Barrow-Down Dreams

[the guy who be short]

Mac should be fond of algebra...

I dreamt that some people were complaining to a postman that he kept delivering letters late. His defence was "Even if I delivered them earlier, people who wake up very early like morm and SpM wouldn't receive them before they left for work."

In a separate dream, The Ka posted a meme on LJ, but it was weird because she removed all the questions and replaced them with keywords instead.

[Volo]

I had an extremely complex BD/WW dream last Night.

At the moment the things I remember are two powerful men (lords of some sort), Boro and Morm having an argument about WW while sitting at a great long wooden table. I sat there on the other side and tried to interfer the talk, but since I didn't have access to a computer that day, I couldn't say anything in the game (although they were discussing there at the same table).

Later I was skiing with Nogrod in a forest outside the castle/house where the earlier discussion took part. I asked Nogrod for advice in WW. The things he told me left me in complete awe in the dream, but now they feel more than funny as one of the wisdoms was "ask questions all the time".

[Rikae]

Originally Posted by Diamond18

Last night I dreamt that I was watching gymnastics on TV with Rikae and Macalaure. There were incredibly difficult algebraic equations flashing across the bottom of the screen, and these were the scores for the gymnists. Rikae thought it was all very exciting, but Mac was unimpressed. Then the cat woke me up.

Algebra is much more exciting to Lit majors, methinks.

[the guy who be short]

I had yet another incredibly boring dream last night; I think I only report these to keep my dream-count ahead of Lommy's.

I was on LJ (again) and Oddwen posted yet another of those memes where you enter your LJname, and it comes up with random things about people on your friendlist. This one was to see who her internet-family were. I remember she was excited because I came out as her internet-brother.

[Thinlómien]

First dream consisted of me talking in MSN with three 'downers. I don't remember what I talked about with Mith. I had just killed Kath in ww (I was a wolf) and she said to me: "Well, I guess I'm flattered, but I can't imagine myself eating any female person, you know." Before I could reply to her, she went off and the pop-up window (where the discussion had been) vanished. I was writing some word and when the window vanished, the end of the word was actually written to a new window, where I should have said hi to Cel. So, instead of "hello" I said her "rawly". She answered "rawly" with no surprise, it seems she thought it was just a new way of greeting she hadn't come across with before.

In the other dream I wondered what my ww-role should be. Hookbill insisted I must be a married dwarf. I said I didn't want to be a married dwarf, but an orc from the Borneo rainforest.

Explanations?

edit: Now I remember what I talked about with Mith. She said she had seen Boro in RL and I was surprised because I didn't know that.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Sorry, right now I can't offer any explanation, because... ROFL (no, actually, OCL).
Lommy, I think you should go and check at a psychologist... well, it's nothing wrong with the dreams, they are just... totally crazy (but I like them!)

Rawly. (sounds like a wolvish greeting to me)

[the guy who be short]

Originally Posted by Legate

no, actually, OCL

Did you just say OCL? As in On Chair Laughing?? If so, you're the first person to use it who isn't me! This calls for a celebration...

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by the guy who be short

Did you just say OCL? As in On Chair Laughing?? If so, you're the first person to use it who isn't me! This calls for a celebration...

Yes, it is On Chair Laughing and yes, I'm using it and once again yes, before you ask, I saw you using it once, I quite liked it and started to use it. Happy, eh?

[Diamond18]

Originally Posted by the guy who be short

Mac should be fond of algebra...

Fond, perhaps, but not easily impressed.

[alatar]

Bare with me...like a melting icicle, this post eventually comes to a point.

Sleep escapes me, but dreams rarely do.

Never been much for sleeping. Back in the day, three hours a night was efficient as long as once a week I could catch a power nap for 45 minutes. In the college years this was done in deserted hallways having a bench or two consecutive seats on which to crash. Even with that, still, one eye was always open as you just never knew.

Much older now, and now I wouldn't mind sleeping a bit longer, but the opportunities are few and far between with the kids. Five contiguous hours would be excellent; 5-7 hours in 45-180 minute bites is more the norm. Still, things change, and lately we've been on the upswing.

A typical night has me sleeping on the couch with the youngest. She's been a challenge, and we've (obviously) stood on our heads (while juggling) to keep her asleep and from waking the others. Anyway, she sleeps on one side of the couch, and I sleep half-seated with my feet between her and the edge so that when she wakes up, I know it. Keeps her from hitting the floor. Also keeps me from sleeping deeply.

After that, lately around 3 AM, me and the little one seek out my wife, who may or may not be sleeping in the master bedroom - she may have had to deal with one of the others and nightmares, wet beds and the sometimes coughing fit.

From then I may sleep to sunrise - or not - when I give up and get up to start the day and the coffee.

Side effects of sleep deprivation: being constantly tired (duh!) and being more prone to hallucinations. I've learned to deal with both. On the bad nights (like when I've seen every hour of the clock), I try to skip out on intense activities the next day like brain surgery as you just know you're going to make a mess of it. Oops! The hallucinations are like being color-blind - you know that you're seeing something differently than everyone else, but you learn to work with that version of reality, seeing grey and saying "green" (or, more like seeing a Balrog and saying "box."). The hallucinations aren't really vivid - just for a fleeting moment you see something and, given a million choices, your brain calls it wrong at first glance. Anyway, but that's more like waking dreams in some way, but I've not had any that involved the Downs, and so I digress.

One benefit of being awakened multiple times during the night as one tends to remember more dreams. If you wake up, you remember the last dream that you had. If not, the dream gets overwritten by the next one as you cycle through REM sleep during the night. And if you’re lucky, you can wake up, sort out the last dream a little, add some ‘better’ ideas, and fall back asleep, having front-loaded the imagery. Upon waking again after the next REM cycle, you can have had an even better dream than the first time. Or not.

Another effect of days with no sleep, at least for me, is that I tend to get emotions. Not emotional, as on any normal day I have few to none (they were surgically removed at birth during an experiment gone awry), but emotions. These, to me, are a stranger experience than seeing a car floating through the air. Suddenly I'm sad while watching all of the people leave the warm comfort of their last hope to march out to their freezing deaths, as seen in 'The Day After.'

It’s completely fictional, but at that moment, I care.

Odd, that. Best guess is that my anger towards Peter Jackson regarding Gandalf in the Return of the King Extended Edition was due to momentarily acquiring emotions. Argh! Anyway, so fast forward (or backward if you consider 'now' to be the current time) back to the Downs, back to when the amnesty went into effect. I had been reading some of the uglier posts. Briefly fell asleep, and had one of many dreams that concerned the Barrow Downs, and this one stuck out.

The main detail - I'll skip the list of cameos and description of the setting and surroundings - was that there was a poster, who in my dream was represented as having three heads. Where the face should have been there were…more like wolf, or werewolf heads, as you could see the brown hairy snouts protruding from the nose area, and it wasn't like you could see them if you looked dead on the person. It was only when he/she/it thought that you were looking away that these ghost-like three heads were visible. And it were if the pseudo somewhat visible head inside the three virtual wolf heads shook like it was a video projection from a shaky lens. I felt myself shuddering, as there was more to this person than was apparent. Something was wrong. Sickly dead wrong, as this person sought to cause despair. Dressed well, as so for all intent there seemed to be no problem, but there were the teeth, the sharp teeth of a predator which you could only see when you weren't supposed to.

I woke with the feeling that there was a wolf loose amongst the sheep that graze the green pastures of the Downs. A virtual wolf, looking to kill, to mindstomp, and soon it would begin stacking up prey, like (I presume) in the werewolf games where each morning brings bad tidings. Said nothing at that time - but due to those darned emotions I actually considered this to be some evidence that there was a problem. So I said nothing, and watched and waited, but found nothing. But still...

...just can't shake the feeling that there’s a wolf about.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Well, it's definitely worth attention. Maybe it has some sort of, you know, prophetic quality to it, especially considering the way you put it. I mean, you could never know. Although on second thought maybe not. Prophecies are generally introduced. In our case, I would expect the Barrow-Wight Himself, or maybe even Professor Tolkien to appear before you at the beginning, standing amidst seven stones and with seven stars in his right hand, with a blue-glowing sword coming from his mouth; saying: "I am The Hobbit and The HoME, the beginning and the end. And what thou seest, write on a thread and post unto the seven forums which are at the Barrow-Downs; unto the Books, unto the Novices and Newcomers, unto the Movies; unto the Fun and Games; unto the Translations; and unto the RPGs; and unto the Announcements."

If you haven't seen anything like this, then I guess it's okay. Otherwise, I won't like to see some events that will have to take place (like losing one third of the threads and one third of the members and similar). But anyway, logically in the end the Three-Headed Wolf you saw as well as the Pseudoprofessor (who will appear soon after the Wolf deceive us), will be banned and cast into Mount Doom...

[Rikae]

Alatar...when exactly did you have this dream? It's quite disturbing....

[Bêthberry]

Be werrry, werry scared!

This sounds like some kind of prophetic utterance for Mac's new WW game. Or alatar has taken to channelling Mac in his dreams.

If al isn't playing in the game, I'd be very cautious about contact between him and the other members playing it.

And I note in passing that we don't have a warg or WW icon yet.

[Rikae]

I think you mean Legate's game...

er....

[Bêthberry]

lol! Er, I mean, *gasp* The horror, the horror, it's spreading!!

No way I'm getting involved in that game, no sirree, running about as far away from it as the Downs allows. Even if it is a way cool RPGish type game and I am a great fan of CoH.

Sorry, Legate (temporarily) of Amon Rûdh. This is just too freaky. *glares suspiciously at alatar*

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Rikae

Alatar...when exactly did you have this dream? It's quite disturbing....

Don't know the exact time, but it was sometime between the beginning of the year and a few weeks ago.

Don't want to get too specific, as, of course, I have a completely logical explanation for the said dream, and that being that it is just complete and utter nonsense filtered through sleep deprivation-induced emotions. I cannot reason otherwise.

Shhh! You don't know who's watching!

That being said, I've always thought it interesting the images that appear in dreams (i.e. what prompts truly random things?), and how, upon waking, we interpret these midnight menageries like internal Rorschach movies.

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

*glares suspiciously at alatar*

I would not recommend glaring this way - or any way - otherwise.

[Lalwendë]

I think you just need a >hug<

[alatar]

I think you mean "a nap." That, and something to combat the paranoia.

[Rikae]

Originally Posted by Alatar

Don't know the exact time, but it was sometime between the beginning of the year and a few weeks ago.

*whew*
I joined in '06, so it can't be me!!!!

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Rikae

*whew*
I joined in '06, so it can't be me!!!!

Oh, and I accept that as definitive proof. I'm convinced. Are you saying that, somewhere in my walk in la la land, I mentioned that it were a new member? Are you saying that if I somehow referred to a somewhat older member, you would feel more suspect? How very interesting...

alatar begins wondering what dark secrets Rikae is hiding.

[Thinlómien]

I decided to pop up here just to say I had a weird dream including me traveling in China and Mith visiting my primary school...

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

edit: Now I remember what I talked about with Mith. She said she had seen Boro in RL and I was surprised because I didn't know that.

Nor did I........

Mith visiting my primary school... - that is wierd ..were you still a pupil?

But from a personal point of view these are a vast improvement on the ones in which I am the victim of repeated terrorist attacks. I am sure visiting a Finnish Primary School would be an interesting, if slightly random, cultural experience and as for seeing Boro in real life "I am not worthy, I am not worthy"

[the guy who be short]

Well, I'll start with the setting, which is a little odd. It was a stage with red curtains, but it was very dark - I'm quite sure it was underground. It was also full of apples - you couldn't see the floor.

Mith and Hookbill and I found Anguirel sitting on these apples, having just finished some sort of savoury snack, probably a tube of pringles. He look surprised to see us and said that once every year, he met up with SpM to have a feast. SpM had just left. We must have looked jealous, because he wrote out invitations for us to attend the next one.

That's one dream I wouldn't mind coming true. When's this feast then?

[Mithalwen]

And how can we stop Spm and Ang scoffing all the Pringles before we get there?

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

I dreamt last night, between dreams of an ex coming back to haunt me, having to take another math class, accidentally vandalizing the apartment my parents lived in when I was like two, and somehow being at a water park where there was cream instead of water, that my brother's girlfriend created an account here and posted something that was intelligent up until the last paragraph, which was frightening.

She was banned shortly thereafter.

[Diamond18]

Originally Posted by the guy who be short

That's one dream I wouldn't mind coming true. When's this feast then?

A Pringle party? Awesome. Sign me up.

[Rikae]

Whoa...okaay. I had a strange dream last night...(Mac, I apologise in advance)...

I was at a hotel that was hosting some kind of Barrowdowners' convention. Even though I had a reservation and tickets, the hotel desk clerks (two snotty looking women) didn't want to let me in, and, when they did, followed me around for a while, glaring disapprovingly (and leaving the desk untended, I suppose).

When I found my way to the ballroom-type space where about a hundred Downers were mingling, SPaM immediately came up and started chatting with me, and Lommy and Legate joined us. (SPM and Lommy looked like their photos, and Legate looked like TM). After a while, I wondered aloud why Macalaure was late...

Just then, Hookbill came in, dressed in his Bombadil costume, and started circulating a (paper) newspaper, illustrated with cartoons, to the effect that Macalaure was no longer among the living. (I think it was something to do with a bathtub and a lightbulb...I just glanced at it.)

I assumed it must be some sort of tasteless joke and proceeded to try to call Mac from a payphone, but I couldn't. Everyone else believed the newspaper, and thought I was in denial. Nogrod was trying to convince me to "accept" it. Then I woke up...

[Hookbill the Goomba]

Macalaure killed in bath tub light bulb madness?

Sounds good to me.

[the guy who be short]

If I could remember better, I would tell you about the dream in which Hookbill drove me... somewhere... for some sort of amusing purpose... All I can really remember is that he wasn't a great driver.

[Hookbill the Goomba]

Originally Posted by the guy who be short

If I could remember better, I would tell you about the dream in which Hookbill drove me... somewhere... for some sort of amusing purpose... All I can really remember is that he wasn't a great driver.

I assure you, cliffs are a short cut.

It does worry me how often I turn up in your subconscious doing odd and stupid things... Do people really think of me as an insane fellow with no sense of dignity? *smokes a pipe*

[Macalaure]

*reads*

*doesn't believe his eyes*

*reads again*


You killed me in your dreams???


Psycho!


And the loss of my humble self doesn't really seem to grieve anybody around here too much...

[Finduilas]

Aww! Poor Mac!

[Lhunardawen]

And the loss of my humble self doesn't really seem to grieve anybody around here too much...

How could it, when we are lost to the living world just as you are?

[Rikae]

Originally Posted by Macalaure

You killed me in your dreams???

That's what you get for beating me at chess!

[Macalaure]

Originally Posted by Finduilas

Aww! Poor Mac!

Now it's too late.

Originally Posted by Lhuna

How could it, when we are lost to the living world just as you are?

I see. How stupid of me.

Originally Posted by Rikae

That's what you get for beating me at chess!

In that case, you may (have to) continue.

[Rikae]

Originally Posted by Macalaure

In that case, you may (have to) continue.

Actually, I've given up playing chess with mathematicians. Going cold turkey is not easy, but I believe if I take it one day at a time I can stay on the wagon...

[the guy who be short]

Originally Posted by Hookbill

It does worry me how often I turn up in your subconscious doing odd and stupid things...

No need to worry. Everybody does odd and stupid things in my dreams, especially me!

[Thinlómien]

I had a dream that I now remember only vaguely. I was holding some sort of BD meeting in my home. All the guests (Fea, morm, who was called Molli or Molly, by the way, Rikae and some other people, but I don't remember who they were) were in the living room, chatting, but I was in my and my sister's room because I had to do something annoying, clean the room or change clothes or something like that. Happily, one of my guests, Mith, was keeping me company. I was a bit annoyed because I had to waste time on the stupid things and could not talk with my guests. Mith sat on my sister's bed and tried to cheer me up.
Mac was constantly sending me either PMs or smses (I don't remember which) saying he was so sorry he couldn't come and asking things like "what's up?" and "how is the party?". In the end I however managed to be done with my duties and I and Mith joined the others and we all ate dinner with my mum and my sister, and I thought it was wrong that they were there, because they aren't 'downers.

[alatar]

Figured that I'd post this one before it escapes.

Last night I was running on empty. Had a few bad nights in a row, and felt ill as a result (no kidding!). Fell asleep on the couch with no kids in sight.

First dream: I was out in the woods. It was night, yet I could see reasonably well where the moon poked through the branches (ever see a moonbeam?). It was some kind of bike trail; level, crushed limestone, chalky in its whiteness. This trail sort of glowed/shimmered in the said light. The foliage was as it is now - green, full and thick. Something was hunting me. I continued down the trail as quickly as I could go without running, as I still wanted to be able to hear the pursuit. I stayed to the side of the trail, close to the bushes, leaves and trees as I wanted to take advantage of any cover it may give. Whatever it was that was behind was big and moving fast. I could not smell anything.

It closed the distance. A quick look back showed that it was a wolf, but more the size of a large bear. I immediately started to run. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that I'd just reached a crossroad in the trail - where two trails intersected.

Something moved to my right. I was momentarily in the air then face down on the ground. My forearm burned. I raised my head. Two of these wolf creatures lay ahead of me looking stunned. I saw ahead of them a building. I ran towards it, hoping that it offered some hope.

I looked at my left arm, the one that was stinging. A gash, two inches from my elbow, cut across my inner forearm. It was deep, and I saw some of that stuff you see when they're operating on a person. I pushed the tissue back in as best I could and kept moving with my hand across the wound.

There wasn't any bleeding.

I continued to move. As far as I could reconstruct, at the crossroads the wolf behind and a new one to my right both had lunged at me. One nicked my arm before the two collided. I smiled when I realized that, for just a brief moment, I was atop the one attacking from behind as I got knocked around then to the ground. "Warg-riders, heyoh!"

It was 2:15 AM. I was still on the couch. Didn't hear anyone calling out, so I laid back down.

Dreamt, as I sometimes do, of working in the lab. Place still looked at it always did when I practically lived there. New people, same old boss. For kicks I thought I'd help out and run a simple protein concentration assay (Bradford method). Looked down at my left arm and noted that my forearm was bandaged.

Some long hallways, some people I knew, and now the mixing in of some Downers. Stood up on some lookout like the mushroom ones that jut out of the hills of our local city's hills. Think of a large circular concrete platform that has a railing to keep you from falling sticking far out from the side of a steep hill. Anyway, these had a rusty appearance, and there were few people about. Of particular note were these two Downers that were hanging out with these two twin women - I'd call the twins by name but that'd mean nothing to you. These two person have wolflike features - it's the hair and eyes - and surely my dream memory fudged some of the details.

So the four are acting like teenagers, climbing over the railing and hanging by their hands. You see this behaviour (been there, done stupid) in young males when females are about. So this is going on and I'm watching, now (as I am now) out of that hormonal silliness. And I'm shaking my head. The four, or at least the two non-twins seem to notice my presence, but, like teenagers, give me no more attention than they would a tree. They continue with their dangerous thrill-seeking. My arm twinges; it's the left one. I look down, and the bandage has a number written on it. The font colour is red. It's the number 1.

I know (somehow) now that one of them is going to lose his grip and fall. And it's not one of the twins. A pair walks by, and now it's one of the twins that sees me, and she glances sideways-like and smiles, and I know that she knows.

I have to warn them. My arm twinges again.

...

Upon waking, I actually checked my arm.

[Nogrod]

After a year and a half the 'Downers came to my sleep! Hurray!

It was a gathering of the 'Downers of a sort. I remember too little of it...

But anyhow I remember that I was feeling pretty good, delighted I might say. Lommy was there understandably, but also Volo, Rune and Spawn, Spm and Di and many of you others as well (I just remember these well enough to name them) - as a mixture of their RL looks and their avvies.

Two things I recall quite clearly.

I was lying in the grass under a tree with Boro and we were exchanging words of mutual friendship just lying there while the sun shone from between the leaves of the tree. It was a nice moment.

There was also a general whisper that Lhuna and her mysterious brother (not Nilp - so who?) would be responsible for the special athmosphere that would follow soon in the gathering. That kind of gave everyone the creeps and we all were waiting enthusiatically for what she and her brother would come up with...

Sadly my radio-alarm woke me up before I had a chance to learn what it was!