Dreamcore

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The following article contains and discusses content that may be distressing to some readers.
Reason for Warning: This page contains many themes and images surrounding dissociation/derealization/depersonalization as well as potentially unsettling imagery. Reader discretion is advised.

Dreamcore is a surrealist aesthetic that uses motifs commonly associated with dreams, daydreams or nightmares, portrayed through media such as images, videos and, on occasion, music. These images express feelings of familiarity, anemoia, nostalgia and confusion. Dreamcore shares many similarities with Weirdcore, though instead of creating a sense of discomfort, using unsettling, disquieting, and low-quality images to convey this feeling. Instead, the Dreamcore aesthetic would use bright colorful images that are structurally or geographically impossible.

Though, both Weirdcore and Dreamcore uses liminal spaces as a way to convey their specific context. In Dreamcore it is meant to convey the feeling of a dream or being "trapped" within a dream.

History[]

Origins[]

There are multiple originators for the Dreamcore aesthetic. Most are however not inherently based on the same comeliness. In 2012, a YouTube account called "GlassBeetles" or "L0P0A0G" uploaded videos reminiscent of its motifs such as cryptic texts, hap hazardous oculus placement and Liminal Spaces. They were created by the user Sealtoast. This was the first example of Dreamcore in the video format.

Dreamcore’s exact origins are unknown; the direct origins might be Tumblr user "jaaaaaim" way back in 2018. It mostly gained popularity in the early-mid 2020s with a surge of TikTok videos containing dreamlike visuals. The videos often include original characters that are typically drawn or stitched together with numerous images. These characters usually have objects for heads.

Criticism[]

Throughout the 2020s Dreamcore and Weirdcore are criticized for their common elements, though Dreamcore seems to get this response frequently. Dreamcore is seen as the "watered down" or "mainstream Weirdcore," a version of Weirdcore that is removed of its original idea to be uncanny and disorienting and resemble the early web internet. Many users on TikTok have considered Dreamcore as "new Weirdcore" due to its quick appearance after Weirdcore and because of its overuse of eyes, OC's, mushrooms, and text, it was considered as a misunderstanding of Weirdcore created by younger generations that doesn't understand "real" Weirdcore. ^[1]

Visuals[]

Dreamcore is commonly portrayed through images and videos, which utilize different 'base images' such as liminal spaces, unrealistic terrain and structures (photoshopped hills, floating buildings, etc.), or even fantasy-like lands, to give the visual a dream-like quality. Dreamcore visuals are typically lighter-toned and pastel in color, or more bright and vivid. These ‘base images’ are then overlaid with different elements, with the major ones being text and characters.

Dreamcore tends to include characters with surreal features. These characters aid in telling a story or creating a scenario that one might possibly see in a dream. They also may include Liminal Spaces. However, the use of characters is not required. Text is also a common element; it ranges from short phrases with very little context to entire conversations or monologues. It’s typically written in a generic base font like Arial, or a serif font like Times New Roman, and can be different colors, sizes and even patterns, depending on what fits the situation best. Text, like characters, is not required. Some other common features of visual Dreamcore are listed below:

Eyes, teeth and other facial features
Wings
Rainbows
Mention of familiar places and people
Seeing yourself
Bubbles
RPG elements (text boxes, etc.)
Other digital elements (pop-up windows, etc.)
Borders
Sparkles
Orbs
Old CRT televisions (as head elements)
Flowers
Mushrooms
Strange creatures
Clouds

Media[]

YouTube[]

Video Games[]

LSD: Dream Emulator (1998)
Yume Nikki (2004)
Yume 2kki (2007)
Undertale (2015)
Superliminal (2019)
Omori (2020)
Doll Eye (2020)
Amanda the Adventurer (2022)
BBirthday (2023)
ENA: Dream BBQ (2025)

Music[]

Playlists[]

Artists[]

aNTOJE
Bakground
Beabadoobee
Beach House
Blank Banshee
Blood Orange
Boards of Canada
The Caretaker
Cecelia Condit
Cotiles
Cyriak
Dandelion Hands
dreamcorp.
eris mirror
Filmy Ghost
Humanfobia
ILLIT
Instupendo
Jack Stauber
Katie Chimera
Kazelabad
Kern Livelb
Kero Kero Bonito
LAKE R▲DIO
Late Verlane
Lemon Demon
Looking Through Sheets
Louis Helman
Mac DeMarco
Metadream
Mild High Club
Mili
Molina
my head is empty
My Own Cubic Stone
nelward
Nero's Day At Disneyland
Null_Dan
Odd Behavior
Ørdop Wolkenscheidt (especially the albums Kommissar Brenkstrupp: Fragments of a Troubled Detective and Quantum Computer Deep Dream)
Pathetic
Pilotredsun
Ricky Eat Acid
Sitcom
Sleep Party People
Sodikken
Strawberry Guy
teen suicide
Temporex
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra (also known as A Silver Mt. Zion)
Windows96
Wiosna97
Xori
Yandere
Yikii
youngertasktaken