Dream Log 2015 Feb 20

Dream Log, 2015, February 20

I had lots of dreams last night, although my recollection of them is somewhat... faulty.

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My first recalled dream was somewhat nonsensical. I don't remember a specific purpose, but the environment was vivid in its detail. To the east and west there stretched flat plains, somewhat grassy but also a bit rocky. To the north and south were boundaries on the world; the geography was made in the same fashion as some old Legend of Zelda games, in which areas of the world are divided into screens, occasionally with borders on the edges of the screen to prevent the player from passing into areas that don't exist in the game's code. Although it would be easy to imagine these screens from a top-down perspective, I experienced things in first-person. The screen in which I spent the most time had a curious layout, I suppose. There stood a couple of picnic tables, a few conjoined outhouse stalls, and some other stalls that appeared to be in a state of construction. A single sapling stood in the center of it all, and I never explored the area to the east of here. To the west was a screen of featureless plain, and past it (also to the west) was a cliff face with some significant features set into it. At the base of the cliff was a shallow stream that had been blocked from flowing by some force and had begun to stagnate. By activating some sort of natural magic force, I unblocked the stream and allowed it to flow once more, then focused on opening a hidden door in the cliff face. However, I noticed a hive of bees on the far side of the stream, next to where the door should open. I tried throwing stones at the hive to knock it down, but wasn't prepared to flee from the angered horde of bees. I dove into the stream in an attempt to escape their pursuit, but realized too late that the stream was too shallow to provide an effective escape. As they closed in, the bees turned into hornets, and I woke with a pounding heart just before being swarmed.

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My next dream was a bit more typical, I suppose. Rather than a completely imagined world, I was returned to the house in Hugo, Oklahoma that my mother once owned. Snow had blanketed the ground, and ice had covered the roads. I accompanied my little sister on some errand or another, and I think I felt a growing resentment toward her, not unlike my feelings toward her in the waking world. We were discussing something of little import, although she managed to stir up unpleasant feelings in me as we walked back to our "home." I began walking south along the road, past the turn which would take us to our abode, and she posed a question to me. I turned to face her and give my reply, but before I could finish my sentence, the ice underneath me cracked and gave way, and I fell into a freezing river that hadn't existed moments ago. I recall my sister trying to help me out of the water, but I don't know if she was successful. I woke around that time.

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My last dream was a bit more pleasant, in some ways. I was in the world of Pokemon! I saw the world from above in 8-bit sprites, and people's dialogue occurred in text boxes that appeared in my vision. I had either direct or indirect control of two player characters who existed in the same save file, if you will. They were able to assist each other in battle, or wander off on their own adventures. I was (by proxy through them) building an impressive team, though it was clear that the boy, who resembled Gold from the Gold & Silver games, was the focus of the party, while the girl, who resembled Kris from Crystal Version, acted more as a support. I don't remember what Gold's party was, since he had all six slots of his party filled, but I remember Kris had only a Dratini and a Magikarp. While Gold was in a nearby city, Kris had wandered into the wilderness to train her team, and was challenged to a battle by a trainer swimming in the river. Unfortunately, due to the illogical rules of the Pokemon world, Kris was unable to turn down the trainer's challenge, and sent her Magikarp into battle first. The challenging trainer sent in a Chinchou, a fish-like 'mon with biological electrodes it uses to sense creatures' electrical currents, as well as delivering harmful shocks.

 The challenging trainer asked (strangely, through text boxes rather than audio) if Kris was the mysterious "Trainer X," and implied that such a trainer would have a play-time of 00min 01sec in the context of the game. I think this meant that either Trainer X was a criminal running around with a fake license, or that he was a "glitch," something that shouldn't exist. For some reason my suspicions leaned heavily toward the existential, and I didn't even consider the possibility of a fake license until now.

As the battle started, my view of the world changed from a lighthearted 8-bit rendition from a top-down perspective to visceral low-angled shots of realistically rendered creatures and people. The waters were inexplicably murky for a flowing river, and I couldn't even discern either 'mon over the distance between them. A text-box UI appeared as Kris made her decisions and issued commands to her Magikarp, who was swimming near the top, presumably to hear her commands. The text inside the boxes was gibberish, or perhaps tulpish (not discernable as language, but outright concepts and connotations). Her Magikarp only knew three moves: the ineffective "splash" known by almost all Magikarp, a mildly effective physical attack, and a self-buff more effective than any I am currently aware exists in the actual games. Kris ordered her 'mon to use the buff, and it may have been the only thing to keep Magikarp conscious, as the challenger's Chinchou took the opportunity to close in and deliver a debilitating shock, to which water-types such as Magikarp are especially weak to. Kris grabbed the magikarp and held it in the shallows at the banks as it convulsed in temporary electrically-induced paralysis, and my view broke away from them as she considered switching in Dratini. I exerted my influence (whatever effect it had) and tried to will Gold out of the nearby city to assist her, but woke from a combination of factors. Around that time, my REM cycle was drawing to a close, and the afternoon sun was glaring through the windows onto my bed. I think, at this time, my neighbors or one of my roommates was making some noise, as well. Whatever the reasons, I woke before Gold left the city...

End of log, 2015, February 20.