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*kid, listen. there are spoilers on this page; be careful when you're reading.
*you don't want a bad time, do ya? |
- For other versions of Underswap, see Underswap (disambiguation).
"Dreamswap gets a lot funnier when you realize the cast is made up of police, people on the run from the police, and some pretty boy who does yoga and hits on the police." - Anonymous [1]
Dreamswap is a story that combines many AUs into one story, although it got its name from Dreamtale, the biggest point of focus. Within this AU, Dream consumes all but 2 of the apples from the tree featured in Dreamtale (there are a total of 200 in Dreamswap). With this newfound power, he slowly creates a large organization known as Justice Reigns (JR), which strives to right the wrongs of the multiverse and eradicate all sources of negativity so its inhabitants can live happily.
Cue Nightmare, the local hooligan, whose negative spirit puts him on the list of "most wanted by Justice Reigns". Chased by his former co-guardian across the multiverse, he finds friends along the way. Him and his pals, in a group correctly misnamed as the "Meme Squad," spend their days playing pranks on JR while attempting to avoid capture. The name "Dreamswap" comes from this ambiguous 'swapping' of Dream and Nightmare's roles as characters, with Dream being a major powerful presence in the multiverse, and Nightmare being on the run.
Much of this AU's content, while on the surface seeming comedic, light-hearted and borderline ridiculous, has a much darker premise and story to it. There are multiple possible outcomes in this story, as there is no ongoing story and the setting is open-ended.
While many of the characters share names with familiar characters from other AUs (such as Dream and Nightmare), all of the characters have been altered from their original selves into new characters with completely different personalities and altered backstories that resemble their old ones to varying levels. Dreamswap started out as more reminiscent of the stories it was based on, but it has slowly grown more and more beyond these bounds to the point of nearly being its own original work. At this point in time, all of the characters are interpreted as humans by the creator, and not skeletons, and are not intended to be connected to Sans.
This AU is very convoluted, so be prepared to expend all number of brain cells on this.
Characters[]
There are two major sides to this story; those who side with Justice Reigns, and those who side with Nightmare. However, there are also many neutral characters.
Dream Von Licht[]
Dream is the leader of Justice Reigns. He wears a golden jacket, a pin with a red jewel, and a button up brown shirt. He also has large golden wings made of magic protruding from his back. His weapon of choice is a claymore. He stands the at 6'2", or roughly 187 centimeters, having grown abruptly from his consumption of the apples. He is 124 years old, and effectively immortal.
He's known for his perfect posture and often speaks with a very professional tone. He tends to value his image as a leader more than his own feelings and concerns, and fears growing close to people because he is worried he will lose them. He is regarded by many as almost a godly figure, though he himself does not believe that. Although he's dense as a brick sometimes and very high-strung, he has good intentions, albeit questionable methods. He genuinely believes that what he is doing is the right thing to do. (Inspired from Dreamtale, Leader of the Justice Reigns.)
He and Nightmare were raised in a temple dedicated to the magic-bearing tree by a priest who died when they were young [2] . When the two of them were babies, their fathers attacked the tree and attempted to steal from it, and as a punishment, the tree spirit killed their dads and stole the two children to be the next guardians, naming them Dream and Nightmare to represent the binds destiny had over them and sealing their fate with new magic and immortality. [3] As time passed, and the two guardians grew older, Dream and Nightmare never cared much for this magic tree that their whole town seemed to have such a wishy-washy respect for. At age 19, Dream decided to use its power for his own goals to make the world better, and with his charisma, he managed to get people to support him.
Ink[]
Ink wears a brown leather jacket over a belt of sorts hung over his shoulder and a black shirt. He has a brush that he can summon at will, which he uses to control the 'ink' that constitutes his magic. He stands at 5'7", or roughly 170 centimeters, and is 23 years old. [4]
Ink is Dream's right hand man, mercenary, and friend. Dream had found him and Cross within the desolate AU of this story's version of X-Tale and offered Ink work, which Ink agreed to, leaving Cross behind. He's very impulsive, flippant and chaotic, albeit apathetic and immature. Within Dreamswap, Ink has nothing to do with the fall of X-Tale or the X-Event, or the creation of AUs, and is instead from his own entirely new timeline, effectively removing him from all connection to the original Ink. (Inspired from Inktale, member of the Justice Reigns.)
In Dreamswap, Ink comes from a universe where magic is not normative. He was snatched up by the military at a very young age and turned into a human weapon. [5] His sash, which "Inks" usually use to harbor collections of emotions, is replaced by electroshock mechanisms that cause him to behave certain ways and also erase his self-awareness. He has foreign codewords for each one of them that he has been ingrained to use, although these are not known. For most of his life, he operated under these commands, so when he accidentally escaped his universe, his memory was nearly non-existent and he has few memories of his life up to this point. Everything about Ink 'not having a soul' in Dreamswap has since been abolished.
Nightmare[]
Nightmare wears an old cape that while once was long, was set on fire by Cross by accident and then completely redesigned by Error, clasped on by a moon pin. Underneath he has a button up black shirt and black pants with purple boots. His weapon of choice is his staff, whose end can change into lots of different things by channelling negative energy, but is mostly seen as a scythe or a spear. He stands at 5'5", or roughly 165 centimeters, also he should NOT be allowed to drive. [6] Nightmare is the same age as Dream.
Nightmare took one magic apple for himself, which was the last remaining golden apple, which mixed strangely with his soul and gave him the power to channel negative energy in non-harmful ways. The other apple, the last corrupt apple, was given to his pet chicken named Kevin and was rendered useless aside from literally making Kevin immortal. Nightmare has a very stubborn attitude, will challenge anything that he doesn't like, is a ridiculous person, and makes stupid decisions sometimes, but he has a good heart. He doesn't like receiving help and believes he can fix everything on his own. His attachment to Dream is complicated, as the other not only used to be his best friend until he was betrayed, but also his childhood crush. (Inspired by Dreamtale, Leader of the Meme Squad.)
A bit of discourse surrounds Dream and Nightmare's relationship in Dreamswap, because they originally referred to each other as brothers during the earlier days of the story, and their association with the original Dreamtale created some confusion. In Dreamswap, Nightmare and Dream are not brothers in a familial sense [7] and their former status resulted from their vaguely religious upbringing.
Cross[]
Cross's uniform looks similar to X-Tale's original Cross design, however tweaked somewhat. He is usually drawn wearing casual clothes, such as a tank top and cargo pants. He stands at 6'0", or roughly 182 centimeters and is 24 years old. [8]
He often acts on impulse and emotion rather than logic and intuition, is quite theatrical at times, and is very reminiscent of a college student. He also has a slight theft issue. He still has his ability to steal code from different AUs, but instead of using this to start the X-Event like in Underverse, he used it to place a house in the pocket of the Omega Timeline granted to the Meme Squad by Core Frisk so he and his friends can live away from prying eyes and Justice Reigns. He has a deep-seeded hatred for Dream and wholeheartedly blames him for taking his friend Ink from him, and doesn't understand why Nightmare defends him all the time. (Inspired from X-Tale, member of the Meme Squad.)
Cross came from a rendition of X-tale where, instead of an Undertale timeline that was continuously rewritten into tweaked versions of the same story, the entire AU was continuously rewritten into completely different genres. XGaster, playing the role of the bored Wattpad writer, continued to rewrite his favorite real-life OCs into different stories until he got on everyone's last nerve and everyone revolted. Cross may have accidentally destroyed the entire universe in the process. [9] It happens.
Error[]
Error wears a long black jacket with short sleeves, a short blue scarf and fingerless gloves. He stands at 5'9", or roughly 175 centimeters and is 25 years old. [10]
He is what is referred to as a 'glitch' in the Dreamswap story. He suffers from amnesia, unable to remember the past before his time in the Anti-Void. He has a past with Blue filled with emotional pain and confusion, as the other man took him in when he first lost his memory and they lived together for a time until it proved to be unpleasant for a plethora of reasons. Error is the owner of the brain cell in the meme squad. He's tired, exasperated and just wishes that everyone could stop going apeshit and be nice. (Inspired from Errortale, member of the Meme Squad.)
His original name was Myriad, though he does not remember this. The name "Error" was given to him by Blue. Error and Blue have actually known each other longer than he remembers, but Blue has never spoken to him about this as he fears Error will remember the traumatic events he experienced. [11] Error has a fear of touch instigated by this trauma that he no longer remembers and wears gloves to compensate for it as he tries to overcome it.
Blue[]
Blue wears an old, giant blue scarf and has a knack for oversized sweaters. He has blue boots and black pants. He dislikes physically fighting and usually avoids violence in any way he can. He stands at 5'9, though he is nearly 5'10, or roughly 177 centimeters, is 26 years old (as far as he is aware), and is the resident pretty boy. [12]
Blue does not work for Justice Reigns, nor is he on the side of the Meme Squad. He lives alone in some kind of Outertale timeline. He favors Dream's side, wanting to see those who hurt others brought to justice, but often he is content to watch from the sidelines. He has a complicated history with Error. He has a friendly demeanor and has an extroverted personality, but he greatly enjoys learning the psychology of other people and it sometimes causes him to be quite inconsiderate of others' boundaries. He has a difficult time accepting when he has made mistakes. As he dislikes violence, he strongly believes that you can still be stronger than others by outsmarting them. (Inspired by the concept of a non-conventional Underswap timeline.)
His universe no longer exists. A severe glitch in the coding caused the structure of it to implode, and Blue only barely managed to escape, after making sure that his physically abusive older brother would not. Blue fell into the Anti-Void in the process, barely escaping before completely becoming a glitch. This said, he teeter-totters between being a glitch and not being one. He can make portals, but it harms him if he does it too much. Also, he's a yoga teacher. Gotta pay those bills somehow. [13]
His given name is not Blue, but it is his preferred name. For a long time, it was stated that his name used to be Sans, as he has been said to be from an Underswap timeline, but the author has expressed distaste in this remaining canon ever since the human designs became the official designs for the characters. No alternative name has been provided yet. Interestingly, Blue received his current name from Myriad prior to the latter's memory loss.
Ani[]
Ani has been seen wearing a handful of different outfits, although they are often portrayed wearing a striped green poncho with black clothes underneath. They wear a golden star necklace around their neck and have short, yet shaggy black hair and blue eyes. They are nonbinary, are 18 years old, and stand at 5'7", or roughly 170 centimeters. [14]
Ani was confined to a hospital bed for most of their life and was rescued by Dream in their lowest moment and brought back to the Justice Reigns Castle. They befriended Dream during their time at Justice Reigns, and it is implied that Dream had fallen in love with them [15]. They made the red sun pendant that Dream wears for him, as they had an affinity for crafts. They died shortly after of the disease that confined them to the hospital to begin with, and Dream was absolutely devastated by this. (Original Character.) [16]
Hacker[]
Hacker usually wears a plain shirt and jeans with a coat lined in furr. He has many piercings and generally gives off a hooker vibe. He stands at 5'8" and is 23 years old.
His real name is Theodore Bradford, and his 'universe' is Chicago (I kid you not) [17]. Hacker comes from a magic-free universe not unlike reality and was a college dropout who worked at a Seven Eleven before getting wrapped up in all kinds of shenanigans. Being a skilled hacker, unironically, he hacked into the dark web for fun and ended up getting kidnapped by a criminal group who deemed his abilities too good to put to waste. [18] Hacker fell head over heels for his new boss's son, Colton, who was far from a nice person, especially to Hacker, but Hacker became oblivious to it. The two of them ended up in enough of an intimate relationship for Hacker to refer to Colton as his ex nowadays.
One day, Hacker was inexplicably framed for murder and Justice Reigns picked that day to barge into his life and arrest him. It is implied that he was helped to escape. Somehow, he ended up living with Bobby and Randy in a house in some unnamed universe, hiding from Justice Reigns. Due to their origins as characters inspired by Horror, Murder and Killer, they are referred to as the Creepypasta Squad. (Originally inspired by Killer Sans, though they have no connection at this point.)
Bobby[]
Bobby wears a short sleeved hoodie with a black long-sleeved shirt under it and shorts. He is the smallest and youngest living Dreamswap character–at least those on the vaguely important side–standing at 5'4". He is 18 years old.
Bobby does not actually have a legal name, but was said to have named himself "Bobcat" before Randy admitted it was ridiculous and suggested Bobby instead. [19] While he is notoriously loud, talkative and obnoxious, he actually came from a sacrificial cult where the 'average' members were not allowed to speak. [20] Justice Reigns stepped in on the situation, wiping the cult out and taking all of the children back with them, Bobby included. [21] In the midst of this, he unexpectedly met Randy, who helped him escape from JR since it just wasn't a neat place to be. It is implied that Bobby enjoys talking because he was not allowed to do it growing up. Bobby also idolizes Nightmare, seeing him as a master criminal who constantly evades capture by JR.
Although Randy has not legally adopted Bobby, he considers him a son. Bobby calls him by his first name, not having put much thought into this. (Originally inspired by Murder Sans, although their connection is minimal.)
Randy[]
Randy wears buttoned plaid and jeans and stands very tall and large at a menacing 6'6". [22] He is 35 years old, and in spite of his threatening demeanor, he wouldn't hurt a fly and never hesitates to dad anyone who comes within a mile's radius of him.
Randy is said to have come from a 'nightmare dimension' of a universe where all of the inhabitants have an ingrained desire to kill outsiders–aka those who slip into the dimension by accident while dreaming. [23] Randy, however, knew better, and despite his horrible situation, he tried to help people. In the end, Justice Reigns hailed in as they usually do and wiped everything out, leaving Randy as the only survivor, as they didn't find him. Not much else has been said about him, aside from how he accidentally 'stole' Bobby from JR and pretty much adopted him. (Originally inspired by Horrortale.)
Finch[]
Finch is a captain at Justice Reigns, and thus is often seen wearing the white military uniform that the soldiers wear. His right eye is artificially engineered, and often emits a strange yellow flare for some unknown reason. He stands at 5'6, is 24 years old, and has a large scar over the side of his face, straight over his artificial eye.
Finch's backstory is not heavily elaborated on in the public. [24] His full name is Finch Hendrickson. He has been said to be a trans man who comes from a universe based on the early 1900s, and now works for Justice Reigns after getting help transitioning as well as getting a new eye from them. He was said to be tester for the new technology. It is known that Hacker hovers around him and definitely has a thing for him. (Originally inspired by Color Sans.)
Locations[]
The Justice Reigns castle is a large building dedicated to the organization. There isn't currently an official design, but there are a few things that it contains, such as; a medical wing, a jailing wing, a residential area, Dream's office, a cafeteria, a hall of document history, and pretty much anything that's convenient for plot. [25]
The Meme Squad's house is also fairly ambiguous. It was an abandoned house that Cross snatched from a universe to place in their small area of the Omega Timeline where they now live. Before, their living spaces changed often, as Dream always seemed to catch up to them and burst in most likely during the most inconvenient of times.
Other locations include Randy's house, where he lives with Bobby and Hacker, the space town where Blue is hunkered down, several piles of ruin left behind by JR, and all sorts of fun stuff.
Story[]
Dreamswap is an open story, which means that after a certain point a canon story does not exist but rather multiple endings have been constructed, which others are free to expand on. Certain canon information continues to be established in the past of this story, such as character backstories and whatnot, though nothing that happens in the future gets much attention. Much of the story's focus is the amount of possibilities that can happen with what's provided.
Unfortunately, there's no up-to-date, reliable list of stories and information. The best way to learn about this AU is to check the creator's blog under the Dreamswap tag as well as read the short stories they wrote for it. The author does not actively work on this story anymore.
References[]
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/615231375986016256/dreamswap-gets-a-lot-funnier-when-you-realize-the
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/616321005785333760/okay-you-mentioned-a-priest-like-does-this
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/616319021764296704/in-dankswapdreamswap-would-dream-and-nightmare
- ↑ http://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/180963901844/local-douchebag-tells-kids-that-santa-isnt-real
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/618648397936738304/are-you-gonna-tell-us-about-inks-backstory
- ↑ http://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/172903005534/ive-been-wanting-to-make-new-dreamswap-references
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/627069026520252416/hi-i-love-this-au-also-i-have-a-question-i https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/612978117220384768/people-who-exist-dream-and-nightmare-cant-be
- ↑ http://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/180963450724/ya-man-ready-to-fork-shenanigans-up-cross-is-60
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/618587364631183360/if-dscross-backstory-is-similar-to-the
- ↑ http://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/180963733169/glitchy-fellow-error-is-59-175-cm-while-he
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/190020337389/dreamswap-errors-past-okay-so-ive-put-this
- ↑ http://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/180964140869/golly-gee-what-a-saint-blue-is-about-59
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/615206717993746432/i-want-to-know-more-about-blues-job-as-a-yoga
- ↑ http://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/179945248584/happy-dreamswap-anniversary-again-i-made-an
- ↑ "A Letter to No One."
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/182636468054/ani-fact-compilation-plus-some-fun-facts-and-info
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/614955886630387712/im-kinda-interested-hacker
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/611163744667582464/dreamswap-hackers-story-introduction
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/614900802393374720/bobby-please
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/613957192790556672/waiti-have-a-question-so-if-he-only-was-allowed
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/613604034979545088/waithow-does-randy-accidentally-break-into-jr-and
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/190296720789/can-you-draw-ds-horror-sans-again
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/613692835687972864/so-randys-only-real-crimes-according-to-the
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/614906864780656640/finch
- ↑ https://onebizarrekai.tumblr.com/post/185077329589/gallifreyan-pal-gallifreyan-pal