Lydia's Game of Dreams

2019, 09-27

Dark Tower: Parting of the Ways

Regular Dream - Video Game / Semi-lucid - Lucid Dream - Notes

It is night, I am standing near a campfire with Roland, Susanna, Eddie, and Jake from the Dark Tower books. Eddie and Jake are transparent. Susanna is holding Eddie’s hand and Roland is holding Jake’s. There is a young man there I don’t know. He is drawing on a pad of paper. He shows his drawing, which is a work of art. The drawing is of Eddie and Jake. As if by seeing the drawing Eddie and Jake become solid. Susanna and Roland reluctantly let go of Eddie and Jake. As they let go Eddie and Jake start fading again. I look at the drawing and I see that is also fading… but why? Roland says it’s because they’re not really supposed to be here, that’s why. Susanna grabs Eddie, Roland grabs Jake, and they stop fading. But they don’t become solid again…

I ask what is going on with Eddie and Jake. Roland says ka is trying to reassert itself. If Jake and Eddie don’t go to the world they belong in soon they might completely fade. So far they have only been able to remain in this world because of their connections. I realize that is why Susanna is holding on to Eddie and Roland to Jake, to try to anchor them in this world. Roland says there really is only one answer, Eddie and Jake have to go to the world they were meant to be in. And Patrick (indicating the man with the drawing) is the only one who can make it happen. Susanna goes over and whispers to Patrick for a bit, then Patrick starts drawing.

I hear something out in the darkness, it sounds like something is creeping about out there. I feel a sensation of being watched. Roland sees me and says Mordrid is out there, and Mordrid’s a-hungry. I say no, it can’t be Mordrid, MoSh killed Mordrid. I am sure of that. Roland says something is lurking out there. I stare out into the darkness, trying to see what’s out there. I see something is reflecting the firelight. I slip into the darkness, ignoring Roland saying I shouldn’t. I use my night vision and I find the thing. It looks like a cross between a giant beetle the size of a large dog and a praying mantis. It attacks me, but I form my right arm into an Alex Mercer blade and slice it in two. The thing melts into a strange black fluid that flows off into the darkness.

I return to the camp and now there is a door standing near the edge of the campsite. Susanna is looking at the door, still holding Eddie’s hand. She opens it and lets go of Eddie. When Eddie and Jake get near the door they are solid, but they start fading when they move away. Eddie says that must be the place. He is reluctant to leave because he wants to reach the Dark Tower, but he knows if he stays here he won’t make it anyhow. He and Jake will fade. After some debate it is decided that Susanna will go through the door with Eddie and Jake. Roland seems worried that the door is a trap that leads to toedash space. I say if it does I will get them out. I think Roland just doesn’t want them to leave. Susanna, Eddie, and Jake go through the door. After a brief hesitation Oy follows Jake. Patrick stays behind even though Susanna tries to get him to follow.

The door closes with a resounding thud. Now there is only Roland, Patrick, and me at the campsite. Roland looks depressed. Patrick curls up and appears to go to sleep. Roland sits by the fire and stares into it. He says maybe I should have gone, too. I say it would make no difference, I will wake up back in my prison dimension where I have no skills, no talents, and no abilities. Roland says he doesn’t believe that. I say yes, I always end up there. He said no, he meant he doesn’t believe I have no skills, talents, or abilities there. I don’t answer. He looks more depressed so I put my arm around him and give him a hug. I say I’ll probably wake soon, but I will be back, I am sure of that. I want to see the tower… if the roses around the Dark Tower have the healing properties of the one in the vacant lot then maybe it can even overpower my depression. Maybe both Roland and I can be free. I wake up here.

2019, 09-26

The Dark Tower: The Laughter Vampire

Regular Dream - Video Game / Semi-lucid - Lucid Dream - Notes

I am in a strange place. It is snowy all around, but I don’t feel the cold. I draw the conclusion that I am playing Skyrim VR since I can see the snow and feel a breeze but I’m not cold. It is getting dark out and the snow is starting to fall. I see a plowed street and a small house with smoke coming from the chimney. I head in that direction. I hear roars of laughter from inside. I look in the window and I see Roland, Eddie, Susanna, and Jake all laughing their asses off. There is also another man there that I don’t recognize. Something about him looks fake, though… like he was an illusion. This feels off, so I try the door. It is unlocked so I let myself in, hoping to not be seen as too rude… after all, no one would hear me knock over the laughter and for any normal person it would be bitterly cold out.

When I get inside and close the door behind me I see that none of the people laughing have even noticed me enter. The man I don’t recognize sees me and makes a lame-ass joke about my arrival. I don’t remember the joke, just that I found it about as funny as vomiting. I am the only one who finds it unfunny, though, as everyone else in the room roars with renewed gales of laughter. Susanna slaps her own face while laughing and a sore at the corner of her mouth starts bleeding profusely. This puts an immediate damper on Eddie’s laughter, and as the others look over they also stop laughing. The man telling the bad jokes, they call him Joe, looks annoyed. How dare Susanna interrupt his jokes with her bleeding!

Susanna gets up and excuses herself. Eddie wants to go with her, but she insists she’s fine and just wants to clean up in the bathroom. Eddie nervously watches Susanna as she goes. He mutters something to Roland about that sore not being a pimple, and he and Susanna should stop bullshitting a bullshitter. Joe tells a joke about bullshit. Eddie gets mad at Joe, saying his wife is bleeding, this is no time for jokes. Joe makes a joke out of that, too. Eddie laughs in spite of himself, Roland laughs, and Jake is on the floor laughing. I still find nothing funny. I think I will go check on Susanna, but then Jake looks like he’s choking so I go to him and try to get him to stop laughing. Joe tells another bad joke, making the laughter worse. I tell Joe if he wants to see something funny, watch this… and I fus him in the face. FUS-RO-DAH! Joe flies across the room into the far wall, falling to the floor in a mess of objects caught in the fus.

I am trying to help Jake and Joe makes a joke out of my fus’ing him. This especially gets Roland laughing and now Roland looks like he’s choking. Joe is clearly an energy vampire and he’s stealing energy from their uncontrolled laughter! I am about to do something a bit more permanent than a fus when Susanna comes back from the bathroom. She has her Witchblade formed into a sword which she uses to remove Joe’s head. The headless body doesn’t die. It stays on its feet and starts transforming onto something that looks more insectile than human. The strange thing blunders around for a bit before collapsing into the fireplace and catching fire and finally dying.

Susanna and Eddie embrace but then I notice Eddie is semi-transparent. What is happening? Jake is also semi-transparent. I do a double-take. I ask what is going on. Susanna holds on more tightly to Eddie and Roland embraces Jake as if they can physically keep them from fading. And maybe it works, as they become solid again. Roland tells me that ever since Thunderclap both Eddie and Jake have been fading in and out of existence. He says he thinks ka doesn’t like being foiled like I did. He says I saved them both, but now ka is trying to set things back to the way they were meant to be, and that means no Eddie and no Jake. Susanna says she has been having dreams that indicate there is a world where they are supposed to be right now, and they will be taken there one way or another. I wonder how to counter this unexpected effect when I wake.

2019, 09-20

Regular Dream - Video Game / Semi-lucid - Lucid Dream - Notes

Dark Tower: Saving Jake

I am standing outside a convenience store and gas station. It is a nice day. I hear a gunshot from the store and look that way. Shortly after the sound I see a familiar looking man and boy come out with a middle aged woman I don’t recognize. The man is Roland and the kid is Jake, from the Dark Tower books. The three of them head towards an old pickup truck and pile in the front. I have to follow, so I run after them as the woman tries to drive. It sounds like she is torturing a Tasmanian devil under the hood, then she finally gets it in gear and we pull onto the road. I jump into the bed of the truck as it is pulling away. We barely avoid an accident with an idiot in a blue van.

The woman drives like a maniac, but still better than the idiot in the blue van had been. She drives like she’s late for an appointment she wants to reach, that van had been driving like they didn’t care about getting anywhere in one piece. We drive down a steep driveway and then Jake and Roland are talking to a gardener about Steven King. They finally notice me. I tell Roland I am just there to help out if needed. I usually find myself where I need to be, but I don’t know what I am here to do yet. After a brief talk the woman tortures the transmission of the truck some more and finally rockets the truck back up the steep driveway.

I stay in the bed of the truck as we speed down the road. We make a sudden turn and speed down another road. I do not recognize the location, but it is beautiful. It would be a good place to live. There is a knock on the window to the truck cab and the woman motions to me to brace myself. I do, and the truck skids to a stop almost quickly enough to throw me over the cab and onto the road. I see a man walking along the side of the road and the same blue van from earlier driving on the shoulder, straight towards him! I see the driver is paying absolutely no attention to the road, he has turned around in his seat to discipline two dogs in his back seat. What a moron! And it’s about to cost the man walking on the shoulder his life!

The next few things happen really fast, there’s no time for second guessing. The passenger door of the pickup opens and Roland falls out onto the road, grasping his hip. Then Jake jumps over Roland and runs to the man walking in a flash, positioning himself between the man and the oncoming van. No! Jake will not die here! So then I jump over the cab of the truck, landing between Jake and the van and without even stopping to think about it I open up with a FUS-RO-DAH at the van. The wave of force deflects the van away from the boy and the man and into a tree on the opposite side of the street with a squeal of tires and a crash.

Now that there is time to look around I realize I have seen the man walking on the side of the road before. Stephen King? The author? Roland gets up and rushes over to Jake. I look over at the crashed van and I see the driver is moving. He probably hit his head, but he clearly doesn’t use that much anyhow. Stephen King recognizes Roland right away and also Jake, but seems confused as to who I am. And what was that thing I just did to stop the van? I say I am just a different kind of walk-in, and what I did comes from a video game that won’t be released until 2011. Then I asked if this was sure 1999. Everyone agreed that it is. I wonder if I am somehow in the past of my own world, if I am then I need to open a bank account with some money to save interest until 2019… but even if it would work I don’t get a chance to try before I wake up.

2019, 08-13

Regular Dream - Semi-lucid Dream - Lucid Dream - Notes

The Dark Tower: Ulfric Dreaming

I am playing Skyrim VR, I have a Dark Tower mod. I am standing on a dirt road outside of Calla Bryn Sturges. Jake and three other kids leave before I get a chance to approach them. They are creating a false trail for the wolves to follow. I approach Roland, Eddie, and Susanna. I see Susanna is using a Witchblade for legs. Roland says he’s glad I could make it. He asks who my friend is. My first thought is that MoSh is here, but when I turn around I see Ulfric Stormcloak. That was silly for me to think… how would MoSh get in my modded Skyrim VR game? But Ulfric is not supposed to show up in this mod! I am now thinking I’ll be unable to use this mod because it’s broken, including characters that don’t belong here. Well I’ll give it a try anyhow.

Roland says there’s no time for introductions, they’re coming. He points towards the horizon where there is a cloud of dust indicating the approach of the wolves. Ulfric wants to know what that is. I tell him they’re evil robots… think Dwemer constructs… who are coming to kidnap the children of Calla Bryn Sturges and use them to try to destroy the tower that holds space-time together… it’s the same ultimate goal that the Thalmor have in wanting to break the tower on top of the Throat of the World. That must be another aspect of the Dark Tower, just like the rose in New York is…

I see Susanna, Eddie, and the others have gotten into a trench to ambush the wolves. Roland is watching for Jake and the other kids. Something is wrong. I tell Roland I’ll check on them. Ulfric is just looking at me, probably when trying to explain things I said both too much and not enough, just enough to sound confusing and more than a bit nuts. I quickly say those enemies are attacking a peaceful town and I’m helping defend that town, so he can either help or just get out of the way. I head in the direction Jake and the three other children went. After a brief pause I hear Ulfric coming behind me.

I get a short way down the road when I see the four kids. One of them has stepped in a hole and they can’t get him out! I go over to them and try to help. But then the wolves are on us! It’s too soon! The cloaked robots are coming on their robot horses, and they have seen all of us standing out in the open on the road. I tell the kids to keep trying to get the boy free, I have to deal with the wolves. As several are heading straight for us, they are wielding something that looks like light sabers, I fus them. FUS-RO-DAH! The horses don’t go down, but it is effective in blasting the riders off.

Now the fight starts. There is a lot of gunfire. I think if Ulfric is helping I should tell him to target the dish on the top of their heads, but his axe is charged with electricity so I figure that should short the things out as if they were struck by lightning. Speaking of lightning… I use a lightning spell to strike some of the wolves with bolts of lightning. Their “thinking caps” are like lightning rods! The lightning is also drawn directly to the sneetches. Three of the kids have gotten to safety, Jake is still out and firing at enemies. I hear the whistle of the plates as they’re thrown and I see a couple cut through the top of the hoods of the enemies, severing the “thinking cap” right off. I hear a fus from off to my right.

It doesn’t take long before all of the wolves are nothing more than scrap metal… with no losses on our side! My lightning struck down the sneetch that had been about to explode Jake’s friend Benny and the wolf that had been about to cut the woman’s head off found itself getting fus’d by Ulfric and then shot by Roland. I see Ulfric is still here. It looks like he is about to say something but then he fades from existence right before my eyes. Roland sees it, too. Roland asks if that’s normal? I say not really, but I think I’m about to do it as well. Then I wake up.