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 III
Rapunzel lifts her face, which is about as blood-spattered as it usually is on a lovely jaunt through ViViD, blows the feathers off her forehead, and then lifts her spear. ]
I like stabby compromises. [ No she doesn’t. ] Buuuuut I’m open to punching… kicking… strangling, shooting… Why, what kind of compromise did you have in mind?
[ Because she is fast running out of steam pretending to be a badass. ]
no subject
Really. While those are great ideas, I'm thinking... none of those. At all. [ he shrugs his shoulders and offers a smile. he's way too handsome for punching, kicking, strangling, and shooting. come on, now. ]
Maybe something more like... coin. Or a favor. [ that seems more fair, especially since he wasn't even able to steal anything. ] A story, maybe. [ he's good at those. ]
1/2
She rolls her eyes just to balance it out with more disdain. ]
Like I'm going to let you Scheherazade me. I've read that story too, you know, and I am not going to fall for it. Give me something concrete to prove that I can trust you and I won't give you to the m–
no subject
[ Rapunzel, knowing her face must be as pale as she feels suddenly, swallows once, twice, and then tries to speak, her eyes fixed on a point just above and beyond the man's shoulder. ]
...Monster?
[ Yeaaaaaaaah.... Guess what she's looking at. ]
no subject
or any other witty, possibly roguishly charming plan. because either,
1) she's lying and going to stab him in the gut when he looks away, or;
2) ... ]
There's a monster right behind me, isn't there.
[ he sounds so resigned. like, this is my life. of course it is. why is nothing surprising about this. ]
1/3
no subject
no subject
Yes. Yes there is. We should climb a tree.
[ The monster in question lets out a truly booming roar, putting every single one of Rapunzel's golden (and brown) hairs on end. ]
O-O-Or I should! I'll do it. I'll climb the tree. BYE!
[ Time to use this hair like the elevator it was meant to be! ]
no subject
What happened to [ he raises his voice to imitate hers ], "I like stabby compromises." [ back to normal, ] Punching -- [ he dodges a swipe from the monster, hitting the ground on his shoulder and rolling, ] kicking -- [ he manages to avoid some teeth this time, rolling another way ] strangling -- [ he's back up on his feet and skidding backwards, aiming his crossbow ] and shooting? [ he takes his shot, hitting the monster in the face. it doesn't like that very much, and reels back. ]
Hmmm? [ he squints up. yes, he is willing to look away from the monster that's rolling back to give her the squint. ]
no subject
Does this tender girly girl also like to punch, stab, and shoot things with guns? Yes.
Was getting Varric to fight this monster with/for her part of her plan? No. No, it wasn't. But she's going to act like it was because that's what tender girl girls do.
Lie.Act! ]Wow. [ Instead of climbing any trees, she grins and crouches. ] You're so fast! [ The spear goes flying, lodging itself in the already twitching monster's form. ] How'd you get caught stealing from me anyway?
...Oh - do you have a name? I'm Rapunzel. Just Rapunzel. No second name!
no subject
Anyway. Okay, Rapoodle. ]
Varric. I have a second name, but one for one is a fair swap, right? [ He aims Bianca to take another shot at the monster, aiming for weak points -- a knee... or what he thinks is probably a knee, it bends but it's all fleshy and gross. damn. these guys make the abominations back home look pretty.
it makes another angry noise and rolls again once its leg(?) isn't terribly useful, and he hefts Bianca upwards, ]
Good question. Guess my many, many adoring fans just couldn't keep quiet. [ makes being a rogue hard sometimes. sighhh. ]
You wanna finish this job? [ go stab it in the head, freckles. ]
no subject
Today, though, Rapunzel smiles regally, honoured and a little baffled that he's trusting her, and determined not to let him down. ]
You got it!
[ Which is not as terrible a line as she could've come up with, frankly!
Within the space of a heartbeat she's off and running towards the monster, leaping onto an old log for the leverage necessary to execute a spring jump, and using the extra momentum to wrench her spear from a nasty notch in it's spinal cord. Then she lands and pivots.
And rather than simply stabbing it, Rapunzel does the most dramatic thing you can do with the out of control upper body strength necessary to lift a grown woman several times daily up and down a 100ft tower: she takes the monster's head clean off. Like slicing pizza. ]
........I haven't always been this good at the monster-slaying stuff, you know. H-Heh.
no subject
Nice job. Much better than what I could have done.
[ he, sadly, does not have the upper body strength necessary to lift a grown woman several times daily up and down a 100ft tower. ]
Color me impressed.
1/2
This is...
Inspiring. Heartening. Otome as hell. It fosters loyalty and makes her beam!! IF THIS MAN WERE TO GO INTO BATTLE, SHE WOULD FIGHT FOR HIM AS A DAUGHTER TO HER– ]
no subject
...so, uh. I don't suppose you're interested in killing people as well as monsters, are you? I really liked your profile, by the way!
no subject
Why? Still looking for a stabby compromise?