Monthly Post & CR Meme #22: Position Zero

[beautifuldreamermods]

MONTHLY POST

Happy Valentine's, Dreamers! I won't be yappin much for this since we don't have any OOC updates since the most exciting part of this month's update is our first foray into a Disturbance for 2025! Just zoom on down to the event info & timeline and get caught up!

EVENT INFO & TIMELINE

We've had a nice long break since our last major upset but you should all know by now that things in the Dream Sphere never stay quiet for too long. Once again, it's time to dive back into the Dream Sphere and rescue one of their own from a Disturbance!

As a recap for those just joining us since our last event: Disturbances are surreal dreamscapes draw directly on the struggles, fears and emotions of a single character, similar to the TV world dungeons in Persona 4 or the Heartscapes in Blue Reflection Second Light. These large-scale dungeons will tie into the overarching plot of the game as we progress and must be tackled in order to prevent a negative outcome on both the Dream Sphere and Yumemigaoka itself. Scary stuff!

In addition, Disturbances are unique among other Outlying Locations in that they vanish once resolved and incubate extremely powerful enemies at their core who must be defeated to save the person at its heart. This where BD's turn based mechanics come in! Disturbance boss battles are where our Boss Tier Combat system finally enters the picture and will require signups beforehand to help keep things organized. In this Disturbance, participants are capped at four Dreamers with at least one Experienced Dreamer with a Signature Move. We will also be prioritizing folks who were not picked or otherwise did not participate in the first dungeon's boss combat. Slots are otherwise open to as many Novices who would like to give things a try!

Sign up with the form below – just fill it out and reply to the signups toplevel. If our signups exceed our number of slots, characters will be selected via RNG. Please be aware that if you are selected, you will be expected to be active and present during the event to ensure things can conclude!

Signups will close on February 15th.

Boss Combat Signups:
<b>Player Name:</b> <b>Contact:</b> <b>Character Name:</b> <b>Archetype:</b> <b>Powers:</b> <B>Anything Else?:</b>



!

EVENT TIMELINE

⧖ February 8th: A sudden and unseasonable spike in temperature will occur, taking Yumemigaoka's winter temperatures all the way up to 21-24C for the entirety of February.

⧖ February 9th: The moon cycle will apparently fall out of sync, with a huge and bright full moon hanging in a clear sky for the entirety of February.

⧖ February 10th: A series of earthquakes Asagi Ward and is followed shortly after by the DU publicly confirming to all Dreamers that they have confirmed the presence of a Disturbance manifestation and that Junna is suspected to be the cause. With no way of breaching it until it fully manifests, the DU warns that all Dreamers should be prepared to enter the Dream Sphere to dive in once it is fully stable.

⧖ February 18th: The Disturbance log will go up.

⧖ March 5th: The OOC deadline for Junna's rescue from the Dream Sphere.


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

February should usually be a cold, wintery month and the first week or so does live up to that reputation - temperatures are low with a blustery wind battering the city on top of a pretty consistent dump of rain that only lets up in fits and spurts. The Asagiri River threatens to breach its banks but before any flooding disasters can occur, starting on the 8th and lasting for the rest of the month, the weather suddenly spikes to a shocking and unseasonable high of 24C. To make matters worse, things are still just as rainy as they were before so the month of February ends up miserably humid. Hooray! Two rainy seasons this year!!! (Nobody is happy about this).

Over in the Dream Sphere, thankfully, everyone gets a reprieve from the summery high temperatures but the rain sure doesn't seem to be letting up. All of the locations that had previously frozen over during winter have finally thawed, with the Vale of Sorrow making up for lost time by flooding under the increased deluge. In addition, Fury Peak seems extra volatile this month with earthquakes and full-on volcanic eruptions happening so often that the dream is practically impossible to explore.



!

WORLD EVENTS

⧖ All Month: The DU issues a press release asking all Dreamers to refrain from non-essential travel to the Dream Sphere for their own safety.

⧖ February 1st-13th: With Valentine's Day coming up, Yumemigaoka is swept up in a chocolate fever! Stores all around the city will be stocking up and putting on sales for candy, chocolates, baking supplies and anything else a romantic heart could desire. This also means that, come the actual week of Valentine's, there will be a shortage on not just chocolate but also any of the ingredients that go into the homemade stuff.

⧖ February 3rd: It's Setsubun, the annual holiday for ushering out any remaining winter demons! Most major shrines in the city will be holding celebrations throughout the day with lots of fun food and games on hand for families. Out with the evil, in with the luck!

⧖ February 4th - March 5th: A small part of Asagi's southern quarter will be temporarily closed off to the public for the next month due to some unexpected sink holes opening up that need repairing. It's all for your own safety, of course, but what on earth is it gonna do to the traffic...

⧖ February 7th: Applications for the Yumemigaoka Language Program's Scholarship program ends today.

⧖ February 12th: National Founding Day is observed on this day. Enjoy a surprise day off!

⧖ February 14th: Happy Valentine's Day! Romance will be in the air as couples exchange chocolates and lovers profess their feelings. The more outgoing may have flowers and chocolates delivered to their love(s) or ask them out to an afternoon coffee date, but you may have to wait in line for a while! A majority of restaurants across the city will have increased reservations, so be sure to plan ahead for a great time out!

⧖ February 15th: Nightmare Bounty! Spurred on by feelings of intense jealousy and loneliness in the wake of Valentine's Day, a Nightmare taking the form of a towering, multi-armed monster will spawn in the Dream Sphere and need taking care of! This is a High Risk bounty open to all Dreamers and multiple groups of characters can tackle this challenge. As a reward, characters who successfully clear this bounty will receive double points on rewards associated with this Torment Hunt!

⧖ February 23rd: Another surprise day off! Since it's the Emperor's birthday, everyone else gets so enjoy themselves too.

⧖ February 27th: Isekai Chocolatier will be holding a sale to clear out their remaining Valentines Day stock. Get it while it's cheap!

AC RESULTS

Activity for January and February is due at the end of this month so don't forget to submit it once you've got it!

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Comments

[traceofeffort]

Player Name: Salsa
Contact: eternities and in the Discord server; I tend to do plotting (and commentary) on Plurk unless directly engaged on Discord, so add me there if you want a little more information on my bad ideas
Introduction: Retail Hell associate. Magical girl and band girl appreciator; also a fan of games involving Cute Girls Doing Cute Things if we still use that genre descriptor, and also heavy JRPGs and visual novels - ask me about my new obsession, Heaven Burns Red. I got caught up applying to another game last month but I think I'm settled for the moment. Even if it's a hell of a month to ramp back up.

Character Name: Lisa Imai
Canon: BanG Dream! Girls Band Party

About: University freshman; Team Mom who went through some bullying in middle school and had a hard few years failing to deal with it properly. She's very good at outwardly playing her ideal, bubbly, caring, outgoing self, but it's masking some moderate insecurities that can cause her to react unexpectedly and show visible cracks in her facade. She's working on the worst of her emotional excesses, and it's showing, but it's also taking some time, and she tends to regress a little in times of crisis. Still, she's coming back stronger every time, so... she'll get there. Big into fashion and bright colors, so long as her mood's not bringing her down; makes her own clothing and accessories. Bakes cute and tasty sweets and gives them away freely; still stress bakes sometimes. Practicing her bass guitar again, and carries it when there's space on her shoulder beside her school bag. Trying not to gush over slash lean too much on her girlfriend, Junna. In the Dream Sphere, protects others with her starsand-filled bass as Dreamer Rhodonite. Signed on to a unit with Ai and Hibiki, though while the latter recovers from her Disturbance and gets used to her new powers, Rhodonite is picking up slots on teams as needed.

Short Term & Long Term Plans: Lisa's been in a good mood for the first month of the year, coming off her Christmas date with Junna and things... generally not going wrong? Last semester even turned out okay despite the brief break to fight Hibiki's inner demons. She also moved out of her parents' house in December and is in Karen's spare bedroom, and her mental state is quite a bit better as a result. So things are looking up!

That all lasts until the weather turns to spring and the person Lisa would want to spend it with is missing. As soon as she disappears, Rhodonite is going to spend every hour she can spare - and some she can't - in the Dream Sphere, searching for her most important person. As has happened a couple times before, expect her to turn a bit irritable and cynical, and to be unable to sit still for long periods. Also expect her music choices to be a bit less... pleasant. She'll be happy to charge into the Disturbance anytime someone needs her, but eventually she's going to be at risk of burnout and will probably need to be forced to take care of herself for a bit. In short, Lisa's put a little too much of her self-image in other people and is paying the price. Please help her out by giving her more people to temporarily shore up her personality with. Also please don't remind her her girlfriend is in a dream hellscape for Valentine's Day, it's. Going to sour her mood just a little. Obligation choco will be next month, thanks for your understanding.

While she's in the Dream Sphere anyways, Rhodonite can be talked into Hunts or maybe Excursions - anything that'll be a distraction when the Disturbance proper opens will slow down their rescue operation, so she'll be eager to clear out additional threats when she can't do anything else, and maybe luck into confirming the route or some other information. That includes event Hunts, as needed. She's also sitting on a small stack of points, so maybe she can bring a new power to bear while she's here?

Desired CR: [incoherent sob-screaming with no space to get a word in]
Once the weather changes to herald the Disturbance, Lisa is going to be more or less impossible to talk to reasonably. You're welcome to try and she'll appreciate it when the tunnel vision fades, but. Sorry about her. She's still in there and can be reasoned with, she's just going to be very, very, very stubborn about leaving, resting, going easy, or otherwise not going full aggro.

Anything Else?: Gacha Hell is a real place and I think I'm buying property in a nice community with a free three-star once a week.

[thestarknows]

Lisa baby :( Junna is going to feel SO BAD when this is all done. Especially about Valentine's Day, oh no.

I absolutely wanna stalk threads and such. Also, she can encounter some sad things in the Disturbance!!

And obviously when Junna gets back: so much follow-up!!

ETA: ALSO we should have Lisa text her right before she gets Disturbance'd.

[traceofeffort]

It's fine! It's fine. It's fine it's fineit'sfine-

Ahem. Yes, all kinds of cozy H/C fic talking through stuff once they drag her out. And I'm excited for things to go to hell while Lisa's in there. Aaaaand we'll just take White Day as a makeup day for Valentine's. It's a good thing this country has two of those, right? /panned

-ah, yeah, that's a good idea. She'd get there eventually when she sent a good morning message and didn't hear back, but...

[thestarknows]

listen I'm all for H/C fic sooooo And yes!! Poor Lisa. I am excited for her to encounter all the things even if it'll be bad.

And yes! They get White Day, still! A make up for it. Junna'll try to not beat herself up too much.

And yes!

[traceofeffort]

Lisa is, like. I'm excited for her to hit all the bad stuff because it's just kind of her luck at this point, but also because her philosophy is that once she's hit rock bottom, there's nowhere to go but up. Once she's seen the worst, she knows what she's in for and she can protect both herself and Junna better. Not that. Junna needs her protection, but she's going to do it anyway, because what is this shield for if not to protect people?

[thestarknows]

Aw, Lisa... yeah, it'll help because while Junna trusts Lisa completely, it's still kind of hard for her to say things about how she feels overwhelmed, and a lot of other stuff. So Lisa seeing it will be an important push!

If... a painful one, because yeah.

And it's okay, even if she doesn't need the protection, she'd like it.

[hanamane]

LET'S SCREAM TOGETHER, LISA......

but also I'm up for Junna's pre-Disturbance hunt if you are!! A definite futile effort but at least... they're trying.....

[traceofeffort]

I'm good for that! She won't care if it's futile; if it feels like there's even the tiniest chance it'd help, she's going to throw herself at the wall until it breaks (or she does).

...even through her rage she recognizes Amane is about as crushed as she is, mind, so. There's a chance she'll be a little better around him.

[i_peace]

At first I was like "oh yeah, Keiwa would go with you for another pre-Disturbance search" because he did that back with Amane's too. They can make chocolates for their friends together afterwards or something.

Then I realized that Nikki would probably actively pick a fight with Lisa in the Dream Sphere to get her to work out the frustration (with the side of maybe knocking her out of the Dream Sphere because girl...) and like... Nikki no. I should probably ask Claire if that would even be doable, but like one wonders. This is the exact sort of stupid shit he'd do without explaining a thing. D|

[traceofeffort]

God. He would and she'd fall for it. I like that plan... I don't see any reason it wouldn't work, but fair to check. Lisa is going to feel intensely betrayed in the moment and probably be pretty nasty. She'll see reason, though. Eventually.

[i_peace]

Luckily for her, Nikki's not the sort of person to take things personally. :D (We got the all clear btw!)

If not, she can always fall back on her CR with Keiwa. :O or also take her frustrations out on him. Unlike Nikki, Keiwa will just roll over and take it. (this is a bad thing LMAO)

[traceofeffort]

Ah, good. Then yes, I'll plan for this... either just before the Disturbance opens, or about halfway through it. Depending on how her and Amane's Excursion goes.

...she does understand Keiwa would just take it, and at that point she's just kicking a puppy. Even in The Worst Possible Mood she doesn't want that. She'll absolutely vent to him though.

[i_peace]

Sure thing, boss! Just let me know and I'll go ahead and throw Nikki at her. :)

She's a better person than almost the entire cast of Geats fr fr. But he's here for her! o9 if you guys want an extra person to look for Junna, he's here for that too.

[darcangel]

DOES JOAN NEED TO WAVE A FLAG ENCOURAGINGLY IN SOMEONE'S DIRECTION AND/OR PROVIDE EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

[traceofeffort]

Lisa will absolutely accept emotional support or standard-waving, although how much it'll help at the moment will be. Debatable. she will also accept active combat support

She's going to feel a little bad about crying all over all her friends, but. Needs must, at the moment, before she creates a nested Disturbance and gets them all killed or something.

[darcangel]

...I just pictured Lisa crying all over Jeannette but then Jeannette also starts crying because she's so sad that Lisa is crying.....stuck in a loop.....

[traceofeffort]

It's always Jeannette that Lisa's a weepy mess all over, huh? Too much depresso, not enough glory. The proper authorities have been notified.