⟡ RB Designs, 01: The Twins ⟡

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Introduction

hello, hello!! i've decided to start a dreamtale redesign/rewrite for-fun project!

personally, i have quite a few issues with dreamtale. mostly the writing. so, i have decided that i am going to re-do dreamtale and make my own version of it! this post will contain redesigns of the twins.

these designs and lore bits are not final, and may be subject to change later :-)

WARNING lol: this post is very lengthy!! i love rambling about things im ionate about, so get ready!!!

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Exploring Ideas

to start off, i wanted to set some rules for myself! for my rewrite, i wanted the twins to not look like sanses, since sans is so overrated... plus, they aren't actually sanses anyway!

in the OG story, nim makes them skeletons in order to have multiple exit points for their energy to move freely. however, she does this while she is bleeding out and dying.

i honestly don't know how nim had the time to search through ALL of the AUs with her mind to find a suitable vessel. it just doesn't make sense to me. so, i think it'd be much more realistic for her to whip something up in a panic based off her memory instead!

to summarize it, while nim was bleeding out, she frantically tried to all the kinds of monsters she had seen in different AUs before. she ed seeing skeletons, sans and papyrus, once—however, she's quite literally DYING, so her memory isn't the greatest. and, on top of that, she's in a rush to find these little energy balls a vessel before it's too late. so, in a hurry, she forms two skeletal vessels for the lil guys before merging her spirit with the tree.

now that we have a tad bit of lore figured out, let's see what we'll do with the skull shape!

i looked up "skeleton ocs" on pinterest, and explored some skull shape ideas. i ended up landing on the ones that were circled, since they fit what i was looking for best!

now that i had skull shapes down, i could move on!

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Dream

with dream, i wanted to make him look more like an archer while still keeping guardian-of-positivity vibes!! so, i revamped his outfit completely, using medieval archer outfits as reference.

i also incorporated more durable materials, like leather, since he fights a lot!! i think it would also be smart for him to cover up a bit more, just for protection purposes :3 but his clothes are still light-weight so he can move around freely!

   

i also wanted to address his age more properly.

i do think dream, when freed from stone, would still have the mentality of a 6 y/o. plus, in my version, their bodies grow with age. this means he would also still have the physical appearance of a child.

joku, though, made a complete mess of this in the og. i don't believe she ever gave us a clear time frame for dream to properly mature (correct me if im wrong tho lol), and then she went on to ship him with cross, a man who is both physically AND mentally ~30 years old. not only that, but she wrote dream in one of her ask-blog comics with cross to be "innocent" and "child-like" (specifically when the topic of having kids together came up. this comic can be found on youtube if you don't know what i'm talking about.)

i find this EXTREMELY creepy, so in my version, dream had around 25 years (since he was in stone for a few years less then 500) to age before the x-event happened.

i do not ship dream with cross (i personally HC him as aroace, which both the twins will be in my rewrite), however i did want to establish a clear and canon time that allowed dream to age and mature, since this was a major weird writing issue on joku's part! literally all she had to do was give at least a 20-year gap between dream being freed and the x-event bro :sob: :pray:

   

for his pre-incident design, i just made him look more like a medieval kid! in the og dreamtale, it's mentioned that dream likes to play a lot! (which makes sense, considering he's like 6). so i made his clothing dirty and patchy!

i like to think that when their clothes tear, they fix it up themselves. that's why the stitches are pretty messy :3

i also gave him a big ol gap tooth because i LOVE HIM!!! so MUCH!!!!

i also decided to give him back his cape! i'm gonna be real i do NOT like the fact joku made it into a scarf w two ribbons hanging off the back :sob: :pray: him having a cape also def makes him more similar to the classic "hero", which i liked a lot better!

i DID like the shape of the two ribbon things on his og outfit tho, so i put them on his waist as a belt instead ;3

i changed up the back emblem from a sun to a sun/moon ^_^ i honestly have no idea where these two kids got a flag for their tree from, since they did that before people began to settle around the tree, but i think it should have represented both of them instead of just dream! i also think it looks cooler with a moon and some purple hehe

also yes he does have this cape before the incident !!! i just didn't draw him with it um. because im gonna be real i forgor :cry: :cry:

Night(mare)

with nightmare, i wanted to make him MUCH more villanous in appearance. it doesn't make sense to me that the king of negativity—one who has a whole ass CASTLE and KINGDOM—would dress like classic sans. i also wanted to change his outfit to further make it clear that he isn't a sans. (also, where tf did he get that outfit from anyway????)

i incorporated stronger shapes and angles to make him more intimidating :-) he's also a bit taller than dream, since i believe dream being stuck in stone for ~500 years would have stunted his growth a bit after he was set free.

in my version, nightmare is much more pompous, cocky, and condescending. he puts much more effort into his appearance, to make himself look more "royal" to put himself above all others. he's also definitely a narcissist.

and, since he's a king, it would be fitting for him to have a crown! after he became corrupt, he made a new crown with his old one, making it sharper and more crescent moon-like.

he also holds some sentimental value to it, since in this version, nightmare doesn't die when he becomes corrupted! i think it would have been a much cooler idea for him to figuratively become a completely different person than literally. so, the guy who killed nim did not take over his body. i LOVE the idea of nightmare possibly having the chance to be redeemed, but he doesn't :-) (also gives a LOT more substance for brotherly angst, hehe ;3)

for his pre-incident design, i gave him a similar outfit to dream's, since they're twins!! his clothing is less dirty/patchy since he doesn't play as often as dream does :3

annd u know i had to give him injuries and bandages!! my poor baby .AUGGHFFFHHHH. god i love him SO MUCH☹☹

this is his post-incident design with a dark background so you can see everything better ^_^

I :heart: MAKING SUPER EVIL DISNEY LOOKING VILLANS !!!!

Side-by-sides

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that about sums up this post!! i hope y'all enjoy my redesigns!! 🫶🫶

ALSO!

feel free drop some name ideas for this new AU and for the twins! i want to differentiate it from the og but cannot think of any good names!!! so suggestions would be super appreciated <33

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