Love is in the air in Cerealia -- or, well, it is in ViViD anyway. And nobody cares about your lives outside of ViViD, so that's all that matters. It's an artificial love construct, but for you sad, lonely, little people, it's probably good enough, right? CERES is on a mission to find you your other half, your soulmate, your one and only, and this is how they've decided to do it -- through technology and abuse of your private information! Welcome to your new love life, courtesy of ViViD.
For your convenience, CERES has automatically generated dating profiles to help match up the new arrivals swiftly and speed up the "get to know each other" process. Nothing like some not-entirely-agreed-to speed dating to break the ice and improve new relations! You're going to be here for awhile, so you may as well get to know each other.
For the older residents, well... you may very well find your soulmate here! You don't want to miss out on that. That would just be an unfixable tragedy. So here, use the handy-dandy profiles and find your new honey. After all, the information on these profiles is 100% accurate, certified and verified by Mosley himself.
Why would you ever doubt that?
 I've never actually been on a date before. Not that there haven't been offers but I'm just too busy a guy! I think to myself, "Mosley, me, guy who's talking to himself, why won't you go on a date with that nice lady who just asked you out?" And I reply, "Oh, you gorgeous bastard, I'm satisfied with my life as it is already! I don't need love." After all, what is love? Baby, don't hurt me. Don't hurt me. No more.
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PHASE I [ 6 00 ] Gooooood morning, new ViViD compatriots and gamers! You’re not going to get a lot of time to adjust and recover from your sudden retrieval from destroyed and sad code, really, because as soon as you arrive, fresh and new to Cerealia, you’ll be faced with a profile.
Oh, look, it’s your face! And… a quote attributed to you? And your favorite object? Hopefully those details are correct, because there’s no going back now.
You’ve become an otome love interest.
For those who aren’t brand new to ViViD, you’ll be presented the exact same profiles -- but you’ll have to pick one. You know how this works, pick the love interest you want to romance and sweep them off their feet. Better pick the right route too because, haha! You wouldn't want to end up naked and alone in a basement again! That would be crazy. Just pick some rando hottie instead, it's no big.
Or, well, that’s what they say. But then you’re dumped into a ballroom, dressed up to the nines in finery, and surrounded by other milling NPCs. You're given a moment to process the whole situation before a genteel-looking older man who seems to be running this party steps up to the microphone. Gently, he clears his throat, and welcomes everyone to the party ("Haven't been to a party this fine since I had all my teeth!"), and then he gestures to a pile of weapons in the middle of the room and finishes cheerfully, “Anyway, whoever survives can leave this room -- enjoy!”
It looks like the NPCs aren’t messing around; they’re immediately diving for the weapons, so you might want to get a move on.
Welcome to the Cerealia Dating Hunger Games.
PHASE II [ 1000 ] When you burst out of the ball room, possibly covered in the blood of your enemies (your poor dress/suit!), you’ll find yourself in what looks to be a sprawling jungle. In reality, it’s a circular arena, and if you travel far enough, you can reach the walls, though they’re electrified with no way out. If you try to get past them, you’re going to fry yourself before you accomplish anything else! Where's the fun in that?
The bigger problem is this: there are some unfortunate monsters on the prowl (don't they... look a little familiar?) in the jungle, and they are ready and willing to eat up anyone who crosses their paths. They’re drawn to the scent of blood -- and, even more so, the scent of people in love. So hey, if you're in love right now, it might be a good time to run. Otherwise, you're the top target and about to be hunted. Have fun out there, lovebirds!
Meanwhile, the NPCs (or even your fellow player characters?!) are out for blood themselves, so nowhere is truly safe.
Was that... was that a scream for help, or someone coming to get you?
PHASE III [ 1145 ] At some point, you’re going to need supplies. It starts to feel like you’ve been in here for days without any food or water (but that’s weird, wasn’t this ViViD session supposed to be just a few hours -- ) and you’re starting to feel the effects.
So, time to get in touch with your inner man vs wild. There are animals to hunt (deer, rabbit, etc.) and if you can fashion a spear or use a weapon you scooped up in the chaos, you can kill them for food. Alternatively, you can just try stealing some supplies from your fellow players. That's probably a saner option.
Which leaves you sneaking up onto their camp, full of sneakiness, and more sneakiness, and a little bit of stealth, you reach out and...
Suddenly, there are lights on you! Cameras! Cheering, adoring crowds! There's a narrator narrating every step you're taking (loudly) and there are fans hanging on your every move --
Oh, did that wake up the other player and/or bring monsters roaring down upon you? Whoops. The perils of spectator sports like the Cerealia Hunger Games, really.
PHASE IV [ 1400 ] You did it. Someone came at you, and you killed them. Their blood is on your hands, but it’s fine -- it’s just a program in a game.
Right?
Except when you look again, it’s someone you know. The corpse of a person who’s very important to you in so many ways is lying there on the ground, blood still warm but clearly dead. They’re solid to the touch. They’re there, and they look just like that person you care about so very much. Your heart hurts.
And you’re the one who killed them.
Then, without warning, it starts to rain because ViViD is nothing if not good at sensing the mood.
PENALTY [ why o'clock ] So.
You died.
This isn't really that surprising, considering it's the Cerealia Dating Hunger Games. People die a lot in games like these. It's the price of love.
Don't worry, though! It's just ViViD, so it's not like you really died. You'll get reconstructed, good as new, and they'll toss you right back onto the battlefield. Except, well... it seems like something's a little different.
For one thing, you've got claws instead of hands.
You can't seem to speak, either; all you can manage is garbled growls and sharp noises.
And, worst of all... you're really, very intensely hungry, and you can smell blood (or people in love, that's an even better scent).
So yeah, you're one of the monsters now. Don't worry, it only happens the first time you die in this game; if someone valiantly slays you again, you'll come back good as new, a normal person in the Games. What a weird glitch. There's no way that's on purpose or anything, right? No way!
[ 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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no subject
All she does catch is the reflection of red nestled in the dark cover of the brush before some sort of creature comes out. Mitsuru reacts quickly, dropping as she tries to block the attack to her face, instead letting her forearms take the damage as she rolls out of the way. Deep gauges into her skin are better than the alternative.
Her hand goes back to her rapier, drawing it in one fluid motion as she stays crouched.
Strangely enough, she has seen those buttons before, but without context. Yu had collected them during an different expedition, along with a pair of headphones that she couldn't place either. Mitsuru doesn't make the connection, however, instead focusing herself on the task of defeating this beast. ]
...I won't let you surprise me again.
no subject
Muscles tense and it flies through the air, aiming for the side opposite of Mitsuru's sword. It's a race to see who's faster. But it doesn't just charge blindly. When it finally gets in close, it stops, digging claws into the ground and pivots. It's hand, or what could have been a hand at one point plants onto the mud and it's whole body rotates, and two legs shoot out like cannons, aiming for Mitsuru's legs.
A true monster would have just gone in to bite and claw, wouldn't it have? Have the NPC's always been so smart? ]
no subject
She readies for a strike of primal claws and instead is greeted with something that's almost akin to something honed by martial arts. It takes her off balance, even as she's stepping forward to strike and ends up on her side in the dirt. There's no time to consider the implications, however. She swings her sword back as her opposite had grips onto the moist earth, hoping that she might strike something or at least ward the creature off for long enough that she might pull herself back together.
What is this thing? ]
no subject
For someone who's had to play games in ViViD, it might seem more like this is more like PvP than PvE, given the way that the monster changes tactics.
But seeing how despite the attack that Mitsuru landed it was the monster that had the upper hand, it went in for another attack. This time instead of going straight in, or straight under, it went for the high road.
Kicking off the ground, it's clawed foot dug into the bark of a tree as it jumped up to a branch, only to crouch once more. And then shoot out like a crack of lightning, swinging its massive claws down at the girl. ]
no subject
If she were one to curse, now would be the time.
There's no sense in playing around. She grabs her Evoker with her left hand, keeping her sword at the ready in her dominant. Raising the pistol-like device to her temple, she calls out-- ]
Artemisia!
[ Her Persona appears on cue with her sword at the ready, hopefully in time to block the attack with a timely summon of a pillar of ice. ]
no subject
Of course it has. And it knows to be cautious. And It knows that the Evoker is somehow the most dangerous thing here, not the sword.
And to combat that... what a better way than to summon its own Persona. An orange light appears in front of it, and it's raked through with claws to the sound of splitting wood. And above her is a strange sort of Persona, one that lashes out with it's shadow like tendrils to slash at Mitsuru. ]
no subject
--it thinks. Even in wild eyes, she can take that in. There's something going on. It's deciding, taking in the new information, and...
She gasps. ]
...It can't be--?
[ The tendril knocks her to the side, sending her back to the ground. Her own Persona flickers for a moment, her control weakening, yet she refuses to let that be the end of it. ]
Artemisia! [ She calls forth again as she juts the hilt of her sword against the ground. Artemisia flies forward, her own sword at the ready and goes straight for the foreign Persona with a thrust. ]
no subject
It's a Persona, there's no question about it. It just shouldn't belong to something that's so clearly not human. At least anymore.
The creature doesn't even move as it's Persona is charged at, taking the sword through the center of one of the girls that make up the Persona's base. But it's a dangerous thing, as the shadow girl only grabs onto the blade, holding it tight. And creates a hundred spikes from below, shooting up out of the ground to pierce through Artemisia. ]