Timothy Paradox

I was being chased around by a psychopath trying to kill me. I think he had a knife. This happened in what I think was a big cafeteria? At some point I found a flamethrower. But every time I tried using it, he dodged backwards impossibly quickly, making me miss. I realized he was an NPC and this was scripted. You weren't supposed to be able to hurt him, you were supposed to flee. But I realized his behavior could be exploited. I drove him into a corner with my bursts of fire. He had nowhere to run to, he couldn't go left or right. Now I think he wore glasses and wore a suit, like the guy from Falling Down. I could see the despair and confusion in his eyes. I'd beat him. I tried pulling the trigger but it didn't work. What a cliche. I looked to make sure I was gripping the right bits (there was this inflated bag-thing you were supposed to compress, THEN pull the trigger - weird), then tried again. Flaming hot inferno poured out of the flamethrower and scorched the bad guy.

I was in another country, looking for a job to supplement my income. I stumbled upon a small street restaurant that served good food. They were very nice and they agreed to hire me. There was a moment I was confused as to when I was actually supposed to be in the restaurant, as there was no one around (no customers). Apparently, dream logic is that when there's no customers around, you can just go home until someone shows up...?

I woke up remembering a whole bunch of '80s songs. Or at least I think it was more than one... The last one I had in my head was a fully formed song, every instrument, vocals, lyrics, everything, and I'm not sure if it even exists in real life. I've had this before over a decade ago, when I dreamt a complete Depeche Mode song that did not exist. Not unlike what generative AI does these days, except better. Anyway, this latest song had "don't stop" as a repeating lyric, but that's so vague it was impossible to find on Google even if it existed.

We were sitting somewhere outdoors. There were quite a lot of people. There was a guy speaking to the group, maybe on a stage, or at his table. I know I hated him and he hated me. At some point I had to do something that was confusing, and I didn't do it quite right. I managed to have a sarcastic reaction to this, which infuriated the guy. At one point I think I was speaking from that stage instead, and said something incredibly sarcastic again, a jab at my rival. I think he (or someone else) said in the background "you are so insufferable!". Seconds before waking up, I became aware this was all a movie, and I was an actor performing a role. I really tried to "ham up" my sarcastic smirk for the invisible cameras, expecting someone to yell "cut!".

In the second dream, I'm flying a F22 Raptor in chase cam, like in a game. I flew into a jump gate like the ones from the X franchise, and ended up in the warp tunnel like in X²: The Threat. I realized that it was possible to fly up and outside of the warp tunnel, seeing it from the outside. There was another "layer" of "something" surrounding it (very hard to explain), but you could fly between them. As the warp tunnel neared its end (where it would normally spit you out into the next space sector), I discovered that staying just above the actual tunnel (but below the other layer) spit me out in a hidden reality: a bright, sunny place, dominated by a HUGE city of futuristic glass towers. I flew around a bit, doing maneuvers and gawking at my environment. I saw the inhabitants on the ground. They were NOT human, but strange aliens, with weird, floaty appendages.

In the next scene, possibly still in this city, I'm in a big house. A whole bunch of sitcom-level stuff happened here that I can't recall, but it was funny. I punched the president in the face! Ha. At some point I tried to escape (I was a prisoner there, free to roam around but not leave?) so I ran into the back yard and go through a hole in the hedge. But I couldn't get through. I quickly decided to abort this attempt and try somewhere else before they (the CIA?) caught me. At this second point, I managed to get over a fence. The CIA was hot on my heels, but they were JUST too late to stop me. Before I woke up, I crowed victoriously, "Aw hell no, I invented that trick!". Random, not sure what I was even referring to (the CIA dudes tried something to stop me?), but dreams are dreams I guess.

I had a vision of Claire at homecoming. She was walking or running through a long school corridor, until suddenly she was confronted by something that scared her. She wanted to turn and run, but behind her an unnatural wall of darkness was closing in. She was surrounded by it on all sides now. I knew there was no escape. It popped into my awareness that I'd turned on this scene by accident, but choosing to view it in its entirety was my choice. I could pause it, move forward, and back - but never sense my own body. I could, however, feel myself presence in that scene with Claire, but more as a kind of disembodied spirit if that makes sense.

I was visiting my father at the chemical plant he works at. It looked different. We talked a bit. He was at his desk. Then I left, saying "see you this evening!" because we'd agreed I'd come over later that evening. Note: IRL, I have indeed agreed to meet my dad later this evening.

Another waking dream of the same type as yesterday. Talking to someone I couldn't see right as I was on the cusp of waking up. Feeling my bed, and seeing my bedroom, but still continuing the conversation. As my logical faculties slowly kicked in as I transitioned to full waking state, I briefly feared I was going schizophrenic.

I had a kind of vision upon waking, like I was waking up but still floating somewhere between states of consciousness. I was having a full conversation with a person. I'm pretty sure it was my (deceased) mother. Slowly, I started being able to see the real world of my bedroom through my open eyes. I couldn't see my mom anymore, but I was still continuing the conversation alone in my bed. Somehow this felt normal. As my critical mind woke up mid-conversation, I became disappointed that I could no longer believe in the fiction of the dream anymore. That I wasn't really talking to my mom.