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Last updated: 05/27/2026

Overview

A Dreamer’s Journal, my second youngest worldbuilding project, ranks as my third most developed story despite its age. Originally, Dreamer’s Journal (previously named The Subreality,) was explicitly about an abstract, dreamlike world, and had no overarching story to follow. Although some of the characters that belong to this universe have already existed in its beta version for several years, it wasn’t until fairly recently that I decided to expand the universe into something more original and interesting.

Dreamer’s Journal follows the investigation of a teenage insomniac, Monty Mclaine, as they seek to uncover the mysteries of the subconscious after an unexplained sleep-related death. As you can probably tell from the title, this story would be told in journal format, written from the perspective of Monty’s personal investigation records. The writing style would resemble a mix of diary entries, interview transcripts, event retellings and research notes, like the audience is reading directly from Monty’s raw, unedited journal.

Background

Monty is a fairly ordinary teenager who suffers from chronic insomnia. They have been afflicted with sleeplessness for their entire life, so it is a struggle they are quite accustomed to. Monty has always had an obsession with dreams; due to their insomnia, they rarely ever experience the subconscious. In its absence, Monty developed a passionate special interest, eagerly pursuing any and all knowledge on the nature of dreams that they could get their hands on. They read library books, news articles, blog posts, research papers, and even conducted personal interviews to quench their thirst for dream knowledge. Investigating the subjective nature of the subconscious became one of their biggest hobbies.

Inevitably, over their years of inquiry, they discovered sparse yet compelling evidence that there is more to dreaming than initially anticipated. Scientifically, dreams are still mostly a mystery that evades the research of all related specialists. However, Monty noticed several odd consistencies across a variety of dream retellings; they noticed repeated accounts of specific, recurring figures in different people’s dreams, and that there were sometimes real-life individuals supposedly attached to these experiences. It was unclear how or why these consistencies were coming up, or how something so concordant could occur in the first place. Maybe it was hoax - a strange story meant to unsettle and nothing more, but something in their gut told them it was more than that. They couldn't quite place why; either way, it intrigued them.

If this was true, then residing in the world of the subconscious, there were identifiable entities capable of existing outside the dreams of one particular person. This could include travelling into someone else’s dream; or, inexplicably, they could appear in the real-world as a tangible human being. Some of these creatures seemed benign, others quite malignant. This made it difficult to speculate their motives, since the way in which they interact with dreamers is varied and random. Monty did not know what these creatures were, how they worked, or what they wanted, or if they were even real. Regardless of their skepticism, they grew incredibly curious about their nature. They eventually shifted their research from the ambiguous science of dreams, pursuing a more supernatural investigation into these obscure happenings.

Monty started searching for more primary sources relating to these dream entities, eager to collect as much information as they possibly could. They were excited. They wanted to figure out these strange beings. They wanted to solve them, even if they were a hoax.

Early into their investigation, Monty decided to call these creatures “Daemons.” Daemon is a word for the manifestation of a given concept; an apt description for these personified dream creatures. Monty began cataloguing the identities of every Daemon they could find a record on, delving deep into their histories in attempts to uncover their origins.

Monty’s investigation quickly caught the attention of fellow dream fanatics. One individual, by the name of Atlas Wells, was particularly intrigued by Monty’s project. Coincidentally, Atlas is afflicted with chronic hypersomnia, characterized by an unnatural abundance of sleepiness/sleeping. Contrary to Monty’s experience with insomnia, Atlas involuntarily spends a lot of time asleep and dreaming, meaning he had allegedly encountered the bizarre Daemon entities numerous times throughout his lifetime. On top of his above-average amount of Daemon experience, Altas has kept a dream journal for years; the perfect source for providing a firsthand look into the strange interactions. Interested in contributing to Monty’s project, Atlas reached out to them, requesting to take part in an interview so he could share his own expertise.

Atlas and Monty met briefly to introduce themselves. The meeting went exceedingly well, and they planned to meet again to properly discuss Monty's project. Monty was thrilled at the opportunity to learn more about Daemon encounters, especially from an experienced dreamer. However, they were more excited about finding a companion; another person who was interested in learning more about these strange creatures. They could have a partner in crime, a friend, who could help them along their journey to knowledge.

Or so they thought.

Atlas ended up passing away before the two of them had the opportunity to properly discuss the project. He had inexplicably perished in his sleep a couple nights before the meetup, and was discovered the morning after by his loved ones. The cause of his death was entirely unknown - there was no evidence that anything had been amiss with his health on the night he died.

“He just died,” they said. “We don’t know how, but he just did. He just died in his sleep.”

There was no explanation, no theories, no closure, nothing. Monty was shocked from the sudden loss of their new comrade. And they were even more shocked when, on the day they were supposed to meet up, the Wells family arrived at their residence to deliver Atlas’s dream journal. Apparently, Atlas had left a note on it, reminding himself to bring it to the interview that was supposed to happen that day. He had written Monty’s address on the very same note, and the Wells family had decided that there was no one who would value the journal as much as Monty would.

Bewildered, Monty accepted the offer, thanking the Wells family for their kindness and attributing their condolences for the loss. It took them several days before they could bring themself to open Atlas’s journal.

They read through it thoroughly, comparing and contrasting the numerous entries with the research they had readily accumulated. Not every entry pertained to an alleged experience with a Daemon, but there was definitely a lot more information than anywhere else Monty had seen. There were even some pages detailing Atlas’s speculation on the dream creatures, which apparently reflected in some of his more lucid experiences.

One of the later entries caught Monty’s attention, though. It was one of the very last statements nearing the abrupt end of Atlas’s life. It detailed a lucid dream about a warning, given to him by the voice of a concerned presence. It told him, “You’re diving too deep, swimming too far out to see. Be careful,” it cautioned, “or you might slip off the edge.”

Monty froze. The entry right in front of them came with a plethora of terrible implications; were daemons actually real? Here was the evidence; Atlas actually died following this message. Did Atlas die because of a Daemon? Did this Daemon have something to do with his death? Or was it something entirely unrelated? Could this be a coincidence? No, it couldn’t be. It made no sense to be a coincidence. Nights before his death, Atlas had a dream about a warning. A confusing warning, but a warning nonetheless.

Monty was struck with shock all over again. Until then, they had never conceived of the possibility that a Daemon could kill someone. But of course they wouldn’t, because if people were dying in their sleep, they would never be able to wake up and tell the story. If it was true that Atlas did die because of a Daemon, then there was something terrible lurking in the subconscious world that had to be stopped. That day, Monty decided that, no matter what, they were going to document everything about the Daemons they could possibly catalogue; someone needed to know about this. Someone needed to find out what happened to Atlas. And most of all, someone needed to see if there was anything to be done to stop it from happening again.

The Subreality

There is, in fact, a separate layer of reality that these entities reside in; the Subreality. Also known as the Dream Realm, it is an abstract universe assembled from the world’s collective subconscious. It is simultaneously a product and a part of the subconscious. On one hand, the Subreality is the collective subconscious; falling asleep is considered ‘tapping in’ to the subconscious mind. On the other hand, its facets and entities are created from the collective subconscious; the act of dreaming produces new imaginary artifacts, adding to the Subreality’s existence and thus propagating the collective subconscious.

The Subreality is not solely dependent on one individual’s unconscious mind. It is assembled from the minds of many, perpetually growing with the never-ending flow of creativity that comes from the population’s natural subconscious. Every time someone dreams of something new, the Subreality grows - humanity will never run out of dreams, so the Subreality will expand forever.

The Subreality is an entirely subjective realm, as the name suggests, so reality does not conform to logic or rationality. Navigating such a landscape is similar to navigating Thadrofinica’s Twistwoods, only vastly more abstract; it follows the familiar mantra of “If you truly believe something, then it will happen,” only amplified to the fullest extreme.

In the Subreality, believing a specific truth requires far less reasoning to substantiate it. This is unlike the Twistwoods, where someone must be wholly convinced of their truth in order for it to take precedence over reality; usually, believing something to such an extent requires logical reasoning and rational explanations. However, since most Subreality visitors are dreaming, a believer can become utterly convinced of an impossible truth without logic or reason; that is just how most dreams work. The subconscious mind can make preposterous connections that make little to no sense whatsoever - despite this, the Subreality will still warp to fit their beliefs, as long as the believer is entirely convinced.

For example, I remember having a dream where I was capable of flight. However, I was convinced I couldn't fly properly; not without pumping my legs. Apparently, this was because they didn't have any support, since they were the part of my body furthest away from my ‘wings’ (which were really just feathered arms). Since they had no support, pumping my legs was the only way to propel myself off the ground; I believed the momentum would temporarily alleviate the weight just enough to take off. This makes little to no sense in the real world; but it made perfect sense to me when I was dreaming. The rules of the Subreality are similarly loose and subjective.

Dreamers and Daemons

There are two types of entities that reside in the Subreality; dreamers and Daemons.

Dreamers, as you can probably infer, are real-life individuals capable of two things; one, they can visit and explore the Subreality, and two, they can create new regions or dream entities. Both of these actions are achieved through lucid or semi-lucid dreaming. Dreamers are the backbone of the Subreality - their subconscious and creativity is what makes up its very existence. Some individuals may contribute more to the Subreality than others - those with a stronger imagination may be able to produce more vivid or complex dreamscapes that harbor more dream entities. These individuals are more likely to create Daemons for reasons I will shortly specify.

Daemons are metaphysical entities native to the Subreality that live off of being remembered. They are created from any dream that involves the creation of a brand-new face, not just a face retrieved from the memory of the host. This is why creative dreamers are more likely to create Daemons - the stronger imagination they have, the less they will rely on their memory to construct dreams, and the more original figures they will consequently produce.

Since humans dream every single time they fall asleep, it is exceedingly easy for Daemons to manifest; however, it is also exceedingly difficult for them to survive longer than the duration of the dream they are native to. Compared to the amount of Daemons produced by dreamers every single night, only a very slim percentage of them actually survive; It is estimated that humans forget 95-99% of their dreams every morning. Any Daemon who is remembered by a dreamer is very lucky.

Thus, every Daemon has the same goal - visit as many dreamers as possible so that they can be remembered and continue living on. The most reliable way to make a dreamer remember you is to solicit intense reactions out of them; it’s easier to remember an intense experience than it is a mundane one, after all!

These experiences are often frightening or upsetting to a dreamer. Nightmares are recounted more often than not, since the brain naturally labels them as an important threat that should be remembered. Although it is the easiest way to be remembered, not every Daemon takes this approach - some attempt to earn their recognition through more positive means, such as rescuing the dreamer from a nightmare, taking the dreamer to a particularly breathtaking vista, visiting as a recurring character and many more. There are infinite ways a Daemon may manifest, good and bad; as long as they are remembered.

In their pursuit of remembrance, Daemons can exercise a very peculiar ability; the ability to travel into the waking world as human beings. Every Daemon has a distinct humanoid form they will assume in the waking reality. This is a Daemon’s equivalent of a dreamer sleeping and tapping into the Subreality - they are ‘sleeping,’ in their own way, and tapping into the waking reality. And just like how dreamers are capable of manipulating the Subreality, Daemons have a minute ability to influence the waking world.

When a Daemon visits the waking reality, they have one goal in mind. They will usually find themselves in public spaces; there, they will attempt to interact with as many people as they possibly can, aiming to exchange a specific gesture with each person they encounter. This specific interaction, which is distinct to every Daemon, will induce the affected individual to dream about that Daemon the next time they fall asleep. This allows the Daemon to visit new dreamers and guarantees they will be remembered from that induced dream. Thus, Daemons will try to visit the waking world fairly frequently, but will inevitably return to the Subreality when they eventually have to ‘wake up.’

All of this, however, does not explain Atlas's death.

Conclusion

Throughout their investigation, Monty gets very involved with Daemons as they sleuth out more information on them, and eventually finds themself swept up into their otherworldly endeavours. I imagine they get to know some Daemons personally; they will also meet some more real-world companions, aquiring a colorful cast of characters to aid them on their investigation. There’s no telling what they could uncover through their pursuit of the truth, especially in a place so abstract.

That concludes my short summary of Dreamer’s Journal - I’m having a lot of fun developing this universe, because it’s a lot more grounded in real-life than all of my other stories. Most, if not all of the Daemons are inspired off of actual dreams I’ve had, so it’s been pretty fun to find a way to turn them into something I can actually use in my work. Hopefully as I develop the plot a little more, I’ll feel more inclined to devote some time to producing official content for this universe - for now, though, I suppose I’ll just keep dreaming.