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

Amane Yugi ✿ Dreamer Hanako

[hanamane]

Player Name: Luna
Contact: Urameshi, starsugars @ Discord or PM this journal!
Introduction: Hello I am Luna and I am vibrating over the fact that we're getting Picture Perfect animated in two weeks AAAAAA

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

About: An awkward, introverted almost-high-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 he's probably not going to openly promote himself as one for many personal reasons 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, cynical 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 (don't worry, Tsukasa's totally fine you guys), 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 HOW ABOUT THAT DISTURBANCE, GUYS.....

This one is hitting Amane a lot harder than the others, since this is the first Disturbance involving somebody he's close to and won't be the last either, eeeeyyy, so he's going to be an absolute mess for a good chunk of the month OTL;; He may try to attempt a pre-Disturbance search with Lisa to find Junna before everything goes to shit (much like how Shinsha did last year with Amane's) but he's going to do his damn best once it fully manifests to get her out of there!!

... though that said, I'm not gonna sign him up for the Boss Combat thread since he's already been in two fights already (three if you count his own!!!) so he's just going to be regulated to the mid-boss fight instead and he's gonna hate it 8'''| WHY IS THIS PLACE COCK-BLOCKING HIM WHEN HE ACTUALLY WANTS TO FIGHT THE NIGHT TERROR FOR ONCE???

Disturbance stuff aside, I'm down to tackle the Valentine's Nightmare Bounty as well (because intense feelings of jealousy and loneliness?? CAN'T BE HIM) and mmmmaybe do some Valentine's adjacent threads if others are up for it?? Although he's probably not going to be all that enthusiastic about chocolate and stuff closer to the date thanks to Junna being missing, but 8'| why is February so cursed for him Camellia is also doing flower deliveries + a special chocolate menu item for the holiday (because the Halloween treats proved to be a success last year), so there's that too!

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! HELP THEM DELIVER ALL OF THESE VALENTINE'S FLOWERS, THERE'S SO MANY

Anything Else?:



Next few months are gonna be Great, folks 8)

[thestarknows]

AMANE BUDDY T_T She's gonna feel so bad.

But also yes. >:) She will definitely want to talk to him after the Disturbance!

The Night Terror is also gonna occasionally be talking later in the Disturbance so Amane might get a chance to... say hi... without fighting?

[hanamane]

IT'S FINE... IT'S HIS KARMA FOR THE SHIT HE PULLED LAST YEAR, PROBABLY

You bet your ass he is going to want to talk to her post-Disturbance as well, though!!!! He's going to be upset with himself for missing the signs of her struggle and not being able to help her through all of this as her Mentor (even though he's like... 15, so there's barely anything he can do but STILL)

But somewhere in the Disturbance the Night Terror is just going to hear him screech "THIS ISN'T WHAT I MEANT WHEN I SAID YOU COULD HELP CRIMSON COME TO HER SENSES, SAGEY!!!!!"

[thestarknows]

Everyone gets a turn in trauma land!!

And awww buddy. She's gonna feel bad... partly because she didn't reach out to say "oh god actually I'm drowning" until it happened and partially because. I mean. That's what Junna does.

Also LISTEN it's fine she just has to also help her childhood hero, be in the play, make her parents happy, graduate, become a professional Dreamer, and AAAAAAAAAH

[olruggio]

Amane sus, I saw him vent in the front lobby???

[hanamane]