Happy Dreamerversary!

[beautifuldreamermods]

YUMEMIGAOKA

May is always a dicey time to have an outdoor event in Yumemigaoka but this year it seems like luck's on everyone's side. The morning of the 14th dawns with bright blue skies, beaming sunlight and a refreshing breeze - in other words, the perfect weather for an outdoor festival! As it does every year, the Dreamer Union is hosting its annual celebration of the first Dreamer Awakening now fifty-one whole years ago! Damn! Today's the day the entire community comes together to say happy anniversary, Dreamers!

Part of the DU has been opened to the public for the event - while the upstairs beyond the second floor are still off limits, a number of informational boards with quick and breezy rundowns of the DU's functions and how it supports Dreamers are set up around the atrium and on the second floor. Some are informational, some are educational, and a few have trivia quizzes on them that you can answer at the front desk to get a little token for some free food at the event.

The majority of the setup is outside, though - something between a pop-up market and a festival, with colourful sparkling banners and materials lining each stall. Some are small, independant businesses from around Yumemigaoka, some are larger organizations who sponsor the DU (they've gotta keep the lights on somehow!) and plenty of food and drink vendors. A few indie artists from the community are also selling merch and art catered to their fellow Dreamers, with imagery and in-jokes that wouldn't really mean anything to normal folks.

Some particular stalls to keep an eye out for include...


⧖ Dreamery Creamery are serving up scoops of their ice cream in all kinds of crazy flavours with a massive array of toppings and cones for you to choose from. To make things more exciting, Dreamers Sage, Soleil and Prisma are all helping out at the booth and serving ice creams themed after their Dreamer selves! How does Soleil Sorbet sound to you? Maybe Sherbert Sage? Or are you going for Prisma Pomegranate?

⧖ Dice and Dash have a shaded area set up for people to sit down, take a load off and chill out with some board games! They've got a selection of games to borrow, but so long as they're not too busy, you're free to take up a table with your own entertainment if you've got it.

⧖ Dream Weavers, famous for their position as the DU's go-to tailor, is strutting their stuff with recreations of some famous and well known Dreamers' outfits! As well as selling their goods, they're also hosting a little workshop where visitors can learn some quick and simple cosplay and sewing techniques to see how these outfits get made. Dreamers Luck, Gungir and Hanako will all be volunteering and... doing their very best at the cosplay workshop!

⧖ Hybrid Colours is selling portable wares like canvas bags, keychains and postcards of the various prints/paintings available at the gallery! Since they only just arrived at Yumemigaoka, all the locations are international or from other parts of Japan. (Aleena will do face painting or hand painted 'tattoos' for kids, teens, or the daring adult and has a small table set up with a catalogue or 'surprise me!' option for it)

⧖ The Yumemigaoka Cultural Museum has their usual setup! As well as a truncated version of their installation explaining the Dream Sphere and its history, they've set up several dioramas of places in the Dream Sphere, recreated in miniature! There's some moving elements like miniature Torments bobbing around here and there and some cute interactive gimmicks, like a button that will raise and lower the water level in the miniature Vale of Sorrow or a switch to make the volcano in mini Fury Peak go kaboom!

⧖ Finally, a soundstage has been set up just a little ways away from the rest of the stalls with plenty of sitting room for the audience. Dreamer Ai-Doll will be performing a small set of songs partway through the day and the rest of its time will be dedicated to hosting a Q&A panel of a rotating list of volunteers to answer questions about life as a Dreamer or day to day goings on at the DU. Please be aware that both Angelica AND Chloe will kill you if you post cringe on main so be on your best behaviour!

There's lots to do and plenty of time to do it in - the event runs from 10AM and starts wrapping at around 4:30PM so everyone's got time to head home for work the next day. Dreamers will be able to attend the afterparty in the Dream Sphere if they'd like to but for the most part, that's this year's event wrapped up!

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Comments

[i_peace]

[for his part, Keiwa doesn't seem to react any different to her telling him that she found the idea of diorama building fun, not realizing how important this was to her. He just smiles in agreement before he stops to think about the technicalities of building a diorama]

Hmm... They probably had a lot of practice. And a lot of patience! Apparently these can take a few months to make? And that's if they have a lot of spare time to work on it...

If you put your mind to it, I'm sure you could make something like this. And if you can't figure it out, we can always go ask this diorama maker if they have any pointers for beginners, right?

[it's hard to tell if he used 'we' to mean that he thinks she'd ask him to come along with her... Keiwa probably just figured that it would probably be better for an adult Illya knows to be present when chatting with a stranger. He's not much better with new people either, but a little solidarity goes a long way, right?]

Though... It would probably be easier to start with something smaller... Like the inside of a building or something.

[reluctants]

[ Dang, Bruno! It's a good thing that Illya definitely doesn't have the attention span to sit through exposes that long on people she doesn't know.. Sure, she may have been in that part of the world when she was younger, but she was just a little too young back then to remember much of the music or anything else.

So she shakes her head. ]

No! [ But since she seems curious all the same-- ] What kind of music does he make?

[predecir]

Love songs, mostly. He was an old-school crooner. Like, uh...

[Well, he doesn't have any examples for this part of the world. Bruno's not so well-traveled; he always stuck to Colombia even after leaving home, and this entire venture was his first time leaving.]

...Frank Sinatra? Yeah, kinda like that.

[reluctants]

.. but.. wouldn't anyone have done that?

[ Illya says it so earnestly - though a little shyly - that it seems like she's entirely honest about that one. Like the girl really thinks that it's the natural thing for anyone to do. ]

You were having such a hard time. I can't imagine anyone would have abandoned you to that..

[reluctants]

[ .. Colours.

The other is right about that one. It is what that name would make someone think of, right? A prism, like a thing that reflects many different colours.. ]

I.. I guess I do like colours.

[ Maybe a bit of a mild thing to say. After all, who doesn't like colours in some way.. ]

And I guess my attacks are kind of colourful? Like.. um, the energy balls I usually fire off are pink.. But I'm not sure if maybe 'colours' is a little vague compared to something more concrete like your focus, you know? It'd be one thing if I was good at art, but I'm not sure I really am.. [ Then again, the young girl definitely is the type to kind of feel mediocre - at best! - at everything. ]

[reluctants]

[ Keiwa is so right on the money. There's no way that Illya can feel comfortable approaching an adult all by herself. She'd die at the very idea. And it's not really like she can ask either of her caretakers at home to come along with her, given what they're like..

So his offer is like the sun suddenly appearing through the clouds on an overcast day. Illya looks up at his face like that's what he is, anyway, her eyes growing a little wider as she asks: ]

Y-You'd come ask with me?

[ Thank you, Keiwa.. For holding her metaphorical hand.. She needs it!!

Besides, it's pretty clear that Illya is genuinely interested enough in this topic that she'd be willing to give talking to a Scary Adult Stranger a go as long as Keiwa is there with her too. Usually she'd just give up straight away if the interest wasn't there.. Too scary to risk it for nothing.. ]

[thestarknows]

It does fit, I think!

[She considers for a second. More complete...

She has to think back to a few science courses. Science isn't really her strong point in school. But...]

A prism can split a ray of light into many different colors. Or a few. Or combine them back, I... think. [She sounds less sure now.] But there might be something there.

[i_peace]

[he nods, though he looks a little confused as he does so. Like he can't figure out why Illya seems to shocked that he would offer to go with her. After this long, she should know that Keiwa would have gone with her regardless, if she had just asked him to. Though that's probably part of the issue with the both of them]

Of course! It would be really irresponsible of me otherwise.

[pause]

Oh, but I'd probably need to get your parents permissions to take you out first, huh? [he smiles, oblivious] We aren't going as far as Tokyo like I did with Amane-kun, but it's not a bad thing to give them a heads up, right?

[reluctants]

[ Old-school crooner definitely is not the sort of description a young girl like Illya really gets any mental ideas at all from..

.. and even Frank Sinatra just seems to make her blink in a way that clearly makes her look confused.

Sorry, Bruno. This is what happens when you're dealing with The Youth™. ]

I don't think I've ever heard of this mister Sinatra either.. Is he also old?

[ ACCIDENTALLY BLUNT.. In that sort of way that kids never seem to realise it when they're making someone feel extremely old. ]

[predecir]

Eh, well, he’s dead.

[so? yes???]

[reluctants]

Yeah! I've heard about that before. Mama and papa showed me one, a long time ago.

[ Because Illya sure wouldn't have seen it from a scientific point of view. She's just not smart enough for it. But she has seen a lot of various things in the world when she was younger, thanks to her parents.. So that's how she came across it. ]

It's a pretty idea, but.. maybe a little bit more difficult to put it into a coherent theme. Maybe I'll have to think about it.. [ She frowns a little though - like she finds the idea of thinking about all this pretty complicated.

.. but after thinking for a moment, she turns her head to look back at Junna, waving her hands almost frantically. Or at least apologetically. ]

A-Ah, it's fine though! I know it's my problem, and I wouldn't really want to bother you with it..

[reluctants]

[ ....

Ah.

Awkward.

It's not like this is the first person she's had this particular sort of interaction with. She already went over the same thing with Ai quite a bit ago, but.. it feels awkward to go through it again. Even if she's pretty sure Keiwa's reaction will probably be a little less scary than Ai's.. ]

Um, that might be.. a little difficult, Keiwa-san. [ Illya's hands move up, nervously playing with her bangs a little bit as she speaks. Not directly looking at him. ] Are you sure you need their permission..?

[reluctants]

He's dead?!

[ Shock.

SHOCK.

Bruno, apparently Illya is much too delicate to just tell this to.. Her eyes are so wide and so worried, even though she clearly did not even know who he was in the first place. Like she's this concerned about a long-dead stranger. ]

Oh no.. I feel so sorry for him. I didn't even know he was sick.. [ Illya, you didn't know him at all!!! ]

[i_peace]

[Keiwa blinks in confusion]

... Well, no. Not technically? If we were just visiting the DU, I don't think it would be as much of a problem but if they're not an official part of the Union then... [thinking...] Then it would probably be better that your parents or guardians know where you are.

[he gives her a lopsided smile]

If you think it would be too awkward for me to ask, then I don't need to be there? I just figured it would be better...

[it is weird for a non-guardian to be taking a young girl to visit people is what he's trying to get at. Granted, anyone who talks to Keiwa for a few minutes would realize he's totally harmless but one can never be too prepared]

[thestarknows]

Mm-hm. It might take some thinking. But... ah, I understand that. "Sage" is a bit broad, too.

[Junna smiles sheepishly. Maybe they're a little alike there, there.

She blinks though -- then she shakes her head, quickly.]

Oh--oh, no, it's all right! I don't mind at all. It's nice to be able to help, and... it's not a bother at all, really.

[predecir]

Uh -

[WAVING HIS HANDS FRANTICALLY]

- hey, hey, it's fine! He's been dead for a long time!

[reluctants]

[ She shakes her head. ]

N-No, I-- um, I don't think they'll mind!

[ Mostly because they won't know. And her caretakers usually don't really care, especially when Illya has never really gotten herself into any kind of big trouble before.. They probably figure they can take care of herself in this department. ]

I mean, papa and mama really don't know where I am most of the time anyway..! [ A very normal thing for a young girl to say, right.

But she wants to make sure that this whole asking-parents-for-permission situation doesn't happen so badly that the words fly out of her mouth before she's even really had the time to think about what they sound like. ]

[i_peace]

[there's a startled pause before Keiwa kneels down in front of Illya]

... Illya-chan... [the concern on his face is clear, but he speaks with the same soft tone he always has]

Are you okay?

[he'd been worried about something like this. A little bit, though probably not to this extent. It had been strange that someone had let such a young girl go to the arcade with no supervision. And even if Yumemigaoka has been very safe, it seemed reckless that no one seemed to be trying to look out for Illya at all]

[determinationtofist]

Hm? Oh, they're just fine! You're just as tiny as you look, so making the rest of this should be easy!

[ Provided they don't mess up... and let's face it, both of them are accident prone, aren't they? ]

Alright! Time to get to work, then! Ehe, I can't wait! You're gonna look so cute as a little mini-me! How much do you know about sewing? I think I can handle the clothes part, but I think I can teach you how to do the scarf! It uh... won't be as soft as my actual scarf, but I dunno how to make soft stuff, so it's all good!

[reluctants]

.. you really don't mind?

[ There's a bit of surprise in her tone as she asks the other girl that.

But there's more than just that too. There's hope. Because Illya would actually find it kind of nice to be able to think about this together with someone else - it's just that she's learned to never ask for help. It renders a rather conflicting feeling within her right now. ]

M-Maybe we could set up a group then? I mean, not just for us, but-- for all still kind of new Dreamers like us who are still figuring this out. Maybe they-- um, they'd be having trouble with it too..? [ It's a scary thing to suggest, but-- she's trying! ]

[thestarknows]

No, not at all. It's... nice to hear someone else worries about these things, too, honestly.

[She blinks -- she's a bit surprised by the question. But it's a good idea.

Even if... even if part of her internally screams at the idea of sharing her fears in a group. But--no, no, it would help Ilya, and it would help others, and it would be good.

She can do this!

Junna smiles, then she nods.] That's... a good idea. I think we should try. Newer Dreamers could use it, I think. And... sometimes it's hard to talk about some things with the more experienced people.

[reluctants]

[ Granted, it's a little hard for a girl as young as Illya to tell just how long exactly is a long time..

But she still feels a little bad for Frank Sinatra all the same.

At least the words do seem to be enough to make her settle a little bit. Just a little bit. ]

But you still listen to his music..?

[predecir]

Eh, me, not so much. I don't know if my sisters still do or not.

[reluctants]

[ Without wasting even a moment, Illya starts nodding her head.

Intensely so. It's like she wants to make sure to reassure Keiwa on this one, even though she doesn't realise that reacting so quickly and intensely kind of makes the entire thing only look more suspicious and worrisome in a way.. ]

Of course I'm alright! Um, why-- Why wouldn't I be alright, Keiwa-san..?

[reluctants]

Um, well..

[ Though the young girl looks very reluctant to answer, she still does so, though slowly. ]

I have never tried to do it before.. [ It shouldn't be that shameful of a thing to admit to, yet Illya looks like it is that way to her. Like she's worried Hibiki might suddenly judge her or view her differently after hearing that.

Maybe that's why she feels almost obligated to add a quick: ]

B-But I can learn..! I promise I'll try my best..!

[ It wouldn't be fair to make Hibiki do all the work, after all. Even though she's awesome and could clearly handle it. ]