I think we're ready to move on, skipping the school day. As interesting as getting Damon's balloon popping experiment approved could be, or pondering the nature of dreamsrreal.org, I think both of these are close-ended enough that I'd rather write about them while Damon is in transit between two points rather than dedicate a post to them where there is no meaningful end point. Without speaking for the preferences of the others, Damon at least would not have any reaction to dreamsrreal.org before classes are over that would prompt anyone else to respond to him, being the type to ruminate on (weird) things before making any outward judgment calls.

Alright. Works for me.

*cracks knuckles* One time skip incoming.

Alternate Universe: The dream techniques don't work but the demon summoning sigils do.

I took some liberties with the dreamsrreal.org site, since there wasn't too much information to go off of (what are the techniques?) and filled in the blanks in ways that assumed the lack of information about the site's details were deliberate. (Even though it could have not been) Lemme know if I should change anything.

Alternate Universe: The dream techniques don't work but the demon summoning sigils do.

I took some liberties with the dreamsrreal.org site, since there wasn't too much information to go off of (what are the techniques?) and filled in the blanks in ways that assumed the lack of information about the site's details were deliberate. (Even though it could have not been) Lemme know if I should change anything.

No it's great! I left it vague on purpose. I will give yall the starting technique that the site provides first though.

"First you need to get into a lucid state. The best way to do that is to set an alarm. So waking yourself up just as you hit REM sleep should do the trick. An alarm at 3.5 hours after you fall asleep should be about right when you start to hit REM and then when you go back to sleep, you should be lucid and in another realm. The better you get at lucid dreaming, the better you'll get at realm hopping! Good luck!"

I can say I haven't done this much research into a topic for an rp for a bit lol. Apparently there's a whole thing with lucid dreaming. It's legit interesting lol but one of the requirements is a steady sleep schedule. That ain't happening lol. So no lucid dreams for me xD

"First you need to get into a lucid state. The best way to do that is to set an alarm. So waking yourself up just as you hit REM sleep should do the trick. An alarm at 3.5 hours after you fall asleep should be about right when you start to hit REM and then when you go back to sleep, you should be lucid and in another realm. The better you get at lucid dreaming, the better you'll get at realm hopping! Good luck!"

So is the only thing that actually matters getting into a lucid dreaming state? There isn’t anything overtly occult or otherwise supernatural we have to do to make everything work?

I can say I haven't done this much research into a topic for an rp for a bit lol. Apparently there's a whole thing with lucid dreaming. It's legit interesting lol but one of the requirements is a steady sleep schedule. That ain't happening lol. So no lucid dreams for me xD

My understanding is that there are a number of methodologies that can be used to achieve lucid dreams and I'm pretty certain that good sleep hygiene isn't necessary for all of them.

I semi-regularly end up having lucid dreams and my sleep schedule is atrocious – I only sleep around 4-6 hours most days and I'm lucky to go a week without skipping sleep outright at least once, let alone to get regular hours in.

Mind you, I don’t actually know what causes my lucid dreams, but if I had to guess, I’d say some quirk of my insomnia does it; probably either the duration it takes me to fall asleep or the constantly being woken up, since from what I’ve read, both seem to be tied to people forcing it.

In other words Damon, our resident insomniac, a potential regular lucid dreamer?

Also, I'll probably try and get another post out later today if I can. Since I get the impression we're currently trying to move towards the meat of things, where do people want me to take this?

Should I jump right to Erin discussing lucid dreaming with the gang? Speed on ahead to actually preparing to do it? Both? What are people feeling?

@TheMushroomLord

So is the only thing that actually matters getting into a lucid dreaming state? There isn’t anything overtly occult or otherwise supernatural we have to do to make everything work?

At the moment, no. Just to get the realm hopping moving, we're going to start with stuff like this. Now to actually be able to use some of things learned while realm hopping, that's a another matter and something we'll dig into when we get there. Also figuring out how to get to previous realms as well.

In other words Damon, our resident insomniac, a potential regular lucid dreamer?

That could be a fun little tidbit! Maybe he was dream hopping and didn't even realize it haha

@Crimson Flame I just want to check in with you here since you're the only one who hasn't had a chance to post the follow up to the end of classes. Just wanted to make sure you're fine with us just jumping so far ahead or if you wanted to get a response in before hand.

Omg, I just looked up what lucid dreaming actually means and I've done that all the time ever since I was a kid... without a steady sleep schedule. I don't really know how it happens or why, just that it does regularly. I use those dreams as inspiration for my personal writing.

@Squirrel98
You're dream hopping! I'm so jealous of yall. I rarely sleep, let alone dream xD

Sleep is for the weak!

Yes, I do want to get a response up beforehand. I will have something up tonight.

I've deliberately invoked lucid dreams before. The method I used actually sounds much cooler on paper: Periodically checking throughout the day whether you are currently dreaming or not. Not sure if it's the best method or my own insomnia that gave me lucid dreams, but if you're wondering what my experiences with them were like, it's mostly just using your imagination for a mental theater with a somewhat fragile sensation of immersion/realness. Entertaining a dream's original scenario lets you develop it however you want, though making big changes to the scenario often shatters the sense of immersion, which is pretty on-point for the RP.

As for Damon, sure, why not. Alarms that wake you up 3.5 hours after you go to sleep shouldn't be anything new for him, and speaking from experience, a dream (in that particular scenario) can be continued in your imagination while awake, it just won't have the same real/immersive feeling. It's like the difference between being a character in a play, with things happening and people doing things around you automatically, as you expect them to, versus putting on a play with puppets, having to control every little detail yourself.

Might have Damon go for the method I used after the first time, since, while it doesn't work on demand as an alarm might, having his sleep interrupted on the regular is a no-sell, and I can't imagine him being capable of regularly dividing his sleep the way the alarm method demands.

@Ryik I'll be sure to keep this in mind whenever I send yall to a realm and do a check each time to see if maybe your guy has been there before.

Also, I'll probably try and get another post out later today if I can. Since I get the impression we're currently trying to move towards the meat of things, where do people want me to take this?

Should I jump right to Erin discussing lucid dreaming with the gang? Speed on ahead to actually preparing to do it? Both? What are people feeling?

Now that Crimson Flame has posted, you're welcome to get to the nitty gritty. I think getting the gang together for dinner and talking about it then heading to an apartment to maybe try and plan it out would be a good start.

Working on that post now. Just to clarify are lucid dreams and dream hopping the same thing, or is a lucid dreaming state simply a prerequisite to dream hopping?

Working on that post now. Just to clarify are lucid dreams and dream hopping the same thing, or is a lucid dreaming state simply a prerequisite to dream hopping?

That's just the prerequisite. Some lucid dreams start hopping while others aren't. Figuring out how to hop regularly is the fun of it.

Apologies for the delay. This heatwave has been screwing with my insomnia which has made writing somewhat harder than it needs to be.

Managed to get something out at least, but no guarantees it’s any good. I finally managed to get some sleep but I still feel like I’m halfway dead.