I too have One Particular Scenario. As I remember my dreams, I have some experience with thinking I am trapped in a sinking car and not at all thinking it is a dream.
At this point in my life...I just don’t care, even during the dream. The experience of surviving hundreds of such dreamed car sinkings is with me even though I don’t know it is a dream. It’s not a proper nightmare any longer, it’s boring rather than scary even as it happens.
I still have real nightmares sometimes, but they never seem to repeat.
A few days ago, I made a mistake and read about people who died free soloing . A terrifying mistake.
Fortunately my dream avatar is invincible and never dies, often literally walking away from car sinkings along the ocean floor or saved by miraculous coincidences, for example velociraptors killing and eating their way through dozens of people trapped in a cave suddenly turned into the Keebler elves once they killed everyone in front of me. Something like this always happens. Unfortunately it’s more of a coincidence/Forrest Gump thing than a superpower/Matrix thing.
It’s sort of like being the roadrunner when I’m being attacked, rather than a proper superhero. If someone shoots at me, their gun explodes, or they miraculously miss, or I deploy a shield of air. If someone fires a flamethrower at me, I casually raise my hand and deliver and elemental blast of ice destroying their machine. If someone attacks me, I levitate, or get super strength and punch their weapon to shards, or teleport them far away. If a dinosaur or other monster attacks me, it gets transformed into something harmless, like a pumpkin or a Keebler elf, or just shrinks to the size of my shoe.
Unlike with the roadrunner, most (2/3ish) magic solutions to my problems are caused by me having temporary super-powers, rather than environmental magic plus luck like how the roadrunner is able to run through a mural, or not be affected by gravity after running off a cliff. Assuming that he doesn’t think “insubstantiability, on!” before running through a rock.
But my powers are temporary and minimal. I almost never (get to) fly, because most problems that could be solved with me being able to fly are solvable with the subjectively lesser powers of levitation, feather-fall, or super speed. Levitation is common. I can only remember one dream where I was able to magically fly, ever.
But my powers are temporary and minimal. I almost never (get to) fly, because most problems that could be solved with me being able to fly are solvable with the subjectively lesser powers of levitation, feather-fall, or super speed. Levitation is common. I can only remember one dream where I was able to magically fly, ever.
You might get some insight from this dream work writeup I posted on my blog from earlier this year: Dream Works.
It is not long and there are a couple of points that directly relate to your query.
I too have One Particular Scenario. As I remember my dreams, I have some experience with thinking I am trapped in a sinking car and not at all thinking it is a dream.
At this point in my life...I just don’t care, even during the dream. The experience of surviving hundreds of such dreamed car sinkings is with me even though I don’t know it is a dream. It’s not a proper nightmare any longer, it’s boring rather than scary even as it happens.
I still have real nightmares sometimes, but they never seem to repeat.
A few days ago, I made a mistake and read about people who died free soloing . A terrifying mistake.
Fortunately my dream avatar is invincible and never dies, often literally walking away from car sinkings along the ocean floor or saved by miraculous coincidences, for example velociraptors killing and eating their way through dozens of people trapped in a cave suddenly turned into the Keebler elves once they killed everyone in front of me. Something like this always happens. Unfortunately it’s more of a coincidence/Forrest Gump thing than a superpower/Matrix thing.
I should really get on that lucid dreaming thing.
Nightmares? I’d call those ‘superhero fantasies’! In a Rincewind kind of way. Sound fun. :P
It’s sort of like being the roadrunner when I’m being attacked, rather than a proper superhero. If someone shoots at me, their gun explodes, or they miraculously miss, or I deploy a shield of air. If someone fires a flamethrower at me, I casually raise my hand and deliver and elemental blast of ice destroying their machine. If someone attacks me, I levitate, or get super strength and punch their weapon to shards, or teleport them far away. If a dinosaur or other monster attacks me, it gets transformed into something harmless, like a pumpkin or a Keebler elf, or just shrinks to the size of my shoe.
Unlike with the roadrunner, most (2/3ish) magic solutions to my problems are caused by me having temporary super-powers, rather than environmental magic plus luck like how the roadrunner is able to run through a mural, or not be affected by gravity after running off a cliff. Assuming that he doesn’t think “insubstantiability, on!” before running through a rock.
But my powers are temporary and minimal. I almost never (get to) fly, because most problems that could be solved with me being able to fly are solvable with the subjectively lesser powers of levitation, feather-fall, or super speed. Levitation is common. I can only remember one dream where I was able to magically fly, ever.
I feel for you. ;)