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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Doubtful. From a procreative standpoint, a union between us would be impractical.
[ Well.
A blink, and Sam promptly starts cracking up. ]
Look at that— all our hopes, dashed. Tell your pup that it's nothing personal, eh?
[ STILL LAUGHING... even as an NPC tries to cut his remaining human arm off. No worries though, because Wolf's got that covered— he whips his tail and nails the assailant right in the gut with a knife. ]
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humans.]
Looks like Repede's willing to talk for himself, and—Ohhh...
[yeah, his sentence (and laughter) is being cut short by that swift move.]
Not bad. [color yuri impressed. good thing there's enough teasing for everyone.] May not be a bad idea to partner up in a fight.
[to which repede barks affirmatively, doing a flip and unsheathing his dagger. he's ready to go if one of these npcs comes after yuri... especially since yuri probably still shouldn't be fighting at all right now. not that it'll stop him.]
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He didn't think a flesh-and-blood dog could do something like that, in all honesty. ]
I usually handle things on my own, you know.
[ Is now truly the time to be patching up bruised egos, Sam... that said, he gestures towards Yuri's broken arm. ]
And you should probably hang back, if you don't want to lose another one of those. [ Says the guy who clearly has a fake appendage of his own. ]
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Not much fun in that, is there? [listen, okay! sitting around not fighting has made the last while so incredibly boring. even if he did tell flynn he'd take it easy...
well, some promises are made to be broken, aren't they? he's behaved himself long enough.]
Can't say I'm really into playing the damsel as long as one of my arms is working fine. It wouldn't be the worst I've done. [sure, it limits his fighting style a little, but that's what improvising is for, right?]
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He should probably say something along the lines of "forget it, kid, you stay back and don't get hurt".
What he actually says is: ] You've got a point.
[ Samuel Rodrigues is a terrible adult.
Truth be told, he's noticed that Yuri's got a katana, and from one katana-wielder to another... he's curious, maybe. He'd like to see the kid's form, but that's a terrible reason to let him skedaddle into combat, huh.
Don't worry, Sam definitely won't actually let Yuri get hurt, even if his smile is questionable and his decisions are even more so. ]
But you better move fast, or I'll finish it all before you even draw your sword.
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of course, what sam will see of yuri's form is a little on the unrefined side. though he's fairly ambidextrous out of necessity, his left hand is his dominant one in combat—and with it in a cast, it means he's not really in top form. not incapable by any means, but he's definitely lacking a little bit of the finesse and flashy style that he likes to show off.
...not that it's gonna stop him from trying. his arm moves swiftly to cast the sheath away (...he'll go find it and pick it up later) before tossing the blade into the air and catching it by the hilt.]
Don't have to tell me twice. I'm not into letting other people get all the fun in a good fight, you know. [he just thinks it's fun, okay. he's really not that bloodthirsty...]
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Let's try to keep up, then, shall we?
[ A patronizing lilt later, and the samurai kicks off from his position with frankly ludicrous speed— so many people from his canon are ridiculously OP that it's not even a thing for him at this point, the fact that he can move faster than most people can blink.
Weaponless, his actions might seem rash. Stupid, even. But despite the fact that he's unarmed, Sam seems unconcerned as he rams right into his first enemy, deals a bodyblow that sends the NPC flying. A free hand whips to the side and grabs a katana from another assailant, one that he uses to cut said assailant cleanly in half.
LISTEN... YURI MIGHT NOT BE BLOODTHIRSTY BUT SAM DOESN'T HAVE RESERVATIONS ABOUT CHOPPING SOMEONE IN TWO... ]
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yuri'd be the first one to admit that he wouldn't want to be on sam's bad side, but also that it would probably be fun as hell to spar with him sometime. he's got an eye on the action as he keeps his distance; rather than use is sword for a lot of direct contact with this injury, he opts for some ranged moved.
the first is a ball of energy that moves off his sword and through the air with a rough breeze; the second does the same and is immediately followed by a ball of energy that moves across the ground. it's once he's weakened the enemy that he lunged in, using his sword to knock them into the air, slashing a couple of times, and then using a final slash to send them crashing back to the ground with force.
a little less brutal than sam, but it's still got its merits.]
...Least I don't have to tell you not to hold back. [since it seems like he's got that covered with the whole "slicing a man in two" thing.]
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He harbors no conceit about someone else's technique, so he whistles lowly under his breath to indicate a degree of respect for Yuri's skills— if he can do that with one arm, Sam wonders what he'd be able to manage with both of his limbs intact.
It's a warrior's curiosity that has his lips curl up in something that's unmistakeably an expression of intrigue. He isn't worried about the enemies in this room at all, but Yuri?
At least this stupid game's given Sam one thing to be happy about. ]
It'd be bad manners, if I did.
[ Go big or go home, right. At least the NPCs are starting to realize that they're no match against both of these ridiculously OP people. ]
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needless to say, he's not worried at all. despite the fact that he's fighting with an injury, it doesn't seem like he's got much to be concerned about—and sam seems much the same. it's hard to complain about running into someone else that's good with a sword and has a dog that can kick some asses too.
it's a strange amount of things to have in common with a stranger, but hey. who's gonna complain about that?
still, yuri can't help but to let out a laugh when he realizes the npcs are starting to back off. the fight or flight instinct must be pretty real when they seen others going down do quickly without so much as batting an eye.]
You'd think they'd be a little more bold about it... they were so eager when they started.
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