thevine | ✦ WEEKEND ZERO

✦ WEEKEND ZERO: PILOT EPISODE

REMAINING

Welcome! x

Good afternoon passengers, and welcome to the marvelous Scylla, heading directly for Napalm Springs... We are expected to arrive in approximately a time... Please enjoy your refreshments and entertainment while we make our way through the coral reef...

And with the startling boom of a foghorn, you awake on the deck of a boat. A superyacht, specifically! This isn't where you just were, but you should've seen this coming, right? Whether it was five minutes ago or five years ago, you signed a contract with a representative who told you they could make your dreams come true. Seems like your contract has activated! The OnlyFruits Media Group has collected each of you to shuttle off to a brand new season of The Vine, a reality show where three teams compete against each other for the chance to have their dearest dreams come true. There's always a twist (what sort of fruit would we be if there wasn't some sort of zest), but... you aren't quite sure what that twist might be just yet. Is that anxiety you're feeling, or are you just seasick? Anyway. When you wake up, you'll find that you are all dressed in dapper formal clothing. What a way to make a first impression! To both you and your... fans, potentially, since you get the sense that you're being watched, even if you're not sure how. If you have personal belongings, you won't find them for now - maybe they got sent ahead to your location already? And yes, this includes pets. Oh no. But there's nothing to be done about it. You might as well enjoy your stay on the Scylla, for now. And maybe meet your future potential teammates and rivals, while you're at it?

YO HO HO HO

In the words of Twerking With the Stars season 15 winner, Smdy Aamberg: You're on a boat! (You're on a boat!) You're on a boat! (You're on a boat!) Everybody look at you 'cause you're sailing on a boat!

It's a little packed on this ship, but for the most part? You're not too crowded. It's made to carry about forty people, so there's enough space to spread out. You can even find little places to be alone, should you so wish. Mostly. Again, you think there might be cameras, but you can't see any of them and even if you could, you wouldn't be able to break them. The main attraction of the ship is the cabin on the deck. Inside the cabin is a fully stocked bar, complete with mixers and garnishes. A fridge with pre-made meals spans across the underside of this bar, and there's enough in there for everybody on board to have at least three meals a day. How does it all fit? Just trust us, it does. If you try to take more than your fair share, you'll get electrocuted by a mysterious force, so maybe don't do that. Or do, if you're into that kind of thing.

There are tables and booths inside the cabin to hang out in, as well as a dance floor smack dab in the middle of the floorspace. There is a disco ball hanging down from the ceiling in the center of the multicolored dancefloor. From nine PM to midnight, this plays in the cabin, so enjoy your clubbing. At least it's not able to be heard outside of the cabin itself, so if you want to sleep, you can do so on the deck. There's a bunch of lounge chairs out there, go wild. Speaking of, aside from the lounge chairs, on the deck is a small pool with a hot tub extension. It's perfect for lazing about with a drink, or getting to know your fellow contestants. And why did we tell you to find a lounge chair to sleep in? Well, unfortunately all of the rooms in the sleeping quarters are locked and cannot be opened by any means, save for one. This room has one king-sized waterbed with a funhouse mirror on the ceiling directly above it, an armchair in the corner, and nothing else. The door to this room does not lock, and is weirdly warm. You can sleep here. Not sure why you'd want to, but you can. And yes, there are bathrooms. Public ones, with stalls and sinks. There is one shower. Keep that in mind. At the very back of the yacht is what appears to be the engine room, or something like it. It's locked, but the sign on the door reads:

YOUR CAPTAIN TODAY IS FLYINGWAY. PLEASE ENJOY YOUR TRIP TO THE ISLAND.

No amount of brute force or wits can break into this room. If you try to get in anyway, do let us know.

Special Delivery!

As a complimentary gift for participating on the Vine Season 69, you receive a small canvas tote bag full of goodies!

✦ A small box containing three mini key lime tarts. ✦ A cute handheld fan with a detachable stand. ✦ A pillow that definitely doesn't look like what you think it is (slightly NSFW). ✦ A book about how to deal with the stress of travel! ✦ A colorful OnlyFruits water bottle. ✦ A pack of sesame biscuits. Not cookies. These are legally and emotionally distinct from cookies. You feel this in your soul.

☰ OOC NOTES

✦ Welcome to your Weekend 0 Mingle! ✦ You currently DO NOT have your home item, any canon outfits, or your game-provided phone. Powers are off. ✦ ICly, profiles are still hidden! We will let you know when you can see them ICly. This also means your character ICly does not know what team they are! ✦ Don't forget to turn in your PCs if you start them! ✦ Have fun, and always feel free to come talk to the mods if you have any issues or comments or anything you want to share!

🔗 FULL NAVIGATION

STATUSES // IC PROFILES // LOCATIONS // MURDER PROPOSALS // CYOA SIGN-UPS // AUDIENCES // CURFEW // PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS // REPORTING // AC & EVENT SUBMISSIONS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh yeah? [ This time he sounds a little more intrigued. ] Did you get to read over the whole thing?

Not... recently.

[wavering in his devotion to what he's agreed to already.]

But I signed it to fulfill my duty. I'm not going to regret that day one.

Whoa, back up a sec. What do you mean to fulfill your duty? What exactly is it you're meant to do?

Terraform the planet so that it's hospitable to beings such as myself.

[jem near immediately breaks and laughs.] Don't worry about it, bro. Everything I do is for my pilot. It's private, but not harmful.

[ HE WOULD'VE BELIEVED IT CONSIDERING WHAT'S HAPPENING, but he's also like ??? ]

Your pilot. [ Jem just said it was private, but he's admittedly a little curious what that mean. ] So really, you're here because of somebody else and not really for yourself. Something like that?

It was still my choice. Nobody told me to do it.

[in fact, if he told his pilot to the dummy's face, he'd probably be berated for putting himself in a bad position for someone else. too!! late!]

What about you? Is it private?

Fair enough. [ Sometimes you just don't care about yourself, you're just doing it because it feels right. 100% valid! But he ponders this... ]

I've got something I'm looking to accomplish. I wasn't finding clues back home, so I thought maybe I could get some direction here.

[that sounds reasonable enough, if not aggressively more reasonable than the exacts of what jem agreed to sign for. he gives a short nod.]

Well, I hope you find it. I'm Jem, by the way.

[he holds out a hand]

[ There's a weird little smile for a brief moment, but it's gone shortly after that to settle into something normal again. ]

Thanks, man. [ But he will reach out to shake his hand. ] You can call me Junpei. Probably not the worst idea in the world to start exchanging names with everybody.

[if jem clocked the shift in expression, he shows no outward acknowledgement. a nice, firm shake.]

Right. Even if we don't end up on the same team, we'll be here competing for a while. May as well get along.

Yeah, you have to assume that's why they put all of us on a boat first before splitting us up. We don't have the biases of being teammates or competition right away, so it's easier to get to know each other.

[ So he agrees for the time being. And speaking of: ]

Does any of this seem familiar to you at all then? [ The competition, reality TV, etc. ]

It might also make it harder, in the end. If it's a competition, only one team wins.

[leave it to jem to say the uncomfortable part out loud. immediately. the friendships they make today might not matter much when they find out they'll be pitted against once another. the prize isn't any small matter, either.]

But that's a nope. I have no idea what a 'Media Group' or 'reality TV' is.

It's the name of the game. Wouldn't be much of a competition if everybody got what they wanted, but the way we compete is still up to us.

[ Some people are going to want to play nice and be cordial through the whole thing. Other people might turn around immediately without warning. The sooner people recognize that, the better. But that will come in time.

Instead, he's just blinking in surprise. ]

The amount of people who signed up for this thing without knowing what a TV is continues to be concerning... then again, pretty sure everybody understands what a prize is. [ But he does wonder how much of a culture shock some of these people are about to experience. ]

You seem like a smart guy. I hope we're on the same team.

[spoken off-handedly, because jem will have to adjust if they aren't, after all. losing certainly isn't an option. they're all here for something they really, really want--even if jem can admit he's inspired by the desires of another.]

Do you know what a TV is? Feel like sharing?

[ Oh. Thank you, Jem, he looks a little flummoxed by the comment and he's an awkward individual who doesn't quite know how to say thank you, so he offers a faint smile instead. ]

Even if we're not, nothing says we can't keep working together to figure things out. [ His strategy is going to be work together until they can't, end of story. As far as he's concerned, the bigger "enemy" is reality TV they signed up for but didn't receive clarifications for. Instead of ruminating on that though, he'll address the second half. ]

Yeah, they're pretty normal where I'm from. Are you familiar with things like plays at all? People acting on a stage or anything like that. Television is sort of like that. People are sometimes watched by a live studio audience, but they're always filmed with these things called cameras. They take moving images of what people are doing, and they send signals to be broadcast all over the place for people to watch through a screen. Sometimes it's all in real time, so the things that are happening are being shown at the same time, but in our case they're probably filming us ahead of time so they can change it to look however they want and then show it to a bunch of people.

[jem's ears give a twitch, some sign that his mental wheels are spinning. it's a thorough and thoroughly helpful explanation. gives some nuance to the overall situation that couldn't quite be understood by a guy from a world without any major media outlets or the trash tv they tend to produce.]

So it's a play without a script and they'll piece it together based on whatever we do here and then show it to a huge audience who will only know the version they're shown. Is that about it?

[ He can appreciate someone who actually latches onto what he's saying. ]

That's about it, yeah. Looks like you got the gist of it and that's all the important parts. Not exactly everybody's jam, but... here we are.

Nobody I've talked to knows more than I do when it comes to what the competition itself will look like. We could be yodeling or juggling or have to fight. Is that normal for reality tv? Is the surprise part of it?

[teach him, professor junpei.]

Yeah, a lot of the time in an ensemble cast like this the challenges will change from week to week. There are some shows where yo know exactly what you're doing, like singing competitions or that old show where people would run through ninja obstacle courses. Judging by the people they brought, I have a feeling we're going to have a mix bag of what to do. Some things we may be good at, and some we may not.

That's what makes for good TV though. The audience will watch because hey, at least they aren't making themselves look stupid like we are.

✦ WEEKEND ZERO

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