!★! Happy Halloween!

[beautifuldreamermods]

⭐ Who: The Dreamers of Yumemigaoka!
⭐ When: Forward dated to October 30th
⭐ Where: The Dreamer Union & the Slumbering City
⭐ What: The promised Halloween party! The DU

YUMEMIGAOKA

Thankfully for everyone's nerves, despite the increased activity in the Dream Sphere that's typical of spooky season, there's been no major emergencies for the Dreamers of Yumemigaoka to attend to for the month of October – which means that when the company Halloween party comes around, there's nothing to interrupt it!

Similarly to the anniversary celebration, the party is split into two halves, with the first leg of the party an all-ages event starting at noon and hosted at the Dreamer Union in Yumemigaoka, with an open invite to all employees and registered Dreamers. Everyone's encouraged to put together a costume just to get into the spirit of things, but while the HR department who set all this up might give you a woeful look of disappointment if you opt out, it is still technically optional.

Of course, with this many Dreamers in one place, things are definitely going to be a little busy, but the whole building has been decorated with some truly spooktacular vibes... and there's a few quiet rooms here and there that have been relegated to letting people catch their breath with some spooky movies if the scariest thing about this party is the prospect of socializing.

There's all sorts of candy and seasonal food to go around as well as a healthy supply of regular-ass food that's been dressed up and served to look spooky – riceballs wrapped with seaweed to look like mummies, crab dishes with the legs arranged to look like spider legs, spicy snacks with sauce globbed on to look like blood... someone was really having fun with this, huh?

For the most part, this is a pretty low-key event, despite the huge guest list – there's some chill games, like a beer pong setup with a fake eyeball and a pretty chonky pinata that's taking a shocking amount of blows before breaking open but for the most part, this just seems like an excuse for everyone to come together and blow off some steam. Of course, that's probably because for some of you, the party's only just begun!

THE DREAM SPHERE

The all-ages get together in Yumemigaoka was only one half of the Halloween festivities and once that party wraps at six, the real chaos begins! A 21+ only afterparty springs up over in the Dream Sphere, taking over the Slumbering City's DU office and spilling out into the plaza outside as well. Of course, this is just in the Dream Sphere, so if you're really determined to sneak in and see what the grown ups are up to, there's nothing stopping you...

Like Yumemigaoka, the DU office in the Slumbering City has been decorated nicely and the city itself is contributing with a nice and moody purple sky outside - though pleasantly enough, the weather is unseasonably mild so you can hang out in the plaza without freezing to death. While it is still a work party on paper, things are definitely a little rowdier by design. There's booze for one and a much more implicit encouragement to let down your hair and bust out a really goofy costume – this is the Dream Sphere, after all, so the sky's the limit!

That philosophy seems to have applied to the food as well and again, much like the anniversary, there's a whole buffet of totally impossible foods. Among other things, there's...


⧖ Cauldron-shaped cupcakes with bubbling 'potion' fillings that fizz and pop when you take a bite.
⧖ Cotton candy spun into intricate spiderweb shapes and adorned with gummy spiders.
⧖ A bubbling cauldron of some hot and savory stew that changes color with each stir and releases tiny puffs of smoke.
⧖ Pizza topped with ghostly white cheese and spicy phantom peppers that live up to their name and vanish from your hand once you're down to the last bite!
⧖ Corn on the cob made entirely of candy corn kernels.
⧖ A franken-fruit salad, with a number of confusingly flavoured fruits - apples that taste likes cherries, cherries that taste like bananas, bananas that taste like... salted caramel?!?


And if you're looking for games, the office itself and the plaza outside seems to have been set up with a whole bunch of them!


⧖ A number of apple bobbing cauldrons that look to be full of slime and various other unpleasant things... but if you're brave enough to go bobbing, you'll see it really is just water.
⧖ Enchanted pumpkin carving! Using anything they have to hand (maybe even their Sandglass??), Dreamers carve pumpkins that have unique properties, such as changing shapes when they're cut into or spitting sparks into the face of the poor person trying to carve them! You have ten minutes and a guide to follow, with the winner determined by whoever got the furthest along with their pumpkin fighting them the whole way.
⧖ A floor in the DU office has been turned into a mini haunted house walk! As well as traditional scares, a little trick of dream magic has been set up so that the floor will also pick on a Dreamer's own personal fears. For the most part, these will be pretty surface level and occasionally silly – a Dreamer with a fear of spiders might be faced with a room decorated with spider webs and the odd spider – but when multiple Dreamers pass through at once, the floor might dig a little too deep and show off something just a bit too personal...
⧖ Stuck without a costume? No worries! A floor of the DU has been set up with 'dressing rooms' to help you with that. Just step inside and your Dreamer costume will be reformed instantly into something more appropriate for the party and you can jazz it up however you like!


The party lasts through the Dream Sphere's night, with everyone dropping back into the real world just as sunrise tinges the Dream Sphere's sky. Of course, it's still the middle of the night back in reality but it's probably in your best interests to just head to bed... you can't get a hangover from alcohol you only dreamt about, right? ... RIGHT???

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Comments

Dream Sphere

[i_peace]

'Cursed'? Isn't it just corn?

[Tycoon is likewise costumeless. Well, he's technically in his loosely Ninja themed Dreamer outfit, but when it comes to imagination, he's clearly lacking. But more importantly, growing up in Japan, this sweet summer child has never experienced the horror that is 'traditional American Candy' and so assumes this is just like any other confectionary on the market. Sweet, easy to eat, something to give to children as a treat, you know... regular candy]

[dullshooter]

[Oh boy.]

I could take the time to explain the unique sensory experience of candy corn to you, but I'm a firm believer in learning by doing.

[He holds out the cob.]

Take a bite, buddy.

[i_peace]

[he leans back slightly when the corn(?) cob is held out to him. Then, just behind the pink magenta lens of his glasses, he looks down at the food then up at the Dream, then back at the mystery corncob. To say he looks unsure is an understatement.

But, sure enough, after a moment of consideration, he reaches out for the corncob to take a small bite]

...--!!!!!

[the look of utter betrayal on his face right now. Or what's visible of it, he's covering his mouth with his free hand right about now and seems to be struggling to eat the stuff in his mouth]

Wh-What is that? Who would dream this up?

[dullshooter]

Only the land of the free and home of the brave. You have the good ol' US of A to thank for that culinary invention. And we say 'you're welcome'.

[He grabs a napkin and offers it out to the poor guy.]

'Course, they [being the DU] could've tried to make it a little less accurate to real life, but what's edibility to a time honored tradition? That's to say, totes not judging if you wanna spit it out.

[i_peace]

[his disappointment is immeasurable and his night is ruined]

[Tycoon takes the napkin with a muffled 'thank you'. He seems torn between spitting it out and swallowing it, but ultimately, the waxy texture wins(?). Tycoon spits out the affront to candy into the napkin, childishly sticking his tongue out as if that would remove the sugary sweet flavour from it]

Do you actually eat these things normally? Why?

...

I get why you'd call it 'cursed'

[dullshooter]

You know the saying ‘trick or treat’? This is the ‘trick’ part. Looks like harmless, seasonally appropriate candy, actually tastes like ass. Pretty sure they were designed to humble kids that were having too much of a good time on Halloween.

[He speaks with an unwarranted confidence like this is straight up facts.]

But, hey, you should be proud of yourself! You just expanded your cultural horizons today. Take in that sweet, sweet taste of worldliness.

[i_peace]

O... kay... [Tycoon's nodding along like he's actually considering what he was told as being the truth... Someone this confident wouldn't be lying right? Thankfully, the look on his face gives away his misgivings; surely people wouldn't design a terrible candy on purpose, right? No one's that cruel]

I guess that's one way of looking at this. [he peeks at the food table suspiciously] I didn't realize that food in the DreamSphere could taste so... Accurate? [wait-] Is that actually what it tastes likes?

... Have you tried anything else?

[dullshooter]

With a reaction like that, I'd say it's accurate.

[Why the DU couldn't use their boundless imagination to make it taste better, he doesn't know. Gotta keep them humble, he guesses.]

As for the rest of this, I've given the cotton candy a try and it's pretty standard fare beyond appearances. Pizza looks pretty good, too, though I don't know how I feel about food that won't let you finish it. Still, free's free, even if it's totally imaginary.

[i_peace]

... And foreigners say the Japanese have weird food.

[that's just a little bit of resentment you're hearing right now]

It is a little strange- [pause, then he shakes his head] Nevermind. That's just how dreams are, aren't they? I never remember if I end up finishing eating my bowl of soba by the time I wake up. A little disappointing.

Some of these are really fun though. It's too bad we can't bring back any to share.

[dullshooter]

Now you're preaching to the choir. I never leave a function with empty pockets. Trust me, a little sandwich baggy or tupperware goes a long way.

[If he was at the party for normies, he probably would've noticed Misfire trying to steal food and being completely unsubtle about it.]

Sure, it's less about sharing-is-caring and more about getting my hands on something to eat tomorrow, but I consider that a noble pursuit. It's almost like charity work. But for me. I'm the charity.

[Noble.]

Still, worth the trade-off for getting drunk with no hangover, right?

[i_peace]

...?!

[... oh no, he's come across another one. Here he thought Ango was shameless, sneaking into the catering truck and lifting a cardboard box worth's of BBQ, but this guy's just bragging about it! (at least he's honest?) ... But he's only taking a small tupperware's worth, is that as bad? Wait-]

Were you at the party earlier?

[he doesn't want to think about getting drunk. He's got an all right alcohol tolerance, but hangover or not, he's not sure he wants to be drunk in public]

[dullshooter]

Oh yeah.

[Utterly shameless.]

You remember seeing a dashing American Eagle at all?

[i_peace]

[a pause... Then very carefully;] The... One with the American flag as part of their costume?

[oh my god]

Wait, that was an eagle?

[dullshooter]

Yeah - what else did you think it was?

[He seems to believe it's just really that obvious.]

[i_peace]

['A duck, at first glance'... Is what Tycoon would say, if he was less considerate of people's feelings] I wasn't sure what bird it was supposed to be.

Thinking about it... The flag should have given it away.

[dullshooter]

Come on...what other bird could be so beautiful, majestic, and overwhelmingly patriotic?

[i_peace]

[there's a moment where Tycoon opens his mouth to say something (a crane, maybe) but stops because that doesn't feel quite right. Then he keeps hesitating because he wouldn't want to offend the other Dreamer by coming to the wrong conclusion]

I... Guess? [maybe he ought to try that again, with more confidence. Tycoon winces at how half-hearted that sounded, even to him]

I probably should be paying better attention, but on first glance... It's hard to tell.

[he's not going to mention being distracted wondering why the arbitrary abs painting on the bodysuit looked like they had more care put into them than the rest of the outfit...]

[dullshooter]

[He places one hand on his chest, face falling somewhat.]

C'mon. You're breaking my heart here, buddy. I put a good day of effort into that thing - and you're saying it's hard to tell.

[His FEELINGS...]

[i_peace]

Eh?!

[Wh-what part of that outfit needed a day's worth- Did the man glue each feather on himself?! ... Unless it was the abs, in which case, Tycoon has no defense. Oh no-]

S-Sorry...? It's just- Um... [stutter stutter] Better than me, I guess? Even though they said it was optional...

[dullshooter]

[That seems to bring some clarity, and he immediately brightens up.]

Ah, the classic reason for tearing someone else down - insecurity. [He just loops an arm around Tycoon, as if they're buddies and not just coworkers who have met at most in passing before.] I know it must've been difficult, rocking up to a party in your - no offense - presumably mediocre costume and having your world rocked by something that just bleeds awesome, but it's okay. You're in a safe space.

[That was a whole lot of nothing that he just said, but he certainly says it with...some kind of conviction.]

[i_peace]

... Huh?!

[he stiffens up, tail behind him puffing up dramatically, surprised by the sudden disregard for personal space help, but relaxes once he realizes that it's nothing. This is fine-

Wait, no it's not.

Tycoon looks baffled at the wall of words that had just been thrown at him]

Uh. R-Right. We'll just... Go with that. [his initial discomfort aside, he doesn't bother to shake Misfire off] I don't usually participate in Halloween so I'm not that used to recognizing people's costumes.

[dullshooter]

[Oh, sweet summer child.]

Wait - don't tell me, this is your first Halloween?

[i_peace]

[someone who has a better sense of self-preservation and a healthy level of caution towards their fellows would immediately recognize that something was up. But since it's Tycoon, who honestly has too much faith in people and not enough self-preservation instincts, so he just nods before clarifying;]

I've heard of it! But I always lose track of time and wind up missing it.

[read: it seemed fun, but Tycoon was usually too busy with studies and homemaking to actively participate]

[dullshooter]

Oh, buddy, you're in for a treat. And tricks. But mostly treats. Stick by me, and I'll show you how to make the most out of your holiday experience.

[He says...still holding him captive...]

[i_peace]

Eh? Uhm... All right?

[the level of uncertainty- and in spite of it, he hasn't really tried to shake the other Dreamer off. At most, he turns his torso a little so he doesn't have to strain his neck keeping his head turned towards Misfire]

It's mostly costumes, isn't it? And the scary decorations?