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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phase i.
Look.
The giant scythe thing is great until it's suddenly frozen in place, and then she's just tugging fruitlessly at it as she tries to step forward, and it's just not working at all because it's bigger than her. Ugh!!!]
Killing people [TUG. TUG. TUG!!!] is bad, mister. [It's said so solemnly, but the effect is rather lost when she's still tugging so fruitlessly at her scythe.]
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[ A beat, as he watches her struggle to pull the weapon free. ]
… You wanna stop that for a second so when I let it go, you don’t fall on your head?
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But at that, she nods, no longer tugging on the scythe--though you'd have to pry Crescent Rose from her cold, dead fingers, so she's still holding onto it.]
Okay! I'm ready.
[...]
Also I'll do that if you really want me to, but I don't think they'd listen.
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Do you seriously swing that around? That thing is like twice as big a you are.
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[There goes the scythe!!
She's able to grab it and rebalance herself after a moment, but it definitely takes a moment of flailing, beware, Charlie.
Phew.]
--Yep! It's my weapon, of course I swing her around. What else would I do with a scythe?
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I dunno. Stand there and look cool?
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[Ruby, that was not the point of any of this.]
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I dunno. Strike a pose.
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She'll even strike a pose, slinging her scythe over her shoulder and trying to look cool--except in the process she knocks away a stray arrow with said scythe, and she blinks.]
Oh.
... Right, fighting.
[....]
I guess we should deal with that.
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[ Another arrow comes whizzing his way, and he flips the mental switch to re-activate his stop motion field- Ruby and her scythe should be out of the range of the spell now- and the arrow freezes in midair. Charlie thrusts a hand out and the arrow goes flying back the way it came. ]
I’m Charlie, by the way.
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I'm Ruby! Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you, Charlie!
[What a refreshingly not difficult name to pronounce!!]
Let's get out of here then--I think the door's over there?
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[ Because if he has to choose between ballroom of death and following a teenage girl with a giant scythe, well... okay, first of all, that's one of the weirdest choices he's ever had to make, but he'd still take the latter. ]
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[she's...really not going to hesitate to throw herself forward then, scythe at the ready, to clear themselves a path. She's very, very focused on not hurting anyone too terribly, though, and definitely not killing anyone--but still, the skill of a Huntress (in training) versus a poor normal NPC is pretty stark.
It's not super hard.
Time to head towards the outside world, Charlie.]
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[ Cool and a little scary. ] Still right behind you, by the way.
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Yessssssss.
[She's lame, Charlie, she's so lame.
And then she remembers herself and nods.]
Right, okay--we're almost there, so... let's keep going. I totally wasn't doing anything lame.
[... Yeah, okay, back to work here, until they're suddenly right in front of the door, startlingly quickly.]
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[ Lame? Nah. Extremely adorable? Hell yeah. She actually draws a laugh out of Charlie, in spite of the chaos. ]
… So what do you suppose the chances are that its unlocked and we can just walk right out?
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Uh... probably not very good, but we can try?
[Why not try.]
Aaaand if it won't open, we can just break it down.
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[ He says it as he reaches over to try and yank the door open. It sure doesn’t budge. ]
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[She'll just shuffle to stand in front of him instead to make sure no projectiles come this way.]
Do your...fine-est thing, Charlie!
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[ While she guards his back, Charlie etches out a few runic marks in the air in ice blue light.
Soon enough there's a satisfying click and he yanks the door open. ]
Let's go!
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Though she has to tell him as they go:]
For the record, that was really, really cool. [...] Like really.
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