Hello. This is an accepted aspect to the profiles already, but I wanted to dedicate a blog to it and I think this will be very easy to follow along. I'll be arguing Dreams in Sonic are conceptual in their nature.
Really? Conceptual? (An Introduction)[]
Yes. Specifically, Type 1. For starters, let's take a look at the Conceptual Manipulation page.
"1. Independent Universal Concepts: Such concepts are completely independent from the part of reality they govern, except maybe of other concepts of this nature. These concepts shape all of reality within their area of influence and at whatever level that area exists in, and everything in it "participates" in these concepts. For example, a circular object is circular because it is "participating" in the concept of "circle-ness". In this way, the alteration of these concepts will change every object of the concept across all of their area of influence, while the opposite wouldn't affect the concept."
With that noted, let's continue.
How? Why Dreams? (An Explanation)[]
Glad you asked, my friend, and it begins with Sonic Shuffle. I will be using the JP dialogue of the game.
Maginaryworld[]
Moments after awakening after they had just fallen asleep, Lumina reveals to the gang that they're in Maginaryworld ("a world that assembles the dreams of those in all other dimensions", as per her own words). This is thanks to the Precioustone, the gem that created Maginaryworld and "makes dreams come true". In this aspect, through the Precioustone, dreams fit the bill of being independent from the reality they "govern" (in this case, the governance exerted here is the existence of dreams within living things).
- It's important to note that both Lumina and Void suggest that dreams encompass many things. Something people do, something people become, something that changes, and even as a result of people taking refuge from bitter, sad, and painful things. From all of this, we can see there is a LOT of variation as to what dreams encompass.
Throughout the adventure, Lumina and co. visit several different dream worlds. Emerald Coast is a dream created by those who dream of peace, Fire Bird one created by those who enjoy the freedom of travel, Nature Zone by those who enjoy and desire to be one with nature, and the Riot Train by those who dreamed of travelling and longing for adventure. These are just four of a countless amount of dream worlds located within Maginaryworld held within Fourth Dimensional Space. Thus we can conclude that dreams qualify for shaping reality within their area of influence.
- This would be Conceptual Creation at a Type 1 level for the Precioustone.
Void is said to possess power that can bring an end to Maginaryworld, with Void himself being referred to as said darkness directly on multiple occasions.
- This would be Conceptual Destruction at a Type 1 level, something currently accepted in Void's profile. As we know, Void is only half of Illumina.
The identities of Void and Lumina are something integral to the entire premise of Sonic Shuffle. Let's begin with the fact that Void directly referred to himself as the dreams, an idea that is supported by both Lumina and Sonic (as the former questions whether Void is the dreams that create the darkness of the heart and the latter realizes Void is part of the emotions necessary for dreams to exist). This is even stated by the fleeting consciousness of Void outright, claiming he, Lumina, and Illumina are the same entity (which we know to be technically true). Before Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles finish their journey, they give a pep-talk to Lumina when she falls into despair after beating Void did nothing,
- Sonic realizes that dreams are born in the face of anger, sadness, despair, and emptiness, which Void represents as a necessary part in order for dreams to exist, with the Precioustone being implied to be these very emotions.
- Tails tells Lumina to accept Void for who he is, as dreams can't exist without him, and relates to it by comparing her case with when Tails refuses to give up in the face of emotional adversity because of the hope his dreams give.
- Amy tells Lumina that even having a dream, regardless of how small it is, allows for people to live each day in high spirits.
- Knuckles confronts Lumina that their own doubts are what causes dreams to be given up on and abandoned, which Lumina should know best of all.
There's a clear juxtaposition that Lumina and Void are meant to represent, hammered home best within this final five-way dialogue between Maginaryworld's heroes, that implies a form of Nonduality for Illumina. Additionally for those who can directly affect Void/Lumina/Illumina would gain Emphatic Manipulation for being able to directly affect emotions, which is what these characters are
Reverie and the Dreamscapes[]
In 2023's Sonic Dream Team, we're introduced to an artifact found by Dr. Eggman called the Reverie. It's an artifact that's able to materialize dreams into reality if the wielder is pure of heart, though it has a guardian. Ariem and a new dream world known as the Reverie Haven are introduced. From the Reverie is multiple separate dreamscapes attached to it. Most importantly, we learn about a substance known as Magination.
In short, Magination is represented as an amber liquid that's referred to as the essence of dreams. Dr. Eggman corrupted this substance with usage of the Reverie in order to turn dreams into literal "nightmare fuel" that corrupts them. This substance is essentially the "conceptual material" that dreams are comprised of.
- This goes even further, however, because the official Sonic Twitter posted concept art for each dreamscape that has certain implications for the nature of dreams. To list the relevant ones:
- Dream Factory is stated to be "the part of Dr. Eggman's mind that creates his inventions and Badniks".
- Nightmare Maze is representative of Dr. Eggman's inner madness.
- Ego City is exactly what it sounds like, inferred (but not stated) to be the part of Dr. Eggman's mind that's full of himself.
From this, we can conclude that dreams can potentially (but not mandatorily) be the direct manifestation of a person's mind.
This grants Illumina (and Void/Lumina) Mind Manipulation due to most likely being the "creators" Ariem spoke of having (something supported by the fact that what Ariem does with the Reverie is basically Maginaryworld but on a waaay stricter level).
And dreams have showed such mechanics with their fundamentality, as will be explained bellow
- The first level of fundamentality stems from dreams themselves, which I hope this blog has helped convince you of thus far lol. This is where Magination comes into play directly, being the substance that allows the dreams to exist and thus being inherently more abstract than the aforementioned fundamental information and plot, as it is what shapes both of them in Maginaryworld as Dreamworlds (This was discussed and accepted here.)
- The second level of fundamentality is the Reverie Haven, a special dream that encompasses a group of dreamscapes born from a relic that causes dreams to become reality once a millennia if the user is pure of heart. It's Fourth Dimensional Space on a more limited, conditional scale.
- The third level of fundamentality is a two-in-one, Emotions and Illumina. Emotions are said to be what allows any dream to exist in the first place, being what defines them and gives existence to Void (and by extension his counterpart Lumina and his complete self Illumina) due to him embodying these emotions and dreams themselves.
- The fourth and final level of fundamentality comes from a set of beautifully familiar gemstones: the Chaos Emeralds. Note that this doesn't apply to the Emeralds in the physical sense, but the metaphysical sense (their energy). Because the Chaos Emeralds are stated to be the super-substance of dreams, and additionally stated to be the source of vitality and energy to all living things, Illumina would definitely apply when speaking about the level of reality the Chaos Emeralds influence.
To make it short:
Chaos Emeralds (Super-Substance of Dreams) > Illumina/Void/Lumina (Dream Beings/Emotions) > Reverie Haven > Magination (Normal Dreams)
What does this affect?[]
For starters, being able to destroy Dreams is Conceptual Destruction of a Type 1 concept. While this is the most forward addition, there's something else that comes from all this. Illumina gets the following:
- Nonduality (Nature Type 1, Aspect Type 2 (General Nonduality). Dreams & Nightmares. Fourth Dimensional Space is in itself the dream of Illumina, harboring the dreams of those in all other dimensions that appear as if they're projected on a screen. When Illumina split into two separate beings, her two halves represented the dreams themselves; Void, who embodied the negative aspect of dreams, and Lumina Flowlight, who embodied the positive aspects of dreams. Dreams are thought to be something an individual wants to do, wants to become, or wants to change by both Lumina and Void, as well as something created in the face of adversity. In spite of negative dreams being comprised of ones that include darkness of the heart from things such as monopolization and domination, their existence had no consequence to Illumina. After Void's defeat, Sonic realized that dreams are born in the face of anger, sadness, despair, and emptiness, which Void represents as a necessary part in order for dreams to exist. This is supported by Tails, who stated something similar and compared it with his own emotional turmoil. Amy reminds Lumina that dreams are what allow them to keep high spirits, with Knuckles confronting Lumina that their own doubts are what causes dreams to be given up on and abandoned. Lumina recognized that it was Illumina's own inner turmoil which caused their separation to begin with, which Lumina managed to overcome to be whole once again)
- Conceptual Manipulation (Concept Creation, Alteration, & Destruction. Dreamed Maginaryworld into existence as Illumina, a realm full of dreams from all others in the multiverse. Certain dreams are the direct manifestation of certain parts within the individual's mind. Void, the half of Illumina which represented the negative dreams of Maginaryworld, referred to himself as being those very dreams and corrupted several of them when entering. Had he not been stopped, he would've destroyed them)
- Dream Manipulation, Empathic Manipulation, Mind Manipulation, Physics Manipulation, Information Manipulation (Type 2. Fundamental), Data Manipulation, Text Manipulation & Plot Manipulation (Dreams encompass many things; Void in particular was stated to be part of the emotions necessary for Maginaryworld to exist, existing as the negative dreams themselves. Other dreams are the direct manifestation of certain parts within an individual's mind, with others having the laws of physics altered. The Ancients' desire/dream of keeping their legacy with Cyberspace would be manifested as well, which is a realm made of data/fundamental information. Merlina's and Erazor Djinn's dream would equally be manifested, which involve their respective Storybook Worlds, which are universes fundamentally made of Texts/Manuscripts and Plotlines)
This grants Solaris the following:
- Dream Manipulation, Empathic Manipulation, Mind Manipulation, & Conceptual Manipulation (Concept Destruction; Type 1, Independent Universal Concept. Empowered by the Chaos Emeralds, the super-substances of dreams that give vitality to all living things, which would include beings such as Illumina and realms such as Fourth Dimensional Space [a space which in itself is Illumina's dream], with emotions themselves being necessary for Maginaryworld to exist. Certain dreams are the direct manifestation of certain parts within an individual's mind. Dr. Eggman stated Solaris' plan was to swallow all timelines and destroy the very meaning of time itself, which would include realms such as Maginaryworld by extension)
The Chaos Emeralds are granted the following:
- Dream Manipulation, Mind Manipulation, & Conceptual Manipulation (Concept Creation & Destruction; Type 1, Independent Universal Concept. The Chaos Emeralds are stated to be the super-substances of dreams, with the power of dreams being capable of awakening Super Sonic, implying that beings such as Illumina and Ariem exist because of the Chaos Emeralds themselves. The Emeralds allowed Mephiles and Iblis to fuse back into Solaris, who immediately became a threat that would swallow all timelines and destroy the very meaning of time that additionally encompasses Maginaryworld and all the dreams contained within Fourth Dimensional Space)
Adventure Era Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles gain:
- Resistance to Conceptual Manipulation (Concept Destruction; Type 1, Independent Universal Concept. Void is said to possess a power of darkness that can bring an end to Maginaryworld, with Void himself being referred to as said darkness directly on multiple occasions while directly stating he is the dreams themselves, who the cast can withstand attacks from)