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Post by myrthman on Jul 12, 2008 14:14:44 GMT -5
...and credit card fraud!
I had a dream last night and when I told it to my wife, she said that it would make a great story. I think she may be right.
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The dream was of a upper-middle class family of three who takes a much needed vacation to eastern Europe (of all places!). Once they arrive, the son is escorted to the kids area where he immediately makes friends and enemies. Some of the kids escape from the baby sitters and find the adults having fun in a casino-like room with all kinds of weird, brightly lit games and brightly colored cocktails.
The kid's mom is escorted to a new-to-her game by the owner of the hotel. It looked like the floor mat to Dance Dance Revolution but on a bigger scale. Maybe like an old disco floor built into a huge, touch screen monitor on the floor. Anyway, the kid watches as his Mom decides whether or not to dance on the thing. The suave owner of the Machine and hotel finally convinces her to start. And then everyone else joins in the fun, leaving the rest of the casino virtually empty. Everyone's having a great time dancing and the floor mat is getting brighter and brighter with each beat to the music.
Finally, after everyone has retired, the boy gets a chance to investigate closer. The Machine is now displaying a question with two options: "Change Location?" He selects 'Yes' and sees a list of other locations throughout the globe. As he's reaching forward to select one, the baby sitter/security guy comes in and the kid has to run off.
His next opportunity to look at the Machine prompts a "New User" interface with a complete registration and credit card form. On clicking 'Submit' a new question pops up: "How would you like to receive your instructions?" The options are progressively detailed instructions for different levels of wizard (Arcanum Maximum, e.g.).
All of a sudden, in my dream, I knew what was going on before the kid did (if I write this story, I'll be sure to show not tell!). The owner of the hotel is really an evil wizard who has plans to take over the world or turn everyone into mindless slaves or something while also stealing and using their credit card information. Some of the other guests were wizards too. Dancing on the Machine somehow increased the wizards' power level and the size of his coffers. The boy will team up with his new friends to try to stop him and save his parents at the same time.
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This dream unnerved me a little because at one time, the kid was thinking what fun he'd have with wizard's magic. Anyway. Maybe I just ate something funny last night. What do you think?
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Post by torainfor on Jul 12, 2008 15:39:08 GMT -5
I think it sounds cool. Does the dance mat transfer energy from the (excuse the term) Muggles' dancing to the wizards?
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Post by Divides the Waters on Jul 12, 2008 16:29:20 GMT -5
The idea of willingly giving up freedoms or power is intriguing, and this is certainly one of the more novel ways of dealing with that theme.
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Jul 12, 2008 19:19:17 GMT -5
Interesting how powerful the woman in the dream is. She seems like the pivotal (excuse the dance term) figure.
Fascinating dream.
I think it's interesting when we wake up from one of those and somehow know what it means.
Did you have an interpretation when you awoke?
Jeff
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Post by myrthman on Jul 12, 2008 19:58:45 GMT -5
I didn't really think of it as a dream to be interpreted. I really kinda thought it was just a story idea. Although I have had a spiritual discussion with my parents recently that wasn't as successful as I would have liked. I don't know. Any thoughts?
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Post by Teskas on Jul 14, 2008 9:17:57 GMT -5
I liked the dream simply on the face of it. It would make a good SF story.
And this does bring up an issue which I've been thinking about a lot lately--CSF and global economics. I believe globalization and monetary policies have become a portal for world-wide economic slavery. Debt is being globalized. The government here, through the Federal Reserve, now holds one-third of all mortgage debt in the USA. If you figure 40 percent of household income, post tax, goes to servicing a mortgage, and taxes amount on average to 20-25 percent of salaries, many people in this country spend more than half their working year paying their salaries to government. In Europe it is much worse. In other words, in many democracies, government owns the major portion of people's time and energy.
The possibilities of what may happen are a rich source of material for SF writers. So, if I were you, Myrthman, I'd go for it.
As Saint Paul writes, "Owe no man any debt, but the debt of love." (Rom 13:8)
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Post by Divides the Waters on Jul 20, 2008 0:57:44 GMT -5
I didn't really think of it as a dream to be interpreted. I really kinda thought it was just a story idea. Although I have had a spiritual discussion with my parents recently that wasn't as successful as I would have liked. I don't know. Any thoughts? Myrthman, I don't often look for meanings in dreams. Some of my own have felt prophetic (though I have yet to find anything remotely understandable or applicable about them), and others have been obvious signs of being troubled in my conscious life, while still others have been nothing more than movies playing out in my head (and I have a thoroughly frustrating tendency to wake just before the guy gets the girl, or the name of the murderer is announced, etc.). But what intrigued me about your dream was that the spiritual implications of the rather odd scenario just leapt out at me. There may not have been any conscious (or subconscious) meaning, per se, but sometimes that's where the most effective writing occurs. Think of how many deep spiritual themes can be found in LOTR, while Tolkien himself claimed no other literary goal than to tell a long story. Perhaps it's just because it's a theme that fascinates me; it's the old scriptural notion of gaining the world and losing your soul. I wonder, sometimes, given my own struggles with various issues and temptations, how cheaply I would sell my own if someone were to put a price on it. How do you conquer someone without laying a finger on him? Present him with the object of his desire. (Incidentally, this is, in fact, one of the central themes in my epic fantasy novel.) |
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Post by seraphim on Dec 8, 2008 23:30:15 GMT -5
Reminds me a little of The Last Starfighter. Video games are seeded on earth (and presumably) other worlds to teach and test starfighter combat reflexes. Those who score high enough get abducted to fight for the good guys against some evil empire in real starfighters.
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Dec 10, 2008 9:43:41 GMT -5
Yeah, great premise for a story.
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Post by dizzyjam on Dec 10, 2008 11:14:50 GMT -5
Although this does make for an imaginative story, let me say something about dreams here. I have had some different dreams over time that are so strange I couldn't forget them. As time progressed I realized how they were prophetic of what was to come in my life. I have been told to write down all dreams, although I usually don't. Most of the important ones I seem to remember, yet others I felt I should remember, I tend to forget. There have been those I thought would make great stories and then I go and don't write them down and then I lose the idea.
An example of a dream that was kinda' wierd but probably isn't prophetic and I don't know if I would remember it if I hadn't read this thread, but last night I had a dream. In real life I'm part of a Network Marketing group that's well known. Some people have had good experiences while others have not. My dream probably expresses the fears of those who don't like the concept, even though I like the group I'm with. Well last night I dreamt that I was at a gathering and had gone up to talk with the person who had been successful who had been speaking a moment before to ask him some questions about finding those to join. Next thing I know he's pointing someone out that works at the place he was speaking at and then we're heading to the speaker's car. A fellow I had with me was with us in the car along with the guy who had introduced the concept to me (at least that's who I think it was). The speaker had a way of finding out where this guy he had pointed out lived and we went to the condos where he lived, but we needed to get in through the gate. The gate required a credit card of a certain range if you were a guest, which the speaker produced and we were inside. Next thing I knew we were knocking on this guy's door and he let us in. In my dream I couldn't believe we were doing this. In real life, I know I wouldn't take part in this - not that I really think such an intrusion would actually happen for me to not take part in. So the guy recognized the speaker and the speaker made up some story about being lost and just happening to knock on the guy's door that worked where he had been speaking recently. The guy and the speaker go into the other room (back where the entrance was) to go over the concept and I found a fanned stack of comic book posters with backing boards to look through. When I went into the other room I found out they were waiting on me before starting. At one point the speaker was saying something and I made a foolish comment that upon immediate retrospect was completely opposite of what he had been saying. After that the dream faded out, but I got the impression the guy turned us down.
I'm sure for anyone with bad experiences (or knows people with bad experiences) with Network Marketing and MLM (not those mail outs you get either), I've probably just confirmed your worst suspicions. Let me assure you that the vast majority of people in this type of business wouldn't really think of doing anything remotely like that. Although I've met a few that I think would do something that could be rather aggravating, in general this type of business only works with ethical people and unfortunately attracts the unethical. Again, I doubt this dream means anything, and now that I remember it I plan on sharing it with the guy who shared the business with me because I think we can have a good laugh over it.
The point is that dreams that we try to make prophetic might be better used as a story to be told, while other dreams could be rather prophetic. Personally, this sounds more like a story dream to me and would make for an interesting premise of a suspense novel. Not sci-fi/fantasy maybe, but nothing to worry about for real life.
Myrthman, write the story you dreamed. I could see that one becoming a series of books.
Be encouraged,
David
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Post by mongoose on Dec 10, 2008 17:09:48 GMT -5
My pastor says that when he receives a prophecy, whatever the vector, he prays about it, and then usually puts it on the back shelf. Either it'll come true, or it won't. The point is to keep listening to God, and obeying, right?
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