Chaos Emeralds & Chaos Energy (Or: Why Wilhelm is a Dork and thinks way too much about the Sonic Multiverse)
I'm of the firm belief, and have always been of the firm belief, that Chaos Energy is the very lifeblood of the universe / planet / peoples and organisms. It is in everything: plants, humans, the air, water, the ground, it makes up every single atom. It's the very DNA of each existence of the multiverse, in my mind. & it's why mobians and humans alike have chaos energy signatures that can be sensed or felt and why virtually every being can use Chaos Energy or Chaos Abilities - with varying success rates ( for example, I personally headcanon that Mobians have a greater innate connection to Chaos Energy and thus can use attacks/defenses etc more naturally and fluently, while humans STRUGGLE but can adapt to the chaos energy if done some research. See: Julius & his backstory and being injected with Chaos Energy as a child ).
I also believe that the Chaos Emeralds ORIGINATED FROM SOMEWHERE, all of them, simultaneously. They didn't just pop into existence, but were created ( more on that another time because phew that is a whole ass essay in and of itself ). The Chaos Emeralds each are POWERFUL ON THEIR OWN. One of them has enough ability and power to DRIVE SOMEONE MAD / CAPTURE THEM IN A THRALL. I'm of the full belief that Chaos Emeralds are SENTIENT in a way, they don't "speak" like regular humans/mobians do, but I believe that they can sense and put out a sort of energy that can lure people in. I believe that it's possible to get drunk on that power and lose yourself to a Chaos Emerald if one isn't careful ( which is why humans struggle with studying the Chaos Emeralds / obtaining them, something something the nature of human greed and power corrupts absolutely etc etc ).
I also believe that Chaos Emeralds can create realms, and have the potential to reshape reality if someone holds one, thinks about it, or ABSORBS THE EMERALD INTO THEM. This is dangerous however and further puts the host/holder/absorber(?) at risk of falling farther into the Chaos Emerald's madness thrall because well you're fusing with a chaos emerald it's essentially flooding your nervous system with a whooole bunch of chaos energy at once. Think of it sorta like suddenly getting juiced up on coffee or getting hit by smelling salts and just having all this energy. It's also why if someone loses a chaos emerald, they become almost desperate and overwhelmed by the need to find the chaos emerald again and get it back ( which is another reason why they're so deadly, in my mind, and absolutely dangerous ).
Chaos Energy also doesn't always mesh well with human tech, never has, in my mind. Which is why G.U.N struggles with really utilizing Chaos Energy in weaponry/mecha/security systems and why only Ivo Robotnik (read: Julius if you wanna go by my headcanons/lore) has ever been truly successful at harnessing Chaos Energy in machines/tech (and why G.U.N steals and reuses Robotnik's designs so damn much). To say nothing of the Top Secret/Hidden Extensive Chaos Energy Program G.U.N has been trying to tinker with behind the scenes and have been failing at since, oh, 50 years ago (eyeing you, Gerald Robotnik).
I have more thoughts but I'll leave it there for now, don't want this to get terribly long. Thanks for reading my small snippets you guys. Appreciate it.
