Obligatory Beach Episode (the actual beach part)

[hoasen]

Who: Everyone at the beach (and Vietnam)
When: First few days of April?
Where: Capablanca: Beach
What: In order to complete a few jobs set in Capablanca, a volleyball match and a beach bbq happened (at different times). As usual, everyone can end up joining for no goddamn reason (other than money maybe).
Rating: PG is always the safe option.

NOTE This is also a mingle log, so just tag around in the sub-headers set up!

VOLLEYBALL

[In order to complete this job and win the trust of the merfolk, a beach volleyball session has been organised. What are they going to do? It has been suggested that they play on the shallows, stick up a net and then hit balls back and forth to the merfolk. Seems easy enough...right?

WRONG. Beach Volleyball is super intense. Start planning your strategies, because you could be unfortunate in that your mermaid friends are actually professional underwater volleyballers. Which is probably like Blitzball or something.]


BEACH BBQ

[One of the best ways to learn about each other and also WIN THE TRUST of local populace is to hold a random Beach Barbeque. Who knows where Vietnam managed to amass all these ingredients for the barbeque (trade secret) but everyone can help cook! If they know how. Alternatively, all barbeques need people to EAT so come judge the food. And talk and make merry.

There is word going around that someone left a whole case of alcohol for mixing. Who on earth brought that?! (And left a convenient list of drinks and how to mix them). We'll blame the proprietor of a bar who wants more publicity.]

Comments

[hiryugaeshi]

With this? No. You learn to have a healthy respect for sharp objects after swinging a sword around long enough.

[ And cutting up birds is actually what made him sorta famous. Well not really, but somebody else got famous for it and he sorta ended up filling in. His circumstances are odd. ]

Do you want to try?

[ He could always take a break and actually eat some of that chicken and/or fantasy chicken equivalent. ]

[avantguard]

[ Oooh. Someone else who uses a sword, huh? It's true, she respected her sword too. Actually, she was pretty attached to it. Not enough to cry over it yet, but... she'll get there. So she took extra good care of her weapon.

But she never imagined applying sword techniques to knives. ]

T-try what you did? [ She nearly sputters. ]

I don't think I should... [ Cutting herself seems like a very real possibility. Worse case scenario: cutting off her fingers. ]

[hiryugaeshi]

[ Pointy object made for cutting things... Quite a number of those skills are transferable. Probably. Maybe Kojirou here is just talented with blades in general. ]

You'll have to eventually, if you're going to go adventure out there in the open world with nobody to help you.

[ Unless you have a cook on hand, or want to eat everything without cutting it up first, like some kind of savage. But Asuna seems far too civilised for that. ]

At least here if you hurt yourself, there are others who can help you.

[ Not him though, he's not a healer. ]

[avantguard]

[ The latter. Definitely.

But... he has a point. As she got older and moved out on her own, she wouldn't have cooked to make meals for her like she did when she lives with her family. ]

I know that. [ She half-pouts, pursing her lips. ]

I just meant I shouldn't try and get convulated with cutting like you did. I'm only just starting with cooking even if I know how to use a sword.

[ SHOW OFF just kidding ]

[hiryugaeshi]

It's not that convoluted.

[ Kojirou grabs another chicken and plops it down on the cutting board, knife at the ready. ]

You simply have to know what you're doing. A knife like this is not a bone cleaver, so don't use it like one. Remove the legs and wings at the joints, and slice the breasts off the bone. If you've done it right, you should meet barely any resistance at all.

[ He demonstrates, a small chop removing both drumsticks and thighs from the bird. ]

And once you have your form down, then you can practice getting faster. And then it's merely a matter of mastery through repetition. That advice, you'll find, is true for martial arts too.

[avantguard]

[ Bone... cleaver...

She didn't think it was one. But boy, he makes it look easy. Maybe it's not too CONVOLUTED NOT CONVULATED FUCK. ]

I take it you know martial arts if you're making that kind of comparison?

[ She's taking a chicken to try what he did, although it's slower she does it pretty well. ]

[hiryugaeshi]

Of course. I'm a swordsman after all, a samurai, if you will. I know martial arts.

[ Kendo, specifically. Not of any particular school, having taught himself most of what he needed to know, and obtaining the rest through close observation of nature and fighting other warriors during his era. ]

I suppose I could fight bare-handed too, but I'd rather not. The sword is where I dedicated most of my training.

[avantguard]

[ A samurai? She kind of figured he was a swordsman but a real samurai? She feels so out of place here, sometimes. All these people she knows and talked to are seasoned warriors in some way or form. They've fought before.

Asuna is just a high school girl. That makes her fight harder, though. ]

You can't really cut a chicken bare-handed though, can you? [ She makes a motion like she's going to give the chicken a chop with the edge of her palm. ]

[hiryugaeshi]

I suspect that depends on how skilled you are with your hands. I once met a madman whose swords broke on a dragon's scales, so he decided to punch his way out instead.

[ Beowulf isn't what anyone would call just "skilled," but Kojirou's not going to be the one to admit that. Not when he's trying to make a point. ]

But I wouldn't recommend it if you have a weapon on hand. Humanity invented blades for a reason.

[avantguard]

Punch his way out?!

[ She can't help but blurt, surprised. Wait, dragon? No, she should be used to this. And actually, she's more shocked by the idea of someone punching their way out of a dragon's stomach rather than the dragon itself. ]

I-I'm not going to try it. [ Seems messy. ] I was just curious, since you mentioned martial arts.

[hiryugaeshi]

Weapons are a form of martial arts too, you know. But even ordinary humans can achieve enough strength and skill to break a few bricks with their bare hands.

[ Don't ask Kojirou to do it though. He probably could, but he'd much prefer having a sword on hand. He's just that kind of person. ]

Ah, but don't worry about Beowulf's exploits. You can count the number of people in all of history who'd do something that mad on both hands.

[avantguard]

[ Yeah, but that takes YEARS or at least months to learn how to do that. ]

... I'm surprised there's more than one.

[ Shouldn't it just be one hand?? ]

[hiryugaeshi]

Heracles could definitely do it too.

[ Yes, but he's Heracles. The greatest of heroes.

When did Kojirou become a lorekeeper, he has no idea, but every Servant knows the stories of the most famous heroes and he's met them face to face. As a far more ordinary person than those heroes of yore, it's hard not to be impressed.

He just tries not to show it to their faces. ]

Still, no matter how strong something is, it can still be beaten by someone cleverer, and more skilled. The vessel of a 'mere' human cannot be underestimated.