AREAS PAINTED BLACK AND WHITE

By: Oswald

The world is looking a bit more gray as of today…

The dream world, to be exact. Areas across the rural dream world are appearing to be on the monochrome spectrum this week. What would normally be a colorful world looks to be more black and white— without color!

While this may look intimidating, the DPF reassures the public that this is part of an organized event that got prior approval before repainting areas.

“The proper paperwork was filed to repaint some areas of the dream world,” DPU chief officer Matías said in a press conference on Tuesday, “You may have seen workers painting over existing walls and other objects to give these areas a ‘black and white’ look.”

The chief officer said that this is not a threat to the public, but rather part of an annual event that has been taking place since 2022.

“The group that filed this paperwork— named as the ‘Monochrome Gang’— has been filing this specific permit for about three years now,” chief Matías said, “So, this isn’t a threat nor anything to be worried about. These areas will just look a bit more on the monochrome side for a while.”

A member of the Monochrome Gang, Felix, has said that a lot of work was done to repaint these rooms, but everything is set now.

“Boy, we had a lot of help with repainting these rooms black and white and snatching away their color,” Felix said, “But not to worry! We’re here to have fun and give people something interesting to look at. The weather is awful, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun!”

Among the rooms and dimensions that were repainted, the Cinema is looking monochrome as of this week. In response, special screenings of old films and cartoons are being held for the duration of the new, temporary look.

“Yes, the Cinema is holding screening of old black and white films such as The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, as well as old cartoons like Looney Tunes,” a spokesperson for the Cinema told the Tribune, “They will be screened as they were during their original run over 80 years ago. Notably, Steamboat Willy has gotten a lot of traction in the past year or so. It’s one of our more popular screenings.”

Felix says the rural dream world will be looking black and white for the next two weeks or so.

“We want people to come out and have fun! There’s so much you could do in these monochrome rooms,” he said, “Maybe you could pretend you’re in a detective film, in an old cartoon, a silent film, or more! We just want to have fun in a unique way. Come join us!”

The DPF has stated that the permit runs for two weeks. Areas of the rural dream world will be black and white for that time period before they are repainted back to their normal states once the permit expires. For more information, visit the DPF website and check their recent announcements or view it on their “Travel Advisories” tab.

SEVERE WEATHER STRIKES AREAS OF DISTRICT DIMENSION

By: Roman

The weather service has been tracking severe weather across the District dimension during this past week.

According to the Dimension Weather Prediction Service, severe weather has struck sporadically across the District— most notably in the America and Europe wards. Various weather alerts were sent out this week, including for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.

“We issued 75 alerts for severe thunderstorms and 27 alerts for tornadoes in the last five days within the District dimension,” Cirrus, a senior meteorologist at the DWPS said, “A majority of these alerts occurred in the U.S. enclave where we have, so far, confirmed 8 tornadoes— the highest which has been rated as EF-3.”

Cirrus says that she expects there to be additional severe weather to be rolling in for the next week before beginning to taper off in two weeks.

“Both I and my colleagues at the weather service have been looking at different models that suggest severe weather to continue for another week across the dream world,” she said, “The stormy weather looks like it’ll be around for two weeks before beginning to subside in time for the upcoming summer season. In the meantime, we’ll be actively monitoring all corners of the dream world.”

The weather service has said that for the rural dream world, 34 alerts for severe thunderstorms and 8 alerts for tornadoes have been issued within the past five days. While less alerts than the District, it is reiterated that residents should still heed warnings and be alert.

“We’re aware that the rural dream world has been hit less by severe weather, but it’s still important to be alert and pay attention to changing weather conditions,” Cirrus explained, “It’s important for everyone to have a plan in place and have ways to receive alerts. I sound like a broken record, but it’s true. We’ll be constantly monitoring for changing weather conditions that could affect the public.”

For the latest weather conditions, visit the DWPS’ website or visit your local forecasting office for additional resources and information.

Q/A: Ask Epsilon

Dear Epsilon, does Lucid have followers in the dream world?

By: Ivy Binbeleavin

Hello Ivy. Believe it or not, Lucid does indeed have a following in the dream world. Yes, it sounds a bit strange, but even after the events of the last almost one hundred years, there is still a minute group of people out there who still look up to Lucid. I mean, he may have lost a lot of friends, but there are strangers out there who think he did nothing wrong.

I don’t think it should be a surprise that you’ve heard of the great things Lucid has done to the dream world. Many ideas have originated directly from him or have stemmed from his own ideas. Lucid had a lot to offer for the dream world in exchange for very little. It’s reasonable that there would be people out there who still respect him for his countless contributions that have made our lives easier.

I’m not too knowledgeable about it, but this group of people are known— for better or for worse— as Lucians (named after Lucid). Lucians are very secretive and not necessarily outspoken about their beliefs (for obvious reasons, cough, DPF, cough), so finding someone who would identify as a Lucian is nearly impossible. However, you may find peculiar spots in the dream world where they may have been. If you’ve ever seen a moon dial with candles, books, or even a portrait of Lucid, it was more than likely a Lucian attempting to summon him.

But of course, summoning Lucid is impossible without the right materials and equipment. You do need a special scripture to summon him, though you need that for any demon really. Apart from this, I don’t really know much else about Lucians since they’re very secretive. Who knows? You may have already spoken with or walked past someone who is secretly a follower of Lucid. To be clear, I’m merely a good friend of Lucid, so there would be no need to be a follower of his. Hmm, I wonder if it’s only a matter of time before Sylveran starts persecuting those people?

Dear Epsilon, can you explain the idea of immortality?

By: Nev R. Dine

Hello Nev. Immortality is not something that is difficult to understand, however, it is one of those topics that has its misconceptions if you don’t know the real definition of it. Immortality is the ability to be able to live on forever, in simple terms, you will never die and have an endless life. There are entities and creatures in the dream world that are immortal and have lived for millennia after millennia and no matter what, are still alive to this day.

Just because you’re hundreds of years old doesn’t automatically mean you’re immortal. You can be 10,000 years old, but if you were to suffer an accident or some sort of fatal mistake, then you would die and that’s the end of that. Age does not equal immortality. If you were to suffer an accident or fatal event but do not end up dead, then you are immortal. No matter what happens to you, no matter how bad or brutal, you simply come back as if nothing happened. You are either born immortal or it is gifted to you.

The Council of the dream world is able to “gift” eternal life to anyone. In fact, all council members are given immortality if they do not have it already, for obvious governing reasons. Gaining eternal life from them is not at all easy though, and would require you to have done something incredibly worthy of their acknowledgement, and that’s rare. There are other ways in the dream world to achieve immortality, but they are either very risky, sketchy, or not worth your time.

Immortality can be a reward or a punishment depending on the person who has it. There are stories of those who live eternal, happy lives, as well as there are people who suffer with the idea of losing those around them while they continue to live on. Immortality is a strange power to hold…I think I will stick with being mortal and just try to live as long as I can.