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Meanings of the kids' dreams?


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#1
Jazz Jackalope

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These are some ideas I've been sitting on for a while. Since this is specifically about the dreams/levels in NiD, I figured it should go here.

I was inspired to examine the dreams by the In-Depth Analysis found at Sonic CulT. While I've only begun to learn about Jungian psychology, I feel the guy who wrote this didn't have access to the whole picture, since there's some pretty important info in the Japanese story et all that was just thrown away for the U.S. version. So, here are my theories, drawing only from what we learn from this info, so I don't make any silly mistakes about the psychology.


Soft Museum
The song name "Suburban Museum" and the obvious connection between artists and museums seem to point to this dream being a reflection of Claris' home life. It's superficially beautiful and refined, but there is more to it than meets the eye, not-so-subtle problems that don't appear unless you experience it. This could point to problems with her home life. The subtitle, "The Confusion", doesn't weaken but only supports this theory. She could have self-worth problems and/or be torn between loving her parents and hating them for what they do to her. Also, I see a very clear connection to insane asylums with padded walls.
(Because of the line "Since Claris was born and grew up in an artist's home, being creatively gifted was something expected of her", I can't shake the notion Claris may have some emotional abuse in her past. I get caught on the "expected of" part. But I know that could just be the wording the translator chose, and there are no such implications in the original text.)

Mystic Forest
It could be that the darkness and closed-offness of the forest expresses Claris' shyness, or, instead, a dark side to her being. In fact, there's no reason it couldn't be both; that cave that crushes you is pretty malevolent. The subtitle "The Possibility" could be one of two things. Matched to her shyness, it means what could be if she only came out of her shell. Matched to a dark soul, it takes on an equally dark tone; the possibility of the evil lurking in her mind and expressing itself. I wonder how the National Highway Corporation figures into Claris' life.

Unfortunately, I have no discrete ideas about Spring Valley. I know that Paternal Horn has no sexual connotations, and the Swissness could just be a reference to Jung. But I cannot dig any deeper than that somehow.


Elliot's dreams are way harder for me to interpret... With Frozen Bell, I have a few different ideas. Snow is associated with romance, at least in Japan, but it can also point to harshness and vulnerability. It can also point to stoicness, a frosty heart, or, more accurately here, hiding one's emotions. There's also depression. The Consciousness goes with one needing to stay awake in cold areas so one doesn't die. But none of these seem to go anywhere as far as uncovering the meaning.

Meanwhile, with Stick Canyon, I can't get beyond the obvious: the construction site, Under Construction, and The Revival all pointing towards growing up, seeing oneself as a work in progress. The desert no doubt means something, but I can't seem to figure out what it is.

As for Splash Garden, I do have some ideas, which I found some eerie support for and was gobsmacked because I wasn't exactly serious about the ideas to begin with. But they are rather Freudian and point to a certain kind of abuse, so I'm not certain if they're appropriate to talk about.


I nearly forgot about how the bossmaren tie in with the kids. Seeing as Puffy is apparently connected to Elliot's mother (which indeed is some of the support for my ideas about Splash Garden), I thought about it and found it makes perfect sense for Elliot to face Reala, not Claris. Reala is obviously more connected to NiGHTS than Elliot, but Reala is also to NiGHTS as Roger is to Elliot: the rival. As NiGHTS defeats Reala, she shows Elliot it's possible to win against his own rival.

I'm still at square one with everyone else.


I was surprised as I looked around and searched that there wasn't a topic about this already (although with my luck, it'll be somewhere super obvious). I'd love to hear what everybody thinks the dreams mean about Claris and Elliot's lives, minds and selves and how the bossmaren tie in. No detail is too small!

#2
iLLViLLAiN

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I'd like to add that maybe Claris has some weight issues what with NiGHTS becoming fat in Soft Museum. She is at the age where things like looking a certain way can really affect emotional stability.

(EDIT: After what I said about fat NiGHTS I started thinking about Puffy so I played the boss fight and this is what I gathered: The fight takes place in a house and it starts in a bedroom. The next room has a single window with moonlight pouring in. You throw Puffy through what looks like a bookshelf and end up in a dining room with a table full of food. After that, you knock puffy into a room with a single mirror and in the next room Puffy is popped by something I still can't identify to this day.

What I got from all this is that Claris wakes up in the middle of the night, leaves her bedroom, and heads down to the kitchen where she feeds on whatever she can find. She then proceeds to a mirror where she looks at herself in disgust. Maybe the way Puffy is defeated means that Claris is doing something to remove the food she just ate. I don't really think that's the case but it may be worth putting out there.)

As far as deserts go they're usually dry, barren, empty, lonely and a whole heap of other adjectives. There is one thing about deserts though. When you're in one you're usually looking for something whether it's treasure, water, or just a way out. Maybe Elliot was searching for a way out and tying into your growing up theory he may have been trying to find his way to maturity.

Also, I think I have an idea of what you're talking about when it comes to Splash Garden but I'm not gonna touch on it. What I'm thinking might be a bit out of line. :unsure:




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