I made the somewhat questionable decision to spend the last two days slapping out a bunch of character portraits to pop into a planning document for a personal project I’m working on!
So here’s a bunch of au sans portraits.
Woooooo
Nightmare and dream by jokublog
Eclipse’s concept by llamagoddessofficial , design by me
I am already in love with the idea of Eclipse, and I am quite intrigued by the fact that it doesn’t respond at all to being called Nightmare. Is this because it is controlled a little more by Dream? Or is there another reason for it?
Also, are there other facts about him we may hear, pretty please?
OF COURSE you may hear more facts, dear Val. I've pondered up a few more things.
It uses he, they and it pronouns.
It seems very elegant and godlike. A combination of its intimidating stature, its overpowering aura, and how silent it can be when it chooses. It's eyelights can feel like they're nailing you to the ground.
When it's with someone it wants to talk to... say, a friend or lover... it's actually kinda silly?
It likes harmless pranks, it loves bad jokes. Its humour can be borderline childish - as if someone in there is trying to relive something. It adores anyone who engages with its antics, even a little, and telling it a joke of your own is a surefire way to draw its attention.
It likes animals and food, art and music, it has a fondness for gardening. Particularly trees.
Cats absolutely adore it, no matter the universe.
When it's feeling a particularly strong feeling, strange almost imperceptible shimmers of deep ruby red colour will start emanating from it. Like solar prominences.
It likes to stare. A lot.
... Though it knows it shouldn't, sometimes it uses its total knowledge of the emotions of others to say incredibly specific, deep cutting things out of nowhere. After an hour of silence, it looks right at you and says "i think she would be very proud of you."
No one's really sure if it's its own new entity, or a combination of Dream and Nightmare. Perhaps something in the middle. It doesn't seem to bear any ill will toward anyone the brothers disliked - though it definitely retains their old attachments, frequently following around people either one found important.
Despite how calm it looks, it possesses a deep and frightening protectiveness of those important to it. Its loved ones should never be in danger, not even for a moment. If it senses a desire to cause harm to anyone it loves, it doesn't hesitate to kill.
The reason it doesn't respond to Nightmare is unknown. Nightmare is very clearly in there, in the mannerisms and voice, in the interests and faint blue shimmer when its magic is observed from the right angle.
Perhaps he's enjoying finally resting, after all this time?
Eclipse!Sans belongs to @llamagoddessofficial and I am rather obsessed with them! I hope I captured them accurately but I couldn't help but wonder how they'd react to my OC.
Their design is based on art that @sparticus2000art created. I loved the first one the most so I hope you don't mind that I used it.
Background: This drabble is not canon to The Nightmare of Apathy and is a sort of "What if?" situation for whatever happens after the story ends.
All you really need to know to enjoy this is that the Reader was in a relationship with Nightmare and lives in his castle with the rest of the gang. The world is only lit up by the moon and the stars, thanks to Nightmare's influence.
Word Count: 1,959
You woke up alone, which wasn't too unusual in of itself. Still, you couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed that Nightmare hadn't joined you this time. He'd been extra busy ever since forming a treaty with his brother but you'd hoped he'd take a break on his own. Now it seemed like you'd have to go bug him about getting proper rest, even though he always insisted that he didn't need to.
You crawled out of bed and pulled the curtains aside. Just like always, the world outside the castle was dark. Only the light from the stars and the moon could pierce through the veil, but you didn't mind as it was all you'd ever known. Well that wasn't entirely true since you'd visited a few other worlds by now. Despite how pretty it was, you didn't think you'd get used to how bright the sun was anytime soon.
To your surprise and shock, the moon looked...different.
Somehow, it had turned black although the edges also seemed to be glowing. It was so bright, that you couldn't bear to look at it for longer than a second.
What did this mean? Was the world in danger? You'd never heard of anything like this happening before, although there was one person who might.
With little care for your appearance, you threw on a robe and hurried through the castle to find Nightmare, but when he wasn't in any of his usual spots like his office or the library, you started to get worried. In your hurry, you nearly ran into Killer in the hallway but his quick reflexes kept the two of you from ending up on the floor in a heap.
"woah there, what's the hurry, angel?" he asked teasingly.
"Where is he?!" You were slightly out of breath and had to take a moment to recover. "Where's Nightmare?"
Killer hummed thoughtfully, "i actually haven't seen him in a while." He seemed to notice how concerned you were and the corners of his smile quirked up slightly. "what? is the world ending or something?" he asked with a chuckle.
You huffed and shot him a glare. "Maybe? The moon is completely messed up and I don't know where he is."
That seemed to catch his attention. "i'll go ask the others and see if they've heard anything."
You nodded and Killer shot you a wink before vanishing into mid-air. As irritating as he could be, you had to appreciate how serious he got when it counted. No wonder Nightmare trusted him with important jobs.
You continued to search the castle and were soon joined by Nightmare's other henchmen, but no matter how hard you looked, there was no trace of him. At some point, you happened to glance outside and noticed that there was somebody on the veranda. They were facing away so you couldn't really make out what they looked like beyond being a tall skeleton with pitch black bones.
Maybe you should've been more cautious about approaching the strange skeleton, especially with everything that had happened before the treaty, but the moment you stepped outside, you couldn't help but feel drawn to them. They just felt oddly familiar, like an old friend or loved one.
You only got about halfway across the veranda when they seemed to sense your presence. They turned quickly and the moment you made eye contact, you realized that despite what you had thought, you'd never seen them before.
They were much taller than you'd initially thought; easily pushing eight feet tall, making them taller than even Horror. While their bones were indeed black, they actually seemed to have a white glow, kind of similar to Dream. Their eyelights were mismatched, with the left being cyan while the right was gold, and there was a flared halo hovering around the top of their skull. You were also immediately struck with their intense aura that was reminiscent of both the god brothers. You could feel your eyes start to sting with tears that threatened to spill over and yet your soul nearly leapt for joy at the same time.
They wore an elegant black overcoat with white epaulettes, a flared collar, white buttons, a white sun motive on the lapels, and their tail coats had a white lining. Under the jacket, they had on a dress shirt with lace ruffles, high waisted black pants with buttons that matched the jacket's, and knee high boots with white accents.
"Who...? Who are you?" you asked cautiously.
They gave you an amused smile but said nothing at first and just continued watching you.
You frowned and took a step closer. They just seemed so familiar and you felt like you should know who they were. The more you stared up into their eyes, the stronger that feeling became. His facial bones vaguely resembled Nightmare's but maybe that was just because their left eyelight was the same colour.
Your eyes widened with the realization that this was why he hadn't been anywhere in the castle. What could've caused such an extreme change in appearance? Was this related to the moon?
"Nightmare?"
Their smile didn't falter and they just continued watching you, although you felt their already very intense aura flare up even more. You could feel the buzz of ecstasy in your veins and how your soul seemed to swell from the positivity.
It actually hurt.
You recoiled and quickly stepped back. While your body was nearly overwhelmed by emotions, your mind was relatively clear at the moment. You wished you had more control over your magic, especially for times like these, but at least you had some defense against this manipulation attempt.
This wasn't Nightmare. It couldn't be! He wasn't capable of inflicting positive emotions and he hadn't tried to influence your emotions at all since the beginning of your relationship. There was only one other person who could, and previously had, tried to do these things.
"Dream...?" you tried again, although your voice trembled as you spoke.
They blinked before the amused smiled finally faded a bit. They did vaguely resemble the god of positivity, especially with the whole inflicting positive feelings ability. The gold right eyelight did seem like the exact same shade as his as well.
"That is not my name anymore."
You could hardly believe your ears but their voice was exactly like Nightmare's, although it was the one he used when he was trying to intimidate mortals. It was nothing like the calm, velvety tone he used when you were alone together.
You couldn't keep yourself composed any longer and the tears that had threatened to burst earlier, now flowed freely down your cheeks. You didn't want to believe it, but you could see that something terrible had befallen your partner and it seemed like Dream was involved as well.
You felt their claws press into the skin around your jaw as they ever so gently tilted your head up to meet their gaze again. When had they gotten so close?
Even though your head was dwarfed by the size of their hands, they were so careful as they wiped your tears away with the tips of their claws. You didn't dare move in case they injured you with how sharp they were.
It felt like their eyelights could pierce through to your soul with how intensely they were gazing at you. Their aura felt a lot warmer all of the sudden too and your mind felt kind of fuzzy.
They began to stroke your hair in what felt like a reassuring way, although you felt shivers run down your spine every time their claws grazed your scalp. You had been in too much of a hurry to brush your hair earlier and their claws caught on the occasional knot every now and then, but they were careful not to tug on the individual strands too much at least.
"It's... It's alright to cry..." Their voice suddenly lowered mid-sentence until it was almost a whisper. It still didn't sound exactly like Nightmare's voice but it was eerily similar. "Would...a hug help you feel better?"
You swallowed and barely got out a "Yes" when they practically engulfed you in a warm embrace. Their bones were quite literally warm, much like Dream's were the few times you'd touched him, although you could sense that the temperature was actually from how much mana they had contained in their form than anything else.
You couldn't physically wrap your arms around them, so you settled for letting your hands rest on their chest instead. They didn't seem to mind in the slightest, although you thought you faintly heard a soft purr when you touched them.
They suddenly scooped you up in their arms as if you were nothing but a small child, causing you to gasp as your feet left the stone tiles. They held you close to their ribcage and pressed their teeth against your hair, as if mimicking a kiss.
"Dear little human... I'm sorry for causing you such distress."
You sniffled and buried your face into their shirt. Everything felt wrong and knowing that this entity wasn't Nightmare hurt so much.
"You're...a very special human. The last thing I want is to hurt you..." they purred.
"Do... Do you remember me...?"
They stilled for a moment before moving to sit down on a nearby bench and setting you in their lap. They resumed stroking your hair before even attempting to answer your question.
"I'm sorry, dear, but I can't remember someone I've never met." They moved one of their hands to your back and began to rub circles into your shoulders. "You're certainly familiar to me though."
You pulled back so you could look up at them again. "Night...what happened to you? Why do you look like this? I don't... I don't understand what's going on..."
"I'm not your Nightmare, not anymore," they answered. They paused for a moment, as if trying to find the right words to say next. "I'm not either of them anymore. This is...just the natural result..."
"But why?"
"It just is. I am the god of feelings, both positive and negative." They sighed and lightly caressed your cheek. "If it is of any comfort to you, they didn't plan for this to happen."
You took a deep breath. "Was it because of the truce?"
The edges of their permanent smile quirked up slightly but they said nothing. You weren't sure if that was a yes or no but you couldn't think of any other reason for the brothers to have accidentally merged into one body out of nowhere.
They let out a quiet chuckle and softly poked your nose. "He may not have always been able to say it, but he loved you so much. If you'll allow me, I would be happy to share the depths of his love with you sometime, dear."
You furrowed your eyebrows and glanced away from them. "I... I don't know... Does this mean you have their memories?"
They shook their skull ever so slightly. "Not quite, but I have their combined knowledge. Anything you could possibly want to know, I can explain."
"How about a name first?"
They practically beamed and quickly pressed their teeth against your forehead. "My name is Total Eclipse or, if you prefer, you can just call me Eclipse."
You felt your cheeks grow warm at the contact but quickly forced any emotions down for now. "My name is Aylin. It means 'moon halo' and, well..."
They let out a quick bark of laughter. "...'the one who belongs to the moon...' I think it's rather fitting."
"That's... That's actually almost exactly what he said when we first met..."
Eclipse is sitting on the floor of his Workshop, wounds on every part of his body, blood spilling out of them.
He's too weak to get up from the floor, but he tries anyway, failing everytime.
Nightmare, curious about the strong signal of negativity, blipped into the workshop with Eclipse. "Well... what do we have here?" Nightmare grins and squats close to Eclipse.
Eclipse looks at him, He's scared "Leave me alone" his voice is weak and panicky, he tried to get up again and failed once more.
Nightmare's grin sharpens "You really have no need to worry. I'm not going to hurt you, you're much more entertaining to me alive... although I must say that spike of fear was rather delicious." He chuckles, "So no promises."
One of Nightmare's goopy tendrils reaches out and lifts Eclipse's chin and Nightmare locks eyes with him.
"If i may ask," Nightmare's singular eye socket narrows as he studies Eclipse's face "just what exactly happened to you?"
"M-my brother . . ." Everything Hurts him, a tear rolled down his cheekbone, followed by more.
The smile on Nightmare's face falters briefly and his eyelight roams over Eclipse as he assesses his wounds.
"Hmmm... It would be a waste for you to die like this." Nightmare gently scoops Eclipse up with his tentacles and sets him on an empty table.
Eclipse flinched when Nightmare touched him, he's just scared "I'm not coming back to your stupid group" his voice is still weak.
Nightmare chuckles "Do you really think you're in the position to decline my aid?" Nightmare turns from him and scans the workshop for medical supplies.
"Where do you think you could run to now?" Nightmare returned to Eclipse with the supplies
Eclipse thinks for a moment "I . . . I have no idea . . ." Eclipse is looking at Nightmare "Why should I believe that you won't hurt me like he did? Why do you even want me back? I'm useless to you"
"Contrary to popular belief, you don't gain loyal followers by near-fatally wounding them." Nightmare said flatly "As for why..." Nightmare pauses and begins carefully cleaning and bandaging Eclipse's wounds. "I have my uses."
"What uses?" Eclipse is looking at him, He's tired "I don't have that much magic, I don't have any fighting skills, the only use you could have from me is my brain and my healing magic"
Nightmare's eyelight is resolutly focused on cleaning a particularly nasty looking gash "Have you considered it is precisely your mind that I value?" Nightmare glances at Eclipse meeting making brief eye contact before quickly returning to his task.
Eclipse fell silent, He's just watching Nightmare, with an occasional flinch.
Nightmare finishes quickly with the help of his extra appendages. He rummages through the med kit for a second before procuring a pill bottle and a couple monster candies. "Can you sit up on your own or do you need assistance?"
Eclipse tried to sit up, but really couldn't without help, He's just so vulnerable now.
Nightmare leans in and wraps an arm underneath Eclipse's shoulders and lifts him slowly. A tentacle pops the cap off the bottle and another apears in front of Eclipse with a glass of water. Nightmare shakes a couple pills into his free hand and presents them to Eclipse.
"Here, take these to help with the pain."
Eclipse took the pills with a few problems, but he managed to take every pill, He's really tired, he gave Nightmare a slight sad smile, a purple blush is present on his cheekbones. Some tears are still falling from his eyesockets.
Nightmare unwraps a candy with his unoccupied hand wordlessly holding it up to Eclipse. He notices Eclipse's blush and looks away his own glow lightly dusting his cheekbones.
Eclipse took the candy, if you took a closer look at him you could notice that he looks rather feminine, his voice sounds slightly feminine too.
"So what now? Are you going to leave me here or what?" Eclipse still doesn't understand why Nightmare wants him back.
"Whether you leave here with me or not is up to you." Nightmare looks back at Eclipse, his gaze is as hard as stone.
"I did not lie about valuing you or your presence..." Nightmare cups Eclipse's face and wipes a tear track from his cheek "and I can provide you with protection" his eye narrows as he frowns "from your brother or otherwise."
Eclipse blushes more when he makes eye contact with Nightmare, He's thinking about the offer, "Wh-what w-will I h-have to d-do if I j-join you?" He's nervous, he enjoys the care, because not many cared about him in the past.
Nightmare smirks "We can discuss that later... just come with me." His eyelight searches Eclipse's face as he waits for an answer.
Eclipse thought for a moment more, a promise of protection does sound nice and he'll be close to Nightmare again "Alright . . . I'll come with you" Eclipse looks at Nightmare, a bit of happiness is visible on his face.
Nightmare smiles wide.
"Excellent! How are you feeling now? Better?" He backs up from Eclipse a little, just enough to give him some breathing room while still supporting him.
"A bit better"
"enough to stand?"
"I don't think so . . ."
Nightmare nods and leans in and places Eclipse's arm around his shoulders and wraps his own underneath Eclipse's legs, lifting him effortlessly.
Eclipse rested his head against Nightmare, He's blushing, it's like a dream came true, Nightmare is holding him, Eclipse can't really believe it, but it makes him really happy, even if there's a chance it's just a dream or something unreal.
Eclipse will need some fresh clothes, because the ones he has on now are stained with his blood and torn in multiple places. He closed his eyes, he's tired, but tries to stay awake. He's smiling slightly.
Nightmare looks at Eclipse, he's frowning slightly and his brows are pinched, but he's sporting a very visible blush.
However his frown only deepens as he assesses Eclipse's state. "Do you have any spare clothing here?"
"Well I am living here so yes"
"Perhaps you could point me in the direction as to where then?"
Eclipse pointed at the stairs that were in a hallway next to the Workshop, "upstairs, second room on left . . ."
Nightmare carried Eclipse upstairs and entered the room, he set him down on his bed gently and turned around to rummage through Eclipse's clothes and started filling a travel case he found in Eclipse's closet.
He glanced over his shoulder at Eclipse, "Is there any necessity you would like me to fetch? I'm taking you with me now."
Eclipse pointed at a small wooden box "This, please"
Nightmare gathered the box and the travel case, returned to Eclipse and picked him up. He grins at the skeleton in his arms and ported home.
Eclipse looked around slightly nervous, he really enjoys Nightmare' care, He's worried about the reactions of others when they see that he came back.
Nightmare ported into a large castle room with two doors, arched windows, and dark stone floors and walls.
The room's furnished with lavish seating, bookshelves lining a wall, a desk, a regal looking four post bed and a soft opulent rug that just tied the whole room together.
"This is where you're going to be staying. I don't want you leaving this room until I say so. I still have to announce your return and I would not trust the others until then." He places the box and travel case at the foot of Eclipse's new bed "Are you still too weak to move?"
"I think I'll manage" Eclipse looks around the room, mostly looking at the bookshelves, he's smiling, "Thank you . . . For helping me . . ."
Nightmare, who had also been examining the room looked down at Eclipse, looking so vulnerable and weak in his arms.
Nightmare's face went on a journey.
A slightly confused frown, to a soft smile, to a hardened expression that fit "If looks could kill..." and finally settling to a clearly plastered on neutral expression.
"You're most welcome."
Eclipse is thinking about what to do now, he's comfortable in Nightmare' arms, but he knows it won't last long, if he could he would want to stay like this forever.
Nightmare didn't want to let go either, but they couldn't stay like that forever and Eclipse probably needed some rest.
Nightmare walked over and set Eclipse on the bed "The bathroom is over there" Nightmare gestures to one of the doors "I recommend resting before cleaning youself up." Nightmare pauses for a quick moment "and that door" He gestured to the other "locks and is enchanted with a barrier that only you and I are able to port across. Keep it locked untill I tell you it's safe."
"Okay" Eclipse sat up "Could you give me one of the books?"
Nightmare nodded strode over to the shelves. "What would you like to read?"
"Fantasy" Eclipse is looking at him.
Nightmare selected a book and returned to Eclipse. "This one is one of my favorites, I think you will like it" He hands the book to Eclipse
"Thank you" Eclipse took the book and looked at the cover.
Nightmare nods "Is there anything else I can do for you? Shall I leave?"
"You can leave if you must . . ."
Nightmare frowns and stares at Eclipse "If you do not wish me to leave, you can always say so."
"Well I want you to stay, but if you have something to do, I don't want to stop you from doing that" Eclipse is nervous.
"I'll stay then." Nightmare smiles and walks back to the shelf and selects a book and takes a seat in one of the armchairs.
Eclipse smiled and began reading the book that Nightmare gave to him, but soon fell asleep while reading it.
Nightmare hears Eclipse snore lightly, he looks up from his book and shuts it, he sets it down on a side table and walks over to Eclipse.
Nightmare gently pries the book from Eclipse's hands, setting in on the nightstand. Nightmare pulls the sheets folded at the foot of the bed over Eclipse.
He smiles at Eclipse and softly runs a hand over his skull. Nightmare looks almost sad. Nightmare checks that the door is locked and blips out.
