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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But goddamn, was she making this difficult. It was hard to pin someone down when they were flailing so much, and she was surprisingly strong despite her appearance. And calling him ugly? SUPER RUDE! Letting out a feral growl (god, he REALLY needed that food, he was starting to sound like an animal--), he shifted his face away from her hand and lunged at her wrist, hoping to take a scrap of flesh from her arm with her teeth.
... except one of those kicks of hers landed squarely in a sensitive spot, gaining a pained yelp in response. That was going to take a moment to recover from.]
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athena uses his opportunity to try and push him away and get up. her spear now in hand, she points it at his throat. ]
I've never killed anybody before, but-- it's you or me...
[ whoever "you" are, anyway. ]
At least you'll respawn. This is just ViViD, after all. . .
[ she's so hesitant about it, though, and her hands are even shaking. ]
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The pain takes a minute or so to subside, but once his mind is clear again (and focused back on hunger instead of his bruised nuts), he snarls, even fiercer this time, lashing his hand out to get an iron grip on her spear. The words were barely making it through the haze in his mind-- 'ViViD'? 'Respawn'? what was she going on about? -- but obviously, this just meant he needed to get on with things and try to eat her so he could be able to focus on things. Not to mention, even with the brain fog, he could sense a danger to himself when it was right in front of him.
Yanking the spear down from where he was clutching it, he viciously tries to thrust it in her direction, hoping to get the butt of the spear to hit her hard enough to stun her.]
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ah...
this is going to be a penalty within a penalty, isn't it? ]
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Stalking closer to her fallen body, Yusuke crouches down, making sure she was out cold and not about to do a counterattack on his junk again. A clawed hand reaches over towards her ponytail, running his fingers curiously through her hair. What a shame. Such nice features, just to wind up in his stomach. It's not his fault she smelt so insanely delicious.
Fingers tightening their hold on her head, he lunged down, fangs bared, sinking his teeth into the skin on her shoulder.
Time to eat.]
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the bite wakes her up, and jesus, does she scream. and she screams really loudly, because ouch. this kind of pain—this sensation is something she's never felt before in her entire life. she may have died once, but this is just something else!
and in her hopes of lessening the pain (it's not working) she kicks and punches at him even with her injured shoulder now. ]
Get off you monster! I should've done you in when I had the chance!
[ why did she hesitate? ]
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Before he can, however, one of her punches socks him right in the jaw, tearing him off of her shoulder along with a decent chunk of bloody meat and skin. Stumbling back a decent distance, his hand hovers where she hit him, stinging fiercely underneath. Why couldn't she have just stayed down instead of making such a damn fuss?
His eyes meet hers, narrowing them coldly as he slowly, oh so slowly gets that chunk of dripping flesh into his mouth and chews. He went through enough trouble getting that much-- he wasn't about to let it go to waste. It tasted just as good as it smelled, and by the time he finished the morsel he pried off of her, he was ravenous for more. Weird, though-- even getting that small amount into him didn't help ease the fuzz in his brain or make it easier to talk. Maybe a full meal would be better?
His lips pull back into a toothy, menacing grin, mouth stained a sickening red from the blood. There needed to be something done about this shrieky, hit-happy pain-in-the-ass if he wanted to dine in peace. Reaching down, he scoops up the spear he wrested from her before, advancing forward with the tip aimed toward her. Human on a stick didn't seem all too bad, did it?
Maybe it would have been better to have killed him off the bat-- that way he probably wouldn't have to hate himself quite so much when this was all over and done with.]
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and then makes a run for it.
this is the quickest thread ever, huh? ]
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With a loud snarl, he buckles from the hit (not that it was all that strong, because... well, y'know, half-demon and all, but it was in his gut so it hurt), and it's distracting enough that he doesn't notice her making a break for it until she's already a good distance away. As a last ditch effort, he throws the spear at her, hoping it'll hit, but it falls short and sinks into the dirt instead. Ah screw it, it's not worth the trouble. He'll just find someone else to chew on instead.
RECORD FOR SHORTEST THREAD WITH MOST TRAUMA INVOLVED: THIS ONE. Excellent job, gold stars all around folks.]