YUMENARI LORE: THE BASICS
SO, WHAT IS A YUMENARI?
YUMENARI are the kitsune messengers of the Dreamscape! Their primary job is delivering dreams to the people on the earth below... as well as nightmares. All Yumenari are seperated into two categories: Dream Yumenari and Nightmare Yumenari, although some may be blessed to be both! They additionally love fashion and will dress themselves up lavishly and love to decorate themselves, lavishing themselves with their weather and other decoration traits.
A Yumenari's weather does serve a purposeāit assists them in their task of delivering dreams! When night falls, they curl their tails (and weather) into their feet, and fly through the human realm. The cute, cuddly form they take to switch between realms is known as their Nimbus form and every Yumenari is capable of this.
Other traits, such as their tails, vary based on age, power, or a god's affection. As a Yumenari ages they gain tails, the maximum number being nine, which shows their wisdom, power, and standing with the gods. These ancient and powerful Yumenari are also often gifted blessings, which are often special or non-fox traits given to them, by the gods. Its not uncommon to see these Yumenari decorate their blessed traits with ostentatious accessories, to draw more attention to and show off their favor with the gods.
THE MESSENGERS OF DREAMS...
DREAM YUMENARI are in charge of delivering good, happy dreams to people. Their weather patterns can vary from the default cloudy weather, to rainy, sunny and even pastel rainbows! Additionally, their clouds are often decorated with hanging baubles, sometimes with circular mobiles alongside it as well.
Dreams are more known to indulge more in human activities, especially fashion trends and find joy in their whimsical, distinct styles and appearances. They also often seem to be quite cheerful and fun-loving which goes hand-in-hand with their pastel and bright apperances.
...AND MESSENGERS OF NIGHTMARES
NIGHTMARE YUMENARI are in charge of delivering bad, terrifying dreams to people. Nightmares are a bit different from Dreams due to their closer proximity to the center of the Cove and thus, closer proximity to miasma. Due to this, they wear masks to contain their own miasma.
Nightmare misasma weather patterns can vary from the default cloudy weather, to thundering, foggy and even dark rainbows! Additionally, Nightmares are more in tune with the spiritual realm and it reflects in their aesthetics and accessories! They decorate their miasma by wrapping things around them, sometimes with objects dangling from them.
THE MAKING OF DREAMS...
ALL YUMENARI MAKE DREAMS, whether they are good or bad. Most, if not all Yumenari, start crafting dreams as soon as they reach adulthood and is considered an instinctual and enjoyable process. However, in the first year or so of making dreams, the older generation of Yumenari often watch over and assist the new adults in the craft of dreamweaving.
But you may ask, how do they do this? The answer quite simple: Yumenari use their magic to craft the perfect dreamāeven before they ever make their way into the Human Realm to deliver it.
Each Yumenari is capable of making a portal to their own Dreamscape, where they can craft their dreams out of Clouds or Miasma. They are also able to invite others through their portal to view the dream in the making, or even have them cooperate in it! Divine Messengers, such as Hajime and Nanashi, are able to enter other Dreamscapes ( and dreams ) freely, though they only do so if there is suspected foul play going on.
To give these freshly-made dreams to the humans below, they are essentially connecting the dreamer's minds to these portals, to bring them into the Yumenari's Dreamscape to experience the dream they've crafted.
Due to Yumenari magic being flexible, and the human brain being built to recognize patterns and fill in blanks of information; more specific details pertaining to a human's life are able to be filled in by their own brain, allowing the Yumenari to make dreams that are more generic and that can be used for multiple humans. However, Yumenaris are expected to create new dreams and nightmares frequently. To use the same ones over and over again is considered slacking offāand could lead to getting reprimanded by the Messengers.
DO YUMENARI DREAM OF FLUFFY SHEEP?
SURPRISINGLY, YUMENARI DO EXPERIENCE DREAMS, despite being the Messengers for them! However, Yumenari dreams arenāt crafted like they are for humansļ¼they only have good dreams, sent to them by the slumbering goddess Nemuri herself! Those favored by the Gods will also be visited by them in their dreams to receive messages; this is also often how Divine Messengers receive their orders!
YUMENARI AND THE HUMAN REALM
YUMENARI MUST ENTER THE HUMAN REALM IN ORDER TO DELIVER DREAMS. It's their job, or rather a biological imperative if you will. Not to mention they'll get into trouble if they shirk their duties... no one wants to face divine punishment!
As Yumenaris are directly connected to the Dream Realm and the Gods, they require trips back often in order to replenish their magic. A normal Yumenari will have to return every day, while a particularly strong Yumenari can stay in the Human Realm for about three days and three nights. They'd have to be exceedingly strong and old in order to stay any longer than that!
In the Human Realm, Yumenaris often travel in their Nimbus form, which is faster and is not able to be seen by humans. However, sometimes they take on a human "disguise". Normally, they are unable to hide their foxy features as they are made up of the same magic as the Dreamscapeļ¼so humans are unable to see the fox features naturally outside of a dream! Humans must drink from the waters of the Cove in order to spot a Yumenari.
Naturally, Yumenari are very mischievous; they love to use their invisibility and magic to play pranks on hapless humans! Though, if they go too far, they're sure to get in trouble with the higher ups...
Yumenari are famously a bit flaky when it comes to humans. They tend to forget how delicate they can be, as well as the length of a human lifespan. It's not unusual for a Yumenari to leave a human, only to return back decades later and be shocked to find the human no longer alive. It's reminiscent of myths and legends where kitsune marry humans... only to mysteriously disappear!