yumemigaoka | BEACH EPISODE BEACH EPISODE

BEACH EPISODE BEACH EPISODE

⭐ Who: Everybody's invited!
⭐ When: Beginning of August
⭐ Where: Facet Lagoon
⭐ What: Beach party in the Dream Sphere!
⭐ Warnings: Old guys in skimpy bathing suits. (ｼ;ﾟДﾟ)ｼ

While wind and rain hammer Yumemigaoka, the weather in the Dream Sphere is perfect for a beach party!

At Facet Lagoon, the sun is shining, the gemstone sands are sparkling, and a pleasant tropical breeze rustles through the emerald palm trees. Umbrellas in a rainbow of colors line the beach, providing welcome shade. Farther back from the shore, tables laden with food and flowers offer familiar summer treats - shaved ice, watermelon, grilled meat, cold noodles, icy drinks, exotic fruits, and soft-serve ice cream.

The beach is generally safe, but aquatic Torments lurk in the lagoon's depths, so make sure you don't swim too far out!

But wait, I didn't bring my swimsuit! Oops, neither did anyone else! You'll just have to improvise! Take off those stuffy petticoats, mod your Dreamer outfit, make a bra out of coconuts if you're feeling crafty, or get Ango to make you an awful swimsuit with his ninja cosplay magic.

Never seen an anime beach episode before? Here are some ideas!

⭐ Sandcastle Competition

Wherever there's a beach, some kid has dug a massive hole in the sand. Use that pretty gemstone-studded sand to create your ultimate dream palace! The best part is knocking them all down at the end.

⭐ Watermelon Smash

The Japanese version of the piñata game. Players take turn wearing a blindfold and attempt to break open a watermelon using a stick. Whoever manages to break it is the winner! Using weapons and powers is highly encouraged, but try not to completely destroy the watermelon.

⭐ Just Lounging Around

Not interested in splashing or smashing? Soak up that summer sun, or relax under an umbrella with a cold drink and a trashy romance novel.

⭐ Beach Volleyball

Will it be a friendly game or an intense life-and-death sports battle? It's okay if you don't know the rules - just use Dreamer magic to cheat!

⭐ Cave Exploring

The cliffs around Facet Lagoon are honeycombed with caves, both above and below the water. A mysterious glow provides enough light to explore by, but who knows what creatures hide in the shadows?

⭐ Bonfire

As the sun begins to dip towards the horizon, someone makes a pile of driftwood and sets it alight. It's a great time to tell scary stories, or perform your favorite song, or roast marshmallows.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh, crank it down two notches. It's just me.

[Zeke takes two steps forward and promptly cracks his head on the cave's ceiling, which takes a dip right there in a manner quite unfortunate for a taller Dreamer. Fortunately, this IS the Dream Sphere, and he barely seems to notice the hit as he takes a step back, then ducks.]

Find anything good yet? There's got to be something!

Aww, you make it sound like I was faking. [ do i even need to say it ] Aren't you having fun exploring around here, too?

[ Even as she protests, though, the effervescence dims just a bit. There's no point in dazzling Zeke of all people, after all. ]

There's nothing yet, but... I was just wondering how deep they might go or if they might lead somewhere else. It's a pretty self contained little space overall, but with how far out the ocean seems to go I was thinking there might be more than meets the eye.

[Time has slightly, slightly inured him to her general aura -- that and the occasional foray into the Dream Sphere where they actually had to Do The Job instead of being an idol and a Zekenator, rare as those might have been.]

Me, I'm worried that they'll fill up or something. Seems like the sort of dramatically appropriate thing you'd run into in a dream. Figured I'd explore, seeing as I'm less likely to get in trouble with that.

[He may be a little slower than Dreamers who can zip around like the wind themselves, but Mobility works for swimming as well as it does for running.]

Oh, don't say that. You should know by now what a bad idea it is to tempt fate on this side, especially when you're here.

[ not that she's trying to scapegoat him or anything, just. she knows. ]

It seems level so far, though. You'd think the water would change even a little bit the further in you got, but it seems consistent so far.

Not too surprising to me, here in the Dream Sphere. That's why I'm worried about it. That's the sort of sudden dramatic thing that only makes sense here, which means it's that much more likely to happen. Last thing we need is one of the kids developing hydrophobia!

Or me. I've only just been able to start shooing spiders out of the house again after that horrible Nightmare last year. The last thing I need is for a whole new phobia to come in and replace it.

[ The occupational hazard of letting other people's bad dreams take up real estate in your own head...

Even so, Ai turns to start easing her way down the tunnel again, water sloshing around her ankles as she goes. ]

Let's just take it slow and be ready to make a break for it if we need to. Worst case scenario, we can just wake up.

[Sloshing through water isn't unusual for Chaosbringer, not when he drives so many excursions down the tracks and out of the city. He isn't even in danger of getting his feet wet -- not till it gets up to his thighs! Still, this comes with its own dangers, namely that the power of Electricity can have some unfortunate side effects in conditions like this...]

Always feels like cheating to me.

I call it knowing when to make a tactical retreat!

[ She's amped her voice back up to something a little brighter and cheerier, like she can ward off any potential bad vibes through sheer positive energy alone. It's the Dream Sphere so putting out good vibes has to account for something, right? ]

Besides, wouldn't you rather choose to wake up and be able to pop right back than get kicked out and have to wait a whole week?

Yes, but I'd rather do neither! [She can be positive; he's got his own energy and vibe to contribute, not quite sunny but still bright in its way!] Focus too much on a choice like that and you forget other options!

... I feel like I'm tempting fate by asking, but what would those other options be in a situation like this?

[ Not that she expects to have to go through with them, but. Come on, she's gotta know. ]

Find victory, of course!

[What does that mean? Who the heck knows! It's situational!]

Or at least an avenue of retreat. If this were a real crisis, better that we retreat and regroup than get knocked out of the Dream Sphere!

[ Despite herself, Ai laughs and the sound of it bounces around the cave. That's such a perfectly Zeke response, she really shouldn't have expected anything else, huh? ]

Hm, you know, I think I do like 'find victory' as an option. In the Dream Sphere, it's all about thinking outside the box, huh? And with both of us together, I bet we'd be able to cook up a pretty good crazy idea.

[Zeke chuckles, and takes the lead! If anything down this stupid tunnel wants to bite Ai, it'll have to get through him first!]

[Or come up behind them! That's also an option! But there's only one of him, and he's not too worries, because if anything is going to go wrong it is practically guaranteed to go wrong at his face.]

I've seen a couple kids lately get way too hung up how they're doing things and forget that getting them dumb is the important one. Like, so what if your fellow Dreamer got slapped into a pond? Did you beat the enemy? Isn't that what counts?

... I mean, I think I'd check if they were okay first, but I see your point.

[ "sayaka is drowning" "this ain't about her" ]

I guess it's easy to get stuck on old patterns, though... especially when you've been doing this as long as we have.

[ That gets another laugh but it's quieter, coming out in a breath that's more like a sigh. ]

It's a little unbelievable to think we've been at this for so many years now, huh?

Maybe for you. I'm just getting started. Someone's got to shoulder some of the burden!

[Of course, he can't take over her job -- the pretty peppy public face, a miracle of modern times. But the more attention he can draw onto himself, a Dreamer by night and a Dreamer-supporter by day, the more she can take a well-deserved break.]

[Otherwise... well, if Dreamer Crimson really is fortified in the Dream Sphere, intent on not being disturbed, he can imagine why. Ai needs to never even THINK about that sort of thing!]

[ Another merry laugh rings out. ]

Oh come on, don't say it like that! You're gonna make me feel like a little old lady getting swept off her feet by all you youngins. If you're not careful, I'm gonna start telling you not to go on my lawn and whatever else old ladies are supposed to get mad at.

[ She sounds cheery enough, despite her protests. ]

It really is good to see so many of you starting to step up and get serious. It makes me all kinds of proud seeing how far you've all gone.

If you ever manage to be old, I'll eat my eyepatch. [Not that she's exactly young either -- she just managed to walk the line in between so well. That's the most important lesson Zeke took from her, and internalized.]

[So if anyone ever wonders why a capable, active, and publicly noticeable Dreamer runs around wearing an eyepatch and yelling BRINGER OF CHAOS, blame her.]

Let's just call it getting ready to walk besides you instead of behind you!

Everybody's gotta get old someday, Zeke-kun! The trick is just making sure you do it gracefully. ★

[ It's a little funny to hear it come out of her own mouth even as she says it. She's been treated like a working adult since before she was even in her teens but for all the times that she's felt wrenched between being a child and being a grown up far earlier than it should have been asked of her, she's never really thought of herself as old. Even with her breezy response, it's a little hard to imagine.

It's better than the alternative, of course. ]

Besides. If we're talking about how ready you are, I'm pretty sure you've been walking up alongside me for a long while now.

Ha! They can make me age, but they can't ever make me grow old!

[...seriously! If the day ever comes when he decides being Zeke Genbu, Bringer of Chaos!, isn't the life for him, then he's literally dead as far as he's concerned. And would anyone who knows him really disagree with that sentiment?]

[But yeah, count him on train "Ai probably grew up too fast". One more reason to make sure other Dreamers don't have to....]

[This thought drags him off on a mental tangent with alarming alacrity.]

You know, well hadn't even thought to hope we'd find something jolly wonderful in here. That's a sign I need to start thinking more positive again!

Huh...! [ She pauses just long enough for the water to still around her feet. ] You know, you've got a point.

[ Not that they've found much of anything yet... just water and more pretty crystal encrusted walls. It hasn't even gotten that much darker, even though they've gone pretty far with how many minutes they've been walking.

Shading her eyes a bit, she turns to peer suspiciously back the way they came. ] I'm getting the horrible feeling this tunnel's cheating. Is it just me or are we making basically zero progress in getting any deeper?

[Zeke, wisely, refrains from commenting on how much he's checking his stride so he doesn't outdistance her, which is why it feels so slow for HIM.]

The water level hasn't changed either. Actually, it's starting to remind me of a path out of town, except without the train track. And that's not ominous, is it?

[ she's not even wearing her heels either, so she's extra small right now......... ]

Do you think it could be a gate to someone else's dream? I've never heard of them connecting like that but if the City can do it then it's obviously not impossible.

[ It would be like these two overachievers to make a major discovery about the Dream Sphere when they're supposed to be at a fun beach party, huh ]

[He can see the headline now! "DREAMER AI-DOLL DOES IT AGAIN! Hairless ape also present."]

I hope they're a spelunker, then, and not a nightmare-prone kid. Tunnels only have so many ways you can go with them!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

BEACH EPISODE BEACH EPISODE

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