« 014 ⇢ EVENT014.EXE »

[reparator]

Who: Cerealia natives & you
When: ooc: 05/21-05/23; ic: 01/08
Where: A local photography studio
What: Intro log
Rating/Warning: PG-13 | possibly nsfw (please let us know if you need this rating changed, or you are welcome to continue any naughty shenanigans in a private log)

//event013.EXE WE'RE YOUR BIGGEST FANS WE'LL FOLLOW YOU UNTIL YOU LOVE US (L̻̣̖̯̰ͣ̒̓̆̃̈́̈͜͞O̱̞̞̝̤͋̆ͭV̵̨̖̘͉͖̤͇̞̺ͫ̾̇̚͝Ę͐̇̓ͪͨ̇͠͏̰̼͍͍̪̙̰͍̪ ̸̫̆ͨͨ̕͝Ȕ̘̼ͬ͋ͮ̂͋Ś̑̒͗҉̧̤͚ ̪̯̰̮̘̔ͬ͂ͫͫ́͝L̠͍͔̯͔͈͆̄̉ͤ͢͝ͅO̳̰͔͙̱̹̦͌̓V͍̗͖̙̬̰ͫ̆̆ͤ́E̡̤̤̟̩̟̅̃͢ͅ ̦̙̲̮͖͙͓̄ͩͥ̇̎̈ͫ́̀͢U̶͚͔ͯ͌͘S̡̛͈̺̹̯͎̓̐̄̿͝ ̷̌̑ͮ̒̂̓҉̰̦͕͓̝L̤͍͍̝̯̙̈̓ͮͬͧ͡͠Ô̢̲̗̻̱̜͔̺̗̦ͩ̒͊̄̌̒͊V͎̬̺͇͖̮̻̚͜Ĕ̱̺͓̩̯̫ͅ ̖̫͙̞̜͇͖̹͗̿ͨͧ̄͑̕͝U͎͔̼̒̂́̽͑͆ͨͯ͟ͅS̢͔̳ͣ̊̃̇ͣ̐̀͞ͅ ̲̣̳̾ͩ͑ͦ̈́ͩ̉͗̕͞L̗̩̰͈̜͔͍͈̓͢O̫͈̝̭̠͈͕̻̎̏ͣ̚͘͠V̸͔̲̻͚̭͂͆̎̈ͨ̐̏̑́͢È̪̖̟̞̗͎̰̻̱̈́ͩ͂ͩ̓ͩ ̵͎̘̺̋̐̉ͦ͂ͧ̐ͬU͇̫̪̬ͣ͢S̰͓͂̿͂͗̐̓ ̶͌̇̂͗ͧ̓҉̤͎̫͈L̺̦͓̏̏͌͢O̷̗̥̭ͣ̐ͯ̚͢Vͮ͌ͦ͏͇̖̗̟͈E̱͉̥̋ͥ̏ͣ͘ ̧͙ͧ̃̒̓͘͠U̘̺͎͌̊͡S̸̛͇̠̭̹̞̘ͨ̓ͧ̌͋̍̊ ̬̭͋͐͗̈͒̅L̡̢̗̙͈̲͉̼̳̆͛O̶̵̗̼̺͓ͮ̓̉̕V̢͒ͫ̌͛ͣͣ̀̕҉̟̖̹̤̞ͅE̵̘͈͋ͣ̈̋ ̧̛̙͛́͂ͣ̀̍ͫỤ̧̩̞͉̰̠̉͒̓̓̓̊͟͟S̵̠͕͍̼̠̺͔ͣ͛͂̒͛͌ L̡͑̀͟͏̪͎̲͖͉̖̣ͅỌ̸͙̅̂̔ͥͭ͌̾͟͟V̝ͫ̽̂̐ͬͥͭ͒̌Ẻ̷̇ͨ̇͛̒́̿҉͓̤ ̹̺̫͇̠̰̐ͤ͋̃̉͝Ȕ̻̪̪̰̰͙͆̈̐S̷̫̻̗̜͔̜̲͆͒̓͛ͬ) CERES itself has been notably quiet lately as they run their usual code recovery protocols, but the colony locals, who totally ripped off the company's name to put on CERESCON, are more than willing to step up their game. They've got something great planned for old friends, newbies who attended the convention, and even newer arrivals who only experienced the usual arrival: a massive group photoshoot with the intention of creating photobooks, calendars, and various other merchandise that can be sold. After all, regardless of what the you all think of CERES and vice versa, the locals love you guys! ...maybe a little too much. The newest arrivals will be ushered onto a bus shortly after emerging from their powerpoint presentation and driven around the city so that they can see the sights and be joined by those who have been in the colony for longer (and those who just arrived but are retaining test drive memories). The bus will make stops at various residences and places of employment in the effort to round up as many people as possible, and they will use any means necessary to get you to join in on the fun, from bribery (did they mention that you'll get a free lunch before the shoot, a free dinner after the shoot, and royalties from the sale of merchandise your face appears on?!) to outright kidnapping for the more stubborn. If you really don't want to take part, escape is possible, but expect to be tailed by amateur photographers trying to snap candid photos of you for the rest of the day. Upon arriving, everyone taking part will be treated to a delicious buffet-style lunch! Nothing too heavy, because they don't want anyone getting sick during the shoot, but they'll certainly make sure you're comfortable. This is a good chance to mingle with the new arrivals and meet people who have been in the colony that you haven't yet crossed paths with yet, so why not take a day off from work and have some fun? After all... CERES has nothing to do with this... right? What's the worst that could happen? "LOOK THIS WAY, MY PRETTY! AH YES, THAT'S YOUR GOOD SIDE... AGAIN, AGAIN! HOLD THAT POSE... GOTCHA! YOU'RE REALLY MAKING MY BLOOD RUSH NOW, NYA! NOW LOOK RIIIIGHT INTO MY CAMERA... JUST A LIIIIITLE MORE... Ȧ͊͗̿Ṋ̪͍̲ͮͤ̔̎D̜̻͕̼ ̍͂͂͋̊̚N̴̙̯̦͆̏̐͊ͯ́̓O̸̗̫̎W̗̲̰ͮ̇̏͛ͮ͑́ ̯̩̜̰̯̿́̅̂͌ͤ̉ͅY̶͍̜̤̎ͮO̫̺̫̬͍̹͘U͏̮̦̘̩̻̠̻'̬̹́͒R̬̩̙̻̙͚̳͟Ě̞̬̬ͩͧͯ̂̈́̚ ̫̞̺͆ͥM̛̌͑I̩̺̲̗̤̍̚ṈͭͅE͚̣͎ THIS IS A GREAT SHOT! YOU'RE SENDING SHIVERS DOWN MY SPINE! I'LL NEVER LET THIS PICTURE GO..."

//SCENARIOS.EXE PHASE I [ xxxx ] So you've all just been dropped off at the venue and now it's time to get some food in you. After all, as any of Cerealia's professional models will be able to tell you, standing under the lights and looking pretty is a whole lot harder than it looks! You're definitely going to want to keep your strength up. But don't worry about paying, because this meal is on the house. Eat as much as you like. It's buffet-style, and anything that runs low will be refilled by friendly robots in a timely fashion. Also on the house is treatment from the colony's various appearance professionals. Makeup artists and hairdressers will have their time to shine as they primp and polish 'til you glow with pride, and representatives from various boutiques and clothing stores, as well as professional fashion designers, will be on hand to ensure that you look your best! Don't be surprised if, while you're waiting to get started, a dark-clad figure in a hood sidles up to you and dumps a letter or two in your lap! These are letters from your adoring public (yes, even the new arrivals have quite a devoted fanbase), and they range from cute to creepy. ...how did that messenger even get in, anyway? Maybe the way they seem to melt into the crowd and disappear when you blink has something to do with it. PHASE II [ xxxx ] Now it's time to get down to business! Business, of course, being getting your picture taken by these overly-enthusiastic photographers. ...do some of them look like cats? That's got to be your imagination. Blink and they'll look normal, promise. The photographers are interested in catching as many shots of the various visitors to the colony as they can possibly get, so don't be surprised if they pair you up with people you don't even know just because they think you look cute together. The poses they'll put you in will range from normal to outright risqué, so here's hoping you and your new buddy don't feel awkward together! Midway through the shoot, one of the volunteers will run into the room very excitedly, wheeling a cart full of animal carriers behind him. Some of the things he's brought along are harmless CYBuddies, because what photoshoot isn't made cuter by including adorable animals, but some of the others are... let's just say CERES probably won't be too happy once they hear that someone's brought alien life forms into the colony. In all fairness, some of them are actually quite cute, like the aquatic creature that manages to float itself around in a sphere of water and the multi-tailed fox with glowing purple eyes, as well as the... Well, no one's really sure what this thing is, not even the person who brought it, but it's cute enough. Others, on the other hand, are just entirely bizarre, but to each their own. Feel free to chat up the others while you're waiting for your turn, to play with the animals, or to try and escape. Those who try and duck out the back will eventually be tracked down by a volunteer or a robot that will try to either bribe or kidnap them into continuing with the shoot, though! Maybe you and a friend can team up to figure out a way past them? Or you could just be on good behavior and let them take your picture. ...a word of caution, however. No matter how often the photographers urge you to do so, do not look directly into the camera. Characters who do will be rendered unconscious (those with spiritual sensitivity will actually be able to tell that they've been rendered soulless, though characters that already lack souls to begin with will still be rendered unconscious) for five minutes in the first instance and five minutes plus one minute for every instance thereafter (six minutes for a second time, seven for a third, and so on). Should they reach the point where they would be knocked out for a period of ten minutes, the photographer will try to leave the building. You will want to stop them. If you don't, your character will remain unconscious until the dawn of the next day and will be transported to the CERES medical center. If other characters manage to keep the photographer from leaving, your character will wake up after ten minutes as normal. Feel free to NPC these encounters yourselves if it comes to it; the mods will not be doing so. It's up to you whether the photographer escapes or not. PHASE III [ xxxx ] Uuuuuuh-oh. Whoever thought it was a great idea to bring in all those alien creatures is probably going to get fired, because one thing has led to another and now they're on the loose. What's more, those of them that can do so have taken on decidedly more threatening appearances, and more than a few of them seem to be out for blood. In the chaos brought on by their outbreak, a second wave of photographers will make their way into the building. They're more aggressive in their attempts to have the characters look right at them when they take their pictures, and will absolutely try and gang up on them to hold them down and turn their heads to force them into having their pictures taken over and over again. These shots will have the same effect as being directly photographed during the photoshoot, but fighting back against them is okay - in fact, the volunteers and photographers who organized the shoot will actually do their best to help you fight the paparazzi off. This sort of aggression is not condoned by the locals who love you, after all. Should your character be rendered unconscious for ten minutes, anyone who attempts to stop the paparazzi from absconding with their soul will be assisted by the official volunteers for the photoshoot. ...of course, if your character is managing to hold their own, they'll just hang back and photograph the fight. Why waste a good opportunity for candid shots? After all, you're the people who are going to be restoring your own worlds and subsequently protecting theirs from the Flamines! Why wouldn't they want to document it every step of the way? PHASE IV [ xxxx ] The paparazzi has been successfully expelled, the photoshoot has been finished up, and as if by magic (okay, no, it's just technology), they've actually managed to produce the prototypes for the various merchandise that will be sold around the colony. Isn't that exciting? You've all done a great thing here today, the volunteers will tell you. Now just sit back, relax, and let them make up for all the trouble. Admire the calendars, books, and prints you're all appearing in! Or, you know, you can also wonder why ghostly images of people who aren't even there are showing up in some of the pictures you've taken. If you took a picture with just one other person, you might see a third person there, posed perfectly to go along with you! It's almost like the photographers were able to see them all along, but that's not possible, right? They won't always be there, either. You can see it and someone else can see it, but if you look away for too long and then look back, the picture will look just the way it should have based on how you took it. Huh. Weird. Anyway, enjoy the lavish banquet the volunteers have prepared to thank you for all your hard work! You've done a fantastic job and they really want to express their gratitude. If there's any particular food you like, chances are it will be there. (Don't ask how they knew what you like.) While you're eating, another black-clad messenger might appear and give you even more fanmail than you might have received before the shoot - apparently people have been watching, and this has really boosted your popularity! You're developing quite the fanbase. The dinner crowd's fanmail definitely ranges more along the "creepy" side of things, though some of the notes actually will be cute and innocent expressions of admiration. The security has been stepped up considerably for the meal, so the paparazzi won't be able to get in (though you can certainly hear them trying). At the end of the night, the volunteers will offer to escort you home, and should you take them up on their offer you'll make it home safely and be unbothered by the paparazzi at your place of residence. Try and go home alone, though, and the paparazzi will stalk you until sunrise, even going so far as to try to break into your room. BONUS [ whyo'clock ] It seems like your devoted fanbase has gotten a little out of hand! At any point during the log - even during the chaos surrounding the animal outbreak and paparazzi attack - you might just be approached by a robot. A robot that loves you so much, it's going to take you away from all of this. This robot will wax poetic about its undying love for you and how it's going to make sure that the two of you can be together forever and no one will ever be able to take you away from them. It will then proceed to do its best to kidnap you. Maybe there's some kind of a glitch in its program, because it's not gentle about it at all! And if you try and escape, it'll definitely get violent. Try to run away and it might just have to break your legs so you can never leave it behind. Try and fight it off, and it'll do its best to incapacitate you so it can drag you off, put you on display, and take super good care of you. These robots are incredibly sturdy, but the more technologically-inclined may be able to reprogram them into being less creepy and more helpful if they can get to the control panel on its back. Fight hard enough, or avoid it for long enough, and eventually its battery will wear down and you'll be safe. If you can't fight or run, you'd better hope someone who can will come along and help you...! [ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with trigger-y or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ]

//RUN.EXE Welcome to CEREALIA's latest intro post For your convenience, we have compiled a post detailing everyone's usual arrival experience and feel free to consult the FAQ if needed. Please leave any lingering questions right here, and we'll answer them as soon as we can.

Comments

open!

[psycholawgy]

phase i
[ Athena's dressed up in some post-Edwardian era dress, with her hair curled up in a bun, and she's even wearing a large hat! She looks very Downton Abbey, ok. That's about it.

She may have threatened the make-up artists and the other organisers to make her look that way. LOOK, SOMETIMES WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING TO DO IN LAW SCHOOL, ALL YOU WANT TO DO IS WATCH SOME DRAMA. And she wanted to look fancy for the pictures. If she got kidnapped for something like this, she may as well treat it like a party!

When the "mailman" comes in and delivers Athena a couple of letters, she squeals in excitement. It's not everyday she gets snailmail! She's all over the moon when she talks to whomever is passing by, flashing the envelopes right before their eyes. ]

Look, look! I bet you didn't get fan mail!

[ Or did you? Either way, she's going to brag about hers. ]

phase iii
[ She went unconscious for a couple good minutes or so, and wakes up to hell breaking loose. Her initial thought is to check on the people she knows to see if they're okay, or if they're still there. After people suddenly leaving, she just doesn't want anybody else to disappear or turn back into code. Or whatever. She doesn't fully understand the code stuff yet.

But that's all just first thoughts upon jumping into the situation. Now that she's hurling alien creatures around—watch out! It could be coming straight at you—she's not thinking of anything else but getting rid of these monsters. She wasn't able to help when Santa and his evil minions ravaged the colony during Christmas, so she isn't going to let this chance slip! She's grabbing the creatures by their arms and throwing them at any direction possible, and if there's a stick-like thing that she can hold onto, she'll definitely be swinging that around or poking at the creatures with it. ]

Yeah! I trained in ViViD for this day. Take that!

[ Now, either an alien thing is flying straight at you, or... she's swinging a lamp around and accidentally hits you. Oops. ]

phase iv-a
"Dear Athena,

Hi! My name is John. I was wondering if I could get an autograph picture of you in a two-piece swim suit, or in the nu—"

[ Athena was reading that out loud, but now, she's just groaning at the letter as she slips it under a table's centerpiece. No one else needs to see that again. ]

That's so nasty. . .

phase iv-b
[ OR you can catch her while she's out and around! She has her CereVice with her, and is approaching just about anybody. Now that the commotion is over, she can create her own! (No...) ]

Hi, can I bother you for a bit? I'm looking for this guy—



He shouts a lot—actually, if you ever woke up at 6 in the morning because you heard somebody yelling, that was probably him. Anyway, he's missing. Is there any chance you've seen him lately?

phase iii

[braider]

[Astrid did not want to be there. She was among the group that fought back and resisted coming in for this, but after trying to fight the robots last time she was forcibly dragged somewhere, she finally agreed, but only because she didn't want to get kidnapped again.

Her participation was all but naught, but then everything went wrong and she was suddenly glad she was where she needed to be (and that she refused to leave her axe behind).

She was just about to strike out at one of the creatures when a lamp suddenly swung right next to her. She ducked fast, just barely getting out of the way in time.]

-- Careful! [She shouts in the moment, right as she kicks the creature after her. While she was ducking, it closed in, so she had to act faster than her axe would move.]

[psycholawgy]

Not bad!

[ Athena's definitely impressed, because what just happened was something straight out of an action film. She just hasn't been in a scuffle like this... ever! Everything's so exciting!

One of the paparazzi shouts "Strike a pose!" to which Athena reacts positively to. It was chaos, but she sure tried to look as tough as she could in her post-Edwardian costume while holding a camera stand. ]

Hey! [ She tries to call Astrid's attention as she swats away some lizard-like creature coming her way. ] Did you pass out, too? I woke up and everything's crazy!

[braider]

[Now that Astrid has room to move again, her axe it back up, swinging at the creatures that come her way. It's when she gets a small moment for a breather in between that she finally responds to Athena.]

No, but I've seen plenty that have. [She hasn't exactly been acknowledging the photographers, so. No looking at the cameras on her part.]

I don't know why I thought this might go normally. Does anything around here not end disastrously? [Her grumbles are followed by her hitting another creature aside, followed by a long sigh.]

iv-b

[frybits]

[Steven takes the time to look at the picture carefully despite the fact that he just got there and literally everyone so far is a stranger to him.]

Hmmm, I haven't seen him. Who is he? Maybe I can help you find him.

[psycholawgy]

[ THANK YOU, KIND YOUNG BOY. ]

Oh, could you?! [ Two heads are better than one, after all! Athena doesn't mind the help. ] He's about this tall— [ She makes a gesture with her free hand to show how tall Apollo is, which is just an inch taller than she is. ] His name's Apollo Justice.

[frybits]

[YOU'RE WELCOME, LADY WHOSE HAIR LOOKS SIDEWAYS.]

Got it! What sort of places does he like to go to?

[He knows the mystery solving genre. He'd totally grab detective-y gear right now if this wasn't a totally new place.]

phase iii

[fortheprincess]

[ Whoa whoa incoming alien--good thing Hak's got a weapon on him, because he slices that thing in two before it can smack him into the ground. He's been fighting them for a little while now, but what are they all randomly flying around for now?

...And then he figures it out. Can't say he's not surprised, but he does head on over to join Athena with the fight. ]

Not bad. [ There's a large smirk on his face as he cuts down another alien heading for her from behind. ] Careful where you're throwing those things.

[psycholawgy]

[ Athena's not great with bladed weapons, so it takes a lot of her to pretend that Hak's weapon isn't bothering her at all. She manages to put up a bright smile when an alien gets taken care of while she wasn't looking. ]

Thanks!

[ She looks at her hands, which are now filled with some weird alien goo. It's not something she likes at all, so she wipes her hands on the skirt of her dress and grabs a chair to throw at another alien running towards her. ]

I'm going to run out of things to throw! This might be bad!

iii i really have no icon that fits this...

[flamberge]

[an event hosted by CERES? you can bet your sweet bippity that kratos brought along his sword. against their dumb crap, one can never be too prepared and that line of thinking proves correct when all hell breaks loose. even in some semi-formal clothes, the guy fights the attackers off without too much difficulty.

...up until the friendly fire. he spins around right as athena swings that lamp a tad too low. with everything going on, dodging doesn't happen and the attack hits. where does it land? direct hit to kratos' groin. yeah... he kinda crumbles to the ground instantly. good job, athena.]

[psycholawgy]

[ Oh boy, that definitely wasn't an alien! It was that guy who helped her before! She yelps when she realises who she hit, and throws the lamp to the side. ]

I'm so sorry! [ And she kneels down to check on him. At least what she was holding wasn't sharp! ] Can you get up?

iv-a

[muties]

Oh, that is gross. [ Roxy was listening casually, with a plate full of appetizers. ] What you should do is send him a picture of you in full like armor. Maybe while chopping a banana or something that screams "back off, buddy".

[psycholawgy]

[ ... that actually seems grosser, but Athena's all for it. ]

I really like that banana thing. I think it could go places.

phase i

[impheired]

[Weirdly enough, it looks like none of the fashion experts have gotten to Kuzuryuu yet. Or maybe he just refused to let them touch him. Because he looks the same as he always does.]

[He squints at the letters being shoved in his face before rolling his eye a little and gently pushing Athena's hand aside so he can actually look at her.]

You'd lose that bet. But why do you even care? Did you actually read any of them yet? Because they're really not worth getting excited over.

[psycholawgy]

What? Why wouldn't you be excited over fan mail?

[ Her lips purse into a pout as she opens one of the envelopes, quickly reading through what was written for her. ]

"Dear Athena, You look best when you're crying."

What! No, I don't!

iv-a

[fxs]

[ now that the party's over... or whatever. he overhears the girl read her letter around and like a true fellow fedora wearer (even though his hat is a nice witch-y one), he feels the need to defend this "john" and his honor. ]

How is that "nasty"? Isn't it reasonable?

[ he assumes she's a professional model or something. not that she looks like one just...??? it makes sense given the day, okay. ]

[psycholawgy]

Reasonable?

[ That's definitely some strange logic right there, and it stumps her. Her shoulders slump and she rests both her arms on the table as she looks at him. ]

No, not really. It's polite and all, but it's gross.

iv-b

[cardboard_journalism]

[Scuttlebutt had stopped distributing her Extra edition by now]

W-What?! Mr. Justice is missing?! Kahk-kahk-kahk-kahk.

[psycholawgy]

He is, and it's really stressing me out!

[ Athena can at least be comfortable around Myriam. If it were any other person, she'd totally act calm and collected about all this. ]

phase i

[sugarcoats]

[While Yogi is nowhere near as dressed up as Athena, he's clearly been here for a while, looking more put-together than normal. He's tucked a number of letters into his pockets, and quietly laughs when he sees Athena.]

Hm? I did get fan mail! It's not a contest though, right? I'm really glad you got letters that make you happy!

[psycholawgy]

[ AS LONG AS YOGI'S T-SHIRT DOESN'T HAVE HOLES IN IT, THEN IT'S ALL GOOD. ]

Letters are so exciting, Yogi! Especially when nobody really writes now. All they ever do is text.

[ Maybe not everybody. Her boss is pretty much a technology dinosaur... ]

1, back from the con!

[faithfulflame]

[Rei looks at Athena with the blandest expression, holding up a fistful of letters that'd just been delivered. Her eyebrow arches and she laughs.]

I don't know about that, Athena-san. I suppose this is probably more of the same.

[psycholawgy]

[ That's a lot! Athena's eyes widen in surprise, but she's more happy than shocked. ]

You got some too! That's really great, huh? Have you read them yet, well, have you?

[ She's also more excited than happy after seeing Rei's envelopes. ]

IV-a

[hamham]

[He was only sort of listening, kind of watching her as she slipped it under the table piece, before setting down one of his own letters.]

You would do better to burn something if you wish to be rid of it.

[After all someone might find it and then deliver it to you later Athena and then what will you do? He's been tearing them into strips himself and there's a pile near him, that's shuffling around a little.]

[psycholawgy]

[ Now, there's an idea. Nobody trust Athena when it comes to making snap decisions, because she'll usually make bad ones! Unless they deal with friendship. Anything she does with regards to friendship will always end up well! ]

Good idea. [ And she takes the letter back out from under the centerpiece. ] Do you have a lighter?

[ May as well do the thing now!!! ]