Mining the kitchen...

So I dreamt that my whole family (including the kids) and a few friends were on a research team. We had found that under the back of an old house there was an old mine shaft that had some strange properties. So we got our gear and went into the house. Apparently, this was a hush hush government type job because we also went in expecting the possibitlity of trouble. I had a gun on me.

When we got into the mine area, we started setting up various pieces of equipment. As the other were doing this I went back up into the kitchen which is where we could access the shaft and it gave us a good view of the front door. One of the other people in our group came up and I asked him if he would keep watch since I really wanted to get back down and help with the research. I saw a lizard and for kicks & giggles shot its head off. I then turned to the guy and asked if he knew how to use a gun. He got this smug look and said "of course"
I then insisted on seeing him shoot, so I pointed at the lizard (which was on the kitchen counter only a few feet away) and told him to shoot it in the neck. He jokingly walked up to and touched the neck with the gun muzzle and said "here?" I replied "Yeah, but not from point blank!"
He then stepped back and missed. Somehow I was satisfied. Maybe because I proved he was being arrogant; I don't know. Anyway, I went back down to help with the research.

Shortly after that, I realized that I was hungry and decided to get food for myself and one of the other researchers who was hungry also. So I grabbed to 2 scarves and a short straight katana (ninja-to). Wrapping one scarf around body and the other around my head, I was suddenly feeling a lot like a 'real' ninja. So I started running down the street.

Apparently, everyone on this street has a sword, even the kids. Everytime I passed someone I would tap their sword almost playfully....some had real swords and some had wooden practice swords. (No I don't get it either)

I finally go to the fast food place and ordered my food when I realized I didn't know what the other researcher wanted. I had just run quite the distance and didn't really want to run back and forth again. I debated for several minutes before ordering the other guy a bacon and egg sandwich. I then took off and made my run back, once again tapping swords with ever person I ran into.

Once back, I resumed researching, but shortly thereafter we heard a noise. Since I didn't fully trust the guy watching out I went up the shaft to the kitchen. It was dark outside but I saw something move out one of the windows. I went to investigate. As I approached the front door, I saw someone move by the window again. He was wearing a yellow HazMat suit. Suddenly I got sprayed by some liquid. As I looked around I realized that there were tubes sticking into the house all over the place spraying this liquid. I suddenly felt a rush as I realized that there was No Way this was a good thing. I ran down to the shaft and told everyone that they needed to get out as fast as possible. The whole crew ran out as fast as they could getting sprayed as the went.

Once we were all out the guys in HazMat suits went into emergency help mode and dropped portable plastic tubs and immersed us to remove the substance. Of course the kids were tweaking out and we tried to comfort them but the whole situation was rather freaky. They also gave us eye drops and something that went down our throats to neutralize anything we may have swallowed. Yuck. I was looking over to see how my youngest daughter was handling the mouth thing when I was, oh so rudely woken up by my alarm clock...

Captured!!!

Setting:
I am in WoW as a rogue and some of my buddies are there.
I have just been captured by the enemy, who is apparently France!?!
Yup, France. Not the Horde or Alliance, France. wth!

Anyway, I am sitting on a bed in a room where they are holding me. Of course, I check the window to see if I can get out and away. It's late night and dark and only a few guards are watching the side of the house. I look around and no guards are in the room with me. Unfortunately, the screen is screwed in and I don't want to make a lot of noise. As I am standing there thinking the door starts to open and in walks some of my friends!

I am wondering if they got caught too, when one tells me that the French have allowed me to have visitors because they are going to execute me! (What the heck kinda war was I in???) POW's getting visitors? My mind is nuts. At this point I decide I better look around again for escape opportunities. At this point apparently the wall with the window turned into a patio with a wood fence keeping me in. And night is now day and there are dozens of French guards (most of which are dwarves...I don't know how that works...) Now it seems much harder to get away. I tell my friends that I need to escape soon cause the French do executions at dawn (apparently despite the daylight outside, it was somehow still late night...)

I am stilling thinking about how to get out without getting them in trouble when they decide they had better leave and try to help from the outside. Now I turn again and I am on the roof of the building and the room has vanished. So the first thing I do is run to the edge and see if I can jump off.

One end has a boat dock with no boats and blood on the stairs down. It is about 6 flights but I take it as a good possibility, but I would rather not have to swim, since anyone in a boat could catch me fast. I go back to the other side to see if there is another way.

I hear someone coming down the hall to my room (apparently half the room is still there but somehow on the roof. A soldier in a red uniform (that looks a bit more old style British than French) opens the door and I hope that it's not dawn yet...

On one end of the hallway is a window with huge red curtains and 2 guards standing at it. I am sorely tempted to try to jump thru the window.

Unfortunately, just as we turn to go down the hall I am rudely awoken by my alarm......

Laje

My FF7 Life Lessons

I have come to the realization that one game has defined a large part of my life. That game is Final Fantasy 7. No other game has stuck with me as much. No other music pulls me back to another time and causes such emotion attachment. Even today, almost a decade since I first played the game, when I hear the music many old memories and feelings surface.

One area of my life that it most certainly affects is my view on any game, even nonRPGs. I almost always find myself comparing the intensity of the story of a new game to FF7's or listening carefully to the music to see if it holds similar weight. I have found several sound tracks that stir up emotions within myself but so far none that have quite the power of FF7's. Even a game like Metroid Prime that is a totally different genre got the FF7 comparison. I like the music of Metroid and the story line was one of the best in the Metroid series, but in the end the points that didn't quite hit the FF7 par came out. The funny part is it didn't make me like Metroid any less, but rather influenced me to write a story to further expound on the history of Samus Aran. A story which I am very happy with at the moment and fully intend to continue writing until it is finished.

Of course FF7 greatly influences my gaming. I have built RP's around its story line and borrowed its Materia system idea for my own games. I find myself drawing on it as a resource often. This is also true of other FF's tho. My personal game idea has used the FF series as a comparison point. I often modify my game idea to make sure it would compete with the newest FF and many other good games. Even if I have to admit the series took a very strange turn after FF7.

I don't know if my music tastes were affected by playing FF7, but I do know that I look deeper than the surface when it comes to music. I want a story, an idea that has meaning and depth in my music. I judge music on more than just whether it 'rocks' or not. I want to feel the piece, to know what it means and why it was written. My favorite songs all have either (or both) sentiment appeal because they were in my head during a certain period of my life or because the story behind them affects me emotionally. For example, Enter Sandman by Metallica does both. I used to suffer from nightmares (well still do on occasion) and the song speaks to that subject, but I also first heard it (and saw the video) on MTV when I was living at my dad's house in Oregon. Having just been taken there cause I was too much for my mother to handle (I was an ass to her at the point in my life and it was a very good decision on her part, my teen years were pretty nuts) I was in a new situation with a messed up dad, who didn't even interact with my brother and I despite the fact that we were now living with him. I spent many night staying up until the wee hours watching Nick at night or MTV. The video just hit me. And it sticks with me even now. She's Gone by Bloodgood and Secret Ambition by Michael W. Smith both are songs to that stick with me due to their own story. Both are intense songs that tell a story and are very good songs musically. The FF7 theme is the same as these songs and I relive the game's story every time I hear it.

I also think that FF7 sticks with me because I played it while I was a teen and going thru some many changes and discoveries about myself and my family. The main character in the game, Cloud, goes thru an amazing metamorphosis and discovery about his past in the game and as a teenager it was very easy to relate to him, because it felt sometimes like my life was almost as nuts.

Laje