Welcome to CERES' new dating experience -- ABOMIDate (Catchy, huh?). They've found that they're a little concerned with everyone's ability to... connect with denizens of different species, and in a place like Cerealia that is full of aliens, that's a Big Problem! After all, it's pretty clear by now that there are a lot of things about your friendly neighborhood aliens that you just know nothing about. What else do you not know? That the greeting of a Faswwg is face licking? That feathered species require mating dances to woo? That [REDACTED] needs [REDACTED] to [REDACTED]? So clearly, the way to fix this problem is...to practice dating other species!
Namely eldritch abominations! In CERES' experience, eldritch abominations really sum up the full interspecies dating way of life and provide you a variety of different species (and orifices) to enjoy.
So it's time to put on some proper music -- no, not that, that's not right. There, that's better. Anyway, time to put on some sexy background music, and woo the monster of your dreams!
 [ horrifying noises of nightmares and despair ]
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PHASE I [ 8 00 ] Welcome to the new and improved Abominable Dating, CERES’ brand new virtual dating experience! The first thing you will see will be a character select screen, because CERES wants you to get to the dating part right away. Don’t worry, there are a lot of beautiful and handsome candidates to choose from so feel free to jump right in! There’s this fellow, or this dashing lass and even a hidden character who is... not really all that hidden if they’re right there to be picked, but there you go!
You have to pick one. There’s no other option, I’m afraid.
And once you do, you’ll end up in a room with your date, dressed up in beautiful, date-like clothing. Unfortunately, everyone else who picked that date will also be in the room with you, also dressed up and prepared for dating.
This is awkward.
It gets even more awkward when your date decides that you look like a great main course. Watch out for those claws/teeth/limbs/etc! Maybe you can work together to take down your starving date, sad as that sounds.
PHASE II [ 1000 ] No dating game would be complete without stat boosting sessions. Regardless of how you feel about your current date, you’re locked into the game now (and hopefully not while covered in the blood of your date themselves, though they just come back even if you managed to kill them), and the game is picking a stat it thinks you need to work on. Either your intelligence is deplorable, your charisma is totally lacking, or your strength is at noodly-arm levels. That’s pretty bad. (It doesn’t matter what your actual intelligence, charisma or strength are, the game might be making things up at this point.)
Because of this, you’re going to be automatically tossed into a mini-game to increase those stats! This will be fun, absolutely. Nothing but Fun here in ViViD. So regardless of what the game thinks you’re lacking, it’s going to throw you into the same mini-game -- eldritch abomination make-over sessions.
You'll show up at a row of dressing rooms, each marked with a sign above the door reading NO INTELLIGENCE or NO STRENGTH or NO CHARISMA in bright red letters. Choosing the right one (embrace your shame) will reveal your initial date to you. They bat their eyelashes in greeting and growl out a very sultry, Will you help me, senpai?
Time to get to work!
You won’t be able to leave the mini-game until the monster is completely satisfied with its makeover, so it’s time to really tap in to your inner fashion sense. Of course, the fact that you’re all trying to apply makeup to the same monster might make this hard, but you can surely all get along, right?
Right?
PHASE III [ 1800 ] At first, you were on a date. Finally, you, your monster, candelight. Everything was going right until... well, you made a bad dialogue choice. They asked you what your favorite food was, you accidentally picked "Italian" (or maybe picked it on purpose which makes this even worse!) and then things went dark.
When you wake up, you'll find yourself in a cage. The room is dark and dank and there's no light other from the crack of a door somewhere up a flight of stairs. You're in a cage in a basement and there's a key glinting on the table right across the room there. Is it for your cage?
Welcome to the Yandere Route.
You might not actually be alone though. The cage isn't terribly big but there's enough room for someone else and if you shift around a little, you'll bump into them. Maybe you should share some woes of the eldritch horror dating experience. Maybe you should try and find a way out! Who knows? But there's one thing for sure:
You're both extremely naked.
Good luck!
PHASE IV [ 1830 ] You did it. You’ve gotten to the end of the game, or nearly. You’ve earned up enough affection points somehow. Maybe it was through the eldritch abomination following you around to trying to eat you or maybe it really, really, really liked your makeover. Maybe there was that thing and the cage and some weird pictures it took -- who knows! But now it’s time for the inevitable scene.
The confession scene.
Except... well, ViViD can’t do confession scenes very well. You'll find yourself there in the schoolyard, dressed in the appropriate school uniforms but...
For one thing, there’s a heavy shower of rose petals. A heavy shower. They’re everywhere. They might get in your mouth and face, they’re pooling around your knees, it's a rose petal flood and you're about to drown!
For another, the eldritch abomination you chose to romance is getting closer and... closer. And closer. And that sure is a lot of teeth, huh? Is it coming in for a kiss or to eat off your face? It’s... really hard to tell with all the rose petals, isn’t it?
To make matters even worse, you can’t move -- you’re locked into the scene until it comes to its proper conclusion. The game is stuck and you're here, suffering through it all. Well, you're suffering unless someone comes and rescues you, but who in the world would interrupt a touching scene like this to do that?!
BONUS [ why o'clock ] You know you have to get dressed up nicely for your date. It's an important one! Third date means third base, after all. So, you’re shoved into a closet, and surrounded by tons and tons of choices to pick from. You're spoiled for choice!
But, well... no matter what you put on, or even if you just elect to stay in your regular clothing, it changes as soon as you step out of the closet to meet your date.
Don’t worry, you look adorable.
It can’t be taken off, of course. So you’d better get comfy, because you’re going to be a pink dinosaur for your third date and... your fourth date. And your fifth. Hell, you might still be a pink dinosaur when it comes time to confess! How... cute.
[ 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
[Hearing another monster howl below them made her shudder, clearly not making her nerves any better. She kind of wants to just drop to the floor unceremoniously considering how her legs feel like jelly at the moment. Before she could even begin to debate it in her head, Honey just slumps to the floor, her hands slipping from Hiro's grip so she can at least attempt to center herself by resting her palms on the ground.]
But we can't... [She looks up, concerned.] stay long. [Her monster beau might not take too kindly that his new ladylove was snatched up like that.]
Can we get out?
no subject
Deep calming breaths will help.
[He gives Baymax a light grin, patting the robot's shin before he crouches and faces Honey again.]
We've gotta find the log-out portal. That's the messed up thing about ViViD the first time. Once you play through it you can log out whenever you want but the first game really makes you work for it. We'll be okay, this is actually kinda tame for some of the games. [Not that it makes it much better.] What else happened?
1/2
That... really doesn't sound safe. [But if this was more of the tamer games, the blonde would hate to think what the more worse ones are.]
no subject
I may have made a makeshift flamethrower using a candle and a can of hairspray I found in my purse, and then I used that to try and burn the monster's face off.
[Well, now Hiro knows why it was especially pissed at Honey.]
The date we were on wasn't going very well. [On account of the all too real threat of getting killed and eaten alive.]
no subject
It's been a long three months.
On the other hand, there's a beat as he registers what she says and he chuckles under his breath.]
Guess the chemistry was a little too intense for him, huh? [Yes, that's great, Hiro, nice time to be making nerd jokes.] Way to improvise.
[He doesn't want to have to kill the monster, but he's thinking quickly to try and figure out where the log-out portal could be.] If you were stuck in the school yard, I bet the portal's inside the building somewhere. You've read more shoujo than I have, where do girls go if--[Oh god he can't even keep a straight face.]--Senpai rejects their affections?
My time has come...
But hmm... [Honey ponders this seriously, suddenly grateful reading all that manga in her spare time.] Girls would usually run to the girls' bathroom after being rejected by senpai...
[Oh boy.]
no subject
So maybe not that much like a mission at all. When she responds though he just gives her a look.]
Seriously? We have to go there? [It's just a bathroom, sure, but...look, he's still 14, the idea of venturing into the opposite gender's bathroom is still daunting to him. Especially when ViViD's already weird.]
no subject
Back to the task at hand, Honey just laughs again when the boy gave her that look. Genius or not, Hiro Hamada is still a pubescent 14-year-old deep down. She herself forgets that sometimes.]
There? Hiro, you make it sound like it's an uncharted planet or something. Going to the girls' room is nothing compared to the stuff we've done, right?
no subject
I'd rather go back into the portal between you and me. [Dryly. So dryly, but he takes a deep breath and looks down in the schoolyard again.] If we head down there, just remember we've gotta stay on guard. This place is pretty unpredictable sometimes. [He turns his head.] There should be the roof access door somewhere up here, right?
no subject
Ah, [Honey looks up as well, taking a look around the area.] there should be stairway that leads to the roof. The characters in the manga I've read always go up there to eat lunch, hang out, or [He's going to love this.] even confess to your crush.
[Searching, searching... and then.] There! [She exclaims, pointing her finger at the door.] Our way out.
no subject
Sweet! Let's get going and get into the school. Baymax, think you can lead the way?
I will scan the interior of the school when we get inside.
[The robot's wings fold in back into his armor and Hiro stands up, offering Honey his hand to pull her to his feet so they can follow Baymax.] There are way too many places to confess to your crush in this game. It's pretty weird.
Welcome to Shoujo 101, Hio Hamada
[Honey takes Hiro's hand and hoists herself up, and then brushing off the gravel that may have stuck to her skirt with both of her hands.]
Oh, you'd be surprised. [And following behind Baymax now that she was clean.] An empty classroom, in the gym, getting stuck in the fire escape, underneath a cherry blossom tree?
[That's only the short of it.] It's like a Japanese high school is a treasure trove for places to tell the person you like how you feel.
excuse, he didn't sign up for this
You lost me at fire escape. [He snorts under his breath though.] Remind me never to live out a shoujo fantasy because I'm pretty sure I'd be doing it wrong. Places like that are still way too public...but then again CERES is all about exposing everything about ourselves to everyone.
She'll shoujo you the way
Oh, Hiro. Most of the characters in these shoujo manga are basically awkward teenagers. [Meaning he'll fit right in XD] Even they think they're not "doing it right" themselves. [Even moreso, depending on the subgenre. It sounds like CERES moonlights as a shoujo manga-ka the more Honey hears about them...] But, you're right. Those places are still way too public. I think the reason for that is so the characters can get interrupted as the plot dictates.
annnnd there's the pun
At least I've got the dramatic rose petals thing down. [He was trying for deadpan humor, but there's a hint of a happy smile there anyway. He focuses on the task as they walk though.] And because the love confession gets interrupted that's why girls go to hide in the bathroom?
[And look at that. The bathroom's just up ahead. Huh. That's weird. There's a bright yellow arrow hanging over the door pointing straight at the entrance.]
Courtesy of Nikki 1/2
Yes! Yes, you do. [Another laugh.] Well, that's one of the reasons why girls run to the bathroom.
no subject
Uh, Hiro... You have to see this.
no subject
...you think it's a trap, or it's really the way out of here?
no subject
If it's a trap, then it doesn't make any sense why they would set it up right when we're heading out. I mean, I technically cleared the game when I "confessed". This could be a way out.
But then... is it considered cheating when you pulled me out of the way earlier?
no subject
Baymax, can you head in and check out the area for us before we head out?
I will examine the area to deem it safe. [And with that, the robot opens the bathroom door and heads inside. Hiro tenses up, watching over his shoulder before looking at Honey Lemon again.]
Think we should follow him in?
no subject
[Hopefully their little loophole would actually hold up somehow, but Honey is learning not to take any chances in ViViD.]
Yes. [She straightens up, looking up to see Baymax heading in.] I'm not armed but I'll do what I can.
no subject
[And into the bathroom they go and...it's a bathroom. It's a plain school bathroom, probably cleaner than most bathrooms because it's not real but there's a door on the back wall that Hiro can only assume is meant to be the log-out portal. Baymax is looking around, confused why they're here but deeming the area safe.]
I detect no other signs of life. We are safe.
Not a bad place to hide from big bad and ugly out there. Nice thinking. [He watches the door for a moment.] ...there's no guarantee we're going to stick together when we exit this level though.
no subject
[... that was anti-climatic. But hey, if anti-climatic meant safe, then who is Honey to judge?] Thanks!
[She frowns briefly at what Hiro said, pursing her lips while taking a glance towards the same door. They just saw each other and then they'll be separated again? It made Honey feel a little uneasy.]
Well... [Honey Lemon sighs, looking back the younger boy with a sad smile.] Better make this count. [She bends down slightly, opening her arms for a hug.] One for the road?
no subject
It's been way, way too long, and she may be surprised to find that his grip is a little tight. He pulls back to look up into her face, a matching expression then before nodding.]
Last hug. When you get out to the colony, you should get a device that kinda looks like a phone. Call me. We'll come get you.
Hiro ;A;
Okay. [She nods, giving Hiro's shoulders a gentle squeeze.] I'll see you soon.
imagine how sad he'll be when he logs out and she's not there...