Monthly Post & CR Meme #21: Cold As Death

[beautifuldreamermods]

MONTHLY POST

Happy New Year, Dreamers! Can you believe we're coming up on the game's 2nd anniversary this year??? It somehow feels nowhere near that long and yet like way longer lol.

As mentioned last post, I spent December doing some housekeeping work for the game! Unfortunately I was hitting some end-of-year burnout so I didn't get everything done that I wanted but I did manage most of it so WAHOO. A lot of this stuff is backend things that won't be player visible (writing up world events and weather updates a few months in advance, tidying some of the page HTML, etc) but here's a smol handful of changes so far:


⧖ General tidying up of infopages, removing references to mechanics that no longer exist, etc. I have also adjusted all mentions of AC to reflect our current system but if you catch one I missed, please let me know!

⧖ The Permanent AC page is now properly codded and stuff!! RIP ACSavior, we'll always remember you...

⧖ The Dream Sphere's locations pages have now been split into two! Outlying Locations now have their own page while the original page is dedicated purely to the Slumbering City and everything that can be found there. Currently there's only a small handful of locations to allow room for the city to grow as players add World Alterations so let's work together to make the city grow!

⧖ Going through into February, I want to keep pecking at some stuff as I have the brain bandwidth for it, so keep an eye out for updates to a few other pages!

Aside from that, I'm happy to report we have a good handful of Disturbances in our player plot queue and I'm hyped as heck for how they'll all shape up! The next one will be running in February... with another one following in April! Back to back Disturbances!!!

Additionally, as alluded to in a few other places, in 2025 we will be moving towards progressing the metaplot in such a way that will change the world state of the game with current tentative plans for that to take place from May onwards. Don't worry if this sounds scary...! We're just moving into Season 2 Plot Territory, I prommy.

That's all for this month! There's no IC recap since we were all percolating for the holidays but now it's time to get back into the metaplot so be sure to take a peep at this month's event!

EVENT INFO & TIMELINE

With the new year finally rolling in, it's the DU's busiest month...! Everyone's having their first dreams of the new year and when everyone's focusing so hard on the same thing, that only spells doom for the Dream Sphere...

Dreamers will be warned to keep a look out for three powerful Nightmares known to spawn around this year; An eagle, a mountain and an... eggplant? It is all down to hatsuyume, after all... and what are those rumors about a bizarro combo form?!

Each Torment Hunt will have a chance of encountering one of these beasts and anyone who manages to track one down will be rewarded bonus points on top of the usual payout.Torment Hunts for this event should be submitted in the usual place - just make sure to note that it's an event hunt! Please also note that all event hunts this month are, by default, Medium Risk and above, so be sure you're prepared!

Another unusual occurance on the other side is that thanks to the low temperatures in the Dream Sphere, Fury Peak has totally frozen over! The Torments have gotten pretty nasty in response but more unusually is the fact that the ever-boiling volcano seems to have finally gone quiet for the very first time...? Has it frozen over too? To find this out, the DU is requesting that any Dreamers down for a little adventure try and explore the volcano's depths and see exactly what's waiting down there...

Excursions for this event can be submitted in the usual place! Note that event-specific Excursions for this month are metaplot relevant and will automatically be High Risk with a good chance of failure. Make sure you've got a good team together!




CR Planning Form:
<b>Player Name:</b> <b>Contact:</b> <b>Introduction:</b> <b>Character Name:</b> <b>Canon:</b> <b>About:</b> (Give us a quick outline of your character! Think of this as a brief introduction to get everyone on the same page.) <b>Short Term & Long Term Plans:</b> (If you have any, of course! You can also use this section to pitch the general shape of The Vibes you're shooting for in your arc and see if anyone else can help you brainstorm it.) <b>Desired CR:</B> (This is the big one! If you're looking for particular CR, pitch it here!) <B>Anything Else?:</b> i fully expect this to be meme central but i'm adding it anyway

WORLD UPDATES

New year, new weather! Just kidding, it's the same weather as usual. Temperatures are still bitterly cold, and the snow is piling up, with a fresh dump of the stuff on the 2nd that causes some commotion with traffic and public transport. January 13th will bring a bit of a thaw, melting off the last of the snow that had accumulated - but a blustery, bitterly cold wind blows through the city all the same, so things are kind of just as miserable during January as they were during December. Things warm up just enough that snow turns to pattering rain by the end of the month but that's really it's own kind of dismal...

Over in the Dream Sphere, everyone's thoughts of the dismal weather seem to have stretched out the snowfall for a couple extra weeks compared to the Waking World. The Vale of Sorrow, Whispering Grotto and Facet Lagoon are all still frozen over and shockingly, Fury Peak has succumbed to the chill as well - not only are the rocks frozen over but the volcano seems to have gone quiet, too! Wonder what's down there...



!

WORLD EVENTS

⧖ January 1st - 3rd: Happy New Year! As is traditional, businesses will be shut down during this period and families will get together to relax and spend the holiday together. The DU will be operating on a rotating skeleton staff for emergency Excursions and other Dreamer-related matters but for the most part, expect things to be slow and quiet around the city over these days.

⧖ January 5th-10th: New year sales and promotions continue with various shops all trying to make one last push on their wares in order to make room for their upcoming Spring collections. Tsubaki Department Store's January sales start this day and last until the 10th, offering big discounts on clothing, shoes and more!

⧖ January 8th: Schools across Yumemigaoka will open back up after their extended winter break.

⧖ January 10th - 26th: A particularly nasty case of the flu starts sweeping through Kihada, partly as a result of students returning to school and mingling again after their extended break. Mask up and keep safe!

⧖ January 10th: Tsubaki Department Store will be offering an extended 2-hour sale to end off its New Year's Sales. It starts at noon and goes until two PM and everything's going fast at rock bottom prices! A-are they even making a profit at this much of a discount? And if they are, then how much must their regular markup be?!

⧖ January 11th - January 19th: Usubeni Community Gardens will be having their now-traditional fundraiser event to help raise money that will go towards helping the gardens recover from an icy Yumemigaoka winter.

⧖ January 13th: Coming of Age Day falls on the 13th this year! For everyone who's turned 18 on or between April 2nd of the last year and April 1st of this year, today's the day to celebrate your transition into adulthood! Get dressed up in your best formal outfit and go out to enjoy the ceremony!

⧖ January 15th - 24th: A wave of particularly cold weather will pass through Yumemigaoka this month with a cold weather warning put out on the 15th and lasting through until the 17th, then coming back for one last blast on the 24th. There's heavy snow and ice and as a result, schools are forced to close for about a week starting on the 16th, getting the school year off to a pretty rocky start...!

⧖ January 23rd: Yumemigaoka Language School announces their scholarship program, opening the opportunity to study their language courses and exchange classes to students who can't normally afford the cost of the courses. Applications for the next academic year are due February 7th.

AC RESULTS

AC is due at the end of February! Make sure to submit your January/February over at the Permanent AC Page!

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Comments

QUESTIONS & NPC INTERACTION REQUESTS

[beautifuldreamermods]

Got a question about anything on the post? Want to propose a quick handwaved interaction or have your character bounce off the setting in a way that necessitates mod feedback? Drop it here!

AVAILABLE NPCs

[beautifuldreamermods]

Angelica Clement (She/Her)
Dreamer Ange (Saver)
Once a member of the famous "RAY" Unit, she remained with the DU after the rest of its members retired. Now a Mentor working with the Dreamer Union, she specializes in training newbie Dreamers on the specifics of combat. She's known to be a bit of a grouch and does not take any degree of bullshit but she's got a good heart under it all. Notably, Angelica's appearance does not noticeably change between the Dream Sphere and real life - after transitioning in her teens, she styled herself after her Dreamer form.
Current Status: Continuing to throw herself into investigating Disturbances and seeking out Dreamer Crimson... it looks like she's had no success at breaking into Crimson's domain, though. Just what could be the problem?


Mio Kasuga (She/Her)
Dreamer Forte (Novice)
A novice Dreamer learning the ropes as one of Chaosbringer's trainees. An ex-teen idol who manifested a Disturbance after the pressures of the job got to her. After quitting the group, she's re-emerged as a driven, introverted girl whose passion for piano is only matched by her own high standards for her performing. She has a bit of a hot tempered streak and is gradually re-learning how to be herself again now she's free to pursue her own wants and goals. A member of Promised Morning's school band where she plays - you guessed it - the piano.
Current Status: She's Just Hanging Out, Dudes

Amane Yugi ✿ Dreamer Hanako

[hanamane]

Player Name: Luna
Contact: Urameshi, starsugars @ Discord or PM this journal!
Introduction: Hewwo I am Luna and I'm going to become insufferable over the next few months once season 2 of Hanako-kun drops, apologies in advance 8')

Character Name: Amane Yugi
Canon: Jibaku Shonen Hanako-kun

About: An awkward, introverted middle-schooler by daylight, and a goofy, mischievous gremlin Dreamer by moonlight! In his waking hours, he helps out at his family's old cafe-slash-flower shop in Moon Bunny Market, while carving out a bit of a name for himself as Dreamer Hanako in the Dream Sphere by going on numerous excursions and taking on new trainees! Up until last year, he had been trying to maintain a firm divide between his two identities, although his Disturbance rendered that all mostly moot, so! He's been starting to be a bit more candid about his Dreamer identity to folks, though with last year being the roller coaster it's been, it's easier said than done OTL;;

Amane also has a heart condition that's kept him largely isolated growing up, which has left him sort of detached from his peers and fairly lonely-- although his cagey attitude about things (and just being a huge pain in the butt in the Dream Sphere) hasn't done him much favors either! Throw in a guilt complex about his twin brother getting lost in the Dream Sphere during their childhood (which in fact had less disastrous consequences than he initially assumed so like... thanks for not clearing up that trauma, Tsukasa!!!), the effect his Disturbance had on the people he cares about, and his relative uselessness during recent events and he's just an absolute funbag worth of angst that he's maybe or maybe not been working through. (Heavier on the "not" side, sobs--)

Short Term & Long Term Plans: SO LAST MONTH WAS A THING..... Hanako managed to get his revenge on the holiday torments, which was good!! But he also found out his brother could have been a Dreamer this whole time and then just decided not to tell him, which... was bad!!! He's still having Mixed Feelings about his brother being a mahou (despite them patching things up before New Year's), so... really, if he can talk/grumble to anyone about this, that would be swell 8'| Because he wants to be happy about it!! But also Tsukasa is reckless and prone to doing dangerous things for his attention and DON'T GO TO RISKY AREAS AS A NOVICE, HE'S GOING TO MURDER YOU FR FR--

That aside, I definitely want to throw him at metaplot stuff and hunts!! The next couple of months is going to put him through the emotional salad spinner thanks to both his trainee AND his mom-figure getting Disturbanced, so 🙃 Better to get that out of the way before everything goes to hell for him!!! idk how badly the metaplot investigations are going to go/how badly they'll wreck him, so I'm keeping my planning... fairly light for the month, but! I would love to do some back-to-school things with folks (or just school shenanigans in general), or some Dream Sphere antics that aren't official explorations, since man, it's been a while since he's done some chill stuff over there, sobs--

Desired CR:

✿ Always happy for more Dreamers to gradually befriend, team up with and/or get tired of his nonsense-- or on the flipside, frenemies, rivals or people who think he's just a pain in the ass!!!
✿ Fellow classmates/teachers at Promised Academy!! Especially now that classes have resumed and his brother is officially a student there now, so 8'| He's not the one crawling into vents, honest--
✿ Customers or people who might frequent at his family's shop, Camellia! It's kind of an old and out of the way place in the market, but they have cute plants and a nice quiet place to drink coffee and vibe!
✿ And to that effect, more employees would also be great! The holiday season is about done but they could use all the help they can get, sobs

Anything Else?:

Lu

[tworo]

Figment Turo

[tworo]

Character Name: "Turo" / the Figment
Canon: Pokemon Violet

About: The fragmented Figment of an experienced Dreamer who was also a leading Dream Sphere researcher! After the death/disappearance of his creator, which happened while he was working on some kind of Nightmare machine or something to try and trap people in the Dream Sphere, the Figment has ventured out into society to find help destroying the machine. It inherited the Doctor's memories, but lost access to the same Dreamer ability as it splintered away from him, so it's basically a Novice and really can't handle the situation alone. Also tbh it's scared of him.

Short Term & Long Term Plans:
Short-term, the Figment is still trying to settle in! It's met some people and is trying to both make friends and suss out who might be able to help it with its problem! It's also admittedly getting distracted by the chance to actually lead a life of its own; even if it still isn't real, at least it now has the freedom to move around the Dream Sphere on its own doing whatever it wants.

Long-term, he does need to find people he feels he can trust enough to confide the truth to, because he needs a team to come back to the Crater with him and shut down the Doctor's machine!

Desired CR: Still looking for friends!

Anything Else?: uhhhhhhhh also Dr. Morado is maybe officially missing for sure now since he totally failed to contact his son or the school regarding the holidays? oops?

[determinationtofist]

DID SOMEONE SAY THEY WANT FRIENDSHIP!?!?!?

[tworo]

HELL YES! He has never had friends before! Right now he is considering people his friend because he has talked to them more than once so it's a pretty easy in!

[olruggio]

[points at Turo, gestures at Sonic and Olruggio]

Since he did introduce himself to Olruggio (and because Olly's a mother hen) would you like him to chase down the Figment to be like "DID YOU NOT AT LEAST LET YOUR SON KNOW YOU'RE OKAY?!" but more calmly. Or volunteer to send Arven a message on Turo's behalf because Olly's a softie. 8C

Also holding up the hedgehog to be everyone's friend. You cannot escape him.

[tworo]

HELL YEAH that sounds very funny! And the Figment would be inexpressibly (literally) grateful to get to send a message to Arven, since it really has no other means of doing so!

Also yeah after this expedition they are For Sure Deffo Friends. Cool! His first friend is a teenager! (???)

[olruggio]

God it's mid-January, how did this happen. D|

Anyway, I'll be putting up an Olly catch all. Would you like me to throw a closed tl for when he goes to chase Turo down. YOU'RE GOING TO GET A VERY STERN TALKING TO (that's not even the Figment's problem lol...)

[tworo]

HELL YEAH. RIP FIGMENT.

[thestarknows]

OOPS, I fell behind but. I deffo wanna get some time in with Turo!

also been on a big Pokemon nostalgia kick sooooo

[tworo]

hell yeah! we should def do something - I think I'm gonna try to get a monthly post up soon-ish!

[thestarknows]

Yes!! I'll hit that up!

Bruno Madrigal

[predecir]

Character Name: Bruno / Dreamer Omen
Canon: Encanto

About: A famous child Dreamer who burned out HARD and faked his own disappearance to escape the pressure of both his public life and the implications of his prophetic powers. Came to Yumemigaoka because the future said he would.

Short Term & Long Term Plans: Short-term, Bruno is...sort of having a bad mental health period right now? Having put himself as Dreamer Omen back out there as a prophet has really increased his anxiety and the holidays have been rough for him since he left his family anyway. He's been increasingly squirrelly both as himself and as Omen.

Long-term I'd like for him to have a Disturbance sometime bc he's probably decades overdue for one but I'm focusing on Turo's whole thing first.

Desired CR: I'm really enjoying Ruby's investigations into Dreamer Omen (Bruno is Very Not) so more stuff like that would be fun! Also maybe some more adults to talk to, a lot of his CR is kids he's being sort of vaguely uncle-y towards.

[thestarknows]

Player Name: Tex
Contact: I'm on the Discord!
Introduction: I'm Tex! I'm always playing video games and watching shows and working because I must. I've got an old pupper. I'm currently playing Persona 5 Royal, and also been watching Dandadan and Arcane lately.

Character Name: Junna Hoshimi
Canon: Revue Starlight

About: Junna is a senior at Promised Morning and a now-experienced Dreamer, Dreamer Sage! (She still needs to use her finisher tho.) She is dutiful and focused on doing well, but also hardworking to a fault. (Seriously, she overworks herself in canon and passes out.) She is quite friendly but mysteriously, for reasons, she is about to be diving into the overwork bad.

Short Term & Long Term Plans: HER DISTURBANCE IS NEXT MONTH AAAAAH

So this month has lead-up. First, Junna has a play she's in, and it's keeping busy. It's at the community theater.

Second, I plan to have her caught up in issues with Fury Peak being frozen, that'll be making her worry. I'd also be super interested in getting her in a torment hunt.

Third -- and bolding this to be sure -- I'm looking for one (1) person to tell Junna about Dreamer Crimson near the end of the month. It's gonna upset her when she's up to date and factor into her general distress. If you're interested, let me know!

She might be starting to fret and panic about two crunch times happening at once and wondering if she can truly balance both parts of her life.

Desired CR: Friends! People to fret over! And seriously come check in with her, because ya girl is about to be having a meltdown next month. :E

Anything Else?:

[hanamane]

sliding in here quickly to say that I'm 1000% down for Amane to break the news about Crimson to Junna!! He's dealt with her a few times in the past as it is and has.... incredibly mixed feelings about her, so I think he might be the most appropriate person to drop this bombshell on her lmao

(but also if this is somehow a trigger to her Disturbance he is going to feel SO HORRIBLE about it after the fact)

[thestarknows]

Yessss. This sounds good! I can get a startup when I get her catch-all up.

I'd say it's a contributing factor but tbh she is gonna be upset whenever she learns. My plan is some parents-related things in February are what gets her bad.

[hanamane]

Excellent!! Amane's going to be surprised she hadn't found out about it earlier, given... everything with the Disturbances, but 8''| Better late than never, right...

But HGHH JUNNA.... ;_; Your parents aren't here, you don't have to listen to them, okay!!! (Says the boy who is still under his parents' roof for another four years.....)

[thestarknows]

Ahahaha yes. I think she has some idea but isn't clear, so she might come... ask since I imagine it's like. Not knowing details?

And yes. D: She needs to learn to tell them "butt out" but sometimes a person has to fall into a nightmarish manifestation of their fears, project them as a literal Nightmare, and be dragged out of them. It's fine!!

[darcangel]

Player Name: Mari
Contact: gibberditz
Introduction: 30something lesbrarian who enjoys bad anime and card games (and bad anime about card games). i am owned by a kitten now. help

Character Name: Jeannette d'Arc
Canon: Symphogear XDU

About:
🕊️ She's Joan of Arc!
🕊️ Jeannette was one of the first characters at BD but I left to go shoot the moon (long story). Now I and therefore she have returned!
🕊️ She is a Very Good Girl who wants to protect her beloved home....by becoming the commander of the Dreamer Union Army, because her mysterious girlcrush Mentor, whom she may believe is an Actual Literal Angel, told her she'd be good at that.
🕊️ What's that you say? There IS no Dreamer Union army? Well, not with THAT attitude there won't be!
🕊️ Jeannette is extremely selfless and very Catholic but in a like. Pure virtuous Jesus Is Blorbo From My Scriptures way, not a judgmental hellfire way. She loves all of you. Yes, even you, grump in the corner.
🕊️ That said she also believes the shortest distance between two points is a straight line and that anything that's worth doing is worth doing immediately.
🕊️ She's so determined to be a valiant Dreamer who protects others that it's given her little bit of knight chuuni. Okay, a lot.
🕊️ She has been helping her extended family in France and got herself stuck in a Disturbance that wouldn't let her travel anywhere else in the Dream Sphere for a while, which ICly explains why her magic hasn't improved since y'all last saw her and is also a Joan of Arc captivity joke. I'm not funny
🕊️ WHO'S READY TO GO FORTH BOLDLY TO VICTORY????????? asks girl who stayed in france a year and a half and has now forgotten all of her kanji, all of them

Short Term & Long Term Plans:
🕊️ I want to get Jeannette involved with the metaplot after her time away! She wants to make up for the months stuck in the same spot.
🕊️ High school graduation is staring her in the face and she has made 0 plans. It's probably fine.
🕊️ Her family owns a little apaato called the Domremy Apartments and some of the characters still live there I think??? NEIGHBOR ROLL CALL. And if you need a good place to live the landlords here aren't evil; they are the sort of people who raised a girl who donates all her allowance to charity.

Desired CR:
🕊️ She'd love to catch up with everyone who is still here! And meet the new folks.
🕊️ On that note, she's an experienced Dreamer so she's open to being a Mentor if any new characters still need one of those.
🕊️ I love gay stuff.
🕊️ Does anybody's team need a Saver?
🕊️ Hobbies besides being a Dreamer include singing (but like, to herself, and mostly hymns), knitting/spinning/general textile crafts, bicycling, horse girl nonsense, getting way too excited about going to Mass, reading extremely sapphic literature that she doesn't realize is extremely sapphic. The Marimite parody on the in-universe fandoms thing? Her doing.

Anything Else?: