CANON FACTS ABOUT DREAMTALE
simply because some people have been pissing me off a little over our wide Internet, I’ve decided to post stuff that is 100% canon about Dreamtale, a beautiful AU which unfortunately not many people know well enough, and for that they think it’s worthless, garbage and/or a blatant plagiarism. so, since most of this info is unknown to many of those who know about this AU, I’m here to open your eyes and relieve you of your stress!
this is just a long, helpful, awfully necessary summary, because all the posts spitting false information about Dreamtale make my blood boil even if it’s not even my AU. here you’ll find stuff you might already know, but it ranges from the basics to “secret” facts only certain people have had access to thus far (aka spanish speakers who know joku has a youtube channel)
remember, all of this is canon unless stated otherwise, no theories included (speculations with enough proof are still valid). thank me later.
* (joku, si por alguna razón estás leyendo esto y no lo quieres aquí por lo que sea, yo lo quitaré. pero no quiero que la gente siga hablando de esta forma tan pésima sobre tu AU y algunos merecen saber más de lo que tienen a su alcance.)
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- Within the concept of the AU, there are 3 vital trees that keep the balance of the universe: Life, Magic and Feelings, all protected by extremely powerful guardians (Quetzalcoatl, Lanny and Nim respectively). Each tree is in a hidden world; nobody must know where they are in order to keep them safe, though some people have found them, both good and bad intentioned. Because of this, Dreamtale occurs in a world completely unrelated to any place from the original Undertale, since it’s the occult world where the Tree of Feelings resides. This AU, by consequence, breaks the 4th wall several times.
- Dream and Nightmare were created after their subsequent mother was attacked by a human wielding a weapon, a dagger, powerful enough to wound a guardian in an attempt to obtain one of the golden apples. It’s possible this human was one of Quetzalcoatl’s creations, since at the time of the attack there was no life near the Tree of Feelings, and that it might have been deliberate. Dream and Nightmare were originally little fireballs, yellow and purple respectively. Nim was going to give them human bodies to protect their frail forms, but the energy that radiated from the fireballs made them explode as they had very few escape points. They were then given skeleton bodies (based on Underswap!Sans), which allowed that energy to flow without trouble - this is why they are not considered Sanses per se. Dream and Nightmare are currently 503 years old (their birthday is the 21st of December).
- The apple incident occurred when Dream and Nightmare were technically 6 years old, physically, which meant Nightmare went through 6 years of bullying.
- The encouraging voice Nightmare heard before eating the apples was actually the conscience of the man who killed Nim, as he ended up being absorbed by the negative side of the Tree. It’s not clear if he had any more influence on Nightmare’s corruption, however.
- Dream can’t touch the black apples, and Nightmare can’t touch the golden ones, otherwise they would invert. It’s unknown what would exactly happen if Dream touched the black apples, and it will remain unknown in canon as he would never do such a thing. It’s also unknown what would happen if both twins touched a single apple at the same time.
- Dream and Nightmare were not true guardians, only replacements. They had to learn how to unleash their true powers on their own.
- At some unknown point, Dream met Ink, who in this instance made him believe he was a kind-hearted protector just like him. Dream thought Ink was hiding his emotions for some reason, until one day he saw him not doing anything to help when some people were in trouble. This caused a heavy argument between them that almost ended in a fight. That was when Dream realized they had immensely different mindsets, given that Ink didn’t care about people’s wellbeing, and felt like he had been lied to. He doesn’t trust Ink anymore after this, even though he’s unable to hate people.
Despite his exterior, Dream actually felt overwhelmed about helping people back in the village, but just like Nightmare, he kept it a secret from everyone. He knew everyone counted on him, but he didn’t really count on anyone, and sometimes, after helping people, he snapped and went off to cry somewhere far away from the village so that no one would realize he was internally suffering.
At some yet unknown point before the apple incident, Dream met a homeless cat-monster while he was crying and saying to himself that he “couldn’t do this anymore”. The monster overheard him, but when asked why he was crying, Dream never told the truth.
This cat was Neil, a new character introduced into the story as of February 2018. He once had a family, his wife and his son, but they were caught in a fire that burned their home down and in an attempt to protect them Neil lost his arm. Long after that, he got a hold of himself and began building a house on his own, a little closer to the village. That was when he and Dream met.
Neil was not too fond of people, feeling undeserving of their kindness and gaining a bad reputation for being a cranky loner, and because of this he did not want Dream to come back there. But Dream kept trying to help him, silently building the house alongside him, and over time, Neil began to enjoy Dream’s company and they became friends. Actual friends, and not just one more person taking advantage of his altruism. After this, Dream set a routine: help Neil during the day, and stay with Nightmare at night, or earlier.
Neil knew Dream had a brother, however he never visited him, or the Tree, or the village in general.
Dream was with Neil when the incident happened. Neil let Dream run off to the village, but followed him after he heard screams. While not being part of it, he came in time to see all the chaos and destruction Nightmare had created seconds before he disappeared. His heart broke when he saw Dream as a stone statue, and even though everyone was gone, he kept coming back there regularly, as if hoping one day he would find his friend alive and well.
Meanwhile, Nightmare built that dark castle he’s known to have and (maybe?) an army of dark Papyri to help him. However, the comic this was first shown in depicted Dream under their custody – this is no longer canon, as Dream was never taken there and was instead left in the village.
Later on, Lanny, the guardian of the Tree of Magic, traveled over to where Dream was. Being overprotective, Neil threatened her to get away from him, but after exchanging some words they made up their minds to get Dream out of there and find a way to help him together. Lanny told Neil that the magic of the Yggdrasil (aka the Tree of Magic) could heal Dream, however she was only a materialization and couldn’t do anything outside of her world. Neil decided to take Dream there himself, then.
They set up a plan, but when Neil came back for the statue, it was gone. Earlier on, Nightmare had moved it to a deep fissure in the center of the village where the main town used to be to stop Neil from finding it. When he did, he was ambushed by Nightmare and his ‘ally’, Ccino, a Sans from an AU called Flufftale.
Before all of this happened, Nightmare had found Ccino being beaten up by some undefined people. He enjoyed this at first, but the memories of the real Nightmare about being bullied made him snap and he killed the assailants. When Ccino thanked him, Nightmare only told him that he didn’t do it for him, he did it for him, his ‘real’ self. After that began a toxic relationship between the two, the only canon pairing in Dreamtale thus far. Ccino felt protected with Nightmare, and because he was someone depressive, Nightmare let him stay close; since he fed on negative feelings, he was like a constant charger for him, and he used that to his advantage. He felt nothing for him, and that was the only reason they were together. It was a deal: if Ccino said he no longer wanted to be with him, Nightmare would most likely kill him.
Both of them attacked Neil as he tried to get Dream away from there, but he still made it to the point where Lanny was waiting for him in order to teleport him to her world without Nightmare following. There, Lanny explained that the magic that had turned Dream to stone didn’t actually come from the Yggdrasil but from extremely powerful hatred, and she was no longer sure the Tree itself could do anything for him. After this, it’s unknown what exactly happens to any of the three, though Neil is known to end up dying and Lanny eventually becomes Dream’s teacher and trainer. He was still stuck in stone for 400+ years, though.
Before or after Dream is set free, Nightmare will try to snatch the fruits from the two remaining trees, actually managing to steal one (from which tree is still unknown).
* There was a comic, probably separate from the ongoing one, that showed Dream finding his brother, just like he used to be, apparently dead. While he mourned him, the little, purple fireball that represented his true form appeared out of nowhere, telling him that he was indeed dead. At some point after that, the corrupted Nightmare attacked Dream, and tore off his cape while he was trying to escape. This is where Dream realized his brother was gone. The cape he wears with his new attire is the same one, except he fixed it up as best as he could.
Dreamtale has four endings: good, bad, neutral and true. The upcoming comic revolves around the true ending.
- In the bad ending, Nightmare manages to kill Dream and obtain the last golden apple, making him extremely powerful and filling the world with despair.
- In the neutral ending, Dream manages to kill Nightmare, but saves one last black apple which he then takes back to what’s left of the Tree of Feelings and joins with his own, burying them together like seeds. This ends up killing him, though. The two halves of the apples make the Tree regrow and everything rewind to the day they were born, much like a reset. This ending will keep repeating everything over and over again, and it’s described as the worst one because of it.
- In the true ending, Dream becomes a real guardian after defeating his brother in likely a different way than in the neutral ending. He manages to unleash his full power, this breaking his skeleton body and giving him a more humanoid appearance.
- The good ending is the only one that hasn’t been specified yet.
- If Dream had been the bullied one, he would have held on throughout the years. Nightmare, being made of negative feelings, couldn’t help feeling overwhelmed by the hatred, even if he used to be the more brash of the two brothers, but Dream wouldn’t have let it get to him.
- Dream always spent a lot of time with Nightmare, healing him when he was hurt and even breaking the presents people gave him to make new ones for his brother after realizing he never got anything. He really looked up to him.
- Dream is very strong, stronger than his brother before the corruption. He can easily lift boulders and other similarly heavy objects without much strain. Dream’s strength is shown in a comical way in, well, the comic, with him easily lifting a stack of heavy concrete bricks while Neil only carried some hay, prompting him to silently say “f*cking kid…”
- The reason why Dream remained clueless after being freed, depicted as having the mentality of a kid, was because he was deprived of his senses for four centuries, and he was physically 6 when the incident happened. He had no way to learn about the world while he was trapped, until Lanny (most likely) told him everything.
- Once Dream gets his new attire, his weaponry changes with him. His arrows are made of positive feelings, which he takes from those around him (this will directly affect them: if someone is really happy and Dream shoots an arrow thanks to those feelings, said person will go from being joyful to just being neutral – never negative in any way). His bow can also split into two daggers joined by the bowstring, however he only uses this when absolutely necessary.
- He has to constantly hop between timelines to stay away from Nightmare and to keep spreading positivity, as his aura is not strong enough to reach every universe if he stays still.
- He has a deep respect for Error, since he knows that if he doesn’t keep the AUs balanced, everybody would die.
Nightmare:
- Before the bullying started, Nightmare was the more cocky and proud of the brothers. He has always been the more serious one, and is always interested in learning - both normal and corrupted, each in their own ways for their own purposes.
- Nightmare doesn’t actually have 999 souls, just one, the first apple he ate. The rest are that black goo that surrounds him, an extremely powerful shield that renders him invulnerable to most things; if he were stabbed with something, his body would absorb it and there would be no damage.
- Despite shown using one in that outdated comic, Nightmare can’t actually use Gaster Blasters of any kind.
- The corrupted Nightmare never lies, only hides the truth. He also takes deals very personally and will not hesitate to kill whoever backs off from them (even if he rarely attacks people physically, mostly as a threat).
- The real Nightmare is still in the mind of the corruption, reminding him of important things such as Dream being his brother and all the psychological damage he went through because of the villagers.
- His aura can affect the entire universe he’s in, and many others that are close enough. He doesn’t need to move much to spread negativity.
- Unlike his brother, Nightmare has no respect whatsoever for Error or for anyone who protects the balance of the multiverse. He doesn’t care if Undertale and its AUs die off, as he knows there are many other worlds out there. He still would rather not have any massive massacres, as it would take away the negative power he can obtain from people.
** Dream and Nightmare are rather complex characters, as there are certain things they cannot do or feel because they are driven by more negative or positive energy than anybody else has. This limits their actions and gives them a certain way to behave, ie Dream’s incapability to hate people, (non-corrupted)Nightmare’s instant lack of self-esteem when put under pressure, Nightmare’s lack of love or empathy, Dream’s urge to save any world no matter what… All of this is caused by the energy they are made of and what the world has taught them.
Neil:
- He’s about 40 years old.
- After losing his home and his family, he headed off to live in the mountains. He was hostile to people because he didn’t want their pity, which prompted them to gossip and say things like he was the one who started the fire.
- More than a friend, Neil saw Dream as the son he’d lost, very few times calling him by his own name and rather using words like kid, boy, etc. He becomes very protective of him and would gladly give his life to keep him safe.
Nim:
- She’s never been fond of mortal life, seeing everyone as careless, greedy creatures.
- Nim didn’t entirely die until the corrupted Nightmare destroyed the Tree; she lived within it, and could still reappear every once in a while, though as a spirit.
Lanny:
- Being an elf herself, the village that surrounds her Tree is populated only by elves. She doesn’t like monsters around the village, as they take too much of the magic the Yggdrasil emanates, which keeps her and the other elves young and gives them longer lifespans.
- Lanny refers to Nightmare as a monster, since she hates him with all her heart for destroying the Tree of Feelings, killing all the people in the village, endangering Dream and thus the precarious balance of feelings, trying to steal the fruits, and etc. She’s generally angry for many of the things that have happened.
- Her wings are not real wings; she can fly (maybe just hover), but not thanks to them. They are an aesthetic, used to make her look prettier according to her. They are an extension of her magic that she can shape at will.
- His true form consists of two giant snakes, one that controls life and other that controls death. They can fuse together to create the human-ish form he’s usually depicted in.
- Before eating the apples, Dream and Nightmare could not feel people’s emotions. At the same time, they didn’t radiate any kind of positive or negative energy, since the power emitted by the fireballs was something that couldn’t be perceived.
- Dream could have a very, very slim chance to bring Nightmare back without killing him, but odds are he would be the one to die in the attempt: there is a chance that if he touches his soul, a black apple after all, he would turn it golden. However, it’s not bound to work with so much negativity surrounding him, and his arm could start to melt if he tried such thing.
- Dream and Nightmare cannot control people’s dreams or nightmares. At max, Nightmare can mess with people’s minds using what they fear or hate the most to his advantage, this way creating hallucinations and making them eventually go crazy until they can’t keep holding on, and Dream can make people feel better and safer.
- The 3 guardians are all based on mythological creatures; Nim is something of Greek origin (not specified, likely a dryad), Lanny is an elf, and Quetzalcoatl is based on the Aztec god of the same name. They don’t have their own names; they simply took them from things that interested them, as they can watch every world that surrounds them.
- The apples of the Tree of Life are not edible; they are made out of glowing blue crystal. When people die, their souls travel inside these apples. Then, when they are thrown to the ground, these souls break free and are reborn into different people, in different worlds. Thus, the circle of life.
- Reaper (not exactly the same Reaper/Death/Sans from the Reapertale we all know) has been rumored to have a role in the AU, eventually.
- Nightmare is not the leader of the “Bad Sans” gang. Not in Dreamtale itself, anyway.
(i tried linking to the sources i got most of this stuff from, but that prevents the post from showing up in the tags (thanks tumblr). check the version i posted on deviantart for the links if you want more reliability)
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