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Fermius Firefly

A Dream Log, whenever I remember the dreams I've had.

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Location: San Marcos, United States

Fermius is a pen name drawn from a series of short fiction I wrote when I published the small press magazine Stellanova (on paper.) I play RPG games to escape from my daily grind as a technology wage slave for the state of California. I eat out a lot in order to do my part in supporting our increasingly service level economy. I am butler to 2 feline masters. If you ask them they will tell you I'm not very good at it, late with dinner, don't have enough hands with brushes in them, and sometimes I even lock them out of their office.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Blue Wall Canyon

        In my dream I was traveling through a canyon, just after sunset. The walls of the canyon were bathed in an eerie blue light. It was too dark in the sky for the light to be reflected from the sky, and the sunset itself was full of oranges and golds. The only thing I was left to conclude was that the stone itself was luminescent.

        The walls of the canyon were so striking I completely lost track of why I was in the canyon in the first place. I was riding a sort of mechanical dinosaur, so I brought it to a halt and turned the key off. I could then hear the sounds of small insects flying about, and bats on the wing fluttered about my head. Just about the time I thought to get going again, something tipped me off that it was just a dream, so I stayed and marveled at the beauty of the place until I awoke.

        After I fell back to sleep I found myself in a thick woods, and commented to my companions that I wanted to go back to the canyon, as it was much more interesting. They had no idea what I was talking about. We were all still on mechanical dinosaurs, though, so I thought they should know. I wish I could remember the dialogue, as the arguments were very Alice in Wonderland.

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Thursday, March 26, 2009

What's My Crime

        I dreamed that I was working on a TV show (Technical Director) called Whats My Crime. It was like the old Whats My Line tv show, except that instead of one mystery guest, there were three, and the celebrity contestant had to try to fit the three crimes to the three suspects. The money they won was being donated to charity.

        The suspects were seated in large upright coffins, decorated with flowers and ribbons. The contestant sat in a witness stand type construct and had to ask questions of the yes/no variety of the three criminals. Each question asked removed a certain amount of money from the contestants pot. The contestant could make several different marks to indicate what they were thinking next to each suspect. The marks were virtual, of course, and the viewer at home was the only one who could see them. If a suspect lied, they would get a black mark.

        Unfortunately for the contestant, only the audience got to see which suspect had the black mark. The contestant only knows that one of the suspects lied.

        In the show we were taping there was a tall blonde man in the first coffin. (On black mark early in the show.) A average sized woman in the middle position, she had brown hair and a slightly dumpy figure. The third coffin was huge, as the criminal there was about 300 pounds plus. He was also not completely human, as his brow was thick and large and his hands almost reached the ground, even though he was standing.

        I wish I could remember what the crimes were, but I could tell from the questioning that Jennifer Beal (the celebrity contestant) was completely thrown off by the black mark, and as a result headed down the wrong trail. Questions had to be asked of the group, but for an extra $100 you could ask a specific individual a question separate from the others.

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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Zombie Toy Invasion

        My dreams last night roamed all over the spectrum, but there was one particularly funny tidbit. Id just flown in from the top of some purple mountains (they were, indeed, majestic) and landed in a courtyard surrounded by marble columns. Small green plants thrust their way through the floor tiles, all of which were the same brown and black pattern that was the floor of my bedroom when I was a child.

        Toy soldiers, of both the green and tan variety were strewn about in the grass and across the tiles.

        Suddenly, they came to life, two inches tall on the outside, six foot tall on the inside.

        Unfortunately a larger number of them were animated in unlife, bursting in a cloud of greenish gas to take the form of the WoW zombies from the Scourge Invasion Event. I wasnt really too worried, as they were only two inches tall. But I did yell to the living soldiers to stay well away from them and shoot for the head.

        I was concerned that even at two inches tall the zombies could spread the plague, so I lifted both my feet off of the ground and hovered over the scene where they couldnt reach me. I sat watching the zombies run madly around in all directions, with no coordination other than that of heading for the closest living target.

        I reached down and relocated a small group of soldiers who were about to be surrounded. They werent too thrilled with being picked up, until they looked down and saw the twenty plus zombies encircling their former position. I gently placed them with a larger group of their comrades. There seemed to be some tensions between the tan and green soldiers, but attacking zombies soon had them working together. I floated across the floor recovering the tiny plastic heavy machine guns and ammunition to reinforce the pressed defenders.

        Molly Ringwald floated down into the courtyard and drifted next to me. She was concerned that being here would violate her probation.

        Im supposed to stay away from zombies.

        I thought that she was long out of her probationary period. But nodded, as staying away from zombies is always a good idea.

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Monday, March 23, 2009

Unequally Yoked

        I dreamed that I was visiting with a friend. His wife (3rd one) was leaving, but not for another guy (like the last two.) This one was using the reason that they were unequally yoked.

        Seeing how being an atheist married to a priest would indeed fit that profile, I had little to offer by way of comfort. Being differently belief challenged in my own relationship causes occasional strains. Fortunately, we dont have other practitioners of our beliefs weighing in on our relationship. Pretty sure we wouldnt weather that challenge.

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Friday, March 20, 2009

Lego Adventure Diorama

        I dreamed that I was helping build a huge, about 60 foot long by 4 foot wide, diorama out of Lego. The theme was pirates are shipwrecked in a giant crater full of prehistoric beasts and ancient step pyramids. There was also a very secretive bunch of inhabitants, who seemed to know the pirates were likely to be trouble.

The pirates and Legosians were all made of traditional mini-figures, but the large creatures and buildings, as well as the terrain were all made from bricks. Several of the diorama segments were actually backed by flat Lego murals. Wed set the diorama up in a sort of comic book sequence, so that as people walked through they would see the shipwreck, with pirates fighting off pterodactyls and larger crocodiles, then would follow the scouting parties out where they had discovered abandoned pyramid structures (made from grey, black and green mossy bricks) and more dinosaurs. Then on to finding and eventually fighting with the Legosians as the pirates true nature came to light. The pirate Legosian conflict was modeled on the outer the steps of a golden fully inhabited pyramid city (mostly made of yellow and white bricks.)

I was helping assemble some of the structures of the city, hollow buildings with mini-figures engaged in commerce or trade, unaware of the threat to their way of life on the steps of their metropolis. I also had the structures and rails for the city monorail left to put together and set to running.

In some ways the diorama was like a huge Lego promotional display, and in others it was like a model railroad. The whole display was the work of about a dozen people, and we had provided most of our own bricks. The crowd that had arrived early to the display were very enthusiastic, and several of them had all ready bought the game rules for playing out the Pirate Legosian war with their own miniatures at home. I was thinking that this would be a great MMOE setting. (Massive Multi-player Online Entertainment) It would be easier to code than many of the current MMOs, as the models werent particularly high poly count. Lego would have a huge virtual presence and might be able to make a premium from selling real custom kits of in-game models.

Character customization would be fairly easy as well, as you could make all model enhancements take flat textures which you could find or buy as a player.

By the time the dream had ended I had put together a fairly thorough game proposal, one that would allow builders to build in large expandable world that they would populate with their own mini-figures and even allow for scripted events to generate in game events for other players. It was a combination of high tech and low tech, and the zones were separated by the Central Power rule. The higher tech a gadget, the worse it functioned the further away from the Central Power Core. You could buy batteries, but they were somewhat limited and fairly large. The further away from the CPC, the lower the technology. Everything was also balanced on the idea that item effects were limited, but their visual effects were widely varied.

        The game also would have a fairly hefty building and crafting system.

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Thursday, March 19, 2009

Gaming in My Sleep.

        I dreamed I was playing WoW with N and MS and a couple of other folks Ive met online. We were in some sort of huge ice cavern, fighting a frost giant. MS was a paladin (in my dream I editorialized: Of course.) N was a Moonkin (Druid) and I was a gnome, we had a hunter and another paladin with us, so it was a 5 man instance. We had a tough time of taking out the giant, but managed. While we were all sitting and healing up, a large slug like creature appeared on a ledge far above us.

        I targeted it to see what it was. It had half a million health.

I think we should stay away from that, I started to say when my portrait appeared in its targeting area.

        Oh, RUST! I shouted, but everyone had gone AFK. I knew we all had an item in our inventory that was supposed to help contain this creature, freeze it in place, when all five were used. This was an encounter that you could use items to avoid. Problem was, if you didnt use all five, you could root the boss, but then it would start spewing out little copies of itself. I tried kiting it away from the group, my health kept having huge chunks taken out of it. I managed to go invisible, but it then just switched to the next closest party member, N, who happened to be in the bathroom. I pulled out the relic and trapped it. Of course, it started spewing out little grey shimmery sluglets.

        Good news, they werent elite, bad news, they were popping out about one a second. Good news, the boss wasnt directly attacking me anymore. Bad news, the sluglets, though not very healthy, hit hard.

        I was down to about a fifth of my health and mana, and dropping fast. Running to get them grouped up so I could AOE them in batches then run from the next batch. I was keeping alive, but only barely. M got back on microphone and asked what I was doing.

        Trying to stay alive, this thing spawned right after the giant died. I didnt provoke it intentionally, really!

        Lets just wipe and come back for them.

        Theyre not the problem. I had to use my relic to keep the boss from attacking N.

        Get everyone back on line, now, we need to do this before your relic times out.

        N shouted that she was wiping, the bathroom kind, and would be right there.

        MS started helping take out the sluglets, and tossed me a heal at the same time.

        Should I use my relic?

        Not yet, it spawns one a second for each relic on it until it gets all five.

        We started taking turns killing the sluglets in groups of five or six until the rest of the party could get on. I would bandage M and he would heal me.

        I need to save enough mana to AOE down the last burst of sluglets!

        Moonkin can hurricane, M suggested.

        Its on cool down, M; N used it on the last boss.

        Were all going to die.

        At some point during that exchange it went from playing a game to being a real experience. I was a little unhappy that I couldnt see from an overhead view, but at the same time, my view was much wider and I could move my head and eyes far faster than I ever could my mouse. So it seemed like a fair trade off.

        N was hitching up her leather pants as she rounded the corner of a boulder, her long pointy ears turned into tufts of feathers as she took on her Moonkin form after healing us.

        JL, the other paladin came running down the ravine and into the fray next to M. I didnt know where the hunter was located.

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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Bloody Moos

        I dreamed that I was working at rounding up a bunch of Holstein cattle, young bulls and cows mixed in a herd that was spread out over several large grassy hills. I had helpers, a pair of grey and green striped tigers.

        I had to yell at them to go easy on the cattle, as they were making them bleed when they swatted them to get them moving.

        I then found myself in a large vaulted and pillar filled underground cavern, the light filtered in from somewhere distant in a cool blue stream that splattered wetly against the rhinestones in the broken tiles of the cavern floor.

        This is so vampire territory, my companion said. She pulled out her pocket knife and whittled the end of her torch into a sharp point.

        I have a flashlight and a telescope.

        I dont think that is going to help.

        It has a black-light on it, I offered hopefully.

        What good is that?

        Isnt that the part that makes them burst into flame?

        No, thats magic from the sun.

        But theres no. I turned on the black light part of the flashlight. Fine.

        There were little flashes of fire from the small bats all around us. I turned the light back off.

        Sorry about that.

        We saw something much larger fly off away from our position.

        Why didnt you say you had a magic lantern.

        Uh…” I just gave up before trying to explain, and then headed for the source of the bluish light.

        In the pool of light we came across about eight of my cattle, they were very skeletal looking and dehydrated. I assumed theyd been partly drained of blood as well. I offered the thinner ones water from my squeeze bottle.

        My companion turned back into one of the tigers and bounded out of the hole. I hoped she was getting our partner and some rope so I could haul the cattle out of there.

        I can pay for the cattle. The voice was like dried leaves rustling in the wind.

        Theyll die if you dont let them get food and water. Then they wont be any good for you.

        There was an autumnal sigh from the dark of the cave. A pouch clinked against the floor near my feet. I recognized the deep ringing music of gold coins slumped together.

        I think we can work something out that meets both our needs. Sorry about your kin.

        Apology accepted. No harm done, my pets escaped with little damage, and they are just bats. I worry that your friends will not be so understanding.

        I think you may be surprised.

        I hope so. It has not always been so easy to find people who would talk rather than destroy.

        The world is changing, not fast enough, but it is changing.

        So slow, and the old world and old ways are not buried so deep.

        Remembrance and forgiveness are part of the change, if we so choose.

        Interesting. Then I may feed?

        Yes, feed from the bulls, the bloodied ones. I knew that when the vampire fed from the scratched bulls, they would heal faster, part of whatever was involved in the feeding process. In the back of my mind I knew I would have a hard time with my feline partners, but I also knew that I would win them over.

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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Hug Formed

        I dreamed that while at work I found some aluminum like sheets about a yard square. I discovered that if you put them between two people hugging, the metal would have a 3D relief on it of each person, depending on which side you looked at it from.

        One of the engineers suggested that we try looking at it from the side.

        I jokingly suggested that might cause a rip in the space/time continuum.

        No one wanted to take the chance, but several people wanted to hug some more.  That was fun.

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Friday, March 13, 2009

Visit turns into Car Chase.

        I was sitting in a classroom, remote desktop to my car. (Yes, it was that sort of dream.) Apparently my home application server was being routed wirelessly to my car, and that in turn to my ultra portable notebook computer, which was in turn connected to an interactive projection system in an elementary classroom. I was trying to be careful to avoid any of my more graphic illustrations (like for Meteorus tales) so as not to disturb any of the children. I had the folder previews all turned on, as I am a very visual person that way, so had to rather carefully navigate around my folders. I was giving some sort of talk on how I worked. (They had just read one of my childrens stories.)

        Suddenly the alarm went off. My car was being stolen. I excused myself and ran out to the parking lot. The thieves had ripped the doors off of the car because it kept opening them to make driving difficult. They managed to get the car on a trailer and started to drive away with me running after them. I started the tracking application and activated the annoying music system, but the thieves just jumped out and climbed into the cab of their tractor.

        A dual box trucker stopped and asked if I wanted to follow them. I tossed my notebook into the truck and climbed in after. Some of the kids had followed me, and asked why I didnt just cast a spell to stop them. I tried, but nothing happened. Sorry, that only works in my stories.

        We drove off after the bandits. The roads we were on were mountainous and narrow, but we managed to stay close to my car. We kept trying to get some law enforcement involved but were rapidly drawing away from their jurisdiction, and I wasnt part of a reciprocal enforcement agreement in the county the thieves were heading towards.

        The point of view kept shifting on the notebook, I had a news chopper overhead that I could tap into their feed. As the thieves started up a particularly steep incline, I was able to start my car and roll it all the way to the back of the trailer. This shifted the balance of the rig and caused it to fishtail. It was a lot like playing a video game, shifting the car forward and reverse to add to the swing of the trailer.

        I want to stop them, so we can catch them, otherwise I wont have enough to replace everything they damaged on my car.

        Dont worry, I know a shortcut, well head them off.

        Arent you worried about your cargo.

        Solid iron ingots, not an issue, theyre all gonna get melted down anyway.

        That actually made me more worried as the trucker floored it and headed down onto a frontage road. We shot through a tiny picturesque town (I shot a couple of reference photos as we raced through.) There was a couple of people outside the cafĂ© who waved at us as we drove past.

        We got him now! the driver shouted as he pulled onto the road ahead of the thieves and proceeded to block all lanes with his double trailers.

        I dont think hes gonna stop in time.

        No worries, Im insured fully.

        I jumped my car off the trailer and the thieves truck was actually able to stop before it hit us.

        I dont think I can repay you.

        Sure you can, just make me a character in your next book.

        I blinked at him. Raised my camera and took a couple of photographs.

        Book after next, the next one is at the publisher all ready.

        Deal.

        We jumped out and tackled the thieves, well, two of the three of them. Other drivers joined the chase to capture the third one.

        I never expected that you would be just like Karyl! One of the police officers offered when he arrived to take the thief from me.

        Well, hes a lot tougher than I am, trust me.

        Actually, the trucker offered, youre just like him. Or hes just like you, that was just like being in one of your novels!

        Well, thanks to you, I think Karyl Emmet Fuller has just found a new friend.

        Goofy tidbit: Karyl Emmet Fuller is the name I just gave to an Undead Priest character in World of Warcraft.

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