'The characters didn't do what I wanted' so true.
It makes me scratch my head that r!wil starts sort of worshipping r!dream without being aware of the fact that he is indeed, a deity.
How does it feel for dream? He can hear/feel prayers, we know that, but is it any different? Will he ever reveal his true self? Or more like, reveal who he is, I don't think it would be great for dream to show up one day in blinding light with thousand eyes.
Does their relationship affect anything or anyone else? For example, the world sensing one of its biggest lords is down, in the mortal part or maybe loyal worshippers / priests feeling different
aksljdgsjhkdlksjahghdjjslkdjhsks karo I am so glad you've asked about this au (this au is actually taking over my mind send help lmao)
also yeah I went into this thinking "yippee!! healthy dreambur dynamic!!" and then the dreambur in question cornered me in a dark alley and forced me to write unhealthy devotion and themes of obsession and possession.
r!wilbur worshipping r!dream without even knowing that they're residing in a temple dedicated to dream is soooo arkrjsghdkjshgdjhshdshdgs
it feels a bit, odd, for dream. in some ways, it feels like a rush of power. it's so much more intimate in a way that dream wasn't aware was possible. because, sure, he can hear prayers from just about anyone, but most of the big temples have smaller prayer areas in which the prayers go to some spirits/angels under dream's domain (they're blobs, btw, very important you should know this).
uhm, some background for the god system in this au. there's major gods and minor gods and spirits/angels. both major gods and minor gods have their own little spirits, but major gods can also have minor gods who are essentially in charge of a subsect of their domain (ex: foolish in this au is a minor god under dream's domain of creation).
so, the reason dream heard wilbur's initial prayer loud and clear is because he didn't have any spirits stationed to essentially intercept calls at the temple because it was long since abandoned.
anyway, when wilbur begins praying directly to dream rather than a nameless god, the prayers wash over dream in waves. it's almost overwhelming, the power it holds. it's so much more intimate when wilbur is praying to dream directly, and in some ways it feels as though their souls are actually brushing against each other. wilbur doesn't realize it, but dream can very very clearly feel the difference. eventually dream does reveal that he's a god, but I haven't thought super hard about it yet.
important thing to know about dream in this au: he was not born a god. he became a god by killing the previous god of creation. this greatly upset the balance of the world as it was the first time a major god had been killed, and it essentially set the world into a sort of "dark age." this happened ~ a millennia before dream meets wilbur.
so, dream is more accustomed to the mortal realm than some other gods may be (though it does greatly depend on the god). a god existing in the mortal realm doesn't really cause anything big, but the other gods do notice, especially when it's a major god. dream does disappear sometimes to take care of the bigger prayers or to deal with godly stuff, but he keeps coming back for wilbur, something almost baffling (and, depending on the individual, concerning) to the other gods.
as for the other worshipers, they feel a bit different, but they don't think it's out of the ordinary. the gods in general go through phases of being more or less attentive to their followers. it's pretty normal, but, of course, the worshipers are doing everything in their power to appease dream so that he becomes more attentive again lol. mortals are needy like that.
as for the other gods, they notice. kristin & philza keep an eye on it (they were there when dream killed the previous god of creation.. it was something that really shook the entire divine community). techno is concerned for dream, because techno was there for a lot of the aftermath of dream's past and is worried about him falling back into destructive habits.
so, yeah, I hope that answers your question <3