So, the current book of Tales of MU has been dealing a lot in dream-stuff, the dynamics of dreams. I have no idea if anybody finds it as interesting as I do, because I'm going through one of my comment-averse phases.
But the basic foundation for it is my dissatisfaction of the way dreams are usually treated in fantasy. I.e., it's often taken for granted that there's a realm of dreams in which dreams are real, that exists outside and beyond our heads, etc. The idea of lucid dreams that one can exert perfect control over is presented as a simple and unavoidable consequence of being aware that one is dreaming. Sometimes -- more rarely but often enough for it to be a trope -- the idea that one can't experience some kind of sensory input in dreams becomes a turning point. Actually, now that I think about it, that's not rare. It's rare that it's anything other than pain ("pinch me, I'm dreaming".)
It's not that you can't tell a story about a world of dreams, it's that nobody ever tries to do anything else. I frequently realize I'm dreaming in dreams without the dream as a whole becoming more coherent or sensible of under my control... last night I dreamed that somebody mailed an embarrassing compilation of my internet activity from 1995 till today to my parents, and when I became aware it was a dream because of inconsistencies I wasn't suddenly able to control things or banish the feeling of creeping dread that permeated the whole thing.
The most I could do was resolve to check the mail before they did when I woke up, because I was convinced that the document was real. Never mind that I haven't lived with them for over a decade and that my internet activity is all public anyway.
That's just how dreams work. It's not just that we dream things happen that don't, we dream knowledge that doesn't exist. And it's compelling within the scope of the dream.
Anyway, today I'm taking a trip down to Lincoln for![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
s00j's concert, so this will probably stand as my status post for the day. Dreams: I have thoughts and feelings about them.
But the basic foundation for it is my dissatisfaction of the way dreams are usually treated in fantasy. I.e., it's often taken for granted that there's a realm of dreams in which dreams are real, that exists outside and beyond our heads, etc. The idea of lucid dreams that one can exert perfect control over is presented as a simple and unavoidable consequence of being aware that one is dreaming. Sometimes -- more rarely but often enough for it to be a trope -- the idea that one can't experience some kind of sensory input in dreams becomes a turning point. Actually, now that I think about it, that's not rare. It's rare that it's anything other than pain ("pinch me, I'm dreaming".)
It's not that you can't tell a story about a world of dreams, it's that nobody ever tries to do anything else. I frequently realize I'm dreaming in dreams without the dream as a whole becoming more coherent or sensible of under my control... last night I dreamed that somebody mailed an embarrassing compilation of my internet activity from 1995 till today to my parents, and when I became aware it was a dream because of inconsistencies I wasn't suddenly able to control things or banish the feeling of creeping dread that permeated the whole thing.
The most I could do was resolve to check the mail before they did when I woke up, because I was convinced that the document was real. Never mind that I haven't lived with them for over a decade and that my internet activity is all public anyway.
That's just how dreams work. It's not just that we dream things happen that don't, we dream knowledge that doesn't exist. And it's compelling within the scope of the dream.
Anyway, today I'm taking a trip down to Lincoln for
s00j's concert, so this will probably stand as my status post for the day. Dreams: I have thoughts and feelings about them.