[Aleks]

I've never felt my dreams to be so coherent between each other, but then there definitely are some continuities; sometimes it's overnight (i.e. waking up and remembering a dream, then dreaming something further involving it, or even telling the dream to somebody in another dream), but I probably wouldn't go as far as to try and extract different dimensions out of that.

As for lucid dreaming, in the few cases where I've managed it, I didn't really feel "omnipotent" but just grabbing whatever would come to my mind - then I never really had any idea of what I'd really want to do in that case... On the other case, I really enjoyed some actual dreams where I had superpowers (often flying which always felt amazing in my dreams), there were several dreams where I realised I was so overpowered that I was literally becoming an arrogant dick because I felt invincible.

[ck3D]

I know what you mean with dream inception, the 'dimensions' thing is different, like a bird-like sense of recognizing where (in whatever my mental universe is) this or that dream is happening, but it's not all of the dreams (that I'm aware of yet), I also get what feels like one-offs in comparison (but maybe will connect later as I keep filling in the picture). Whenever it's not and it's part of a saga though, I just feel it, where it belongs in an almost geographical sense and know exactly where I last left off in it, or what my supposed role is there that is established. It's stupid but the most direct image I could give is I know on which planet I am in a Star Fox 64 type of map except instead of levels it's returning to different existences in specific settings and pausing/unpausing consistent situations. Ironically that is making me realize the 'out of bounds' dimension I don't like finding myself stranded in because it's way off the grid has a Star Fox conceptual equivalent except instead of being insane, it's distant and lonely in an almost claustrophobic sense being full of nothing. Closest relatable feeling in real life would be being stranded in an empty country years worth of walking distance away from home or also being buried very deep under the planet's surface except times a billion.

There is one instance of 'dreamception' that I distinctly remember from my early childhood because it never made any sense to me and still does not to this day. It was some crazy onion of half a dozen dreams inside of dreams (so I was dreaming inside of a dream inside of a dream inside of a dream etc...) I had progressively dug into (so every dream had to have me end it by in-dream sleep itself conjuring the next dream), and I also eventually woke up from each individual one in succession but now that process was lightning quick and a flashing of sequences of getting awoken by something, sudden alarm, falling out of bed etc. all happening in a flash like woosh but in the correct reverse order. That's not really extraordinary because the brain can cook some wild stuff, but the catch is when I finally awoke I was fully dressed, already sitting at the kitchen table for breakfast before school with my mom in the room to whom the situation seemed normal and she had no idea what I was going on about as I was trying to make sense of what the fuck had just happened and how come I wasn't in my bed. I remember TV was on with cartoons playing and in front of me orange juice and corn flakes and since it was reality I couldn't wake up again.

[MrFlibble]

ck3D, on 10 June 2025 - 01:28 PM, said:

but the catch is when I finally awoke I was fully dressed, already sitting at the kitchen table for breakfast before school with my mom in the room to whom the situation seemed normal and she had no idea what I was going on about as I was trying to make sense of what the fuck had just happened and how come I wasn't in my bed. I remember TV was on with cartoons playing and in front of me orange juice and corn flakes and since it was reality I couldn't wake up again.

From what I can tell, false awakenings can be pretty realistic, I had those at different ages, but the most common theme was going from bed to the bathroom, and I wouldn't even tell it was a dream because everything looked like real life, yet at some point an obvious oddity would spring up, almost like the brain was trying to tell me it was a dream after all. One time I remember it was nigh-creepy in that the TV set was working with nobody in the room, I tried to turn if off but it wouldn't, then I unplugged it but it was still working (in reality, there was some external sound I could hear that my mind reinterpreted as the working TV set in the dream). Another time it was simply the room lights that wouldn't turn off no matter how many times I pressed the switch.

I think it seems plausible that, since you had several false awakenings in quick succession, you could have woken up for real without realising it, and, still dozing a bit, do your usual morning routine, to only fully awake at the breakfast table. Or, you could fully sleep-walk while having false awakening dreams. I had several sleep-waking episodes when I was a kid, when you are in familiar surroundings, you can navigate pretty well without even waking up. That could be reinforced by having the false awakening dream, so the topography of what you saw in the dream would more or less align with the real world.

[Perro Seco]

MrFlibble, on 13 June 2025 - 04:46 AM, said:

I think it seems plausible that, since you had several false awakenings in quick succession, you could have woken up for real without realising it, and, still dozing a bit, do your usual morning routine, to only fully awake at the breakfast table. Or, you could fully sleep-walk while having false awakening dreams. I had several sleep-waking episodes when I was a kid, when you are in familiar surroundings, you can navigate pretty well without even waking up. That could be reinforced by having the false awakening dream, so the topography of what you saw in the dream would more or less align with the real world.

I attended a talk in an auditorium years ago, and while sitting I started to feel dizzy. I got up from my seat and from that moment I lost my conscience, yet I managed to reach the exit. I still don't know how that was possible, how did I navigate through the crowded rows of seats totally unconscious?

In the end I fainted, but that was outside the auditorium, just at the exit door. I woke up lying on the floor when someone lifted my legs to get the blood flowing back to my head.

[eniojr]

Many years ago, I dreamed that I was playing on a Duke Nukem 3D space level map, inside an alien ship with green, organic walls. There were some enforcers and I was shooting at them with the Chaingun. I even tried to recreate what I dreamed. But in the dream, it was as if the graphics were a little more realistic.

I once dreamed about a non-existent level in Rise of the Triad and I even tried to recreate what I dreamed about in ROTTed. Another time, I also dreamed that I was playing Dark Forces, but with weapons that didn't exist in the game, in the second level of the game. Dreams like this can result in interesting inspirations.

Just today, I dreamed that I was on that Dark Side map, where I was heading towards the level's reactor and later on I saw myself in that part where you are exposed in the vacuum, with several drones following you. I also ended up in rooms that didn't exist in that level. The Duke Nukem 3D game in my dreams is an improved version.

I would actually call it Duke Nukem 4D, because the way the maps and rooms change is not linear, it's like I'm going through portals or something. Things change more fluidly, outside of the 3D limitation. Or in this case, outside of the 2.5D limitation. Imagine a map structure that's a mix of Duke Nukem 3D and Prey.

I have dreams like that every now and then, where I see myself inside a game.

I think I might be a bit mad...