
You've seen the flyer. Or maybe you haven't. Whatever your reasons may be, you've decided to log onto ViViD today at around 6 PM. At first, all seems normal as the game loads, and you prepare to start on what should be an average adventure. Maybe you'll do a little fighting, or some exploring, or even a little platforming. Either way, there shouldn't be anything unusual about this.
Right?
You couldn't have been more wrong. The moment you log in, something goes strange. The game glitches around you, whatever world that started to load seizing up and freezing with static, warping with strange colors. And then a different setting loads smoothly like nothing ever happened. The first thing you notice is that it's sprawling and beautiful, if not a little ostentatious. Should your curiosity draw you from the courtyard you've arrived in through the great double doors, you'll arrive in...
... a ballroom. Welcome to prom. |
PHASE I [ 6 00 ] There are tables scattered around the periphery of the room, and a DJ, somewhat out of place in this beautiful setting, is stationed at the back, spinning out tunes to help you get settled into the start of the night. On the scattered tables are... punch bowls? They look tantalizing, and they come in quite a rainbow of colors. Should you be brave enough to take a sip, you'll find interesting things will happen. Drink the red punch, and you'll end up in rococo fashion. Drink the pale champagne-colored punch, and you'll find yourself sporting elegant regency attire. How about that cool blue punch? You'll step right into the roaring 20's. What about that dayglo orange punch over there? How about some far out 80's, man? That futuristic purple punch will suit you up in Tron style. And then there's one last punch bowl on a lonely table in the corner. No one can quite identify that color. Is that ... brown? Brave this punch bowl and you'll be, uh ... richly rewarded with modern-day fashions. Will you step up and test these refreshments, for science? Or will you be the first onto the dance floor, or to make an insane request of the DJ?
Last but not least, certain Cerealians who glitch into the level may find they have a specific corsage attached that they cannot remove! If they stick around long enough, they'll find one other lucky soul with a matching corsage. This is your ViViD assigned date! No one is going to force you two to dance... but you might find that the longer you put off dancing, the tighter that corsage gets around your wrist, or the more it begins to prick your chest, depending on its location. Might want to rethink your position...
Dates: - Shijima Kurookano & Himeko Inaba
- Trucy Wright & Enomoto "Ene" Takane
- Adelina & Rock Lee
- Byakuya Togami & Lailah
- Archer & Touka Kirishima
- Sakuya Le Bel Shirogane & Maya Fey
- Leon Kuwata & Alisha Diphda
PHASE II [ 7 30 ] So you're here. Whether out of curiosity or you've resigned yourself to the strange festivities, you're in. Maybe you've been wallflowering it up for a while, even with the cool kickin music playing. Whatever the case may be, the DJ announces themselves (DJ Slim Shaydee, not to be confused with that knock off from Earth). You're welcomed in an enthusiastic manner. Also hey, if you're near a table, see those cute placards? Yeah the ones in the center pieces mixed in with the bowl of candy and flowers. You'll notice they have a neatly typed out list— DJ Slim Shaydee says whoever fulfills the criteria on the list will be crowned Prom Royalty. Who doesn't want that???
- Successfully complete a slow dance
- Do the cha cha slide OR do the electric slide without messing up the turn
- Make out in the rose garden out back
- Have a dramatic fight with a close friend and storm out (you may come back after)
- Comfort a crying friend in the bathroom
- If you're a minor, accidentally get drunk
- Successfully spike every punch bowl within a 20 minute time limit
- Confess romantic feelings to the object of your affections
To truly kick it off or maybe give those ambitious types a head start, DJ Slim is gonna play you (yes all of you) a group dance! Hope you know the moves to the Cha Cha Slide. If not, don't worry, the song will tell you every step.
Oh and one more thing — anyone who fulfills an item on the list will get a confetti surprise. What does this mean? It means a golden, multi-faceted little ball will spontaneously appear over your head out of nowhere soon after you fulfill a condition, hovering for a moment before it explodes into a shower of confetti. Enjoy!
PHASE III [ 9 00 ] Whew. All these fast paced songs sure have you tired out, right? Maybe take a sip from the many punch bowls around the room if you haven't tested them out yet. Or try your hand at fulfilling another portion of that list from earlier—by spiking the punch. Better work fast though, the bowls themselves refresh fairly quickly once they sense contamination. See how many you can get in one go! Or if you're not a dirty prankster, see how many people you can catch spiking those dang bowls.
While you're doing that, the DJ seems to want to wind down the energy in the room. That means, you guessed it: time for that coveted slow dance. As the first chords of the song play, the doors to the garden veranda and hedge maze open. How romantic.
PHASE IV [ 10 00 ] It's the end of the night, and maybe you've been trying your best to satisfy all those win conditions. Or maybe you haven't! Either way, it's clear from the mood in the air that the time is drawing near for the announcement of the Prom Royalty. The DJ brings the lights low, and spotlights hit his stand. He brings a mic to his mouth, and announces grimly that there will be no Prom Royalty. Apparently, no one satisfied enough of the win conditions! How can that be? Surely someone tried! Well, whatever happened, the DJ isn't happy, and the lights in the room will come back up. The DJ will mess with some of the equipment at his station, and all across the room, small panels will open up near the ceiling. Pouring out will come ... balloons? And not just any balloons - they're water balloons, and not only are they somehow floating, they're coming straight for you. How are they flying? We just don't know. If they come in contact with you, they'll frizz your perfect prom hair. Worse, if you apply even the mildest force to them, they'll immediately pop and drench you in freezing cold water, leaving you drenched.
The ballroom quickly fills with these angry little balloons, threatening to flood the room completely if too many of them pop. Will you flee and save yourself? Try to save your friends? Try to reason with the DJ and stop the balloon menace? No matter what you do, you'd better work fast. The floor is already getting dangerously wet...
BONUS [ hour ??? ] Remember that garden maze? From a certain point of the evening on, prom guests have been free to wander through as they please. They're beautiful, a rose maze by day that looks even more breathtaking at night with fairy lights glittering and winking in between all the flowers and leaves. Maybe you wandered out there to get away from the craziness in the party. Perhaps you want to be a true wallflower. But should you explore this maze with another at your side, you'll find it a pleasant enough trip, and if you manage to make it all the way to the center of the maze, you'll discover a secluded little gazebo that seems like it was placed there just for you.
Go in alone, though, and the maze seems like a completely different place. The fairy lights will be dimmer, less pleasant. You'll hear a rustling too loud to just be the wind. What was that sound? Turn around, and nothing is there. Too late you'll realize that the maze itself is alive, and has been watching you this entire time. It doesn't like lone wanderers. Better run fast or find a way to get out of the plant's clutches before you really become veggie.
However, if you get caught, you'll be trapped by the sentient vines that shoot out from the walls and bound to the side of the maze until another lone explorer finds you. At this point the vines will reach out and snap up that unlucky soul, too, wrapping you both up in a not-so-tender embrace. You'll both be stuck there until you can do whatever it is the maze wants that will convince it to set you free. What is that? Well, it does seem to be fond of lovers... and public displays of affection.
|
no subject
[He's never fully understood peace, but he's never seen it actually work either. Sure, the full scale wars were gone when the Tokugawa enforced their rule across all of Japan, but they hadn't been able to eliminate strife entirely.
Maybe it was just something a war sword couldn't understand. He didn't want people to suffer, but he also didn't want to be useless. He wanted there to be a war so he could be of use. It was what he was made for.]
It's never wrong to hope for anythin'. Don't know about the next life though. All that afterlife talk is stuff I've never understood. Why wait until you die to start livin'?
no subject
Koumei stared at Doudanuki, thinking of a different young man with an honest heart and fire in his eyes. Chuckling bitterly, he shook his head and trained his eyes on the floor.]
That isn't the first time I've heard something similar. You remind me of someone who died well before his time.
[Someone who would have been a better King than either Kouen or Koumei himself, once the young man learned more of the world. Someone whom Koumei was prepared to think of as one of his trusted brothers-- even if through the bonds of marriage.
Thus was the nature of war. The good ones always had to die first.]
no subject
[Doudanuki shrugged, thinking back on the myriad of men he's seen fall well before their time. Or maybe that was the way humans were meant to fall. When their lifespans were up, they were up. Other people wanted them to live longer, to do more, but maybe dying early was their purpose. To remind people that everyone has to be better or you'll lose it all in one go.
He looks at Koumei for a second and then gives him a hearty thump on the shoulder.]
Humans have a short time to do all they gotta do. So you can't wait until tomorrow, got it?
And that means you better get your ass into the dojo soon or I'm gonna drag you outta your room by your hair.
no subject
...You're quite serious, [he commented, knowing that he wouldn't be able to win this particular battle if he chose to fight.] Since you're insisting on this, then I ask that you please treat me kindly during this process.
no subject
[It's just not his style.]
So you're either going to learn how t'defend yourself without that fancy magic. Or you'll die.
[YUP. Doudanuki Masakuni, Motivational Speaker Extraordinaire.]
It's up to you which one you're gonna do.
no subject
You'll find I've got the endurance skills of a cockroach, [Koumei said delicately, not backing down from this man's bravado.] It's a necessary skillset to have when you've grown up within a country at war. Assassination attempts aren't unheard of.
no subject
[Doudanuki takes a step back and smashes his fist into the palm of his opposite hand.]
If you're that hard t'kill, it means I don't have t'pull any punches on your training.
no subject
[The last time he held a sword was when he was a young teenager, still running away from his lessons to go feed his birds and read his books in the safety of the gardens, where he could pretend that there wasn't a war going on. His uncle Hakutoku and his cousins Hakuyuu and Hakuren would take care of everything, and Kouen wouldn't need to tear his heart up over seeing them fight for too much longer...
And, after the three of them passed, there had been no more time for training. Koumei fell into his roll of tactician almost seamlessly, and had accepted the burden thrust upon him without question. But a tactician's place wasn't on the front lines, but in assessing maps and planning strategies.
Did he even know how to hold a blade properly anymore?]
no subject
[Because people don't die forever in this world.]
And if you shirk practice, I'll drag you out by your hair, like I said.
no subject
[He ran a hand nervously through his ponytail, praying to anything bothering to listen that he wouldn't need to find himself separated from the locks that he had grown out for years.]
Please don't pull my hair out.
no subject
[THE FIERCEST STARE IN THE WORLD]
Got it?
no subject
Koumei locked eyes with Doudanuki, a subtle glint of steel lingering behind the passive demeanor. He wouldn't back down so easily.]
I understand. Please make sure weapons are prepared when the time comes-- I don't ordinarily carry a blade.
no subject
[And he'll wave a hand over his shoulder as he turns to go find someone else to fight. Someone who will fight without using cheap tricks!!!! Aka magic.]
See you at the dojo. I'll send you a message later.