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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no subject
Yes. Just slightly more important things.
Those slightly more important things become waaaay more important the moment Chibi gets injured though and every alert on Will goes haywire. His goals instantly become reorganized.
He shoots an arrow off into the monster tangled up in the branches to make sure it won't be moving again anytime soon and takes off after where Chibi had landed. He crouches down next to him and glances quickly around. There's only a few stragglers left. Will shoots one arrow out after another and soon enough, they're alone.
He looks down at Chibi and instantly reaches his hand up to rest two fingers against the cartoid artery and counts silently in his head. His eyes, meanwhile, are scoping out the damage from the claws.)
My name's Will.
(He draws his hand away and makes a subtle gesture around Chibi's side.)
Can I check this out? I'm a healer.
no subject
[But he looks around, ensuring there are no monsters (or bloodthirsty refugees) about, then smiles. At least the kid seems to know what he is doing.]
Please do. [Obligingly, Chibi gets into a more relaxed position and pulls his cloak aside to reveal the skin. Sure enough, there are three gashes along his side, none deep enough to cut into organs but plenty deep enough to bleed.]
no subject
Will gives a small grimace of sympathy at the sight of the gashes on Chibi's side. They're definitely not good but they're definitely not bad either. He tugs at his pockets and thankfully he'd come into this thing with the paste he usually uses.
As for everything else? Well, time to improvise. He quickly removes his dress shirt and gives it a look of disdain. Well, it would just have to do.
He sets that aside before ripping at his dress pants. He rips away the filthy bottom parts and just tosses those completely then begins to rip at the rest of the material until he's left with some black shorts that go to the knees. With the clean cloth he gets out a few strips and gets to work. He bundles up some black cloth to apply some pressure against the wound and after a moment removes the cloth entirely, cleaning the area. He pulls open his paste and begins to work it over the gashes, all the while singing quietly beneath his breath in Greek hymns. Chibi might feel a deep-rooted kind of warmth. Not the typical warmth one anticipates from another person or even a fire, but the sort of warmth familiar to stepping out into the sun on a hot summer day.
Then the paste sets in and he nudges Chibi lightly.)
Want to sit straight up for me? I want to wrap you up if I can. Sorry this is all kinda...sketchy work. Don't have many supplies on me.
no subject
[(The singing helps, too; is it part of the healing, he wonders?)]
I would hardly call this sketchy work. [A little laugh, and he sits upright.] Had you been around for that time we all got dumped into the jungle for two weeks straight...! A few people did not come back - well, they did come back through CERES' resurrection, but that is more complicated.
no subject
He works on folding that into a smooth half and then proceeds to wrap it securely around Chibi's body as much as he can, using the sleeves to fasten it down. He puts his hands against the home-made bandage and push a bit. It seems sturdy enough.)
Try and wrap this up with real bandages when you get the chance. Or if we ever get outta here, I can do it for you. (A shrug. It might work for now but Will wouldn't be satisfied with it in the long term.
At the revelation of being put into the jungle for two weeks and having lost people...Will's eyes widen a bit and he gestures vaguely.)
I thought this was like- a sort of virtual reality video game? (But now that he thinks about it, Chibi was definitely injured. He flexes his hand.) Does what happen in here to you happen to your actual body or something?
no subject
[Oh, he's new! Poor fella.]
Aah, the thing is that, well... This [he motions around vaguely] is virtual reality, I can say that. The colony they told you of, though - that is very much real, and strange things happen there as well. The jungle thing happened out there, rather than in here.