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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[ blink. for a second, ludger's not even sure what this other guy would be referring to... before looking at the words again, and noticing there are in fact two of them. ]
Oh. That. [ er. ] As long as you won't ask me to explain anything further, yes.
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(probably leon, so this will end well for exactly nobody.)]
Ah... Mm, okay. [at least he has some logic for why he can agree to ludger's terms without questioning it.] I guess that makes sense! If that's you, I guess you should know what it is.
[maybe it's personal. whatever, he's not going to pry into anyone's personal life like that.]
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[ he protests rather instinctually, because when he thinks about it a little further... ]
I guess it's not like I don't like it either though. [ quit while you're ahead, ludger. ]
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nothing wrong with tasteful sideboob.]
If you say so... I'll take your word for it! [stahn, why.] I wouldn't worry too much about it though, they probably don't mean much with it anyway.
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[ he pauses, looking over his profile again, before shaking his head. ]
I don't even smoke. [ maybe he should start?? ]
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So they really just made that up, then? [obviously, stahn... it shouldn't be that surprising, considering his arrival situation said he was a fireman. he is a man with fire, but not a fireman.]
I wonder where they even get these ideas from. They're pretty weird! [spoken like that's no big deal, somehow.]
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I think so. Although maybe there's some level of truth to them... [ don't give these guys too much credit. ]
Like they're all deep, dark secrets even we don't realize.
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Whoa... do you really think it might be something like that? [careful, ludger... he may take this at face value.] I wonder if CERES really knows that kind of stuff...
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Hm, well... if there's anything I remember about CERES, it's that they don't really know anything. So probably not.
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Eh? [hold up.] That you remember about CERES...?
[it's not like he hasn't heard of this happening before, but it's the first time he's encountering it for himself.] So that means you were here before, right?
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[ keeping track of time here is probably a lost cause anyway. ]
It's good to see nothing's changed. [ as illustrated by an npc diving at him from the side, who ludger just steps out of the way of. ]
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[he's a little surprised by it, but not so much so that his guard is dropped completely. at least he doesn't have to warn ludger to get out of the way, but it still doesn't stop him from making a reach for dymlos and grabbing tightly at his hilt.]
I think this is a little worse than when I got here... kind of. [or maybe it just is always terrible, but in very different ways.]
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[ ...he's not really sure whether that should make him feel special or not, but he sort of does anyway. for a second ludger's not even sure why stahn's going for his sword, though he quickly gets it when another npc runs by them. ]
Hm... well, maybe you have a point. It usually takes a little longer for everything to suddenly break into violence.
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[ludger gets to be the special snowflake in this scenario. it's pretty cool and kind of interesting to stahn too, and he does absolutely have questions about it.
but maybe they need to try and cull the bloodthirsty npcs a bit first. he's not going for lethal force, but it's not a small amount of strength that goes into pushing back someone that's coming directly at him with a scimitar. why this, seriously.]
I've never seen it this bad... not right away like this, at least. [even at its worst, his arrival had been much tamer, and the last set came in with something dangerous, but not so suddenly and not so brutally, either. it's kind of worrying, even if it's just a game.]
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[ okay, that's not entirely true, since at least he knows the ground rules - but it's still disorienting. ]
At least they don't seem to be trying too hard? [ okay, they're trying, just not very successfully. ]
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[that's more for his own curiosity than anything else, but!]
It can probably wait til later. [as he shoves off another npc. they're not very strong, at least. they're trying, but he'll take "not very successfully" over being stabbed in the torso.]
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[ if only because now ludger is curious. ]
Knowing this place, things'll probably just get crazier later.
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[not the answer stahn was expecting. of course, he's used to dymlos and leon (and rutee, and everyone else ever) yelling at him to focus on what's most important, so it's just surprising for ludger to say that.]
What happened before this? Between when you left, and coming back, I mean... [did he go back to his own world? were the people there safe, or is it really like ceres said? stahn's still not sure what to believe about any of that.]
no subject
I was back in my world. [ a nod. it's a straightforward enough question. he pauses a bit at that, recalling the exact things that happened... it's all rather bittersweet since true end all the way, but he doesn't really have any regrets about it so his state of mind is probably better than when he was here the first time. ]
It's pretty jarring... one second you're there, not remembering anything about this place ,and the next you're back here, uh... dressing up and going to some bizarre murder party? [ how else would you describe it, he's not sure. ]
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You were back in your world... that's good. [the relief is definitely a bit obvious, even if it's clear that he's not just going to take that at face value and ignore the rest.]
But... you didn't remember Cerealia then... until you came back here. Is that it? [ludger's pretty clear about it, but stahn would rather repeat it back to reaffirm that he's not misunderstanding it or something.]
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[ ugh, he's getting a headache just thinking about it. he can remember cerealia pretty clearly now, and he obviously remembered it when he was here before... but back home? it almost feels like he was a different person in some ways. ]
It's probably best not to think about it too much.
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[it's not really the conclusion he wants to come to, but hearing that ludger was back in his own world... maybe that's enough for now. it gives him a little more hope, and the rest they can figure out later.]
I guess we can worry about that part later. It's probably still important, but you probably want to get used to being here again first anyway. [arrival is jarring, after all. but then he realizes—] Oh, right! I'm Stahn, by the way! Stahn Aileron.
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eh, no biggie. ]
Ludger Will Kresnik. Uh, I'd offer to shake your hand, but... [ yeah, that's definitely some dude crashing to the ground right beteen them. ] Now doesn't really seem like a great time.
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[yes, that's a good reason, Ludger. Stahn takes a step back, drawing his own weapon to knock back the other dude—the one that caused the first to crash.]
I guess things are starting to get a little crazy in here... [or maybe they've been crazy the whole time, but not enough was directly in their path.] Someone's really going to get hurt or worse if this doesn't stop soon.
[Protag Concern Trolling, there it is.]