PHASE I [ 6 00 ] You wake up, and you're in a camp ground. The graphics aren't bad here, not really, but they're definitely last gen -- not the type of quality expected out of ViViD. On top of that, every once in awhile, the scenery sort of... glitches before going right back to normal as if nothing ever happened. If you're particularly unlucky, your own body parts might glitch out for a moment too, appearing as nothing more than broken code and then back to normal. Pretty weird, right? Oh well, don't worry about it. Totally harmless.
Glitches or not, you're still in a camp ground along with everyone else. There's a fire, there's some tents, some trees. Maybe some s'mores? You got it all. You're also not wearing what you were before. No, now you're wearing some sexy shorts, or maybe you've got a whip at your side, or maybe you've got a really classy fedora. And if you're one of those lucky few who have all three at once? Good for you! Try not to blind everyone with all that sexy.
Or, you know, the game will glitch out again and you'll be stuck wearing something else. That's definitely not as sexy.
PHASE II [ 730 ] If you decide to finally go exploring that crazy jungle, you'll find that you have a wide range of exploring options. Seems ViViD's taking a crack at their very own open world game -- this one modeled after your run of the mill adventure game. There are rivers to swim through (complete with alligators)! There are cliffs to scale (complete with angry birds ready to peck at your face)! There are even ravines to swing across on vines (just like Tarzan)!
Actually, the game is made to allow you to do just that -- those vines are all conveniently lined up for everyone to use them to swing across. Go on, it'll be fun. If you miss, you'll just lose a life, right?
Of course, if you overshoot your goal, you might run into one of the other glitches; the white space that you'll stumble into implies that you flew right off the world map and are now in unprogrammed space. Don't worry, you'll dissolve eventually, slowly but surely, and will reappear on the cliff so you can try again. There's no other way around that ravine either. Still, it's only a little frightening watching your body disappear piece by piece, right?
PHASE III [ 900 ] If you manage to scale one of those cliffs or swing across that ravine or cross that river, you may find yourself a chest. It's a treasure chest, and you don't even need a key to open it! Open it right up, a cute little jingle will play, and… nothing will be there.
Or the item will be there, hovering in the air, something amazing, fantastic, incredible that you've always dreamed of having and wanting, and -- you can't touch it. No matter what you try, it hovers right out of reach, and you can't interact with it at all.
Oh, and the cute little jingle is going to follow you around now, on constant loop.
PHASE IV [ xxxx ] So you died.
No big deal. Perhaps you got eaten by a crocodile. Perhaps you fell off a cliff. Perhaps another player stabbed you (that's rude). Either way, you've only lost one life and you have two more so it's nothing. After all, this is just a video game, right? It's fine.
Except it's really not fine.
You'll find yourself in a graveyard, tombstones all around you (maybe one of them has your name on it -- hope the epitaph doesn't suck). It's nighttime, it's foggy, and you're with the other players who have also lost a life. For a while, nothing will happen. The cold and quiet of the night will start to seep into your bones -- and then a figure appears. It can't be killed, it is silent and grim, and it does not speak.
Instead, it approaches each person there, reaches out and touches them on the forehead. Even you. All you can see for a long moment is corpses around you, the dead faces of everyone who had been with you in the ViViD level, flesh rotting away and faces caught in expressions of horror --
And then you're all dropped back into the camp ground together again. It's sunny and cheery and everything is fine, and you're down to two lives. Just, you know... don't lose the rest, okay?
BONUS [ xxxx ] You have a butler now, congratulations! He's following you around everywhere. He's an NPC, and not a very well-made one; sometimes his face glitches out, and he doesn't so much walk behind you as just… appears right next to you. He's handy though because if you ask him to, he'll pull up the start menu. You can sort out your inventory there and exit the game if you wish (except no matter how many times you press the "quit" button, you... can't).
Sometimes, though, that doesn't work out so well. Not the start menu but the butler himself. He might appear next to you on a narrow cliff face, knocking you right off the edge, or appear right on top of a hornet's nest, making them angry enough to go after, well, you. Maybe he accidentally summons a bear when all you were trying to do was ask him where the next dungeon is. That's unfortunate.
You can't seem to get rid of him either, no matter what you do. How annoying. Hopefully he doesn't cause you too much trouble because that bear... well, that bear's pretty angry.
[ 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. ] |
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
[ Yep, totally different conversation threads here. Ket wouldn't usually be so open about Shifting right off the bat, but he still thinks he's dreaming.
This is a blinking awful dream. ]
I hate lemons.
[ As if on cue, the lemon whizzes past Ket's head, prompting a cry of dismay. It was so close this time, for the love of Sierbel -- ]
No, wait, I lied! I don't hate you! I could never hate you!
[ Too late, the lemon's already out of reach again. And that weird tune's still playing. In any other situation, Ket would be fascinated, but this just sounds mocking.
He huffs, folding his arms. Fine, lemon, be that way. He has better company now! Grumpily, Ket turns his full attention to Minato. No hard feelings, stranger, he's just not very good at masking his emotions. ]
no subject
...come to think of it, that jingle from before is still there and it's quickly getting annoying. Sounds like the kind that will only stop when they log out too, but he's almost willing to put up with this one over the weather outside.]
Looks like Lemon ran away. Anyway, I thought it was good effort on your part even if it didn't seem to like you much.
no subject
Wasn't enough. [ Wait. Wait. Hold up. Did you just praise him, sir? Ket may have acknowledged it seconds ago, but it didn't quite sink in until now. And just like that, he perks up, appearing to completely forget both the lemon and his hunger. Putting his arms behind his head, he continues conversationally: ]
So, sir. Which part of ViViD are you from? [ Yeah, he's not getting the whole 'virtual reality' thing. ]
no subject
I don't think there's parts of it, though? It's more like a virtual game where the settings change over time.
[And then it occurs to him that maybe this is all flying over Ket's head as virtual games don't exist in his time period. He pauses thoughtfully before responding this time.]
...but I suppose I'm from the camp ground. So's everyone else, though.
no subject
ViViD, yeah! The world of Vibrant, Virtual Dashing. A virtual reality inside a rabbit hole. Like a dream, but not a dream... no, wait. Like reality, but really a dream, in a rabbit hole. [ OR SOMETHING. ]
Were you born in the camp ground? I wasn't, you see. [ In fact, Ket has no idea where he was born, but that's a whole different rabbit hole. ]
1/2
> Do something about it
> Play along]
Huh? That's not it.
2/2
I was born in one of those tents and I'm not sure why I left, honestly. Are you saying that you don't remember where you were born at all?
no subject
No, I remember. Stybon. That's where I was born... I think. Actually, you're right. I don't remember. But I know I was born there. [ Yossen said so. And Yossen wouldn't lie to him. ]
Hey, sir. What's your name? [ He's been meaning to ask. ] I'm Ket. Ket Whiss, if you didn't know already. I mean, you probably do, but maybe you don't, and I don't know if you know, so, uh. [ Yeah. ] You need to tell me virtually, I mean. Not just through the rabbit hole.
no subject
I'm Minato Arisato- it's nice to meet you, Whiss-san. Is there a reason why you think that I'd know your name, though? It doesn't look like there's any way to know unless someone tells you.
no subject
I think you're supposed to be able to read my mind. [ That's how dreams work! ] But don't tell anyone I told you! [ This is what happens when the ViViD gods decide to throw someone in here without the Powerpoint, for the record. Don't try this at home. ]
no subject
Don't worry, I won't. But if I'm supposed to read your mind I should already know all of this, and you haven't actually answered my question...
no subject
no subject
Why do you think I would know your name, Whiss-san? [Minato has half a mind to just give up and let Ket think what he wants to think, but that's dangerous when he doesn't know what else did this other guy tell him!]
1/2
– you're supposed to be able to read my mind, Sir Minato. But you're acting like you can't. So either I'm supposed to act like I don't know you can... or I'm supposed to call you out for trying to deceive me! [ THERE. TRIUMPHANT LOOK, ACTIVATE. ]
no subject
You don't look very sneaky.
no subject
Sneaky>]
I'm pretty sure I can't read your mind, Whiss-san. ...as it is, I don't think I want to.
no subject
Also, hold up a second. What's wrong with his mind?! Is dream friend Minato... scared? ]
Erm, sir. Sir Minato! There isn't much to read, you know. The others did it fine, so don't worry!
no subject
I'm more worried about what they've been telling you. Were you paying attention to the presentation?
[Don't think there's much to read, anyway.]
no subject
[ #GlitchedInBlind #ThanksCERES ]
no subject
A presentation about this place and why we're here. ...which means that the other person must have suspected that you didn't read it.
[That or they knew, which honestly isn't much better.]
1/2
no subject
Hey. Hey, wait a minute! Don't try to shift the blame onto someone else! ... Sierbel above, you still don't look sneaky...
1/2
> Attempt to persuade Ket
> Protest your innocence
> Leave]
no subject
We're not going to get anywhere at this rate. How about you ask ten other people if they've seen something called a 'Powerpoint' slide? That will prove that I was telling the truth.
no subject
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)