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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APPRECIATE ME
Unless it was a remote or an automated Stand. [ "But it doesn't feel like one of those either" goes unsaid because it honestly didn't feel like something caused by a Stand. One moment he was with— So much has happened and so quickly that he had been negligent of an all important question. ]
Have you seen any of the others here, Fugo?
I'M AFRAID TO.
He tries to push the thought from his mind, and shakes his head.]
No. It looks like it's just you and me so far.
[Considering he'd only run into Giorno just now, there was still the distinct possibility that someone else they knew was still trying to overcome this whole thing... But if that were true, they would probably be fine, he thought. For people like them, with powers like theirs, these monsters weren't difficult opponents, they were just... weird ones. Awkward ones. Gross ones.]
gently embraces
They had finally retrieved the disk with their next order from the boss. Everything was going to be fine if they got split up from then right? At least Giorno had managed to heal Mista before all of this. If this wasn't a Stand attack then who else would be meddling..? ]
We should go look for them. They should eventually make it this far.
[ And now Giorno is looking back at where they had just come from. If any of the others were deep inside of that flower shower then they should go back for them. ]
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So Fugo nods in agreement.]
I'll keep an eye out. [More likely than not, they wouldn't need help, whoever they were waiting for. ...but in that case, maybe he really can't avoid this. At the risk of sounding like an idiot...] ...but who are we looking for?
[Maybe it was something he should know, because Giorno seemed to act like he should, but he wasn't too sure how, either. Before he had been sent for, Fugo hadn't seen anyone else in days, and "others" definitely implied more than just Mista.]
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Mista, Narancia... [ Buccellati—the name dies on his tongue. Wait. Why would Fugo be asking such a weird question? Maybe all of this wasn't over yet and it was still going on. Giorno didn't manage to say the name but it's really too late, isn't it? If this situation was compromised. ]
Who else would I be looking for?
[ Giorno doesn't want to pull out Gold Experience too freely but he does tense up. He'll watch "Fugo" extremely carefully and judge his reaction. If this was truly compromised then Giorno would feel like a fool. He was careless and didn't even consider this a possibility until it was too late. ]
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To hear his name spoken like that—as if it should be obvious, as if he really was just around here somewhere—catches him off-guard and it hurts, in more ways than one. It hurts because no, they shouldn't be looking for him, and it hurts because he remembers that— he doesn't even know what happened to him.
But that's not the problem here.]
Giorno, you... [He what? He's not even sure what to accuse him of, because he's not sure what to make of that in the first place. He didn't think he was messing with him, because he wouldn't do that, not about something like that, but... If he's not, then—?] Are you alright?
[Even that question is asked tentatively, because he's not sure that's right, either. Why would he say that? It doesn't make any sense.]
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[ Giorno answers carefully. He is still testing the ground between them and Fugo's reaction is a weird one. He had almost expected him to play it off as a misunderstanding but it looked like it was something more genuine. He looked uneasy but...why? Giorno doesn't understand, if this was supposed to be some trick played by someone else then...
No, this could still easily be some sort of unhanded trick. He keeps his resolve steady. (Though hoping that this is in fact Fugo looks to lead to more devastating questions sooner than later.) ]
Did something happen to them? [ He doesn't mean to give him the benefit of the doubt but he needs to know— ] Fugo?
[ However, he had just seen them... They were all together until this madness. If something happened. It wouldn't make any sense unless—Giorno was going to wait to see how Fugo was going to reply before acting and reacting. For now he'd continue to see where this was going to go. ]
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So why?]
Mista said that— [Why wouldn't he know? Giorno had been there, and even if, for some strange reason, he hadn't been, then surely Mista would have told him. He was his number two, his right-hand man (even if he would deny it for luck-related reasons—two was just way too close to four). And besides that... Giorno had definitely been aware. He seemed to understand Fugo's feelings better than Fugo understood them himself, and he said that...
It was hard to talk about even normally, but Giorno's— whatever this is doesn't make it any easier. He wasn't sure if he would be able to say it this time.] You were there. You know what happened.
[Could something be messing with his memory? He said he was fine, but...]
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And then a thought hits him. It hits him like a cement wall and even if Giorno doesn't stumble where he stands, his shoulders sag and he looks away for a moment. It couldn't be but....it'd make sense. Sometimes it was unfortunate having a sense of things. Perhaps—perhaps he was wrong? ]
They're dead.
[ Buccellati. Narancia. Abbacchio. Mista... He spoke of Mista then that meant that at least Mista was still alive, right? And if Fugo was standing right here and having this conversation with him as he was, then it also meant that he and Fugo were alive.
But "the others". ] That's why you were asking who.
[ He had just seen them... ]
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It just wouldn't be right. He couldn't do that to this person who had done so much for him—even if he didn't remember doing it. It would feel like betrayal.]
Mista's alright. Trish, too. [And someone named Polnareff, but he had no idea who that was.] But... the others...
[He trembles. This time, he understands this feeling, he thinks, but the worst part is— he can't even tell him what happened. He doesn't know, and while he understands now that maybe what he'd done back then hadn't been "wrong," exactly, he still hated himself for that. He doesn't know.]
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What was he going to do now?
It did bring him comfort to know that Mista was fine as well as Trish but the weight of the others being dead was—Fugo was trembling. Giorno may have just learned this information but this was a reality much longer for Fugo. How he must have suffered. Wordlessly he approaches him and, though Giorno is a little loss what to do there, places a hand onto Fugo's shoulder. ]
Thank you, Fugo.
[ He didn't have to tell him. He could have lied to him and kept Giorno in the dark. Giorno doesn't know the details of what happened to the others but he knows he'll find out in due time. ]
Then we should go.
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(They were so different, he thought. But Giorno really was something special, so for a moment, Fugo doesn't think too much about how... well, lacking he is in comparison.)
There are other things, though... Should he tell him that he's the boss now, that he now answers to him? That seems like kind of an important thing, but maybe... Maybe he should save that for later. Giorno hadn't known the others as long as Fugo did, but he was certainly there through some of the hardest times (or, at least, he would be). They were his friends, too, and to have to deal with that on top of all of this...
Yeah. That could come later. Better to focus on what was happening now. He'll let Giorno lead the way.]
What do you make of all of this?
[As in, of the current situation, not— you know.]
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I'm not sure. There are people here who have can use magic and don't know about Stands. [ Probably a blessing on that part in some ways, and the latter isn't that surprising. ] We need to learn more about this place, and we should start with finding an exit.
[ Which was the obvious answer but it was worth stating. Giorno knows that it would be easy for both of them to get caught up in the emotions of their fallen comrades and for the hundreds of other questions that Giorno wanted to know (Fugo too no doubt) to be asked but... There was no time for that. Not right now. They had to press on.
No rest for the weary; time stopped for no one...etc etc.
Giorno gives Fugo's shoulder one last squeeze before he removes it and then turns to leave the rose ocean. Whatever waited for them wasn't back there but in front of them. He might not know anything about becoming the boss of Passione but it wasn't as if it wasn't his goal at the very beginning. ]