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Fan Works
Finally settled, Asuka spoke first, looking down again, hoping to again see the world that was once below her, "What about all those people? All of their hopes and aspirations? Their loves and-"
"They were only as real as a dream," Shinji had to cut off that line of thinking before it formed. There was no one else to assist here: neither Kaworu nor Rei were ever able to accompany him to this final stop.
"No," Asuka balked at the suggestion. "They were real. We had memories of them, I-"
Shinji shook his head, "False memories. The universe formed the moment your soul arrived in it: complete with memories and relationships. But they weren't real."
"They were only as real as a dream," Shinji had to cut off that line of thinking before it formed. There was no one else to assist here: neither Kaworu nor Rei were ever able to accompany him to this final stop.
"No," Asuka balked at the suggestion. "They were real. We had memories of them, I-"
Shinji shook his head, "False memories. The universe formed the moment your soul arrived in it: complete with memories and relationships. But they weren't real."
So, the reason for the pollen run. It all began with a flower.
What kind? One you'll never see, in a place you'll never visit, out beyond the beyond. This was a very special flower, you see. All flowers sleep in their fashion, but this one could think as well. And as you know, anything that can sleep and think will dream.
Though it was a little flower, it had very big dreams. It dreamed of a whole world! One with horses as tall as the sky, with forests full of talking trees and proud deer, with winding rivers filled with laughing dolphins.
But the flower's favorites—for it was a fairly lucid dreamer, a sleeping flower not being much different than an awake one—were the breezies, little clever things like the flower's own self.
Yes, it wasn't just any world the flower dreamt of. It was our world.
But dreams only last as long as the dreamer sleeps, and while certain little fillies may try otherwise, nothing can sleep forever. In time, the flower awoke and the dream was gone. Gone were the giant and the trees, the deer and the dolphins. Gone were the breezies. All that was left was the flower, the only thinking thing in its little grove beyond the beyond.
What kind? One you'll never see, in a place you'll never visit, out beyond the beyond. This was a very special flower, you see. All flowers sleep in their fashion, but this one could think as well. And as you know, anything that can sleep and think will dream.
Though it was a little flower, it had very big dreams. It dreamed of a whole world! One with horses as tall as the sky, with forests full of talking trees and proud deer, with winding rivers filled with laughing dolphins.
But the flower's favorites—for it was a fairly lucid dreamer, a sleeping flower not being much different than an awake one—were the breezies, little clever things like the flower's own self.
Yes, it wasn't just any world the flower dreamt of. It was our world.
But dreams only last as long as the dreamer sleeps, and while certain little fillies may try otherwise, nothing can sleep forever. In time, the flower awoke and the dream was gone. Gone were the giant and the trees, the deer and the dolphins. Gone were the breezies. All that was left was the flower, the only thinking thing in its little grove beyond the beyond.
Literature
"He's dreaming now," Tweedledee exclaimed, clapping his hands triumphantly. "And if he left off dreaming about you, where do you suppose you'd be?"
"Where I am now, of course," said Alice.
"Not you!" Tweedledee retorted contemptuously. "You'd be nowhere. Why, you're only a sort of thing in his dream!"
"If that there King was to wake," added Tweedledum, "you'd go out-BANG! Just like a candle!"
"Where I am now, of course," said Alice.
"Not you!" Tweedledee retorted contemptuously. "You'd be nowhere. Why, you're only a sort of thing in his dream!"
"If that there King was to wake," added Tweedledum, "you'd go out-BANG! Just like a candle!"
Live-Action TV
"When I die, you die, and everybody in this world dies because this world does not exist. It's a dream of mine, it's a nightmare."
Tabletop Games
May you wake to find you were only ever a dream.
Dreams, by definition, live shorter lives than those who dream them.
Video Games
Now I'm waking up, I'll forget everything!
— Micolash, Host of the Nightmare, Bloodborne
TO THE FINDER... THE ISLE OF KOHOLINT, IS BUT AN ILLUSION... HUMAN, MONSTER, SEA, SKY... A SCENE ON THE LID OF A SLEEPER'S EYE... AWAKE THE DREAMER, AND KOHOLINT WILL VANISH MUCH LIKE A BUBBLE ON A NEEDLE... CASTAWAY, YOU SHOULD KNOW THE TRUTH!
— Southern Face Shrine/Ancient Ruins mural, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Okay, listen up! If the Wind Fish wakes up, everything on this island will be gone forever! And I do mean... EVERYTHING!
— Facade, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Every living thing other than Reimu is but an actor created in this dream-world. And when the performance is finished, the stage is broken down, and when their duty is done, the actors...
— Yuyuko, Touhou Project: Concealed the Conclusion
Web Original
Dr. Coomer: GORDON. Every time you go to sleep I can feel my body TORN apart... ATOM by ATOM... it's agonizing, Gordon... I've SEEN outside Black Mesa, Gordon...
Gordon: SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!!
Dr. Coomer: There's NOTHING... but I know YOU...
Gordon: GET OUT OF MY HEAD!! GET OUT!!
Dr. Coomer: There's a world outside here, Gordon... AND I NEED YOU TO TAKE ME THERE.
Gordon: SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!!
Dr. Coomer: There's NOTHING... but I know YOU...
Gordon: GET OUT OF MY HEAD!! GET OUT!!
Dr. Coomer: There's a world outside here, Gordon... AND I NEED YOU TO TAKE ME THERE.
I had a dream a while back where, ultimately, I began threatening a group of people that I would wake up, and then they would vanish. They all began crying out, "Our Lord, have mercy on us!" and things like that. I remember looking around and seeing women and young children crying... [Dream characters] begging me to stay asleep.
It was one of the first times I was actually moved to tears in a dream. It felt wrong for me to wake up... that remains one of my most troubling dreams ever.
It was one of the first times I was actually moved to tears in a dream. It felt wrong for me to wake up... that remains one of my most troubling dreams ever.
I actually devised a universe, then forgot about it today. It was like, imaginary genocide...
— Open Sketchbook, Creator of Red Alert 3: Paradox
