladybug: Tikki^, Plagg^, [[Ressi]]^, Tak^, other kwami
* Pretty Cure: Mepple^, Mipple^, Flappy^, Choppy^, Tarte (Chiffon is a baby, what is wrong with you?? wanting to bring her to a dark fortress), Hummy, other fairies
* Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Kyuubey
* Revolutionary Girl Utena: [[Chu-Chu]]
* Shugo Chara: All charas^
* Sirens of Sorrow's Sea: Batiste
* Steven Universe: [[Lion]]$

^ Mascots who normally have both a henshin item form and a fairy form, or whose fairy form is dependent on the henshin item being in good hands, were magically separated (and the item stolen). Intelligent Devices may have cast their intelligence into alternative devices (such as stuffed animals, whatever was around in the moment) at the last minute as an emergency measure before their pendants/etc were taken, giving them basically no magic whatsoever beyond piloting their fluffy little mechs around.

$ Magical girls whose henshin items are inextricable from their bodies were themselves PHYSICALLY STOLEN by the dastardly scheme that motivated Mascot Gear Solid.

[[Category:Miscellaneous]]

Mokona

2020-06-05T03:47:28Z

Shachihoko: Mokona doesn't actually eat, according to a bonus section from the manga, so it has no favorite food.

{| class="toccolours" style="width: 80%; float: center; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''Mokona'''
|-
! colspan="4" align="center" | [[File:Mokona.jpg]]
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''IC Information'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Mascot Name:
| colspan="3" | Mokona
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Magical Girl Partners:
| colspan="3" | Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuuzaki, [[Fuu Hououji]] (the Magic Knights)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Class:
| colspan="3" | Fairy
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:
| colspan="3" | Unclear
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Behavioral Age:
| colspan="3" | Enigmatic Child
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Weight:
| colspan="3" | 10 lbs
|-
! style="text-align:left" colspan="1" | Favorite Food:
| colspan="3" | Doesn't eat
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''Stats'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Cuteness:
! | 4
! style="text-align:left" | Roughness:
! | 1
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Quickness:
! | 5
! style="text-align:left" | Smartness:
! style="padding-right:70px" | 3 (2 + 1)
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''Traits'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Trait Name #1: Innocent Marshmallow
| colspan="3" | Mokona is frequently happy-go-lucky, without a care in the world, prone to following its curiosity into all manner of havoc and blithely unconcerned with whatever anger this may provoke.
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Trait Name #2: No Respect
| colspan="3" | Mokona is cheerfully uncaring of personal boundaries, lavishing playful affection or friendly trolling as its whim strikes, particularly with regards to good people.
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''Special Ability'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Name of Special Ability: Storage Gem
| colspan="3" | The jewel on Mokona's forehead allows it to store and produce an even wider range of supplies, equipment, etc. than the Magic Knights' glove-jewels, from a cutesy cottage-like "tent" to food and travel supplies. What it *can't* (or won't) store is weapons. Mokona's jewel can also project a beam of light to help point the way for its companions, or act as a medium for Clef to address the Magic Knights.
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''OOC Information'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Source:
| [[Magic Knight Rayearth]] (FC)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Player:
| [[User:Shachihoko|Shachihoko]]
|-
|}
'''Mokona''' is stupendous in every respect!

Here's a brief summary of who they are and what their deal is.

====Logs and Cutscenes====
{{#dpl: |category = logs
|linksto = {{PAGENAME}}
|notcategory = News Files
|notcategory = cutscenes
|ordermethod = title
|columns = 1
|rowcolformat=width=50%
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no logs on this wiki that {{PAGENAME}} participated in.
}}

{{#dpl: |category = cutscenes
|linksto = {{PAGENAME}}
|notcategory = News Files
|notcategory = logs
|ordermethod = title
|columns = 1
|rowcolformat=width=50%
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no cutscenes on this wiki that {{PAGENAME}} participated in.
}}

[[Category:Mascots]]

File:Mokona.jpg

2020-06-05T03:46:07Z

Shachihoko: Shachihoko uploaded a new version of "File:Mokona.jpg"

Art of Mokona for the mascot page

Mokona

2020-06-05T03:44:41Z

Shachihoko: Mokona's page for Mascot Gear Solid

{| class="toccolours" style="width: 80%; float: center; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''Mokona'''
|-
! colspan="4" align="center" | [[File:Mokona.jpg]]
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''IC Information'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Mascot Name:
| colspan="3" | Mokona
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Magical Girl Partners:
| colspan="3" | Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuuzaki, [[Fuu Hououji]] (the Magic Knights)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Class:
| colspan="3" | Fairy
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:
| colspan="3" | Unclear
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Behavioral Age:
| colspan="3" | Enigmatic Child
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Weight:
| colspan="3" | 10 lbs
|-
! style="text-align:left" colspan="1" | Favorite Food:
| colspan="3" | Sweets, especially fruit and Umi's cakes
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''Stats'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Cuteness:
! | 4
! style="text-align:left" | Roughness:
! | 1
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Quickness:
! | 5
! style="text-align:left" | Smartness:
! style="padding-right:70px" | 3 (2 + 1)
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''Traits'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Trait Name #1: Innocent Marshmallow
| colspan="3" | Mokona is frequently happy-go-lucky, without a care in the world, prone to following its curiosity into all manner of havoc and blithely unconcerned with whatever anger this may provoke.
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Trait Name #2: No Respect
| colspan="3" | Mokona is cheerfully uncaring of personal boundaries, lavishing playful affection or friendly trolling as its whim strikes, particularly with regards to good people.
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''Special Ability'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Name of Special Ability: Storage Gem
| colspan="3" | The jewel on Mokona's forehead allows it to store and produce an even wider range of supplies, equipment, etc. than the Magic Knights' glove-jewels, from a cutesy cottage-like "tent" to food and travel supplies. What it *can't* (or won't) store is weapons. Mokona's jewel can also project a beam of light to help point the way for its companions, or act as a medium for Clef to address the Magic Knights.
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="4" | '''OOC Information'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Source:
| [[Magic Knight Rayearth]] (FC)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Player:
| [[User:Shachihoko|Shachihoko]]
|-
|}
'''Mokona''' is stupendous in every respect!

Here's a brief summary of who they are and what their deal is.

====Logs and Cutscenes====
{{#dpl: |category = logs
|linksto = {{PAGENAME}}
|notcategory = News Files
|notcategory = cutscenes
|ordermethod = title
|columns = 1
|rowcolformat=width=50%
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no logs on this wiki that {{PAGENAME}} participated in.
}}

{{#dpl: |category = cutscenes
|linksto = {{PAGENAME}}
|notcategory = News Files
|notcategory = logs
|ordermethod = title
|columns = 1
|rowcolformat=width=50%
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no cutscenes on this wiki that {{PAGENAME}} participated in.
}}

[[Category:Mascots]]

File:Mokona.jpg

2020-06-05T03:13:07Z

Shachihoko: Art of Mokona for the mascot page

Art of Mokona for the mascot page

Uminari Matsuri

2020-05-17T20:28:04Z

Shachihoko: Adding the Popgun Target Booth

'''Uminari Matsuri is a BF special event that runs through the middle of May 2020.'''

[[File:Uminari_matsuri_1.PNG|center|500px]]

'Matsuri' means festival, usually a local festival, somewhere between neighborhood block party and carnival. They're often sponsored and supported by a combination of community institutions such as shrines or temples, small business owner organizations, cultural associations, neighborhood watches, and the like.

One of the most famous and beloved of Tokyo's festivals is Shitamachi's Uminari Matsuri, named after its location -- the street that runs outside Uminari Seaside Park is shut down to cars and filled with festival booths, while the park itself is transformed by lanterns and other decorations into a truly magical setting.

[[File:Uminari_matsuri_2.PNG|left|500px]]

There's a lot to do, with sponsors organizing dozens of [[Food#Festival_Food|food booths]], crafts booths, game booths, souvenir booths, and so on, all of which require volunteers and desire patronage. Not everyone there is there to work, of course, but even the temps are expected to slip away and get some time mingling with the crowds and seeing the sights. Yukata are not required but there will never be a better excuse to wear one, so the plumage on display is often spectacular.

Uminari Matsuri both celebrates the conclusion of summer and is one of its highlights. There's more than enough festival fun to generate many scenes, large and small, over its long, warm IC evening. We'll be kicking it off the weekend of May 15th and wrapping it up the following weekend, with plenty of suggestions for things groups can do on their own, as well as an overarching, GMed plot to bookend the event.

The Sister Schools are not sponsors of this event, but basically any other shop, restaurant, cultural site or other organization can be. So if you'd like to have been roped into running a booth for part of the night by a parent, friend, or other connection (even just being a sufficiently enthusiastic customer of a sponsor is enough), by all means note in the bullet list below what booth you're associated with, and who the sponsor is! We've seeded the list with a few suggestions that you're welcome to put yourself into, but you're equally encouraged to add more booths, and indeed we've deliberately left off some classics for others to seize. If you'd like to just show up and party, that's great too! And if all of this has inspired you to do any scenes between now and when the festival starts doing some IC setting up, that's all the better.

[[File:Uminari_matsuri_3.PNG|left|500px]]

==Notable Booths:==
* The '''Shave Ice Booth''', sponsored by '''Game Center Crown'''.
:* '''Volunteers:'''
* The '''Mask Making Booth''', sponsored by '''Pino Karaoke Lounge'''.
:* '''Volunteers:''' [[Yumi Ohzora]]
* The '''Fortune-Telling Booth''', sponsored by '''Tomoe Laboratories'''.
:* '''Volunteers:''' [[Eudial|Yuuko Arimura]], [[Mimete|Mimi Hanyu]]
* The '''Goldfish-Scooping Booth''', sponsored by '''Hikawa Shrine'''.
:* '''Volunteers:''' [[Rei Hino]], [[Usagi Tsukino]]
* The '''Senbonbiki Booth''', sponsored by '''Yamamoto Fishing Industries'''.
:* '''Volunteers:''' [[Ai Yamamoto]], [[Inori Yamabuki]]
* The '''Crepes Booth''', sponsored by '''Tanaka Custom Footwear And Polish'''.
:* '''Volunteers:''' [[Kasagami Araki]], [[Anthy Himemiya]], [[Utena Tenjou]]
* The '''Popgun Target Booth''', sponsored by '''Fujibayashi Computers'''.
:* '''Volunteers:''' [[Fuu Hououji]], [[Mami Tomoe]]???
* The '''Insert Booth Here''', sponsored by '''Sponsor Name Here'''.
:* '''Volunteers:'''

==Logs==

Please include 'Uminari Matsuri' in the title of all of your logs and cutscenes, and they'll automatically appear here.

{{#dpl: |category = logs¦cutscenes
|titlematch = %Uminari Matsuri%
|notcategory = News Files
|ordermethod = title
|columns = 2
|rowcolformat=width=100%
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no Uminari Matsuri logs or cutscenes yet. Fix it!
}}

[[Category:Special Events]]

2019-05-08 - Transition

2019-05-11T01:03:29Z

Shachihoko: Getting the actual scene title in there, oops

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Title: Transition'''
|-
|'''Summary''': 
''The Hououji family is on their way out of Tokyo ... but Fuu can't go all the way with them.''
|-
| '''Who:''' 
[[Fuu Hououji]]
|-
| '''Where:''' 
Somewhere west of the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area
|-
| '''OOC - IC Date:''' 
5-8-2019 - 6-4-2015
|-
|}

Traffic normally flows fairly steadily along the major expressways into, out of, and around Tokyo. There are ebbs and flows and lulls, of course, and sometimes conditions do force the drivers to slow down more than normal. Heavy, driving rain is one of those conditions. So is a massed evacuation out of Tokyo.

Right now, both of those are happening. The approach of the predicted super-storm, heralded by a week of heavy rain before the official emergency was declared, has put the highways' drainage to the test; there's probably more puddle than pavement in the path of their car's tires, but Fuu has little interest in getting out to check.

"Fuu, dear?" Tsubasa inquires, glancing back at her younger daughter. "You've been fidgety ever since the Universes stopped by ... what ''did'' happen while you were chatting with them? Did Steven-kun need your help with something again?"

"I'm sorry if it disturbed you," Fuu says quietly. "It's ... it's not just Steven. I wanted to make sure the rest of you would be safely out of Tokyo, so I didn't bring it up -"

"Fuu."

The voice of the family's father stills Fuu's voice, and she looks down at her hands in her lap. Not that Akira is scolding her; his voice is conversationally quiet as usual, with just enough of a stern tone to catch Fuu's attention. "The storm is probably more than just an atypically intense weather system," she explains. "We were warned about a monster ... an uber-Witch, one that could - would manifest in the real world, instead of within a barrier. That thousands of people would die just from this Witch's materialization, that it could obliterate all of Tokyo. I ''needed'' to know that you would be safe, out of harm's way."

Fuu looks up again, catching her father's gaze in the corner of the rear-view mirror. "Could you have gone through with evacuating if I wasn't coming with you, Otousan?"

Akira purses his lips, making a thoughtful noise. "Good question. They'll likely be expecting the whole family to check in ... but flip the question around: how are you going to get back into Tokyo? Even if you can magic your way past cordons or perimeters somehow, this is hardly weather you can get around in on foot."

Fuu's gaze shifts out the side window again, focusing initially on her own reflection before she looks at the heavy rain and driving wind. "Whatever I have to do, I guess ..."

"Guessing?" Kuu raises her eyebrows at her little sister. "That's not like you, Fuu-chan. But more importantly, why do you have to be there? You're not the only magical girl who protects Tokyo, and you did say 'we' earlier like there's a group in the loop about this. What can you personally do?"

"I won't know until I do it," replies Fuu. "But I promised, even swore, that I'd be there - that I would do whatever I can to help fight this monster. Even if I have to walk instead of leaping." She bows her head again, closing her eyes. "I guess I've been too frightened to think as clearly as I usually do."

For a few seconds, silence reigns within the car, broken by the noise of wind and rain outside the vehicle. It's Tsubasa who breaks that silence.

"If you have to go, then we'll cover for you as well as we can. But tell me this, Fuu-chan: do you promise, as you promised before, to come home in one piece?"

Fuu nods, lifting her head again. "Yes. I may have trouble keeping that promise this time --"

"Fuu, my darling daughter, you can do better than that," Tsubasa cuts her off, her voice and her smile a pair of silken blades, but still warm and loving even as she chides her younger child. "I only know a little about your past adventures, but you've certainly fought worse than this, haven't you?"

But that question is one to which Fuu doesn't really know the answer. "I promise to come home again, whether it's meeting you at the evacuation center or our family's own house," she says, despite her own doubts. It's easier than it should be; after all, a piece of her is certain that if she falls in this battle, there won't be a Tokyo left, no home for them to return to.

Even if her parents and her sister survive.

[[Category:Cutscenes]]

2019-05-08 - Transition

2019-05-09T02:42:38Z

Shachihoko: In the middle of evacuating, Fuu tells her family that she has to go back into the city to fight Walpurgisnacht.

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Title: <Your title>'''
|-
|'''Summary''': 
''The Hououji family is on their way out of Tokyo ... but Fuu can't go all the way with them.''
|-
| '''Who:''' 
[[Fuu Hououji]]
|-
| '''Where:''' 
Somewhere west of the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area
|-
| '''OOC - IC Date:''' 
5-8-2019 - 6-4-2015
|-
|}

Traffic normally flows fairly steadily along the major expressways into, out of, and around Tokyo. There are ebbs and flows and lulls, of course, and sometimes conditions do force the drivers to slow down more than normal. Heavy, driving rain is one of those conditions. So is a massed evacuation out of Tokyo.

Right now, both of those are happening. The approach of the predicted super-storm, heralded by a week of heavy rain before the official emergency was declared, has put the highways' drainage to the test; there's probably more puddle than pavement in the path of their car's tires, but Fuu has little interest in getting out to check.

"Fuu, dear?" Tsubasa inquires, glancing back at her younger daughter. "You've been fidgety ever since the Universes stopped by ... what ''did'' happen while you were chatting with them? Did Steven-kun need your help with something again?"

"I'm sorry if it disturbed you," Fuu says quietly. "It's ... it's not just Steven. I wanted to make sure the rest of you would be safely out of Tokyo, so I didn't bring it up -"

"Fuu."

The voice of the family's father stills Fuu's voice, and she looks down at her hands in her lap. Not that Akira is scolding her; his voice is conversationally quiet as usual, with just enough of a stern tone to catch Fuu's attention. "The storm is probably more than just an atypically intense weather system," she explains. "We were warned about a monster ... an uber-Witch, one that could - would manifest in the real world, instead of within a barrier. That thousands of people would die just from this Witch's materialization, that it could obliterate all of Tokyo. I ''needed'' to know that you would be safe, out of harm's way."

Fuu looks up again, catching her father's gaze in the corner of the rear-view mirror. "Could you have gone through with evacuating if I wasn't coming with you, Otousan?"

Akira purses his lips, making a thoughtful noise. "Good question. They'll likely be expecting the whole family to check in ... but flip the question around: how are you going to get back into Tokyo? Even if you can magic your way past cordons or perimeters somehow, this is hardly weather you can get around in on foot."

Fuu's gaze shifts out the side window again, focusing initially on her own reflection before she looks at the heavy rain and driving wind. "Whatever I have to do, I guess ..."

"Guessing?" Kuu raises her eyebrows at her little sister. "That's not like you, Fuu-chan. But more importantly, why do you have to be there? You're not the only magical girl who protects Tokyo, and you did say 'we' earlier like there's a group in the loop about this. What can you personally do?"

"I won't know until I do it," replies Fuu. "But I promised, even swore, that I'd be there - that I would do whatever I can to help fight this monster. Even if I have to walk instead of leaping." She bows her head again, closing her eyes. "I guess I've been too frightened to think as clearly as I usually do."

For a few seconds, silence reigns within the car, broken by the noise of wind and rain outside the vehicle. It's Tsubasa who breaks that silence.

"If you have to go, then we'll cover for you as well as we can. But tell me this, Fuu-chan: do you promise, as you promised before, to come home in one piece?"

Fuu nods, lifting her head again. "Yes. I may have trouble keeping that promise this time --"

"Fuu, my darling daughter, you can do better than that," Tsubasa cuts her off, her voice and her smile a pair of silken blades, but still warm and loving even as she chides her younger child. "I only know a little about your past adventures, but you've certainly fought worse than this, haven't you?"

But that question is one to which Fuu doesn't really know the answer. "I promise to come home again, whether it's meeting you at the evacuation center or our family's own house," she says, despite her own doubts. It's easier than it should be; after all, a piece of her is certain that if she falls in this battle, there won't be a Tokyo left, no home for them to return to.

Even if her parents and her sister survive.

[[Category:Cutscenes]]

2019-04-06 - TIMELINE X: Feathered Friends

2019-04-07T21:14:52Z

Shachihoko: Another try to get it to show on the event page's list

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Title: Feathered Friends'''
|-
|'''Summary''': 
''Some time after the Invasion of Ohtori (in some timeline), Kasagami and Fuu bond over bullies and birds.''
|-
| '''Who:''' 
[[Kasagami Araki]],[[Fuu Hououji]]
|-
| '''Where:''' 
Ohtori Academy
|-
| '''OOC - IC Date:''' 
<April 6, 2019 - Sometime in the myriad timelines>
|-
|}

It's a crisp, sunny day at Ohtori Academy. There's a certain feeling in the air, as a light breeze blows all over campus to scatter rose petals and a thousand other lesser kinds of plant seeds about in a beautiful display of nature's glory amidst the finery of the refined place of learning. The sprawling campus is marred, of course: it's not too long ago that Golden Age tread upon its grounds with tank and soldier.

But that's months ago, and though the forest remains damaged, the students' attitudes have well recovered. Things are normal, or as close to normal as ever happens on this campus. It's a less violent time, where bonds of friendship are often few but ironclad.

It is a time where it's crucial to have those you care for, especially as a magical girl.

Kasagami Araki, Disciplinary Executive, is no exception. She's sent a letter to one of her dearest friends, Fuu Hououji. It all started as an accident. Kasagami looking for a book at Infinity, bumping into the blonde during a Library Island expedition, crossing paths during fights with youma.

Then dances, reluctant appearances at a computer club, and a shared love of flighted animals seal the deal. Kasagami finds herself influenced by her much kinder good friend. She's a little less quick to abuse her power. A little more open to diplomacy, though ever a fight-thirsty warhound of a girl.

But there's something they've shared, and a mutual problem from different angles. That is how the two meet today.

A letter winds up at Fuu's place, inviting her out to stretch the wings of a few favored birds in the Falconry Club. The day is perfect for it: clear skies, a gentle breeze, temperate weather … the only thing not perfect is a pair of obstacles in Fuu’s way, as she heads across the Ohtori campus.

A brunette and a redhead pair of Ohtori students in matching ringlets and middle school uniforms bar the Wind Knight's path up the hill where Kassie has always favored for club meetings, and more than one study or sparring session. They're not looking for Fuu in particular. They just want a victim.

Fuu slows to a halt, eyeing the Ohtori girls, then bows politely. “Excuse me, please,” she says before trying to edge between them - only for the pair to close the gap, pushing her back. Not roughly, but their intent is clear.

“‘Excuse me,’” the brunette replies, imitating Fuu’s polite intonation. “Where do you think you’re going, glasses girl? You don’t belong here.”

Fuu’s lips tighten a little, but she maintains her friendly (if strained) smile. “I’m on my way to see another student here. Would you please let me pass?”

“Hmm ...” The redhead taps her chin, looking over Fuu’s Infinity Institute uniform. “You aren’t an Ohtori student, so nothing entitles you to use of the Ohtori grounds. Maybe you should pay us.”

“The Sister Schools -” Fuu begins to protest, only to be cut off by a cruel cackle.

“Please! That’s a charity program, to let you bottom-class kids see what a *real* school is like. Fork it over.”

There's a sudden shrill cry from high up in the air as these duo of Ohtori bullies are attempting to con poor Fuu. It's swiftly followed by /something/ landing directly between the two girls as they let out that much-hated Ohtori laugh that many learn to do (yet never quite reach the heights of Nanami Kiryuu!).

That cry gets ear-shattering loud as something very big and very fast buzzes the sides of the two bullies. One can almost see it in slow motion: a feathery monstrocity flying down, snatching the morsel of meat on the ground. Two sets of ringlets, red and blonde, falling to grass. Said grass has its own neat, slashed up divot in the ground where razor sharp talons snatched up its prey.

And one final cry as the great Golden Eagle Beatrice banks hard enough to rustle skirts and knock one of the girls off their feet before Beatrice lands atop the leather-gauntleted hand of one Kasagami Araki.

The two bullies cling to each other, eyes wide as saucers, staring back in the direction uphill. Their uniforms are now horribly stained green.

Kassie is grinning. "You two should be careful! We can't let the president and vice president of our newest charity at Ohtori get hurt because they wandered onto an athletics field! Or a falconry field for that matter!" Her voice carries, the Disciplinary Executive oozing a self-satisfied enjoyment of the pair's fright.

She looks to Fuu, then to the girls again. "Now run along, you have a dance hall to clean up for your next event. Maybe my dear, elegant and very wealthy friend there might deign to donate to it...if she finds you've done a good job cleaning the place top to bottom. Right, Fuu-chan?"

Kassie's good eye twinkles at her friend.

Fuu’s smile betrays twin notes of amusement and relief as she replies, “Indeed, Kasagami-san; I would at least give it serious consideration!” She bows to the duo - politely, again, in spite of the turning of tables - and takes advantage of their clinging to detour around them and head towards the falconer, her pace quickening a little ... though not nearly so much as the two Ohtori girls, whom she hears running in the other direction.

“Thank you for the assist,” Fuu says as she reaches Kasagami. “And my thanks to Beatrice-san as well. That might have been a little over the top,” she admits wryly, “but I can’t say I’m sorry for the way they freaked out.” And, of course, if there’s one thing Ohtori and Infinity have in common among their student cultures, it’s a certain flair for going over-the-top, sometimes WAY over it.

With the pair of students gone, Kassie is quick to dip into a far-too exaggerated bow, sweeping one hand across her front...pausing only to let Beatrice hop up on top of her noggin and similarly repeat the action. This is a poor idea, as it has Kasagami wincing as her head is pricked by Large Eagle Claws.

She'll go to her grave before she doesn't commit to a bit of bombast though and straightens.

"It /is/ my job to keep our students in line. They'll learn their lesson. And more importantly? Those two need to know whose friend you are. I won't have the Student Council be insulted, even indirectly!" Her pride flares up, though just for a moment.

Further up the hill, there's a second bird waiting. Though not as gargantuan as Kassie's favored feathery compatriot, this one is equally special. A peregrine falcon. But instead of the usual deep blues or brown-and-blacks, this one is a stark white creature from beak to claw. Nothing but the best in Ohtori.

They're alone, just birds and friends of a feather.

"...How about we range them a bit today, Fuu? There should be some nice underbrush where the forest was burnt. I don't know about you, but I /really/ don't want to have to deal with girls like those again today."

A deep, deep sigh.

"Hah. I feel like I'm in middle school again, whenever I talk to brats like them. I'd love it if you'd transfer. It gets lonely here some times."

Fuu reaches into her bag for her own falconer’s glove, tugging it on with relative ease, and lets the falcon step onto her forearm once that’s done. “Somehow I have trouble imagining you ever being bullied, Kasagami-san,” the bespectacled blonde admits. “You carry yourself with such confidence and certainty …” She trails off for a moment, gently grooming her falcon’s head with a finger, a light stroke to help the bird stay calm. “Hm … I suppose that *would* draw bullies, though, wouldn’t it. People wanting you to be less confident, less certain of who you are and where.”

“At any rate, ‘ranging’ sounds good to me. I know my parents are planning a donation towards re-planting the forest - or have those donations already started coming in?” Fuu wonders.

Kassie lets out an amused 'tchhh!' She looks away, amusing herself with Beatrice for a moment. Then, finally, she speaks again.

"I wasn't /nearly/ this confident. Actually, middle school was a pretty rough time for me. After the fire anyway. I found out real fast that all the people I thought were friends suddenly didn't want to hang out with an 'ugly murderer'. Half the school thought I set the fire."

Her eyes lid, and Kasagami isn't staring so much at Fuu, but through the other girl.

"One day I lashed out. They left me alone. So I kept on doing it. Walked around like I owned the place, talked back to the bullies, beat them at their own game. You can either talk around them, outsmart them, or be better at it than them. Either way, you have to be the one with a spine. Let their glass vertebrae snap first!"

Then she punches Fuu lightly on the shoulder.

"But hey, I don't have to worry about that anymore. I've got my best friend right here! Now come on, the forest awaits, good hunter!" Griiiin! And then she's running down the hill, and Fuu follows after her, walking at first, then running as her falcon takes wing to keep pace with her.

Not that either of them has experience or real knowledge in actually hunting game. But maybe, maybe, two friends can figure it out.

[[Category:Cutscenes]]
[[Category:Logs]]

2019-04-06 - TIMELINE X: Feathered Friends

2019-04-07T05:09:25Z

Shachihoko: Another attempt to get this in the "Previously On Battle Fantasia" event category

2019-04-06 - TIMELINE X: Feathered Friends

2019-04-07T05:07:49Z

Shachihoko: Adding to "Previously on Battle Fantasia" event category (hopefully I got the markup right)

2019-04-06 - TIMELINE X: Feathered Friends

2019-04-07T04:18:07Z

Shachihoko: Slight formatting correction

2019-04-06 - TIMELINE X: Feathered Friends

2019-04-07T02:17:06Z

Shachihoko: Kasagami and Fuu bond over

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Title: Feathered Friends'''
|-
|'''Summary''': 
''Some time after the Invasion of Ohtori (in some timeline), Kasagami and Fuu bond over bullies and birds.''
|-
| '''Who:''' 
[[Kasagami Araki]],[[Fuu Hououji]]
|-
| '''Where:''' 
Ohtori Academy|-
| '''OOC - IC Date:''' 
<April 6, 2019 - Sometime in the myriad timelines>
|-
|}

It's a crisp, sunny day at Ohtori Academy. There's a certain feeling in the air, as a light breeze blows all over campus to scatter rose petals and a thousand other lesser kinds of plant seeds about in a beautiful display of nature's glory amidst the finery of the refined place of learning. The sprawling campus is marred, of course: it's not too long ago that Golden Age tread upon its grounds with tank and soldier.

But that's months ago, and though the forest remains damaged, the students' attitudes have well recovered. Things are normal, or as close to normal as ever happens on this campus. It's a less violent time, where bonds of friendship are often few but ironclad.

It is a time where it's crucial to have those you care for, especially as a magical girl.

Kasagami Araki, Disciplinary Executive, is no exception. She's sent a letter to one of her dearest friends, Fuu Hououji. It all started as an accident. Kasagami looking for a book at Infinity, bumping into the blonde during a Library Island expedition, crossing paths during fights with youma.

Then dances, reluctant appearances at a computer club, and a shared love of flighted animals seal the deal. Kasagami finds herself influenced by her much kinder good friend. She's a little less quick to abuse her power. A little more open to diplomacy, though ever a fight-thirsty warhound of a girl.

But there's something they've shared, and a mutual problem from different angles. That is how the two meet today.

A letter winds up at Fuu's place, inviting her out to stretch the wings of a few favored birds in the Falconry Club. The day is perfect for it: clear skies, a gentle breeze, temperate weather … the only thing not perfect is a pair of obstacles in Fuu’s way, as she heads across the Ohtori campus.

A brunette and a redhead pair of Ohtori students in matching ringlets and middle school uniforms bar the Wind Knight's path up the hill where Kassie has always favored for club meetings, and more than one study or sparring session. They're not looking for Fuu in particular. They just want a victim.

Fuu slows to a halt, eyeing the Ohtori girls, then bows politely. “Excuse me, please,” she says before trying to edge between them - only for the pair to close the gap, pushing her back. Not roughly, but their intent is clear.

“‘Excuse me,’” the brunette replies, imitating Fuu’s polite intonation. “Where do you think you’re going, glasses girl? You don’t belong here.”

Fuu’s lips tighten a little, but she maintains her friendly (if strained) smile. “I’m on my way to see another student here. Would you please let me pass?”

“Hmm ...” The redhead taps her chin, looking over Fuu’s Infinity Institute uniform. “You aren’t an Ohtori student, so nothing entitles you to use of the Ohtori grounds. Maybe you should pay us.”

“The Sister Schools -” Fuu begins to protest, only to be cut off by a cruel cackle.

“Please! That’s a charity program, to let you bottom-class kids see what a *real* school is like. Fork it over.”

There's a sudden shrill cry from high up in the air as these duo of Ohtori bullies are attempting to con poor Fuu. It's swiftly followed by /something/ landing directly between the two girls as they let out that much-hated Ohtori laugh that many learn to do (yet never quite reach the heights of Nanami Kiryuu!).

That cry gets ear-shattering loud as something very big and very fast buzzes the sides of the two bullies. One can almost see it in slow motion: a feathery monstrocity flying down, snatching the morsel of meat on the ground. Two sets of ringlets, red and blonde, falling to grass. Said grass has its own neat, slashed up divot in the ground where razor sharp talons snatched up its prey.

And one final cry as the great Golden Eagle Beatrice banks hard enough to rustle skirts and knock one of the girls off their feet before Beatrice lands atop the leather-gauntleted hand of one Kasagami Araki.

The two bullies cling to each other, eyes wide as saucers, staring back in the direction uphill. Their uniforms are now horribly stained green.

Kassie is grinning. "You two should be careful! We can't let the president and vice president of our newest charity at Ohtori get hurt because they wandered onto an athletics field! Or a falconry field for that matter!" Her voice carries, the Disciplinary Executive oozing a self-satisfied enjoyment of the pair's fright.

She looks to Fuu, then to the girls again. "Now run along, you have a dance hall to clean up for your next event. Maybe my dear, elegant and very wealthy friend there might deign to donate to it...if she finds you've done a good job cleaning the place top to bottom. Right, Fuu-chan?"

Kassie's good eye twinkles at her friend.

Fuu’s smile betrays twin notes of amusement and relief as she replies, “Indeed, Kasagami-san; I would at least give it serious consideration!” She bows to the duo - politely, again, in spite of the turning of tables - and takes advantage of their clinging to detour around them and head towards the falconer, her pace quickening a little ... though not nearly so much as the two Ohtori girls, whom she hears running in the other direction.

“Thank you for the assist,” Fuu says as she reaches Kasagami. “And my thanks to Beatrice-san as well. That might have been a little over the top,” she admits wryly, “but I can’t say I’m sorry for the way they freaked out.” And, of course, if there’s one thing Ohtori and Infinity have in common among their student cultures, it’s a certain flair for going over-the-top, sometimes WAY over it.

With the pair of students gone, Kassie is quick to dip into a far-too exaggerated bow, sweeping one hand across her front...pausing only to let Beatrice hop up on top of her noggin and similarly repeat the action. This is a poor idea, as it has Kasagami wincing as her head is pricked by Large Eagle Claws.

She'll go to her grave before she doesn't commit to a bit of bombast though and straightens.

"It /is/ my job to keep our students in line. They'll learn their lesson. And more importantly? Those two need to know whose friend you are. I won't have the Student Council be insulted, even indirectly!" Her pride flares up, though just for a moment.

Further up the hill, there's a second bird waiting. Though not as gargantuan as Kassie's favored feathery compatriot, this one is equally special. A peregrine falcon. But instead of the usual deep blues or brown-and-blacks, this one is a stark white creature from beak to claw. Nothing but the best in Ohtori.

They're alone, just birds and friends of a feather.

"...How about we range them a bit today, Fuu? There should be some nice underbrush where the forest was burnt. I don't know about you, but I /really/ don't want to have to deal with girls like those again today."

A deep, deep sigh.

"Hah. I feel like I'm in middle school again, whenever I talk to brats like them. I'd love it if you'd transfer. It gets lonely here some times."

Fuu reaches into her bag for her own falconer’s glove, tugging it on with relative ease, and lets the falcon step onto her forearm once that’s done. “Somehow I have trouble imagining you ever being bullied, Kasagami-san,” the bespectacled blonde admits. “You carry yourself with such confidence and certainty …” She trails off for a moment, gently grooming her falcon’s head with a finger, a light stroke to help the bird stay calm. “Hm … I suppose that *would* draw bullies, though, wouldn’t it. People wanting you to be less confident, less certain of who you are and where.”

“At any rate, ‘ranging’ sounds good to me. I know my parents are planning a donation towards re-planting the forest - or have those donations already started coming in?” Fuu wonders.

Kassie lets out an amused 'tchhh!' She looks away, amusing herself with Beatrice for a moment. Then, finally, she speaks again.

"I wasn't /nearly/ this confident. Actually, middle school was a pretty rough time for me. After the fire anyway. I found out real fast that all the people I thought were friends suddenly didn't want to hang out with an 'ugly murderer'. Half the school thought I set the fire."

Her eyes lid, and Kasagami isn't staring so much at Fuu, but through the other girl.

"One day I lashed out. They left me alone. So I kept on doing it. Walked around like I owned the place, talked back to the bullies, beat them at their own game. You can either talk around them, outsmart them, or be better at it than them. Either way, you have to be the one with a spine. Let their glass vertebrae snap first!"

Then she punches Fuu lightly on the shoulder.

"But hey, I don't have to worry about that anymore. I've got my best friend right here! Now come on, the forest awaits, good hunter!" Griiiin! And then she's running down the hill, and Fuu follows after her, walking at first, then running as her falcon takes wing to keep pace with her.

Not that either of them has experience or real knowledge in actually hunting game. But maybe, maybe, two friends can figure it out.

[[Category:Cutscenes]]

Food

2018-09-28T04:04:12Z

Shachihoko: Adding a little trivia about fugu

Japanese cuisine is highly seasonal, with many dishes using ingredients only available at the right time. Modern technology has eased this burden, but it is still traditional to eat certain foods at certain times of year.

''Special thanks to Kuniko Saito's player for contributing the Winter entry of this guide!''

__TOC__

==Autumn==
Some in Japan call autumn the 'season for eating.' Coming off the heat of summer, there's a trend towards savory dishes that celebrate the bountiful harvest, and nice warm comfort food to eat as the weather turns colder.

'''Sanma''' (literal translation 'autumn knife fish'), or Pacific Saury, are sleekly silver fish that rise fat and juicy for fishermen in the fall, considered an iconic centerpiece of autumn cuisine. They are typically served whole (even as sushi!), and when cooked, sanma are seasoned with salt and grilled over a charcoal fire. The crispy skin is a much-beloved part of the experience, often garnished with soy sauce. In early September, Tokyo's Meguro district holds a festival where many thousands of charcoal-grilled sanma are given away for free tasting!

'''Satsumaimo''', or Japanese sweet potatoes, are purple on the outside, bright yellow on the inside, and are drier in texture, but sweeter and creamier in taste, than yams. Traditionally, they are roasted whole, on hot stones outside (lending themselves well to the centerpiece of a scene where characters tend, then consume, their roasting sweet potatoes while raking leaves or otherwise enjoying the season; they are also sold, steaming hot, out of the open backs of minivans, by men who attract their customers by singing an iconic lamenting song). Satsumaimo are also popular fried, mashed, or boiled. The stereotypical consequence of overeating satsumaimo is a popular source of fart jokes among the young (and sometimes the old).

'''Kabocha''' are essentially Japanese pumpkins. On the outside they're green rather than orange, and on the inside they're somewhat sweeter than the Western squash, with a rich, butternut flavor. In the fall, they're made into soups, barbecued, battered and fried as tempura (alongside maple leaves, '''Momiji Tempura''', an unusual autumn treat!), and, yes, even used in Western-style pies.
* The most classic comfort food preparation of kabocha, however, is as a filling for breaded and fried croquettes, locally called '''korokke''' -- kabocha (also, satsumaimo) korokke are an often-homemade autumn snack. Watch out for the hot oil when it pops! Independent of season, korokke made with regular potatoes, or sometimes with ground meat, are popular throughout the year, and are sold at delightfully hot temperatures for pocket change prices at the konbini.

'''Matsutake''' pine mushrooms are the most prominent of the fungi that, nurtured by summer's high humidity, pop up for harvesting in the fall. Impossible to cultivate, they're highly prized and very expensive, starting at a hundred thousand yen per pound for the premium grade, and occupy a similar position of honor in Japanese cuisine as truffles do to the French. To make a few matsutake mushrooms stretch a long way, they are popularly featured in a seafood broth soup called '''Matsutake Dobin Mushi''', which is served in a clay teapot. When eaten whole, their delicate, smoky flavor is best preserved by grilling them on an open flame, and they are sometimes sprinkled over rice. Cheaper mushrooms are also popular in autumn, with hearty mushroom broth sometimes replacing the standard cup of miso soup served alongside a meal.

'''Kaki''', or Japanese persimmons, are ubiquitous in the fall, a sweet and tangy fruit found ripening on trees all over the country. Making a day out of a kaki picking trip is a common weekend treat. Besides eating them straight off the tree, they are often served chilled, or dusted with sugar and dried (a treat called '''hoshigaki''').

'''Kuri''', also commonly called by their French name '''maron''', are Japanese chestnuts (with a similar omnipresence to kaki, seen on trees everywhere, but an entirely different taste -- creamy, sweet and rich). They're usually sold uncooked so that they can be prepared at home, but you can get bags of roasted kuri at your supermarket or konbini for a good sidewalk snack. Roasting your own at the end of a trip to a kuri picking farm makes for a good finale to a September day!
* '''Shinmai''', or "new rice," comprises the first harvests of rice in autumn. Shinmai is said to be moister, sweeter, and more beautiful than ordinary rice, and starting in late September one of the best ways to prepare it is with kuri boiled alongside rice in the pot, creating a hearty sticky rice dish ('''kuri-gohan''') with a tiny dose of sweetness. Gingko nuts are also a popular shinmai topping, because of their subtle flavor, which allows the rice's unique qualities to shine through.
* Boxes of '''kuri-kinton''', or candied chestnuts, are popular gifts for friends and family in autumn -- in this treat, kuri are steamed, mashed, combined with sugar, then twisted into a bun shape. The snack is popularly enjoyed with a cup of hot tea. Kuri are also used in many other Japanese sweets, including '''kuri-manju''' cakes.

==Winter==
The prototypical dish for winter cuisine in Japan is the '''hot pot''', also known as ''nabemono''. Ingredients are combined in a pot and boiled, forming a rich broth; it is typically shared, with individual diners plucking out their favored morsels, and the broth typically mixed with rice at the end and consumed as a final course. Eating nabemono with your friends would be an excellent reason for a social scene; gather together, stick your legs underneath the kotatsu, and enjoy the warmth of friendship and flavor.

Nabemono is very versatile. Indeed, the name can be translated as "cooking pot stuff." Here are some common styles of nabemono; all of them can be considered to have vegetables such as bok choy and daikon involved, as well as varieties of mushroom.

* '''Sukiyaki:''' Thinly sliced beef (sometimes pork) simmered with vegetables and a soy sauce/sugar/sweet rice wine sauce. Before eating, the hot ingredients are usually dipped in a small bowl of raw beaten egg. Common at year-end parties and suitable for all ages.
* '''Shabu-shabu:''' Thin sliced beef is boiled in water or broth and eaten with dipping sauces. This dish may be considered similar to the "fondue" style meals available in America. It is quite suitable for service with fine ingredients, particularly wagyu beef and other marks of conspicuous consumption.
* '''Yosenabe:''' A combination style of nabemono which combines all sorts of things and cooks them well together: meat, seafood, tofu, egg, and vegetables. A common "homestyle" meal, often with a thicker sauce than is typical for nabemono.
* '''Yudofu:''' Nabemono prepared in a kombu stock and featuring tofu as the primary protein, with citrus and spicy sauces. Socially considered as vegetarian, though small amounts of fish are typically involved.
* '''Chankonabe:''' A nabemono dish that is a common restaurant meal, it was originally a heavy dish eaten by sumo wrestlers to put on weight efficiently. Very high in protein, often with chicken, fish, beef and various vegetables, chankonabe is a good meal for growing young'ns when served in less heroic proportions.
* '''Ishikari-nabe:''' A Hokkaido specialty, this hot pot features salmon and potato as well as butter.

'''Oden''' is another characteristic winter dish, prepared in a manner similar to hot pot but made available as its own individual dish in many venues. Featuring boiled eggs, daikon, fishcakes and a soy/dashi broth, most convenience stores have a bubbling pot of oden to sell by the cup during the winter months.

'''Tori zosui''' is another winter favorite; a thick rice soup with chicken, often prepared with leftover rice and served with sliced scallions on top. It's an excellent and popular way to warm up after a bitterly cold day.

====Winter Holidays====
There are also some specifically traditional holiday dishes, associated with an individual day or days. Your character is likely to eat them, and may well help prepare them!

* '''Christmas Cake:''' These cakes are typically a simple sponge cake, frosted with whipped cream and decorated with strawberries plus a chocolate plate that says "Merry Christmas!" Something of a more structured strawberry shortcake. It is eaten on Christmas Eve, which is, in Japan, typically celebrated as a romantic holiday a la Western Valentine's Day, and is thus perhaps the hardest night of the year to get a table at a nice restaurant. Yule Log cakes are also popular.
* '''KFC:''' There is a tradition of obtaining Kentucky Fried Chicken meals as a Christmas dish, in part because turkey is an absolute unknown in Japan. A 1974 advertising campaign started a tradition, and now a bucket of KFC "Christmas Chicken" (with salad and a cake) is typical fare on Christmas, often ordered months in advance to beat the lines.
* '''Osechi ryori:''' An umbrella term for food prepared specially for the New Year's period, these dishes come in a huge range of ingredients that are meant to encourage good luck and fortune for the upcoming year. They are typically sweet, sour, dried or otherwise preserved, as they come from a time before refrigeration was common, and when many markets would be closed for some time. Traditionally, nothing should be cooked on New Year's Day, so the preparation of osechi is finished before New Year's Eve. Osechi ryori is arguably the most important meal of the year, with each dish serving as a symbol or wish for the coming year. The food is even eaten in a special way by using chopsticks that are rounded on both ends; one side for the humans to use, one side for the gods. There are so many varieties that space would prohibit easy discussion. A more detailed discussion is present at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osechi Wikipedia] including a plan for a three-tiered "jubako" box.
* '''Toshikoshi soba:''' This is eaten at night on New Year's Eve. A simple meal with buckwheat soba with toppings such as seaweed, fried tofu, or vegetables. The long noodles are said to symbolize a long life, their consumption representing "crossing over from one year to the next," the meaning of ''toshi-koshi''. Another theory is that it is very simple to make - a relief after preparing several days' worth of osechi for the upcoming celebrations! It is often considered bad luck to leave any of your toshikoshi soba uneaten.
* '''O-zoni:''' A soup eaten during on the morning of New Year's Day, considered very lucky, featuring local ingredients and lots of mochi. While many areas have their own specialties, the typical Kanto-area meal uses a soy sauce/dashi broth, squared and grilled mochi, and meat and vegetables to preference.
* '''Nanakusu gayu:''' Eaten on January 7th, this is a collection of seven wild edible herbs eaten with rice in order to ease the stomach after all of the things listed above, which have been eaten over the course of several weeks.

==Spring==
Spring cuisine is all about appreciating the beginning of the growing season, as shoots and ferns unfurl from the ground, and petals blossom on fruit trees. These events are cause for major public celebrations, and, in turn, the fruits and vegetables in question are heavily featured in a variety of dishes.

Besides the bounty of the rich brown earth, there are naturally seasonal selections from the deep blue sea:
* '''Tai''', or Red Sea Bream, are rich-tasting fish that are in season in spring, and famously symbolize good luck in Japan. Besides eating them as sashimi or grilled with salt, '''Tai-chasuke''' is a dish where tai is served on rice with dashi fish stock poured on top.
:* For people who can't abide the fish, but still want their good luck, there is also '''Taiyaki''', a traditional Japanese sweet named after and shaped like tai. They're filled with '''anko''' (sweet red azuki bean paste), and often served at cherry blossom viewing parties (called hanami).
* '''Ika''' (Squid) is available good and fresh throughout the year, they're sweetest in the spring. '''Hotaru-Ika''' (firefly squid) are particularly popular served as a snack accompanying drinks, prepared in a variety of ways, including as sashimi, sauted, or boiled in soy sauce.
* '''Magaki''' (Pacific Oysters) are in season from late winter to spring, where they become bigger and sweeter. They're often served in an all-you-can-eat format, grilled, steamed, or even fried.

'''Sansai''' are much-beloved Japanese mountain vegetables that sprout in spring and are enthusiastically consumed. Many are picked from the wild; indeed, most are difficult to cultivate on a mass scale, and they're often quite bitter and tough until boiled or otherwise processed to consume. Besides serving them raw in salads, seared on the grill, or battered and fried as tempura, there are numerous specific dishes unique to a given mountain vegetable.
* '''Nanohana''' are the young spring shoots of rapeseed plants; though they're available in plain green at supermarkets for most of the year (and are closely related to broccoli -- the florets, stems and leaves are all edible), in spring they are prized for their bright yellow flower buds, which arrive in late March, in between the plum and cherry blossoms. Wandering through yellow fields of nanohana is a much-beloved practice, and fields outside of Tokyo are planted and sculpted into mazes, not unlike corn mazes in North America during Halloween. Unlike many sansai, nanohana isn't bitter or tough, so no pretreatment is required to enjoy it. Flowering nanohana is traditionally used as a side dish called '''ohitashi''', where it is briefly boiled until tender, and served with soy sance, dashi, bonito flakes and/or toasted sesame seeds. '''Karashiae''' is a similar dish, but the soy sauce is seasoned with spicy mustard.
* '''Takenoko''' (literally "child of bamboo") is a bamboo shoot, which can only be picked in a very tight window of the correct size and tenderness. Even then, takenoko must be boiled in rice bran water (with a couple of hot chili peppers added to, paradoxically, increase the bamboo's sweetness) for over an hour, to soften the flesh and reduce its bitterness. '''Takenoko-gohan''', or bamboo shoot rice, involves steaming precooked takenoko in rice (sometimes with fried tofu and shiitake mushrooms), flavored with soy sauce, dashi, mirin (sweet rice wine) sake and sugar. As a solo entree, larger pieces of bamboo cooked in a similar seasoning blend are served as '''takenoko no nimono''' ("simmered bamboo shoots"). Takenoko is also featured prominently in stir fry, in the spring.
* Other sansai, essentially all of which require advance parboiling, include '''Fuki''' (Butterbur), in which both the stalks and buds are used; spiraling, curled '''Kogomi''' (Ostrich Ferns) which are blanched and simmered; '''Shungiku''' (Spring Chrysanthemum) which are often served with a sesame dressing, or added to soups and hot pots; '''Tara no Me''' (the fresh shoots of the Angelica tree, sometimes called the "king" of sansai) which are particularly popular as tempura; '''Wasabina''' (Wasabi Mustard Greens) often used in salads; and '''Yama Udo''' (Mountain Asparagus) which is typically thinly sliced and pickled in miso, vinegar and sugar, or, if served fresh, can be grilled or sauteed.

'''Ichigo''' (strawberries) are in season in Japan from December to March, making them the go-to fruit for early spring. They're much beloved for their ability to brighten up this dreary time of year, and appear everywhere, in everything. Particularly fancy breeds of premium berry are marketed as high class gifts in department stores, but anyone can buy normal strawberries -- including going out to greenhouses to pick them, a spring activity known as '''ichigo kari'''.
* '''Daifuku''' are a very popular traditional Japanese sweet, comprised of a glutinous rice ball filled with sweet white or red anko, but in spring, they're sold with an entire strawberry inside, and called '''ichigo daifuku'''. These are hawked from the food stall to the konbini and back again, and are best enjoyed with a cup of green tea.
* Strawberry shortcakes in Japan are sponge cake and whipped cream layer cakes with fresh strawberries between the layers and on top (Christmas cakes are usually strawberry shortcakes), which is a little different from the cake with the same name in the West.

'''Ume''', the Japanese plum, is the first major tree to blossom in spring, and its flowering is avidly anticipated by the populace (though without quite the intensity of the excitement surrounding sakura blossoms, see below). Accompanying all this hype are uses of its fruit flavor. Since ume is often pickled as unbelivably sour, salty '''umeboshi''', it's available year-round, but when the weather starts to warm and spring is around the corner, ume-flavored chips (which are sort of like fruity salt and vinegar chips) and other snacks and sweets, appear on the shelves of the supermarkets and konbini.

'''Sakura''' blossoms are the main event for the celebration of the arrival of spring (even though ume come first and are also celebrated separately). In Tokyo, they begin to bloom in April, and as the public eagerly follows the cherry blossom front (as forecasted by the weather bureau, as it moves from South to North) to find out exactly when the blossoms will pop, you'll find sakura-flavored (or at least sakura-colored) everything; there's Sakura Kit Kats, Starbooks lattes, donuts, tarts, roll cakes, ice cream, taiyaki, mochi, and more. Sakura fever turns the shelves of the supermarket bright pink.
* '''Sakura-mochi''' is the iconic traditional sweet associated with hanami (as well as Hinamatsuri, the Girls' Festival, celebrated on March 3rd); it is the sweet, pink mochi of spring, wrapped around anko and topped with an edible leaf from a sakura tree (which is the only part of the sweet, actually, that involves actual sakura).

====Bento====
'''Hanami''' (literally, "flower viewing") is the traditional Japanese custom of throwing a party under flowering trees (especially sakura trees) in order to properly appreciate the blossoms in the brief time that they're around -- only a week or two a year! People gather in huge numbers, play or listen to music, and hold elaborate feasts on picnic blankets. Although there are often food stalls in larger parks, preparing and packing your own food is common, making this a great place to discuss '''bento''', the Japanese boxed lunch.
* Making yourself a great lunchbox is satisfying, but the true importance of bento comes from the feelings you put into preparing them for other people. It's a chance to imbue love into every bite -- parents make bento for their children if they can, and giving a specially prepared bento to a friend (or crush!) is a great demonstration of affection.
* Bento boxes (which can, themselves, vary greatly, ranging from elegant to cute to steadfastly functional to straight-up disposable -- and the same is all true of the chopsticks packed with them) are usually designed with a few subdivisions, to separate small portions of multiple dishes, such as rice, meat, and pickled or cooked vegetables. Everything tends to be served in bite-sized pieces, for convenience, and it's not uncommon for individual pieces of food to be cut into whimsical shapes, such as apple-rabbits, hot dog-octopi, and so forth.
* Taking the decorative element one step further, '''kyaraben''' ("character bento," as in anime/manga character) and '''okekakiben''' ("picture bento") arrange all of the elements of a bento into a recognizable image. Such meals require snapping a picture on your cell phone to immortalize your beautiful lunch before eating it!
* Not all bento are made by a loved one; anyone can buy bento from convenience stores or supermarkets, and some restaurants specialize in takeout bento. You can even purchase bento at railway stations ('''ekiben'''), which is a surprisingly old tradition with a huge variety of offerings, where local specialties compete for the appetites of travelers. Purchasing a box lunch at a station shop -- or while on a train, for longer trips -- remains one of the special treats of Japanese railway travel.

==Summer==
Executive summary about the themes of summer cuisine in Japan.

Savory:
* Somen
::* Nagashi somen
::* Zaru somen
* A non-somen cold noodle way to beat the heat is with '''Hiyashi Chuka''' (literally, 'Chilled Chinese'), a cold pasta salad composed of ramen noodles, arranged artfully (and VERY colorfully) with vegetable (and sometimes meat) garnish. Thinly sliced carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes are popular toppings, and ham and shrimp are not unheard of. Some chilled sour soup broth is drizzled on top. Konbini serve prepackaged Hiyashi Chuka with a hardboiled egg.
* '''Hiyayakko''' (sometimes called hiyakko or yakko-dofu) is chilled tofu, served with various toppings; its name refers to the servants of samurai in the Edo period. Chopped green onion, dried tuna flakes, and soy sauce are one common combination of toppings, but you can also find hiyayakko topped with shiso, yuzu rind, daikon, ginger, plum paste, or even mustard.
* Rei Shabu
* '''Unagi''' or freshwater eel is a common ingredient in Japanese cooking, although it's also so highly prized that there's a day in midsummer when one is ''expected'' to eat unagi (specifically ''doyou no ushi no hi,'' the midsummer day of the Ox from the Chinese zodiac cycle; it may fall anywhere between mid-July to early August). Since eating raw eel poses a high risk of food poisoning, unagi is ''always'' cooked, frequently grilled. In particular, the cooking style known as ''kabayaki'' involves splitting the eel along either the back or the belly, gutting and boning it, cutting it into square filets, skewering, and dipping in a sweet soy sauce-based sauce prior to broiling on the grill. Once unagi has been cooked, it may be served donburi-style over rice (which includes the dish known as ''unaju''), or torn up and mixed with the rice to make ''hitsumabushi'', which is especially popular in the Nagoya area.

Sweet:
* '''Watermelons''' are considered a luxury in Japan, and are grown accordingly by farmers as a gut-pleasing treat. The rind is thinner and the flesh around the seeds are sweeter as compared to their Western counterparts. As such you can find them in many unusual shapes(cube, face, Godzilla egg!?) which can make them ornamental and expensive. The Densuke watermelon of Hokkaido considered to be the ferrari of these tasty treats with prices ranging up to 400,000 yen. However their luxurious nature makes them the perfect gift to offer your favorite senpai during the hotter months of the year! Summer gatherings and festivals aren't complete without a round of Suikawari(Watermelon Splitting).
:*Suikawari: A game between friends where a person is handed a wooden stick or bokken, blindfolded, spun three times then told to have at it. ’Official’ Rules for Suikawari:
::#Players placed between 5-7m away from the watermelon.
::#Blindfold tested with large yen bills.(May not apply to the 'Ohtori' rich.)
::#Time Limit of 3 minutes.
::#Scoring determined on how clean a break was made.
::#Melon collectively devoured after break is made for bonding between friends.
* '''Kakigori''' is shaved ice covered in flavored syrup like strawberry, lemon, melon, bubblegum, or a variety of other festive flavors, along with actual toppings like mochi, sweetened red beans, fruit slices, or even ice cream. Unlike a snow cone Kakigori is soft, cloud-like, and without much texture. Kakigori is a popular dessert when on the go, and many summer festival food stalls can be found shaving gigantic blocks of ice into this cool, fluffy treat.
* Garigari-kun

Drinks:
* '''Mugicha''' (barley tea) is just the thing to cool a person down on a hot summer's day, or even a hot summer's night, since it's caffeine-free. Plain mugicha is a mellow brown color and has a savory, roasted taste with a touch of bitterness; sometimes it's sweetened with sugar. It can be purchased at any konbini or made at home using roasted barley teabags.
* Ramune -- Lera Camry
* Umeshu -- Mikoto

====Festival Food====
Summer is the season of festivals so let's do a food stall feature!
* Ayu
* '''Yakitori''' -- literally grilled chicken, but not necessarily chicken! The important part is it's bite-sized food on skewers, grilled over charcoal. It's a regular festival and event food, and also popular to have while drinking! It's pretty ubiquitous. Generally it's going to be meat charred on sticks, often (maybe even mostly) with vegetables as well. It might go with salt, but with tend to have sauce; 'tare' sauce is one option, a mix of sake, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar, but the idea is something sweet and savory. The particular cut of meat isn't all that important--while the most traditional is chicken, as mentioned it might have beef, octopus, or sausage just as a start.
* '''Karaage''' -- While the Curse of the Colonel is infamous amongst baseball fans in Japan, don’t mistake Western fried chicken for Karaage. Karaage is fried chicken where flavors like sake, soy sauce, garlic or ginger are added to the chicken before the flour is added rather than simply into the flour itself. This process adds a juiciness to the meat that Kentucky Fried Chicken simply lacks! While this frying style was originally from China, it’s been adapted into something uniquely Japanese that they can be proud of. Each region of Japan has it’s own regional twist on this delicious treat such as Nagoya’s spicy version or Gifu’s karaage that’s black due to a type of algae mixed in.
* '''Takoyaki''' is a crispy savoury snack made of diced boiled octopus legs covered in a wheat flour-based batter, shaped into balls. While octopus is the operative ingredient - it's right there in the name! - takoyaki can also contain things like seasonal vegetables, tempura scraps (or tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion. It's typically served with okonomi sauce - a sweeter and less salty cousin of Worcestershire sauce - and mayonnaise, but can also be served with goma-dare (sesame and vinegar sauce) or ponzu (soy sauce, with dashi and citrus vinegar), amongst other variations. It originated in Osaka, but is now popular throughout Japan. Takoyaki is typically eaten by stabbing the ball with a toothpick, and served in paper dishes which resemble boats. It's also served piping hot, so be careful not to eat too quickly!
* Ikayaki -- Pluto
* Hotate Butter Yaki
* '''Okonomiyaki''' is a pancake or omelette-like dish served, much like their comparisons, with a variety of toppings and fillings. There are two main ways this savory dish is served! the Osaka-style has the extra chosen toppings mixed in to the batter and cooked together and pan-fried, served much like a stuffed griddle cake. The Hiroshima-style version serves it much like a layered cake, with the chosen extra toppings stacked on top of the batter cake one after another. Cabbage, green onion and pork seem to be the most common ingredients, but locations that serve the dish have many different ingredients on request, such as vegetables, seafood (such as octopus, shrimp, and squid) beef, and cheeses. Certain locations offer more unique varieties such as with fried noodles or chicken!
* '''Yakisoba''' is stir-fried noodles, plain and simple. While sometimes made with buckwheat soba noodles, most servings are prepared with thinner ramen-style noodles, making it quick and easy to prepare. The dark sweet-and-savoury sauce gives the fried dish a tang, and diced vegetables and meat are usually thrown in - ranging from chicken to pork to hot dogs to Spam, depending on the locality. While an actual dish is sometimes used, the festival food is commonly served on a humble paper plate - or in a bun, for a meal on the go.
* '''Yakitomorokoshi''' is just corn on the cob (on a stick), except that it isn't 'just' anything. Rather than being boiled, buttered and salted, its preparation is uniquely Japanese. After a brief boil to soften it up, chefs throw their corn on a charcoal grill and brush the corn's surface with some combination of soy sauce, mirin and sugar, which forms a glaze. The smell is amazing, somehow nutty, salty and sweet at the same time, and many a customer is led to this stall by simply following their nose.
* Tai is a spring fish but '''taiyaki''' is as valid an entry at any summer festival as it is at hanami viewing. These traditional Japanese pastries are shaped like the fish they're named after, and are somewhere between a waffle and a cake, stuffed with sweet azuki red bean paste (or, more recently, custard, chocolate, or even cheese or meat). Part of the fun of taiyaki at festivals is that you get to see them made in specially molded griddles, right there in the stall -- and the art of flipping over a half-baked 'fish' with a chopstick without getting batter and filling everywhere is fine, indeed...
* '''Crepes''' - A popular street food that can be sweet or savory, although the sweet variety is more popular in Japan. They are often served as a cone and filled with cream or custard and a kind of fruit such as banana, strawberry, blueberry, peach, kiwi or apple. They can also be filled with ice cream, chestnuts or almonds,or if someone if filling very decadent a cake topping such as cheesecake, brownie or chocolate cake. A sauce is drizzled among the inner folds and over the top of the crepe such as strawberry jam, chocolate, caramel, nutella or kuromitsu. The more savory kind of crepe, often just called 'snack crepes' often include tuna, egg, bacon, cheese, sausage, ham, spinach or chicken as their filling and then topped off with a sauce such as Japanese mayonnaise, curry sauce, pizza sauce, teriyaki sauce or even salsa.
* '''Dango''' -- Dumplings made of rice flour called Mochiko and served on sticks with many regional varieties of the sweet treat(or savory in Gifu where they’re served with soy sauce!). The Japanese have been eating dango since the Jomon period and how they’re served has evolved over time. Offerings of dango are made during special festivals to the kami for purification purposes before taking them home and eating them for good luck. It’s referenced in the odango hairstyle(o- is honorific) which in Japan can be conflated with any variety of bun. Just watch out calling anyone sporting this kind of hairstyle odango-atama(bun-head or dumpling-head) unless you’re handsome enough to get away with it.
* '''Jaga bata''' means butter potato, and it's pretty much exactly that -- potatoes, steamed in wood ovens, and stuffed with butter, salt, and soy sauce. It's especially popular to use the smaller 'reject' potatoes for this purpose, turning them into a nearly bite-sized street food, but the paper boats they come in sometimes just have one big potato instead.
* Karumeyaki
* '''Castella''' (or kasutera) is a fairly simple sponge cake, made with sugar, flour, eggs, and starch syrup. Their creation dates back to Portugese merchants in the 16th century, and the modern Japanese castella cake is a specialty of Nagasaki owing to this connection. Full-sized castella can be bought year-round, but the bite-sized '''baby castella''' (bebi kasutera) is a popular festival snack. Besides the plain recipe, there are varieties made with powdered green tea, brown sugar, honey, etc.
* '''Wata-ame''' or watagashi is cotton candy, usually very similar to the Western version, also known as fairy floss or candy floss in various parts of the world. Sugar which has been melted into a liquid state, and flavorings and/or colorings added, is spun into tiny strands, and gathered on a stick to serve, sometimes covered with a decorative plastic bag (usually adorned with anime or other artwork) for protection until it's eaten. Wata-ame dissolves quickly in contact with water and readily melts again in high heat, so it's not something to save for ''much'' later!
* Ringo Ame
::* Ichigo Ame
::* Mikan Ame
::* Ume Ame
* '''Choco bananas''' are frozen banana treats, covered in chocolate. While the chocolate is traditionally milk chocolate, there are also varieties made with white chocolate, strawberry chocolate, or other varieties - which can make for a dazzling rainbow of snacks. They're often topped with sprinkles, nuts, coconut flakes, or other sweets. Don't worry about getting your hands dirty, because they're served on sticks, just like toffee apples. Choco bananas are staples of Summer festivals, and they're a common sight in stalls.

==Favorite Foods==
Everybody has a favorite food -- and often it isn't just the food, but the story of why they like it, who they like it prepared by, and where and when they most like to eat it.

* Add your character's favorite food to this bullet list -- one long paragraph recommended.
* Please include your character's name and both a cultural summary of the food and its particular significance and specifics for the character. It's okay if your food was mentioned already elsewhere in the guide -- no two bowls of ramen are alike, after all.
* [[Fuu Hououji|Fuu Hououji's]] favorite food is '''tessa''', fugu sashimi which has been sliced so thinly that it's almost transparent. Only specially trained and licensed sushi chefs are even allowed to prepare tessa, due to the potential danger of pufferfish poisoning; as such, it's an expensive luxury dish, not something that even the Hououji family goes out for very often - but that rarity is part of why Fuu enjoys it so much, when she has the opportunity. (In an interesting bit of irony, the Emperor of Japan is forbidden by law from ever eating fugu out of concern for his health, making Fuu's favorite dish something that the Emperor himself can never eat.)
* [[Mikoto Minagi|Mikoto Minagi's]] favourite food is Mai Tokiha's '''ramen noodles'''! Ramen is a common Japanese dish - wheat noodles, served in broth which is typically meat- or fish-based, with a variety of toppings. Many regions of Japan have their own variation of ramen: Tokyo's own spin on the recipe involves curly noodles and chicken broth with a little dashi, though perhaps Mai's own tendency to use chicken in her ramen is also because chicken is cheaper than some of the other meats in the market. Mai's ramen noodles were Mikoto's introduction to the fact that food could taste /good/ instead of just being plain sustenance, and she is forever grateful to her friend for revealing that there were wonders of taste she had never before experienced. She'll never be able to forget the wonders of that very first meal. Though Mai can make many other more complicated dishes which exhibit her skills as a cook, Mikoto's first choice for dinner is always Mai's ramen. It's never quite the same thing twice - there are always different ingredients on sale, after all!
* [[Westar|Westar's]] favourite Earth food is '''donuts'''. These sweet treats are made of dough, cut into rings and deep-fried to a crispy puffy perfection. There are a thousand and one variants on the simple donut, with as many flavours to try as one might imagine. Common additions to the dough are spices, fruit, or chocolate. Many donuts, after frying, are subsequently dipped into glaze, coated with icing, or dusted with sugar. Amid all these choices, though, Westar's preference is for simple and familiar. An uncoated plain donut, whose ring contains a heart shape as its hole, the hallmark of Kaoru-chan's stand.
* [[Adrien Agreste|Adrien's]] is pizza with his favorite toppings being cheese, mushrooms, pepperoni and sausage. Due to his carefully watch model diet, he doesn't get to have it often, but it's a delightful treat for him when it does. It especially becomes an even more favorite when his friends invite him to go and share a pizza with them. It's just how it's like from the shows he watched on tv!
* [[Marinette Dupain-Cheng|Marinette]] is particularly fond of '''macarons'''. A French cookie delicately formed from meringue and almond flour, these delicate treats come in a wide variety of flavours and colours. Marinette is admittedly biased in the source, as her family's bakery makes them frequently. In addition to being light, sweet, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious, macarons lend themselves well to an artistic flair. The batter is very easy to colour, and the little puffs can easily be adorned with bits of icing. Just picture a cute little kitty-cat, or a deceitful hamburger, or a ridiculously elaborate replica of the Discworld - the sky is as ever the limit.
* [[Steven Universe|Steven Universe's]] favorite food will of course always be '''hot dogs'''! A packaged meat in a tubular shape, generally pork, beef or turkey with seasonings, is grilled until plump, then served on a bun with an assortment of condiments and toppings such as diced onions, chili, cheeses, peppers and pickles. They hold great significance besides great flavor, such as fond memories, or recalling the times of Beach City. They even help use alien technology*! Whenever he bites in to one, it all comes back to him in the best way possible.
* [[Eri Shimanouchi|Eri Shimanouchi's]] favorite foods are '''Okonomiyaki''' and '''Modanyaki'''. Although she's been a vegetarian since starting middle school, her love of these varieties of Osakan soulfood hasn't changed, as it reminds her of happier times during her youth. Instead she's just sworn off red meat varieties and substitutes seafood instead. It is extremely rare for her to eat it in front of friends though because she's embarrassed about how messily she eats it. Her favorite location for it is a small grill in Ogikubo Tokyo, which was within walking distance from her former territory in Shinjuku.
For more information, please see: [[Holidays and Events]], [[Culture]]
[[Category:Theme]][[Category:Culture]]

Food

2018-09-28T03:27:05Z

Shachihoko: Typo fix

Japanese cuisine is highly seasonal, with many dishes using ingredients only available at the right time. Modern technology has eased this burden, but it is still traditional to eat certain foods at certain times of year.

''Special thanks to Kuniko Saito's player for contributing the Winter entry of this guide!''

__TOC__

==Autumn==
Some in Japan call autumn the 'season for eating.' Coming off the heat of summer, there's a trend towards savory dishes that celebrate the bountiful harvest, and nice warm comfort food to eat as the weather turns colder.

'''Sanma''' (literal translation 'autumn knife fish'), or Pacific Saury, are sleekly silver fish that rise fat and juicy for fishermen in the fall, considered an iconic centerpiece of autumn cuisine. They are typically served whole (even as sushi!), and when cooked, sanma are seasoned with salt and grilled over a charcoal fire. The crispy skin is a much-beloved part of the experience, often garnished with soy sauce. In early September, Tokyo's Meguro district holds a festival where many thousands of charcoal-grilled sanma are given away for free tasting!

'''Satsumaimo''', or Japanese sweet potatoes, are purple on the outside, bright yellow on the inside, and are drier in texture, but sweeter and creamier in taste, than yams. Traditionally, they are roasted whole, on hot stones outside (lending themselves well to the centerpiece of a scene where characters tend, then consume, their roasting sweet potatoes while raking leaves or otherwise enjoying the season; they are also sold, steaming hot, out of the open backs of minivans, by men who attract their customers by singing an iconic lamenting song). Satsumaimo are also popular fried, mashed, or boiled. The stereotypical consequence of overeating satsumaimo is a popular source of fart jokes among the young (and sometimes the old).

'''Kabocha''' are essentially Japanese pumpkins. On the outside they're green rather than orange, and on the inside they're somewhat sweeter than the Western squash, with a rich, butternut flavor. In the fall, they're made into soups, barbecued, battered and fried as tempura (alongside maple leaves, '''Momiji Tempura''', an unusual autumn treat!), and, yes, even used in Western-style pies.
* The most classic comfort food preparation of kabocha, however, is as a filling for breaded and fried croquettes, locally called '''korokke''' -- kabocha (also, satsumaimo) korokke are an often-homemade autumn snack. Watch out for the hot oil when it pops! Independent of season, korokke made with regular potatoes, or sometimes with ground meat, are popular throughout the year, and are sold at delightfully hot temperatures for pocket change prices at the konbini.

'''Matsutake''' pine mushrooms are the most prominent of the fungi that, nurtured by summer's high humidity, pop up for harvesting in the fall. Impossible to cultivate, they're highly prized and very expensive, starting at a hundred thousand yen per pound for the premium grade, and occupy a similar position of honor in Japanese cuisine as truffles do to the French. To make a few matsutake mushrooms stretch a long way, they are popularly featured in a seafood broth soup called '''Matsutake Dobin Mushi''', which is served in a clay teapot. When eaten whole, their delicate, smoky flavor is best preserved by grilling them on an open flame, and they are sometimes sprinkled over rice. Cheaper mushrooms are also popular in autumn, with hearty mushroom broth sometimes replacing the standard cup of miso soup served alongside a meal.

'''Kaki''', or Japanese persimmons, are ubiquitous in the fall, a sweet and tangy fruit found ripening on trees all over the country. Making a day out of a kaki picking trip is a common weekend treat. Besides eating them straight off the tree, they are often served chilled, or dusted with sugar and dried (a treat called '''hoshigaki''').

'''Kuri''', also commonly called by their French name '''maron''', are Japanese chestnuts (with a similar omnipresence to kaki, seen on trees everywhere, but an entirely different taste -- creamy, sweet and rich). They're usually sold uncooked so that they can be prepared at home, but you can get bags of roasted kuri at your supermarket or konbini for a good sidewalk snack. Roasting your own at the end of a trip to a kuri picking farm makes for a good finale to a September day!
* '''Shinmai''', or "new rice," comprises the first harvests of rice in autumn. Shinmai is said to be moister, sweeter, and more beautiful than ordinary rice, and starting in late September one of the best ways to prepare it is with kuri boiled alongside rice in the pot, creating a hearty sticky rice dish ('''kuri-gohan''') with a tiny dose of sweetness. Gingko nuts are also a popular shinmai topping, because of their subtle flavor, which allows the rice's unique qualities to shine through.
* Boxes of '''kuri-kinton''', or candied chestnuts, are popular gifts for friends and family in autumn -- in this treat, kuri are steamed, mashed, combined with sugar, then twisted into a bun shape. The snack is popularly enjoyed with a cup of hot tea. Kuri are also used in many other Japanese sweets, including '''kuri-manju''' cakes.

==Winter==
The prototypical dish for winter cuisine in Japan is the '''hot pot''', also known as ''nabemono''. Ingredients are combined in a pot and boiled, forming a rich broth; it is typically shared, with individual diners plucking out their favored morsels, and the broth typically mixed with rice at the end and consumed as a final course. Eating nabemono with your friends would be an excellent reason for a social scene; gather together, stick your legs underneath the kotatsu, and enjoy the warmth of friendship and flavor.

Nabemono is very versatile. Indeed, the name can be translated as "cooking pot stuff." Here are some common styles of nabemono; all of them can be considered to have vegetables such as bok choy and daikon involved, as well as varieties of mushroom.

* '''Sukiyaki:''' Thinly sliced beef (sometimes pork) simmered with vegetables and a soy sauce/sugar/sweet rice wine sauce. Before eating, the hot ingredients are usually dipped in a small bowl of raw beaten egg. Common at year-end parties and suitable for all ages.
* '''Shabu-shabu:''' Thin sliced beef is boiled in water or broth and eaten with dipping sauces. This dish may be considered similar to the "fondue" style meals available in America. It is quite suitable for service with fine ingredients, particularly wagyu beef and other marks of conspicuous consumption.
* '''Yosenabe:''' A combination style of nabemono which combines all sorts of things and cooks them well together: meat, seafood, tofu, egg, and vegetables. A common "homestyle" meal, often with a thicker sauce than is typical for nabemono.
* '''Yudofu:''' Nabemono prepared in a kombu stock and featuring tofu as the primary protein, with citrus and spicy sauces. Socially considered as vegetarian, though small amounts of fish are typically involved.
* '''Chankonabe:''' A nabemono dish that is a common restaurant meal, it was originally a heavy dish eaten by sumo wrestlers to put on weight efficiently. Very high in protein, often with chicken, fish, beef and various vegetables, chankonabe is a good meal for growing young'ns when served in less heroic proportions.
* '''Ishikari-nabe:''' A Hokkaido specialty, this hot pot features salmon and potato as well as butter.

'''Oden''' is another characteristic winter dish, prepared in a manner similar to hot pot but made available as its own individual dish in many venues. Featuring boiled eggs, daikon, fishcakes and a soy/dashi broth, most convenience stores have a bubbling pot of oden to sell by the cup during the winter months.

'''Tori zosui''' is another winter favorite; a thick rice soup with chicken, often prepared with leftover rice and served with sliced scallions on top. It's an excellent and popular way to warm up after a bitterly cold day.

====Winter Holidays====
There are also some specifically traditional holiday dishes, associated with an individual day or days. Your character is likely to eat them, and may well help prepare them!

* '''Christmas Cake:''' These cakes are typically a simple sponge cake, frosted with whipped cream and decorated with strawberries plus a chocolate plate that says "Merry Christmas!" Something of a more structured strawberry shortcake. It is eaten on Christmas Eve, which is, in Japan, typically celebrated as a romantic holiday a la Western Valentine's Day, and is thus perhaps the hardest night of the year to get a table at a nice restaurant. Yule Log cakes are also popular.
* '''KFC:''' There is a tradition of obtaining Kentucky Fried Chicken meals as a Christmas dish, in part because turkey is an absolute unknown in Japan. A 1974 advertising campaign started a tradition, and now a bucket of KFC "Christmas Chicken" (with salad and a cake) is typical fare on Christmas, often ordered months in advance to beat the lines.
* '''Osechi ryori:''' An umbrella term for food prepared specially for the New Year's period, these dishes come in a huge range of ingredients that are meant to encourage good luck and fortune for the upcoming year. They are typically sweet, sour, dried or otherwise preserved, as they come from a time before refrigeration was common, and when many markets would be closed for some time. Traditionally, nothing should be cooked on New Year's Day, so the preparation of osechi is finished before New Year's Eve. Osechi ryori is arguably the most important meal of the year, with each dish serving as a symbol or wish for the coming year. The food is even eaten in a special way by using chopsticks that are rounded on both ends; one side for the humans to use, one side for the gods. There are so many varieties that space would prohibit easy discussion. A more detailed discussion is present at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osechi Wikipedia] including a plan for a three-tiered "jubako" box.
* '''Toshikoshi soba:''' This is eaten at night on New Year's Eve. A simple meal with buckwheat soba with toppings such as seaweed, fried tofu, or vegetables. The long noodles are said to symbolize a long life, their consumption representing "crossing over from one year to the next," the meaning of ''toshi-koshi''. Another theory is that it is very simple to make - a relief after preparing several days' worth of osechi for the upcoming celebrations! It is often considered bad luck to leave any of your toshikoshi soba uneaten.
* '''O-zoni:''' A soup eaten during on the morning of New Year's Day, considered very lucky, featuring local ingredients and lots of mochi. While many areas have their own specialties, the typical Kanto-area meal uses a soy sauce/dashi broth, squared and grilled mochi, and meat and vegetables to preference.
* '''Nanakusu gayu:''' Eaten on January 7th, this is a collection of seven wild edible herbs eaten with rice in order to ease the stomach after all of the things listed above, which have been eaten over the course of several weeks.

==Spring==
Spring cuisine is all about appreciating the beginning of the growing season, as shoots and ferns unfurl from the ground, and petals blossom on fruit trees. These events are cause for major public celebrations, and, in turn, the fruits and vegetables in question are heavily featured in a variety of dishes.

Besides the bounty of the rich brown earth, there are naturally seasonal selections from the deep blue sea:
* '''Tai''', or Red Sea Bream, are rich-tasting fish that are in season in spring, and famously symbolize good luck in Japan. Besides eating them as sashimi or grilled with salt, '''Tai-chasuke''' is a dish where tai is served on rice with dashi fish stock poured on top.
:* For people who can't abide the fish, but still want their good luck, there is also '''Taiyaki''', a traditional Japanese sweet named after and shaped like tai. They're filled with '''anko''' (sweet red azuki bean paste), and often served at cherry blossom viewing parties (called hanami).
* '''Ika''' (Squid) is available good and fresh throughout the year, they're sweetest in the spring. '''Hotaru-Ika''' (firefly squid) are particularly popular served as a snack accompanying drinks, prepared in a variety of ways, including as sashimi, sauted, or boiled in soy sauce.
* '''Magaki''' (Pacific Oysters) are in season from late winter to spring, where they become bigger and sweeter. They're often served in an all-you-can-eat format, grilled, steamed, or even fried.

'''Sansai''' are much-beloved Japanese mountain vegetables that sprout in spring and are enthusiastically consumed. Many are picked from the wild; indeed, most are difficult to cultivate on a mass scale, and they're often quite bitter and tough until boiled or otherwise processed to consume. Besides serving them raw in salads, seared on the grill, or battered and fried as tempura, there are numerous specific dishes unique to a given mountain vegetable.
* '''Nanohana''' are the young spring shoots of rapeseed plants; though they're available in plain green at supermarkets for most of the year (and are closely related to broccoli -- the florets, stems and leaves are all edible), in spring they are prized for their bright yellow flower buds, which arrive in late March, in between the plum and cherry blossoms. Wandering through yellow fields of nanohana is a much-beloved practice, and fields outside of Tokyo are planted and sculpted into mazes, not unlike corn mazes in North America during Halloween. Unlike many sansai, nanohana isn't bitter or tough, so no pretreatment is required to enjoy it. Flowering nanohana is traditionally used as a side dish called '''ohitashi''', where it is briefly boiled until tender, and served with soy sance, dashi, bonito flakes and/or toasted sesame seeds. '''Karashiae''' is a similar dish, but the soy sauce is seasoned with spicy mustard.
* '''Takenoko''' (literally "child of bamboo") is a bamboo shoot, which can only be picked in a very tight window of the correct size and tenderness. Even then, takenoko must be boiled in rice bran water (with a couple of hot chili peppers added to, paradoxically, increase the bamboo's sweetness) for over an hour, to soften the flesh and reduce its bitterness. '''Takenoko-gohan''', or bamboo shoot rice, involves steaming precooked takenoko in rice (sometimes with fried tofu and shiitake mushrooms), flavored with soy sauce, dashi, mirin (sweet rice wine) sake and sugar. As a solo entree, larger pieces of bamboo cooked in a similar seasoning blend are served as '''takenoko no nimono''' ("simmered bamboo shoots"). Takenoko is also featured prominently in stir fry, in the spring.
* Other sansai, essentially all of which require advance parboiling, include '''Fuki''' (Butterbur), in which both the stalks and buds are used; spiraling, curled '''Kogomi''' (Ostrich Ferns) which are blanched and simmered; '''Shungiku''' (Spring Chrysanthemum) which are often served with a sesame dressing, or added to soups and hot pots; '''Tara no Me''' (the fresh shoots of the Angelica tree, sometimes called the "king" of sansai) which are particularly popular as tempura; '''Wasabina''' (Wasabi Mustard Greens) often used in salads; and '''Yama Udo''' (Mountain Asparagus) which is typically thinly sliced and pickled in miso, vinegar and sugar, or, if served fresh, can be grilled or sauteed.

'''Ichigo''' (strawberries) are in season in Japan from December to March, making them the go-to fruit for early spring. They're much beloved for their ability to brighten up this dreary time of year, and appear everywhere, in everything. Particularly fancy breeds of premium berry are marketed as high class gifts in department stores, but anyone can buy normal strawberries -- including going out to greenhouses to pick them, a spring activity known as '''ichigo kari'''.
* '''Daifuku''' are a very popular traditional Japanese sweet, comprised of a glutinous rice ball filled with sweet white or red anko, but in spring, they're sold with an entire strawberry inside, and called '''ichigo daifuku'''. These are hawked from the food stall to the konbini and back again, and are best enjoyed with a cup of green tea.
* Strawberry shortcakes in Japan are sponge cake and whipped cream layer cakes with fresh strawberries between the layers and on top (Christmas cakes are usually strawberry shortcakes), which is a little different from the cake with the same name in the West.

'''Ume''', the Japanese plum, is the first major tree to blossom in spring, and its flowering is avidly anticipated by the populace (though without quite the intensity of the excitement surrounding sakura blossoms, see below). Accompanying all this hype are uses of its fruit flavor. Since ume is often pickled as unbelivably sour, salty '''umeboshi''', it's available year-round, but when the weather starts to warm and spring is around the corner, ume-flavored chips (which are sort of like fruity salt and vinegar chips) and other snacks and sweets, appear on the shelves of the supermarkets and konbini.

'''Sakura''' blossoms are the main event for the celebration of the arrival of spring (even though ume come first and are also celebrated separately). In Tokyo, they begin to bloom in April, and as the public eagerly follows the cherry blossom front (as forecasted by the weather bureau, as it moves from South to North) to find out exactly when the blossoms will pop, you'll find sakura-flavored (or at least sakura-colored) everything; there's Sakura Kit Kats, Starbooks lattes, donuts, tarts, roll cakes, ice cream, taiyaki, mochi, and more. Sakura fever turns the shelves of the supermarket bright pink.
* '''Sakura-mochi''' is the iconic traditional sweet associated with hanami (as well as Hinamatsuri, the Girls' Festival, celebrated on March 3rd); it is the sweet, pink mochi of spring, wrapped around anko and topped with an edible leaf from a sakura tree (which is the only part of the sweet, actually, that involves actual sakura).

====Bento====
'''Hanami''' (literally, "flower viewing") is the traditional Japanese custom of throwing a party under flowering trees (especially sakura trees) in order to properly appreciate the blossoms in the brief time that they're around -- only a week or two a year! People gather in huge numbers, play or listen to music, and hold elaborate feasts on picnic blankets. Although there are often food stalls in larger parks, preparing and packing your own food is common, making this a great place to discuss '''bento''', the Japanese boxed lunch.
* Making yourself a great lunchbox is satisfying, but the true importance of bento comes from the feelings you put into preparing them for other people. It's a chance to imbue love into every bite -- parents make bento for their children if they can, and giving a specially prepared bento to a friend (or crush!) is a great demonstration of affection.
* Bento boxes (which can, themselves, vary greatly, ranging from elegant to cute to steadfastly functional to straight-up disposable -- and the same is all true of the chopsticks packed with them) are usually designed with a few subdivisions, to separate small portions of multiple dishes, such as rice, meat, and pickled or cooked vegetables. Everything tends to be served in bite-sized pieces, for convenience, and it's not uncommon for individual pieces of food to be cut into whimsical shapes, such as apple-rabbits, hot dog-octopi, and so forth.
* Taking the decorative element one step further, '''kyaraben''' ("character bento," as in anime/manga character) and '''okekakiben''' ("picture bento") arrange all of the elements of a bento into a recognizable image. Such meals require snapping a picture on your cell phone to immortalize your beautiful lunch before eating it!
* Not all bento are made by a loved one; anyone can buy bento from convenience stores or supermarkets, and some restaurants specialize in takeout bento. You can even purchase bento at railway stations ('''ekiben'''), which is a surprisingly old tradition with a huge variety of offerings, where local specialties compete for the appetites of travelers. Purchasing a box lunch at a station shop -- or while on a train, for longer trips -- remains one of the special treats of Japanese railway travel.

==Summer==
Executive summary about the themes of summer cuisine in Japan.

Savory:
* Somen
::* Nagashi somen
::* Zaru somen
* A non-somen cold noodle way to beat the heat is with '''Hiyashi Chuka''' (literally, 'Chilled Chinese'), a cold pasta salad composed of ramen noodles, arranged artfully (and VERY colorfully) with vegetable (and sometimes meat) garnish. Thinly sliced carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes are popular toppings, and ham and shrimp are not unheard of. Some chilled sour soup broth is drizzled on top. Konbini serve prepackaged Hiyashi Chuka with a hardboiled egg.
* '''Hiyayakko''' (sometimes called hiyakko or yakko-dofu) is chilled tofu, served with various toppings; its name refers to the servants of samurai in the Edo period. Chopped green onion, dried tuna flakes, and soy sauce are one common combination of toppings, but you can also find hiyayakko topped with shiso, yuzu rind, daikon, ginger, plum paste, or even mustard.
* Rei Shabu
* '''Unagi''' or freshwater eel is a common ingredient in Japanese cooking, although it's also so highly prized that there's a day in midsummer when one is ''expected'' to eat unagi (specifically ''doyou no ushi no hi,'' the midsummer day of the Ox from the Chinese zodiac cycle; it may fall anywhere between mid-July to early August). Since eating raw eel poses a high risk of food poisoning, unagi is ''always'' cooked, frequently grilled. In particular, the cooking style known as ''kabayaki'' involves splitting the eel along either the back or the belly, gutting and boning it, cutting it into square filets, skewering, and dipping in a sweet soy sauce-based sauce prior to broiling on the grill. Once unagi has been cooked, it may be served donburi-style over rice (which includes the dish known as ''unaju''), or torn up and mixed with the rice to make ''hitsumabushi'', which is especially popular in the Nagoya area.

Sweet:
* '''Watermelons''' are considered a luxury in Japan, and are grown accordingly by farmers as a gut-pleasing treat. The rind is thinner and the flesh around the seeds are sweeter as compared to their Western counterparts. As such you can find them in many unusual shapes(cube, face, Godzilla egg!?) which can make them ornamental and expensive. The Densuke watermelon of Hokkaido considered to be the ferrari of these tasty treats with prices ranging up to 400,000 yen. However their luxurious nature makes them the perfect gift to offer your favorite senpai during the hotter months of the year! Summer gatherings and festivals aren't complete without a round of Suikawari(Watermelon Splitting).
:*Suikawari: A game between friends where a person is handed a wooden stick or bokken, blindfolded, spun three times then told to have at it. ’Official’ Rules for Suikawari:
::#Players placed between 5-7m away from the watermelon.
::#Blindfold tested with large yen bills.(May not apply to the 'Ohtori' rich.)
::#Time Limit of 3 minutes.
::#Scoring determined on how clean a break was made.
::#Melon collectively devoured after break is made for bonding between friends.
* '''Kakigori''' is shaved ice covered in flavored syrup like strawberry, lemon, melon, bubblegum, or a variety of other festive flavors, along with actual toppings like mochi, sweetened red beans, fruit slices, or even ice cream. Unlike a snow cone Kakigori is soft, cloud-like, and without much texture. Kakigori is a popular dessert when on the go, and many summer festival food stalls can be found shaving gigantic blocks of ice into this cool, fluffy treat.
* Garigari-kun

Drinks:
* '''Mugicha''' (barley tea) is just the thing to cool a person down on a hot summer's day, or even a hot summer's night, since it's caffeine-free. Plain mugicha is a mellow brown color and has a savory, roasted taste with a touch of bitterness; sometimes it's sweetened with sugar. It can be purchased at any konbini or made at home using roasted barley teabags.
* Ramune -- Lera Camry
* Umeshu -- Mikoto

====Festival Food====
Summer is the season of festivals so let's do a food stall feature!
* Ayu
* '''Yakitori''' -- literally grilled chicken, but not necessarily chicken! The important part is it's bite-sized food on skewers, grilled over charcoal. It's a regular festival and event food, and also popular to have while drinking! It's pretty ubiquitous. Generally it's going to be meat charred on sticks, often (maybe even mostly) with vegetables as well. It might go with salt, but with tend to have sauce; 'tare' sauce is one option, a mix of sake, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar, but the idea is something sweet and savory. The particular cut of meat isn't all that important--while the most traditional is chicken, as mentioned it might have beef, octopus, or sausage just as a start.
* '''Karaage''' -- While the Curse of the Colonel is infamous amongst baseball fans in Japan, don’t mistake Western fried chicken for Karaage. Karaage is fried chicken where flavors like sake, soy sauce, garlic or ginger are added to the chicken before the flour is added rather than simply into the flour itself. This process adds a juiciness to the meat that Kentucky Fried Chicken simply lacks! While this frying style was originally from China, it’s been adapted into something uniquely Japanese that they can be proud of. Each region of Japan has it’s own regional twist on this delicious treat such as Nagoya’s spicy version or Gifu’s karaage that’s black due to a type of algae mixed in.
* '''Takoyaki''' is a crispy savoury snack made of diced boiled octopus legs covered in a wheat flour-based batter, shaped into balls. While octopus is the operative ingredient - it's right there in the name! - takoyaki can also contain things like seasonal vegetables, tempura scraps (or tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion. It's typically served with okonomi sauce - a sweeter and less salty cousin of Worcestershire sauce - and mayonnaise, but can also be served with goma-dare (sesame and vinegar sauce) or ponzu (soy sauce, with dashi and citrus vinegar), amongst other variations. It originated in Osaka, but is now popular throughout Japan. Takoyaki is typically eaten by stabbing the ball with a toothpick, and served in paper dishes which resemble boats. It's also served piping hot, so be careful not to eat too quickly!
* Ikayaki -- Pluto
* Hotate Butter Yaki
* '''Okonomiyaki''' is a pancake or omelette-like dish served, much like their comparisons, with a variety of toppings and fillings. There are two main ways this savory dish is served! the Osaka-style has the extra chosen toppings mixed in to the batter and cooked together and pan-fried, served much like a stuffed griddle cake. The Hiroshima-style version serves it much like a layered cake, with the chosen extra toppings stacked on top of the batter cake one after another. Cabbage, green onion and pork seem to be the most common ingredients, but locations that serve the dish have many different ingredients on request, such as vegetables, seafood (such as octopus, shrimp, and squid) beef, and cheeses. Certain locations offer more unique varieties such as with fried noodles or chicken!
* '''Yakisoba''' is stir-fried noodles, plain and simple. While sometimes made with buckwheat soba noodles, most servings are prepared with thinner ramen-style noodles, making it quick and easy to prepare. The dark sweet-and-savoury sauce gives the fried dish a tang, and diced vegetables and meat are usually thrown in - ranging from chicken to pork to hot dogs to Spam, depending on the locality. While an actual dish is sometimes used, the festival food is commonly served on a humble paper plate - or in a bun, for a meal on the go.
* '''Yakitomorokoshi''' is just corn on the cob (on a stick), except that it isn't 'just' anything. Rather than being boiled, buttered and salted, its preparation is uniquely Japanese. After a brief boil to soften it up, chefs throw their corn on a charcoal grill and brush the corn's surface with some combination of soy sauce, mirin and sugar, which forms a glaze. The smell is amazing, somehow nutty, salty and sweet at the same time, and many a customer is led to this stall by simply following their nose.
* Tai is a spring fish but '''taiyaki''' is as valid an entry at any summer festival as it is at hanami viewing. These traditional Japanese pastries are shaped like the fish they're named after, and are somewhere between a waffle and a cake, stuffed with sweet azuki red bean paste (or, more recently, custard, chocolate, or even cheese or meat). Part of the fun of taiyaki at festivals is that you get to see them made in specially molded griddles, right there in the stall -- and the art of flipping over a half-baked 'fish' with a chopstick without getting batter and filling everywhere is fine, indeed...
* '''Crepes''' - A popular street food that can be sweet or savory, although the sweet variety is more popular in Japan. They are often served as a cone and filled with cream or custard and a kind of fruit such as banana, strawberry, blueberry, peach, kiwi or apple. They can also be filled with ice cream, chestnuts or almonds,or if someone if filling very decadent a cake topping such as cheesecake, brownie or chocolate cake. A sauce is drizzled among the inner folds and over the top of the crepe such as strawberry jam, chocolate, caramel, nutella or kuromitsu. The more savory kind of crepe, often just called 'snack crepes' often include tuna, egg, bacon, cheese, sausage, ham, spinach or chicken as their filling and then topped off with a sauce such as Japanese mayonnaise, curry sauce, pizza sauce, teriyaki sauce or even salsa.
* '''Dango''' -- Dumplings made of rice flour called Mochiko and served on sticks with many regional varieties of the sweet treat(or savory in Gifu where they’re served with soy sauce!). The Japanese have been eating dango since the Jomon period and how they’re served has evolved over time. Offerings of dango are made during special festivals to the kami for purification purposes before taking them home and eating them for good luck. It’s referenced in the odango hairstyle(o- is honorific) which in Japan can be conflated with any variety of bun. Just watch out calling anyone sporting this kind of hairstyle odango-atama(bun-head or dumpling-head) unless you’re handsome enough to get away with it.
* '''Jaga bata''' means butter potato, and it's pretty much exactly that -- potatoes, steamed in wood ovens, and stuffed with butter, salt, and soy sauce. It's especially popular to use the smaller 'reject' potatoes for this purpose, turning them into a nearly bite-sized street food, but the paper boats they come in sometimes just have one big potato instead.
* Karumeyaki
* '''Castella''' (or kasutera) is a fairly simple sponge cake, made with sugar, flour, eggs, and starch syrup. Their creation dates back to Portugese merchants in the 16th century, and the modern Japanese castella cake is a specialty of Nagasaki owing to this connection. Full-sized castella can be bought year-round, but the bite-sized '''baby castella''' (bebi kasutera) is a popular festival snack. Besides the plain recipe, there are varieties made with powdered green tea, brown sugar, honey, etc.
* '''Wata-ame''' or watagashi is cotton candy, usually very similar to the Western version, also known as fairy floss or candy floss in various parts of the world. Sugar which has been melted into a liquid state, and flavorings and/or colorings added, is spun into tiny strands, and gathered on a stick to serve, sometimes covered with a decorative plastic bag (usually adorned with anime or other artwork) for protection until it's eaten. Wata-ame dissolves quickly in contact with water and readily melts again in high heat, so it's not something to save for ''much'' later!
* Ringo Ame
::* Ichigo Ame
::* Mikan Ame
::* Ume Ame
* '''Choco bananas''' are frozen banana treats, covered in chocolate. While the chocolate is traditionally milk chocolate, there are also varieties made with white chocolate, strawberry chocolate, or other varieties - which can make for a dazzling rainbow of snacks. They're often topped with sprinkles, nuts, coconut flakes, or other sweets. Don't worry about getting your hands dirty, because they're served on sticks, just like toffee apples. Choco bananas are staples of Summer festivals, and they're a common sight in stalls.

==Favorite Foods==
Everybody has a favorite food -- and often it isn't just the food, but the story of why they like it, who they like it prepared by, and where and when they most like to eat it.

* Add your character's favorite food to this bullet list -- one long paragraph recommended.
* Please include your character's name and both a cultural summary of the food and its particular significance and specifics for the character. It's okay if your food was mentioned already elsewhere in the guide -- no two bowls of ramen are alike, after all.
* [[Fuu Hououji|Fuu Hououji's]] favorite food is '''tessa''', fugu sashimi which has been sliced so thinly that it's almost transparent. Only specially trained and licensed sushi chefs are even allowed to prepare tessa, due to the potential danger of pufferfish poisoning; as such, it's an expensive luxury dish, not something that even the Hououji family goes out for very often - but that rarity is part of why Fuu enjoys it so much, when she has the opportunity.
* [[Mikoto Minagi|Mikoto Minagi's]] favourite food is Mai Tokiha's '''ramen noodles'''! Ramen is a common Japanese dish - wheat noodles, served in broth which is typically meat- or fish-based, with a variety of toppings. Many regions of Japan have their own variation of ramen: Tokyo's own spin on the recipe involves curly noodles and chicken broth with a little dashi, though perhaps Mai's own tendency to use chicken in her ramen is also because chicken is cheaper than some of the other meats in the market. Mai's ramen noodles were Mikoto's introduction to the fact that food could taste /good/ instead of just being plain sustenance, and she is forever grateful to her friend for revealing that there were wonders of taste she had never before experienced. She'll never be able to forget the wonders of that very first meal. Though Mai can make many other more complicated dishes which exhibit her skills as a cook, Mikoto's first choice for dinner is always Mai's ramen. It's never quite the same thing twice - there are always different ingredients on sale, after all!
* [[Westar|Westar's]] favourite Earth food is '''donuts'''. These sweet treats are made of dough, cut into rings and deep-fried to a crispy puffy perfection. There are a thousand and one variants on the simple donut, with as many flavours to try as one might imagine. Common additions to the dough are spices, fruit, or chocolate. Many donuts, after frying, are subsequently dipped into glaze, coated with icing, or dusted with sugar. Amid all these choices, though, Westar's preference is for simple and familiar. An uncoated plain donut, whose ring contains a heart shape as its hole, the hallmark of Kaoru-chan's stand.
* [[Adrien Agreste|Adrien's]] is pizza with his favorite toppings being cheese, mushrooms, pepperoni and sausage. Due to his carefully watch model diet, he doesn't get to have it often, but it's a delightful treat for him when it does. It especially becomes an even more favorite when his friends invite him to go and share a pizza with them. It's just how it's like from the shows he watched on tv!
* [[Marinette Dupain-Cheng|Marinette]] is particularly fond of '''macarons'''. A French cookie delicately formed from meringue and almond flour, these delicate treats come in a wide variety of flavours and colours. Marinette is admittedly biased in the source, as her family's bakery makes them frequently. In addition to being light, sweet, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious, macarons lend themselves well to an artistic flair. The batter is very easy to colour, and the little puffs can easily be adorned with bits of icing. Just picture a cute little kitty-cat, or a deceitful hamburger, or a ridiculously elaborate replica of the Discworld - the sky is as ever the limit.
* [[Steven Universe|Steven Universe's]] favorite food will of course always be '''hot dogs'''! A packaged meat in a tubular shape, generally pork, beef or turkey with seasonings, is grilled until plump, then served on a bun with an assortment of condiments and toppings such as diced onions, chili, cheeses, peppers and pickles. They hold great significance besides great flavor, such as fond memories, or recalling the times of Beach City. They even help use alien technology*! Whenever he bites in to one, it all comes back to him in the best way possible.
For more information, please see: [[Holidays and Events]], [[Culture]]
[[Category:Theme]][[Category:Culture]]

Food

2018-09-28T03:26:15Z

Shachihoko: Adding the entry for Unagi

Japanese cuisine is highly seasonal, with many dishes using ingredients only available at the right time. Modern technology has eased this burden, but it is still traditional to eat certain foods at certain times of year.

''Special thanks to Kuniko Saito's player for contributing the Winter entry of this guide!''

__TOC__

==Autumn==
Some in Japan call autumn the 'season for eating.' Coming off the heat of summer, there's a trend towards savory dishes that celebrate the bountiful harvest, and nice warm comfort food to eat as the weather turns colder.

'''Sanma''' (literal translation 'autumn knife fish'), or Pacific Saury, are sleekly silver fish that rise fat and juicy for fishermen in the fall, considered an iconic centerpiece of autumn cuisine. They are typically served whole (even as sushi!), and when cooked, sanma are seasoned with salt and grilled over a charcoal fire. The crispy skin is a much-beloved part of the experience, often garnished with soy sauce. In early September, Tokyo's Meguro district holds a festival where many thousands of charcoal-grilled sanma are given away for free tasting!

'''Satsumaimo''', or Japanese sweet potatoes, are purple on the outside, bright yellow on the inside, and are drier in texture, but sweeter and creamier in taste, than yams. Traditionally, they are roasted whole, on hot stones outside (lending themselves well to the centerpiece of a scene where characters tend, then consume, their roasting sweet potatoes while raking leaves or otherwise enjoying the season; they are also sold, steaming hot, out of the open backs of minivans, by men who attract their customers by singing an iconic lamenting song). Satsumaimo are also popular fried, mashed, or boiled. The stereotypical consequence of overeating satsumaimo is a popular source of fart jokes among the young (and sometimes the old).

'''Kabocha''' are essentially Japanese pumpkins. On the outside they're green rather than orange, and on the inside they're somewhat sweeter than the Western squash, with a rich, butternut flavor. In the fall, they're made into soups, barbecued, battered and fried as tempura (alongside maple leaves, '''Momiji Tempura''', an unusual autumn treat!), and, yes, even used in Western-style pies.
* The most classic comfort food preparation of kabocha, however, is as a filling for breaded and fried croquettes, locally called '''korokke''' -- kabocha (also, satsumaimo) korokke are an often-homemade autumn snack. Watch out for the hot oil when it pops! Independent of season, korokke made with regular potatoes, or sometimes with ground meat, are popular throughout the year, and are sold at delightfully hot temperatures for pocket change prices at the konbini.

'''Matsutake''' pine mushrooms are the most prominent of the fungi that, nurtured by summer's high humidity, pop up for harvesting in the fall. Impossible to cultivate, they're highly prized and very expensive, starting at a hundred thousand yen per pound for the premium grade, and occupy a similar position of honor in Japanese cuisine as truffles do to the French. To make a few matsutake mushrooms stretch a long way, they are popularly featured in a seafood broth soup called '''Matsutake Dobin Mushi''', which is served in a clay teapot. When eaten whole, their delicate, smoky flavor is best preserved by grilling them on an open flame, and they are sometimes sprinkled over rice. Cheaper mushrooms are also popular in autumn, with hearty mushroom broth sometimes replacing the standard cup of miso soup served alongside a meal.

'''Kaki''', or Japanese persimmons, are ubiquitous in the fall, a sweet and tangy fruit found ripening on trees all over the country. Making a day out of a kaki picking trip is a common weekend treat. Besides eating them straight off the tree, they are often served chilled, or dusted with sugar and dried (a treat called '''hoshigaki''').

'''Kuri''', also commonly called by their French name '''maron''', are Japanese chestnuts (with a similar omnipresence to kaki, seen on trees everywhere, but an entirely different taste -- creamy, sweet and rich). They're usually sold uncooked so that they can be prepared at home, but you can get bags of roasted kuri at your supermarket or konbini for a good sidewalk snack. Roasting your own at the end of a trip to a kuri picking farm makes for a good finale to a September day!
* '''Shinmai''', or "new rice," comprises the first harvests of rice in autumn. Shinmai is said to be moister, sweeter, and more beautiful than ordinary rice, and starting in late September one of the best ways to prepare it is with kuri boiled alongside rice in the pot, creating a hearty sticky rice dish ('''kuri-gohan''') with a tiny dose of sweetness. Gingko nuts are also a popular shinmai topping, because of their subtle flavor, which allows the rice's unique qualities to shine through.
* Boxes of '''kuri-kinton''', or candied chestnuts, are popular gifts for friends and family in autumn -- in this treat, kuri are steamed, mashed, combined with sugar, then twisted into a bun shape. The snack is popularly enjoyed with a cup of hot tea. Kuri are also used in many other Japanese sweets, including '''kuri-manju''' cakes.

==Winter==
The prototypical dish for winter cuisine in Japan is the '''hot pot''', also known as ''nabemono''. Ingredients are combined in a pot and boiled, forming a rich broth; it is typically shared, with individual diners plucking out their favored morsels, and the broth typically mixed with rice at the end and consumed as a final course. Eating nabemono with your friends would be an excellent reason for a social scene; gather together, stick your legs underneath the kotatsu, and enjoy the warmth of friendship and flavor.

Nabemono is very versatile. Indeed, the name can be translated as "cooking pot stuff." Here are some common styles of nabemono; all of them can be considered to have vegetables such as bok choy and daikon involved, as well as varieties of mushroom.

* '''Sukiyaki:''' Thinly sliced beef (sometimes pork) simmered with vegetables and a soy sauce/sugar/sweet rice wine sauce. Before eating, the hot ingredients are usually dipped in a small bowl of raw beaten egg. Common at year-end parties and suitable for all ages.
* '''Shabu-shabu:''' Thin sliced beef is boiled in water or broth and eaten with dipping sauces. This dish may be considered similar to the "fondue" style meals available in America. It is quite suitable for service with fine ingredients, particularly wagyu beef and other marks of conspicuous consumption.
* '''Yosenabe:''' A combination style of nabemono which combines all sorts of things and cooks them well together: meat, seafood, tofu, egg, and vegetables. A common "homestyle" meal, often with a thicker sauce than is typical for nabemono.
* '''Yudofu:''' Nabemono prepared in a kombu stock and featuring tofu as the primary protein, with citrus and spicy sauces. Socially considered as vegetarian, though small amounts of fish are typically involved.
* '''Chankonabe:''' A nabemono dish that is a common restaurant meal, it was originally a heavy dish eaten by sumo wrestlers to put on weight efficiently. Very high in protein, often with chicken, fish, beef and various vegetables, chankonabe is a good meal for growing young'ns when served in less heroic proportions.
* '''Ishikari-nabe:''' A Hokkaido specialty, this hot pot features salmon and potato as well as butter.

'''Oden''' is another characteristic winter dish, prepared in a manner similar to hot pot but made available as its own individual dish in many venues. Featuring boiled eggs, daikon, fishcakes and a soy/dashi broth, most convenience stores have a bubbling pot of oden to sell by the cup during the winter months.

'''Tori zosui''' is another winter favorite; a thick rice soup with chicken, often prepared with leftover rice and served with sliced scallions on top. It's an excellent and popular way to warm up after a bitterly cold day.

====Winter Holidays====
There are also some specifically traditional holiday dishes, associated with an individual day or days. Your character is likely to eat them, and may well help prepare them!

* '''Christmas Cake:''' These cakes are typically a simple sponge cake, frosted with whipped cream and decorated with strawberries plus a chocolate plate that says "Merry Christmas!" Something of a more structured strawberry shortcake. It is eaten on Christmas Eve, which is, in Japan, typically celebrated as a romantic holiday a la Western Valentine's Day, and is thus perhaps the hardest night of the year to get a table at a nice restaurant. Yule Log cakes are also popular.
* '''KFC:''' There is a tradition of obtaining Kentucky Fried Chicken meals as a Christmas dish, in part because turkey is an absolute unknown in Japan. A 1974 advertising campaign started a tradition, and now a bucket of KFC "Christmas Chicken" (with salad and a cake) is typical fare on Christmas, often ordered months in advance to beat the lines.
* '''Osechi ryori:''' An umbrella term for food prepared specially for the New Year's period, these dishes come in a huge range of ingredients that are meant to encourage good luck and fortune for the upcoming year. They are typically sweet, sour, dried or otherwise preserved, as they come from a time before refrigeration was common, and when many markets would be closed for some time. Traditionally, nothing should be cooked on New Year's Day, so the preparation of osechi is finished before New Year's Eve. Osechi ryori is arguably the most important meal of the year, with each dish serving as a symbol or wish for the coming year. The food is even eaten in a special way by using chopsticks that are rounded on both ends; one side for the humans to use, one side for the gods. There are so many varieties that space would prohibit easy discussion. A more detailed discussion is present at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osechi Wikipedia] including a plan for a three-tiered "jubako" box.
* '''Toshikoshi soba:''' This is eaten at night on New Year's Eve. A simple meal with buckwheat soba with toppings such as seaweed, fried tofu, or vegetables. The long noodles are said to symbolize a long life, their consumption representing "crossing over from one year to the next," the meaning of ''toshi-koshi''. Another theory is that it is very simple to make - a relief after preparing several days' worth of osechi for the upcoming celebrations! It is often considered bad luck to leave any of your toshikoshi soba uneaten.
* '''O-zoni:''' A soup eaten during on the morning of New Year's Day, considered very lucky, featuring local ingredients and lots of mochi. While many areas have their own specialties, the typical Kanto-area meal uses a soy sauce/dashi broth, squared and grilled mochi, and meat and vegetables to preference.
* '''Nanakusu gayu:''' Eaten on January 7th, this is a collection of seven wild edible herbs eaten with rice in order to ease the stomach after all of the things listed above, which have been eaten over the course of several weeks.

==Spring==
Spring cuisine is all about appreciating the beginning of the growing season, as shoots and ferns unfurl from the ground, and petals blossom on fruit trees. These events are cause for major public celebrations, and, in turn, the fruits and vegetables in question are heavily featured in a variety of dishes.

Besides the bounty of the rich brown earth, there are naturally seasonal selections from the deep blue sea:
* '''Tai''', or Red Sea Bream, are rich-tasting fish that are in season in spring, and famously symbolize good luck in Japan. Besides eating them as sashimi or grilled with salt, '''Tai-chasuke''' is a dish where tai is served on rice with dashi fish stock poured on top.
:* For people who can't abide the fish, but still want their good luck, there is also '''Taiyaki''', a traditional Japanese sweet named after and shaped like tai. They're filled with '''anko''' (sweet red azuki bean paste), and often served at cherry blossom viewing parties (called hanami).
* '''Ika''' (Squid) is available good and fresh throughout the year, they're sweetest in the spring. '''Hotaru-Ika''' (firefly squid) are particularly popular served as a snack accompanying drinks, prepared in a variety of ways, including as sashimi, sauted, or boiled in soy sauce.
* '''Magaki''' (Pacific Oysters) are in season from late winter to spring, where they become bigger and sweeter. They're often served in an all-you-can-eat format, grilled, steamed, or even fried.

'''Sansai''' are much-beloved Japanese mountain vegetables that sprout in spring and are enthusiastically consumed. Many are picked from the wild; indeed, most are difficult to cultivate on a mass scale, and they're often quite bitter and tough until boiled or otherwise processed to consume. Besides serving them raw in salads, seared on the grill, or battered and fried as tempura, there are numerous specific dishes unique to a given mountain vegetable.
* '''Nanohana''' are the young spring shoots of rapeseed plants; though they're available in plain green at supermarkets for most of the year (and are closely related to broccoli -- the florets, stems and leaves are all edible), in spring they are prized for their bright yellow flower buds, which arrive in late March, in between the plum and cherry blossoms. Wandering through yellow fields of nanohana is a much-beloved practice, and fields outside of Tokyo are planted and sculpted into mazes, not unlike corn mazes in North America during Halloween. Unlike many sansai, nanohana isn't bitter or tough, so no pretreatment is required to enjoy it. Flowering nanohana is traditionally used as a side dish called '''ohitashi''', where it is briefly boiled until tender, and served with soy sance, dashi, bonito flakes and/or toasted sesame seeds. '''Karashiae''' is a similar dish, but the soy sauce is seasoned with spicy mustard.
* '''Takenoko''' (literally "child of bamboo") is a bamboo shoot, which can only be picked in a very tight window of the correct size and tenderness. Even then, takenoko must be boiled in rice bran water (with a couple of hot chili peppers added to, paradoxically, increase the bamboo's sweetness) for over an hour, to soften the flesh and reduce its bitterness. '''Takenoko-gohan''', or bamboo shoot rice, involves steaming precooked takenoko in rice (sometimes with fried tofu and shiitake mushrooms), flavored with soy sauce, dashi, mirin (sweet rice wine) sake and sugar. As a solo entree, larger pieces of bamboo cooked in a similar seasoning blend are served as '''takenoko no nimono''' ("simmered bamboo shoots"). Takenoko is also featured prominently in stir fry, in the spring.
* Other sansai, essentially all of which require advance parboiling, include '''Fuki''' (Butterbur), in which both the stalks and buds are used; spiraling, curled '''Kogomi''' (Ostrich Ferns) which are blanched and simmered; '''Shungiku''' (Spring Chrysanthemum) which are often served with a sesame dressing, or added to soups and hot pots; '''Tara no Me''' (the fresh shoots of the Angelica tree, sometimes called the "king" of sansai) which are particularly popular as tempura; '''Wasabina''' (Wasabi Mustard Greens) often used in salads; and '''Yama Udo''' (Mountain Asparagus) which is typically thinly sliced and pickled in miso, vinegar and sugar, or, if served fresh, can be grilled or sauteed.

'''Ichigo''' (strawberries) are in season in Japan from December to March, making them the go-to fruit for early spring. They're much beloved for their ability to brighten up this dreary time of year, and appear everywhere, in everything. Particularly fancy breeds of premium berry are marketed as high class gifts in department stores, but anyone can buy normal strawberries -- including going out to greenhouses to pick them, a spring activity known as '''ichigo kari'''.
* '''Daifuku''' are a very popular traditional Japanese sweet, comprised of a glutinous rice ball filled with sweet white or red anko, but in spring, they're sold with an entire strawberry inside, and called '''ichigo daifuku'''. These are hawked from the food stall to the konbini and back again, and are best enjoyed with a cup of green tea.
* Strawberry shortcakes in Japan are sponge cake and whipped cream layer cakes with fresh strawberries between the layers and on top (Christmas cakes are usually strawberry shortcakes), which is a little different from the cake with the same name in the West.

'''Ume''', the Japanese plum, is the first major tree to blossom in spring, and its flowering is avidly anticipated by the populace (though without quite the intensity of the excitement surrounding sakura blossoms, see below). Accompanying all this hype are uses of its fruit flavor. Since ume is often pickled as unbelivably sour, salty '''umeboshi''', it's available year-round, but when the weather starts to warm and spring is around the corner, ume-flavored chips (which are sort of like fruity salt and vinegar chips) and other snacks and sweets, appear on the shelves of the supermarkets and konbini.

'''Sakura''' blossoms are the main event for the celebration of the arrival of spring (even though ume come first and are also celebrated separately). In Tokyo, they begin to bloom in April, and as the public eagerly follows the cherry blossom front (as forecasted by the weather bureau, as it moves from South to North) to find out exactly when the blossoms will pop, you'll find sakura-flavored (or at least sakura-colored) everything; there's Sakura Kit Kats, Starbooks lattes, donuts, tarts, roll cakes, ice cream, taiyaki, mochi, and more. Sakura fever turns the shelves of the supermarket bright pink.
* '''Sakura-mochi''' is the iconic traditional sweet associated with hanami (as well as Hinamatsuri, the Girls' Festival, celebrated on March 3rd); it is the sweet, pink mochi of spring, wrapped around anko and topped with an edible leaf from a sakura tree (which is the only part of the sweet, actually, that involves actual sakura).

====Bento====
'''Hanami''' (literally, "flower viewing") is the traditional Japanese custom of throwing a party under flowering trees (especially sakura trees) in order to properly appreciate the blossoms in the brief time that they're around -- only a week or two a year! People gather in huge numbers, play or listen to music, and hold elaborate feasts on picnic blankets. Although there are often food stalls in larger parks, preparing and packing your own food is common, making this a great place to discuss '''bento''', the Japanese boxed lunch.
* Making yourself a great lunchbox is satisfying, but the true importance of bento comes from the feelings you put into preparing them for other people. It's a chance to imbue love into every bite -- parents make bento for their children if they can, and giving a specially prepared bento to a friend (or crush!) is a great demonstration of affection.
* Bento boxes (which can, themselves, vary greatly, ranging from elegant to cute to steadfastly functional to straight-up disposable -- and the same is all true of the chopsticks packed with them) are usually designed with a few subdivisions, to separate small portions of multiple dishes, such as rice, meat, and pickled or cooked vegetables. Everything tends to be served in bite-sized pieces, for convenience, and it's not uncommon for individual pieces of food to be cut into whimsical shapes, such as apple-rabbits, hot dog-octopi, and so forth.
* Taking the decorative element one step further, '''kyaraben''' ("character bento," as in anime/manga character) and '''okekakiben''' ("picture bento") arrange all of the elements of a bento into a recognizable image. Such meals require snapping a picture on your cell phone to immortalize your beautiful lunch before eating it!
* Not all bento are made by a loved one; anyone can buy bento from convenience stores or supermarkets, and some restaurants specialize in takeout bento. You can even purchase bento at railway stations ('''ekiben'''), which is a surprisingly old tradition with a huge variety of offerings, where local specialties compete for the appetites of travelers. Purchasing a box lunch at a station shop -- or while on a train, for longer trips -- remains one of the special treats of Japanese railway travel.

==Summer==
Executive summary about the themes of summer cuisine in Japan.

Savory:
* Somen
::* Nagashi somen
::* Zaru somen
* A non-somen cold noodle way to beat the heat is with '''Hiyashi Chuka''' (literally, 'Chilled Chinese'), a cold pasta salad composed of ramen noodles, arranged artfully (and VERY colorfully) with vegetable (and sometimes meat) garnish. Thinly sliced carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes are popular toppings, and ham and shrimp are not unheard of. Some chilled sour soup broth is drizzled on top. Konbini serve prepackaged Hiyashi Chuka with a hardboiled egg.
* '''Hiyayakko''' (sometimes called hiyakko or yakko-dofu) is chilled tofu, served with various toppings; its name refers to the servants of samurai in the Edo period. Chopped green onion, dried tuna flakes, and soy sauce are one common combination of toppings, but you can also find hiyayakko topped with shiso, yuzu rind, daikon, ginger, plum paste, or even mustard.
* Rei Shabu
* * '''Unagi''' or freshwater eel is a common ingredient in Japanese cooking, although it's also so highly prized that there's a day in midsummer when one is ''expected'' to eat unagi (specifically ''doyou no ushi no hi,'' the midsummer day of the Ox from the Chinese zodiac cycle; it may fall anywhere between mid-July to early August). Since eating raw eel poses a high risk of food poisoning, unagi is ''always'' cooked, frequently grilled. In particular, the cooking style known as ''kabayaki'' involves splitting the eel along either the back or the belly, gutting and boning it, cutting it into square filets, skewering, and dipping in a sweet soy sauce-based sauce prior to broiling on the grill. Once unagi has been cooked, it may be served donburi-style over rice (which includes the dish known as ''unaju''), or torn up and mixed with the rice to make ''hitsumabushi'', which is especially popular in the Nagoya area.

Sweet:
* '''Watermelons''' are considered a luxury in Japan, and are grown accordingly by farmers as a gut-pleasing treat. The rind is thinner and the flesh around the seeds are sweeter as compared to their Western counterparts. As such you can find them in many unusual shapes(cube, face, Godzilla egg!?) which can make them ornamental and expensive. The Densuke watermelon of Hokkaido considered to be the ferrari of these tasty treats with prices ranging up to 400,000 yen. However their luxurious nature makes them the perfect gift to offer your favorite senpai during the hotter months of the year! Summer gatherings and festivals aren't complete without a round of Suikawari(Watermelon Splitting).
:*Suikawari: A game between friends where a person is handed a wooden stick or bokken, blindfolded, spun three times then told to have at it. ’Official’ Rules for Suikawari:
::#Players placed between 5-7m away from the watermelon.
::#Blindfold tested with large yen bills.(May not apply to the 'Ohtori' rich.)
::#Time Limit of 3 minutes.
::#Scoring determined on how clean a break was made.
::#Melon collectively devoured after break is made for bonding between friends.
* '''Kakigori''' is shaved ice covered in flavored syrup like strawberry, lemon, melon, bubblegum, or a variety of other festive flavors, along with actual toppings like mochi, sweetened red beans, fruit slices, or even ice cream. Unlike a snow cone Kakigori is soft, cloud-like, and without much texture. Kakigori is a popular dessert when on the go, and many summer festival food stalls can be found shaving gigantic blocks of ice into this cool, fluffy treat.
* Garigari-kun

Drinks:
* '''Mugicha''' (barley tea) is just the thing to cool a person down on a hot summer's day, or even a hot summer's night, since it's caffeine-free. Plain mugicha is a mellow brown color and has a savory, roasted taste with a touch of bitterness; sometimes it's sweetened with sugar. It can be purchased at any konbini or made at home using roasted barley teabags.
* Ramune -- Lera Camry
* Umeshu -- Mikoto

====Festival Food====
Summer is the season of festivals so let's do a food stall feature!
* Ayu
* '''Yakitori''' -- literally grilled chicken, but not necessarily chicken! The important part is it's bite-sized food on skewers, grilled over charcoal. It's a regular festival and event food, and also popular to have while drinking! It's pretty ubiquitous. Generally it's going to be meat charred on sticks, often (maybe even mostly) with vegetables as well. It might go with salt, but with tend to have sauce; 'tare' sauce is one option, a mix of sake, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar, but the idea is something sweet and savory. The particular cut of meat isn't all that important--while the most traditional is chicken, as mentioned it might have beef, octopus, or sausage just as a start.
* '''Karaage''' -- While the Curse of the Colonel is infamous amongst baseball fans in Japan, don’t mistake Western fried chicken for Karaage. Karaage is fried chicken where flavors like sake, soy sauce, garlic or ginger are added to the chicken before the flour is added rather than simply into the flour itself. This process adds a juiciness to the meat that Kentucky Fried Chicken simply lacks! While this frying style was originally from China, it’s been adapted into something uniquely Japanese that they can be proud of. Each region of Japan has it’s own regional twist on this delicious treat such as Nagoya’s spicy version or Gifu’s karaage that’s black due to a type of algae mixed in.
* '''Takoyaki''' is a crispy savoury snack made of diced boiled octopus legs covered in a wheat flour-based batter, shaped into balls. While octopus is the operative ingredient - it's right there in the name! - takoyaki can also contain things like seasonal vegetables, tempura scraps (or tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion. It's typically served with okonomi sauce - a sweeter and less salty cousin of Worcestershire sauce - and mayonnaise, but can also be served with goma-dare (sesame and vinegar sauce) or ponzu (soy sauce, with dashi and citrus vinegar), amongst other variations. It originated in Osaka, but is now popular throughout Japan. Takoyaki is typically eaten by stabbing the ball with a toothpick, and served in paper dishes which resemble boats. It's also served piping hot, so be careful not to eat too quickly!
* Ikayaki -- Pluto
* Hotate Butter Yaki
* '''Okonomiyaki''' is a pancake or omelette-like dish served, much like their comparisons, with a variety of toppings and fillings. There are two main ways this savory dish is served! the Osaka-style has the extra chosen toppings mixed in to the batter and cooked together and pan-fried, served much like a stuffed griddle cake. The Hiroshima-style version serves it much like a layered cake, with the chosen extra toppings stacked on top of the batter cake one after another. Cabbage, green onion and pork seem to be the most common ingredients, but locations that serve the dish have many different ingredients on request, such as vegetables, seafood (such as octopus, shrimp, and squid) beef, and cheeses. Certain locations offer more unique varieties such as with fried noodles or chicken!
* '''Yakisoba''' is stir-fried noodles, plain and simple. While sometimes made with buckwheat soba noodles, most servings are prepared with thinner ramen-style noodles, making it quick and easy to prepare. The dark sweet-and-savoury sauce gives the fried dish a tang, and diced vegetables and meat are usually thrown in - ranging from chicken to pork to hot dogs to Spam, depending on the locality. While an actual dish is sometimes used, the festival food is commonly served on a humble paper plate - or in a bun, for a meal on the go.
* '''Yakitomorokoshi''' is just corn on the cob (on a stick), except that it isn't 'just' anything. Rather than being boiled, buttered and salted, its preparation is uniquely Japanese. After a brief boil to soften it up, chefs throw their corn on a charcoal grill and brush the corn's surface with some combination of soy sauce, mirin and sugar, which forms a glaze. The smell is amazing, somehow nutty, salty and sweet at the same time, and many a customer is led to this stall by simply following their nose.
* Tai is a spring fish but '''taiyaki''' is as valid an entry at any summer festival as it is at hanami viewing. These traditional Japanese pastries are shaped like the fish they're named after, and are somewhere between a waffle and a cake, stuffed with sweet azuki red bean paste (or, more recently, custard, chocolate, or even cheese or meat). Part of the fun of taiyaki at festivals is that you get to see them made in specially molded griddles, right there in the stall -- and the art of flipping over a half-baked 'fish' with a chopstick without getting batter and filling everywhere is fine, indeed...
* '''Crepes''' - A popular street food that can be sweet or savory, although the sweet variety is more popular in Japan. They are often served as a cone and filled with cream or custard and a kind of fruit such as banana, strawberry, blueberry, peach, kiwi or apple. They can also be filled with ice cream, chestnuts or almonds,or if someone if filling very decadent a cake topping such as cheesecake, brownie or chocolate cake. A sauce is drizzled among the inner folds and over the top of the crepe such as strawberry jam, chocolate, caramel, nutella or kuromitsu. The more savory kind of crepe, often just called 'snack crepes' often include tuna, egg, bacon, cheese, sausage, ham, spinach or chicken as their filling and then topped off with a sauce such as Japanese mayonnaise, curry sauce, pizza sauce, teriyaki sauce or even salsa.
* '''Dango''' -- Dumplings made of rice flour called Mochiko and served on sticks with many regional varieties of the sweet treat(or savory in Gifu where they’re served with soy sauce!). The Japanese have been eating dango since the Jomon period and how they’re served has evolved over time. Offerings of dango are made during special festivals to the kami for purification purposes before taking them home and eating them for good luck. It’s referenced in the odango hairstyle(o- is honorific) which in Japan can be conflated with any variety of bun. Just watch out calling anyone sporting this kind of hairstyle odango-atama(bun-head or dumpling-head) unless you’re handsome enough to get away with it.
* '''Jaga bata''' means butter potato, and it's pretty much exactly that -- potatoes, steamed in wood ovens, and stuffed with butter, salt, and soy sauce. It's especially popular to use the smaller 'reject' potatoes for this purpose, turning them into a nearly bite-sized street food, but the paper boats they come in sometimes just have one big potato instead.
* Karumeyaki
* '''Castella''' (or kasutera) is a fairly simple sponge cake, made with sugar, flour, eggs, and starch syrup. Their creation dates back to Portugese merchants in the 16th century, and the modern Japanese castella cake is a specialty of Nagasaki owing to this connection. Full-sized castella can be bought year-round, but the bite-sized '''baby castella''' (bebi kasutera) is a popular festival snack. Besides the plain recipe, there are varieties made with powdered green tea, brown sugar, honey, etc.
* '''Wata-ame''' or watagashi is cotton candy, usually very similar to the Western version, also known as fairy floss or candy floss in various parts of the world. Sugar which has been melted into a liquid state, and flavorings and/or colorings added, is spun into tiny strands, and gathered on a stick to serve, sometimes covered with a decorative plastic bag (usually adorned with anime or other artwork) for protection until it's eaten. Wata-ame dissolves quickly in contact with water and readily melts again in high heat, so it's not something to save for ''much'' later!
* Ringo Ame
::* Ichigo Ame
::* Mikan Ame
::* Ume Ame
* '''Choco bananas''' are frozen banana treats, covered in chocolate. While the chocolate is traditionally milk chocolate, there are also varieties made with white chocolate, strawberry chocolate, or other varieties - which can make for a dazzling rainbow of snacks. They're often topped with sprinkles, nuts, coconut flakes, or other sweets. Don't worry about getting your hands dirty, because they're served on sticks, just like toffee apples. Choco bananas are staples of Summer festivals, and they're a common sight in stalls.

==Favorite Foods==
Everybody has a favorite food -- and often it isn't just the food, but the story of why they like it, who they like it prepared by, and where and when they most like to eat it.

* Add your character's favorite food to this bullet list -- one long paragraph recommended.
* Please include your character's name and both a cultural summary of the food and its particular significance and specifics for the character. It's okay if your food was mentioned already elsewhere in the guide -- no two bowls of ramen are alike, after all.
* [[Fuu Hououji|Fuu Hououji's]] favorite food is '''tessa''', fugu sashimi which has been sliced so thinly that it's almost transparent. Only specially trained and licensed sushi chefs are even allowed to prepare tessa, due to the potential danger of pufferfish poisoning; as such, it's an expensive luxury dish, not something that even the Hououji family goes out for very often - but that rarity is part of why Fuu enjoys it so much, when she has the opportunity.
* [[Mikoto Minagi|Mikoto Minagi's]] favourite food is Mai Tokiha's '''ramen noodles'''! Ramen is a common Japanese dish - wheat noodles, served in broth which is typically meat- or fish-based, with a variety of toppings. Many regions of Japan have their own variation of ramen: Tokyo's own spin on the recipe involves curly noodles and chicken broth with a little dashi, though perhaps Mai's own tendency to use chicken in her ramen is also because chicken is cheaper than some of the other meats in the market. Mai's ramen noodles were Mikoto's introduction to the fact that food could taste /good/ instead of just being plain sustenance, and she is forever grateful to her friend for revealing that there were wonders of taste she had never before experienced. She'll never be able to forget the wonders of that very first meal. Though Mai can make many other more complicated dishes which exhibit her skills as a cook, Mikoto's first choice for dinner is always Mai's ramen. It's never quite the same thing twice - there are always different ingredients on sale, after all!
* [[Westar|Westar's]] favourite Earth food is '''donuts'''. These sweet treats are made of dough, cut into rings and deep-fried to a crispy puffy perfection. There are a thousand and one variants on the simple donut, with as many flavours to try as one might imagine. Common additions to the dough are spices, fruit, or chocolate. Many donuts, after frying, are subsequently dipped into glaze, coated with icing, or dusted with sugar. Amid all these choices, though, Westar's preference is for simple and familiar. An uncoated plain donut, whose ring contains a heart shape as its hole, the hallmark of Kaoru-chan's stand.
* [[Adrien Agreste|Adrien's]] is pizza with his favorite toppings being cheese, mushrooms, pepperoni and sausage. Due to his carefully watch model diet, he doesn't get to have it often, but it's a delightful treat for him when it does. It especially becomes an even more favorite when his friends invite him to go and share a pizza with them. It's just how it's like from the shows he watched on tv!
* [[Marinette Dupain-Cheng|Marinette]] is particularly fond of '''macarons'''. A French cookie delicately formed from meringue and almond flour, these delicate treats come in a wide variety of flavours and colours. Marinette is admittedly biased in the source, as her family's bakery makes them frequently. In addition to being light, sweet, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious, macarons lend themselves well to an artistic flair. The batter is very easy to colour, and the little puffs can easily be adorned with bits of icing. Just picture a cute little kitty-cat, or a deceitful hamburger, or a ridiculously elaborate replica of the Discworld - the sky is as ever the limit.
* [[Steven Universe|Steven Universe's]] favorite food will of course always be '''hot dogs'''! A packaged meat in a tubular shape, generally pork, beef or turkey with seasonings, is grilled until plump, then served on a bun with an assortment of condiments and toppings such as diced onions, chili, cheeses, peppers and pickles. They hold great significance besides great flavor, such as fond memories, or recalling the times of Beach City. They even help use alien technology*! Whenever he bites in to one, it all comes back to him in the best way possible.
For more information, please see: [[Holidays and Events]], [[Culture]]
[[Category:Theme]][[Category:Culture]]

Food

2018-09-28T02:50:58Z

Shachihoko: Adding Castella (and baby castella) under summer/festival foods

Japanese cuisine is highly seasonal, with many dishes using ingredients only available at the right time. Modern technology has eased this burden, but it is still traditional to eat certain foods at certain times of year.

''Special thanks to Kuniko Saito's player for contributing the Winter entry of this guide!''

__TOC__

==Autumn==
Some in Japan call autumn the 'season for eating.' Coming off the heat of summer, there's a trend towards savory dishes that celebrate the bountiful harvest, and nice warm comfort food to eat as the weather turns colder.

'''Sanma''' (literal translation 'autumn knife fish'), or Pacific Saury, are sleekly silver fish that rise fat and juicy for fishermen in the fall, considered an iconic centerpiece of autumn cuisine. They are typically served whole (even as sushi!), and when cooked, sanma are seasoned with salt and grilled over a charcoal fire. The crispy skin is a much-beloved part of the experience, often garnished with soy sauce. In early September, Tokyo's Meguro district holds a festival where many thousands of charcoal-grilled sanma are given away for free tasting!

'''Satsumaimo''', or Japanese sweet potatoes, are purple on the outside, bright yellow on the inside, and are drier in texture, but sweeter and creamier in taste, than yams. Traditionally, they are roasted whole, on hot stones outside (lending themselves well to the centerpiece of a scene where characters tend, then consume, their roasting sweet potatoes while raking leaves or otherwise enjoying the season; they are also sold, steaming hot, out of the open backs of minivans, by men who attract their customers by singing an iconic lamenting song). Satsumaimo are also popular fried, mashed, or boiled. The stereotypical consequence of overeating satsumaimo is a popular source of fart jokes among the young (and sometimes the old).

'''Kabocha''' are essentially Japanese pumpkins. On the outside they're green rather than orange, and on the inside they're somewhat sweeter than the Western squash, with a rich, butternut flavor. In the fall, they're made into soups, barbecued, battered and fried as tempura (alongside maple leaves, '''Momiji Tempura''', an unusual autumn treat!), and, yes, even used in Western-style pies.
* The most classic comfort food preparation of kabocha, however, is as a filling for breaded and fried croquettes, locally called '''korokke''' -- kabocha (also, satsumaimo) korokke are an often-homemade autumn snack. Watch out for the hot oil when it pops! Independent of season, korokke made with regular potatoes, or sometimes with ground meat, are popular throughout the year, and are sold at delightfully hot temperatures for pocket change prices at the konbini.

'''Matsutake''' pine mushrooms are the most prominent of the fungi that, nurtured by summer's high humidity, pop up for harvesting in the fall. Impossible to cultivate, they're highly prized and very expensive, starting at a hundred thousand yen per pound for the premium grade, and occupy a similar position of honor in Japanese cuisine as truffles do to the French. To make a few matsutake mushrooms stretch a long way, they are popularly featured in a seafood broth soup called '''Matsutake Dobin Mushi''', which is served in a clay teapot. When eaten whole, their delicate, smoky flavor is best preserved by grilling them on an open flame, and they are sometimes sprinkled over rice. Cheaper mushrooms are also popular in autumn, with hearty mushroom broth sometimes replacing the standard cup of miso soup served alongside a meal.

'''Kaki''', or Japanese persimmons, are ubiquitous in the fall, a sweet and tangy fruit found ripening on trees all over the country. Making a day out of a kaki picking trip is a common weekend treat. Besides eating them straight off the tree, they are often served chilled, or dusted with sugar and dried (a treat called '''hoshigaki''').

'''Kuri''', also commonly called by their French name '''maron''', are Japanese chestnuts (with a similar omnipresence to kaki, seen on trees everywhere, but an entirely different taste -- creamy, sweet and rich). They're usually sold uncooked so that they can be prepared at home, but you can get bags of roasted kuri at your supermarket or konbini for a good sidewalk snack. Roasting your own at the end of a trip to a kuri picking farm makes for a good finale to a September day!
* '''Shinmai''', or "new rice," comprises the first harvests of rice in autumn. Shinmai is said to be moister, sweeter, and more beautiful than ordinary rice, and starting in late September one of the best ways to prepare it is with kuri boiled alongside rice in the pot, creating a hearty sticky rice dish ('''kuri-gohan''') with a tiny dose of sweetness. Gingko nuts are also a popular shinmai topping, because of their subtle flavor, which allows the rice's unique qualities to shine through.
* Boxes of '''kuri-kinton''', or candied chestnuts, are popular gifts for friends and family in autumn -- in this treat, kuri are steamed, mashed, combined with sugar, then twisted into a bun shape. The snack is popularly enjoyed with a cup of hot tea. Kuri are also used in many other Japanese sweets, including '''kuri-manju''' cakes.

==Winter==
The prototypical dish for winter cuisine in Japan is the '''hot pot''', also known as ''nabemono''. Ingredients are combined in a pot and boiled, forming a rich broth; it is typically shared, with individual diners plucking out their favored morsels, and the broth typically mixed with rice at the end and consumed as a final course. Eating nabemono with your friends would be an excellent reason for a social scene; gather together, stick your legs underneath the kotatsu, and enjoy the warmth of friendship and flavor.

Nabemono is very versatile. Indeed, the name can be translated as "cooking pot stuff." Here are some common styles of nabemono; all of them can be considered to have vegetables such as bok choy and daikon involved, as well as varieties of mushroom.

* '''Sukiyaki:''' Thinly sliced beef (sometimes pork) simmered with vegetables and a soy sauce/sugar/sweet rice wine sauce. Before eating, the hot ingredients are usually dipped in a small bowl of raw beaten egg. Common at year-end parties and suitable for all ages.
* '''Shabu-shabu:''' Thin sliced beef is boiled in water or broth and eaten with dipping sauces. This dish may be considered similar to the "fondue" style meals available in America. It is quite suitable for service with fine ingredients, particularly wagyu beef and other marks of conspicuous consumption.
* '''Yosenabe:''' A combination style of nabemono which combines all sorts of things and cooks them well together: meat, seafood, tofu, egg, and vegetables. A common "homestyle" meal, often with a thicker sauce than is typical for nabemono.
* '''Yudofu:''' Nabemono prepared in a kombu stock and featuring tofu as the primary protein, with citrus and spicy sauces. Socially considered as vegetarian, though small amounts of fish are typically involved.
* '''Chankonabe:''' A nabemono dish that is a common restaurant meal, it was originally a heavy dish eaten by sumo wrestlers to put on weight efficiently. Very high in protein, often with chicken, fish, beef and various vegetables, chankonabe is a good meal for growing young'ns when served in less heroic proportions.
* '''Ishikari-nabe:''' A Hokkaido specialty, this hot pot features salmon and potato as well as butter.

'''Oden''' is another characteristic winter dish, prepared in a manner similar to hot pot but made available as its own individual dish in many venues. Featuring boiled eggs, daikon, fishcakes and a soy/dashi broth, most convenience stores have a bubbling pot of oden to sell by the cup during the winter months.

'''Tori zosui''' is another winter favorite; a thick rice soup with chicken, often prepared with leftover rice and served with sliced scallions on top. It's an excellent and popular way to warm up after a bitterly cold day.

====Winter Holidays====
There are also some specifically traditional holiday dishes, associated with an individual day or days. Your character is likely to eat them, and may well help prepare them!

* '''Christmas Cake:''' These cakes are typically a simple sponge cake, frosted with whipped cream and decorated with strawberries plus a chocolate plate that says "Merry Christmas!" Something of a more structured strawberry shortcake. It is eaten on Christmas Eve, which is, in Japan, typically celebrated as a romantic holiday a la Western Valentine's Day, and is thus perhaps the hardest night of the year to get a table at a nice restaurant. Yule Log cakes are also popular.
* '''KFC:''' There is a tradition of obtaining Kentucky Fried Chicken meals as a Christmas dish, in part because turkey is an absolute unknown in Japan. A 1974 advertising campaign started a tradition, and now a bucket of KFC "Christmas Chicken" (with salad and a cake) is typical fare on Christmas, often ordered months in advance to beat the lines.
* '''Osechi ryori:''' An umbrella term for food prepared specially for the New Year's period, these dishes come in a huge range of ingredients that are meant to encourage good luck and fortune for the upcoming year. They are typically sweet, sour, dried or otherwise preserved, as they come from a time before refrigeration was common, and when many markets would be closed for some time. Traditionally, nothing should be cooked on New Year's Day, so the preparation of osechi is finished before New Year's Eve. Osechi ryori is arguably the most important meal of the year, with each dish serving as a symbol or wish for the coming year. The food is even eaten in a special way by using chopsticks that are rounded on both ends; one side for the humans to use, one side for the gods. There are so many varieties that space would prohibit easy discussion. A more detailed discussion is present at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osechi Wikipedia] including a plan for a three-tiered "jubako" box.
* '''Toshikoshi soba:''' This is eaten at night on New Year's Eve. A simple meal with buckwheat soba with toppings such as seaweed, fried tofu, or vegetables. The long noodles are said to symbolize a long life, their consumption representing "crossing over from one year to the next," the meaning of ''toshi-koshi''. Another theory is that it is very simple to make - a relief after preparing several days' worth of osechi for the upcoming celebrations! It is often considered bad luck to leave any of your toshikoshi soba uneaten.
* '''O-zoni:''' A soup eaten during on the morning of New Year's Day, considered very lucky, featuring local ingredients and lots of mochi. While many areas have their own specialties, the typical Kanto-area meal uses a soy sauce/dashi broth, squared and grilled mochi, and meat and vegetables to preference.
* '''Nanakusu gayu:''' Eaten on January 7th, this is a collection of seven wild edible herbs eaten with rice in order to ease the stomach after all of the things listed above, which have been eaten over the course of several weeks.

==Spring==
Spring cuisine is all about appreciating the beginning of the growing season, as shoots and ferns unfurl from the ground, and petals blossom on fruit trees. These events are cause for major public celebrations, and, in turn, the fruits and vegetables in question are heavily featured in a variety of dishes.

Besides the bounty of the rich brown earth, there are naturally seasonal selections from the deep blue sea:
* '''Tai''', or Red Sea Bream, are rich-tasting fish that are in season in spring, and famously symbolize good luck in Japan. Besides eating them as sashimi or grilled with salt, '''Tai-chasuke''' is a dish where tai is served on rice with dashi fish stock poured on top.
:* For people who can't abide the fish, but still want their good luck, there is also '''Taiyaki''', a traditional Japanese sweet named after and shaped like tai. They're filled with '''anko''' (sweet red azuki bean paste), and often served at cherry blossom viewing parties (called hanami).
* '''Ika''' (Squid) is available good and fresh throughout the year, they're sweetest in the spring. '''Hotaru-Ika''' (firefly squid) are particularly popular served as a snack accompanying drinks, prepared in a variety of ways, including as sashimi, sauted, or boiled in soy sauce.
* '''Magaki''' (Pacific Oysters) are in season from late winter to spring, where they become bigger and sweeter. They're often served in an all-you-can-eat format, grilled, steamed, or even fried.

'''Sansai''' are much-beloved Japanese mountain vegetables that sprout in spring and are enthusiastically consumed. Many are picked from the wild; indeed, most are difficult to cultivate on a mass scale, and they're often quite bitter and tough until boiled or otherwise processed to consume. Besides serving them raw in salads, seared on the grill, or battered and fried as tempura, there are numerous specific dishes unique to a given mountain vegetable.
* '''Nanohana''' are the young spring shoots of rapeseed plants; though they're available in plain green at supermarkets for most of the year (and are closely related to broccoli -- the florets, stems and leaves are all edible), in spring they are prized for their bright yellow flower buds, which arrive in late March, in between the plum and cherry blossoms. Wandering through yellow fields of nanohana is a much-beloved practice, and fields outside of Tokyo are planted and sculpted into mazes, not unlike corn mazes in North America during Halloween. Unlike many sansai, nanohana isn't bitter or tough, so no pretreatment is required to enjoy it. Flowering nanohana is traditionally used as a side dish called '''ohitashi''', where it is briefly boiled until tender, and served with soy sance, dashi, bonito flakes and/or toasted sesame seeds. '''Karashiae''' is a similar dish, but the soy sauce is seasoned with spicy mustard.
* '''Takenoko''' (literally "child of bamboo") is a bamboo shoot, which can only be picked in a very tight window of the correct size and tenderness. Even then, takenoko must be boiled in rice bran water (with a couple of hot chili peppers added to, paradoxically, increase the bamboo's sweetness) for over an hour, to soften the flesh and reduce its bitterness. '''Takenoko-gohan''', or bamboo shoot rice, involves steaming precooked takenoko in rice (sometimes with fried tofu and shiitake mushrooms), flavored with soy sauce, dashi, mirin (sweet rice wine) sake and sugar. As a solo entree, larger pieces of bamboo cooked in a similar seasoning blend are served as '''takenoko no nimono''' ("simmered bamboo shoots"). Takenoko is also featured prominently in stir fry, in the spring.
* Other sansai, essentially all of which require advance parboiling, include '''Fuki''' (Butterbur), in which both the stalks and buds are used; spiraling, curled '''Kogomi''' (Ostrich Ferns) which are blanched and simmered; '''Shungiku''' (Spring Chrysanthemum) which are often served with a sesame dressing, or added to soups and hot pots; '''Tara no Me''' (the fresh shoots of the Angelica tree, sometimes called the "king" of sansai) which are particularly popular as tempura; '''Wasabina''' (Wasabi Mustard Greens) often used in salads; and '''Yama Udo''' (Mountain Asparagus) which is typically thinly sliced and pickled in miso, vinegar and sugar, or, if served fresh, can be grilled or sauteed.

'''Ichigo''' (strawberries) are in season in Japan from December to March, making them the go-to fruit for early spring. They're much beloved for their ability to brighten up this dreary time of year, and appear everywhere, in everything. Particularly fancy breeds of premium berry are marketed as high class gifts in department stores, but anyone can buy normal strawberries -- including going out to greenhouses to pick them, a spring activity known as '''ichigo kari'''.
* '''Daifuku''' are a very popular traditional Japanese sweet, comprised of a glutinous rice ball filled with sweet white or red anko, but in spring, they're sold with an entire strawberry inside, and called '''ichigo daifuku'''. These are hawked from the food stall to the konbini and back again, and are best enjoyed with a cup of green tea.
* Strawberry shortcakes in Japan are sponge cake and whipped cream layer cakes with fresh strawberries between the layers and on top (Christmas cakes are usually strawberry shortcakes), which is a little different from the cake with the same name in the West.

'''Ume''', the Japanese plum, is the first major tree to blossom in spring, and its flowering is avidly anticipated by the populace (though without quite the intensity of the excitement surrounding sakura blossoms, see below). Accompanying all this hype are uses of its fruit flavor. Since ume is often pickled as unbelivably sour, salty '''umeboshi''', it's available year-round, but when the weather starts to warm and spring is around the corner, ume-flavored chips (which are sort of like fruity salt and vinegar chips) and other snacks and sweets, appear on the shelves of the supermarkets and konbini.

'''Sakura''' blossoms are the main event for the celebration of the arrival of spring (even though ume come first and are also celebrated separately). In Tokyo, they begin to bloom in April, and as the public eagerly follows the cherry blossom front (as forecasted by the weather bureau, as it moves from South to North) to find out exactly when the blossoms will pop, you'll find sakura-flavored (or at least sakura-colored) everything; there's Sakura Kit Kats, Starbooks lattes, donuts, tarts, roll cakes, ice cream, taiyaki, mochi, and more. Sakura fever turns the shelves of the supermarket bright pink.
* '''Sakura-mochi''' is the iconic traditional sweet associated with hanami (as well as Hinamatsuri, the Girls' Festival, celebrated on March 3rd); it is the sweet, pink mochi of spring, wrapped around anko and topped with an edible leaf from a sakura tree (which is the only part of the sweet, actually, that involves actual sakura).

====Bento====
'''Hanami''' (literally, "flower viewing") is the traditional Japanese custom of throwing a party under flowering trees (especially sakura trees) in order to properly appreciate the blossoms in the brief time that they're around -- only a week or two a year! People gather in huge numbers, play or listen to music, and hold elaborate feasts on picnic blankets. Although there are often food stalls in larger parks, preparing and packing your own food is common, making this a great place to discuss '''bento''', the Japanese boxed lunch.
* Making yourself a great lunchbox is satisfying, but the true importance of bento comes from the feelings you put into preparing them for other people. It's a chance to imbue love into every bite -- parents make bento for their children if they can, and giving a specially prepared bento to a friend (or crush!) is a great demonstration of affection.
* Bento boxes (which can, themselves, vary greatly, ranging from elegant to cute to steadfastly functional to straight-up disposable -- and the same is all true of the chopsticks packed with them) are usually designed with a few subdivisions, to separate small portions of multiple dishes, such as rice, meat, and pickled or cooked vegetables. Everything tends to be served in bite-sized pieces, for convenience, and it's not uncommon for individual pieces of food to be cut into whimsical shapes, such as apple-rabbits, hot dog-octopi, and so forth.
* Taking the decorative element one step further, '''kyaraben''' ("character bento," as in anime/manga character) and '''okekakiben''' ("picture bento") arrange all of the elements of a bento into a recognizable image. Such meals require snapping a picture on your cell phone to immortalize your beautiful lunch before eating it!
* Not all bento are made by a loved one; anyone can buy bento from convenience stores or supermarkets, and some restaurants specialize in takeout bento. You can even purchase bento at railway stations ('''ekiben'''), which is a surprisingly old tradition with a huge variety of offerings, where local specialties compete for the appetites of travelers. Purchasing a box lunch at a station shop -- or while on a train, for longer trips -- remains one of the special treats of Japanese railway travel.

==Summer==
Executive summary about the themes of summer cuisine in Japan.

Savory:
* Somen
::* Nagashi somen
::* Zaru somen
* Hiyashi Chuka Noodles
* '''Hiyayakko''' (sometimes called hiyakko or yakko-dofu) is chilled tofu, served with various toppings; its name refers to the servants of samurai in the Edo period. Chopped green onion, dried tuna flakes, and soy sauce are one common combination of toppings, but you can also find hiyayakko topped with shiso, yuzu rind, daikon, ginger, plum paste, or even mustard.
* Rei Shabu
* Unagi
::* Grilled
::* Hitsumabushi

Sweet:
* '''Watermelons''' are considered a luxury in Japan, and are grown accordingly by farmers as a gut-pleasing treat. The rind is thinner and the flesh around the seeds are sweeter as compared to their Western counterparts. As such you can find them in many unusual shapes(cube, face, Godzilla egg!?) which can make them ornamental and expensive. The Densuke watermelon of Hokkaido considered to be the ferrari of these tasty treats with prices ranging up to 400,000 yen. However their luxurious nature makes them the perfect gift to offer your favorite senpai during the hotter months of the year! Summer gatherings and festivals aren't complete without a round of Suikawari(Watermelon Splitting).
:*Suikawari: A game between friends where a person is handed a wooden stick or bokken, blindfolded, spun three times then told to have at it. ’Official’ Rules for Suikawari:
::#Players placed between 5-7m away from the watermelon.
::#Blindfold tested with large yen bills.(May not apply to the 'Ohtori' rich.)
::#Time Limit of 3 minutes.
::#Scoring determined on how clean a break was made.
::#Melon collectively devoured after break is made for bonding between friends.
* '''Kakigori''' is shaved ice covered in flavored syrup like strawberry, lemon, melon, bubblegum, or a variety of other festive flavors, along with actual toppings like mochi, sweetened red beans, fruit slices, or even ice cream. Unlike a snow cone Kakigori is soft, cloud-like, and without much texture. Kakigori is a popular dessert when on the go, and many summer festival food stalls can be found shaving gigantic blocks of ice into this cool, fluffy treat.
* Garigari-kun

Drinks:
* '''Mugicha''' (barley tea) is just the thing to cool a person down on a hot summer's day, or even a hot summer's night, since it's caffeine-free. Plain mugicha is a mellow brown color and has a savory, roasted taste with a touch of bitterness; sometimes it's sweetened with sugar. It can be purchased at any konbini or made at home using roasted barley teabags.
* Ramune -- Lera Camry
* Umeshu

====Festival Food====
Summer is the season of festivals so let's do a food stall feature!
* Ayu
* '''Yakitori''' -- literally grilled chicken, but not necessarily chicken! The important part is it's bite-sized food on skewers, grilled over charcoal. It's a regular festival and event food, and also popular to have while drinking! It's pretty ubiquitous. Generally it's going to be meat charred on sticks, often (maybe even mostly) with vegetables as well. It might go with salt, but with tend to have sauce; 'tare' sauce is one option, a mix of sake, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar, but the idea is something sweet and savory. The particular cut of meat isn't all that important--while the most traditional is chicken, as mentioned it might have beef, octopus, or sausage just as a start.
* '''Karaage''' -- While the Curse of the Colonel is infamous amongst baseball fans in Japan, don’t mistake Western fried chicken for Karaage. Karaage is fried chicken where flavors like sake, soy sauce, garlic or ginger are added to the chicken before the flour is added rather than simply into the flour itself. This process adds a juiciness to the meat that Kentucky Fried Chicken simply lacks! While this frying style was originally from China, it’s been adapted into something uniquely Japanese that they can be proud of. Each region of Japan has it’s own regional twist on this delicious treat such as Nagoya’s spicy version or Gifu’s karaage that’s black due to a type of algae mixed in.
* '''Takoyaki''' is a crispy savoury snack made of diced boiled octopus legs covered in a wheat flour-based batter, shaped into balls. While octopus is the operative ingredient - it's right there in the name! - takoyaki can also contain things like seasonal vegetables, tempura scraps (or tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion. It's typically served with okonomi sauce - a sweeter and less salty cousin of Worcestershire sauce - and mayonnaise, but can also be served with goma-dare (sesame and vinegar sauce) or ponzu (soy sauce, with dashi and citrus vinegar), amongst other variations. It originated in Osaka, but is now popular throughout Japan. Takoyaki is typically eaten by stabbing the ball with a toothpick, and served in paper dishes which resemble boats. It's also served piping hot, so be careful not to eat too quickly!
* Ikayaki -- Pluto
* Hotate Butter Yaki
* '''Okonomiyaki''' is a pancake or omelette-like dish served, much like their comparisons, with a variety of toppings and fillings. There are two main ways this savory dish is served! the Osaka-style has the extra chosen toppings mixed in to the batter and cooked together and pan-fried, served much like a stuffed griddle cake. The Hiroshima-style version serves it much like a layered cake, with the chosen extra toppings stacked on top of the batter cake one after another. Cabbage, green onion and pork seem to be the most common ingredients, but locations that serve the dish have many different ingredients on request, such as vegetables, seafood (such as octopus, shrimp, and squid) beef, and cheeses. Certain locations offer more unique varieties such as with fried noodles or chicken!
* '''Yakisoba''' is stir-fried noodles, plain and simple. While sometimes made with buckwheat soba noodles, most servings are prepared with thinner ramen-style noodles, making it quick and easy to prepare. The dark sweet-and-savoury sauce gives the fried dish a tang, and diced vegetables and meat are usually thrown in - ranging from chicken to pork to hot dogs to Spam, depending on the locality. While an actual dish is sometimes used, the festival food is commonly served on a humble paper plate - or in a bun, for a meal on the go.
* '''Yakitomorokoshi''' is just corn on the cob (on a stick), except that it isn't 'just' anything. Rather than being boiled, buttered and salted, its preparation is uniquely Japanese. After a brief boil to soften it up, chefs throw their corn on a charcoal grill and brush the corn's surface with some combination of soy sauce, mirin and sugar, which forms a glaze. The smell is amazing, somehow nutty, salty and sweet at the same time, and many a customer is led to this stall by simply following their nose.
* Tai is a spring fish but '''taiyaki''' is as valid an entry at any summer festival as it is at hanami viewing. These traditional Japanese pastries are shaped like the fish they're named after, and are somewhere between a waffle and a cake, stuffed with sweet azuki red bean paste (or, more recently, custard, chocolate, or even cheese or meat). Part of the fun of taiyaki at festivals is that you get to see them made in specially molded griddles, right there in the stall -- and the art of flipping over a half-baked 'fish' with a chopstick without getting batter and filling everywhere is fine, indeed...
* '''Crepes''' - A popular street food that can be sweet or savory, although the sweet variety is more popular in Japan. They are often served as a cone and filled with cream or custard and a kind of fruit such as banana, strawberry, blueberry, peach, kiwi or apple. They can also be filled with ice cream, chestnuts or almonds,or if someone if filling very decadent a cake topping such as cheesecake, brownie or chocolate cake. A sauce is drizzled among the inner folds and over the top of the crepe such as strawberry jam, chocolate, caramel, nutella or kuromitsu. The more savory kind of crepe, often just called 'snack crepes' often include tuna, egg, bacon, cheese, sausage, ham, spinach or chicken as their filling and then topped off with a sauce such as Japanese mayonnaise, curry sauce, pizza sauce, teriyaki sauce or even salsa.
* Dango
* '''Jaga bata''' means butter potato, and it's pretty much exactly that -- potatoes, steamed in wood ovens, and stuffed with butter, salt, and soy sauce. It's especially popular to use the smaller 'reject' potatoes for this purpose, turning them into a nearly bite-sized street food, but the paper boats they come in sometimes just have one big potato instead.
* Karumeyaki
* '''Castella''' (or kasutera) is a fairly simple sponge cake, made with sugar, flour, eggs, and starch syrup. Their creation dates back to Portugese merchants in the 16th century, and the modern Japanese castella cake is a specialty of Nagasaki owing to this connection. Full-sized castella can be bought year-round, but the bite-sized '''baby castella''' (bebi kasutera) is a popular festival snack. Besides the plain recipe, there are varieties made with powdered green tea, brown sugar, honey, etc.
* '''Wata-ame''' or watagashi is cotton candy, usually very similar to the Western version, also known as fairy floss or candy floss in various parts of the world. Sugar which has been melted into a liquid state, and flavorings and/or colorings added, is spun into tiny strands, and gathered on a stick to serve, sometimes covered with a decorative plastic bag (usually adorned with anime or other artwork) for protection until it's eaten. Wata-ame dissolves quickly in contact with water and readily melts again in high heat, so it's not something to save for ''much'' later!
* Ringo Ame
::* Ichigo Ame
::* Mikan Ame
::* Ume Ame
* '''Choco bananas''' are frozen banana treats, covered in chocolate. While the chocolate is traditionally milk chocolate, there are also varieties made with white chocolate, strawberry chocolate, or other varieties - which can make for a dazzling rainbow of snacks. They're often topped with sprinkles, nuts, coconut flakes, or other sweets. Don't worry about getting your hands dirty, because they're served on sticks, just like toffee apples. Choco bananas are staples of Summer festivals, and they're a common sight in stalls.

==Favorite Foods==
Everybody has a favorite food -- and often it isn't just the food, but the story of why they like it, who they like it prepared by, and where and when they most like to eat it.

* Add your character's favorite food to this bullet list -- one long paragraph recommended.
* Please include your character's name and both a cultural summary of the food and its particular significance and specifics for the character. It's okay if your food was mentioned already elsewhere in the guide -- no two bowls of ramen are alike, after all.
* [[Fuu Hououji|Fuu Hououji's]] favorite food is '''tessa''', fugu sashimi which has been sliced so thinly that it's almost transparent. Only specially trained and licensed sushi chefs are even allowed to prepare tessa, due to the potential danger of pufferfish poisoning; as such, it's an expensive luxury dish, not something that even the Hououji family goes out for very often - but that rarity is part of why Fuu enjoys it so much, when she has the opportunity.
* [[Mikoto Minagi|Mikoto Minagi's]] favourite food is Mai Tokiha's '''ramen noodles'''! Ramen is a common Japanese dish - wheat noodles, served in broth which is typically meat- or fish-based, with a variety of toppings. Many regions of Japan have their own variation of ramen: Tokyo's own spin on the recipe involves curly noodles and chicken broth with a little dashi, though perhaps Mai's own tendency to use chicken in her ramen is also because chicken is cheaper than some of the other meats in the market. Mai's ramen noodles were Mikoto's introduction to the fact that food could taste /good/ instead of just being plain sustenance, and she is forever grateful to her friend for revealing that there were wonders of taste she had never before experienced. She'll never be able to forget the wonders of that very first meal. Though Mai can make many other more complicated dishes which exhibit her skills as a cook, Mikoto's first choice for dinner is always Mai's ramen. It's never quite the same thing twice - there are always different ingredients on sale, after all!
* [[Westar|Westar's]] favourite Earth food is '''donuts'''. These sweet treats are made of dough, cut into rings and deep-fried to a crispy puffy perfection. There are a thousand and one variants on the simple donut, with as many flavours to try as one might imagine. Common additions to the dough are spices, fruit, or chocolate. Many donuts, after frying, are subsequently dipped into glaze, coated with icing, or dusted with sugar. Amid all these choices, though, Westar's preference is for simple and familiar. An uncoated plain donut, whose ring contains a heart shape as its hole, the hallmark of Kaoru-chan's stand.

For more information, please see: [[Holidays and Events]], [[Culture]]
[[Category:Theme]][[Category:Culture]]

Food

2018-09-28T02:18:52Z

Shachihoko: Adding wata-ame to the festival foods, and Fuu's favorite in the bottom section.

Japanese cuisine is highly seasonal, with many dishes using ingredients only available at the right time. Modern technology has eased this burden, but it is still traditional to eat certain foods at certain times of year.

''Special thanks to Kuniko Saito's player for contributing the Winter entry of this guide!''

__TOC__

==Autumn==
Some in Japan call autumn the 'season for eating.' Coming off the heat of summer, there's a trend towards savory dishes that celebrate the bountiful harvest, and nice warm comfort food to eat as the weather turns colder.

'''Sanma''' (literal translation 'autumn knife fish'), or Pacific Saury, are sleekly silver fish that rise fat and juicy for fishermen in the fall, considered an iconic centerpiece of autumn cuisine. They are typically served whole (even as sushi!), and when cooked, sanma are seasoned with salt and grilled over a charcoal fire. The crispy skin is a much-beloved part of the experience, often garnished with soy sauce. In early September, Tokyo's Meguro district holds a festival where many thousands of charcoal-grilled sanma are given away for free tasting!

'''Satsumaimo''', or Japanese sweet potatoes, are purple on the outside, bright yellow on the inside, and are drier in texture, but sweeter and creamier in taste, than yams. Traditionally, they are roasted whole, on hot stones outside (lending themselves well to the centerpiece of a scene where characters tend, then consume, their roasting sweet potatoes while raking leaves or otherwise enjoying the season; they are also sold, steaming hot, out of the open backs of minivans, by men who attract their customers by singing an iconic lamenting song). Satsumaimo are also popular fried, mashed, or boiled. The stereotypical consequence of overeating satsumaimo is a popular source of fart jokes among the young (and sometimes the old).

'''Kabocha''' are essentially Japanese pumpkins. On the outside they're green rather than orange, and on the inside they're somewhat sweeter than the Western squash, with a rich, butternut flavor. In the fall, they're made into soups, barbecued, battered and fried as tempura (alongside maple leaves, '''Momiji Tempura''', an unusual autumn treat!), and, yes, even used in Western-style pies.
* The most classic comfort food preparation of kabocha, however, is as a filling for breaded and fried croquettes, locally called '''korokke''' -- kabocha (also, satsumaimo) korokke are an often-homemade autumn snack. Watch out for the hot oil when it pops! Independent of season, korokke made with regular potatoes, or sometimes with ground meat, are popular throughout the year, and are sold at delightfully hot temperatures for pocket change prices at the konbini.

'''Matsutake''' pine mushrooms are the most prominent of the fungi that, nurtured by summer's high humidity, pop up for harvesting in the fall. Impossible to cultivate, they're highly prized and very expensive, starting at a hundred thousand yen per pound for the premium grade, and occupy a similar position of honor in Japanese cuisine as truffles do to the French. To make a few matsutake mushrooms stretch a long way, they are popularly featured in a seafood broth soup called '''Matsutake Dobin Mushi''', which is served in a clay teapot. When eaten whole, their delicate, smoky flavor is best preserved by grilling them on an open flame, and they are sometimes sprinkled over rice. Cheaper mushrooms are also popular in autumn, with hearty mushroom broth sometimes replacing the standard cup of miso soup served alongside a meal.

'''Kaki''', or Japanese persimmons, are ubiquitous in the fall, a sweet and tangy fruit found ripening on trees all over the country. Making a day out of a kaki picking trip is a common weekend treat. Besides eating them straight off the tree, they are often served chilled, or dusted with sugar and dried (a treat called '''hoshigaki''').

'''Kuri''', also commonly called by their French name '''maron''', are Japanese chestnuts (with a similar omnipresence to kaki, seen on trees everywhere, but an entirely different taste -- creamy, sweet and rich). They're usually sold uncooked so that they can be prepared at home, but you can get bags of roasted kuri at your supermarket or konbini for a good sidewalk snack. Roasting your own at the end of a trip to a kuri picking farm makes for a good finale to a September day!
* '''Shinmai''', or "new rice," comprises the first harvests of rice in autumn. Shinmai is said to be moister, sweeter, and more beautiful than ordinary rice, and starting in late September one of the best ways to prepare it is with kuri boiled alongside rice in the pot, creating a hearty sticky rice dish ('''kuri-gohan''') with a tiny dose of sweetness. Gingko nuts are also a popular shinmai topping, because of their subtle flavor, which allows the rice's unique qualities to shine through.
* Boxes of '''kuri-kinton''', or candied chestnuts, are popular gifts for friends and family in autumn -- in this treat, kuri are steamed, mashed, combined with sugar, then twisted into a bun shape. The snack is popularly enjoyed with a cup of hot tea. Kuri are also used in many other Japanese sweets, including '''kuri-manju''' cakes.

==Winter==
The prototypical dish for winter cuisine in Japan is the '''hot pot''', also known as ''nabemono''. Ingredients are combined in a pot and boiled, forming a rich broth; it is typically shared, with individual diners plucking out their favored morsels, and the broth typically mixed with rice at the end and consumed as a final course. Eating nabemono with your friends would be an excellent reason for a social scene; gather together, stick your legs underneath the kotatsu, and enjoy the warmth of friendship and flavor.

Nabemono is very versatile. Indeed, the name can be translated as "cooking pot stuff." Here are some common styles of nabemono; all of them can be considered to have vegetables such as bok choy and daikon involved, as well as varieties of mushroom.

* '''Sukiyaki:''' Thinly sliced beef (sometimes pork) simmered with vegetables and a soy sauce/sugar/sweet rice wine sauce. Before eating, the hot ingredients are usually dipped in a small bowl of raw beaten egg. Common at year-end parties and suitable for all ages.
* '''Shabu-shabu:''' Thin sliced beef is boiled in water or broth and eaten with dipping sauces. This dish may be considered similar to the "fondue" style meals available in America. It is quite suitable for service with fine ingredients, particularly wagyu beef and other marks of conspicuous consumption.
* '''Yosenabe:''' A combination style of nabemono which combines all sorts of things and cooks them well together: meat, seafood, tofu, egg, and vegetables. A common "homestyle" meal, often with a thicker sauce than is typical for nabemono.
* '''Yudofu:''' Nabemono prepared in a kombu stock and featuring tofu as the primary protein, with citrus and spicy sauces. Socially considered as vegetarian, though small amounts of fish are typically involved.
* '''Chankonabe:''' A nabemono dish that is a common restaurant meal, it was originally a heavy dish eaten by sumo wrestlers to put on weight efficiently. Very high in protein, often with chicken, fish, beef and various vegetables, chankonabe is a good meal for growing young'ns when served in less heroic proportions.
* '''Ishikari-nabe:''' A Hokkaido specialty, this hot pot features salmon and potato as well as butter.

'''Oden''' is another characteristic winter dish, prepared in a manner similar to hot pot but made available as its own individual dish in many venues. Featuring boiled eggs, daikon, fishcakes and a soy/dashi broth, most convenience stores have a bubbling pot of oden to sell by the cup during the winter months.

'''Tori zosui''' is another winter favorite; a thick rice soup with chicken, often prepared with leftover rice and served with sliced scallions on top. It's an excellent and popular way to warm up after a bitterly cold day.

====Winter Holidays====
There are also some specifically traditional holiday dishes, associated with an individual day or days. Your character is likely to eat them, and may well help prepare them!

* '''Christmas Cake:''' These cakes are typically a simple sponge cake, frosted with whipped cream and decorated with strawberries plus a chocolate plate that says "Merry Christmas!" Something of a more structured strawberry shortcake. It is eaten on Christmas Eve, which is, in Japan, typically celebrated as a romantic holiday a la Western Valentine's Day, and is thus perhaps the hardest night of the year to get a table at a nice restaurant. Yule Log cakes are also popular.
* '''KFC:''' There is a tradition of obtaining Kentucky Fried Chicken meals as a Christmas dish, in part because turkey is an absolute unknown in Japan. A 1974 advertising campaign started a tradition, and now a bucket of KFC "Christmas Chicken" (with salad and a cake) is typical fare on Christmas, often ordered months in advance to beat the lines.
* '''Osechi ryori:''' An umbrella term for food prepared specially for the New Year's period, these dishes come in a huge range of ingredients that are meant to encourage good luck and fortune for the upcoming year. They are typically sweet, sour, dried or otherwise preserved, as they come from a time before refrigeration was common, and when many markets would be closed for some time. Traditionally, nothing should be cooked on New Year's Day, so the preparation of osechi is finished before New Year's Eve. Osechi ryori is arguably the most important meal of the year, with each dish serving as a symbol or wish for the coming year. The food is even eaten in a special way by using chopsticks that are rounded on both ends; one side for the humans to use, one side for the gods. There are so many varieties that space would prohibit easy discussion. A more detailed discussion is present at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osechi Wikipedia] including a plan for a three-tiered "jubako" box.
* '''Toshikoshi soba:''' This is eaten at night on New Year's Eve. A simple meal with buckwheat soba with toppings such as seaweed, fried tofu, or vegetables. The long noodles are said to symbolize a long life, their consumption representing "crossing over from one year to the next," the meaning of ''toshi-koshi''. Another theory is that it is very simple to make - a relief after preparing several days' worth of osechi for the upcoming celebrations! It is often considered bad luck to leave any of your toshikoshi soba uneaten.
* '''O-zoni:''' A soup eaten during on the morning of New Year's Day, considered very lucky, featuring local ingredients and lots of mochi. While many areas have their own specialties, the typical Kanto-area meal uses a soy sauce/dashi broth, squared and grilled mochi, and meat and vegetables to preference.
* '''Nanakusu gayu:''' Eaten on January 7th, this is a collection of seven wild edible herbs eaten with rice in order to ease the stomach after all of the things listed above, which have been eaten over the course of several weeks.

==Spring==
Spring cuisine is all about appreciating the beginning of the growing season, as shoots and ferns unfurl from the ground, and petals blossom on fruit trees. These events are cause for major public celebrations, and, in turn, the fruits and vegetables in question are heavily featured in a variety of dishes.

Besides the bounty of the rich brown earth, there are naturally seasonal selections from the deep blue sea:
* '''Tai''', or Red Sea Bream, are rich-tasting fish that are in season in spring, and famously symbolize good luck in Japan. Besides eating them as sashimi or grilled with salt, '''Tai-chasuke''' is a dish where tai is served on rice with dashi fish stock poured on top.
:* For people who can't abide the fish, but still want their good luck, there is also '''Taiyaki''', a traditional Japanese sweet named after and shaped like tai. They're filled with '''anko''' (sweet red azuki bean paste), and often served at cherry blossom viewing parties (called hanami).
* '''Ika''' (Squid) is available good and fresh throughout the year, they're sweetest in the spring. '''Hotaru-Ika''' (firefly squid) are particularly popular served as a snack accompanying drinks, prepared in a variety of ways, including as sashimi, sauted, or boiled in soy sauce.
* '''Magaki''' (Pacific Oysters) are in season from late winter to spring, where they become bigger and sweeter. They're often served in an all-you-can-eat format, grilled, steamed, or even fried.

'''Sansai''' are much-beloved Japanese mountain vegetables that sprout in spring and are enthusiastically consumed. Many are picked from the wild; indeed, most are difficult to cultivate on a mass scale, and they're often quite bitter and tough until boiled or otherwise processed to consume. Besides serving them raw in salads, seared on the grill, or battered and fried as tempura, there are numerous specific dishes unique to a given mountain vegetable.
* '''Nanohana''' are the young spring shoots of rapeseed plants; though they're available in plain green at supermarkets for most of the year (and are closely related to broccoli -- the florets, stems and leaves are all edible), in spring they are prized for their bright yellow flower buds, which arrive in late March, in between the plum and cherry blossoms. Wandering through yellow fields of nanohana is a much-beloved practice, and fields outside of Tokyo are planted and sculpted into mazes, not unlike corn mazes in North America during Halloween. Unlike many sansai, nanohana isn't bitter or tough, so no pretreatment is required to enjoy it. Flowering nanohana is traditionally used as a side dish called '''ohitashi''', where it is briefly boiled until tender, and served with soy sance, dashi, bonito flakes and/or toasted sesame seeds. '''Karashiae''' is a similar dish, but the soy sauce is seasoned with spicy mustard.
* '''Takenoko''' (literally "child of bamboo") is a bamboo shoot, which can only be picked in a very tight window of the correct size and tenderness. Even then, takenoko must be boiled in rice bran water (with a couple of hot chili peppers added to, paradoxically, increase the bamboo's sweetness) for over an hour, to soften the flesh and reduce its bitterness. '''Takenoko-gohan''', or bamboo shoot rice, involves steaming precooked takenoko in rice (sometimes with fried tofu and shiitake mushrooms), flavored with soy sauce, dashi, mirin (sweet rice wine) sake and sugar. As a solo entree, larger pieces of bamboo cooked in a similar seasoning blend are served as '''takenoko no nimono''' ("simmered bamboo shoots"). Takenoko is also featured prominently in stir fry, in the spring.
* Other sansai, essentially all of which require advance parboiling, include '''Fuki''' (Butterbur), in which both the stalks and buds are used; spiraling, curled '''Kogomi''' (Ostrich Ferns) which are blanched and simmered; '''Shungiku''' (Spring Chrysanthemum) which are often served with a sesame dressing, or added to soups and hot pots; '''Tara no Me''' (the fresh shoots of the Angelica tree, sometimes called the "king" of sansai) which are particularly popular as tempura; '''Wasabina''' (Wasabi Mustard Greens) often used in salads; and '''Yama Udo''' (Mountain Asparagus) which is typically thinly sliced and pickled in miso, vinegar and sugar, or, if served fresh, can be grilled or sauteed.

'''Ichigo''' (strawberries) are in season in Japan from December to March, making them the go-to fruit for early spring. They're much beloved for their ability to brighten up this dreary time of year, and appear everywhere, in everything. Particularly fancy breeds of premium berry are marketed as high class gifts in department stores, but anyone can buy normal strawberries -- including going out to greenhouses to pick them, a spring activity known as '''ichigo kari'''.
* '''Daifuku''' are a very popular traditional Japanese sweet, comprised of a glutinous rice ball filled with sweet white or red anko, but in spring, they're sold with an entire strawberry inside, and called '''ichigo daifuku'''. These are hawked from the food stall to the konbini and back again, and are best enjoyed with a cup of green tea.
* Strawberry shortcakes in Japan are sponge cake and whipped cream layer cakes with fresh strawberries between the layers and on top (Christmas cakes are usually strawberry shortcakes), which is a little different from the cake with the same name in the West.

'''Ume''', the Japanese plum, is the first major tree to blossom in spring, and its flowering is avidly anticipated by the populace (though without quite the intensity of the excitement surrounding sakura blossoms, see below). Accompanying all this hype are uses of its fruit flavor. Since ume is often pickled as unbelivably sour, salty '''umeboshi''', it's available year-round, but when the weather starts to warm and spring is around the corner, ume-flavored chips (which are sort of like fruity salt and vinegar chips) and other snacks and sweets, appear on the shelves of the supermarkets and konbini.

'''Sakura''' blossoms are the main event for the celebration of the arrival of spring (even though ume come first and are also celebrated separately). In Tokyo, they begin to bloom in April, and as the public eagerly follows the cherry blossom front (as forecasted by the weather bureau, as it moves from South to North) to find out exactly when the blossoms will pop, you'll find sakura-flavored (or at least sakura-colored) everything; there's Sakura Kit Kats, Starbooks lattes, donuts, tarts, roll cakes, ice cream, taiyaki, mochi, and more. Sakura fever turns the shelves of the supermarket bright pink.
* '''Sakura-mochi''' is the iconic traditional sweet associated with hanami (as well as Hinamatsuri, the Girls' Festival, celebrated on March 3rd); it is the sweet, pink mochi of spring, wrapped around anko and topped with an edible leaf from a sakura tree (which is the only part of the sweet, actually, that involves actual sakura).

====Bento====
'''Hanami''' (literally, "flower viewing") is the traditional Japanese custom of throwing a party under flowering trees (especially sakura trees) in order to properly appreciate the blossoms in the brief time that they're around -- only a week or two a year! People gather in huge numbers, play or listen to music, and hold elaborate feasts on picnic blankets. Although there are often food stalls in larger parks, preparing and packing your own food is common, making this a great place to discuss '''bento''', the Japanese boxed lunch.
* Making yourself a great lunchbox is satisfying, but the true importance of bento comes from the feelings you put into preparing them for other people. It's a chance to imbue love into every bite -- parents make bento for their children if they can, and giving a specially prepared bento to a friend (or crush!) is a great demonstration of affection.
* Bento boxes (which can, themselves, vary greatly, ranging from elegant to cute to steadfastly functional to straight-up disposable -- and the same is all true of the chopsticks packed with them) are usually designed with a few subdivisions, to separate small portions of multiple dishes, such as rice, meat, and pickled or cooked vegetables. Everything tends to be served in bite-sized pieces, for convenience, and it's not uncommon for individual pieces of food to be cut into whimsical shapes, such as apple-rabbits, hot dog-octopi, and so forth.
* Taking the decorative element one step further, '''kyaraben''' ("character bento," as in anime/manga character) and '''okekakiben''' ("picture bento") arrange all of the elements of a bento into a recognizable image. Such meals require snapping a picture on your cell phone to immortalize your beautiful lunch before eating it!
* Not all bento are made by a loved one; anyone can buy bento from convenience stores or supermarkets, and some restaurants specialize in takeout bento. You can even purchase bento at railway stations ('''ekiben'''), which is a surprisingly old tradition with a huge variety of offerings, where local specialties compete for the appetites of travelers. Purchasing a box lunch at a station shop -- or while on a train, for longer trips -- remains one of the special treats of Japanese railway travel.

==Summer==
Executive summary about the themes of summer cuisine in Japan.

Savory:
* Somen
::* Nagashi somen
::* Zaru somen
* Hiyashi Chuka Noodles
* '''Hiyayakko''' (sometimes called hiyakko or yakko-dofu) is chilled tofu, served with various toppings; its name refers to the servants of samurai in the Edo period. Chopped green onion, dried tuna flakes, and soy sauce are one common combination of toppings, but you can also find hiyayakko topped with shiso, yuzu rind, daikon, ginger, plum paste, or even mustard.
* Rei Shabu
* Unagi
::* Grilled
::* Hitsumabushi

Sweet:
* '''Watermelons''' are considered a luxury in Japan, and are grown accordingly by farmers as a gut-pleasing treat. The rind is thinner and the flesh around the seeds are sweeter as compared to their Western counterparts. As such you can find them in many unusual shapes(cube, face, Godzilla egg!?) which can make them ornamental and expensive. The Densuke watermelon of Hokkaido considered to be the ferrari of these tasty treats with prices ranging up to 400,000 yen. However their luxurious nature makes them the perfect gift to offer your favorite senpai during the hotter months of the year! Summer gatherings and festivals aren't complete without a round of Suikawari(Watermelon Splitting).
**Suikawari: A game between friends where a person is handed a wooden stick or bokken, blindfolded, spun three times then told to have at it. ’Official’ Rules for Suikawari:
#Players placed between 5-7m away from the watermelon.
#Blindfold tested with large yen bills.(May not apply to the 'Ohtori' rich.)
#Time Limit of 3 minutes.
#Scoring determined on how clean a break was made.
#Melon collectively devoured after break is made for bonding between friends.
* Kakigori -- Endo Naokki
* Garigari-kun

Drinks:
* '''Mugicha''' (barley tea) is just the thing to cool a person down on a hot summer's day, or even a hot summer's night, since it's caffeine-free. Plain mugicha is a mellow brown color and has a savory, roasted taste with a touch of bitterness; sometimes it's sweetened with sugar. It can be purchased at any konbini or made at home using roasted barley teabags.
* Ramune -- Lera Camry
* Umeshu

====Festival Food====
Summer is the season of festivals so let's do a food stall feature!
* Ayu
* '''Yakitori''' -- literally grilled chicken, but not necessarily chicken! The important part is it's bite-sized food on skewers, grilled over charcoal. It's a regular festival and event food, and also popular to have while drinking! It's pretty ubiquitous. Generally it's going to be meat charred on sticks, often (maybe even mostly) with vegetables as well. It might go with salt, but with tend to have sauce; 'tare' sauce is one option, a mix of sake, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar, but the idea is something sweet and savory. The particular cut of meat isn't all that important--while the most traditional is chicken, as mentioned it might have beef, octopus, or sausage just as a start.
* Karaage
* Takoyaki -- Mikoto
* Ikayaki -- Pluto
* Hotate Butter Yaki
* Okonomiyaki -- Steven Universe
* Yakisoba -- Masque
* '''Yakitomorokoshi''' is just corn on the cob (on a stick), except that it isn't 'just' anything. Rather than being boiled, buttered and salted, its preparation is uniquely Japanese. After a brief boil to soften it up, chefs throw their corn on a charcoal grill and brush the corn's surface with some combination of soy sauce, mirin and sugar, which forms a glaze. The smell is amazing, somehow nutty, salty and sweet at the same time, and many a customer is led to this stall by simply following their nose.
* Tai is a spring fish but '''taiyaki''' is as valid an entry at any summer festival as it is at hanami viewing. These traditional Japanese pastries are shaped like the fish they're named after, and are somewhere between a waffle and a cake, stuffed with sweet azuki red bean paste (or, more recently, custard, chocolate, or even cheese or meat). Part of the fun of taiyaki at festivals is that you get to see them made in specially molded griddles, right there in the stall -- and the art of flipping over a half-baked 'fish' with a chopstick without getting batter and filling everywhere is fine, indeed...
* Crepes
* Dango
* '''Jaga bata''' means butter potato, and it's pretty much exactly that -- potatoes, steamed in wood ovens, and stuffed with butter, salt, and soy sauce. It's especially popular to use the smaller 'reject' potatoes for this purpose, turning them into a nearly bite-sized street food, but the paper boats they come in sometimes just have one big potato instead.
* Karumeyaki
* Bebi Kasutera
* '''Wata-ame''' or watagashi is cotton candy, usually very similar to the Western version, also known as fairy floss or candy floss in various parts of the world. Sugar which has been melted into a liquid state, and flavorings and/or colorings added, is spun into tiny strands, and gathered on a stick to serve, sometimes covered with a decorative plastic bag (usually adorned with anime or other artwork) for protection until it's eaten. Wata-ame dissolves quickly in contact with water and readily melts again in high heat, so it's not something to save for ''much'' later!
* Ringo Ame
::* Ichigo Ame
::* Mikan Ame
::* Ume Ame
* '''Choco bananas''' are frozen banana treats, covered in chocolate. While the chocolate is traditionally milk chocolate, there are also varieties made with white chocolate, strawberry chocolate, or other varieties - which can make for a dazzling rainbow of snacks. They're often topped with sprinkles, nuts, coconut flakes, or other sweets. Don't worry about getting your hands dirty, because they're served on sticks, just like toffee apples. Choco bananas are staples of Summer festivals, and they're a common sight in stalls.

==Favorite Foods==
Everybody has a favorite food -- and often it isn't just the food, but the story of why they like it, who they like it prepared by, and where and when they most like to eat it.

* Add your character's favorite food to this bullet list -- one long paragraph recommended.
* Please include your character's name and both a cultural summary of the food and its particular significance and specifics for the character. It's okay if your food was mentioned already elsewhere in the guide -- no two bowls of ramen are alike, after all.
* [[Fuu Hououji|Fuu Hououji's]] favorite food is '''tessa''', fugu sashimi which has been sliced so thinly that it's almost transparent. Only specially trained and licensed sushi chefs are even allowed to prepare tessa, due to the potential danger of pufferfish poisoning; as such, it's an expensive luxury dish, not something that even the Hououji family goes out for very often - but that rarity is part of why Fuu enjoys it so much, when she has the opportunity.
* [[Mikoto Minagi|Mikoto Minagi's]] favourite food is Mai Tokiha's '''ramen noodles'''! Ramen is a common Japanese dish - wheat noodles, served in broth which is typically meat- or fish-based, with a variety of toppings. Many regions of Japan have their own variation of ramen: Tokyo's own spin on the recipe involves curly noodles and chicken broth with a little dashi, though perhaps Mai's own tendency to use chicken in her ramen is also because chicken is cheaper than some of the other meats in the market. Mai's ramen noodles were Mikoto's introduction to the fact that food could taste /good/ instead of just being plain sustenance, and she is forever grateful to her friend for revealing that there were wonders of taste she had never before experienced. She'll never be able to forget the wonders of that very first meal. Though Mai can make many other more complicated dishes which exhibit her skills as a cook, Mikoto's first choice for dinner is always Mai's ramen. It's never quite the same thing twice - there are always different ingredients on sale, after all!

For more information, please see: [[Holidays and Events]], [[Culture]]
[[Category:Theme]][[Category:Culture]]

Food

2018-09-28T01:42:51Z

Shachihoko: Describing hiyayakko

Land of the Lotus Eaters

2018-06-20T02:33:34Z

Shachihoko: Fuu's fantasy world added to list

[[File:Lotuseaters.png|800px]]

''"Sleep -- sleep as my Master sleeps, lie in an endless dream between life and death. Dream peacefully. Dream beautifully. This is my final gift to you, children of a doomed world."''

'''''LAND OF THE LOTUS-EATERS is a special event on Battle Fantasia MUSH that will run through the second half of June.'''''

Magical girls have been absorbed, body, mind and spirit, into the fully unleashed Book of Darkness, who claims to be granting her Master's final wish by giving them all the gift of eternal peace: an endless, perfect dream, surrounded by their friends and loved ones.

A fantasy where no one is missing -- no one is lost.

And everything is fine...

[[2018-06-10_-_What_Lies_Beneath_18|What Lies Beneath 18]]

Over the next two weeks, magical girls will explore their own, personal fantasy worlds, complete with idealized versions of their family and friends, enemies and allies -- and know temptation. Eventually they will encounter one another, not as each other's fantasies, but as fellow prisoners, and must search for the truth at the heart of the lie. And they will have to decide for themselves whether or not the ugly reality outside is really worth fighting for -- given who and what they'll have to leave behind.

Meanwhile, in the real world, the Book of Darkness is beginning to run rampant. She threw a vastly powerful Barrier across Tokyo, shifting the initial violence caused by her simple presence over by one dimension, but it won't be strong enough to stop NachtWal from destroying the Earth. In the meantime, those magical girls who weren't trapped in the Book must contend with a Tokyo fast transforming into an unfamiliar hellscape of grinding pillars of stone and howling pillars of magma. And the Barrier is far from perfect -- millions may have become hundreds, but there are still ordinary people trapped in there with them, too... all too vulnerable.

As magical girls escape from their dreams and into a waking nightmare, they will join their allies outside in doing what they can to protect what's left of Tokyo.

__TOC__

==The Three Phases==

There are there phases to the Land of the Lotus-Eaters plot:

* The Fantasy World
* The Shared Dream
* The Waking Nightmare

Players who absolutely want to opt-out of having a character absorbed by the Book can proceed directly to the third phase, 'The Waking Nightmare', where they will be gradually joined by Book of Darkness escapees.

Everyone else wakes up inside The Fantasy World!

===The Fantasy World===

Anyone who wants their character to have been absorbed into the Book of Darkness (and this is highly, highly encouraged) is welcome to assume they were there on the margins of the magical girl army that witnessed her rebirth, and should read the contents of [[2018-06-10 - What Lies Beneath 18|What Lies Beneath 18]] and consider it IC knowledge.

Characters absorbed by the Book awaken in not only their own bed but the /ultimate/ bed, the bed that most feels like home, a bed that may have been lost forever or even one that has never existed. They are safe and surrounded by the ones they love most, who are eager to comfort them from the nightmare they just experienced, and help them adjust back to 'reality', in a lovely, peaceful world.

Constructing a character's fantasy world is an opportunity to:

* Bring back dead characters, returning them to living, happy selves.
* Reimagine living characters through the lens of your character's fantasy; enemies could become allies, crushes could become romances, broken friendships mended, lost souls saved.
* Rewrite history wholesale, if things went off the rails years ago and your character might awaken in an extremely different life than the one they had.
* Ultimately, explore the ways in which the real world is better than the fantasy one. If Fate Testarossa hadn't had a broken family, she never would have met Nanoha Takamachi. In what ways have the trials of the real world made it worth saving?

It is not an opportunity to:

* Create a Candy Land where all the buildings are made out of choco parfait and takoyaki, NAGISA MISUMI. >:|
* In more seriousness, these dreams are powerful simulations driven by the characters' memories and desires, but they do fundamentally simulate the character's ideal /world/, as in a recognizable Earth, and furthermore, unless it is absolutely unworkable, their ideal Tokyo (for reasons that will become obvious).
* Unfortunately for those who were eager to get into trippy dream logic, it is NOT obviously a dream; the fantasy world has verisimilitude in terms of being a real place filled with real people, even if everything else feels impossible. Impossibly wonderful, that is.

Players are encouraged to introduce their character's fantasy world through a cutscene of their characters first awakening and discovering that everything up until this point has 'all been a bad dream,' posted to the wiki with the following format: YYYY-MM-DD - LOTUS AWAKENING: Character Name. (They can of course also put it on the MUSH bulletin boards if they like.) These cutscenes, besides being an opportunity to really pull on the heartstrings, are useful worldbuilding that can be referenced by other players, because:

During the first phase, any given scene can only exist in a single character's dream. All other participants are invited and encouraged to discuss NPCing special, important characters featured prominently in the main character's fantasy (such as dead family members), but can, alternatively, play the fantasy version of their own character, as envisioned deep in the heart of the main character.

* For example: Fate Testarossa, Nanoha Takamachi and Vita want to have a Fantasy World scene. They decide to let Fate be the main character. Nanoha volunteers to NPC Alicia Testarossa, and Vita appears as a version of herself that Fate dreams of being friends with. (Fate and Nanoha discuss OOCly who the fantasy Alicia Testarossa is, her role within the dream; Fate and Vita do the same about fantasy Vita. Players are encouraged to be flexible about conforming to the fantasies of the main character, as roleplaying (admittedly often somewhat Stepford) alternative versions of themselves, as wished for by another character, is a pretty unique gameplay opportunity. Fantasizing players are expected to keep it classy, as is always the case on Battle Fantasia.)

===The Shared Dream===

Many characters will be unable to break out of their fantasy without intervention by another. The Shared Dream begins when Fate Testarossa confronts the truth that her dream is not and cannot be real, and that she wants to leave it behind -- and discovers the World Tree at the heart of her dream. She can then use it to transport herself into someone else's dream, replacing her dream double.

Once this happens (it will be flagged both via bbpost and on this wiki page), all of The Fantasy Worlds begin to merge into The Shared Dream. During phase two, The Shared Dream, characters are now wandering through each others' fantasies, in a single, larger fantasy. Given that most characters want to live blissfully in a Tokyo-like location, this is often seamless, but not always. Still, the power of the Book of Darkness is very strong, and the Land of the Lotus-Eaters is very seductive; even as prisoners are able to meet one another and speculate as to what's going on, the Book tends to keep mortal enemies apart, unless reuniting with one another is a deeper level of their fantasy. The Shared Dream is still a beautiful dream -- many beautiful dreams, fading into one another.

* For example: Fate Testarossa, Steven Universe and Saki Hyuuga want to have a scene in The Shared Dream. Fate is already fully awake, and replaces her dream double; the world of this scene is is a blend of Steven and Saki's ideal worlds. As this is a shared dream, Fate and Steven can encounter Saki's fantasy version of Michiru Kiryuu, or Fate and Saki can encounter Steven's fantasy version of Rose Quartz, or both...

It is worth noting, however, that the 'idealized' PCs and NPCs within their fantasy are also aware that this is only a dream; they want to keep their main character safe and happy within the dream, but are also willing to grant them absolution to leave them behind and depart into the real world. This is a rare opportunity for closure, though not required.

Players are strongly encouraged to allow others (whether 'awakened' PCs, or idealized but actively posed PCs and NPCs) to help them find the strength to leave the Land of the Lotus-Eaters, as it should not be easy or trivial to be willing to depart; the journey of accepting and embracing a more painful reality is far better undertaken as an interactive scene rather than as a cutscene alone. However, for those who prefer it, cutscenes are also welcome. In either case, logs/cutscenes involving this turning point in any character's arc should be named under the following scheme: YYYY-MM-DD - LOTUS INCEPTION: Character Name(s)

Once fully awakened and accepting of reality, characters can stay in The Shared Dream to help free their friends, or escape the Book of Darkness via the World Tree, which exists at the heart of all of their dreams, and will return them to the shattered deadwood corpse of the real Tree in Tokyo.

This begins the third phase: The Waking Nightmare.

===The Waking Nightmare===
[[History: Modern Times#The Book of Darkness|A generation ago, the magical girls of Earth were decimated trying to contain and defeat the Book of Darkness]]; it was the most significant magical event of the new millennium, until the Long Dark Night in 2013. It is widely understood IC knowledge that Signum, Vita, Shamal and Zafira, aka the Wolkenritter, aka the Cloud Knights, have been ambushing magical girls and draining their magic into the Book of Darkness in order to fill all of its pages -- at which point the Book of Darkness will basically go supernova in a world-ending-threat-level event.

Apparently the first stage of 'supernova' was the Book transforming into a scary woman who calls herself the Tome of the Night Sky. The first thing she did was suck every magical girl she could sense into the Book of Darkness' Fantasy World. The second thing she did was spread a Barrier across Tokyo.

A 'Barrier', in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha terms, is a particular class of magical spell: a wide-area field that shifts everything within that field about half a dimension to the left, metaphysically metaphorically speaking. The chief effect that it has is to remove all noncombatants and other non-magical people from the area it encompasses, which allows magical combat to continue with only minimal risk of collateral damage.

The Book of Darkness' barrier won't protect the world from ending when the automated defense program within her being known as NachtWal goes berserk, since that blast is far greater than her barrier can contain.

And, because Tokyo is so huge and there are so many people in it, neither is it totally successful at keeping all the noncombatants out. A small handful of noncombatants, usually either already-magical people or people closely connected to magical people, such as friends and family, have found themselves drawn inside... and Tokyo, on the other side of the barrier, is an ugly place.

('''''This is strictly optional.''''' There are a handful of people stranded in Battlefield Tokyo for exactly two reasons, narratively: first, to have people to rescue on general principles, and second, for characters who want to be OUTTED to a normal friend or family member to have a dramatic opportunity to do so, in rescuing them (Recognition Inhibition is still 'on', but this is a good reason for it to fail if someone wants it to fail in order to tell their story). If you've wanted your parents to find out what you do, or want your long-misled best friend in on the secret, this is a good time for that!)

The Waking Nightmare is yellow-and-black-skied, with a great deal of purple lightning. It is filled with eerily empty streets and skyscrapers, punctuated here and there with jagged stone spires and immense geysers of magma, created by the seismic instabilities already beginning to engulf the world as the Book of Darkness' power unfolds.

* The Book of Darkness herself, if engaged, will immediately suck combatants into the Fantasy World, which is another way of saying DON'T.
* Fleeing from her, finding allies, protecting civilians and lamenting the state of things is more the order of the day.
* There is also some pathos to be had wandering through the creepily empty, shattered cityscape.

When everyone has escaped the Shared Dream and regrouped to confront the Book of Darkness, we will be at the true finale of What Lies Beneath.

==Frequently Asked Questions==
Q: I wasn't at What Lies Beneath 17-18, can I still have been sucked into the Book of Darkness?

A: Yes! It is safe to assume your character was on the margins of those events; the Book of Darkness cast a very wide net when she absorbed everyone in.

Q: What's the approximate OOC timeline here?

A: Since there's a lot of pathos to go around, we expect to spend around a week in The Fantasy World and a week in The Shared Dream, with maybe each of those being a bit less than a week to make some space for The Waking Nightmare (though it is the least important of the three for participants of the entire plot, since its experience will in most senses be covered by the plot's actual finale).

A2: Individuals can go at their own pace, if they want to spend more time in The Fantasy World after Fate's escape initiates The Shared Dream. Time is all very relative right now, anyway.

Q: I need someone to NPC my dead parents! What should I do?

A: Ask! The staff will be on hand to provide NPC support, but the playerbase is also very strongly encouraged to volunteer.

==Fantasy Worlds==
Please add yourself and a one-sentence description of the core concept of your character's dream world to the list.
* '''[[Fate Testarossa]]''' is living happily with her mother, sister, and teacher.
* '''[[Niramo Umokeshi]]''' has a family who is always there for her, and is the leader of the magical protectors of Earth.
* '''[[Nori Ankou]]''' is in a storm-wracked and gothic Tokyo, where everyone is gorgeous, especially the precious ones.
* '''[[Fuu Hououji]]''' is a regular schoolgirl, her adventures as a Magic Knight now the province of a tabletop RPG campaign.

==Logs==

Please include 'LOTUS' in the title of all of your logs and cutscenes, and they'll automatically appear here.

{{#dpl: |category = logs¦cutscenes
|titlematch = %LOTUS%
|notcategory = News Files
|ordermethod = title
|columns = 2
|rowcolformat=width=100%
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no LOTUS logs or cutscenes yet. Fix it!
}}

2018-06-17 - LOTUS AWAKENING: Fuu Hououji

2018-06-20T02:29:36Z

Shachihoko: Shachihoko moved page 2018-6-17 - LOTUS AWAKENING: Fuu Hououji to 2018-06-17 - LOTUS AWAKENING: Fuu Hououji: Typo when I made the page

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Title: LOTUS AWAKENING: Fuu Hououji'''
|-
|'''Summary''': 
''Fuu Hououji awakens in the dream world created for her by the Book of Darkness.''
|-
| '''Who:''' 
[[Fuu Hououji]]
|-
| '''Where:''' 
Tama Outer City
|-
| '''OOC - IC Date:''' 
<June 17, 2018 - April 26, 2015>
|-
|}
"Fuu-chan! You're going to be late!"

"Hmm - ?" Fuu blinked, sitting up in the softness of her bed, still ensconced in warmth. A few more blinked helped to clear the sleep from her eyes before she reached for her glasses to look at the clock - and with a startled yelp, she bolted out of bed, hastily shedding her nightgown and scrambling into her school uniform. "I'm sorry, Mother!" she called out. "I'll be right down!"

Breakfast was already on the table for her when Fuu reached the dining room, still adjusting her necktie. "I'm sorry," Fuu repeated. "I don't know how I overslept -"

"Staying out so late fighting monsters probably had a lot to do with it," Tsubasa Hououji said with a mostly-friendly, but still intensely maternal, smile. "How did it go last night?"

Fuu froze in the middle of sitting down, glancing from her mother's affectionate sternness to her sister Kuu's blithe smile, and then to her father's seeming nonchalance as he continued reading the morning paper. "There was no good stopping point," Fuu admitted sheepishly as she sat down, murmured, "Itadakimasu," and started eating. "Mokona-san says we're doing really well in her campaign; we should be able to go and get our final upgrades in the next session or so. I'll mail her and the other players that we need to start earlier, though, or make sure we don't run the game on school nights."

"I'm surprised you haven't asked if they want to run a session or two here," Fuu's father remarked, folding the newspaper back up. "We certainly have the room, and we aren't that far from the trains for the others to get back home. If it's a table you need, we should be able to arrange something."

Fuu looked away, trying to hide her embarrassment. "Mokona-san's house is the most convenient, Father. Right near Tokyo Tower, and fairly central for the rest of us as far as trains and the like go. I'll mention the offer, though, thank you."

"Still," Kuu remarked, "it's good that you've found such an enjoyable and relaxing hobby, and better still that you've made friends through it. What system is it again? Mage Knight ... ?"

"Magic Knights of Cephiro," Fuu replied. "Mokona-san said she's been working on it for years, she hopes to find someone to publish it after we finish the campaign. I might help make a computer implementation of it -" She paused to glance at her watch, then bolted the rest of her rice. "- but school still comes first. Kuu-neesan, shall we go?"

"You're the one who has to be there early for archery," Kuu said with a benign smile. "But if you need me to help ensure you don't fall asleep on the train ..."

Fuu winced at the teasing. "I believe I'll manage, but thank you."

A few moments later they were out the door, the spring breeze ruffling their hair and their skirts as they headed for the train station. "It really is good to see you spending more time with friends outside of school," Kuu admitted. "You were so hung up on those video role-playing games in middle school, I was wondering if you'd ever find a boyfriend."

"Sister - !!" Fuu protested, with a weak sputter and a bright blush. "It's ... I wasn't ''that'' bad, was I?"

"Well, maybe not quite ''that'' bad, but still - you'd rather come home and either work or play, instead of going out for snacks with friends," Kuu reminisced. "Not that you had anything against working with classmates or getting more practice in at the archery dojo, but it was always school-related. That field trip to the Tower was a good thing for you, I think."

"I suppose it was," Fuu admitted, looking towards the center of the city. She couldn't actually see Tokyo Tower from this angle or distance, but she knew it was there, felt it like -

''Battle raged, fierce and desperate, overpowered monsters clawing their way up and pausing only to swipe at the girls harrying them''

"Fuu? Are you all right?"

Fuu blinked, her sister's voice bringing her back to here-and-now. "Yes, I'm fine. Why?"

"You went pale," Kuu said, laying a gentle hand across Fuu's forehead. "And you feel cool. Are you sure you slept enough?"

"I said, I'm fine, Kuu-neesan," Fuu responded. She didn't want to get upset at her big sister's concern - that might worry her even more.

"If you're certain," said Kuu, lowering her hand and continuing to walk, this time ahead of her younger sister. "So ... what's the fourth player doing in your campaign? The late arrival. Midorikawa?"

"Ah ... he's been doing well enough supporting us as a swordsman. He missed the chance to obtain magic, but he hasn't really needed it," Fuu recalled. "I wasn't sure how he'd fit into the story, but ... I can't imagine the campaign without Ferio, now. Without him ..." She trailed off, frowning in thought.

"Midorikawa" was one name she knew, as familiar as Hikaru's and Umi's. But calling his character's name, "Ferio," felt like an entirely different form of familiarity. "Did I dream about him ... ?" Fuu murmured.

Apparently Kuu overheard the spoken thought, as she turned to smile playfully at Fuu. "An interesting dream, I hope?"

"Neesan!!!" Fuu could feel the blush burning in her cheeks as her big sister took off, running and laughing. Fuu began running as well, mostly to keep up, partly to distract herself from the feeling of a gaze upon her ...

[[Category:Cutscenes]]

2018-6-17 - LOTUS AWAKENING: Fuu Hououji

2018-06-20T02:29:36Z

Shachihoko: Shachihoko moved page 2018-6-17 - LOTUS AWAKENING: Fuu Hououji to 2018-06-17 - LOTUS AWAKENING: Fuu Hououji: Typo when I made the page

#REDIRECT [[2018-06-17 - LOTUS AWAKENING: Fuu Hououji]]

2018-06-17 - LOTUS AWAKENING: Fuu Hououji

2018-06-18T03:06:10Z

Shachihoko: Created page with "{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="2" |- ! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Title: LOTUS AWAKENING: Fuu H..."

Fuu Hououji

2018-06-08T00:43:25Z

Shachihoko: Adding the Tempest Slash to Fuu's attacks. (Previous edit was a relationship-list update)

{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Character Name'''
|-
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[File:Fuu_in_later_armor.jpg|339px|thumb|left|Fuu in her Magic Knight armor, sword at the ready]]
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''IC Information'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:
| Fuu Hououji
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Aliases:
| Magic Knight of Wind
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:
| Female
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Age/Birthdate:
| 15 (December 12, 1998)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:
| Light brown
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Eye Colour:
| Green
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Astrological Sign:
| Sagittarius
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Blood Type:
| A
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Favorite Food:
| Tessa (very thinly sliced blowfish)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Least Favorite Food:
| anything yucky
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Favorite Subject:
| Math
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Least Favorite Subject:
| Art
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Dossier'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Organization:
| Magic Association
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Position:
| n/a
|-
! style="text-align:left" | School:
| [[School: Infinity Institute|Infinity Institute]] (Grade 9)
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''OOC Information'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Source:
| [[Magic Knight Rayearth]] (FC)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Player:
| [[User:Shachihoko|Shachihoko]]
|-
|}
Kind, friendly, and polite almost to a fault, '''Fuu Hououji''' hardly seems the sort to join in the battle against evil - but after she was summoned to Cephiro by Princess Emeraude, Fuu agreed to become one of the Magic Knights of legend alongside [[Hikaru Shidou|Hikaru]] and [[Umi Ryuuzaki|Umi]], the two girls who were summoned alongside her. Fuu's intelligence, combined with the wind magic bestowed upon her by Clef, makes her highly adaptable in combat and allows her to support her allies as well as attacking on her own; her skill at archery lets her attack from a distance, while she also can wield her Escudo sword as needed in close combat. Wearing glasses doesn't make her any less dangerous as an enemy, either - she'll always stand up to assist her friends, whether it's her classmates or her fellow Magic Knights that need her.

(More info to come!)

==Personality==

Fuu's most prevalent personality trait is a virtually unfailing gentle politeness, worthy of a "Yamato nadeshiko": she addresses ''everyone'' in polite language, even using -san in speaking to close friends (or deadly enemies), and very nearly always keeps a polite, friendly smile on her face when she's not actually fighting.

Hiding behind her polite and gentle demeanor, though, is a determination and loyalty which neither friend nor foe should take lightly. Fuu is extremely loyal to her friends, and would sooner kill herself than abandon a friend in need - even if she'd be risking her own life to help them. This is part of her bond with Hikaru and Umi, but it applies with other friends as well. Even without magic, Fuu will come to her classmates' aid if they come under attack - particularly since Fuu herself is a target of Zagato's minions; she can't assume that ANY monster which shows up is going to ignore her if given a choice in the matter. So she'll protect her friends to the best of her ability, no matter where she is ... even if she has to risk giving away her secret identity to do so.

The tradeoff to being so determined to protect her friends, of course, is that Fuu knows her family will be sad if anything happens to her. So she's just as determined to protect ''herself'' as anyone around her - which, rather than making her run away under most circumstances, is going to make her even more determined to protect herself and win against any enemy which threatens her. She'll gladly end a fight nonviolently if the opportunity provides itself, but if a monster or a more human-looking enemy is out for her blood, she'll have few qualms about going for a killing strike.

There is another downside to her determination to protect others: if she fails to protect somebody, or something important, then that weighs heavily on Fuu's heart. It's happened a few times already, and one of those failures actually wiped out her ability to use magic for a time. Fortunately, the help of friends and strangers let Fuu regain her powers as a Magic Knight, but she's still painfully conscious of the times she wasn't strong enough, fast enough, cunning enough ...

When she doesn't have to worry about fighting for her life (or anyone else's), Fuu is generally very friendly as well as polite. If she's suspicious about somebody, she'll still be polite, but a conversation between her and someone she distrusts may sound more like a verbal game of chess than normal socializing; she was able to gently manipulate Ferio into acting as the trio's bodyguard in the Forest of Silence on their first meeting, without giving away that Fuu and her companions had been summoned to become the Magic Knights.

In her downtime, Fuu enjoys putting her brain to work in a number of different regards. Math is noted as her favorite subject, with reading as her hobby of choice and computer programming as an extracurricular activity. She's something of an RPG otaku, familiar with a number of them (mostly of the fantasy sort), and an RPG Maker hobbyist who's been working on a serious project. She's still quite sociable, though: hardly a reclusive bookworm.

==Skills and Hobbies==

'''Kyuudou (Archery)''' - Without magic or other Magic Knight equipment, Fuu is still a talented archer, easily qualifying for Infinity's archery team while she was in middle school, and on track to join the high-school-level team. It's highly probable that she would, in a crisis, grab a bow and quiver from the club's practice area and go protect people as best she could - even with no magic at all.

'''Computers''' - While Fuu's not a master hacker or an advanced programmer (... yet), she knows her way around computers generally and is considerably above hobbyist level in using them. Programming is one of her regular extracurricular activities, although she's officially in the archery club rather than the computer club. This doesn't stop her from swinging by every so often to share notes and cooperate on projects.

'''Role-Playing Games''' - While Fuu hasn't admitted publicly to how many RPGs she plays, she's been known to talk about fantasy RPG tropes in the course of her various adventures and battles. What ''is'' known, though, is that she's been working with the Infinity computer club to develop an original RPG which she wants to distribute; it's been shown off at Comiket, although the project is still under development. (She's also been seen playing various games at Crown Game Center and other arcades, so her gaming interests apparently aren't limited to RPGs.)

'''Library Island Exploration Club''' - While the archery team still takes precedence (most of the time), Fuu is a semi-active member of the Library Island Exploration Club, plumbing the depths of Library Island to locate precious tomes, map out the stacks below the publicly-accessible areas, fight the occasional monster, and sometimes rescue people who've gotten lost down there.

==Relationships==

Hikaru Shidou and Umi Ryuuzaki - Fuu's most immediate allies, the Magic Knights of Fire and Water. While the three of them all go to different schools (Juuban for Hikaru, Ohtori for Umi), and their meeting at Tokyo Tower seemed like the purest chance, the three of them have still forged an unbreakable bond in their shared determination to save Cephiro.

Ferio - A native of Cephiro, the Magic Knights met the wandering swordsman in the Forest of Silence during their initial quest in Cephiro. Fuu was able to cajole him into assisting the three girls in navigating the Forest safely - but she didn't expect to actually fall in love with him. Still, fall in love she did, and she was overjoyed to discover that he had come to Tokyo as well. Besides being allies, they've also become an 'official' couple.

Nanoha Takamachi - Despite the difference in their ages, Fuu has a great deal of respect (and possibly a soft spot) for the younger magical girl, and is happy to provide assistance when Nanoha needs it. It helps that Midori-ya is one of Fuu's favorite bakeries.

Chevaliers - While Fuu was originally agreeable to joining the Chevaliers when they first organized, events since then have led her to the realization that her outlook - and her belief that magical girls have to be able to stand together in the face of powerful enemies - were incompatible with staying part of the group. She's trying to repair her individual relationships with several members of the Chevaliers, but she's not about to aid in their conflicts with the Shepherds.

(Lots more to come ...)

==Attacks and Magic==

As the Magic Knight of Wind, Fuu fights with a combination of archery, her sword, and a diverse array of spells.

She was on the archery team at Infinity even before Emeraude summoned the Magic Knights, and the bow and arrows which she received from Presea (originally as a loaner weapon) have proven very useful, and better than she could acquire in Tokyo. However, the bow isn't made to "grow" like her sword is, which means that simply shooting arrows at an enemy depends more on her skill than on her weapon.

Fuu's sword, like the blades wielded by Hikaru and Umi, is forged from the legendary mineral Escudo, and - like her armor - is growing more powerful as Fuu herself gains in strength and skill. While Fuu's swordsmanship is essentially self-taught, her blade remains easy to handle, even at its current size.

While Hikaru and Umi only have attack spells, Fuu has developed a mix of attack and support magics. The very first spell she learned was the '''Winds of Healing''', which lets her assist allies in recovering from wounds suffered in battle. Full healing takes time and attention that she can't concentrate in the middle of the fray, but she can use a lighter version for "first aid" that offsets the more debilitating effects of injuries or attacks.

The '''Gale Arrow''' spell enhances Fuu's archery, using wind magic to propel an arrow faster than it would normally fly, and to offset the turbulence which would throw the shaft off course at such high speeds.

When faced with a highly mobile opponent, Fuu's frequent first recourse is the '''Winds of Admonishment''': a focused whirlwind which helps to hold weaker opponents in place, and often to at least slow down more powerful foes. This is often one of the first spells she casts in combat - just like in RPGs, debuffing a monster is usually good strategy.

On the flip side, Fuu's '''Winds of Protection''' are a defensive support spell, conjuring a barrier of focused wind to lend protection to an ally. She can also cast it on herself if push comes to shove, but she's usually too busy trying not to get blown away to take time for a defensive spell on her own behalf.

The '''Storm-Dance of Kamaitachi''' is one of Fuu's more devastating spells - sometimes ''too'' devastating; she has to be careful about using it when she's trying to protect people in tight quarters. Still, if she can unleash the tempest against a cluster of enemies, it tends to pay off.

Combining restorative magic with a counter-attack, the '''Liberating Gale''' actually starts out as a focused Winds of Healing before Fuu makes it erupt against whatever (or whomever) had weakened her in a given battle. It doesn't always work, though ...

Fuu's first elemental melee attack, the '''Tempest Slash''', is pretty much what it says, wrapping a rending wind around an attack with her sword. The wind magic tends to lash at her target multiple times, whether she makes one physical cut or several in rapid succession.

The most powerful attack spell Fuu currently knows, the '''Emerald Cyclone''' serves as her usual finishing move, drawing on the full wrath of the tempest to strike down and shred the target of her wrath. She can either unleash it at full unbridled power, or try to focus its destructive force against a specific target, but either way, casting the Emerald Cyclone means she needs to wreck somebody's day ''hard''.

==Logs and Cutscenes==
{|style="text-align: left; border: black solid 2px;background:#ffffff;-moz-border-radius: 10px;margin: 0.5em 0 0 0"
|-
{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" style="border:0px solid #ffffff;background: #ffffff;vertical-align: top;"
!style="text-align: left;background: #3CE4FE; width:1000pt"|Logs
|-
|
{{#dpl: |category = logs
|linksto = {{PAGENAME}}
|notcategory = News Files
|notcategory = cutscenes
|ordermethod = title
|columns = 1
|rowcolformat=width=50%
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no logs on this wiki that {{PAGENAME}} participated in.
}}
|}

{|style="text-align: left; border: black solid 2px;background:#ffffff;-moz-border-radius: 10px;margin: 0.5em 0 0 0"
|-
{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" style="border:0px solid #ffffff;background: #ffffff;vertical-align: top;"
!style="text-align: left;background: #3CE4FE; width:1000pt"|Cutscenes
|-
|
{{#dpl: |category = cutscenes
|linksto = {{PAGENAME}}
|notcategory = News Files
|notcategory = logs
|ordermethod = title
|columns = 1
|rowcolformat=width=50%
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no cutscenes on this wiki that {{PAGENAME}} participated in.
}}
|}

[[Category:Characters]][[Category:Infinity Institute]][[Category:Magic Association]]

Fuu Hououji

2018-06-08T00:33:39Z

Shachihoko:

{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Character Name'''
|-
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[File:Fuu_in_later_armor.jpg|339px|thumb|left|Fuu in her Magic Knight armor, sword at the ready]]
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''IC Information'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:
| Fuu Hououji
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Aliases:
| Magic Knight of Wind
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:
| Female
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Age/Birthdate:
| 15 (December 12, 1998)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:
| Light brown
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Eye Colour:
| Green
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Astrological Sign:
| Sagittarius
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Blood Type:
| A
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Favorite Food:
| Tessa (very thinly sliced blowfish)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Least Favorite Food:
| anything yucky
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Favorite Subject:
| Math
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Least Favorite Subject:
| Art
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Dossier'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Organization:
| Magic Association
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Position:
| n/a
|-
! style="text-align:left" | School:
| [[School: Infinity Institute|Infinity Institute]] (Grade 9)
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''OOC Information'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Source:
| [[Magic Knight Rayearth]] (FC)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Player:
| [[User:Shachihoko|Shachihoko]]
|-
|}
Kind, friendly, and polite almost to a fault, '''Fuu Hououji''' hardly seems the sort to join in the battle against evil - but after she was summoned to Cephiro by Princess Emeraude, Fuu agreed to become one of the Magic Knights of legend alongside [[Hikaru Shidou|Hikaru]] and [[Umi Ryuuzaki|Umi]], the two girls who were summoned alongside her. Fuu's intelligence, combined with the wind magic bestowed upon her by Clef, makes her highly adaptable in combat and allows her to support her allies as well as attacking on her own; her skill at archery lets her attack from a distance, while she also can wield her Escudo sword as needed in close combat. Wearing glasses doesn't make her any less dangerous as an enemy, either - she'll always stand up to assist her friends, whether it's her classmates or her fellow Magic Knights that need her.

(More info to come!)

==Personality==

Fuu's most prevalent personality trait is a virtually unfailing gentle politeness, worthy of a "Yamato nadeshiko": she addresses ''everyone'' in polite language, even using -san in speaking to close friends (or deadly enemies), and very nearly always keeps a polite, friendly smile on her face when she's not actually fighting.

Hiding behind her polite and gentle demeanor, though, is a determination and loyalty which neither friend nor foe should take lightly. Fuu is extremely loyal to her friends, and would sooner kill herself than abandon a friend in need - even if she'd be risking her own life to help them. This is part of her bond with Hikaru and Umi, but it applies with other friends as well. Even without magic, Fuu will come to her classmates' aid if they come under attack - particularly since Fuu herself is a target of Zagato's minions; she can't assume that ANY monster which shows up is going to ignore her if given a choice in the matter. So she'll protect her friends to the best of her ability, no matter where she is ... even if she has to risk giving away her secret identity to do so.

The tradeoff to being so determined to protect her friends, of course, is that Fuu knows her family will be sad if anything happens to her. So she's just as determined to protect ''herself'' as anyone around her - which, rather than making her run away under most circumstances, is going to make her even more determined to protect herself and win against any enemy which threatens her. She'll gladly end a fight nonviolently if the opportunity provides itself, but if a monster or a more human-looking enemy is out for her blood, she'll have few qualms about going for a killing strike.

There is another downside to her determination to protect others: if she fails to protect somebody, or something important, then that weighs heavily on Fuu's heart. It's happened a few times already, and one of those failures actually wiped out her ability to use magic for a time. Fortunately, the help of friends and strangers let Fuu regain her powers as a Magic Knight, but she's still painfully conscious of the times she wasn't strong enough, fast enough, cunning enough ...

When she doesn't have to worry about fighting for her life (or anyone else's), Fuu is generally very friendly as well as polite. If she's suspicious about somebody, she'll still be polite, but a conversation between her and someone she distrusts may sound more like a verbal game of chess than normal socializing; she was able to gently manipulate Ferio into acting as the trio's bodyguard in the Forest of Silence on their first meeting, without giving away that Fuu and her companions had been summoned to become the Magic Knights.

In her downtime, Fuu enjoys putting her brain to work in a number of different regards. Math is noted as her favorite subject, with reading as her hobby of choice and computer programming as an extracurricular activity. She's something of an RPG otaku, familiar with a number of them (mostly of the fantasy sort), and an RPG Maker hobbyist who's been working on a serious project. She's still quite sociable, though: hardly a reclusive bookworm.

==Skills and Hobbies==

'''Kyuudou (Archery)''' - Without magic or other Magic Knight equipment, Fuu is still a talented archer, easily qualifying for Infinity's archery team while she was in middle school, and on track to join the high-school-level team. It's highly probable that she would, in a crisis, grab a bow and quiver from the club's practice area and go protect people as best she could - even with no magic at all.

'''Computers''' - While Fuu's not a master hacker or an advanced programmer (... yet), she knows her way around computers generally and is considerably above hobbyist level in using them. Programming is one of her regular extracurricular activities, although she's officially in the archery club rather than the computer club. This doesn't stop her from swinging by every so often to share notes and cooperate on projects.

'''Role-Playing Games''' - While Fuu hasn't admitted publicly to how many RPGs she plays, she's been known to talk about fantasy RPG tropes in the course of her various adventures and battles. What ''is'' known, though, is that she's been working with the Infinity computer club to develop an original RPG which she wants to distribute; it's been shown off at Comiket, although the project is still under development. (She's also been seen playing various games at Crown Game Center and other arcades, so her gaming interests apparently aren't limited to RPGs.)

'''Library Island Exploration Club''' - While the archery team still takes precedence (most of the time), Fuu is a semi-active member of the Library Island Exploration Club, plumbing the depths of Library Island to locate precious tomes, map out the stacks below the publicly-accessible areas, fight the occasional monster, and sometimes rescue people who've gotten lost down there.

==Relationships==

Hikaru Shidou and Umi Ryuuzaki - Fuu's most immediate allies, the Magic Knights of Fire and Water. While the three of them all go to different schools (Juuban for Hikaru, Ohtori for Umi), and their meeting at Tokyo Tower seemed like the purest chance, the three of them have still forged an unbreakable bond in their shared determination to save Cephiro.

Ferio - A native of Cephiro, the Magic Knights met the wandering swordsman in the Forest of Silence during their initial quest in Cephiro. Fuu was able to cajole him into assisting the three girls in navigating the Forest safely - but she didn't expect to actually fall in love with him. Still, fall in love she did, and she was overjoyed to discover that he had come to Tokyo as well. Besides being allies, they've also become an 'official' couple.

Nanoha Takamachi - Despite the difference in their ages, Fuu has a great deal of respect (and possibly a soft spot) for the younger magical girl, and is happy to provide assistance when Nanoha needs it. It helps that Midori-ya is one of Fuu's favorite bakeries.

Chevaliers - While Fuu was originally agreeable to joining the Chevaliers when they first organized, events since then have led her to the realization that her outlook - and her belief that magical girls have to be able to stand together in the face of powerful enemies - were incompatible with staying part of the group. She's trying to repair her individual relationships with several members of the Chevaliers, but she's not about to aid in their conflicts with the Shepherds.

(Lots more to come ...)

==Attacks and Magic==

As the Magic Knight of Wind, Fuu fights with a combination of archery, her sword, and a diverse array of spells.

She was on the archery team at Infinity even before Emeraude summoned the Magic Knights, and the bow and arrows which she received from Presea (originally as a loaner weapon) have proven very useful, and better than she could acquire in Tokyo. However, the bow isn't made to "grow" like her sword is, which means that simply shooting arrows at an enemy depends more on her skill than on her weapon.

Fuu's sword, like the blades wielded by Hikaru and Umi, is forged from the legendary mineral Escudo, and - like her armor - is growing more powerful as Fuu herself gains in strength and skill. While Fuu's swordsmanship is essentially self-taught, her blade remains easy to handle, even at its current size.

While Hikaru and Umi only have attack spells, Fuu has developed a mix of attack and support magics. The very first spell she learned was the '''Winds of Healing''', which lets her assist allies in recovering from wounds suffered in battle. Full healing takes time and attention that she can't concentrate in the middle of the fray, but she can use a lighter version for "first aid" that offsets the more debilitating effects of injuries or attacks.

The '''Gale Arrow''' spell enhances Fuu's archery, using wind magic to propel an arrow faster than it would normally fly, and to offset the turbulence which would throw the shaft off course at such high speeds.

When faced with a highly mobile opponent, Fuu's frequent first recourse is the '''Winds of Admonishment''': a focused whirlwind which helps to hold weaker opponents in place, and often to at least slow down more powerful foes. This is often one of the first spells she casts in combat - just like in RPGs, debuffing a monster is usually good strategy.

On the flip side, Fuu's '''Winds of Protection''' are a defensive support spell, conjuring a barrier of focused wind to lend protection to an ally. She can also cast it on herself if push comes to shove, but she's usually too busy trying not to get blown away to take time for a defensive spell on her own behalf.

The '''Storm-Dance of Kamaitachi''' is one of Fuu's more devastating spells - sometimes ''too'' devastating; she has to be careful about using it when she's trying to protect people in tight quarters. Still, if she can unleash the tempest against a cluster of enemies, it tends to pay off.

Combining restorative magic with a counter-attack, the '''Liberating Gale''' actually starts out as a focused Winds of Healing before Fuu makes it erupt against whatever (or whomever) had weakened her in a given battle. It doesn't always work, though ...

The most powerful attack spell Fuu currently knows, the '''Emerald Cyclone''' serves as her usual finishing move, drawing on the full wrath of the tempest to strike down and shred the target of her wrath. She can either unleash it at full unbridled power, or try to focus its destructive force against a specific target, but either way, casting the Emerald Cyclone means she needs to wreck somebody's day ''hard''.

==Logs and Cutscenes==
{|style="text-align: left; border: black solid 2px;background:#ffffff;-moz-border-radius: 10px;margin: 0.5em 0 0 0"
|-
{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" style="border:0px solid #ffffff;background: #ffffff;vertical-align: top;"
!style="text-align: left;background: #3CE4FE; width:1000pt"|Logs
|-
|
{{#dpl: |category = logs
|linksto = {{PAGENAME}}
|notcategory = News Files
|notcategory = cutscenes
|ordermethod = title
|columns = 1
|rowcolformat=width=50%
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no logs on this wiki that {{PAGENAME}} participated in.
}}
|}

{|style="text-align: left; border: black solid 2px;background:#ffffff;-moz-border-radius: 10px;margin: 0.5em 0 0 0"
|-
{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" style="border:0px solid #ffffff;background: #ffffff;vertical-align: top;"
!style="text-align: left;background: #3CE4FE; width:1000pt"|Cutscenes
|-
|
{{#dpl: |category = cutscenes
|linksto = {{PAGENAME}}
|notcategory = News Files
|notcategory = logs
|ordermethod = title
|columns = 1
|rowcolformat=width=50%
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no cutscenes on this wiki that {{PAGENAME}} participated in.
}}
|}

[[Category:Characters]][[Category:Infinity Institute]][[Category:Magic Association]]

2018-04-21 - What Lies Beneath 16

2018-05-19T23:16:53Z

Shachihoko: Restoring a pose that went missing (Fuu Hououji, just before the first Protodaimon "hatched")

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''What Lies Beneath 16'''
|-
|'''Summary''': 
''A kyudo tournament is interrupted by a pair of protodaimon, which were previously implanted in two Infinity students by Kaolinite, attacking Fuu Hououji to try to seize her pendant that comprises one-fifth of one's control over the power of the World Tree. Chibi-Usa has a shocking revelation about Sailor Moon.''
|-
|'''Who''': 
[[Hotaru Tomoe]], [[Mai Mishou]], [[Takeo Akamizu]], [[Shigure Shiratsuyu]], [[Usagi Tsukino]], [[Chibi-Usa Tsukino]], [[Niramo Umokeshi]], [[Steven Universe]], [[Saki Hyuuga]], [[Fuu Hououji]]
|-
|'''Where:''' 
Sensouji Shrine

|-
|'''OOC - IC Date:''' 
04-21-2018 - 04-12-2015
|-
|}

<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

Traditional Japanese archery is a really elegant sport, as much a spiritual exercise as a physical one. It is strongly associated with Shinto, and kyudo tournaments are often held at, or near, shrines.

Like this one is! There are always archery competitions in springtime. It's the perfect time for it, with the sweet breeze full of rapidly-falling sakura, and the sun is out so it's a great time for the audience to picnic as they observe.

There are six targets set up along one of the stone walls in the area, and each one is gradually filling with arrows. The audience is on blankets at one side, behind a fence, in a grassy field.

It is important to be quiet, though this is a large enough event that there is, at minimum, a continuous electric current sort of hum of conversation coming from the crowd.

All of the Sister Schools have archery club members competing, but this isn't actually an intramural event or anything; it is more local and traditional than that. Archers of all ages, from young child to full adult, have won the right (through preliminary events) to try their luck and skill down the range today.

There are, therefore, people wearing hakama ''everywhere'', because that is the uniform of the sport, along with special archery gloves, and for the girls, chest guards. The bows are splendid things, some modern-ish but most very traditional.

An old lady outshoots a young man from Ohtori, much to his distress, while there's a fierce match going on further down the line between a pair of Infinity Institute students who have achieved tie after tie after tie. The two girls seem to be simultaneously frustrated and thrilled, and a break is called to their match once both of their first quivers are empty.

They kneel on the wooden platform they've been shooting from, and look over towards their Captain, Fuu Hououji, probably wanting encouragement or advice.

<Pose Tracker> Mai Mishou [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Mai Mishou is, of course, here to watch the archery contest.

Not because she loves archery -- she doesn't know the first thing about bows and arrows -- or because she really knows anyone in the archery club. No, for her, this is another opportunity altogether. It is an opportunity that is so rare, so astounding, that she couldn't help but seize upon it. She has a chance to draw people in full garb, using bows. There are aspects of human anatomy, especially with the hands, that are uniquely visible then.

To say nothing of the beautiful surroundings; the natural beauty of the shrine and the falling sakura, the architecture of the temple itself. Mai is perched over, leaning down and intently sketching in her artbook. There are filled pages being accumulatedly rapidly.

She hasn't said anything to Saki in a few minutes, now.

<Pose Tracker> Takeo Akamizu [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.

There is something to be said for hanging out and watching aything even remotely connected to Martial Arts. It is quiet, it is calming, and it is also really neat to see one's skills on display. Though he is here by himself, with no one person to watch, a young man stands in the crowd watching carefully. It might surprise many who know this young man that he does indeed find this sort of thing calming and relaxing.

Though the occassional crunch of a potato chip or the crack fizz of a soda can opening might irritate some of the surrounding people.

Takeo stands, leaning against a wall, crunching merily away on potato chips, trying to be quiet, and sipping a can of lime green soda. He has a happy expression on his features, one that says he is indeed enjoying himself. Truth be told, his life lately had been chaotic, and Takeo ''''needed'''' this little break. A nice martial arts competition at a shrine to calm one's soul.

<Pose Tracker> Shigure Shiratsuyu [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

The Shiratsuyus are extreme traditionalists, and it follows that kyudo is one of the traditions that they follow -- and even if Shigure would balk at having to practice her archery, she can't exactly argue against the wishes of her mother. So she's here today... at the very least, in gear -- not part of the competition, but there as a way of showing support, and to represent both her family and her school.

Her hakama is bright red, with a white haori with a muneate of her own. She's stopped with her practice at this point, because the main event is going on.

Her hair is worn long at this event, without her usual white ribbon to tie up her ponytail. A hachimaki with the rising sun logo is instead tied around her forehead, because you gotta tradition what you gotta tradition sometimes.

She looks a little embarrassed.

<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n9YKe86Awk

"Hey-" It began pretty soft - because there's a competition going on in which quiet is required of the crowd. However it then went onward to snapping her finger in front of Chibi-Usa's face, "-Hey! Chibi-Usa!"

Which gets her a whole chorus of 'SHHHs' being sent her way. Which causes Usagi to sink into her seat, as she quietly apologizes, "Sorry - sorry!" Which gets her another chorus of 'Shhhs'

To which she says her next 'Sorry' subvocally. One of the ushers gives her the okay sign with a thumb and forefinger - which feels almost sarcastic. With a mute whimper, Usagi leans over to mumble at her.

"Mama wanted me to get you out of the house today - but it wasn't so you could just mope around. Did you even see that shot?"

It's a little white lie actually. ''Usagi'' herself suggested it after seeing the funk Chibi-Usa had been in. And understandably so. Ever since the Inner Senshi seperated an unconscious Chibi-Usa from her best friend Hotaru... she hadn't seen her ever since.

And that's something she can understand completely - but it's not like she was so close to this girl that she could bring up her missing best friend casually.

So instead her strategy was to distract, "All of the lady archers are so elegant - I mean just look at Hououji-san over there - it makes me almost want to take it up myself."

A hand rubs her chin as she thinks of herself in Rei Hino's miko garb - the white hoari and red hakama, but with the addition of a guard across her chest. Usagi admiration from her friends - the other Inner Senshi and-

Suddenly a sight snaps her out of her reverie, "Hey is that Shigure-chan? I knew Hououji-san was competing but I had no idea she'd be here."

Usagi stands up out of her seat, and waves excitedly- "Shigure-chan!" It's quiet at first - but then she cups her hands over her mouth her volume increases just enough to carry, "Shigure-chan! Do your best!"

The dark looks and chorus of 'shhhs' is entirely predictable - in her excitement she'd totally forgotten. And the result is her sinking back into her seat with another whimper. The mutters that a girl her age should know how to behave certainly doesn't help...

<Pose Tracker> Chibi-Usa Tsukino [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Snap, snap. Chibi-Usa doesn't seem to notice; the red-eyed girl stares out into nothing in particular, slouching, glum. It's at odds with her fanciful pink hairstyle, her bright red attire. She is not traditionally dressed--and she is not... watching all that much, either, at the moment. Her hands are shoved into her pockets as she looks down. But the shh-ing--

"Mm...?" Chibi-Usa asks, blinking, looking up again. "Did she...?" Chibi-Usa frowns. "I didn't see."

Distraction! Chibi-Usa looks up and looks dimly over to Fuu as Usagi points her out. "...Sure, go for it," she says distantly, without even insulting Usagi or anything.

Usagi's standing up and waving, but Chibi-Usa just takes out her hands and props her elbows on her legs, sinking her face into her hands. And sighing.

"Don't be so loud..."

<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Legs curled under her and sketchbook in hand, Niramo stares out upon the archery range, intent on memorizing the details just right. Shading pencil lowers back down to paper, and with a slight frown, she starts to draw a hand clutching a bow string. The movements of the pencil are a bit rough, and it's clear by the frown that the ravenette was having trouble making a hand appear realistic while on paper. Sighing, the girl quickly rubs an eraser across the paper and removing the sketch.

Placing her pad and pencil to the side of the plain red blanket she was on, the girl gives up on attempting to sketch for now. While she wanted something to distract her, the vivid memories of a redhead and a pinkette fighting against one another keeps breaking into her concentration.

Reaching for one of the cookies she prepared earlier, each in the shape of a different animal, the head of a grinning cat is the latest victim to an afternoon snack. While she came to wish Fuu good luck, the fact that cheering was frowned upon while archers were on the field limits her support to a smile and a slight hand wave.

Looking around in an attempt to see any familiar faces, Niramo has to do a double-take upon seeing an embarrased archer, seemingly waiting her turn. "Huh? Shigure-san is an archer too?"

<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

Why wouldn't Steven come to watch Fuu shoot some bows?! Or is it shoot arrows? Eh, maybe he will ask her.

Steven has arrived alone, without Lion or any of his Mums. The boy has caught wind of an archery event, and having seen some of his friends fire them expertly, has shown up to observe the show of skill this day! The boy wears a hakama in favor of trying to adhere to tradition; a black top section, with a white fading to deep pink bottom. Silvery lotus motifs play out upon the sleeves and the bottom hem areas. Besides being appropriate, they are super comfortable!

The gem child walks his way to near the archery event, watching intently at their shots. The quiet hush that falls over the crowd as one draws the string back. That sound of connecting with the board. There is a muted thrill here, and while Steven would ''love'' to burst out cheering for someone... it feels inappropriate to do so. "Woooo!" The boy lets out in a whisper. Not that anyone can really hear him.

There is something so relaxing about watching this event. It makes him want to bring the Ukelele next time and jsut play music. But that might disrupt the event!

Perhaps this peaceful viewing is perfect just the way it is. There is a reason it has remained throughout the long years. The boy makes his way to the crowd and finds a place amongst them. Hum, some of the crowdmembers look familiar!

<Pose Tracker> Saki Hyuuga [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Saki Hyuuga is, of course, here to watch Mai Mishou watch the archery contest.

That's not quite the whole story, of course. Her family does like their traditions, in their own small family way, and Saki likes food and excuses to put it in her mouth. So beside Mai, settled on a blanket and contenting herself with a sandwich prepared for the duo by Saki's mother, sits Saki Hyuuga. Her eyes are not, in fact, riveted to Mai, more focused on the crowd below. "Wow. The Infinity team is doing amazing stuff..!" she breathes. She is not fully expecting Mai to respond.

<Pose Tracker> Mai Mishou [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Mai keeps sketching instead of answering Saki.

Scritch, scritch, scritch goes her charcoal on the paper.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

This early in the term, Fuu would normally find it problematic to have a tournament when they haven't even gotten all of the new students signed up for the archery team. Fortunately, though, there is a *lot* of continuity from one year to the next, and it has occured to Fuu that maybe this is why Yumi was comfortable inviting her to step up as captain on her first year in high school. Certainly it would be almost impossible to organize the team for this tournament if they were starting from scratch ... which is, of course, why they *aren't*. Why they were holding practices regularly over spring break. Why so many of the team officers across levels are staying in contact, making sure that graduates from elementary or middle schools are able to jump right back in with their new teammates.

At this precise moment, though, Fuu isn't thinking about the logistics of team management; she has some far more immediate concerns. Such as helping keep two of her teammates from losing their cool - and filling in an empty space in their lineup, to boot. She glances around the crowd on her way over to the platform where those two middle-schoolers are waiting, then kneels down next to the pair. "You're both doing quite well, Miho-san, Maho-san," she says softly, with one of those polite but friendly smiles she's so well known for. "Remember, though, what's essential is calm - the still point in your heart," she taps her chest protector with her fingertips. "Find that center of quiet, follow the movements you've trained in, and your arrow should fly as though the target is drawing the shaft to itself."

In other words, don't get too excited, or anxious. Or nervous, for that matter.

"If nothing else, think of it as boosting each other as teammates, not competing against each other," Fuu finishes. "The skill you've shown already is considerable - I'm sure Infinity is on its way to coming out at the top." She smiles again, inclining her head to the pair, and rises back to her feet, beckoning to Shigure as she spots her classmate. They should meet at the edge of the waiting area, and Fuu quickly says, "I'm glad another familiar face is here - we have an empty position on our team today; Tobisawa-san caught a cold. Can you fill in for her? We do have a few spare bows, so it's okay if you don't have yours ..."

Not that any archer does her best with an unfamiliar bow, but it's still much easier to shoot with an unfamiliar bow than without a bow at all.

<Pose Tracker> Shigure Shiratsuyu [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Shigure's cheeks are burning. (I should just turn and leave before--)

''Hey is that Shigure-chan? Shigure-chan! Do your best!''

There's a faintly startled look on Shigure's face as she looks around and-- catches Usagi's enthusiastic flare and cheer. O-oh dear. Who was that pink-haired girl beside her? And Niramo is there too... t-there's a lot of people here she recognises, and more that she doesn't...

"N-no, I'm just--"

And then she gets flagged as she walks over to Fuu and is explained the situation. She looks more than a little surprised. "Is that all right...? I'm not part of the archery club, and I wouldn't want to misrepresent Infinity..."

Still, someone is better than a blank space, and she does glance towards one of the bows as she considers it for a moment longer... and then nods.

They're getting called out already, and she bows. "I will try to not disappoint you, Hououji-san."

On the one hand, Shigure's time at the archery range is a little dismal; but the basics are there. On the other hand, when it comes to calming herself and having nerves of steel... well, she's not too bad at that. She bows to her opponent as they begin taking their turns. The match is on!

<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

Miho and Maho get up from their formal resting positions -- it's a particular kind of kneel -- to bow to their captain, then to each other, and their match resumes.

It quickly starts to get heated, which isn't really supposed to happen, but they're basically splitting each others' arrows down the bullseye and if their eyes are getting a little fiery, can anybody blame them?

Shigure, meanwhile, finds herself shooting against a devastatingly cute older guy who might be from Juuban, and whose hakama is blue. He has fluffy silver hair and a winning smile and he is ''wicked good'' at kyudo, it must be his main sport. If nothing else, though, he's nice -- his bow is deep and unpatronizing.

(His name is Yuki Tsukishiro.)

<Pose Tracker> Takeo Akamizu [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.

With soft crunching and a light sip here and there, Takeo continues ot watch the Archery tournament. He grins despite himself when the Old Woman out shoot sthe Ohtorri boy. Hed have to find him the next time they were in class, and tell him how awesome he did. Just representing Ohtorri in an event like this is amazing. He stuffs another few chips in his mouth, crunching merily. He kind of wishes it was a Kendo tournament.

"Oh man. One of those? At a shrine? Aweeesooooome ~"

A man turns and puts a finget to his lips, "SHHHH!"

Takeo blinks and puts his Soda an to his lips to hide behind it sipping. He quietly whispers, "Sorry." And then takes a loud sip off his drink. Clearly accidental. The man slowly turns and looks at him again. Takeo just sips. Quieter this time and looks away.

<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Looking away from the archery field for a moment as she hears someone speaks up, she fails to see who broke the silence on the audience, but notices a familiar face she recognizes all too well. She waves an arm out to Steven and motions to the box of cookies resting on top of her bookbag, hoping that he would see her and notice the invitation.

Seeing Shigure getting called up by Fuu, and the captain getting ready for her own match, Niramo stuffs her sketchpad back into her bookbag so to focus completely on the match up. Shigure may not have the amazing shots the two heated archers were capable of, but the calm look she has tells Niramo that her friend would give it her all today! A cute dog face is next to be snackrificed upon, and the ravenette silently prayers that both of her friends would succeed today.

<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Usagi gives Chibi-Usa a look of exasperation at telling her to be quiet, which changes to concern.

She's really in a funk isn't she?

For a while that seems to affect Usagi too, as she sits in her seat quietly and worries.

She certainly feels an empathy - a solidarity with Chibi-Usa even. When one of her friends was missing or in trouble - she could get like this too. She's worried herself over Hotaru. But her worries can't compare when this is Chibi-Usa's ''best'' friend, and one of her only friends.

She doesn't want to directly bring it up - but she does want to take a leap and let her know she's there for her at least.

"Hey Chibi-Usa..." She quietly broaches with a hand on her shoulder, "You know if there's something bothering you that you can talk with me about it right? You can let Usagi-Oneechan listen to your troubles." Even though she was her fake cousin imposter, not actual big sister.

She tries to give a smile of quiet reassurance - but this moment is interrupted by the fact that she looks up to see Shigure competing - not knowing she never intended to compete to begin with.

And capturing both her and her handsome opponent in gorgeous rose frames - a rush of gently floating cherry blossoms flitting by in her eyes.

If Chibi-Usa actually responds during this time then it'll be a 'Moshi Moshi - noone's home.' moment where Usagi cannot even listen properly because she's in a daydream like haze... her cheeks slightly flushed.

<Pose Tracker> Chibi-Usa Tsukino [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Archery is really cool! ...But even the amazing athleticism ahead doesn't really get through to Chibi-Usa at the moment. She doesn't even notice Usagi's concerned look. Not until Usagi speaks to her does she seem to notice much of anything, and even then she doesn't turn to look at her. There's just a hand on her shoulder, and...

"Mmm...?" Usagi-oneechan. Chibi-Usa sighs at that, and doesn't answer at first. She sort of lets it roll over for a little while, and--

"...Hey..." She starts at that, and then Usagi... doesn't answer. Slowly, she lifts her head to start to look at her, and sees her blushing, before Chibi-Usa turns her head to look forward at--

"Oh come on!! You just said--!"

She sighs bigger than before and shoves Usagi lightly before sulking forward again.

<Pose Tracker> Shigure Shiratsuyu [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Shigure looks towards the devastatingly cute silver-haired boy... and bows quietly and deeply. Well, if there's one thing her mother has soul-crushed into her own existence, it's how to put on a perfect poker face and speak in sotto voce in public and not betray that inside you're going--

WHAT DO I DO AAAAAAAAAH

Ahem. Think of Niramo. Think of Usagi. Think of those cheering you on...

Think of music. Aiming... the drawstring of the bow, the tautness of its feel against the bamboo...

It's not a bad feeling. It's not unlike the strings within a piano, or the strings on a violin, actually.

She imagines her fingers gliding against the notes that she's written... and in that moment--

--lets loose for her target.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

"You'll do just fine, Shigure-san," Fuu reassures the other girl before they go their separate ways. It's not like Shigure's going to be the least experienced archer here today - but she doesn't really have time to give Shigure any further coaching or encouragement, because she has a match of her own. Fuu quickly (but carefully, not looking like she's rushing) puts her gloves on and retrieves her bow, then heads over to the platform where her opponent awaits, an elegant red-haired woman who wears her hakama like she was born in it.

"Kaho Mizuki-san, isn't it?" Fuu says with a smile, bowing politely to her opponent. "Let's both have a good match." She receives her arrows from one of the attendants, then turns to address the target, her legs finding the proper stance as though by instinct. She's let more arrows fly over the years than she could ever count, and if the archery team alone wouldn't have seen to that ...

She lets the thoughts of Cephiro, and of Magic Knightdom, and of magical girlhood in general drift away like cherry petals on the breeze, nocks her first arrow, and raises her bow before lowering her arms, drawing back in the process. By the time the arrow's shaft settles just below her eyeline, her heart is calm, her gaze steady; it seems like almost the gentle breeze itself doesn't stir her.

She looses. Kaho's arrow flies at almost the same time - a pair of bull's-eyes, so close that the arrows nearly vibrate in resonance with each other.

That's probably enough to send a rustle through the crowd, and Fuu inclines her head briefly to Kaho before they draw back for the next shot.

Not every shot is perfect, of course - sometimes Fuu's arrow falls a little further away, sometimes Kaho's - but there's a reason why Yumi gave Fuu that friendly push to become captain. And Kaho may be older but her skills are indisputable.

If it weren't for that inner center of calm, Fuu might find herself unnerved by how close this is, or simply excited at how closely together they're performing. And to be sure, those emotions are *there* - but they don't cause Fuu's aim to even tremble a little bit. She can feel the emotions later, when the match is concluded.

<Pose Tracker> Mai Mishou [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

While Mai is too focused to talk, she is rather the opposite of oblivious.

Case in point: with a laser focus and a keen eye, she ''immediately'' notices when Shigure steps up. She also notices Yukito. The result is that her head swivels (a little like a bird's), and then she looks back down. Her charcoal works, sketching quickly off two pictures: one of Shigure, then another of Yukito. On the same page, but separate for a moment.

Her lips purse, lightly. She looks up from her drawing, and then back down. "Mm..."

Her image of Shigure captures her as she releases the arrow -- the bowstring blurred, fingers curled back just so, and expression focused as she does. Mai smiles, before she looks to Saki. She lifts it.

"What do you think?"

<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

As Steven watches the foray into ranged combat. For some reason, he never had it in him to work with weapons. The Crystal Gems have fantastical weaponry at their disposal, as do other magical girls, but he... Eh. It was just never in him. Though martial arts with Kasagami has been enlightening, for some reason he feels better doing that.

Maybe hurting people just isn't in his nature? It makes him feel funny inside thinking about it right now. As if everyone around him can hear it, even though they obviously can't.

A familiar wave breaks him away from such thoughts, as Steven walks his way towards a familiar student at Juuban and fellow 'fighter'. "Hiiiiii!" he says quietly, taking a seat on the blanket. "What's up? A lot of people I know are here! Even you are!" The boy looks back toward the archery field. "So ah, you here to cheer someone on?" His eyes fall on Fuu, and he can't help but hope she nails a bullseye. Those are super cool. Wonder how they got called that?

"It looks like someone got called up that wasn't in the event," he adds. The boy scans the crowd for those he knows. "Seems liek this was better known than I thought. So! How are you doing?" the boy says, turning back to Niramo.

<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

The shove jolts Usagi out of her daydream like reverie - despite it being light, "Hey don't shove me!" Before she leans over to point out Yuki and mention with in a pleased whisper, "Don't you think that guy is really handsome?"

Apparently she missed the fact that Chibi-Usa had ''nearly'' responded to her entreaty entirely.

"I think I've seen him on the Juuban High School side of the fence before..."

Back when she was a middle schooler. Though it does occur to her that... she's now a high schooler! And doesn't have to view the high school boys through the middle school fence annnyyy longer.

<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

Kaho and Yukito are very similar combatants. They both smile with beatific calm when they shoot; they both shoot with virtually unerring accuracy; they both seem almost transcendent, clearly deeply feeling the spirituality of the moment, as the matches proceed.

The one to watch, though, is further down the row, and the normally polite audience is starting to get sucked into the feverish excitement that the two Infinity girls exude.

Miho shoots!

*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!*

Bullseye.

Maho shoots!

*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!*

Bullseye.

Sweat is beading on both of their foreheads; Miho has her long brown hair up in a high ponytail, while Maho's shoulder-length black hair is unbound.

Miho's red hakama rustles softly as she moves back into position.

*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!*

Bullseye.

It's improper, but she raises a slightly cocky eyebrow at Maho, even though they aren't, strictly, looking at each other.

Maho senses it, and her eyebrows knit like a bull before a red flag. Her hakama is yellow, with beautiful orange and purple flowers crawling up and down one leg in viney embroidery.

*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!*

Bullseye.

She raises an eyebrow right back.

Is this FIGHTING SPIRIT?!? Heat seems to be just pouring off the two of them now. The air ripples around them like they're on the grill -- and it smells a little bit like blood -- and --

-- and --

*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzop!*

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Miho isn't screaming because she missed.

She missed because she started screaming.

She started screaming because black and purple ichor started bubbling out of her pores instead of sweat. It flows from her nostrils and from beneath her fingers and eyelids. Most of all, it erupts straight out of her back. Her eyes are blank with agony.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAA--!"

In no time, she is totally engulfed by the massive bulk of a protodaimon, and the abrupt suffocation of her scream is the most chilling thing to happen yet.

The protodaimon does not rest on this laurel.

Usually their MO is to attack in dark places rather than full sunlight, but they aren't less scary when someone can see them clearly. This monster -- sometimes 'creature' is all right, sometimes 'being' is more politely accurate, but this is something straight out of nightmares -- is all claws and fangs and eyes that refuse to reflect the light, visible only in their absence, like twin portals to the void of space.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

Its chainsaw roar supercedes Miho's scream, and yet the two voices are obviously, in some twisted way, as connected as the monster is to the girl, with vibrating harmonics. She's dimly visible inside of it, curled up into the fetal position, even as it continues to expand impossibly in mass and volume, rearing up like a serpent and sprouting vestigial-looking limbs in all the wrong places, which flop gruesomely.

Now everyone else is screaming, too.

Especially Maho, who is barely three feet away... and whose fingernails are also beginning to extrude darkness.

COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe transforms into Proto-Daimon!

<Pose Tracker> Chibi-Usa Tsukino [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

"I'll totally shove you!" Chibi-Usa retorts to Usagi, frowning--and then Usagi points Yuki out and Chibi-Usa siiiiighs again. "I mean, ''duh'', totally, but don't you think about anything besides boys? Grow up!"

A pause. The side of the fence... Chibi-Usa shrugs. "I dunno, maaaaybe." ...She does keep an eye on him for now though, still scowling, that hopefully he doesn't see and mistake as against him. ...She isn't watching at the two girls in their match at first though--not until she happens to glance over, see the beautiful hakama...

And the abrubt awful change. The girl is screaming, but soon Chibi-Usa is screaming too, a sudden shriek of fright as she sees things that she has very definitely seen before, things that make her freeze in place for an instant, staring at this void of nightmares.

...And that's when she reaches out to try to pull Usagi away, still staring.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

There are reasons why Fuu recognized her opponent, and it wasn't just from something like seeing the brackets posted (if that was done). Kaho's skills are easily champion material, and if Fuu didn't have her own discipline, she might well have given in to a bit of fangirling at the chance to contend against her. Still, with the rising buzz between Miho and Maho, Fuu's control is exerted harder than ever, not leaving herself any room to emote beyond polite little gestures. As captain, she might have a word with those two later, but she's in the middle of her own match -

At least up until the protodaimon erupts into existence. *That* costs Fuu a good shot, her whole body twitching as she hears the roar, utterly terrifying and far too close to 'familiar' for comfort; when she turns to look at the emergent monster, her gaze has gone from a politely friendly calm to the kind of chill you'd get trying to close the door against a blizzard.

Then she sees *where* the proto-daimon erupted. And from whom. And the fact that it's about to have company.

Fuu sets her quiver down on the platform. "Kaho-san, please help get people to safety," she requests of her opponent. Then she claps her hands, just once, and calls out, "Infinity students and staff, please leave in an orderly manner!" Hopefully that goes for *everybody* (and triply for her own family; from where she is now, she can easily see her parents and big sister Kuu) - but as team captain, she has to take some action for her teammates, for her *school* - for the students in general, and their families. Maybe there'll be a chance to finish the tournament later.

By the innumerable kami and all of the Buddhas, she *wants* there to be a chance to finish. She'll take the loss from that disturbed arrow if necessary.

Here and now, she's definitely going to be one of the last people out - motioning for onlookers and team members alike to head for the nearest exit, leaving gear if they have to (not that it'd be a small loss, and she knows it). The handful of individuals whom *she* knows are magical (like Steven or Takeo), she's only worried for the sake of appearances and actual safety. But that still leaves -

"Maho-san, try to control yourself," Fuu *doesn't* shout but speaks clearly, projecting to try and make her voice heard over the roar. "One of these monsters is bad enough but we'll pull Miho-san back if we're able. Do you know what's going on, can you understand what I'm asking?" She glances around once more, donning her glove-jewel and making sure the coast is clear.

Then she transforms. No verbal invocation, unless you count reciting it in her mind out of a magical analogue of muscle-memory. If Maho happens to be in on the secret after this, it's a small price to pay. Her competition bow vanishes into her glove-jewel for safe-keeping, hakama and protectors whisked away by the same breeze that clothes her in the armor of the Magic Knight of Wind; in the last moment before the jade-tinted breeze subsides, flaring streaks of light materialize into the shape of the Wind Knight's regular bow and quiver.

"Miho-san, Maho-san," the Wind Knight calls out, "calm your hearts and deny the darkness its purchase!"

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji transforms into Wind Knight!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Gentle Chiding on Hotaru Tomoe.

<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

The rhythm of the rivalry catches Usagi's attention. Bullseye after Bullseye is called. It's almost spell-binding. But then there's a shout which-

-no a scream.

Usagi's eyes grow wide as she starts to feel it. The dark power rising up as the Proto-daimon sheds the girl's body as if she were a skin. She'd seen it often enough, but it's no less terrifying than it was the first time. In a way it's even moreso.

She still remembers those five girls that one claimed... five she was unable to save.

There's a little squeak from her, before her hand encompasses Chibi-Usa and she all but yanks her out of the seat even as Chibi-Usa tries to pull her away at the same time- "Chibi-Usa! C'mon!" -careening along the panicked mass of people, but rather than heading for the exit, she banks down one of the side hallways of the temple, nearly tripping and falling as she pants.

It's a decidedly old temple, but there are still modern additions, like a janitorial closet. Working at the knob in a panic, it opens thankfully easily - she pulls Chibi-Usa in with her, then kneels down. "It's dangerous trying to run around right now - I don't want you to get trampled. I'm going to go look for another way out - so I need you to stay right here while I look for a way out. Can you do that for your Usagi-Oneechan?"

It might be especially galling for her to invoke it again so soon. After failing totally to live up to it just moments ago.

Usagi straightens up, the look on her expression changing from fright to determination as she steps back out in the hall. "I promise I'll take care of it and be right back." Closing the door firmly behind her - and completely not realizing she's leaving a kid in the dark with a monster prowling around.

Jogging down the hall, she looks back - then ahead of her, and slides her compact out of her purse. Thrusting a hand in the air -

"Moon Cosmic Power - Make Up!"

BGM Change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtCJRZ2j8-E

It looks like a prism of light has been shined upon Usagi Tsukino's skin, draping it in an auroral spectrum. Her nails glitter as polish sparkles upon them. Red ribbons take shape, and gird her in a Sailor Fuku, collar, skirt, and boots. A heart ringing her as she turns in this kaleidoscope of coruscating light. Last of all a tiara shines upon her forehead, as she twirls the Spiral Heart Moon Rod in her hand.

She doesn't look behind her again. She just runs back towards the archery field, hands slicing at the air.

-=-=-

"Hold it right there!" Sailor Moon calls from atop one of the archery targets - backlit by the sun.

"Today everyone has come to put their whole hearts into this competition! I'll never forgive anyone who defies cupid during this Spring of Romance by forcing a young girl to miss the bullseye of her heart's desire!"

Proto-Daimons don't respond to speeches. And Sailor Moon knows it. She knows it too well - but this speech is more for her than for them. She feels right now - she needs this to stay calm. To war against her intense fear at facing one of these again.

"Sailor-Suited Pretty Soldier of Love and Justice: Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon-"

She poses with all the ferocity she can manage, "-I will punish you!"

It's only then perhaps that she notices - the darkness in Maho too, and horror starts to dawn on her.

COMBAT: Usagi Tsukino transforms into Sailor Moon!

<Pose Tracker> Takeo Akamizu [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.

"Oh."

The Potato chips and soda fall to the ground.

"Snap crackers...."

Takeo stares as this happens and people begin to scream. Everytime he's faced these things the Black Knight shows up, and the last time, was at Tokyo Tower when those girls ...

He grits his teeth and closes his eyes, fighting back tears. "Not. Again." He says fiercly, and steps forward, ripping his pendant form beneath his shirt. He holds it up in the air and his eyes snap open as he calls out: "I SWEAR TO DEFEND THE INNOCENT!!"

Lighting errupts form the pendant engulfing the form of Takeo holding it. The blue and white bolts strike repeatedly on Takeo's form. Each strike causing a portion of the boy to glow until he is fully glowing a bright, azure blue. The brightness flackes away into little motes of light that pop and fizzle revealing the form of Lancelot, the Chevalier.

He snatches first one, then a second bolt of lighting in each hand, and then slams the fists together. He slowly seperates them and as he does, hte gleaming white blades of Arondight, the Demon's Bane are revealed. He makes a flourish and nods once. "Let's do this."

Like a flash of the lightning he just summoned, Lancelot is off. He leaps at the Protoaimon and calls out, "LIGHTNING IMPACT!" Bringing both blades around crackling with energy and exploding in power toward the creature.

COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used In The Name Of The Moon on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Takeo Akamizu transforms into Chevalier Knight Lancelot!
COMBAT: Lancelot has used Lightning Impact on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe counters 0 Fatigue damage from Fuu Hououji's Gentle Chiding, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Hotaru Tomoe is
Quipped! Hotaru Tomoe's Reverse ability activates!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe's counterattack, Space Invasion, partially gets through, doing 9 Fatigue damage to Fuu Hououji!

<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Smiling brightly at Steven, she makes sure there was more than enough room for the both of them, and nods approvingly at Steven's choice of clothing. "Of course I was going to be here, especially once I heard Fuu-san was going to be here. It makes sense, doesn't it, with her being the captain of Infinity's Archery Club? And that's Shigure-san, a friend of mine. She's really nice, but she isn't all too sure about herself, unfortunately. I wasn't expecting her to be here, but i'm going to cheer her on all the same!"

That smile dims slightly as her thoughts turn once more to a hall of mirrors, and a face just like hers that was only marred by with snarl. A quick shake of the head doesn't help push the image away, but though i'm a little concerned about Kasagami-san. She...lost a fight, and I want to cheer her up soon. Maybe you ca--"

An agonizing scream snap's Niramo's head back to the archery field, and wide eyes are framed with paling skin upon seeing the creature-no, make that an abomination form around one of the archers. The suddenly cut off cry sends a shiver down her spine, and only the sudden screams of all those around her break Niramo out of her panic.

Grabbing the strap of her bookbag, she gives Steven one quick look. "Steven-san, run, and don't stop until you're somewhere safe!" With that said, Niramo leaps to her feet, joining in the press of people that was starting to flee.

The Juuban student didn't flee, however, and with some jostling, manages to climb into a booth set up for the flea market. Opening the flap on her bag, she peers inside, seeing Takk who was only slightly the worse for wear for the sudden movements of the bookbag. A uncharacteristic hesitation for a moment before Niramo speaks up. "Takk, i'm really sorry for that, i'll try to be gentler with the bag in the future, but do you mind if I borrow your strength? That...thing...it's going to attack people soon, i'm sure of it."

The fact that his friend was asking at a time like this gives the stotic Kwami a frown, but it was something to ask about in the future. "Of course I don't mind, Niramo. Just try to secure your belongings better in the future, your pencil makes a terrible spear."

Nodding her head, Niramo musters up a faint smile, trying to calm herself. "Thank you, Takk. I'll try not to disapoint you. Let's go!"

-----

Sourisi leaps over the heads of the crowd, tonfa already in hand, and a serious look upon the mouse-girl's face. As she nears the archery field, she throws her tonfa with all the strength she can muster at the proto-daimon, the wind whistling with the force behind the tonfa. No puns come from her lips as she speaks, however. "Forming yourself around a defenseless archer won't save you, monster. We'll make sure that whatever plans you have won't come to fruition here!"

COMBAT: Niramo Umokeshi transforms into Sourisi!
COMBAT: Sourisi has used Crashing Tooth on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe dodges 0 Fatigue damage from Sailor Moon's In The Name Of The Moon, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Sailor Moon is
Psyched! Hotaru Tomoe's Fade and Flash abilities activate! Diversion applied to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe perfectly counters 23 Fatigue damage from Lancelot's Lightning Impact, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical
Counter! Hotaru Tomoe's Reverse ability activates!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe's counterattack, Devouring Shadow, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Lancelot!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe braces 22 Fatigue damage from Sourisi's Crashing Tooth, taking 18 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Hotaru
Tomoe's Block and Parry abilities activate!

<Pose Tracker> Shigure Shiratsuyu [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Shigure is not, on the other hand, champion material.

She's not going to hit the bullseye with unerring accuracy with every strike -- and calm and focus can only get her so far when her opponent has her cornered. She reaches for her next shot--

And hears the screams, and something contorts and twists in her as she feels something very... very much off.

The scream shakes her through her foundation, and being as close as she is-- she's thrown clear off her feet with a wince as she holds onto her side. "U-ugh... what...?"

Her eyes widen. The girl before them had turned into a -- no, that's...

Shigure's eyes follow the other magical girls as they turn towards the battle. She falters, and hurries in the cloud of the dust as she hides behind a nearby rafter of seats.

She clutches at her pendant and whispers the fated words that've drawn her into all of this.

Ma zweie an cloidheamh solais tron...

(Indefatigable light draws the awakened Claiomh Solais...)

It isn't long before there's a flash of light -- and a magical girl in a grey, black and white garment has joined the battle. The Claiomh Solais, a greatsword of enormous proportion, is affixed towards her back as she expresses, "Sailor Moon! Sourisi, I'm so glad you're here!" to just a few that've joined the battle. "I've got your back, you can do this!"

Her stomach twists. Those were people she knew... this... this felt horrible.

But she believes in everyone.

COMBAT: Shigure Shiratsuyu transforms into Symphogear Solais!
COMBAT: Shigure Shiratsuyu has used I Know You Can Do This! on Sailor Moon.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon accepts Shigure Shiratsuyu's I Know You Can Do This!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Sailor Moon is Cheered!
Empower applied to Sailor Moon!

<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

Steven watches onward with bated breath. Every time someone is about to release an arrow, he takes on and holds it, as if everything was riding on that shot. Bullseye after bullseye is nailed, and Steven wants to erupt with cheer with each on in succession that much more. An energetic child if one ever existed. "I know, right? Fuu is super good at archery, huh? Wonder how long shes been doing it?" A pause. "Oh, I think I have seen that person at school!" the boy states, looking toward Shigure.

Miho's turn comes up, and Steven suddenly chokes and falls over when a scream peals out over that arrow noise. "BWUH!" is about as close to correct that the boy makes upon faceplanting. Clamoring his way back up, his hakama fluttering all over, the boy looks on, and immediately recognizes the creature as it forms. Only one thing fought before denies light's caress on its form like that.

"Oh no."

With a flutter of the blanket, the boy is literally off at breakneck pace. He seems to have not heard Niramo, or chose not to. He has to get out there to help! "Did it just come out of those people?! Is that where they come from?!" Does that mean that some of the lost girls actually TURNED into those things under the island? He isn't even halfway to the scene before a roseate shield springs forth with a magical clanging noise on his forearm.

The boy joins the fray, and points at the creature decisively! "You, creature! You--"

Among those who show up is among Sailor Moon. Steven just watches her make her statement against the forces of evil. The boy wells up, with courage at her arrival, and has to tack on. "Yeah, what she said! You can't just steal people's bodies to use for your own nefarious purposes! And if she is against you, then I, Steven Unvierse, am as well!" Yeah, that sounded good. Possibly not ''as'' good though, but she has it down to an art form.

With that, the boy readies for combat, and the inevitable clash, as he sinks into a defensive posture.

COMBAT: Steven Universe transforms into Steven Quartz Universe!
COMBAT: Steven Universe has used AND STEVEN! on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to dodge Steven Universe's AND STEVEN!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Steven Universe is Psyched!
Diversion applied to Hotaru Tomoe!

<Pose Tracker> Saki Hyuuga [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Saki has taken to sitting by quietly; attention mostly on the yards below. Mai doesn't like her looking while she works, and Saki respects that, especially since Mai occasionally appeases her with a glimpse of the work. Like this one!

Saki looks it over - shifting as if moving would somehow allow her more perspective on the world Mai has captured. "Amazing!" she finally declares, and beams. "I'm always amazed by that, Mai. You caught a thing I didn't even see...I know it happened, but you saw it and caught it. That's really amazing! And--" Saki frowns, the haze of gushing about Mai being amazing disrupted by sudden screaming. "I didn't think kyudo usually got this excited," she mutters, and looks.

And freezes. "Oh....no," she rasps. It's almost a formality when Flappy pushes his head out of her gym bag. "Saki-lapi! I sense--"

Saki grabs him and points him at the horrible thing rapidly emerging from one of their school mates. Flappy chokes himself off with a horrified gurgle.

"It's terrible-chopi!" comes Choppy's cry.

And that wakes Mai up, causing her to look up at the mass of fangs and darkness that is not unfamiliar to her. Mai feels her stomach grow cold; the fearful sight of a monster that is so different than the ones she fights, and brings out a new kind of fear -- equally strong to the one that Akudaikaan's minions inspire, and yet terrible in a new way. Her purple eyes widen.

But she finds strength when she looks sideways and meets Saki's brown eyes. "Saki!" The sketch book is dropped. Forgotten, for a moment.

"Mai!" Saki calls back. She's on her feet, hand out. Flappy disappears in a poof, zooming to her hand in his mix commune form. She looks down. There's no explanation needed, not really. They have to go. She holds out her hand and Mai grasps it.

A flash of light erupts around both girls. Silver and gold mix together, before they stand: Cure Bloom and Cure Egret, pink-and-black standing beside white-and-blue. Egret's purple hair flutters out behind her, her violet eyes narrowed, and she looks briefly at her partner -- and then turns to look towards the Protodaimon. Don't be frightened, she thinks. Don't let it get to her.

Bloom is next to her. Egret nods, once. Then, two call out, as one: "We are Pretty Cure!"

Mai points forward with a hand, at the monster that may not understand. "Those who would desecrate the Sacred Fountains..."

"Stop your cruel behavior!"

Cure Bloom holds her hand out - fingers splayed, defiant. She's fought these before. She's been defeated by them, even. Her fingers tremble in Egret's grip, but she squeezes tighter, with forces that would shatter concrete but translates to merely firm with Pretty Cure's power, until her fingers still.

And then she charges, leaping forward, bounding with that loping gait of hers as she nearly ''throws'' herself at the beast, one, two, three pinwheeling leaps; and then swings down with one foot to smash into the protodaimon, and in the same move throw herself upward, to where she can catch Egret.

Egret, for her part, already leaped into the air. The white Cure spins as she goes airborne -- and then her foot comes down. It slams into gloved hands, and with a push, Bloom sends her cartwheeling into the air. She spins -- and comes down like a drill that kicks at the Protodaimon ''hard''. She hits the ground, skidding, and then comes rushing back for it. She doesn't have to look up to know where Bloom is.

But she cries out, to be sure: "Bloom!" she yells. "NOW!"

Bloom's hand lashes out, whirling the girl around her in a dancing pirouette. Their hands slap together with a clear, crisp clap as they whirl around each other.

Then the other pair clap too, their whole bodies exploding with light, their unified hands facing toward the monster gathering it all together into a shining torrent of the Sacred Fountains' might.

Their feet erupt with the rest, like twin rockets of silver and gold cutting the sky. There's no attack call: Just a defiant scream.

COMBAT: Saki Hyuuga transforms into Cure Bloom!
COMBAT: Mai Mishou transforms into Cure Egret!
COMBAT: Cure Bloom has started a combo targeting Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Cure Egret has joined the combo started by Cure Bloom!
COMBAT: COMBO! Cure Bloom and Cure Egret have used Double Pretty Cure Spirit Splash on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe braces 49 Fatigue damage from Cure Bloom and Cure Egret's Combo: Double Pretty Cure Spirit Splash, taking 21
Fatigue damage! Hotaru Tomoe's Block and Parry abilities activate!

<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

ELSEWHERE, A DARK WOMAN WAITS, WITH A DARK PURPOSE

Grand Magus Kaolinite has beautiful hands. They are long-fingered and strong and graceful as they pass to and fro in elaborate, syrup-slow gestures above the scrying pool she's kneeling before.

Her vision zooms in on the protodaimon as they erupt.

"Yes, exactly as planned..."

---

AT THE ARCHERY RANGE

Fuu has come up with an interesting working theory about protodaimon victims being able to control their eruptions.

It is ''definitely'' not the case.

The last thing Maho hears as the second protodaimon explodes out of her is the gentle chiding of her captain -- who is close enough that she's briefly impacted by the bubbling ichorous flesh as it expands.

The last thing Fuu hears of Maho, of course, is more screaming.

And then she is gone -- and then there are two.

---

ALL KINDS of distracting things happen, after that. The Miho-daimon gets called out by no one less than Sailor Moon, her Silver Crystal glimmering in the brooch on her chest, and the monster's head turns to stare directly at her.

Eyes -- Miho's eyes, dozens of them in that lovely soft green -- open with soft bubbling pops, rippling up and down its flesh, to stare right at her.

They all blink at once and become empty-void eyes instead.

Steven receives similar treatment from the Maho-daimon, except that the human eyes, when they are present, are a gentle brown.

They start lunging forward, but there are others there first: Lancelot and Niramo. Everyone is ''extremely'' familiar with the phenomenon that occurs when Arondight explodes into the side of the Miho-daimon and all that lightning and kinetic force just gets... sucked in... becoming part of the darkness, a darkness that grows further. It doesn't belch, but it's possible to feel its urge to do so. Its sense of momentary satiation...

...and then more of that terrible, terrible hunger. It lurches towards him--

---

Maho-daimon, meanwhile, just took Sourisi's tonfa full in the face. The vibration pours down it like purple-black jello, and it tsunamis upwards, its own medium for its own wave, about to crash down upon her full-force--

---

DEATH BUSTER HQ

"FOCUS!" snaps Kaolinite.

---

HERE

The two protodaimon abort their nascent counteroffensives... and slam towards Fuu, so very nearby, instead, leaving her nowhere to run as she's flanked--

--only to be blasted backwards by the immense power of the Splash Star Pretty Cure.

Although, again, far more of that spiritual energy seemed to be ''absorbed'' than actually ''impacted'' per se, and the two of them are growing, growing...

...growing into each other...

...and then there was one. It's a good two stories tall, and it screams with four voices instead of two--

--as whatever it's made out of, the outer layer of it seems to explode in all directions like extraordinarily gross reactive armor crossed with a weresnake's skin, coating everybody nearby. It is ninety-eight-point-six degrees warm, thicker than water, and burns like acid, rapidly destroying ordinary items (like the bows and arrows strewn about) and threatening to eat through more extraordinary items as well...

...among other things.

COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Visceral Eruption on Cure Bloom.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Visceral Eruption on Cure Egret.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Visceral Eruption on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Visceral Eruption on Sailor Moon.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Visceral Eruption on Steven Universe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Visceral Eruption on Shigure Shiratsuyu.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Visceral Eruption on Lancelot.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Visceral Eruption on Sourisi.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Hunger on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe accepts Hotaru Tomoe's Hunger, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Hotaru Tomoe is Reinforced by Hotaru
Tomoe!
COMBAT: Shigure Shiratsuyu fails to brace Hotaru Tomoe's Visceral Eruption, taking 21 Fatigue damage! Shigure Shiratsuyu is
Taunted!
COMBAT: Sourisi fails to dodge Hotaru Tomoe's Visceral Eruption, taking 21 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Sailor Moon dodges 9 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's Visceral Eruption, taking 13 Fatigue damage! Sailor Moon's Fade
and Flash abilities activate! Sailor Moon is Taunted!
COMBAT: Steven Universe fails to brace Hotaru Tomoe's Visceral Eruption, taking 23 Fatigue damage! Steven Universe is Taunted!
COMBAT: Lancelot fails to dodge Hotaru Tomoe's Visceral Eruption, taking 28 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Lancelot is Taunted!

<Pose Tracker> Chibi-Usa Tsukino [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Chibi-Usa finds herself pulled along easily, even by Usagi. "H-hey!" she says, worried, afraid, until she's dragged into the closet. She looks up at Usagi, and it--it feels ''wrong'' to just hide, even though she can't do anything. She couldn't do anything. But--

"What--but--what about you!?" Usagi looks... determined, somehow, though Chibi-Usa can barely see it. She promises...

Older girls always seem to be making her promises. But it usually only means--

Chibi-Usa takes a breath in the dark, and then, a moment later, after Usagi looks back, she opens the door again. She can't just leave things like this. She can find someone, can--

...Chibi-Usa stares, as she sees Usagi in the light. Usagi, changing. Usagi--

"S-Sailor Moon...?" Chibi-Usa murmurs in disbelief. All along, right here. All along--

...Sailor Moon was right here. The Silver Crystal really ''was'' right here. And now--

Chibi-Usa blinks back tears at the sheer hail of emotions running through her and grits her teeth... Rushing closer, to where she can hide behind a corner and watch the fight. It's terrifying, but--

How can she just run away? Again?

...So she calls out, "Sailor Moon!" from behind. She gives no hint at what she's seen, no clue as to what she knows now. But she sees her facing this thing--

"Be careful! Don't give up! Everyone, you can--!" She loses her breath, at that, but her red eyes shine as she watches them with more than just fear.

COMBAT: Chibi-Usa Tsukino has used Be Careful Sailor Moon! on Sailor Moon.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon accepts Chibi-Usa Tsukino's Be Careful Sailor Moon!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Sailor Moon is Cheered!
COMBAT: Cure Egret cleanly braces 17 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's Visceral Eruption, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Cure Egret's
Block and Parry abilities activate! Cure Egret is Taunted!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji braces 11 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's Visceral Eruption, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Fuu Hououji's Block
and Parry abilities activate! Fuu Hououji is Taunted!

<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.

Lancelot suddenly flies right past Sailor moon covered in proto-daimon goo. He hits a pillar bounces off and lands face first next to Sailor Moon. "I should have remembered about that." He says in a mumbled voice speaking into the ground. He pushes himself to hsi feet and shakes his head to clear it. "Hiya Moon. Long time no see. Think we can stop meeting like this? Maybe meet over donuts instead of impending doom and gloom?" He shrugs.

Then he summons a metric ton fo lightning to him, the energy crackling around his armshands and the blades. He points the blades at the Proto-Daimon, the lightning crackling down the edges of the blades and collecting there at the tips. "Alright. Let's see you absorb THIS!" As he calls out in a triumphant voice; "LIGHTNING BLAST!" The energy at the tips release in an arcing blast of pure blue and white lighting that crackle toward the proto-daimon.

COMBAT: Lancelot has used Lightning Blast on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Lancelot has cancelled their attack on Hotaru Tomoe. If there are more attacks that need to be +cancelled, please hold all
+attacks until the process is complete.

<Pose Tracker> Shigure Shiratsuyu [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

The Maiden of Solais is rattled, as Maho, too, gets consumed and the proto-daimon consumes her. As she bursts from within -- she shakes her head, gasping as shs ays, "No-- Maho, Miho...!"

That churning within her stomach intensifies, as she thinks of death and how close she's come to it... again and again. She turns towards Lancelot as he keeps charging forward, and looks towards Sailor Moon as she asks, "Can-- can they be cleansed...?"

She gazes as the twin powers of the Pretty Cure come to light. It gives her hope... but that lingering question of whether her classmates that she knew -- who she were practicing before beside her -- were gone.

"S-Sourisi..." whispers Solais as she watches her fight with her tonfa. "Please, for their sake..."

She doesn't sound sure, but she believes in the Miraculous Mouse.

COMBAT: Shigure Shiratsuyu has used I Believe In You! on Sourisi.
COMBAT: Lancelot has used Lightning Blast on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Sourisi accepts Shigure Shiratsuyu's I Believe In You!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Sourisi's debuffs are
cleared!

<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

Steven stands defiant against the protodaimon. And quickly wishes he hadn't. THe eyes, so many, watching, waiting, ''wanting''. Steven begins to tremble. He thought they would be easier to face in the light. He thought wrong. THe boy barely reacts to the sudden jettisoning of viscous, disintegrating liquid before it coats him, and only the pain therein causes him to react. "Ahhhhh--!" he screams in pain, getting all over his hakama, his face, his hair. THinking quickly, the boy lets loose a quick bubble shield to remove the substance from off him, though major damage was already inflicted with the small time of contact. "What an awful...!" the boy says, grabbing the edge of his trusty implement with his spare hand.

"It... it is time to teach you some manners, badguy! Fiend? Whatever you are!" With that, the boy charges into the creature hoping to inflict some kind of damage, or possibly knock it over.

He recalls though that they are very durable. How well will this work? Thankfully he begins to see more friends, in Pretty Cures and Lancelot showing up in to the fray. Maybe they can team up on them and take them down...!

COMBAT: Steven Universe has used Shield Slam on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to dodge Lancelot's Lightning Blast, taking 27 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Lancelot is Psyched!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe decisively counters 15 Fatigue damage from Steven Universe's Shield Slam, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Critical
Hit! Steven Universe is Psyched! Hotaru Tomoe's Reverse ability activates!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe's counterattack, Space Invasion, partially gets through, doing 22 Fatigue damage to Steven Universe!
COMBAT: Cure Bloom braces 11 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's Visceral Eruption, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Cure Bloom's Block
ability activates! Cure Bloom is Taunted!

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

When you're scared - there's nothing more important than knowing she's not alone. The Inner Senshi aren't here, but she's not alone at all... Shigure's song, and her voice, her encouragement, knowing she's at her back. It's uplifting. It's an intense relief - but at the same time it's a responsibility. Sourisi and the Maiden of Claiomh Solais were new at this. And she had to be an example. "Right! These things are tough - but together! We'll definitely make it through this!" Still it's even more of a relief when the Magic Knight of Wind, Lancelot and Pretty Cure both show up. She then answers Shigure again, "They definitely can be." She promises, "And we're going to do it now."

Whirling around the Spiral Heart Moon Rod she declares, "Try not to let them touch you!" She remembers - from so many times, that helpless feeling of being drawn in. And while she knows it may be impossible, she imparts what wisdom she can. "And if you get pulled in - fight for your life!"

But that Miho-Daimon is staring at her with all kinds of void eyes. Eerily - the only readable emotion is an unfathomable alien hunger.

Her warning becomes advice she must take herself really quickly.

It lunges at her, and Sailor Moon dives out of the way into a roll. A tendril only just managed to graze the heel of the moon boot - but it's stuck hold really fast. With a yelp of pain, she desperately tries to yank that boots away, and with a sickening pop manages to get it loose - just as she looks up.

And where there were two - they become one. Into a towering - colossal Protodaimon. It's too reminiscent of Tokyo Tower - where they all came together into one behemoth that smothered the light inside them.

Sailor Moon's throat bobs. There's a whimper in her throat, eyes wide with terror.

It's too much. It's too much.

More people are going to DiE.

And then - there's a singular voice behind her, and she dares to look away from her frozen terror.

And every caring instinct in her just sees a child in danger, "Chibi-Usa-chan! I thought-"

She almost said she thought she told her to stay somewhere safe. Almost, but she cuts herself off. Eyes flashing in determination. The girl has suffered too much to see more today. Scrambling to her feet, she moves to interpose herself between the child and her before spinning the Spiral Heart Moon Rod in a dramatic flourish. Power gathering within it. "Moon Twilight-"

Pointing it at the creature, silverine energy erupts from the rod, spiralling outwards as multiple orbs. "-FLASH!"

Each of the orbs tries to make contact, into an eruption of twilit light. Just moments ago she was ready to give up - but thanks to the others, instead she's calling out, "Everyone! I know it's scary! Fighting monsters like this - they make me feel like I just want to run away! But - just think of the girls trapped inside! They don't know what's happening to them! They just know it's scary and they're suffering - so think of them when you get scared and fight! Fight for their sakes!"

COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Moon Twilight Flash on Hotaru Tomoe.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

And then, indeed, there are two. Fuu was *hoping* that Maho would have some vestige of control, *some* ability to stem the rising tide of darkness, but it's all too clear, all too quickly, that her wisp of hope was not to be borne out.

It's not even a surprise to her, really. Since when are the forces of darkness so considerate as to let their puppet-prey resist? Perhaps a full magical girl would be able to dig in against it, but normal students ... The best Fuu can hope, really, is that he last words she got out give the two girls something to cling to against whatever Hell they're enduring inside the monsters' forms. And that's what she's thinking when she gets bowled over by Maho's protodaimon 'hatching'.

By the time the Wind Knightcan right herself and get to her feet, the protodaimons have merged into a single entity, which has its advantages. She doesn't have time to think about the up sides, though, because that eldritch 'protoplasm' erupts ALL OVER; quite literally, the only thing which keeps the Wind Knight from screaming is the immediate and practical concern that she does not, absolutely does *NOT*, want to find out what that tastes like. She gets covered in it anyway, despite a nearly-reflexive wind barrier staving some of it off, and ...

Well. The feel of it is more than enough to persuade her that not only would it taste unspeakably vile, but she wouldn't be able to taste much of *anything* after that. To say the least.

Finally, the Magic Knight of Wind is able to get back to her feet, reaching over her shoulder and pulling a handful of arrows from her quiver. "I don't know who sent you, monster-san," she calls out, "and I don't care to guess what's guiding you. But your master has made a horrible blunder in judgment."

She nocks the arrows - not one at a time, but *all four* that she's holding - and draws back, glaring down their length.

"Miho, Maho ... my teammates, my kouhai ... !"

It's as though the air about her reflects the tumult in her heart - not confusion, but a deadly, raging storm, whipping at her skirt and sleeves and hair, even as her gaze and aim are rock-steady amidst that storm.

"... I won't let you take them away from me! GALE ARROW!!!!!"

The string is released; four arrows snap forward - starting to scatter and yaw before the winds wrap around them, straightening them on their course and speeding their flight nearly to the point of outrunning the Wind Knight's attack call. Rather than aiming for the center of mass, though, the arrows diverge in directions unrelated to their initial scatter: two for the monster's eyes, the other two for the nearest semblance of limbs sprouting from that dark, toxic mass.

And the green-clad Magic Knight isn't even waiting to see how much effect they have, already reaching for her quiver again.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Gale Arrow on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe braces 31 Fatigue damage from Sailor Moon's Moon Twilight Flash, taking 25 Fatigue damage! Hotaru Tomoe's
Block and Parry abilities activate!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe perfectly dodges 29 Fatigue damage from Fuu Hououji's Gale Arrow, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge!
Hotaru Tomoe's Fade and Flash abilities activate!

<Pose Tracker> Sourisi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Landing down near the daimon in time to catch her tonfa, Sourisi stares up at the monster in shock as it's flesh just bounced with the shock of the impact, like moldy jello. As it lumbers forward to her, Sourisi raises her tonfa in front of her face in a guarding position, but is surprised as it turns back around to assault the Wind Knight. "What? Breeze-san, get clear!"

That warning won't need to be heeded, however, thanks to the timely intervention of the Pretty Cure. The two daimons being knocked back, however, seems to be to their benefit, and the two proto-daimons proceeded to press into, mold into, fuse into-

While a benefit of the daimons fusing with each other was now there was only one to worry about, the fact that the creature was several stories tall is worrisome. Before Sourisi can even think of new tactics for the gargantuan foe, the very flesh of the beast explodes outwards, catching the mouse girl off guard and sending her tumbling into the dirt.

Catching her footing and sliding to a stop, Sourisi surprisingly doesn't focus on the fact that she was coated in the flesh of a monster, but uses her tonfa to scrape off the flesh as quickly as she good. There's always time to worry about the flesh when she wasn't fighting a giant monster that now has two archers inside of it.

All thoughts of where to strike next are put aside, however, as Sourisi spots the Maiden of Solais and her massive blade, staring up at the massive beast in what appears to be worry. Even when Sourisi is doubting herself, there's no way she's going to let a friend doubt herself, for it was the magical girl way! "Solais! We can do this, if we work together! All of us are here, but if we want to save the people inside that monster, we have to stay focused, okay?" A smile forms on Sourisi's lips, and she raises a tonfa to try to encourage her friend. "Remember, the bigger they are, the harder they fall! Now let's make the ground shake!"

<Pose Tracker> Cure Egret [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Two Protodaimons.

It is almost enough to make Cure Egret's insides turn to jelly for a moment. She stares at the second one, and her hands -- balled into fists -- begin to go limp for just a moment. She stares, and takes a deep breath. Her breath is shaking when she exhales. Her eyes turn to the side, to Bloom. She bites her lip.

It is enough to make her consider running. It does not help that Choppy cries out, softly: "It's so terrible-chopi... how can we beat two!"

Mai's eyebrow trembles for a moment.

But, then, she looks to the side. She sees Cure Bloom -- the girl she has stood by for countless times, the girl that makes her know she can't run. She knows enough, now, to know that Bloom is as scared as she is. And, in Mai's estimation, that doesn't make her any less wonderful. She looks back at the Protodaimons.

"Bloom," she says. "I know.... I know we've never, really, won against these things. I know that two of them may be two more than we can handle. But... I believe in you. If we're together, and with everyone here, we can do this. And everyone back home -- Michiru-san and Kaoru-san, too -- are counting on us. So..."

She looks sideways at her, and smiles. It's small, but it will do. She thinks of what their senpai said, over and over again. The words come naturally. "...Let's do our very best."

COMBAT: Cure Egret has used We Are... on Cure Bloom.
COMBAT: Sourisi has used Heartfelt Pledge on Shigure Shiratsuyu.
COMBAT: Shigure Shiratsuyu accepts Sourisi's Heartfelt Pledge, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Shigure Shiratsuyu is Cheered!
COMBAT: Cure Bloom accepts Cure Egret's We Are..., taking 0 Fatigue damage!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Bloom [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Two Protodaimons.

Bloom's reaction is no better than Egret's. The Pretty Cure of Earth nearly ''rebounds'' off the horrid thing as they're sent tumbling back. Bloom lands in three-point stance and kneels there, for a time, staring at the ground, her teeth gritted.

Her breath comes slow. But she dares to look up. Actually see the horrible things, pulsing with open malevolence. She's never seen them in open daylight before. It's stomach-turning. Flappy makes a noise below her.

Mai looks to her, and her shaking fingers still. "I know," she says, quietly, and forces herself to rise. "We have too much depending on us. Michiru and Kaoru, and Miho and Maho...we have to show them that we aren't going to just back down!"

Her stance squares. She looks at the thing, squirming, and her toes curl in her boots. "We won't," she says again. "As long as we're together, the two of us are Pretty Cure!"

COMBAT: Cure Bloom has used ...Pretty Cure! on Cure Egret.
COMBAT: Cure Egret accepts Cure Bloom's ...Pretty Cure!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

It seems that, having shed its outermost layer onto everyone else, the protodaimon is momentarily vulnerable, because this time when Lancelot tries to give it a big shock, it leaves a blackened patch behind.

Well, relatively vulnerable... that patch is sure shrinking fast. It boils as it's transformed back into primordial ooze, and a moment later, a clawed arm erupts out of it to try to seize Lancelot by the throat and slam him into the ground!

Steven runs in from the other side and discovers the thing Sailor Moon was warning about -- he slams into the protodaimon with his shield and ''sticks''.

IMMEDIATELY the burning begins, and a moment later, more mass starts to extrude all around him, vines of the stuff trying to coccoon him more thoroughly... and drag him in.

By the time Moon Twilight Flash comes in, the monster is once again fully capable of absorption -- it's incapable of taking all of that silvery magic in, but certainly it seems to be healing as quickly as she's able to harm it. It doesn't ''like'' that cleansing magic, though, oh, no, and in response it grows a mouth -- a human mouth, with lips, it could be Miho's or Maho's or some fusion of the two -- to spit gibbering fury at her.

Then it gapes open into a huge maw which soars directly towards her, propelled by a rapidly thinning elongated neck.

This is part of why Fuu's arrows miss so very badly; protodaimon have always been inhumanly, impossibly, unfairly quick for their size, even the huge ones. Especially the huge ones, really. Especially quick, especially unfair, and that extra head traveled the distance between 'part of the main bulk' and 'trying to chomp Sailor Moon to death' in less than a second flat.

The other part is that, despite its alien awareness kind of keeping track of everyone who annoys it sufficiently, it seems ''particularly'' interested in the Magic Knight of Wind. Before Pretty Cure blasted it back it was about to go after her with particular ferocity, and that happens again now; it matches her step for step, and then surges over her, more of those mouths bubbling into being, becoming fanged maws, and trying to meatgrind her out of existence...

Despite its especially singular focus on her, though, no place is truly safe. Those focusing on one another -- or, say, hiding in a corner -- have to contend with the fact that the bits of protodaimon that have been separated from the primary mass by a mix of lightning and shield and energy... are surging themselves, becoming tiny skittering clawed palms that eager latch on to anyone they can find... and start to tear, and squeeze.

COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Mass Effect on Lancelot.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Body Horror on Steven Universe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used The Jaws That Bite on Sailor Moon.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used The Jaws That Bite on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Protodaimonthings on Cure Egret.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Protodaimonthings on Sourisi.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Protodaimonthings on Shigure Shiratsuyu.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Protodaimonthings on Chibi-Usa Tsukino.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Protodaimonthings on Cure Bloom.
COMBAT: Cure Egret dodges 9 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's Protodaimonthings, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cure
Egret's Fade and Flash abilities activate!
COMBAT: Cure Bloom fails to counter Hotaru Tomoe's Protodaimonthings, taking 25 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Cure Bloom's counterattack, Petal Flash, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Sailor Moon braces 15 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's The Jaws That Bite, taking 22 Fatigue damage! Hotaru Tomoe is
Psyched!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji 0 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's The Jaws That Bite, taking 47 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji's counterattack, Spinning Slash, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Lancelot cleanly braces 17 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's Mass Effect, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
Lancelot's Block and Parry abilities activate!
COMBAT: Sourisi braces 7 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's Protodaimonthings, taking 11 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Steven Universe counters 2 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's Body Horror, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Steven Universe is
Quipped! Bind Break! All of Hotaru Tomoe's debuffs are cleared!
COMBAT: Steven Universe's counterattack, Bubble Shield, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Sailor Moon covers Chibi-Usa Tsukino for Hotaru Tomoe's attack, Protodaimonthings, taking it upon herself instead!
COMBAT: Sailor Moon fails to dodge Hotaru Tomoe's Protodaimonthings, taking 21 Fatigue damage!

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

It's still focused on *her*, the Wind Knight realizes - and it's already too close to shoot. Bow and quiver vanish, replaced in her hand with a sword, and she pivots -

Without NEARLY enough time to bring her sword around to even nick the monster, before those huge jaws close on her.

But the greater surprise is when she's released, her armor smoking and her 'clothing' around it in terrible shambles, to say nothing of what had been exposed skin. She wobbles on her feet, gasping in a mix of agony, terror, and panic, one hand going to her breastplate -

"NO!!!!"

Even with her glasses gone, the Wind Knight gets both hands back on her sword and leaps at the protodaimon again. "Steven-san! Everyone! This monster just took my pendant - the one which held the power point we recovered from Northa's base!" she calls out, no longer raging but openly, visibly *panicking*. "We have to get it back *and* save the two girls inside! Somehow! Give this fight everything you have, we can't afford to lose!!"

And sure enough, she's laying into the protodaimon as hard as she can, not only with the physical blade she wields (which is pretty big and almost certainly quite sharp) ... but she's wrapping the wind itself around her slashes, adding elemental magic to her physical strikes. She can only hope that she'll be able to cut some useful gouges into the monster before it's too late.

Or before it chomps down on her *again*, which would likely end the fight for her personally. How she's still on her feet with those injuries probably speaks more to her willpower than to her good judgment.

COMBAT: Shigure Shiratsuyu braces 19 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's Protodaimonthings, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
Shigure Shiratsuyu's Block and Parry abilities activate!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Tempest Slash on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe perfectly counters 34 Fatigue damage from Fuu Hououji's Tempest Slash, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical
Counter! Hotaru Tomoe's Reverse ability activates!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe's counterattack, Devouring Shadow, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Fuu Hououji!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Egret [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Egret looks sideways at Saki. She hesitates a moment, before her head nods, bobbing once, and then she turns to look back at the Protodaimons. That leaves her, temporarily, unaware of the fact that there are bits of Protodaimon ''around'' her. As Egret leaps, a clawed hand rakes up at her. It ''just'' catches her boot -- but she tears away just in time, pulling free of it and looking down at the Protodaimon with wide eyes.

Her breath catches. She makes herself breathe again.

It isn't easy when she calls out, her head snapping to look at Fuu. Egret's eyes go wide -- but then she nods. "I understand!" she calls out, as she does a tight midair spin. Cure Egret comes screaming down for it. Her fist punches down -- a burst of silver sparks explodes, and she bounces backward. She does a midair somersault, silver light trailing after her feet.

Feet that, inevitably, come crashing down for the thing's head with a double kick.

COMBAT: Cure Egret has used White Wing Flurry on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to dodge Cure Egret's White Wing Flurry, taking 19 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Exhausted applied to
Hotaru Tomoe!

<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.

A hand bursts out of the spot that he just blasted and Lancelot blinks as it moves with strength and speed to grab him by the throat. He crosses Arondight and the blades catch the grasping hand between the sharp, dangerous and super murderous evil fingers. He strains against the monstrous strength, holding the hand back with the blades, the edges of Demon's Bane cutting into the fingers and the hand. Strange Protodaimon ichor dribble out onto the blades and sizzle there. Electricity crackles and the ichor boils and pops.

"Oh man. You sprouted an arm?!" Lancelot blinks and he strians agianst the thing. "GUYS! This thing sprouted an ARM!!!" There is a long sort of pause. "It's really gross!" Which is when Fuu yells about the pendant being stolen. He narrows his eyes. "Yeah. That's worse than the gross."

Suddenly Lancelot is a burr of motion. He pushes the hand back as he leads backwards landing ina crouch. His baldes dance in his hands as he moves forward again, trying his level best to cut his way to the girl inside. He knows she's in danger. The creature drained the girls at Tokyo Tower. He can't let that happen again.

COMBAT: Lancelot has used Bladefury on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe perfectly braces 21 Fatigue damage from Lancelot's Bladefury, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Brace!
Hotaru Tomoe's Block and Parry abilities activate!

<Pose Tracker> Chibi-Usa Tsukino [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

More people. What did Sailor Moon think? That Chibi-Usa was safe in that closet? ...A lot of things have started to make sense by now, a lot of things that she hadn't even thought of before, and Chibi-Usa somehow has the presence of mind to think about them, to go through her memories even as she watches her heroine bring silver energy at one of the creatures there--hears her talk about those girls.

And the others are working so hard--

"Luuuna-P...!" Chibi-Usa draws her breath and dribbles the little cat robot close, up behind Egret as she pulls closer, "Transform!"

In a blast of pink smoke, Chibi-Usa is holding a fire extinguisher that she uses to spray down the Pretty Cure in hopes of getting rid of some of the goop. "Come on! All of you--you have to! You have to!"

But then it's coming at her, and it has the pendant, and--

Chibi-Usa screams again, with no way to move in time.

COMBAT: Chibi-Usa Tsukino has used Luna-P: TRANSFORM! on Cure Egret.
COMBAT: Cure Egret accepts Chibi-Usa Tsukino's Luna-P: TRANSFORM!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Accelerate applied to Cure Egret!
Cleanse! All of Cure Egret's debuffs are cleared!

<Pose Tracker> Shigure Shiratsuyu [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Shigure was rattled, truly -- moreso when the Protodaimons reveal themselves to be enormously fast and beyond her experience or capacity to deal with them, striking at her from an odd angle and sending her off and crashing against the opposing end of the rafters. There's a cough from her lips--

But Sailor Moon is there, to encourage her. They can be saved. They're going to do it. Don't let them touch you...

Sourisi, too. They can do this... if they work together. "You're right, Sourisi. I'm going to do my best..."

She hefts her large and seemingly unwieldy sword -- the Relic that's never quite fully cooperated with her. She can feel it, how it senses the lack of resolve within her. How she's never been able to gel violence and battle with her wishes...

But today, she has to try -- for Maho and Miho's sake.

Fuu shouts about how the pendant was stolen, and she nods as well. She opens her mouth, and the words just seem to flow out from her--

Aah, how she enters in waltz

A pierrot of many colours...

She does alight in paradise, our false Eden!

Her feet feel lighter than they've ever been, twisting on one heel as she joins the others and for once brings the full fore of the gigantic broadsword to bear. She spins once, feeling the full weight of Claiomh Solais as she lets centripetal force take her--

--up into the air, as she announces:

She turns against the heavens...

A harlequin on the end of a puppets' wire!

Listen, as the curtain rises--

Cut, our heavenly mirage!

COMBAT: Shigure Shiratsuyu has used Heavenly Mirage Slash on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to counter Shigure Shiratsuyu's Heavenly Mirage Slash, taking 36 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe's counterattack, Space Invasion, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Shigure Shiratsuyu!

<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

Steven moves in for the attack, and lands a decent blow, but hears the callout from Sailor Moon too late, as a sickening sound is heard on connection. The boy also quickly finds out that staying there for any amount of time was a poor idea. His shield sticks, as does his arm and legs. "Oh ew! Ahhh! No!" In a panic, the boy deploys another Bubble Shield to stave off the creaky consuming tendrils and break himself free, running away from it a good distance before turning around and re-assessing the situation.

A sweat drop or two trickles down his forehead. The fight has barely begun and he is already tired. He should have trained more with the Gems.

Then Fuu calls out with some dire information. "What?! It did?! ARGH!" the boy exclaims, frustrated now. "I'll go try to distract it, see if we can't get it back!" A pause before running into the fray. "You got one of the best shots out here. I believe in you! You can make this thing regret what it did to your archery friends! Just look deep down and know you are doing this for a righteous cause!" the boy says toward the Wind Knight. He gives her a thumbs up as he runs back in to the melee.

Though without Lion, getting this thing back will be really hard. How's he gonna get up to it?! "When it doubt, improvise!" he says aloud.

COMBAT: Steven Universe has used Love Like You on Fuu Hououji.

<Pose Tracker> Sourisi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Turning back to the proto-daimon, Sourisi is a little concerned by the situation. The very flesh of the creature can hurt just as much as a heavy blow, and with it burning and sticking to whatever it touches, pure magical attacks like the ones that the Wind Knight and Sailor Moon were unleashing might be what wins the day.

Her thoughts on tactics were put on pause when Sourisi feels a jagged claw scratch into her leg, and the mouse girl instinctively lashes her foot out in a kneejerk reaction, sending a miniture daimon flying. "What?!" A glance around her has Sourisi realize that the discarded flesh was doing more than simple burning now, and was creating a miniture hoard of the daimon!

And if that bad news wasn't enough to make Sourisi think the situation was already bad enough, the Wind Knight going into a panic over the pendent was more than enough. "Oh no...they'll have three of the five." And if they manage to get away with that pendent and the magical warriors here couldn't get it back... "Try to do everything you can, we have to stop this thing from escaping!"

There was no time for careful battle plans now, for if they fail to defeat the proto-daimon, it would be more than two innocents dying.

The whole world would be at risk.

Fingers clenching tightly into the wood of her tonfa, Sourisi leaps over the mini-daimon that were in the way, leaping the 30 feet in a single bound to close the distance with the beast. Just before she reaches it, she swings her tonfa downwards with all her might in a hammerhand blow, remembering how much it jiggled when it was hit with her tonfa earlier.

'I can't be a burden for the others, not now!'

COMBAT: Sourisi has used Forest Down on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji accepts Steven Universe's Love Like You, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Surge applied to Fuu Hououji!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe perfectly dodges 19 Fatigue damage from Sourisi's Forest Down, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge!
Hotaru Tomoe's Fade and Flash abilities activate!

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

The thing is HUGE - so it's indignation being shown as a giant mouth trying to chomp her to death. The Spiral Heart Moon Rod is perhaps her only salvation, as she interposes it into it's chomping jaws. The impact of all that bulk nevertheless sends her smashing into chair after chair. Each one disintegrating against the tremendous force as she is battered by one after another.

Trembling, Sailor Moon rises, staggering in place - but... then - there, Fuu calls out that the pendant got lost too.

The pendant. Even if she couldn't quite follow ''everything'' at that tea party, it's importance was demonstrated so clearly by how it defeated Rubeus' trap.

"We have to get it-" But then she sees something out of the corner of her eye something skittering along - right towards Chibi-Usa who's helping the Pretty Cure out with a fire extinguisher!?

The idea of that girl being caught, trapped, pulled in. It was too horrifying to imagine.

Even as messed up as she is she twists, and starts to run. Leaping like some bunny desperate to get away.

But the reality is she's just desperate to get there.

Her arms are open wide as she dives into her, catching hold of her with both arms in what looks like a hug. But it's really a rescue. Because at the same moment - the claws are leaping at the girl.

And slicing into her.

There's a sickening - horrifying sound as her Fuku is shredded, her world going red. And the two land together, her grip more lax than before.

And then she coughs. Her whole body trembling as she looks up at Chibi-Usa. "Sorry... I should have been watching you more closely... that must have been frightening..." She says in obvious pain. Hurting - and yet all she can focus on is the fact that Chibi-Usa was probably scared out of her mind.

It's such a contrast to Usagi Tsukino. The selfish, petty crybaby who takes responsibility for nothing. Perhaps this is the side of what she really had wanted to show earlier. To be a sort of big sister to her.

But then it reveals - that it didn't merely cut her Fuku. It's still there hanging on her. And Sailor Moon releases Chibi-Usa with a cry of alarm as it starts to squeeze. Before shoving her boot up against it, and stomping repeatedly while crying the same thing over and over in a desperate attempt to tear it off- "SAILOR MOON KICK! SAILOR MOON KICK! SAILOR MOON KICK!"

It feels like her own way of saying GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!

If she were watching the others - Steven, Fuu, Sourisi, Shigure, Cure Bloom and Egret - she couldn't be more proud! But right now she's ruining both her senpai and big sister image immediately by acting like a kid trying to get something icky stuck to them off of them - and well... that's really not too far from the truth huh?

COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Sailor Moon Kick on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe braces 4 Fatigue damage from Sailor Moon's Sailor Moon Kick, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Sailor Moon is
Psyched! Hotaru Tomoe's Block and Parry abilities activate! Stun applied to Hotaru Tomoe!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Bloom [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Cure Bloom bought Fuu a precious few seconds that almost do something! She sees that!

Just before she gets assaulted by tiny jumping blobs. "HaaaAAAH!" she calls, replying to the power by drawing on her own magic, the light of her power swirling around her fingertips as she hurls a wave of inchoate but powerful motes of light at the jumping things, which proceed to ignore her defense entirely and biff her across the jaw, sending her tumbling for bits of protodaimon to swarm.

Moments later she throws herself up and back and away, playing keep-away with the horribleness. She tracks Egret briefly, but can't do much to help her from here. She surges; leaps away with a pinwheeling whirl of legs - and hears Wind Knight's proclamation. She remembers them in brief, horrible flashes. The fight at the World Tree. The loss of that power to save the world from Rubeus.

She sucks in a breath and then bounds again, lands on one boot, the other held high as it begins to glow.

Then drops it in an axe kick she hopes will rip down through that goo, light exploding around her foot as it falls.

COMBAT: Cure Bloom has used Fistful of Flowers on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe dodges 15 Fatigue damage from Cure Bloom's Fistful of Flowers, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Cure Bloom is
Psyched! Hotaru Tomoe's Fade and Flash abilities activate!

<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

All this time there have been four screams emitting from the protodaimon's maw, but two of them are starting to grow measurably weaker. The meaning is clear -- putting aside the temporary injections of power from other peoples' attacks, Miho and Maho's pure hearts are the monster's more fundamental fuel, and that fuel is starting to sputter dangerously low.

A third entity has joined the girls in the interior of the monster's bulk. Fuu knew it was gone as much from the very audible *GULP* as the monster swallowed it down a temporary throat, as from the lightening of weight on her chest.

---

DEATH BUSTERS HQ

"Yesss!" cheers Kaolinite, grinning at the tableau on her scrying pool.

Quickly she returns her pumping fist into a dramatically finger-splayed arcane gesture and sneaks a peek over her shoulder to make sure nobody saw.

---

HERE

Something weird is happening.

It isn't exactly weird ''per se'' that Lancelot and Fuu's sword slashes are having absolutely no effect except, perhaps, transferring their kinetic and wind energies into the monster's ichor, which is now bubbling happily rather than boiling painfully.

The weird part is the golden glow rising from what is surely the pendant, inside the monster. It provides a sort of internal flashlight -- for a moment it's all too easy to see Miho and Maho inside.

To see them stir, and redouble their screaming with new energy.

Especially as the golden light begins to dim...

---

DEATH BUSTER HQ

Kaolinite's eyes widen. Her hand is a fist again, but for a different reason.

"NO! NO NO NO! Don't eat that energy -- we need it for our Mistress' great Plan! Just... tuck the pendant into your cheek or something!!"

---

HERE

Pretty Cure crash into the top of the creature and its 'main' face. Bloom winds up bouncing off, but Egret hit with full force and sticks. Looking down, she can see a few feet into the protodaimon's translucent flesh, where Miho and Maho are curled. Rictus returns to their bodies, the tension of being drained. Their fetal position is no protection, that's for certain.

The golden glow redoubles, and the screaming weakens.

---

DEATH BUSTER HQ

Kaolinite rubs out the beautifully formed sweatdrop on her forehead with a finger and thumb, making the exact sound of rubbing something out on a dry-erase board with same. Squeaky-squeak.

Phew.

"Okay! Okay. Now, just, go to ground. Flee, and become what lies beneath!"

---

HERE

The archery range is in one of the oldest parts of Tokyo. This is great for Death Buster getaways -- once the daimon gets beyond the main grounds of Sensouji, there are an essentially unlimited set of narrow alleys, and ancient sewers, to get it where it needs to go.

But first it needs to get all of these pesky magical girls and boys off of it.

Thousands of tiny cilia sprout from it as it SHAKES furiously, trying to dislodge everyone touching it (Fuu, Lancelot, Sourisi and Egret), sending them flying backwards like rainwater flies out of a dog's shaggy fur.

The daimonthings, the clawed hands, pick up and go, skittering back to rejoin the main bulk as it charges towards the nearest wall -- it happens to be the wall covered in archery targets.

But Shigure is in the way. It tries to avoid her massive slash and fails...

...which cuts it right in half.

The bottom half of the daimon immediately starts boiling away, turning into noxious smoke. Sentient noxious smoke -- it chitters and laughs like the demon it is.

The top half, which still contains two girls and one pendant, sprouts more clawed arms and legs and eyes than any spider -- it resembles a koosh ball more than anything, albeit a nightmare-inducing one -- and it scrabbles onward, tearing through anyone between it and the other side of that wall with reckless abandon.

If it manages to catch ''hold'', it ejects the limb into a bunch of boiling goo to pin its enemy to the ground.

COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Mass Effect on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Mass Effect on Lancelot.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Mass Effect on Sourisi.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Mass Effect on Cure Egret.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used The Claws That Catch on Shigure Shiratsuyu.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used The Claws That Catch on Cure Bloom.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used The Claws That Catch on Sailor Moon.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used The Claws That Catch on Steven Universe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used HUNGER on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe accepts Hotaru Tomoe's HUNGER, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Hotaru Tomoe is Reinforced by Hotaru
Tomoe!
COMBAT: Cure Egret decisively counters 15 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's Mass Effect, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Hotaru Tomoe
is Psyched! Cure Egret's Reverse ability activates!
COMBAT: Cure Egret's counterattack, Light of Feathers, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Shigure Shiratsuyu dodges 9 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's The Claws That Catch, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Critical
Hit! Stagger, Stun, and Trap applied to Shigure Shiratsuyu!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji dodges 8 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's Mass Effect, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Fuu Hououji's Fade and
Flash abilities activate!
COMBAT: Cure Bloom braces 16 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's The Claws That Catch, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
Cure Bloom's Block ability activates! Stagger and Stun applied to Cure Bloom!
COMBAT: Sailor Moon perfectly dodges 20 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's The Claws That Catch, taking 0 Fatigue damage!
Critical Dodge! Sailor Moon's Fade and Flash abilities activate!
COMBAT: Steven Universe fails to brace Hotaru Tomoe's The Claws That Catch, taking 19 Fatigue damage! Stagger, Stun, and Tangle
applied to Steven Universe!
COMBAT: Sourisi perfectly counters 20 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's Mass Effect, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter!
COMBAT: Sourisi's counterattack, Feral Flail, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Hotaru Tomoe!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Egret [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Egret is, sufficed to say, rather shocked when a fire extinguisher sprays her -- but it does, in fact, blow away some of that goop. Her eyes widen; she turns her head to look at Chibi-Usa, and tilts her head for a moment. The Pretty Cure smiles, though. "Thank you!" she says. "Please, stay safe. We'll do everything we can to get that pendant back and protect everyone."

She looks back at the Protodaimon -- and listens to the screams coming from within. Her eyes widen. "Maho, Miho... please hold on!"

She can look down at them, ''see'' them as she kicks into it, landing there and seeing the golden light. Her eyes widen -- and then a cilia comes flying at her -- so she throws her hand out to the side. White light explodes, like a barrier, and bounces it backward. She keeps keeps a barely-held grip on the top half as Shigure slices it in two, her feet stumbling for a moment...

...but, ultimately, Cure Egret is elegant and controlled. She kicks off it -- and then comes back down, punching towards the horrible, koosh-ball shaped thing. Her fist lights up -- and she tries to knife hand into it, towards where she saw Miho and Maho a moment before.

COMBAT: Cure Egret has used Feather Flourish on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to brace Cure Egret's Feather Flourish, taking 12 Fatigue damage!

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

"Oh no you *don't* - !!!"

Steven's words of encouragement came at a good moment, maybe a critical one. This fight has been incredibly personal for the Magic Knight of Wind: Her own memories of the innocents who died at Tokyo Tower, countless other fights with these protodaimon, her personal stake in trying to save Miho and Maho, the fact that it was an *archery tournament* which was ruined by the monster's emergence ....

Take all of that, and add the very visible, even *palpable*, lack of an effect she's been able to have on the monster - she has, in gamer parlance, been getting completely and utterly pwned like a hapless noob, and for all her normal cool reason, it has *not* left the Wind Knight thinking clearly. Which is why Steven's words came at an optimal moment, piercing through her frenzied rage and pulling her back to a measure of herself. It's not enough to keep her from getting tossed around (*again*) by the protodaimon shaking everybody off at once - but instead of coming up angry, the Wind Knight rolls with the impact, coming back to her feet faster than she might have.

"You're not getting away, not this time!" The Wind Knight gathers herself, then thrusts her hands out at the protodaimon. "Winds of Admonishment!!" she calls out, grasping the wind itself with her power and trying to encage the monster. Never mind how big it is, how strong it is, how scary it is; if she can hinder its movements even a *little* bit, it's a chance to prevent its escape - to rescue its victims - to take back the pendant that's still shining so brightly, despite the darkness around it.

And right now? She'll take every chance she can *get*, not for her own sake but for the sake of her allies.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Admonishment on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe dodges 10 Fatigue damage from Fuu Hououji's Winds of Admonishment, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Fuu Hououji is
Psyched! Hotaru Tomoe's Fade and Flash abilities activate! Trap applied to Hotaru Tomoe!

<Pose Tracker> Chibi-Usa Tsukino [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Chibi-Usa nods firmly, fiercely up at Cure Egret for a moment. "Just go, go!" she says to the magical girl, and that's when--

Well, thedanger is there. When Sailor Moon rushes for her while she's afraid, and leaps towards her, catching her quickly and knocking her backward as--

"Sailor Moon!" Chibi-Usa cries, noticing that lax crip, hearing the cough, looking up at her. "...It's more frightening seeing you get hurt!" she says, and it's not all bravado--as terrifying as these creatures are--even if it's just Usagi--

It's a huge contrast. "You--" It's still there. "AAH!"

....Poor Sailor Moon... Chibi-Usa swings her fire extinguisher at her and it... might... help. It pretty much doesn't help. But she's trying!

And this time she's spared the attack by sheer Sailor Moon's presence, and her eyes widen as she sees Shigure cut it in half--but the top half is still moving. Even looking at it is terrifying, and Chibi-Usa's been crying despite her attempts at bravery. There's the monster--

"IT'S GOING THAT WAY!" Chibi-Usa calls out, pointing at it in case anybody lost sight in the melee and hopping up and down--before she dives down behind a barricade again. She doesn't want to make Sailor Moon hurt herself for her again, but--

That light... The screams. It's--

"G-go!" she calls.

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Thankfully Sailor Moon and Chibi-Usa's efforts combined manages to smoosh it enough that she can get free of the pieces holding onto her - but now it looks like the thing was... Chibi-Usa grasps it first, just before her.

"Oh. Oh no."

It's trying to run. And if it gets away those two girls are done for - and that pendant is gone.

A limb is ejected straight at her. And this time she leaps into a diving shoulder roll. The titanic limb comes close enough to clip one of her twintails, but the filaments thankfully slice away rather than get tangled up in it. She comes up onto a single knee.

And she sees the results. One after another it's pinning girl after girl AND STEVEN beneath the trembling detached limbs. And while she feels like she has to stop this quickly - she can do it better if she's not alone.

Grasping her sacred tiara with a hand, she cocks back her wrist, sighting down the path of each it becomes a discus of glittering stardust and moonlight, "Moon Tiara-"

Flinging it forward, there's a prayer upon her lips, "-BOOMERANG!" It whirls across the room, moving to sever the limb strangling Shigure - and another grappling with Cure Bloom. Before finally on it's return arc a final limb free from atop Steven.

She's standing by the time it gets back to her, as she catches it, and places it back on her forehead. "Don't worry Chibi-Usa."

The pendant is important - and she knows this. But the two precious lives within feel even more priceless to her.

Flourishing the Spiral Heart Moon Rod as like a prelude to what she's intending soon... "We absolutely won't let that happen!"

COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Moon Tiara Boomerang on Cure Bloom.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Moon Tiara Boomerang on Shigure Shiratsuyu.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Moon Tiara Boomerang on Steven Universe.
COMBAT: Steven Universe accepts Sailor Moon's Moon Tiara Boomerang, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Steven Universe's
debuffs are cleared!
COMBAT: Lancelot fails to brace Hotaru Tomoe's Mass Effect, taking 19 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Cure Bloom accepts Sailor Moon's Moon Tiara Boomerang, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Cure Bloom's debuffs are
cleared!
COMBAT: Shigure Shiratsuyu accepts Sailor Moon's Moon Tiara Boomerang, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cleanse! All of
Shigure Shiratsuyu's debuffs are cleared!

<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

Hustling his best, Steven runs to the front of the foray, as One of the magical fighters tears through the creature clean, shearing it in half. It only stops it momentarily however, as the fearsome creature tears off toward an exit with both the girls and the pendant, the boy maneuvers to try and stop it. The daimon predicts the assault, and actually launches a leg off of its body when Steven moves to block it, and sticks Steven to the ground in volatile ichor.

The boy struggles to get free, but it hurts. He tries to shield it away, but he can't seem to muster one. "I don't think I can...!" Ge on, is what he wants to say, but he must press on! Small tears begin to well up in his eyes. Fighting these things were so hard. So different from other enemies.

Maybe he isn't ready for this. Mayeb theres--

A moonlit tiara streaks past, disintegrating the leg pinning him down. He recognizes that tiara, and looks up to see none other than Sailor Moon has come to his rescue. It makes him feel... better. If only slightly. It will surely be a moment he will be fond of for a long time to come, but right now his mind is clouded and unsure.

"I-If those lags snap off like that so easily," he says, sliffing and fighting back tears, "Maybe if it loses enough, it cant move anymore?" The boy quickly moves to try and catch up with the spider-daimon. When he gets close enough, he will try to knock more of those legs off. With the edge of his shield, of course. Hopefully being careful of the detaching effect.

COMBAT: Steven Universe has used Shield Bash on Hotaru Tomoe.

<Pose Tracker> Sourisi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

As magical boys and girls unleash numberous attacks upon the flesh of the beast, it's clear that their attacks were having little to no effect on the creature. The powerful slam that the mouse girl unleashed upon the amorphous body did nothing more that cause it to shake violently, and Sourisi isn't even sure if that was the attack or if the creature was laughing at their efforts.

Then the proto-daimon sprouts protrusions all over its' body, flailing around and trying to knock the magical climbers off it's flesh as it attempts to flee. It, however, is not the only thing that can flail, and Sourisi is spinning and twirling her tonfa, without rhythm or pathern, but preventing from a single cilia from striking her and sending her flying. "Hey, mouses are clingy animals, you can't get rid of me that easily!"

Solais' raising voice, her song being clearly heard despite the chaos of the battlefield, was the only warning Sourisi needed to look away from the fleshy flails, and Sourisi leaps upwards, reaching upwards before the mighty weight of Claiomh Solais crashes down upon, and through, the proto-daimon!

As the beast topples, Sourisi couldn't help but let out a cheer, hope starting to return to her. "Amazing job, Solais! I knew you could do it!" It's much too early to celebrate victory just yet, if the additional limbs and the glowing light illuminating the two archers are an indication.

Beating back another cilia, Sourisi tries her best to find a spot that would give her just enough room to attack without worrying about any current limbs grabbing a hold of her, but with how many there are, she would just have to be quick. "I can't cut through you like Solais can, but-" Sourisi starts to jab her tonfa downward into the flesh of the creature, hoping and praying that her tonfa would could make a path to the pendent. Her arms blur with the speed behind each blow, both tonfa working with machine-like efficiency. "-i'm going to help, no matter what it takes. You won't succeed if I can help it!"

COMBAT: Sourisi has used Mouse Flurry on Hotaru Tomoe.

<Pose Tracker> Shigure Shiratsuyu [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

The problem with inexperience is that sometimes, sometimes, even ''success'' gets you second-guessing yourself.

Such is the case with the Maiden of Solais when her cleave cuts so cleanly that the Proto-Daimon is cut in half-- and for a moment, that sown seed of doubt blossoms as she wonders if she's screwed up--

If she's killed Maho or Miho and shattered something irrevocable.

That doubt is long enough for the top half of the Proto-Daimon to seize upon her, long claws grasping onto her as she yelps and is drawn down, blades tearing into her--

"I can't breathe-- aghh--"

*ping*

The Moon Tiara Boomerang flies off cleanly and smashes against the Daimon's claws as it encroaches on her...

"Sailor Moon... thank you."

She listens in on Steven's plan and nods, saying, "All right, Steven. Then I'll try..." The Maiden's hand is on her hilt once more, and it snaps loose with a satisfying little click.

When next she draws, she does not draw the full bore of Claiomh Solais' form, but rather just its hilt -- and a thin, spiritual lash strings forth and ebbs around her. Her preferred form of attacking, by comparison.

She challenges her accursed fate

Set 'pon the forefront of a midnight tragedy!

Solais joins the fray once more, following Sourisi's cheer as she nods and charges forward with the tonfa.

Burn now, open the gates

'til all is laid to rest...

Her whip lashes low, and snakes along the ground as she seeks to entangle and bind the Proto-Daimon's legs to prevent it from escaping.

COMBAT: Shigure Shiratsuyu has used Sword of Spiritual Perception on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to brace Steven Universe's Shield Bash, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Steven Universe is Psyched!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe partially dodges 6 Fatigue damage from Sourisi's Mouse Flurry, taking 22 Fatigue damage! Sourisi is Psyched!
Hotaru Tomoe's Fade and Flash abilities activate!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to counter Shigure Shiratsuyu's Sword of Spiritual Perception, taking 28 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
Analysis performed by Shigure Shiratsuyu!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe's counterattack, Devouring Shadow, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Shigure Shiratsuyu!

<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.

As the grasping hands come to get him, Lancelot parries and moves, but one of those strikes get him. Right in the gut and it drops Lancelot like a stone. He falls to a knee in an explosio of breath and it takes him half a minute to get his breath back. He staggers to his feet and shakes his head ot clear it. Agian. This thing is, these thigns in general. He can't. He can't beat them. "Everytime. Everytime I find these things I fail." He stares at the ground, panting.

He swallows, his eyes showing fear before he resets into a fighter stance. He has to try. He has to do something. Lightning worked once, he grimaces. "Let's see if lightning will strike twice eh?" he runs forward, summoning power to him as he goes. His blades gleaming with power that he draws to in to himself. He leaps and slashes in the air, releasing the power toward those creatures. "HEAVEN'S WRATH!"

An even bigger blast of pure lighting rockets toward the protodaimon. As Lancelot hits the ground, he drops to one knee and pours everything he has into that blast. Lighting whips and crackks as it coils around that one blase. The ground itself is licked by the power he unleashes. He screaming worldessly into that blast. As if his fear and rage could power it.

COMBAT: Lancelot has used Heaven's Wrath on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe braces 14 Fatigue damage from Lancelot's Heaven's Wrath, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Hotaru Tomoe's Block and
Parry abilities activate! Blind and Stagger applied to Hotaru Tomoe!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Bloom [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Cure Bloom does indeed bounce off on that hit, her Pretty Cure magic not quite powerful enough to carve the path. She lands on her feet. She flips her head up, her pineapple hair drooping a little. Watching the fate of the world hang in the balance is exhausting, even knowing she and Mai are together. Even knowing so many people with so many powers are here and ready and eager to help tem. But she sucks in a breath. She must not falter. She must OH NO

Cure Bloom throws up her arm, and a barrier of light manages to catch the worst of that lashing arm. "I won't let you---" she spits, and then the thing the limb JETTISONS, the power of it ripping through her shield; it shatters like glass, and the limb subsequently shatters too, exploding into binding goo. This is Cure Bloom's great weakness and she ends up on the ground, helplessly trying to get enough leverage to rip herself free. "I won't...just...!" she grates out. Fortunately, Sailor Moon's got this. A blaze of light cleaves the goo surrounding her, giving Bloom enough slack to blast the rest off and leap herself free. "Sailor Moon!" she calls out. "Thank you!"

Then she decides that she hasn't had enough punishment yet. She surges, dashes toward the combined thing. "It's got the pendant...and two girls. We can't let up," she reminds herself, as her fingertip surges. It eats power. She wonders what it'll do if....

So she rushes in. When Egret backs off from her attack, Bloom is wheeling in from above, and her assault is very simple:

She jabs a glowing finger into the thing, then harder, thrusting in, trying to get the power concentrated on that appendage in there deep. She doesn't know what's about to happen. But for just a moment, maybe feeding the thing is the best solution. She pulls hard; hopefully strong enough to rip herself free again before she THROWS herself away.

The cause of her speedy retreat is soon obvious - because that wasn't raw magic she put in there, but something primed with Pretty Cure intent. Which is to say, about two seconds later, that whole bolt of magic she shoved under the thing's skin EXPLODES.

COMBAT: Cure Bloom has used Petal Seed on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to brace Cure Bloom's Petal Seed, taking 26 Fatigue damage!

<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

The group splits into roughly two tactics: Fuu, Steven and Shigure all try to stop the protodaimon from escaping through various means, while Egret, Bloom and Sourisi try to dig ''into'' the protodaimon to extract girls and pendant.

It quickly becomes clear to Pretty Cure and Sourisi that their efforts are mostly futile, if extremely noble in intent. Certainly they can cause the monster pain -- though it's painful to do, the deeper they dig with hand or tonfa, the more eyes pop into existence to stare at them, the more mouths begin to gnash. Bloom's spiritual bomb detonates within, and sends up a vast, acidic spray in its wake, which smells bloody in the worst way.

But the protodaimon is just too massive and too fluid, its form too changeable. It can alter its density at whim, and does so, pulling Maho and Miho away from Bloom and Egret, and the pendant away from Sourisi. And, at the same time, it sprouts tentacles behind each girl -- tentacles with more of those fanged mouths on the end -- to scoop them up and fling them away (or further away, in Bloom's case).

Nothing less than total annihilation of the creature is going to free their friends, and save the world.

The others have a little bit more luck, though, with their 'keep it from escaping' objective. The daimon was about to bowl itself straight through the wall when one of its back legs is just barely caught by Fuu's whirlwind. It jerks to a stop, then (naturally) detaches the limb.

Steven detaches another one ''for'' it, and Shigure binds another few that it has no choice but to eject. As before, they retain their animation -- they fight more desperately, however, and more dangerously. Instead of trying to goo people to the ground, they're in more of a 'crawl up your leg and try to rip out your still-beating heart' sort of mood.

After all that, it doesn't have as much mass as it did before.

Until Lancelot pours all of his lightning into it, anyway. The smell of ozone joins the smell of blood.

But it isn't enough -- not with one person by himself.

Crackling with energy, burns oozing with ichor as they transform into more eyes, the protodaimon looks around wildly for a way out. It's dizzying, watching its many gazes roll in all directions at once.

But finally they all fix upon the same place: Chibi-Usa.

Chibi-Usa, and the barricade she's hiding behind.

There's a cruel, alien intelligence to its motion, as it surges forward, tearing Sensouji cobblestones up in its haste. The barricade is lower than the wall; there are fewer people between it and its destination; the little girl can't possibly stop it; and her nearness may cause its true opponents to hesitate.

After all, she doesn't enjoy the dubious protection of Maho and Miho, their lives draining away inside the protodaimon -- but at least they're safely inside.

It may, however, have miscalculated.

Because now there are ''seconds'' before it flattens that tiny child on its way out.

Very motivating seconds.

COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Chompy Tentacles on Cure Egret.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Chompy Tentacles on Cure Bloom.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Chompy Tentacles on Sourisi.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Protodaimonthings on Sailor Moon.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Protodaimonthings on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Protodaimonthings on Steven Universe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Protodaimonthings on Shigure Shiratsuyu.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Protodaimonthings on Lancelot.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji counters 10 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's Protodaimonthings, taking 10 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji's counterattack, Tempest Slash, partially gets through, doing 17 Fatigue damage to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Cure Bloom fails to dodge Hotaru Tomoe's Chompy Tentacles, taking 30 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Steven Universe fails to brace Hotaru Tomoe's Protodaimonthings, taking 21 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Sailor Moon braces 11 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's Protodaimonthings, taking 9 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Shigure Shiratsuyu fails to brace Hotaru Tomoe's Protodaimonthings, taking 25 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Sourisi braces 20 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's Chompy Tentacles, taking 16 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Lancelot fails to dodge Hotaru Tomoe's Protodaimonthings, taking 17 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Cure Egret braces 19 Fatigue damage from Hotaru Tomoe's Chompy Tentacles, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Cure Egret's Block and
Parry abilities activate!

<Pose Tracker> Chibi-Usa Tsukino [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Chibi-Usa can see all of them doing their best. She's hiding, sure--but being out in the open will only get one of them hurt again, won't it? And the others--they can see it, once she's called out. Chibi-Usa looks at Sailor Moon, and it's obvious she's worrying. It's obvious, as she looks to Sailor Moon, that she's afraid for more than just herself. ...But even as ridiculous as that girl can be...

"I hope you're right," she says quietly, and looks worriedly to Shigure as she seems unable to breathe--but there's music, through everything. Music, as the monsters...

The smells are awful, and Chibi-Usa only looks up from coughing in time to see those ''eyes'' staring at her, and her own widen in turn. "A-aah--"

There's no time for her to get out of the way; she's caught, stuck, hands out with Luna-P floating before her as an attempt at shielding her. "Aaaah--!"

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

"Tempest Slash!!" the Wind Knight calls out, repeating her wind-enhanced swordplay move from earlier in an effort to keep the protodaimon ffrom chowing down on her, *AGAIN*. Maybe they'd be smaller bites than the one which engulfed the pendant - but getting eaten by piranhas is just as deadly as getting devoured by a shark, even if the former take smaller bites. And she doesn't favor feeding anything else to this monster; it's too full of things she wants to rescue as it is. It isn't exactly enough - the monster still manages to chomp some on the Wind Knight, but other mouthstalks are severed and shredded before they can sink their teeth into anything. And in the larger scale, the protodaimon's mass is still too large for any semblance of comfort - not to mention that the monster still simply *cannot* be allowed to make good its escape.

Those five names still echo in her memory, feeding the memories which nourish her nightmares.

She will not allow any names to join them.

But she doesn't have long to come up with a good approach - and while she's still motivated enough to try throwing all of the magic she has left at the protodaimon in a straight-up attack spell, wiping herself out isn't going to do her allies any good unless she also lands a telling blow in the process. For a moment, pain and fatigue and desperation mingle in her mind, and she finds herself wishing oh so strongly that her only 'enemy' was Kaho-san ...

.... ah.

A tranquil look pases over the Wind Knight's face as her sword disappears, bow and quiver manifesting once again; she adjusts her stance, drawing a single arrow, raising her bow to nock shaft to string, then lowering her arms, letting that simple movement draw back her shaft. The target, tiny as it is, is moving and retreating - but it's still visible enough.

If she can at least distract the monster, it really should buy her allies another moment, if not more, and give a certain pink-haired child a better chance to escape, or to be rescued.

On the other hand, depending on how the arrow hits (if it hits), it might damage the pendant ... the power inside would probably return to where it 'belongs,' like the energies from Library Island did.

She stills her thoughts, breathes in, checks her aim, breathes out, looses.

And the arrow flies, to try and jostle that pendant hard enough for the monster to realize that a threat remains - if not to its existence, then to its goal of escaping with that pendant. If a simple arrow can somehow knock the pendant out of the monster's grasp, all the better ...

<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (12)] has posed.

Lancelot pants as he sees that his power is working, but it just isn't enough. He's not strong enough. Again. He's always just not strong enough. He's always just not fast enough. And just like last time, people are going to die. Only, it might be the whole blasted world. Just because Lancelot isn't strong enough. He growls low once and looks to see Chibi-Usa in the way. His head whips toward Sailor-Moon and he calls out, "Sailor Moon! I'm going to try to turn them, hit it!"

He takes a deep breath and runs forward, lighting striking down around him. Hitting him, his blades, the ground around him in a shower of dirt and rock. He spies Steven and Sourisi. He narrows his eyes. "Steven! Sourisi! I have a really, really good idea!" He rolls his shoulders as the lighting continues to rain down on him. "Hit it hard!" He nods. "On second thought. HIT IT HARDER!!"

Rushing forward he spies Steven's shield fly past him, and once it impacts the protodaimon he unleashes all of that lighting stored in his blades and body. His swords exploding into motion of strength and speed and power. Each strike of the blade unleashes a blast of lighting that erupts in a chorus of thunder. Each strike hit's Steven's shield, in a rapid fire staccato of lightning and thunder that echoes and shakes the very air.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Lancelot has started a combo targeting Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Basic Archery on Hotaru Tomoe.

<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

Steven manages to lop a leg off extra. It attacks of course, but after fending it off and taking some damage in the process, the creature is that much slower... or it might not be, it could be reforming legs, it has so many. But at least it is smaller. This fight is so exhausting and heartwrenching. People don't seem to be making much progress against it!

It is becoming hard for the gem child to keep up with its movements. He is beaten, acid burned, and tired. And that is just the physical trauma. Let's not go into mental stress.

The creature suddenly has a change of pace as it begins to struggle to find ways out. Having lost body size, its planned exit seems to be a poor choice, though it quickly finds another. "Oh no, look out!" the boy calls out. Thinking fast, Steven begins to lok about the field for allies to assist. He sees two nearby. "Sourisi, Mr. Lancelot! Quick!"

The boy summons a shield and throws it as hard as he possibly can at the diamon. more precisely, ''into'' the daimon. "Hit the shield!"

COMBAT: FINISHER! Steven Universe has joined the combo started by Lancelot!

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Even cut free, even with all of them working together - the thing is too big - too amorphous - ever-shifting, and blindingly fast.

Sailor Moon is trying to sight it down for an opportunity - but there seems to be none to be had. Sweat is starting to bead on her brow. She's all too acutely aware of how the lives inside are draining to feed it. Wasting away with every second. However - as it sights down Chibi-Usa and the barricade...

Suddenly her priorities shift. "Chibi-Usa!"

Saving the child - and the girls inside - and the pendant. It's not a choice of one or the other or the other but always all of the above.

It is her desperation - and her greed. It is the best kind of greed.

And yet right now she's more desperate and scared. She breaks off into a run. Feet tearing into the temple ground, as she ducks her head and tears off after her. Lancelot shouts his plan and - "I have to get to her first - buy me just a little time!"

She's not a runner like Uranus. She's not as strong as Jupiter. Or as elegant as Neptune. Or as experienced as Venus. And she's definitely not as brilliant as Mercury or as passionate as Mars. Never once in her career has she made this look easy - but even lacking all of that, she still gives all that she does have. Compared to the Proto-Daimon she seems far too slow.

And yet as she puts her faith in the others blindly, hoping they all cherish the same things she does. It's clear that maybe there's something she has all her own anyhow...

A blinding flash buys her some time but... not enough. She can't get ahead of it. But given where it's going, there's something she can aim in its direction.

Skidding to a stop she raises the Spiral Heart Moon Rod, directing it at her laterally from the best angle she can get. She knows that Chibi-Usa will be safe from its magic- but all the same it's still a moment where her heart just pounds with terror all the same.

If one takes a look inside perhaps they'll see a glimpse of true wonder.

The mirror gleams, and there's just a glimmer of the Silver Millenium inside. Sleeping within this treasure that its Princess holds. As it chimes, it seems to grow closer, gleam brighter, and closer while remaining unfathomably distant.

She whirls her holy treasure in a dance that's not too different from someone twirling a baton. That can inspire many - but here the power is more direct.

Holding it parallel to her, she cries out the words of the spell in her heart, "MOON SPIRALLLLLL-" And begins to spin. Faster - and faster. And faster. "-HEARRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT-" It's movements like an ice skater in a the midst of a combination skin in the high to low crouch.

And then abruptly the spinning stops, "-ATTACK!"

A pinwheel of light - hearts flowing forth in alternating streams. All joining forth to become something greater than the whole. The sacred light of that heart shines forth into one colossal display of power...

That tries to crash right into the Proto-Daimon and intercept its path before it can touch a single hair on Chibi-Usa's head.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Sailor Moon has used Moon Spiral Heart Attack! on Hotaru Tomoe.

<Pose Tracker> Sourisi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

With each tonfa jabbing downwards, another eye stares up at Sourisi and yet another jaw tries to rip both bodysuit and flesh. Ichor and blood is starting to cover Sourisi from head to toe, and if she didn't have nightmares from being a magical girl before, she will after tonight. Despite all of her efforts, both pendent and the innocent are still out of reach. "Ugh, this is getting nowhere...please, we need some way to beat this thing and save-AAAH!"

The flailing tonfa are not quick enough, and a jagged mouth clamps down on Sourisi's right shoulder and flings her outwards and away from its' constantly shifting mass. Rolling as she hits the ground, Sourisi checks the wound, and while the bodysuit isn't torn, she just knows she's going to have bruising in the morning. But with two lives, and maybe even the fate of the entire world resting upon them all, the ravenette stands back up, prepared to rush the daimon once more.

The sight of a small child, yet to flee and in the path of the monster, freezes Sourisi.

Steven's and Lancelot's outcry breaks Souriri free of her shock, and seeing the rose-tented shield fly towards the Daimon spurs her to action. "Right, on it!" As each shock of thunder hits Steven's shield, Sourisi starts to twirl her tonfa in her grasp, the wooden tonfa picking up speed, the howling of wind growing louder and louder. The laws of physics would dictate that the friction of her hands and the air would slow the tonfa down.

Why listen to the laws of physics when lives where in danger?

Twin booms would echo out as the tonfa break the sound barrier, and then Steven's shield is sent flying to Sourisi. Swinging her tonfa at the rim, the air around the mouse girl pulses rapidly as the tonfa strike the shield hundreds of times in the span of a second, and towards the daimon. "Operation Hitting It Harder is a GO!"

COMBAT: FINISHER! Sourisi has joined the combo started by Lancelot!

<Pose Tracker> Shigure Shiratsuyu [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Solais feels the edges of her powers starting to peel away -- a kind of disorienting, disengaging feeling as the monster further draws its claws upon it. It hurts, it hurts deeply... but she knows that her work isn't done. Her eyes widen deeply as she stares towards the small child--

"I--"

She just acts, without thinking. There's no more time to think either... just...

Ah... can you hear the sound of this bell?

A single bell rings, echoing a heavenly reverb that emanates throughout the casing of Claiomh Solais. She has no power to bring the full bore of the Relic upon the creature--

Yet the cross emblazoned upon its sheath shines with a white-hot flame.

"I believe in us...!"

She extends her hand forward--

Upon an innocent face the moon smiles in jest...

Embrace it all, like the holy mother...

COMBAT: Shigure Shiratsuyu has used Sacred Cross on Hotaru Tomoe.

<Pose Tracker> Cure Egret [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

"Chibi-Usa!"

Mai Mishou screams it, panic entering her voice as she sees the little girl that helped her. Her tiny body is dwarfed by the shadow of the Protodaimon, rising over it, and terrible realization sets in. She hasn't ever, really, managed to stop one of these very well. She has often ended up hurt or worse. Her expression is stricken, until she looks to the side -- until she makes eye contact with Saki. "B-Bloom...!"

Saki - Cure Bloom - has seen the results of her attack. It wasn't a bad idea, but raw assault isn't the play now, she sees now. It can recover too much, too fast. But it doesn't automatically eat any energy they put into it, either. "Egret," she says, managing to assemble something resembling calm. She sucks in a long breath, then looks at her. Holding out her hand. "There's something I don't think we ever had a chance to try on these things," she says. As it rampages toward Chibi-Usa, her gaze turns harsh. "We have to try! Right now!"

"You can do it-lapi!" "Please-chopi!"

Egret holds her hand out -- and Bloom catches it, gloved hands clasping and fingers entwining. With a squeeze of their hands, land and sky alike light up and glow brilliantly. Bloom pushes her hand out for the Protodaimon -- "O, Spirits of the Earth..." -- while Egret holds hers up to the heavens -- "O, Spirits of the Sky..." -- and from above and below come a flow of silver and gold beads of light, which swirl around the two Splash Star Pretty Cures in whorls and eddies.

"Now, together with Pretty Cure..." "Release the power of miracles!"

Their clasped hands break apart, and then draw a swirl of light -- Bloom with her right, Egret for the left -- and then a heart of light swirls, grows, and gathers in their hands. Their hands come back together, the glow becoming bright until it's blinding.

"Pretty Cure..."

The light transmogrifies in an instant to swirling water, that hint of a wave motion underlying it. It pulses, brighter and faster, for the desire to save the girl that tried so hard to save one of them. Egret's voice rings out like a clarion call.

"Twin Stream..."

Two pairs of arms fly out -- and two orbs of water do. They spiral, swirl, and combine together. Deceptively, they break apart again ''just'' before they strike the Protodaimon -- only to crash back together behind it, and then wrap in front, as if to block off every avenue it has to Chibi-Usa, before crashing down for it!

"SPLASH!"

COMBAT: FINISHER! Cure Egret has started a combo targeting Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: FINISHER! Cure Bloom has joined the combo started by Cure Egret!
COMBAT: COMBO! FINISHER! Lancelot, Steven Universe, and Sourisi have used Combo: Hit it Harder!!, composed of Thousand Thunderclap
Rush, Throw Shield, and Wild Claw Barrage, on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: COMBO! FINISHER! Cure Egret and Cure Bloom have used Pretty Cure Twin Stream Splash on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe cleanly braces 6 Fatigue damage from Fuu Hououji's Basic Archery, taking 1 Fatigue damage! Hotaru Tomoe's
Block and Parry abilities activate!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to brace Shigure Shiratsuyu's Sacred Cross, taking 48 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to brace Sailor Moon's Finisher, Moon Spiral Heart Attack!, taking 300 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to brace Lancelot, Steven Universe, and Sourisi's Finisher, Combo: Hit it Harder!!, taking 182 Fatigue
damage! Hotaru Tomoe is unable to keep fighting!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to brace Cure Egret and Cure Bloom's Finisher, Combo: Pretty Cure Twin Stream Splash, taking 183
Fatigue damage! Hotaru Tomoe is unable to keep fighting!

<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!*

Fuu's arrow thwaps into the protodaimon's back as it passes. Then it slowly starts to be sucked inside, not by its own momentum but by the will of the creature.

*hissssssssssssssss*

The holy power of a Symphogear's sheath catches up with the monster next, and boils a cross-shaped patch of its side away.

*WHAPAWHAPAWHAPAWHAPAWHAPAWHAPAWHAP*

That would be the sound of Sourisi and Lancelot hitting the daimon really, really hard. It changes a little once Steven has inserted his shield:

*DONGADONGADONGADONGADONGADONGADONG*

The symbol of Rose Quartz's rebellion reverberates with the power of Arondight, with the power of a Miraculous tonfa.

And these vibrations wear away at the monster from within, inexorably...

*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

...as the sparkling torrents of Cure Bloom and Cure Egret's dual spiritual power joins with the heartfelt barrage of Sailor Moon to pour over the monster from without!

Its annihilation is beautiful -- in a heartbeat, it is overwhelmed, transforming first from seething, accelerating ichor into sparkling pink light, and then into nothing but a pair of weird-looking eggs which smash on impact with the cobblestones and release more of that chittering mist, shrieking as it disappears.

*crash*

Two hakama-wearing bodies land hard to either side of Chibi-Usa.

...They're still breathing.

*ping!*

One pendant bounces as it hits the ground at the little girl's feet. It still flickers with golden light.

There's one more sound, but it isn't one that can be heard at Sensouji.

---

"DAMN!"

Kaolinite slaps her palms against the surface of the pool, transforming her scrying into nothing but jostling water.

Again she sneaks a look around her to make sure nobody saw.

Again she is comforted... for there's nobody present but that pitiful little doll upon her pitiful little throne -- surrounded by more dolls. They're just like her: as still and silent as the grave.

The Grand Magus draws herself upright and tosses her hair.

"It doesn't matter. Preparations for Tokyo Tower are already complete. The moment the World Tree erupts... we move."

"...who are you talking to?" wonders Professor Tomoe, walking into the throne room holding a mug of freshly beaker-brewed coffee, a mug that says WORLD'S #1 PAPA.

---

The full, combined expression of magic of Sailor Moon and Pretty Cure's hearts does more than purify the protodaimon safely out of existence: it restores the shrine, the damage to the archery range...

...it even has Miho and Maho stirring and starting to get to their feet, within moments. And those scrapes and wounds collected by the magical girls are similarly fading, fast.

"What about the contest?" asks Miho, a little bit blearily.

"I think... we took... a break?" wonders Maho.

And, indeed, the crowd is beginning to return. That sure was a scary fire drill. Important, though. An old, beautiful place like this... it would be awfully easy for everything to just go up in smoke.

TO BE CONTINUED

[[Category:Logs]]

2018-05-14 - The Hardest Part

2018-05-16T03:02:01Z

Shachihoko: Fixing the formatting

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Title: <The Hardest Part>'''
|-
|'''Summary''': 
''Getting home safely from Space Jail was one thing. Now Fuu has to come home and act like nothing is wrong.''
|-
| '''Who:''' 
<[[Fuu Hououji]]>
|-
| '''Where:''' 
<Tama Outer City>
|-
| '''OOC - IC Date:''' 
<May 14, 2018 - April 17, 2015>
|-
|}

"Hm? - Oi, Hououji! That's you, right, Fuu-chan?"

Fuu quickly hid her grimace behind a smile, turning to face the policeman who'd called out to her. "Good day to you, Officer Amemiya!" she greeted him with a polite bow, using the familiar honorific "o-mawari-san" to address him. "Is everything all right?"

"You tell me," Amemiya replied in a friendly growl, walking his bicycle over to Fuu. "Your sister stopped by the police box this morning, wondering if we’d seen you. Don’t think your parents filed an actual missing-persons report yet. Did something happen?"

"Nothing serious," Fuu said. "My phone wasn’t working last night, so I couldn’t contact my family when I was with friends overnight. It was kind of a surprise generally ..." She trailed off, wincing. "They’re probably so mad at me right now."

"Kind of their job," the patrolman stated. "And mine too; that’s why good cops get old, shouldering the worries of the people they protect." He reached for his radio. "Amemiya here; somebody get over to the park to finish my route, I’m walking the younger Hououji girl home."

"You don’t have to go out of your way -" Fuu started protesting.

"That’s part of my job too," Amemiya interjected with a friendly grin. "Oh, and sorry about going 'Fuu-chan' earlier ... force of habit. I still remember when your parents moved in as newlyweds, and the first time I met you. So, phone trouble?" he asked as the two of them started walking.

Fuu could only nod. "Some kind of network glitch, it said I was out of the service area. It didn’t reconnect until ... sometime this morning, I guess?"

Amemiya grunted, "Social media still confuses me ... but there was a big to-do in Jindai last night, it was all over the morning news. Wonder if that had something to do with the network."

"No way to know,” Fuu said - which was entirely true, as far as it went. At least for her. "I should probably check out what I can -"

"Not until you talk to your parents. They ''were'' worried, even if they didn’t take their worry official; Kuu said as much to me. If there’s something you can’t tell your family, find someone you *can* tell, even if it isn’t me or family. Someone you trust. ... And here we are." Sure enough, they'd reached the gate in front of Fuu's house; Amemiya put the kickstand down on his bicycle. "Need me to come in with you, keep things smoothed over?"

"I think I'll be okay," Fuu replied, bowing again to the patrolman. "I'm sorry to take you off your route, officer."

"Like I said, part of the job," said Amemiya. "I'll stick around for a bit, just in case. Yell if you need me."

"I don't think I'll need to, but thank you all the same." Fuu smiled ruefully, bowed one last time, and turned to unlock the gate.

-----

"I’m home ... !"

"So you are," Fuu’s mother Tsubasa called back, emerging from the kitchen at a fast walk. "Where were you? It’s not like you to vanish without some kind of message, your father and I were worried!" she exclaimed; as if summoned, Fuu's father Akira and her big sister Kuu came out of the living room to join them in the front hall.

"Steven-san needed my help, and it ..." Fuu trailed off, grimacing a little bit as she worked her feet out of her shoes. "I had to stay over, and there was trouble with the phone network - I couldn’t call or mail you. I’m sorry, Mother, Father."

Akira folded his arms, looking Fuu over. "Well. You’re home in one piece, but I've seen you looking better. What did that boy need your help ''with'', though?"

Fuu opened her mouth to reply, but she couldn’t find the right words. She'd already started lying to her parents again - she hadn’t been at Steven’s house, but in space. Still, her parents would never believe her - and if they ''did'' believe her, the truth would only compound their worries. "It’s ... I’m not sure how to explain it, Father. I’m sorry."

"If you can’t explain it," Kuu noted wryly, "it must have been quite complicated indeed." She slid gently between her parents to draw Fuu into a hug; as if by reflex, Fuu brought her arms up to return her sister's embrace for the few seconds it lasted. "Your classmates brought the day's notes and assignments," Kuu added as the sisters disengaged again. "I left the papers on your desk."

Fuu nodded, "Thank you, Kuu-neesan."

Akira studied Fuu for a moment longer, and seemed about to speak when Tsubasa spoke up first. "You’re more than a day behind on your share of chores, Fuu-chan. Come help me in the kitchen. Dear," she addressed her husband, "you go ahead and sit. Supper won’t be long."

A minute or so later, Fuu was standing in front of the stove, stirring the big pot while her mother was chopping vegetables behind her. "And you couldn't even call on a landline?" Tsubasa asked. "It really ''isn't'' like you to fail to contact us when you'll be out late or overnight."

"I don’t think Steven-san's family at the beach house has a landline," Fuu admitted. "And I was too preoccupied to ask if I could use it."

"If you say so ... to your left a moment."

Fuu stepped to the side, holding the ladle still while her mother scraped onions and carrots from the cutting board into the pot. "What ''really'' happened, Fuu-chan?" Tsubasa asked her wayward daughter, going back to the counter to continue her work.

"You were here when Steven-san -"

"I'm not questioning that part of it. But it's not like you at all to leave us in the dark. Even with the network completely down, you wouldn't just accept it. Fifteen years of you being as dutiful a daughter as any parent could wish for, and ''now'' you vanish for almost two days. What did that boy need your specific help for ... or was it even specifically you he needed? He sounded too frantic to just need help with a programming assignment, from the little I overheard."

Fuu hesitated to reply, moving back into position and continuing to stir the pot.

"Or were you with some boy we don't know, and lost track of the time?"

"Mother - !!" sputtered Fuu, feeling the blood rush to her cheeks. "I - I wouldn't - Ferio isn't like that - !"

Tsubasa let out a soft laugh, "If you wouldn't at your age, you're an even more dutiful daughter than I thought. How did you meet this Ferio, in any case?"

Fuu bit her lip gently, still blushing hard. "He's ... an exchange student," she said after a moment. "We met during the trip to Tokyo Tower in my second year of middle school. He transferred into Infinity sometime after that, I'm not sure exactly when." All of which was true, some more technically than the rest.

"And you're in love with him," Tsubasa added. "- oh, don't try to protest that you aren't. I know what it’s like to be head-over-heels in love with somebody, even if your father and I don't show it openly. Still, if this Ferio ever hurts you, promise me that you'll break things off with him. Don’t worry about how much you hurt ''him'' in the process; if he mistreats you, he deserves no less than to suffer some pain himself."

Fuu wilted. "I'm sorry to be a bad daughter, even if it’s only sometimes."

"Silly girl," Tsubasa replied fondly, reaching around with her empty hand to squeeze Fuu’s shoulder. "You're fifteen, you're allowed to be your own person now and again, even a little bit selfish. Your father and I certainly have no room to complain if you think of yourself once in a while. As long as you keep coming home safe and sound, whatever happens. Any girl has her secrets, even from family - but any secret grows heavier over time. You have to know when to discard that weight, before it crushes you. And - Fuu-chan?"

The ladle had slipped from Fuu's fingers, handle clattering against the rim of the pot. "I'm sorry, Mother," the girl whispered. "I ... I ''want'' to keep coming home safely, that's always been the important thing ... I was so scared -"

"Shhhhh ..." Tsubasa laid her knife down and turned to hug her daughter. "Maybe I should know better than to worry so much, but - Fuu? Can't you tell me what’s really wrong? What happened this time?"

It took several long minutes for Fuu to gather herself again, for sobs of belated terror to finally give way to even breathing. Tsubasa held her through the storm, turning the stove down so the pot wouldn’t boil over, and by the time Fuu could talk again, her mother guided her to sit down. "If your secrets hurt you this much, darling daughter ..."

Fuu sniffed once more, pushing her glasses up to swab at her eyes. "It's ... complicated. I didn't want to tell you; I knew you'd only worry all the more about me."

"And you still haven't told me," Tsubasa said, her voice as gentle as Fuu could remember ever hearing it. "Fuu-chan, I'm your mother. I'm going to worry ''anyway'', whether I know why I'm worrying or not. I won't tell your father or Kuu-chan if you want me to keep this from them ... I won't even force you to tell me, if you're not sure that you should. If it's not about this Ferio boy -"

"He's ... part of it. Sort of. That field trip ..." Fuu trailed off, exhaling through her teeth. "Mother. Please promise that you won't believe I've gone crazy. I ... I've been torn about whether to tell you. So much has happened in the past two years ... there were times when I wanted to explain. When I wanted to know that you understood. It's not like keeping you in the dark has ever protected you ..."

Tsubasa made a quiet noise. "So it’s about ''that'', then. All the little mysteries, the unanswered questions ... a birthday party that ended with snow strewn through the house, unexplained disappearances, suspicious pranks ... Kuu-chan getting lost in Library Island ... the terrorist incident at Ohtori, a smashed casserole dish that I don't remember taking out of the oven, the Girls' Day dolls all vanishing and reappearing ... all of those incidents are connected?"

Fuu stared at her mother. "You remember all of those things?"

"I remember enough of them," Tsubasa said to her daughter. "Enough to feel something was going on that I didn't know. And ... you're connected to them too, somehow?"

Fuu hesitated, knowing that whatever she said next, she would never be able to take back. Her glove-jewel sat in her pocket, its weight ''there'' in a manner she rarely took notice of. She could still back away, leave her mother in the dark ...

She took the glove-jewel out of her pocket, placing it on the table in front of her. "Connected by trying to prevent such things ... trying to protect people. Protecting everyone ... protecting you, Father, and Kuu-neesan, as much as I could."

Tsubasa's gaze rested briefly on the ornament where it sat between Fuu's forearms. Then she looked into her daughter’s eyes - and for the first time since she came home, Fuu met her mother's gaze.

And Tsubasa smiled. "So. Those magical girls they occasionally mention in the news ... oh, Fuu-chan. I understand why you kept this from us ... I promise - no, I ''swear'', not a word from me to your father or Kuu-chan," she said quietly, maternal affection warm in her voice. "Do you have a name in that role?"

"You're not angry? Not worried?" Fuu asked, pocketing the glove-jewel again. "I mean - I'm relieved that you aren't upset, but ... you're taking it remarkably well, Mother."

"You didn't get ''all'' of your intelligence from your father, beloved daughter," Tsubasa said with an almost mischievous grin. "I knew there were strange things going on - I just told you several of them that I'd noticed enough to remember, after all - but to know you're helping to deal with them? I couldn't be more proud of you."

Fuu wilted in her seat, this time in relief. "I'm still sorry I've made you worry so much about me. And now that you know I've been fighting monsters -"

"You've always made it part of your mission to come home in one piece from those fights, right? Nothing is going to stop me from worrying in the first place, mind you. But I'm proud of you, too. And I'm glad you opened up to me at last." Tsubasa leaned over, kissing her daughter on the forehead. "You’ve got time for a quick bath before supper; go freshen up. You still didn't tell me exactly what happened, and maybe that's for the best for now ... but promise me, if you need to talk to somebody, remember that I can listen."

Fuu nodded, getting up from her seat, then hesitating. "You wanted my help cooking - ?"

"You'll be washing the dishes after supper. Go and bathe; I'll send Kuu to get you when it's time to join us at the table." Tsubasa smiled once more at her daughter, and turned her attention back to cooking.

But Fuu could have sworn, as she left the kitchen, that she heard her mother humming the theme from an old magical-girl series.

[[Category:Cutscenes]]

2018-05-14 - The Hardest Part

2018-05-16T03:00:56Z

Shachihoko: Fuu comes home after the group escaped from Rubeus, Jasper, and Peridot.

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Title: <The Hardest Part>'''
|-
|'''Summary''': 
''Getting home safely from Space Jail was one thing. Now Fuu has to come home and act like nothing is wrong.''
|-
| '''Who:''' 
<[[Fuu Hououji]]>
|-
| '''Where:''' 
<Tama Outer City>
|-
| '''OOC - IC Date:''' 
<May 14, 2018 - April 17, 2015>
|-

"Hm? - Oi, Hououji! That's you, right, Fuu-chan?"

Fuu quickly hid her grimace behind a smile, turning to face the policeman who'd called out to her. "Good day to you, Officer Amemiya!" she greeted him with a polite bow, using the familiar honorific "o-mawari-san" to address him. "Is everything all right?"

"You tell me," Amemiya replied in a friendly growl, walking his bicycle over to Fuu. "Your sister stopped by the police box this morning, wondering if we’d seen you. Don’t think your parents filed an actual missing-persons report yet. Did something happen?"

"Nothing serious," Fuu said. "My phone wasn’t working last night, so I couldn’t contact my family when I was with friends overnight. It was kind of a surprise generally ..." She trailed off, wincing. "They’re probably so mad at me right now."

"Kind of their job," the patrolman stated. "And mine too; that’s why good cops get old, shouldering the worries of the people they protect." He reached for his radio. "Amemiya here; somebody get over to the park to finish my route, I’m walking the younger Hououji girl home."

"You don’t have to go out of your way -" Fuu started protesting.

"That’s part of my job too," Amemiya interjected with a friendly grin. "Oh, and sorry about going 'Fuu-chan' earlier ... force of habit. I still remember when your parents moved in as newlyweds, and the first time I met you. So, phone trouble?" he asked as the two of them started walking.

Fuu could only nod. "Some kind of network glitch, it said I was out of the service area. It didn’t reconnect until ... sometime this morning, I guess?"

Amemiya grunted, "Social media still confuses me ... but there was a big to-do in Jindai last night, it was all over the morning news. Wonder if that had something to do with the network."

"No way to know,” Fuu said - which was entirely true, as far as it went. At least for her. "I should probably check out what I can -"

"Not until you talk to your parents. They ''were'' worried, even if they didn’t take their worry official; Kuu said as much to me. If there’s something you can’t tell your family, find someone you *can* tell, even if it isn’t me or family. Someone you trust. ... And here we are." Sure enough, they'd reached the gate in front of Fuu's house; Amemiya put the kickstand down on his bicycle. "Need me to come in with you, keep things smoothed over?"

"I think I'll be okay," Fuu replied, bowing again to the patrolman. "I'm sorry to take you off your route, officer."

"Like I said, part of the job," said Amemiya. "I'll stick around for a bit, just in case. Yell if you need me."

"I don't think I'll need to, but thank you all the same." Fuu smiled ruefully, bowed one last time, and turned to unlock the gate.

-----

"I’m home ... !"

"So you are," Fuu’s mother Tsubasa called back, emerging from the kitchen at a fast walk. "Where were you? It’s not like you to vanish without some kind of message, your father and I were worried!" she exclaimed; as if summoned, Fuu's father Akira and her big sister Kuu came out of the living room to join them in the front hall.

"Steven-san needed my help, and it ..." Fuu trailed off, grimacing a little bit as she worked her feet out of her shoes. "I had to stay over, and there was trouble with the phone network - I couldn’t call or mail you. I’m sorry, Mother, Father."

Akira folded his arms, looking Fuu over. "Well. You’re home in one piece, but I've seen you looking better. What did that boy need your help ''with'', though?"

Fuu opened her mouth to reply, but she couldn’t find the right words. She'd already started lying to her parents again - she hadn’t been at Steven’s house, but in space. Still, her parents would never believe her - and if they ''did'' believe her, the truth would only compound their worries. "It’s ... I’m not sure how to explain it, Father. I’m sorry."

"If you can’t explain it," Kuu noted wryly, "it must have been quite complicated indeed." She slid gently between her parents to draw Fuu into a hug; as if by reflex, Fuu brought her arms up to return her sister's embrace for the few seconds it lasted. "Your classmates brought the day's notes and assignments," Kuu added as the sisters disengaged again. "I left the papers on your desk."

Fuu nodded, "Thank you, Kuu-neesan."

Akira studied Fuu for a moment longer, and seemed about to speak when Tsubasa spoke up first. "You’re more than a day behind on your share of chores, Fuu-chan. Come help me in the kitchen. Dear," she addressed her husband, "you go ahead and sit. Supper won’t be long."

A minute or so later, Fuu was standing in front of the stove, stirring the big pot while her mother was chopping vegetables behind her. "And you couldn't even call on a landline?" Tsubasa asked. "It really ''isn't'' like you to fail to contact us when you'll be out late or overnight."

"I don’t think Steven-san's family at the beach house has a landline," Fuu admitted. "And I was too preoccupied to ask if I could use it."

"If you say so ... to your left a moment."

Fuu stepped to the side, holding the ladle still while her mother scraped onions and carrots from the cutting board into the pot. "What ''really'' happened, Fuu-chan?" Tsubasa asked her wayward daughter, going back to the counter to continue her work.

"You were here when Steven-san -"

"I'm not questioning that part of it. But it's not like you at all to leave us in the dark. Even with the network completely down, you wouldn't just accept it. Fifteen years of you being as dutiful a daughter as any parent could wish for, and ''now'' you vanish for almost two days. What did that boy need your specific help for ... or was it even specifically you he needed? He sounded too frantic to just need help with a programming assignment, from the little I overheard."

Fuu hesitated to reply, moving back into position and continuing to stir the pot.

"Or were you with some boy we don't know, and lost track of the time?"

"Mother - !!" sputtered Fuu, feeling the blood rush to her cheeks. "I - I wouldn't - Ferio isn't like that - !"

Tsubasa let out a soft laugh, "If you wouldn't at your age, you're an even more dutiful daughter than I thought. How did you meet this Ferio, in any case?"

Fuu bit her lip gently, still blushing hard. "He's ... an exchange student," she said after a moment. "We met during the trip to Tokyo Tower in my second year of middle school. He transferred into Infinity sometime after that, I'm not sure exactly when." All of which was true, some more technically than the rest.

"And you're in love with him," Tsubasa added. "- oh, don't try to protest that you aren't. I know what it’s like to be head-over-heels in love with somebody, even if your father and I don't show it openly. Still, if this Ferio ever hurts you, promise me that you'll break things off with him. Don’t worry about how much you hurt ''him'' in the process; if he mistreats you, he deserves no less than to suffer some pain himself."

Fuu wilted. "I'm sorry to be a bad daughter, even if it’s only sometimes."

"Silly girl," Tsubasa replied fondly, reaching around with her empty hand to squeeze Fuu’s shoulder. "You're fifteen, you're allowed to be your own person now and again, even a little bit selfish. Your father and I certainly have no room to complain if you think of yourself once in a while. As long as you keep coming home safe and sound, whatever happens. Any girl has her secrets, even from family - but any secret grows heavier over time. You have to know when to discard that weight, before it crushes you. And - Fuu-chan?"

The ladle had slipped from Fuu's fingers, handle clattering against the rim of the pot. "I'm sorry, Mother," the girl whispered. "I ... I ''want'' to keep coming home safely, that's always been the important thing ... I was so scared -"

"Shhhhh ..." Tsubasa laid her knife down and turned to hug her daughter. "Maybe I should know better than to worry so much, but - Fuu? Can't you tell me what’s really wrong? What happened this time?"

It took several long minutes for Fuu to gather herself again, for sobs of belated terror to finally give way to even breathing. Tsubasa held her through the storm, turning the stove down so the pot wouldn’t boil over, and by the time Fuu could talk again, her mother guided her to sit down. "If your secrets hurt you this much, darling daughter ..."

Fuu sniffed once more, pushing her glasses up to swab at her eyes. "It's ... complicated. I didn't want to tell you; I knew you'd only worry all the more about me."

"And you still haven't told me," Tsubasa said, her voice as gentle as Fuu could remember ever hearing it. "Fuu-chan, I'm your mother. I'm going to worry ''anyway'', whether I know why I'm worrying or not. I won't tell your father or Kuu-chan if you want me to keep this from them ... I won't even force you to tell me, if you're not sure that you should. If it's not about this Ferio boy -"

"He's ... part of it. Sort of. That field trip ..." Fuu trailed off, exhaling through her teeth. "Mother. Please promise that you won't believe I've gone crazy. I ... I've been torn about whether to tell you. So much has happened in the past two years ... there were times when I wanted to explain. When I wanted to know that you understood. It's not like keeping you in the dark has ever protected you ..."

Tsubasa made a quiet noise. "So it’s about ''that'', then. All the little mysteries, the unanswered questions ... a birthday party that ended with snow strewn through the house, unexplained disappearances, suspicious pranks ... Kuu-chan getting lost in Library Island ... the terrorist incident at Ohtori, a smashed casserole dish that I don't remember taking out of the oven, the Girls' Day dolls all vanishing and reappearing ... all of those incidents are connected?"

Fuu stared at her mother. "You remember all of those things?"

"I remember enough of them," Tsubasa said to her daughter. "Enough to feel something was going on that I didn't know. And ... you're connected to them too, somehow?"

Fuu hesitated, knowing that whatever she said next, she would never be able to take back. Her glove-jewel sat in her pocket, its weight ''there'' in a manner she rarely took notice of. She could still back away, leave her mother in the dark ...

She took the glove-jewel out of her pocket, placing it on the table in front of her. "Connected by trying to prevent such things ... trying to protect people. Protecting everyone ... protecting you, Father, and Kuu-neesan, as much as I could."

Tsubasa's gaze rested briefly on the ornament where it sat between Fuu's forearms. Then she looked into her daughter’s eyes - and for the first time since she came home, Fuu met her mother's gaze.

And Tsubasa smiled. "So. Those magical girls they occasionally mention in the news ... oh, Fuu-chan. I understand why you kept this from us ... I promise - no, I ''swear'', not a word from me to your father or Kuu-chan," she said quietly, maternal affection warm in her voice. "Do you have a name in that role?"

"You're not angry? Not worried?" Fuu asked, pocketing the glove-jewel again. "I mean - I'm relieved that you aren't upset, but ... you're taking it remarkably well, Mother."

"You didn't get ''all'' of your intelligence from your father, beloved daughter," Tsubasa said with an almost mischievous grin. "I knew there were strange things going on - I just told you several of them that I'd noticed enough to remember, after all - but to know you're helping to deal with them? I couldn't be more proud of you."

Fuu wilted in her seat, this time in relief. "I'm still sorry I've made you worry so much about me. And now that you know I've been fighting monsters -"

"You've always made it part of your mission to come home in one piece from those fights, right? Nothing is going to stop me from worrying in the first place, mind you. But I'm proud of you, too. And I'm glad you opened up to me at last." Tsubasa leaned over, kissing her daughter on the forehead. "You’ve got time for a quick bath before supper; go freshen up. You still didn't tell me exactly what happened, and maybe that's for the best for now ... but promise me, if you need to talk to somebody, remember that I can listen."

Fuu nodded, getting up from her seat, then hesitating. "You wanted my help cooking - ?"

"You'll be washing the dishes after supper. Go and bathe; I'll send Kuu to get you when it's time to join us at the table." Tsubasa smiled once more at her daughter, and turned her attention back to cooking.

But Fuu could have sworn, as she left the kitchen, that she heard her mother humming the theme from an old magical-girl series.

|}
[[Category:Cutscenes]]

Fuu Hououji

2017-10-11T04:25:23Z

Shachihoko: Adding a current image and some relationships

{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Character Name'''
|-
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[File:Fuu_in_later_armor.jpg|339px|thumb|left|Fuu in her Magic Knight armor, sword at the ready]]
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''IC Information'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:
| Fuu Hououji
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Aliases:
| Magic Knight of Wind
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:
| Female
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Age/Birthdate:
| 15 (December 12, 1998)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:
| Light brown
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Eye Colour:
| Green
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Astrological Sign:
| Sagittarius
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Blood Type:
| A
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Favorite Food:
| Tessa (very thinly sliced blowfish)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Least Favorite Food:
| anything yucky
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Favorite Subject:
| Math
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Least Favorite Subject:
| Art
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Dossier'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Organization:
| Magic Association
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Position:
| n/a
|-
! style="text-align:left" | School:
| [[School: Infinity Institute|Infinity Institute]] (Grade 9)
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''OOC Information'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Source:
| [[Magic Knight Rayearth]] (FC)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Player:
| [[User:Shachihoko|Shachihoko]]
|-
|}
Kind, friendly, and polite almost to a fault, '''Fuu Hououji''' hardly seems the sort to join in the battle against evil - but after she was summoned to Cephiro by Princess Emeraude, Fuu agreed to become one of the Magic Knights of legend alongside [[Hikaru Shidou|Hikaru]] and [[Umi Ryuuzaki|Umi]], the two girls who were summoned alongside her. Fuu's intelligence, combined with the wind magic bestowed upon her by Clef, makes her highly adaptable in combat and allows her to support her allies as well as attacking on her own; her skill at archery lets her attack from a distance, while she also can wield her Escudo sword as needed in close combat. Wearing glasses doesn't make her any less dangerous as an enemy, either - she'll always stand up to assist her friends, whether it's her classmates or her fellow Magic Knights that need her.

(More info to come!)

==Personality==

Fuu's most prevalent personality trait is a virtually unfailing gentle politeness, worthy of a "Yamato nadeshiko": she addresses ''everyone'' in polite language, even using -san in speaking to close friends (or deadly enemies), and very nearly always keeps a polite, friendly smile on her face when she's not actually fighting.

Hiding behind her polite and gentle demeanor, though, is a determination and loyalty which neither friend nor foe should take lightly. Fuu is extremely loyal to her friends, and would sooner kill herself than abandon a friend in need - even if she'd be risking her own life to help them. This is part of her bond with Hikaru and Umi, but it applies with other friends as well. Even without magic, Fuu will come to her classmates' aid if they come under attack - particularly since Fuu herself is a target of Zagato's minions; she can't assume that ANY monster which shows up is going to ignore her if given a choice in the matter. So she'll protect her friends to the best of her ability, no matter where she is ... even if she has to risk giving away her secret identity to do so.

The tradeoff to being so determined to protect her friends, of course, is that Fuu knows her family will be sad if anything happens to her. So she's just as determined to protect ''herself'' as anyone around her - which, rather than making her run away under most circumstances, is going to make her even more determined to protect herself and win against any enemy which threatens her. She'll gladly end a fight nonviolently if the opportunity provides itself, but if a monster or a more human-looking enemy is out for her blood, she'll have few qualms about going for a killing strike.

There is another downside to her determination to protect others: if she fails to protect somebody, or something important, then that weighs heavily on Fuu's heart. It's happened a few times already, and one of those failures actually wiped out her ability to use magic for a time. Fortunately, the help of friends and strangers let Fuu regain her powers as a Magic Knight, but she's still painfully conscious of the times she wasn't strong enough, fast enough, cunning enough ...

When she doesn't have to worry about fighting for her life (or anyone else's), Fuu is generally very friendly as well as polite. If she's suspicious about somebody, she'll still be polite, but a conversation between her and someone she distrusts may sound more like a verbal game of chess than normal socializing; she was able to gently manipulate Ferio into acting as the trio's bodyguard in the Forest of Silence on their first meeting, without giving away that Fuu and her companions had been summoned to become the Magic Knights.

In her downtime, Fuu enjoys putting her brain to work in a number of different regards. Math is noted as her favorite subject, with reading as her hobby of choice and computer programming as an extracurricular activity. She's something of an RPG otaku, familiar with a number of them (mostly of the fantasy sort), and an RPG Maker hobbyist who's been working on a serious project. She's still quite sociable, though: hardly a reclusive bookworm.

==Skills and Hobbies==

'''Kyuudou (Archery)''' - Without magic or other Magic Knight equipment, Fuu is still a talented archer, easily qualifying for Infinity's archery team while she was in middle school, and on track to join the high-school-level team. It's highly probable that she would, in a crisis, grab a bow and quiver from the club's practice area and go protect people as best she could - even with no magic at all.

'''Computers''' - While Fuu's not a master hacker or an advanced programmer (... yet), she knows her way around computers generally and is considerably above hobbyist level in using them. Programming is one of her regular extracurricular activities, although she's officially in the archery club rather than the computer club. This doesn't stop her from swinging by every so often to share notes and cooperate on projects.

'''Role-Playing Games''' - While Fuu hasn't admitted publicly to how many RPGs she plays, she's been known to talk about fantasy RPG tropes in the course of her various adventures and battles. What ''is'' known, though, is that she's been working with the Infinity computer club to develop an original RPG which she wants to distribute; it's been shown off at Comiket, although the project is still under development. (She's also been seen playing various games at Crown Game Center and other arcades, so her gaming interests apparently aren't limited to RPGs.)

'''Library Island Exploration Club''' - While the archery team still takes precedence (most of the time), Fuu is a semi-active member of the Library Island Exploration Club, plumbing the depths of Library Island to locate precious tomes, map out the stacks below the publicly-accessible areas, fight the occasional monster, and sometimes rescue people who've gotten lost down there.

==Relationships==

Hikaru Shidou and Umi Ryuuzaki - Fuu's most immediate allies, the Magic Knights of Fire and Water. While the three of them all go to different schools (Juuban for Hikaru, Ohtori for Umi), and their meeting at Tokyo Tower seemed like the purest chance, the three of them have still forged an unbreakable bond in their shared determination to save Cephiro.

Ferio - A native of Cephiro, the Magic Knights met the wandering swordsman in the Forest of Silence during their initial quest in Cephiro. Fuu was able to cajole him into assisting the three girls in navigating the Forest safely - but she didn't expect to actually fall in love with him. Still, fall in love she did, and she was overjoyed to discover that he had come to Tokyo as well. Besides being allies, they've also become an 'official' couple.

Nanoha Takamachi - Despite the difference in their ages, Fuu has a great deal of respect (and possibly a soft spot) for the younger magical girl, and is happy to provide assistance when Nanoha needs it. It helps that Midori-ya is one of Fuu's favorite bakeries.

Chevaliers - When the group was formed, Fuu agreed to help out how she could. However, the Chevaliers' first real battle in Shinjuku (against those who would form the Shepherds) left Fuu with the realization that being a Chevalier would force her to fight other magical girls - and that she has friends who are affected on both sides of the feud between the two groups. Between those factors, and realizing how little she understands the nature of the Puella Magi's need to hunt Witches, Fuu has found herself at an uncomfortable distance from the Chevaliers as a whole - moreso with some members than others - in spite of her belief that magical girls need to be able to stand together in times of crisis.

(Lots more to come ...)

==Attacks and Magic==

As the Magic Knight of Wind, Fuu fights with a combination of archery, her sword, and a diverse array of spells.

She was on the archery team at Infinity even before Emeraude summoned the Magic Knights, and the bow and arrows which she received from Presea (originally as a loaner weapon) have proven very useful, and better than she could acquire in Tokyo. However, the bow isn't made to "grow" like her sword is, which means that simply shooting arrows at an enemy depends more on her skill than on her weapon.

Fuu's sword, like the blades wielded by Hikaru and Umi, is forged from the legendary mineral Escudo, and - like her armor - is growing more powerful as Fuu herself gains in strength and skill. While Fuu's swordsmanship is essentially self-taught, her blade remains easy to handle, even at its current size.

While Hikaru and Umi only have attack spells, Fuu has developed a mix of attack and support magics. The very first spell she learned was the '''Winds of Healing''', which lets her assist allies in recovering from wounds suffered in battle. Full healing takes time and attention that she can't concentrate in the middle of the fray, but she can use a lighter version for "first aid" that offsets the more debilitating effects of injuries or attacks.

The '''Gale Arrow''' spell enhances Fuu's archery, using wind magic to propel an arrow faster than it would normally fly, and to offset the turbulence which would throw the shaft off course at such high speeds.

When faced with a highly mobile opponent, Fuu's frequent first recourse is the '''Winds of Admonishment''': a focused whirlwind which helps to hold weaker opponents in place, and often to at least slow down more powerful foes. This is often one of the first spells she casts in combat - just like in RPGs, debuffing a monster is usually good strategy.

On the flip side, Fuu's '''Winds of Protection''' are a defensive support spell, conjuring a barrier of focused wind to lend protection to an ally. She can also cast it on herself if push comes to shove, but she's usually too busy trying not to get blown away to take time for a defensive spell on her own behalf.

The '''Storm-Dance of Kamaitachi''' is one of Fuu's more devastating spells - sometimes ''too'' devastating; she has to be careful about using it when she's trying to protect people in tight quarters. Still, if she can unleash the tempest against a cluster of enemies, it tends to pay off.

Combining restorative magic with a counter-attack, the '''Liberating Gale''' actually starts out as a focused Winds of Healing before Fuu makes it erupt against whatever (or whomever) had weakened her in a given battle. It doesn't always work, though ...

The most powerful attack spell Fuu currently knows, the '''Emerald Cyclone''' serves as her usual finishing move, drawing on the full wrath of the tempest to strike down and shred the target of her wrath. She can either unleash it at full unbridled power, or try to focus its destructive force against a specific target, but either way, casting the Emerald Cyclone means she needs to wreck somebody's day ''hard''.

==Logs and Cutscenes==
{|style="text-align: left; border: black solid 2px;background:#ffffff;-moz-border-radius: 10px;margin: 0.5em 0 0 0"
|-
{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" style="border:0px solid #ffffff;background: #ffffff;vertical-align: top;"
!style="text-align: left;background: #3CE4FE; width:1000pt"|Logs
|-
|
{{#dpl: |category = logs
|linksto = {{PAGENAME}}
|notcategory = News Files
|notcategory = cutscenes
|ordermethod = title
|columns = 1
|rowcolformat=width=50%
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no logs on this wiki that {{PAGENAME}} participated in.
}}
|}

{|style="text-align: left; border: black solid 2px;background:#ffffff;-moz-border-radius: 10px;margin: 0.5em 0 0 0"
|-
{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" style="border:0px solid #ffffff;background: #ffffff;vertical-align: top;"
!style="text-align: left;background: #3CE4FE; width:1000pt"|Cutscenes
|-
|
{{#dpl: |category = cutscenes
|linksto = {{PAGENAME}}
|notcategory = News Files
|notcategory = logs
|ordermethod = title
|columns = 1
|rowcolformat=width=50%
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no cutscenes on this wiki that {{PAGENAME}} participated in.
}}
|}

[[Category:Characters]][[Category:Infinity Institute]][[Category:Magic Association]]

File:Fuu in later armor.jpg

2017-10-11T04:13:51Z

Shachihoko: Official art of Fuu in a later version of her Magic Knight armor.

Official art of Fuu in a later version of her Magic Knight armor.

Fuu Hououji

2017-09-29T03:57:24Z

Shachihoko: Fleshing things out with a few additional sections. More to come, I'm sure ...

{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Character Name'''
|-
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[File:Fuu in first armor.jpg]]
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''IC Information'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:
| Fuu Hououji
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Aliases:
| Magic Knight of Wind
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:
| Female
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Age/Birthdate:
| 15 (December 12, 1998)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:
| Light brown
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Eye Colour:
| Green
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Astrological Sign:
| Sagittarius
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Blood Type:
| A
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Favorite Food:
| Tessa (very thinly sliced blowfish)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Least Favorite Food:
| anything yucky
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Favorite Subject:
| Math
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Least Favorite Subject:
| Art
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Dossier'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Organization:
| Magic Association
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Position:
| n/a
|-
! style="text-align:left" | School:
| [[School: Infinity Institute|Infinity Institute]] (Grade 9)
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''OOC Information'''
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Source:
| [[Magic Knight Rayearth]] (FC)
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Player:
| [[User:Shachihoko|Shachihoko]]
|-
|}
Kind, friendly, and polite almost to a fault, '''Fuu Hououji''' hardly seems the sort to join in the battle against evil - but after she was summoned to Cephiro by Princess Emeraude, Fuu agreed to become one of the Magic Knights of legend alongside [[Hikaru Shidou|Hikaru]] and [[Umi Ryuuzaki|Umi]], the two girls who were summoned alongside her. Fuu's intelligence, combined with the wind magic bestowed upon her by Clef, makes her highly adaptable in combat and allows her to support her allies as well as attacking on her own; her skill at archery lets her attack from a distance, while she also can wield her Escudo sword as needed in close combat. Wearing glasses doesn't make her any less dangerous as an enemy, either - she'll always stand up to assist her friends, whether it's her classmates or her fellow Magic Knights that need her.

(More info to come!)

==Personality==

Fuu's most prevalent personality trait is a virtually unfailing gentle politeness, worthy of a "Yamato nadeshiko": she addresses ''everyone'' in polite language, even using -san in speaking to close friends (or deadly enemies), and very nearly always keeps a polite, friendly smile on her face when she's not actually fighting.

Hiding behind her polite and gentle demeanor, though, is a determination and loyalty which neither friend nor foe should take lightly. Fuu is extremely loyal to her friends, and would sooner kill herself than abandon a friend in need - even if she'd be risking her own life to help them. This is part of her bond with Hikaru and Umi, but it applies with other friends as well. Even without magic, Fuu will come to her classmates' aid if they come under attack - particularly since Fuu herself is a target of Zagato's minions; she can't assume that ANY monster which shows up is going to ignore her if given a choice in the matter. So she'll protect her friends to the best of her ability, no matter where she is ... even if she has to risk giving away her secret identity to do so.

The tradeoff to being so determined to protect her friends, of course, is that Fuu knows her family will be sad if anything happens to her. So she's just as determined to protect ''herself'' as anyone around her - which, rather than making her run away under most circumstances, is going to make her even more determined to protect herself and win against any enemy which threatens her. She'll gladly end a fight nonviolently if the opportunity provides itself, but if a monster or a more human-looking enemy is out for her blood, she'll have few qualms about going for a killing strike.

There is another downside to her determination to protect others: if she fails to protect somebody, or something important, then that weighs heavily on Fuu's heart. It's happened a few times already, and one of those failures actually wiped out her ability to use magic for a time. Fortunately, the help of friends and strangers let Fuu regain her powers as a Magic Knight, but she's still painfully conscious of the times she wasn't strong enough, fast enough, cunning enough ...

When she doesn't have to worry about fighting for her life (or anyone else's), Fuu is generally very friendly as well as polite. If she's suspicious about somebody, she'll still be polite, but a conversation between her and someone she distrusts may sound more like a verbal game of chess than normal socializing; she was able to gently manipulate Ferio into acting as the trio's bodyguard in the Forest of Silence on their first meeting, without giving away that Fuu and her companions had been summoned to become the Magic Knights.

In her downtime, Fuu enjoys putting her brain to work in a number of different regards. Math is noted as her favorite subject, with reading as her hobby of choice and computer programming as an extracurricular activity. She's something of an RPG otaku, familiar with a number of them (mostly of the fantasy sort), and an RPG Maker hobbyist who's been working on a serious project. She's still quite sociable, though: hardly a reclusive bookworm.

==Skills and Hobbies==

'''Kyuudou (Archery)''' - Without magic or other Magic Knight equipment, Fuu is still a talented archer, easily qualifying for Infinity's archery team while she was in middle school, and on track to join the high-school-level team. It's highly probable that she would, in a crisis, grab a bow and quiver from the club's practice area and go protect people as best she could - even with no magic at all.

'''Computers''' - While Fuu's not a master hacker or an advanced programmer (... yet), she knows her way around computers generally and is considerably above hobbyist level in using them. Programming is one of her regular extracurricular activities, although she's officially in the archery club rather than the computer club. This doesn't stop her from swinging by every so often to share notes and cooperate on projects.

'''Role-Playing Games''' - While Fuu hasn't admitted publicly to how many RPGs she plays, she's been known to talk about fantasy RPG tropes in the course of her various adventures and battles. What ''is'' known, though, is that she's been working with the Infinity computer club to develop an original RPG which she wants to distribute; it's been shown off at Comiket, although the project is still under development. (She's also been seen playing various games at Crown Game Center and other arcades, so her gaming interests apparently aren't limited to RPGs.)

'''Library Island Exploration Club''' - While the archery team still takes precedence (most of the time), Fuu is a semi-active member of the Library Island Exploration Club, plumbing the depths of Library Island to locate precious tomes, map out the stacks below the publicly-accessible areas, fight the occasional monster, and sometimes rescue people who've gotten lost down there.

==Relationships==

(Need to put this section together.)

==Attacks and Magic==

As the Magic Knight of Wind, Fuu fights with a combination of archery, her sword, and a diverse array of spells.

She was on the archery team at Infinity even before Emeraude summoned the Magic Knights, and the bow and arrows which she received from Presea (originally as a loaner weapon) have proven very useful, and better than she could acquire in Tokyo. However, the bow isn't made to "grow" like her sword is, which means that simply shooting arrows at an enemy depends more on her skill than on her weapon.

Fuu's sword, like the blades wielded by Hikaru and Umi, is forged from the legendary mineral Escudo, and - like her armor - is growing more powerful as Fuu herself gains in strength and skill. While Fuu's swordsmanship is essentially self-taught, her blade remains easy to handle, even at its current size.

While Hikaru and Umi only have attack spells, Fuu has developed a mix of attack and support magics. The very first spell she learned was the '''Winds of Healing''', which lets her assist allies in recovering from wounds suffered in battle. Full healing takes time and attention that she can't concentrate in the middle of the fray, but she can use a lighter version for "first aid" that offsets the more debilitating effects of injuries or attacks.

The '''Gale Arrow''' spell enhances Fuu's archery, using wind magic to propel an arrow faster than it would normally fly, and to offset the turbulence which would throw the shaft off course at such high speeds.

When faced with a highly mobile opponent, Fuu's frequent first recourse is the '''Winds of Admonishment''': a focused whirlwind which helps to hold weaker opponents in place, and often to at least slow down more powerful foes. This is often one of the first spells she casts in combat - just like in RPGs, debuffing a monster is usually good strategy.

On the flip side, Fuu's '''Winds of Protection''' are a defensive support spell, conjuring a barrier of focused wind to lend protection to an ally. She can also cast it on herself if push comes to shove, but she's usually too busy trying not to get blown away to take time for a defensive spell on her own behalf.

The '''Storm-Dance of Kamaitachi''' is one of Fuu's more devastating spells - sometimes ''too'' devastating; she has to be careful about using it when she's trying to protect people in tight quarters. Still, if she can unleash the tempest against a cluster of enemies, it tends to pay off.

Combining restorative magic with a counter-attack, the '''Liberating Gale''' actually starts out as a focused Winds of Healing before Fuu makes it erupt against whatever (or whomever) had weakened her in a given battle. It doesn't always work, though ...

The most powerful attack spell Fuu currently knows, the '''Emerald Cyclone''' serves as her usual finishing move, drawing on the full wrath of the tempest to strike down and shred the target of her wrath. She can either unleash it at full unbridled power, or try to focus its destructive force against a specific target, but either way, casting the Emerald Cyclone means she needs to wreck somebody's day ''hard''.

==Logs and Cutscenes==
{|style="text-align: left; border: black solid 2px;background:#ffffff;-moz-border-radius: 10px;margin: 0.5em 0 0 0"
|-
{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" style="border:0px solid #ffffff;background: #ffffff;vertical-align: top;"
!style="text-align: left;background: #3CE4FE; width:1000pt"|Logs
|-
|
{{#dpl: |category = logs
|linksto = {{PAGENAME}}
|notcategory = News Files
|notcategory = cutscenes
|ordermethod = title
|columns = 1
|rowcolformat=width=50%
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no logs on this wiki that {{PAGENAME}} participated in.
}}
|}

{|style="text-align: left; border: black solid 2px;background:#ffffff;-moz-border-radius: 10px;margin: 0.5em 0 0 0"
|-
{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" style="border:0px solid #ffffff;background: #ffffff;vertical-align: top;"
!style="text-align: left;background: #3CE4FE; width:1000pt"|Cutscenes
|-
|
{{#dpl: |category = cutscenes
|linksto = {{PAGENAME}}
|notcategory = News Files
|notcategory = logs
|ordermethod = title
|columns = 1
|rowcolformat=width=50%
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no cutscenes on this wiki that {{PAGENAME}} participated in.
}}
|}

[[Category:Characters]][[Category:Infinity Institute]][[Category:Magic Association]]

Fuu Hououji

2017-09-29T03:01:55Z

Shachihoko: Making the logs/cutscenes collapsible (starting collapsed). Thank you, Ami!

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

2017-09-29T02:58:28Z

Shachihoko: /* Cast */ - added Ami Mizuno

[[File:sailormoontitle.png|650px|center]]

This wiki page is under construction!

[[File:construct.gif]]

====Cast====
* [[Ami Mizuno]]
* [[Asagao Uekawa]]
* [[Erythrite]]
* [[Haruka Tenoh]]
* [[Hotaru Tomoe]]
* [[Makoto Kino]]
* [[Mamoru Chiba]]
* [[Michiru Kaioh]]
* [[Minako Aino]]
* [[Setsuna Meioh]]
* [[Usagi Tsukino]]
* [[Zoisite]]

====NPCs====

====Helpful Notes====

Back to [[Cast Pages]]!

[[Category:Cast Pages]]

Fuu Hououji

2017-09-29T02:25:16Z

Shachihoko: Basic vital stats updates and added basic code for the logs/cutscenes auto-list.

Schools: 2014 Cultural Festival

2015-02-27T01:27:22Z

Shachihoko: /* Infinity Institute */

Schools: 2014 Cultural Festival

This is a list of school, class, and club-made events to be presented at the upcoming 2014 Sister Schools Cultural Festival. Players are encouraged to add their own entries, in collaboration with their classmates and club members. Please use the wiki formatting shown in the example at the top of Infinity Institute, and have fun!

===Infinity Institute===

=====Low-Stakes Casino=====
'''Event Host:''' Infinity Institute 7th Grade Class

'''Event Description:''' The Infinity Institute seventh-graders have elected to turn their classroom into a luxuriously appointed casino of the type they've seen only on television and the silver screen. Dramatic velvet drapery in reds and blacks, tables stained to resemble mahogany, and the occasional beautiful, classmember-donated object d'arte or exceptional indoor plant combine to create an exotic and exciting ambiance. Members of the class, in appropriate attire, welcome visitors, explain games, deal cards, serve (strictly non-alcoholic) drinks, and "cash" people out -- but since the gambling chips can only be exchanged for chocolate, no cash is actually involved. On the other hand: ''the gambling chips can only be exchanged for chocolate!!'' Some dessert aficionados are playing the tables with a mix of enthusiasm and desperation as true to the feeling of Las Vegas as anything could be.

=====Katamari Soccer=====
'''Event Host:''' Infinity Institute Soccer Club

'''Event Description:''' Infinity's soccer club has decided to hold a special exhibition match at the soccer field - or rather, a series of short soccer games open for anyone to join. There's always at least a couple of players on hand to give the teams some direction, or just to show off for an audience - but they're perfectly willing to step aside for interested individuals. There's just one catch to this game - the soccer ball is considerably larger than usual. Lightweight, inflated but durable, it towers over most players - several players getting into things by whistling the theme to a certain game about rolling things up. Other than the absurd size of the ball (and goals), normal rules apply - including not being allowed to touch the ball with your hands. The net result is often a flip of the usual norm for soccer players - at Infinity's cultural festival, ball chases you!

=====Time Trial Tower=====
'''Event Host:''' Infinity Institute 12th Grade Class

'''Event Description:''' Members of Infinity's twelfth-graders have commandeered one of the lesser-used staircases for their project, expanding beyond the confines of the classroom. It's a race, for anyone who wishes to challenge it - starting at their classroom, ascend the staircase to reach the finish the fastest. Of course, a simple sprint up stairs would be boring - even if that was the original suggestion - and so the class has pooled their efforts to spice things up. At predetermined intervals along the way, unknown obstacles will surface to hinder the challenger. Perhaps a door bars the racer's path, opening only when a riddle is solved! Perhaps there's a set of tires that must be navigated as a feat of athletics. Perhaps there's a pie-eating contest as a requirement to proceed. Or maybe the challenger must defeat the (papier-mâché) dragon! It's never the same race twice - and the posted results include a list of what was faced along the way. How quickly can you reach the top - and what will you face along the way?

=====Game Makers Demo=====
'''Event Host:''' Infinity Institute Computer Club

'''Event Description:''' The computer club has set up a number of workstations with different game-making software, and the club's members are coaching visitors who want to try and put together a computer game of their very own. Of course, the time available won't allow for anything too big or complicated - but if you find you have a knack for game design, you can always take your starting project home with you, and get the development software for yourself. Further, the person whose project is the favorite among the club's members at festival's end will even receive a copy of whatever game-making package they were working with. Nothing to lose (except time), so why not try your hand? Even the great game designers had to start somewhere ...

=====Hands-On Archery Demo=====
'''Event Host:''' Infinity Institute Archery Team

'''Event Description:''' Have you ever wanted to see how well you can do at ''kyuudou'', the art of traditional Japanese archery, but you couldn't afford to buy the equipment for it? Well, now's your chance! The members of the Infinity archery team have opened their dojo and practice range to visitors - at least so long as you obey the ground rules: leave your shoes outside, no running, and '''absolutely''' do not venture out onto the range itself unless somebody announces the all-clear first. No equipment? No problem; the team members have a stock of "loaner" equipment, bows included, which should be adequate for novices trying to get a feel for the art of archery.

===Ohtori Academy===

=====Twisted Mirror Funhouse=====
'''Event Host:''' Ohtori Academy Fashion Club

'''Event Description:''' A common circus attraction is a funhouse of twisted mirrors, meant to show warped reflections. The Fashion Club liked this idea, but had an idea for an alternate twist; having prepared thousands of outfits and arranged for makeup artists and actors both, they've created a funhouse of twisted reflections. Rather than simple distorted silver, though, their mirrors are windows - with doppelgangers of the visitors in a variety of outfits from every style and period imaginable. Walk into the hall, and see your reflection as you might have been in a dozen other eras! (Due to logistics, a limited number of people are allowed in at a time.)

=====The Parade of the Blade=====
'''Event Host:''' Ohtori Academy Fencing Club

'''Event Description:''' Thrilling feats of derring do with sword, knife, and other blades are a staple of the circus. Ohtori's prestigious fencing club had a lengthy discussion on just what blade sport to focus upon - and has settled, instead, upon everything. A gorgeous pavilion keeps the summery sun at bay while members of the fencing club demonstrate their prowess with exhibition matches, feats of speed ("How many coins can sempai catch on her blade, before a single one hits the ground?") and, for the brave of heart, a knife-throwing act... where YOU are the target. (Apples for the top of the head are available upon request.)

===Juuban Public School===

=====Going Green=====
'''Event Host:''' Juuban Science Club

'''Event Description:''' A scale model of the Juuban Public Schools has been set up in the science lab, complete with tiny pipes and wiring -- water and power! Remarkably, it is all provided by sustainable means, some of them very clever. A wind-powered well features prominently, while a bank of actual solar panels has been produced in full-scale form and are hanging out of the windows, trying to catch a few rays. There are a few other enjoyable gadgets, prominent among them the watermill harnessed to power a candy-making machine, and posters all around the room report on various sustainable energy opportunities, even providing potential budgets for how Juuban could get off the grid within the next five years.

[[Category:Schools]]

Schools: 2014 Cultural Festival

2015-02-26T05:25:57Z

Shachihoko: /* Infinity Institute */

Schools: 2014 Cultural Festival

This is a list of school, class, and club-made events to be presented at the upcoming 2014 Sister Schools Cultural Festival. Players are encouraged to add their own entries, in collaboration with their classmates and club members. Please use the wiki formatting shown in the example at the top of Infinity Institute, and have fun!

===Infinity Institute===

=====Low-Stakes Casino=====
'''Event Host:''' Infinity Institute 7th Grade Class

'''Event Description:''' The Infinity Institute seventh-graders have elected to turn their classroom into a luxuriously appointed casino of the type they've seen only on television and the silver screen. Dramatic velvet drapery in reds and blacks, tables stained to resemble mahogany, and the occasional beautiful, classmember-donated object d'arte or exceptional indoor plant combine to create an exotic and exciting ambiance. Members of the class, in appropriate attire, welcome visitors, explain games, deal cards, serve (strictly non-alcoholic) drinks, and "cash" people out -- but since the gambling chips can only be exchanged for chocolate, no cash is actually involved. On the other hand: ''the gambling chips can only be exchanged for chocolate!!'' Some dessert aficionados are playing the tables with a mix of enthusiasm and desperation as true to the feeling of Las Vegas as anything could be.

=====Katamari Soccer=====
'''Event Host:''' Infinity Institute Soccer Club

'''Event Description:''' Infinity's soccer club has decided to hold a special exhibition match at the soccer field - or rather, a series of short soccer games open for anyone to join. There's always at least a couple of players on hand to give the teams some direction, or just to show off for an audience - but they're perfectly willing to step aside for interested individuals. There's just one catch to this game - the soccer ball is considerably larger than usual. Lightweight, inflated but durable, it towers over most players - several players getting into things by whistling the theme to a certain game about rolling things up. Other than the absurd size of the ball (and goals), normal rules apply - including not being allowed to touch the ball with your hands. The net result is often a flip of the usual norm for soccer players - at Infinity's cultural festival, ball chases you!

=====Time Trial Tower=====
'''Event Host:''' Infinity Institute 12th Grade Class

'''Event Description:''' Members of Infinity's twelfth-graders have commandeered one of the lesser-used staircases for their project, expanding beyond the confines of the classroom. It's a race, for anyone who wishes to challenge it - starting at their classroom, ascend the staircase to reach the finish the fastest. Of course, a simple sprint up stairs would be boring - even if that was the original suggestion - and so the class has pooled their efforts to spice things up. At predetermined intervals along the way, unknown obstacles will surface to hinder the challenger. Perhaps a door bars the racer's path, opening only when a riddle is solved! Perhaps there's a set of tires that must be navigated as a feat of athletics. Perhaps there's a pie-eating contest as a requirement to proceed. Or maybe the challenger must defeat the (papier-mâché) dragon! It's never the same race twice - and the posted results include a list of what was faced along the way. How quickly can you reach the top - and what will you face along the way?

=====Game Makers Demo=====
'''Event Host:''' Infinity Institute Computer Club

'''Event Description:''' The computer club has set up a number of workstations with different game-making software, and the club's members are coaching visitors who want to try and put together a computer game of their very own. Of course, the time available won't allow for anything too big or complicated - but if you find you have a knack for game design, you can always take your starting project home with you, and get the development software for yourself. Further, the person whose project is the favorite among the club's members at festival's end will even receive a copy of whatever game-making package they were working with. Nothing to lose (except time), so why not try your hand? Even the great game designers had to start somewhere ...

===Ohtori Academy===

=====Twisted Mirror Funhouse=====
'''Event Host:''' Ohtori Academy Fashion Club

'''Event Description:''' A common circus attraction is a funhouse of twisted mirrors, meant to show warped reflections. The Fashion Club liked this idea, but had an idea for an alternate twist; having prepared thousands of outfits and arranged for makeup artists and actors both, they've created a funhouse of twisted reflections. Rather than simple distorted silver, though, their mirrors are windows - with doppelgangers of the visitors in a variety of outfits from every style and period imaginable. Walk into the hall, and see your reflection as you might have been in a dozen other eras! (Due to logistics, a limited number of people are allowed in at a time.)

=====The Parade of the Blade=====
'''Event Host:''' Ohtori Academy Fencing Club

'''Event Description:''' Thrilling feats of derring do with sword, knife, and other blades are a staple of the circus. Ohtori's prestigious fencing club had a lengthy discussion on just what blade sport to focus upon - and has settled, instead, upon everything. A gorgeous pavilion keeps the summery sun at bay while members of the fencing club demonstrate their prowess with exhibition matches, feats of speed ("How many coins can sempai catch on her blade, before a single one hits the ground?") and, for the brave of heart, a knife-throwing act... where YOU are the target. (Apples for the top of the head are available upon request.)

===Juuban Public School===

=====Going Green=====
'''Event Host:''' Juuban Science Club

'''Event Description:''' A scale model of the Juuban Public Schools has been set up in the science lab, complete with tiny pipes and wiring -- water and power! Remarkably, it is all provided by sustainable means, some of them very clever. A wind-powered well features prominently, while a bank of actual solar panels has been produced in full-scale form and are hanging out of the windows, trying to catch a few rays. There are a few other enjoyable gadgets, prominent among them the watermill harnessed to power a candy-making machine, and posters all around the room report on various sustainable energy opportunities, even providing potential budgets for how Juuban could get off the grid within the next five years.

[[Category:Schools]]