You know what everyone needs after rampant robotic attacks and another iteration of clone wars? A vacation! That’s right everyone, you deserve this. CERES understands what you need. CERES is here for you all the time, so never doubt that this is a pleasure colony, and they are here to look after all of your needs. Kick your feet up, relax, and let CERES Recreation and Activity Necessity Keepers (Team RANK, that is) set you up with your ideal getaway.
It’s as if you can sense the incoming relaxation and luxury before you even completely finish loading. There’s the warmth encompassing your entire body as your code gets transferred into this particular ViViD Level. A cool, refreshing breeze hits you. The sounds of waves gently lapping against the coast fill you with relaxation. The sun, the sand, the surfs, it’s all there – welcome to the beach, baby!
An echoing greeting message from the ocean comes next, if you can translate it.
 OOOOOOOOOOOOHMAHH GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHD.
YOOOOOOOOOOOORRRALL SOOOOOOOOOOOOO KYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT.
KYOOOOOOOOOOOT EEEENAAAAUUUUUUUF TOOOOOOOOOOOOO EEEEEEEEEEEEEEET.
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PHASE I [ 08 00 ] That said, isn’t that breeze a little… too strong? It feels like it’s brushing up against all of you, if you know what I mean. When you open your eyes and look down, it becomes rather clear why. It seems that you’ve found yourself in some pretty interesting attire. Everyone. No exceptions. You appear to have two options – be overcome and scream like the Victorian maiden your heart says you are, or strut like a model in this stuff. Turn some heads! Work that up do!
But don’t worry, we’re also conscious about safety here at CERES! Therefore everyone’s also been provided a pair of super high-tech safety-tested appendage protection floatation devices (STAPFD for short.)
At least everyone around you is caught in the same sort of attire – and everyone around you also appears to be stuck inside a giant sand castle. It’s entirely malleable to what you want it to be! Want to see a fancy sand bidet? Feel like adding a sand statue in your honor? Think that wall should now be a door? Well, with enough perseverance, you can make it happen!
Just uh, be careful about getting sand in your… everywhere.
PHASE II [ 1000 ] Someone broke it. Not pointing any fingers, even though you sure do seem like a prime suspect, but someone broke it.
It almost starts like an earthquake with how the castle starts to rumble, the sand shaking right beneath your feet. And then the walls right next to you start to cave in followed promptly by the ceiling right… above your head. Oh dear. The sand starts to run and fall, losing its structure and shape. The hallway behind you starts to cave in, ceiling first and then the walls follow suit. Now the sand really is getting everywhere – but not just uncomfortable places. It’s in your hair, your eyes, your nose…. this sure doesn’t seem like a pleasant way to go!
Best to start running – there’s a trusty drawbridge to get over the moat (because what’s a sandcastle without a moat?) but who knows how long until that, too, is going to give way? Best to cross over it before it starts to shake and disappear too. Or if you don’t make it, hopefully you can land some pretty impressive airtime to make it to the other side!
If not, well...there'll be the sensation of sand crushing down upon you, filling your mouth and eyes, and you won't be able to breathe at all – and then you're alive again on the beach (but possibly in yet another new, uncomfortable, skimpy swimsuit). Honestly, be more careful, would you?
PHASE III [ 1200 ] However, once you do make it to the other side, it’s all smooth sailing from there! Or is it? Hah, as they say, life sure can be a beach.
Which is what this is.
Welcome to your Beach Episode, folks. Now that you’ve made it out of the collapsing sand castle, you’ve made it to the luxurious, picturesque golden coastline. Sure, you’re coughing up fine, luxurious, sand dust right now and you’ve definitely gotten sand in all of your crevices thanks to your swimsuit, but that’s okay! Go take a soak in the ocean or something or cool off with a smoothie. There’s a smoothie shack off into the distance, complete with a long chalkboard with… well, probably a few familiar names? And some unfamiliar ingredients. Sounds appetizing right?
That said, once you do ingest some of the smoothie with the name of a newcomer, you might suddenly find yourself feeling a bit… different. You’ll be taking on some of their traits, one of the most intense parts of their personality – or you might need to take a second to sit down because you’re suddenly seeing one of their memories. Whoa. What do they actually put in this stuff?
PHASE IV [ 1500 ] For the brave souls that venture out into the water, you have even more adventures waiting for you. Anyone who’s swimming around, wading in the water—hell, even looking at the water is getting scooped up and deposited in one of these giant orbs. But don’t take up too much room, because someone else is getting shoved right in there with you. Time to get cozy with your new friend, because it's only going to get worse as the waves begin to carry you out into this big, blue, virtual ocean. Hopefully the choppy waves don’t bounce you around too much or – well, you could always get really friendly with a stranger! Why not?
At least until it’s made very clear that fresh air does not make it back into these balls. That seems like a bit of a design flaw. Now what? Fight the other person who’s inhaling all your air? Suffer through it for swimsuit-clad fun? Or if you break it…. well, you sure are stranded out in the ocean. Or are you?
After enough flailing, you’ll be met by a giant, dumb-looking creature who will then eat you whole.
Everything goes dark. This is surely the end --
And then you're in Cerealia proper; it seems that was the exit to the level (but why there?) and you'll find yourself either in one of the fountains or the pond in the park. Either way, you'll be very, very well. And this time, that's not virtual. But hey, at least you'll have all of your stuff with you.
BONUS [ xxxx ] Do you hear that?
Anyone idle on the beach will hear a distant melody coming from further out into the ocean. It’s a beautiful, elegant song that automatically makes the listener stop what they’re doing and immediately wander toward the noise. It takes you a moment to recall – it takes a moment to think about anything now, really – but you remember hearing the smoothie shack owner say something about mermaids populating the beach. Could this be their song calling out to you? Whether you would normally abide by this kind of call or not, you find your feet walking further and further out into the water, the shallows lapping up to your ankles and up and up as you are drawn in by the song.
A rather classic song, though the usual instances of French are also replaced with the very enticing, enchanting nonsense promise of omelette du fromage........and then they try to drown you.
[ 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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Oona | OTA
[There's at least one mermaid among the little crowd that might be familiar to some. Hell yeah this disastrous beach trip is heaven to her. She's gotten to watch people get smushed by a giant collapsing sand castle, chat with some mermaids about seashell fashion, watched humans running around like crazy... It's perfect! She doesn't even have to wear clothes! (Which she's not, because fuck that)
So she's definitely joined in on the shenanigans of trying to drown people, of course. Because it's Oona and she's had a bad couple weeks and what better way to cheer up than some casual murder attempts?
She sings separate from the other mermaids grouped up, her song less lyrics and more just sound, haunting and sweet and definitely not attempting to lure the unawares into a false sense of security!
Oona beckons and smiles sweetly and-- yep, totally dragging you into the water with her and trying to push you under the waves!
Don't worry, she won't actually kill you-- she'll let you come up for air briefly before attempting to drag you down again! She might even let you go at some point only to surface and laugh away like this is the best game ever] Such fun! Ah, you are alright, yes? Do not be so mad, it was only little fun!
[BONUS: B]
[Oops, maybe Oona went a bit too far and you possibly drowned a little. Or maybe one of the other mermaids nearly did you in! But don't worry! Oona doesn't want to be so responsible for a death, so she'll chase the other mermaid off and/or just drag your sorry butt to the sand and perform the kiss of life on you to get you breathing again.
Once you're done coughing the water from your lungs, the little murdermaid looks a little put out. How could you possibly think of dying when she's trying to have fun?]
You live, yes? You are not supposed to breathe water, you know. You are not mermaid like me, there are some things you just can not do.
[Oona swishes her tail against the waves that wash up a little onto the sand, laying on her side with her head propped up on her hand.] Do I get reward for saving you? [She grins, a bit wickedly] How about a kiss?
[Doesn't matter if you're male or female, a kiss is a perfect reward for... showing self-restraint and not killing you?? Sure.]
[Wildcard]
[Oona can be found lounging about the beach near the water in her mermaid form, laughing at any human's misfortune, or trying to beckon over the obviously not-human that may be lingering around.]
A
It's so amazing he goes ahead and follows this vaguely familiar mermaid straight to the depths.
Once he sputters to the surface, though, he coughs:]
What the hell! You didn't read the atmosphere right at all!
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[IN WHAT UNIVERSE DOES THAT COUNT AS SWIMMING]
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That ain't swimming, that's murder. When we swim, we circle around each other and giggle and shed our tops.
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I was giggling, and I have already taken my top off. [Just...pointing that out. Like it matters.
She's doesn't wear clothes if she can get away with it and thankfully she can get away with it here.]
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well
that's a little better. he's still got the pout going, but his gaze has lowered]
So you have. You know, massages are real nice....you should get one.
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Wildcard
That was sloppy work back there, kid. If you're gonna screw with people, you make sure that they die so they can't come back and get ya. I mean, that's just... basic life lessons, you know?
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Oona looks around a moment as if trying to figure out who this guy could possibly be talking to. Surely it's not her.
but clearly it is, and she gives him a disgruntled look] I do not remember asking. Besides. [A disdainful little sniff and she waves a dismissive hand] It does not matter.
If they died here, would only come back. 'Dead' does not mean 'dead,' here. [Bc that made sense oona thanks]
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Bah! Stupid human! [She waves at him dismissively and huffs] Besides, they will yell at me more if actually kill them.
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Oh! Oops. That... must've been too much. "Therefore" means "consequence". Are youuu understanding my words?
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B.....
No — that's not necessary. [ Does he sound panicky? He sounds panicky. ]
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Oona continues to lounge there, tail flicking lazily against the surf an amused expression on her face.] Hmmm? Are you sure? I do not mind. Usually I do not give kisses so freely to boring humans, but you are interesting! And cute. So, it is a win-win, I believe they say, yes?
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[ Allen's still some distance away, his eyes trained very pointedly on Oona's face and not dipping down at all. no sirree, there's no looking elsewhere for Allen, not even at Oona's tail. ]
No! [ IT'S NOT A WIN-WIN ] I mean, yes, that's how they say it. But no, no thank you. You saved my life, so I can't ask you to do anything else for me!
[ didn't she save his life with mouth-to-mouth though..... Allen presses a hand to his face, getting redder at the realization. ugh. But with that realization comes other things, like the other words Oona said that didn't involve kissing. ]
A — mermaid? So you were the one who was singing earlier...?
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[Which may or may not be a good thing??
She flicks her tail at his question as if to draw his attention to it, eyebrows raised as if to as 'what do you think?'] Yes, am mermaid! And hmm, yes, sort of. I did not sing with the others, I do not know their songs. But I was singing the songs I know. The songs of my mermaids.
[That doesn't make sense Oona. She sighs, realizing this, and tries again] I am not same as them. They are mermaids, yes, but different. [Fake, first of all, since this is just a level in ViViD, but whatever.] I am real. And not from here, though it is nice enough. [She's certainly enjoying the view of half-naked people in ridiculously skimpy swimsuits.] Understand?
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It doesn't look like anyone's really from here, besides the others you mentioned. [ the murderous mermaids. ] But they seem real enough to me...
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Bonus B
In their defense, he was just so drownable.
It takes him a minute to stop coughing and realize that Oona's talking to him.]
Th-thank you.
[And then he realizes that he lost his swimsuit somewhere, so he pushes away a bit, trying to stay in the water, parts of him out of sight.
This total distraction means he doesn't realize what she's saying, or what he's answering.]
I guess, I don't...huh?
[Wait, he's got to do what now?]
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Reward, human. Do I not get a reward? Did save you, like I said. So what will you give me in return?
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...Shit, no, those are scars on her neck and looking at THAT is rude too! What exactly is he supposed to do with his eyes?]
Uh, I don't know. I don't really have anything...
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[Her eyes all a-sparkle with mischief, she grins at him wickedly, only to throw her head back a few seconds later and laugh brightly]
Your face! Ahh, you are funny! You must be a virgin. If you do not want to kiss me, will also accept food as repayment! Can you cook, at least?
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[It takes him a minute to figure out just what she suggested, although in all fairness, he did just nearly drown so "body" meaning "I could kill you" isn't that far out there to assume.
...Or he's just incredibly dense about that sort of thing and now beet red.
But cooking--that's easy. And SAFE.]
Yeah. I mean, I'm not a gourmet or anything, but I can cook.
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A
When they finally come back up for air, Kouha is flailing around like an angry octopus, sputtering as he tries to breathe. When he finally gets enough air in him, the first thing he does is whip around to face her.]
What the hell was that!? You trying to kill me?
[Every time they run into each other, something deadly happens... Maybe he should just start hitting her up when he wants to kill something, but right now, he's just annoyed, and his face is perfect for splashing right now. You never know, it might help cool his head off a bit!]
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[Oona laughs and uses the flat of her tail to splash at him playfully.] Need to-- what is the phrase? 'Lighten up'!
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[After she just admitted to jokingly killing him?? Two can play this game, so he gives her a smile.]
I dunno. I think this might be a little too heavy for that~!
[And he throws himself at her, just to make sure she gets the point. It's going down, I'm yellin' timbeeeer.]
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