The thing about Cerealia is, there really isn't any nature to be found here. Sure, you can go outside the walls of the city and explore the land beyond but who wants to risk a terrible, horrible death just to sniff the flowers? Not you, that's who! CERES understands that, CERES sympathizes, and sometimes CERES decides to take action when such problems arise. As part of the company's current "Healthier and Happier YOU" initiative, they've decided to let everyone get back in touch with nature a little.
Via ViViD.
Of course, this being CERES, the nature they've sent everyone to is more of a swamp. The place is disgusting, a real marvel of ViViD ingenuity and it smells like the dead. There's strange rustling among the leaves from creatures that may or may not want to eat you, and random pits that open up right under your feet with the goal of sending you straight into the marsh. It's not really that fun. There's no welcome sign either, no nothing except for swamplands as far as the eye can see.
Welcome to ViViD!  This is Mosley. One of our programmers forgot to include a welcome greeting for the level this time. How incompetent can you get? He's been fired now, it's fine. Instead, I will greet you today. Lucky you! You've been invited today to participate in CERES's "Healthier and Happier YOU" level where we've combined both physical exercise and relaxing meditation into the ultimate ViViD experience. Isn't that fun? You can... go camping and stuff. Or whatever. I don't... know...
Honestly, I don't even care. Have fun.
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PHASE I [ 6 00 ] Welcome to your new healthy living training ground! What does a swamp have to do with healthy living, you may ask? Absolutely nothing! To make up for it, CERES has outfitted all players with the proper equipment for their new healthy living lifestyle. They also may or may not have let you keep your shoes based on how benevolent the ViViD gods were being at the time. (Not very.)
Oh, and all newcomers will have something additional on their fancy new yoga shirt. It will be displayed loudly and proudly all over the front and back of it. And if you're one of the few not wearing a shirt, it will be on the back of your pants. As in, your butt. It will be on your butt.
What’s ViViD trying to say, anyway?
Regardless, it probably doesn’t matter as much as finding your way through the swamp. Some sort of dry land would be really nice right now, wouldn't it? You'll have to watch out for the mud that will suck you right down under the marsh, and the creatures with lots of teeth that will never surface from the mud but won't hesitate to snap up an unwary foot or two.
CERES is sure you'll be fine. Totally and completely fine.
PHASE II [ 800 ] Eventually, if you try really, really hard, you’ll make it to a house. Actually, it’s more of a shack, really. If you clamber your way out of the mud and the gunk and the marsh into said shack, you will find it to be empty aside from a table. A table hosting a huge pile of... well, health drinks. See, there's totally a health theme in this level. CERES would never make a ViViD level that wasn't thematically appropriate. Never! Health drinks of all sorts and types and sizes can be found here and there’s even a sign too; it simply says:
Take one.
Well, that seems safe.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to leave said shack until you do take one. And drink it. The door will lock shut and cover itself in more swamp until you do. Yay. Depending on your luck, the drink may do the following to you: ➟ Cause your ViViD experience to glitch. This may involve phasing through walls, seeing everything in 8-bit, or hearing really annoying old video game music everywhere you go.
➟ Cause status effects. This can include suddenly moving incredibly slowly, being turned to stone for a period of time, suddenly being on fire, suddenly being poisoned, etc etc.
➟ Be healthier. Mmm, kale and hummus smoothie. Taste those veggies. If you try to take more than one, that’s fine too, nobody will stop you, but you probably won’t get lucky more than once.
PHASE III [ 900 ] And back you go, out into the swampy wilderness. Don’t give up! Keep going! Eventually, you’ll find the end of this level. Probably.
Eventually, though, you may stumble across something in the mud and the muck. It’s... a little doll?
In fact, it’s a little doll of one of your most important people (or, alternatively, of someone you absolutely hate). It might be someone in Cerealia currently, or someone who isn’t, but either way, the doll is there and it’s clearly them (covered in mud and all). Be careful, though. If you toss it aside, you’ll suddenly see that important person being tossed aside. If you cut the doll, you'll suddenly see that person bleeding. Even if they aren’t present in Cerealia, whatever happens to that doll, you'll see it happening to them. Is it a hallucination or are they actually there? That's a little more up in the air.
And if they are present in Cerealia, well... doing things to that doll might very well hurt them too -- for real, this time, though.
Be careful! Or don't. You do you, as CERES would say.
PHASE IV [ 1200 ] And then, eventually you reach a quiet, swampy area. Not that the rest of the swamp isn't swampy, this area is just extra swampy.
There’s very little happening here in this swampy place; even the birds are no longer squawking. And for a long moment, everything will remain quiet and peaceful, a place of reprieve... until the swamp begins to bubble. Then suddenly, a new friend will burst out of the swamp, showering mud and gunk everywhere.
Without warning, that creature is going to try to grab for the nearest person (it might be you!) and let out a mighty roar when they have them. Then, they'll hold them up to... read the nutrition facts on their shirt? What?
Of course, it will try to gobble you or whoever else it grabs if it finds, say, the salt content to be acceptable (the monster is watching their carbs). If it's not, then they'll just fling you away and move onto the next snack. For those without a handy nutrition facts label on your shirt, well, it might just take a gamble and try to eat you anyway.
Great. A health-conscious monster. That's just what this level needed.
BONUS [ xxxx ] Finally, you’re free of the game. Without warning, you’re dumped into Cerealia properly and you’re able to scrub the mud and gunk from your clothing (wait why did that come back with you and where are your normal clothes?). You're able to then make your way to your new place of residence (or old) and...
There is a tiny tree there waiting for you. Isn’t it cute? And if you take care of this tiny tree, it will eventually bear fruit! Tiny fruit. Itty bitty fruit.
Depending on which tiny tree you get, it will be one of the following: a tiny dildo tree, a tiny bacon tree, a tiny kazoo tree, a tiny carolina reaper tree, or a (dumb) tiny hats tree.
Everything will, naturally, be tiny. Enjoy your new healthy CERES gift!
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
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Lili was never particularly affectionate - she never learned how to be, given how her father always held her at a distance. Even now, when someone raises a hand to her, she automatically flinches. This is the same when Rapunzel lifts her arm - she flinches away - but as soon as the arm comes around her so carefully, so warmly, she relaxes despite herself. She eases and she leans against Rapunzel then, the tears escaping her freely then.
Having time to cry now is.... a new thought. But it's one that apparently her body demands she accept even if she doesn't want to.]
I....
[A hiccup as she shakes her head, still unable to find words even as her crying is mostly silent otherwise.]
I shouldn't.... be crying. I have things I need to do! I can't.... I can't just stay here...
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Do you want to cry now, though? We'll have time to poison ourselves later, promise.
...And I never break my promises.
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You barely even know me.... Why do you care so much?
[How do you care so much?
How do you manage to be so good even to someone as useless as herself?]
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[ If she were anyone else, the delivery could easily have travelled south past blunt and straight on to abrasive. Coming from her, though, it's an offering, proof that Lili isn't the only one feeling mixed up or troubled.
And it's true: she doesn't know what exactly it is that's compelling her to stick around or offer anything of comfort to this girl she hardly knows. Is it the traumatic potential inherent in the situation and the fact or the fact that she's incredibly lonely? Impulse? Hero complex? ]
But - I think I do care. And I don't know that you really need a reason all the time. You know?
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Really, who is this girl?
Lili tucks herself a little bit more into Rapunzel's side without even completely meaning to - but the comfort is there even as she wipes away the last of her tears.]
.... I don't....
But.... [ . . . ] It works... for you.
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But... thank you, Lili. Really. I feel like there's less to be afraid of as long as there are people like you in the world. [ holy sugar content 90000000% batman ]
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Rapunzel is far too much for Lili to handle. She's too good at being instantly comforting - offering the solace that Lili didn't even want to admit that she's looking for. She's too good at saying the right thing - being just genuine and reassuring enough that Lili doesn't find her hard to believe. She's too good..... she's just too good.
And so she does think that last bit is sweet. She does.
But she also can't help but fixate on the earlier bit--]
Wh-What...? Who would say that to you?!
[she's gonna kick their ass tho]
p-precious lili no...
Oh, um. My mother did. Well – Not in those words, that's not fair. She'd never say weirdo. I mean, it sounds a lot worse when I say it, trust me.
she'll fight people for rapunzel now okok
Even though Lili herself can't manage to tell her that.]
Your mother did....? But she told you that you don't know what you're talking about....?
[Lili's mother passed away when she was young but - it still confuses her quite a bit.]
*whispers into the wind* squad goals........
Rapunzel herself is rapidly becoming confused by this sudden line of questioning, but she'll go along with it because, hey, what a novelty! Pascal is mostly an advice guy. ]
I mean... she's not wrong.
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She is.
[She's just going to finish up wiping at her eyes with her sleeves now, having regained some stable ground by focusing more on Rapunzel than herself.
.... Her father tells her the same thing and it's why she is certain-]
You know plenty - she just refuses to acknowledge it for whatever reason and that's still no good.
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Rapunzel's had her feelings trodden on before, yes. She's had moments of despair and self-loathing, brought on, no doubt, by some criticism or correction that hadn't needed to be voiced. But the way Lili's words make her feel is unique. It hurts but... not in a bad way, exactly. It hurts the way spilling soup onto her favourite blanket hurts.
Like a small part of her is standing all alone in a pile of rubble. ]
... You know - we should get out of this shack, Lili. There could be spiders.
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Lili's not nearly that thoughtful or well-versed in... even talking to people. So she blinks at the change of subject.]
Oh - sure.
.... Are you okay though?
[She can at least tell that much.]
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Yeah! Definitely. How about you? Ready for us to poison ourselves?
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Wait -- What're you talking about? There's no way that you can be allowed to have one of these! I won't allow it!!
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[totally legit concern in her opinion]
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