#faeu lore

Dream is warm. He is friendly and inviting; always willing to host and provide for others. He is encouraging and supportive and goes far out of his way to help those who come to him. He is Summer; playful and lively but entirely capable of burning you if you don't treat him with respect.

He is busy. Far far too busy. But it comes out of fear; he didn't listen to Nightmare's concerns about the courtiers and their ambitions, and it cost him centuries of war and his relationship with his brother. His takeaway from that was two-fold: always consider the opinions of those close to you, but don't trust others to do your job for you. This has led him to overwork himself and spread himself thin but he makes it a point to listen to all those around him, and regularly holds meetings with his close circle to hear them out.

Despite this he still tries his best. His relationships have suffered due to his lack of time, but he holds much love in his heart for everyone around him. He is incredibly grateful for the last few centuries of peace and sincerely hopes he can build a new relationship with his brother. He's an optimist through and through and always looks for the good in people. While this might make him seem naive to some, this is a conscious choice that he makes. He wants to meet every day looking for the positive in everyone and everything around him.

Dream isn't known for his temper. It has a long fuse, rivalling Nightmare's current temper, but his anger is just as frightening. His anger is usually reserved for disrespect and injustice against those around him, but as a king he also has little patience for rudeness towards himself. He will tolerate a slight or two, as he doesn't like to assume malice and will instead presume ignorance, but even he has a limit.

Dream loves painting and music and regularly hosts exhibits for others to display/play their works. He will participate on occasion, but it's a rarity as he doesn't often get to indulge in his hobbies.

Nightmare is stoic, cold, and abrasive. He is Winter personified; capable of great calamity and harsh beauty in equal measure. He is eloquent and well-read and has learned to rein in his anger, but when his limit is reached it is still fearsome. He is hated as equally as he is loved, and he has unjustly hurt so, so many. He carries that weight with him always.

He is also stubborn and set in his ways. It is very difficult to persuade him of anything beyond his own opinion. Once he is set on something then that is law. He is King, he fought for his title, and he will not take anything less than respect and acquiescence. For him to change it must be something he determines for himself, or the evidence must be very clear. Charisma and flattery has little effect on him.

To his court Nightmare is a source of stability and wisdom. He has spent centuries coming into his own and becoming the leader he hoped he could be. It was a long and painful journey filled with mistakes and the reminder of them is always with him, just out of sight. Still, his heart is closed off and the walls are steep. He has been hurt, deeply, and while the wounds are not fresh they ache all the same. Betrayal and rejection is his greatest fear and, despite surrounding himself with a support network, he is very slow to trust and form new bonds.

Dust is an elusive fae. he doesn't have much interest in humans or tricks, preferring to keep to himself. he's cold and doesn't talk much, and people aren't even sure if he's 'friends' with the little group of Nightmare's inner circle he almost exclusively is seen with. sightings of Dust alone are rare-- not because he's always in a group, but because when he's alone he just disappears. he goes off into the woods to do... nobody knows what. (he's off sitting on frozen waterfalls playing an ocarina, hunting, being a dramatic loner. anything to keep himself occupied where there's peace of mind and nobody around him to get hurt if he has an episode)

he's hard to get a read on and even harder to get close to. you're better off getting close to one of the others, then assimilating yourself into his inner circle that way. the pace at which he warms up to people is glacial so expect the slowest of burns even just for a mild friendship.

I can just imagine an interaction between both Rulers Ala Frozen (the 1st one) at the coronation party;

N: Hi

D: Hi- Hi me?

(On to the main reference)

N: What is that delicious smell?

Both: Chocolate

(The rarest smile shared by both- a flicker of twin faces grinning before the light flickers again and both Kings become amicably stoic once more)

I need you to know we love this ask so much (it's such a good question), we love thinking about the positive side of their relationship and how they're still brothers after all this time. They've been through a lot, but they still deeply care for each other! It's just complicated (ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)

Dream and Nightmare still have a few things in common! The most notable one is their loyalty; they're fiercely loyal to those around them, and if called upon they would have each other's backs even today.

Dream loves collecting bugs and would often ask Nightmare for help in their youth. If he asked for help now, Nightmare would be surprised but ultimately agree after some hesitation. He would even have fun doing it, and potentially loosen up a little ^^

Dream has always enjoyed reading Nightmare's writings, and when they were younger Nightmare would ask for his input/opinion on his work. Dream still makes an effort to get a copy of Nightmare's writing and has read every single one he's gotten ahold of. Dream has a series of journals filled with his thoughts while he was reading, in the off chance Nightmare ever asks for his opinions on them again.

Nightmare, Dream, Ink, and Error are capable of using most kinds of magic, while the others are more limited in their skills. this is due to those four being Aspects and being older so they've had more time to learn. Nightmare and Error have the strongest foundations due to both being studious, though Error is far more focused on a niche.

that being said, they all have magic that they excel at or prefer:

Nightmare-- Shadow, Celestial, Ice, Cloud/Fog, Alchemy Killer-- Blood, Alchemy Dust-- Cloud/Fog, Curses Horror-- Earth, Crystal Cross-- Shapeshifting, Lightning

Dream-- Light, Celestial, Plant, Water, Fire Ink-- Spacial, Enchanting, Illusions, Summoning/Banishment, Shapeshifting Blue-- Water, Crystal Error-- Chaos, Illusions, Enchanting, Alchemy, Curses

more info about the different kinds of magic [here]

Dream is also a natural talent at healing and is occasionally called upon to handle injuries/illnesses that other healers cannot, but he doesn't consider it one of his favourite subjects. Nightmare is also very skilled at healing, but it's due to many years of study to be better than Dream and, by contrast, he doesn't utilise the skill nearly as often as his brother. in addition, Nightmare and Dream are both naturally talented in Psychic/Mental magic due to being Aspects of Positive and Negative Emotions, though it's a specialised form of that magic; they are both capable of sensing and influencing the emotions of others around them.

~Easy morning 🌅~

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Nightmare started off strong by rounding up all of the courtiers he could; a few managed to escape, but any that were captured he personally executed. once the war was in full swing he had a very strong policy against "traitors"; anyone that was suspected of betraying him was swiftly killed.

both he and Dream were involved on the front-lines; neither was willing to have others fight for them without also showing up and putting their own life on the line. the only difference is Dream very strictly didn't fight to kill (though when fighting mistakes do happen, and sometimes self defence is necessary) and early on Nightmare did. this made him unpopular for a lengthy stretch of time as it was against fae culture. Nightmare eventually cooled off and executions became less common, replaced instead with banishment.

the older generations of fae still regard Nightmare warily and consider him violent and temperamental; it's only in recent centuries that he's garnered his reputation as a reasonable, stoic, and cool-headed leader. he's spent a long time working on his temper and managing his LV, and doesn't fault any of those that remember how he used to behave for being afraid of him.

Nightmare does regret the deaths of the fae he killed during the war and acknowledges he was excessively violent, but to this day holds no sympathy for the courtiers he executed. he scrubbed their names from the archives and maintains that they got what they deserved. they wanted to use him and his brother as puppets for power; so he made sure they aren't remembered at all.

Ink is a non-combatant on a normal day and during the war he remained uninvolved (aside from advising Dream very occasionally). he's an Aspect, and took that to mean it would be unfair of him to take sides in a conflict he's not technically involved in. he's not a Courtier and holds no power in Summer or Spring beyond being Dream's friend. this is of course excepting the influence of being an Aspect and one of the older fae in the Realms, which brings some level of respect from the common folk. he's just not making any of the decisions or ordering anyone around.

also he's just... not violent. he's chaotic and a prankster, but that's a far cry from willing to kill. he finds violence distasteful and the deaths from the war a waste of life. he's the Aspect of Inspiration, which itself is tied to Creation. death is the opposite of that 😔

When they were young Dream was the odd one out. He had difficulty listening and sitting still and would often get into trouble. He just preferred more practical learning and struggled with dyslexia and ADHD 😔 Dream was a bug kid and very outdoorsy. He liked being outside, running around and learning with his hands. He spent many seasons with tutors and restricted freedoms in attempts to get him to behave and do well. He was a bit of a scapegoat, and even would get punished for mishaps that weren't his fault. Unfortunately this led to him being desperate for the courtiers' positive attention and putting aside his own wants to try and fit in with their expectations.