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Had a series of bizzare semi-lucid dreams during a nap. I say semi-lucid since I kept waking up and falling back to sleep, so it's difficult to say what of it was actually lucid and what was just my conscious imagination. I normally wouldn't even write this down, but I've been having a dry spell lately, so whatever.

The first fragment I remember is being on a road trip of some sort. That's literally all I remember. It wasn't lucid at all.

The second fragment is I was "in" Resident Evil 4. I was playing the re-release last night, so that's not particularly surprising. In the dream, the sort of "intel" woman that's on the radio tells me that I'm dreaming. The conversation took place in the normal game HUD that you see when having a radio conversation In any case, I'm not particularly surprised by this revelation. I ask her to keep reminding me, and if I'm ever dreaming again, to tell me.

I woke up then, and went back to sleep. In this one I was at a cafeteria, and a overhear a father talking to his son (I think the dad was John Goodman. Now -that's- unexpected). He's telling his son that the Binding of Isaac is an awful game and that is sacrilegious (true, I guess?) and encourages bullying (what?). Again, not surprising since I was playing that game literally 2 minutes before I went to sleep. This fragment wasn't lucid to my knowledge.

I had a very bizarre dream that I'm compelled to document. It wasn't quite lucid, but...well, read on.

Early as I can remember, I was in heaven in what looked like a cross between a mall and a cathedral. It was very crowded. By chance I found the man who had murdered me in heaven also. I declared that I was going to kill him (smite his soul or whatever) and that the Angel of Vengeance was on my side. After this short monologue I was about to attack the guy, but before I could do anything he stabbed me, killing me. After a short delay I was reborn as an angel of vengeance, called a One (Something--I can't quite recall what, it wasn't "Winged", I think it started with an M) Angel, and not just one--it seems as I had spawned as a squad of armed angels. It seems that this rebirth had taken some time, since after returning the man had been long gone. I searched heaven looking for the man but could not find him. Instead I returned to Earth and, running out of patience, I began to kill anyone who looked like the guy (from the start of the fight to here, the dream passed as some sort of weird top-down camera strategy RPG). It seems that to end my rampage I was returned to Earth with no memory except the name "One (Whatever) Angel". The dream then seemed to follow me on a search to find out what this name meant. I began by asking clergy or people who seemed religious; they all either straight-faced denied that they exist or looked at me in shock and horror and told me to get away from them. As my search went on with no answers I began just asking random strangers (my search took me to a drink stand just as it was closing in what was some in-dream deja vu, as I'd recognized this even from a deep early part of the dream that I don't now remember). Early on in my search I'd come across a girl who had overheard me asking questions at some point and had taken an interest in me. She eventually explained to me that she could help me remember everything through a process that involved dreams (vaguely Inception-style); I seemed to have a vague understanding of this process already and was firmly against it for a while. As time went on and my search for answers grew more desperate I eventually agreed to try it. It was to take place in what looked like some sort of park. As I entered, I came in behind an old, black lady accompanied by a young child. I recognized the old lady as someone I had previously asked about the angel who was disturbed by my question. The child stopped ahead of her and turned around, he asked, "Are you sure you want to do this? It could be the last time..." to which the old lady responded with something about helping these troubled young folk. I followed them to where the girl was waiting for us (I'm going to give her the name Ashley, it seems to fit my memory). In addition to the old, black woman (let's call her Oracle, since she looked like the latter version from the Matrix), Jon Voight was (apparently) helping us. They explained that Ashley would have to sit/lay on top of me in order to merge our dreams and gave me a large bag to put over my butt since apparently the process had several unpleasant side effects (supposedly most people shat themselves upon coming out of it). I sat down on a bench and they gave me some sort of injection and then immediately I was in the back (left) seat of a car, with Ashley sitting to my left, the others in the front (Jon Voight driving). I explained to them that I was once an oneironaught myself and briefly described my first lucid dream. As if to reply and boast of his own lucid dreaming skill, Jon Voight turned his head into an inflated version of Ashley's head. We all laughed, but I noticed that the situation was rather strange so I did a reality check that failed. I quickly exclaimed, "Holy shit, we're dreaming already! That's amazing." Then I looked over at Ashley, who was looking at me also, however she appeared out of it or drunk. I noted here that despite the reality check failing I didn't seem to be able to exert any lucid control; at the time I attributed this to the process occurring in the overarching dream storyline but now that I think about it after the fact it seemed kind of weird. At this point I had a very brief false awakening (I only remember because I awoke to a lit room before actually awakening) which was followed quickly by an actual awakening.

I'm not going to count this among my lucid dreams being as it fit into the context of the dream that my reality check would fail (maybe this also explains my apparent lack of dream control). It was a curious experience. I'm a little disappointed I didn't get to see the end to my search for answers.

1. I go to see Swan Lake at Cincinnati's Music Hall with C.W. We pass a White Castle on the way there, and I remark how it's practically an outpost of my college with the clientele it gets. We arrive at the hall, and as we ascend the escalator we see Dr. L. and give him a salute. We get to the lobby and see a glorious buffet laid out before us; the ballet is already starting, and we hear a flautist fail her solo. I start eating and scarf down hashbrowns, vegetables, and a roll before a frumpy attendant starts asking me questions. I act suspicious and evade her questions, and she starts chasing me down. I run into the auditorium, where I find my family and sit by them. I don't escape the woman, though, and am kicked out.

2. I view a montage of Call of Duty matches, all taking place in some sort of museum. It's a hardcore assault on an elevator, and teams trade places between attack and defense. The terrorists almost win a match, letting only two of the good guys escape before time runs out. Once, when the elevator is nearing the attack stage, a string quartet forms and plays Metallica in the space.

I was in some room with a group of people, and there was one person asking questions on different personality types. They asked me about one, and I answered it. Then another one, but I didn't know what it was. Silvia answered it and said she dated a guy who reworked her entire plumbing in her house. There were more questions about these people, and every time, she would answer with some short story about how some guy she dated was helping her out around her house.

Later on, I'm playing some fighting game, and I lost two times because of the stage we were on. There were certain parts where both characters needed to head to another location, but mine got left behind....so it was considered a knockout.

1. I'm in a dorm at college, playing the newest Grand Theft Auto game. Eventually I get bored and return to my own room, which is full of frat boys from my study abroad trip. They're rifling through my stuff, and understandably I ask them to leave. When they don't I start to yell, then threaten to call campus police. They do leave, but slowly, and I threaten the last one out with a baseball bat. After a bit of peace, one of them calls me, but I ignore the ring. Suddenly, I realize that I'm late to class.

2. I'm watching some sort of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure / Crossroads crossover movie. The main character, a guitar playing youngster, has a book of scales that he carries like a hymnal. He engages in a guitar duel with the Devil; as they play, the Devil's hands expand unrealistically to make jaw-dropping gaps, but the kid's hands do as well. After a bit of this, the kid breaks out a soulful ballad, saying he's "already used the Paganinni."

3. I'm in a swamp at my grad school, which is adorned with placards showing hunting spots for deer. It's a little before dusk, and I can't see any colors. As the sun sets, I realize that my feet are plagued with green tree frogs! I get out of there and call my parents, who say they've been in a concert the whole time.

4. I'm at the grad school rec center, watching some documentary about NCAA basketball. The players are described as "pistons in a well-oiled machine," not as people. Inspired by their fitness, I borrow a ball and start shooting (poorly). After a bit, a bunch of big guys gather around my court. It was reserved by them, and embarrassed I slink off to the elliptical room. My mom wanders into the room, saying she's been looking for me.

5. I'm at a concert with my brother and a random girl from college (A.H). The band is a rather classical one, with instruments of cello, recorder, and violin, but the players are dressed in odd anime-inspired costumes. After their set, one of the players jumps down and starts to mingle with us at a large table. He gives us snarky logic/math puzzles to solve, and I find I can't beat them. I'm embarrassed, but after the table has dissolved he comes up and apologizes to me. I say that I actually enjoyed the challenge.

To Infinity… and Beyond
I am flying a space ship in outer space as in EVE online, though I am not flying one of the many EVE ships, I am flying my own Fire Valkyrie. I am flying through asteroid belts hunting pirates. I decide that the pirates I am finding in this belt are far too easy, so I need to go into a lower security zone. What zone am I in now? I push a couple buttons on my control panel and see it is a 0.8 zone, so it is really no wonder that the pirates here are easy. I decide to head into low security space, so I pull up a map that shows the surrounding solar systems. One of them is a 0.3 system, so I decide to go there. I locate the nearest jump gate and head over to the 0.3 space solar system, plotting a course to an asteroid belt as soon as I come out of warp. I ignore the usual warning from Concord saying they can't guarantee my safety in a 0.3 security space… When I reach the asteroid belt I am immediately greeted by the transmissions of pirates, and there are quite a few of them. One of them is a big one, yay! A fight starts, it turns out the smaller ones are still very easy to destroy… only the largest one takes any effort to get rid of. I fight the pirates and destroy all of them, then it is time to gather my loot. But I'm in my Fire Valkyrie… where am I supposed to put the loot? Fire Valkyries aren't chosen for their cargo space… I figure I'll take a look at what the loot is and figure out what to do with it. I check the large enemy first and see there are several pieces of expensive loot in there… I will make a load of isk off of this! Yay!

Game On
I am in an arcade, but the arcade is also a casino of sorts. There is a contest going on, and the jackpot is to be won by the first person to play a series of ten video games and not lose any of them. I decide I am going to accept the challenge, so I start off playing the games. It seems most of them are games I am able to play easily, though they aren't games I particularly like. I am on a winning streak, however, and there are only two games left… and they are both games I should have no problem with! The first one looks a lot like EVE Online, though it is a single player game. I get on the game and start shooting down the enemy ships. There is a kid standing next to me, the kid says I need to move and give him a turn on the game. I say I will in just a bit, I just need to score 100,000 points. The kid leaves and comes back with a woman who is an employee of the arcade. She says it is the kid's turn now, move. I ask if that means I won't be able to win the contest. She says the contest isn't won unless I win on each game in a row, so if I quit, I lose. I say I'll finish the round then, and then the kid can play. She says no, leave now or get thrown out. They're cheating! They're not letting anyone win the contest! I am annoyed at that. I step away from the game and lose, I am going to lodge a complaint. I'm not sure who to complain to… I am trying to figure that out when I wake up.

Zombie Stomp
I am at Alicia's house, and I know I need to get going home so I can get some stuff done. I can't remember what it was that I need to get done… but if I don't get to a computer soon, time is being wasted. For some reason she doesn't want me to leave until another of her friends arrives. Her friend is already late… I wish she would hurry up and come before it is too late. Finally we decide we need to go out and find Alicia's friend. We go out and get in my car, though we have to go back in the house for a few more items before we actually leave. I don't think anything strange about the fact one of the things we get is weapons. I select a katana that is particularly sharp, it will do perfectly. We go out and start looking for Alicia's friend. It is dark out, so I am having problems searching. We drive down an alley and find her friend surrounded by zombies. I do a double take at that and then I realize what the sword is for. Alicia's friend is up on a large dumpster trying to keep away from the zombies. I attack the zombies, though I think I am the only one who fights… but it is not difficult. These zombies are the slow moving dumb kind, and they have soon been relieved of their heads. I am trying to get Alicia's friend back to the car now, I want to go home and do something productive. She is being difficult, apparently traumatized from her encounter with zombies…

1. I'm watching a documentary about Star Wars. The show talks about drafts of the script and plot, as well as special effects. In one deleted scene, R2D2 uses his electric hookup to stun Darth Vader. Another part of the show demonstrates how Count Dooku's lighting encodes subliminal messages one letter at a time if viewed frame to frame.

2. I'm playing soccer in my Grandma's backyard. I'm in drag, and I seem to be playing with a couple of cartoon women, including Marge from the Simpsons. The other team is conversely girls dressed in boy's clothing. The game itself is entertaining, with ridiculous combination shots.

3. I'm hanging out with my friends C.W. and K.G., playing video games and being bored. K. goes to his room and fetches a sci-fi series on DVD. The discs are wrapped in foil, and are advertised as seen on an anime.

4. I'm being babysat by Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons. He microwaves a plate of food, pressing a button with a stylized atom symbol to "nuke" it.

1. I'm at the movies with my friends K.G. and C.W. My brother and his friends are there as well, and we start talking about a new sport called "sniper golf." It's pretty much self-explanatory; one team plays scramble golf as the other tries to pick them off with sniper paintball guns, then the teams switch.

2. I'm playing a Survivor challenge game that the host introduces as "capture the bag." The arena is set up in a cross shape, with four sloped paths leading to a high plateau in the center. Two teams of three try to throw bags at a dinosaur statue in the first round, with the most hits winning the round. In the second round, the goal is to get all six bags by any means necessary, and a fracas ensues.

3. I'm at my old grade school when I'm called to the principal's office to see government agents. I'm a little scared, but when I arrive they just want to say hi and give me some candy. I start walking back through the halls, boasting to everyone I meet, when a teacher rolls her eyes and tells me to go home.

4. I'm playing Drummania in an arcade, a game like Rock Band. Towards the end of the song I'm playing, the standard notes turn into a series of walls, which my sticks break down.

During the beginning of the dream, I believe I was in some sort of church on an island, though I think there was a funeral on the lower floor, there was a room on the top floor that was meant for video games and gaming education. Though I am a huge gamer, the room seemed boring, though I would have been entertained by all the old games they had, like DOOM. Once that was over, I had lost a sandle, so I was told, that I was wearing, though I was looking at myself in a third-person view and I had both sandles on, which sempt somewhat confusing, though I then realised I was playing some sort of game and in real life (at least in the dream) I had lost a sandle. I ran out to find my character that I was looking at accompanied by three other people. One of them was my best friend in real life, while the other two just looked like random people. We then jumped in to this futuristic looking boat, that went quite fast, but it seemed as I had trouble getting the others to come into the boat with me, but I did eventually. As soon as the boat started moving, we were being chased down by a load of policemen and gang members who shot rapidly at us. We then hit a ramp that pointed us underwater, it was then that I closed my eyes and could only hear strange noises, which seemed to be accurate since I have aquaphobia in the ocean. We came back to the surface before soon crashing into an island with a single, yet poorly designed house on it. It was at this point that I got the strange idea that my family lived there. Once we exited the boat and got onto the island, I started hearing dialogue from the game Saints Row 2, that is when It came to me that the whole world had graphics like the ones in the game. The rest of the dream is somewhat unclear. I do remember meeting with my so-called family and finding my sandal , but that is about it.

1. I forget under what circumstances it happens, but I do the nose pinch reality check and realize that I'm dreaming. I do the standard hand rub to stabilize, then see a window to the side of me. I have nothing better in mind, so I jump through it with ease and emerge on the other side into a winter scene. I start to fly and surge upwards through a cloud of snow. I realize that it's really rather cold, so I focus and summon a pair of gray wool pants. They appear in my hands with proper texture, and when I put them on they feel very soft and warm. I think about going into space, and as I look around I see a balloon ship. I fly over to it and fire up its engines, continuing to rise all the time. I try to change my clothes into a spacesuit, but I feel myself losing control...

I false awaken, and emerge into a scene where my mom and I are baking, with flour strewn everywhere. I ask nonchalantly if she was in the previous dream, and she responds that she's skilled enough to manage her own control. I talk excitedly about the concept of shared dreaming, admitting that it's probably "metaphysical bullshit."

2. I'm with some girl in a room that seems almost like a temple. Around a central altar, where we both are laying, are twelve pillars that correspond to the signs of the zodiac. She is initially very aggressive and defiant, but I calm her down and it seems like we go through a relationship in superfast motion with stages informed by zodiac signs.

3. I'm playing a game of hide and seek (using parkour to maneuver) on the Havana map of Call of Duty. My team has my brother and a couple of professional wrestlers, while my mom's team has her old friends. I eventually manage to track their last team member down and deliver the tag in a room from my own house.

1. I'm in a store that sells an odd combination of hardware tools and traditional games. I go to the basement, where there seem to be mostly tools. There's a door in the basement room, though, which leads to another room with wizard robes and hats lining the shelves. Yet another door opens into the store's main office, in which the employees have set up an Xbox. There's a DDR setup on the console and I indulge myself.

2. I'm playing an MMORPG with a strange blend of fantasy and sailing set on the East Coast of the USA. There are five races, including a species of intelligent giraffe people called the E'loi who can only speak under specific conditions. They can talk either to members of the warrior class, or they can talk to anyone while their heads are submerged in a tank of water with fish in it. My brother and I spend some time messing around with the boating mechanics, and I manage to strand my E'loi character's boat on a street.

1. I'm cripplingly depressed, but I'm riding my bike anyway to meet my brother behind an old Blockbuster in my hometown. The store has been repurposed into a porn store, and I go in and buy something. I see my mom exit from the nearby Walgreens, so naturally I drop the porn and meet her. Rest of DJ is unintelligible.

2. I'm hanging out/jamming with my friend Scott A. in the basement of my house. Q and S.T. come over. I go to greet them, but in my clumsiness I start a chain reaction that breaks a bunch of lamps. None of my friends seem to particularly care, but I grab a vacuum cleaner anyway. As I go for it, I realize I'm hungry. I take the vacuum with me and grab my bicycle, heading to my college cafeteria. Along the way, I am insulted about my age by Nathan S. and other jackasses from college. I ignore them and head into the cafeteria, where I first enter the bathroom.

3. I'm playing a Star Trek version of the TIE Fighter video game. I successfully pilot a starfighter against impossible odds, several capital ships at a time. There's then a "trench run" sequence as in Star Wars, where I follow a freighter into a massive building. It's decorated as a nightclub for giants, and there's a critical spot on the floor that I need to shoot. I can't keep my craft steady enough to shoot and use the tractor beam at the same time and fail the mission.

1. Metal Gear Solid was taking place in my old high school. Since, having played the game about a billion times, I knew one of the major sad parts was coming up, I took the opportunity to sit Snake and Gray Fox down at a cafeteria table, have a conversation, and make friends with Fox (who for some reason was missing the upper half of his Cyborg Ninja suit, was wearing Otacon's glasses, and was carrying a plastic bag full of fake roses). Before everyone went their separate ways, I took a petal from one of Fox's fake roses so that I'd remember everything that happened.

2. Still in my high school, it was time for Home Ec, where we were making pancakes that we could either top with sweet things or with refried beans. Before class started, I checked my pocket to make sure the rose petal I "borrowed" from Gray Fox was still there. Cooking was mayhem. There wasn't enough griddle space for everyone, the classroom itself had sort of a maze layout, and when I finally got my pancakes poured, I came back to discover that a huge guy was sitting on them. Bastard.

3. I was at an anime convention, petal still in pocket. I found a light-up figure of Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell, but it was too expensive. There were also a bunch of weird jawbreakers.

4. I'm wearing my orange-red-yellow stripey nightgown. I check desperately for pants pockets, but eventually resign myself to the fact that I didn't really meet Solid Snake and Gray Fox. Bummer.

5. I'm a servant in a family of dogs who have to go into hiding under the protection of the wolf king. During a war with some lions, the pups and the wolf king go missing, so I put on a wolf mask and go into the forest to rescue them. I get killed, but it turns out the whole thing was just a play, and the plot repeats itself a couple times.

6. I'm in a mall where some highly advanced robotic llamas and ferrets are being exhibited. I play with the ferrets.

22.6.2011

Buggers (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID







Dream: Protection

★★★★☆

Tasked with protecting this girl around my age, I quickly discover she isn't human. No, she's one of them, sent to understand human society and culture during this time of war. Even so, I find myself caring for this girl, and when the invasion finally does hit, and boulders are crashing down around us, I refuse to allow her to go back to them only to have her body vaporized and her memories absorbed into their collective hive-mind. So, I nab a fighter jet and we flee. . . only to crash a short time afterwards on the border of a hick river-town.

The only people in town able to help us are asking too high a price, but she knows something about me, something I had forgotten. Our desperate situation and a reminder is all it takes for me to take the initiative, dredge our plane to the surface with my TK, and repair it instantly. . .

Dream: Military School

★★☆☆☆

Enrolled in the academy, I find myself living a mix of military and student life, but things quickly get out of hand. Shenanigans ensue and I find myself taking a dip in full uniform in the lake the night before an important day. Apparently, it was the only thing I could do to avoid being caught out after curfew.

Fragment: Bros.

★★☆☆☆

Super Nintendo graphics and a Mario Bros. Game make up my world, as I help guide my brother through a particular difficult level. Unfortunately, he's being resistant. Normally, I wouldn't care, but lives are at stake here, and one more spill into that lava would kill more than the sprite. . .

1. I'm called by the police after a concert to report on some crime; the process takes forever and I miss getting to my job.

2. Setting of dream is the same as the webcomic "Erfworld." A "good" character has called a massive flood to save her sister, but in doing so wipes out countless other lives. There's a view of a prisoner in an open-air dungeon with a terrified look on his face as the water sweeps in to overwhelm him.

3. I'm playing some sort of turn based strategy version of Super Smash Brothers; the opposing team is Mario and Luigi, and Luigi is kicking away my ranged attacks with his taunt move.