Lonesome West

Sketching the boys (Featuring Bald Nightmare)

Playing around with idea that Dream leans into the “godly” role as a way to feel closer to his ‘mother,’ while Nightmare is more modern (Both want what they can’t have basically)

Dream & Nightmare

Lonesome West headshot doodles of Blue, Cross, and Axe <3

Nightmare would absolutely be on board with helping you in this situation. The fact that he’s the only person you can genuinely keep eye contact with really boosts his confidence in multiple ways; He’ll make it his goal to be able to get you comfortable with the other members of his group, though.

Kiss?

Nightmare would stop you before you’re even close enough to attempt. “Please, refrain yourself before getting into something you’ll end up regretting.”

It’s not that he doesn’t enjoy affection, in fact- he craves it; He just doesn’t want to drag you down with him and end up being hurt in the long-run. Nightmare, assuming you’re a member of his gang, would most likely distance himself from you after an incident like this.

He doesn’t communicate his emotions well- please be patient with him. You urge him into having a good talk by the campfire while everyone else is resting? You might end up getting that kiss-

Answering @elliebell77’s question about how Nightmare influences the wild-life!

Nightmare is a sort of sentient life-force (similar to Nim) and his power/control over animals and such is less a mind-control ability and more instinctual. You know how in Avatar when all the animals come to protect the tree? It’s similar to that. He’s connected to the wild and all that’s in it, so by extension he shares a bond with all the animals in his domain. This also includes plant-life, though he hasn’t quite learned how to harbor that ability- Yet.

Nim exists!

Rather than a mother, she’s more of a precursor deity to Dream and Nightmare. She represents the Spirit of the Wild to the lands of the west before humans and monsters showed up. When early villages began establishing in her plains she slowly lost more and more of her influence over the domain until she couldn’t keep up a physical form. Before she vanished, she concentrated what was left of her magic into two souls (Dream and Nightmare) as a way to still keep a connection with the land even after her death. Nightmare inherited Nim’s more archaic powers while Dream was something entirely new (which is why his influence over mortals is slightly unstable, Nim didn’t have much knowledge on how mortals worked and she was working on a time limit)

Dream and Nightmare were raised by mortals and never truly learned how to keep their abilities in check. Nightmare, similar to Dream, also had involuntary influence over others (Another reason why the townspeople had a bias against him) but was able to figure out how to keep a lid on it after the first few years he spent on his own after his corruption. Nightmare is only able to do this since he was the first soul Nim had made: Dream, as a result of being rushed before her form dissipated, will never have a way to control these effects.

Just gonna drop these before I forget in the morning lmao

Since Dream represents exploration, and the bravery/courage it requires, being around him for an extended period of time would cause someone to become fearless and/or have less restraints when it comes traveling into the desert or mountains. Think of it as hubris. When he was young, Dream didn’t know he had this lingering effect on the people around him (due to the fact Nightmare was there to balance it out) and it only became obvious after his and Nightmare’s separation. People he cared for and would spend the majority of his time around would ignore warnings when traveling and usually meet their end in gruesome ways. Ever since he’s realized what effect his presence has on others he’s taken to distancing himself in subtle ways: taking long missions in far-off towns that Blue could have easily done himself, excluding himself from his return parties under the guise of fatigue, etc. It’s hard for him to form relationships with others this way as he fears they will eventually end up like his companions so long ago.

Both Dream and Nightmare represent different concepts of the West.

Dream represents the concepts of exploration, growth, and reliability. (Exploring the vast valleys, growing as you travel, and building strong trust bonds with your companions along the way.)

Nightmare represents the concepts of the unknown, the wild, and unpredictability. (The unexplored mountains and forests, dangerous wild-life that could harm you or others, and growing tensions that result in you or someone you travel with lashing out against eachother.)

These ideas manifested in the forms of Nightmare and Dream once monsters and humans began settling in the West. Of course, people preferred the positive notions Dream symbolized and naturally respected him more. Nightmare was hardly ever treated as an equal, even though what he represented was meant to be heeded as warnings to keep others safe when traveling.