week one | match ceremony

[showhost]

The weather is temperate and mild for the match ceremony on this fine Saturday evening, and the crew leads everyone onto a balcony with a cute seating set-up of couches and love-seats. The vibes are Trendy. There are enough places to sit for everyone, but there are only two single chairs, so everyone else is gonna have to cozy up on the couch. Or you can cuddle up in the chairs. I’m not your mom. Also there is only one egg seat. There's mood lighting, like fairy lights.

To one side, there's a small stage of sorts, with a podium where the characters will place their hands to lock in their answers.

Wednesday and Ryuji are led off to the other side so that they can take a seat of honor over on a comfy couch to one side--close to the other contestants, but just far enough away that it's clear they're getting special treatment. Don't you wanna go to the Honeymoon Suite now? Huh???

Anyway.

There are non-alcoholic drinks for people to take at will (all the better to catch spittakes on camera), and the weather is breezy and nice.

And, standing in front of the makeshift stage, with a set of seven unlit lights behind him and one lit light, stands the Overseer. He is dressed the part, of course. He also... looks tired for a moment, but he snaps back to his Proper Hostly Character as soon as the cameras are properly on them and everyone is settled in.

He presses a hand to his chest, sweeping the other outwards.

"Welcome, everyone, to your first Match Ceremony!"

He beams, all classic Tsukasa Sparkles. "As your host, allow me to explain how this will work."

For... the audience mostly. Maybe also for Ryuji? He's not sure how many of the contestants still don't know. It's fine.

"The lights behind me represent each Perfect Match. If--no, when you manage to light every single one, you'll have won, and you will all receive your wishes. For each Perfect Match you find at this ceremony, a light will be lit! And it is your task to figure out which pairs led to those lights appearing."

He nods firmly, eyes and expression shining with confidence in the competitors sitting before him. "And you do not even have to worry about losing a wish this week! It isn't possible for you to have a blackout, since Miss Addams and Sakamoto were a Perfect Match. Congratulations!"

Get on with it, Tsukasa. He clears his throat, pauses just long enough for there to be an inevitable easy cut to commercial break when they edit this later, and then:

"We will begin this week with Team Wonder."

He extends his hand to Dorothea, the other pressed over his heart. "If the lovely Miss Arnault would come up to start us off...?"

Looks like it’s the moment of truth, so strap in.

--

The ceremony has finally arrived! Each character on Team Wonder will be called up in an order determined by the producers (read: rng'd). Each will get their own sub-toplevel that characters can react to at will.

After the matches have all been locked in, we will then find out just how many you all got right.

Otherwise, feel free to use this log for reactions/toplevels for pre- and post-ceremony, and anything else you please. The world of reality TV dating is yours to embrace.

Comments

[singurarity]

As a mage, anyway. [ She waggles her fingers; there are three red tattoos emblazoned on the back of her hand. ]

I think being really determined and a hard worker and being able to fall asleep anywhere count as skills in a general sense.

[counton]

I wouldn't fault you for that. All of my Arts are simple and combat oriented anyway.

[ Which doesn't suit people from his country of magic users well, but it works for him. ]

Being able to talk and connect with people is an important skill too, much less having the ability to direct and focus people. It's not something that most people can do well, hard work or not.

[singurarity]

[ Ritsuka huffs out a laugh, shaking her head. ]

Sorry, I didn't mean to make you have to console me or anything. The nature of my job is directing and focusing people, so maybe that's why I keep trying to do it here.

Are Arts like spells, for you?

[counton]

[ Hmm... maybe it's hypocritical of him given he hasn't exactly given the impression of a man relaxing, but at the same time if people are going to cause problems for themselves, he's largely been ignoring them. He's poorly equipped to handle directing people, and he's certainly not going to bother with people that seem determined to be difficult. ]

No one would fault you for wanting to relax and not deal with some of this.

[ He's not telling her she should or shouldn't, but he is pointing that out. As long as they manage to guess one couple each week, they should be fine, right? ]

You can think of them that way.

[singurarity]

[ A breath, slow. ]

If I'm one of the ones who can and who's okay with it, then I don't mind doing whatever I can to help. I may not know everyone's wish and I know a lot of people aren't here to find romance, but...

[ She shakes her head. ]

I want us all to be able to get there, Lessing. Though maybe that's just also me being nosy and not leaving people alone when they want to be.

[ That part's a little more rueful. She's aware. ]

[counton]

[ He knows plenty of people that could use someone like Ritsuka in their lives, though there is a time and place for everything. He realizes this isn't just a fun game for many of the people here, himself included, but it does feel like she could quickly wear herself out if she's not careful.

So he's giving her a skeptical look here, ears lowering a bit uncertainly. ]

If you want to, that's your choice, but it's also not your job if people prove to be too difficult.

[singurarity]

Well, if you want to slam their heads together to get them to cooperate when I don't feel like it, I'll consider that a romantic gesture.

[ She's kidding. ]

[counton]

I can do that.

[ He says it so seriously. It may be good to make sure he knows she does not actually want him to "do that". ]

[singurarity]

My hero.

[ No, let him live. ]