I've been thinking a lot about safe objects and how growing up I always needed something soft like a stuffed animal or a gimmicky purse (I had a turtle purse for the longest time), and then eventually graduated to books, sketchbooks, and pencil cases being my teenage/adult safe objects. Now, thinking about that in the context of Dream Team is so fun and I want to share my thoughts.
First off, I love the concept of Dream's custom made mask being both a safe object and a sensory object. While it was presented satirically at first, poking fun at the negative reactions to his face reveal, he still wore it with confidence and good humor, while also maintaining branding. It's no surprise that it's a great comfort to Dream as it literally masks his appearance and provides him a shield from onlookers, while also setting forth a fun and playful attitude. On the sensory object aspect of it, since it's made by the same people that designed the high quality Spider-Man masks, we've seen the face of the mask is a plastic mesh with enough clearance for being able to see, but it still lends some sensory deprivation in blocking out lights, and paired with his hoodie, blocking out sound. I know we all love to see his face, but I do love when the mask is involved even as a joke because their is something so personal and sentimental about it. Aside from the mask, I think his sword necklace and cat beanies can also serves as safe objects, and the sword could also double as a fidget. I don't wear a lot of jewelry, but I know that whenever I wear a necklace, it quickly becomes a stim toy. Finally, a lot of his OU wearable items can serve as safety objects, whether he's just representing the team at a game where it's expected to where team merch, or at home or out and about, as he's shown in videos, Snapchats, and even a few images from his childhood that were on the flash drive.
I haven't narrowed down one specific safe object for George because he is someone who collects a lot of objects and Penguin Pebbles (giving small and often thoughtful gifts as a token of affection or admiration). Rather than bringing objects with him wherever he goes, he usually ends up acquiring a new object. But I do think his wardrobe as a whole can fall into the realm of safety objects or comfort objects. His style has remained relatively constant to when he first started streaming with tee shirts and soft or loose fitting pants, only wearing jeans or tailored clothing when necessary. Nowadays he's solidified himself in wearing oversized cotton blend shirts and big loose shorts that typically seem to be a polyester fleece blend, which is typically thick but very soft fabric. Even when fishing in cooler temperatures (cool for Florida), he's in shorts and tee shirt. Expanding beyond his outfits, his socks are a clear comfort as he is very particular about the brand, style, and fit. He has shown he owns other socks, but those are all themed socks that seem to be more for a fun laugh than a casual wear. Finally, I think his sneakers/sneaker collection are a clear comfort, but more so in a special interest way rather than a full on comfort object. He is still very particular about what sneakers he enjoys, what outfit or event he wears them with, and how to take care of them.
In general, I think Dream is more consistent with his safety objects, often needing them to have some sentimentality to his personhood, whereas George can make a safety object out of a variety of things, but ties a lot of comfort and safety to special interests. Dream is more likely to bring a safety object with him and George is more likely to collect safety objects.
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