[Feb 13th] Welcome to the Bliss Bakery, Keystone Station Division [Video]

[rhododendronhoney]

[The video that appears on the screen is pretty blurry, with the girl in the image trying desperately to center it on herself and failing. Still, the bright smile on her face is pretty obvious.]

Oh, erm-is this recording yet? [She clears her throat.] Well, I hope it is...hi everybody! My name is Coriander Bliss, and I'm representing the Bliss Family Bakery here! Although don't be fooled by that name-I can definitely do things besides bake!

Anyways, the kitchen's got a bunch of stuff, so I'll do my best to try and make something new every day! I'm letting you all know so that if you have any requests, you can tell me! Plus if you recognize some of the stuff in there, that'd also be useful.

Plus, I can make enchanted snacks as well, that can boost your abilities in various ways! Just let me know what kind of advantage you'd like and I'll do my best to make you your own special batch!

Comments

[rhododendronhoney]

Yeah! I can boost your everyday skills too, though-that's what I used to work on before I got called to help with the various breaches happening in my world. They're mostly temporary, though-although I can make meals that will boost your abilities for longer, it just takes more time.

[photoshooter]

Hah. Well, I always did feel like my friend's home-cooked meals really did give us power-ups in a fight. What kind of everyday skills can you boost, though?

[rhododendronhoney]

Well, the ones I'm most practiced in were for improving your sight, like carrots, but they actually work! And, well...my boyfriend's a medic, so I later worked on a recipe to help improve his medical abilities. I could probably boost almost anything if you give me time to figure out the proper ingredients or incantations, though.

[photoshooter]

Oh, man. That's so... cool!

[How come other worlds let everyone have magic? Maybe Eos wouldn't be so messed up if things were more even all around.]

Do you need magic ingredients to make magic snacks? Maybe you should try growing plants with water from those weird crystals!

[rhododendronhoney]

[Cori grins at his enthusiasm.] It really is! I usually don't need any specific ingredients-it's more in the symbols or chants used during the preparation. Although some of them do require a specific emotional component...

[photoshooter]

Emotional component?

[rhododendronhoney]

Yeah! Quite a few of our snacks are meant to enhance certain emotions, such as calmness or romantic feelings, and generally you need to be in the right state to properly integrate their effect!

[photoshooter]

Wh-whoa, like a love potion cookie? Isn't that kind of dangerous? I mean, I'm sure you know what you're doing, but isn't there always an episode about that kind of thing in, like, every Saturday morning cartoon ever made?

[rhododendronhoney]

[She goes into "explaining" mode for this, ticking things off on her fingers.] Well, for one, the effects are meant to be extremely temporary, especially if you would try and use it on someone who didn't have those feelings beforehand. Secondly, they're intended more for shy people who want the courage to confess instead of actually getting people to fall for you. Or sometimes fighting couples who need a reminder of how they care about each other. And last, my grandma would definitely be extremely disappointed if we misused it in any way.

[photoshooter]

Oh, yeah, I get that. Can't disappoint Grandma!

[Prompto doesn't even have a grandma to disappoint.]

That's seriously so cool, though. Using the power of magic cooking to help people--it's like something out of a video game! Coriander Bliss... baaaaake up!

[rhododendronhoney]

[It's okay, she can adopt you and then her mom will become your grandma.]

Heh, really? I don't play videogames that much, so I'll take your word for it. But yeah, our grandma taught us this magic so that we could help people in the first place.

[photoshooter]

Well-- [He falters briefly, then shakes his head and smiles.] That's what magic's for, isn't it? To help the people who need that little bit extra help.

[rhododendronhoney]

[She nods and smiles.] Is that how it is in your world as well?

[photoshooter]

It's--it's how it should be, anyway. Most people can't really use magic. Only the two royal families of Lucis and Tenebrae, and they definitely use it for good.

[rhododendronhoney]

...really? Is it related to their actual bloodline, or just them having access to more teachers or training about magic?

[photoshooter]

Yeah, it's a bloodline thing. Though the Kings of Lucis can share it with people they trust and stuff, even if they're not born to it. I don't think it works the same way for the Oracle.

[rhododendronhoney]

[A thoughtful nod.] Huh, that's not too surprising, I guess. Oracular magic is harder to learn, and there's some theories that's it's personal to everyone individually and can't really be trained.

[photoshooter]

I can't even imagine there being more than one Oracle at a time. Doesn't that get confusing for your gods, if they're getting two different messages from humanity at once?

[rhododendronhoney]

[A few fast blinks.] Oh, is that what it means for you? Not just...predicting the future and stuff like that? I guess those can kind of overlap with each other sometimes...

[photoshooter]

Oh. No, our Oracle... she didn't really predict the future. I mean, I guess she knew prophecies and stuff? But mostly it was her job to, like, talk to the gods. And to heal people.

[rhododendronhoney]

Really? I guess talking to the gods is closer to the original meaning...but healing magic is restricted like that? [That's kind of worrying.]

[photoshooter]

Noct--uh, the line of Lucian kings, I mean--they've got a little healing power, too. I mean, his magic can make soda and energy drinks and stuff heal wounds, cure poison, et cetera.

But the Oracle's the only one who can heal this disease we've got on Eos called--called the Starscourge. It's... bad. ...It turns people into monsters.

[He knows enough now to understand 'daemon' isn't something everyone recognizes. That it's not something that defines other people's lives the way it defines life on his planet.]

[rhododendronhoney]

[Cori flinches at the comment.] Oh...that sounds really bad. Is-is it really serious? If there's only one Oracle, it must be really hard for her too...to be responsible for all that.

[photoshooter]

It's a lot more serious than I understood, growing up in Insomnia where it was safe.

[How much had the Wall kept out, besides the obvious threat of the Empire? How very sheltered had he been?]

The last Oracle... gave her life trying to make the world safe like that for everyone. [Quieter:] We didn't get there in time to save her.

[rhododendronhoney]

Oh... [Her voice gets very soft.] That's...that's terrible. Is there really no other way to handle that Starscourge? Maybe...maybe someone here will have some way if they're all from different worlds.