Project RE:Vive

You are not far off against the mirror in your eyes

[project-revive]

Actually, it's with a really heavy heart that Phase 2 is canceled. I staked too much onto RE:Vive and six years of work put the project too close to my self esteem. If I return to this the scope will be smaller/maybe not even published. Please enjoy Phase 1 as a standalone work.

[prettycolors]

[lakevida]

on it boss

[zanmor]

step 1: mitosis

[dailyflicks]

PAPRIKA (2006), dir. Satoshi Kon

[project-revive]

I’m taking a bit of a break from writing phase 2. So it’ll probably be a while before I can get it published. Sorry if anyone was waiting.

[project-revive]

One of the weirdest things about writing is that I’ll go “is this a weird writing choice?” And then I’ll immediately go “it’s mine and it’s weird and I’ve already published the first book. COMMIT.”

Anyway here’s your next teaser for phase 2. Prose may not be final.

“How do I… summon the wings? You said you didn’t want them to be equippable anymore.”

With a slow breath, Xeira shoves her UIs away. They bob a little bit as they move back. Shifting, she turns towards me, and steps to stand behind me, just a bit.

“There’s an activation phrase. Cheesy, but… I didn’t want it to trigger in casual speech. Say… Windfall.”

I nod, and straighten myself, and reach up to adjust the bow on the back of my head. Xeira steps back.

“Windfall!”

I can feel them. I don’t know how. I can just feel them appear on my back like their spawning bursts the air. Their weight— barely feathers, actually— kind of presses on my back from where they hover, not even really touching.

A UI chime comes from behind me, and a mirror unfolds itself from the blank space in front of me.

“They’re… autogenerated based on avatar data.” Xeira practically whispers. “No two wings are alike. Shape, color, patterning…”

The— my wings stay frozen where they are. So does the rest of me.

They’re… gorgeous.

Four wings, two on each side. Angular like polygons, thin, sharp at the tips like hard-cut diamonds. Glimmers of white shine on their surface, pale pink and… maybe glowing just a bit. The glimmers shift every time I go to turn, even just a bit.

Another chime, and a smaller mirror appears in front of me, giving me a view of my back.

Swirling, circling geometric shapes bloom out from the center of my back, layered until they reach the edges of my wings. None of the pieces are connected, even though the center probably is meant to make it look like the wings are. But it just looks like glass shards breaking into sunbeams.

I flex my shoulderblades. My wings flutter once, and gold sparkles burst out from them, subtle but visible. The sparkles had been falling like trickling water before, when I was still— but I can see how each flap is going to look like a starburst if you’re close enough.

“Flight is more… gliding, than actually flying.” Xeira chuckles.

The noise that leaves me is usually reserved for seeing a world wonder. Probably somewhere closer to a sob than a laugh. Not a bad sob. Xeira steps forward to be beside me again.

“Do you want to go, or did I— is this too much? This is too much for an MMO, isn’t it? Rose, this needs to be playable, this isn’t a feelings circle—“

I didn’t even realize I was covering my mouth until I feel my own laugh hit my fingers. I drop my hand back to the pommel of my sword, and shake my head. “Nah, nah, it’s totally fine! People play Ninerealms because it’s pretty, yeah?”

She shrugs, and tilts her head. “If you say so. Anyway…”

Her hand meets my shoulder… and then she pushes.

[project-revive]

RE:Vive Phase 2 sneak peak

(Excerpt may not be final)

Lucky’s gaze locks onto the chat for a second, frozen in a smile. Then they read something back.

“Rose is one of those fairy girls? You mean NineRealms, dude? Yeah, well, I’m not sure why you think Saber Wars is any more mature.”

They freeze again, then laugh. “Oh, that was not a negative— you’re also a NineRealms player? You see her fight in a world raid yet?”

I sit up straighter. Lucky nods again.

“Scary.” They affirm, before leaning towards me with a smirk. “They say you’re scary.”

I press my free hand to my cheek, and my voice goes high and traily. “Oh noo…!”

The chat UI goes pink with sakura emotes. My cheeks get warmer.

“Well, that’s a good place to start— let’s talk NineRealms. Now, I haven’t played, but it’s currently the top MMO in Asgard. Legend has it that you’re a beta tester. How choking is the NDA?”

“…N…D…A?” I repeat, blinking. “I don’t think we have one of those!”

“Awesome! So you’ll spill everything for me?”

“Pff—!”

I clamp my mouth shut, thumping into the back of my chair. “I mean, it’s a lot… But I can tell you how weird it was when the world map was basically a big field of grass with a couple landmarks!”

“Okay, that’s creepy.”

“It got worse when the day and night cycle was put in—“ I gesture, making an arch with my free hand. “A big flat plane of grass at night… you can’t see the edge of the map, right, it’s the size of a whole island, so if you weren’t near anywhere that had gotten built yet…”

They raise their eyebrows, laughing without dropping their smile. I keep talking.

“So eventually one of Xeira’s friends— Athena— she’s like ‘we need to at least add some ambiance’— but suddenly there’s just wind and some vague crickets and other rustling sounds, but most of the map is still just a dark field…”

My voice trails off with a squeak. Lucky starts laughing properly.

“No, you’re kidding.” They whisper, loudly. “That’s so freaky. But NineRealms is one of the biggest Realized Spaces out there now. Did you all even sleep?”

I shake my head. “Oh, no, not really. Xeira caught a cold the second we hit live.”

[project-revive]

>Initialize reality

[This command can't be stopped]

[project-revive]

START HERE

What is RE:Vive?

RE:Vive is a transmedia webseries about VR, identity, and the world online.

It tells the story of a mysterious new VR platform called Asgard, and the users who inhabit it.

RE:Vive is released in phases and fragments over time, so check this page for updates.

Links:

YouTube

TikTok

Phases:

Download Phase 1’s full content on itch.io

Read Phase 1 here

[PHASE 2 COMING SOON]

[pixelyearn]

[project-revive]

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[project-revive]

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Thank you for your support on Phase 1 of Project RE:Vive

[project-revive]

https://youtu.be/s4U4uDqLoZU?si=-BBLemD1r3Yg_y1X

[project-revive]

xXEdgyThief4RealXx > she seems to be doing well for herself.

CrimsonDagger > Stupid games, stupid prizes

TrueShot > And what are YOU doing with your time in Asgard?

CrimsonDagger > I’m having fun, what do you expect???

xXEdgyThief4RealXx > this isn’t a vacation u know

TrueShot > …Well, no, it literally is.

xXEdgyThief4RealXx > maybe 4 you all

xXEdgyThief4RealXx > I can see the future right in front of me and it’s beyond digital

TrueShot > What a normal, well adjusted thing to say, Grey.

xXEdgyThief4RealXx > I can make it worse

xXEdgyThief4RealXx > the bells are ringing on the final hours of the old world’s song

xXEdgyThief4RealXx > the sky calls logic to its demise

xXEdgyThief4RealXx > the garden of the gods blooms in silver

CrimsonDagger > Kya mute her

TrueShot > On it.

xXEdgyThief4RealXx > WAIT WAIT WAIT

[project-revive]

Hey, so...a mututal of mine, @blossomaaoc, reblogged something of yours. She seems to be familiar with you, and if Blossom trusts you, then so do I.

What...exactly is all of this? A fanfic? An ARG? A game? All of the above? And apparently it took 5 years to make?

I am so lost right now...

Hi, welcome! That’s the point. This is my thing that got out of control. Technically if you want to be really specific, it’s a Multimedia-ish Web Series with ARG/Unfiction elements. But that sounds, frankly, like I’m trying to impress an algorithm, so I’ve just been switching between calling it “my project” and “the monster I created”.

RE:Vive started when I was around 16/17. I had watched Sword Art Online and felt… well, to be mild, kind of sad that the story kept brushing up against all these interesting concepts— what “real” meant in a world with such advanced VR, what identity meant when you could fully inhabit another body— but it never actually committed to anything. And also a bunch of other stuff I don’t want to talk about. I obtained media literacy so I’d never have to suffer again.

So RE:Vive was born. I say five years because I am counting failed/completed drafts and a full book that I actually scrapped. If that’s not how people usually measure how much time they’re sinking into a project… I’m sorry, I’m self taught. No one told me what counted as actual “development time”. Even if they did I’m saying five years as a guess.

RE:Vive is currently available to read on AO3 because most sane people won’t download a random ZIP someone linked on Tumblr. I highly recommend you download the ZIP if you trust me.

At present there are no actual real “puzzles” to solve. Drop 1 has several extra pieces of media— audio files, .txts, etc— some of these have personal meaning to me, some of these are for texture, and some are designed to possibly give you clues on what’s going on.

So you can say your first “challenge” is to… engage. Look at what’s been presented to you— there’s some original context on this blog and also on my TikTok— and try to come up with your own opinion of what’s happening. Theorize. Go nuts. Right now I’m not trying to give anyone straight answers. I have a very important message in mind (and things will become more clear) but my goal with “phase 1” is to build intrigue and give people something to chew on.

Go as deep or as little as you want.

[helltitty]

i’m online and ready to look at a picture!