Nightmare, pretending to be his corrupted counterpart and acting his heart out: You try, over and over, to help everyone you possibly can, but it is whittling away at you. How long until you break? How long until you fall and can’t push yourself back up again through sheer force of will? You have been neglecting yourself, putting all other needs above your own, and you know just as well as I do that it will be your downfall-
Dream, confused at Nightmare’s emotions being completely different from what he would expect: Is he just calling me out..? Why hasn’t he attacked yet?
Nightmare: (Continuing what he hopes passes fairly well as his ‘villainous monologue’) -and if you do not rest, if you keep refusing to treat yourself with a bare minimum of respect, you won’t be able to save anyone-
Dream, noticing the absence of malicious intent and a suspicious lack of guilt-tripping:
Not only does Epitaph very much not want to get in a fight with a bunch of alternate versions of themself (or anyone, for that matter), it would end very badly if they did. Therefore, they’re sitting this one out.
(they’re not technically supposed to be indoors yet, but they will be within the next ask or two, which were sent before I found out about nootfight! this scene is intended to take place right after they enter the Librarby. i have plans, i just haven’t caught up art-wise yet)
trees. trees. more trees. curiously shaped roads that are totally not a reference at all. even more trees. straight paths are boring, i’m never doing that. pretty plants. enough trees to make a forest. i am not even halfway done and i will not stop until i am satisfied with how my kingdom looks
ALRIGHT IT’S TIME TO TALK ABOUT THE APPLES AND HOW THEY MAKE NO SENSE IN CANON-
granted, as far as i’ve searched for Dreamtale info, there could be things i’ve completely missed. please let me know if there’s something i’m not aware of! also, if you’re uncomfortable with the apples and their effects being discussed in-depth, you don’t have to read this. stay safe! anyways,
If a mortal consumes more than one apple, positive or negative, they’ll die. This one’s vague but relatively straightforward and (at least to me) believable. I’m going to assume that this is directly due to a mental/emotional overload; the brain can’t handle that much, so it breaks, and the things that rely on the brain to function just stop working. oh actually this is a really interesting train of thought, i gotta get back to it in a different post but i need to stay on track here
Let’s start with the golden apples first. They also don’t make very much sense, but it’s not as bad at least?
According to Dreamtale lore, when one is eaten, the person who ate it will be given the confidence and strength to do what they need to do. This differs from my interpretation but doesn’t directly contradict it (confidence is not inherently positive, and positive emotions don’t make people ultra strong or magically heal them, BUT adrenaline (which, may i mention, is also not inherently positive) can give people bursts of strength and it’s significantly easier to deal with illness/injury when not wallowing in despair)
The effects of eating a black apple, on the other hand… uh. According to canon, you “become someone evil, without heart and only with the interest of hurting others.”
I heavily disagree with this. Negative emotions are not inherently evil. Feeling things that people generally don’t want to feel doesn’t make you a bad person. Not only does this directly go against the intended ‘moral of the story’ (which is balance), it paints things in a black-and-white perspective that is really, really not good when you start to think about it.
So. Here’s how I see things.
The apples were originally of equal.. volume? Intensity? Basically, one golden apple would hold the same amount of positivity as there would be negativity in one black apple. This has changed after Nim’s death, but that’s not the topic right now.
Eating a golden apple would make you feel a significant amount of positive emotions. This could vary depending on the type of emotions the apple holds and the kind of positivity you’re more prone to feeling at the moment. Sounds good at first glance, but it can get real overwhelming really quick if you have too much (even one apple would be pushing the limits), and chances are you wouldn’t be able to think clearly.
Eating a black apple would do the same thing, just in the other direction. Due to it being negativity, it would be immediately unpleasant to experience. Similar to a golden apple, it would get overwhelming quickly, and ever since its effects became more potent it would be worse.
The apples were edible, though, which makes me think they could have helped in moderation. You’d have to be incredibly careful with them, but they could’ve become medicine if they were given in small enough amounts. A tiny bit of a golden apple could give you enough hope to keep going. A tiny bit of a black apple could help you uncover and confront things that were otherwise buried deep.
Another thing I don’t see talked about very much is the compulsion to eat more. This could be a magic thing, and for the black apples that compulsion was definitely increased, but there is a very real explanation that makes sense here.
You know how with some medicines you have to be really careful with the dose because you’ll grow addicted otherwise? That. That right there. I can’t talk too far in depth on this topic (not only is it a rather heavy thing to talk about, I have not personally experienced it to the point where I’d know what the more severe drawbacks are like), but it’s a strong connection. Why else would someone keep eating them despite being in clear distress? Because he couldn’t stop.
okay that uh. that got WAY darker than i intended, cutting the rambling off here. i am so sorry
Looks pretty chilly where you are… where are you anyways, Epitaph?
Behind the.. very interestingly named 'Librarby.'
[They're both amused and a little pained by the misspelling, but they say it the way it's officially titled anyways.]
Definitely in Snowdin Town, I know that much. It said so on the banner on the way in. I'm not sure what timeline I'm in, but I don't think it's too far from the original.. haven't seen many differences apart from the lack of people here.
[It seems like Epitaph got here recently; they look around like they're vaguely familiar with the area, but haven't truly explored this AU just yet.]
hey so is it normal for my thought processes and perception of self to drastically change but only when i’m overwhelmed/angry to a certain extent?? it’s only that specific flavor of emotion???
like. this doesn’t happen when i’m sad or scared, even if it’s also extreme (though being scared does make me feel smaller and closer to how i see myself, which is a whole other topic) and positive emotions don’t seem to change anything at all from my perspective
granted, i don’t quite know how to be a person properly, so this could just be me misinterpreting how feelings are supposed to work. but i would like a bit of input here maybe
